CHAPTER 10
Mei struggled to change out of her uniform in the miniscule cubical at the far end of the female changing rooms. Michiko groaned in irritation over the physical lesson to come, fumbling in the cubical next to her comrade's whilst cursing under her breath.
"I hate physical education." She snapped through the thin wall dividing the chambers.
"I hate these uniforms." Mei returned after finally wriggling free of her school uniform and retrieving her sports one from her duffle bag.
"How was Reiko when you dropped her off at the Hospital Wing?" Michiko enquired as she smoothed her uniform about her curvaceous figure. "I wonder how everything went between her and Semu."
"She seemed all right, just a bit nervous. The nurse surprised me a bit; I was not expecting a skeleton." Mei admitted, tugging on the top of her uniform before stuffing her feet into a pair of worn out, knee-high converse.
"I probably should have warned you about her too," Michiko chuckled before pressing the door to her cubicle open and sauntering over to Mei's, tapping her knuckles over it impatiently. "Come on; finish up so we can head into the fires of Hell already."
"Because that sounds so very appealing," She retorted in a tone of sarcasm before stuffing her school uniform into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "Now keep your knickers on, I am ready."
Mei tugged the door open and stalked out of the changing cubicle, eyeing Michiko from head to toe curiously. Her dark violet hair was pulled back into a bundle of curls falling down her curved back, held in place by an elastic tie with several straightened strands falling free to frame her attractive face. Her tall raven rabbit ears poked out of her tied back hair, the piercings across the lobes filled by silver rings and studs. Her compulsory ivory shirt clung to her well-developed chest before falling loose about her flat stomach, her name printed across the bosom in bold ebony letters. Her hands were slipped into a pair of fingerless, black lace gloves and her feet were cupped by old trainers hidden beneath loose-fitting dark lavender leg warmers.
Michiko tugged at the hem of her shirt uncomfortably, attempting to cover the required jet black shorts that were tiny enough to be bikini bottoms. As she struggled with her ill-fitting shirt about her curves, her dark amethyst eyes darted towards Mei, absorbing her appearance.
"Well," She grinned in approval. "Don't you look lovely, Mei?"
The pair of girls approached the volleyball field, their arm linked through one another's as they chatted to each other animatedly. Oniyuro sat tucked away in the shade of a towering oak tree, dressed happily out of uniform. His tall figure was drenched in an ebony long-sleeved shirt, similarly coloured slacks, and a pair of combat boots, his slacks adorned with shimmering silver chains. His narrowed golden eyes darted up to greet his comrades before his cheeks blushed deep scarlet at Mei's appearance.
Mei's altered compulsory paper-white top hung freely from her shoulders, brushing just over her ample bosom before falling loosely about the remainder of her torso, the hem cutting just below her mid-thigh. The shoulders were far too large, falling down her upper arm as the short sleeves stretched to her elbows, appropriately covering up her voluptuous body. Her pin-straight locks fell free of any ties to bounce about her figure, her calves encased in knee-high raven converse tied with bright persimmon orange shoelaces.
Oniyuro quickly bowed his head, shadowing his reaction beneath his dark, lopsided hair as he cursed his body for its revolting reaction. Michiko eyed him suspiciously before smirking at his expense and whispering to Mei mischievously.
"Good afternoon, Oni," She chimed in a sing-song voice that earned her a murderous glare from the sour-faced male. "Enjoying the view?"
"Excuse me?" Mei blurted in confusion only to be waved off by Michiko, much to her irritation.
"Nothing, Michiko is just being an imbecile," Oniyuro snapped furiously before glancing at her altered uniform. "I was just surprised, most girls revel in their ability to wear barely anything and have most of the moronic male population drool over them."
"I am not most girls." Mei corrected with a playful smile before Kurou called for the attention of all students, his handsome face pulling into a wide grin.
"All right then, the captains have been chosen. They will be Jiro and I," He announced. "Hiyo will be on my team and Yuki on Jiro's."
Kurou continued to name off the teams before pointing towards Mei and Michiko, commanding them to join his team before instructing Oniyuro to join the opposition. He simply glared darkly at both captains as if he were wishing them to drop dead on the spot whilst the pair of females reluctantly complied with looks of fury.
"Welcome to the team." Hiyo beamed, bubbling over with laughter as she greeted the pair.
Michiko ignored the irritating blonde, her lavender eyes instead darting towards the opposition as the fuchsia-haired Tamaki sisters fawned about the male members of the team. Ayaki latched onto Jiro, clinging to his athletic figure tightly as he stared at her with wide eyes of disbelief towards her scantily clad figure.
"You have a great friend there." Mei mumbled with a roll of her glistening ashen orbs once she had finally escaped Hiyo's clutches.
"She is not my friend!" Michiko shrieked far louder than she intended, furious jealousy exploding about her veins as she stared at her beloved and the bubblegum pink-haired Ayaki. "I wish she would drop dead on the spot."
"If only." Mei squeezed her friend's arm supportively before the pair set off on a warm up run alongside their teammates.
Kurou began allocating positions to several teammates, gesturing many males into superior roles with a smug smirk.
"Hiyo, you can stay by my side," He murmured sultrily, tugging Hiyo to his figure with his arm tight around her miniature waist. "Michiko Shimizu, take the forward position."
"Forget it." She snapped angrily, her figure shrinking into a dark violet, almost raven rabbit with large ivory eyes.
