mortality
Chapter 4
stormclouds
The third day of school proceeds in a far tamer manner than their first, though rumors of the first day abound. Moka and Mugen are badgered with questions in every period by anyone brave enough to ask about what happened between them and Komiya Saizou.
If you were to ask Mugen she would shrug and say plainly, "Idiot should've taken 'no' for an answer."
But if one asked Moka her cherubic face would harden, and she'd say, "He was rude, and tried to hurt my friend, so he got what he deserved."
But the details? Those weren't handed out. Moka's seal is probably a secret, and what happened with Mugen is no one's business. All anyone needs to know is that Saizou overstepped, and got put back in line for it. A week passes as such and still no other student is closer to learning the details of what happened.
Moka and Mugen stay together in every period they can, and one walks the other when their classes don't coincide if it's at least on the way. Mugen quickly grows fed up with the questions and rumors, and the hostility is obvious to everyone, though it vanishes entirely when Moka inserts herself into the equation; that too, is noticed, and they compare Mugen to a violent beast that is only calmed by the beauty that is Moka. They whisper loudly when they want Mugen to hear, content that Moka would stay her violence should Mugen take offense to what they say, and Mugen's resentment that is, for the most part, true. Thankfully, most of what Mugen hears is too dull or humorous to react to.
But the murmurs that are too quiet for her and Moka to hear, those are the ones Mugen has to contain her rage at. While not audible to her human ears, they are not low enough for the very shadows underneath them to overlook, who pass them on to her while she and Moka walk alongside each other to go to lunch.
One whispers, in the corner over there in the hall, to their friend routing through their locker, "It was probably Anzen, she looks a hell of a lot meaner than Moka-chan. . ."
The one with their hands in the locker glances back quickly, but it wouldn't seem like anything if Mugen's shadows weren't whispering in their voice to her. "Yeah, there's no way Akashiya-san would, she looks too proper to resort to violence. But Anzen-san? She looks like a thug. She's probably the only girl here wearing the male's uniform. What's with that?"
Maybe because I hate skirts? Mugen thinks spitefully. She stares forward blankly though her peripherals were trained on all of the gossip-mongers, monitoring them. It used to be a strange, unnecessary habit people from her old schools correctly attributed to her anxieties, but now that quirk may actually come in handy considering her environment.
"What's with those scars? She had them before Komiya. You think she's involved in some sort of gang?" Someone else behind them theorizes.
"Ahhh, I hope she doesn't corrupt Akashiya-chan!"
"She looks scary," says another, and Mugen nearly scoffs aloud at that. "It's like seeing a devil stalk an angel."
Aren't you guys literal monsters? Who the hell says you can judge me when you have bastards like Saizou walking around? Mugen grunts in irritation. She raises a hand to her forehead, pressing lightly. You can stop telling me what they're whispering about, now. Please.
Of course, the shadows don't. More whispers flood in at different volumes, overlapping and pooling into her mind. They keep on regardless of Mugen's wishes on the matter. Mugen presses harder, rubbing at the migraine forming there. She can never seem to catch a break.
"Why is everyone paying attention to that Akashiya Moka? She's not even that pretty," someone in the distance, far enough for even the shadows to only faintly catch, reaches Mugen, and this time she does scoff aloud. Mugen could beg to differ, and almost bothers to seek this asshole out, but an arm catches hers before she can even think to stray from her path. She spares Moka a startled glance when the vampire slides her arm in hers and squeezes lightly.
Shamefully, for a second, Mugen had forgotten she was there.
"Are you okay?" Moka asks, peering at her.
"Just . . . overstimulated, maybe. People are talking too much," Mugen confesses, accepting the touch after a second of hesitation.
Moka blinks before understanding lights up her eyes. "Oh, would you like me to give you some space?"
Mugen shakes her head. "You're different. I don't mind you. It's everyone else and their stupid ideas that bother me. You see them over there?"
Mugen leans closer, chin nearly on Moka's shoulder as she chances pointing at a trio of girls snickering at the window. Moka goes stiff for all of two seconds before relaxing, following Mugen's pointer finger. "What about them?" Moka asks.
"I can hear them," Mugen reveals, and listens intently to the girls' shadows relaying their gossip. She's only summarizing, of course, when she says, "I've been listening to them for days now. Some of them, like those three, think Saizou and I got into it over you. Two delinquents fighting over someone they're not worthy of. They think I'll corrupt you."
