Got a few more notes than usual, so please bear with me. :)
First of all, I'd like to thank Nathan Baxter, David
Johnston, and Kichigai for their comments on chapter 4,
and also all the people who commented on chapter 3 who
I forgot to thank last time, gomen.
Several people pointed out that I forgot all about the
Paranormal Club, and they were right, so they get a few
short scenes in this chapter and I've added them into
chapters 3 and 4 as well, though you shouldn't have to
read the previous chapters to understand them here.
Finally, I've pooled my limited artistic talents to make
a little Kumiko comic strip which can be seen here:
http://www.thekeep.org/~amm/images/K-strip1.jpg
Please tell me what you think of it as well as this chapter
if it's not asking too much. With some encouragment, I
might be able to come up with a few more. :)
***
Kumiko the Demon-girl
(A Lime-flavored Original Fic)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://www.thekeep.org/~amm/
Chapter 5: Dinner with a Demon-girl
***
Kumiko yawned and stretched, rubbing her eyes and
flexing her wings as she glanced around Ken's apartment, absently
noting that evening was now fast approaching outside. Her eyes
eventually fell upon Ken himself, who was sleeping peacefully at
her side, his arms still tied behind his back by the knotted bed
sheets. He slept quietly; with the slight rise and fall of his chest as
the only sign that she hadn't accidentally drained his soul
completely away, leaving him nothing but a shell.
*Well, why don't you?* part of her mind thought with
something akin to irritation. It was what she was supposed to have
done, after all. This was the first time that she had acted contrary
to the wishes of her superiors. Though the wording of her contract
allowed her to keep 'searching' for a year, she knew that she was
supposed to just consume his soul and return to Hell after her
candidate was approved.
*Because I wouldn't be on vacation anymore then!*
Kumiko argued with herself. She didn't particularly dislike Hell,
but she'd didn't exactly like it either. Oh, part of her longed for the
warmth of the sulfurous air, the boiling lakes, the lava onsen, but
what Kumiko really liked was finding new things, and her job had
become reporting the same things over and over. It was so
repetitive and boring that she had to have a vacation or she would
have... She wasn't sure what she would have done, but she knew it
wouldn't have been good.
The human world was filled with so many new things for
her to witness, and even experience, that she couldn't wait to try as
many as she possibly could, though so far the most fascinating
thing about the human world was her slave.
Kumiko shivered as a slight breeze brushed against her
bare breasts, making her instinctively cuddle up to Ken for
warmth. She closed her eyes and smiled as a sense of comfort
seemed to envelop her. It was more than just his body heat, she
knew; there was something about Ken himself that made her feel...
like she was getting things right for once. He actually smiled at
her and did what she said, unlike most of her fellow demons who
always radiated a sense of faint disapproval. He wasn't perfect yet,
but she was confident she could free him of those silly human
preconceptions soon enough. It was a pity he'd have to die in year.
"AARRGGHH!!" Ken shouted suddenly as he sprang out
of bed, sweat beading on his brow as his heart banged against his
ribcage. He was lucky that Kumiko was holding onto him rather
tightly at the moment, as with his arms still bound he would have
landed painfully on the floor.
Staring at the familiar walls of his apartment, Ken was able
to make himself calm down somewhat, though he was still
breathing heavy from the sense of horror that had so recently
gripped him. "Just a dream," he whispered to convince himself.
"What is it, Ken-chan?" Kumiko asked him with a puzzled
frown. She was somewhat used to hearing the wails of humans,
but couldn't think of a reason for Ken to shout like that. He should
have been just as comfortable as she was.
"Just a silly nightmare," Ken explained with a nervous
laugh, examining his arms carefully as if he expected them to be
less than whole and healthy. "I was chained to a stone pillar on an
island surrounded by lava. There was this huge snake that kept
biting chunks out of my body and muttering about how good I
tasted, and how I would last it a year."
"Physical detachment therapy," Kumiko replied in a
professional tone. "A soul in Hell usually creates the illusion of a
body right away, because it feels as if it still needs one. This
therapy is to eliminate that need by removing the physical form bit
by bit; because if you destroy the body all at once, the soul will
just create a new illusion. It's an effective method for most souls,
though occasionally it backfires. They usually don't use snakes
though."
Ken's eyes bulged as came face to face with the speaker,
who only smiled back at him. He screamed again and leapt out of
her hold, planning to drop and roll on the floor, then run like hell.
There were a number of things wrong with this idea, which he
didn't consider because his mind really wasn't up to thinking
rationally at the moment. So once again he forgot that his hands
were tied behind his back and thus had nothing to break his fall
with.
Not even bothering to groan, he just laid there, face pressed
against his dirty discarded clothes, and reflected on how big an
idiot he was. He already knew that he didn't have a prayer of
escaping this demon-girl's grasp.
Kumiko was beginning to wonder if floors held some
hidden attraction for her slave. He seemed to spend a lot of time
on them. She laid down on the floor next to him, liking the feel of
the hard, unyielding surface, though no more than she liked the
soft and comfy feel of Ken's bed. Such wonderful new textures
they had in the human world, alike and yet different from their
equivalents in Hell.
Ken looked over to his right, narrowing his eyes in
confusion when he saw the demon-girl on the floor next to him,
imitating his pose as best she could. "Kumiko?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing?"
"Lying on the floor."
"Why?"
"Because you're doing it."
"Oh, okay," Ken replied, standing up. The strangeness of
the current situation failed to phase him because he mind was busy
tying to remember when and how exactly his arms had gotten tied.
The best he could recall was that just before he was about to... she
had thought of something that would make it more fun, and Ken
had quickly agreed. He would have probably agreed to anything
short of dying at that moment, and to the demon-girl's credit, the
challenge had been kind of fun once he had gotten used to it.
"Do you think you can untie my wrists now, Kumiko?" he
asked politely. He desperately wanted a shower after all he had
been though recently, the nightmare most of all, but he didn't think
he could manage the soap with his hands as they were.
"Sure!" she agreed gleefully as she practically bounced off
the floor. He noted with a little fear the way her hands became
claws just before she sliced through the knotted sheets, thankfully
not leaving a scratch on him.
Holding the fabric up for inspection, he sighed to see that
Kumiko had made a hole he could walk through. He'd just have to
add it to the small pile of his clothes from last night, with the vain
hope that someone would be able to sew them back together for
him. He might be able to afford some new things with the job
Natsume gave him, but he decided now would be a good time to
try to prevent similar events in the future.
"Kumiko?" he asked, blinking to find that she seemed to
have vanished.
"Yes, Ken-chan?" she whispered in his ear from behind
him. Her hands, which to his relief were no longer claws
especially considering what they were currently in the vicinity of,
wrapped around him. The soft skin of her long legs slid up against
his own as her full breasts pressed into his back.
