when you first take him outside of your apartment, he chuckles at the congestion of the evening traffic.

the two of you are sitting down by a taco truck, watching the day darken and the people of the city rush and bike their way home.

"well, that's familiar," jack says, smiling at the press of the traffic. "some things never change."

"you drove?" you say, imagining the clown before you behind the wheel of a regular sedan. you briefly wonder how many clowns could fit into a compact vehicle. "like a real car?" 

jack scrunches his face in confusion before bursting into laughter.

"yes, sunshine," he replies, wiping a tear from his eye. could ghosts cry? "it was very much a real car."

the look he gives you then is one of pure amusement: cerulean curls framing a gentle smile. he's got dimples, you notice, and dark eyes that seem to bore into you. although you have come to know jack as full of joy, a part of you senses that he contains far more depth than his jokes and sunny optimism.

you find yourself wanting to know more. what was behind the gentleness of his gaze? there's more. you're sure of it.

your hand moves on its own accord.

jack inhales sharply, his eyes wide and searching.

"s-sunshine?" his voice is quiet. this is the first time you have ever heard him stutter.

you realize that one of your hands has slipped beneath his hair to lightly cup his cheek, the tips of your fingers ghosting along the edges of the red marks that adorn the skin beneath his eye.

"not even a smudge," you say. the pads of your fingers smooth across his skin.

the gesture is friendly, nothing out of the usual, but there's a level of intimacy underlying it that is palpable to the both of you. although you have never reached for him like this, it feels familiar.

"sunshine," he says, taking your wrist lightly by his gloved hand. "why don't you eat? it'll be important to keep your energy up for your walk home."

"right," you say, coming back to the moment. you pull your hand away, embarrassed. was that too forward? too strange for him?

you turn your attention to the plate of tacos, which is still rather hot. you taste nothing as you chew, your thoughts entirely focused elsewhere.

i can touch you, you think over and over. he felt real. solid. a part of you feels relieved.

jack glimpses at you then, a smile dancing at the edge of his mouth. you hope that the blush that warms your face is all due to how spicy your food is rather than anything else.

✷✷✷

"how does any of this work?" you ask, running a small towel through your damp hair. you are in your pajamas and jack is in his. never in your life did you think you would see a shirt with so many clouds and smiley faces on it. next to your plain sweatpants and loose shirt, jack's clothes are absolutely vibrant.

what you find strange is that considering that jack is a ghost, he shouldn't have a wardrobe. right?

he shrugs, hands in the air. "i'm not entirely sure myself, sunshine," he says. he's got sleeping gloves, you notice. "i just kinda blink and my clothes are different."

how convenient, you think. what if you never had to think about what you were going to wear again? perhaps there were some perks to being a ghost.

you maintain eye contact with him, trying your best not to stray any lower. this particular nightshirt on him was loose, but it had a deep v-cut that exposed a rather generous glimpse of his chest. in that space you could see fine wisps of dark hair shadowing the curves of sculpted muscle.

"do you want to touch it?" jack says quietly. "my clothes, i mean," he quickly clarifies. "to see if they're real?"

you lean closer to him to reach out a hand to trace the edges of his collar, the sofa cushion yielding to your weight. blue curls brush against your knuckles and at your fingers, you feel the hard ridge of his collarbone beneath the layer of soft cotton.

jack makes a sound as your hand moves to the hollow of his neck. you are surprised to learn that his body is warm, although not nearly to the extent of any living person. he feels solid, steady—

"—good?" you hear him say. "are you okay, sunshine?"

you realize that your hand is in his hair, the vivid curls looped around your fingers. you are closer to him than you were just a moment ago, your face hovering just inches from his. when did that happen?

at this close, you can see that his mouth is slightly parted. his gaze is soft, imploring.

rather than pull away out of embarrassment, you stay as you are.

"how can i touch you?" you say, feeling the softness of his hair and the warmth of his body. "how is that possible?"

in his eyes, you see a glimpse of hunger that is quickly smoothed away. a figment of your imagination, maybe. nothing more. he's your friend, after all, and this just you trying to learn more about him.

jack smiles, leaning into your touch. his eyes are so beautiful. they're this deep brown framed by long lashes that make his gaze seem so gentle.

"because you want to," he says, his voice low and quiet. you feel the rumble of it against your palm. a shiver runs down your spine.

✷✷✷

your favorite part about jack is that he is your friend. he's there to watch movies with you, to listen to you rant about your day, and to hold you whenever you find it hard to say anything else. you like thinking about his smile, his laugh, and how he looks at you in a way that makes you feel like you are the only person in the world.

jack is your friend. your dearest, joyful, and beautiful friend. you say this in your mind like a mantra and an anchor and not at all like a denial as your fingers slip below the waistband of your sweatpants, thinking of him.

a part of you is grateful he is not in your room to see this. there are moments he slips out of existence off to god-knows-where. cloudy town, perhaps, or maybe some other clown world you have no access to. whatever the case, you can tell he is somewhere else because the air does not feel as bright as it does when he is around.

in his absence, a part of you almost yearns for him to see you like this. what would he say, you wonder, to see his sunshine in the bed you both share panting like this? how would he feel about the fingers that traced his collarbone just the night before, the very fingers that ghost along his face, now circling this part of you that is full of heat?

the walls are thin, after all. if he was around somewhere, it wouldn't be hard for him to hear you.

your other hand slides beneath your shirt to cup your aching breast. in this moment, you close your eyes and imagine that your hands are not your own.

jack is your friend, and yet you cannot stop thinking about him. the warmth of him, the heft of him, the amused rumble of his voice in the air.

jack is your friend and your legs shake at the thought of him. when you cry out to the empty room, you press your face into the pillow he lies on every night, and it is his name that slips past your teeth.

✷✷✷

for the next few days, you barely even glance at jack, and he notices.

