Deadly danger summer

***

— Young man! Don't hold up the queue! — the priestess in the fox mask is tired of waiting for the blond boy to choose the lot with the prediction. — Many more people want to know their future! He turned around, everyone was standing behind him, there were hundreds of them. From ordinary children to employees from the human resources department.

EVERYONE

Their faces were hidden behind multicolored masks: a fairly full woman holding a a basket of food in her right hand. She tried unsuccessfully to stuff at least a bite into herself, but a pig mask was tightly fitted to her face, preventing her from doing so. A teenager with a mask stitched together from many other faces. All parts of his face, but different. A man with a plush toy and a mask of a child about to cry. A large toddler, about five years old with a mask of anger that had drops of sweat dripping off it as if it had pores.... They were all silent, the silence eating away at the inside, leaving no bite behind. He turned to the priestess and pulled out a piece of paper.

«Luck awaits you»

— Luck awaits you, — she repeated what she had written. Her joyful voice echoed off the walls of the Japanese temple.

Lie

Foxes can't be trusted

The room became unbearably hot, but it was as if the others didn't notice it, as if he was the only one who felt it. Everything swam in front of his eyes, his hands and himself turning to mud, he is waking up.

***

The young man felt the effects with all his body immediately upon waking. His eyelids were heavy and he could hardly open them. His body was limp, and his morning strength had not had not appeared.

Everything has a price

He turned his head to look at the time. His gaze focused on the numbers. It was exactly four o'clock in the morning. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get back to sleep. He quickly pulled on a large paint-stained t-shirt, large, round, black glasses. He turned on his computer and clicked on the «RPG» icon.

«Server chat»

«The server has a new gamer» Sweety-B: «Is this Selever?» Yuki-Mo: «Selever? But we were playing a 2 hours ago! Is he alright?» Cheater: «Hey! Don`t speak so, like I am a ghost!» Cheater: «I`m alright.» Cheater: «Just couldn't sleep before the final exam.» Aori: «If you want, I can help you with this.» Cheater: «No. Somebody else, but not you.» Cheater: «And I don`t think, you guys, can help me.» Cheater: «Only if you do not have the answers for the last exam.» Amori, not Aori!: «Finally exam?! Why u didn`t told us anything about that?!» Sweety-B: «Drink super-sweet soda before exam, I heard sugar helps you think better))» Aori: «Then he need to drink soda every 10 min. You so brutal.» Cheater: «When I told you `bout final exam, I didn`t say whoa it`s will be hard for me.» Cheater: «And before you wanna say to me as I dumb, remember as you set on fire your sofa, cuz you was too drunk and wanted to see at the "Hell sofa".» Aori: «Good luck at exams, I apologize for my words, let's forget that incident..» Amori, not Aori!: «Haa?~ was it just me or Aori really get apologize?» Amori, not Aori!: «My girl is so adult! OMG, I will take a screenshot~» Aori: «If you wanna I can come to you and you can take a live picture of me, we are living close.» Amori not Aori!: «Ha-ha, I just joking, calm down ok?..» Amori, not Aori!: «I`m bored! Enough, let`s kill and shoot!» Cheater: «And you don't seem to be sitting still? Although, I'm usually the main starter.»

***

Aori: «It was really nice playing.» Sweety-B: «If you would play with us more then before, I promise to you, you will be feel good as now.» Aori: «I'd like to play with you more often, but my job doesn't think so.» Yuki-Mo: «Don't worry, we understand. Play with us whenever you want.» Aori: «This is so kind by your side, thanks:)» Amori, not Aori!: «I don't mean to interrupt your exchange of pleasantries, but have you guys seen the new creep post on Reddit?» Aori: «What is it this time?» He just wanted to write in the chat, but he was distracted by a bright purple flash. The lightning appeared for only a second, illuminating the empty field outside the window with its beauty. And then so sneakily stunned by thunder. Soon raindrops pounded on the glass. The monitor screen went out, leaving him in total darkness. — Damn.. Fumbling for his phone, he turned on the flashlight and stepped out into the hallway. The walls where he'd been born and raised now seemed eerie and alien. On the beige wallpaper were his paintings. He had put his whole soul into each of them. His creations were hung all over the house. No one judged his work, no matter what the pictures depicted. Whether it was a gutted rabbit or a naked young girl. They'd give it a pat on the head and hang a new one on the wall. He knocked softly on the gray door across from his. — I'm not sleeping, come in, He stepped onto the soft carpet. His sister was reading a book, illuminated by her phone. The room couldn't be seen properly due to the lack of main light. — Why don't you use magic to create lighting? — I could ask you the same question, — she replied, flipping the page without much interest. — I don't have much mana, you know. I'll try to fix the lights. Rasazi, don't go anywhere, — he said as he left the room. — I wasn't going to,

***

Putting on his raincoat, he went to fix the lights, as promised. It was dark outside, too dark. Lightning flashed occasionally. Opening the panel door, he flipped the switches. As expected: nothing worked. He reached for the emergency light lever. Soft lights came on in the house. Without letting her book out of her hands Rasazi went downstairs and sat at the kitchen table waiting. Her brother came inside and hung the wet raincoat in the hallway. — Don't you want to thank me? — he asked with a chuckle. — No, but I know for a fact that I want black tea with milk, — she smiled softly, putting the book aside. — As you wish, young mistress, — he played along.

