That mystery girl who’d seen Mogi levitate stared twirling the rosary colorful designed umbrella she held in her hand open above herself the umbrella almost seemed to be glowing. That girl with the umbrella in the rain staring at me, her name was Cherrylin. Ah, Arina Cherrylin, that's her name. Miss always smiles wide-eyed as though calculating and can already see exactly what's in your soul. She's extremely known for being very straight to the point and always asking the right questions when engaging with people. I've heard a lot of rumors about her, but I've seen her in action myself. For example, several months ago when I was going to a tool purchasing store… 

 

 

 

 A businessman had been exiting from a banking building, and while she waited by a bus stop, the man approached her, but she swiftly waved her hand as if shooing the person away. When I exited the store and went to wait at the bus stop, I could hear more of the conversation, though she hadn't noticed me yet. At least that's what I thought until she spun over and grabbed my arm. She called the person a fifty year old creep and said she was waiting for me that I was her boyfriend, Completely throwing me into the situation as though I’m some tool. I used that moment to take a good look at the businessman. He seemed well off, but I couldn't really tell what she saw badly about him. It was only later when she'd explain that I'd realize she had really good intuition and foresight. The businessman had been working in the district's main tech building where he heard about when she'd stop by to see her older sister. That was the chance the businessman tried to use to sway her, most likely to try and marry into Cherrylin's main family to control the branch families. The businessman outwardly seemed to be in his early thirties, had the typical expensive-looking watch… 

 

 The middle aged geezer gave me a scowl angered stare and tried to offend me by telling Cherrylin that she should consider better suitors than some hiphop wearing dweeb to which I wish I would have not responded to that. I didn’t say anything too out of the ball park. The middle aged man had the gul to offend me despite that middle aged man being 5’2 while I looked down at him from a 6’0 stature. 

 

 I didn’t want to trigger a potential napoleon complex which is partly the way I spoke up saying that the middle aged man didn’t have to offend my clothing choice for the day. 

 

 Arina Cherrylin pulled me away as we got on a bus. 

 

 That was the previous year and I stopped speaking to Arina Cherrylin for a year. 

 

 

 

 "What's your name again?" I asked the girl. She kept a perfect smile on her face, the type of smile that usually made it desirable to know what the person was actually thinking. It's precisely for that reason that I stood there for two minutes after she said her name was Arina. She had kept smiling and staring at me. What? Like, okay? That's her name, Arina. 

 

 Didn't she get the clue? She could leave. I reached down for the umbrella as she released it to my hand. Arina, the name. She's the really popular 10th grader, Miss Perfect. She's the president of the student council, typical that her type of people flock to those roles in any governing sector. Though, I can't entirely judge. For her, I can get why it's necessary. The family that she briefly crash landed into while being anchored in that brief planetary body Arina is in. I can't begin to imagine the type of pressure she must feel daily, but then again, she probably doesn't feel the pressure since there's something that tells me she's used to being around monsters. To me and others it may seem difficult but to her being around that for many years means she must have gotten used to being surrounded by monsters. So, it isn't surprising if she herself is an already worse monster. Just thinking of that in a matter of a few seconds made me put up my caution. If she saw Mogi levitate like I did, and trust me I wanted to freak out but I could always ask Mogi later how she did that, Not that levitating off the ground is normal, That Arina, she probably has an interest in Mogi for the wrong reasons. This can't be good. Barely the first day Mogi somehow makes it to my school, and out of all the people to see such a theatrical fiasco, it had to be Cherrylin. Drats. Now I'll have to find a way to get dirt on her to use against her so Mogi will be safe... 

 

 "Shouldn't you have other things to do other than staring at me with your cheeky smile?" I finally broke the silence of awkward staring Arina directed at me as if waiting for me to comment about Mogi levitating. 

 

 Her eyes were focused on me like an owl, except they were relaxed eyes. But at the same time, why was she staring at me when Arina can tell I’m not going to talk about Mogi levitating nonchalantly? Clearly, it made me feel uneasy.