"sunshine?" he says, placing the last plate he just washed onto the drying rack. "you've been acting a little weird these days. is there anything i can help you with?"

he dries his hands with a dish towel. in the moment before he slips on his gloves, heat warms your face. his hands are strong and beautiful, complete with a small array of veins that ripple underneath his skin like humming guitar strings.

now that you are done putting away the glasses, you close the open cupboard and look away.

"i'm fine," you say, hoping he didn't catch the blush reddening your cheeks. "i've just got a lot on my mind."

"are you sure?" a hand cups your shoulder in an attempt to be reassuring. while you have been making an effort to not meet his gaze, he's been more forward about touching you. it's as if he wants to know that you are there and that he is still a part of this world.

"you can tell me anything, you know," he says assuringly. "all i ever want is to make sure that you're happy."

"i know," you start. "i just—" you stop yourself. it's not like you're going to tell him you've been touching yourself to the thought of him for the past few nights, wondering just how strong his hands were.

you shrug him off and turn away to leave the kitchen. there's a pained sound behind you and you find yourself pressed against the wall of your apartment with two arms caging either side of you.

"sunshine," jack says, exasperated. it's the first time you've heard him frustrated.  "what's going on? why are you avoiding me?"

shock and surprise ice your veins, but you find the words spill from your mouth before you can stop them.

"what if i said i wanted to touch you?" you say quietly, your skin warming.

"touch me? is that all?" jack pauses, as if considering. "you can touch me all you want, sunshine."

before you can say anything more, before you can try to take what you said back, you feel the hot press of his mouth against the base of your neck.

"but only if you let me touch you back," he says, voice low and husky in a way that makes you clench your thighs. his breath is cool against your skin, raising goosebumps that prickle along your arms.

this is different. unexpected. never in a thousand years would you have thought he would have reacted in this way, but his tongue glides along your skin in a hot streak that makes you whimper his name.

"yes, sunshine?" he says, slipping a hand beneath your shirt to trace your nipple through the thin fabric of your bralette. "is this what you want?"

he's toying with you, you realize. the sensation of his gloved fingers rubbing circles around your sensitive breast has you biting your lip for more. there are far too many layers of fabric between the two of you and not enough of what you need.

"not here," you breathe, your fingers curling against the wall.

effortlessly, jack takes you in his arms and carries you to your bedroom.

"jack," you say, burying your face in his neck. was this real? a dream? shame sinks into your skin. you feel the need to apologize.

"it's normal to feel this way, sunshine," he says gently. "you've been so pent up this past week—the least i can do is help you."

as he lays you down onto your bed, you take his face in your hands before he can move to do anything else.

"is this okay?" you say, pressing your forehead to his. jack is your friend and you find him beautiful. jack is your friend and you do not want to lose him. "are you sure you want to do this?"

there are those brown eyes again, so deep and dark you want to get lost in them. he nods against your palms and you take this moment to kiss him.

it's a light kiss—hesitant, imploring. your mouth locks with his bottom lip, swiping the tip of your tongue against its softness. he makes a sound, one that feels like your name, as his body moves to envelop you in his embrace.

"sunshine," he breathes, before deepening the kiss. jack tastes sweet and warm and his hair is soft between your fingers. a part of you feels like his nickname for you is ironic—it is him who burns so bright.

your hips jerk against his groin, the sudden pressure making him moan and grind against you. you gasp at the friction and he takes that moment to peel his shirt from his chest and run his tongue against your neck.

it's not enough. as if sensing your need, jack helps you slip off your shirt and remove your bralette to expose your skin to the cool air.

"you're beautiful," he marvels, taking a moment to card his hair back from his eyes.

"you aren't half bad yourself," you say, your face hot at the fact that you are doing this at all. can clowns fuck? you think, your mind hazing. does jack know how to fuck?

jack laughs and lowers his lips to your skin, his amusement rumbling along your collarbone and down to the curve of your breast. as his tongue circles around your nipple, you let out an involuntary sound, something between a moan and a whimper.

"i'll make you feel good," he murmurs, his laugh sending vibrations along your aching skin. "don't worry about that."

his mouth moves lower and lower, his hands gliding to peel your sweatpants and underwear from your body.

"could you do me a favor, sunshine?" he asks, lips swollen from kissing you all over.

"what do you need?" your mind reels. it's all far too much, but your skin is electric with need. it's been so long. far too long.

"look at me," he says, placing your legs on his shoulders. his breath is warm against your thighs and he drags his lips softly against your tender skin as if to make sure he has your attention. "only look at me."

"mhm," you nod. how could you not? he's so beautiful, so warm, so lovely. "just you."

satisfied by your response, jack dips his head between your legs and tongues at the hot seam. the pressure is so delightful that your back arches at the pleasure. when was the last time you had been touched like this? you can't remember. there has been no other time.

"sunshine," he says, the pressure abating as he pulls away. you mewl at the absence of his heat, the press of his mouth against the most tender part of you. how cruel of him to deprive you. "you told me you would only look at me."

"sorry," you say, breath husky with desire. you gaze at him. it's a scene so scandalous: his tongue lapping at your core, his arms secured around your thighs, and his eyes half-lidded with desire but still on you.

"f-fuck, jack—" you stutter, your body going tight. it's all so much. "p-please—"

"such good manners, sunshine," he praises, his mouth still full of you. 

before you are able to say anything else, jack plunges two fingers inside of you and curls them in a way that floods your body with sudden warmth.

you come trembling against his fingers and his lips all while staring into those deep, dark eyes.

when he pulls away, he licks his fingers slowly. "my hands are pretty, sunshine," he says. "and they can't get enough of you."

you inhale deeply, your mind hazy from the orgasm. a part of you can't believe that this is happening. a part of you wants more.

"jack," you say, pulling him to you. your fingers tangle in his hair as you press your mouth to his, the taste of you still warm on his lips. he feels so solid against you. you find that it's so easy to kiss him, as if you have done this all before.

you feel the press of something large against your legs. jack moans at the friction, his hips grinding against you to find more.

