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記憶
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Chapter One
▏EVOCATION▕

꧁꧂

She wished she was an amnesiac.

She wished for nothing more than to forget.

(L/N) (Y/N) did not care for the sharp chill of the snow biting her skin. The frost of the night was only trivial when her head was swarming elsewhere.

She felt so small, so frail—it was no wonder she no longer felt human. To be so deprived of warmth felt aberrantly heavy, and it weighed her down. Her feet almost felt encased, trapped beneath the white blankets of the Earth.

How were the falling snowflakes so lovely yet so deadly to her?

The snow made it darker; the light of the moon was held hostage by the clouds. It was dark out, and she felt completely lost. All her senses forced her body to move mindlessly, in which she solely focused on her thoughts alone. Not even the audible trudges of the Upper Moon Three's feet dragging along the snow snapped her from this blankness.

Only when he placed a firm hand down on her shoulder, did she jolt.

(Y/N) practically fell down in the snow from surprise, and that was when the sharp cold of the night finally hit her. She groaned in pain, and immediately struggled to stand up again. Her efforts seemed to be useless, however, as the owner of the hand that had previously touched her suddenly helped her up. The person's arms hooked under her shoulders from behind and pulled her upwards, bringing her to steadily stand in the snow.

"What is a human like you doing out in this temperature?"

His choice of wording was not the first thing that hit her. Rather, it was the sound of his voice. The familiarity invoked such a heartbreaking memory from her that she practically gasped. Could it be him?

(Y/N), with newfound hope in her soul, turned around as quick as she possibly could to see—

A demon.

The woman stumbled back once more, but this time she kept her balance. She knew it was just too good to be true—there was no way he was back. This demon just had a painstakingly similar voice. Not answering his question, she looked up at him, and she spoke.

"Is it finally my time?" she questioned him, adopting a smile of sorrow on her features. "Perhaps I may finally join them?"

This woman reminds me of—

Before the demon could lose himself to the thought, he quickly shook his head and ridded of it entirely.

The Upper Moon Three lost himself to confusion at her question, but it was still quite obvious to him what this human woman was implying.

"No," he told her. His voice was strong and loud against the wind, somehow making the human look even smaller compared to him. "I am not here to kill you." If he was being honest, the demon swore that the woman almost looked disappointed by this news.

Speaking through a pathetic laugh, she chuckled, "Oh." Those (E/C) eyes looked away from his figure in mock joy, instead staring down at the snow. "A demon that does not want to kill a human, how odd—am I really fated to suffer?"

The Upper Moon Three did not reply to her latter question, but he explained, "I don't kill females." It was a simple answer, though the woman before him did not physically or verbally acknowledge it. The demon could only assume that she accepted his words. "But you didn't answer my first question," he continued. "Why are you out here? Are you not aware of how deadly this weather is for you?"

If anything, this woman was being foolish in his eyes. To stand idly outside in the snow was a death wish, and she looked so frail in the dead of night.

Before she answered his question, she let out the most defeated of chuckled, and looked towards the heavy clouds in the sky. The Upper Moon Three took notice of how she held her own hand—an action he assumed was for warmth, or perhaps a longing for intimacy.

"It does not matter," she began to answer him with a sad smile, "for I am from a family taken by your kind, and I am bound to a man I love, who was also taken by demons."

Both her loving family and fiancé were killed by demons, it seemed. And she was the last one standing. It was not a shocker to the Upper Moon Three, as a situation like her own was quite common.

If anything, he was more surprised that she was still standing alive. He did, however, take full notice of that lost, helpless look in her eyes. That alone was enough to tell him that she was finally giving up after constant struggle.

It was the same type of struggle he hadn't dealt with since—

Since when, he could not recall.

"What a lousy excuse to die," he almost scoffed at her. Still, she looked downwards from the sky to meet his sneering expression.

"I already know what you're going to say," she waved off. "You're going to tell me to 'keep moving forward despite hardships', and the likes." The woman was gritting her teeth at the line, making it clear that she was told this many times before. "But it's almost impossible when you suddenly lose everyone you depended on."

The demon almost smirked at her, and responded, "That wasn't what I was going to say at all." At this confession, the woman raised an eyebrow at him, and he took it as a notion to continue. "There is one thing you have yet to consider."

"And what is that?"

"Become a demon."

His hand outstretched towards her and he smiled—a tempting smile for a tempting offer. It was simple, but it was still a shock.

"Become the very thing that killed the ones I loved?" she questioned him. "Sounds absurd."

"Only the strong can become a demon," the demon told her. "And in your state," he began, his eyes scanning her frail, shivering figure, "you have a chance at life, and a chance at death."

The little slip of insult did not go over her head, but she nevertheless ignored it. In retrospect, she wanted to give up, but not in this way—not when there was also a chance she would become a demon. But it was just so tempting when this demon carried the same voice her fiancé had.

"I have to refuse," she answered. "I'm not interested in a gamble like that."

The Upper Moon Three hummed in amusement and slight disappointment, but he accepted her choice nonetheless. He wasn't too interested in forcing her to turn into a demon, nor killing her, either.

"Very well," he replied.

Without any verbal warning, he grabbed her arm and began pulling her across the snowy Earth towards a small house a few meters away from them. Assuming this was her shelter, he pulled her along with him to the front so she could go inside.

"Why are you caring for my well-being?" she asked—almost scoffed at—him.

"Staying out here is an awful way to die," he answered simply. "I'm doing you a favor."

"I don't need a favor."

But despite her declaration, the woman still allowed the demon to slide the front screen of the house, and lead the both of them inside. She merely watched as he rummaged around her belongings for things to keep her warm. She willingly sat down on the tatami mat, then only sighed when he wrapped a blanket around her cold figure.

Perhaps if she closed her eyes and listened to his voice and fed off of his care, she could just pretend he was her dead fiancé. She could imagine him not as the demon he truly is, but as someone else entirely from her memories.

But alas, being hopeful like that was useless when she was this far in her life alone. He was a ruthless demon, she was a mere human, and nothing could change that.

"I never got your name," he remarked. The demon sat down on the mat as well, placing himself directly in front of her now-warmer figure so they were facing each other.

"(L/N) (Y/N)," she introduced.

"Akaza."

"Was that your name when you were a human, Akaza?" Despite him helping her, she still trashed her respect for him since he was a demon. It would feel more than strange for her to treat an actual demon with respect.

With the shake of his head, he answered, "No. I forgot all my memories of when I was a human." Well, that statement was mostly true. Akaza didn't feel the need to explain the complicated details of how he was suffering from small little memories from time to time. It was little, unnecessary details that did not need to be spoken.

(Y/N) seemed to grow thoughtful at the idea of Akaza forgetting all his human memories. The color of her eyes seemed to grow just a tad more distant, and it was more than evident she was thinking about it.

"I wish I could also forget," she finally remarked.

His response was almost immediate as he voiced, "Then become a demon, (Y/N)."

She froze at the sound of her name.

Oh, how she longed to hear him say her name again. Though it wasn't the real deal, it was almost enough. The sound of it made her feel a sudden warmth, and she wanted to bask it in as long as she was able to. But unfortunately, she could not, for he wasn't the same person.

She instead scoffed at him, replying, "There are still major uncertainties there, Akaza."

He only replied to her with a little hum, before standing up to announce his leave.

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MEMORY
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