Chapter Text
It’s the feeling of being watched that jolts Isagi awake from his otherwise dreamless sleep. Not that he minds not having dreams. The awful trend lately has leaned more towards having nightmares, ones that only increase his stress instead of providing him the respite he so desperately is searching for.
When his head hit the pillow earlier that night, Isagi was gone to the world, an instant slumber that might’ve actually done him well were it not for the unshakable feeling that something was off. After a few hours of teetering in between consciousness and unconsciousness, it all finally came to a head.
Rustling, moving, and the sound of breathing in a pattern Isagi was sure wasn’t his own, he kept his eyes closed trying to focus on all of that. Noises? But he and Barou have separate bedrooms, there’s no reason for the older boy to be in here with him and Isagi is certain that Bachira hugged him goodbye and promptly left for his own apartment just down the hall. As the seconds tick past, Isagi begins to come to his senses some more, still a bit sluggish from his sleep but even if he wanted to ignore it all and go back, he wouldn’t be able to. It’s unnerving and Isagi hasn't been scared of the dark since he was a kid but he doesn’t dare open his eyes just yet.
It’s only then that the terrifying realization hits Isagi.
He can’t move. Not a single inch, his body laying heavily upon his mattress with no sign of responding to his brain’s messages trying to get them to do anything. He’d noticed it before slightly, but Isagi chalked it up to his still groggy brain messing with him, but now he’s sure of it.
Arms? Nothing. Legs? Nothing. Not even the tips of his fingers or his toes are capable of anything and Isagi thinks that maybe the only thing he’s capable of right now is opening his eyes and he really, really doesn’t want to.
Without many other options, Isagi can feel his breath become more labored almost to the point that he’s hyperventilating and the fleeting thought of accidentally suffocating crosses his mind. That’s not possible, the room is far too big and Isagi doesn’t even have the covers over himself.
It’s cold, Isagi notices.
Weird.
Despite his complaints of it hiking up their utilities bill, Barou hates the cold and always sets the temperature to a toasty degree, it’s not like the older boy to let it get this chilly, especially at night.
The rustling noise is back and without the filter of semi-consciousness to keep Isagi from thinking that maybe it's just the wind running through the trees outside, he realizes that, like in all those shitty horror movies Bachira says Rin is a fan of, that the sounds are coming from inside his room.
Puzzle pieces flying, thoughts moving a mile per minute, Isagi is thoroughly freaking out. Typically he prides himself on being a pretty logical person, he’s usually good at keeping calm in tense situations, but in those situations he can still, you know, move.
Sleep paralysis.
Isagi isn’t stupid, he knows what this is from just general knowledge and Bachira’s recent fascination with the topic. That said, he himself has never had it before but if he recalls correctly, factors that contribute towards experiencing it are stress and disrupted sleeping patterns and, yeah, Isagi rolls his eyes without opening them, he definitely checks all the boxes.
In all honesty, Isagi’s never been a hardcore believer in the supernatural like Bachira is, but potentially seeing a fucking demon when he opens his eyes isn’t the way Isagi intends on getting rid of his skepticism. Curious creature that he is, Isagi is strangely tempted to open them anyway.
He doesn’t, the itch going away as he begins to regulate his breathing a bit more. All he has to do is go back to sleep and this will all be over in the morning.
Yeah, right, that’s the way to approach this. In a calm and logical manner—
“What was that?”
The room seems to drop in temperature a bit more and Isagi can feel his heart begin to pick up the pace again.
Swearing on Noel Noa himself, Isagi just knows something brushed against his face. Feather soft and the slightest aroma of lavender wafting in the air around him, deceptively calm and serene as if trying to lure him into a false sense of security.
The room goes quiet. Too quiet, not even the sounds from the outside piercing through the otherwise very thin walls. If Isagi recalls correctly, Bachira always talks about scary YouTube videos and how they say if the environment goes completely dead like this, it’s because there’s something dangerous. Isagi isn’t in the middle of the woods, though, which makes it all the more uncomfortable.
