Out of Thin Air

Before he knew it, Meme was getting used to scrubbing windows with his new companion. 

While his hands were on the window scrubber, his eyes were on the girl. She had a gleeful smile that he liked about her. She felt more real than any girl he had met before. 

Why? Because she wasn't weirded out by him. Quite the contrary. 

"So, you really want to be a Monster Hunter then?" The girl asked, resting the long window scrubber on her shoulder. 

Meme scratched his neck, closing his eyes to ponder about this question. 'Do I?' 

"Um…" he groaned. 

"It's ok," the girl chuckled. "Take your time. I'm sure you took your time when you made that decision in the first place." 

Thinking back about the decision, Meme remembered the day he and Jogu went and signed two applications for the Monster Hunter Academy when they were drunk back in high school. Now here they were, scrubbing windows as a public service. 

They never expected those applications to be accepted. 

"Um… I guess I do? It surely makes a ton of money for me. I can buy a sky-high apartment and live a luxurious life. Die an uncanny death under the foot of the Black Lizard," he laughed. 

The girl frowned when she heard the last sentence. "Someone close to you died by the attack of the Black Lizard?" 

"Huh?" Meme asked, raising his silver eyebrow in confusion. "No no – I was just saying." 

"Oh." The girl averted her gaze back to the painted window. She placed her window scrubber down by her side. 

Meme stared at her as she examined the windows again. 

"What's your name?" He broke the silence once more. 

"My name? Heh. It's…" for a second, she felt reluctant to say it to the boy. But she shook her head and removed the suspicious thoughts swirling in her mind.

"Yuna Carter," she smiled. "I know it's unusual. But my friends call me Yuna. It is my actual first name." 

"Yuna?" Meme asked with a smile. "Yeah. I didn't know you had such a cool name." 

"Thank you, mister Intern. And yours?" 

"Hideaki Meme." 

"Oh? I knew you were from the East with your silver hair. It's nice to meet you, Hideyaki Meme." 

"Nice to meet you too." 

With that, the girl shifted her eyes back to the painted window. "If you don't mind. I wanna taste this a bit –" she said, leaning close to the window and licking the butterfly essence off of it. 

Meme's mouth fell agape when she did this. "Ugh…" 

She licked her lips, tasting it. "Hm. Too bitter." 

The people walking by them eyed her weirdly. Meme felt anxious. It was supposed to be him that was weird. But now it was this other girl. 

'I can't let her get all the weirdness alone…' 

He leaned close to the glass. "I'll have a taste too." 

The girl's breathing paused. Her heart skipped a beat as Meme stuck out his tongue. She raised her hand to grab Meme by the tongue and push him as far as possible from the window, but the deed was already done. 

Meme savored the butterfly essence inside his mouth. "Mmm… Oh god," he groaned. "It tastes weird. I think I might just –" 

When he gazed at the girl, her face was filled with terror. Her eyes were twitching and her mouth was half open. 

"What?" 

Meme could not understand what he did wrong to terrify the girl. 

"Um…" Her lips began to quiver as she stepped backward. "I – I – can I have your number?" 

The roles reversed. It was Meme who was terrified now. 

'What? Is licking disgusting windows a thing that girls fall for? Or… what the hell did I do right?' His mind began to overflow with weird thoughts. 'Should I lick the glass again?' 

"Meme," she rested her hand on his shoulder. "Give me your number." 

Meme's blue eyes reflected on her little brown pupils. Without any reluctance, he reached for his phone and opened his Link account. Everyone used Link those days. 

So, it was the obvious choice. 

She held her phone over his and scanned his number. After sharing it with each other, they pocketed their phones. 

Meme had never exchanged phone numbers with a girl so fast before. 

"Um…" he was at a loss for words. 

"Um? It's ok, right?" 

"Haha, yeah. By the way, how old are you again?" 

Meme figured he never asked her that question. 

"Sixteen, mister intern. I'm sure you're a bit older than I am, but I like older men." She purred. 

For a second, Meme's heart froze. 'Did she just say she likes me?' 

"And… I have to go now. Can I give you a parting gift?" She smirked, leaning close to him playfully. 

"...heh?" 

Before he knew it, the girl pulled the young intern by his tie and hauled him forward. Yuna's cute little petals came into contact with Meme's lips. She held the young man tightly by the tie, resisting to let him escape from her kiss. 

Meme reluctantly attempted to pull back, but Yuna's grip on his tie was too much of a hassle to escape. He felt her little tongue slithering between his lips, sliding inside his mouth.

When her mouth parted his lips, a long bridge of saliva connected them for a second before breaking apart. 

She tasted the kiss in her mouth. "Um. Now that was sweet~" she smiled, turning around. "See you soon, Mister Intern." 

Meme stood on the pavement, frozen in his tracks, as the girl gradually walked away. Monsters may not have appeared that day. But what was the magic that made this happen? 

What the hell just happened to him?