"sunshine," he says, breathless. there's a flush to his skin, a glazed look in his eyes that reflects your own. you sense that a part of him is afraid. "d-do you want more of me?"

when you nod, he slips his pants off, the full warmth of him settling against you. jack lifts one your legs to rest it against your shoulder, his member sliding along your slick seam.

he cards his deep blue hair away from his face, a smirk alighting on his mouth as his member presses against you but not into you.

"as much as i want us to have more fun, sunshine," he starts, breath heavy. "i can't help but think about all the days you spent ignoring me."

your face warms with embarrassment and your core tightens with desire. the fucking tease. you should have known better. whenever jack would get into these moods, he'd find ways to make you crawl back to him.

"are you going to make me beg?" you ask. you wanted nothing more than to buck against him, but his hold on your leg is just tight enough so you are unable to move as he pleasures himself against you.

"you're making me sound mean," he pouts, huffing as he thrusts along your slickness. "i'd give you anything as long as you ask nicely."

"jack," you pant, the press of him so delicious yet still not enough. your hands claw at the sheets.

"yes, sunshine?" he says, his voice sweet and saccharine even as he rubs himself against you.

"i want you inside me," you reply, trying to keep your voice steady. "c-can you do that for me? please?"

"of course, sunshine," he says, smiling as he pulls his hips back and thrusts inside.

your body shakes at the sudden fullness, your skin trembling as you swore you could see stars. he was so big, so deep, and his hips sway so slowly as if to get you used to his length.

"i missed you," he muses, his breath hot against your skin. "every time you ignored me, i couldn't help but think of ways to make you look at me."

"to make you—" he rocks into you deeper, his hips flush to the core of you. a moan slips from his lips. "—only think of me."

his name falls from your mouth. you feel your body tightening once again, but his movements slow right before you reach the crest. a frustrated mewl escapes your lips, but jack only smiles.

"could you touch yourself, sunshine?" he says, sliding his hands along the length of your leg. "i want to watch you."

your skin flushes. to your silence, jack's voice takes on the soft and encouraging tone you know all too well.

"it's alright," he says, all syrup and sugar. coaxing. "don't you want me to see you?"

you bring your fingers to your core and trace circles around your aching clit. jack thrusts into you slowly, deeply, as if savoring the way you clench around him.

he's enjoying this. it's obvious from the way his eyes glide across your body, the hunger you would catch glimpses of in his gaze in full view.

"look at you," he says, his voice full of admiration. "you're so good to me."

"do you forgive me, now?" you whine, the pressure building within you once again. you get the sense that he's trying to prolong your pleasure, to keep you on the edge so that he can watch you squirm for him.

"of course," he says, moving to match the rhythm of your strokes. "you're my sunshine."

your core goes molten and you come shaking, your eyes never leaving his.

"sunshine," jack says, hips swaying deliciously with yours. "you feel—"

there's a sound outside your door. the faint jingling of keys shaking a lock open and the call of your name resounding from across the hall.

jack stops mid-thrust, his face twisting into an uncharacteristic scowl. it's shaun, you realize, back from his school trip a day earlier than you expected.

"hey, i'm back!" he says, his voice loud enough that you realize that he is just behind your door. "i've gotta put my stuff away, but i can't wait to tell you what happened on set."

you're not sure when it happened, but at some point, your bodies had shifted positions so that the side of your face was pressed to the mattress and jack was behind you, grinding his hips into you.

"you're not going to leave me, are you?" he says, his breath warming the shell of your ear. "we've barely even started."

"you okay in there?" shaun calls for you again, giving your door a few knocks. "if you need help, i can—"

"no, don't!" you yell, struggling to keep your voice level as jack continued to move inside of you. "i'm just sick, okay? i'll catch up with you later."

"alright," shaun says. "i'll see if i can pick up some soup for dinner to make you feel better."

"thanks," you say weakly. "t-take all the time you need."

as shaun's footsteps faded, jack thrusted into you harder, eliciting a moan of unanticipated pleasure.

"back with me, sunshine?" he says, wrapping his arms to bring you closer as he pounded into you. in his voice, you could hear a thread of what almost sounded like jealousy. a part of you figured that he didn't like that your time together had been interrupted.

"jack—fuck—oh my god ohmygod—"

"c-careful, sunshine," he said, placing his palm over your mouth as you shake in his arms. "the walls are thin."

the walls are thin. the walls are thin. a part of you feels horrified. that was the phrase that you would repeat like a mantra in your mind every time you had touched yourself. whenever you would fall apart, you would either bury your face into your pillow or cover your mouth just like he was doing right now.

"jack—" had he known, all this time?

"i don't want anyone else to hear you, to see you like this," he murmurs, as if answering you. he rocks into you, filling you as another orgasm crashes into you. "sunshine," he breathes, kissing the base of your neck. "my sunshine—"

you feel him spasm, a new wave of heat spilling into you as he thrusts in deeply, burying himself inside of you. jack's body tenses, and then after a few seconds, goes limp.

"jack," you say, wincing at the full weight of him. "you're crushing me."

"sorry," he replies, moving to pepper kisses along your shoulder. he was still inside you and the shifting of his body was enough to make you tremble.

jack slips out of you, placing his hand on your hips to steady you as you roll over to face him. in the dim light, you see that his lips are swollen, his hair is tousled in unruly waves, and his eyes are soft as they gaze at you.

"well?" he says, a sheepish smile on his face. "you mind telling the class your favorite part?"

in this moment, your skin slicked with sweat and your legs intertwined with that of your best friend's, you laugh. after a moment, you lean over and pull his face to yours, kissing him deeply.

he tastes sweet. his arms wrap around you like home. and his voice, so beautiful and gentle, moans your name against your lips.

you push him onto his back, peppering his skin with kisses, your mouth moving against all the parts of him that make his breath hitch. you could never forget this—your body remembers so much, even after all this time.

he lets out a moan, breathing your name into the air so beautifully that it only makes you want him more.

Demon: In religious and mythological contexts, a demon is typically understood as a malevolent supernatural entity, often associated with evil or destructive forces. 

