"No."
It was a simple word but carried unprecedented weight.
"Whyyyyy~" But all he got was a whine from the girl in front of him.
"Because you'll just bother me and probably ruin my job."
"I would not! I promise, so can you take me?" She flashed her red eyes, looking at him with a pleading expression.
"No." Most people might give in after seeing such a beautiful girl but who is he?
Women would only affect the speed of him getting money.
"Grr…" Arcueid growled before her eyes lit up, "As my bodyguard, I order you to let me accompany you."
"Hell no!"
"As my bodyguard, you're not allowed to refuse." She crossed her arms smugly.
Diego's eyes twitched after hearing that. She had never met someone so innocent yet so stubborn. She's not like Rin Tohsaka, who can be tricked with a few words.
"Okay. But! You have to follow my words, got it?"
"I will." Arcueid nodded with excitement.
Diego heaved a sigh of relief then asked, "Why do you want to be on this anyway? I thought you hate this kind of business."
"What do you mean? This sounds fun and exciting. Why should I hate it?" She asked with a confused look but Diego can see the corners of her mouth twitching. She's having fun for sure.
"...." Diego facepalmed seeing this. Great, another baggage.
*RING!*
The phone in the table rang, prompting him to pick it up.
"Hello?"
"Diego-sama from the Almighty Exorcist Office?"
Diego looked at Arcueid who was staring at him before answering, "That should be me. Is there any problem?"
"Nothing, Diego-sama. Yuri Kimura recommended you to me, you know him right? He said you're an expert in dealing with supernatural events."
He looked at Arcueid who was biting her lip, stifling her laughter.
"What do you need me for?" Diego coughed and asked straightforwardly.
"Straight to the point I see. I won't waste your time, Diego-sama. The commission this time is about a movie theater."
"A movie theater?" Diego muttered in confusion. Now that's a first. A movie theater is a public place and anything there can happen, if it's something creepy, most people will just pin it on the special effects and not really bother with it.
"Yes, but this particular theater only has few viewers most of the time. They only show movies that are not really popular so few people watch them, if not at all."
"And then?"
"Well, it was a recent thing. Probably a few days ago, a couple was watching a romance movie, there were only two of them. The movie wasn't great and it was' long 'either, there were no horror elements or anything that can put the audience in suspense but…" The other side of the call started telling the story.
"But what?"
"But then, they started to experience things that are just downright creepy. The movie switches into an eerie scene of a weird face staring at them, the theater suddenly becoming too cold and their body getting heavy. They even said that there was another person beside them and sometimes whispering in their ears, sometimes the entire theater just completely blacks out. They didn't get to finish the movie due to fear."
"That's just two customers, how can it affect a business that big?" Diego frowned.
"Diego-sama, Fuyuki City has a history of some incidents, it's not really strange for people to believe even if it's just rumors. Plus there's also those murders which makes people suspect if a ghost is haunting places in the city." The other replied with some helplessness.
"People nowadays are too delved into stuff like occult and supernatural. If you have a place like Fuyuki, rumors are bound to spread even if they are true or not." He was also skeptical to be honest, but the people aren't and it's affecting business. It's okay if it's just one theater but if this continues, the entire mall might lose people.
It also doesn't help the location in Shinto, a place that was bombed years ago. Now people are starting to think that the souls of those who died ten years ago are haunting the mall.
Whether there really are ghosts or not, this problem must be solved as soon as possible, if hiring an exorcist can deal with their problem, then no problem. They are willing to pay the price for their business.
"What do you say, Diego-sama? The commission last time was around 200,000 yen. This time, the owner is willing to pay 500,000 yen." Hearing those words, Diego immediately became serious.
"Rest assured, I will deal with it."
"When is it, Diego-sama? The sooner the better if possible."
Diego looked at the blonde girl who was now inches away from him, listening to the phone as well. "I'll deal with it this afternoon, ghosts tend to be more active at that time til night."
"That's great! I'll be waiting for you at Shinto." Diego hummed in agreement before putting the phone down.
"Soo—" Arcueid wanted to say something but..
"No."
"I haven't even said anything yet!"
"No."
"But–"
"No."
"Stop it!"
"No."
"Imcomingwithyou."
"No. Why would you?"
"Because it's fun! I want to see you exorcise ghosts." She grinned, while coming close to him.
Diego's eyes wrinkled before he slightly pushed her away, "Don't you know what personal privacy is?"
"Huh? I'm a girl. Shouldn't you be flattered?" Arcueid looked at herself before doing a little twirl, her long skirt twirling along with herself.
"That's not how it works." Diego's eyes twitched. "I'm an advocate of gender equality, so it doesn't matter if you're a girl or not."
"I see…" She nodded in understanding, "So how many girls did you scam?"
Diego almost tripped after hearing that. He decided to ignore her laughter and leave the room to pack some things he'll need for his next exorcism.
—
"There, it should be done." Diego wiped away the sweat on his forehead and patted the bag of the stuff he'll need for later.
It's still morning and the commission was in the afternoon but still, he liked to be prepared.
Once he was done, he went to the office to check on the girl but when he went inside, he saw her sitting on his chair while looking at the computer.
"Diego, you're here." She waved her hand and smiled at him.
This attitude does make him a bit uncomfortable. Did this girl forget he killed her or does she lack self awareness?
He doesn't understand how someone can be so.. Friendly.
It would be good if she's faking it but something tells him she isn't. Why would she? If she shows hostility, it's perfectly understandable.
"What are you doing?" Diego pushed those thoughts away for now and asked.