Moka is not quite as amused as Mugen is about it.
"I think you're plenty worthy of being my friend. If anything, they're corrupted," Moka argues vehemently, but before she can stomp over Mugen pulls her back with a pleased laugh.
"You misunderstood me," Mugen snickers, shaking her head. "They think Saizou and I got it over you because we wanted to be with you."
Moka tilts her head. The minute understanding hits her she blushes hotly. "Oh. That isn't—it isn't nice to be assuming things like that! I'm sorry if they're making you uncomfortable."
"It's alright, I'm used to people making assumptions," Mugen soothes, touched by Moka's protectiveness.
"You shouldn't be," Moka frowns. "People should get to know you first. You're a great person, they shouldn't be saying things like that about you."
Mugen looks ahead but bumps her hips into Moka's to jumpstart the vampire into walking again. "People think and say what they want, whether it's right or wrong. Sometimes they don't even have control over what goes on in their heads. It's annoying, sure, but it's just something we have to live with."
Moka squeezes Mugen's arm tighter, relinked as they walk the halls together. Everyone gives them a wide berth, but now Moka's understanding that, as early as it is in the school year, she's already bizarrely popular and Mugen wrongfully ostracized. It explains the mixed looks they've been getting, ones of admiration and scorn. Moka has honestly been thinking this whole time that Saizou had somehow spread the fact that she was a vampire after she defeated him, hence the scathing looks, but for these glares to be directed at Mugen instead? It doesn't sit right with her.
"That's not fair." she murmurs, cross for her friend's sake.
"Life's not fair," Mugen replies with a shrug. Her hair lays over one shoulder in a messy side braid Mugen barely had the energy for, and it swings when she moves to pull open the door to the cafeteria for Moka. Moka goes to enter, but is shoved aside as another girl pushes her way past with a haughty air and not a single apology. The offender marches on before Moka can do more than wince and Mugen stares after the girl's retreating back angrily.
How rude, how rude, how rude, shall we teach her some manners? Manners, manners, we'll teach her some manners, we'll teach her how to beg—
Moka's hands find Mugen's fists, prying them open. "Come on," Moka murmurs as Mugen's bright steel eyes find hers. "It's okay."
A muscle in Mugen's jaw jumps before she exhales. She nods and lets Moka lead her in. When she sees the girl that pushed Moka, she strains to keep her gaze elsewhere as though the girl isn't worth noticing. Moka does the same, and together they find an unoccupied table where no one else joins them.
Unbeknownst to them, this only incensed the girl further. She watches the two of them sit and chat with not a care in the world. They're only focused on each other, but she sees the rest of the cafeteria and how they invest half of their time not eating observing the two contradictory figures.
"Anzen Mugen," she mutters, violet eyes flickering to the girl who was already making strides towards becoming the school pariah. A dark, angry shadow to Akashiya Moka's bright persona, she contrasts her even in appearance. Her ashy hair only looks on the edge of charcoal when in shadows, and her gray eyes darken and lighten as though according to the girl's mood. Skin sun-scorched to a near brown tan compliments her sometimes eerily bright gaze. On the shorter side, her body is lean and average, and she wears the male uniform. Her interactions with the student body so far proves to be short, and bordering on belligerent as the weeks progress, no doubt due to the insistent prodding of the starving rumor mill.
Akashiya Moka, on the other hand, appears to be Mugen's foil: infuriatingly bright, cheery, and seemingly kind. She's pale, yet colorful; deep green eyes are set in an attractive face framed by long, healthy pink locks. Her body, both in the front and rear, attract the errant gazes of many. Her personality is always polite, with an undercurrent of friendliness rather than forced propriety. With a single word or touch, she calms her more temperamental friend. Everywhere she goes she's followed by the adulations of her peers, both for her stunning beauty and alluring personality.
It drives the succubus mad.
Kurono Kurumu scoffs. It's only the second week of school, but she's already found a flaw in her plan in the form of a nauseating little girl who plays oblivious to the effect she has on others. Rather than hearing praises for her sultry looks and confident personality, Kurumu's been barraged with comments about Akashiya and her many qualities. It's mind-boggling to hear someone pass up a succubus for a little goody two-shoes who doesn't so much as bat an eye at any of them. How is Kurumu supposed to find her Destined One in this mess when not a single boy pays attention to her if Akashiya happens to waltz on by?