"Let's summon a demon!"

A thunderstorm rolled across the sky that night. The sun was just setting over the horizon with the last few rays of daylight disappearing but it was hard to tell when the dark storm clouds took over the sky and claimed them as their own. Thunder shaking the lanes of the windows and lightning sounded off like an angry whip from whatever deity was angrily stomping around the clouded skies, lighting up the sky and city below for nothing but a brief second.

It would've been absolutely dark if you hadn't lit up a few candles inside the comfy room and placed them on the table to light up the room. The warm light comforting against the scary night sky that just appeared as the last few daylights were chased away. The candlelight was pretty but you might be asking yourself one question. Why are you using candles to light up the room when you can just turn on the light switch on the wall or use a flashlight like a normal person?

Well because it wasn't your idea. It was your friend's.

If it were up to you, your bedroom light would've been on in an instant and you four wouldn't be sitting here in the dark. But as another thunder clap shook the sky outside, her face had scrunched up into a mischievous grin wide enough to let the other three ladies around her know that she had come up with a devious idea. It started when of your friends said that they were bored during the usual sleep over activities and so you suggested watching a scary movie instead!

"How about The Death Book?"

"What's it about?"

"It's about this girl who finds this blank diary and everything she writes in it becomes true! It turns out the diary is possessed by a demon who becomes obsessed with her and grants her wishes with horrible twists!"

That's when your most devious friend gotten that look before hijacking the convo. "I have a better idea! Y/n, you have any candles?"

"Only scented candles. Why?"

"That'll work! Go get them all and we'll do something that's actually thrilling!"

You had no idea what she was talking about but decided to humor her and go get them and matches she asked for. You had a few scented candles collecting up space in your closet, most were Christmas gifts you were just planning on regifting that year anyways since you never really used them. But you were curious about what your friend was up too so you grabbed up all the bars, the different scents making your nose snort, and brought them out to everyone watching you take them out of your closet and plopping them down on your bed. Your friend then proceeded to grab a glass jar containing a 'holiday sugar cookie' scented white candle, lit it, and then got up to turn off the lights and ask you to close the curtains.

Oh! She wanted to do the classic ghost story telling in the dark game! Nope. As soon as you turned around and you along with your other two friends looked at her, the statement left her mouth.

"Let's summon a demon!"

The three of you stared at her and her smile lit up by the scented candle, a nice scent of sugar cookies in the air. The only sounds being the thunder still rumbling outside. Eventually one of you broke the weird silence.

"You mean like...Use a ouija board? That's something everyone does at sleepovers-"

"No! I meant actually summon a demon!," she corrected excitedly clenching a fist!

"Uh..Have you lost your dam mind?"

"Oh come on! We all know that ghosts and stuff don't exist anyways!" She waved a hand dismissively. "We've tried using a ouija board since we were ten but nothing ever happened so why not try taking it up a notch!"

"Because it sounds like a waste of time." You deadpanned raising a brow. "Why go through all the effort to do something when we already KNOW that it's just stupid Hollywood stuff?"

"For the thrill of it!" You three looked at each other. Two of you having bored looks while the third looked worried. "Come on! Just this once! And if nothing happens I'll pay for two pizzas from that pizza place we all like!"

"...Throw in those chicken tenders and a couple sodas and you have a deal," your bored friend bluntly stated.

"DEAL!"

"I don't know.." Your friend that looked worried frowned. "This is how a bunch of horror stories start. What if something really happens?"

"PSH. It won't. If nothing happened when we used a ouija board then we got nothing to worry about!"

"And you just magically happen to know how to summon a demon how?"

"Not just a demon!" Her hand pointed up as she grinned. "A Yokai!"

"A yo-..What?"

"A Yokai! Or oni if you prefer to call it that instead! It's a Japanese spirit!"

"We know what that is! And you happen to know that how?"

"During my culture studies at school I was studying the local folklore and stumbled onto an old legend of the area! They say that a night monster used to roam the lands and strike down people every full moon until a shrine was put up for him. It's still there now! I visited it during a school trip!" She explained excitedly. "I did an interview with the caretaker for my extra credit report and it turns out his family's descendants of the shrine maidens that used to be there!"

"That's good and all but that still doesn't answer my question."

Your friend groaned loudly and slumped her shoulders with an eye roll. "He said the shrine maidens used to have a symbiotic relationship with the specific oni. They'd perform a ritual once a year and leave him offerings to keep him and his 'army' from running rampant."

"And he told you how to summon this thing?"

"Yeah because he didn't believe in it. I don't either since ghosts and goblins only exist in books and movies. But what's the harm? If nothing happens I'm buying everyone food and we can have a good laugh if we do happen to summon something we might get a wish granted! Whaddya say?"

There was more silence from you three until your bored friend sighed and rolled her eyes from where she sat. "Fine I guess. Sounds like a win win situation. And I wouldn't mind getting an A on my next math exam."

You sighed. "Alright. Let's just get this over with."

"That's the spirit! But first thing's first!.. Does anyone know if it's a new or full moon tonight?"

Your nervous friend, who still looked nervous, had to pull out her phone and look it up online. The glow of the screen making her face light up in the dark as the thunder still rang out and the first few raindrops began hitting the roof of your home.

"Full moon b-b-but does it count if the storm is blocking out the sky?"

"He only told me it has to be a full of new moon, not that you had to see the moon. We're also gonna need right white candles to represent the right moon phases, something red to draw the symbols in, and an offering from each of us that has some kind of connection to our wishes!" Her eyes lit up in excitement. "Let's try it out!"

If it got you free food and your rowdiest friend to be quiet, then you weren't going to complain. So you four got to work. A friend found an extra red lipstick when she dug out her bag and like you said before, you had a bunch of scented candles you weren't using....but that begs the question.

"Does scented candles even count?" You gazed down at two white scented candles with the scents labeled 'fresh morning snow' and 'shortbread blast'.

