(A/N: I changed the end of the chapter slightly because I thought it was buns upon rereading.
The start of the next chapter might disorient you if you decide to skip the parts I rewrote, so I'm sorry about that.
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(3rd person POV)
"Huh?"
'An idol? What the hell is this guy talking about?!'
The man, who had yet to tell Sunny his name, was giving him a sparkly-eyed stare, one so intense that he kind of felt uncomfortable.
"Uhm... I can't say I've ever thought of becoming an idol-"
"Seriously?! With a face like that?"
The former prisoner of the well gave Sunny a look of utter astonishment.
"I mean, just looking at you, I could tell you'd be popular with all the older noonas- No, you'd just be popular in general!"
"T-thanks..?"
With an odd glint in his emerald eyes, the beautiful sleeper began to circle Sunny, stroking his chin while producing the occasional hum of approval.
'I don't know if I should be flattered or repulsed? What the hell is going on?!"
The gorgeous young man gave Sunny a charming smile.
"You know, I half expected you to be some kind of horrifying monster, but not only are you a human, you're so god damn cute!"
Sunny, being completely overwhelmed by the man's incessant glazing, could do little more than stammer dumbly.
"I- Uh... Huh?"
A pair of emerald eyes sparkled in the soft lantern light blanketing the courtyard.
"Say, Sunny, are you seeing anyone right now?"
'WHAT?!'
With an embarrassed flush coloring his cheeks, Sunny practically screamed:
"N-No?? W-wait, no, I don't swing that way! I like boobs- Wait! Well, I mean, I do like- FUCK!"
Seeing the poor boy so flustered, the handsome sleeper and a certain shadowy bastard burst into fits of laughter.
"No, silly~ I didn't mean it like that! I appreciate your honesty, though!"
The man wiped a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye, another round of harmonic giggling bursting from his mouth.
'This bastard!'
Sunny was rightfully quite pissed, both at the emerald-eyed prisoner and his insubordinate shadow who had yet to cease its laughter.
Glaring at the beautiful young man, his fingers flexed dangerously, his eyes gleaming with barely restrained fury as the embarrassed flush coloring his porcelain cheeks deepened.
Under his glower, the man's laughter trailed off, and he coughed awkwardly into his fist.
"Ahem... Uhm, where were we?"
Sunny sighed, suppressing the rage building in his chest.
"Your name. You never gave me your name."
The man blinked.
"I didn't?"
Sunny shook his head.
"Nope."
The beautiful sleeper flashed Sunny an apologetic look.
"Ah, that's my bad! I got a little carried away..."
With a charming smile plastered across his face, the man extended a hand towards Sunny.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Kai!"
Sunny stared at the man, Kai, and hesitantly shook his extended hand.
"It's uh, nice to meet you... Kai."
The ends of Kai's lips curled up as he flashed him a blinding set of pearly whites.
In fact, his smile was quite literally burning Sunny's pupils.
'Damnation, how fucking hard does this guy scrub his teeth?!'
Blinking the white toothy imprints out of his eyes, Sunny let out a sigh and shook his head.
"Alright, since we've gotten that out of the way, how about we talk about my compensation?"
The smile on Kai's face faltered.
"Right... Compensation."
Kai sighed.
"A promise is a promise. So, Sunny, what would you like? Soul shards? Memories? perhaps even... me?"
Sunny didn't bother reacting to that last bit, instead thinking carefully about something he had heard from Audun a couple of months back.
"Say uh... Kai. Would you happen to know of a place called the Memory Market? I heard about it from a friend while I was still living in the Bright Castle."
"Huh? Yeah, I know of it. I'm actually friends with the manager! But uh, I'll have to warn you, the prices can get a bit expensive..."
Sunny brushed him off with a knowing smile.
"The price isn't an issue. Trust me."
Kai shrugged.
"Well, if it's for my savior, I have no problems granting that request! Shall we leave now, or are you busy?"
Sunny nodded.
"We can leave now, but before we go to the castle, I need to stop by my... abode, to grab my 'wallet'."
Gesturing southward, Sunny continued.
"The place I'm staying is a big ol' ruined cathedral 20ish minutes south of here. You familiar with it?"
"Uhm yeah, I think I've seen something like that along one of my flight routes, but-"
Kai hesitated.
"We're not walking there right?"
Sunny raised a brow.
"That... was the plan."
Kai winced, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Would it... be alright if I flew there? It's not like I don't trust you or anything, I just feel a bit safer in the skies than I do on the ground, y'know?"
Sunny shrugged.
'Still pretty cautious, can't really blame the guy, though.'
"Meh, fair enough. Just keep in mind, I'd recommend waiting on the roof if you get there before me, cause my roommate is pretty territorial, and if you walk in through the front door, he might gut you."
Kai frowned.
"He sounds... unpleasant."
Sunny couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"Well, yeah. I'd be surprised if a Fallen Devil were 'pleasant'."
"Excuse me?"
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After Kai blasted off into the sunset, Sunny made no effort to hasten his leisurely pace.
