Chapter Text
That day, a curse was cast upon a boy.
The day he discovered the world on top of the ice.
The room was dimly lit, the only light to guide him was coming from the small screen in his living room. His eyes are having trouble adjusting to the brightness. Yet the scenery he saw that day was that of an abyss, a darkness so deep it envelops his entire being.
In the middle of that abyss, a man was standing by himself. Gliding smoothly on top of the ice, scattering lights seem to follow his every move. He was dancing, jumping, spinning, to a gentle melody. No, he was casting a magic spell. A magic to capture the hearts of all who gaze at him.
Oh, what a cruel magician he is. He enthralled all who bore witness to his performance, inviting them. Look away, before he seizes your heart. Run away, before he drags you to an unending darkness.
To the boy, not even the word divine can describe the sight in front of him. It was frightening, yet beautiful at the same time. So beautiful that he can’t look away. So beautiful that he can’t breathe. Everything else around him seems to vanish, as if life itself has stopped to feast its eyes upon that magician.
That day, Akeuraji Tsukasa was unknowingly cursed by a magician by the name of Yodaka Jun.
It’s been a year since that day.
That boy has grown into a teen. Since then, he spent every second of his life chasing after the figure he saw on top of the ice. His soul was trapped in that abyss, yet his existence is still here. He realizes that the ice is a merciless being, only welcoming to the one it adores. But Tsukasa is not blessed by such a thing, the ice doesn’t love him. Every time he placed his foot down on top of the ice, he would get thrown out by it, again and again. At this rate, he won’t be able to catch up to that man, he won’t be able to witness the same scenery he saw that day from the perspective of that magician who gets to live inside of it.
He is biting his lips, writhing on his futon. Beside him lies his brother, Hajime, sleeping soundly in his own futon. Inside this 6 tatami mats room, even the slightest sound can be heard. He holds back his sniffle, wetting his pillow with fluids he wasn’t even sure where it came from. Beneath the blanket, he hides his wet face, pondering the fates he was about to face.
A few hours ago, he saw the future.
Buzz
The sound of a buzzer can be heard in the entire rink. Followed with a musical signal, the staff on the speaker gives out a last call to the closing time.
Tsukasa skates quickly to the rinkside, following the others leaving the rink. Until now, he has been diligently going to a skating rink in his city every time he managed to save up the meager allowance he gets from his parents.
I need to go back quickly, he thinks. He needs to be home before his parents do. His family knows about his dream to be a figure skater. Still, ice skating is a difficult sport to learn without the help of a professional, and it’s expensive to boot.
Tsukasa is raised in a lower middle class family of 6, he is a second son with one older brother and two younger brothers. His parents work tirelessly even on Sunday to support their livelihood, even his older brother, Hajime, is taking a part time job after school to help their parents. And yet here he is, spending that hard earned money on something expensive. As much as he wants to get better at it, he’d feel bad to his family for doing it too often.
The only one who knows it is his older brother, Hajime. When Tsukasa has enough money, Hajime would look after their brothers on the day he doesn’t have work so Tsukasa can practice on ice. He’s a loving brother who supports Tsukasa’s dream of becoming a figure skater despite knowing well how hard it can be.
However, in a few months Hajime is going to leave their house to work after graduating high school. Knowing that, Tsukasa is getting desperate by day, increasing his practice load every time. When Hajime leaves, he might not be able to practice as much as he used to.
His body is sore all over and he’s starting to feel a gnawing pain in his ankle.
“Hey, don’t push me! Whoa-” he hears a loud scream from behind him. Then, before he knows it, he’s face planting on the ice. His breath knocked out of him.
In that brief moment, he saw a collection of memories, rapidly flowing into his mind. Memories might not be the best thing to describe it. What he saw was a future that’s about to happen. It feels like watching TV, in that dimly lit room he saw the life of a man who looks and sounds just like him. The images emitted from that small screen is another Akeuraji Tsukasa who struggles all his life for a chance to live on top of the ice. Yet, even with all the sacrifices he offers, the ice won’t even take as much as a glance at him.
When he comes to, he’s already lying on his futon.
After waking up, he manages to get home before his parents, takes a quick shower, and goes straight into the bedroom. His mind has lost him, every word is stuck in his throat. He remains quiet, even when his brother welcomes him home and continues until midnight when the only sound he can hear is his own breathing.
He sobs, alone in his little world.
I need to stop, or Hajime is going to hear me, the sound inside his head says. He bites his own lips, but the sound of his own ragged breathing gets louder with every second and his tears won’t stop falling down his face.
He drags his limp body out of the futon, out of the room, then out of the house. He runs with all his might.
Shit.
His whole body is aching.
Shit.
The pain in his ankle is spreading to his entire leg like a wildfire.
Shit.
The god must be playing tricks on him.
He recalls all the things he did this past year. All the sweat he pours out, all the pains he feels.
Was that all for nothing?
In his shaky vision, the world turns over. He’s on the ground, blood oozing out from his scraped knees.
Where am I?
He looked around, it was dark and quiet. The ground beneath him is rugged, he can hear the sound of water flowing beside him. In front of him are rows of street lights along the road.
Where was I going?
.
.
Where do I want to go?
The world on top of the ice, where that magician dances, alone in the darkness. He wants to go there. He wants to see it with his own eyes, the same scenery that man saw.
Yodaka Jun - how can he shine so brightly in that abyss. He’s breathing, living out his life inside of it.
Ah, I see.
Yodaka Jun is no magician, he’s something much more terrifying, a demon.
The man he saw that day was not casting a magic spell upon him, he’s cursing him. A demon, bounding his soul to the abyss.
His soul was devoured, chewed, then thrown back outside, because he was only a human, he was never meant to be there. Yet every time, with the same curse, that demon would tempt him, inviting him back, and once again he would get devoured by the abyss. By the time he realizes it, he would have nothing left of his soul, drifting away from that place far away from his reach.
No.
He can still reach it. He just needs to change, he just needs to choose a different path from the other him. To live in the abyss, he needs to become a demon.