Chapter Text
Johan would be the first to admit that he had a penchant for getting himself into and out of trouble.
The furthest back instance he could remember was when he was six, playing at the edge of his grandmother’s garden. He’d spotted what had looked to him like a lavender cat. But when approaching to try to pet it, the animal ran off. Not thinking twice about it, Johan rushed after the creature, hopping over the garden fence and into the woods.
Johan was no stranger to the woods by his home, he played in the forest almost every day. But chasing after the cat-like creature, that seemed to glow in a way that made it hard to lose him, the trail was growing unfamiliar. Eventually, Johan ran out of energy to chase the creature, and plopped down against a tree, defeated. It was then that he realized just how dark and cold it had gotten. Just how long had he been chasing that creature?
The young boy shivered, just on the verge of tears. That was when a warm weight jumped on his shoulder, rubbing a fluffy face against his cheek. The odd animal had bright ruby red eyes, and the glow it gave off comforted Johan.
When he got home the next morning, he got the scolding of his life from his grandmother as well as the officers that had searched for him all night. She wouldn’t let him so much as out of her sight for what felt like months after. But no comment was made to the four-eared, cat-like animal with a red crystal ball at the end of its tail perched on his shoulder.
It was also at this instance that Johan learned that he saw things that others didn’t.
The next instance was when Johan was ten. School was letting out, and as he was preparing to walk home, Johan stopped by the school gate to pet Ruby, the crystal beast that had followed him home and hadn’t left all those years ago. She’d also waited patiently for him outside school.
“Aww, she’s so cute!” Johan was startled by the voice over his shoulder. Leaning over him was a girl about his age, with green pigtails, tanned skin, and a yellow dress. She wasn’t in his class, but he’d seen her around school before. “I’ve never seen a gem that pretty before either.” The girl kneeled down, reaching towards Ruby. But the crystal beast tensed in a way Johan had never seen before, and crawled up his arm to her usual spot on his shoulder.
The girl didn’t look at all dejected. “Hey,” she turned to him, “I want to show you something.”
“Okay,” Ruby mewed in a disapproving tone at just how quickly Johan agreed, “As long as I get home before it gets dark.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not far,” the school yard was already empty when Johan took the girl’s hand. As she led him through the park and towards the same woods he met Ruby in, she told him that her name was Sera. Johan was just happy to find another person who could see what he could and barraged Sera with questions the entire time during their walk. Sera was vague in her answers, the most he could get out of her was that she had a lot of sisters, who all could see odd things the same as them.
“I’ll introduce you to them too,” Sera said this with the same smile that never seemed to falter. Soon, they came to the spot Sera was looking for. Johan stared in awe at the clearing full of flowers of every color. It was still early fall, so part of him wondered how so many varieties could bloom at this time of year. He had to show his grandmother this place, he was sure she would love to add some of these varieties to her garden.
Ruby still stood tense on his shoulder. Her eyes hadn’t left Sera since Johan had met her. Johan bent down to some pink flowers that looked a little bit familiar and had a strong, fruity scent. He could swear his grandmother had shown them to him at one point, and that she’d said something important about them. But his head felt cloudy, he couldn’t focus on anything but the smells around him.
A sharp pain hit Johan as Ruby’s teeth pierced the skin of his hand. His mind suddenly came back to him and he pulled himself from the ground, yanking out the thin vines that had begun to wrap around his ankles. Johan remembered then, his grandmother had been warning him that those pink flowers were poisonous, so much as touching them could cause fatigue. Not just those ones though, every single flower in that field was poisonous. In the center of the clearing, Sera stood unaffected, with that same smile on her face.
Johan ran as fast as he could back home. His grandmother asked about the thorns in his ankles as she patched him up, but Johan just told her that he’d stepped in a rose bush by mistake. Back at school the next day, he’d asked students and teachers about a girl named Sera with green hair, but no one had any clue who he was talking about.
Johan learned that day that not every spirit he came across would have his best interest in mind. He would like to say that he became more careful after that, but trouble still had a way of always finding him.
During his final year of high school, Johan had gotten an opportunity to study abroad as part of an exchange program in America. He figured if he went to the city, he might be able to avoid spirits and supernatural creatures more so than in his rural Scandinavian town. This would turn out to not be the case, as while there were less spirits, American cities had their own host of supernatural entities hiding in plain sight.
