With Karen's adventure a success in proving that one new experience equals one of Tamamo-no-Mae's tails vanishing in satisfaction, what will the other girls have in store for her now...? This time it's Hikari's turn!
Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.
Chapter 6. To Learn
When Claudine next opens her eyes, it feels as though she'd only slept for two more minutes, not two more hours. Thankfully though, Maya is fast asleep, and doesn't so much as flinch even as Claudine meticulously pries herself free from her grasp.
She almost wants to take today off from classes just to stay with her. After all, this will be the first school day since Maya had gotten possessed. Claudine will be leaving her alone like this for seven hours. What if the fox overtakes her completely for some reason and she escapes? What if someone sees her?
She doesn't know what might cause Tamamo-no-Mae to rouse herself and take hold of Maya, and if she did she'd likely want to explore her new environment. And it was one thing to do so while supervised by one of Claudine's friends at night. But by herself in broad daylight? It would cause irreparable damage for Maya, the school, and everyone involved.
And Claudine only got a few hours of sleep last night. Perhaps it would be best for her to skip class today anyway…
What in the world am I thinking? Of course I can't!
Other than being a bit drowsy, she is in perfect health and has no valid reason to skip today. Well, other than keeping an eye on her possessed partner. But she can't possibly afford to do that every single day until they've freed Maya. Perhaps just today, just on the first day, just to ensure Maya will be all right-
She's so deep in thought that she doesn't realize when Maya stirs and peeks one eye open. Her tall ears twitch, tuning into the sound of a flustered pulse even from this distance. Slowly, Maya reaches out to touch her partner and get her attention.
"Saijou-san."
"Huah?!" Claudine shrieks softly before slapping a hand over her mouth, then exhaling. "You scared me!"
"My apologies."
"That was a prankster move… Is this Tamamo-no-Mae or Tendo Maya?"
"Which do you presume?"
"Ugh."
"Precisely."
Claudine sighs, but places her hand over Maya's in turn.
"Sorry. I was trying not to wake you."
"Externally, you were perfectly quiet. However internally…"
Claudine blushes a little, and her pulse spikes. Maya smiles up at her.
"These ears truly are incredible."
"Enough! Stop listening!"
"Unfortunately, I can't seem to help it. What has you so upset this early in the morning, Saijou-san?"
Claudine clams up for a moment, crossing her arms over her chest with a pout before replying.
"I was considering taking today off to stay with you. Just to make sure you'll be all right. I can't have you sneaking out and getting spotted. I can already hear the announcements coming on in the middle of class saying there's been a discovery of a mutant person with animal tails running around campus."
In spite of herself, Maya laughs. Claudine blushes harder.
"Hey, don't laugh! I'm being serious, here!"
"Forgive me." Maya tapers off with a chuckle before casting a look of genuine appreciation up at her. It's a look Claudine's heart isn't ready for so early in the morning, but she can't look away.
"Saijou-san," Maya murmurs, sliding a little closer to her. "I believe I can honestly say you won't have to worry about anything of the sort. Tamamo-no-Mae is deeply asleep today, enough so that even if she does wake, I am certain I will be able to control her. Having her share my body for the past few days has allowed me to understand her in certain ways, enough to be able to negotiate and reason with her consciousness. I can assure you that both she and I will do nothing but sleep the day away, and that you have no need to worry about anything."
Claudine gives her a bit of a skeptical glare.
"Somehow that makes me worry even more…"
Maya pushes herself up now so she can sit eye-level with her and takes both of Claudine's hands this time. She gives a reassuring squeeze and a charming smile.
"Please have a little faith in me, Claudine. Although, now that I look closer, you do seem rather sleep-deprived. Perhaps you should stay with me today after all."
"I'm fine! I'm going!"
Claudine wriggles free of her grasp and gets out of bed, admittedly feeling more energized by Maya's reassurance. As Claudine goes about her room gathering her uniform and her supplies for the day, Maya lies back down and watches her fondly.
"Should anything happen, though I do not believe anything will, I shall message you immediately."
"You'd better," Claudine huffs. "I'll go and bring us back some breakfast for now, and I'll come back at lunchtime to bring you something as well."
Maya frowns.
"That is quite a bit of trouble you'll have to go through for my sake."
"Well, we can't help it. It would look weird if any of the others were trying to get into my room in the middle of the day, and you can't exactly go out to get food for yourself right now, can you?"
"I suppose not."
"Then this is how we'll do things. And like we said, you'd better message me if anything happens. Is your phone charged? Use my charger if you need to."
"Thank you very much. I'm sorry to be a troublesome guest."
