"You have to do an article for us, Ms. Kurono."
Kurumu smirked at the massive guy, handing a paper over to one of his huge companions. This hulking brute with his roguish, slate bangs hanging across his chiseled features was Rikishi Chousei. Nicknamed Chopper by his associates, he was the captain of the wrestling club.
"I don't know if I can make a commitment on that."
"We're an athletic club not much different from the judo club."
While Kurumu had no idea whom this chubby guy with the dark widow's peak was, she recognized the smallest and slimmest of this trio as the third place finisher of the tire race. He had charcoal locks swept up like a broom though his bangs came down in the front to hide his left eye. His right eye was a lovely silver hue. He blushed when he took the paper she offered him.
"Weren't you kicked out of the judo club?"
"That was ages ago."
"I also heard all about you picking on Tsukune."
"A little roughhousing between men is nothing to hold against my club, Ms. Kurono. He should be honored that I deemed him worthy of my attention."
"We're a small club, Ms. Kurono. Chopper and I are the only seniors. My cousin, Hei, is one of our three second years."
This flabby guy had a toothy grin, silver eyes and a skeletal nose which was sunken in. His huge ears and lack of eyebrows gave him a menacing look. Kurumu gestured at the quiet guy.
"Is he taking over your club next year?"
Rikishi chuckled heartily, shaking his head.
"Hei lacks the enthusiasm a captain of this club requires. We will be turning things over to Mr. Ishizuka."
"The other three members of our club are from Sawamura. Two are first years whom I believe you have met since they attended Mr. Aono's birthday party."
Kurumu nodded, vaguely recalling that one of those wrestling club boys was dating Fujinuma from her home ec class. She could not remember his name but he was in Fujinuma's homeroom.
"I'll bring it up in our next club meeting. But no promises that I will be the one doing your article even if Mr. Morioka agrees to do one for you."
Kurumu glanced over as Moka was surrounded by the boys from the soccer club. The vampire bowed and thanked the guys for their interest as she started handing out her remaining papers to the group.
"I would be fine if Mr. Aono did our article. He's a worthy man."
"That's not what you said when he first clobbered you."
"Come on, Shiro. I felt cheated. I thought the fight would have gone differently without the distraction from Ms. Akashiya. But after he slaughtered Mr. Midou and half of his Outcasts, well, it was no fluke."
Kurumu smiled, seeing that Moka had run out of papers and was apologizing to the remaining soccer boys. Clutching her remaining papers to her breast, she bowed to the trio.
"Speaking of Moka, I have to go rescue her. Good day to you."
She trotted off, shivering as they licked up her curves with naughty fantasies. She was similarly assaulted by lascivious thoughts from the soccer boys whom took note of her approach. The ones from Ushio were richer due to him having some experience to fuel his desires.
The soccer team shared all of their meals together. Since there were twenty members on the team, it was always an issue when they showed up on paper day. By the looks of whom was leaving from the group, it was clear that Moka had prioritized the seniors.
Kurumu offered a wave to the team captain, Tsutsushi, whom had his dark hair up in the usual braids worked tightly against his scalp. The guy smirked and nodded, walking off while in the company of the bulky goalie, Hiroyama, and Aku's brother, Itsuki.
Nikki's crush, Fumusuna, was not far behind in his own group. The okami had ashen gray, jagged bangs with the rest of his locks trimmed short. He was with the shaggy haired Shimobe and this slate haired okami guy he was usually with. The last member of their group was a pepper haired guy whom Kurumu was fairly certain was a second year. She had seen him at Nikki's birthday party.
"I hope you brought enough papers for us all."
Kurumu smirked, noting Moka had taken care of the silvery haired Fuyukake brothers and the chestnut haired Hatatachi brothers. For some reason, the four kirin boys were still hanging around.
"I only have seven. Go switch with Kana, Moka."
"You'll be two short."
Kurumu snorted as she arrived, promptly handing one of her remaining papers to the massive Kuromuro. The dark haired behemoth grunted his thanks, shuffling off.
"Then hurry up."
Moka murmured another apology, scurrying back to the table where the rest of the club was socializing. As on several prior occasions, they had placed the table in a section of the woods near the start of the perimeter wall. Dressed in her sleeveless PSC outfit, Tora stood behind the table keeping a tally of how many papers were handed out while Tsukune and Yukari arranged the stacks on the table. Ginei stood in front of the table with his arms about Hajihachi's waist, chatting with the others.
"Can I get something special with my paper?"
Kurumu smirked at Ushio as she handed a paper off to a tanuki guy whom she knew was a second year.
"Second years first, Ushio."
Hechiyado chuckled as she presented him a paper. He was not as tall as Ushio but had thicker, shoulder length hair. He deliberately touched her hand to increase his lewd thoughts. She deliberately charmed him into politely walking away without any embarrassing comments.
"Are you the last second year, Nishimura?"
The charcoal haired guy nodded, stepping in closer to her. His taller, younger brother whom was dating Tategami crowded in with him. She surrendered a paper to each of the kirin boys.
"Can I have a paper, Ms. Kurono?"
Kurumu glanced at a tall guy with his tawny tresses pulled in a topknot.
"Could everyone with a paper, please, move along? There should only be four of you."
Her suggestion prompted the kirin brothers to finally depart. She was down to this topknot kid and the trio whom had represented their group in the tug of war event. Lacking enough papers to handle the trio, she gave up one of her remaining papers to the guy with the topknot.
"I hope you saved that last paper for me."
Kurumu smirked at Ushio, glancing over at Kana. The blond had walked further up the trail to catch students before they got to Kurumu.
"You mean I can't send you over to Kana for a paper?"
"I can wait for you to get more."
Kurumu turned slightly, noting that Hajihachi had acquired a stack of papers.
"Mika! Your turn!"
With a wide grin, Ginei swatted Mika's rump. The girl yipped and promptly turned about to smack a paper across his brow. As he chuckled, Tora shook her head. A flush Hajihachi trotted over to Kurumu.
"Would you protest getting a paper from my senior?"
"Don't do me like that, Kurumu."
Kurumu grinned, wagging her last paper at him.
"You can take it if you want it that badly."
He smirked, snatching the paper from her fingers.
"I hope that offer is for more than just the paper."
Kurumu wagged her finger at him, offering no response. Unlike most of the flirting she had endured this morning, she enjoyed his antics. It was not like he approached her much differently than other guys, but he had a few things going for him. He had helped her out with Saizou that first week and had been the first guy she had met on campus. And he had been nice to Nerume and Mizore.
"Thank you for your interest in our paper."
Hajihachi bowed slightly, handing papers to Yano and Tamaishi.
"See you around, Kurumu."
Ushio offered her a salute and they went their separate ways. As she headed back to the table, Kurumu wondered what she would do if Ushio's mother allowed him to date her. He was not a bad guy but there would be long term issues like her opiate causing addiction and her inability to have a child with him.
"You look like you're thinking too hard about something."
Kurumu smiled softly at Ginei.
"I was curious if you would ever join in on our training."
"I promised Mika that I wouldn't."
"I doubt Senior is mature enough to behave himself."
"I am behaving myself."
Tora wagged a mechanical pencil at him.
"Says the guy whom had his girlfriend dress up in one of our outfits for research purposes last night."
"I had to confirm if I could resist the temptation of seeing one of you in said outfits."
Kurumu smirked, crossing her arms below her bosom.
"And how did that work out?"
"Mika enjoyed her workout quite thoroughly."
"Which is why you won't be joining us any time soon."
"That's a pity. I was hoping Ginei could watch one of my sessions to measure my improvement."
In the blink of an eye, Tsukune was down in the dirt with Ginei standing behind the table grinning down at him. Tsukune scrambled to his feet.
"Doesn't look like you've improved that much."
"That doesn't count. I wasn't ready."
Ginei laughed as a flush Tsukune took up a defensive stance.
"That's the whole point, Tsukune."
Moka picked up a stack of papers from the table, presenting it to Yukari.
"Would you like to try handing out papers today?"
"Why bother? Only weirdos approach me."
"Don't be like that."
"You never ask Ms. Nazohashi to hand out papers."
