Archive of Our Own ^beta

Yoshida laid in bed, deep in thought. Usually he was alone as always but today he knew someone or something was in the shadows watching him. He contemplated inviting it to show itself or to wait to see what it would do. Does he attack it? His hand unconsciously raised itself ready to summon his devil, but the shadows began leaking into tendrils before he realized.

This was his devil.

Tentacles surrounded him and his bed, slithering up his limbs. Everything in him told him to fight them but he noticed they were only feeling him, not attacking. He should fight against the devil knowing that it’s manifested itself without his trigger. But curiosity was winning this battle.

“Yoshida Hirofumi…” A detached voice echoed through his room. He was familiar with it as it was the voice that communicated with him in his thoughts on occasion.

“Octopus devil.” he addressed.

He saw a figure within the shadow of tentacles in the corner of his room, staring at him. The only thing that confirmed that it was in fact the octopus devil was the other-worldly gaze that laid upon his form.

It was only staring at him though which caused him to speak, “You’re breaching our contract by showing yourself unannounced.” He felt the tentacles around him pause for a moment.

“Without a payment our contract barely holds weight, don’t you think?” it responded.

And then, it stepped out of the shadows.

It took the form of a girl, its body bare yet covered intimate parts with squirming tentacles. Its hair was sleek yet unruly due to the length. The gaze in it’s eyes caused his breath to get caught in his throat. Its eyes were human yet they held the same mystical look like its devil form. It almost looked uncanny.

Even at the sight of a suddenly human looking octopus devil, his look didn't waver, “You’re the one who didn’t ask for a price.” he said in a matter-of-factly tone. Then he remembered the terms of the pact, “The only thing you wanted was that I wasn’t allowed to get into another contract with another devil.”

The devil was now standing in front of him next to his bed, “Would you like to know why, Yoshida Hirofumi?”

Yoshida’s facade dropped. He didn’t expect his devil or any devil to indulge in his human curiosity. They always had ulterior motives, was this the same case? “Why?” he swallowed.

Then, a tentacle moved up his body up his neck and pushed a piece of hair out of his face. The devil leaned in, causing sweat to drop down his face in nervousness, “I like pretty faces.” it confessed.

He glanced at the tentacle holding his hair out of his face and then to the humanoid octopus devil standing in front of him, “You have.. weird tastes.” his voice was shaky, unknowing how to respond. He didn’t know if the way he responded would affect the outcome of the situation. But deep down inside him, the situation excited him.

The tentacles around his limbs squeezed him slightly as the devil held his face, holding it up towards its own, “What are you doing?” he asked.

No one would believe him if he said that the humanoid octopus devil was blushing while holding his face. Honestly he almost didn’t believe it if he didn’t feel it’s hair tickling his face or it’s breath against his. A deranged grin spread across its face as a thumb caressed his cheek “Admiring.” It simply said, the blush widening on its face.

The tension in the air made it hard to breathe and the situation made his throat dry. He was almost tempted to laugh about how unbelievable the situation was. His lips parted to speak but no words were able to come out.

“Do you remember when we first met, Yoshida Hirofumi?”

He blinked, caught off guard by the question. Despite that, he remembered the day as clearly as day, “It was 1990… during the summer.” he started, his memory playing the scenes in his head like a movie, “I was at the beach, looking for you.”

Being the surrogate son of a veteran public safety officer was rough. Almost immediately he was tossed into the world of devils and he wanted to spite Kishibe for it everyday. Before he was able to be contracted with the fox devil he heard rumors of the elusive octopus devil that traveled the depths of the world but seemed to favor the coasts of Okinawa. Childhood curiosity got the best of him and he spent two years waiting by the coast for the devil to show itself.

“And then, I saw you and we made our pact.”

It was less kinder than that. He was laying by the tidepool, his hand lazily grazing the surface of the water. Then he felt something slimy touch his finger before it rushed to constrict his entire arm and drag him into the water. The burning feeling of the salt water in his lungs will never leave his head, but the way it stopped before he lost consciousness and raised back to the surface.

His entire body was wrapped in giant tentacles as he coughed out as much water as he could, but his breath was lost anyways as his eyes laid on the giant eldritch creature that was the octopus devil.

“It was the day I held you for the first time. The day you belonged to me and I belonged to you.”

“We belong to each other.” he whispered out, almost in a trance. The memory was vivid in both of their memories, burned into them for life.

The octopus devil let out a hum of excitement, the blush still present on its face, “The price of the contract is giving everything to me, the exchange is I give everything to you.”

A realization settled in Yoshida’s mind about the true nature of the price of his devil contract. He let out a small laugh, trying to believe what's been shoved down his throat, “You.. truly are a devil.” he breathed out. He didn’t mean it in a demeaning way, but the selfish nature of contract was exactly how devils operate. For a time he felt like he got it easy as others sacrificed limbs or their lifespan for their contracts, but in the end he was put into a contract of solitude and devotion to one devil.

Even though all of these thoughts ran through his head, he could only agree with his earlier statement. The octopus devil did have weird tastes because no other person besides him would be excited at this prospect.

However, he had questions, “You’ve never appeared to me as human-like before.”

The octopus devil only looked amused, “Do you not like it?” the tentacles moved out of the way as the devil pressed its body against his. He could feel its human-like breasts pressing against his chest, but his eyes did not leave theirs. Then its form changed to a slimmer build yet broader shoulders. The feeling of its chest pressed against his was gone and now the devil presented like a human male, “Do you prefer this?” it asked.

Then it hit him, “Octopus have camouflaging abilities.” He studied real octopus before his search for the devil and one of the things they did was stretch its skin to change its color and texture. He’s used the octopus devil’s camouflaging abilities to hide into his surroundings but not once did he realize it was able to use it this way.

It transformed back into a woman as it gained no reaction from Yoshida, “Correct.” it confirmed his statement, “Of course, I can always go back to my devil form.”

He is reminded of the eldritch being, “No, this is fine.” his hand reached up to caress its face, “This is fine.” he repeated as he was admiring it the way it was admiring him.

The blush reappeared on the devil’s face as Yoshida was returning its admiration. It took a step back, its tentacles also retracting, “Yoshida Hirofumi, I’ve become enamored with you in ways you can’t comprehend.” it paused, “In the ways humans understand, it would be love or desire.”

Love. His devil loved him? His nervousness truly began to show as a shaky laughter exited his lips. He should be weirded out, disgusted at the premise. All of the grueling devil research and training Kishibe put him through couldn’t even come close to preparing him for a situation like this.

Yet, his excitement never left his body.

Sitting here letting his devil touch him like this without a single sign of discomfort or without raising a finger. He was almost disgusted in himself with how excited he felt. Was it his curiosity? Or was it just his hormones? What made him want to learn more about his devil’s love for him?

There was no point in fighting it. He stood up, his laughter stopping as he walked up to the devil and grabbed it at the waist and held its bare body against his. An unsettling smile spread across his face as he grabbed it forcibly by the chin to force it to look into the void of his eyes.

This was wrong. A voice in the back of his head argued against his desires, but he wanted more. He wanted to know more, his curiosity unquenched and aching for more. There should be a limit, something or someone to stop him from satisfying his desire from going any further. Then the feeling of tentacles creeped up his legs and all he wanted was what he was able to understand. Love. Desire.

His unsettling smile grew as he pulled the octopus devil’s face closer to his, the space between them diminishing.

“Drown in me.”