Isagi feels it again.
Something tickles his face, much closer, much more deliberate this time and against his better judgment, Isagi’s eyes finally snap open, but the scream that wants to claw its way out of his throat dies upon the sight of him.
Above Isagi, yes, above— because the entity is seemingly floating— is what Isagi can only assume is his sleep paralysis demon. It must be, because the other options are that he’s having a really vivid nightmare (ideally) or that he and Barou are being subject to a home invasion by some gorgeous man who can apparently levitate. Either Isagi is gonna make it to practice tomorrow, or he’s gonna be someone, probably Chigiri’s, new instagram bio.
The chances of this mysterious person being a demon? Pretty fucking high if you ask Isagi. And how has he come to that conclusion? Oh Isagi doesn’t know, maybe its the fact that he’s fucking floating? The presence of the tiny, strangely cute, purple horns that protrude out of their forehead and the swish of a tail that he can see out of his periphery are pretty good indicators too.
Isagi is confused.
That’s right, his fear has (mostly) passed and with what is probably a rush of adrenaline, Isagi finds himself staring directly into the eyes of his new companion. Scrutinizing him, Isagi just knows he must be making a funny expression with the way the demon’s mouth quirks up in a smirk.
Well, at least Isagi isn’t dead yet. That has to be a good sign, right?
But from Isagi’s understanding and through his consumption of low budget exorcist movies, demons are supposed to be scary, right?
The guy who’s looking down at him is anything but scary. In fact, he’s kind of really pretty. Isagi supposes that it could be some type of disguise, or maybe it’s just that demons are all “hot as hell” as Bachira has often described them. What kind of interactions or experience Bachira has with demons is unknown to Isagi and, quite frankly, he doesn’t think he wants to know at all.
The demon in question has long purple hair with uneven bangs, the longer side of which must’ve been what Isagi had felt on his face, pleasantly soft and with a lingering scent of lavender that could put Isagi to sleep if he wasn’t wide awake now. His eyes are absolutely enchanting, a bewitching shade of purple similar to his hair but more vibrant, shining as if they were compiled of millions of twinkling stars. His face looks impossibly perfect and Isagi thinks that maybe the scary thing is how undeniably flawless the being is.
The two are at a standstill, engaged in a staring contest and the person? Demon? Thing ? Above Isagi doesn’t look like he’s gonna blink any time soon. Similarly, Isagi doesn’t look away either because, one, the guy is drop dead gorgeous, and two, he’s kind of starting to freak out again.
After a few moments, Isagi can feel beads of sweat starting to form on his brow. It’s uncomfortable but he physically can’t wipe them away. Above him, the man looks at him with intrigue, eyes studying Isagi’s face and then moving to trail down his body which serves to make Isagi shudder, he feels like those eyes just might be peering into his soul as well.
The corner of the boy’s pretty pink lips quirk up ever so slightly, until his expression settles into a teasing smirk.
“What, you're not gonna scream?”
Instead of a response, the boy receives a look of an absolutely shellshocked Isagi, eyes practically bulging out of his head.
Isagi’s mind races with repetitions of “ It talked! It talked! It talked!”
A mirthful laugh interrupts Isagi’s thoughts and he feels his face heat up as he swallows hard, watching the way the man’s shoulders shake slightly, his hair flowing beautifully above Isagi’s face.
There’s no chance for Isagi to even defend himself as he feels tiredness hit him like a violent wave, the scent of lavender that seemingly emits from the boy above him increasing, enveloping Isagi, drowning him in a ocean of benign nothingness.
“I’m Reo, by the way,” he says quietly.
“Isagi Yoichi,” Isagi responds, his eyes growing heavy as the man, Reo, begins to lean down closer to him.
“I know,” Whispering in his ear, Reo’s voice is laced with mischief, “I’ll let you off easy this time,” he says, “sweet dreams~”
That was the first time they met.