Ginei chuckled, gesturing at Tora.
"I don't want people getting the wrong idea."
"How so?"
"Her showing up in a PSC outfit gives this impression that we're controlled by the PSC. I would prefer it if she didn't wear that on days we are handing out papers."
Tora rolled her eyes.
"And I told you that if I'm not dressed like this, then Deshi would be here. The presence of the PSC is meant to show that the paper has been authorized by the student council."
"Well when I take over the student council, you won't have to worry about that."
Kurumu smirked, highly doubting his chances of winning that election even with the promise of a school trip. But on the random chance he did win, she supposed that Tora's ties to the PSC would prevent her from becoming the next newspaper club president. Either Moka or Tsukune would have to take over.
"I wish Mizore could have helped out with the paper this morning."
Yukari huffed, shaking her head.
"She was barely conscious when we left her in her room."
"It's too humid in that environment. She's not even getting half the practice the rest of us are."
"Isn't Ms. Kiyomizu working separately with her?"
"Something about helping her learn how to regulate her temperature. I don't quite understand it."
"You know with it being so humid, you should have figured out how to make a ball of water from the air."
"It's not that easy, Yukari."
"Ms. Taniguchi and Ms. Meirowasa both figured it out."
"Eventually. They weren't that good at it."
"Sounds like you girls are having a lot of fun."
Kurumu sighed at Ginei's grin.
"I'm worried about Mizore. She's not going to be able to keep this training up."
"Yea. She almost missed all of her morning classes yesterday. Hopefully it won't be as bad today."
"I wouldn't worry so much about that. While the teachers might act like we need to get serious with our academics, it won't be until after the cultural festival that we need to buckle down."
"Ginei is right. Our encounter will happen before then. We need all of the training we can get."
Kurumu smiled, nodding at Moka's remark.
"I'm sure we will all be ready for it this time."
"All the same, I'd like you to start wearing that bracelet I gave you. I made you a promise, Moka. I will come to your aid if you blow that whistle."
Moka blushed slightly at Ginei's reminder of the whistle he had given her on her birthday.
"I suppose I should start wearing it to school."
"I don't want another Midou incident, Moka."
"Whatever happened to you getting a battery powered device?"
Ginei chuckled, turning to regard Yukari.
"I don't have the money for a digital camera or phone."
"I could buy you one if you want."
"Moka, please. I have a girlfriend now. I can't be taking gifts from you."
Moka blushed as he chuckled heartily. Smirking, Kurumu tugged her phone out of her jacket pocket.
"I don't know about everyone else, but I've been carrying my phone on me almost every day."
"I know I have been. I'll have to ask if Kokoa has been."
"Why does it matter if she has hers?"
"Because this threat might come after her, Yukari."
Yukari sighed heavily.
"Well I have been carrying my phone in my bag since the start of the term."
"Yea. I've been bringing mine ever since that weekend right before Lord Chiki went crazy."
Tsukune chuckled sheepishly at Tora's statement.
"I guess I should start bringing mine."
"Moka! I'm out!"
Kana waved her hands over her head as she started to jog over to them. Moka smiled, clutching the stack of papers to her bosom.
"I'll start wearing that bracelet to school tomorrow."
As Moka trotted off, Kurumu wandered over to the table to grab a stack of papers.
"Hey, Ginei. Do you know anything about Ms. Kiyomizu?"
"Not a whole lot. She was hired in 97 when English stopped being an optional elective."
"Do you think she's like an old friend to the Headmaster?"
"What makes you say that?"
Kurumu shrugged at him as Kana joined them with a wide smile.
"Ms. Hitori was only hired a few years ago but she was actually one of the school founders. Perhaps this Ms. Kiyomizu is some powerful ally the Headmaster brought in to keep Kuyo in check."
"It is possible. When I learned that Ms. Hitori was a phoenix, I checked the library for information about the founders of Yokai Academy. Sure enough, one of them was Suzaku, a renowned phoenix."
Tsukune nodded at Yukari's remark.
"Ms. Kiyomizu did stand up to Lord Chiki when he tried to demand the rest of the Newspaper club to surrender to him at the assembly."
"I don't know a whole lot about that, but I know old man Mr. Maruyama is one of the first students from the school and has been working here since the twenties. I could do a little digging on Ms. Kiyomizu if you want. Tashikana has her as his English instructor."
"I could have lunch with Rubi and ask Ms. Kiyomizu directly."
"I thought you were going to have lunch with Juri and me."
"Keep your lunch date, twerp. Let me at least handle gathering the intel."
"Ms. Kurono! We need to switch!"
Kurumu smiled softly as Hajihachi started making her way towards them.
"Thanks Ginei."
"Don't mention it. And there's always the option of having Mika bring her magic wand to school."
Yukari frowned as Hajihachi neared them.
"You have a magic wand, Ms. Hajihachi?"
Hajihachi turned bright red as Ginei snickered.
"Sure does. Made by Hitachi."
"Why are we talking about that?"
"The girls are wanting me to carry around something battery operated."
"No! Get a CD player, you dork."
Kurumu snickered, fairly certain she knew what this magic wand was.
"Thanks, Mika. I don't know why we didn't think of this sooner. Mizore has a CD player."
"It should work if we must have Ms. Shirayuki in our circle."
"I would greatly appreciate it if you did."
Kurumu grinned at Tsukune's remark. She started walking away.
"Yea, Yukari. I'll make sure she brings it."
"And I'll make sure Mika brings her wand."
"You will not!"
Kurumu sighed as the bell sounded the end of fourth period. Ginei could claim the teachers would not push them too hard but Ms. Nekonome was all business. Sporting a canary yellow blouse tucked in a white ruffled skirt, the instructor had given a full hour lecture. As Kurumu jotted down the last notes from the board, Ms. Nekonome arranged her things on the podium.
"Thank you all for your attention. I hope we all do well on the next test."
It would be three weeks before that happened. Letting out another sigh, Kurumu closed her notebook and tucked her mechanical pencil into the binding. As the teacher walked out the front, Kurumu stuffed her notebook into her bag.
"So will Ms. Sendou actually be joining us today?"
"That's what she said."
With her things stowed away, Kurumu slipped out of her seat and stretched her arms overhead. She smirked when Juri poked her in the side.
"Do you need to stretch every time you get up?"
Kurumu lowered her arms as her fellow students made their way to the doors.
"It feels good."
In more ways than one since Abe and Senyou always paused to admire her curves when she did it. Smiling softly, she offered her hand to Yukari the moment the witch vacated her chair.
"Ready to go?"
Yukari took her hand and squeezed. Grinning, Kurumu followed in Juri's wake with Hazumi and Madosuki not much further ahead.
"It's good to hear that Kana is becoming fast friends with Kisurusu."
"Yea. Now if only she'd hold a place in the line for us."
"It can't be helped if they don't feel comfortable doing it."
Nozomi and Kakeru were stationed in their usual place near the back door to class three.
"Hey, Kurumu!"
"I'm with Juri today. No bento lunch from Yukari."
"I can see that."
"Have fun with Tsukune and Mizore."
They continued down the busy hall towards the crossover between classes five and eight. As usual, the two homerooms that had English fourth period were being held longer. Even if Ms. Houkai was a better instructor, the subject material was not something strongly pushed in junior highs.
"Are you going to join us for lunch today, Madosuki, or are you still having lunch with your boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend."
"But she is having lunch with him."
Kurumu grinned at Hazumi's addition.
"Why don't you ask him out?"
"Because he has to ask me out."
"Don't be stubborn. You were all over him at Aku's birthday party."
"I was drunk."
"Some people say that being drunk makes you more honest."
Madosuki huffed at Juri's amusement.
"I'd say yes if he asked me out."
"So you are being stubborn. It's not like tanuki culture requires the men to ask women out."
"It's not your business, Ms. Morisato."
"I just want to meet the guy."
Kurumu shrugged as they neared the crossover.
"He's an okay sort. Think of the type that would wear polos and slacks on a weekend."
"So he likes to dress nice?"
"Yasi's father was engaged to marry Mrs. Tawamuru."
"Shut up, Fufi."