Huffing, Kurumu plants her fist in her cheek as she rests her elbow on the table. Beside her, an average male she enticed with her body alone is babbling, gaze straying to her chest that she rests on the table.
"Why do people pay attention to her? She doesn't even care about any of them!" Kurumu pouts, side-eying her toy for the moment. The poor boy looks fit to drool at the sight of her and she's hasn't even put any power to enchanting him.
"I don't know, Kurumu-chan," the boy drones. He can't seem to pull his gaze away from her breasts. "Your body is great, and your personality is super sexy. Compared to you, Moka-san is a nun."
Not the most eloquent, but Kurumu nods, momentarily appeased by the answer, and giggles at how spellbound the boy is. Finally, someone in the academy she didn't even have to charm. "That's true. Once people realize that she isn't worth chasing after, they'll see who is. I've got a duty to fulfill after all."
"Duty?" The boy pauses, finally pulling away from Kurumu's busty physique.
"That's right," the succubus purrs. "My purpose here is to find my Destined One. The man who will stand by my side and the only one worth my time."
"I see," the boy intones slowly. Then he straightens up and puffs out his chest. "Is it me, Kurumu-chan? Am I your Destined One?"
Kurumu blinks owlishly. The student gazes back hopefully, though there's a glimmer of something lewd shining in his otherwise dull eyes. No, she thinks, looking him over. She feels nothing and knew beforehand that she wouldn't catch feelings. This boy before her is only one that thinks with the tool between his legs, and that bit typically only carries one thought. She isn't going to devote herself to someone like this. "Of course not. Why would you think that?"
This seems to break whatever confidence that tried to sprout inside the male. "Oh, I just thought that, since you have me here, that . . . well."
Kurumu gives a disbelieving smile. "No, I told you I was trying to find him, didn't I? If it were you, I wouldn't be looking," she explains simply.
"Oh." the boy says, woodenly. He stands abruptly and the action makes the succubus jump. "Then, Kurono-san, I think I should go."
"Wha—?" Before Kurumu can protest, the boy is already walking away. She stares after him, before sniffing angrily. "Seriously? Ugh!" The succubus redirects her ire, finding a convenient target to blame for her misfortune in the oblivious Akashiya Moka. "This is all your fault, Akashiya," Kurumu grumbles, her eyes of purple leading to darker depths as she plots. "This can't stand. No boy should be able to resist me, but because you're here. . ."
Because of Akashiya, Kurumu is off-kilter. Her charm wears off faster when Akashiya's natural allure pulls in unsuspecting prey, making it harder for her to maintain her spells. Because of her, what should be child's play turns out to be a burdensome task with little reward—each enchanted student that falls under Kurumu's control ends up being not worth her time, and the ones fawning over Moka beforehand make it hard for Kurumu to even consider them.
Kurumu's brows lower as her face falls into a glower. How can she get rid of Akashiya in a way that removes her entirely from the equation?
Her eyes fall on Anzen then and narrow further.
The first day of school, Akashiya and Anzen had ended up in a confrontation with Komiya Saizou. According to hearsay, Komiya had been seen following Anzen into the woods. Akashiya, having asked around for her friend, had been directed to the woods. A battle ensued where both girls had ended up in the infirmary, and resulted in Komiya being removed from the school roster for an indefinite period of time and he has yet to return. Of course, there were inflated versions of this tale, dramatizations and theories that completely veered off into the unbelievable, but the common factor in it all is that Akashiya went after Anzen.
Considering that bond, perhaps it could be used to sever Akashiya's ties with Youkai Academy early. Kurumu doesn't think the two were long-time friends though they seem pretty close as is, but maybe something dramatic enough could break Akashiya's will to continue her education at Youkai Academy—the girl doesn't seem to have eyes for anyone else, nor friends to support her if such a rift were to form.
Kurumu hums as the plan forms in her head. Though hardly used, succubi could charm even other women, and Kurumu has a feeling that Anzen would succumb to it, especially if Kurumu drops all the other unnecessary enchantments she has and focuses the brunt of her seduction onto Anzen. Using that . . . well. Kurumu may be a sexual creature, but she knew the heart.
And she knew that if she tried, she could break Akashiya's.
