And so we come to Chapter 3. This marks the halfway point…

Chapter 4 will have six entries, just so I don't have to stick one girl in a chapter by herself. Please be sure to review and let me know who you'd like to see, and check my profile to see the lineup I'm thinking about.


21. Naba Chizuru

Negi yawned, folding his class register closed with a thump. The sun was nearly down, and the classroom was quiet; that was likely because none of his students were in the room. Even Sayo-san was out, probably with Asakura-san.

It had been a long day, especially with the sheer volume of papers he had to grade. With thirty-one students, even simple sentence work took the best part of an hour to get through. He stood and slid his books back into his bag, ready to leave.

Suddenly there was a frantic scratching at the door. Reflexively, Negi reached for his staff, gripping the polished wood tightly – until the door opened and Kotarō stumbled into the room. He looked around wildly, and only after a minute did he notice Negi.

"Negi! You godda hibe be," he hissed, crouching behind Ayaka's desk.

Negi blinked. "Huh?"

"I'b beig chased. Where'd the bes' hidig place in here?" Kotarō scuttled on all fours across the floor over to Negi's sturdy wooden desk. He peeked suspiciously at the door.

"Who are you hiding from? That's probably the best place, anyway," Negi added after a moment.

"Chi-" Kotarō began, but he cut off with a rather uncharacteristic squeak as the door opened again.

"Good afternoon, Negi-sensei," Chizuru said, bowing as she stepped into the classroom. "I don't suppose you've seen Kotarō-kun around, have you?"

"Um, awa, no?" Negi tried, but Chizuru had already circled around the desk and seized Kotarō by the belt.

"Come on, Kotarō-kun, you'll feel better in no time," she said cheerfully, dragging him away. "I picked up some fresh green onions just now."

"I thod you were by fred," Kotarō muttered darkly at Negi, digging his claws into the floorboards. They didn't help much.

Negi stared at the door as the screeching sound of Kotarō's nails faded down the hall. What, exactly, had that all been about…?


17. Shiina Sakurako

"Bet you five hundred I can make it," Yūna said, eyeing the smooth stone of the Mathematics Department building. Madoka sighed, shaking her head.

"It's not gonna work, Yūna," Dekopin Rocket's guitarist insisted. "Don't try it."

"I don't see why she shouldn't," Sakurako replied casually, half-sitting on a nearby table. "You're on, by the way, Yūna."

"Well, that's that then!" Yūna shouted, pumping her fist in the air. "The challenge has been accepted! I've gotta do it now!"

She extended a hand expectantly. Sakurako smiled wolfishly and placed her lacrosse stick into Yūna's palm, the ball already resting in the net.

"You just watch, Kugi-mii," Yūna chuckled, planting her feet. "I'm gonna send this ball right over the building and pocket five hundred yen for it."

"Might wanna get started on it, then," Sakurako put in, yawning exaggeratedly into her sleeve. "All I'm seeing so far is a lot of talk."

"Here I go!" Yūna shouted. She gave the stick a mighty swing… and the three watched as the hard rubber ball sailed directly into a third-story window.

"I'll take that five hundred now," Sakurako said, after a moment.

"Hope it's worth The Position," Yūna said, slapping a ¥500 coin into Sakurako's hand and taking off down the steps.

"Heh, yeah – wait, what?" Sakurako asked. "Kugi-mii, did you get that?" Madoka was gone too, though, and sometime in the past minute or so someone had given her back her lacrosse stick.

"Shiina-san," rumbled a voice behind her. She froze.

"Ye- yes, Nitta-sensei…?"

"Assume The Position! Now!"

"…Yessir."


26. Evangeline Athanasia Katerina McDowell

"Mistress, how are you finding the bath?"

The dark silhouette of the woman, stark against the candle-flame brilliance of the shoji screen, waved a lazy hand. "It's fine."

"Mistress." Shoko bowed, touching her forehead to the tatami mats lining the floor. Even if the customers couldn't see you, it was imperative to follow proper etiquette. Girls who were rude, even girls who did something as small as forgetting to bow low enough, were sometimes beaten, or sent from the bathhouse.

Shoko shuffled backwards until she was sure her shadow wasn't cast on the door anymore, then she stood up with a quiet sigh. Eight hours so far of tending customers, and most of them were fat and ugly merchants who thought Rei-sama was running a shop for… for bed-warmers, not for baths. There was no doubt the old woman would be, if not for the fact that most of the girls lived in town and could just leave… unlike Shoko. Was that was Rei-sama had meant, that day long ago when the samurai had come through…?

She was so wrapped in thought that she missed the woman's next words. Her heart leapt in her chest. If the woman complained…! Shoko dropped to her knees, her head nearly bouncing off the reed mat. "Y-Yes, mistress?" she blurted. This was terrible. She would be sent home… or worse, trained in pillow-talk.

"I said, fetch me some tea," the woman repeated, sounding not annoyed but amused. Perhaps it wasn't time to worry just yet.

"Right away, mistress," Shoko said, getting up. She hurried down the corridor, dodging other serving girls and several drunken patrons.

The kitchen was, as usual, crowded and hot, and it fairly bulged with chefs preparing dinner for well-off clients and alcohol for commoners in the restaurant. Weaving through the confusion, Shoko quickly located the familiar face of Kanbei, the blind porter who took care of any orders the girls might have.

"Kanbei-kun, I need a pot of tea, please," she said, ducking aside to let a muscular man carrying a basket of fish pass by. Kanbei turned to face her, smiling. "Shoko-chan, as always, it's my pleasure. There's one ready just behind me." With unerring precision, he passed the tea tray over. Shoko bowed as deeply as she could without tipping the lacquered tray, then hurried back into the maze of corridors that serviced the individual baths.

