"I do."

---

Karamatsu slowly strolled to the other side of the wooden stage, a serious expression imprinted on his face as villagers patiently followed him with their eyes. Mass was currently in session, close to the ending segment of Church announcements. The majority of the village had showed for morning mass, more specifically most of the young ladies of the Church. Only in morning masses during the week would the young priest lead the mass himself, and it would be a partial lie for most of the attendees to say that they were only here to worship God first thing in the morning. It was a shame, really, for the ladies of the Church to only be able to catch a glimpse of the traveling priest in the break of dawn, but the unwavering faith of the priest, along with the hardened, deep features of the priest and his smooth speeches had attracted more attendees to the Church since his arrival. If only he hadn't been a priest tied to his relationship with Father would the man be crowded by women from all backgrounds...

"Every day... God is sending signs to you. Every day God is reaching towards us, the heart of his creation. God knows who you are, life you've had, the love you're capable of, and the potential you may reach... Infinite." With every slow stride of Karamatsu's pacing, a slow yet powerful speech resonates from Karamatsu's mouth. 

"Yet, every sin we make, every unclean action we have done in our life... that is us actively rejecting God's love..." Karamatsu stopped at the edge of the stage, staring at the sleeve of his magnificent blue priest robe before looking straight at some of the visitors. Even strangers new to the Church had been dead quiet, entranced by the seriousness of the priest. 

"God wants to participate in a relationship with you, to truly bond with you and love you for the wonderful creation you are. Why... reject the Father? Why reject the endless love he had given to you throughout your wonderful life?" Karamatsu slowly returned to the altar, his eyes slowly watering up from his passionate speech. Several visitors were almost shocked at the display before the young priest had wiped away his tears and sadly smiled back to the audience. A full second later the priest brushed aside the front of his dark brown hair, exhausted from the rant and smiling charmingly at the audience in apology. As awkward as it may seem, the people clapped for the man, standing ovations being shared all around the glorified room. 

Thus, the priest politely signaled for the clapping to stop and continued on with the announcements, many being shoutouts to supporters of the church and activities soon to take place in the church. During these announcements, Karamatsu was no longer focused on the people and seemingly browsed around the aisles of benches, looking for someone in particular. The last announcement had passed by before he could finish his search and a sting of disappointment had been left in the priest. Even so, he managed to successfully smile at the guests and bid them all a wonderful day. 

Uneasy afterwards, his thoughts were drowned out by the sound of a flute whispering through the grand room, followed by a whole entourage consisting of a piano, several soft orchestral instruments such as the expressive, deep cello and the familiar voices of the Church Choir. Karamatsu relaxed at the melodious songs of praise and thus begun his exit out of the room. He'll answer his questions later.

---

Karamatsu decided to wander around the monastery for a while, still unfamiliar to the new atmosphere. He had been transferred to this particular church by request, now treading in a more rural area than his previous location. God had requested him to love his new station, and he did indeed. It felt like a second home to him, one that made him feel accepted by the other villagers in this location. He was self-aware of his growing popularity and yet still blushed every time he was praised by the community. 

One of the few insecurities Karamatsu would admit he has is his growing fear of not quite living up to the expectations of the people. In truth, he would endlessly try to please people in his childhood, leading to many controversies and lessons taught throughout his life. The priest is extremely doubtful that he would serve to be a great priest and ultimately fail his first assignment as a priest here. It didn't matter that he was a newly ordained, he thought. All of his hard work may die out in this new chapter of life.

Karamatsu had stopped before a particular room he personally liked: A wedding chapel. Karamatsu never had been in it for the means of joining two deserving people together yet, but he strives to perhaps witness and serve one himself one day. It really was an honor to be there behind the couple, watching their love intertwine on a happy day. It's not like someone gets married each and every day, so the best he can do is be patient. Karamatsu peeked in the room, joyous at the sight of an organ by the entrance. Memories had flashed in his mind, reminding him of weddings he had attended as a guest himself. Once he had thought of the possibilities of him being the groom one day, but he didn't mind the abandonment of that dream. Karamatsu sighed and stepped back from the room, ceasing his curiosity in fear of intruding a space he's not allowed to step in yet. Besides, he does need to visit someone today.

---

Karamatsu had entered in the correct room he believes is containing his person of interest. The familiar bareness of the small room except for a peculiar purring cat in the corner had notified Karamatsu that he indeed found the right place. He slowly approached the cat and scratched the soft chin of it. The cat only stared at the man and didn't respond in any way, only looking slightly annoyed by his presence. Karamatsu awkwardly paused and withdrew from the cat, slightly saddened by the fact that the cat still didn't like him. From the very start, the refuge cat hadn't been fond of Karamatsu, but the priest figured that it was just squeamish about its new surroundings - he had the cut to prove that. 

