Koan (Story - The First Meeting)

A young Koan stood in front of the door that opened into the basement, fidgeting in place trying to muster up the courage to open the door and go down the steps. In his hands was a plate that held a couple of sandwiches his maids had prepared. They had been reluctant to make them considering who he was going to give the sandwiches to but they couldn’t exactly refuse the young master of the house. Taking a deep breath in and out to steel his nerves, he opened the door with a shaking hand and went down into the darkness.

He had to pause for a moment to allow his eyes to adjust but soon continued on his way down. It was quiet and he could hear his own rapidly beating heart. About halfway down he wanted to turn around and go back up into the light, but the thought of the hungry demon that was being kept down here made him discard that idea.

A few more moments passed and he suddenly found himself at the end of the stairs standing on a concrete floor. His green eyes glanced around the empty space until they landed on a form that was hunched in a corner. The demon. He was only a child, the same as Koan but he still wasn’t sure how demon years converted over to human years.

The sound of chains rattling against the concrete echoed through the space. When the demon was brought here, he was immediately restrained. Koan blamed himself for that since it was he who had brought the demon home with him to begin with. He gulped and froze in place as sharp turquoise eyes looked up to glare at him.

“What do you want, human?” The voice was certainly child-like but had a sharpness to it that cut through the air. There was also loneliness. It was the main reason Koan had decided to bring him home.

“I…I thought you might be hungry so I brought you these.” Koan hesitantly stepped closer and held out the plate for the demon to see. The turquoise eyes studied him for a moment before looking at the sandwiches. Koan couldn’t tell if he liked them or not but another minute passed before the demon held out his hands to accept the plate. With a smile of relief, Koan placed the plate into the small clawed hands. He wasn’t sure what else to do while the other started to munch on the food so ended up taking a seat next to him. Not too close though.

An awkward silence quickly followed. “What are you doing?” The demon’s voice made Koan jump from surprise. He had started to daydream without noticing it. A bad habit of his.

“Oh! I just thought I would keep you company!” He replied as cheerfully as he could, giving the other a goofy smile that appeared on his face whenever he was nervous and at a loss of what to do. The demon stared at him with an unchanging expression.

“Pff! Are you stupid or something?” He snorted as he shoved the now empty plate back into Koan’s hands. “You must be the only human in the world stupid enough to bring a demon into his own home willingly.”

Koan bristled at that accusation. “I’m not stupid! If you didn’t want to come then I’m sure you could have left at any time!” Demons were stronger than humans of course but tended to stay in their own area. Some came into the world of humans but it was rare to see a demon in human society if they weren’t prostitutes or an entertainer. Koan had found this demon child at the entrance to the Underground when he, himself, had run away from home. The demon child was scrawny, with gray skin, pointed ears, 2 pairs of horns atop his black-haired head and sharp canines. He wasn’t sure what made him take the child’s arm and drag him away but it probably had something to do with the overwhelming aura of loneliness that surrounded him. Koan could relate. An only child brought up in an obnoxiously rich household, he was completely ignored by his parents and could do whatever he wanted if he didn’t sully the family name. And so, he had run away from home but immediately came back with a demon in tow. His parents were in complete shock but of course figured out a way to turn it into their favor. They would be the talk of the town if they could tame a demon child. Immediately, they had the demon locked down in the basement, chained up and all, to “train” him. Now Koan found himself in this predicament of arguing with the said demon.

“Hmph! Of course I could have! But it’s not like I had anywhere better to be anyways.” The other’s voice trailed off, losing its sharp tone for a moment. “I still think you’re stupid.” The sharpness recovered quickly.

Koan blinked at the demon before bursting out into laughter. The demon’s eyes widened in confusion. “Wh-what are you laughing at?!”

Taking deep breaths, Koan calmed himself down. “N-nothing. It’s just that you’re nothing like you appear.” The demon child had no immediate reaction to that. When he opened his mouth to finally give a retort, Koan shot his hand out and interrupted him.

“My name’s Koan. What’s yours?” He asked happily, green eyes shining with friendliness. The demon child stared at the other’s hand warily before slowing taking it, eyes unable to meet Koan’s glowing gaze and returned the handshake with a slightly embarrassed look on his young face.

He mumbled out his reply. “Kyeran.”