"Mistress, your tea," she said, waiting before the door. Oddly, there was no answer, and the woman's silhouette was no longer visible. "Mistress?"

"Come in." Her voice was quiet, and sounded almost silky through the shoji. Shoko swallowed, suddenly nervous. Go into the baths with a customer? But she was a woman, so it was all right… wasn't it?

"…Yes, mistress," she replied after a minute, sliding the tray to one arm to open the screen. She entered the room with her eyes demurely downward, turning to close the door before daring to raise her eyes to the bath.

The woman was… beautiful. Her long hair trailed in the water like streams of gold, twisting in the faint currents caused by the movements of her long legs. Shoko felt her face heat, and she quickly glanced away. "Your tea, Mistress," she said, laying the tray down and arranging the cups.

After a moment, she heard water splash. She couldn't bear to lift her gaze from the tea set – to look again at the impossibly beautiful woman – so it was a complete surprise when she felt a pair of slender hands come to rest upon her shoulders.

"Thank you," the woman murmured, running a single nail along Shoko's chin. The girl shivered involuntarily, despite the heat.

"Mistress?" Shoko managed, half-turning to look at her. The woman's face was close – very close – to hers, and her breath smelled of amazake and sweet oranges.

"You've been very helpful tonight," she murmured, her breath tickling Shoko's ear. "You're lucky it's near the full moon, otherwise I'd drain you anyway…"

"W-what?" Shoko asked, confused. She felt a sudden warmth on her neck, the slow and sensuous pressure of the woman's lips and tongue. It was intoxicating, and it was only with an effort that Shoko pulled away.

"M-Mistress, I'm not an oiran," she said, voice shaking. "You can't buy me. But… if I were to give myself to you…" she began tugging at her obi, trying to unravel the knot that held the thick belt together over her yukata.

The woman laughed, an unexpected sound that set Shoko's face burning again. Had she said something wrong? She drew in a breath as the woman approached and laid one hand on her cheek.

"Why would I ruin a perfectly good virgin?" the woman asked, lowering her head to Shoko's throat. The girl felt a sharp pain, and the world drifted away…


"You should have drained her, Master," Chachazero piped up from her place in the corner, staring disapprovingly at the sleeping servant girl. Evangeline picked the doll up long enough to give her an irritated shake, then returned to dressing herself.

"Why, so the rumors about a vampire here can bring that damn onmyōji right back onto our heels? We're laying low, Chachazero. Remember that."

"Can I chop her up, then? It won't look like you did it, I promise," the puppet asked hopefully, after a moment's thought. Eva stuffed her into her bag, ignoring the muffled sounds of protest as she slung it over her shoulder.

Pacing to the far wall, Evangeline slid a razor fingernail down the paper, leaving a clean slice and exposing the room to the humid air of a summer night in Kyoto. She paused for a moment to take another look at the girl. She hadn't drained her, which didn't mean she hadn't taken a lot. Full moon or no, it was frankly stupid to pass up a virgin's blood, and there was still the matter of the onmyōji. Besides, Eva had the feeling that the four gold ryō she had left in a pouch in the girl's hand would speed her recovery. Yes, it was an exorbitant amount of money for a bath and some untouched tea; but hey. Good entertainment was so hard to find these days.

A predatory smirk on her lips, Evangeline leapt into the night.


17. Kakizaki Misa

"Heeeeeeey Ako-chan, look what I've got," Misa called, dancing into 3-A with the relative energy of a rabbit on crack. She had something in her hand, and she was waving it in Ako's face. That was about the extent of what Ako could tell at the moment.

"Mfh. What is it, Misa-chan?" Ako mumbled, peering through her hair at the other girl. She'd mostly been napping, and she was entirely unequipped to handle this level of excitement this early.

"Stay up all night waiting for mail from Nagi-san, eh?" Misa put in slyly, sticking out her thumb. "What I've got is even better than that!"

Ako shot up at Nagi's name, face tinged pink. "No, no, I was –" she broke off as she finally registered what Misa had. "Is that…?"

"Yup," Misa confirmed, nodding proudly. "Dekopin Rocket's debut album. And you can own your own copy for only ¥2000," she continued, displaying the jewel case like it was a literal jewel. Ako looked at it for a moment.

"Misa-chan, I'm in Dekopin Rocket," she said. Misa nodded expectantly.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure I put that CD together," Ako continued, squinting at the case. There was a pause, then Misa sighed.

"You're not going to buy the CD, are you."

"No, Misa-chan."

"Dang."


31. Zazie Rainyday

呑気生命に

一番欣悦は

鳥を飼う

Nonki seimei ni

Ichiban kinetsu wa

Tori wo kau

In a happy life,

The greatest joy possible

Is to feed the birds.


And there you have it. I'm going to change things up a little here and talk about a few of the entries specifically.

Evangeline: I make no apologies for the trashy nature of this one. -_-; I wanted to try my hand at a period-piece, floating-world kind of feel, and to explore Eva's, if not nastier, then certainly her less-nice side.

Misa: How do you write about the girl who is literally the least important in the series? Sorry, Misa fans. This entry had more Ako in it.

Zazie: Yes, it's short. But I think it fits perfectly. I've got a much darker piece about Zazie simmering around, so if you're a bit upset with this… wait a while.

As stated before, Chapter 4 will have six slots. Get your votes in now for the four open ones… Haruna and Asakura will definitely be making their starring appearances in Ch. 4, though that means I'm not sure when it will be coming out.

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