Haruka was stunned into confusion. For a moment she was paralysed, a different kind of paralysis that was forced upon her by the fox demon's hypnosis spell.
She was wondering at the same time how he knew her name when they've never met before.
Maybe she misheard.
He didn't seem to want to let go, and Haruka's head was starting to spin, either from shock, the lack of oxygen or her heart about to combust at how quickly it was beating, or all three factors.
The faint scent of Sakura incense started to float around Haruka, causing her to go even redder.
She barely mustered her energy to call out.
"Sir..."
That was when Kurei snapped back to reality.
It wasn't Haruko that he was hugging, it was someone else entirely different.
He pulled himself away, or rather, pulled the mortal girl away from him, and by instinct he mustered an apology.
"I'm sorry. I mistook you for someone else", he apologised, his gaze shifting away.
"Really? I thought you called out my name", she wondered aloud.
"It was another name", he murmured. Kurei wasn't lying anyway.
But what name could this human girl have that sounded similar to Haruko?
"Haruka was your name, wasn't it?" Kurei suddenly asked.
"Yeah that's my name", she replied.
'I see. Both of their names are just only one letter off' Kurei thought to himself, staring down at her.
"What's your name?" She suddenly inquired.
Kurei arched a brow, wondering why she wanted his name when he probably wasn't going to see her anymore after this.
'Screw this. It's just a name anyway', his thoughts comforted him.
"Kurei".
Haruka repeated his name in honorifics.
"Kurei-san"
Somehow that sort of irked the fox demon, but of course showed barely any emotion. It wasn't like he cared.
"I'll make a move now", Haruka exclaimed, folding the brown bag into a smaller rectangle.
"Stay safe", he simply replied to her, speaking from behind his fan.
He watched as the girl's silhouette slowly growing smaller by the distance from the shrine.
"You can return to your form now, Shiro"
Kurei instructed, walking back to where the tea was sitting. Obviously it went cold already.
Puffs of smoke citing Shiro's transformation surround the little feline.
With his little stout legs, he ran towards his master, chasing after him.
"Master! Forgive me for my upcoming harsh words but are you sure what you're doing is right? What if she reveals to the other mortals for this? You should have just burnt her to crisp!"
"You worry too much, Shirotani", Kurei calmly replied. "I'm not that worried. No one really believes in yōkai or ayakashi. Besides, only an idiot would be that naive to reveal these sorts of things."
Shiro parted his lips to argue back, only to meet his master's palm, indicating that Kurei hasn't finished explaining himself.
"She isn't such a bad girl. As for now. You heard it yourself—what she said. If she does go back to her word on blabbing to other humans about what happened, I could easily summon Hyakki yagyō* and end humanity easily, or I could just end them myself"
This seemed to put the feline yōkai at ease for now, from the relief that settled in his eyes.
So he switched the subject comfortably.
"Would you want a new set of tea? This has obviously become cold after what transpired."
"You may clear the tea set. I will be heading to the land of yōkai tonight."
Shirotani simply kneeled and bowed to the fox demon before proceeding to keep the tea set.
For some reason, Kurei had a hunch that that would not be the last time he would be Haruka.
---
In a blink of an eye, several days flew by as if it was nothing. At least in the human world.
A platinum hair male with fox-like ears had been intruding Haruka's thoughts recently, as she continued to daze into that strange daydream.
"Mizuno-san!"
Her attention was snatched back into the reality of a bustling classroom during history lesson.
Or at least it was history lesson that had ended about ten minutes ago.
Haruka blinked a few times, trying to register herself and her surroundings. A shadow loomed over her.
Her gaze shifted upwards towards the student.
Ah, it was Nanako.
Her lips were pulled into a small pout, lined with a peach coloured gloss. Her eyes were sparkling and it stood out as usual, since she was wearing a pair of blue contact lens.
Her blonde hair tumbled past her shoulders, artificially curled, because she always complained about her hair not cooperating especially when it comes to curling.
Nanako was a close friend of hers. She always seemed like she was dressed as if she wasn't going to school for the most part, her face standing out from the usual students.
"You're dazing off again" she pointed it out. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Haruka faked a yawn, passing a smile to assure her close Friend. "Yes I'm fine. I've been up way past my bed time, that's all."
Nanako arched an eyebrow, before dismissing the girl's claim.
"Anyway, are you going to see Kaoru-senpai's recital today?"
That was went Haruka senses snapped. "Oh right! Senpai's recital! Oh god how could I forget!"
"You really are a terrible crush, Haruka-chan", Nanako emphasised how dramatic she was being, before being pulled off by her friend to go see her crush's recital.
---
There he was, in his beauty. Even though he was in his school uniform, Kaoru played majestically on the violin.
Beads of sweat trickled down his temple but that was the least of his worries, as well as of Haruka. He just seemed simply dashing to her when he's playing the violin so seriously.
Her cheeks flushed as she watched Kaoru played, along with listening to the melody that came out of the instrument. It was a perfect combination.
Haruka's known her senior since freshmen year and ever since their encounter, she has grown a hopeless crush on him.
It happened on a spring day as well, when Haruka was still a freshmen on her second week of being in the school.
Evidently she still was not used to the layout of the school and often got lost.
Looking for one of her humanities class, she pulled open the door of one of the classrooms, paying no attention to read the signage of the classroom that was placed on top of the door, and ended up stumbling across a brunette male pulling his bow across the fiddle as he played a music piece seemingly effortlessly.
With a stand propped within his clear view of vision that held the score sheet, his eyes would avert from the score sheet to the strings of his violin from time to time, however his musical notes would never waver.
In that span of minutes, Haruka was already breathless looking at a stranger in that form.
Then the violin stopped playing.
Then Haruka realised that the boy was staring at her. He had totally stopped playing his violin.
Unbeknownst to her, his eyes started to turn slightly red.
It was just an awkward silence now between the both of them.
"This isn't the humanities class right?" Haruka blurted out to break the silence.
The boy covered his mouth with the back of his hand that was carrying the bow and stifled laughter.
"No, this definitely isn't. Are you lost?" He asked, settling his violin down onto a cushioned piano bench.
"Yup I'm definitely lost. I'm a freshman here", Haruka admitted, tucking the long locks she had back then behind her ears.
"I see. I understand. Any school can get confusing when you've just enrolled not too long ago. I'll guide you. What was the class you were looking for again?" He asked, taking steps closer to Haruka.
Haruka felt her heart beating faster and faster for some reason.
" The humanities class, 3-4", she replied, giving way for the senior to lead the way.
"Ah that's just around the corridor here. Come, I'll guide you", he offered with a smile.
"But aren't you in the middle of practicing?"
"It's alright. That can wait. Finding your class now is much more important."
Haruka couldn't help but crack a smile. This senior was such a kind person! Even if all he did was just simply guide her to her class.
"Your violin playing is absolutely beautiful by the way!" She exclaimed, stopping the boy in his tracks.
The boy turned around, his expression reflecting a mix of surprise and shock at the same time.
"T-thank you", he stuttered a little. "That was really nice of you."
Haruka returned a smile.
Soon they reached to Haruka's class, with Haruka almost late.
Haruka bowed slightly towards her senior, surprising him again.
"Thank you so much, senpai!"
"It's no problem. What's your name by the way?"
"A-ah, my name is Haruka. Haruka Mizuno."
A smile formed on the senior's lips.
"It's nice meeting you Mizuno-san. I'm Tohma Kaoru."
"I'll see you soon Kaoru-senpai", she bid goodbye before entering her class, not before catching his bright smile.
Since that day, her heart could not stop reminding her of Kaoru-senpai.