It took Ken a few minutes to remember what he was just
thinking of. "If it's not too much trouble, would you mind not
damaging my clothes, sheets, and stuff? I know it must not seem
like much, but I don't have the money to replace anything right
now."
Kumiko took the torn sheet that Ken presented her with as
an example and studied it intently, especially the rip she had so
recently made. "You mean you can't just fix it?"
Ken carefully disengaged himself from the demon-girl. As
comfortable as he had been with her holding to him so tightly, he
needed all of his limited wits about him now if he was going to
keep his little apartment from becoming a wreck in a matter of
weeks. One day Kumiko could decide that his room didn't get
enough sun and knock a big hole in the wall.
"No, I can't," he told her seriously, looking her right in the
eye; not in an attempt convey his sincerity, but to avoid looking at
other parts of her that might distract him. "You can't just will a
torn sheet to be fixed; things don't work that way in the human
world. If I knew how to sew, I could at least try to fix it, but even
then it'll never be as good as it was. In fact, I'll have to buy a new
one now, and that costs money."
"The stuff that weird grabby girl gave us, right?" Kumiko
prompted eagerly.
"Right," Ken confirmed while trying hard not to laugh at
Natsume being described that way. "In order to get things in the
human world, clothes, food, an apartment, or whatever, you need
money. The easy way to get money is just have people give you
some, which unfortunately only happens until you're old enough to
get a decent job. After that, you have to get money the hard way,
by working for it."
Kumiko sat cross-legged on his bed as she tried to sort out
what her slave was telling her. Ken sat down next to her and did
his best not to stare, which meant his eyes were constantly straying
in her direction until he managed to catch himself.
This turned out to be a pointless exercise as only five
minutes later, Kumiko sprang up to pin him to the bed, their noses
just barely touching while their naked bodies were mashed against
one another. Ken stared up into her eyes the color of a heady red
wine, those pouty lips who he had kissed he knew not often.
"I think I get it!" Kumiko told him excitedly, distracting
him from hentai thoughts. "In Hell, when you do a good job, they
give you some neat stuff like tickets to the onsen or a 'best of
human screams' soundtrack, but when you do badly, they don't
give you anything, and might even take stuff away. Money is like
tickets that you save up and choose your the prizes you want,
right?"
"Something like that," Ken said hesitantly, the thought of a
best of human screams CD causing a general protection fault on
libido.exe.
"Wai!" the demon-girl exclaimed with a bounce, causing
Ken to blush. "That's a much better system. I didn't like the
soundtrack so much, but I love love the hot lava onsen!"
"Hot lava... onsen?" Ken repeated very nervously, silently
praying to any god that happened to be listening that this demon-
girl didn't decide to take him there.
"Yep, it's soo nice and warm there! It makes me feel all
tingly just thinking about it," Kumiko told him as she sat up, her
hands running absently over her pale skin, and thus bringing Ken's
libido back on-line.
Kumiko smiled seductively at him, leaning back down to
slide her hands over his chest until they encircled his neck, her
blue hair tickling at his neck as her lips brushed enticingly against
his left ear. "I just thought of something we could do that would
be nice and hot, and wet," the demon-girl purred.
Ken found his mouth was suddenly parched as if he'd been
walking out under the scalding desert sun for a day. He licked his
dry lips and managed to say, "What?" though even if it was the
lava onsen, at the moment he was all for it.
"Let's take a shower together!" Kumiko shouted in glee,
leaving him stunned. This didn't seem to distress her much, as
without waiting for his answer, she stood up, threw him over her
shoulder, and marched in the direction of the bathroom.
*This isn't bad,* Ken thought with a smile once he had
gotten over his shock. That was until he happened to look down
and noticed something about Kumiko he hadn't seen previously.
She had a long thin tail now whose end was pointed like a spear.
He then realized where he had seen it before, though at the time it
hadn't been attached to her. It was her whip. The thought of that
instrument of discipline and its recent use gave him a cold feeling
in the pit of his stomach, reminding him that this demon-girl wasn't
always so bubbly.
Somehow, despite all of the fooling around that had been
involved, they managed to get themselves all cleaned up, washing
away the accumulated dust and sweat of the day. Ken had been
amused with how delighted the demon-girl had been to feel the
pulse of the shower on her skin, wondering what else Hell lacked.
Ken finished dressing himself in some clean clothes, while
Kumiko decided to try on his white fluffy bathrobe. It made her
looks surprisingly cute and harmless, even with her red eyes and
fangs. He knew better, but her couldn't resist the urge to sit by her
side, holding her hand as he looked down at her with a smile.
Kumiko glanced up in surprise when Ken took hold of her
hand. She had been in a daze of heady contentment which she
always felt after taking a piece of her soul, though this was the first
time she was able to just sit there and enjoy this sensation. It was
like... every inch of her body was giggling softly, as if his energy
was just slightly ticklish. "Ken-chan?" she asked him with a
puzzled look.
"I was wondering," Ken started to say then paused to
swallow the lump in his throat, feeling the heat rising from his
cheeks. He wasn't sure why he was feeling nervous and
embarrassed now, but she looked so vulnerable... "That if you
wanted to go get something to eat, and then I can show you the
things you can buy with the money Natsume gave you."
"Sure! That sounds like fun!" Kumiko exclaimed,
wrapping her arms around him and burying her head in his chest.
As Ken carefully put his arms around her, he thought, *If I
can get her to forget about using that whip then maybe, maybe this
could work out.*
Satoru was still as a statue as he waved his mystical orb
over the photo of a girl, forming a circle exactly ten centimeters in
diameter, that was until his stomach rumbled, ruining the entire
effect.
The Paranormal Club was still in their clubroom, hard at
work at planning out their great mission for the next day. At least
Echi was hard at work, scribbling frantically in his notebook,
looking up only to check the photos Satoru had taken of the
eligible girls with the notes he had written on the back, to access
the records Nobu had gleaned from the college's database on said
girls, or to glare at the image of Kumiko on the TV screen, all the
while muttering to himself. He had been at this for over an hour
now and didn't show any signs of stopping.
Satoru wanted to eat something very badly, but he just
couldn't say that with the cool and mysterious man of magic image
that he was trying to cultivate. He glanced around for an idea, his
eyes falling upon the drooling Nobu, noting that it was not food
that the club's treasurer hungered for. He had been watching his
recordings of that evil succubus ever since returning from
documenting her activities. Clearly, his weak will made him an
easy victim for her power. Satoru would have to watched carefully
in the future, but right now this could be used to his advantage.
Very deliberately taking one of the succubus photos down
before Nobu's eyes, Satoru set it firmly on the table and started to
mutter loudly while making a few passes with his mystic orb. He
had to hide his smile when he noticed he had definitely caught
Nobu's attention, though their president was still blind and deaf to
the world.
