Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Romancing Lucifer ❯ Contract 20: Symbiosis ( Chapter 20 )

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Romancing Lucifer

Contract 20: Symbiosis

By: Melissa Norvell

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Kazuza and Yaone finally arrived at her little house. The blonde opened the door as her pink-haired friend looked around with excitement. He was like a little child, opening their eyes for the first time. The way Kazuza looked at objects, picking them up and examining them, or gazing at them from afar was eccentric. His eyes shown with excitment and his smile widened as he took in all of the new information around him. After he walked around and studied all there was to study, he then turned to the blonde. "So, this is your house, Yaone?"

"Yeah, this is about it. I don't know what you were expecting but don't get too disappointed," Yaone didn't really see what the big deal was about her house. There was nothing there that was truly worthy of admiration. It was actually pretty simple in design and structure.

Kazuza traveled along the shelves, gazing at all of the angel statues. "How interesting. You seem to really fancy dark angels."

"I grew up around them all of my life. I was even supposed to be wed to one," the blonde then glanced down as painful memories filled her head of a time that she would have rather forgotten about. It was because of her own misfortune that she was in the predicament that she was and she had no one to blame but herself.

Kazuza spun around, holding his wrist as he looked at her with a somewhat solemn expression. He felt a little guilty about his state of being, and he could feel the sorrow resonating from the girl. "Do you think that I am a burden to you because of the situation?" It was true that he was nothing like Lucifer and the flower prince felt as if he was merely a small tag along that she wouldn't form a proper bond with, and that was something that bothered him more than he was willing to say.

"I can't say you're not an inconvenience but I can't say that I don't mind you around either. Don't worry about it. I didn't expect to have you around. It's just a little awkward." Why would he ask that kind of question so early? They had barely spent time together, so it was a little soon to make that kind of call. Yaone thought that he could have given her a little time to adjust to their new situation.

"I'll try not to be a burden," Kazuza didn't want the two of them to grow apart. He needed Yaone like a life line. Her very existence and emotions decided his fate from day to day. He was completely dependent on her.

"Don't worry about it," the blonde replied, yawning a little. Ever since the man had been around she had felt exceedingly tired and her appearance reflected it. "Let's work on getting you situated. We need to find a place for you to sleep."

"With you, of course," Kazuza had no shame in pointing out his place. He smiled and cocked his head to the side, as if it were a fact that they would be sleeping together from that point onward.

Yaona frowned and put a hand to her forehead, then leveled the flower with a steely gaze. "You'll sleep on the floor for now. I'll only let you sleep with me when I get to know you well enough. It's rude to invite yourself into my bed." Honestly, who the hell did this guy think he was to be so brazen?

"I follow your commands and I am to please you," Kazuza's words were vague but she got the point of them.

"In what way?" Yaone put a hand on her hip and resting her weight to one side.

"In any way you desire. I am yours to use, yours to do with what you please and even yours to kill if you need to...or even if you want to." That was the rules, the terms and conditions in which he was allowed to exist. That was Kazuza's reason to be.

Yaone arched an eyebrow, "and how do you feel about that?" Surely he wasn't as passive as he claimed to be. Kazuza had to have an opinion about it all. To think that the plant prince was just some air head who followed her every whim would be a gross understatement of what Lucifer had created him for.

Kazuza blinked in confusion. He had never been asked something like that, something about his own opinion. "What do you mean?"

"It's every living entity's wish to be free. Doesn't being restrained by riles and oppression make you resent it?" There was no way in hell that the pink-haired man before her liked the position that he was put in. It was against human nature to simply go along with everything like he had.

"Demons are different than humans. We don't question and we're loyal. I would never lie to you. Besides, if our contract goes bad then one of two things will happen - you'll die or I'll die." That was really all there was to it. It wasn't hard to get. Even Lucifer had told her what was up and how things worked. They lived in symbiosis now, and there was nothing that she could do about it that didn't involve killing either of them.

Yaone felt her vision get blurry, then blinked a couple of times to correct it. As it clarified, she sighed to herself, clearly in a grumpy mood. "That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking if you like being bound to a human."

"I was created for you. I was preset to like you. I knew that I was destined to love you." It wasn't as if he had a choice, to serve her was literally transcribed into his DNA. Everything about him was birthed into existence for her.

"So...you're a flower?" That's what she had heard, anyway. It was something to that effect, she was certain.

"Yes, I am a special type of flower called a Chaos Flower. I am used in spells, mostly associated with the underworld. Few Chaos Flowers exist in the human world," Kazuza gave the girl a brief lesson on his type and purpose. However, in the middle of his lecture, the blonde swayed slightly.

