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An Ordinary Day

Chapter 4

I'm Just Full of Surprises

I can't believe he said yes! I tackle him with another hug before I get up and grab the plates to wash.

"Well, are you ready to go to the mall?"

"Yeah, but how will I buy stuff?"

I walk into the kitchen and he follows me. He asks such obvious questions, but I expect them.

"You idiot, I already told you that I would buy whatever you want."

"I don't want you to do that. I already owe you so much."

"And you already paid me back infinity fold."

"How?"

"By agreeing to be my boyfriend!"

"Well, if you insist..."

"Which I do."

"Which you do. I'll just have to be the best boyfriend in history!"

"I have no doubt, but the question is, will I be the best partner?"

"I don't think you'll have any trouble being the best for me."

I finish washing and drying the tableware and head for the magic room.

"How are we going to get to the mall? I know you have your bike, but that won't fit both of us."

"I already have a way." I cross the room to the table and tap a quick pattern on the top. "I own houses all over the city, they seem to be unoccupied at the moment, but I can easily rectify that." I pull a small door handle out of a drawer hidden in the table and walk to a blank wall. I wave my hand in front of it and a portion of the wall in front of me dissolves to reveal a simple wooden door missing a handle. "This door leads to my other houses. If you look just above the handle, there is a small wheel with a few colours on it." I feel him approach me from behind and hug me around the chest under my arms so he can look over my shoulder "I can turn the colour wheel to select the house I want to go to. The one by the mall is purple, here is red, the one by my work is blue, and the mansion is yellow."

"Wait, did you say mansion? You have a mansion?"

"More of a library, really. It has plenty of rooms, but I've filled them with books mostly. It's really just an escape. I have servants there too, but I prefer to cook my own meals, so I'm almost always at this house."

"You have servants?" I could tell be the tone of his voice that he was feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Yeah, but they're all demons. Well, not actual demons. They're all really demanding!"

"How so?"

I put on my best servant voice and quoted them, "'Here, master, allow me.' 'Would master like some tea?' 'I shall start the bath for you before you retire for the evening.' 'Shall I get you a book for your reading pleasure, master?' It's just question after question and 'master' this, 'master' that! I told them not to call me master and that I would call them if I need them! At least they listened when I told them to pick any room in the house and that they could have that room as their private quarters."

"You sound like a good employer. How much do they get paid?"

"One thousand dollars to keep the mansion in order while I'm not there; two thousand when I am. I guess I'll have to raise it to three thousand since I'll now have you coming with me."

"Stop spending so much money on me!"

I could tell he was becoming annoyed with me and my spending.

"It's fine. I have ways of getting my money. Odd jobs for discerning and wealthy clients keep me in a good financial state. I provide them with protection and cures for certain diseases, I get a weekly deposit of large sums of money in my bank account."

"Protection from what?"

"Anything from ill intent, to ghosts and possession, to demons, to ex-lovers. I have charms and barriers for all sorts of things. I have to go back once a year to keep the barrier and charms working like new, but I only go on a new moon in March."

"Why only a new moon in March?"

"My birthday is March 23rd, 1993, therefore, my magic is the most powerful in March and because I was born under a new moon, my magic is especially strong when there is a new moon. The barriers and charms work better and last longer this way."

"Hmm. What was the moon like on October 30th, 1993?"

"I believe it was a full moon. Ironic that your name is the adjective form of black, but you were born on a full moon." I made a mental note to double check that I was correct on the phase of the moon.

"Well, should we be going?"

"That would be a good idea. I have a surprise waiting for you."

"Surprises already? Tell me!" I contacted some old friends, but he doesn't know that.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, silly!"

I turned the wheel to purple and put the handle in the slot. I heard the soft click of the handle and the mechanism connecting and I opened the door to an identical magic room. Kuroi just stared at the room.

"Is that just a mirror?"

"If it is, then I'm afraid we have become vampires. We don't have a reflection." I poked some fun at his comment. I mean, really, why would I put a door here and cover it with an illusion just to hide a mirror.

"Oh no, I'm not going to sparkle am I?"

We laugh at his reference to some horrible movie/novel series. I slip out of his hug and go behind him.

"I guess there's only one way to find out if it's a mirror or not." I give him a slight push and he stumbles through the doorway into the other room.

"Whoa!" He falls over and I have just enough time to conjure a pillow so he doesn't hurt himself. "No need to be so pushy."

"Would you have preferred I drag you through instead?"

"Where are we now anyway?"

"The other side of the city."

"You expect me to believe..."

I gave him the you've-got-to-be-kidding look. "It's not like we teleported. Think of it as opening a door into a different room."

"Yeah, a different room on the opposite side of the city."

I leave him to wander the house while I go back to the other house take the handle of and put it away before returning to close and hide the door on both sides. I hear a commotion in the living room and assume he was greeted by the "surprise", or, more accurately, the "surprises".