Magic Hunt at MFing Aokigahara

[disorder_heaven]

The fact that Urushihara had a keen eye for patterns and trends was one of his less appreciated skills. As one of the war generals in Demon King Satan's army, it made his division highly feared and nearly unstoppable.

Here, it had gotten him something more along the lines of a snarky comment from Ashiya. "About time," or something like that. Hard to tell. Urushihara hadn't really been listening.

Either way, upon Urushihara's elaboration regarding the Suicide Forest, Ashiya had grown more and more uncertain. Eventually comments about warning signs and body sweeps deteriorated into snide remarks about cell phones failing to work and the pitch blackness that came with noon.

A bowl of miso soup full of something-whatever beta took care of the bitching, but Ashiya managed to come out of the bathroom just long enough to lob a thick volume of Maou's favourite manga at the back of Urushihara's head. So, when Maou returned home from his long, hard day at MgRonald's, it would be to the sight of Urushihara on the ground and Ashiya in the bathroom groaning dramatically.

Just another day at the Devil's Castle.

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[mickeyd_emon]

The front door opened, and Maou stepped inside with a sigh. "I'm ho--"

Well, the sight before him was familiar. Maou stared a moment at Urushihara's prone body, weighing for a good five seconds how real the threat was, before scrambling to slip off his shoes and rushing to him. Maou dropped to his knees and shook him perhaps rougher than he had to.

"Urushihara!" he shouted. "Was it another photo?! C'mon man, you knew better!!!"

Ashiya's disturbed keening, of course, refrained from taking responsibility.

[disorder_heaven]

"No, it wasn't another photo!" His voice was a little cracked, as it was prone to doing when he was defiant. "Ashiya's a jerk! No big deal!"

He pulled away from Maou, grumbling as he rested the side of his now-aching head against the table. Another loud moan from the bathroom didn't pacify him.

"How was work? ...Did you bring home food?"

[mickeyd_emon]

Maou had already turned away with a concerned mutter of, "My manga!" As he dusted it off, he glanced up at Urushihara's question.

"Oh, yeah. I goooot . . ." he retrieved the bag he had ditched at the door and proudly presented it in all its greasy glory. "Leftovers!"

Pause for applause.

[disorder_heaven]

"...I'm so ordering a pizza."

There was a wail from the bathroom, but Urushihara ignored it in favour of looking towards the computer screen again.

"By the way, Maou. Ashiya's been in there a good three hours. You might wanna head out to Aokigahara alone."

[mickeyd_emon]

"What?!" Their pizza budget Maou didn't mind so much. But going to Suicide Forest alone? "That's like, the opposite of what I want! There's no way."

He placed the MgRonald's bag on the center table before propping a hand on his hip. "Nope. You're comin' with me."

[disorder_heaven]

"Dude, no. I'm not allowed to go to Kabukicho for a drink but I'm allowed to go to the Forest of Death?"

He wasn't buying what Maou was selling. Then again, the sounds coming from the bathroom indicated that Ashiya would be there for awhile. When he was well enough to pop his head out for a moment or two, he'd certainly make a nuisance of himself. Urushihara sighed.

"...Do I have to?"

[mickeyd_emon]

"Yes." It was a resolute response, the matter already decided. "It'll be good to get some fresh air."

That fresh air would be in a death forest, but that was the entire reason Maou didn't want to go alone. It was creepy.

Maou grinned devilishly. "Plus, you'd get your true form back, too~"

[disorder_heaven]

"We don't know that." An irritated lilt came out, exacerbating what little lisp he had. "But I'll go, on one condition."

He was being a bit dramatic for no real reason. He wasn't too bothered by the idea. If it was really that bad, Maou would go all Demon King and Lucifer would have nothing to worry about. It was the Urushihara side of him that didn't want to go.

"Not like there's anything to be afraid of in the human world. Not here, anyway."

[mickeyd_emon]

Maou took a moment to grumble under his breath. The words afraid and my ass were barely audible.

"What's your condition?"

[disorder_heaven]

To Urushihara, there wasn't much to be afraid of. Unlike Maou, he had no qualms about killing humans that threatened him. And also unlike Maou, he didn't have girls fighting over him. That, he figured, was the only thing in the human world to really be afraid of. Women.

"I'll tell you outside," he muttered in an undertone. "Ashiya would shit hims-- Well, he'd be... Worse."

[mickeyd_emon]

Maou spared a grimacing glance to the bathroom. "Yeahhhh . . . Let's not."

He wasn't one to spoil Urushihara, really, but if they both didn't eat before taking on whatever was in that forest . . . their stomach grumbles might get them caught in a pinch!

Maou pulled out a burger from the bag, then tilted his head at the front door. "C'mon, Mr. Picky. We'll grab ya food on the way."

[disorder_heaven]

It was hardly as though Urushihara didn't like MgRonald's. In fact, he was quite fond of it. However, by the time Maou got the already leftover food home, it was cold and soggy, the fries inedible and the bun hard and the lettuce wilted.

That was fine now and again, but lately it had been the only real consistency in Urushihara's diet.

He got up, leaving the food and moving to the closet. He didn't have many clothes, but going to the forest in shorts seemed stupid. He slipped out of them to change into his jeans, mumbling.

[mickeyd_emon]

It was moments like these that made the lockers at MgRonald's rather convenient. Maou was already dressed for the occasion.

He chomped on the stale burger as he waited for Urushihara. Once the pair was grabbing their shoes, Maou called out to the bathroom. "Ashiya, we're going out. There's food on the table; don't let it grow any mushrooms or anythin'."

The bathroom doorknob jiggled, hesitated, then stopped. A fresh series of groans and faint grievances followed, which Maou took as an answer. He stepped out.

