And so the Paranormal Club arc finally comes to an end,
though this is far from the end of Eichi, Nobu, Satoru,
and definitely Kumiko.
However, I decided that after a short break from the
series, I'm going to read it all over from the beginning
very carefully, touching up things and fixing any
problems as I go along. So if you have any comments
about any of the chapters, or the series as a whole, now
is the time to send them to me, even if you don't think
they'd be useful. I'm often surprised by how much an
off-handed comment can help.
Also liked to thank E.L. Toh and Henry J. Cobb for commenting
on the previous chapter, who I forgot to thank last time.
And Richard Beaubien whose mstings actually helped to
develop the personalities of many of the characters. ^_^;;
***
Kumiko the Demon-girl
(A Lime-flavored Original Fic)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://www.thekeep.org/~amm/
Chapter 10: O.A.S. Phase III, part 2
***
The Paranormal Club had arrived at the classroom where,
Eichi hoped, the succubus would reveal her supernatural powers to
the world, thereby providing the evidence he needed to humble his
arrogant sister. He sat in a corner, the perfect vantage point to
view the chaos that would soon come, while keeping them
relatively out of harms way. His fellow club members were
gathered around him.
"You know, you never actually told us what your plan was,
president," Nobu pointed out as he stalked the room, camcorder in
hand, trying to discover the perfect lighting and angle to capture
the beauty of his goddess, whose very name he was unworthy to
know.
"You only talked about getting to sit in on his class," Satoru
added, finally realizing this point himself. Lately, he had one too
many problems of his own and so his mind wasn't focused on the
task at hand. Like what sort of thing would impress a powerful
executive like Aomori-san, and what sort of flowers Matsuno-
sensei liked. There were also the more annoying thoughts, like his
forced date with Fujiko after mid-terms, and those conniving
bunny girls who he feared to lurk around every darkened corner.
"I just didn't want to spoil the surprise," Eichi said to them,
arms crossed and a smug grin on his face, looking like a general on
the verge of a crushing victory.
"Matsuno-sensei is much too mature to fall for the likes of
Ken," Satoru pointed out, while wondering if growing a mustache
would make him look older.
Eichi nodded, the smug smile never leaving his face. "Her
name is on our list as having already turned him down, part of our
second-hand information. I also understand it was a particularly
humiliating public rejection."
"Trick someone else into hurt the goddess... I mean,
succubus?" Nobu said, laughing nervously as the others stared at
him oddly. They both thought he was strange anyway though, so
shrugged and let it pass without comment.
Eichi shook his head at the feeble schemes of his fellow
club members. "Gentlemen, is that how little you think of me?
My plan is much more brilliant than that."
"So what is it?" Satoru insisted, deciding that his recent
successes, at least in Eichi's view, had all gone to the president's
head. He didn't seem to realize he had just been lucky and things
could have turned out much worse. The former child idol didn't
want to be there when the president's luck finally ran out.
Eichi chuckled lightly before declaring to them, "Succubi
are demons who use their feminine wiles in order to lure men to
their deaths, so it is my theory that they are quite obsessed with
their appearance, and at the same time distrustful of beautiful
women who might be able to steal away their victims.
"So all we must do is convince the succubus that not only
Ken, but the entire art class, find the teacher much more beautiful
than herself. Then she will realize she has no chance of keeping
her hold on Ken and flee in shame."
"You only came up with all this after seeing Matsuno-
sensei, didn't you?" Satoru accused. No wonder he hadn't been
willing to explain his plan earlier; there wasn't any plan to explain.
Eichi coughed, but did not respond.
"How do you plan to go about it?" Nobu asked curiously.
He knew there was no way anyone could find any woman, even
the beautiful teacher, to be more fair the most perfect goddess, but
the effort could be a wonderful photo opportunity.
"Simple," Eichi replied with renewed confidence. "Today
is their art mid-terms. All we need to do is suggest they use both
the teacher and the succubus as their subject. It would be a way of
honoring their hard working teacher and welcoming and new
student to their class."
Satoru had to admit that the president's latest plan sounded
almost plausible. Which had him worried, because he felt that in
this case it was better if the plan was doomed to fail. Hopefully,
he'd be able to intervene if things got too out of hand.
"More!" the demon-girl demanded in a commanding tone
that was completely ruined by her near-constant laughter. She
knelt on the ground, naked save for bits of masking tape that were
still stuck to her wrists and ankles.
"No!" Ken told her firmly, tossing down the whip in
disgust. He didn't know what he let Kumiko talk him into the
game into the first place.