Hazumi shrugged indifferently as she started down the stairs in the lead.
"I was offering the reason why you two don't officially date."
"I suppose that would make things awkward."
"It does. He might never ask me out because of it."
Kurumu frowned as she descended the stairs while holding Yukari's hand.
"You could still ask him out if you wanted to."
"Oh sure. Hey dad. Don't mind me while I try to have a relationship with the son of a woman whom got knocked up by your best friend while you were engaged to her."
"But that has nothing to do with you or him."
"Won't that be just as hard for him as it would be for you?"
Madosuki snorted at Juri.
"And I just said that he might never ask me out."
"Then why did you get involved with him?"
"Because I didn't know!"
"Yasi only found out about this last year. Mr. Tawamuru has another brother two years older than Kin whom graduated from Yokai Academy last year."
Madosuki sighed when they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"They were supposed to marry when my dad graduated in 86 but my dad's best friend impregnated Mrs. Tawamuru that winter break before graduation. It was two years later when my dad met my mom."
"I guess it all worked out."
Madosuki rolled her eyes. With a shake of her head, she started for the end of the line.
"Why don't you pester Fufi about making things work with Ogata?"
"Because there's nothing to say. I haven't spoken with him since the interview."
Kurumu smiled as they reached the end of the line between the doors to the home ec room.
"So what's your plan, Kurumu? Are you going to date Mr. Burumoto?"
Kurumu chuckled at Juri.
"No. His mother won't ever approve of that."
"Anything is better than you pining away for Mr. Aono."
"Why don't you get a boyfriend?"
Juri pouted.
"That's not even realistic."
"There are boy sprites."
"Have you seen boy sprites?"
Kurumu smirked, knowing the first two that came to mind, Bujiyo and Ichiboku, were not manly in the slightest. The third was Yamimori from band whom had a girlfriend a year younger than them.
"There might be a guy from Shizukana."
"Maybe. But I may as well assume that I'm staying single till college."
"And I might be single for the rest of my life."
"Come on, Kurumu. You're a popular girl and can be with any guy you want."
"Tell that to Tsukune."
"I think Tsukune is well aware of that."
Kurumu shushed Yukari, shaking her head.
"You know what I meant."
"Isn't there some guy that interests you?"
"She could date an undine. They are more resistant to her opiate."
Kurumu let out an exasperated sigh as the other girls perked up with interest.
"Undines? I don't know any of those."
"Don't most of them go to that junior high in Umiman?"
"I think so. You must know a few by now."
Kurumu grimaced as the girls regarded her expectantly.
"I know a couple. Like Mr. Shiname from the tennis team."
"So you do have a guy in mind."
Kurumu frowned at Juri's wide grin.
"Not really. But if I must date someone, it would be nice to kiss the guy without worrying about the whole addiction nonsense."
"Mr. Shiname is good looking and quite popular."
"Is that really a good fit though?"
Kurumu shrugged at Hazumi.
"I have no idea. I'm sure there's several undine girls whom would go out with him if he ever asked. Like Ms. Uta and Ms. Okimune."
"But that's what I meant. Popular girls and popular boys shouldn't date each other. It would be better if you were with a less popular guy."
"How do you come to that conclusion?"
"It's simple logic, Yasi. Popular people have more dating options. If you want control in a relationship, it's much better to date a person whom has less opportunity to cheat."
"Nobody is going to cheat on Kurumu."
"I think popularity is more a bane for girls than guys. For instance, Ms. Kurono made Mr. Aono popular, thus increasing his ability to cheat. The same will happen with any guy she chooses."
"Wouldn't the same thing happen to a girl dating a popular guy?"
"Why would a girl ever cheat on a popular guy? That's worse fiction than anything I've ever read."
Kurumu chuckled despite feeling forlorn about the notion of her making Tsukune confident enough to cast her aside. They were almost to the first door to Ms. Yumeito's lab as she glanced back at the stairs. She was hoping to see Tsukune but noticed Touzoku with Itazura coming down the last steps.
"Touzoku! Over here!"
Waving high, she caught the attention of the tanuki girls. Touzoku grinned, grabbing her ponytailed friend by the wrist and tugging her along.
"You don't mind-"
Kurumu laughed upon noting Shouhei was the one behind them. She gestured at the approaching girls.
"Hey, Shouhei. Our two friends will be joining us."
The guy with the sky blue ponytail smiled nervously as the two girls joined them.
"Sure. It's fine."
"How did you get behind us?"
Shouhei gestured at the slightly shorter guy standing with him in response to Juri's inquiry. This guy had wavy, shoulder length tresses of a cerulean hue and mint green eyes.
"I crossed the hall to wait on my friend, Mr. Mizukaze, whom is in class eleven."
"Ah yes. The friend of yours from the billiards club."
"Yes. We're both from Hateshinai."
"I noticed that you eat lunch with those two guys you joined the kickball team with."
Shouhei smiled nervously, nodding.
"That's Mr. Aida and Mr. Hirano. They're both in my club."
"Maybe Kurumu should do an article for your billiards club."
"Hold up, Juri. I'm only committing to the karate, fencing and kendo clubs right now. I'm not adding any more clubs to the list unless the others are lacking ideas for articles."
"No worries, Ms. Kurono. I don't think we need an article."
Sensing no need to continue the conversation with the boys behind them, Kurumu smiled at Touzoku.
"So I understand that you and Kana are starting to regularly eat with Juri."
Touzoku laughed, draping an arm around Itazura's shoulders. Her sapphire eyes twinkled in amusement.
"Looks that way. Fuyuki here gets too embarrassed with public displays of affection."
"I don't… mind. Though not… around me."
Kurumu grinned, having heard some of this story from Juri and Kana already. Tebayai had decided to ask Yochimaru out right before the start of lunch on Sports Day.
"Was his parents there?"
"No. Though I understand they will be at the cultural festival."
"His sister… wants me… to break… them up."
Touzoku giggled, giving her stammering friend a shake.
"Fat chance of that happening. Fuyuki is more likely to quit band if that sister of his keeps nagging her."
"Hang in there, Itazura. His sister will graduate in half a year."
"That's a long time when you put it that way."
Kurumu smirked but knew it was accurate. They were not even halfway through October and the graduation would be in late March.
"How did you do on your midterms?"
"Four fourteen. A few points shy of the top hundred but closer than my friends."
"Three hundred… eighty… eight. My best… score."
"I did four hundred five points myself which was eleven more points than Kana. I think that's the first time I outperformed her."
"Yea, Riku also dropped quite a bit this time. She blames boys."
"She was… a point… behind me."
"Do we have to talk about test scores?"
Juri giggled at Madosuki's grimace.
"Don't be upset that you're the only one here that has a retake today."
Kurumu shivered upon feeling his gaze. She offered Tsukune a wave which he reciprocated as he walked by while in the company of Nozomi, Tora and Satsuki.
"Do you have any plans for the weekend, Kurumu?"
"Sort of. I know I'm going to that Saturday morning meeting. I also have to do laundry at some point. I kind of blew off Suzume last weekend so I also want to make that up to her."
"And we have some window shopping to do at that specialty store."
Kurumu was about to ask what Yukari meant when she suddenly sensed the answer.
"Is that really necessary?"
"It's not like our plan was to buy something for Ms. Shirayuki. I'm still curious what they have."
"Suzume is Ms. Tobuyoku from class three, right?"
"Yea. Maybe you could join us when we do our flying on Sunday."
Juri laughed, wagging both of her hands.
"No, no. I didn't want to be part of some huge outing."
"I would also prefer that we didn't bring everyone with us to Mononoke."
Kurumu pouted at Yukari.
"But I can't just blow off Suzume again."
"You don't even know if she wants to go out with you this weekend."
Kurumu paused to mull things over. With this recent development between Kagami and Michiko, it was hard to say if the Sunday flying session would still happen.
"Yea. I should talk to her."
"It sounds like you have plans. We can try something a different weekend."
"I don't know anything for sure. It's not like we'd take hours in that store Yukari wants to visit."
"There is also our session with Ms. Ishikure."
Kurumu smirked at Yukari's reminder.