It's the middle of the third week of school. The weather holds so well that Mugen begins to wonder if there's ever any difference to the sky—she can almost swear she sees the same clouds on repeat day after day. Classes are mundane despite the supernatural nature of the students attending them and Mugen endures them with a lazy reluctance. Moka admonishes her when she realizes Mugen puts off the homework until the last minute, but at least when it's returned it scores high marks regardless of when Mugen bothers to finish it.
Still, when Moka catches the dark rings around Mugen's eyes deepening, she pushes for Mugen and her to study together on the work they share and even with classes they don't she offers to help in an effort to get Mugen to rest more. Mugen feels she should be annoyed, but Moka's actions only provoke a strange feeling that is not altogether uncomfortable. She lets Moka's mothering proceed, but without it Mugen knows she'd be driving herself into the ground with her procrastination without an ounce of regret.
But there has been something off, lately. A burgeoning unease, the sensation of being watched more closely than usual. Mugen wants to put it off as the undue attention she's receiving from her peers, but she's been dealing with that since the first week and this is something else. She fiddles with the piercings on her ear, trying to focus as Ririko-sensei regurgitates the math formula they've been applying for the past week. That uncomfortable pressure of being watched only increases when she tries to focus on the lesson, and she drops her hand to tap her pencil against the table. When the itch to glance around becomes to unbearable, she drops her pencil and glances around.
No one. Everyone is focused on their sensei, on their paper, or on something wholly unrelated to the lesson, but not Mugen. Unbidden, Mugen's eyes chance upon the girl that has quickly become an eyesore due to her rudeness—but the blue-haired girl's facing the board with an expression of complete and utter confusion. She's mouthing the formula to herself and peeking at her journal, but it contains more doodles than knowledge from Mugen's cursory once-over.
Huffing, Mugen turns back to the board when Ririko-sensei spots her and her drifting mind and calls for her to solve the equation she wrote on the board. She rises, the chair sliding back. Trudging to the board, she feels that prickle of eyes on the back of her neck again and wants to turn around, but Ririko-sensei expectantly steps aside. She grimaces but studies the board, all the while wishing Moka was in this class with her so she could task her with finding out who's staring her down.
When she solves it, Ririko-sensei releases her back to her seat, humming contentedly. There are eyes on her when she turns around, but that's because she's up front and all the aware students are facing her. She can't tell who's been glaring at her and her shadows don't care enough to inform her, only to tease her with an annoying repetition of you're being watched, they're watching you, studying you like prey, they know—do you think they know? They know. They know. Don't they know?
Exceedingly helpful, she knows.
The rest of the class passes slowly. Mugen's frustration is mounting with each shuffled paper and scrape of chalk on the board that is followed by that unwanted awareness of her person by someone she does not know. When the bell rings she packs her sparsely filled journal and books it to her next class. She's a dagger through the crowd of students, cutting seamlessly through as she makes her way to the next. Up ahead, around the corner, is where Moka and she would meet up to continue to their language arts class together. Eager to see her friend who provides Mugen a presence to ground herself to, she doesn't notice it until the shadows whisper anew.
Mouse. Cat. Cat. Mouse. Cat. You're caught now.
Mugen falters, a mere foot away from the turn that would put her in Moka's sights. She turns and this time she sees who's been watching her.
"Hello, Mugen-chan! Let's be friends, ne?"
The violet nebula is bottomless, and the darkness there is deeper still.
Moka frowns. She had waited for Mugen but the warning bell had signaled and she made herself hurry to class. The late bell has rung since and Mugen still hasn't showed. She fights the urge to turn in her seat, to peer out the windows or glance at the empty desk behind her. Where was she? Did she get held up? Was she sick? Has she gotten in trouble? Worse, did she get in a fight?
Just as Moka's debating ditching in a panic to look for Mugen, Suzuki-sensei is interrupted mid-roll call as Mugen walks in. Moka's shoulders droop in relief at the sight of her—until she sees Mugen's face. Usually wielding an irritable frown or half-lidded glare unless in the company of Moka, Mugen could now put stone to shame in the lack of emotion that hollows out her expression. Suzuki-sensei notes Mugen's newfound attendance with a tardy, but doesn't mention it, and Mugen walks at a strangely forced yet steady pace. When she passes Moka her gaze is far away and nowhere near meeting Moka's. Behind Moka, Mugen sits slowly and doesn't say a word.