A few footsteps from the halls outside alarmed Karamatsu before he released all the air he was breathing in upon the familiarity of the intruder's face opening the door. Their eyes were partly disinterested in the details of why Karamatsu was inside and the bored figure calmly sat down on the plain bed found in the room. Immediately, the before apathetic cat excitedly jumped up the bed and stealthily placed themselves in the lap of their owner. A rich purring sound had driven the figure to pet the small cat fondly, even expressing praise for the cat. Karamatsu was impressed, to say the least.

The one petting the cat was Ichimatsu, a fellow nun of the church. Ichimatsu was already residing in the monastery before Karamatsu had been assigned here, and the two had been introduced the same time every member of the church had greeted Karamatsu. For Karamatsu, he greatly admired the nun for some odd reason, though their first meeting had been a short cold name exchange and an immediate escape from the party. Later on, Karamatsu had been warned of the disobedience of Ichimatsu and his recent unholy acts, resulting in him becoming friends with the cold nun to keep watch. Really, Karamatsu could only image what Ichimatsu did wrong, aside from the recent failure to show up to pray everyday. The higher priests dissented from the nun and frequently warned Karamatsu of Ichimatsu's "upbringings". 

Karamatsu only shook his head in denial and focused on the situation at hand. The priest took a seat beside the nun, smiling at the pleased cat in Ichimatsu's arms. "I can never be as good at taking care of cats as you are..." Karamatsu raised up a single finger to hopefully scratch the cat again, but the cat hissed loudly at him. Oh well, he clearly isn't a cat person. 

"By the way, I didn't see you at church this morning. Are you feeling fine?" Karamatsu stopped and looked hopefully at Ichimatsu, certain that today is the day he might get an explanation from the nun. No matter how much Karamatsu looked at Ichimatsu, he can never get this weird feeling out of him saying Ichimatsu was guilty of a crime. The nun was a more than worthy person taking on the vow of chastity. They just happen to be rude at times. That rude behavior does not make for a bad person opposing God; it just didn't make sense. The nun, in turn, looked at the priest briefly before whispering off again about how the nun attends mass in the afternoons instead. 

Disappointment rained on the blue priest, reminding him that it was in fact a lie. The priests holding afternoon mass had never seen Ichimatsu show up for a while now. Recently, the nun had stopped going to the prayer classes in the mornings as well and rarely stayed that long in the afternoon prayer sessions. It worried Karamatsu that the nun was not taking it seriously and may get kicked out the church soon. Surely everything Ichimatsu had not done to support the church was starting to become a scandal amongst the priests.

"Ahh... I see. Well, I do hope to see you in my morning masses... since I would happily like to share the wonders of God to a bright person such as yourself, dear friend!" Karamatsu recovered from the despairing disappointment with the help of a hint of optimism in his demeanor now. The nun only stuck their tongue out in disgust, repeating the words "Painful...." over and over again like a broken record. It really did cheer up Karamatsu in his times of loneliness each and every day. His stay in this church is only temporary, but he was glad to know a person to get through it, to be able to continue onward on this path of faith. The two chatted for a while, casually discussing small topics in and out the walls of the church. The priest was the one to mainly do all the talking, but he didn't mind as long as he knew Ichimatsu still was responding to him in a semi-interested way. It was only when the nun shooed Karamatsu away in time for their evening private prayer session did Karamatsu finally decide to leave, bidding Ichimatsu a fine day. 

---

Ichimatsu stood by the entrance of the room, staring at the priest as he walked away. Sometimes, the nun remembered that the priest was a real man, with their boyish charms and attractive personality when it came to the priest confiding in the nun with a piece of information. It had charmed them, really. Their confident and rarely shy demeanor had really fit into the church so perfectly so that it seemed like he was a permanent fixture in the church. Ichimatsu sometimes prayed for that, wishing that the priest wouldn't leave this place and instead continue to brighten Ichimatsu's day. It was selfish, really, but would God mind that? Just one selfish request from out of his heart?

"Hahhh?! Had you lost your mind to that priest?" A surprised and offended remark came from the very cat resting in Ichimatsu's bed. Ichimatsu sighed and shut the door softly, not at all perturbed by his master suddenly appearing. The nun turned around and found Osomatsu the Devil sitting on the bed, not the dear brazen cat from just seconds ago. Ichimatsu said nothing and joined the devil by his side on the bed, wordlessly shaking their head in denial. Osomatsu smirked in pique curiosity and started caressing the head of the nun.

"Sure you haven't. Must I remind you what you truly are, you little hypocrite?" The devil suddenly seized horns from Ichimatsu's head in the midst of their petting, and the nun almost gasped from the sudden appearance of them. How?! "You're almost done transforming, you small baby demon. Now's not the time to be going holy on me, dear Ichi. I've already taught you what religion does to a person, so why go on crushing on one of their devoted followers?!" The devil went on to tug Ichimatsu's veil away and cackle in laughter from his amusing fear. 