"He just said that the candles had to be white, not that they couldn't be scented."

"Yeah. But there's another problem. I only have seven white candles. .." Your eyes looked around the mini candle collection. The others were different colors like the red one that smelt like cinnamon and the purplish-black one labeled 'midnight lilacs'. Eventually you found a glimmer of white in the limited darkness with only your phone to see, and pulled out a candle that was half white half brown labeled 'chocolate and vanilla delight'. "I got a brown and white one. Does that count?"

"We're gonna have to make due with it. Well just put the white half facing the center and maybe that'll help."

Well if that's all you had then you four really were going to have to make due with what you had on hand. One friend helped you cleared up space in your room at least a yard and a half clear, while your devious friend drew red lipstick marks onto your floor and the fourth began placing the candles in a circle around her lighting them up as she went until both stepped away and you four were left looking down at the circle of eight candles and three symbols in the center of them. Lightning clashed outside behind the curtains barely lighting up the room but you managed to make out three words written in Japanese kanji in red lipstick.

You didn't know what that meant but it was ominous in your eyes. The room smelt far too heavy with the pretty scents of sugar cookies, vanilla, daisies, and a few other scents. It was overwhelming and one of you snorted from it all.

"Dam. It smells like someone spilt the entire isle of Fabreath from Wallace-Market in here." She waved a hand before pinching her nose and turning to her. "So what now?"

"Now we put down an offering related to what we want to wish for? Like if you wanted to wish for a million dollars you put down like some rare collector coins or something! Just look around and see what you got!"

While the others looked through their bags, you mindlessly searched around the room for something meaningless you could just throw meaninglessly into the circle. Your eyes gazed over at your jewelry box...and you shrugged. Why not? You had a pair of thick hooped silver earrings your uncle gave you for your birthday last year. They were even real silver, just cheap copper ones painted to look silver. You never wore them anyways so they'd be perfect for this. You opened up the lid narrowing your eyes into a squint. Despite the light of your phone, it was hard to see in the dark. Your hand moved things around inside the box. Old necklaces and things jingling until you saw them. Ah! There they were! Right next to your great grandparents' wedding rings. Now THOSE were actually worth a lot. Real gold and studded with real diamonds. You inherited them box along with their old jewelry box but that didn't matter right now. You wanted the useless tacky earrings next to them. Even now most of the shiny silver paint had peeled off revealing the cheap copper hoops underneath.

"C'mon Y/n! Hurry up! I want that pizza as soon as possible!"

You looked around mindlessly just reaching in and grabbing two round things into your hand. "Coming!"

"What did you grab?" Her brow rose as you just rolled your eyes.

"Just some old jewelry. What about you?"

She held up an ink stone. Probably got it from her school bag. "I was gonna use it for an art project but since I want an A for my exam and I have to write on the test, it was a good enough match."

"Sounds like a good start."

Your other two friends pulled out a book on rare poetry and a small bag of store bought mochi candy. ...Strange offering but you guessed it was the only thing that they could find. Your friend instructed you all placed the offerings on the strange words in Japanese and stepped back without a second thought to look at them....And you four stood there in your pajamas with nothing but the candles to light up the darkness and the rain still pounding at your rooftop.

Silence other than the storm rang out and you four looked around the room exchanging looks sometimes.

".....Is that it?"

"I told you it was a waste of time! Let's just get some food now. I'm starving!"

"Wait! I forgot about the last important step!" She held up her hands as your mutual grumpy and hungry friend turned to go flip on the light switch. "I need to chant the incantation and then we have to say what we want!"

Her arms folded. "Well get on with it! I'm hungry and this is really not fun!"

"Alright, alright! Let me try to remember what the guy told me!"

She stood there staring at the mess of lit candles and lipstick smeared kanji scrunching her brows in deep thought. You and your grumpy friend exchanged mirrored deadpanned looks before she cleared her throat and held her arms out.

"Full moon on the rise. New moon hides from eyes. Abyss of darkness conquering the skies! We summon, summon him from the ground. To our circle lit and round. Oh, Come from slumber, to seek out what we offer! Great one of Moon bound light, we ask for you to once more walk the night!"

Her voice shouted out loud enough that you were sure you'd be getting a complaint from the neighbors tomorrow morning. As she finished her chant, a lightning bolt struck out temporarily lighting up the sky outside as the rain poured out...As you all waited looking around more.

"Would you look at that? Nothing happened again. NOW can we get food?"

"Wait! We didn't say what we wanted yet!," she protested to her, "The wish is a part of the ritual so let's complete it ok?!" Your friend groaned but she quickly excitedly exclaimed. "I wish my mom would finally give me the secrets to famous udon recipe so I can start selling it myself!"

"Um..." You nervous friend cautiously and worriedly looked around the dark room. "C-Can I m-meet my favorite author please? O-Only if that's ok! I'm fine if nothing happens really!"

"Oh what the hell. I want an A on my next exam."

...All three looked at you expectantly. "What?"

"Say something, Y/n."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. What did you put down?"

You shrugged. "Some cheap jewelry I don't want honestly."

"OOOH. Wish for something good then! Oh! Oh! I see you always sitting by yourself! Ask him to get you a boyfriend?," you friend teased making you laugh.

"Really? We summon a Yokai just for me to ask him for a boyfriend? If he was real, he'd probably think I was crazy."

"Well it doesn't have to be a boyfriend. You can ask for a sign of who you're meant to be with." That devious smile returned again. "Y'know that caretaker guy told me a lot of maidens would pay the shrine maidens to do rituals and summon the onis as offered brides in exchange for good fortune for their villages. Why don't you ask him to put a ring on it? You'd be the first person to be get a real life monster boyfriend. All the monster lovers on the Internet would be so jealous."

"Plus you're beautiful," your grumpy friend added also with a teasing grin. "You made home coming and prom queen in highschool!"

