I am a demon.

This was a fact I refused to accept; how ill-humane I was.

I never regretted the horrible things I did, if I never thought too long on it. I never thought about the lives I ended once I pulled the trigger, or tightened my grip on their neck.

I made that realization at Alison's funeral. I didn't stay longer than needed, leaving her family to mourn. Yuuichiro had left before me, a dark look in his eyes beneath those glasses of his.

Cecil left with me.

I never did regret the acts of murder I committed.

Or dragging Cecil in with me.

Which should be strange.

Especially when you take the fact that I felt guilty for having sex with Cecil.

I couldn't figure out why.

A month had passed since that fateful night.

I groaned, pressing my face deeper to my pillow.
"I have to sell coffee." I whined. The laughter that had become my drug entered my ears, his hand running through my hair.
"I thought you said you liked working there?"
"I do... I'm just tired..."
"Okay, don't act like I haven't seen you drink an entire pot of coffee in one sitting." He chuckled, right hand resting on the back of my bare thigh.
"That was o- nope, that was three times. Damn, I hate you being right." I complained, lifting up my head to meet the amused eyes that reminded me of the sun.
"You're usually the one that's right." He pointed out.

"That's why I hate you being right."

"Demeter's diner for Lunch break?"
Cecil proposed from beside me as I took another order, pressing another setting on the coffee machine.
"Hell yeah." I muttered to my emotional support of the day. Cynthia was putting messages on my phone about how I should kiss Cecil again. I pointed out that I had already kissed him six times this morning in a quiet voice to the program.
She sent an angry emoticon.

María greeted us with open arms when we closed for lunch, her mother busy working on the lunch rush meals.

"Hi, Emiliana!" I called as we passed the window connecting the bar to the kitchen. She waved from the other side.
"Hello, boys!"

"Milkshake." I said.
"Coca Cola." Cecil fired back.

"Coca Cola Milkshake." María suggested.
"I'm in." I said in a very serious voice. Cecil just laughed.
"Don't laugh at me, you bastard." I angrily muttered, flicking his forehead.

"A coca-cola milkshake sounds horrifying." A familiar voice noted. Yuichiro was seated behind us, apparently.
"When did you get here?" I asked in confusion. I had... Befriended him in the past month. Well, he stopped getting awkward would be the easier explanation.
"I've been here." He shrugged.
"One of them is gonna throw up." María pointed out as she wrote down the order.
"Five bucks says they don't."
"Deal."

"Did... Did your friends just bet on one of us vomiting?" Cecil asked.

"Unfortunately." I sighed, scratching at a bruise on my lower arm, courtesy of my Ghost the night before. He had unintentionally kicked my arm when trying to scramble after an artifact before me.

I beat his ass to the curb.

✖️❌✖️

Another month.

Yuichiro was my best friend, if I would have to admit it.

He rarely spoke of his personal life, which was suspicious. Unlike most people, I did not search up his name. I knew all that I wanted to permit myself to know. His name was Yuichiro Amane. His parents lived in San Francisco. He had graduated from college early.

He does not know where his injuries come from.

Now, that one was curious. They were scratches, bruises, and maybe some broken bones. How could he forget where they came from? I had mentioned this to Cecil, who jokingly said 'drugs'.

I laughed, and it made the uneasiness leave for a bit.

But I never forgot.

"So you just... Put a cyanide tablet in that person's pretzel?" Cecil asked as we entered my small office. I nodded.
"How did he not notice?"
"Too busy flirting with teenage girls." I explained.

"Who'd you frame?"
"His best friend. Put the empty bottle in his backpack." I said, pulling up my schedule on my computer.
"Damn. Someone wants me in their commercial." I clicked my tongue in disappointment, glancing over to the figure seated on an empty space of my desk.
"You're a natural. A beauty that must be shown on national television!" He cried dramatically, imitating a... A French person? It didn't matter.
I was laughing.

"I'm going to go deaf." Yuichiro complained as his posture slouched, footsteps out of line.
"You need to turn the volume of your headphones down." I pointed out. Cecil had to go do his own work, and I had already filmed the commercial (the script was terribly easy. I managed to get it in one go).
"But then I can't hear the beats I'm putting in!" He complained.
"Then just... Don't use headphones?"

"Mikaela Shindo, those headphones cost more than my life. I'll stop using them the day one of us dies."
"I doubt it." I laughed, a tight feeling in my chest.

I didn't know what it was.

"Okay, is it just me or do you feel like we're being watched too?" He asked, Green eyes peering out a window.
"No, I feel it too. I've just learned to live with it."
"Dude, you might have a stalker."
"Not the least of my worries."
"Then... Then what are your worries?" He asked in alarm for my answer and how calm I was about the situation.
"Uh... Not much. Doing my work on time, mostly."

Yuichiro looked at me as if I were a ghost.

"That's not normal."

I have been... Dissecting my emotions as of recent days.

I was trying to figure out the reason behind how I acted around Yuichiro. It wasn't like how I was with Cecil. Although Cecil knew what I did for a living, Yuichiro did not pester like he did. He was suspicious, I knew. But he never asked. He trusted me to reveal it myself.

And, whenever he spoke about his interests and hobbies, I felt compelled to know every little detail.

My chest always hurt when I looked at him.

I told Cynthia about this.

She said it was love.

Impossible.

I loved Cecil.

Right?