2 Deal!

"Where...the hell am I?" Takumi exclaimed in a shocked tone as he glared at his unfamiliar surroundings.

The muffled noises of water flowing in his ear had irritated him enough to stir him back to consciousness. He'd thought that some drops of water had simply found a way to drip into his ear and attempted to move away from its source. to his surprise, a single movement by his limb caused his entire body to sway smoothly as if suspended in a body of water...which was basically where he was, a large, empty, surface less, bottomless space filled with water and an unknown source of light that well illuminated the void.

His first reaction was perfectly human, to hold his breath so as to not suffocate in the sea of water around him, then his logic kicked in and he quickly noticed how peculiar the water was...how the hell did he manage to speak? Unsure of whether or not he had muttered those words at first in his mind or out loud, he was hesitant to make another attempt. If he were to make the mistake of voicing out more words, he could deplete the oxygen within him, lowering his chances of making it out alive but if he didn't give it a shot, he might end up suffocating to death thanks to his own ignorance...but wasn't he dead already??

It didn't make sense to him, how was he alive? why was he in some sea? and why the hell couldn't he see any surface to swim to? The questions were too much for him to process at a go which led him to ignore them all as fast as they had entered his mind. He had more important things to worry about...and frankly speaking, he didn't know what to do next. sucking up every manly courage within him, all he could do now was simply give up and let loose. If he was truly alive, then the distance he had to cover to make it back to the surface was too far for his lungs to handle, he wasn't a good swimmer to begin with anyway. If he was dead, then this would be painless...best bet would be that he was merely a ghost that phased into the depths of the sea. Considering this, Takumi shut his eyes with a tight force before letting out all the air within him.

A cold silence passed with each second as Takumi awaited for something to occur, but to his surprise, not a single thing happened. In fact, he'd been unknowingly breathing in for the past silent moments...which made absolutely no sense. Slowly, Takumi re-opened his eyes to the same empty environment that had initially engulfed him. At this point, he'd found no reason to even consider thinking about it. All logic had basically left the chat, Water + human= no breathing...or so he'd initially believed. So how the hell was he still breathing.

"I'm...a ghost?" He muttered to himself in a short surprise which instantly got replaced by a quickly growing smile. "IM A GHOST!"

His mind raced with every single possibility brought by his newly found reality...now that he was a "ghost" he could basically do everything he wished to do! Travel to Dubai, Investigate space, maybe even mess around with some celebrities by making them think their house was haunted...or better yet spy on every girl he'd ever want to see! The possibilities were endless!...or so he'd hoped.

"Oh...you're awake?" An echoing voice rung across Takumi's mind, spreading a piercing headache that left him gripping his hair in an attempt to ease the pain.

"A lost soul that loves slumbering, You're a peculiar one Takumi." The voice continued in a teasing tone that now sounded more feminine than it first did.

In a swift attempt to find the source of the voice, Takumi blindly shifted his gaze from one point to another hoping to see a figure or even a speaker. His search was short lived since no sign of life be it physical or technological existed anywhere near him. In his eyes, only he was here and no other person...so where was the voice coming from. Instantly, his mind clicked in place and the first thing it did was resort to religion.

"Are you God?" He mumbled out after giving up his search, hoping that he'd get an affirmative response or anything of that sort. But instead, all he got was an echoed laughter that seemed not close and not far either.

"Am I God?" The voice muttered in its continued laughter, "Oh dear me, No!" It continued in its now common echo.

"Then what the hell are you?" He responded, now having no other explanation of who the source might be.

Almost immediately he said that, a pair of hands gripped onto his shoulders, sending a wave of shivers running down his spine. The atmosphere had changed drastically. The weightlessness he once felt was now gone, he felt heavier than usual. In fact it was as if something was pulling him down with a force he couldn't resist against. Who exactly was this entity, and how could she simply instill fear into him by just a single touch?

The atmosphere was early to change but the environment wasn't one to be left behind. In a swift moment, the light that had once illuminated the water around him now faded away, leaving him in an unexplainable darkness. It was as if a droplet of ink had managed to stain a pool of water and was gradually corrupting it to the bottom. If he could sweat, Takumi might had done that in that moment. No words were needed for the entity to introduce herself as someone not friendly in nature.