You laughed again. "Looks aren't everything." You could barely contain the giggles. You then rolled your eyes sarcastically. "But sure." Your hands clasped together and pressed against your chest as you spoke. "Oh great Oni please hear my pleas for your heart!" Even your nervous friend giggled along now as you dramatically fell to your knees. "Bind our blood in ceremony and let me share your name." A hand outstretched to no one as you fake acted out processing your love to an invisible imaginary person. "Under the stars of the heavens, I solemnly swear, that this hand will always be kind and never cruel. That my voice will only speak truth. That this life is now forever yours." The outstretched hand pretended to take the imaginary person's hand. "Now as yours is mine."

A loud snort went off as one of your friends fell back on your bed where she sat giggling out the cheesy lines you were making up on the fly.

"Bind our souls to infinity and I will promise you love and devotion through sickness and health and beyond the realms of death." You continued to speak remembering some lines from a rom com chick flick you saw last night. "I will love you in all your forms now and forever. Through several lifetimes and back." Your voice was low and smooth now speaking it like you meant it with pride. "From now to infinity. Unyielding. Untainted. Undeniable. With this voice I promise you my love and heart. With this offering, I ask you to be mine!" You then bowed your forehead to the floor as everyone continued to giggle loudly.

You all continued to laugh and laugh and laugh as you finally broke into laughs again too and sat back up-

And then all the candles went out at the same time.

Pitch black immediately enveloped the room and at once all laughs ceased. Nothing but silence rang out other than the rain and thunder and occasional strike of lightning. You four stayed silent as you all say there in the dark before your friend became grumpy again.

"Ok. Haha. Very funny, Y/n. Now we can't see shit!"

"That..w-wasnt me," you stuttered out staring at the floor in front of you silently and wide eyed.

"Sure it wasn't. You're literally kneeling in front of them!"

"I don't have the ability to blow out right giant candles at once! Besides some of them were out of my reached! I'd have to crawl over! It wasn't me!"

"Well it's not me! I'm standing up!"

"It wasn't me!" "I'm sitting all the way over here on the bed."

Silence fell Once Again as you all sat there.

"....It must've just been a draft! There's no such thing as ghosts and demons! Get the light! I'm tired of this game now!"

Someone was heard stumbling and shuffling around in the dark before you heard hands patting along the wall and then a serious of clicks as someone tried turning on the lights. "It won't turn on!"

"No one panic!" Someone finally turned on the flashlight on their phone and lit up the room. "The storm just cut out the power supply. Let's just get some food and call it a night!"

"Wait! The offerings!"

The light shines towards the middle of the circle. One bag of mochi candy, an ink stone, and a book still laid there. Where was your earrings? You pushed the book aside and froze as you realized that it wasn't a cheap pair of earrings that greeted you..but one beautiful gold ring.

"My great grandmother's ring!" You quickly snatched it up safely into your hands in horror. "I-I must've grabbed them by mistake!" Wait. You remembered feeling two hoops in your hands. "My great grandfather's ring!" Quickly you pushed aside everything else and was horrified to discover that it was gone. "IT'S MISSING!!"

"Calm down. It must've rolled away or someone accidentally kicked it in the dark. It's still around here."

"Yeah. And so is everything else. I CALLED IT! I TOLD you it wasn't gonna work! Now order the food!"

"B-But my ring!"

"It's too dark to look with the power out. Let's just wait until it's day time and then we'll look around. Ok?"

"I-...*sigh* Alright."

"GREAT! Now let's eat. And don't forget the chicken and drinks!"

Little did all of you know that the curtains were moved back on their own. Glowing eyes staring at your beautiful face and a glittering gold band wrapped around his ring finger.

****************

Ever had a case of deja vu that was so powerful you could've sworn it was a dream? Well she was having that all day today, the day before had left her with a bad taste of party games now and hoped she didn't have to use one ever again, but that could be saved for later. Tomorrow she didn't know what exactly she was going to do, but one thing was for sure the house needed to be dusted and taken care of. Maybe she could find her ring that way. The night had been proof of that when she kept sneezing from the amount of dust covering everything, so when she got up she was feeling a little(lot) groggy the next morning and something got her up. The wonderful smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the air and so she sleepily got up and she stretched with a yawn and blinked. ...Smacking her lips and throwing the blankets off of her, throwing the blankets off and standing up. She coughed a few times from the dust and began walking to the door. The stairs creaked under her when she walked down the steps and descended to the living room. Still coughing lightly and blinking tiredly, stomach rumbling towards the delicious smell from the kitchen.

Once she got into said kitchen, it was completely emptied of life besides her but somehow there was a plate of eggs and bacon perfectly cooked with a glass of orange juice by it. Hungry and still not thinking clearly from sleep, she sat down in the chair, grabbed the fork, and began to chow down on the food provided to her by out of thin air all of a sudden. It wasn't until she was halfway through it did she stop...and gulped down the food in her mouth before blinking at what was left..WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?!

She took a moment to look towards the sink where a small pile of dishes used to cook the food was...before she stared back straight ahead and blinked...Her hand pointing to the sink and the food and back again as she stared...And she shrugged. She must've been so tired she mustn't have notice her cook the food and forgotten about it. Happened to everyone. Some people forget their house keys so early in the morning because they were tired, she must've gone blank with her mind still mush from being so early in the morning. Or more likely one of your friends had cooked breakfast for everyone. Perfectly logical. So she shrugged it off and finished eating the breakfast she forgot she made for herself and placed the dishes in the sink and made a mental note to come back and clean later right now she had a mission to do.

"Hey, Y/n." Your friends had long since gotten up before you and were ready to go home. Things all packed up and everything. "Find your ring?"

You shook your head. "No. But I'm gonna deep clean the house today anyways because of the dust so it should turn up."

"Ah. Well I'm sure it'll turn up. Oh by the way, thanks for breakfast! It was delicious!"

You blinked. "Wait..You guys didn't cook that?"

The three women looked at each other. "Uh...No? I thought you got up early to cook something before going back to sleep."

"I-..No. Well maybe I did but I forgot?.. Nevermind. See you guys at school Monday."

