Chapter Text
Kirin watched, devastated as his lover slowly disintegrated, arriving at the time of his death.
Zurui didn't bother to look at Kirin, laughing as he faded, his body returning back to the world.
The demon, Kirin, didn’t understand why his lover chose to end himself without telling him, but told everyone else.
The boy stared at the place where his lover once stood, silence only remained as the people around him stared in pity.
“Kirin..?” Kieta placed his hand on Kirin’s shoulder, unsure on how to comfort his younger brother.
“He never told me.. Why didn’t he tell me?” Kirin was in despair, unable to understand the choice his lover had made. "Was I not trustful? Did he not care for me?" was what Kirin thought, thinking it must've been his own doing as the reason as to why Zurui did not tell him of his plan.
Kieta hugged Kirin, as the younger began to cry, clinging onto Kieta like a vice.
"Kieta.. Have I done something wrong?.. Why did he not tell me?"
Kieta didn't respond, he just quietly hugged the shaking demon who sobbed into his chest, despite his desperate attempts to hold back his emotions.
The area around them shifted as the domain began to shift and close slowly as the owner wasn't alive anymore.
"Kieta, we have to go. We can't stall any longer or else we'd be lost alongside the domain." Kugaku quickly grabbed Koun and Uketa and sprinted towards the exit, Shizukesa looked at Kirin with pity as she left.
Kirin continued to sob quietly, refusing to leave.
"Kirin, we have to go." Kieta's heart broke at the sight, as he tried to tug Kirin away from the spot.
Kirin didn't move, he stood in the same spot, his feet planted to the ground as he stared at the spot, the ground, his mind told him to leave, to disappear from this area, to run, but his body refused, staying in one spot, unable to move, as if he were frozen, his feet were sunk into the ground.
Kieta grabbed Kirin's sleeve, tugging him out roughly as the platform began to crash and break down, the domain growing weaker by the second.
Kirin was dragged against his will but he didn't resist, Kirin looked at the ground before looking up once more, one more time, to see the spot Zurui had once stood.
The demon's eyes widened as he swore he saw Zurui wave and smile at him before he and Kieta left the crumbling domain.
Shizukesa quickly checked if Kirin and Kieta were injured, relieved to see just light bruising from debris hitting them.
Kirin silently stared at what was left of the domain entrance, wondering what he could have possibly done to have prevented this, to make it better.
The others looked at the demon on the ground, who seemed to be in a trance.
Koun kneeled down, hugging Kirin, silently comforting him, knowing the feeling of grief can weigh heavy, especially on the already fragile minded.
Kirin's already witnessed the death of his best friend, Yana, who had sacrificed herself to save him. And now, Zurui's chosen to die as well, without telling the Kirin, whose mind was now in despair and disarray.
"..Kirin. Don't blame yourself." Shizukesa whispered as she leaned down, running her hand through Kirin's hair, trying to soothe the raging thoughts within his mind. "Maybe, you were never meant to be together, Kirin." Kugaku said, quite coldly, but softer than his usual voice,
Kieta shot Kugaku a glare, knowing those words would make everything worse, but he knew it was true, it was the reason he was so against their relationship. Kieta's watched Kirin grieve before, and it was never easy.
Since that day, Kirin's stayed in his room, avoiding everything that made him remember Zurui, everything that made him remember Yana.
It's been a few days since then, and no matter how or what the others did, Kirin refused to eat, sleep, drink, anything that he requires to live.
Kirin was slowly killing himself.
Demons didn't technically require food, water, or sleep for many more weeks than humans, but the feeling of starving was much more painful, much worse, more like torture.
Kirin felt the churn and stab-like feeling in his stomach but he refused to move or sleep. He sat on the ground, curled up against the door, his knees against his chest, hugging himself, as he stared blankly at the ground.
The demon knows the last member of his family, and all of his friends were worried about him, but he could not bother to care about himself. He knew it was his fault no matter what the others say.
Kirin remembers everything, every scene of his friend and lover dying, it felt so vivid. He knew that his photogenic memory was a curse even when he was younger, but he never knew it would be this bad, this much of a curse.