"Yes, I see that the succubus will soon appear at the
Kitayama Caf� and reveal a way to bring about her downfall,"
Satoru said in an appropriately mystical sounding tone, even
though he was just making it up this time. He hated to pervert his
powers this way, but not as much as the idea of running out like a
moron just because he couldn't stand not eating something any
longer. The window incident from before had already cost him too
much of his pride.
"We've got to go there now!" Nobu exclaimed excitedly,
then with a nervous laugh, added, "To find out how to bring about
her downfall, of course."
"I agree, we can not waste this opportunity. Even if my
divinations aren't always accurate, we simply must take this
chance," Satoru announced, more for Echi's benefit than anything
else, but the president continued to scribble and mutter to himself.
"I think that the president has been working too hard on this
anyway, and could use a break," Nobu admitted to the vice-
president at a stage whisper.
Satoru nodded. "It is clear what we must do then."
Nobu nodded in return, securing the president's right arm
while Satoru grabbed a firm hold of the other. With a mutual nod,
they heft him up and carried him out the door and into the hall.
This act finally snapped Echi out of the gaes he had been
under. "What? What's going on?"
"The enemy has been sighted, president," Nobu told him in
an official-sounding tone. "And we are off in pursuit."
Ayame groaned in pain as she awoke from a thick and
viscous darkness, finding the sun almost painfully bright as she
opened her eyes. She blinked to find herself lying in a dirty alley,
and quickly sprang to her feet, looking in despair at her once clean
and white robe. She knew that it would be cleansed when she
returned to Heaven, but she would never be able to forget the
grime that now marked it. It would haunt her like a ghost
whenever she donned the garment.
*Where am I? What am I doing here?* she wondered as
she fixed her hair, adjusted her robe, and tried to make herself as
presentable as she could under the circumstances. Her mind was in
a jumble and she seemed unable to recall anything clearly.
The scroll which she still held contained the answers she
sought. The address printed there was a like a key to open a door
to her mind that she had instinctively locked away. A simple
mission to observe a boy to see if any demon was lurking about
him, only to find the boy in the act of... with... with...
Ayame dropped to her knees from the weight of this
revelation. A torrent of emotions churned inside her; confusion,
disgust, betrayal, but most of all a seething anger that spread like
wildfire through her system until her whole body burned with it.
Slowly, she stood back on her feet, pushing against the
great weight which had brought her low by the force of her rage.
She gestured with her free hand, and suddenly she held a giant
flaming sword, making a testing pass with it as if its weight was
nothing. Then she smiled a very non-angelic smile.
Ayame leapt up into the air, not even needing to flap her
massive wings to reach the fifth floor. With the sharp echo of
splintering glass, she was inside, ready to destroy... that thing...
that abomination.
Unfortunately, no one seemed to be home. She looked all
around the apartment, but there was no sign of life, demonic or
otherwise. "Kumiko," she spat out the word like a curse and leapt
back through the broken window, in search of her prey.
With Kumiko back in her human disguise, Ken lead her
away from the college and to the part of town were small shops
lined the streets, interspersed with their larger brethren, the
department stores, and decorated tastefully with a sprinkling of
open air cafes. It was to one of the latter that Ken directed the
demon-girl.
Kumiko kept a firm hold of Ken's arm as she stared wide-
eyed at all the new sights, sounds, and even smells that greeted her.
So much new information to process that her head swam with it,
but she took it all in with a smile as she continued to use her slave
as an anchor. It was dizzying with something akin to nausea, but
wonderful all the same.
"Does this place look all right, Kumiko?" Ken asked her
suddenly, snapping her out of her daze. The demon-girl glanced
over the locale he had indicated. She assumed it was yet another
of those places where they'd be able to exchange their yen for
prizes, but it also reminded her of Natsume's little shop, only
mostly outside with umbrellas on the tables that seemed to be for
warding off the sun. She wondered why anyone would want to do
this, as the warmth of the sun's rays felt so good on her skin,
especially when they hit her directly. She wanted to enjoy it while
it lasted, knowing that it would soon begin to set.
"Sure, I want this table!" Kumiko declared as she raced
over to a spot that allowed her to sit directly under the sunlight.
She leant back with a smile, still holding onto Ken's hand, who,
after glancing around nervously to make sure no one had noticed
their little scene, took a seat himself.
This was a caf� Ken normally ate at when he could afford
to, which wasn't very often. He liked this place not because of its
food or scenery, though he considered both pleasant, but because it
wasn't frequented by many of the students he attended college
with. Normally, it was dominated by students from a nearby high
school which could sometimes be just as bad, but he was in luck
today as it was mostly empty.
"Welcome to the Kitayama Caf�," said an oddly familiar
voice to Ken's left while he continued to stare at Kumiko reveling
in the waning sunlight. "I'll be your waitress... you!"
Ken should have known better than to count on his luck, as
he came face to face with a not-so-pleasantly surprised Yuki
Minamishita, the woman he had asked for a date earlier that day,
and had also given him a slap in response.
Yuki glanced over at Kumiko, who had failed to notice her
because she was still basking in the fading warmth of the sun.
When she spoke, her voice was so sarcastic that she was practically
sneering each syllable. "So, taking your girlfriend out to eat?
How sweet of you. But I'm so surprised it's just the two of you.
Couldn't you convince some other unsuspecting girl to join you?
Maybe if you said she was your sister instead of you friend it
might work better. Or you could have tried at the high school
where the girls are easier to con."
Ken wilted under her scathing words and the fire that still
smoldered in her eyes. He usually didn't make women this upset,
but under the circumstances he couldn't really blame her. "I'm
very sorry about what happened earlier. I know it was a mistake
now, but I don't expect you to forgive me for it. Honestly, if I
knew that you worked here, I would have never come."
"I just started working here and I don't consider getting you
as my first customer to be a good omen," she explained with a huff
as she tossed two menus on the table and then walked away
without another word.
Ken made a mental note to leave a big tip before turning his
attention back to Kumiko, who was still leaning back unmoving as
she stared up at the sky, though the sun beams had already left her.
With her mouth hanging open and her body limp, she looked dead
to the world.
"Kumiko?" he asked softly, unsure whether to fear or relief
over the fact that she might have miscalculated over not needing to
consume his soul whole right away. While she appeared to be
good with numbers, she didn't seem to have much in the way of
common sense.
No response. Ken stood and very slowly approached her,
dreading whatever result he might find. Her eyes were blank, not
reacting at all as he passed his hand before them. She wasn't
breathing either, but he wasn't sure if that was necessary for a
demon-girl. So moving even slower than before, he reached out to
tap her lightly on the shoulder.