"Yea. We should probably do that like we did last weekend right after the Saturday meeting."
"You have… sessions with… my class manager?"
"It's a DND campaign we are playing with Moka. Ishikure is our DM."
"What's that?"
Madosuki huffed at Touzoku's confusion.
"It's a game for little boys."
"I think it's been fun so far."
"It helps that Ms. Ishikure is so flexible."
"Well if you do have time and are not going on some big outing with Ms. Tobuyoku and all of her friends, let me know before the end of school tomorrow."
Kurumu nodded as they allowed some seniors to merge in the line ahead of them.
"Where do you and Mr. Tawamuru have lunch?"
"I'm not going to tell you that."
"But I'd like to meet him at some point."
"Who's this Mr. Tawamuru?"
Kurumu giggled at the puzzled look on Touzoku's face.
"It's her boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend!"
"Maybe she's worried he will fall in love with one of you two. He is a tanuki."
"He can date whomever he wants to."
"I'm not… interested."
"Yea. I'm content living vicariously through Riku."
"Are there other tanuki guys from Aranoiji that you could recommend for these two?"
Touzoku snickered at Kurumu, shaking her head.
"I just said I'm not dating. At least not this year."
"There's not that many tanuki families with kids Yasi's age in Aranoiji."
"Yea. I think there's only like a dozen of us enrolled at Yokai Academy and half are girls."
"Both Ms. Yamakusa and Ms. Araiguma are in your gymnastics club."
"I knew that much, Ms. Hazumi. There's also Mr. Sagimori and Mr. Minkan in Fuyuki's band."
"There's not that many more guys. Hajime, his older brother and his friend, Mr. Shigeki."
"From tennis?"
"Yea. There's also Mr. Heiya from the manga club and Mr. Chiba. I don't remember what club he's in but Hajime told me that dork is in class eleven. I think that's it."
Kurumu wondered how many tanuki boys were from Aserutani. She knew about Tebayai and his friend, Morita, from band. There was also that Tsukihara kid in band that Kana had interviewed. She assumed he was from Aserutani but there were tanuki kids like Unsei whom hailed from other places.
"We should be thinking up a list of undine guys for Kurumu to date."
Kurumu smirked at Juri, letting go of Yukari's hand to fetch herself a tray and one for the witch.
"I've probably spoken with most of them. There's three in band."
Touzoku frowned as she took a tray for Itazura and herself.
"Why is she wanting to date an undine?"
"Something about them being immune to her charm."
Kurumu shook her head as she wandered down the serving lane to peruse the assortment of entrees.
"I didn't say that."
"They are resistant to her opiate."
"Yea. I can kiss them with less concern but I could still charm them."
Kurumu grabbed a box of tempura with yakisoba while the others made their own selections. Doubting she would need much more than this, Kurumu stepped around Hazumi and Madosuki to make her way to the bread rolls. Adding one to her tray, she continued on to the refrigerated carts for her juice.
With her juice in hand, Kurumu walked over to the end of the line for the nearest register. Yukari settled in the line behind her while Juri took the line next to hers. Touzoku lined up behind Juri.
"I can't say that I know any undine guys."
"I know. Ms. Hazumi pointed out that they attend the junior high in Umiman."
"I'm curious about the three in band. Do you know them, Fuyuki?"
Kurumu smirked as the timid girl only shook her head in response. She gestured at Itazura with her hand holding her can of yuzu juice while her other hand effortlessly balanced her tray.
"Mr. Kawakuchi and Ms. Chouseki are undines."
Itazura's emerald eyes brightened up.
"I didn't… know those two… were undines."
"Mhm. So is the second year, Mr. Uzushio, and the first year, Mr. Numasaki. Not that I would date any of these guys, but I do know about them."
"Maybe you should try talking to those guys again with a more open mind."
Kurumu smirked at Juri's proposal.
"I doubt I would ever want to date Numasaki. He's got this silly notion in his head that girls have it easy."
"Have what easy?"
"Life. Apparently having a dick is some huge detriment to his life."
Yukari rolled her eyes with a snort. The witch had picked up a chicken teriyaki rice meal with udon soup and tea all carefully arranged on her tray.
"I suspect this Mr. Numasaki is one of those lazy bums with no aspirations in life."
"He seemed quite inspired to find a girlfriend."
"If you strive for financial success or recognition within your career, being a man is substantially better. The upper tiers of almost every industry is predominately male."
"He was just complaining that it's easier for a girl to get a guy than the other way around."
"But isn't that the fault of guys? I mean… if I don't have to ask a guy out, I won't."
Kurumu smirked at Juri.
"I hope you're not planning to wait for a guy to ask you out."
"I'm saying that I'll probably get asked out before I ever want a guy enough to ask him out first."
"But you want a boyfriend."
"Do I have to remind you that I'm fifteen?"
Kurumu giggled, noting that Juri was going to get to her register after this next guy. Kurumu had a couple more students ahead of her but would probably ring out the same time as Touzoku.
"I'm going to guess that this Numasaki is the lower score on the board. A pity that a top hundred student would have such a low opinion about women."
"I don't think he has a low opinion of women."
"Low expectation then. He seems to think a woman is happy simply being picked for making children. It's not like being a man deprives you of having a family."
"Yea, but I think his point was that it makes it harder to have a family."
"That's a complaint about how men and women have different standards for mating. Should women lower their expectations or should men raise theirs?"
Kurumu was thankful to be saved by the register. She handed over her lunch tray and juice can before fishing her lunch card out of her jacket pocket. The worker systematically rung up her items and swiped her card to complete the transaction. Taking her card back first, Kurumu gathered up her things and walked off to the side to join Juri.
She had no idea where Madosuki had wandered off to but spied Hazumi taking her seat at the volleyball table. She shared a smile with Touzoku as the girl wandered over to join them.
"Are we sure that she's eleven? I'm not saying that she's wrong, but I didn't think about how guys and girls approach dating when I was eleven."
"Do we have high expectations of men?"
"Don't be a creep?"
Kurumu smirked, offering no comment as Yukari arrived. Itazura was not far behind her.
"I'm curious what sort of expectations Yukari has for a guy."
Yukari huffed as she continued down the cafeteria, prompting them all to follow.
"Mostly obvious things. Tidiness. Health. Intelligence. Financial responsibility. The ability to protect the family from threats. Resourcefulness. Kindness."
"That sounds like a long list."
"Yea. I'm kind of fine if the guy is cute and not a complete idiot."
"That is thinking like a man, Ms. Touzoku. Would you really want to have a family with an unemployed slob whom gambles away all of your assets?"
"Well, no."
"Yet men will tolerate such a partner if she's pretty enough. Low expectations."
"Like I said. It's their fault for making it easy."
"And they should raise their expectations."
"As if. The only standard boys will raise is looks."
Having reached the end of the cafeteria, the drifted to the right. They asked permission to cut through the line of third years before doing the same for the diagonal portion of the line. They were at the first door of Ms. Uchikawa's biology lab when Touzoku resumed the conversation.
"So are there any undines you are willing to date?"
"Mr. Shiname from the tennis team was the first name she brought up."
Kurumu pouted at Juri.
"Because he's a popular undine. I didn't mean it like I would date him."
"If he asked you out, would you say yes?"
"He's not going to ask anyone out. He's too worried about his cousin whom he is partnered with in tennis to even ask out the girl he is enamored with."
"Oh? I don't remember your article saying that guy had a love interest."
"Because he asked me not to put it down. And I think they would make a cute couple so I'm not going to get in the middle of that."
"Are there other undines you have met?"
Kurumu mulled that over while they walked by the doors to Ms. Rin's lab.
"I was told that Mr. Namida from the music club is an undine but he's a shameless flirt. When I met him, he was pestering Ms. Doronuma to hook him up with her friends."
"Wasn't he pretty popular among the second years?"
"Ninth place with fifty two votes."
Kurumu smirked, shaking her head at Yukari's prompt answer.
"Anyways. The only other undine guy that I've been told about is Mr. Odayakana whom is president of the chemistry club. And I was told to keep away from that guy."
"You are forgetting about Mr. Amesuki and Mr. Hasegawa."
