Chapter 13: Lucky…?
Chapter 13: Lucky…?
A mistake. Since he was still concerned about what Kai told him, it seemed that John had gone overboard in his reaction-
Wait, that couldn’t be the case. Even if the guy was supposedly just an NHK Employee, the fact that he triggered the restrictive formations meant that the guy was definitely not there with good intentions.
John narrowed his eyes again and then waved his hand. At the same time, a symbol appeared in the air before flying to Yuuki.
“Gehee!”
A frantic squeal. The man jumped to his feet, shivering all over his body.
Did he sense what John did? It seemed like the guy had an inherent affinity towards detecting danger to his life.
John sighed and put his sword away as well as retracting his domain. That done, he waved at Yuuki and said, “I’ll handle the contract with NHK by the end of the day for television. Go on back and tell your bosses that… And also.” He sharpened his gaze. “I don’t want to ever see you around here again… and I also don’t want to hear you spouting off any nonsense about what you saw. Things will end… poorly for you. Understood?”
Yuuki bowed at a ninety degree angle and said, “Yes, Shinigami-sama! Absolutely, Shinigami-sama! Not a peep from me!”
…There was a misunderstanding here, but it seemed to work in John’s favor so he waved it off. “Whatever. Get out of here.”
“Yes!” Yuuki backed away, his body still bowed at that perfect ninety degrees until he reached the sidewalk. Then, he raised his body, looked at John once, and scrammed, running like death itself was chasing him.
“Hm…” John watched the guy leave and then placed his hand on his chin. “That guy actually knows how to read the situation pretty well, doesn’t he…? No, I suppose he knows how to run away from danger pretty well.”
Despite running like a chicken with its head cut off, Yuuki managed to dodge traffic, pedestrians, and cross a red-light without looking back.
John shook his head and sighed, planning to leave. But just then-
“H-Huh?”
A cute voice from behind him. Near the house.
“M-Mister John? What are you doing out there?”
He froze and then slowly turned around.
…It couldn’t happen, right? Earth wasn’t the Three Realms. Surely the unfortunate karma that countless males were jealous of and beautiful fairies feared him for didn’t follow him… right? After all, the rules were different, the place was different-
Rin stood in the window, peering out at him. Her hair was slightly damp and disheveled while her body…
John immediately closed his eyes and spun around. At the same time, he said, “Word of caution, Rin. Stay away from windows when you aren’t changed… and keep your curtains shut unless you intend to let people peer inside.”
“E-Eh? What are you-“
Three, two, one…
“Eeeeeek!”
A high pitched and embarrassed scream, followed by the window being slammed shut.
An ordinary person facing such an event would flush and then scramble away. Like those main characters of those ecchi mangas he read once upon a time.
But that wasn’t all. Since such ‘good fortune’ had chanced upon him, it was bound to be followed by ‘misfortune.’
Apparently, this was a cosmic law that was cursed to follow him even to Earth.
The moment Rin screamed, he heard some other windows opening. At the same time, he noticed some pedestrians nearby turn his way.
But experience, bodily injuries, and countless years being hunted down by men and women alike for the accumulated ‘good fortune’ of ‘lucky scenarios’ like this had John prepared.
Before anything could happen, he spun back time a few seconds and activated his domain. Then, he immediately warped back to his apartment and made his way down the stairs to his car. As he did, he pulled out his phone and dialed Rin’s number.
One ring, two, three… On the third, she picked up. “M-Mister John?”
“Morning Rin.” Keeping his tone light, he said, “I’m sorry to have you stay up late yesterday to watch that.”
“N-No, it’s fine! But…” There was the sound of rummaging on the other side and running around. A curtain was pulled back and closed… and then Rin said, “Eh?”
“Is something wrong?”
“No…” Rin sounded confused. “But… weren’t you just here?”
John played it cool and said, “Did you get enough sleep…? I’m just getting into my car right now to pick you up.” Saying that, he turned the key and started his car, letting the sound of the engine echo.
“E-Eh?!” Rin sounded flustered. “T-Then who did I…?”
John frowned. Mostly to not break his composure, and he said, “…I’ll grab a coffee along the way. Until then, relax a bit, alright? It wouldn’t be good to be sick on the first week at the job.”
“But- That’s… You were…” Rin sighed. “You’re right, Mister John. Maybe the stress is just getting to me… I’ll see you soon?”
“Of course. I’ll call you when I get there.” Saying that, John ended the call.
The moment he did, he let out a deep sigh. “Crisis averted.”
That was close. It’d be bad to get off on the wrong foot the first day of the job by getting accused of the worst sort of work behavior. Though…
John stared at the sky and muttered, “Seems like this place is really out to get me, huh?”
Not only were all his favorite games and Anime were missing, along with everything else he enjoyed in the past, but things kept piling on to try and make his life miserable or annoying.
“Hmph.” John pulled out of his driveway and got on the road. “It might have worked if it was anyone else, World. But you underestimate my powers.”
If it thought that it could divert his plans, well more terrifying existences than the will of a mere planet had tried and failed.
He put his foot on the gas pedal- and then paused.
Instead of speeding off, he rummaged around in his Heavenly Realm and tossed a few good luck talismans, sutras, and buddha statues in the backseat. Then, for good measure, he cast some good fortune karmic spells and wore a necklace blessed by ten thousand buddhas to protect against evil karmic deeds and misfortune.
“…That should be enough, right?”
John muttered to himself and then drove off.