"AARRGGHH!! SENSORY OVERLOAD!!" Kumiko
shouted so loudly that all windows within a block radius rattled in
their frames, and glasses of soda, wine, and other beverages
shattered into tiny pieces, spilling their contents onto the table to
the laps of now angry patrons, who glared at her but for some
reason choose to do nothing.
It took Ken a while to realize that the demon-girl was
pressing her face hard against his stomach while covering her ears
with his shirt. When his hearing finally returned to him, his ears
were filled with the sound of her faint sobs.
"Kumiko?" he said in surprise, having seen her look sad
just once before, and then only very briefly. She was normally so
cheerful that for her to act sad seemed unnatural. "What's the
matter?"
After a few moments, her sobbing settled down and
stopped. With her voice muffled by his shirt, she explained, "I was
leaning back to enjoy the sun when I started looking at the clouds
and noticed how different they all were, each one a complex shape.
I was so relaxed that without thinking I opened up my senses fully
to study them and all this information kept flooding in, the sights,
the sounds, the smells, and I couldn't stop it! I was drowning in it,
unable to save myself, until you snapped me out of it. Thank you,
Ken-chan!"
Kumiko suddenly stood, and with a tearful smile, gave him
a hug with such force that it knocked him back into his chair. For
a while he simply sat there, patting her in what he thought of as a
comforting way, unable to think of anything to say. "Kumiko,
what would have happened if I hadn't snapped you out of it?"
"I'm not completely sure," the demon-girl told him,
sounding back to her old self more or less, though still holding him
in a firm grip as she sat on his lap. "Not many other demons have
acute senses like I do, but I think I would have been drawn back to
my home in Hell to recover."
Ken swallowed nervously as he mentally prepared himself
to ask the next question. He feared what the answer would be, but
he just had to know. "And then what would have happened to
me?"
"Oh, our souls are strongly linked so you would have come
with me," she replied with a smile. "It's almost a pity you did snap
me out of it then because I'd love to show you my room! I've got
all kinds of neat stuff!"
Ken tried picturing the sort of things a demon-girl would
have in her room, not to mention with Hell as the backdrop, and
shuddered. "Um, some other time perhaps. Besides, I don't think a
living human would survive a trip to Hell."
"Hmm, you're probably right," Kumiko replied as she idly
glanced around with half-opened eyes, not resting on one spot for
more than a few seconds.
"Hey, what are these?" she asked as she picked up one of
the menus, flipping it over in her hands as she watched the glossy
surface reflect the orange glow of the setting sun.
"It's a menu," Ken explained as he carefully took it from
her and opened it up for the both of them to see. "It's... a listing of
prizes that this place has, and how much yen you have to get
them."
Kumiko snatched the menu back from him and read
through it quickly. "Wow, there's so many things to choose from...
do we have enough yen to get one of each?"
"No, and you should only order one thing. You have to
save your yen to get some fun non-food prizes they have
elsewhere," Ken told her, fearing that the demon-girl was going to
take up Natsume's suggestion and make him spend all of his yen
on her. While he wouldn't mind getting her something nice, he
was starving at the moment and rent would be due before he knew
it, not to mention buying replacements for the things she had
ruined.
"True, I saw a lot of neat prizes on the way here! And if
we come here every day, I'll be able to try all the menu items in no
time!" Kumiko enthused.
Ken despaired, both for his wallet and the idea of running
into Yuki over and over again. She'd probably think he was
stalking her or something.
As if summoned by his thoughts, Yuki again approached
the table, glancing significantly at Kumiko resting in Ken's lap.
Ken noticed her glance, but having no explanation that wasn't
likely to incite her rage, decided it was best to simply say nothing.
She choose not to remark on it either, asking, "So are you two
ready to order?"
"I'll have this!" Kumiko announced, pointing to a menu
item at random.
As Yuki leaned over to see what item she was indicating,
Ken made sure to avert his eyes away from the sudden view
offered of the waitress's cleavage. Not that he didn't want to look,
he just wanted to leave the caf� with as few bruises as possible.
The only problem was there was a part of his mind that considered
it worth the risk, and it was rapidly gaining strength. Luckily for
Ken, this window of opportunity was brief.
Yuki stood up straight once again and scribbled something
on her little notepad, not seeming to notice Ken's act of chivalry.
"And for the hentai?" she asked him, though he thought there was
a hint of amusement in her tone, which was probably no more than
his wishful thinking.
Ken ordered something cheap but filling, which Yuki took
down quickly. "And to drink?" she asked, not looking up from her
pad.
"Tea for both of us, please," he said immediately, scared to
death of combing Kumiko with alcohol. He wasn't eager to find
out if the demon-girl could get drunk or not, not wanting to face
her after she lost what little inhibitions she still possessed.
Yuki nodded, picked up the menu on the table and moved
to take the one from Kumiko's hands, but the demon-girl seemed
unwilling to part with it as she tugged it back, holding it to her
chest as she gave the waitress a suspicious look. Yuki only
blinked back at her in surprise.
"Please give her the menu, Kumiko," Ken said with a sigh.
He didn't even want to know what was going through the demon-
girl's head this time; he just wanted a trouble-free evening.
"But then I won't know what prize to choose next time,
Ken-chan," she told him, pouting like a child, her face half hidden
by the menu.
"Just give it to her, Kumiko."
"But Ken-chan..."
"Let her keep it for now," Yuki interrupted. "She can use it
to order dessert later. After all, she's definitely earned it for being
so loyal to a guy like you."
Ken struggled to come up with a response to help defuse
some of Yuki's lingering antagonism towards him, but she left with
a slow shake of her head before he could come up with anything.
*It'll be a miracle if I can get through this without another
slap,* Ken thought.
"Ken-chan, what's dessert?" Kumiko asked curiously as she
found that section of the menu and the pictures of strangely
compelling food it displayed.
Ken wondered when Natsume needed him next. It looked
like he could really use the money.
Satoru cursed the fact that his cool image wouldn't let him
eat as quickly as he wanted to, forcing him to take small bites as he
savored each morsel. The effort, however, allowed him to block
out the whines of Nobu wanting to know when the succubus would
arrive and the giggling of the two high school girls whose eyes had
been upon him the entire time. Echi had simply gone back to
scribbling in his notebook the second they had sat down,
occasionally sipping at the tea he had ordered.
"There she is!" Nobu said in an excited whisper, hastening
to add. "That... evil succubus. Oh poor Ken, we must save him
from her."
Satoru blinked several times, looking up from his meal to
see the evil succubus taking a seat, acting silly to no doubt
embarrass Ken and weaken his will. He had chosen this caf�
because it was nearby and gave good portions; he had never
expected his faux divination to turn out to be true. His power must
be greater than he thought.