Kurumu frowned at Yukari's comment.
"Hasegawa has a brother?"
"A senior in the drama club."
"Well I don't know if I ever knew about Mr. Hasegawa. But I doubt a top five student like Mr. Amesuki would want me as a girlfriend. His sister worries about being an embarrassment to him."
"Yea. She's mentioned that in club."
"Oh? Is he some sort of perfectionist?"
Kurumu shrugged as they passed by the doors to class six.
"I only know what his sister said about him. I've seen him around but have never spoken to him."
"He's the representative of class eleven."
"I saw him doing the wheelbarrow race against Mr. Aono. He looks a lot like his sister."
"You should ask him out."
"I don't even know him."
"But it's perfect. He's a smart guy and you're gorgeous."
Kurumu shook her head as she walked through the open front door to class five.
"I'll think about it."
There were five girls gathered at the makeshift table arranged in the front center of the room near the teacher's podium. Kana was seated by the golden haired Kisurusu. There was a vacant chair beside the tennin with the teal haired Fujino sitting on the side with her back to the door. The other two dark haired girls were seated across from Kana.
"Where do we sit?"
The long, ebony haired girl was Karashi from sewing class. The girl with the curly, raven locks was her friend whose name Kurumu could not recall. Karashi's friend lacked a lunch tray for some reason. Shitchi was sitting at her desk by the window away from the group, quietly eating from her black bento.
"Ms. Kurono!"
Kurumu nodded at Kisurusu as she wandered over indecisively.
"Sit there, Yukari."
As she took the seat beside Karashi's friend, Yukari smiled nervously at Fujino before sitting beside the second year. Juri made her way over to claim the vacant seat beside Kisurusu while Touzoku and Itazura claimed the two open seats on the side across from Fujino.
"We have a full house for a change."
Kana grinned at Kisurusu's remark, gesturing at her friends.
"These are two of my friends from Tatekanai. Itazura Fuyuki is the tall, shy one and Touzoku Ran is the energetic one."
"Um. I'm Karashi Yui and my friend is Yojoumoe Saya. We're both second years."
Kurumu gestured at the empty desk space in front of Yojoumoe.
"Did you already finish eating?"
The girl pouted, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms below her slight bosom.
"It's not fair."
"What's not fair?"
Yojoumoe peered at her intently with brown eyes.
"If a guy like Mr. Kyuushutsu asks you out, you don't turn him down. I can't believe her nerve."
Kurumu smirked at the mention of the incubus.
"That guy actually asked someone out?"
"Ms. Yukawa, president of the poetry club."
"Not for much longer. She already said that Ms. Karada will take over the club after the festival."
Kurumu nodded, vaguely familiar with Yukawa. She was rumored to be one of the involuntary divas of the loli appreciation club and had placed fairly high in the popularity contest. Ginei had mentioned her as being capable of keeping Kyuushutsu in line.
"So… what exactly happened?"
Yojoumoe sighed dramatically.
"That devil woman refused the advances of an angel. There's not a single girl in our club whom would have dared do that. I hope she rots in hell."
"That's not nice, Saya."
"Neither was treating his proposal like a joke."
Her response had been higher pitched and had come from a second mouth buried in her raven curls.
"When did this happen?"
"At the end of our club meeting yesterday."
"How did he handle it?"
The girl let out another dramatic sigh.
"He was crushed. He walked off, muttering to himself. We couldn't get him to even look at us."
"And he is absent from school today. I'm sure if he was here, Saya wouldn't have joined us."
"Somebody has to hold that poor man tight and tell him it will be okay."
"Both Ms. Hatameku and Ms. Shirasagi spent the whole night camped outside his room."
Kurumu covered her smile at Yojoumoe's follow up remark in her second voice. While not as enthusiastic as the last encounter, this girl still randomly switched between her voices.
"I'm sure he'll get over it."
"Can't he just charm her into being his girlfriend?"
"I'm mildly surprised that he didn't."
Yojoumoe gasped, shaking her head.
"How cruel of you to say such a thing, Ms. Kurono. You of all people should know to not use your charm lightly in the labors of love."
"I've met Mr. Kyuushutsu. He's no angel."
"At least he didn't charm the entire school to convince he was dating someone that he wasn't."
Kurumu took in a deep breath, supposing she deserved that retort.
"I think we should talk about something else."
"And I have just the topic. How well do you girls know Mr. Amesuki from class eleven?"
Kurumu grimaced, wondering if the chatter about Kyuushutsu would be preferable.
"I bet we could walk on water."
Kurumu smirked at Taniguchi as they tread water with Tokori. Having already endured three training sessions, Ms. Kiyomizu had told them to relax in the lake until Mizore recovered from her latest collapse. Since Umizake had went back to his camp, they had stripped out of their clingy outfits within minutes of entering the water.
"Why would we want to do that?"
Taniguchi grinned, placing her hands on the water surface and lifting her upper torso up to reveal her creamy white breasts. Like all undine, she lacked aureoles though she had perky, coral pink nipples not much different from Kurumu's.
"Because we can. Making this lake water dense to hold us up is so much easier than trying to pull water molecules out of the air."
"What if someone sees us?"
Taniguchi parked her milky butt on top of the water shelf she had created. Letting out a happy sigh, she lifted her hands up to run her fingers through her unbound toffee tresses. A matching patch of curls graced her navel which was the only other hairs upon her body. Kurumu also shared this undine trait.
"You're fretting over nothing, Ms. Meirowasa."
"I'm fine with going back to shore."
"I guess this talent is too much for a mixed breed."
"Shut up."
Taniguchi smirked, splashing at the scowling girl.
"Get your sexy ass out of the water. You're the one that said you were tired."
Tokori sighed, rolling onto her back. She relaxed her shoulders and closed her eyes. In seconds, the monstrel lifted slightly up on a thin surface. While Tokori had inherited some of her father's powers, her body was more like her mother's. She had a respectable bosom the same size as any of Akari's friends and fat, dark nipples. The alternating pattern of black and white of her tresses was also present in the rest of her body hair, including the wild patch of fur between her legs.
"You two are showing off."
"You have much more to show."
Kurumu pouted at Taniguchi's grin.
"But I don't want to do more water stuff. We're supposed to be on break."
"I guess you'll drown."
Tokori snorted, placing her hands on top of her nipples.
"That's not possible with her massive flotation devices."
"Can you make your platform bigger?"
Taniguchi smirked at her as she drifted slowly over.
"I suppose. Climb aboard."
The undine smacked the water surface beside her which only splashed slightly. Kurumu reached over to touch the spot. It had some give, but she was able to lift up when she placed her other hand on it. Water dribbled off her torso as she twisted and sat down next to Taniguchi. It was like sitting on a sponge.
About halfway through yesterday's training session, Taniguchi had caught up to Tokori's skill and was now surpassing the girl. Under Ms. Kiyomizu's tutelage, the undine had learned how to combine hydrogen and oxygen to make water in the absence of existing water vapor. This was something Kurumu could understand conceptually but not actually do. It required expending soul power to serve as the energy to cause the chemical reaction.
"Maybe there's not enough undine in me to do this."
"Maybe you should have Mr. Amesuki put some undine into you."
Kurumu blushed, smacking Taniguchi's shoulder.
"I'm not wanting that."
"Ms. Sendou seems to think otherwise."
"Yukari has a big mouth."
"You know his sister turned sixteen the Monday before exams."
"I don't remember the birthdays of all the girls I interview."
"I'm surprised Kokoa didn't say something. She was upset that I was going off with my friends again. It's not like I needed to be there to watch her drink Hotaru's blood after their gymnastics practice."
"Can an undine drown?"
Taniguchi giggled at Tokori's random question.
"No. I can breathe underwater. My lungs are built for it."
Kurumu regarded the undine incredulously.
"How do you know?"
"Yea. Do you like randomly try to drown yourself and are like, hey, I can breathe?"
"More like our fathers do it when we're young."
"I can't imagine a parent drowning their kids to test out their lungs."
Taniguchi took in a deep breath. She smiled, playfully kicking at the water which caused their spongy saucer to turn in a circle.