"You're only a bit more troublesome than usual."
Claudine heads into her personal bathroom to get dressed and ready for the day. When she emerges back into the bedroom, Maya has already fallen back asleep.
Claudine exits quietly and joins the others in the lounge for breakfast. Karen is already excitedly whispering about last night.
"We snuck in as planned," she says. "And we just ran around and had a lot of fun! And then at the end - poof! One of Tamamo-no-Mae's tails disappeared!"
"Disappeared?" Futaba says. "Whoa."
"Does that mean she was satisfied with the adventure?" Nana wonders.
"That's what it seems like," Claudine says as she enters. "Bonjour. I've come to bring my freeloader some breakfast."
"Morning, Kuro-chan!"
"How is Tendo-han?"
"Annoying as ever. But sleeping now. You really wore her out, Karen. She should sleep through the day until Hikari is ready for her."
Hikari perks up at the mention of her name.
"I hope I'll be able to entertain Tamamo-no-Mae, too…"
"You'll do great, Hikari-chan!" Mahiru beams. "Just make sure you take a good nap after classes today so you can stay up all night."
"Yeah. I look forward to a nap."
"Just make sure you do your homework first," Junna reminds her.
The eight girls sit down to enjoy their breakfast together, chatting about more normal topics now. They'll have to act as though Maya is away for the time being also.
"It'll be like one big play!" Karen declares. "We just have to keep up the act!"
"Yeah, so step one is not calling it an act, dummy!" Futaba scolds her.
Once they've finished eating, Claudine casually takes a bit of food back to her room and enters when no one else is around. Maya is so deeply asleep that she doesn't wake at the sound of the intrusion, just a flick of her ears and nothing more.
Claudine leaves the food on the night stand and pauses to look her over. Her eight remaining tails have ruffled the blankets away and exposed her a bit, so Claudine carefully pulls them back up and tucks her in as best she can. She checks Maya's phone to ensure it's charged, and then puts her own on a low ringer in case anything happens. A moment later, Claudine takes her leave.
After that, it's pretty much a regular day, save for the fact that Maya is absent. Claudine does her best to focus on her lectures, finding that she isn't as tired as she'd thought she might be on just two hours of sleep.
At lunchtime she makes the walk back to the dorms with Karen, Hikari, and Mahiru. When they quietly peer into Claudine's bedroom, they find that the breakfast she'd left for Maya has been eaten, but Maya is asleep once again.
Mahiru helps Claudine clear away the old plates and put the new ones there instead, while Karen and Hikari stare at Maya's fluffy tails spilling over the side of the bed. Mahiru and Claudine each grab them by the scruff to prevent them from touching.
The four girls enter and leave without waking Maya, leaving the fresh food in place of the empty plates before making their way back to Seishou.
They discuss once again what Hikari will be doing tonight with Maya, and the rest of the day passes quickly. Hikari completes her homework, and then takes a long nap before supper, while Claudine keeps to her room with her sleeping guest. Maya wakes just before dinnertime, tails swishing.
"It's about time," Claudine says, standing from her desk. "Did you sleep well?"
"Exceptionally. Although, I hardly remember waking up to eat, I'm aware that it happened. It was quite the strange day, to say the very least."
"I'll say. Our classmates are all in a tizzy since you aren't at school. You'd better get freed from Tamamo-no-Mae soon, or else I'll claim the position of top student before you can get back."
"I highly anticipate it, Saijou-san."
Claudine brings her some dinner back, and they eat together as they wait for the 10PM curfew to pass. A short while later, as Claudine is getting dressed for bed and Maya is getting dressed to head out, a timid knock comes at the door.
"Come in, Hikari," Claudine calls out.
Maya turns to face her accomplice for the night. She feels Tamamo-no-Mae wriggle with excitement, eager to get moving.
Hikari dips her head as she enters partway.
"Pardon the intrusion." She pauses to stare at Maya and her fluffy tails again, and it's all too obvious that she wants to touch them, but is putting in great effort to restrain herself. "Good evening, Tendo-san. And… Tamamo-no-Mae."
"Good evening, Kagura-san," Maya smiles. "Tamamo-no-Mae is very delighted to be accompanying you tonight. I must say it feels even more enthralling than last night, because now it is no longer the weekend. Sneaking around will be more fun for her."
"Yeah. I hope you'll like tonight's objective."
"I am certain we will both enjoy." Maya goes to meet Hikari at the door, then turns back to Claudine briefly. "Please get some proper rest tonight, Saijou-san. Kagura-san and I will be fine."
Claudine gives a sharp nod.
"You'd better be."
