Enchanted in the Moonlight ~ Shinra ~ Main Story

1.4 New roommates

I try to recall everything from yesterday, but I just can't believe that there were real.

(Could I still be in a dream?)

"Umm... Mr. Oni?"

"I'm not Mr. Oni! I told you it's Shinra." He annoyed replies.

"Okay... Shinra."

"What?" He asks.

"I had a dream last night, where I made some kind of agreement with you..."

"That wasn't a dream." Shinra grabs the collar of my pajamas and reaches for a button.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?!" I'm panicking.

"Look at me." The eyes that are looking at me are absolutely gorgeous and for a split second I find myself falling for them.

(Ack!)

"S-stop it!" I fight back, but it isn't like I can fight an oni. He undoes the buttons, stopping at my chest.

"Look. Here." Shinra points to my collarbone.

"Huh?"

"See? This mark shows you're mine." He proudly says.

I look carefully. There's a strange mark, like a bruise, just above my collarbone.

"No! Oh God, what is this?!"

"We call it the mark of our agreement." Yukinojo explains it to me.

"Mark... of our agreement?"

Yukinojo explains further: "Yes. It proves that you made an agreement with a ayakashi."

(It wasn't a dream... I really made an agreement with these people!)

Kyoga laughs. "Looks like a hickey, right?"

"Oh God! I can't have a bruise like this on me. I need you to get rid of it right now!"

"You sure about that?" Chikage emotionlessly asks.

"Huh?" I'm confused.

He explains: "If you have that mark, lowlifes like the ones from mm yesterday can't even get close to you."

(Is he saying that the mark protects me?)

"Do you want to be eaten by peons like that?" Chikage uninterested asks.

"N-no..."

Suddenly Miyabi cuts in. "I would be willing to get rid of it for you."

"Really?!"

"If you present me with your body." He devilishly smiles.

"What does that mean?"

Miyabi replies: "That mark can be replaced by an ayakashi who has some degree of power."

"Replaced?"

(Meaning that, in the end, it isn't going away...)

Miyabi comes up to me. "So I'll get rid of Shinra's mark for you right now."

"No, thanks." I back away.

(That would just amount to the same thing.)

"I chose Shinra!"

Then, an unexpected thing happens. Shinra turns bright red and looks the other way.

(Um? What kind of response is that?)

"Hmph. You'll reget it. You guys are boring me." Miyabi grumbles.

"Well, don't lose your temper." Kyoga smiles. "We all want Ayame."

Miyabi annoyed responses: "She just chose whoever was closest."

"Well, it wasn't the smartest move." Chikage says.

Yukinojo sighs. "There could have been a more fair way to go about it."

"Shut up! I'm the one she chose!" Suddenly Shinra shouts.

It's getting on my nerves how the ignore me.

"ENOUGH! You can't just talk about this like I'm not even here! I don't have whatever super power you're talking about! SO LEAVE ME ALONE!"

(There I said it.)

Then all of them sigh in unison.

"You really aren't too bright." Shinra murmurs.

"Excuse me!"

He snaps at me. "Did you hear what we said?"

(How is it that he's mad at me?)

"Look, I'll protect you, so will you knock it off with all the complaining?" He appeals.

(Ugh. He's completely ignoring what I said...)

"We all need to leave Ayame to Shinra." Yukinojo calmly says and looks at the others.

Kyoga smiles. "Well, she can always switch."

"I'm of you deciding things for me! And you're in my house like you belong here."

Miyabi snaps: "Listen to yourself. As of today, this is our residence here."

"It's WHAT?!"

"You've got lots of rooms here. I see no problem." Miyabi says.

"There's a big problem!"

Just then, Samon comes in the room with breakfast.

"Lively in here, isn't it?" He calmly says.

"S-samon, save me!"

He looks me up and down. "What's wrong?"

"These ayakashi... They come in here saying that they're going to live in our house..."

"Well..." He begins, but then stops.

"Tell them they have to leave!"

"I can't do that." Samon answers with a smile, just like he always does.

"What?!"

"Actually... I'm an ayakashi too. Heh." He shyly says.

"......... WHAT!!!"

Ayakashi as far as the eye can see.

"So, that's the story, Ayame." Shinra says and grins at me.