"Umiman is an underwater city. It's not trapped in an air pocket. Everybody that went to school there can breathe underwater."
"I thought Umiman had electricity."
"It does. It's not like you can't have power cords submerged in water."
Kurumu nodded thoughtfully.
"I wonder if I can breathe underwater."
"Want to find out?"
"Not really."
"We have healers on shore."
"I'd rather not test their abilities."
Taniguchi shrugged indifferently before flopping back on the sponge like Tokori had done.
"Suit yourself."
Kurumu sighed as she reflected upon the training she had endured. They had yet to do anything like healing which was the skill Kurumu wanted to learn the most. She wanted to be able to fix Nerume. She glanced at the shore, wishing Ms. Kiyomizu would teach that next.
Not much had happened after lunch. As Endo was in the poetry club, Kurumu had confirmed with her about Kyuushutsu's rejection. Endo also thought Yukawa was a horrible person for shooting him down. Amusingly so did Karada when she checked with the older girl in sewing class about becoming the next club president.
They were making pillows but had all of next week to complete the project. Orochi made the task look simple and would finish hers tomorrow. Kurumu had decided to blow her hour chatting with friends though Ms. Hitori had discouraged her from wandering around after her visit with Karada.
It was good that she had talked with Kagami. The silly girl had been plotting to crash their flying session again. Kazehana had inserted herself into that conversation, suggesting Kagami join her and Nomura for karaoke on Sunday instead, aware how little Nomura cared for flying.
In a stroke of luck, Suzume and Hatoko had been the pair on cleanup duty, enabling Kurumu to make some weekend plans. Suzume had no idea if anyone else would show up for flying on Sunday but had no intentions of missing it. She was also curious about the Yowsan store and what it might have for sale.
Their club meeting had been brief with Ginei spending more of his time sharing the information he had picked up about Ms. Kiyomizu. Their teacher was the daughter of the Fairy Tale ambassador in Australia where she had been born and raised. Ginei had found out from Ms. Senda that Ms. Kiyomizu had applied for a teaching position back in 93 because her mother was a graduate of Yokai Academy.
"I wish Aoi could be here."
"Why would you want him here? Do you have a thing for him?"
Taniguchi sighed heavily at Tokori's response.
"I meant my friend."
Kurumu smiled softly, lying down beside the undine. She took Taniguchi's hand and squeezed.
"Did Kokoa tell you about my mother?"
"Yea. At lunch today."
That explained why Hotaru had been uneasy around her and why Hikari would not meet her gaze.
"What's this about her mother?"
Tokori rolled over onto her stomach, revealing that she had quite the curvy bottom.
"Ms. Kurono lost her mother recently."
A long silence settled over them. Eventually Tokori nodded.
"Well that sucks."
Another long pause followed as they basked in the warmth of the suns of this world.
"Ichiro would have turned sixteen next month."
"Isn't that your friend that died near the start of the year?"
"Funny. I haven't thought about him in months. I've been just… surviving ever since Mako died and we lost our house. It helps having Mikomi and Ms. Unari around to keep my mind off of this shit."
Taniguchi sighed heavily, letting go of Kurumu's hand.
"We end up dealing with it one way or another. Ayame and Chiharu have been staying with me in my room ever since we started the boycott because of Aoi's death. Except those nights when a pesky vampire drags me off to have her way with me."
Kurumu giggled despite the melancholy atmosphere. She lifted up on her side.
"Kokoa is something else."
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. My father never wanted me to learn how to use my powers. Said that was something boys did. He began training Wataru summer break of last year."
"Is your brother strong?"
Taniguchi groaned, rolling over onto her belly. She tucked her heels against her butt.
"I didn't bother asking. I knew it would only annoy me."
"How many siblings do you have?"
"Two younger brothers. Wataru started his first year of junior high while Are is in the fourth grade."
"I only have one younger brother and he's a pain in the ass."
Kurumu chuckled, recalling Satsuki's many complaints about the kid.
"He's a weird kid whom can't keep his hands to himself."
"Boys are like that once they hit junior high."
"This kid is only eight."
"He's nine now. His birthday was over the summer."
"Any luck with finding Satsuki a job?"
"Maybe. Bunii's uncle finally opened up that maid café he's been talking about for years."
"When did this happen?"
"Just last weekend."
"Bunii is that friend of yours from class seven, right?"
"Yea. He was going to open up after the summer break but Mononoke got shut down. And he delayed opening this month because Bunii wanted to study for midterms."
"I can't imagine Satsuki wanting to work at a maid café."
"She declined when I brought it up as an option last month."
"What does a maid café even do?"
Tokori rested her chin on the back of her hands as she kicked her legs absently.
"It's basically a tea and cake shop with the waitresses wearing maid outfits. Not much different from my current job though there is more cutesy shit required."
"Is the pay good?"
"It's about the same as what I get at Mix it Up."
"Maybe if you worked there, you could convince Satsuki to take a job there too."
"Kurono. I'm not the sort of girl you'd want to see in a maid outfit."
Kurumu frowned, sharing a glance with Taniguchi. The amused girl shrugged.
"Is there something special about Bunii that makes her suited to be a maid?"
"Not really. But her uncle needed maids and Bunii is too much of a pushover to tell him no."
"How many girls does he have working there?"
"Right now he only has two. Fuwaki is the other girl. She's two years younger than us. He runs the register while his wife works the kitchen. With such a small workforce, he could only be open for the weekend. And hiring girls from the school won't change that."
Kurumu paused, wondering if there was a polite way to phrase her next question.
"Do you think you're not pretty enough to be a maid?"
"It's not my looks, Kurono. This is more of an attitude thing. There's a reason why I get sent back to do the dishes on a regular basis."
Taniguchi groaned, slumping deeper into their sponge.
"Looks like Ms. Antai is coming our way."
Sure enough, Hotaru was flying over the lake. The sylph was holding a spare outfit as she zipped over the surface with remarkable precision. Any creature with wings could not maintain that perfect elevation.
"Kurono! Ms. Kiyomizu wants you."
Kurumu smiled as the sylph closed in on them.
"Is our break over?"
"I don't know. She just asked for you."
Kurumu frowned when Hotaru came to a stop beside her, hovering eerily.
"What for?"
"Don't know. But she wants you to get dressed."
Kurumu smirked, snatching the garments offered to her. She dropped the leggings on the water platform before working the top to line up the collar hole with the bottom.
"How is your training with Ms. Hitori coming along?"
"Stupid. You can't cut a tree down with wind."
"Weren't you trying to do that yesterday?"
"It doesn't work! Do you realize how tight you have to compress air to even nick something?"
Kurumu chuckled as she fished her head through the collar. She slipped her arms into the long sleeves, tugging the fabric along her right arm before the left.
"It's called training, Hotaru. She's not going to ask you to do something impossible."
"Yea, Ms. Kurono. You should be able to harden water like this."
Kurumu stuck her tongue out at Taniguchi while she dragged the fabric down over her bare breasts. She smoothed out the garment till the hem rested snugly about her waist.
"If you girls want to, I could show you my mother's butsudan after school tomorrow."
"That would be nice."
Hotaru looked away as Kurumu shook out her bottoms.
"I guess that's fine if Kokoa is with us."
"That's cool with me. With it being Friday, I won't have to run my ass all the way to Mononoke and back for fresh clothes."
Kurumu fished her right leg into the clingy black fabric. She was glad that Satsuki and Yukari had been with her when she had shown Tsukune the butsudan today. She might not have been able to resist his gentle touches of comfort had they been alone. Satsuki had begrudgingly endured all of the cuddling.
"It is getting easier. Accepting that mommy is gone."
"It would have been nice if Aoi had been given a proper funeral."
"It's not that special. Mako didn't get one. I honestly don't even know what they did with her body."
Kurumu frowned as she wiggled the bottoms up over her rump.
"They didn't cremate or bury her?"
"That was a crazy couple of weeks, Kurono. When I asked about it at Mr. Sawayaka's funeral, Mako's body had already been disposed of. For all I know, some freak might have eaten it."
Kurumu grimaced at the thought. Fully dressed, Kurumu held her hands up to Hotaru.
