Eliss freezes, her eyes locked on Aoshi.
Th-That guy… his messy hair, those ridiculously plain eyes, that hopelessly dorky face… why is he so… so… hot?! What the hell is happening to me?! No, no way! There's no way I'm in love with him! My own spell… it backfired?! How is that even possible?! And now what? The only way to undo it is to cast a counter-spell myself… so why can't I do it?! Damn it… I'm so in love with him, my own body's staging a mutiny! This is bad… really bad!
«You sure you're okay? Should I call an ambulance?» Aoshi asks.
His voice… so flat, so dull — yet somehow ridiculously sexy! I feel like I'm about to melt right here! So this is what being under a succubus spell feels like? What a pain… Raelor, where are you?! Help me!
Eliss can't get a single word out.
Aoshi shrugs and turns away — he's only a few steps from home now. But something — or rather, someone — stops him. Eliss suddenly dives at his feet, clutching his legs desperately.
«How can you just leave me here all alone after making me fall in love with you?! You heartless jerk!» she whines.
«Fun's fun, but the game's over,» Aoshi mutters flatly. «Let me go — and if you see Miori, tell her I said goodbye. Tell her that, despite everything, I truly was happy during our month together. I just froze from the shock back then and couldn't say it to her face.»
«Stop going on and on about this Miori already!» Eliss snaps, a faint note of jealousy slipping into her voice. «I don't even know who she is, and I don't care! The sooner you forget her, the better — then we can spend the rest of our lives together, happily ever after!»
Oh crap… why am I saying stuff like that out loud?! If the incubi I turned down ever saw me like this, they'd never stop laughing! And my big sister Vanya — she'd tease me till the end of time! What humiliation…
Aoshi looks down at her — his eyes clouded with something close to pity.
Poor girl… she's either drunk, high, or both. She looks about my age — and she's already ended up like this? What a pain… Still, I can't just leave her here. It's late, and there are creeps around who'd take advantage of a girl like that.
«All right,» he sighs, resigned. «You can stay at my place for tonight.»
He holds out his hand to help her up — but this time, Eliss doesn't slap it away like before. Instead, she clings to his arm, wrapping herself around him like a monkey clutching a tree branch.
«But tomorrow morning, once you've sobered up, you'll go back home, okay?» Aoshi says firmly.
Eliss nods rapidly, her eyes sparkling with joy.
The nerve of this guy — he didn't waste a second before inviting me to spend the night at his place! What a shameless man… taking advantage of a young and innocent beauty like me! Then why am I so damn happy about it?! Why is my heart racing like crazy?! And why… why do I really hope he'll say something like: "Sorry, my apartment's tiny and I've only got one futon — guess we'll have to share"? Ahh… this is completely insane! How can I be totally head over heels for such a plain, clueless guy?!
It takes barely a couple of minutes before they reach Aoshi's place — an old apāto with thin walls, rusty stairs, and tiny balconies cluttered with plants and drying laundry. Cheap, noisy, and far from luxurious — perfect for a broke college student like him.
When Aoshi opens the door, Eliss's eyes sparkle even brighter as she realizes it's exactly the kind of tiny dump she pictured in her wildest fantasies — only even messier.
It looks like a bomb went off: wrinkled clothes scattered all over the floor, piles of dirty dishes stacked in the sink, a thick layer of dust covering the furniture, and more.
As a princess, a sight like this would normally have sent Eliss into a panic, but right now, that cramped little den — clearly uncleaned for ages — seems more luxurious to her than the grand royal palace she called home just a day ago.
«Sorry, my apartment's tiny and I've only got one futon…» Aoshi begins — and Eliss is already drooling, hanging on his every word. «…so you take it. I'll manage somehow. For one night, I can handle sleeping in the bathtub.»
W-What?! He didn't even try to suggest we share the futon?! Either he's hopelessly depressed… or the most asexual human alive! Fine, whatever! Tomorrow morning I'll head back to Elyndra and ask Raelor to break this stupid curse — he's the strongest incubus alive, it'll be a piece of cake for him.
Wait… how the hell am I supposed to get back home?!