"I was checking your reviews and you're right, you really have a lot of high reviews. I can't even see one bad comment." She replied while scrolling.
"Of course, I already told you that my service has a high evaluation from others." He said a little proudly. There's nothing wrong with a little bragging right?
"Hmm… maybe I should write one as well." Arcueid muttered before typing, "Killed me in seconds, would not recommend" Did I get that right?" She grinned at him.
"..."
Diego covered his face and was already regretting agreeing with her. Perhaps jail wouldn't be so bad.
"What's with that reaction? It's just a joke." She stood up and giggled.
"You have some sick sense of rumor."
"Am I? But Merem always laughed at my jokes…" She muttered under her breath.
Diego deadpanned hearing that. Whoever this Merem is, either he has a sick humor as well or just wants to please her.
"Anyway, I heard what you're talking about earlier. Going to a… cinema was it?" Arcueid asked thoughtfully, "What's that?"
"You don't know what a cinema is?" He raised a brow hearing that.
"Am I supposed to?" She titled her head at that question. Her face frowned.
"... Most people hear what a cinema is and even go there sometimes. How can you not know that?" He asked, flabbergasted at her lack of common sense. He thinks she's a silly girl as a joke but now he's wondering if she's really that stupid.
"W-Well, I usually spend my time sleeping so I'm pretty new about these kinds of things, hehehe…" She laughed sheepishly. A little embarrassed about being found ignorant.
Diego's expression softened hearing that. "Fine, you can come but…" Her excitement calmed down after hearing his following words, "You must follow my way, got it?"
"Okay." She nodded seriously. Something that surprised him since she thought she'll be more stubborn about this.
"Well, I'm off. " Diego had nothing left to say so he waved his hand and was about to leave.
"Where are you going?" She stood up and went to his side.
"Eat?"
"Let me come too."
Diego looked at her and couldn't help but ask, "Don't you have a home to go to? You've been with me for the entire night. Won't your family get worried?"
"I have no parents so it's fine." Arcueid waved her hand and replied nonchalantly.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Realizing he said something bad, Diego immediately apologized.
"It's fine. It's been a long time anyway." She rubbed her chin, "But family, huh? I do remember my sister but we don't get along so…"
"Alright, alright." Diego may not be a good person but he didn't want to bring bad memories, "Are you sure you're coming? You look rich so I'm not sure if you would like the food here…"
This girl does not look Japanese at all and her outfit looks expensive. Her skin is unnaturally soft and delicate when he touches her face earlier so it's definitely well maintained. Even how she acts is like a rich girl who hasn't seen the world yet.
"Well, I actually haven't eaten anything here in this city yet so…." She rubbed the back of her head and gave a low laugh.
Diego thought for a moment and replied, "Alright, you pick and I'll buy.''
"Really?" She looked surprised upon hearing that.
"Of course." Diego still has some money. Besides, it's just a meal right?
What's the worst thing that could happen?
—
"Wow! This cake is so delicious!" Arcueid exclaimed as she started wolfing down the giant cake in front of her as if she hadn't tasted food in her life.
Diego just stared blankly at her eating figure before looking at his wallet then back at the pile of plates around her.
They went to Shinto to eat, he originally wanted to go to that chinese restaurant but this girl looks western so she would probably prefer western dishes that can only be found in the largest mall in the city here in Shinto.
That's what he thought. Who would have known that after going into this place, Arcuied was clueless on what to eat and just decided to try it one by one. He didn't refuse since he thought that she would give up halfway, it was quite a lot of food after all and girls have this obsessive habit of maintaining weight. Someone of Arcueid's figure is the type to not learn much from his opinion so he just let it happen.
And here he is… Waiting for her to finish the tenth plate which was a giant cake. He was surprised how she can eat so much despite finishing nine types of dishes without any break.
An hour had almost passed and she was still eating with delight, not at all bothered by the stares that were being given to her from time to time.
Diego had long finished his meal and was just waiting for her to be done.
After a long wait, she finally finished the cake and stretched her body, "That was so good, we should do it again next time."
'My wallet won't be able to handle it next time.' Diego muttered inwardly but didn't change his expression from the outside. A skill he picked back then, don't show reaction in front of girls when they're using your money.
"It's over everyone! What are you looking for?!" He glared at the people staring at her, making them disperse while muttering how someone can eat so much.
"What's wrong with them?" Arcueid looked around in confusion.
"Just ignore them. So what's your plan next? Commission is still in the afternoon." He estimated the time, " Aren't going home to rest?"
"Why do you want me to go home so much?" She asked with an annoyed face. This guy is always asking when she'll leave, does he not know how rude that is?
"Besides, we're already here." She smirked.
"What?" Diego didn't understand what she's saying.
Still smirking, she pointed her finger above, to a hotel to be exact.
"We're here."
"Here?" Diego raised his head and saw her finger pointing at a hotel.
"That's where I live, to the highest floor to be exact."
Diego has some knowledge about the city despite waking up less than a month ago and he was sure that the hotel in Shinto was the most expensive one in Fuyuki, more so living at the top floor. He remembered that there's a comparison of how living at the top is like living in the castle that could be found in the city as well.
Diego looked at Arcueid then at the hotel before pointing at the building, "T-This is where you live?"
"Yeah. Is there something wrong?" Arcueid was taken aback by his stutter and asked.
Diego put his hand down and thought. How am I gonna win in court if I'm against this rich girl? The answer is he can't.
Bullshitting is not gonna beat someone this wealthy.
---
A/N: Write a review or something so I have something to read myself.