Maya smiles before closing the door and following Hikari out.
Their adventure begins much the same way as the one with Karen had, with Hikari cautiously checking around every hall corner before advancing.
And even though something similar had happened the night before, it seems to Maya that Tamamo-no-Mae receives an equal thrill for sneaking around after-hours and breaking rules.
But unlike Karen, Hikari leads Maya straight to the exit doors undetected, and they begin the walk to Seishou in the darkness.
Calmly suppressing the excited fox within herself, Maya walks quietly beside Hikari, who is equally as silent. The two of them hadn't ever exactly been alone together before, after all.
But even though Maya herself is aware of her own struggles with sociable situations, she knows Hikari struggles even more. Therefore, Maya takes it upon herself to speak up first.
"Thank you very much for accompanying me tonight, Kagura-san. Tamamo-no-Mae and I look forward to what you have in store for us."
Hikari glances sideways a bit awkwardly, but still tries to smile.
"Thanks. I'll do my best."
They walk quietly for a moment, keeping out of the streetlights and only using them for guidance. After crossing a quiet street, Hikari speaks up again, clearly doing her best not to let things fall into too awkward of a silence.
"Tendo-san."
"Yes?"
"How is it?"
"Pardon?"
Hikari blushes and looks down, then tries to elaborate.
"I mean, what's it like to have Tamamo-no-Mae with you?"
"Oh, I see. Well, it is a bit strange to be sharing my body and mind with her, but I feel I'm beginning to get used to it. Though I'm not certain if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But I am confident we will be able to fulfill her wishes together with everyone's help. I'll be counting on you tonight as well, Kagura-san."
Hikari gulps, but gives a very determined nod.
"I'll do my best."
By now they've reached Seishou, and it's a matter of slipping past the gate and the security officers once again. Maya can tell by Hikari's expression and body language that she's extremely nervous about snooping around like this, and yet her emotions only serve to make it feel all the more real to Tamamo-no-Mae.
When at last they've managed to make their way to the school building, Hikari uses her student ID card (provided by Mahiru's reminder) to unlock the doors and let them inside. Maya feels the fox's interest pique, since she had never been in the building yet.
Once they've hurried in, Hikari straightens up and lets out a sigh.
"We made it."
"Indeed."
Maya's tails rustle, seeming like they all want to go in different directions to explore this new territory. The fox doesn't seem to mind at all that this place is a human establishment; she craves adventure no matter the location. It's Maya's hope that she won't get tired of the same campus night after night.
After a moment, Maya notices Hikari staring at her curiously; particularly at her tails. Maya smiles.
"Kagura-san?"
Hikari jolts and quickly turns around, like a child caught doing something they shouldn't have been. Maya already has an inkling as to what this is about, but she's never seen Hikari act this way with her before, and it's quite precious.
"Sorry," Hikari mumbles. "I'll take you on your adventure now. I hope it's enough."
Hikari checks over her shoulder to ensure Maya is following, then cautiously starts off down the dark hallway, using her phone's screen for brightness.
Maya follows along with ease thanks to her night vision. It's a bit jarring for her personally, being that she herself is very familiar with the building. But Tamamo-no-Mae is seeing it for the first time, through Maya's eyes, which have seen it countless times. Every second is puzzling because she feels the familiarity of having seen this place daily, coupled with the mild awe of seeing a place for the very first time.
It's a lot to take in all at once, so much so that she hardly hears Hikari's comment that she mumbles to herself.
"It's kind of spooky…"
And until now, Maya had been entirely fine with sneaking around the school building at night. But now she suddenly recalls her biggest irrational fear.
It hadn't surfaced last night with Karen, because they'd been outside. But now that she is in an empty building, with four walls closed around her, not even her enhanced night vision can spare her from a twinge of fear and a prickle up her spine.
Hikari advances a few more steps before realizing her companion is lagging behind. She pauses.
"Tendo-san?"
Maya jolts a little bit, feeling the fur on her ears and tails bristling. Though Tamamo-no-Mae isn't afraid of ghosts, her host is, and so Maya's body reacts accordingly.
"Ah… Pardon me, Kagura-san. Please continue leading the way."
Maya does her best to allow Tamamo-no-Mae's confidence to reign over her own cowardice, but her feelings are just as strong as her guest's are, which puts her body into an overall state of limbo. Maya, who wants to retreat, and Tamamo-no-Mae, who wants to advance.
So in compromise, they remain rooted to the spot.
Puzzled, Hikari watches her for a moment before recalling that Maya isn't a fan of ghosts and haunted things. But Hikari herself has never been particularly good with comforting other people, so she isn't quite sure what to do at the moment.