 

 Did she not sense that? "Can I help you? You're staring at me too much," I finally told her. She apologized and looked back to the school building while it continued to drizzle. I opened the umbrella. 

 

“You saw your sister levitate didn’t you?” Arina Cherrylin asked me, I responded with a frown I hoped would get her to leave. 

 

 It led to a whole extra minute of silent staring between Arina and me. 

 

 “No, I didn't see her levitate. Also, she’s not my sister Cherrylin.” 

 

 “Who is she?” 

 

 “That isn't your business, I’ll be going now to drop this child off to her grandmother…” 

 

 I grabbed Mogi and sped out of there with the umbrella kept above me and Mogi. 

 

 Baja that old witch. She brought us a levitating child. The hell that’d raise if anyone else had seen Mogi floating off the ground. 

 

 How is that even possible? I wanted to freak out but knew I just had to find Baja to get to the source of that question that I had. 

 

 Little did I know that encounter would not be the last Cherrylin would seek to ruin my life. 

 

 

 

 I needed to get away from Arina so I left with Mogi to skip school that morning, 

 That’s how I skipped school with a friend of mine. Friend #1 I mentioned earlier. 

 I've known Friend #1 for a long time, but it still feels like I can't put my guard down. Especially with Mogi coming along with me today. We have some important errands to run. Don't get me wrong, he's my friend, but he also has side gigs with a gang from his neighborhood. So his problems can become my problems if the wrong people see us hanging out. I had to learn that the hard way on multiple occasions, with three being the worst and freshest in my mind. 

 Still, it isn't his fault he's temporarily in that neighborhood, and he's learned to trust the other teens there. Nonetheless, as usual, we decided to go to a downtown district. I was going to complete the list that was on the letter I mentioned, and friend #1 wanted to tag along. Taking a closer look at the letter, I tried to squint my eyes, trying to decipher its contents. That letter my mother had Mogi deliver to me. 

 First I would have to go with friend #1 to one place and then ditch em’. There’s no way I can hang out with him too long today with Mogi around, especially since our other after school friends might appear meaning that I can’t risk Mogi’s safety. 

 Where are we going? I asked friend #1. If I had known he'd give me a generic response, I wouldn't have asked.

He told me we're headed wherever the road takes us but really it was just downtown. That was code for us probably heading somewhere dangerous or somewhere he knew I'd have no interest in going to.

Nonetheless, I could only hold my disappointment behind my pensive face.

"That's really vague," I muttered. Friend #1 hit my back, encouraging me to continue along. Sometimes I get the sense he's a devil leading me into trouble.

Did I mention Mogi was with us?

I intended to take her right home and skip school, but along the way, I ran into Friend #1, who was also skipping class despite the fact that we had played rugby earlier that day. I did tell him that, but he clasped his hands together and cried that I'm not his real friend if I talk that way, as if I didn't want to hang out with him.

I really didn't, though, especially not on this late rainy morning. I had to complete the errands my mother wrote and had Mogi deliver to me. 

 

Whenever we stopped at a cross light, some of the car drivers would give us looks, trying to tell which school we were from based on the uniforms we wore. I didn't have anything else to change into at that time. My friend, on the other hand, was in streetwear.

We were headed to a district area, since many of the teen populace were huddled in school buildings. We had to wear jackets and hoodies, and we talked as we walked through the streets until we found ourselves downtown.

I instantly looked up and knew where he was taking us. A massage parlor. I read the dangling sign. It wasn't just any massage place; it specialized in acupuncture.

It isn't a totally bad place if it weren't for the fact that it's surrounded by mysteries.

Friend #1 took me to a UFO Massage-looking place.

 My friend had been complaining about his arm and shoulder, so he decided to give it a try. Little did he know what awaited him inside...

As we entered the massage place, the scent of aromatic oils filled the air, creating an ambiance of tranquility. The receptionist greeted us with a warm smile, and my friend eagerly explained his discomfort. The receptionist nodded knowingly and led him to a room, promising a magical experience that would alleviate his pain.