Yaone's vision blurred again. She stumbled forward a little but caught herself. The girl's breathing was slowed and she felt her metabolism drop substantially. 'Why do I feel so tired? I got plenty of sleep last night but I'm exhausted.'

"What's wrong? You look like you're about to pass out," Kazuza rushed over to his master, putting his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to stabilize her body so that she didn't sway anymore. The girl looked absolutely drained, as if she could fall onto the floor and sleep the day away.

"I'm just tired," Yaone tried to wave it off. If she got some sleep, then she would be energized again and back to her spunky, normal self.

"Will you be alright?" The flower was worried about her condition. Perhaps it would have been better if she went and laid down.

Finding the nearest chair, Yaone slowly sat down. She was so confused. Why was she this tired all of a sudden? "I just...don't understand. I got plenty of sleep last night but I'm exhausted." It made no sense. There was no way that she should have been so tired. She hardly did anything that took a lot of energy that day.

"You can get tired from having too much sleep," Kazuza pointed a finger into the air matter-of-factly. Just as someone could be tired from lack of sleep, it was very true that they could become tired from sleeping too much. Perhaps that was why the girl had been so tired. Maybe it was merely having too much sleep that day that she had felt the way that she did.

Yaone looked at him, as if trying to process his words through her haze. "Yeah, but that just gives you a headache. This isn't like that. This is like a fatigue. It's as if my body has been drained of everything at a fast rate." It was like she was zapped suddenly and left with little to nothing. 'Usually, that kind of thing only works with spell craft or parasitic magic.'

Could that have possibly been what this was?

"You should get rest for a while," Kazuza patted her shoulders. It would have been for the best if she listened to him. Yaone really was tired, and she was falling asleep on him as it was.

The blonde looked stubborn as she tried to fight against the sensation. "I can't do that. I have to get in touch with Seraj and discuss things with him."

"What kind of things?" Kazuza wondered aloud.

"Things about you, and what exactly you're doing here by my side," she still didn't understand the situation completely, so she was going to go and clarify things. It wasn't as if Lucifer's words were the clearest things uttered into existence. He was far vaguer than most people could ever be and the reasons behind his actions were only things he knew of and discussed with no one.

"We are to be wed. I'll be your husband as long as you care for me. I am forever devoted to you," Kazuza didn't think that she really needed a reason to go and talk about what his purpose was. He would gladly explain all that she needed to know about him. All she had to do was ask him personally.

"Well, don't be," Yaone replied.

Her answer confused the flower. "Huh?"

"You're a living thing. I only want you to like me because you genuinely do, not because Lucifer forced you into this contract with me." That wasn't how relationships worked and it wasn't going to be how her relationship with him worked, either. Like hell Yaone was going to wed some mindless flower man who followed her around like a helpless puppy. He had to have somewhat of a free will or she wanted nothing to do with him.

Kazuza placed a hand over his chest and stood straight. "Then that is my solemn vow. I'll only tell you that I love you when I feel my heart flutter around you, and the longing in my heart isn't from the effects of the spell. However, couldn't we at least be friends?" It was illogical that they just not have a relationship at all when his feelings were programmed for her. It was better that they at least have some type of relationships.

"I'll give you what you want if you do that for me." It was all she could ask.

"Yes, my lady."

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At school, Yaone, Seraj and Kazuza stood beside of a fountain. The winds blew and sweet smell of the afternoon air flooded their senses. Yaone explained her story to the dark-haired Nepali. She told him about Kazuza as well as her situation with Lucifer and what she was left to deal with as a result. The boy listened to her, seated on the rim of the fountain.

"So, that's it, huh?" Seraj's eyes shifted to the flower prince who stood faithfully beside of the blonde. "He's your little pet because you did what Lucifer told you to and trapped me further in my relationship," his frown deepened and his gaze hardened on her. "Damn you and you sly ways."

Yaone was still showing signs of being tired. It felt as if it took a staggering amount of energy just to talk and her voice was now showing the signs of fatigue that her body was. "Kazuza will be by my side from here on out. He was created by a flower and Lucifer's magic."

"So, is he an illusion or is he real?" If Kazuza was magic then wasn't he an illusion that would just fade away if he lost his luster? Seraj didn't understand how a person could be comprised of magic and still be considered real.

"He's very real. This is the man that I'm set up to get married to. We'll be together from here on out." Lucifer wouldn't have created him if he didn't have a purpose for him. While Kazuza was spawned from magic, it didn't mean that he was fake by any means. He had a body and a soul, just as the two of them did. Something that had feelings like those he had couldn't possibly be fake.