That was weird..but you shrugged it off. They're probably messing with you or you did forget. No big deal. Now you still had a mission.

And that mission was detoxifying all the dust and dirt from the house to stop all this coughing. If this her home after all, she was going to make sure it was actually livable. The cleaning supplies she needed was found under the sink and in the kitchen closet, and got to work on the first room mist important obviously. Her old bedroom, giving it an sort of make over. Rearranging the few things in there like the trinkets and books on the shelf after wiping it with one of the tissues and removing the old sheets off the bed. Your ring wasn't under the bed or on the shelf. The old childhood pictures remained though. Even when you swept and mopped up the symbols from last night's game on the floor, you couldn't find it. Not even under your desk or in your bathroom. Where on earth did it go? Maybe one of your friends accidentally kicked it out of your bedroom? You'd look around as you cleaned up the house.

IT'S GOTTA BE AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE!!

Remember the deju vu part mentioned? Well she went back down to the kitchen after a while to get herself some lunch- But stopped when she saw it. The kitchen. WAS. CLEAN. And not just clean. It looked as if she spent the whole day mopping the floors and wiping down all the dusty counters, and even the dishes from the sink were gone. She stood there for the longest moment..before going to the cabinets and opening them all looking in. YEP! She found the pan and the dishes she used cleaned and put away in the cabinets. She had to take a step back and think for a long moment. Before coming to the totally logical conclusion that she also must've cleaned the kitchen when she was half asleep that morning and because of all the stress from loosing the family heirloom and work she did on her bedroom, she simply must've forgotten about that too. Silly her. She should really start remembering things better and not get so distracted.

When she went to the fridge and pulled it open, she was surprised to find it stocked to THE BRIM with fresh foods and blinked again...You must've forgotten about how many groceries you bought yesterday and gotten more than you remembered. Oh well. Just meant food for her for a good long while. You rummaged around raising a brow at the objects you couldn't remember buying at all not noticing the eyes blinking from the doorway or hearing the quiet chuckle before the fella turned around and scurried of in a blur. But she didn't notice the blur, just the sound of something scurrying away when she whipped her head around...And scowled.

"Great. Mice. Just perfect," she grumbled to herself before going back to the food.

She definitely had no clue who was really behind all this did she? Oh well, she'll find out soon enough anyways. For now be was enjoying the confusion on her face and helping behind the scenes for now. It's been too long since he was able to have fun. Let's see how long it took his little lady friend to notice his little shenanigans shall we?~ The next few were pretty easy, she was doing something human's called 'spring cleaning' which seemed to be a culture celebration of spring by cleaning your houses he guessed. More human things. But this worked all the better. With just a snap of his fingers all the dust turned into the shapes of bunnies, 'dust bunnies', and hoped out the window he opened while his human was busy on her hands and knees scrubbing the floors and cleaning the dust covered shelves. He'd silently wait somewhere she couldn't see him and just find amusement at her totally confused face when she'd walk into the next room and discover it completely clean and free of dust. Looking at it for a moment before shrugging it off and moving on to the still dirty room next to the one he'd clean, brushing it off as her cleaning one room and completely forgetting which rooms she had cleaned. OH!! The irony was too good.

After a moment she stood there staring at another room she couldn't remember cleaning. She stood in the doorway to that particular room for what seemed like forever before she sighed and turned away dragging the vacuum with her.

"I-I'll just...c-come back to this one."

He tilted his head curiously to her reaction as she silently disappeared down the stairs before looking at the next room. Hopping down from his hiding space behind the flower pot and staring into the cold room silently. ...He smiled and snapped his fingers. The same thing with all the rooms he'd done before happened. The window opened and all the dust within the room magically began coming together and clumping into little dust bunnies. Said bunnies then began to magically hop to the window and out. Loosing their shape as they fell down to the ground below. At the same time she was vacuuming the guest bedroom downstairs which she used to use as her 'meditating room'. Her old mat was still there and she would sit there for hours just relaxing and meditating.

Funny. She never had anything else in the room ever other than her meditating mat and the giant full length mirror that stood in the middle of the room. It looked clean despite the dust flying around it, but she shrugged it off again. What she did catch however was the sudden grey blurs going back the window. At first she thought it was just a bird or leaf, but when more fell she looked to it and jumped slightly when a giant clump of what looked like dust fell past it and too the ground. What the-

The lady turned off the machine and went over to the window and looked down at the ground, before flinching as another dust cloud floated down past her. Where were those coming from? Was the wind blowing dirt off the roof? That's a logical answer. Until she heard a slam of window shutter from upstairs making her jump and look up at the ceiling. That sound had come from right above her. Her upstairs guestroom! She quickly went to the stairs and began climbing them up towards the bedroom she left open. The stairs creaking under her. The man's head snapped to the door and the approaching footsteps and smiled invisibly just as eyes poked in to see what all the noise was about. You completely froze at the clean room and open window presented in front of her.

Ok! She new for a FACT that she did NOT even go in this room let alone clean and open the window. She slowly walked her way over to the open window and looked out. She didn't see anything but the yard and silent neighborhood and she certainly didn't see the invisible blue eyes. Until she slowly closed the window and turned around staring..shaking her head before walking away from the room and closing the door behind her. The man chuckled at the situation. The spike of adrenaline from almost getting caught exciting. OH THIS WAS GONNA BE FUN!!

She was on edge for the rest of that day. Looking over her shoulder every so while and peeking into rooms. But she didn't get anymore surprises for the rest of the day so she began to relax. Grabbing another sandwich from the fridge for dinner and making her way back to the bedroom exhausted. She'd been having a whole thing forgetting and cleaning everything and she was all tired and all she wanted to do was just lay back in bed and sleep the night away. Maybe she should sleep in tomorrow and get extra sleep? Might help her memory if she wasn't sleepy. You were also still disappointed that you couldn't find your great grandfather's engagement ring. You'd call your friends up later and ask them to check their bags. Maybe it somehow got in there?