But it was also during this program that he met Jaden Yuki, the first person he’d met since the Sera fiasco that could see the things he could. And after confirming that Jaden didn’t want to eat him, the two became fast friends. He was also friends with the youngest son of Johan’s host family, Syrus, and seemed to spend more time at their house than his own.
There were several odd occurrences that happened during that year, but one in particular stood out. Though this time, it wasn’t Johan’s fault.
“Really, I just said I liked her painting,” Jaden mused as the two came out of the game store, “And now Derek’s all ‘Stop flirting with my girl’ when he and Blair aren’t even dating!” Johan laughed at his friend’s misfortune. Jaden pouted in response as Winged Kuriboh, a fluffball of a spirit that never left Jaden’s side, rubbed its face into his cheek in an attempt to cheer him up.
“Is that what Americans call flirting?”
“Believe me, that wasn’t my intent,” with his spirit companion resting on his head, Jaden ripped open the Duel Monsters booster pack he’d just gotten, “For one, Blair’s a freshman.” He sorted through the new cards, then perked up to show Johan that he’d finally gotten the new UR support card he’d been looking for for months, seemingly forgetting about Derek’s threats.
“Hm…” there was a tinge of worry in the back of Johan’s mind. But he pushed it back, not wanting to see Jaden lose that smile just yet. “You’re cute though, so a lot of what you say gets taken as flir-“
“Johan!”
The next moments seemed to happen both slow enough for Johan to remember, but too fast for him to do anything about. The change in Jaden’s expression from surprise to desperate worry, the call of Johan’s name, then Jaden rushing forward and pushing him aside. As he stumbled back, Johan saw the metal bat swinging towards where he was just standing, the new target being Jaden.
And then he saw Jaden catch the bat in his hand mid-swing.
Derek looked just as surprised as Johan. His arms strained to pull the bat back into the shadows of the alley he came from, but Jaden wasn’t budging. And the look in his eyes was one of frigid anger that sent a shiver down even Johan’s spine.
“Hey,” Jaden’s voice held a tone Johan had never thought he could take: deep, but level to the point you could mistake it for emotionless. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” He didn’t give Derek a chance to answer before his free fist collided with the other boy’s face. Despite his larger size, Derek was knocked back a meter further into the alley. Jaden still held the bat in the same position through all of this.
Seeing that Derek wasn’t getting back up, Jaden took a deep breath, then tossed the bat aside. He turned back to Johan, his face much softer.
“Johan, you okay?” He was going to respond, but then heard a high whistle. This was from the security officer from the bank across the street, now marching up to them. Jaden looked like he’d rather be anywhere else as the adult questioned them, but Johan was luckily able to explain everything away. The story being corroborated by the game shop owner that had seen everything. And that seemed to be the end of it.
Johan wanted to ask Jaden more about what had happened, as well as the other strange moments he’d noticed. But he’d had to cut his exchange program short and return to Norway when he’d heard news of his grandmother’s illness. He graduated high school in his hometown, then deferred college for a year to take care of his grandmother, despite her protests.
When she passed and Johan lost the only human family he’d ever known, he decided to finally return to America, applying to a veterinary science program at the same university that many of his friends from high school were attending.
And that brings us to today, the latest of incidents Johan had found himself in. Johan pulled again at the ropes that firmly secured his hands together behind his back. He knew a trick for loosening them (had learned it after another unfortunate incident), but with five people circling him, he didn’t think that would do much.
It was just his luck that not a week after returning to America, he would end up bound and gagged in the basement of the university library, about to be ritualistically sacrificed by a cult. At least if the people chanting in the most cliché black robes he’d ever seen and the crudely drawn magic circle at his feet were anything to go by, that’s what was happening.
Syrus had told him to be more careful, as there had been multiple missing persons reports in the area in the past couple months. But he’d fallen asleep studying in the library and woke up long after hours without anyone seeming to notice him, locking him inside. Then while looking for a way out, he’d stumbled into the basement, was knocked in the back of the head, and ended up here.
To top it off, even a novice like him could tell that the magic circle they drew was completely wrong. During his high school exchange program days, he’d met a young witch named Alexis. The girl, despite not being able to naturally see spirits herself, took a keen interest in Johan’s ability to see them presumably since birth. She’d even shown him the basics on how to summon spirits.
But looking at the characters around the circle, these cultists had made a fatal mistake. Alexis had emphasized that when you summon a spirit, make sure to only go for one with a mana cost you could pay. And based on the symbols they used, whatever they were going for was way too big for their britches. If the summoning worked, all of them would be dead.