"Well, have fun with your tag along. Lucifer is bad enough for me," Seraj was happy that she was the one with the issues now and he could walk around with only one person on his ass. It was the biggest person to have on his ass, so he thanked whatever merciful spirits that had blessed him with some small fortune.

At this point, Yaone could care less about Seraj's sarcasm. She was on the verge of collapse. "I just don't know how I'm going to keep him a secret. He's not exactly someone who blends into the background." It was bad enough that he looked like he had complete lack of sunlight his whole life, but he wore such flamboyant and brightly-colored clothes that he would be the first thing that happened to catch anyone's eyes.

"He has pink hair. Do you honestly think it would be hard to find him?" There weren't many guys Seraj even knew that had that color hair, much less an odd color of hair in general. His features morphed into concern for the girl, however. He noticed how half-lidded and tired she was. Yaone barely managed to stay in her upright position without snapping herself back awake at odd intervals of their conversation. "Uh...Do you need to sit down? You look like you're about to pass out."

"I'm just tired," Yaone lazily waved off his offer. She was going to fight sleep until it won, that she was confident on.

"Why? I've never seen you look like this before. Don't you get enough sleep?" Maybe she stayed up late practicing whatever demonic spells she learned. Yaone needed to take care of herself. Even if she was the girl who got him into this mess, he didn't want to see her die of sleep exhaustion.

"That's the thing; I don't even know why I'm tired. I've been trying to figure it out all day long," she had been trying so hard that she had managed to give herself a headache over the whole fiasco. Yaone hated not having control over her bodily functions and any time they deviated from the norm, it uneased her.

"You should rest when we go back to your house," Kazuza was still intent on having his friend gets some rest. She really should take care of herself. It would be for her own good.

"Yeah, I plan on it," Yaone just wanted to talk to Seraj first. In hindsight, she would have gone to sleep by now just to avoid hearing anyone else question her about it. People were beginning to sound like broken records repeating over and over.

"It's nice to meet you, Seraj," Kazuza bowed formally.

"Yeah...We'll probably be seeing more of each other now that you're involved, too." Great. That's just what he needed, someone else to meddle and pry. It wasn't like Lucifer was horrible enough on his own.

"It will be interesting working with you. I've heard a lot about you from Lucifer, and I've been observing you from a far," Kazuza smiled at the famed boy that his creator spoke so highly of.

"What?" Seraj couldn't believe it, then again he could. He was being stalked by a fucking flower. Why was this not shocking anymore?

"I am Flower Prince Kazuza, born from the mysterious red and black flower that has sat in the vase on your bedroom table." So that was it. Kazuza was one of the flowers that Lucifer had given him.

Seraj's face lit up with shock. "What? How can that be? Are you some kind of freak flower? I was wondering how you even managed to live as long as you have. All I did was kept you watered," Kazuza really wasn't lying. That man had even seen him naked at several points in time. He knew all about what he did by himself and his habits and conversations. The more he thought about it, the more it freaked him out on many levels.

The smile on the pink-haired man's face widened. "Lucifer took good care of me. I'm a magical flower, only found in hell called the Chaos Flower. I can live for hundreds of years."

So, that was it. He was some old-ass flower that watched him. This just kept getting more and more disturbing. Seraj couldn't squint any harder even if he tried. "Wait...does that mean that...oh hell..."

"Yes, I have seen what you and Lucifer do." That wasn't what Seraj was asking. Now the conversation took on a whole new life.

"What!?! You'd better shut up about what you've seen!" Seraj held up a balled fist, trying to look as menacing as possible. He didn't want a damned thing said about what went down in his bed room.

Tired blue eyes drifted over to the Nepali boy. "Speaking of your relationship with him, how are things between the both of you?"

Oh, Yaone picked a perfect time to ask that question.

"I guess its fine. I'm putting up with it, like I normally do," Seraj's tone was disgruntled as he folded his arms over his chest, staring down the flower as if he were silently telling him to keep his mouth shut. 'Like hell I'm telling her anything about what I feel about Lucifer. That flower boy will tell her what he's seen already. Damned spies.'

He was fucked one way or another, it didn't matter who was doing it to him.

"That's it? Nothing particularly interesting?" She asked and put her hand to her mouth, yawning for what seemed like the millionth time in their conversation.

"You should tell her," the nosey flower prodded him only to receive the blunt end of his anger.

"I told you to shut up," Seraj warned. He wasn't having any of Kazuza's bullshit.

"Well, Lucifer will tell her if you don't," the flower continued to taunt him. He continued to poke and prod at whatever was left of his sanity. That damned hell spawn was after him in one way or another.

Seraj continued to cast his steely glare at him.

