---
The next morning started the way all horror stories do—peacefully.
Birds chirping. Fresh mist. Sunshine reluctantly filtering through gothic windows like it didn't want to be there.
I made coffee. Sat by the window. Didn't check my cursed dating system.
Akane, now unofficial co-occupant of the mansion, walked in wearing one of my hoodies and looking like she'd spent the night punching ghosts in her dreams.
"Morning," she grunted, stealing half my toast.
"Did you sleep?" I asked.
"Define sleep."
"More than four hours. Without stabbing the shadows."
"Then no."
We sat in silence, sipping warm drinks and pretending our lives weren't insane.
Then the doorbell rang.
And for a cursed mansion in the middle of nowhere, that was already a red flag.
I opened the door.
And instantly regretted breathing.
She stood in the fog like something out of a JRPG loading screen.
Long silver hair. Pale skin. Emerald eyes that shimmered unnaturally. Pointed ears.
She wore a travel cloak over a dress that looked stitched from stars.
"Are you the Master of the House?" she asked, voice like a lullaby dipped in wine.
Akane peeked over my shoulder and muttered, "Bro, is that an elf?"
I said nothing.
Because I had already made eye contact.
> [Target Locked: Elira Ly'Shael] [Affection Initiated]
[10 Texts Remaining]
I sighed so hard my soul nearly escaped.
---
I learned two things quickly:
1. She spoke like a fantasy noble but got flustered by toasters.
2. She claimed she was "summoned here" by a magical trace left behind by Aoi.
Apparently, Elira wasn't from Yurei Town.
Or Japan.
Or, possibly, Earth.
"You're... from another realm?" I asked, as she sat in the library sniffing the furniture.
"Only temporarily. The ripple called to me. It sings with a broken heart."
Akane, leaning against a wall, snorted. "Great. Now the house is recruiting elves. What's next? A talking cat?"
> Elira: Your home aches, Master Ren. Elira: May I stay? Until the singing stops. Elira: I shall earn my keep. I am trained in healing, song, and seventeen forms of magic.
> System: Message Count - 3/10. Affection Level: 24%.
"She barely knows me," I whispered.
> System: Magical races form soulbonds more quickly.
> System: Especially during emotional vulnerability.
"That's cheating."
> System: Love is not fair.
"I hate you."
> System: 😌
---
Later that day, Elira decided the garden was cursed.
Not a metaphor.
She waved her hand, chanted in a language that sounded like birds arguing, and half the weeds burst into flames.
I ran out screaming with a fire extinguisher.
"IT'S A GARDEN, NOT A DEMON CIRCLE!"
"I cleansed it," she said proudly.
"You scorched it."
"Same thing where I'm from."
> Elira: Master Ren. You look radiant when you are distressed. Elira: I shall distress you more often.
> System: Message Count - 5/10. Affection Level: 48%.
She was worse than Akane.
At least Akane threatened me with fists.
Elira threatened me with metaphors and sparkles.
---
That night, the three of us sat in the main hall. Akane had claimed one couch and was sharpening a butter knife for "emotional support."
Elira knelt on a pillow like she was meditating before a shrine.
I, naturally, was stress-eating crackers.
"So," I said, "Do you also plan to stay here until further notice?"
"Yes," Elira replied. "The energies here are unstable. You are at the center of something tragic. I wish to help you carry it."
I glanced at Akane.
She raised an eyebrow and mouthed, third girl?
I mouthed back, shut up.
> Elira: I shall not burden you with my feelings. Elira: But if you asked me to fall, I would.
> System: Message Count - 7/10. Affection Level: 69%.
Nice number. Terrifying context.
---
Around 1 a.m., the system glitched again.
Lights flickered.
The floor trembled.
And in the hallway outside the guest rooms, I saw a reflection in the mirror that didn't belong to any of us.
Aoi.
Smiling.
But not at me.
At Elira.
> [Warning: Overlap Detected.] Two soulbonds now occupy unstable territory. Conflict risk: HIGH.
"Guys?" I called out.
Elira appeared beside me, hand glowing. "I sense her."
Akane emerged with a broom. "Is it punching time?"
"No punching!" I said. "Maybe just—exorcise politely?"
The mirror cracked.
Aoi's voice whispered: "Not enough... Not enough yet... More..."
Then silence.
---
By morning, Elira looked paler.
"She's feeding off the bond," she murmured. "Something is wrong with the curse. It grows."
"I thought rejecting you would break it," I said.
She shook her head. "Only if the heart still listens. But mine... may not."
> Elira: If I forget who I am, will you remind me?
> System: Message Count - 10/10. Affection Overflow Detected.
> [Automatic Safeguard Engaged. Partial Detachment Initiated. Side effects possible.]
Elira collapsed.
I caught her.
Her skin shimmered, glitching like an unstable spell.