Needless to say Isagi was freaked the fuck out the day after. Despite Bachira’s reassuring statements and personal anecdotes of his own experiences, it all did very little to ease Isagi’s mind. If anything, all his friends’ mentions of ‘monsters’ and ‘ghouls’ only served to unsettle Isagi further.
Though, Isagi did manage to catch a couple of helpful tips. Such as Bachira’s advice of not opening his eyes if he’s really that scared or feels like the presence is hostile. As Bachira confirmed with him, sleep paralysis is tied to stress and if there’s anything Isagi has an excess of in his life right now, it’s that. He also learned that Bachira has his own demon supposedly with the same name as Bachira’s roommate of all people, Rin. And, no, Isagi didn’t want to know more about that, both because he’s fifty percent sure Bachira is just messing with him and because if the real Rin catches a whiff of them talking about him, he’ll give Isagi a harder time at practice than usual.
Inevitably, the day progressed and with it, Isagi’s increasingly growing sense of anxiety. Yeah, Reo wasn’t exactly scary, but Isagi isn’t exactly fond of being unable to move. What if there had been a fire? Isagi’s roommate, Barou, surely wouldn’t have bothered to save him.
Isagi also has a tendency to flip the covers over himself in the middle of the night, something that often led to him waking up in a panic, gasping for fresh air. What if he had gotten sleep paralysis then? He could’ve suffocated and truly, what a lame way to go, Kunigami and Chigiri would laugh at him at the funeral. What’s more is that given the circumstances, it’d probably lend Isagi a one way ticket to hell with Reo. Isagi is sure he’s lovely (physically, at least, Reo is beautiful) but he’s not one to impose or overstep and Reo having to take him on a tour of hell would be something he thinks they’d both rather avoid.
Is Reo from hell? He’s a demon but like, a hell demon?
When the light from Isagi’s window begins to wane, he closes his eyes but fights the fatigue that rolls through his body in waves, not particularly ecstaticed at the prospect of having to see this Reo person for the second night in a row. Best case scenario, the previous night was just a one time thing that Isagi can chalk up to the weird combination of his sleep-addled brain and the melatonin gummies he’s been taking.
“Is hell real?”
“Not in the way you’re probably imagining it, but yes.”
“Are you from hell?”
“Isn’t that obvious—“
“Cus’ you’re so hotttt,” Isagi smirks, eyes still closed but he can hear Reo choke, wondering if Reo might like to choke on something else because Isagi would certainly let him and— God, he’s so fucking tired. Is this a dream? Is he dreaming?
There’s a shudder that runs up his spine, cold and merciless and for a second it almost feels as if there’s a hand harshly yanking at his scalp. The presence that weighs over him is suddenly much more heavy. Menacing. Isagi is tired as hell but his instincts tell him to keep his eyes shut and that he does.
Feintly, Isagi thinks he hears someone— Reo— chide a small ‘stop that!’ After which, the pressure on his head subsides.
“How about you go back to sleep now?”
Just like that time, the scent of lavender increases and Isagi is out cold once more.
The next morning Isagi feels what he can only describe as a heavy fog clouding his memories from last night. He’s never had the easiest time recalling his dreams in the first place as, unlike Bachira, Isagi isn’t one to keep a dream journal. To him, unless it’s something incredibly out of the ordinary, he tends to forget them. It’s different this time, like he has a vague recollection or speaking to someone, like maybe this time there was more than one presence? In the end, Isagi decides it’s not worth his energy to think about it more than he needs to and as the morning passes him by, the fog begins to clear and Isagi can only be thankful that it seems his bump with sleep paralysis really was only a one time thing.
Feeling significantly more rested, Isagi assumes that all is back to normal.
And for the following few days, it really does appear that way with Isagi going without a nightly visitor of any kind. As the week wears on, however, Isagi comes to the conclusion that perhaps he’d celebrated a bit too early.
He isn’t out of the woods yet and it’s making itself clear that what Isagi at first considered to be a bunch of weird coincidences might actually carry more significance.