Not only did she laugh off the instrument that had inflicted
so much pain on him, but they'd already gone through the curtains
from the broken window, a stout rope, a quarter of a roll of
masking tape, and the chain he had secured his bike with before he
had given it to his younger cousin. No matter how securely he
bound the demon-girl, one touch of the whip and she was freed by
the force of her laughter.
"Please, Ken-chan," Kumiko pleaded on her knees, leaning
her body against him as she reached up to stroke his bare chest, her
hands trailing downward.
"No!" Ken repeated, jumping away from her as she reached
down his pants. He knew that if they started that again, he'd say
yes to anything for her to finish. She probably knew that too
which is why she tried it, he realized.
"Whip me, whip me, whip me!" Kumiko through a tantrum
on his bed, writhing and rolling around until she had tied herself up
in the sheets. Realizing she had inadvertently bound herself tight,
she turned to look at Ken and grinned, wiggling feebly to get her
point across.
*No, not my last bed sheet,* Ken thought, almost in despair
as the demon-girl didn't seem to be willing to surrender this idea
without a fight. Though he was finding it hard to remain angry at
her as she looked up with blue hair all in disarray, the tangled
sheets partial concealing her nude form enticingly.
Ken sat down next to her, smiling as he brushed the hair
out of her eyes. "We can do this again later, okay? Maybe when I
can get my hands on some steel cables," he told her in a soft voice.
"Besides, we have to get to class now anyway. You don't want to
be late on your first day and make a bad first impression, do you?"
"Maybe," Kumiko replied with a grin that seemed to
indicate she was willing to give in, for now.
Ken leaned forward to kiss her softly in gratitude, only for
the demon-girl's arms to suddenly flash out and pull him in close,
kissing him deeply and thoroughly, and then tossing him to the
side before he realized what had happened.
"Hurry up, Ken-chan!" Kumiko said back to him with
mock irritation as she now stood fully dressed in a short skirt and a
loose short-sleeved top. She tapped her shoes impatiently on the
wooden floor, crossing her arms over her full breasts.
"I think we can spare a few minutes," Ken said with a grin
before tackling her to the ground.
Honami looked up in surprise to see Ken enter only a few
minutes away from being late for class. Normally, he was the first
one to arrive and they would have a pleasant before class art
discussion, where she would find his feeble attempts to impress her
mildly amusing. She had turned him down firmly when he had
asked her out on a date before, but that was mainly because her
heart had already been taken. Ken really was such a nice boy, so
she didn't understand why he had such terrible luck with women...
The teacher blinked as an unfamiliar girl entered and
latched on to Ken with a grip that was both affectionate and
possessive. It seemed that he had solved his girl problems after all,
but there was something odd about the girl that Honami couldn't
put her finger on. It could have been her long hair, which was as
blue as the sky on a clear day. She knew that girls these days
could and would dye their hair any color under the sun, but hers
looked strangely natural.
"And who is this?" Honami asked Ken with a smile as he
walked up to her, panting to catch her breath. He must have ran all
the way to avoid being late for class. It was sweet of him to make
the effort, but Honami would have understood, especially with
what, or rather who, had delayed him. "I liked to be asked about
observers in my class first, Ken, but I think I can make an
exception in this case."
Still maintaining a death grip on Ken's arm, Kumiko peered
suspiciously at the woman who was being so nice to her slave,
smiling at him as she spoke in such a friendly manner. The
demon-girl disliked her immediately, sure that she was up to
something sneaky. There was something about the woman that she
couldn't quite explain that set her fangs on edge.
"Actually, she's a new student in your class, even though I
know it's already pretty late in the semester," Ken explained,
blushing faintly in embarrassment. The story sounded so
suspicious that his intelligent art teacher was bound to suspect
something. "Her name is Kumiko... Akuma."
"Akuma?" Honami repeated, blinking in surprise. There
was no way a name like that could be a coincidence, but the
teacher didn't think that they would be so obvious about it. Then
again, it all could be a trap to set her off guard, or they had made it
so obvious that she would naturally dismiss it until it was too late.
Either possibility filled her with worry.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Kumiko asked,
practically snarling in anger. What right did this... suspicious
woman have to criticize the name Taka-kun had chosen for her?
She was just jealous that she didn't have such a cool name.
"Oh no, of course not," Honami replied, laughing lightly to
hide her nervousness. "Welcome to my class, Kumiko... Akuma."