"Lucifer wouldn't lie about that, hm?" There he went again, teasing him with his playful tone. Seraj wanted to ring his little neck.

"Lucifer lies all of the time...about everything. What makes his words the truth?" Even if Lucifer did tell them about his misdeeds, there was no solid proof he could provide that would make him worth believing.

"That's true with anyone. Everyone can speak but not everyone means what they say." What was this? Bullshit cryptic riddle time?

"What are you? Some philosopher or something now? Stop trying to read into me just because you know some of my personal life," Kazuza was really beginning to grind his gears. Right now, he wished that man would disappear into being magic again.

The ground blurred as Yaone struggled to stay awake, but this time she had already lost the battle. She attempted to focus her eyes to concentrate but it was too late, the girl had already begun her descent into darkness. 'Shit...I can't stay awake much longer. I can't even concentrate on the ground. Everything is blurry. I can't think and I don't even know what's-' Her thoughts were cut off as she felt weightless. Her blonde hair moved past her face as she began to fall to the ground. Her body made impact as Seraj and Kazuza turned around simultaneously, their voices sounded together in perfect harmony in the last word she could make out before succumbing to exhaustion.

"Yaone!"

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She slept on a white bed in a sterile room. All around her, she was surrounded by surgical instruments, a white, tile floor and white walls with milky lighting bathing her body as she rested in pristine sheets. Kazuza stood by her side, and watched her as she slept. Seraj sat in a chair that rested against the wall as a nurse walked up to him.

"She's extremely tired and very weak. I'm surprised that she even came to school that lackadaisical," the nurse said with a worried expression on her face. The fact that Yaone had lasted that long was unnerving. "She needs to get a good rest for a couple of days and then she should be able to get on her feet again. She's just extremely fatigued and needs to go home for the rest of the day."

Kazuza glanced back at the two. "I can take her home. We live together, anyway. I'll make sure that she's fine and gets back on her feet again."

The nurse turned to the unique-looking man and gave him a nod. "Alright, I'll alert her teachers that she won't be in class for a while."

"Then I'll head back to class," Seraj's work was done there. At least the blonde was sleeping now. He couldn't believe that she was so negligent with her sleeping habits. Yaone needed to take better care of herself and stop wasting her time on someone like Lucifer.

"W-What happened?" The girl slowly cracked open her eyes and greeted them in groggy question. After a few minutes, she slowly sat up and glanced around the nurse's office, seeing Kazuza, Seraj and the nurse staring at her. Her body felt fuzzy and her head spun slightly.

The nurse tilted her head, smiling pleasantly. "Hello Yaone, how are you feeling?"

"I feel really tired still...How did I get here? What happened?" All she remembered was talking to Kazuza and Seraj and then waking up to a room that was so white it blinded her to look at it for too long.

"You fainted when Seraj and I were talking. You just fell over out of nowhere. You must have really been feeling drained," Kazuza explained her situation to her.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I must be sick or something," the blonde was still confused over her state. Why was she so tired when she had done nothing to cause her fatigue? She didn't get it.

"Maybe you're just not feeling well," Seraj stated another possibility. The girl could have been getting ill and not realizing it.

"Well, I don't feel dizzy or anything. I just feel tired. It's like I don't have any energy at all. I guess I blacked out when you guys were talking. I don't even remember what you were talking about. I was trying to hard to stay awake that I wasn't concentrating on the conversation." Half of the time their words were blurry or she faded in and out so many times that nothing made sense to her anymore. She turned, dangling her legs over the hospital bed.

"It seems that you've overexerted yourself. We should go home, Yaone," Kazuza smiled at her, hoping that she would finally take his advice.

The girl nodded, "...yeah."

"You're already checked out of school for at least three days. Mrs. Otonaki said that you were pretty far gone and she recommended that you go straight home." It really was for her own good, and Seraj hoped that she would actually listen to the nurse and do what she was told.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of you," Kazuza knew exactly how to cater to her needs. It was encoded into his DNA, after all.

"Aren't I supposed to be taking care of you?" Yaone thought their relationship was one that went both ways. She felt bad preaching to him about free will only to have him be put back into the same subservient position he had before.

"We have a symbiotic relationship. We help each other and rely on each other," Kazuza reminded her of what they had talked about earlier.

"That makes sense," Yaone didn't want to admit it, but she had no choice but to comply. She wasn't in a position to be too defiant.

"So for now, I'll help you. Besides, you've helped me far more than you know," the flower smiled cryptically at his master. Her contributions to him so far were more than he could have ever hoped for, so he didn't mind playing caretaker for a while. It was the very least he could do for her.

"But, I haven't done anything, really," Yaone was really confused at what she did to make him think that she had done something important for him. Kazuza acted like she saved his life or something, and that definitely was not the case.

