Finally the adventures begin! What will Karen be doing to start things off...?

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

Chapter 5. To Have Fun

Maya has been struggling to calm down the fox for a while now, so hearing Karen's announcement that it was finally time to head out is a relief. Karen stands in the center of Claudine's room with her arm extended and her hand held out invitingly.

"Let's go! I have a great detention in store for us tonight! I'm sure you'll have a ton of fun!"

"Uh, Karen?" Claudine slips in. "Do you mean 'destination'?"

"Yeah, that! It'll be great!"

While Claudine rolls her eyes with a smile, Maya reaches out to accept Karen's hand. Karen gives her a tug, quite unabashed for someone who is dealing with a centuries-old spirit inhabiting the same body. But rather than be irked by this, Maya senses the fox is actually a bit eager, and glad that this human girl hadn't been afraid enough to hold back. Maya willingly follows along with her across the room.

"Aijou-san, we'll be in your care tonight."

"Sure thing!"

Karen pauses at the door, which gives Maya the opportunity to glance back at Claudine, who gives a small wave.

"Be safe, you two."

Maya nods.

"I will be back at dawn. Please get some rest until then, Saijou-san."

Claudine gives a nod, but her expression says she probably won't be able to rest easily, if at all.

Maya can't blame her. She'd be equally as worried if this situation were reversed.

Once Karen has ensured the rest of Starlight Hall is fast asleep, she begins tiptoeing out of the room with Maya in-tow. Maya quietly closes Claudine's door behind herself, and falls into step behind Karen. She can feel the fox's excitement mounting as Maya finally makes good on her promise to take her on some kind of adventure. Keeping her voice low, and her eyes and ears alert, Maya calls out to her.

"Aijou-san, are you certain you'll be all right doing this tonight? You won't have slept for quite some time."

Karen looks back at her with a grin.

"No sweat!" she says a bit too loudly, then quickly resorts to whisper-screaming "I slept in a lot today, so I've got plenty of energy to spare! I can easily be up aallll night, so it's a good thing I'm out with you and not in my room. I'd probably keep Hikari-chan and Mahiru-chan awake for hours if I was! And tomorrow is Monday so that'd be a non-non!"

Maya can't help but smile. She can't recall the last time she'd been alone with Karen, but in spite of the rather stressful situation she's in at the moment, she feels quite at-ease with her classmate by her side.

She follows along quietly as Karen pauses at each hallway corner to peer around the corner, as though she's a spy on an undercover mission.

Though… I suppose we could think of it as such.

She still has no idea where Karen will be taking her tonight, or how they'll be able to satisfy Tamamo-no-Mae's desires when they are limited to a high-school girls' campus.

I can't imagine there's much a fox would enjoy doing here…

But as she continues following Karen around the building in secrecy, Maya feels the fox's enjoyment continuing to spike.

Claudine had been clever to propose something like doing this at night, where they were technically breaking the rules. Tamamo-no-Mae seems to understand perfectly that they weren't allowed to be sneaking around right now, so the slyness of their antics coincides with her tendencies very nicely. And the fact that Karen is playing it up like it's some big important spy mission is actually adding to the thrill of it.

Maya keeps alert, and when her ears pick up on the distant sounds of girls murmuring, she gives a tug on Karen's hand to stop her from rounding the next corner just yet. When Karen gives her a confused look, since she hadn't seen or heard anyone up ahead, Maya flicks her ears pointedly, and then Karen makes an "ooooh" expression. They wait until Maya hears the girls going back to their room and the door closing before continuing.

They must sneak around for nearly ten minutes or so before Maya's curiosity gets the better of her.

"Aijou-san, where exactly are we going?"

"It's a surprise!" she whispers.

"But we have now rounded the dormitory several times…"

"We have? Oh, then I guess it's time for the main event!"

"Eh?"

But Karen doesn't explain just yet. Instead, she guides Maya to the nearest exit and quietly pushes outside.

The night is warm and clear, and the outdoor lights on campus provide plenty of guidance, along with Maya's night-enhanced vision. Now that they're outside, Karen speaks at a normal volume.

"There! How was it?"

"Pardon?"

"The journey to get here! How was it? Did Tamamo-no-Mae have fun?"

"Aijou-san… were you perhaps having us sneak around the dorms for so long on purpose?"

"Yeah! I thought it'd be more exciting if we had the risk of getting discovered last longer!"

