Mairimashita! Iruma-kun One-shots

Hide and Seek

Living anywhere was dangerous.  Natural disasters, man or demon-made catastrophes, or something bigger and stronger than you comes along and decides you would make the perfect meal. A good enough meal that they are more than willing to chase, hunt down, and devour you whole.

TW! If you don't like feeling like prey, then this is not the story for you! Almost the entirety of it is written as if you're being hunted by a random demon and not *spoiler* your already well-known and consenting lover, as it's intended to be. So if you don't like predator/prey role-play, maybe skip this one, yeah? There's also a bit of blood-play towards the end! So if blood consumption grosses you out, maybe skip this as well.

To live at all is to live in danger.

Whether you're the smallest single cell in the human world or the demon king himself in the netherworld, as long as you were alive, there was always a danger of dying to a predator.

For some, this led to a life of anxiety that they could never fully enjoy. Others, whether subconsciously or not, ignore this fact, pretending that they were safe always in these modern worlds.  And others still, like you, thrive on this knowledge. Especially in this situation.

As you ran through the forest, vines curling at you, thorns and branches scraping, you felt a sense of thrill. You could hear the near-silent whooshing of large wings above and behind you. Circling and searing with well-trained eyes. A true predator's gaze.

Beneath such a thick canopy, you held an advantage. Even strong demonic eyesight was tempered by the large amount of foliage and flowers that blocked you from their sight. In the human world, you probably would have been able to lose them completely quite easily. After all, the plants there weren't alive in the same way the ones here were. Here, despite not having eyes, the trees and other plants couldn't help but lean after you, attracted by the sweet smell of your sweat. And inadvertently giving away your general position.

Had this been a regular earth predator, they wouldn't have been able to cut through such a dense canopy either, their wings far too large and precious to risk. But even without magic, demonic claws sliced through easily, giving a hole big enough to dive through and glide across the understory layer, expertly tucking and spreading wings when needed. You weren't running from an inexperienced child after all, but rather a full-grown hunter.

The second you heard the crashing of the broken branches, you changed directions. They would be expecting the straight line of a panicked creature, but you had been to this forest plenty of times and knew of a burrow not too far off. If you packed enough speed and kept changing course at just the right time, there was every chance you could throw them off just long enough to hide.

You heard the tell-tale sign of the wind being forcefully changed and turned again right at the last second. You felt the breeze rush by as claws swiped right where your head had been before a large crash followed by muttered curses. A grin swept across your face as you kept on your new path. They had most likely flown too close to the ground to get that swipe in and would need a few seconds before they could be on your trail again.

Precious seconds that you would not waste.

There! Just ahead, you could see thick bramble woven together and beneath it, hidden to the naked eye of those who didn't know, was the burrow you had been targeting. It had originally been a gorgon snake's nesting burrow before it got chased off by something else. Or that's what you had assumed, judging by the broken eggshells and shed skin of all sizes that you had found when you first discovered it. Now it was yours, your perfect little home away from home.

It hadn't been easy to convince Sullivan and Opera to let you have it. While not far from the mansion, it was still in the wild wilderness with all sorts of demonic beasts and plants who would love nothing more than to gobble you up. You had compromised, a whole slew of protection and barrier runes and spells had been slathered all over it, and you weren't allowed to go near it till you either grew stronger or had a companion with you. Sullivan had even been going to dump his pheromone perfume all over it to deter things away until you had stood your ground. It was your spot, and you wanted it to smell like you.