For this situation, she tries to think about what Karen or Mahiru might do if it were Hikari who was scared. She can come up with only one solution.
Keeping her phone in her right hand for guidance, Hikari walks back to Maya and offers her left. Maya blinks, and her tall ears that had gone flat perk up a little.
"Kagura-san…?"
"If you're scared, we can hold hands," Hikari offers. "That should help."
Maya looks down into her nervous but genuine eyes and feels a sudden warmth pass through her chest.
"Kagura-san… thank you."
Carefully, Maya reaches out her hand to hold onto hers, minding her nails to clasp them gently around Hikari's fingers. Hikari offers a tiny smile.
"It's not that scary if you hold hands."
"Yes. I feel much better already."
"I'm glad."
Hikari gives a gentle tug, and Maya willingly steps forward to follow her.
Now, with Maya feeling better, Tamamo-no-Mae can continue relishing her own excitement.
Hikari leads them down a few hallways, and all the while Maya shifts between recognition and lack thereof of her surroundings. But when they finally pause and reach their destination, she knows exactly where it is even before Hikari announces it.
"We're here. Homeroom."
Hikari pockets her phone in favor of keeping hold of Maya's hand as she slides open the classroom door.
Once again, Maya is perplexed by the clashing feelings that wash through her, with herself recognizing this exact location perfectly while the fox is filled with excitement at seeing a new place for the first time.
The two girls walk into the room of empty desks, and Maya finds herself naturally drifting toward her own. She inhales deeply, allowing Tamamo-no-Mae's superior nose to bring all kinds of scents to her; the sturdy wood, the dusty books, the wrinkled parchment. Her eight tails sway with content as her eyes explore.
At the same time, Maya herself feels a little melancholy to look down at her own desk, which has been untouched and unused for several days now. She longs to rejoin her friends and classmates in school as quickly as possible, but in order to do that she needs to help Tamamo-no-Mae on her way.
With her split consciousnesses thinking their own thoughts and feeling their own feelings, Maya's ear flicks as she hears a noise from the front of the room. Hikari has taken her place at the teacher's podium, putting her phone there to give herself some light and to make the room a bit more inviting.
"You can sit," she says. "Tonight's objective is indicated by our location. It's to learn."
"To learn?" Maya asks the question, but she can feel Tamamo-no-Mae's reaction is one of eagerness. Not only was she a mischievous and agile fox, but she was also very intelligent and held a vast knowledge of the world. Rather, she was well-informed of the era she came from, but Maya is doubtful the fox knows much at all about the modern age. Which explains why she's so excited for Hikari's lesson; it will be a mental adventure rather than a physical one.
So Maya dips her head, taking her chair off her desk and placing it on the floor so she may sit at her desk and listen. She needs to sit on the edge due to her tails taking up a lot of space behind her, so she leans her arms onto her desk to keep herself up. Once she's settled and has given Hikari her full attention, Hikari clears her throat.
"Now then, what should we learn about tonight?"
"Hmm…" Maya mulls it over for a moment, but ultimately comes to an obvious answer. "Perhaps theatre? Tamamo-no-Mae knows very little of it, and I'm sure she would appreciate the topic, especially considering a play is what brought her to me."
As she makes this proposal, she feels the fox's energy surge in agreement. Hikari smiles.
"Okay. Well then, since Tendo-san already knows plenty about Seishou Academy… Why don't I tell you both about the Royal Academy in England?"
"That sounds wonderful."
Hikari seems to shine a little in the darkness, and not just because of her phone's light. She'd never really gotten the chance to share all of her knowledge of her previous school before; certainly not like this, and definitely not to Maya.
By only having an audience of one (or maybe technically two), it alleviates the pressure of public speaking and allows Hikari to speak with ease.
"Let's see… For starters, the Royal Academy of Arts was founded in 1768…"
And so Hikari's lecture begins.
It's true that the information she shares is new not only to Tamamo-no-Mae, but also to Maya herself, which makes it all the more engaging for the both of them.
Hikari tells everything she knows about the Academy to start, and Maya realizes she's never heard her speak so much all at once. Tamamo-no-Mae takes great enjoyment in absorbing all of this new information about the Academy's history, founding, and fame.
Eventually, Hikari moves into talking about the most famous instructors and plays her former school had to offer. Maya listens attentively all the while, but raises her hand for a comment at that point.
"Kagura-san? What was your favorite play you partook in at the Royal Academy?"
Hikari blushes slightly; clearly she hadn't been expecting questions about herself. But she can't disguise how flattered and eager she is to respond.