"Will you fly me back to shore?"
"Sure thing."
Grabbing hold of Hotaru, Kurumu stepped up onto the sponge. Skilled at distributing her weight, Kurumu hopped up into Hotaru's arms.
"You're surprisingly light."
"And you were right. All I had to do was jump up and miss the ground."
Sharing a grin, the sylph took off with sudden speed. Kurumu's unbound hair whipped out behind her as they rapidly approached the shore. In less than a minute, she spied Yukari whom they had left in charge of watching their outfits while they were away.
"Yukari!"
The witch looked up as they closed in on her. She wagged a finger in the direction of the camp.
"Ms. Kiyomizu wants your help to deal with Shirayuki."
They stopped in an instant within reach of the witch. Hotaru dropped the half meter to the ground, setting Kurumu down on her feet. Chuckling, she let go of the sylph.
"What's wrong with Mizore?"
"What isn't wrong with her?"
Kurumu smirked, patting the witch's head. Yukari's dark locks were matted with sweat against her brow.
"How are you holding up?"
"This is boring. I'm bringing the last three Hellsing volumes with me tomorrow so I can at least do something productive."
"Won't this environment be bad for books?"
"Not if I stuff them in a pocket dimension when I'm not reading them."
Kurumu nodded, aware that Yukari had made Ms. Hitori's duffle bag into a pocket dimension so that they could carry an infinite amount of things. They had stuffed all of their schoolbags into it last night.
"Did you finish linking up all of our phones to Mizore's CD player."
"I was done with that before you ran off to frolic naked in the lake."
"Thanks, Yukari. I'll see you later."
Yukari huffed as Kurumu trotted off. Hotaru snickered, jogging alongside her.
"Doesn't that bouncing bother you?"
"A little. You've got some jiggle going on yourself."
Hotaru chuckled, cupping her breasts.
"It would have been nice if these outfits had some semblance of support."
Kurumu reflexively did the same for hers which made it easier to run. They reached the camp in seconds which was set up the same as it had been yesterday. Ms. Hitori was tending to the campfire while Hikari and Mizore lounged on two of the sleeping bags. The teacher smirked at them.
"Do I want to ask why you two are holding yourselves?"
Sharing a giggle, Kurumu slowed to a walk and lowered her hands. Hotaru made her way over to a pouting Hikari, plopping down on the adjacent sleeping bag.
"Where's Ms. Kiyomizu?"
"She'll be right back."
Kurumu nodded, sitting down beside Mizore. The snow girl was lying on her back with her knees up and an arm draped over her eyes. Like Tokori and Hotaru, Mizore had a respectable bosom which lifted with each of her pants. A white stick rested at the corner of her mouth.
"Are you making any progress with flying?"
"Ms. Akegawa is catching on."
"Yea. Hikari was over the treeline our last session."
"And you still can't cut one down."
"That's not possible."
"I showed you how to do it, Ms. Antai."
"You shot it with a laser out of your eyes like freaking Superman. That's fire."
"Keep trying, Ms. Antai."
"Whatever. When are you going to have Hikari shooting fireballs and flying around like a rocket?"
"After she's learned how to do more things which require precision like cauterizing a wound or cutting down a tree with laser eyes."
"Which has nothing to do with the wind."
"It's accelerated particles, Ms. Antai. Stop thinking of your power in terms of elements. Matter exists in the three states of solid, liquid and gas. A sylph is fluent in the control of gas, able to compress and expand all gas elements on a whim. A salamander can only energize molecules, causing combustion."
"Yea… think I'll stick with saying I'm a wind master. Gas master sounds unpleasant."
Kurumu smirked, leaning over to poke Mizore's side. The snow girl jerked, glancing at her with alarm. Groaning, Mizore covered her eyes again.
"How are you doing?"
"Dying."
"There you are."
Kurumu grinned as Ms. Kiyomizu emerged from the woods.
"I heard you were looking for me."
"Yes. I think it's time we fixed her issue with regulating her body temperature."
Mizore groaned, lowering her hands to her belly.
"Do I have to?"
"Yes. You'll never make a good snow priestess if you can't manage this simple thing."
"I don't care about becoming the next snow priestess."
The teacher clucked her tongue as she crossed her arms below her ample bosom.
"You should. It is a great honor to be asked to protect the village of our people."
"Our people? I thought you were from Australia."
Ms. Kiyomizu smiled at Kurumu's frown.
"I am from many places, Ms. Kurono. I understand that you are capable of sharing memories."
"Yea. Why does that matter?"
"I need you to share a memory of me controlling my body temperature with Ms. Shirayuki. I believe that once she experiences how it is done, she will be able to repeat the process."
"Can she really do that?"
Ms. Hitori held a hand out at the excited Hotaru.
"Are you sure you want to let a succubus into your mind?"
"I am under the impression that time is short. I can't even train Ms. Shirayuki in her current state."
"Could we use her to teach me how to cut down a tree with lasers?"
"Not a chance. I've lived for centuries. Letting Ms. Kurono into my mind is more a risk for her than me."
"Don't be so dramatic. She's only a child. Surely you can keep her in place."
"I'd rather not try. The Headmaster told me that she was difficult to control."
Ms. Kiyomizu smiled, turning her dark blue eyes upon Kurumu.
"It's only a simple exercise."
"Could I learn other things while I'm in there?"
"That seems hardly fair to the other girls. Let's keep it to what I'm planning to show you."
Kurumu bit her lip, sorely tempted to find out more about this woman. But more importantly, she wanted to learn how to heal Nerume.
"I'm fine with it if Mizore wants to do it."
"Can I sleep after this?"
"I suppose. We need to rotate our sleeping anyways."
Kurumu smiled, lifting up on her knees. She scooted over and held a hand out to the teacher.
"You should sit down, Teacher."
"Yes. And Ms. Shirayuki should sit up."
Mizore groaned as Ms. Kiyomizu knelt down beside the sleeping bag. The snow girl rolled on her side before pushing up. Swinging her legs off to the side, Mizore let out a heavy sigh as she held a hand out.
"Should I take Ms. Shirayuki's other hand?"
Kurumu shrugged as she entwined her fingers with both women.
"I don't know if that matters."
"Well it can't hurt. Take my hand."
Mizore grumbled, shifting more upright so she could offer her other hand.
"Now only stick with what I have in mind."
Kurumu nodded, pushing first into Mizore. A spectral image of Mizore turned her head slowly while her physical form remained staring sullenly at the ground between their ring of hands. Squeezing tightly to Mizore's manifestation, Kurumu tugged the girl with her as she delved into Ms. Kiyomizu's mind.
"But I don't want to."
A lovely woman with deep purple tresses balled up and pinned stood over her. Dressed in a white kimono with light blue trim, this person whom was her mother tapped her on her tiny nose.
"You won't always have something to suck on. Now concentrate."
She held her finger up and willed a shard of ice to form by slowing down the water vapor in the air. She snatched the stick and promptly tucked it in her mouth.
"I have something to suck on."
"Naughty girl."
Her mother yanked the stick out of her mouth. With a devilish grin, the little girl held her finger up and instantly created another shard. Before she could put it in her mouth, her mother swatted it away.
"Enough of your nonsense. What will you do in a desert?"
"I'm not going to live in the desert. I'm going to be the next snow priestess and live here my whole life."
Her mother sighed heavily. The woman knelt down, taking her hands into hers. Her mother peered up at her with sapphire eyes.
"Yes, Ruri. You are so talented. But even a Snow Priestess must learn to control her body temperature. You won't always stay inside Yukimura."
Kurumu felt Mizore gasp, aware of Mizore's thoughts. This was Shirayuki Ruri, the Snow Priestess whom had left the village in 1860 with her betrothed at the age of nineteen. Despite the belief that the pair had been killed by Fairy Tale, their relations with the organization did not change when the next Snow Priestess took over. The couple had orphaned a daughter whom was directly related to Mizore.
As the little girl finally yielded to her mother's demands, Kurumu split off. Like Mizore, she was curious why Ms. Kiyomizu had this memory. She remained with Mizore, learning how to circulate the air about her to keep herself cooled. It was fascinating, pushing molecules together to create a thermal barrier to shield herself from the heat and to drop this layer and vent whenever required.