"I see…" Maya chuckles, and she feels the fox purr in the back of her throat. "I believe Tamamo-no-Mae did, in fact, enjoy herself. That was very well thought-out, Aijou-san."

"Eheehee, thanks!" Karen swings Maya's hand with delight. "All righty then! Now it's time for the main event! Follow me!" With this, Karen takes off running across the dormitory campus and down the sidewalk along the path to Seishou.

Maya assumes this is also a part of what her friends had planned; by having their nightly adventures take place at Seishou, the journey there and back would help to exhaust Tamamo-no-Mae further and leave her satisfied and ready to sleep the following day away.

The moment Karen takes off down the sidewalk, Maya feels a spirited liveliness bubbling in her stomach. She keeps a bounding pace beside her, allowing Tamamo-no-Mae to take hold a bit and move her body more freely.

Before long they arrive at the school campus, where they sneak in through the gate, which has the fox all the more delighted. They avoid the security building and the female guard on watch duty, keeping off the path and sticking to the shadows instead.

Of course Karen starts to almost sneeze, which sends Maya into a silent panic, but the other entity in her mind is bemused. Luckily, Karen eventually lets out a sigh instead of a sneeze.

"False alarm!" she grins, giving a peace sign. Maya sighs as well, then continues following her.

Karen doesn't take her toward the building, but rather keeps to the outside. Maya focuses on her rather than all of the other distracting scents and sounds of the night as Karen leads her around the main building.

"Okay, okay!" Karen eventually says. "Tendo-san, close your eyes!" She grabs both of Maya's hands to show that she'll guide her. Maya flicks her ears, then slowly obeys and closes her eyes.

Karen takes her forward for another moment or so. Maya can pick up on the strong scent of grass and soil, and then the sweeter fragrance of flowers. Finally, Karen brings them to a halt.

"Okay! We're here!"

Slowly, Maya opens her eyes, and finds herself at Seishou's courtyard. It's a place she's been to many, many times before of course; nearly ever day for the past two years for many outdoor lunches, snacks, and friendly gatherings. It's nowhere particularly incredible. But it is the first time she's ever been here so late at night, and without proper permission.

The fox spirit feels those emotions and feeds off of them, which greatly enhances her mischief-loving side. Her tails begin to sway with anticipation, and her whole body tingles.

"Ta-dah!" Karen sings. "Here we are! Isn't the courtyard just so pretty at night? Everything is super cool when it's dark out and there's nothing but the moon and starlight!" Karen laughs at her own little joke, and the smile is contagious for Maya as well.

She admires the sights of the various decorative flowers and bushes in this new ambiance, at an hour she has never witnessed it before. The small tables and chairs on the patio area where she and her friends often sit in daylight hours are now glowing silver in the moonlight, and the sounds of crickets and tree frogs echo out from all sides.

It's a world she likely never would have experienced had Tamamo-no-Mae not taken hold of her.

After a moment of reverie, Maya feels a tap on her shoulder. Karen beams back at her.

"Tendo-san, Tamamo-no-Mae, tonight's adventure is here at the courtyard! And our objective: have fun!"

"F-Fun?" Maya blinks, as though the word is completely foreign to her.

Karen nods.

"Yeah! Tamamo-no-Mae wants to relive her youth, and Tendo-san should enjoy herself too!"

Maya is hesitant at first, uncertain if this will suffice for the fox. But as far as she can tell, Tamamo-no-Mae seems perfectly fine with this proposal. She is itching to move.

"I see," Maya says. "Then-"

"Tag! You're it!" Karen taps Maya's shoulder again, then whirls around and takes off running. Maya feels a spark of eagerness to chase her. Not in a predatory sense, but rather instinctually for fun.

Before she's even realized it herself, she's taken off in accordance to Tamamo-no-Mae's wishes.

Though her human form is likely not as swift as the fox's original shape, Maya is still a quick and nimble person thanks to her rigorous training and constant physical activity. She dashes after Karen, overtaking her within just a few seconds in spite of Karen's head start. Maya rushes past her with all nine tails flowing out behind her. Karen laughs, then veers off in another direction.

"Tendo-san, you're supposed to tag me!"

"Eh? Oh." Maya quickly turns back and sets her eyes on her target, then takes off toward her. Karen shrieks with delight and swerves side to side to try and avoid her. It works for the first few seconds, until Maya catches on and reads her next move. With a bit of a lunge, she taps Karen's shoulder and calls out.