Kazuza's smile widened, "you have, trust me." He held his hand out and the girl took it as he gently pulled her up off of the bed. The mattress made cracking noises from the paper sheets as she was pulled up and stood on her feet. His gently kissed her hand, looking up to her with those strange, red eyes of his. "Now...shall we go home?"

"Sure..." Yaone glanced back to the Nepali, fatigue still evident on her face. "See you around, Seraj."

"Yeah," Seraj nodded.

"I'll talk to you about him when I'm better." That was a promise. If anything, they were going to talk about that subject. It wasn't going to leave her mind until it got discussed.

"Not looking forward to it," and he wasn't. She could take all three days off to heal for all he cared. Lucifer wasn't the best topic for him, and bringing it up at any point in time never made him interested.

"Farewell, Seraj," Kazuza clung to the girl's arm as they turned to walk out of the nurse's office.

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The two walked home down the concrete walkways. Kazuza provided support for the tired girl, and if he had to, he would carry her to her house himself. It was silent for a while, and all that could be heard were the sounds of footsteps and the faint noises of a few birds that rested in nearby trees.

Kazuza looked at the tired features of his master. "You had me worried back there. I didn't think you'd wake up for a while at all." The girl must have fallen right into deep sleep.

"I feel like I could just fall over," even after resting, Yaone didn't feel like doing much of anything. Her body felt heavy and her eyelids felt the urge to close every time she blinked.

An arm wrapped around her the girl's shoulders gently as the smell of sweet flowers, more fragrant than anything she had ever smelled before, flooded her senses as Kazuza offered to help her walk. Yaone told him that she had appreciated the gesture. In truth, she wouldn't have been able to walk on her own the whole way there without passing out.

"You really do plan on staying with me, don't you?" She could see that this flower proved to be a stubborn weed that wasn't going to uproot himself so easily from her life.

"I'll be at your side forever, my dear Yaone," he intended on sticking to that promise of his.

"Do you think all I really need is rest, or do you think that there's something wrong with me?" The blonde wanted the opinion of someone else, and since Kazuza was the only available person to talk to, she thought that she'd confide in him. Demons were more aware of changes than humans were, and if her condition wasn't ordinary for a human to go through, he would have been able to tell her so.

"I think you're just tired. I'll run you a hot bath. It will help your muscles relax." Surely that sounded like a good idea. He just hoped that she wouldn't fall asleep in the tub as a result.

"Just watch me and make sure I don't fall asleep." They were on the same brainwaves with those thoughts. Yaone didn't want to accidentally drown in the tub. How stupid would that be?

When they walked into the house, Yaone rested on the couch as the flower ran her a hot bath. The steam from the water rose, feeling moist and hot against his face. It was the perfect temperature to relax her in. Retreating from the bath, he fetched the girl, waking her up as the two went to the bathroom and he undressed her and told her that he would keep her from falling asleep as he had promised before. The blonde agreed as he began to undress her.

The girl stepped into the tub, submerging herself in water. The hot sensation caressed her nude form, offering her comfort and relaxing her tired muscles. Sighing, she allowed her body to untense as she leaned backwards against the back of the tub and untied her hair. The blonde locks flowed down into the water, but was then moved over her shoulder as the hands of the flower began to wash her shoulder, scrubbing away at her porcelain skin.

Yaone closed her eyes. "That feels good, actually." It was as if all of the dirt was being cleansed from her. For some reason, she had always liked the feeling of bathing and how clean it made her feel afterward. That fresh feeling was the most wonderful thing in the world, and it brought a smile to her face.

"You're so tired. You should get a good night's rest tonight. It seems as if you've been taking so much stress on yourself. You must have a lot of worries." If she was that exhausted, then surely that must have been the reason. People held a lot of mental stress and that could make someone feel tired even if they hadn't done anything intensely physical.

"Between Seraj and Lucifer, I don't know what to do sometimes. I know that I'm stuck in this pact until I make Lucifer happy. I don't mind that at all, really. A part of me still loves him but not in a romantic way anymore," Yaone tried to look thoughtful, attempting to process what thoughts going through her head, trying to make them connect in some way.

Kazuza continued to smile, only his placid gesture twisted into one with darker intent. Streams of white, smog-like substances flowed from her body and into his fingertips as he continued to wash her. His voice took on a dark edge as he spoke. "I'll make you see that you can confide in me. We have a very special relationship, after all."

Half way coherent, Yaone's head fell forward as she felt herself on the edge of sleep. "We'll see...Maybe I can learn to love you...Flower Prince Kazuza..."

...To Be Continued