The Story of the Red and Blue Demons

High in the mountains of Japan, far from any human village, there lived two demons who were the very best of friends. One demon was bright red from the tips of his horns to the ends of his toes, while the other was a brilliant blue color that reminded people of the deepest ocean waters. Despite their fearsome appearance, these two demons – who were known as Aka-oni (Red Demon) and Ao-oni (Blue Demon) – had the gentlest hearts of any creatures in the entire mountain region.

Aka-oni and Ao-oni had lived together peacefully for many years, spending their days exploring the mountain forests, helping injured animals, tending to wild plants that needed care, and enjoying each other’s company. Unlike the terrible demons described in scary stories that parents told their children, these two friends were kind, thoughtful, and generous, always looking for ways to help others and make the world a more beautiful place.

However, despite their good nature, both demons shared a secret longing that they had never spoken aloud to each other. They both dreamed of making friends with the human beings who lived in the valleys below their mountain home. They had watched from a distance as human children played together, as families gathered for festivals, and as neighbors helped each other through difficult times, and they yearned to be part of such a warm and caring community.

“Ao-oni,” the red demon said one day as they sat together watching clouds drift across the sky, “do you ever wonder what it would be like to have friends other than just each other? Not that I don’t treasure our friendship above all else,” he added quickly, “but sometimes I think it might be wonderful to know many different kinds of people and learn about their lives and customs.”

The blue demon nodded thoughtfully, understanding exactly what his friend meant. “I have the same thoughts often,” he admitted. “I watch the human children playing in their village, and I imagine how happy it would make me to join their games and share in their laughter. But of course, that’s impossible.”

“Why impossible?” Aka-oni asked, though he already knew the answer.

“Because we are demons,” Ao-oni replied sadly. “To humans, demons are frightening creatures to be feared and avoided. No matter how kind our hearts might be, people will always see our horns, our fangs, our claws, and our strange skin colors, and they will run away in terror before they have a chance to discover our true nature.”

This conversation made both demons feel melancholy, but it also planted the seed of an idea in Aka-oni’s mind. Over the following days, he found himself thinking more and more about the possibility of somehow overcoming the fear that humans naturally felt toward demons.

“What if,” Aka-oni thought to himself, “there was a way to show the humans that not all demons are evil? What if I could prove to them that I am gentle and kind and worthy of their friendship?”

The more he considered this idea, the more determined he became to find a way to make it work. Finally, after much thought and planning, Aka-oni came up with what he believed was a brilliant strategy.

“Ao-oni,” he said to his friend one morning, “I have devised a plan that will allow me to become friends with the humans in the village below. Would you like to hear it?”

The blue demon listened with great interest as Aka-oni explained his idea. According to his plan, Ao-oni would go down to the human village and pretend to be a fierce, dangerous demon who was threatening the safety of the people. Then, just when the villagers were most frightened, Aka-oni would appear and drive away the “evil” blue demon, thus proving to the humans that he was a good demon who deserved their friendship and gratitude.

“It’s a clever plan,” Ao-oni said when his friend finished explaining, “but I’m not sure it will work the way you hope. Even if you save the villagers from me, they might still be afraid of you because you look like a demon. And besides, I don’t like the idea of frightening innocent people, even if it’s just pretending.”

“But the fear will only last for a few minutes,” Aka-oni insisted, “and when it’s over, I’ll be able to live among the humans as their friend and protector. Think of how wonderful that will be! I’ll be able to learn about their culture, help them with their work, and share in their celebrations.”

Ao-oni could see how much this opportunity meant to his friend, and despite his reservations about the plan, he agreed to help. After all, what was a little temporary discomfort compared to the happiness that Aka-oni would gain from achieving his dream of human friendship?

So, the two demons worked out the details of their performance. Ao-oni would go to the village in the late afternoon when many people would be outdoors, and he would act as fierce and threatening as possible without actually hurting anyone. Then, after a few minutes of terrorizing the villagers, Aka-oni would arrive and chase him away, earning the gratitude and trust of the human beings.

The plan was set into motion the very next day. Ao-oni descended from the mountains and approached the human village, trying his best to look menacing and dangerous. He roared loudly, waved his arms threateningly, and stomped around the village square, causing all the people to scream and run for safety.