"It's bold of you to speak still, even after straying this far past heaven." The voice commented, throwing away Takumi's question as if he had never muttered it.

In a sly manner, the hands slowly slid down to his chest, easily stiffening him up into a solid structure. But as if they were reconsidering, they slowly slid back up to his shoulders before letting go of him. A short moment of silence enveloped him, one which he couldn't bear. For a moment, he nearly believed he heard his heart beat!

"But then again, it can't be sheer luck that you ended up here with me of all people." The voice commented again, this time clearly sounding as if it were walking behind him. Even the echo had disappeared.

interested yet still slightly frightened, Takumi shifted his gaze to meet who had been talking to him and immediately he did so, he found himself immobile. One look and he could immediately tell what exactly she was...it was obvious. Cascading raven-black hair framed a face that bore a haunting beauty, with piercing crimson eyes that seemed to hold the secrets of countless realms. Her attire, a mix of flowing dark silks and intricate, ancient symbols, hinted at a timeless existence. Her slender figure moved with a sinuous grace, exuding an aura of both allure and danger. A sly, enigmatic smile played upon her lips, revealing a subtle amusement that he couldn't understand. Was she planning to torture him before sending him to hell?

"You're a demon!" He unknowingly spouted out to the supernatural entity before him who equally locked gazes with him. This comment seemed to react well with her. Her smile widened, exposing her clean frontal teeth from canine to canine.

"Kurayami Hime" she responded calmly before turning away to face the endless void that seemed to be her home in a manner that suggested that she too was indulged with her own thoughts.

The name, though unfamiliar to him, was enough to send shivers down his spine again. "Princess of Darkness"...anyone would refrain from interacting with anyone holding such a name, not to mention a demon that has it. It was enough to leave him stiff for a short moment as well. Why did she just randomly utter those words though? He slightly eased up hoping that she simply muttered out her thoughts out loud.

"P...Pardon?" he stuttered.

"My names are Kurayami Hime, I'd prefer you call me Hime rather than just shouting "Demon!" every time." She responded, not turning to face Takumi who still remained stiff. Then, as if finally coming to a conclusion, she quickly snapped back to him before effortlessly levitating all the way to his front in the blink of an eye.

"I get it now!" she blurted out, startling Takumi who had just processed how close she was.

"You coming here was never a coincidence, How can a soul even get lost on its way to heaven or hell?" she continued before retreating a bit in a carefree manner as if she was simply flowing with the dark waters.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Takumi mumbled out, getting back to his initial state after that short startle.

A soul getting lost on its way to heaven? Was that even possible? Not that he even cared, Takumi wasn't the type to enjoy any aspect of religion. He found it a bore. Rules here and there, obligations everywhere and restrictions from left to right. He saw that life as a barrier towards self improvement...which he never succeeded at anyway.

"You Takumi, I'm talking about you!" she continued before approaching him again. This time, she swiftly placed her index on his forehead in a manner that barely caused their skin to come into contact. The reaction was almost instantaneous, a sharp piercing headache filled his head as memories flashed past him at an alarming speed.

"You're one of the few who get this chances huh, I just didn't think that I'd be chosen to do this." She continued, retreating away from Takumi who now struggled against the pain as he endured watching his entire life flash before his eyes...literally.

"A shitty life and a shitty end just doesn't cut it. I guess there's a limit to how much misfortune anyone can endure...how interesting." She added, calmly glaring at Takumi who now had completed re-living his life through his memories and frankly, he didn't enjoy any bit of it.

"what the hell do you keep talking about and why the hell am I here?!" He blurted out in a slight frustration as the splitting headache finally began calming down.

"Ugh, how slow can someone get. This is your second chance dummy!" She responded, drawing a sly smile on her face as she observed Takumi's predicted reaction.

Well, in simpler terms...she misunderstood what she saw. Usually, a person gets surprised then slowly realizes it and then finally get overjoyed by how much they are going to change their lives. But in Takumi's case, he got surprised...then instantly retreated back unknowingly with a grim expression on his face.

"You want me to re-live that hellish life all over again? No, absolutely not! Id rather die in hell than go back there!" He muttered out, leaving Kurayami lost for words.

For the first time in who knows how long, a sane person actually denied the chance to live a new life on a clean slate over again. Takumi wasn't even willing to think about it twice! Even considering trading it for a space in hell...this was rather fascinating to her in every way. A sly smile quickly re-drew its self on her face. There was only one thing she could do now, one that she had been desperately waiting to do for centuries.