"We have to move to another table to get a better view... of
her evil ways," Nobu explained nervously.
Satoru just wanted to get away from the two high school
girls. They kept winking and smiling at him whenever he looked
in their direction. It was starting to make him nervous, and a dark
mysterious mystic was supposed to have nerves of iron.
Once again, they picked up Echi and dragged him over to a
new table where they could clearly observe Ken and his succubus
while also being well away from the high school girls. With a
small sigh, Satoru went back to his meal, eating a bit faster than
normal, but not caring at the moment.
Nobu quickly broke out his camcorder and began to film
the blue-haired vision of... deviltry, with those long lashes, sultry
smile... She was always so cheerful that he knew the others had to
be wrong about her being a succubus. She was an angel if
anything. No, a goddess! Someone worthy of worship.
Satoru was so into scarfing down his food that it was some
moments before he noticed a tap on his shoulder. He turned very
slowly to come face to face with the two high school girls from
before. One was hiding behind the other and the both of them
seemed very nervous, twin blushes freckling their cheeks, as one
held a small notebook and a pen out to him.
"You're an idol, aren't you?" the somewhat braver one
asked with a wavering voice as her hands shook slightly. "Can we
have your autograph?"
Satoru smiled to set their minds at ease. He never liked
having to deal with this sort of thing, but at the same time could
never be cruel to a lady. "You have made a mistake. I'm just an
ordinary college student."
"Oh," she said, looking sad for a bit, but then added
quickly. "Will you sign our book anyway, please?"
Satoru really didn't want to do it, but seeing their cute faces
filled with such fragile hope, he couldn't refuse. Gently taking the
book from her still-trembling hands, he flipped open to a page at
random and signed his full name with a flourish, still not out of
practice. He closed the book quickly and handed it back to her,
hoping that even if the girls could find his name, they wouldn't
recognize it.
This turned out to be a vain hope as the girls rapidly flipped
through the book in search of his signature among the many that
they had already collected. They managed to locate it with a speed
of those who knew their collection well.
"Satoru Aoda!?" both girls shouted in surprise as they
proceeded to blink at him, studying his face intently.
"Yes, that's me," Satoru agreed weakly while inching away
from their gazes.
"See? I knew he was an idol!" the previously less
confident girl exclaimed, but then frowned as she looked at him
once again. "But you don't like anything like Sato-chan..."
"Former idol," Satoru corrected while wincing at his old
nickname. It was one of the many things he had hated about being
a child idol, though not nearly as much as the cute way he had to
look and act day after day. That was what drove him to give it all
up and completely change his style. "Like I said, I'm just an
ordinary college student now."
"But you're still so cool, Sato-chan!" the girls squealed in
unison. "Our friends are all big fans of yours too. Wait here and
we'll go get them!"
Satoru continued to smile as they waved bye for now,
doing his best to conceal his growing horror. "Look, I've got to go.
There are... some things I need to do," he said absently to the other
club members as he made to stand.
"But you have to be here to interrupt the succubus's
weakness," Nobu pointed out.
"Yes, your duty as vice-president comes before all other
matters," Echi added, not looking up from his notes. "We have to
determine the succubus's weakness and free Ken from her evil
power at all costs."
Satoru frowned, but remained in his seat. The cheerful
demon went against everything dark and mystical he believed in.
He had to make her go away somehow or he would go mad.
Besides, he was able to deal with those two girls. How many
friends could they possibly have?
People suddenly made room, moved to one side, feeling a
sudden chill creep up their spines as if a panther were out for a
prowl. They were unaware of the angel who stalked among them,
her sword dripping flame as she held it high, while her eyes kept
glancing all around her, in search of her prey.
If she had been thinking rationally at the moment, Ayame
would have had no trouble in locating a demon among all these
humans, but she wouldn't be doing this if she had been. Her
thoughts had simplified down to a mantra which echoed over and
over in her head, 'find Kumiko, kill Kumiko.' There was no room
for anything else.
No luck in her search so far, but the only other thing she
knew now was it was only a matter of time.
Ken had somehow persuaded Kumiko to return to her own
seat by the time the food had arrived. Also by that time the sun
had paled to a faint glow, its illumination replaced by the
streetlights which clicked on all around them. They had watched
the people go by in silence, neither able to think of a single thing to
say.
Yuki carefully set their food before them, pouring out the
tea for each. Then she bowed slightly and said in a perfunctory
tone, "Enjoy you meal."
"Thank you, and again, I'm sorry. I was a fool, but I've
learned my lesson," Ken said quickly, wanting to get another plea
in before she just walked away again.
Yuki narrowed her eyes at him, but instead of issuing
another scathing retort, she bent down and whispered something in
Kumiko's ear, who nodded with a giggle in response. With one
more glare directed at Ken, the waitress was gone.
"What did she say to you?" Ken asked curiously when
enough time had passed to put Yuki well out of ear-shot.
Kumiko grinned and explained, "She told me that if you
ever mistreated me, she'd come and beat you up. Wasn't that nice
of her?"
"Wonderful," Ken replied with a distinct lack of
enthusiasm. "Let's eat."
With a short nod, Kumiko dove into her food. Her
chopsticks were a blur as she consumed all that lay before her,
pausing only to take large gulps of tea. Ken could only stare as the
food vanished almost as if by magic. He also noticed that he
wasn't the only witness to this spectacle. All around them, people
abandoned their meals, conversation, or window shopping, to stop
and gawk to this skillful, if a bit messy, display of speed eating.
"Aren't you going to eat too?" Kumiko asked with what he
assumed was a puzzled tone. It was hard to tell with her mouth
half-filled with food, small bits of which were stuck to her face.
"I'll eat yours if you don't want it."
"I'm eating, I'm eating," Ken assured her, breaking out his
own chopsticks and starting on his food at a much more sedate
pace. Actually, he was practically inhaling his meal due to his
state of near starvation, but compared to Kumiko, he was a
culinary slow poke.
After he had consumed about a forth of his meal, Ken's
hunger wasn't as urgent, so he dropped down to his normal pace
while glancing all the around, happy that the people were now
purposefully ignoring them rather than gawking as if Kumiko was
some sort of sidewalk show.
*See the woman with the amazing appetite! Watch her
consume everything in sight!* he thought with a laugh as he
brought his chopsticks back up to his mouth, only to bite down on
wood.
"Gah!" Ken exclaimed, wondering how he had missed
picking up food on his still mostly full plate. Looking down at his
meal made the answer clear. His plate was less than half full now,
and he knew for certain that he hadn't eaten that much of it.
Kumiko sat with her chopsticks in her mouth, little bits of
food still stuck to her face. She had a look of extreme nonchalance
as she glanced in every direction but at him. He couldn't help
noticing how there wasn't even a grain of rice left on her plate,
though a few littered the table before her.
