She scrutinized him intently. "Aki-dear, you may be stupid... but not that stupid."
In a placating manner, he raised his hands and said slightly annoyed, "Jesus, I'm sorry... didn't realize I was dealing with a master detective here."
"Master detective…? Not quite—but an expert on Akira, certainly." She moved closer to him, humming, "And on love~"
Enraged, Akira slammed his hand on the table. "This isn't love! Stop with that nonsense…"
Laureen, seeming unsurprised by his outrage, or rather unimpressed, stared at him in silence.
After a short pause, he shook his head. "It... it just felt wrong. I didn't want to gain his trust through that way."
Laureen's facial muscles seemed to relax again, as if she were glad that he had finally managed to tell the truth—confessed his feelings. Love could be so complicated... "Wow... it's only been a few days, and you're already acting more human than most humans." She laughed amusedly.
"When you say it like that, it almost sounds like a bad thing…" Akira sighed.
"Well, maybe you'd be happier if you didn't have to deal with these problems right now," she said, making Akira look at her somewhat sadly, as if that's not what he'd like to hear.
Laureen raised one of her sausage-like fingers. "Also, if I could influence people's thoughts—not just with my stunning looks—then I'd shamelessly take advantage of it," she shrugged, obviously feeling unguilty about it despite Akira giving her a reproachful look.
"I can't backtrack now…" Akira stretched his arms on the counter and rested his head on them. "So are you gonna give me some useful advice now, or did I listen to your rambling for nothing?" He glanced at her from the side of his eye before digging his head further into his arms.
"It's always the same with men..." Laureen sighed. "How about you start by apologizing to that human for scaring him and then offer him your friendship? He probably thinks you're a freak who just wants to play with his feelings or do some other weird human stuff to him."
Stolen story; please report.
Muffled, Akira muttered into the counter. "And how am I gonna do that when he'll be long gone before I can even say a word?!"
Laureen thought for a moment, then rummaged in her handbag, handing a piece of paper toward him. "How about this?" she asked.
Akira lifted his head heavily and examined the blank sheet. He turned it over once, then looked at her confusedly. "A sheet of paper? What am I supposed to do with that?"
Laureen's eyes narrowed into slits as she looked at him disdainfully. "Write a letter, you nincompoop."
"A letter?!"
"Yes, write him a letter, but don't make it look like a love letter or you'll never see him again!"
"That... That could actually work!" he exclaimed excitedly. "You're not as dumb as you look." He grinned slyly and stuck out his tongue at her.
"Oh! Come here, you!" Laureen jumped up and chased Akira, before rolling over him, flattening the boy to the ground. An expression of true love.
"And if you two make up, you can bring him over and introduce him to me. It wouldn't be fair if you had all the fun to yourself!" She licked her lips greedily.
Akira shot her a stern look. "You keep your hands off him, that's clear!"
She raised her hands in surrender. "Don't worry, you know the rules of succubi; hands off other people's prey."
"He's no prey." Akira replied seriously.
"Oh, speaking of prey…" Laureen suddenly interjected, looking concerned.
"Hm?" Curiously, he looked at her while slurping the last remnants of the red liquid in his glass with a loud slurp.
"Does the Shadow Hunter ring a bell to you?"
"Shadow Hunter? Does he hunt shadows or what?" Akira laughed, only noticing after a short while that Laureen continued to look deadly serious.
"He's one of the most famous bounty hunters," she said, almost accusatorially, as if disappointed that Akira hasn't ever heard of him.
Akira shrugged. "Could be. And that's probably why I've never heard of him—after all, no one has had a reason to chop my head off until now."
Laureen nodded. "Right. But that's exactly why I'm bringing it up now. I think he's been after me for quite some time—"
"And now you're worried he might come after me too?" Akira finished her sentence. He knew exactly what she was getting at.
Laureen nodded again. "Yes, especially since a lot has changed in your life." Her gaze clouded. "Please be careful, Aki..."
Nonchalantly, he put his hands behind his head and leaned back, only to realize there was no backrest, as he nearly fell off the stool. He just managed to keep his balance by vigorously flailing his arms.
Laureen chuckled amusedly. "You're such an idiot! You better not die on me!"
Akira comfortingly placed his hand on her shoulder, which wobbled up and down. "I'll be fine!" His grin dazzled her. It reminded her of the real Akira...
"I've dealt with much worse in the past," said Akira, as if he were proud of it. "You don't need to worry!"
Laureen smiled. "You're right…" Then she took the bottle of grape juice and poured them both a glass, before raising it. "Here's to the next 1573 years being just as amusing and worthwhile!" Akira followed suit.
"Cheers!"