"Is that so...then what if I put in an irresistible offer?" She commented slyly, staring into Takumi's rejecting eyes. As expected, her manner of wording it out managed to interest him.

"An offer?" He mumbled out in response. His tone held a definite note of interest that Kurayami was most definitely after.

"I can give you power to live life in a different way, far better than how you used to live...but I do need something in return for this." she continued, having satisfactorily found the full interest of her intended audience.

The thought of living life again with how his life used to be before was not something satisfactory in Takumi's mind. In all honesty, when he had heard that she had an irresistible offer, he thought she was offering him to live in a new body...a whole new life. But the thought of having demonic abilities also didn't seem wrong to him. In fact, If he could manage to get them and use how he wishes, it could drastically improve his life by far...what he was worried about now was what exactly Kurayami wanted in return. A deal with a demon was something he'd only seen in movies or action packed animes...none of them ended in good terms for anyone involved.

"What exactly do you want in return?" He questioned, clearly concerned about the terms of this deal.

If he were to accept blindly, he might end up being enslaved by the demon or even working for her as her soldier against man-kind. It was an ambitious thought fueled by sheer movie knowledge, but it was enough to keep him cautious. With a widened grin, Kurayami simply pointed to what he assumed to be the sky and glared back at Takumi.

"The overworld...I want to live there. But to go there I must be connected to a human soul...i'm guessing you know what im asking for here." She responded calmly, surprising Takumi for a moment since he'd expected her request to be much more than just that.

Or perhaps, was there more to it? Was he simply overthinking it or underthinking it? No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't truly guess what her intentions would be. Did connecting to a human soul mean enslaving it or was it simply a term to mean something like marriage? Well, clearly Takumi wasn't truly the sharpest tool in the shack but who could blame him? A deal with a demon was not a small matter in any aspect.

"What exactly do you mean by "connecting to a human soul"?" He questioned, now interested in learning more about this deal.

"A pact." She hastily responded. Her tone held a slight hint of excitement which she barely managed to conceal. On normal occasions, Takumi might have noticed it but at the moment, it simply slid past him.

"A what?" He questioned again, confused by the new vocabulary that he had no knowledge of.

"Its like a deal. You get my abilities in exchange for whatever I want." She hastily responded again, not interested in diving deep into the details that seemed unnecessary.

"A deal...an exchange between me and you having you abilities on stake here and in exchange all you want is to live in my world? That's it?" He questioned slightly in disbelief. It was too good to be true, way too good to be true.

The abilities a demon could possess was beyond his knowledge but he knew they weren't small either. Exchanging that for a free pass to the normal world was just too simple to be something a demon would say. Yet as much as he thought about it, he couldn't see any dishonesty in her.

"Look, you getting my abilities will help you create a life you had always desired...and me leaving this empty void is enough to clean the deal. Do you want it or not?" She let out in her final attempt to draw Takumi into completing the deal. As expected again, it worked.

He was left with no choice in the first place. He didn't to go to hell considering he didn't believe in it nor did he want to go back to his life and live it all over again. It was the best option he could pick. What would happen afterwards would all happen...he was ready to accept it all. As such, with the shrugging of his shoulders and the release of a deep sigh, he glared at the demonic entity before him with a new found resolution.

"Alright then, its a deal. I accept." He let out finally easing the tension that had grown within Kurayami.

In an instant, the entire space began rumbling, swaying Takumi uncontrollably from side to side. It was as if something was attempting to pull him back from an unknown depth...and at the end it succeeded.

With an incredible speed, Takumi's body flew downwards as if being pulled by an invisible rope at an incredible speed. The last he saw of the void he was stuck in was a wide smile on Kurayami's face as she uttered words he couldn't hear, after that, his body simply flew threw a bundle of clouds before dipping further down at an even more alarming rate.

The wind blew harder and the ground became more and more visible as he quickly found himself dropping towards a familiar building. But before he could even make out what it was, his body phased into its roof and crashed onto another lying body with a heavy gush of wind that blew the windows open.

His eyes were fast to open and heavy gasps escaped him followed by droplets of sweat.

"Im...alive?" He mumbled out after slowly catching his breath.