The Librarian's Daughter (Ryuji Suguro x Reader)

17) ¿DO THEY AFFLICT?

¿𝒟𝒪 𝒯𝐻𝐸𝒴 𝒜 𝐹 𝐹 𝐿 𝐼 𝒞 𝒯?

A beautiful dark place. That's what the library could certainly be called right now.

The bright rays of the shining full moon shone through the narrow prison window. The former Head of True Cross' library sat alone in his grey cell, wondering how his girl was feeling right now.

'His girl', the man repeated again in his head. Since when did he think this way?

But it was too late now. He shall never see anyone again.

'Oh, that demon Mephisto,' his thoughts ran wild in his head. Who would have thought for the second strongest Demon King himself who always stated how much he was fascinated by humanity, to allow such an experiment to happen?

Or maybe it was especially for that reason...?

With certainty, it wasn't the first one. And it wouldn't be the last one as well.

✧ ✧* . . ✧ *✧ ✧

Lewin and Ryuji were kind of patrolling in the middle of the night. The sky was tainted in a shallow black with dark blue spots and somehow, it reminded the younger male of the paintings (Name) loved to create so much. Unconciously, he smiled at this and tucked his chin deeper into his warm scarf.

"At this time of night, there are commonly a few Shadows around. Have you seen this type of demon before?" Lightning asked his apprentice before taking a rather small bite of one of his beloved hamburgers - at this time of day, he liked to call it his usual midnight snack.

"Shadows are demons that appear as black humanoids that shamble towards their targets, aren't they? They don't appear to be very powerful since they can easily be defeated through the use of holy water and firearms. I've only read about them, though," Ryuji answered thruthfully and shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket.

His master hummed in response, seeming delighted that Suguro knew so much already. He truly was a talented student.

"I'm usually not the type to teach this stuff like... a teacher would do, you know?" Lewin gesticulated, swinging his right hand around, "but I guess it won't hurt for you to gain more practical experience in fighting demons you haven't fought before." A small mischievous grin could be seen on his face, graced with the several stubbles that were scattered around his mouth.

Bon only nodded in response, ready for the small fights that may come. And so, the two of them walked on and went from one narrow alleyway to the other. It was a silent night. Most of humanity doesn't know about demons and sometimes - but only sometimes - Bon liked to imagine how it would feel to walk these streets without the background knowledge of demons existing.

To put it one step further, how does it feel like to know they exist but you'll never be able to see them? Like, never never? He couldn't imagine. And once again, his thoughts had wandered off to a single person that managed to have thrown over his whole life - or his view on this world, to be more exact.

Lewin and Suguro came across several Shadows both of them eliminated in an instant. No one could allow these creatures to wander off into people's houses for example, so they did their job rather neatly and swiftly. Bon blocked out the screaming sounds of these black creatures, too lost in his own thoughts - and so, he fired yet another gunshot that banished a demon back into the realms of Gehenna.

Slowly, small raindrops fell from the sky and metaphorically announced the small victory of these two special exorcists. They decided it was for the better if they headed back for now.

...

"Lightning?" Ryuji spoke after a decent amount of silence.

Hmm?, said person responded, not aware of what his student might want from him.

"Can I ask why you really became an exorcist?"

...

Silence, again. Bon guessed Lewin slowly ran out of ridiculous lies he could tell his apprentice. Much more to his surprise, the older male answered more truthfully than ever.

"When I was little, I thought demons were more interesting than humans. I was even nasty enough to be feared as a 'demon' myself," Lewin's voice sounded more serious than usual. "I used to cause a lot of trouble for my parents. I don't worry about it, you see," he gave Suguro a short glimpse, "because I really loved demons."

Now that left the young exorcist speechless.

"... But I love humans even more. I love everything in this world." With these words, Lightning's gaze became more fierce than ever.

"That's why I'll do whatever it takes to protect it."

Ryuji stared at his master with wide eyes - they were, again, full of passion and he felt overwhelmed by the truth that was revealed to him.

"Was... (Name)'s suffering one of the reasons you realized you loved humans more?" Suguro asked quietly, not sure if he was allowed to ask such a question.

Somehow, the rain increased and in the brink of a second, both of them were soaking wet.

"Oh look, the rain's getting heavier. Well, you better get back to your dormitory. Get some sleep..." Lightning swung his hand around again to wave him goodbye, but Ryuji wanted to say something in response nonetheless. It was typical for Lewin to dodge uncomfortable questions he didn't like to answer.

"Thank you for having taught me today again, Lightning!" Bon's eyes were full of passion as he made a small bow. His master only raised on eyebrow at this, though it couldn't be seen.

"No need to thank me, Ryuji. Take care!"

And so, both of them parted ways and the night grew even darker with each step Suguro took away from Lewin.