Rin sat relaxed in the spacious living room, surrounded by the familiar faces of everyone currently at home. Chris stood nearby with their usual sharp business attire neatly pressed, golden hair framing their androgynous features and glasses perched precisely on their nose.
Yuri lingered close with her starry red eyes still carrying a soft, lingering haze from earlier activities, her posture graceful yet attentive.
Muganda and Inferna remained in their suggestive maid uniforms that accentuated every generous curve of their voluptuous figures, one with long red hair and golden horns subtly veiled by magic, the other with silky black hair and a quiet intensity in her black eyes with white slits.
Karen fidgeted lightly in her cropped top that occasionally rode up to reveal a sliver of her toned stomach and her jean shorts hugging her hips, sneakers tapping idly against the floor.
Chiyo sat nearby with her characteristic energy, eyes darting between the group as casual conversation hummed in low tones around the room.
Suddenly, Rin received a signal — a soft, familiar chime echoing only inside his mind from the Grace of the Goddess.
His deep blue eyes narrowed slightly as his posture shifted, head turning with calm precision toward Chris.
At the exact same moment, Chris looked his way, their blue eyes meeting Rin's with perfect synchronization behind the reflective lenses of their glasses.
Chris spoke to him in a measured, professional tone that carried just enough urgency to cut through the relaxed atmosphere. "Bakuteriya has come." The name hung in the air, also known as the monster under the bed.
A quick flashback unfolded in Rin's mind, sharp and vivid as if the years had peeled away in an instant.
Back when Rin was fifteen years old and still living in Nara Prefecture, Japan, he had been sleeping soundly in his room, the quiet night air filled with the faint rustle of leaves outside the traditional-style windows.
He suddenly woke up, eyes snapping open in the darkness as a subtle, instinctive alertness pulled him from sleep.
The room felt heavier than usual, shadows pooling unnaturally beneath the low frame of his bed. Then Chris walked in, their footsteps quiet and composed, golden hair catching faint moonlight as they approached. "Master, you have woken up," Chris said, voice calm and observant.
Rin replied with a hint of curiosity edging his youthful tone, sitting up slowly against the pillows. "Well, I sense something under my bed."
Chris answered without hesitation, adjusting their glasses slightly. "Well, that's probably those bedtime monsters that roam around under beds."
Rin tilted his head, acting confused as he rubbed the back of his neck, blue hair tousled from sleep. "Is it here to like eat me or?" His voice carried genuine puzzlement mixed with a spark of excitement.
Chris replied carefully, a faint pause in their words. "Well… em… probably."
So they started plotting on how they would capture it, Chris explaining in quiet, precise detail that the monster under the bed had a shape like a slime and could change its form at will, shifting from amorphous ooze to elongated tendrils or deceptive shadows to slip away unnoticed.
The two of them whispered strategies in the dim room, mapping out angles of attack and containment methods while the unseen presence lurked just out of sight beneath the wooden slats of the bed frame.
Then Rin was like "Ok then, what are we waiting for, let's get him out… I wanna see what this monster under the bed can do," his voice rising with eager energy, blue eyes lighting up at the prospect of testing the creature's power, body already shifting toward the edge of the bed with restless anticipation.
Suddenly the monster under the bed, with lightning-like speed, sprinted out from under the bed, its slimy form moving rapidly in a blur of translucent, gelatinous mass as it searched desperately for a way to escape out of the room.
The creature stretched and contracted fluidly, surface rippling like living jelly as it darted toward corners and gaps.
Rin started shooting magic at it, bursts of azure energy flashing from his hands in quick, precise arcs, but he couldn't get a hit because the monster's slimy form made it move and dodge all attacks with unnatural flexibility, the spells passing harmlessly through or glancing off its shifting, elastic body.
And then it escaped through an open window, slipping out into the night in a final, fluid leap that left only a faint, glistening trail on the sill.
This was the end of the flashback. Now back to reality, the living room snapped back into focus around Rin, the warm afternoon light filtering through the windows and the soft sounds of the others shifting in their seats returning to his awareness.
So now Rin and Chris, who happened to recognize the magical signature of that particular monster, exchanged another meaningful glance, the shared memory hanging silently between them.
Then Rin suddenly jumped in an acrobatic manner through an open window there in the living room, his body launching upward with fluid, powerful grace — legs tucking mid-air, arms extending for balance as he twisted smoothly and landed lightly on the top roof.
Tiles felt solid beneath his feet as he rose to a standing position, deep blue hair stirring in the breeze while his matching blue eyes scanned the surroundings with sharp focus.
He looked and tried to sense the location of the monster, every muscle poised, breath steady as he extended his awareness outward, feeling for that familiar, slippery magical trace amid the city sounds and distant rooftops.
And then Rin sensed the exact location of the monster…