Chapter 4

An hour later, I’m starting to wonder if I bit off more than I can chew with this demon.

It’s like watching a toddler or a troublemaking cat. Every five seconds I have to tell him not to touch something, or to be careful when moving around. Finally, I grab a notebook, tear out a piece of paper, and slap it against the wall in the living room.

“If we’re gonna live together, we need some basic house rules. Let’s try to be reasonable and work together, okay?”

He merely shrugs, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

“First rule: no unnecessary noise. This includes humming, tapping, muttering, all that stuff. There’s a balcony out there, connecting to the bedroom, so do any of that stuff outside.”

He seems surprised that’s my first rule, but he doesn’t object. Good—I hold my peace and quiet (and especially silent reading time) in high regard.

“Second: no guests or visitors. And no incubus victims!”

This time his cheeks turn pink. “…As you wish. What else?”

“Third: wash your own dishes. Fourth: help out with chores, like laundry, trash, and maybe cooking. We can make a chart so they’re evenly split. Also, I’m not really expecting you to cook; I’m just using that as an example. I don’t really do much cooking myself, either—so I hope you like takeout and convenience store meals. Any questions so far?”

“Not at all, master.”

I roll my eyes. “You can drop the titles, not really my thing. Fifth: keep a low profile when outside. Don’t draw any unwanted attention. Hide your wings, claws, and horns when you’re out in public. You look like a human when you keep all that stuff hidden. Makes sense?”

He grunts and shrugs his shoulders. Good enough for me.

“Sixth: do not touch the books. Especially the library books. Don’t touch them or handle them without explicit permission.”

“…Your priorities are definitely intriguing.”

“I try. And seventh: no demon powers inside the apartment.”

I punctuate each word with my hand, motioning to the last bullet point written in all caps.

“Fair enough?”

“I suppose so.”

I grab my pen and tap the paper with the point. “You want to add anything else?” He shakes his head. “Any personal gripes or tics, or anything you’d want me to do—within reason?”

“You’ve seemed to cover all the basic points, mortal.”

I scrunch my nose up. I don’t know which is worse, master or mortal. Or human.

Show some respect, at least.

I tape up the paper onto the wall. “If you think of anything else, let me know. Sound good?”

“Hmph.”

Meh, it’s the best I’ll ever get out of him.

“Oh! Also, we should at least learn each other’s names, if nothing else. I’m Ichika.”

No response. He just stands there against the wall, his arms still crossed over his chest. His eyes are closed. He’s not asleep, is he?

I wave a hand in front of his face, earning myself a glare. “So…what’s your name?”

“I don’t have one.”

It’s hard not to scoff at that. “Of course you do, silly. Everyone has a name.”

Also, I have to start referring to him as something else other than “the demon” in my head. It’s just easier that way.

“I’ll go first. My name is Ichika, last name Aikawa. Ichika Aikawa. And yours is…?”

Silence. I huff and shake my head.

“C’mon, you’ve gotta have some kind of name. Or maybe even a nickname?”

“Incubi are nameless creatures.”

“I don’t believe that. Every creature has a name.”

The demon rolls his eyes, making no effort to conceal his annoyance. “Only the highest-ranking demons are granted names. Our kind is the furthest from such royalty and honor. Imps, incubi, succubi, and the likes are left nameless.”

Pfft, honor and royalty—as if those things matter when it comes to demonic creatures.

I shake my head once more. “I find it hard to believe you were just called Incubus Number Three-thousand, seven hundred and eight, or something like that. What did your fellow, uh…incubi friends call you?”

He blinks slowly, and for a moment I think I’ve actually stumped him. like he can’t fathom the idea of having friends.

Maybe he’s more like me than I thought.

He clears his throat, his arms still folded over his chest. “I didn’t have what your kind considers ‘friends.’ Such frivolous matters are unimportant to demons.”

“Okay, fine then. You don’t have friends, same as me. but what did your mom call you?”

He gives nothing away—except for the subtle twitch of his fingers against the sleeve of his hoodie. But then his jaw clenches, and he keeps eyes squeezed shut much tighter than before.

I cringe. Did I hit a sore spot?

“Um…I didn’t—”

“I don’t have a mother. Incubi are created, not born.”

I tilt my head. “I’m sorry, that was kinda rude of me. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

“It’s not—” He cuts himself off with an agitated sigh, carding his fingers through his hair. His eyes aren’t as bright as usual; they’re more like a dull red with a shadow of gray, instead of a deep crimson shade. “…My kind do not have parental figures. We are created to serve a purpose.”

“Oh…”

The mere thought makes my throat close up. I couldn’t imagine growing up without my family around me. We’re not in the best spot nowadays, but I know I’d be heartbroken if I didn’t have my mom to talk to and take care of me when I was young. Not to mention Kota; for how much he annoys me, he’s my baby brother. I could be incomplete without him.

He must see how sad I look, because for a fraction of a second his red eyes soften. “Demons have different customs than you humans. Don’t feel pity for our kind.”

I clear my throat. “I just can’t…imagine life without my mom.”

That makes him tilt his head. “I take it your mother named you?”

