Little Pink Starfish

A small house flickered with faint yellow light.

There was no electricity inside—just a single candle burning under a lampshade.

On a worn wooden table, someone was sleeping, sprawled out. He had black hair and wore a high-collared black top. His bangs hung low over his face, hiding his features.

One pale, slender hand dangled off the edge of the table, fingers long, the blue veins beneath the skin faintly visible.

The room was dead quiet, not even a sound. The candlelight trembled in the darkness. Then at exactly six in the morning, the figure at the table shuddered awake.

A nearby school had started its morning broadcast. Six o’clock.

He got up, yawned lazily, walked to the window, and yanked open the thick curtains. Sunlight flooded the little room.

Perfect—yet another night without a single customer.

In other words, she’d successfully loafed another day.

Standing by the window, Yuan Yuanyuan basked in the morning light with a sense of bliss. That is, until she heard footsteps outside.

“Boss! Did you eat yet? I brought you breakfast!”

Crap. That girl’s back again.

…

Today was Yuan Yuanyuan’s one-month mark working at this shop.

“You only open once a week and only stay a single night. How are you even making money?” the girl asked while shoving a bun in her mouth.

Yuan Yuanyuan chewed and replied, “Uh… wasn’t planning to make much anyway. Why are you asking so many questions?”

“I just feel bad for this house,” the girl said. “It’s such a nice place… if you’re not making money, why’d you buy it?”

To be honest, she didn’t. It was gifted to her… but Yuan Yuanyuan swallowed that line.

“I’m done eating, gotta run to morning exercises. The rest is yours.” The girl darted out. She was the same one who’d visited on the shop’s first day. A young demon, living disguised as a human.

Yuan Yuanyuan finished the last buns, cleaned up the plastic bag, and got ready to go home.

She did have a “real job”—a night shift that drained her. Add in studying demon magic and running this side business, and her days were a blur of sleep and work. She barely had time to open the shop.

Still, those demons had said she just needed to keep up appearances. No need to be overly diligent.

Clocking out. Another loafing day complete.

As she stepped out, she spotted the nearby school filling up with uniformed students. She too had once trudged to school in winter. Seeing them brought back bitter memories.

…Although, honestly, she still felt pretty bitter these days.

The house had been cleaned up quite a bit. Still old, still plain, but at least it didn’t look like a haunted house anymore. She’d tossed out the broken furniture, cleaned the rest. Usable stuff she kept.

There was a handwritten note taped to the door:

[The shopkeeper is rarely in. If fate allows, we may meet.]

How dramatic.

Good thing she wasn’t relying on this job to eat—or she’d have starved long ago.

Her face now existed in a strange metaphysical state: it was a transformation layered on top of “Yuan.” She looked 70–80% like him, close enough to fool most, but not quite the same.

She glanced at the note on the door, which flapped dangerously in the breeze. Maybe she should tape it down again.

Youji (Demon Chronicles) had been pretty calm lately—at least, the demon side of the story. The exorcist side? Absolute chaos.

Fa Ning, the underdog, had shocked everyone by ranking 10th in the sect trials, just barely qualifying as an elite disciple. But more troubling was a new development—an ancient demon that had been sealed long ago… was about to break free.

Of course, the top ten disciples were summoned to help re-seal it. Unfortunately, Fa Ning was now among them.

Reading that, Yuan Yuanyuan facepalmed.

Honestly, in all her years reading manga, she’d never seen a story where the seal didn’t break.

And that ancient demon’s seal? Placed conveniently at the sect’s front gate, using the terrain to reinforce it. The sect, based in faraway K City, was clearly based on a real-world Taoist sect—Sanqing Temple.

But it was miles away from C City. Totally irrelevant to her.

Let the world burn. She had nothing to do with it.

So while chaos unfolded over there, Yuan Yuanyuan enjoyed a peaceful month.

She even had time to learn some non-combat demon techniques. For instance:

Leaf Veil.

Now she stood playing with a leaf, trying to figure out the spell’s mechanism. She’d gotten off work early and wasn’t sure what to do. The tavern hadn’t gotten busy, so Sister Lizi let her leave ahead of schedule.

She wasn’t used to being free this early. Might as well visit the shop, maybe sew something.

Spontaneously motivated, she slipped downstairs, transformed, then climbed back up.

As she opened the door, thinking about sweeping the snow, she spotted two figures squatting outside.

“…What are you two doing here in the middle of the night?” she asked, startled.

“We found you!” One girl stood up, dragging the other with her.

Both were bundled in thick coats, faces red from the cold.

“…Come inside,” Yuan Yuanyuan said, opening the door.

The two girls entered, chatting excitedly. “The boss really showed up!”

“I knew it! My prediction finally worked.”

“I told you he was hot!”

“No lie—he’s hot. Total icy type. Tall, straight legs, so pale…”

The room was strangely warm—no heater. Probably magic.

As they settled in, the girl who’d been there before acted normal, but the second kept looking up, examining the ceiling like she was studying it.

“You’re… not a demon, are you?” Yuan Yuanyuan sniffed discreetly. No matter how she tested, she was sure the second girl was fully human.

“Qiu Ling is human,” the demon girl said. “She can see spirits. She’s my only friend in school. Super cool.”

“Sorry,” the human girl added. “I’ve always been able to see this shop. I heard someone moved in, so I came to look. Tang Shi brought me.”

Ah, a spirit-sensitive human.

As Yuan Yuanyuan brewed milk tea, she remembered the opening line of Rurouni Kenshin.

The world is harsh, yeah. But sometimes… you still have to believe in a little hope.

As a half-demon, Yuan Yuanyuan had always secretly wished for peaceful coexistence between humans and demons. She knew it was naïve and dangerous, but she held onto that hope anyway.

Seeing these two girls getting along so well… warmed her heart.

Some humans could see spirits—that’s how exorcists existed. A rare few were born with faint spiritual energy.

This girl? Total main character energy.

As Yuan Yuanyuan carried the tea into the room, she overheard the girls whispering.

She stopped, just outside the doorway.

“Be careful,” one whispered. “That shopkeeper… isn’t what he seems.”

“Huh? He’s chill. Lazy, dramatic, total slacker, but harmless.”

“That’s not what I meant. I mean… he’s not that simple.”

“Then just say it. I can’t guess this stuff.”

“…I saw red. His whole body… covered in red.”

“…What?”

“Crimson light, surging from him. Like he’d bathed in blood. Gave me goosebumps. I’ve never seen such intense red before.”

“Pfft…”

“What are you laughing at?! I swear I want to leave—are you coming?”

“No, no… I just suddenly thought, if he’s that bloody, doesn’t that sound like your favorite anime guy? He drinks blood too, right? Honestly, they even kinda look alike…”

“Shut up! That’s 2D! You can’t compare that to real life!”

Yuan Yuanyuan cleared her throat and entered with the tray. The girls instantly sat up, innocent expressions on their faces.

She placed the tray on the table and smiled slightly.

Kids these days… seriously something else.