Curiosity piqued, Mogi and I settled in the waiting area, flipping through outdated magazines and exchanging amused glances. Time seemed to drag on as we entertained ourselves with ridiculous articles about alien conspiracies and fashion faux pas.

After what felt like an eternity, the door swung open, and my friend emerged with a dazed expression. His hair was disheveled, and his face appeared thoroughly relaxed. Mogi and I burst into laughter, unable to contain ourselves at the sight of his comical appearance.

"What happened in there?" I managed to ask between fits of laughter. My friend, still in a state of bliss, struggled to find the words. Finally, he mumbled, "I think they transported me to another dimension. It was like being massaged by a group of extraterrestrial beings with magical hands."

Mogi's eyes widened with wonder, as if she believed every word. That was the first time I had seen Mogi for a second shift her expression it made me actually smile. We continued laughing, unable to resist the absurdity of the situation. From that day on, whenever we passed by that massage place, we couldn't help but chuckle, remembering the unexpected intergalactic massage adventure that unfolded within its walls.

Little did we know that more peculiar and amusing escapades awaited us on our journey with Mogi and her enigmatic presence. 

 It didn’t take more than a week for the second tenant to appear at my family’s shrine. That School Council girl Arina Cherrylin… wound up at our doorstep. 

 

 I couldn't believe it when she appeared with a piece of paper in her hand asking if the shrine was the location of the rental family she'd be with. When she opened her eyes and saw it was me her expression was that of genuine surprise so I knew she wasn't some sort of stalker out to kidnap our precious lolita Mogi. 

 

 More on that later. The whole supply idea was that girl's. She wanted to teach Mogi. Is there something she knows that I don't? 

 

 Does she have a habit of teaching random children? What’s her problem? Or is she really after Mogi because of seeing Mogi levitate? I think I’ll go with the ladder. It’s Arina Cherrylin we’re talking about here. Arina Cherrylin only turns people into puppets. 

 

There’s no way she was about to fool me. I only stared at her while she gave me her speal that she is into tarot cards as a hobby and took a chance to talk to an old woman. She tried to show me a business card and of course I saw Baja’s name on that suspicious looking business card. 

 

 Apparently she'd gone to see a psychic and would you believe that psychic was that witch Baja? She suggested our rental family. I mean, I can't knock that old lady for actually recommending our rental family but, Why does it have to be the crazy Cherrylin? Who else will Baja recommend? What good is the money Arina Cherrylin will bring in if the damages she does ruin the peace I had at my family’s estate? Not that the peace will last anyways with Mogi but Arina Cherrylin will make living worse than it already is. “You must have the wrong place, this is a Family Rental.” 

 

 “It’s not for extremely wealthy people such as yourself…” I said as Arina kept her surprised widened uneasy smile, her eyebrows tweaked as she tried to take a step back and raise up her glasses but it was too late. That’s when it dawned on me… Yeah, that’s right. That’s when I realized that her needing a Rental family was big news. Is she near sighted? Legally blind? Did she not notice that she was talking to me the entire time? It hit me that she didn’t recognize initially that it was me because I was wearing a white mask cover over my face since I was half way into cleaning the eastern halls of my family shrine. The strong fearless smart mouthed school council president needing a Rental family? Oh, would you look at the Irony? That’d be a rumor no one would believe yet… If I took a picture of Cherrylin right now I could use that as blackmail so she’ll keep her mouth shut about Mogi. 

 

 Mogi’s levitation… to keep that a secret, this… is the answer. 

 

 That’s when my fingers reacted on their own, that muscle memory connection. She knew what I was going for the moment I dug my hand into my hoodie. She tried to turn away to bolt but was met with something in her path. I couldn’t tell what it was since I rushed to get my phone and the damn password would not go through. I tried 5 combinations. 231719, 341715, 592817, None of those passwords worked as I reminded myself to calm down. As I saw I had to wait 30 seconds for the password lock to unlock I glanced to Cherrylin who was frozen in place and in front of her was Mogi yet again floating. 