He walked through the ruins slowly, picking off any roaming abominations for a bit of extra cash.
Sunny truthfully had no idea how many shards he and Audun had collected over the past few months, but after the hordes of abominations they had slew in the name of training, the amount surely had to be staggering... right?
Moving on-
Accompanied by Dawn, Sunny finally made it back to the Cathedral with a pouch bulging with riches strapped to his waist.
Finding a familiar set of pillars, he leaped onto the ruined temple's large roof, and as he walked across the weathered stone, he located a tense-looking Kai a few meters away.
Approaching the man quietly, a malicious sneer spread across Sunny's face as a series of malevolent ideas flashed through his mind.
Deciding on a generational classic, Sunny crept up to Kai, his footsteps more silent than even the most experienced of ninjas.
Stopping right behind the nervous young man, Sunny drew in a deep yet inaudible breath.
"BOOO"
"HIEHEIIEEEEEEEAHHHHH!!!!"
With a terrified shriek, Kai whipped around, launching an ornate arrow at Sunny's head with shocking accuracy, though Sunny caught it easily.
Unfortunately, however, Sunny wasn't quite prepared for the rather 'explosive' aspect of the arrow Kai had gifted him.
VMMMMMMMMMM
The arrowhead in Sunny's grasp began to glow, humming with a threatening promise.
'That's not good...'
Having been on the receiving end of an unfortunately vast array of explosive memories, courtesy of Audun, Sunny trusted his gut and acted without hesitation.
Empowering his body with his shadow, he tossed the arrow with a force unbefitting his stature, his arm blurring with the sheer velocity of his action.
Tearing apart the air, the explosive arrow ascended the grey backdrop like a shooting star moving in reverse, and as it reached its apex-
BWOOOOOSHH
An azure flare lit up the dawn, painting the monotone sky with a brilliant glowing hue.
Watching the spectacle of his own creation, Sunny let out a low whistle, turning to Kai with a small smirk.
"Ho~ That wasn't very nice, Kai-"
"You moron! Who sneaks up on someone with a bow and arrow in their hands? Huh??"
Without even blinking, Sunny pointed at himself and allowed his mouth to contort into a shit eating grin.
"This moron~"
Kai gave him the blankest stare he had ever seen before covering his face with his hands, letting out the same kind of exasperated sigh an impatient teacher would let out while trying to teach a lobotomized newborn rocket science.
Basking in the torrent of schadenfreude tormenting this overly perfect idol had granted him, Sunny's face twisted in satisfaction.
After a small bout of loaded silence, Kai finally looked back up at Sunny.
"So... What now?"
Still carrying immense elation on his curled lips, Sunny pointed at a large hole in the stone tiles.
"You see that abstract window over there? I'm gonna climb through it and retrieve something in my room. Normally, I would've just jumped through the front door, but I don't wanna deal with my roommate right now."
Kai's eyes widened.
"Aren't you being a little casual about a Fallen Devil?!"
Sunny just laughed.
"Casual? I'll have you know, my other roommate and I could beat Blackie blindfolded. There's nothing to worry about!"
Kai's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, his mouth trembling as a response slowly formed on his tongue.
But Sunny didn't bother waiting for the beautiful young man to speak.
"Just sit tight and wait for me to return~"
Sunny entered the large hole, soon finding himself back in his secret lair.
It was as neat and as orderly as he had left it, not a single item out of place.
Barely casting the room a glance, Sunny didn't bother wasting time, speeding straight towards a pile of hefty sacks made of abomination skins sitting in a dusty corner of the room.
The sacks, if you couldn't already guess, were the results of Audun's voracious appetite, the swordsman's poacher-like behavior resulting in the murders of an innumerable number of abominable Dark City residents.
Sunny honestly believed that their combined wealth was comparable to that of a small clan, something that his past self would've thought inconceivable.
Ripping open one of the sacks, Sunny summoned another one of Audun's gifts, the [Bag of Holding], and began to pour its contents into the deceptively spacious pouch, the corner of his lips unconsciously lifting upwards as he began to think of the shopping spree he had ahead.
After a few more moments, one of the dozens of sacks lying carelessly on the ground had been completely emptied into Sunny's personal wallet, and thus, Sunny made his way back to the roof to meet with Kai.
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(A/N: Sorry for both the abrupt ending and the late chapter, but I've been uh.... recovering after a series of poor decisions.
I had to attend the wedding ceremony of a friend of my mother's, and at said ceremony, since I didn't know a single soul there, I spent most of Friday collapsed over a table covered in cheese while drowning in champagne.
Needless to say, I got absolutely railed by my hangover and spent most of my Saturday groaning in bed, and thus, the chapter that I should've been working on and had released by Saturday sat uncompleted in my drafts for the last few days as I basked in the results of my poor habits.
Once again, that's kinda my fault.
Anyway,
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, leave a few comments, drop a review if you can, and maybe slide a few stones.
Btw, I'll be uploading a bonus chapter every time I receive 50 power stones.
I'll see you guys in the next chapter!"