Densetsu: A Beautiful Day

Chapter Eight: A Regular Mage

The two had arrived at the shrine which was crowded by the horde. Vendors were available with majority of food freshly made and skewered such grilled chicken, bananas dipped in chocolate filling, and ball-shaped pancakes. Kotaro remained by the only person he knew, keeping his eyes on her and kept silent. A variety of monsters gathered under the moon, ranging from tiny green children to larger green-skinned folks, pretty ladies with elongated necks, cucumber-loving turtle imps, and many more. Hardly, any of them attacked one another nor a single human within the shrine.

"You should definitely try this!" Noel handed Kotaro a chocolate banana on a stick. He bit a piece, chewing its fruity and sweet flavor combined into one.

"It's super sweet,"

For the first time, he saw his classmate smiled. His peripheral vision blurred, including the background lights shining behind Noel, and her pure image had been fixated to his sight. "You know what? You have a cute smile."

His eyes widened, released from the trance of constant staring, and his cheeks flushed in scarlet. "Riku said the same thing too. What's so cute about me?"

Noel sighed heavily, "Can you stop shaming yourself and be humble about it?" She flicked his forehead, retaining her serious face like the one back in school.

"So, how was it?" asked Riku, approaching the two.

Though the experience meeting a vampire was new, nothing changed in himself. "I don't feel anything change in me."

"I wasn't expecting you to become confident so quickly. I know I misled you, but it must've been nice to see an actual vampire," the shrine maiden smiled. "Have you heard of witches before?"

"I have. Why?"

"My friend's a witch!"

"Did you say a witch?" A golden haired lady caped in a purplish black dress intruded their conversation; she carried a corn broom, wearing a pointy hat with an emblem attached. "Hey there, Riku! Did you miss me? I've never felt so much better before! And that boy over there, is he your boyfriend?"

The shrine maiden groaned, "Maybe you should've stayed sick. Anyway, Melissa, this here is my guest--Kotaro Nishiki."

"Kotaro Nishiki, huh?" Her chestnut eyes analyzed the young man, further inspecting him by coming closer, but she soon gave it up. "You're an interesting folk. By the way, I'm Melissa Higashi!"

"Can you fly without the broom?" wondered Kotaro.

"Of course I can. I just like flying with broom because it makes me feel like an actual witch!" Melissa giggled.

"That's so cool..."

Riku observed their interactions, noticing his confidence slowly building up, and a future she knew he'll build for himself. Then, she sighed heavily out of the blue. "Alright, you can stop sneaking up behind like that. It's creepy."

A distortion of reality split opened to a portal, and hands were the first to come out of it before they revealed themselves. "Looks like you're getting better to detect my gaps."

"That's because you're always behind those gaps all the time."

Yuuki glanced at Kotaro before turning to the shrine maiden, and he continued to tease her once more.

The young outsider approached Yuuki, and he returned the stick. "I think it is yours..." Everyone remained silent other than the side conversations from the monsters. Luckily, the silence was killed by Kotaro.

His sight shunned from the man in front of him, hoping not to see his facial reaction. Although, he only received a silent reply. He was fine with that, biting his lower lip.