“Mhm. And my dad named my brother. Usually parents are the ones who name their kids. So I though…well…”

And there was no one around to name him.

I shouldn’t be getting so upset over this—over a demon of all things. But here I am, all torn up over how he doesn’t have a mom of his own.

The demon pushes himself off the wall and heads for the kitchen. Probably looking for more rapidly-cooling tea.

I follow close behind him. “So what do I call you, if you don’t have a name?”

“You are the one concerned with it—so it should be your decision.”

“Eh?! L-listen, I’m not—I mean…that’s personal!”

“And not my concern. I’m fine with remaining a nameless demon. If you desire to call me by a name, then it should be one of your choosing.”

Such profound words as he sips more of the cold tea straight from the pot. I groan and press my fingers against the bridge of my nose.

“…Alright, I’ll think of something.”

🔥

Naming a demon is actually tougher than it sounds.

Said demon is currently setting up the closest closet to the bedroom door for himself. I have three closets altogether, and we both agreed it would be better for our sleeping places to be as far away as possible. So I stuffed all my extra clothes into the other closets and gave him some extra blankets and pillows. While he works, I lay out a spare toothbrush and face cloth in the bathroom for him to use tonight. I also make a note to pick up some extra shampoo and body wash next time I go shopping.

Ryuu, Kuro, Koichi, Souta… None of them really fit him. Even the more traditional names sound funny when they’re associated with his demonic form.

Let’s see… He’s definitely stand-offish, he can be rude and cold—but he hasn’t made any move to hurt me. Maybe he actually cares? (To an extent? I can dream.) He seems a bit shy, too. Maybe a name that pairs with my own?

Nah, no need to get too attached.

When I’m done setting out supplies, I find myself scouring the shelves of the bookcase on the opposite side of the bedroom. One of the books suddenly catches my interest—and suddenly it all falls into place. I smile and snatch the book off the shelf.

“I got it! You wanna hear it?”

He quirks an eyebrow at me, laying down a third blanket in his makeshift bed. “Enlighten me.”

“Okay—the word for ‘demon’ in Japanese is akuma. That by itself isn’t really a name, so how about Aku?”

His lips part, and for a moment he looks like he’s mulling it over in his head.

“It’s a play on words, short for akuma, which is what you are—technically. But it can also be a nickname, like for the name Akutagawa. It comes from a famous classic author; I’ve read some of his works, they’re really good by the way! It’s more of a last name, but when it’s shortened it can be a first name. It's written in different kanji, and both names have totally different meanings... But I still like the sound of it. See?”

I hold up the book to show him. Not that he probably cares about this, but it means a lot to me.

“So, Aku for akuma, or Aku for Akutagawa. Short, sweet, and right to be the point. What do you think?”

The demon holds my gaze for a few moments longer, dark brown into bright crimson—and then shrugs his shoulders. Like he couldn’t care less.

“It will suffice.”

I throw a pillow at his face.

🔥

The rest of the day goes by rather smoothly, all things considered. The demon—Aku—keeps to himself for the most part, and he doesn’t object when I tell him he has to stay behind while I run out to get us some food. I don’t really feel like cooking with what little ingredients we have in the fridge, so convenience store meals win by default.

It’s nearly sunset when I head out, after spending about ten minutes making Aku swear that he won’t touch anything or do anything questionable while I’m gone. Especially when I’m at work.

Speaking of work, my phone buzzes the moment I step into the convenience store. Not Naomi, but Akari—my coworker at the library.

Akari: Didn’t see you today, you never miss work! Everything ok? 🫤

Ichika: Everything’s fine, just woke up feeling weird. Be back tomorrow!

Akari: Good 😘

Akari is one of the many library assistants that works at the same library as I do. We don’t really talk outside of work, but we’ll text each other every now and then. Mostly all work related, or just to check in if one of us is gone for a while. She seems to understand my desire to be by myself, so at least that’s a good thing.

But of course she noticed my absence today. I never call out of work; if I could, I’d spend every waking moment I have inside that library. I have to make sure to play it cool when I come in tomorrow.

No need to make people suspect anything’s wrong. I definitely do not have a demon living in my apartment with me.

The thought makes me grimace as I grab two bento boxes from the shelf.

Nope, nothing weird at all.

Along with a few rice balls, I make sure to get some different drinks, like juice and soda. Maybe even a few quick snacks, just to be safe. I’m not sure what demons like to eat—aside from blood and souls and the like—so I decide to get a variety of things.

(Also, some shampoo and masculine-sounding body wash. No way in hell am I letting a demon who doesn’t clean up after himself living in my apartment.)

Luckily I manage to make it out of the store without acting too weird. The bill is a bit more than I thought, but I’ve only been buying for one person up to this point; I’ll have to budget smartly until I can figure something else out. The walk back to my apartment is short but sweet, but I’ve always enjoyed my exercise. I can’t wait for the weather to get warmer, so I can spend my nights wandering aimlessly through the city streets.

Thankfully, Aku is right where I left him, tracing imaginary patterns onto the table. I lock the door and begin to lay out the snacks.

“Take your pick—just don’t take it all. I didn’t know what you’d like, so I got a few things just in case.”

