Jahy's eyes were closed, her breathing slowly evening out into the gentle rhythm of sleep.
The Tanaka house was silent, wrapped in the deep quiet of a day's end.
"Wait, no!" Jahy's eyes snapped open, and she bolted upright in bed.
"I have to gather the Mana Stones and rebuild the Demon Realm! How can I afford to sleep?"
She clenched her small fists, her face a mask of frustration.
"The human world is dangerous. It lulls you into a false sense of security with all its comforts. Jahy, you have to stay focused! The Demon Realm and the Great Dark Lord are counting on you!"
Having given herself this necessary pep talk, Jahy slid out from under the covers.
Still dressed in her kitten-print pajamas and fluffy slippers, she padded to the door and cracked it open, peering cautiously into the hallway.
All clear.
She crept out, moving with exaggerated care toward Masao's room, her footsteps silent on the floorboards.
She paused at his door, not making a sound.
First, she crouched down, pressing her eyes to the thin gap under the door.
Darkness.
A silent, triumphant fist-pump. "Nice!"
Confident he was asleep, she carefully reached for the doorknob and turned.
It didn't budge. She pushed.
"It's locked?" she whispered, incredulous. "Who locks their door in their own house? What is he hiding in there?"
But Jahy was not so easily defeated. She produced her Mana Stone necklace, a faint glow pulsing within its core.
"Good thing I planned for this."
The stone had regenerated a trickle of power—just enough for a simple spell.
A soft, magical luminescence enveloped the lock.
"Spell: [Unlock]."
It was less a grand incantation and more a basic application of will, shaping her magic into an invisible key. With a satisfying click, the mechanism yielded.
Jahy gently pushed the door open and slipped inside.
Even in her weakened state, her demonic heritage granted her excellent night vision. Her golden eyes gleamed in the dark as she approached the bed.
Masao lay fast asleep, his snoring a steady rumble.
Jahy shook her head in disdain.
'He sleeps like a log. Perfect for my plans.'
There it was again—that potent energy, a force radiating from his chest. Her target.
She reached out and slowly drew back his comforter.
Luckily, he wasn't tangled in it. She pulled the blanket down to his waist, revealing the source of power.
Embedded in the center of his chest was a triangular crystal, its facets catching the dim light, pulsing with a soft, otherworldly luminescence.
Jahy's eyes widened with covetous glee.
"Oh, you beautiful thing," she cooed, her voice a hushed whisper. "You're far too magnificent for a mere human. You must be so lonely. Come with me. I'll cherish you, I promise."
This wasn't a strange quirk; in Jahy's experience, artifacts of such power often housed a spirit. Her strategy was to coax it, to win its allegiance with flattery and affection before making her move.
She continued her whispered praises, then carefully reached out, her fingers gently tracing the smooth, warm surface of the crystal.
It didn't reject her touch.
"Oh, you lovely treasure," she giggled softly. "Hehe~"
—
Meanwhile, drifting in the fog of sleep, Masao became aware of a presence. A weight on the edge of his mattress. A murmuring voice.
He stirred, struggling toward consciousness, and caught fragments of a whispered conversation.
"...so beautiful... come with me... I'll treat you well..."
Masao: ??!
He forced his eyes open, his gaze blurry as he searched for the source.
There was Jahy, hunched over his bedside, her small hand planted directly on his bare chest.
Masao: O_O
His mind cleared in an instant, reeling from the surreal scene.
'Am I... being visited at night? What's the protocol here? Do I play along and see what happens, or do I take the initiative and make a move?'
After a moment's internal debate, he decided to play possum. If Jahy was about to do something truly brazen, he could "wake up" at the most inopportune moment for her.
The idea was devilishly amusing.
He kept his breathing deep and even, feigning sleep while watching her intently through nearly closed eyelids.
Soon, the truth became apparent.
Jahy wasn't interested in him at all. She was mesmerized by the Arc Reactor embedded in his chest. She was whispering sweet nothings to it, and was now actively trying to pry the Reactor from its housing!
'The audacity! She's not here for me? How insulting!'
A wave of indignant irritation washed over him. He needed to retaliate.
And the perfect target was currently trying to pick his chest-pocket. His mark 85 armor's safety protocols—designed to prevent accidental harm to his family—were the only reason she could manhandle his sternum without receiving a powerful shock.
Still feigning sleep, he rolled over with a grunt, turning from his back onto his side, now facing the kneeling girl.
—
Jahy, wholly absorbed in her delicate work, flinched hard at his sudden movement.
Seeing he had merely shifted position and not woken up, she released a breath she didn't know she was holding and returned to her task.
Just then, Masao's arm, swung by the momentum of his turn, landed heavily across her lower back.
"Eek!"
A shiver ran down Jahy's spine, and a tiny, undignified squeak escaped her lips. She slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with panic.
She stared at Masao, but he seemed dead to the world. She relaxed, writing it off as an unconscious sleep-spasm.
She began to carefully lift his annoyingly heavy arm.
What she failed to register was that his previously rhythmic snoring had ceased entirely.
Feeling her tentative, delicate efforts to push his arm away, a ghost of a smile touched Masao's lips.
He began to move his fingers.
Just slightly.
His hand rested squarely on her lower back, right at the sensitive curve of her waist.
And as everyone knows, the waist is an exceptionally ticklish spot.
The moment his fingers began to trace slow, deliberate circles against the soft fabric of her pajamas, Jahy froze solid.
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[email protected]/Raven_scroll (30+ Advance Chapters)