“Fear me, humans!” Ao-oni shouted, though his heart was breaking at the sight of children crying and adults trembling with terror. “I am a terrible demon who has come to destroy your village!”

The villagers were indeed terrified, just as the demons had expected. Men grabbed weapons to defend their families, women gathered children and hurried them to safety, and everyone looked around desperately for some means of escape from this frightening supernatural threat.

Just when it seemed that the situation could not get any worse, Aka-oni came charging down from the mountains, roaring even louder than his friend and brandishing a large club.

“Stop right there, evil demon!” Aka-oni shouted. “I will not allow you to harm these innocent people!”

A tremendous battle seemed to ensue, with both demons roaring, wrestling, and making an enormous amount of noise and commotion. Finally, Aka-oni appeared to gain the upper hand, chasing Ao-oni out of the village and far up into the mountains where he could no longer be seen.

When the “battle” was over, Aka-oni returned to the village square, where the humans were slowly emerging from their hiding places. He tried to look as friendly and non-threatening as possible as he addressed them.

“Good people,” he said in his gentlest voice, “you are safe now. I have driven away the evil demon who was threatening you, and I promise that he will not return to bother you again.”

To Aka-oni’s delight, the villagers did not run away from him as he had feared they might. Instead, they gathered around him with expressions of gratitude and relief.

“Thank you, good demon,” said the village elder. “You have saved us from great danger, and we are deeply grateful for your protection. We have never heard of a demon helping humans before, but your actions prove that not all supernatural beings are evil.”

“You are welcome in our village any time,” added a young mother whose children had been among those most frightened by Ao-oni’s performance. “Any creature kind enough to risk his own safety to protect others deserves our friendship and respect.”

Over the following weeks, Aka-oni became a regular visitor to the human village. The people welcomed him warmly, inviting him to share their meals, participate in their festivals, and help with community projects. He was especially popular with the children, who loved to hear stories about life in the mountains and to play games that took advantage of his great size and strength.

For Aka-oni, this was a dream come true. He finally had the human friends he had always longed for, and he was able to experience the warmth and companionship of village life that he had observed from afar for so many years.

However, as time passed, Aka-oni began to feel increasingly guilty about the deception that had made his happiness possible. Every time the villagers thanked him for protecting them from the “evil blue demon,” he remembered how much pain it had caused his best friend to play that role, and how Ao-oni had sacrificed his own chance at human friendship to help make Aka-oni’s dream come true.

Even worse, when Aka-oni returned to the mountains each evening, he found that Ao-oni was becoming more and more sad and lonely. Without his red friend’s constant companionship, and knowing that he could never visit the human village because of the role he had played in the deception, Ao-oni spent his days wandering the mountain forests alone, with no one to talk to and nothing to do except tend to his garden and care for wild animals.

“How was your day in the village?” Ao-oni would ask each evening when Aka-oni returned home, and though he tried to sound happy, the red demon could hear the loneliness and sadness in his friend’s voice.

“It was wonderful,” Aka-oni would reply, and then he would tell stories about all the interesting things he had learned and all the fun activities he had shared with his human friends. But even as he spoke, he felt his heart growing heavier with guilt and regret.

One evening, as Aka-oni watched Ao-oni trying to pretend that he wasn’t deeply unhappy, the red demon realized that his dream of human friendship had come at too high a price. His best friend in the world had sacrificed his own happiness to help make Aka-oni’s wish come true, and now he was suffering alone while Aka-oni enjoyed the companionship that both of them had always wanted.

“This isn’t right,” Aka-oni thought to himself. “Ao-oni has been the truest friend anyone could ask for, and I have repaid his kindness by leaving him lonely and isolated. No amount of human friendship is worth causing such pain to someone I care about so deeply.”

The next morning, instead of going down to the village as he had every day for the past month, Aka-oni remained in the mountains with Ao-oni. When his blue friend asked why he wasn’t visiting his human friends, Aka-oni explained the decision he had made.

“I realize now that I was selfish to pursue my own happiness while ignoring yours,” he said. “You are my dearest friend, and your wellbeing is more important to me than anything else in the world. If I can only have human friendship by causing you to be lonely and sad, then I don’t want it.”

Ao-oni was deeply moved by his friend’s words, but he was also concerned that Aka-oni was giving up something that had brought him so much joy.

