As Things Should Be

-12- Hope

Akaza was different.

Doma wasn't going to say a word about it because that difference had saved him from death, but it was still strange. The ex-upper moon was... tame.

Still angry and bristling, of course, but calmer, perhaps even somber. Doma struggled to place it. The demon had changed on a coin flip and had hardly fought Doma over... anything. Even abstaining from human flesh - Akaza had relented and agreed to do it. That - and Akaza hadn't made a single overly-cruel remark to Inosuke who literally hadn't shut up about learning how to fight. Akaza's patience was usually razor-thin (at least as long as Doma had known him), and now the demon didn't even bash his head in when Doma slipped back into his mask of false emotions.

But Doma wasn't going to say a word...

But Akaza also said thank you to Kotoha when she held the door open for him. When did Akaza thank anyone?

Okay... so maybe Doma was going to say something about it.

They'd fled and found refuge in an old cottage that was likely lived in, but not at the moment and if the owner came back well, what could a human do? As night fell the family had awoken and Inosuke had bounded in the woods, set on exploring - Miku was on his heels. Akaza, meanwhile, had strayed over to a bench that overlooked a small koi pond and was finding some sort of delight in throwing small air attacks into the water by flicking his finger and scaring the fish.

Doma was torn between following Inosuke and Miku, just to make sure they didn't find some bear to fight, or speaking with Akaza, who was probably worse than the bear. He almost went after the kids until he saw Kotoha jog into the woods, her kimono was traded in for a baggy pair of pants and a shirt swiped from the house's unguarded drawers. The clothes were too big for her but she'd made do and had her hair tied back. Doma felt a subconscious smile pull at his lips to see her like that, all ready to take on the world with a soft smile on her face. Well, if they did find a bear, Doma had a strange certainty that Kotoha would be able to handle it.

Well, that left Doma to deal with the other problem. He gently approached Akaza, keeping his feet heavy so that the demon would hear his approach.

"How are you doing?" Doma asked, and he tried to remember how to be sincere. He lowered his voice, spoke slower, raised his eyebrows, and let a natural frown take over his face. He tried to let his concern translate to his face - it was hard, with someone who'd known him to hide behind a mask for long.

"We're fugitives, we have nowhere to go and nothing to fall back on. How do you think I'm feeling?" Akaza growled back. Doma saw the way the striped demon bristled and he tried to read the emotion in those yellow eyes; he failed unsurprisingly.

"We have each other!" Doma smiled instinctively. Then he realized the mask of a smile had come back on and he quickly wiped it away. 

"Yeah - what a joy," Akaza sneered.

Doma clenched his jaw as he tried to think about what to say next. Conversation was complicated when you were trying to think about other people's emotions; overly so.

"May I... would you mind if I asked a question, Akaza?" Doma asked gently as he sat next to the demon.

"No." 

The fish all raced away as another attack splashed into the pond.

"Why did you help me?" Doma asked anyway. He then studied Akaza's reaction, the way the demon tensed and flexed his fingers; like he was holding back a punch.

"Like I told you," Akaza bit, but he refused to meet Doma's eyes. "I can't best you if you're dead. There's no victory for me if - "

"No," Doma denied brightly - dammit the mask came on too easily when Akaza was around. It was like second nature for Doma to wear it, it was the only way he knew how to communicate. He had to stop it. He had to be sincere. "No," he stated again, seriously - softly even.