Kumiko nodded, deciding that this conversation was over,
and dragged her slave off in the general direction of the seats.
"Let's go, Ken-chan."
"You didn't have to be so rude to Matsuno-sensei,
Kumiko," Ken whispered to the demon-girl once they had found
their seats, or rather when she had chosen them, as far from the
teacher as possible.
"I don't trust her," Kumiko said, arms crossed as she
continued to stare at the teacher who was quite obviously trying to
ignore her, much like some demons did when she had been
performing her duties. "I think she's the sneakiest mortal woman
I've met so far."
"Matsuno-sensei?" Ken asked in confusion. His art teacher
was one the kindest and most understanding women he knew. It
helped that she was one of the few women who he could actually
hold a decent conversation with. Most wouldn't even talk to him
for reasons he still didn't quite understand.
Kumiko continued to stare down the woman, as if she
could see into the heart of the woman and uncover the thing that
really irritated her about the teacher. Then she noticed that her
slave was smiling at her and she snapped at him, "What? What is
it?"
The grin never leaving his face, Ken told her. "Kumiko...
you're jealous."
The demon-girl blinked at her slave as she tried to think of
where she had heard that term before. She knew it had been used
in soul processing somewhere... she didn't have time to think of it
now, not when that teacher needed to be watched carefully so she
didn't try any tricks. She could be another demon hunter waiting
for Kumiko's guard to drop or something.
"I'm not jealous," the demon-girl insisted, not really
understanding the term, but disliking the insinuation that the
problem was with her and not the teacher. "She's just sneaky."
"I think it's cute," Ken said, slipping his hand around her
waist and under her shirt to rest on her warm stomach, pulling her
closer to him. As she turned her head to look at him, he leaned his
head forward to kiss her softly on the lips. Sitting in the back had
one advantage of being a bit private, so he didn't feel quite so self-
conscious about it.
"Well, maybe I'm a little jealous," Kumiko admitted with a
faint blush when they finally broke off the kiss. If it made her sex
slave more affectionate, it was something definitely worth being,
whatever it was.
Nobu fumed, so much so that he almost attracted the
attention of the people sitting around him. The Paranormal Club
had set themselves up at key points around the room to more
effectively put their president's latest plan into motion. Nobu had
chosen his seat based on being able to see the rest of the class
clearly. All the better to capture the movements of the goddess,
with the camcorder carefully concealed in his bag, no matter where
she may sit.
However, Ken sleazing her way onto her as he forced his
tongue down her throat wasn't a moment he wanted to relive. If he
was someone worthy of her affection, Nobu could tolerate his
pawing her like a sex-starved animal, but after the way he had
acted in the convenience store... he could only hope that the
president's plan would break them up forever.
Eichi had forgotten all about his plan. A girl that had
arrived early for class had asked him what he was there for and
that had given him just the opportunity he needed to strike up a
conversation, and for once in his life he actually seemed to be
making progress. The girl was no supermodel, in actuality she was
rather plain and unassuming, much like he had been before
discovering his true calling. More important than that was she
actually seemed interested in what he had to say. He was sure that
if he didn't completely screw this up, he might have a new member
of the Paranormal Club.
Satoru was hiding in one of the storage closets, opening the
door just a hair so he could peek out. He had planned on opening
up a conversation with Matsuno-sensei before class, mostly to
discover her likes and dislikes, then who should enter the
classroom but... them. The three most terrifying beings to ever
walk the face of the Earth, after his sister though even that was
debatable. Who had come within a hair's breath of robbing him of
his sanity, and his virginity while they were at it: the bunny girls.
They weren't dressed in their overly skimpy and overly cute
bunny outfits now, with their floppy ears and their puffy tails, but
he couldn't fail to recognize them. He would never forget those
faces, or those voices, as long as he lived. They probably wouldn't
try anything in the middle of class, but Satoru decided to play it
safe in this situation.
"Before we begin our mid-term," Honami announced to the
class with a smile, most laughing at her little joke in return. They
all knew she was an easy teacher who would pass someone no
matter what their artistic talents were, as long as they tried. "It
seems that we have a new student today. I'd like you all to make
Kumiko Akuma feel welcome, though it seems that Ken has taken
care of that for all of us."
Kumiko growled a bit as the classroom filled with laughter.
How dare that old witch get the demon-girl's slave laughed at?
She moved to stand, planning to say or do a few things to take the
arrogant teacher down a notch, but Ken held her back. She
considered throwing off his grip, but settled back into her seat,
content to go along with his wishes, for now. All she had to do
was wait for the teacher to try something and then her slave would
have no reason to hold her back.