Two small baby horns were emerging from Ichimatsu's head, truly making the nun panic in fear for their life. The endless torment of the Devil started to tempt Ichimatsu into submission, to give up fighting once and for all. "Submit, you worthless nun! I know everything about you, even the small details you aren't too sure of yourself!" The Devil had practically driven Ichimatsu into a corner, both physically and mentally. Ichimatsu had prepared for another night of emotional torture, always starting off with the priest the nun been smitten with for the past few weeks.

"I should've never let you in!"

---

Karamatsu didn't believe the sight he was given at the moment. He was directly outside the church, surrounded by higher up priests wishing to discuss with Karamatsu. Karamatsu very well knew the powerful priests by now, in fact remembering that they had assigned him to this very church. It was thanks to them that he had friends, a community he considers to be his family, and a new society that accepts Karamatsu for the simple man he is. He should be thankful for all those wonderful gifts, but he couldn't bring himself to even smile upon recently discovering that the nun was being investigated by the powerful priests and may potentially be gone from the priest's grasps. 

A dear friend of him will be gone if Karamatsu can't prevent it from happening. He was sure he was being questioned because of the friendship between the two, considering that Karamatsu was not powerful now like the men before him. He had a chance to save Ichimatsu from the false misunderstandings.

"Dear Brother, do you believe Ichimatsu is potentially... possessed?" The absurdity of those words stopped Karamatsu's world for a split second, fear rising up in tenfold biles beneath his chest. "... Why do you ask?" Karamatsu pressed on for an explanation, forcing his answer to stall. He personally wants to abstain from answering such a ridiculous question in his life.

"Other dwellers of this monastery have reported a slow yet strange behavioral change in Ichimatsu for the past couple of years to the point that many believe this is not Ichimatsu any more." Karamatsu doubted that it was a major problem, considering the fact that Ichimatsu had probably been growing into the young adult they are now. It was nothing more than a part of growing up, so Karamatsu dismissed it.

"Noises have been reported to be that of a disturbing nature, and one has even claimed to witness they saw the devil themself in Ichimatsu's room." Karamatsu paused in thought for a moment, taking a moment to absorb the information. Well, Karamatsu knew one of the nuns here disliked cats to the point of hatred, so it could be false information referring to Ichimatsu's cat all along. "Ichimatsu takes care of a somewhat troublesome cat, so I believe that is the least of your worries."

Another high priest cut in. "Ichimatsu's holy life has dwindled to the point that Ichimatsu refuses to pray at all. The eldest priest here believes that Ichimatsu can no longer pray once more from the bottom of their heart..." Karamatsu couldn't find a rebuttal for that statement and found himself stuck. "I-I realize that."

It really was strange, almost inexcusable with how adamant Ichimatsu was about not praying during the mornings and evenings. Karamatsu felt his heart dropping from remembering how Ichimatsu lied each and every day. Did Ichimatsu truly lie to the Church?

"We need to perform an exorcism on Ichimatsu if they truly are possessed. Based on your close relationship with this nun, we need personal permission from you. Is Ichimatsu possessed?" 

Karamatsu glanced away and sighed in tremendous fatigue, minutes away from potentially never seeing Ichimatsu again. "What will you do with Ichimatsu once you have my permission...?" muttered Karamatsu, troubled by his faith and the relationship of his close friend. 

"Ah, well..." started one of the priests. They don't seem comfortable all of a sudden. "We will take Ichimatsu to the city and perform an exorcism over a time period of sixty days. From there he will stay with us and develop a new life in the city." One of the lasts priests yet to speak up took it upon themself to explain to Karamatsu their intentions, their future actions in literally taking Ichimatsu away. Karamatsu does know very well that a new person emerges out of an exorcism, one that is very different than what they originally started as. His current Ichimatsu now will cease to exist.

"I..." Karamatsu frowned and could not finish his sentence, becoming selfish in his wishes now. They were more powerful than him, and he wouldn't be the type to lie his way out of this predicament.

"We'll ask you again, do you think Ichimatsu is possessed?" 

Karamatsu opened his mouth and softly whispered a few important words. Important words of importance. Meager importance in small amounts. Maybe they had known from the beginning what the answer was all along and truly were only there to torture Karamatsu. Maybe they were as clueless as they had introduced themselves to be, only driving a nail into Karamatsu's head further than where it currently is.

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(A/N): PetuniaFanfic AHHHH, I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS. I TRIED TO DO MY BEST, AND I PROBABLY DIDN'T NAIL THE ANGST THAT GREAT-

BUT THANK YOU. YOU'RE A GREAT FRIEND THAT MADE ME FEEL SPECIAL WHEN I WAS LONELY, AND I HOPE THAT YOU NEVER HAVE TO FEEL LONELY IN THE FUTURE~