All throughout class, Moka tries to catch Mugen's eyes, but even when it looks as though Mugen's staring Moka dead-on at one point when Moka's passing a paper back, there's just this unsettling distance. It's so vast that Moka can't find words to try and breach that gap. Even if she could, Suzuki-sensei is stricter than the other teachers and won't tolerate her students talking amongst themselves until they've finished their lesson. As the class drags on, Suzuki-sensei gesturing with her wand as she breaks down the one of the poems in The Pillow Book, Moka only fidgets worse, unsure of this bizarre wall that has separated Mugen from everyone around her, especially Moka.
"Anzen-san, would you please describe some of the themes featured in Shounagon's poetry?"
There's a pause as Suzuki-sensei's head tilts, her oversized witch hat going lopsided atop her unmanageable curls. The class's murmurings go quiet and Moka can't resist the urge to turn in her seat to wait for Mugen's response. Mugen doesn't react to the attention, though her flat-lined mouth slowly opens to answer. ". . . Romance," she states, tone lulling as though she's daydreaming.
"And?" Suzuki-sensei encourages.
". . ." Mugen's gaze finally shifts, a dull but still there awareness. Moka narrows her eyes when something flickers across Mugen's face for just the briefest moment. That stone-cold expression cracks and shows depths that only confuse the vampire further. Mugen begins to grimace. "M-manipulation . . . the risks of being . . . deceived and exploited . . . by the men she takes into her bed. . ."
Suzuki-sensei nods, satisfied with the answer. Moka's too busy worrying as Mugen hunches and leans forward on her desk to care about their sensei's approval. The human's rubbing at her ears, body tensing and flexing in distress.
Moka can't stay silent. "M-Mugen-chan? What's wrong?"
Mugen reacts to the sound of her voice. The glazed look in her eye has vanished as her head lifts. Her face is pale and tight with pain. "I-I don't know. I don't—I don't feel good. When did I . . . get to class? I don't—"
Mugen's not quiet enough in her confusion to go unnoticed by Suzuki-sensei, who turns to her once more. "Is something wrong, Anzen-san? Are you having issues with the lesson?"
Head swaying as though she can hardly keep it up, Mugen nonetheless swivels it to look at Suzuki-sensei, who approaches them with the hint of a reprimand on her tongue. Thankfully, however, Mugen's precarious state is easily noticed when she begins to sweat and grind her teeth, staring at Suzuki-sensei with whitening eyes. "I—I don't feel good," Mugen manages to get out with a labored gasp.
Suzuki-sensei studies the two of them carefully as Mugen's arms twitch. Moka reaches out in hopes to calm her friend who appears on the edge of hyperventilating. "What's wrong, Anzen-san? Are you having trouble with your holding your transformation?"
"I feel sick," Mugen says. Suzuki-sensei studies her as Mugen swallows frantically, hardly breathing. Mugen takes in the room in a twitchy sort of way, beheld by her classmate's scrutiny, before she peers back up at Suzuki-sensei, opens her mouth again—and swoons.
The class gasps.
"Mugen-chan!" Moka jumps out of her seat to catch Mugen as she slumps out of her desk. Suzuki-sensei moves to help her as Mugen's head lolls along Moka's shoulders.
"She's just unconscious," Suzuki-sensei notes gravely after checking her pulse. "Aizawa-san, please go get the nurse."
Amidst the mutterings of the class, the one student closest to the door nods obediently and hurries to obey. Moka doesn't watch her go. Carefully, she and Suzuki-sensei lower Mugen to the ground. Mugen is all too limp, a ragdoll in their hands as they carefully arrange her on the floor. Her shadow lays unresponsive beneath her. When Suzuki-sensei elevates Mugen's legs by placing them in her lap and instructs Moka to loosen her collar, the vampire doesn't question it.
"Akashiya-san, do you have any idea what caused this?"
Moka slowly looks away from Mugen and catches Suzuki-sensei staring at her. Her hands are trembling slightly, she realizes, the residual panic sinking into her nerves. Moka bites her cheek and thinks back. "I-I'm not sure, so I can't say Sensei. I guess, maybe something happened after third period? We usually meet after to walk together to your class but she didn't show up. I have her for my homeroom and second period class and she was fine in those."