Honami shivered from the intensity of the girl's glare. For
a moment there, she could have sworn her eyes were blood red,
piercing her with their gaze. She had made the joke in hopes of
lightening the mood and defusing the obvious contempt the girl
held for her, but that had only made things worse. If this Kumiko
really was one of them, angering her was the last thing Honami
wanted to do.
"Now that that's all settled, it's time to explain your mid-
term," Honami told the class somewhat nervously as she looked
over the room, keeping her eyes away from the blue-haired girl.
She could still feel the girl's gaze boring into her, however. "I
decided that instead of doing a dozen or so drawings of various
things as we normally do, we'd concentrate on one piece, trying to
display all you've learned in class so far. You can use whatever
medium you wish."
"What will the subject be?" Nobu asked as he hid himself
behind the students in front of him. He had been so filled with
glee to finally learn the goddess's divine name that he had nearly
missed his cue. 'Kumiko.' It was cute, yet elegant, much like the
woman herself. He should not have been surprised that such a
perfect woman would possess the perfect name. At least know he
knew what to call his budding fanclub.
"I thought that since this is something you'll be working
with for nearly the whole hour, you should be the ones to decide.
Any suggestions?" Honami asked pleasantly as she glanced around
the room, still keeping her eyes averted from Kumiko.
"How about the new student?" Satoru suggested from the
storage closet, but it sounded as if his voice was coming from
somewhere in the middle of the class. "I doubt she's ready to paint
today, and it'd be a good way of welcoming her to class."
The bunny girls frantically looked around for the source of
the familiar voice, but failed to locate it, much to Satoru's relief.
"Well, that's a very nice suggestion," Honami replied
hesitantly, not wanting to show how much she had been taken
aback by it. "Do we have any others?"
Most of the class shrugged. It didn't really matter what
they drew since their minds were all on their 'real' mid-terms.
Some of the guys agreed that their cute new student would make a
good subject, while some of the girls vocally wondered why it
couldn't be a male model more often. It almost seemed that if the
entire class were waiting for another subject to be mentioned.
And continued to wait as they idly chatted amongst
themselves, feeling that something was just about to happen any
time now...
"Well, if you're really interested I guess I can lend you my
tapes. I was sort of planning on watching them again soon
though," Eichi told the girl, who seemed intensely interested in the
American supernatural show that had spurned him to start the
Paranormal Club.
"We can watch them together," the girl said enthusiastically
at first, then nervously added, "If you wouldn't mind, that is."
"Sure, that sounds... oww!" Eichi's was cut off mid-
sentence as a bottle of ink struck him painfully on the back of the
head. "What was that for?" he muttered as he turned to find the
whole class staring back at him, and then suddenly remembered
why he was there in the first place.
"I think that Matsuno-sensei would make a much better
subject than the new student!" Eichi declared fervently, trying to
make up on missing his cue with enthusiasm. "She's obviously a
much better subject!"
"I think so too," agreed the girl that Eichi had just been
talking to. "After all, she's worked so hard to teach us, it would be
the perfect opportunity to show her how much we appreciate it."
Several heads nodded fervently in agreement, but several
others, Nobu included, still much preferred in making their new
student into a work of art.
'They should welcome a cute girl into their class with style,'
the boys insisted. 'So we're not good enough?' the girls prompted,
we think our teacher is much prettier anyway.' 'Envy!' the boys
insisted. 'Hentai!' the girls countered. Soon, it was a full blown
battle of the sexes with insults, and sometimes much more painful
objects, being hurled across the room by both sides.
"I never knew mortal classes could be so much fun, Ken-
chan," Kumiko said to her slave as she watched the brawl with
interest from the relative safety of their seats in the back. She
wasn't entirely sure what it was about, but she was tempted to join
in anyway. "It makes demonic classes look almost dull by
comparison."
"It's usually not like this," Ken replied with a frown,
wondering if the demon-girl's presence was the very thing that was
causing this chaos, whether she was aware of it or not. It was just
like during his calculus mid-term, idly humming a little tune that
nearly failed the entire class. If she could do that, turning a
peaceful art class into a war zone would be child's play.
"How about we just draw both?" came the voice of reason,
still hiding in the storage closet. Luckily, everyone was too caught
up in the debate to notice the source of this voice.
Satoru failed to notice one of the bunny girls covertly
gesture to the closet, and the others nodding with broad grins.