***

The rain wasn't going to stop even after a few hours. The boy ran out of the exam in a hurry. His blond hair was a little wet and sticking to his face. Running up to the service entrance, he knocked. The door was opened by a girl in a dark apron with an engraved nametag: Ruby. Her white dyed afro curls jerked funny with every movement. She let him in without further question. — Hi, am I late? — he looked around the small staff lounge: Light wallpaper with no pattern. Two gray sofas standing between a low table. Photographs of no names and decorative knick-knacks. — Huh? No, you're just in time, — she hung his cape on the hook. — If you don't have a c-change of shoes, you can t-take these b-booties, — She handed him a small transparent capsule with gray booties. A blue head suddenly appeared in the doorway. — Oh, hey, Ruby, is this the one? — the guy coughed, — Sap! — He poked his white shirt with his thumb. — Kate! And you are? — Selever, — I guess you don't mind if I.. Ouch! — Against, — a girl a little taller than Keith pulled his ear. — Even if there are no customers in the café now, that's no reason to leave the workplace, She patted him on the back, hinting for him to leave. — Ruby, you can go too, — she nodded and followed Keith out. Fixing her brown hair, she finally turned to the blonde. — Good day, Selever. I'm Jif, the HR manager of this café, we spoke last night, — she was wearing a red turtleneck with a black jacket despite the rather warm temperature in the room. — Good, nice to meet you, Jif, — he smiled. — Likewise, please follow me, — there were only a few doors in the long corridor, the farthest one apparently being Jif's office. And he was right. Her workplace looked so casual and simple. She turned the ficus at her desk to face the young man. — So, let's get started, — she opened the laptop. — Please state your last name, first name, and how old you are. Your demonic rank and mana? — Selever, no last name, seventeen full. Third rank, less than average mana. Here is the seal of containment, — the young man rolled up the sleeve of his white shirt. A hovering red bracelet with unknown symbols appeared on his left wrist. «Only high-ranking demons don't have a last name, only a dynasty. And he's suspiciously low on mana» — Could you list your main qualities? — she found his previous statements hard to believe, but his seal couldn't lie. — Responsibility, communication skills, stress resistance, tactfulness, quick learning ability, — still with a soft and pleasant smile he calmly interpreted. — Okay, Selever. Do you know anything about our company, can you tell us anything? — Yes, you are one of the smaller coffee shop chains in our region. What sets you apart from other similar establishments is that you make coffee using a completely new recipe — flavored with fruits and berries without syrups, — Thank you. Have you worked before, have you had experience as a barista? — her brown eyes scrutinized his face. — The experience had been there. I worked at the «Cafe by the Lake» a year ago, — he looked completely calm. — And if it's no secret, why did you leave? — she stopped typing, crossing her fingers in a lock. — Because of the disrespectful treatment of me, if you don't go into detail — the supervisor allowed himself to be overcharged. — Do you now want to be temporarily employed for a specific purpose? — Yes. In a few months I'm flying to another country to study. Now I'm looking for a way to earn a comfortable income. — Okay, — the girl paused for a moment, — I'm going to ask you a couple more questions.

***

The blond man took off his booties and, after saying goodbye to Jif, went out through the service room to the street. The smile was gone from his face in an instant, and the fatigue came on with terrible force. It was chilly, and he was wearing only a shirt and pants. A light breeze blew across his face and a wave of goosebumps ran through him. It had stopped raining, but the dark clouds didn't want to make room for a ray of sunshine. He had no desire to walk the thirty-odd kilometers to his house, but he decided to walk to the nearest bus stop. Fortunately, it didn't take long to get cold. In about five minutes the bus he needed arrived. When he got on the warm bus, he paid the fare and sat down near the window. There was only him and a couple of other people, staring at their phones. He decided to follow their example, plugging in his headphones and turning on a playlist by the band «Chocolate Cake».

***

— Hey, beautiful! End of the line! — came the old driver's sonorous voice. He was often mistaken for a girl because of his slightly frail build and blond hair that was below his shoulders. — Shut your mouth before I rip out your tongue, — he took loud and quick steps to the fat man and slammed his hand on the iron wall, making him jump on the spot. — I'm sorry, guy, it was a mistake. Don't be mad at the old man.. — Selever couldn't stand the way he was treated. On a crowded street, every fifth person would turn around and give him a lustful look. With a soft cluck, he stepped off the bus and headed toward towards his house.

It's sickening