Her rabbit form scurried into the shade, perching herself alongside Oniyuro who arched an eyebrow at her before returning his attention to the tattered, leather-bound book in his clutches. Mei smiled at her comrades, moving as if to join them before a high-pitched voice interrupted her.
"Why don't you put Mei Xiantha in that position? I am sure she would be wonderful at volleyball," Hiyo chimed, her sparkling bright azure blue eyes staring at Mei excitedly. "And I would love for her to play with us."
"I think I would rather kill myself," She snapped lividly before reluctantly stalking towards the position. "Although I guess I should take the opportunity to show your little sexist partner that I am wonderful at volleyball even if I am girl. In fact I will be far better than him."
Her pallid lips folded into a smug smirk as she crouched forward in preparation. The game began immediately, the feeble ivory sphere hurtling back and forth, each side refusing to allow any points to be gained. As Mei slammed her fist against the pitiful sphere, sending it throttling towards Ayaki, a voice interrupted the players.
"Afternoon Kurou," The masculine voice snapped in a tone of false sincerity as a shadow loomed over the court before the male's voice became soft and sweet. "And the same to you Hiyo, you look as adorable as ever."
"Point to us," Mei intercepted with a wider smirk, gesturing towards the ball that rested in the court of the baffled opposition. "I guess since you are all busy, we will call this a break."
"Hey!" Jiro exclaimed, breaking from his trance to glare at her furiously. "That does not count; there was an interruption, a non-player on the court."
"You are just a sore loser." She snapped, whipping her nose into the air and marching towards her comrades who were slumped against the wide trunk of an oak tree.
"Haine, what do you want?" Kurou snarled as Mei listened over her shoulder with limited interest.
"I am fairly sure you know the answer by now, or are you getting a bit slow?" The intruder assumed to be Haine retorted before slinging his arm around Hiyo's petite shoulders. "I am here to challenge you for my beloved Hiyo."
"Why is everyone so interested in that imbecilic little pest?" Mei muttered venomously as she reached her companions, leaning her back against the trunk with her arms folded over her chest in irritation.
"Not everyone," Oniyuro corrected in a matter-of-fact tone. "Only other imbeciles find her so very attractive."
"Then is this a normal occurrence? Having a random irritant appear in the middle of a lesson to battle for her love?" She snapped, narrowing her eyes at the shadowed crow demon that stood with his back to her as he exchanged snide comments with Hiyo's overprotective husband. "Despite the fact that she is now married?"
"It is pretty normal now," Oniyuro explained with a sluggish shrug of his shoulders. "It is not always during a lesson, but it is always an interruption by an irritant. As I said though, only imbeciles chase after her who clearly have no knowledge of how a marriage union works."
"How wonderful, more reasons for me to want to murder someone." She growled lividly, curling her hands into fists as she eyed the commotion curiously.
Suddenly she felt her flecked eyes widen in disbelief as a jet black crow fluttered towards the demon, its feathers fluffed about its slender body jovially. She stared at the curling feather that sprung up from the top of the crow's head as he rubbed his persimmon tinged gold beak against the crow monster.
"I... I think that crow may have slept in my bed last night." She mumbled in a low tone as she continued to gape in bewilderment.
"What?" Oniyuro snapped his head whipping from the crow demon to her with puzzlement before he simply gawked at her in shock
"Not the crow monster, I am not that kind of girl." She spat with a roll of her eyes, a frown breaking across her lips. "I meant the actual crow, as in the animal. You know the bird?"
"Yes, yes, sorry. What else was I supposed to think? It is not as if having a bird sleep in your room is more likely than an actual person." He muttered with a pout, folding his slender arms over his torso and slouching.
"Do not sit there and sulk, Oni," Michiko snarled as she transformed back into her humanoid form before arching an eyebrow at Mei. "As for you, Mei, you really should not be letting strange animals into your room."
"Do not lecture me–"
"Well, too bad, I am going to lecture you," She interrupted before continuing on her rant. "That crow is Carl, a life companion to Maboroshidou Haine, a crow monster you do not want to be involved with. Haine was the head of the student union at the Hyakki Academy in the year above Kurou, making them sworn rivals as the Hyakki Academy and the Saint Monster Academy are academic rivals. And then you will never guess who got involved in it all, our little friend Hiyo.
"Soon after Haine decided he loved her and had to come and interrupt our daily routines to be with her. It probably did not help his devotion when she continued to fall head over heels for him whenever he called her cute and she supposedly even ran away with him to the human world. I guess you cannot really blame the moron for being drawn in, but do not feel remotely bad for him. Apart from his love of Hiyo, he is a womaniser. He honestly ploughs his way through women like a tractor over farm land, which is surprising as he is half human. And you should know that Carl is always with Haine, so if the crow creature was in your room, his crow monster was no doubt close by."
"You mean that man was in or around my..." Mei murmured before Michiko's smug nodding sent her sentence trailing off.
Suddenly her eyebrows knitted together over her dark eyes, narrowing them into furious slits as her lips curled into a snarl. She slammed the heel of her foot into the ground, sending a finite wave of vibrations over the earth, charging towards the volleyball before shooting it into the air, sending it throttling towards the stranger.
"You are a filthy pervert!" Mei snapped loudly as the sphere slammed into his head, causing him to stumble back in a daze of confusion. "Give me the crow back, anything that goes into my room becomes my property. Besides, you should be taught a lesson for lusting around the rooms of young girls."