"Then we'll see that the god... new student is the better
subject," Nobu added almost distractedly, his focus still on the
wonderful Kumiko, even if she was talking to that loser Ken.
"No, Matsuno-sensei!" the girl Eichi had been talking to
argued before he had the chance to speak. Watching her smile at
him, he added weakly, "Yeah!"
"Well, I suppose... since that's what you all want," Honami
said to the class very nervously, actually afraid of being so close to
the girl who obviously disliked her, and even more worrisome,
could be one of them. She took a seat on the small circular
platform in the middle of the room and said, "Kumiko, will you sit
here by me please so the class can begin?"
"Why should I?" the demon-girl asked with narrowed eyes.
There was definitely something sneaky about the woman now,
Kumiko could feel like she was trying very hard to hide something.
Probably planning on using a demon hunter trick to get rid of her
and keep the demon-girl's slave for herself. They should go and
find their own slaves, Ken was hers.
"Just do as the teacher wants. Please, Kumiko," Ken
begged her while all eyes were upon him. Her jealousy had been
cute at first, but he wished she hadn't been so stubborn about it and
make a scene. She really had nothing to fear; he knew all too well
that Matsuno-sensei had absolutely no interest in him.
"Fine!" Kumiko shouted in irritation as she stood and
marched over to where the teacher sat, her eyes not looking away
from the sneaky woman for a second.
*Kumiko wouldn't do something demonic in the middle of
class, with all these people watching, would she?* Ken thought
worriedly as he the demon-girl's pale legs, sheathed in high
stockings, walk away from him...
Something nagged at his mind just then, like a warning of
impending doom, but he just couldn't figure it out what. He
suddenly remembered while in mid-air as he was violently tugged
out of his seat by a chain connected to a collar that had just
appeared around his neck. He had been so close to the demon-girl
lately that he had forgotten all about the little bond that connected
their souls, and prevented them from ever being far apart.
Trying to block out the sounds of laughter echoing around
him, Ken quickly got back on his feet and moved to a seat at the
front of the class, as close to Kumiko as he could manage.
"She sure keeps him on a short leash," someone joked as
the guy scrambled to follow his girlfriend, falling right on his face.
*Leash?* Honami thought. She could have sworn that for
a moment she had seen something like a leash connecting Ken and
his new girlfriend, but the teacher had immediately dismissed it as
a figment of her imagination. She sometimes did see things briefly
that she knew weren't there; a twisted reflection, a distorted
shadow, or a far-away object that simply resembled something
else. She had learned to ignore them, but this time she wasn't so
sure it was a hallucination.
"I know you're hiding something," Kumiko whispered to
the teacher as she took a seat next to her, close, but still making
sure there was enough space between them. "You better not try
anything because I'm ready for you."
Honami shivered in acute fear as the girl's eyes bore into
her with an expression that was deadly serious. Her worst fears
were realized, this 'Kumiko' was one of them after all, and had
finally come to take her away. But Honami didn't want to go!
There was so much more that she wanted to see and do, especially
with him...
"I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I have no wish
to cause you any trouble, Kumiko-san. Perhaps we can discuss
this privately after class?" Honami asked, hoping that once she
explained her situation, they would let her remain as she was for at
least a little while longer. If not, she may have to resort to more
drastic measures.
Kumiko considered this. It would make it easier for the
sneaky woman to try something, but then her slave did seem to get
upset when she did things like that in public. With her guard up,
the demon-girl was sure she could handle whatever scheme the
woman had prepared anyway. Really though, she'd rather spend
the time having fun with her slave.
"Just leave Ken-chan and me alone," Kumiko whispered
back firmly. "I don't really care what you're hiding, but if you try
something sneaky..."
Honami swallowed nervously. Though she was at least a
foot taller than the other girl, she had the feeling that Kumiko was
more than able to carry out her unspoken threat. She took comfort
in the fact that the girl seemed to be in a similar situation as hers,
but wasn't about to push her luck. "I'll keep that in mind, Kumiko-
san."
Uncomfortable, but trying not to show it, the two women
sat side by side as the rest of the class began to paint.
There were moments that time, just briefly, seemed to stop
for Natsume.
The day her parents had stood in the doorway of her new
home. The day her younger brother, the first of many siblings, had
hugged her for the first time. Looking out of her classroom
window to see another girl skipping school, glancing up at her with
casual interest. The first time that same girl had held her close and
whispered in her ear, 'Sume-chan.' The moment Aomori-san had
agreed to be her mentor. And when she had opened her door to see
Ayame standing there, looking for a place to stay.