For one, he’s been getting frequent headaches these days. With exam season coming up, it probably shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. In fact, Isagi only becomes concerned about them because of their increased intensity. He’s always been prone to headaches because of his sensory sensitivities, but the pain is now bordering on migraines. What is a surprise, however, is the way his hairline seems to be receding ever so slightly, something that is particularly concerning because Isagi’s hair isn’t long enough for him to tie back and develop traction alopecia from and both his father and both maternal and paternal grandfathers have full heads of hair.
There’s also that.
That thing, that presence? A certain feeling that’s been following Isagi around since a few nights back. Manifesting in the corner of Isagi’s eye, always seeming to be watching him, far enough that if Isagi tries hard, he can pretend like everything is normal, but close enough to feel the hostility that emanates from it. A stark white phantom, the blur of a shadow when Isagi is walking back to his dorm from practice or down an empty hallway. It’s unsettling to say the least.
It’s only in moments when whatever it is starts getting too close for comfort, so much so that Isagi wonders if maybe he’s in danger, does he wish that perhaps he’d have the chance to speak to Reo about it. Of course, part of that wish to see the purple-haired man has to do with his strikingly good looks, but that’s besides the point.
On the other hand, he’s not exactly keen on finding out something he’d much rather have stayed in the dark about.
For the time being, Isagi acts like everything is fine while everything is most certainly not fine. Coach Ego is an ass, his roomate, Barou, is an even bigger ass, and his professors are, as one might have already been able to guess, a bunch of asses. Maybe if Isagi was running on more sleep he’d be able to come up with the creative insults he’s known for on the field, but such is life.
Yeah, seeing Reo again might be nice, but you know what else is nice? Being able to fucking sleep.
—————————
As he would soon come to find out, Isagi isn’t one of god’s favorite children.
In terms of academics, he’s pretty okay. Where he’s always feld pride in, however, is his skills and knowledge in football, afterall his football IQ is impressive, as is his incredible spatial awareness, all things that are more or less hindered by his physical stats that Isagi has been doing his best to improve on. Again, there’s only so many hours in the day and Isagi can only devote so many of them to hitting the gym. How Kunigami and Barou find the time to be absolute muscle heads and still maintain high marks is beyond him.
Another reason Isagi isn’t one of God’s chosen ones? The fact that all the stress of seeing Reo and then not seeing Reo combined with everything else going on in his life only worked to bring him to the point of, you guessed it, having to see Reo again.
And then he sees Reo again… and then again and again.
So now here he is some however-many weeks later, chatting away with said demon as the man listlessly floats about Isagi’s room, picking things up and commenting on the mess like he owns the place.
They met again for the first time since, well, their first time, not too long ago and since then, Reo has basically become a near nightly occurrence. After a somewhat awkward re-introduction, a few failed attempts at conversation, and, you know, Isagi almost dying from a fear-induced heart attack after realizing that Reo is, in fact, real, he’s come to consider his otherworldly companion as somewhat of a friend.
At the very least the man? Demon? Isagi still isn’t completely sure, but whatever he may be, Isagi can say that they’re at least acquaintances. What else does one call the inhumanly gorgeous creature that has become a staple in Isagi’s nightlife?
Reo.
He remembers clearly the first time it happened, the beautiful man laughed in his face, what an enchanting sound, and told Isagi as much.
Now, the two of them have gotten to know each other a bit better. It’s not like they have much of a choice. To be honest, while getting to know the man did work a bit to rid Isagi of his slightly rose tinted glasses, he can’t exactly say that Reo’s personality is unappealing. Quite the opposite, in fact, though Isagi will maintain the faux-annoyance.