Johan reached into his pocket, stabbing his finger lightly on the pencil he had. Just enough to draw a steady stream of blood. If he could trace over the symbols, then he could at the very least make the ritual a dud. The small group around him was more concerned with getting the chant right, the magic circle glowing an eerie blue as they seemed to near the end. They didn’t notice as Johan reached behind him, and traced some symbols at the edge of the inner circle.
That should do it, Alexis had taught him that rune in case he needed to hastily cancel a summon. Not that he ever had plans to summon demons himself, but he committed the rune to memory just in case. So now just came what to do once the cultists realized their ritual had failed. He’d talked his way out of trouble before; if they just removed the gag-
An odd energy pulsed through Johan. Instead of the blue light fading out as the chant finished, it changed to a much brighter, ominous red. The cultists seemed just as stunned as him, some even took a step back from the circle. The pressure building in the air could be cut with a knife.
“Who dares to waste my time…” The voice was layered, as if two people were speaking at the same time. And Johan had no clue where it was coming from. “With this farce?!”
The pressure building suddenly exploded, sending the cultists standing around the circle flying hard into the stone walls of the basement. Johan shut his eyes tight as the wind continued to circle fiercely around him. When it finally died down, he opened his eyes again. The people around him were slumped against the walls, knocked out. Johan, thankfully, felt unharmed.
But there was an extra person (if he could call them that) that hadn’t been there before, floating a couple centimeters off the ground. The first feature Johan noticed was the large, bat-like wings. Along with that was the extra eye in the center of their forehead. This being could only be described as composed of opposites, split down the middle. One half was more feminine, with white hair and an orange eye. The left was more masculine, with purple hair and a green eye.
The demon scoffed, before turning all three eyes to Johan.
“Now human, explain to my why- Hold up, Johan? Dude, it’s been years! When’d you get back to the US?” The demon’s features softened, and the layered voice dropped to just one, a voice Johan recognized despite not having heard it in years.
Jaden?! The name was muffled behind the gag.
But last time he’d seen Jaden, he was definitely human. And looked nothing like the figure in front of him. Except…the longer he looked at those heterochronic eyes, the more he remembered the incident with Derek. When Jaden caught the bat, he remembered that his eyes had looked the same: one green, one orange. Afterwards, he had turned Jaden’s face over trying to see if it was a trick of the light. But they stayed the same chocolate brown until Jaden got fed up-to the point of an angry, red flush to his ears-and told him to knock it off. Johan had just assumed his mind was playing tricks on him.
“Let me,” the demon with Jaden’s voice reached a clawed hand towards Johan, slicing the cloth that bound his mouth in one fluid motion. “I know you said you’re a magnet for trouble, but this really takes the cake.” They continued, slicing through the ropes binding Johan’s wrists together as well.
Johan rubbed at his raw wrists, could this…demon…really be his old friend Jaden? He heard a familiar chirp, as Winged Kuriboh appeared on the demon’s shoulder. Ruby materialized with a mew, before tackling the other spirit to the ground, the same greeting she always gave him. That sealed it for Johan, most spirits didn’t like the city, the only reason Winged Kuriboh stayed was for Jaden. And so this demon could only be him.
“Alright,” a cloud of smoke curled around Jaden, and when it dissipated and his feet touched the ground, he was back to the form that Johan was much more familiar with. He held a hand out, helping Johan up from the ground. Jaden hadn’t changed much in two years, same short, brown hair, brown eyes, red jacket, and easy, boyish smile. Looking at him a bit more closely, Johan could still notice that his features seemed sharper, especially his eyes. “Now, what should we do with…these guys?” He gestured vaguely to the still knocked out cultists.
Johan thought for a moment, then went over to the cultist he was sure was the ringleader, if the extra gold tassels on his robe were any indication. His hunch was right, as in his pockets was Johan’s cellphone. It was already passed 3AM, and he had several missed calls from his roommate Jim and even more from Syrus. But before calling them back, calling the police would be the next priority.
“Ugh,” both boys’ eyes turned to the two robed figures that had slumped against each other when Jaden had blasted them back. “Where am I?”
“Geez, my head’s killing me,” Johan recognized both their faces from the missing posters hung up around the university.
