The bet {Doukaza} | [COMPLETED+ MOSTLY UNEDITED]

6

Douma sat quietly under the shade of a tree, thinking. Not about anything in particular, just... letting his train of thought flow as it wanted, taking many turns and directions on the way. In the end, it all led to The Bet. He hadn't spoken with Hibiki in a while, a couple weeks at least.

Although he didn't know if he really wanted to meet up with him. Hibiki might just pester him about how he only had 4 or so months left (god how time flew), and also he felt like this wasn't just about the stupid bet. It was hard to tell, given these emotions were quite...weird. Random. Confusion, annoying, amazing, bothering, wonderful... Everything. He didn't know what to think anymore, if he was being honest.

Akaza was quite nice to talk to, he always made him feel warm inside. Which was weird, how was that possible? His blood demon art had nothing to do with fire. There was also this other feeling that came with the warmth. Some sort of protective feeling. Something he'd felt before. None were near as strong then, but now... now it was raging inside of him. He would hate to see Akaza in any sort of distress, and he just didn't get why! It confused him greatly. And then there was the annoying. They came and went, flit past fast and slow, disrupted him, caused him to randomly cry, everything about that was annoying. But what wasn't was the wonderful feeling that came with all of these, the one that was always with Akaza. It wasn't just the warmth and protectiveness. There was another. He wondered if this was love. The thing humans cherished deeply, but always took it for granted. And it was something he felt was given to him as well, from... Akaza.

He started speaking out loud, thinking it would help him figure out what all of these emotions were about. Although saying it would make it more real. But... when it came to Akaza, he would do anything and everything just to see him again. So, time to face these emotions.

"Hm, I wonder... Akaza-dono always makes me feel so warm inside. Not really like the warmth from the sun I felt when I was human, no, not like that. That was different. This time it's more like... What is it like, actually? It's like... inside. If there was this human who had been recently burned or in the sun for a while. They're warm. And it warms you up inside when you eat them!

"Except, it's not that. It's hard to explain..."

Douma sighed deeply and drew a circle in the dirt. "I'll never figure out these emotions, they're too complicated and there's so many..."

Then came a voice behind him, a bit deeper and familiar. "That sounds like you seem to like Akaza quite a bit. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually, do not fret."

Douma looked around but saw nobody. Huh, who was it, then? "Oh my god..." Douma whispered, smiling widely. "My subconscious is talking to me! Ooh, maybe if I speak out loud, I think answers to it because I truly know things inside! Oh, I didn't know that was possible, that's so cool!"

He continued talking, deciding to speak to his subconscious a bit more, to see if it knew about these emotions. Or rather, if he knew about them unknowingly. "So... could you tell me about the warmth? Is it really love like how people explain it?"

At first, the voice didn't come, and Douma thought that perhaps he didn't know the answer after all. But then the voice came again, sounding a little amused, for a reason he didn't know. "Perhaps. Tell me how you feel about Akaza."

"But... don't you already know? Or do I have to explain in words?" Douma asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Never mind that, just answer."

"Oh, okay. Well, I always feel protective of him, like I don't want anything or anyone to hurt him. Although that doesn't make sense, he's a demon, he'll regenerate it no matter what! I also feel the need to make him feel special. Like... I want to praise him and compliment him all the time. But then, I don't want him to think I'm weird for randomly saying that. I want him to like me. I also feel like this has nothing to do with The Bet! I feel as if that's just a little game but Akaza's the real thing. He's everything I want anymore, and all I seem to think about. And I know this is just for The Bet, but when I talk to him, and when I see him smile, or laugh, or blush, or just when he talks to me, I feel so happy. At least, I'm assuming that's the emotion I feel... It's so hard to place them, and there's so many different variations of this 'happy' that I really don't know what to think anymore." After saying this, Douma felt as if an invisible weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He'd finally said how he'd been feeling and it felt real, and true, and wonderful. He smiled softly, then waited for an answer.