In actuality, Reo is genuinely a nice person. Cheeky, cocky, and a bit of a tease, Reo has an air of prestige to him that has Isagi wondering if maybe he’s some kind of demon royalty. He has his vulnerable side too, one that Isagi has been privy to as they spend more and more time together and Reo becomes more comfortable around him. But for the most part, that insight into Reo’s life mostly has to do with his not-so-little crush on a coworker slash friend slash ‘treasure’ named Nagi. Might Isagi add, Reo sounds really down bad for whoever that guy is and as Isagi sometimes laments, Reo has taken to talking more and more about him. Isagi thinks he might know more about this Nagi guy than Reo himself.
Anyway, with all the spooky happenings that Isagi has been experiencing, the watching, the following and all that, combined with the upcoming exam season and coach Ego being a bigger jerk than usual, it’s no wonder that Isagi is stressing so much.
It must be starting to show on his face, because Reo has begun to frequently comment on it.
“You should consider implementing a serious skin care routine,” Reo says.
Scoffing, Isagi doesn’t dignify him with a response, mind too preoccupied with something else that has been happening recently, though, he does feel himself grow warmer as Reo’s incredibly soft hands caress his face, tilting it upwards as he inspects the dark circles.
“You have nice eyes,” Reo comments.
“Are you flirting with me? I don’t mind being a rebound, I guess,” Isagi says.
Just as he expects, Reo’s hand is off of his face in an instant, clicking his tongue in annoyance but biting back a smile. Isagi does no such thing, smiling widely and when their eyes meet again they both break out into a fit of giggles. Can Barou hear their laughter? If Barou walked in right now, would he be able to see Reo or just Isagi laughing by himself like a lunatic? Over their past few meetings, Isagi is inclined to believe that he’s in some kind of magically constructed buble conjured up by Reo himself, it’s probably why it’s always so cold when he’s around and why time seems to flow weirdly.
It’s as Isagi thinks about the mechanics of Reo’s abilities that he’s reminded of one of the other stressors in his life. While Reo has been present practically every night, every morning, there seems to be another presence that’s been following him around. He’s been getting the feeling like he’s being watched ever since that weird dream on the night after he first met Reo. Of course, Isagi is starting to think that maybe it wasn’t a dream at all, he just hasn’t gotten around to asking the man.
The laughter dies and Reo hums, watching the expressions on Isagi’s face change as he goes from relaxed to troubled. The smile on Reo’s face falls a bit, straightening into a line as Reo considers the man in the bed and how Isagi looks around the room almost as if in search of something, or rather, as if on the lookout.
“You’ve got something on your mind,” Reo states after a while.
It’s not a question, his words are firm, but his voice is gentle. And maybe Isagi should take that facade with a greater pinch of salt but Reo, for all his attitude and sass, is an good person (Demon*). Moving his eyes to look at the man makes Isagi swallow hard. Reo is kind of flighty, Isagi has learned. The purple haired man is fascinated by anything he finds interesting and because of it, his attention isn’t always one hundred percent focused on one thing, at the same time, he’s easily bored and tends to move on from object to object pretty quickly. When holding a conversation with him, it’s not uncommon for the purple haired man to be twiddling with one of Isagi’s knick knacks; he still listens, of course but those lovely eyes of his are usually on whatever he’s holding. Now, Reo’s attention is fully on Isagi and it’s kind of nerve wracking. It’s like the man can see right through him. Reo says nothing, however, waiting for Isagi to gather himself. He does, thankfully, shift his eyes to inspect his nails, but Isagi knows that he’s only doing as such because he can probably feel the nerves radiating off of Isagi.
Weighing his options, Isagi tries to think of things logically. Given that he’s now solidly a believer in demons, and Reo is a demon, he might be able to give some insight on Isagi’s issues. Getting an otherworldly perspective might work to calm Isagi’s nerves or at the very least, the man can reassure him that whatever he’s experiencing is nothing to lose sleep over. Isagi decides that since these instances are of a supernatural variety, who else to ask about a strange phenomenon than his personally assigned demon? Still, what if all of it is just in Isagi’s head? Or maybe such a thing would sound a bit… accusatory? He and Reo are prone to banter at times, but Isagi doesn’t want to be rude, he doesn’t think they’re that close yet.