“Wha-Jasmine!” The black-haired girl, who Johan remembered as Mindy, (missing one month), turned to the redhead leaned against her (Jasmine: missing a week longer than Mindy), “Where have you been?”
“Huh? I told you, I was getting some milk from the convenience store. Ew, what’s with the ugly dress?”
“You’re wearing the same thing! More importantly, you’ve been ‘getting milk’ for a week !”
“Um…” the two finally seemed to notice Jaden and Johan, “Sorry to interrupt, but…” Johan showed them the date on his phone: October 13th. Just seeing that made the color drain from both girls’ faces.
“October?! What the hell happened to September?!”
“We missed the beginning of the semester?! I was supposed to TA!”
“Oh God, my mom’s going to kill me!”
Well at least that was one less mystery to solve. Jaden went to calm both girls down and get the two to help with tying up the rest of the cult-with the remainder of the rope that had once bound Johan-as Johan dialed the police. Best he could say to the operator was that there was a “disturbance” at the university library and that he’d found two missing girls. The operator- who sounded sleep deprived enough already- just said they’d send an ambulance and police dispatch to their location.
Almost as soon as he hung up, a flash of dizziness caused Johan’s knees to buckle beneath him. Right, head injury. He would’ve had an even nastier one if Jaden hadn’t caught him.
“Easy now,” with Johan’s head against his shoulder, Jaden helped him gently to the ground. He felt around teal hair, until reaching a spot at the back of Johan’s head that made him hiss. “No blood, but a pretty big knot. You might have a concussion.” (Jasmine felt an odd twinge of guilt whose source she was unsure of). Jaden leaned him against a free wall, Johan resting his head on the other boy’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t fall asleep now.”
“Then keep me up, we have some catching up to do anyway.”
“Oh, um…” Jaden scratched at his cheek, looking back to Mindy and Jasmine, “Are you two doing any better?”
“Well you know how if the building burns down, every student passes with an A?”
“There’s probably a similar clause for if your Philosophy professor turns out to be a kidnapper, brainwasher, and cult leader, right?” The two had finished tying up the ringleader and moved on to the rest, “We can handle things over here, just take care of your friend.”
“Guess I’m yours until the cops show up then,” Jaden took a seat against the wall, adjusting Johan’s head so the taller boy could rest against him a bit more comfortably, “So, when’d you get back to the US?”
“Last week, a little after the beginning of the semester.”
“And already another ‘incident’, that’s gotta be a record for how fast you can get into trouble,” Jaden teased.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. But I have to say, getting kidnapped and nearly sacrificed by a cult was not on my ‘Johan’s incidents’ bingo card.”
“Joke’s on you, Sy owes me $20.”
“Syrus did say you two were living together, not that you’re ever home when I ask.”
“Oh, well…” Jaden paused for a moment, “I did some…traveling after graduation. Only just got back myself. Besides that…what made you want to come back?”
“Grandma passed last year,” a heavy silence passed, before Jaden put his hand over Johan’s.
“I’m sorry, I can’t imagine how that feels.”
“It’s fine, she was always on my case about quitting the exchange program and going back to school already. It’s what she would have wanted. Besides, I couldn’t stand staying in that empty house any longer.”
“Yeah, I know…” From what Johan had pieced together through scattered conversations, Jaden’s relationship with his parents after their divorce and individual remarriages was strained at best. Not even Syrus, the friend Jaden had known since freshman year of high school, had met them.
Jaden got quiet after that, Johan could only wonder what he could be thinking about. Honestly, looking at their relationship, there was a lot Johan could only wonder about Jaden. There were so many other instances that happened around Jaden during high school that Johan had questions about. And what happened tonight left more questions than answers. But every time Johan had thought about asking more questions, something would come up.
No, that’s not it , Johan chastised himself, you’re just making excuses. The truth was the Johan didn’t want to ask. The connection he had with Jaden was special, not just because he could see spirits the same as him. He was scared that asking too many questions would ruin that. But if he knew so little about him, did Johan deserve to call Jaden his friend at all?
Was he even allowed to say he loved him?
Oh...seemed like despite the years, that hadn't changed either.
Johan’s hand tightened around Jaden’s, “Hey, Jaden?”
“Hm?”
“What are you exactly?” Jaden tensed against him, going quiet. Johan watched as he seemed to struggle to put his words together to explain himself.
“Japanese-American?” He said, with a sheepish smile.
God, you’re lucky you’re cute.