Life wouldn’t be the same without Zurui, the man who comforted every step of the way, was there every moment of his life.
Then there was a knock, a light, hesitant knock.
“Kirin..?” Kieta opened the door, peaking in to see Kirin curled up on the ground instead of the bed.
“Why are you on the ground..?” Kieta walked over before sitting down in front of Kirin, before pulling him into tight hug, gently pushing Kirin's head into his chest, just as he once did when they were younger.
Kirin didn't respond, didn't cry, didn't hug back, he just sat there, quietly.
There were no tears left to shed.
Kieta's heart broke as he hugged Kirin even tighter. "Please, move on soon, Kirin. I can't continue to bear seeing you like this.."
No response.
Kieta sighed as he stood up, letting go and cleaning up the food that had been left there yesterday. Just like any other day, Kirin continued to refuse to eat.
Kieta quietly left with the tray as Kirin continued to sit there, the once expressive Kirin was just sitting there, alone, no crying, no yelling, nothing.
As the weeks turned into months, Kirin showed no signs of getting better, if anything, he's gotten worse.
The demon sat alone in his dusty room, the picture frames were broken, pictures that were once safe behind a glass barrier, ripped, faces scribbled out.
His room was a complete mess, a completely different feel than before, the only light being the faint light from his window that the moon emitted through the thin curtains.
Kirin shifted lightly, his tail gently waving around as his anxious feelings became more apparent through his body language.
The tail caused the dust to stir gently before a soft gust of wind slipped through a small gap in the window, causing the piece of a picture to fly towards Kirin, despite sitting against the wall where the window was.
The picture.. It was Zurui's face, a smiling, cheeky face that teased Kirin in the photo.
Kirin's eyes widened as he quickly ripped it in an instant before standing up, stepping on the photo.
"Damned wind, damned people, damned humans, damned world..” Kirin muttered as he looked towards his desk.
There, sitting in a glass case, was a dagger that Zurui once wielded to use his own blood for rituals.
Kirin opened the case, grabbing the dagger.
"I'm tired, Zurui. I.. I want to be back together with you. Everything hurts. It all hurts so fucking badly." Kirin whispered as he placed the blade against his chest, right at his heart.
"I don't want to be here anymore, why is living so hard, Zurui? This.. isn't what you'd want me to do, I'm tired, I'm so tired of everything, I make everyone worried and stressed.. I'm just a burden." The demon clenched the dagger harder as his nails dug into his palms, breaking the skin.
Kirin's eyes finally shed tears, after so many months of running dry of tears. "Zurui, who.. Am I? Who even are you..?"
Kirin closed his eyes as he pushed the dagger forward, and everything went black.
Kieta opened the door, with a tray of food the next morning.
"Kirin, I brought sou-"
The older demon's eyes widened as he screamed, falling back. He never thought he'd ever scream, but seeing his younger brother's dead body on the ground brought a feeling he never thought he'd feel.
Shizukesa came running and gasped at the sight.
Kirin laid on the ground, blood spewing from the dagger in his chest, a message written on the ground with his own blood.
"I'm sorry."
Shizukesa hugged Kieta tightly as he stared at the body in shock, unable to move.
Kirin's eyes opened, as he looked around in the field of dark flowers..
The demon looked around, confused as he looked at his hands.. He was a human, a child.. Again.
"Kirin..?" Zurui appeared behind Kirin, shocked. He was still.. He wasn't back to his human form..
Kirin turned around and quickly ran to Zurui, hugging him desperately. "Zurui!" Kirin cried as he held onto Zurui tightly.
"Zurui, do it." A voice from someone he didn't see.. But Zurui seemed to know who.
Zurui quietly nodded. "I'm sorry, Kirin, let us meet under a new dawn.."
The fox kissed the demon's forehead, lightly before everything began crumbling as Kirin felt an excruciating pain from his back.
A veiled being with light hair had his hand through Kirin's child body, grabbing his heart before pulling it out as everything flashed with a bright light, blinding everything as his memories flashed before him..
"Let's meet again soon, okay, Yoru?"