Then again, he knows way too much information about how Reo fantasizes about that one crush of his. Everything Isagi learns about his sleep paralysis demon’s love life is against his will, because truly, Reo seems to be like a hot, in demand bachelor that everyone wants a taste of so some of the stories he’s told Isagi are definitely not safe for work. Not that Isagi can really blame any of Reo’s potential suitors, afterall, not when the man looks the way he does. Honestly, Isagi is pretty surprised that of all the attention Reo gets, seemingly none of it is from the person he wants it from the most. In the end, Isagi supposes that he’s only getting one perspective on the matter so for all he knows Reo could just as well be super oblivious to Nagi’s borderline obsession. Not that it’s any of Isagi’s business.
(Reo always makes mention of how a lot of his hook ups end up ‘mysteriously’ vanishing or getting hurt after he drops hints about them to this Nagi guy, but all of Isagi’s attempts to bring this up to Reo have gone unheard so he’s basically given up at this point. Reo is either truly that dense or doing mental gymnastics at a level Isagi cannot comprehend).
“The company you work for, is it just for sleep paralysis demons?” Isagi asks. He wants to know more.
Because of the nature of what Reo is, of course Isagi has asked the man about parts of demon living before, of which some questions were geared towards Reo’s employment, how exactly he decided on this particular job, his qualifications, the education system, ( “It’s like going through the interview process all over again,” Reo complained at the time.) and so on. But Reo had only really talked about his department. As Isagi had guessed, Reo clarifies pretty quickly.
“The company I work for is one of the largest conglomerates in the netherworld,” He says with the wave of a hand, “In fact, there’s only one company that beats it…” Reo’s eyes seem to darken at that, but whether it’s out of some sense of competition or something else, Isagi isn’t too sure. Something in his gut tells him that it’s the latter, but it’s not his place to pry too deep into Reo’s personal life. Well, Reo is prone to info-dumping about his ‘treasure’ without Isagi asking him or wanting him to and is somewhat prone to oversharing, so Isagi is about 70% sure that he might learn about it at some point. Unaware of the endless questions that Isagi comes up with in just the span of a few seconds, Reo excuses himself after he coughs slightly and then continues all the while floating over to Isagi’s desk to reach for the box of tissues that resides on the corner, “But our specialty is in demon-human relations. To answer your question; no, it’s not just for ‘sleep-paralysis’ demons, by the way, it’s not like that’s some kind of species, it’s just a job title— Anyway, we have departments for all sorts of things, low-level hauntings, curses and hexes- Oh! I hear the poltergeist department is hiring too,” Reo mutters, beginning to trail off into what seems to be harmless musings and then nearly into a full blown rant about how upper management needs to do better and the demon HR department does nothing and whatnot.
“I’ve been seeing things,” Isagi cuts in rather abruptly. He stumbles over his next couple of words as Reo continues to look at him, a bit perplexed by his sudden interjection until Isagi finally looks away, “Nevermind, it’s probably just the fatigue—”
Reo’s expression turns pensive for a moment, “Seeing what exactly?”
The look on Reo’s face is now unreadable, neutral as he takes to floating directly above Isagi’s face so that he doesn’t have to strain to maintain eye-contact and making it harder for the dark haired man to look at anything else. But Isagi doesn't say anything right away, biting his bottom lip and closing his eyes. If it really isn’t anything, then he’ll just be wasting the man’s time, but if it is something— something potentially harmful at that— Isagi makes up his mind.
Caving, Isagi tells Reo everything.
The strange occurrences, things going bump in the night even when Isagi doesn’t get his now regular bouts of sleep paralysis, the feeling of constantly getting followed and watched. Sometimes, thanks to Isagi’s excellent visions, he’ll see out of the corner of his eye a flash of white, a deathly pale figure of sorts that is always gone when Isagi fully turns his head, the aura of death that surrounds it lending to Isagi’s heavy heart.