“Please don’t abandon your human friends because of me,” Ao-oni pleaded. “I can see how happy they make you, and that happiness makes me happy too, even if I can’t share in it directly.”

“But that’s not fair to you,” Aka-oni replied. “You helped me achieve my dream through your sacrifice, but you received nothing in return except loneliness. A true friend would never accept such an arrangement.”

As the two demons talked, Aka-oni began to realize that there might be a way to solve their problem, though it would require him to give up the deception that had made his human friendships possible.

“What if I told the villagers the truth about our plan?” he suggested. “What if I explained that you aren’t really an evil demon, but rather my best friend who helped me by pretending to be dangerous? Perhaps they would understand and welcome you as they have welcomed me.”

Ao-oni was skeptical about this idea. “I think it’s more likely that they would feel angry and betrayed by our deception,” he said. “They might decide that we can’t be trusted and refuse to have anything to do with either of us.”

“That’s possible,” Aka-oni admitted, “but I think it’s worth the risk. The villagers have come to know me well enough to understand that I am not evil or dishonest by nature. If I explain that our deception came from a desire for friendship rather than a wish to harm them, they might be willing to forgive us.”

After much discussion, the two demons decided that honesty was the best policy, regardless of the consequences. They would go to the village together, explain the truth about their plan, and accept whatever response the humans gave them.

The next day, both demons walked down to the village, with Aka-oni leading the way and Ao-oni following nervously behind. When the villagers saw them coming, there was immediate confusion and alarm. Many people recognized Ao-oni as the “evil demon” who had threatened them weeks earlier, and they couldn’t understand why Aka-oni was walking peacefully beside him.

“Good people,” Aka-oni called out as he and Ao-oni entered the village square, “please don’t be afraid. I have brought my friend Ao-oni here because I need to tell you an important truth about the day he first appeared in your village.”

A crowd gathered to listen as Aka-oni explained the entire story – how both demons had longed for human friendship, how they had devised the plan to make Ao-oni appear evil so that Aka-oni could play the role of a hero, and how guilty he had felt about deceiving such kind and generous people.

“I know that our deception was wrong,” Aka-oni concluded, “and I understand if you feel angry with us. But I want you to know that Ao-oni is not evil – he is the kindest, most generous friend anyone could ask for. He only pretended to be dangerous because he wanted to help me achieve my dream of befriending humans. If anyone deserves your anger, it should be me, not him.”

When Aka-oni finished speaking, the village square was silent for a long moment as the humans absorbed this surprising revelation. Some people looked angry, others seemed confused, and still others appeared to be thinking deeply about what they had heard.

Finally, the village elder stepped forward to speak for the community.

“Red demon,” he said slowly, “you were wrong to deceive us, and we are disappointed that you felt you could not simply approach us honestly from the beginning. However, we can understand why you and your friend felt that such a plan was necessary. Humans do have a tendency to fear demons without taking the time to learn about their true nature.”

“As for your friend,” the elder continued, turning to look at Ao-oni, “his willingness to sacrifice his own chance at human friendship in order to help you achieve yours shows a nobility of character that is rare in any species. We would be honored to count such a loyal and selfless individual among our friends.”

The other villagers murmured their agreement with the elder’s words, and many of them stepped forward to welcome Ao-oni and to express their appreciation for the sacrifice he had made on behalf of his friend.

From that day forward, both demons became beloved members of the village community. Aka-oni continued to help with heavy work and to entertain the children with stories and games, while Ao-oni used his gentle nature and wisdom to help resolve conflicts and provide comfort to people who were going through difficult times.

The story of the red and blue demons became a cherished tale in the village, reminding people of the importance of looking beyond superficial appearances to discover the true character of others. It also taught valuable lessons about the power of friendship, the importance of honesty, and the way that true love sometimes requires sacrifice and forgiveness.

Years later, when children in the village would ask about the time when demons first came to live among humans, the elder would tell them this story and explain how the red and blue demons had taught them that friendship can exist between any beings who approach each other with open hearts and honest intentions.

And though there were still some people in other villages who feared demons and told frightening stories about them, the people who knew Aka-oni and Ao-oni personally understood that evil and goodness exist in all kinds of creatures, and that the color of one’s skin or the shape of one’s horns has nothing to do with the kindness or cruelty that lives within one’s heart.