'Little brat!'
Lila couldn't remove her hand from her lips. She had kissed a lot of people, enough to lose count. However, this one felt...deep.
She wanted to wipe her lips, yet the moment her pinky touched them, she couldn't help but touch it a little with her tongue just in case the feeling was still there —it wasn't.
'Stupid mortal!'
Anger flashed in her eyes, she wanted to kiss him a second more, yet he pulled away at the worst moment.
This was the first time her 'special' body had reacted to someone intimately, it's usually her taking advantage of people.
'Should I kill him?'
The thought lingered in her mind, but would she do it? Shinji had already killed her heart; it raced faster than ever, whenever she took glances at him. This alone made her mind tame, replaying all the scenes that took place a moment ago slowly —she didn't have a Tama to do it, but her mind had surrendered to her heart.
Looking at him with Lucien and Sora, enjoying the view of the forest behind her eagle, she grates her teeth in envy.
A mutter escapes her lips, "He could have watched with me... should I kill them, before killing him?"
Hearing her ridiculous requests, she slaps her face lightly.
'What are you thinking?! Let the puny mortal be! It was just a kiss!'
—That you can't get out of your head!
'Shut up!'
Picking up her music instrument, she wanted to play something to forget about him, but his poetic song came to her head, forcing a chuckle to escape her lips.
"It was lame...yet so cute."
—Just say you love it!
"Did he say he was interested in man because we are worlds apart."
Realizing this she pondered about her authorities: most powerful person on the island, ranked 30 worldwide; a relative to the world's top outlaws.
Dropping whatever thoughts coming to her mind, she glares at Shinji, piercing daggers at his back that seemed average, muttering, "They are special... no, no, I meant only my love. No, the mortal I talked to. Yes, the mortal I talked to... how can you explain someone passes out for two minutes?"
—Someone is smitten.
'I told you to shut up!'
***
On the other side, Shinji felt the glare coming behind him —he didn't dare look back.
Shifting his gaze to the two next to him, he says, "This island is fairly big. I thought I traveled a lot, but it looks like I only know a few about it. "
"Kokoro Island is 7, 568, 456 k㎡." Lucy replied to him, "It's only natural since we were born mortals."
"I only travelled 2, 678 k㎡ of this island."
Sora couldn't bring herself to understand such useless chatter, it wasn't money. She hisses, "Please say something more productive, like, what's our next move?"
Lucy replies, his gaze taken by a funny cloud, "We have to blend in, at least."
Shinji crosses his arms, grumbling, "That's useless... for us three anyway, we've traits that stand out too much. We are dying soon, there is no point in staying low-key. We could have bought time at that beast, but the inevitable is the inevitable."
"At least I can kill 'her' now, I think," Lucy replied with some doubt in his voice, "However, the problem lies with the aftermath."
Shinjii shrugs with a bright smile, "That's easy, especially when you have charmed the Village Shojo."
Sora who was struck by the piece of information, wanting to yell, 'she is the current shojo?! Why is she not dead yet?!' However, Lucy was quick to close her mouth to avoid trouble. He, too, was stunned by such information.
He knew, the Shojo was the person with the highest authority in the village similar to a president in the reader's world, and never once thought to receive help from someone like her.
Unable to make the red-hair's expression shift, Shinji sighs lightly. What's the point of talking to an expressionless bastard?
He explains, "As you know over the past five years the village Shojos were being mysteriously killed, because a lot of people eyed that position... mostly, your grandmother since she is from one of the founding clans of the village, with most disappearing over the years. Some say she should be the Shojo because...she is the oldest thing in the village. The new generation of Tama-Artists deny giving that position because of that same reason."
"There is, also, a rumor saying that she eats her children to maintain a semi-immortal state."
Lucien's face contorts slightly at the thought of that woman. He never met her, but he just hated her, and everything to do with her because of the way she treated Akane.
This expression pleased the handsome young man slightly. "Anyway, after a Cold War struck the village, which mortals weren't aware of, an executive from the top of the world was sent to meditate the issue. However, she ended up taking the Shoji position, beating everyone who opposed her. This happened a few months before we were kidnapped."
Sora and Lucy could have argued that the information was far-fetched since it was coming from a pathological liar. However, Lucy could tell the shift in Shinji's voice when he is lying.
He looks pitifully at the young man.
"Be careful. She might remove your youth."
Shinji smirks.
"Then I'ld be steps above you."
"I already did... partially."
Now, it was Shinji and Sora's turn to wide open their eyes in surprise. They had over a million questions spinning in their small heads, 'when did our Derniere lose his virginity?! Who is the girl?! Did he perhaps fall for a honey trap?! Why didn't you run?! Did she blackmail you?!'
They knew Lucien was soft-hearted, and would easily fall for a trap. If a girl wanted to take advantage of him, it would happen.
To evade the barrage of questions, Lucy says, "I'll kill her soon."
Their questions were answered. Sighing, they mutter in unison, "That's better."
In Shinji's eyes Lucien had grown for the better. In the past, he was a silent guy who did everything to not get violent —mostly, because he didn't want his mother to get stressed. That being said, a lot of people took advantage of that.
This version of him is like a tiger let loose. He no longer cares about other people's evaluation —when he wanted them to at least see how his mother felt from being eaten inside they threw stones at him.
'Akanechan once said she saw me in a dream as a strong Tama-Artist in the future.'
—Considering she was a prophetess it might come true.
'If that happens, I'll help you kill that father of yourself, after all, Akanechan was more of a mother to me than the person who gave birth to me.'
Why is he even thinking this? Could it be because of the gaze coming from behind him?
—Her name is Lila.
'How do I know her name?'
'The birthmark!!!'
Shinji clenches his fist, tree barks growing on his forehead.
"Tch, I might never find true love in this life."
Lucien turns to look at him, smiling.
"Don't give up, she likes you more than you think."
Sora flashes a cheeky smile.
"Don't give up Shinji-kun! Lucy-san will give you advice if you need some!"
'This brings back memories.'
In the past, it would be the three of them this, sometimes with Akane.
Closing his eyes, Shinji inclines his head on the eagle's feathers, smiling.
'That kiss was amazing.'
It felt like heavenly chocolate. No, divine marshmallow. Maybe, both, synthesized into one miserable concoction together with chili jam and peanut butter, because it might be the last!
'Shinji, this one is out of your league.'