3 try to achieve

Death.

In reality, that was his goal. To die. It was all Chichi could ever feel satisfied with. It felt like it was all he was here for, considering it was the one thing he couldn't do as an immortal.

He just wanted to die. He'd lived far too long.

Familiar machinery hummed in the back of his mind. The demon was back in his safe warehouse, staring blankly at the card Kira had shoved into his pocket. He didn't want to take up the offer, considering it went against absolutely everything he'd learnt in the decades he'd been alive. It was, well, wrong.

So why did he feel such a surge of hope every time he so much as glanced at it?

Chichi felt hopeless and hopeful at the same time. For once, he'd discovered a link to who he might really be. How to achieve his goals. The card that was like a key to his peaceful end, held loosely in between his fingers.

He knew where the address was. He knew how to get there. And he knew he wanted to.

What was holding him back?

His tail was sitting out this time. It was dark out, after all, and he always knew he was 100 percent safe in the warehouse at night. His beanie laid beside him also.

His eyes were staring simply at the card as he fiddled it between his sharp fingers. Sitting cross legged and hunched, it was his only interest for the time being.

Maybe he should go. Just to give it a shot.

He always thought he was open minded, right?

Chichi groaned as he clawed at his head in indeciseveness. He should go. He would go.

Getting up before deciding against it, he wrapped his tail under his jumper again as he put on the beanie.

His eyes narrowed at the front doors this time. He never felt safe to go out of his safe place-- the warehouse-- at night, but this time he wouldn't have to break an arm to get out without being spotted.

Remembering off the top of his head, he efficiently entered the unlock code on the keypad beside the door, and as it flashed green, he scurried out to the address he originally hoped to avoid.

≡≡≡≡≡

Like the lame coward he was, the demon had ended up skirting around the nearby area in indecisiveness. It was closed, unsurprisingly, since it was nighttime when he'd started to make his way there, and so he hung in the alleyways for an hour at a time until he noticed people start making their way in as the sun rose for what looked to be a beautiful morning.

Chichi had doubted how sophisticated the establishment would've been, but his expectations were blown away when he saw a clearly expensive skyscraper among the others nearby.

It blended in and looked like it belonged to some corrupted finance company, but as he checked the card once more, he confirmed it was the place he was looking for.

Taking heavy steps, Chichi clenched and unclenched his hands due to their clammy nature.

He hadn't noticed how terrified he got when he realized he might be able to change things.

"Is that... you?"

Chichi whipped his head to the left at the familiar voice. Although they were wearing a simple flowy dress with a wide brimmed hat, their hair let down... He could tell it was Kira. He wouldn't miss that irritating voice.

"You came! Oh my gosh, c'mon then," She absolutely beamed, happy as all hell that her friend came as she asked.

"Don't get any fuckin' ideas-"

"It's alright, it's alright," She reassured him awkwardly as she hummed. Taking ahold of the demon's jumper, she led him into the lobby of the building. The closer they got to... understanding anything at all, the more Chichi's breathing sped up.

He was okay, though.

"Hello!" Kira greeted the receptionist with a wave, and they smiled back. Clearly they knew who she was, Chichi thought, as they headed for the elevators. Fumbling around, the girl took out a sleek black card and tapped it on a panel, activating the elevators for them.

"You excited?" She asked Chichi sheepishly, "I'm sorry for dragging you out here without much understanding of you. I just... It must be hard. Trying to pretend you're something that you're not, I mean."

Chichi didn't dare respond. He just kept his eyes on the panel Kira scanned her card.

"Mm..." She hummed as she turned away from the demon, perking up when she saw the elevator was only a few floors away.

Why did Chichi even come here? Did he really think there was any way to help himself here? Some way to combat immortality?

"The elevator's here."

He looked up to see Kira holding the elevator open for him, and he took a large step to get in as quickly as he dared to.

The elevator ride was boring. Neither said a word as they climbed the floors smoothly. Chichi just kept thinking, staying silent. He realized he hadn't introduced himself whatsoever to Kira, and yet here she was, bringing him up to her parents. Chichi assumed so, at least.

With a twinkling chime from the elevator, he noted their arrival on the 25th floor. There were only a couple floors higher, according to the buttons available to press for a floor.

"You don't gotta stress or anything," Kira assured him. He noticed her voice becoming less irritating the more she spoke.

He didn't really know what to say in response, so he just kept silent and grimaced slightly.

Moving out of the elevator, there was a grand looking hallway.

Windows made up most of the walls, showing off a pretty sight of the sunny city. The floor was pristine clean and shiny, making Chichi feel horrible for stepping on them with his ruined shoes. It wasn't like he ever really needed new ones...

The cieling had a star-like pattern, a dark colour painted on as countless installed lights dimmed and glowed at different intervals. He had to admit it was prettier than the foggy skies at night.

The two of them neared large doors as they reached the end of the hallway. As Chichi looked closer, it was engraved with snakes and natural landscapes like mountains, water, and forests. The doors were likely nearly three meters high, towering over the two intimidatingly.

"Only my Dad should be at work today, but he's super nice! So don't worry about it," Kira explained a little, taking ahold of the snake-shaped door handle.