Ayame's head tilted up to catch the sunlight, illuminating
her hair like a halo. Her eyes had only started to open again, her
mouth slightly parted. Natsume lay motionless underneath her, her
breath inert, her heart stopped. She could still feel the warmth of
the other woman's body as if it were still pressed up against her,
her full breasts squashed against her own less developed ones, soft
lips on her mouth. Time was still once more.
"All right, I think everyone should stop now. We want to
give everyone a chance to display their work," Honami announced
to the class, stretching a bit from sitting still for nearly an hour.
The tension of the body was nothing compared with the tension of
her mind, doubting and wondering if the person sitting so close to
her would be the instrument of what she dreaded the most: to be
taken from this place and never see her love again.
Through her near constant observation, Honami had
noticed that Kumiko seemed perfectly content to sit and stare at
Ken the entire time, something that she first thought of as a ruse,
but slowly grew to understand. There was one person she would
never tire of looking at.
Ken sighed as he put his palette down. Art class was
normally a very relaxing time for him where he could paint
without a thought towards anything else. Today, however, he had
to worry about keeping close to Kumiko, in case she decided to try
something on their teacher, but mainly to keep the bond from
tugging at him again and extending his humiliation further.
It didn't help that the demon-girl had been staring at him
the entire time, a contented smile on her lips that made him afraid
of what thoughts were currently running through her head. Plans
involving her slave no doubt. He hoped the worse he'd suffer this
time was embarrassment. Still, he'd take her mischievous grin
over her cold glare any day.
"You can move now, Kumiko," Honami said to the girl
with a smile. While they had gotten off on a bad start, they seemed
to have something important in common, which made the teacher
wish her new student all the happiness in the world, while feeling
renewed hope for her own particular situation.
"Oh, okay," Kumiko said as she stood, still staring at the
teacher, who was now looking away from her. Despite her
warning, she had expected the suspicious woman to try something
anyway, but she hadn't. Maybe the demon-girl was just being
paranoid. Ever since the incident in the convenience store and her
fight with the judo demon hunter, she'd been expecting another
attack to come at any moment. They must have just been a
coincidence.
"Ken-chan!" Kumiko shouted in glee as she turned to see
her slave standing there, looking back at her. She leapt up into the
air and propelled herself into his arms, snuggling up close to him
as he struggled to remain upright.
Sitting there apart, she had missed his warmth, his scent,
and a hundred other things she had noticed and catalogued about
him. It was odd for her, having spent so much of her life as a
demon alone, to feel such a strong attachment to anyone, but she
supposed it was just the bond, the desire to have his soul inside
her.
Ken blushed as the demon-girl writhed against him,
nipping lightly as his neck as her hands roamed over his body.
Noting the shocked looks of his classmates, he knew he had to say
something to distract her quick. "So what do you think of the
portrait I did of you, Kumiko? I know I'm not a very good artist,
but I think you're recognizable at least."
Retaining a firm hold on her slave, Kumiko peered in the
direction he had indicated, grinning as she suddenly recognized
that the face smiling back at her was her own. It was hardly as
accurate as a mirror, yet at the same time reflected her more truly
than a mirror ever could, something deep inside herself that had
been brought to the surface. Kumiko felt warmed by the fact that
her slave had gone through the trouble to notice.
Then the demon-girl glanced over the rest of the canvas and
her smile instantly vanished, reappearing as a frown while her eyes
narrowed at the image before her, as if trying to burn it away with
the strength of her glare. It was a painting of the sneaky teacher,
which seemed to have a lot more care and effort put into it than her
image, not to mention it was significantly larger.
"Ken-chan!" Kumiko barked as she tightened her grip on
her slave. "Why is her picture bigger than mine?!"
"Matsuno-sensei is at least a foot taller than you, Kumiko,"
Ken explained nervously, all the time knowing that nothing he
could say would defuse the demon-girl's wrath. "I was only
drawing the two of you true to life."
"That's no excuse!" Nobu shouted in anger from the back
where he had been filming the goddess posing while frantically
trying to make a portrait of her himself, and was angered that Ken
had managed to capture the goddess in paint much better than he
had. In fact, most of the class seemed to have done a better job...
He began to wonder if some people would be willing donate their
works of art to his new club.
"You should have only painted your girlfriend!" called out
one of the girls that Ken had hit on during class, and consequently
felt bad for the woman who had seemed to fall for him. "You
sleaze!"