"Tag!"

And with that she's off, dashing across the courtyard without restraint.

As she runs, she feels Tamamo-no-Mae running with her, perhaps in an intangible manifestation alongside her. She feels the fox's delight as her own, hears her yelps of laugher in the back of her own throat, and sees the freedom of the world at night for all its beauty.

She avoids Karen easily for quite some time, until Karen changes tactics and surprises her with a wide arc that cuts off Maya's escape path.

"You're it!" Karen tags her and then takes off in the opposite direction. Maya smirks and charges after.

And as they play, Maya sees the memories of Tamamo-no-Mae in her own mind.

It's of a time before she had been a spirit, when she'd been nothing more than a fox kit. Jumping, chasing, tumbling and wrestling with other young foxes, yipping and barking as they explore their forest for the first time. Maya feels their joy, their freedom, their cautious excitement of entering the unknown.

She joins Karen in her laughter as they continue to race, letting loose and expending their energy.

They play for quite some time, until the moon has shifted across the sky. At last, Karen plops down into the grass and lies on her back, spreading her arms wide.

"Tendo-san… Tamamo-no-Mae… it's your win!"

Maya slows to a halt beside her, refreshingly breathless as she slowly lowers herself into the grass as well.

"Aijou-san… you truly fulfilled the objective of having fun. She is very pleased."

"That's great!" Karen smiles. "What about you, Tendo-san?"

"Pardon?"

"Did you have fun, too?"

Maya thinks for a moment, considering herself rather than just her guest.

"Yes. I suppose I did."

"Great! Mission accomplished!"

And then, Maya feels a sudden 'pop'. Blinking, she sits up just as one of her nine tails vanishes into a cloud of dust.

Karen sits up too.

"Whoa! T-Tendo-san, are you okay?!"

"Yes." Maya doesn't feel any pain, nor is the fox upset in any way. In fact, it feels like just the opposite. "Aijou-san, I believe that since you provided her with so much fun, Tamamo-no-Mae has freed me of her grasp just a little."

"Really?! That's great! Then that means if everyone else can satisfy her too, she'll let you go, Tendo-san!"

"Yes. I believe that's how this will work now."

Maya feels for the fox's presence and finds her happily exhausted. She truly did just want to re-experience her youth, and nothing more.

Now that Maya understands all of this better, she is willing to do whatever she can to help give the fox spirit some peace.

Karen checks her cell phone and shows Maya that it's just past 4AM. Maya decides this is enough for tonight since one of her tails had disappeared. She helps Karen to her feet as her classmate lets out a big loud yawn.

"Ahhh, that really was a lot of fun! I never get to do that sort of thing with you, Tendo-san!"

At this, Maya blushes faintly.

"I would have to agree. Thank you for this, Aijou-san. It was nice to spend time with you."

"Yeah! Now let's head on back and hit the hay!"

Together, they sneak off of campus and make their way back to the dorms. And even when they arrive back there, they go about their tiptoeing through the hallways until they reach Karen's room. Karen gives an accomplished sigh.

"I'm so glad it worked!" she says. "Tomorrow night you'll be with Hikari-chan!"

Maya dips her head.

"I see. Thank you again, Aijou-san. Please get some rest. I'm sorry to have done this with you on a school night."

"No sweat! I'll probably just sleep in a bit tomorrow and be late like always!"

"I apologize to Tsuyuzaki-san as well, if that is the case."

They part ways there, and Karen quietly opens her door and slips inside.

Maya then turns and makes it the rest of the way to Claudine's room. She knocks very softly, knowing it's already unlocked, and pushes her way in. She isn't all that surprised to find Claudine rousing herself in seconds, sitting up in bed with a startled look in her eyes.

"Maya-"

But the second she realizes Maya is smiling, Claudine breathes a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness…"

Maya goes to her, sitting beside her on the bed and taking her hand.

"My, Saijou-san, were you perhaps worried about me?"

"Idiot! How could I not be when you're like this?"

"I suppose you have a point."

"So? How did it go? Is Tamamo-?"

But before Claudine can finish, Maya turns to the side to reveal her tails. Claudine blinks, puzzled, until she realizes the fluff of her fur seems a bit thinner.

"One's missing!" she gasps. "What in the world did Karen do-?!"