 

 Lord… It was bad enough Mogi did it once and she’s barefoot, now she was floating again? I quickly passed Cherrylin tugging Mogi down by her small hand. 

 

 Will you cut that out? I politely asked Mogi. 

 

 Cherrylin muttered something as I was going to walk into the front entrance of the shrine. I glanced to Cherrylin who said Cherrylin didn’t expect that the Psychic would recommend me and didn’t know that my family was being a Rental family. I responded fast back to her and said that it was a surprise to me too the previous day. 

 

 Cherrylin then said something crazy. She said she wanted Mogi to teach her how to fly. That Cherrylin had been planning to find Mogi again so Mogi could teach her to fly. But Mogi can’t teach Cherrylin since Mogi isn’t able to talk. Mogi can’t communicate. If she can’t talk obviously she can’t help you, I told her just like that. 

 

 Then, Cherrylin said that she would trade with Mogi then and would teach Mogi how to talk so that Mogi could teach Cherrylin how to fly and that Cherrylin would not leave the Rental Family until she achieves that. 

 

 Wait, what? I can’t believe what was coming out of Cherrylin’s mouth. That’s impossible I blurted. I told Cherrylin that Mogi is not able to teach people how to fly. I didn’t know anything about Mogi but I at the very least know Mogi can’t teach others to fly. Mogi’s temporary planetary body probably has something that allows her to while our temporary bodies don’t have that is what I told Cherrylin who had already went into the shrine with Mogi while I had spaced out pondering what gave Mogi the ability to float. If Mogi’s brief planetary body is able to float then that would mean Cherrylin might try to abduct Mogi to find out how Mogi’s body is able to float and that’s when I rushed to look at Mogi but saw Cherrylin walking into the shrine with Mogi’s hand in hers. Can I really trust Arina Cherrylin? It was a good question. It’s not like I can go to some scientist to ask. I’d never see Mogi if I did. I couldn’t believe I was going through this. That’s when I got the urge to go find Baja. That witch Baja. I went to ask Cherrylin where she last saw Baja, she said uptown near a laundromat. I rushed out the front door and grabbed my bike. Pedalling as fast as I could I tried to find the old hag Baja but she wasn’t near the laundromat by the time I got there. It didn’t take more than 20 minutes but it was already the evening the sun downcast while I asked the Laundry mat lady where Baja was. That’s how I ended up in a goosechase all the way to 10pm. 

 

 Damn it. By the time I got home, that old hag was in the shrine partying with my mother, Cherrylin and my brother was nowhere to be seen but Mogi was sleeping with her head on Baja’s lap. I’ve been looking everywhere for you I told the old hag Baja. I kept my tone low enough for Baja to hear me since Mogi was asleep. 

 

 You didn’t tell us that Mogi could levitate and what’s with you bringing in crazy customers to be part of our Rental Family? 

 

 My mother laughed at what I said while hiccuping, she was drunk but sober enough to laugh maniacally. There was nothing funny about what I said. My mother thought I said gloating instead of floating. Mogi Gloating? I said Mogi floating. 

 

 That’s how Cherrylin joined our Rental Family. She became so damn demanding the next day when a moving company went to bring her belongings to our shrine. Baja warned that she was helping my mother get business for the Rental Family and that I should be grateful. Baja said that every apparent curse can be turned into a blessing but honestly I don’t want to see any of those tenants Baja might try to bring to my mothers Rental Family business. I feel like I’m the only voice of reason here. Could the tenants Baja mentioned be worse than Cherrylin and Mogi? 

 

 That’s when I heard my phone buzz. I checked a text from Kija. She said to come out to the small park near the south gate of my shrine. That’s where we used to play and hang out but I hadn’t been there for a year. Damn, what? I texted her no. She texted that there was somebody watching her so she couldn’t move. That damn girl is always playing the boy who cried wolf. 

 

 It’s bad enough I have to look after Mogi. But if it wasn’t for Kija I probably wouldn’t have the patience that I have especially because that’s what I will need when the third tenant appears.