Then stabilized.
She was breathing.
But something had changed.
> System: New Trait Unlocked - Elira: Lingering Heart. "Though the bond is broken, part of her soul remains with you."
I sat there, holding her.
Akane crouched beside me.
"Next time," she said, "we set up a welcome mat that says No Magical Girls Allowed."
I nodded.
But I couldn't help wondering:
How many more were coming?
And how many could I save?
---
It's been three days since I almost developed a trauma-triggered allergy to romance.
And three days since anyone new tried to move into my mansion with a suitcase full of lingerie and emotional damage.
I was cautiously optimistic.
Akane even made pancakes this morning. The kind with chocolate chips shaped like middle fingers.
"Eat up," she said, sliding a plate to me. "Might be the last normal meal you get before another magic princess shows up asking to bear your cursed children."
"...That's not encouraging."
"Wasn't meant to be."
She poured tea, smirked, and went back to watching anime with the volume on max.
I almost believed the chaos had ended.
Almost.
---
That afternoon, I went to town.
Just groceries. Nothing cursed. Nothing romantic. Just eggs and peace.
Until I nearly got run over by a bicycle.
"Woah—!"
I jumped back as a girl zoomed past, skidded to a halt, and crashed into a bush.
"Are you okay?!" I called, running over.
The girl sat up, leaves in her hair, and looked at me.
Big mistake.
> [Target Locked: Hayashi Mei] [Affection Initiated] [10 Texts Remaining]
Of course.
She had short, bouncy strawberry-blonde hair, styled in a side ponytail that curled like it had a personality of its own. Her skin was pale and dotted with freckles. Her lips curled into a shy smile as she adjusted her glasses.
She wore a light green hoodie over a pleated skirt and sneakers with mismatched socks. The kind of girl you see in anime and instantly think, Oh no, I'm gonna simp.
"I'm okay," she said. "I was rushing to class and forgot brakes exist. You saved me."
"I... didn't actually do anything."
"You showed concern. That counts. Thank you, mysterious boy."
"Mysterious? I literally asked if you were okay."
"I like your voice."
> Mei: You have a really gentle aura. Like a tree. Mei: Not an old tree. A nice one. Mei: Can I know your name?
> System: Message Count - 3/10. Affection Level: 22%.
No.
No no no no.
I wasn't ready for another one.
> Me: It's Sakuragi Ren. I'm... just passing through.
> Mei: That's a cool name! Like someone in a novel.
> System: Message Count - 4/10. Affection Level: 30%.
Akane's voice echoed in my brain: You attract weird like bees to soda.
---
I walked away fast, clutching my shopping bag like it was a holy artifact.
But fate had other plans.
After school, I took a shortcut through the back streets near the station.
That's when I saw her.
Not a girl I knew. Not a girl I expected.
A girl sitting alone on a rooftop.
Long black hair like silk sheets spilled over her shoulders. Fair skin that shimmered slightly in the golden light. She wore the elite private school uniform—black blazer, white skirt, crimson tie.
She wasn't smiling. She wasn't crying either.
She just looked... tired.
I recognized her instantly.
Everyone in Yurei Town did.
Ayaka Fushimi. Daughter of the mayor. Top of the class. Cold, distant, untouchable.
And she looked down from that rooftop and made direct eye contact with me.
> [Target Locked: Fushimi Ayaka] [Affection Initiated] [10 Texts Remaining]
Kill me now.
She blinked once. Then turned and disappeared behind the ledge.
Five seconds later, she was in front of me.
"How long have you been watching me?" she asked.
"Thirty seconds? And mostly because you were about to fall off a roof."
"You were the one who inherited the Sakuragi estate, weren't you?"
"...How do you know that?"
"I pay attention to rumors. And my mother was... familiar with your family."
She looked at me again.
Like she could see through me.
> Ayaka: I'm not interested in boys. Ayaka: But for some reason, you feel... familiar. Ayaka: I hate that.
> System: Message Count - 3/10. Affection Level: 12%.
Oh good. A slow burn.
With a side of suspicion.
---
I made it home without anyone else confessing, collapsing, or teleporting into my living room.
Akane noticed my expression immediately.
"Two more?" she asked.
I nodded.
She sighed.
"Should we just open a love hotel and charge rent?"
"I'm considering it."
Later that night, I checked my cursed phone.
> Mei: It was nice meeting you! Let's bump into each other again sometime~
> Ayaka: Don't read too much into this, but… thank you for noticing me today.
> System: Both Targets Currently Stable. Text Limit Not Yet Reached.
For now.
I went to bed knowing tomorrow would be worse.
But somewhere in the storm of insanity, something else lingered beneath the surface.
A feeling I didn't want to admit.
Because the truth was... I had started looking forward to those texts.
Even the dangerous ones.
Even hers.
---