Suzuki-sensei hums thoughtfully, before having to shush the class. "And what is her third period, Akashiya-san?"
Moka struggles to remember. "Math, with Ririko-sensei."
The witch grimaces and mutters under her breath, "Ah, her. I can definitely understand having a panic attack after her class." Louder, then, she says, "I suppose I'll ask Ririko-san if she noticed anything going on, if she could even pay attention to anything besides her equations."
The class snickers. The door opens and the nurse, Tsumugi Mayumi, steps in, carrying a stretcher with a suitcase on top of it. Aizawa-san comes in behind her looking vaguely out of breath and carrying the other end of the stretcher. Tsumugi-sensei's blank eyes peer over the crowd of faces and catches Suzuki-sensei's witch hat poking out. She sets down the stretcher and before Suzuki-sensei can even address the bandaged nurse, Tsumugi-sensei is already there over her shoulder. She appraises Mugen with a critical once-over after gesturing for the two around the collapsed student to remove themselves. She sets down her case of supplies as she gets to work, checking Mugen over for injury and otherwise.
During Tsumugi-sensei's on-site examination, Mugen actually begins to stir. She blearily wakes to an unfamiliar face hovering over hers but only groans. Moka presses a hand to her rosary in relief, but Mugen doesn't do much else besides roll her head to the side. She looks out of it.
"Anzen-san?" Tsumugi-sensei prompts, voice muffled by her bandages as she attaches an inflatable cuff to Mugen's arm. Mugen mumbles incoherently, turning her head back to the nurse. Her eyes are in constant motion, taking in her surroundings, but lack focus. She flinches when Tsumugi-sensei places a stethoscope over her chest. "Can you hear me?"
"W-what?" Mugen blinks, slurs. Clarity slowly comes across her features. "I hear—I can hear. . ."
"Her blood pressure is low," Tsumugi-sensei observes once the cuff beeps and deflates. "And her heart rate is slow."
Mugen trembles. Moka, behind Suzuki-sensei, watches as Mugen unsteadily reaches out but her arm flops. Her gray eyes are set on Moka's once she finds them. "Sorry," Mugen mumbles. "'M sorry, I didn't mean to faint. This is embarrassing."
"Anzen-san, I don't think anyone in their right mind means to faint." Suzuki-sensei points out, and Tsumugi-sensei huffs a little laugh behind her bandages. "I suppose I'll leave this to you, then, Tsumugi-sensei. I need to keep these kids from rubbernecking anyhow."
Said rubbernecking students quickly twist their necks to the front, wearing sheepish expressions.
Moka smiles weakly when Mugen doesn't look assuaged at all by their teacher. "It's okay Mugen-chan, I just want you to feel better."
Mugen tries to push herself up. It's slow but more strength comes over her the further she rises. She still looks woozy so Tsumugi-sensei sets a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from standing. She sits morosely, and leans against her desk as Tsumugi-sensei reaches into her suitcase for a package of peanut butter crackers and a juice box. She looks sullen and the way her gaze keeps flicking out nervously to the class implies embarrassment. She glares at Tsumugi-sensei's offerings when the nurse pushes the items to her.
"Take it," Tsumugi-sensei insists. "It will help bring up your sugar. When you can stand, you're coming to the infirmary for a more thorough examination. You're excused from classes today as well."
Mugen frowns at that. "Do I have to?"
"I want you to," Moka interjects before Tsumugi-sensei can answer. She heard the stubborn tone Mugen used, and refuses to let her friend drag her feet when it comes to her health. "Will you? Please?"
Mugen's gaze flickers to her, before going back to Tsumugi-senseis. She sighs. "Okay."
Suzuki-sensei restarts the lesson. Moka ignores it in favor of watching Mugen sip and nibble until she tires of sitting. Tsumugi-sensei, having waited patiently all the while, places a hand on Mugen's back that incites a flinch before escorting the girl out. Mugen throws a pleading look over her shoulder at Moka, and Moka resolves to visit her as soon as class lets out for lunch time—but then second guesses it, and thinks she should first grab some food for Mugen.
Moka's feet itch with the urge to chase after them, yet the vampire knows Suzuki-sensei won't excuse her for so trivial an excuse as checking on Mugen when there's still twenty minutes left to class. She resigns herself to The Pillow Book instead.