Chichi was starting to not like snakes.

As she opened the door, the demon peeked inside with absolute astonishment.

There were no windows whatsoever, and no sources of natural light were available. The room was dome shaped, covered completely in more twinkling starlights. Although Chichi didn't look at them too closely this time, they actually resembled constellations, and they moved in time with the sky.

An extremely large wooden desk sat in the middle. It wasn't like one Chichi had ever seen, considering it was in the shape of a C, with an extremely comfortable looking wheelie chair in the middle of it.

Dim laps were placed sporadically around the desk, imitating the countless number of papers all around the desk-- and the floor space around it.

"Dad!"

As Kira called out to the large, expansive room, she walked in without hesitation. Chichi quickly went to follow, closing the heavy doors behind them as quietly as possible.

There was scuffling heard from behind somewhere, and that was when the demon noticed that there was actually a large, grand staircase leading downstairs to something just past the desk which had previously blocked his view of it. The handrails were stylized as snakes yet again. He was really sick of their beady little eyes already.

"Oh, Kiki! I'll be right there," A more mature voice called out from in... wherever it was.

Within a few seconds, he had headed up and greeted them. Chichi's first thought was, wow. Kira's father looked much more... scruffy than he thought he would've?

The father had curly dark brown hair and dark coloured eyes. Chichi couldn't see what colour specifically. He had a clear cut face shape, with stubble lining the edges of his face. He wore simple work attire, his buttoned shirt being white and his pants just a dark grey. His shoes were simple black leather.

"Oh, who's this?" He asks surprised, moving closer to the two with steps that seemed bigger than usual for him considering his slight discomfort.

"This is... um..." Kira trailed off as her face dimmed into a sheepish expression, turning to the demon in an awkward hope.

"Chichi."

"It's an absolute pleasure to meet you, Chichi. Is that a nickname?" He asked with a smile, putting out a hand for Chichi to shake, which he did.

"No. It's my name."

"Ah... Well, sorry about the assumption," He says without much of a pause in the air, taking back his hand. It was interesting to Chichi. Kira would instantly retreat into an awkward shell, whereas her father seemed able to make any conversation flow with just a couple words. "You can call me Warrick, which is my real name too!" He said jokingly.

Chichi felt the name suited him.

A comfortable silence swept across the three of them as Warrick looked at his daughter expectantly for an explanation. She squirmed under his gaze.

"Well, um, dad, I brought Chichi here today..."

"I can see that, Kiki."

"... Um..."

"She brought me here because she could see I was a demon."

Both heads whipped to Chichi in surprise. Warrick was in utter surprise, which was to be expected, and Kira was shocked that he had opened up so much easier this time.

"Really?" Warrick murmured, turning to look back at his daughter in questioning. Obviously he knew about Kira's supposed ability. She nodded weakly at his meaningful look.

Since there was no reason to at this point, Chichi tentatively took off his beanie to reveal his contrasting white horns. In the dark, mystical lighting of the starry room, they were able to shine with their iridescent properties, sitting like small triangular crystals among his black hair. There was also movement from his jumper as his tail slithered out of it, drooping to the floor in a relaxed fashion. Chichi clutched his beanie to his chest.

"Kira said there may be... something here for me. I'm not sure what it is. But I decided there would be no point in turning this offer down," He stated articulately, glancing over at his recently-made friend. "I... I've been here on earth for much longer than I'd like. Nothing can kill me, but I hate conflict, so this power of mine is just a curse."

Realization dawned on Warrick. It seemed Kira was much more sheltered in this regard.

"So you-"

"-don't wanna be here anymore? Yeah. That's all I wish for. It's been my wish for longer than you've been alive," He mused with a sardonic smile, looking carefully at the father, who's expression was somewhat grim after his sentence had been finished for him.

"Huh? I don't get it," Kira asked innocently, looking between the males. "Does he want to go back to the underworld?"

Chichi didn't want to hurt her. She'd only had good intentions, and since he didn't know her age just yet, he wanted to let her keep her innocence. Kira deserved that.

"There's a better place for demons like me, but I need your help," He says simply as a response, his words and true meaning hidden between the lines. Warrick's expression stayed grim as he was on the same page.

Kira's expression lit up, causing the older one's there to feel a little guilty.

"Dad, we've gotta help Chichi out, then! He's so lonely here. I, um..." She trailed off a little, glancing at Chichi before continuing, "I've seen Chichi around for years now, and only just got the courage to talk to him. But he's always been alone, or running from people, or looking tired, or-- or--" She hiccuped, tears starting to well up in her eyes in strong sympathy.

Warrick bent down to her height and hugged her tightly.

"It's beautiful that you understand people's emotions so well, Kiki. And, if it makes you feel any better, we might have something to help your friend here," He remarks, looking at Chichi over Kira's shoulder. The demon was frozen in both shock, anticipation, and surprisingly fear as well.

He wanted this, right? This wasn't a mistake?

Warrick moved away from his daughter, who was wiping at her tears.

"We've got... we've got a blessed weapon that works on immortals."