"Kumiko?" Ken called to her very slowly.
"Yes?" the demon-girl replied just as slowly, her eyes still
avoiding him.
"Did you eat part of my meal?" he asked, though the
answer was very obvious. He could even see a bit or two from his
dinner spotting her face.
"Umm... I don't know what you're talking about," she said
somewhat nervously, then quickly changed the subject. "You
better finish you tea before it gets cold! Unless you like cold tea. I
heard that some humans do, but it's not..."
Ken stared at her perplexed as Kumiko went on and on
about various kinds of tea, how they are grown, prepared, and how
they even had tea in Hell for purposes he really didn't want to
understand. Why didn't she just admit to stealing his food? It
wasn't like she had anything to fear from him. After a few
moments, he just shrugged and went back to his meal before his
stomach started to complain again. It was something to figure out
after dinner.
Keeping a close eye on his food this time, Ken managed to
eat enough to stave off hunger until the morning, or so he hoped.
He could have sworn that his meal was still disappearing faster
than he could eat it, but that could have just been his appetite.
Kumiko couldn't be that fast.
"Kumiko, come closer please," he requested after
swallowing the last bit of rice.
Reluctantly, she pulled her chair closer, head down as if
expecting to be scolded. Ken was tempted to do just that, but he
had a feeling karma would have its revenge and then some if he
did. So instead, he took her head by the chin, tilting her face up to
wipe the bits of food from it with a napkin. "You really are a
messy eater," he told her with a laugh.
"I guess I am," she agreed with a giggle of her own. "But
then I've never eaten before."
"We can practice some table manners next time if you
want. You'll enjoy food more when you savor it anyway."
"I'd like that," Kumiko replied with a surpassingly shy
smile as she leaned forward, pursing her lips. Almost instinctively,
Ken began lean forward, his lips nearing hers...
Only to be interrupted by the reappearance of Yuki, who
told them, "If the food fight here is finally over, do either of you
want dessert?"
"Dessert! Dessert!" Kumiko exclaimed with glee as she
jumped up out of her chair, forgetting about Ken completely, who
sighed and hoped the demon-girl would order something small and
cheap. He had a feeling that despite Kumiko having money of her
own, he'd end up paying for the entire meal.
"Well, if I may make a suggestion...," Yuki told the still-
excited Kumiko, dropping to a whisper while giving Ken a smile
that he didn't like at all. Whatever she was saying, the demon-girl
nodded fervently in agreement.
"What did she tell you this time?" Ken asked after Yuki
had left to fill the mystery order.
"She told me to tell you it's a surprise," Kumiko replied,
looking more uncertain than she had a moment ago. "I didn't really
understand all of what she told me, but she said it's really yummy!"
Yuki had carried in both of their pervious dinners one-
handed, but she needed all of her strength to cart in the monster she
brought to their table this time. It was as if someone had taken a
large salad bowl and filled it with as much ice cream as they could
find, then drenched the resulting pile in a deluge of toppings,
topping it off with a full can of whip cream and a jar of cherries.
Ken had to wonder if there had been any one crazy enough to order
one before, and how long it had taken them to recover afterwards.
"Here's your super sundae!" Yuki declared with a grin as
she dropped the mountainous dessert before Kumiko, also handing
her something that was more like a small shovel than a spoon.
"Enjoy!"
"Super sundae! Super sundae!" Kumiko chanted as her
eyes roamed over the sweet, glistening mass of ice cream that
occupied half of their small table.
"And I even have something for you," Yuki told Ken with a
smug grin, as with a completely unnecessary flourish, at least in
his opinion, she handed him the check. "Don't forget the tip," she
added before walking away.
Full of apprehension, but knowing that it would be
impossible to avoid the inevitable, Ken slowly unfolded the bill.
When his eyes fell on the total, he felt like weeping. He hadn't
noticed before that Kumiko had ordered one of the more expensive
dinners on the menu, and the super sundae... he wished it was a
misplaced decimal point, but he knew better. Paying with the
money that Natsume had given him, after a decent tip he'd have
enough left to buy a single stick of pocky, maybe.
"Kumiko, I need some of your yen to pay for your prizes,"
Ken asked her as politely as he could, only to be ignored as
Kumiko shoveled down the ice cream, splattering him with
toppings in the process. She didn't even seem to be swallowing,
just shoving spoonful after spoonful down her throat.
Ken had seen pie-eating contents conducted with more
dignity and reserve than the demon-girl was currently displaying.
He opened his mouth to again say something about savoring one's
food, and an additional note about cleanliness, but then just shook
his head. He doubt she'd change because of his say so, and
besides, he could tell by the gleam in her eye that she was enjoying
herself.
All of the sudden, her speed slowed down to a crawl, one
hand clutching her stomach as the other brought the spoon,
dripping with melting ice cream, closer and closer to her mouth.
She seemed as if she were trying to force herself to consume it,
only to lose as she dropped the spoon to the table and hugged
herself tightly while shivering.
Alarmed, Ken was at her side immediately, having no idea
that something as simple as ice cream could have such a dramatic
effect on a demon. "What's wrong, Kumiko?" he asked her in
concern, kneeling down to look her in the eyes.
"Very tasty," she managed to stuttered out from a weak
smile formed blue lips, her breath like steam. "But really cold."
Ken gently stood her up and held her closely to him,
unconcerned of the scene he might be making. As he rubbed down
her icy skin, he thought about what this meant. She was a demon
from Hell, a place that was probably a lot warmer than the equator.
She obviously was used to high temperatures, and the much more
moderate clime of Japan, combined with the shoveling down of ice
cream was probably a shock to her system. Like getting a brain
freeze, only through one's whole body. It wasn't something
serious, not enough to send her back to Hell and drag him along
with her, but still unpleasant for the demon-girl.
Kumiko suddenly grabbed his head in both hands and
brought his lips down for a kiss. Seeing her mouth smeared with
ice cream, Ken did his best to avoid it, but her grip was like iron,
kissing him deeply and seeming to suck the heat out of him,
leaving him with a slight chill.
"I wasn't expecting that," Kumiko admitted with a nervous
smile as she slumped back in her chair, her temperature back to
normal though the effort had clearly drained her. After a deep
breath, she picked up the spoon again, dug it into the congealing
mass of ice cream, and brought it to her lips.
"What are you doing?!" Ken shouted at her in surprise. He
thought that after her sudden freeze, she would have forever sworn
off on all foods that weren't piping hot.
"But it's soo good!" Kumiko she enthused. "I'll just eat it
slowly from now on. And I have you to warm me up anyway!"
"But..." Ken started to say, and then stopped, curious to
why he was showing so much concern for someone who whipped
him only a few hours ago just because she thought it was fun.