"The assignment was to paint the both of them," the storage
closet, or rather Satoru still hidden inside, pointed out. He was a
little worried that the bunny girls seemed to have disappeared from
class right after the Matsuno-sensei had told them to stop painting.
"Matsuno-sensei is a much better subject anyway," Eichi
said to the girl he'd been talking with the whole class, but the rest
of the class picked it up regardless.
"Yes," the girl he'd been talking to agreed, blind and deaf to
the chaos that was starting up around her once again. "She's
prettier, more mature, is well-dressed, well-mannered, and has very
nice hair that she didn't dye some unnatural color like blue."
Eichi nodded fervently, but his response was drowned out
by the shouts of agreement from roughly half of the class. Soon
another debate was in full swing, though this time the lines weren't
so clearly drawn at gender. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder,
but even after a lot of staring, it was hard for some of the class to
make up their minds who the true belle of the classroom was.
The mob swirled and roared like a violent storm, tossing
Kumiko and Honami into the middle of the class once again as
they were forced closer and closer.
The teacher looked into the eyes of the woman who she
thought could very well become a friend due to their similar
circumstances, but found only blind hatred there. Very well, she
had prepared herself for this inevitability. She didn't want to do it,
especially in the middle of class, but she had to make a last stand.
She would fight tooth and nail for her freedom.
The suspicious woman had been much more sneaky than
Kumiko had expected. Though she had been watching him the
whole time, somehow she had still managed to steal her slave away
from her. Well the demon-girl had a simple solution to that.
Unlike with the judo demon hunter, Kumiko didn't feel the need to
hold back this time.
"Wait! Stop!" Ken shouted as he quickly ran to stand
between the two women. He wasn't sure what was going on, but
half-suspected that the anger that filled the classroom was a
reflection of the demon-girl's somehow. He also felt that
something bad would happen if he didn't stop it, whatever it was.
"Step aside, slave," Kumiko said to him with narrowed
eyes, her voice like winter. He couldn't understand that this
woman had to be dealt with so they could go back to their happy
life of before. Otherwise, she'd only interfere with them again.
"Yes, this doesn't concern you," Honami agreed. He
couldn't have any idea what the other woman truly was if he able
to be her boyfriend. She pitied him to find out in such a way, but
she'd feel absolutely horrible if he get hurt because of her
responsibility.
*What are you waiting for? Slap her!* Takashi's voice
rang inside Ken's head, but he ignored it. There had to be a way of
defusing the bomb that would probably level the classroom
without hurting her, making that look of pain appear on her face
again. If he could only distract her for just a moment...
Kumiko blinked in surprise as Ken reached out and
tweaked her bosom, massaging them through the thin fabric of her
shirt. "She may be a bit taller, Kumiko, but you have bigger
breasts."
Honami blushed when she realized she had quickly looked
down and done a rough size comparison. Her blush deepened
when with a cry of 'Ken-chan,' Kumiko tackled her boyfriend to
the ground and did things that weren't exactly appropriate for a
classroom, but that Honami wasn't going to push her luck by
pointing out.
"All right, class will end a little early today," she
announced, waving away those trying to get a look at the couple
making out on the floor. "Save your work and we'll discuss them
after break."
Honami had to be rather firm with some students,
especially three girls who had gathered around one of the storage
closets for some reason, but had managed to clear the room so the
two lovers could be alone. With one last glance, Honami blushed
and went off in search of a special someone who she suddenly had
a burning desire to be with.
"Hmm, I wonder where everyone else went?" Kumiko
thought out loud several minutes later as she peered around the
empty classroom, not seeming overly concerned that she was now
half-naked.
Ken blushed deeply. At first he thought it was his duty to
keep the demon-girl distracted so she didn't try anything demonic,
but after a while he forgot about pretty much everything else but
her. Kumiko was definitely effecting his ability to think clearly,
but he wasn't so sure it was some demonic power doing it.
"Well, class is over," Ken pointed out as he quickly threw
his shirt back on. "I guess they just left without us. Why don't we
head over to Natsume's now and see if she has any work for us?
We need more yen if we want to get some more fun prizes."
"Sounds good!" Kumiko agreed as she was back on her feet
with a bounce, grabbed hold of her slave's hand, and raced to the
door. Natsume was definitely a sneaky girl, but the demon-girl
was pretty sure she wasn't out to take Ken away from her.
"Ah, Kumiko?"
"Yes, Ken-chan?"
"You can put your shirt back on now."
