Enchanted in the Moonlight ~ Shinra ~ Main Story

3.2 A day with Shinra

At work...

A kid walks to Shinra. "Hey Mister. Read this to me."

"You want me to read a book?" Shinra asks.

The kid smiles. "Yeah. I want to hear 'Momotaro'."

"'Momotaro'? Did I hear you right? " Shinra asks incredulously.

The kid looks curious. "Yeah."

"Okay. I'll read you 'Momotaro'." He has a weird smile on his lips.

(I have a bad feeling about this...)

"Alright kids. Listen up. I'll tell you the true story of 'Momotaro'. Once upon a time..." Shinra begins to tell the story.

After a while...

"... and after driving back Momotaro, the oni, lived happily ever after. The end. What do you think? That was the real Momotaro."

(He had the oni win. Yikes! The kids are all silent.)

I watch the kids.

"That isn't like the story we heard at school." A kid says.

Shinra gently pats the child on the head. "That's right. They don't teach you everything at school. There a lot of things in this world that you guys don't know."

"Maybe I like oni." The kid says shyly.

Shinra smiles. "Yeah?"

(The look on his face is so kind...)

I stare at the gentle expression on Shinra's face as he watches the children.

"Read another one!" The child demands.

"Geez, you leave me with no choice..." Shinra grumbles, but he's good with the kids.

(He looks rough, but maybe he actually likes kid?)

--- Time skip ---

I finish work. It's raining when I walk out of the subway station.

"Yikes! It's coming down hard."

I'm about to set foot on the pavement when I hear thunder.

(Now there's thunder and lightning...)

I look up at the sky anxiously and lightning flashes again.

(It's funny. I was afraid of thunder when I was little...)

I remember my dream from the other night.

"I'm pretty sure the charm was like..." I mumble.

I draw the symbol in the palm of my hand with my finger.

"What's that?" Someone behind me asks.

"Shinra?!" I'm surprised.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Shinra is standing right beside me.

He looks shocked. "Your palm... What did you just do?"

"It's a charm to made the thunder and lightening stop."

"A charm...?" Shinra asks.

"A friend taught it to me a long time ago..."

"Haha... What are you, a kid?" He laughs. "You really the thunder will stop if you do that?"

"Hey..."

(He's making fun of my childhood crush. What a jerk!)

I fall silent and as I look up at the sky, Shinra holds an umbrella out in front of me. "Here."

"What?"

"Use it."

"Really?"

"See ya." He pushes the umbrella into my hand, then runs of into the rain.

(He gave me his umbrella?)

I catch a glimpse of the side of his face. It looks like his blushing.