Kumiko studied him in puzzlement for a few moments as
her spoon slowly dripped its contents onto the table. "I know!
You want some too, don't you? Open wide, Ken-chan!"
"That's not really what I--" Ken started to explain, only to
be cut off as the ice cream-laden spoon was shoved down his
throat, forcing him to swallow to avoid choking to death.
"Yummy, isn't it?" Kumiko asked him, feeling happy to
share her prize after he had shared his with her, even though
technically he didn't offer to. She just had assumed that her slave
would be happy to share his prizes with her, so had felt a tad guilty
when he had asked her about it. After Ken didn't say anything for
several moments, she realized what he must want.
"Oh, you want some more, don't you? Don't worry, there's
plenty left!" Kumiko leapt out of her chair, and while still in mid-
air, grabbed hold of the half-melted tub of ice, all to land right in
Ken's lap, and only spilling a little of it on his clothes.
Ken blushed faintly in embarrassment as the murmurs of
passing strangers started up once again. He could hear the jealousy
of the men, who didn't know better, and the disgust of the older
people, who couldn't understand his situation. There were also the
whispers of the young women which were the cruelest of all,
mainly about him. At this rate, he would become known all over
Japan as the most shameless pervert the nation had ever seen.
Ken blinked to come nose to nose with Kumiko, who
smiled and offered a spoon filled with what looked like ice cream
flavored sludge. He shrugged and opened his mouth to let her feed
him; deciding that if he didn't, with his luck she'd dump the bowl
on his head.
Kumiko giggled in amusement as she continued to ply Ken
with ice cream treats, while taking occasional spoonfuls for
herself. The sudden freeze before had been a mistake of eating too
much too soon, she knew now. She hadn't given her body time to
adjust, but eating slowly, and Ken's body as a comfy heat supply,
she could safely enjoy what was the ultimate foodstuff she had
sampled so far. She remembered Ken's words before as she
savored the delicious spoonful, deciding that she would do her best
to eat slowly from now on. She also looked forward to Ken's
promised training session; she'd even let him borrow her whip.
Soon, all that was left of the once massive sundae was the
soupy remains of mixed toppings and melted ice cream, which Ken
managed to convince Kumiko to set aside. Only then was he able
to take stock of their current condition, realizing that they'd both
need another good shower and a change of clothes before any store
would allow them to shop. Well, it wasn't like he'd have much
money left after this bill anyway.
"I just can't leave the two of you alone, can I?" Yuki asked
with hands on hips as she surveyed the carnage. It looked like the
super sundae had exploded, spraying its contents all over the table,
chairs, and Ken and Kumiko themselves. The waitress now knew
how her mother had felt when she had been a little girl and eaten
an entire box of cookies, with half the box ending up all over
herself and the kitchen.
"I'm really sorry about this," Ken told her, feeling ashamed
to have yet another thing to apologize to her about, even if it wasn't
his fault this time. "I'll clean up the mess myself, you don't have to
do anything."
Yuki just shook her head, feeling that this guy is more
likely to make the mess worse somehow, at least worse for her.
"Just pay your bill and leave, okay?"
"Yes, yes, right away," Ken agreed quickly, as he slammed
all the money that Natsume had given him on the table, grabbed
Kumiko's hand, and dashed out into the street, not wanting to
linger under Yuki's glare any longer.
Yuki just sighed as she took up the money and went to look
for a wet rag.
"There!" Echi suddenly declared roughly five minutes after
Ken and his succubus had left the caf�. "I've come up with a
scenario for every girl, including all possible contingencies. Quite
a thorough job if I do say so myself."
"Very well," Satoru said to his fellow members, slapping
down enough yen to cover his part of the bill plus tip while very
casually glancing around for signs of high school girls. "I believe
that we should all retire early so we can be bright and ready for
tomorrow's big effort."
Nobu was too busy going over the president's notes, and
making notes of his own as to position and camera angles to best
capture these events for their records, though his mind was more
focused on capturing the succubus's reaction to all this. He wanted
to record every flicker of emotion that would play off her delicate
features. "You can cross Yuki off your list, president. She already
turned him down, repeatedly."
"Really? Darn, and I thought I'd make a really convincing
scout for a professional volley ball team too," Echi complained as
he crossed out her section in the notebook, adding a note to change
her status on the List.
"And there aren't enough hours in the day to do all of these,
some of these setups are kind of... elaborate," Nobu added as he
went further down the list and discovered some of the truly odd
ideas Echi had come up with. Staging a mock terrorist attack with
Ken and the girl as hostages was a bit much.
"Well, I've got a long way home, so I'll see you all early
tomorrow morning!" Satoru said quickly before dashing out into
the street, being closely pursued by a mob of teenage girls all
shouting, 'Sato-chan! Sato-chan!'
Echi and Nobu just shook their heads, paid their portion of
the bill, and headed home. Satoru was right about one thing;
they'd have a full day tomorrow.
Ken choose a back way home. While less illuminated and
harder to navigate then the main street, was thankfully free of
people to point and stare at them. Kumiko looked like she had
been carelessly painting a room in shades of brown, while testing
the brushes with her face. He knew he had to look even worse.
The demon-girl didn't seem to mind though as she stuck
close to him with a wide smile on her lips. Her eyes weren't
constantly roaming around as they usually did, but instead focused
inward, possibly reliving a happy memory. He hoped it was about
him, if just to avoid the touch of her whip a while longer.
"Have I been a good slave tonight?" Ken asked her with a
smile, doing his best to sound casual.
"Yes, you have," Kumiko replied with a giggle. "Do you
want your reward now, or wait until we get home?"
"Until we get home," Ken replied quickly, thinking that he
wanted to be clean and comfortable to fully enjoy it. Besides, a
darkened alley wasn't the best place for her kind of reward.
"Okay, I'll just give you a little taste for now," Kumiko
whispered with a sultry smile as she leaned forward, lips pursed as
she closed her eyes. She was still smeared with ice cream, but Ken
was already so messy that it didn't make a difference. He leaned
forward once again to meet those dark red lips.
Kumiko suddenly shoved him hard, slamming into the wall
of a building, just before a blinding light struck the spot he had just
been standing, though the heat was still hot enough to singe his
eyebrows. "Kumiko!" Ken shouted in a alarm.
After getting her slave to relative safety, the demon-girl
back-flipped away from the attacker, dropping into a combat
stance. This part of her training she remembered well, after
countless drills from a demon instructor with the most piercing
voice she had ever heard. It didn't take long for her eyes to locate
her assailant.
The figure stood as still as a statue, only faintly illuminated
by the giant flaming sword it held out at arms length. Still, it was
unmistakably a woman with long hair, dressed in a flowing robe,
and with enormous wings reared up behind her, blocking out the
moon. This was not a demon hunter as Kumiko had first thought,
but something far worse: an angel. A demon hunter was really
little more than a nuisance, an angel on the other hand...
