Part 17
Since it was closest, they ended up making their way to Vi and Lilly's house where, with much rearranging, they were able to fit around the couch as Vi laid down to recover. Meanwhile, Lamia quickly mixed up a drug with some demon magic and loaded the oversized bullet into her pistol.
"So then… you might feel a slight pinch, but that's normal," Lamia informed her placing the barrel to Vi's forehead.
"Wait! Wait a minute, Lamia! I need to talk to Natsume for a minute…," she said looking around the room. "Alone."
Lamia sighed dramatically as she and Hilda corralled everyone out of the living room and into the kitchen.
"What's the matter, Vi?" he asked once the others were gone.
"Look… I'm…," she stammered. The words were sticking in her throat and constricting her chest. "I'm sorry for lying to you… about everything. I… I understand if you want nothing to do with me after this-."
"Are you crazy?" he scoffed. "This is the most fun I've had in ages! Since we took on the Akumano Academy kids in an online game!"
"Well… you see there really isn't such a thing as Akumano Academy. It was just a cover name for a demonic military force called the Behemoth 34 Pillar Division something or other," she rambled. "Honestly, it's a headache to try and remember what the fuck they call themselves. All I know is-."
"Demons, huh? That's what they were…," Natsume mused. "That takes a load off my mind, to be honest. I could tell there had to be something more to them, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Until now, that is." He smiled kindly at her.
"I… wha-…. Well, that throws my whole apology speech right out the window," she laughed nervously. "I'm glad you're taking this so well. Surprised to say the least…. But glad, nonetheless."
"Vi," he said suddenly very seriously. "I'm not going anywhere. Not now that I know the truth. Raising Lilly… you can't do that alone." He placed a hand on her face and ran a thumb over the scar. "I don't know how much I can help you, but…."
"Shin…," she whispered feeling tingles run through her. "Just you being here… it means the world to me. Lilly, too, I'm sure."
He laughed softly and inched closer. "Lilly… she… for the daughter of a powerful demon overlord, she's quite adorable."
"She's quite smitten with you, I believe," Vi breathed closed the distance.
Moments later, someone cleared their throat from the doorway. There stood Lamia with a pink hue to her cheeks that rivaled her hair.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but the drug has already been mixed and the longer we stall, the more the magic wears off," Lamia informed them.
"Right, right. Sorry… uhh-," she was broken off by Lamia firing her pistol, aiming right between Vi's eyes. Eyes crossed, Vi slumped back against the pillow, snoring softly.
"Hey!" Natsume shouted grabbing and lifting Lamia up by the front of her doctor's coat. Anger flashed in his dark eyes.
"She's fine, she's fine don't worry," Lamia assured him pulling herself free. "If you don't believe me, ask Oga. I used something similar on him when Beelze-sama severed the link between them."
Natsume shrugged off his hooded jacket and draped it over Vi. Lamia sighed as he sat beside Vi and took one of her hands in his and squeezed it gently.
"Where's Furuichi-kun?" she wondered out loud. "I need his help setting up th monitor. If we're going to help her, we need to be able to see what she's seeing."
It was only after the girl had left the room that Natsume realized what she had said. "Kun…?" he mused.
Part 18
"Hey," Oga grunted as Hilda held Baby Be'el in her arms.
"Hey," she replied. "Word is you missed me."
"How did…?"
"I'm a demon maidservant… I know things," she told him placing a finger on his lips.
Then, right there in Vi's kitchen, in front of everyone, she kissed him. After the shock wore off, he pulled her to him and kissed her back. All his frustration and boredom and even joy at seeing her again was poured into it. When they broke apart, Furuichi, Kunieda and Lamia were standing with their jaws on the floor. Lamia was the first to recover saying she was going to go check on Vi and Natsume. Kunieda excused herself to find a bathroom while Furuichi just shook his head.
"Of all the times to show it," he muttered under his breath.
"What was that, Stupid-ichi?" Oga challenged.
"Honestly, you have no tact," Furuichi continued.
"Hey, she kissed me first," Oga countered. "Besides, I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Kunieda-senpai? You didn't see her face?" he asked.
"No… why? Should I have paid been paying attention to it or something?" Oga was feeling more confused than ever.
Furuichi sighed and shook his head as Lamia reentered the kitchen. Her face was pinker than ever.
"Ta-kun, I need your help setting up the monitor," she said looking at Furuichi.
"What?" Hilda asked.
"'Ta-kun?'" Oga repeated.
"And you yell at Oga for having no tact," Hilda mumbled.
"Creepy-ichi, for sure," Oga agreed.
Furuichi clenched his fist with red rising in his face. "Shut up!"
/
"Okay, I think that should do it," Furuichi said plugging in the last wire. "Try it now, Lamia."
Lamia pressed a button on the device she had strapped to Vi's head and laughed in triumph. "It works!"
"Now we should be able to see into Vi's head, correct?" Natsume asked.
"Yes… with this, we'll be able to look for the answer. Human psychologists say that it takes years of therapy and thousands of dollars to sort through the mess inside your disgusting heads. But really, it's quite simple to find the answer staring you in the face once you set your mind to it," Lamia explained. "The drug I used sent her into a deep sleep where this so-called "Madness" lives feeding off her insecurities and fears. It's also where it's hiding the key, of sorts. The answer to controlling the Demonic Blood Lust."
"This had better work," Natsume muttered looking at Vi's sleeping face and holding Lilly on his lap.