He tilts his head as he sifts through the packages—and this is probably the first time I’ve ever seen him so caught off guard. For once he doesn’t have a smartass response or arrogant taunt to throw at me.

He chooses a rice ball from the mix as I sit down across from him with a bento box of my own. The silence between us is awkward, but not completely uncomfortable. At least he seems to like the food.

Suddenly he jerks his face away from the rice ball he just bit into. “What’s in this?!”

“I think pickled plum. The one you had before had spicy tuna in it. All of them have different things inside.”

He sniffs it again, then takes a bigger bite. He still looks taken aback, but he doesn’t spit it out. He keeps eating until he’s done—then reaches for another.

I can’t help but glance at him every few minutes while I eat. There are still so many questions I have for him—about himself and demonkind in general—but I don’t really know how to bring them up. Besides, he actually looks peaceful for a change; I don’t want to ruin it by accidentally bringing up anymore bad memories.

But I don’t have to wonder for too long, because he soon frowns at me from across the table. “Is something troubling you, mortal?”

“Ah, it’s Ichika. And I was just thinking about…uh, demons.”

He raises an eyebrow as he bites into his fourth rice ball of the night. “Oh?”

I nod and set my soda down. “Do you have to follow any special rules? Like, any strengths or weaknesses I should know about? Anything you’d like me to do or accommodate for you—within reason?”

Aku’s crimson gaze sharpens. “Why would I detail my weaknesses to you?”

“H-hey, you don’t have to if you don’t want to! But if I knew about something ahead of time, I could help you avoid it.”

He hums softly to himself, then takes another rather large bite of the rice ball in his hands. “I see—you’re thinking logically. I can understand that.”

“Heh, see? And why would I have any reason to hurt you? From the way you explained our contract earlier, it seems I go down with you, and vice versa. So we’re stuck together, for better or worse.”

Another soft hum, barely audible as he chews.

“If you want, you can only say one or two things. It’s up to you.”

Truthfully, I want to know everything about him. Where he’s come from, what it’s like to live as a demon, who was responsible for creating him—and whether or not he had a life before becoming an incubus. But I have to take this one step at a time; it’s just as new to Aku as it is to me, and I have to ease into it. The last thing I want to do is to anger him or scare him away from me. It’s best if I can get a little bit out of him at a time, and have him close enough to keep an eye on him.

The last thing I want is an incubus wandering around unsupervised throughout Tokyo.

He finishes the rice ball and immediately reaches for another. “Our kind despises sunlight. Too much of it will cause severe burns and eventually lead to death. But small amounts are not as lethal.”

Ah, that explains why he’s so pale. And why he inched away from the sunrise earlier this morning.

“And second—incubi specifically drain humans through physical touch. Even the slightest brush of skin could cause you severe harm.”

“Erm…okay. So hand holding is out of the question, I take it?”

This time his lip curls up, revealing his fangs. “You joke now, but I’ve seen it happen, mortal.”

“It’s Ichika.”

“This is no laughing matter!”

He slams a hand down onto the table—but it’s hard to look threatening when you’ve got rice crumbs on your mouth. He seems to notice, because he sighs and wipes them away with the back of his hand. When he’s done, he takes a deep breath and begins again.

“Humans are always so careless with their lives. None of you seem to grasp the gravity of the situation; you willingly give yourselves away to any demon you think might help you in furthering your own goals. Never once giving a shred of thought as to how it might backfire on you.”

I bite my lip. He’s not entirely wrong, and I can’t be careless around him. At the end of the day, he’s an actual demon, and I’m just a powerless human. If he ever felt like it, he could drain me dry and kill me. I can’t let my guard down, even though we have a domestic living situation all sorted out between us. It’s easy to believe he’d never hurt me, and while he promised me he wouldn’t, I can’t be too careful. In reality, the only one who can protect me is me.

“…So even the lightest touch can kill me?” He gives an affirming grunt. “Then how to incubi leave their victims alive? Don’t they feed on lust and sexual pleasure instead?”

His cheeks turn pink, but at least he gives me an answer. “All demons drain life energy from humans, no matter their kind. Incubi feed on sexual intimacy, but they’re not limited to just that. If they can get their fill another way, they’ll take it. Regardless if it drains the victim’s life away.”

There’s still so much I don’t know yet… I wish I could talk to Yukari—she’s partially the reason I’m in this mess in the first place!

Finally, I hold up both hands in surrender. “Okay, I get it. But if this is going to work, we have to trust each other. I promise not to disrespect you or your power, okay? And I’ll be careful when I’m around you. No skin on skin contact, I got it.”

He huffs and relaxes his shoulders. A beat of silence, then he grabs the last rice ball off the table.

Yeah, sure, not like I wanted one anyway.

“…Maybe we could get you some comfy gloves to wear, if you’d like? Just so there’s no accidents?”

He pauses. “…I’d like that.”

I smile and take another sip of my drink. Maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all. He did tell me what to do to protect myself around him, so maybe there’s more truth in his words than I’d originally thought.

I still want my apartment back, though. Hopefully this arrangement is just temporary. Then we can figure out how to get him back home.