*But why is an angel attacking me?* the demon-girl
thought in puzzlement as with a roar of fury, the angel once again
attempted to slice her in two. Kumiko managed to dodge, but she
wasn't in the best shape for this sort of thing at the moment and
knew well how a burning rage can make someone tireless. If this
went much longer, she was likely to make a mistake that she
wouldn't have time to regret. A demon hunter might be able to
bind her for a short while, an angel could kill her.
Heaven and Hell had a policy of mutual toleration. Neither
liked the other very much, but they both knew that each other's
work was needed for the continuation of the Creator's great plan.
Kumiko had never met an angel before and had never really
expected to. She was technically on official business, so why
would Heaven risk offending Hell with this attack? She knew that
she wasn't well liked in Hell, but even the demons who liked her
the least would never tolerate heavenly interference in Hell's
business.
*Do something!* Ken's mind screamed at him as he
watched Kumiko dodge a third attack, losing her footing at the last
moment, though only burning away the tips of her hair.
*Like what?*
*I don't know! You think of something!*
*Hey, I didn't think that. What's going on here?* Ken
wondered in puzzlement.
*No time to explain, but just so you know, if Kumiko dies,
you get a one-way ticket to Hell!*
That set Ken in motion as he frantically looked around for
something, anything, to use against the... whatever was attacking
the demon-girl. The flaming sword tickled at his memory, but he
shoved that aside and dug around in the near darkness for some
sort of a weapon, positive that fighting a burning sword bare-
handed wasn't a good idea.
Ken groaned as the only thing he could find was a nice
solid discarded leg of a wooden table. *Why don't I just try
attacking her with a pack of matches?*
*Just attack now while her back is turned, stupid!* the
voice which was not his own, though still vaguely familiar,
shouted urgently.
*Right,* Ken thought, taking a big breath, and with the
table leg raised above his head, charged with a roar like they
always did in samurai movies, at the same time trying not to think
that its always those guys who get run through.
The table leg made contact with the sword-wielding
maniac's skull with a satisfying clunk. Ken didn't have much time
to pat himself on the back, however, as the figure turned to face
him, chill blue eyes wreathed in fire. As the sword was raised to
strike him down, Ken couldn't help thinking that on the bright side,
at least his wounds would be instantly cauterized.
Seeing her slave about to be killed for foolishly trying to
protect her, Kumiko didn't think, she simply acted. Her form
blurred briefly as she returned to her full demonic aspect, her whip
flashing out to grip that arm as it made its rapid descent, tugging
the angel off of her feet.
The demon-girl wasn't satisfied with that, however. She
was pissed. How dare this angel try to harm her slave? That was
her right, and hers only! With all of her strength, she flung the
angel hard against a wall, forcing her to drop her flaming sword,
which vanished as it fell from her hand. Still burning with anger,
Kumiko slammed into the angel's stomach hard enough to crack
the brick further, then picked up and hurled the angel, who landed
with a bounce at Ken's feet.
Ken was stunned as he clearly saw the thing that Kumiko
had been fighting: an angel-girl. She was probably his only
chance of freeing himself from the demon-girl and leading a
normal life, but he had to listen to stupid voices and try and bash
her on the head. Not that that had done a lot of good.
Seeing the evil glint in Kumiko's eyes, Ken immediately
got between her and the downed angel. It didn't take a genius to
figure out that killing an angel would be a very bad thing for both
of them. "Look, she's unconscious already, Kumiko. Let's just let
her return to Heaven. I'm sure that this was all just a
misunderstanding."
"Out of my way, slave," Kumiko growled at him, shaking
her whip threateningly. Her eyes bore into him with the cold look
he still remembered, and feared, from that morning in the
bathroom. There was nothing left of the cheerful and carefree
Kumiko; it was as if she were an entirely different person in the
same body.
*Slap her,* the voice instructed.
*What?! I can't do that!* Ken thought back. Slapping her
in her normal mood would earn him a whipping or worse, but
now... he didn't want to know what she'd do to him, but he had a
feeling that he'd find out what Hell was really like.
*She's in a sort of trance,* the voice explained, starting to
sound a bit panicked. *You need to shock her out of it.*
"Move. Now," Kumiko instructed, her voice dead as she
raised her whip.
Fear of the whip now won out against the possibility of
more horrific punishment to follow. Faster than he thought
himself capable of, Ken's hand flashed out and struck Kumiko hard
across the cheek, though it was only enough to turn her head to the
side.
When her head came back around, Ken feared that it hadn't
been enough, but then Kumiko's hard glare softened to puzzlement,
looking at herself in confusion. "When did a revert back?" she
asked, studying her whip for a moment before making it vanish
with a flick of her wrist.
Ken opened his mouth to explain, but they were both
distracted by a groan coming from somewhere behind them. The
angel sat up, clutching her head in obvious pain. Ken couldn't help
but notice her looking around with the same expression of
confusion that Kumiko had worn only moments before. Did this
mean that angels and demons actually had something in common?
He had assumed they'd be polar opposites, but then again Kumiko
was hardly what he had imagined a demon to be like.
"Are you all right, miss angel?" he asked her very carefully,
afraid of offending her, and hoping that she had forgotten all about
his little attack against her.
The angel stared at him intently for a few moments, making
Ken feel even more uncomfortable, before sighing and saying,
"No, not after you've seen me. What made me mess up such an
important mission so badly? Argh! I can't remember!"
The whole time Kumiko had been studying the angel who
had suddenly attacked her, the demon-girl's eyes growing
progressively wider, until she exclaimed in a voice filled with joy,
"Ayame-chan!"
Ken was suddenly witnessed to the odd sight of Kumiko
attempting to glomp someone with the same enthusiasm she
normally reserved for him. The fact that it was another girl she
was trying to latch onto made him feel a bit light-headed. She
didn't make it however, as with a sudden flash of anger, the angel
slapped her hands away.
"Now I remember," Ayame said in a voice that trembled
with barely suppressed rage. She stood, her whole body shaking,
as she glared down at the demon-girl, who looked up with a faintly
hurt expression.
"I had hoped to never see you again, Kumiko, after...
after..." Ayame explained, her voice now wavering with obvious
despair as her eyes began to fill with tears, which she quickly
wiped away. "Somehow, you have managed to sink even lower. I
hope we shall never meet again."
Ayame's body suddenly blurred as she assumed human
form, complete with a simple summer dress and matching sandals.
She bowed shortly to Ken and told him, "I pity you, Kensuke
Iwakami. I shall pray for your soul."
Then she simply walked away, leaving Kumiko and Ken to
watch her go, too stunned to do anything else.