“And you’re thinking that maybe it’s something paranormal?” Reo asks after Isagi is done regaling him with his tale.
“That’s the thing, unless you have some other explanations then there’s really no other choice of what it could be,” Isagi says with a sigh.
“Would you prefer it to be something other than paranormal? I don’t know about you, but the possibility of you having a human stalker seems more scary, stalkers are no joke.”
“What do you know about stalkers?” Isagi asks. And perhaps it’s something he shouldn’t have because for a moment, Reo just gaps at him, eyes widening and then looking away in a manner that his face is obscured by the longer side of his bangs. Mentally, Isagi berates himself for asking something so sensitive, but Reo answers him regardless.
“Honestly? Too much,” Reo’s eyes darken as he seems to recall some unsavory memories, but soon enough, it’s being replaced with the ghost of a smile on his lips, his eyes almost glisten with what appears to be admiration, or maybe that’s just the way Reo’s eyes always look, Isagi has noted the way they have an inherent sparkle to them that, according to Reo, is normal for humans, either way, Isagi finds himself captivated once again, “But thankfully, Nagi always scares them off for me. He’s not much of a fighter, but he’s big and can put on an intimidating face when he needs to.”
Isagi hums in response, the silence settling in between them is slightly awkward and neither of them meet each other's eyes. Eventually Isagi hears Reo sneeze, high pitched and cute, it reminds him of a kitten so much so that he can’t help but laugh a little, something that succeeds in getting Reo to giggle too.
When it subsides, Isagi clears his throat, “Sorry,” he says, “If that was imposing of me. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“Don’t worry about it!” Reo says with a big smile. He floats above Isagi once again, giving him a hearty pat on the chest as he beams and then looks at him with a softer expression, “It’s all in the past, promise.”
“Hm.”
Biting his bottom lip, Reo’s smile begins to grow again, “Awwww, you were worried about me, weren’t you? That’s sweet~”
“Of course I was worried! You’re my friend!” Isagi says, his embarrassment making him say it a bit too loudly and once again, the two of them are locked in a staring competition. But unlike what Isagi expects, Reo doesn’t make fun of him right away, instead looking flustered as he plays with his hair.
“I am?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmmm. Then, you’re my friend too, Yoichi,” Reo says, ignoring the way Isagi almost chokes on his spit at the sound of his first name, “Anyway, you never answered my question: Are you looking for a human answer or a demon answer?”
“Human?” Isagi says, not unaware of the way it comes out as a question.
“You’re crazy,” Reo says, “Or you have a stalker.”
“Well if I’m seeing you every other night, I must be crazy,” Isagi rolls his eyes. Biting his lip some more, he brought himself to ask something he’d considered keeping to himself, “You’re not messing with me, right? Like, it’s not you doing all those things?” Isagi waits for an answer, unable to see Reo as he floats towards the window. Right now Isagi can’t really move anything other than his eyes but without the ability to turn his head, all he can hear is the creak of his desk, no doubt Reo making himself at home and taking a seat.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” he says, “You’re cute and all, but I’m not interested.”
“Is it cus of—“
“Shut up!” Reo says, “How are you gonna act all scared only to tease me in the next breath? Pick an emotion, geeze.”
A stray pen hits Isagi’s face, thrown by none other than the purple haired man himself and though slightly annoyed, Isagi finds himself chuckling, “You’re one to talk.”
“Anyway, the department I work for doesn’t clear us for non-sleep paralysis related happenings,” Reo says casually. Isagi on the other hand will never not be baffled, “You humans like to think things logically, but in cases like this, the most logical explanation is that It’s possible that someone’s put a curse on you or sent a demon after you, in which case, there is another department that handles those things…” he trails off.
The man floats next to Isagi now, just slightly above him and Reo twirls a strand of hair around his finger. The room is dark, but Reo’s eyes cast a slight purple glow across his features, his cheeks darkening, flushed probably.
