Demon's Protégé

Extravagance

The next day came by like any ordinary day in my very odd life in Avian Hills.

It actually had started with a very pleasant morning for me, from the moment I had woken up from my bed, feeling refreshed; up to the second I walked out of my room, whistling a happy tune. I seemed to have completely mastered the habit of shifting my mood lately. The trial of my ongoing struggle to ask Nari on a date had me gradually changing my character depending on the situation that I can even no longer distinct myself from the past. I seemed to have undergone a mental crisis but it still didn’t really bothered me at all.

Carefully following the previous plan I had devised the night before, I had meticulously chose my attire and wore the most polished tailored-fit black suit I had in my luggage and casually strutted out into the lobby, looking dasher than the day before. Henry had even looked at me and did a double-take with a strange startled expression—the first ever genuine shocked face I had seen from him. And I smirked back at his gaped mouth just as I stopped by the front of the counter from where he stood behind.

“What a face,” I smugly remarked, blatantly pointing out his comical reaction. Henry quickly readjusted himself as soon as he heard my words and moved to fidget with his glasses instead, suddenly looking embarrassed in front of me. He looked away for a second, avoiding my gaze.

“Well, you looked like you’re finally back to your old self, Mr. Takagi,” Henry cautiously inferred after a moment, immediately masking his face back to the usual demeanor he always had. I had carefully groomed myself this morning with the intention of impressing someone so badly. And it seemed like the whole get-up had been successful, seeing as how Henry had just acted when he saw me right now. I didn’t even know that the kid could blush like a little girl. And I was even a man who just made himself more attractive with a simple play of luxuries.

My charm, had somehow, won over another heart again. And I can’t but feel a bit proud of myself.

“That sounded like a compliment there, kid.” I retorted back, arrogantly smirking as I leaned over the counter. “I will actually be kind of busy today, that’s why.”

“Really?”

“I’m going to woo my woman.” I answered his raised brow, spitefully bragging, “And she’ll finally go on a date with me.”

“Hmn.”

“Stop saying that,” I complained with a frown, a bit sensitive over that repeated noncommittal response Henry always gave me.

“It’s rude and I don’t really get what you mean when you do that.”

“You sound so sure about Miss Nari,” Henry just stated with a blank look, completely ignoring my angry remark, “What gives?”

“Nothing really,” I told him, merely shrugging, “I’m just persistent as ever.”

“I’m no longer surprised,” the kid only said, staying unfazed. “Well, I’ll just hope you have a great day, Mr. Takagi. Good luck with the… ‘Wooing’.”

I snorted to the mocking tone he had emphasized on the last word and stepped back from the counter, trying not to be affected by his teasing smirk.

“Good talk, Henry. See you later.” I just said, waving a hand at him before walking away. I marched out of the motel just like that, still in the middle of feeling optimistic about this particular day.

I was not really sure why I was feeling so out of my element all of a sudden. Perhaps, there was just something about how I had woken up this morning or maybe how the sun was directly blaring down at me with its heat oozing into the air with a slow breeze of the wind meeting my face through a faint whisper. It all just felt like good things were about to come to me, finally. And I walked towards the car, whistling a happy tune, thinking of my carried-out plan I had in the back of my mind.

I soon took a long drive outside the village, listening to the heavy metal jibe of s*x Pistols’ “God Save The Queen” booming from the car stereo. I was still carefully trying to avoid meeting any local inside Avian Hills so I chose to shop away from the town. I was not yet ready to face any hostility within this day and I didn’t want to destroy the good mood too. Driving down the freeway, I shortly dropped by the nearest flower shop I had found near the next city. I then bought the most expensive bouquet of flowers available there and I had it arranged in the most alluring way I seemed to like.

The plan was to do the traditional way of courting… But I was not really that sure if it was going to work out fine. But then, who knows?

I just have to do it any other way. And buying the flowers was the first option on the list. I then drove back to the town again afterward, feeling a little more determined of what I was about to do. She would totally get angry with this—that was for certain. It was in her nature, anyway (as I have observed from previous interactions we had). But when I started to imagine the scowling face of hers inside my head, it just made me even more fueled to do what I was planning. I don’t even know why that mental image got me so amused and grinning to myself for some reason…

Hudson still hadn’t given me an update about what we had talked last night. And somehow, I was slowly getting impatient with all the waiting. Though I’m pretty sure he was currently on the process of doing it now. Well, he can’t really say no to me, after all. Yet I still sent him a message this morning just in case he might have jilted out of the deal—and to which by knowing him, was very unlikely to happen anyway. But then, it could still be possible. Especially when I already knew that this was like treading on dangerous grounds against my father just by asking Hudson for those classified information. My father had strictly forbid me the last time on never trying to interfere with the business matters of the town. But my undying curiosity had beaten me down to it and I can’t even stop myself anymore.

I was no longer rational to think about those kinds of consequences alarming me of what could possibly happen. And just by doing all of these crazy things, I might already be completely insane. Even when I knew it might backfire on me someday, I still wanted to give it a go.

I don’t really care, I supposed. As long as it meant I would be getting much closer to Nari… I just have to do anything that I could.