[disorder_heaven]

Urushihara needed to exert his holy magic more often. With a devilish smirk that he kept to himself, he left the apartment, slipping into his sneakers on the way out. It was only when he could lean on the washing machine that he felt he was truly out of earshot of Ashiya.

"I want to go out to eat after. That's my condition."

[mickeyd_emon]

"After?" Maou's brow rose. It was such a small request. After centuries of knowing Lucifer, he's come to expect certain types of demands from him. If he was ever in the mood. Not that long ago, it would never have been that . . . benign.

He supposed the way it was now, it couldn't be anything else.

A finger scratched his cheek. "Sure, I guess we can do that. That mean ya don't need anythin' before?"

[disorder_heaven]

"Nah. I already ate. In fact, I made the household lunch while you were out."

He smiled.

"Shall we, sire?" And, shoving his hands in his pockets, he made his way down the stairs.

[mickeyd_emon]

Maou squinted at Urushihara's slumped back. Little Too-Much-Effort hermit, making lunch? That smile, and the vibe Maou was getting . . . There's something fishy about it all, and Urushihara hadn't had any fried fish. Maou was missing something.

Breathing out a light huff, he headed after Urushihara. One problem at a time.



In much too short a time, Maou and Urushihara stood before Suicide Forest. The signs professing the wonders of life or whatever weren't far, but Maou didn't need them to sense the darkness beyond. He stared at the treeline, dread tickling at his chest. He wasn't sure if it was his own or the forest's.

"Right." he said, decided. "Ready?"

[disorder_heaven]

"Do we have to do this?"

Urushihara's whine was about average-level bitchiness. As much as he was prone to complaining, Maou wouldn't be able to help but notice that he seemed fairly relaxed. In fact, he seemed more than relaxed. He seemed to be ready for anything. He had straightened his posture, his arms crossed rather than at his side with hands in pockets.

His eyes, pupils slitted, were on Maou.

[mickeyd_emon]

Maou glanced at Urushihara. Every line of his features were determined, red eyes sharp as they always were before leading his army to war. He could feel Lucifer's eyes on him as if they were a tiger's spotting its trainer for weaknesses, and he cast off any sign of such like an old cloak. It was a glimpse of the Demon King Satan.

He turned to Urushihara and beamed, slipping his hands into his own jeans pockets. "Yep! Think of it as a really messed up field trip. We're even gettin' food after."

He headed for the trees.

[disorder_heaven]

As expected, Maou had read him correctly. Even if Urushihara himself didn't realize it, he looked to Maou exactly as Lucifer had looked to King Satan. Getting out the apartment had done him some good, though he'd never admit it out loud.

He followed, his feet making no noise on the soft litter of the forest ground. In fact, even as he passed Maou's side and walked deeper into the forest, where the light failed to filter as heavily through the trees, neither leaf nor twig so much as snapped under his sneakers.

He spoke a moment later.

"This is weird."

[mickeyd_emon]

"Really weird," Maou grumbled. His tone wasn't taking the situation seriously, but the muscles in his back were tensed for a fight.

The waning light only heightened the shadowed tails of anguish and fear that slunk through the patches, leading back to some greater source. Already, the tips slithered toward the two demons, a dark aura building around them.

"It's like the dark's so hungry it's friggin' eating our words," Maou said, sticking an irritated pinky in his ear. "How deep do they usually go? The humans, I mean."

[disorder_heaven]

"Donno." Urushihara's eyes were fixated on the forest as he walked through. Already there was a good deal of litter, trash and bits of other things. A broken shoelace. A sweater someone had dropped. A flashlight with, he assumed, a dead battery. "From what I could find, there's less of this human debris after about a kilometer in. Which is somehow scarier."

He glanced around at it all as he walked, tense. He was no masochist. In fact, he absolutely hated pain. However, the burning in his back was familiar and not unpleasant.

"Look. It's like one in the afternoon and it's already so dark up ahead."

[mickeyd_emon]

"No kidding," Maou muttered under his breath. "Much farther'n it really will be totally pitch black." The burning in his gut was more like a broil. Urushihara may have delighted in the feeling of human misery flowing directly into him, but Maou hated it. The knowledge of where it came from only served to piss him off.

Which meant, of course, that he'd exaggerate his cocky attitude to make up for it. Maou grinned sharply.

"I expect beyond that kilometer, we'll find somethin' good."

[disorder_heaven]

Really, Urushihara wasn't too thrilled with the emotion he felt flowing through his veins like lifeblood itself. He reveled in human fear, fear caused by him, who had suffered so much because of humanity. For him, it was vengeance.

This kind of despair was hard to take joy from.

He rolled a shoulder back, trying to alleviate the pain building in his spine. His posture grew lazy again, his hands stuffing into his pockets as he walked hunched over.

"I'm hoping so. Just keep your ears open for any sort of buzzing noise. It's giant hornet weather and I hate those things."

What he also hated was the sight of a human body, long-since decomposed, clothes caving in on the breaking skeleton. It was at the base of a tree, beneath a broken branch. Urushihara expected the human had hung themself there, long ago. He drew no attention to it, but kept his gaze firmly ahead.

[mickeyd_emon]

"Yeah, yeah . . ." Maou's flippant mumble trailed off as his eyes settled on the body. His hands in his pockets, he stayed in steady step with Urushihara, thoughtfully gazing at the bones as he passed.

The Demon King has killed innumerable humans, but he had never before thought of what was left behind. What was on this body? Identification, a Relax Bear wallet? Or did they dump it all along the way, with the rest of the trash in that forest?

Maou liked quite a few humans, and he wanted to protect them and their world. But he'd never understand them.

"Hey," he said, turning his sights forward. "Whatever's the source o' this magic? We're taking it all. And we're absorbing every single bit o' the despair in this forest."

But his lack of understanding didn't mean he wouldn't try to help.