“Let me guess, ‘Nagi’ works for that department?” Isagi raises an eyebrow, smirking as Reo begins to sputter, looking affronted, opening his mouth to argue back before closing it and covering his face.
“He does, in fact,” Reo says, smiling but his voice is painfully strained. After a few moments, he managed to catch his bearings, face losing the tension it previously held and the pained smile transforming into a softer more subtle quirk of his lips. “Anyway!” He says, clearing his throat for the nth time. He’s been doing that a lot tonight and briefly, Isagi wonders if demons can get sick. He doesn’t dwell on the thought for too long, instead opting to watch as Reo crosses his arms, puffing his cheeks out “That’s besides the point. But I’ll be sure to ask him about it the next time I see him…”
“You really like this guy, huh?” Isagi teases.
“Oh hush!” Reo says defensively, “I never should’ve told you about that! It’s just a stupid crush.”
“A stupid crush on your best friend who you call your ‘treasure’ and scares off anyone that threatens you.” With a small laugh, Isagi rolls his eyes. Reo’s had his turn annoying Isagi, now it’s time for a taste of his own medicine. “I can’t believe you’re getting worked up over some guy—“
“Excuse you! Nagi is not just some guy ! He’s a genius! He’s incredible! He’s- he’s,” Reo takes a few deep breaths and then in a voice so quiet Isagi can barely hear, he continues, “he’s my treasure.”
“Gay, gay, homosexual, gay,” Isagi says.
“And to think only a second ago you were fearing for your life,” Reo rolls his eyes. Before Isagi can even open his mouth again, the reminder bringing back the concerned look, Reo speaks again, voice softer this time, sympathetic as he reassures Isagi, “From the sounds of it, this thing that’s following you around is probably just being sent to mess with you or to try and scare you away from something. If it’s really out to harm you, not to freak you out, but it would’ve done so already so either this thing is following you around without clearance or contract, which is punishable by termination depending on the company, or someone put a low-level haunt on you.”
“What do I do?”
“Hmmm, If it’s a strong demon then chances are, you can’t really do much if it actually tries to hurt you—”
“That’s not comforting at all,” Isagi whines.
“But! Just in case, carry around some salt with you and burn some sage or something.”
“That’ll really work?” Isagi asks, skeptical as he looks at Reo.
The man simply shrugs, “Usually not, but when demons are working for a company the way I am and those in other departments, we have to adhere to certain protocol and part of that entails maintaining a client’s level of superstition in mind. If you’re convinced that that kind of thing works, then we tend to back off a bit. In most cases, these companies aren’t exactly tryna kill you, just scare you a little.”
“Why?”
“Have you ever seen Monsters Inc? It’s kinda like that.” Reo says.
“Well, that’s stupid. And if this thing really wants to hurt me, then none of the things you said will actually work so thanks for nothing,” Isagi says with a sigh. He means to say it good-naturedly, but as the words escape his mouth, they come out sharper than intended, and just as Isagi guessed, Reo gasps at the perceived rudeness.
“I didn’t have to give you any advice at all, in fact, there’s nothing in my contract that says I even have to be amicable with you, so yeah! You know what? I’m out of here!”
Just as Reo says, he’s gone in a dramatic puff of smoke before Isagi can even reply. Is he allowed to do that? Isn’t this like clocking out of work early? Hopefully he doesn’t get Reo in trouble for this.
Either way, Isagi braces himself, having been through this a few times already, it’s always so disorienting when Reo leaves suddenly. Sure enough, Isagi feels himself become uncomfortably warm, chest heavy, breathing shallow. The room seems to spin for a second and then Isagi is bolting upright. He takes a look out the window, morning sun peaking through the blinds and Isagi sighs, another visit with his designated sleep paralysis demon over and done with. There’s no need to feel upset, Isagi, for as much as he hates the inability to move his body, has grown fond of his frequent chats with Reo. Not that he’d ever tell the man, lest he tease Isagi even more.
At least he’s regained control over his body.