"Do I have to?"
"... Yes."
"Aww."
"They finally left," Satoru said to himself with a sigh of
relief. He hadn't wanted to leave with the rest of the class from the
fear that those bunny girls were lurking just out of his sight, and he
definitely didn't want to interrupt the succubus while she was...
strengthening her hold on her victim, and earn her wrath. Finally
he could escape from the class and the Paranormal Club. Then try
to get his life in order.
Only the door to the storage closet seemed stuck. He
struggled with it, carefully at first not to risk breaking anything,
but more violently as his actions seemed to have no effect. Yet no
matter how much he pushed and pulled at it, the door would only
open about an inch. So he wouldn't suffocate; he'd starve to death
instead.
"Somebody still out there?" Satoru asked as he peered into
the room, which seemed empty from what little he could see of it.
He decided it would be worth suffering some embarrassment if he
didn't have to spend the night in a cramped storage closet. He had
an important mid-term tomorrow too, and all this succubus
business had kept him from studying for it.
"Don't worry, Sato-chan," replied three familiar female
voices, followed by a string of drunken giggles. Flashes of low-
cut, body-hugging dresses and floppy ears. "We're here to take
very good care of you."
Satoru's scream echoed through the empty building.
Ayame nervously paced around the small coffee shop, idly
straightening things out that seemed out of place to her, only to
quickly change them back again, feeling she didn't have the right
to touch anything. She was constantly forgetting this, moving the
same objects over and over, her mind wandering as much as her
feet.
Natsume had fled some time before, quickly rattling off
some excuse about being late for class as she slammed the door
behind her, still spotted with wet paint. It was all too clear to the
angel-girl the real reason she had ran with such haste, her eyes
filled with panic.
Ayame had done something horrible, unforgivable. Even
though it had been an accident, the angel-girl knew that was no
excuse. She had crossed a line that not even a demon would,
except for that... But who was she to judge her former friend now?
The only thing that separated their crimes were degree and intent.
Even the latter was uncertain. How did she know that
somewhere deep inside her, in a place she always struggled to
ignore the existence of, there couldn't be the impulse to do the very
thing that disgusted her the most? This wouldn't have been the
first time that it had sprung to the surface.
It was clear to Ayame now what she must do. She would
find some other place to live while carrying out what was sure to
be her final duty. Avoiding all contact for a year and the world
would be free of her... perversity. She simply couldn't risk tainting
such a sweet and innocent girl like Natsume again.
The doorbell rang. Ayame froze in mid-step, planning to
run upstairs to grab her suitcase before her host returned. She
willed herself to ignore it, but simply could not. It could be
someone who was lost, hurt, or otherwise in need of aid. Though
she was likely to mess up an attempt to help, she knew that she
could be doing even more damage by ignoring it.
Ayame suddenly had a plan. She would answer the door
just to see if they were all right. If they were, she would politely
tell them that Natsume wasn't here and close the door before the
sudden urge to do something perverse overwhelmed her.
"I'm sorry but Natsume-san isn't...," Ayame trailed off to
see two shocked and familiar faces staring back at her.
"Um, Hi," Ken said weakly while instinctively
strengthening his grip on the demon-girl's hand. He had a sudden
feeling that the chaos of the morning had only been a warm up for
the afternoon.
"I think we can skip the review of our records this time and
go right to our conclusions," Eichi told his fellow members of the
Paranormal Club. For once, he was in a rush to get this over with.
The girl he had been talking to during and after the art class had
invited him over for an all-night marathon of the US supernatural
show at her place. He couldn't wait; she had a big-screen TV.
Still, as the president, he couldn't neglect his duty. Even
though they were in obvious distress, his other team members had
struggled to attend this meeting and he couldn't let them down.
Satoru's clothes were in tatters and he reeked of cheap sake, while
Nobu clutched a covered canvas to his chest and muttered plans of
torture for someone he alternatively referred to as 'the monster' and
'that bastard.'
With a voice full of positiveness chosen to pick up their
spirits, Eichi announced to them, "While I'm sure that all of us are
disappointed that the succubus once again failed to reveal her
paranormal nature so it could be captured on film, or been driven
away from her victim Ken, we shouldn't look at this incident as a
failure, but rather yet another step on the way to our goal. I'm sure
that with all of us working together we'll be sure to defeat her next
time."
"We quit," Nobu and Satoru said in unison before
collecting their things and walking out the door. All the while,
Eichi stood frozen as a statue, the door slamming behind him with
the echo of finality.