my lovely demon; baji x chifuyu

chapter - 1

Listen well, for what I will be telling you. There are lands where our feet have not touched, people whom we haven't conversed with, and thought provoking stories that have not been heard by us.

Out of all the good that we couldn't attain and the bad that we gladly escaped, we are still living in the moment, without a certain knowledge of what is to happen to us the very next second.

But here a young man who was a year away from twenty, knew very well where his fate lies. For his fate had been bestowed upon him ever since his awakening from his mothers womb.

This man is Chifuyu. A young hard working man that perfectly amounted to both kindness and a little bit of absurd mischievousness. He was not only loved by everyone in the small village that he lived his entire life in, but he was valued too.

If there was a single man who spoke ill towards him, though that was not promising, they would be looked down on.

Chifuyu was always known for never doing things for himself. If it was cutting wood, he doesn't bother about the reward he will be gaining from it. But the thought of keeping his family warm for the winter was more fulfilling for him than any bread given from the city.

The village that Chifuyu lived his whole life in was so small that privacy was never an option. Not only was the village small, it was so far away from the rest of civilization that people would seldom or perhaps never visit as the years went by.

Though the company of people from outside the village was foreign, the people were happy and didn't cause dispute over insignificant matters. Love is the first thing that is taught to the new-born children and they learned that it was contagious. You could spread it. Thus Chifuyu always loved to love.

But the fate that Chifuyu had been bestowed upon may have not been loving but immorally wrathful.

A practice was followed in this village. Since there were less people, there weren't enough warriors to protect the children and the weak from dangers. There were jungles surrounding the forest but not once were the people harmed by the creatures of the wild.

This is because of the practise that was followed to protect them.

At the top of the white mountains covered with snow resides a never dying demon. The demon was known to control every living creature under his mountains. Not one single creature moved without the thought of him watching them. The very soil was under his control. He could bring out hell from the ground and eradicate the whole forest with the blink of an eye. He was feared and everyone was weary of him.

For him to not be infuriated by the villagers and protect them from the harms of the jungle, someone was sacrificed in return. The sacrifice was given every hundred years. A hundred years may be a long period of time for man. But for a demon, it was very less.

The sacrifice had to be nineteen and the oldest son at the end of the year. At the village there were other nineteen year old youngsters but they were either not the oldest son or they were to turn twenty soon.

As the year of the sacrifice came, Chifuyu, who was the oldest son, had just turned nineteen. His parents had known his fate since his birth and made him understand his duties ever since he was of a young age.

More than any person, he must have heard the demon's name since it was told to him so many times throughout the years. Even if he wished to, he would never forget the demon's name. It had become a part of him.

Baji.

He would often find himself saying this name. Some days he would be filled with fretfulness or some days he'd try to ease himself with considerations such as maybe Baji is no longer there and I can come back. There was not a single day that went by without thinking about this unknown demon.