Soul for a Girlfriend?

"Oh… then hug me." I heard those words leave her as she chuckled mischievously while covering her mouth. I wasn\'t nervous, but it was awkward for me to hug her out of nowhere, even if she was my girlfriend. Being a bit dumbfounded by the situation, I asked, "Where the fuck did that come from?"

"I don\'t know…" She shrugged and kept smiling like she was enjoying teasing me. Not going to lie, at that moment, seeing that childish smile on her face was really cute considering how upright she is most of the time.

Noticing the delightful smile on her face, I asked, "You seem quite happy today?"

"Yes… now come… hug me!" Giving me a nod, she smiled and opened her arms as a gesture for me to hug her. I was standing there while looking into her dark round eyes, which had a hint of farce in them.

With a sigh, she rested her arms on her hips and a pout formed on her face as she grew tired of waiting for me. But it wasn\'t as easy as she thought it was, and considering the fact that she was joking around, it would be quite weird to just hug her.

But then again, she was delighted, and I have read somewhere that a hug from a loved one can reduce someone\'s stress, so it wasn\'t a bad idea to hug her.. After going back and forth on the idea, I finally came to a conclusion.

My eyes shifted towards her as she looked at me in confusion and her lips curved into a nervous smile. I slowly walked towards her, still my heart beating fast enough to make me feel awkward. Thinking about doing it and actually doing it are two different things. Even though it wasn\'t the first time I was hugging a girl, nor was it that I haven\'t already held hands with her several times.

Walking up to her, she moved her head backwards and gave me a confused look, as I could tell that she was just as nervous as me about this. Even though I was better at keeping my face straight, that\'s why she couldn\'t tell that.

My left hand rested on her head as her eyes slowly wandered upwards and then back at me as I pulled her towards me with my other hand and wrapped it around back. I couldn\'t believe that I was actually doing that.

  I could feel her body freezing up as her shoulders tensed up between my arms. This was probably the first time I was so close to her that I could feel her every movement. To ease up the tension between us, I said, "I\'m not hugging you because you told me to."

"Eh...eh?" I heard the words, as she was way too confused by the sudden attack by me. As my left hand was on her head, I could feel her soft dark hairs rustling on my palm. With a slight pause, I added, "I\'m hugging you because you deserve it."

There was a moment of silence between us as we just stood there, embracing each other without saying a single word. I was feeling really nervous too, but then her head silently rested on my shoulder as she said in a soft voice, "I… was just kidding."

I slowly put my hand on her head and patted her gently as she said in a muffled voice, "Th...thanks!"

That was probably the first ever hug till now that made me feel that way and also my first hug with her. I couldn\'t shake off the feeling while I was returning home. From a perspective, I hugged my girlfriend that day, but that wasn\'t my concern.

All I knew at that moment was that I did what I wanted to. This would help me in the long run even if things go south.

I finally came back home that day and placed my bag next to my bed. I jumped on it and laid down for a good couple of minutes. With my face buried in the pillow, I let out a vast sigh. Probably because my anxiety and frustration were overwhelming me at that moment.

I felt the mattress being pushed down, as I removed the pillow and looked towards Lilith, who was looking at me with concerned eyes. I didn\'t say anything and returned her gaze as I sat back up and started loosening my tie.

I didn\'t chat with Lilith much about Naoto or how my day at school was. Taking a shower, I took a small nap and then started preparing the dinner. Neither was I in the mood, nor I had the energy to do anything. 

After eating dinner, I played some games on my PC for a few moments, but even that wouldn\'t make my mood rise, as the only thing that was cast upon me was passive depression and anxiety.

And like every other day, I was quite stressed, so I decided to read a manga to ease up my mood a bit so that I could sleep soundly. It was already midnight when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left arm as I lost my grip and the mobile fell on my face.

I gasped in pain and noticed the insignia on my arm glowing faintly. Though the pain was for a short time, it was quite excruciating, as if someone was burning it from inside. I looked at my arm, and Lilith was awake too, as she was looking at me from her futon.

With her crimson eyes glowing in the dark too, she asked with concern in her voice, "What happened, Saishi?"

Her attitude towards me has changed quite a lot over the past few months. I remember she didn\'t care about me at all and acted like a bitch, but lately her voice seems quite genuine and worried about me. 

Or there was a huge probability that I was wrong because it was reality, not some fiction manga where a cute demon pops up from somewhere and starts loving the main character. I hate those cliché plots. 

I narrowed my eyes and let out a sigh, as I was still a bit unsettled by what happened. To be honest, I was never prepared for the pain stings that this mark gives me every once in a while. Shaking my head from left to right, I said,

"It\'s… the mark on my hand was glowing suddenly…"

Removing her blanket, she stood up on her knees and leaned closer towards my bed with wide eyes, as she asked with a surprised tone, "What?"

I nodded slightly as I lifted my left arm and faced it towards her while saying, "Yes, I felt a sudden pain, and noticed that it was glowing faintly."

"Let me have a look…" Advancing her hand towards me, she asked me to let her examine my hand as I proceeded to move it towards her, "Umm…hai…"

As her fingertips touched mine, I could tell that her hands were cold. She slowly turned my palm slightly to look at it from every angle, as there was a confused look on her face. Her eyebrows furrowed as she held her chin between her thumb and index finger and started to think about something, "Hmmm…."

"What is it?" I asked as she let go of my hand and nodded her head in confusion.

Suddenly she looked at me with an excited look as her eyes were wide and there was a smile on her face. She looked down towards the floor and mumbled something under her breath as a blue circle with a weird pattern appeared in front of me.

The patterns seemed to be rotating in a particular manner with Lilith\'s gestures, as she yelped in excitement and looked at me with sparkling eyes. I was really pissed and confused at that time, so there was a distasteful expression on my face.

"You did it!" She exclaimed with a really cheerful voice as I looked at her, completely confused, and tilted my head. With a hesitant tone, I asked in a low voice, "Did what?"

"Tsubakihara Naoto? You captured her!" As those words left her mouth, I felt this weird gut wrenching feeling rush over me. Probably because I was relieved from a lot of pressure and anxiety. In disbelief, I asked, "Wha…? Really? Wait…"

"Yes!! I can\'t trace her mana anymore. That means the soul has left the vessel." She said with a huge nod, as I sat up and looked at her in complete awe.

"Well, that\'s a job done, I guess…" I smiled nervously and being at a loss of words, the only thing I could say was some empty words that didn\'t mean anything, but as to Lilith, she could my mind so she was completely aware of how I was feeling in that moment as she showed me the thumbs up symbol and said, "Yes it is!"