Mugen bites at her cheeks. The lunch bell rang five minutes ago but Moka hasn't come to visit her yet. She's sure Moka will—maybe she won't—but the waiting bit is dull when all she has for company is empty beds and white walls. Tsumugi-sensei preferred Mugen staying in the infirmary for another period or two, in order to perform a series of tests on her to ensure the fainting isn't due to any underlying causes. Mugen isn't sure if that's a good idea, considering her human biology, but can't exactly cite any good reasons for the nurse to forgo the tests. At least she's out to get Mugen lunch rather than have her sit hungry during the next hour or so.
She sighs despondently and cradles her chin as she sits cross-legged on the infirmary bed, elbows on knees. Her hair hangs loosely in waves around her shoulders, free from the confines of her braid due to her headache. I wish I had a book, Mugen with a sour pout. She's spent the past fifteen minutes or so trying to remember that gap of time between leaving Ririko-sensei's class and passing out in Suzuki-sensei's class. Try as she might, the memories elude her grasp, and only leave her with a throbbing head and grinding teeth. She can only attribute her fainting to the darkness inside of her, a new symptom arising. The thought is disturbing but she's already resigned herself to this curse slowly taking over her.
Annoying, the loud shadows decide to interrupt the silence she's using to contemplate her situation. Cat, cat, cat, mouse, mouse, mouse. . . cat and mouse, the mouse gets the cheese and the cat gets the mouse and the mouse gets devoured and the cat gets full—
Joy, Mugen grunts, flopping back onto the bed. It was quiet there for two seconds, at least.
There's a breath along her ear, separate from the childlike ranting in the back of her head. Why do you want the quiet? You're here now because it got quiet. The silence is bad, haven't you realized?
Mugen narrows her eyes. What do you mean? You're the reason I'm here in the first place. She's not talking about the infirmary. It's never been quiet.
What do I mean? It wasn't us that put you down, the purr mocks. Do we have to spell it out for you? Even if we did, would you bother to read it out? Or will you continue to blame us for all your misfortune?
I don't know, it's hard to trust something that only lies, Mugen seethes. She absolutely despises trying to puzzle out whatever riddles the rot within her puts forth. I hate you and your games.A cold chill tracks its way down the base of her skull to the tail of her spine. Mugen refuses to shiver.
Funny, the voice replies coldly now, no trace of mirth or jeer left in it. We hate you and this game of pretend you're playing too. If you refuse to listen to our warnings then suffer the cost of our omens going unheeded. Do you ever stop and think about what's happening around you? No, you're too busy bemoaning us to realize why such misery befalls you.
Maybe I would listen if you wouldn't give me the runaround, Mugen returns with twice the ice.
A pause. Then, shall I put it bluntly for once? You and your precious friend are being targeted. But it may already be too late due to your ignorance.
What?
The voice doesn't reply further.
Mugen loathes thinking, sometimes. Resents the idea that the darkness within her listens to her every thought, because it does. It can pore over her mind at its leisure, understand even what she refuses to voice, likely before she even thinks of it. Likewise, it can drag out every secret, every insecurity, every hope and dream and use them as leverage against her to driver her deeper into its void should she deny it. It could see when she concedes to its points even if she doesn't consciously think it. And she hates it, so, so much. Because now she isn't sure if it's just putting her on edge for the sake of playing her, or if she genuinely needs to leave right now and search for Moka.
But a life without thought isn't a life at all.
And she isn't going to take the risk of Moka getting hurt because she's too scared of being made a fool of.
Warnings, she ruminates, standing, picking out the key phrases that the voice lingered on. A game of pretend, and the consequences of ignoring said warnings.
Her mind backtracks. Cat and mouse, she stops on, in time with the loop still going in the recesses of her head. She remembers, for a second, a girl. Looking into the swirling depths that drown out Mugen's voices and replace it with another. Someone who—
—grabs her, turns her around, with eyes that lay her bare and chase away all other thoughts.
"You will be my friend, won't you Mugen-chan?"