"Please do not fret," Maya chuckles. "Aijou-san did a splendid job of showing Tamamo-no-Mae and myself a fun night. In fact, Tamamo-no-Mae was so satisfied that she reclaimed one of her tails."

Claudine, who had been on the verge of panic, slowly comprehends the meaning and relaxes.

"Oh… so that's how it is."

"Indeed. Nothing ill befell any of us tonight. It was all in good fun. Aijou-san enjoyed herself immensely, and Tamamo-no-Mae felt free as a bird."

"That's nice," Claudine says. "And what about you? What about Tendo Maya?"

Maya flushes again, just as she'd done when Karen had asked this of her.

"I, too, enjoyed myself very much."

"That's good, then. Now go take a shower and get changed. I'll dry your hair and, um... tails for you."

"Thank you very much."

Maya gets to her feet, choosing a pajama set of pants and a top from Claudine's drawers before retreating to the bathroom.

She's gotten a bit more used to the water over the past few days with her new tails and ears, and can feel the difference of how much more easily she can move now that she's down to just eight tails. She cleans herself off and gets dressed, at which point Claudine joins her.

She doesn't want to risk the hair dryer at this hour, so she dries Maya's hair and tails the old-fashioned way with a towel. Like before, she takes care around her ears, massaging them gently before patting down Maya's back to keep her wet hair from seeping into her sleep clothes.

As Maya receives such treatment, the warmth from the shower and the clean clothes, in addition to the exhaustion of the fun night, along with Claudine's touch and scent... It all puts her right on the verge of sleep then and there. She closes her eyes and almost nods off several times.

Claudine dries each tail one by one before she's satisfied that Maya is dry.

"There."

Maya opens her eyes sleepily and gives a yawn as Claudine puts the used towels into the hamper.

"Thank you very much, Saijou-san."

"Don't mention it."At this point, Claudine sounds like she doesn't have any more energy than Maya does.

Maya gets up from the stool and turns around, only now getting a good look at her in the bathroom lighting. Claudine is clearly tired, her hair is messy, and her eyes are filled with too many emotions at once. Gently, Maya reaches out to cup her cheek, still mindful of her claws.

"Saijou-san, did you get any rest at all tonight?"

Claudine sighs, closing her eyes as she leans into her palm a bit.

"How could I? When you're like this…"

Maya smiles, easing Claudine closer until she can wrap her in an embrace.

"You needn't worry, Saijou-san. With these methods you have proposed on how to satisfy Tamamo-no-Mae, and the ideas everyone has come up with, I believe she will relinquish her hold on me before very long."

Claudine blinks her eyes open tiredly.

"And what if she doesn't…?"

Maya swishes her tails.

"Is the fact that she already took back one of her tails not proof enough?"

"I guess so…"

"Saijou-san… Claudine, you just want to go back to having me all to yourself, don't you?"

"You're delusional."

"You don't like having to share me with her, do you?"

"Shut up! It's almost 5 in the morning, and unlike you, I'm going to class tomorrow."

"Then let us get some sleep."

Maya turns off the bathroom light and walks with her back to the bed. Claudine lies down with a sigh; clearly she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep because she'd been so worried about Maya and if the nightly plan would work.

So Maya is determined to make it up to her now. She curls her arms around Claudine and cuddles up against her. She can already sense the fox has fallen asleep and won't be tugging at her mind tonight. Claudine hugs her back loosely, her eyes already falling shut.

"Get some sleep…" she mumbles.

"Please, you first," Maya insists. She can hear the exhaustion in her partner's pulse, even though Claudine hadn't been the one out running around all night long. Claudine sighs and fades off within seconds.

"Bonne nuit…"

"Yes. Goodnight, Ma Claudine."

Maya understands her partner's fears. But now that Maya has successfully gone on this first little adventure tonight with Karen, she knows for certain that Tamamo-no-Mae is not simply tricking her to get what she wants. She truly is releasing her hold on Maya little by little - so long as Maya can give her what she truly desires.

Maya is confident she will be able to work through this together with her friends, so long as no one discovers her.

She waits another few moments, listening to Claudine's heartbeat, until Maya also feels her eyelids drooping. She closes them, content to sleep now after such an eventful night.

And this time, her dreams are only of fun, and the birds in the sky continue flying.

A/N: I chuckled at the idea of writing Karen purposefully leading Maya around in circles to start just to drag it out and make it feel like a spy mission or something haha. She's so childish and dumb but always has the best intentions~ One tail gone!

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