On her way to the stairs she passed the meditating room and something was sitting on the mat, it waved at her passing bye and not paying attention she waved bac-...You froze. Before backtracking and looking back into the empty room. She shook her head and went back to heading to bed. Yeah she was really tired. She didn't see the ripples in the mirror as she climbed the stairs and was soon in the soft bed.

The next day was...normal. She didn't know how long she slept but from the amount of sunlight but she guessed it must've been around nine or ten o'clock. She felt better than yesterday and instead of immediately heading downstairs like last time, she decided to hop into the shower for a quick ten minutes. The warm shower helped her greatly to wake up and when she walked downstairs it was like all the sleep melted away and left her fresh, she wasn't even feeling that hungry this morning. So when she walked by the kitchen, she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until someone spoke.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"Good morning," She greeted as she walked by.

...

......

...........?!

Wait.... WHAT?!

You slowly backtracked and poked her head into the kitchen. A tall muscular man. Stood with his back towards her. Blue hair stood on his head as a long whip like tail swung back and forth from the base of his spine. An apron silly too small was tied around his torso as he just hummed along and ran a cloth along the stovetop seemingly cleaning it. From the wild mess of blue locks protruded two pointed dark horns, and strange symbols decorated his exposed skin

He pointed it at a cabinet and it opened, out floated a fork before it reclosed and she shook her head and blinked at the sight as the fork was directed to the table and set down onto the table where a small plate of pancakes and a glass of milk was waiting. Finally the figure snapped his head around to her and she froze at the gigantic fanged smile across his face and he chuckled at her expression.....Until her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she tumbled to the ground-

....."Uh..." What happened? She could feel a throb to her head and her body lay on something soft. It felt like she hit her head against the head against the wall above her and knocked herself back to sleep. God. Did she really move around that much in her sleep? With a groan she sat up and reached a hand up to rub her sore face as she did so. "Crap. That hurt."

"Are you feeling better?~" Her eyes bulged open like those funny googly eye stickers kids buy at the supermarket and she wiped to the back of the couch she was laying on and saw the same blue haired man from before. "How is your he-" He didn't get to finish when she screamed and fell off the couch with a loud thud. He blinked and cringed away, with ears pinning back to his head and hissing as her scream hurt his hearing. He watched as she scurried away across the floor before standing up and staring dead at him. "....You know it's quite rude to scream at someone who helped you."

"WHO ARE YOU?!...W-WHAT ARE YOU!?," she screamed panicking at this...this...PERSON!! "HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY HOUSE?!"

At this he blinked but stayed where he stood behind the sofa. "I'm the demon you asked for."

"D-DEMON?!"

"In the flesh!"

"Who-...What-..HOW?!" She glanced over at nothing and her hands reached her hands up to grab her head, "Ok. This is a dream. This HAS to be a dream."

"'Fraid not! If it was, you would've woken on your bed instead of the couch."

"...T-Then I'm hallucinating!! That's it!" She smiled finding a perfectly logical answer. "I-It's all the stress making me crack under the pressure and Im have a nervous breakdown! O-Or the fumes from the cleaning supplies are making my brain give hallucinations like a bad dream!"

He rolled his eyes and reached out to her. "Y/n." She looked at him and froze when his hand pressed to her forehead. "If I was a projection of your mind, I wouldn't be able to touch you and you wouldn't feel me would you? Think about it. If you fainted in the hallway how could've you woken up on the couch if I wasn't real enough to put you there?"

She was just staring there for the longest time before sucking in a breath and going to sit back down on the couch. Facing him and staring at him. They stared at each other for a few moments before she let out a breath. "Ok. ...You're real."

"Obviously. I always have been."

"Ok...Then. W-Why are you here?" He blinked as if confused. "I-I-I mean what do you want? There's nothing here you can possibly want! I'm not like rich or anything!" She asked her mind spinning with any kind of answers her logical brain were still working on for an anwer.

His head tilted further confused. "I'm here because we're married?" He motioned between you both like it was obvious. "That's what spouses do. They live together."

"WHAT?! What gave you that idea?!"

"When you summoned me two nights ago and proposed. I liked how you presented yourself and I accepted." As if to add salt to your already shocked face, his hand extended towards you. Upon his dark purple claws was a single glitter of gold that made you balk in realization.

"My great grandfather's engagement ring! You stole it!"

"I didn't steal if it was presented to me."

"IT WAS A JOKE!!," you shouted at him, "WE WERE ALL JUST KIDDING AROUND!! I DIDN'T THINK YOU WERE ACTUALLY REAL!!"

"Black magic isn't something to be messed with especially by mortals who treat summoning ancient beings like me like a game!," he stared both firmly and angrily. "You're lucky it was me you accidentally summoned up instead of someone from the Royal Family."

"W-Who are they?"

"Demons you should never summon. Now back on topic, I see I'm gonna have to teach you some things to make you aware."

"Aren't you at least going to give me back the ring?"

"No. It's mine now. Like it or not you made a deal with me and I accepted it, and it's one of the most unbreakable deals to do with demon kind. A marriage contract. You see for security reasons we mate for life unless our partners ok and outside affair or one of us dies but..Barely anything can kill us really."

You sat there with a sick feeling in your guts. Your hands clutching your head. "This can't be happening. This can NOT be happening."

"Well you better believe it." Raising a hand he made a come here motion and the plate of food and fork from the kitchen floated into the room and into his grip. You blinked as he leaned over to set both down on your lap. "Here. You better eat up. I can tell we're going to be here for a while."

"I-..." You looked back to him. "You've been the one cleaning up and making food appear?"

He nodded. "Yep. A husband is supposed to provide for his mate after all."

"I don't even know you're name."

"S.D. Jack."

Your brow rose. "Your name is S.D.?"

"Actually my full name is Sunny Day Jack, but it's easier for everyone to just call me Jack."

"Your parents were sure creative."

That got him to huff a chuckle and smile. "I suppose so. Now eat up. You'll need the energy."