"Where do you think you're going?"
As Ruri, Kurumu peered up at her mother whom was standing in front of the door. Only the mother was actually Ms. Kiyomizu.
"We want to see what happened."
The mother tapped her cheek as her double continued to scold the little Ruri for sneezing snowflakes.
"One lesson."
The woman opened the door and they stepped out into a snowy plain.
A young man laughed, grabbing hold of both of her hands and tugged her along. He was a wonderful guy with sharp, angelic features and a lyrical voice. Frosty blue bangs fell over piercing blue eyes. This was Kou, the beautiful boy she had married last week.
"Dance with me."
"I don't want to."
He laughed, stepping in to steal a kiss. Her body temperature dove at the simple touch which caused her heart to flutter but she quickly willed her environment to stabilize.
"Silly boy. Warn me next time."
He laughed again, swinging her arms with his.
"Where's the fun in that?"
"It won't be fun if I kill you."
"It wouldn't be the first time you've tried."
She stuck her tongue out at him as he continued to grin like an idiot. Being a yuki'onna was so annoying. Thank goodness he was an undine and could withstand her mood swings. If he had been one of the usual boys from the village, he would have died the night she lost her virginity. There were limits to the cold even for them.
"Come now, my fair lady. I must tire you out so that I can enjoy the evening."
She blushed at the thought, squeezing his hands. He would take her tonight like he often did.
"How is that enjoyable to you?"
"Maybe you're not the only one with a dark side."
"Doubtful."
"There's something satisfying about ravaging the body of an unconscious, defenseless woman."
"You're not fooling anybody."
He laughed, freeing one hand to press against his belly and bow stiffly.
"Milady. One last waltz."
"I'll end up pregnant if we do this every night."
"That is the idea."
She smirked, letting him lift her hand and kiss the back of it. Relaxing her shoulders, she stepped lightly as she followed his movements through the snowy field. She swayed with his motions, aware that he wanted her to behave like she was on the deck of boat rocking to the waves of the ocean. She was happy that she had not stepped on his feet yet.
"Come here."
He tugged and she twirled in close. Her body temperature dropped when he picked her up. He spun her about and she launched a barrage of icy spears in all directions to help regulate her temperature. He set her down and snatched up one of her hands, twirling out to arms' length.
"Excellent."
She blushed as they resumed the swaying dance for a few paces. He tugged her in again, causing her to spin into his arms. As the temperature dropped, he tossed her high into the air. She did one turn in the air as he launched himself up to match her descent. They landed together and turned hard the moment their hands clasped.
"Is my lady interested in a big finale?"
She panted with a slight smirk. Squeezing his hand, she gestured to the sky.
"I suppose."
Knowing he wanted her to be fully spent, she exerted all of her power to will a huge ball of ice to form. Unlike her smaller projectiles, this chilly chunk of water was pitch black. With a sweep of her hand, she smashed it down into the field, causing the ground to crater under its weight.
He snatched her up before she could collapse. She felt cold and distant.
"Amazing as always. But I wonder. Why is your water black?"
She smiled, drifting off.
And Kurumu fell through the cracks into a world of agony.
It was hard to breathe. Everything hurt. She crawled upon the ground, reaching out for Kou. He was not moving. So still in the grass. His body broken.
"Pathetic. Sending children to oppose me now."
She cried out when a boot kicked her. She landed by her love. Her heart sank as the world about her froze. A layer of ice swept across the grass as she pulled Kou's lifeless hand against her cheek.
"You are powerful. But not strong enough to be a threat."
He kicked her again, turning her over. A strong face peered down at her with familiar, deep purple eyes.
"I should devour you."
She thrust her hand up for an attack but he caught it, crushing her hand instantly. She screamed in agony as he knelt down on her, pressing his knee into her gut.
"That won't work, child. I've eaten plenty of your kind to not have my insides frozen."
She reached deeper, pulling at the depths of her soul to bring out the darkness.
His hand crushed her throat.
"Oh. An ancient one. Nothing but a worthless parasite."
She wanted to scream at him but she could not breathe. The light was fading fast as she stared at the face of her killer. They had come to negotiate peace. He had struck the moment they arrived.
"Enjoy the new world I will bring about in your next life."
She fell deep into the darkness. It was like water crushing over her in all directions. A familiar place. Deeper. Further. Darker. Death was comforting. But never lasting.
Her next moment of awareness was looking up at her parents. She was a boy this time. And judging by the ochre eyes of her parents, she was a kappa. She had been worse. Guessing she was about two, she wondered where she was. They were speaking Cantonese so she was not that far away. Within a year she was able to speak it as fluently as she had before. She doubted that crazy Alucard had conquered Japan like he had boasted.
Kurumu jerked out of her daze. She was back in the campsite, holding tightly to Mizore's hand. Her cheek stung as she turned a confused look on Ms. Kiyomizu.
"Naughty girl. You are a slippery one."
Kurumu pouted, rubbing her cheek. Mizore gasped, clutching her chest.
"Did we die?"
"And you took Ms. Shirayuki with you. Death is not a memory I wanted you two to have."
"I just wanted-"
"To heal your friend."
Ms. Kiyomizu nodded, crossing her arms.
"Yes. I peeked into your mind. And that was how you slipped out of my little dance number. It took me a while to find you. I have a lot of memories to sort through."
Mizore let go of Kurumu's hand, shaking her head in disbelief.
"What are you?"
Ms. Kiyomizu sighed, glancing at the camp. Everyone but Yukari was gone.
"A fragment of the leviathan."
"What is that?"
"A mythological sea creature from the bible. Like the Tower of Babel, I was torn apart because God felt like it. I have met a few of my brethren and we all share the same fate. When we die, we are reborn immediately in the body of a suitable host. The legend of the hydra is based on us."
"Hydra?"
"Cut off one head. Two more appear. Though that doesn't happen. None of the brethren I have met knew anything about my past lives. It's just some silly idea an old friend of mine pitched to some poet back in Greece."
"I don't understand this."
"It's hard to explain, Ms. Kurono. The only thing we all agree upon is that we were once the same great water creature. And we always reincarnate into a host with a strong water affinity."
"What happens to the soul of the baby you take over?"
"I have no idea, Ms. Shirayuki. By the time I become aware, I'm the only consciousness present. And I try not to think too much about my long history. It makes it difficult to enjoy the present."
"But you're my ancestor."
Ms. Kiyomizu smiled, placing her hands on Mizore's shoulders.
"I was. And I wanted to do so much more for your village. It was my first time being one of your kind. And while it had its issues, I had such a wonderful family and husband."
Mizore nodded thoughtfully.
"I still don't want to be the next Snow Priestess."
The teacher laughed, lifting up on her feet. She offered Mizore a hand, helping the girl up.
"I'm not here to argue village politics. I just wanted you to learn how to regulate your temperature."
"I think I can do that now."
Kurumu chuckled as she also stood up. She gestured at Yukari.
"So how long were we out?"
Yukari scowled at them, poking at the campfire with a stick.
"I have no idea what you three are babbling about. I suggest speaking Japanese."
"But I am-"
Kurumu caught herself, realizing she was not. She turned wide eyes upon Mizore.
"We're speaking Chinese!"
"Cantonese, Ms. Kurono. There's several languages in China. It's rude to lump them all together."
"Yukari! We're speaking Cantonese!"
"Still no clue what you're saying."
It was not like Kurumu had forgotten how to speak Japanese but she had spent a year with this language.
"Could we learn English like this?"
Kurumu squealed at Mizore's inquiry, grabbing the teacher by the arm.
"You have to let us do it again!"
Ms. Kiyomizu staggered back, batting away her hands.
"Calm down, Ms. Kurono. I think that would be considered cheating."
Kurumu cocked her head, pouted and batted her eyelashes.
"Please. You are an English teacher."
"And we are students."
Ms. Kiyomizu smirked, wagging a finger at them.
"I'll consider it if I can actually get some progress with you two. Now let's go find the others."
For the first time in her life, Kurumu was excited with the prospect of learning English.