Suddenly, Mugen can't think of saying no to those glowing violets. "Of course, K̶̡̛̝͖̦̣͖̀̐̍̐̈́͂͊̊̿ͅṵ̸̜̲̄̒̐̋r̴̲̜̼̠̰̙̪̲̐̐͐̌̈́̌̀͝u̵͈̭̥̬̫͙͎̪͆̽͆̒̓̿̐̐̄̔͝͝ṃ̵̡͎̞̓̔̈͜͜ṵ̸̣̱͚͒-̶̫̪̭̜͔̭͉̲̝͉̩̇̏͒̓̀͛̊̓̕ͅc̷̪̗̩̱͚̲̦̦͍̤̲̬̐͋̇͝ͅh̷̡̢̢̼͓̲̳͚̼̖͔͖͈̦̃̌̉̊̀̉̀͛̈̔̋̔̐̀ͅa̸̧̢̛̗͉̙̒̿ͅn̷̩͎̤̗͊̀̄̏͝!
"Then you'll be fine leaving Akashiya behind right? Because you can't be my friend if you're friends with her."
"What?" Here, Mugen pauses, and something makes her shake off the idea. Why did she even consider it? Why was she even . . . "Wait—no, what the hell? I won't—"
A devil's smile, sin pressed up against her. She can't look away—there are no whispers to tell her to. "You won't be her friend anymore, right?"
Mugen stares into the pits of hell, and falls.
"Ah," Mugen hisses, clutching her head. She stumbles where she stands and doesn't hear the door open but she does feel slender arms catch her. Tsumugi-sensei, or better yet Moka, she hopefully presumes. She waits until the wave of dizziness passes before looking up. "Thanks—"
Kurono Kurumu smiles down at her in that switchblade way. "Anything for you, Mugen-chan. I can't believe you fainted in class. I'm glad I decided to check up on you like a good friend!" Then, obviously, Kurumu glances around the room with glowing eyes. She raises her brows at the emptiness in faux-surprise and faces Mugen with sympathetic expression. "But oh, where's Akashiya? I figured she'd be here to check on you too. . . Seeing as she's your best friend and all."
Mugen feels hot where Kurono touches her, already caught in her snare. She abruptly struggles to pull away from Kurono's stare but hands cup her cheeks and prevent her from turning away. She doesn't know what's happening—why she feels a loss of control so absolute that she starts to accept Kurono's gentle caress of her cheeks. She nearly whines as Kurono's eyes entrap her, a seductive whisper blowing hot air near her lips as Kurono moves in.
"Charm."
Against her mind's protest, the will to defy the succubus drains away.
When Mugen goes slack, Kurono smirks, tilts Mugen's face up with a finger under the girl's chin. "Nice try, but I felt it the moment you escaped my first charm. I'm actually amazed you managed it. Not many can escape our allure without us releasing it first, even if Akashiya is the reason you're straying."
Regardless of whatever spell the monster wearing a girl's skin before her cast, Mugen's jaw clenches in defiance. Fuck you, she spits in her mind, desperately willing her body to move.
Kurono notices the movement with interest.
"Are you resisting right now? Really?" Kurumu asks, impressed. Anzen seems oddly small now under her allure, the force of her intimidating temper contained by the succubus' charm. Still, she can see the cracks in her spell where Mugen is using her brute force of will to break through in the smallest hints of rebellion. "Impressive. I'm considered strong for my race, y'know. Maybe the first time wasn't a fluke like I thought? I wonder. . ."
This close with time to really appraise the girl, Kurumu can admit Mugen is attractive—in a modest sort of way. Perhaps if her personality was less edgy she'd be receiving nearly as much positive attention as Akashiya or Kurumu herself. But she thinks if that were the case, this would be so much less fun.
Kurumu doesn't understand it herself, but when Mugen's brow twitches minutely in dissent, Kurumu, rather than finding herself annoyed, is oddly thrilled by it. She sees the challenge. She strokes her thumb along Mugen's cheekbone, pleased with how her game is going. But despite that bizarrely pleasant tingle at having to work harder to control one person, Kurumu strengthens her spell to the point Mugen is rigid in her control. It wouldn't do to have it slip again just when the plan is about to go underway.
"Maybe we can be friends after this? Or would that be too much, considering. . .?" Kurumu ponders in jest before shrugging. She's got a heart to break. She coos happily, feeling her devil tail slip through her disguise and wag behind her. "Anywaysss! It's finally time to put Akashiya in her place! Are you ready?"
Mugen's teeth threaten to grind. Her mouth opens of its own accord, separate from her mind and all the unkind words she wants to say.
"Yes, Kurumu-chan."