"Well, let's see…"
Maya watches the change in her, how she goes from a confident and objective 'teacher' when talking about the Academy to a shy but delighted schoolgirl when discussing her own experiences. The fox is bemused as well, but both she and Maya enjoy their lesson.
All in all, they hold their little midnight lecture for close to two hours. By the end of it, Hikari's voice has become slightly hoarse. Maya doesn't think she's ever spoken so much, not even during a play where she'd had the lead role.
"My apologies, Kagura-san," Maya says as she gets up from her seat. "I did not mean to have you talk in such excess."
Hikari smiles and shakes her head.
"It's all right. It was nice."
"I whole-heartedly agree."
"What did Tamamo-no-Mae think?" Hikari wonders, a little fretfully.
But in response to her inquiry, there's a soft sudden pop as one of Maya's tails disappears into a cloud of dust. Hikari blinks in shock.
"Oh no-"
"Worry not, Kagura-san," Maya soothes her. "This is exactly what happened last night with Aijou-san. It means Tamamo-no-Mae was more than satisfied with what she learned here tonight. You taught her a lot, and myself as well. Thank you very much."
Hikari sighs with relief.
"Thank goodness."
By now, it's nearly 3AM. Maya replaces her chair up on her desk, hoping she can come back to it in daylight hours during classes soon. Hikari takes her phone in one hand, and Maya's hand in the other. Together, they quietly exit the classroom, and make their way back outside.
The walk back to the dorms is comfortably quiet, as Maya can sense the fox has become drowsy from the adventure, glad to have gained so much new knowledge. By the time they make it back to Starlight Hall, both Hikari and Maya have begun yawning as well.
They enter the quiet building and head for their hallway, holding hands until the last minute. Maya doesn't fear anyone potentially seeing her at this hour, so she takes the time to thank Hikari properly once again.
"Kagura-san, both Tamamo-no-Mae and I had a wonderful time tonight. Thank you very much."
"You're welcome."
With this, they should have gone their separate ways for the night. But Maya doesn't miss the way Hikari's eyes wander innocently back to her tails. Maya smiles.
"Kagura-san? Would you perhaps like to touch them?"
"Eh?" Hikari sounds both nervous that she'd been discovered, and excited at the same time.
Maya chuckles. "It's all right. Tamamo-no-Mae has become dormant for the most part. I don't think she would mind at all."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Hikari gulps, trying not to look too excited as she takes a step closer. Maya angles a few of her remaining tails toward her invitingly.
Hikari reaches out with tentative hands, barely brushing her fingertips across the soft fur to start. But after asking permission with her eyes, Maya nods, so Hikari leans in to gently hug one of her tails. Hikari closes her eyes and sighs blissfully.
"It's almost as soft as Mr. White…"
Maya smiles, glad to offer her gratitude to Hikari like this.
After a moment Hikari yawns again, then steps away. Dipping her head, she staggers toward her room.
"Mmn… goodnight, Tendo-san."
"Thank you, Kagura-san. Goodnight."
Maya waits until Hikari has closed the door behind herself before turning to head back to Claudine's room. She enters as quietly as possible, but even so her partner stirs the instant the door is opened. Claudine pushes herself up groggily, as though she'd been switching between sleep and consciousness all night, obviously still worried about Maya.
Maya goes to her now, removing her shoes to join her on the bed. She folds both arms around her before Claudine can fret for even a second. Whatever she'd been about to say fades into a sigh as Claudine melts against her chest.
"Welcome back…"
"I've returned. Forgive me for waking you."
"It's fine…" Claudine mumbles tired little sounds against Maya's shirt for a moment before easing herself back. "How did it go? How are you feeling?"
"Wonderfully exhausted. Tamamo-no-Mae has already fallen asleep."
As Claudine straightens up a bit, she peers behind Maya to count her tails.
"Seven left…"
"Indeed. Kagura-san taught both Tamamo-no-Mae and myself many things tonight. It sufficed to satisfy my guest's terms."
"That's good…" Claudine's eyes soften with relief, but a moment later they become stern again. She rests her hand against Maya's cheek and inspects her face. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Maya can't hold back a yawn just then, but she leans her face into Claudine's palm.
"Just tired, that's all."
"Then you should sleep."
"Of course."
Claudine shifts over to make room for her, and Maya lies down beside her beneath the blankets. She hugs her partner close, then drapes her tails across Claudine's body as much as possible to keep her warm.
Though Claudine had once again tried to hide her restlessness, Maya can easily sense the distress that's been writhing beneath her skin all night. She curls her arms around Claudine and nuzzles into her hair.
"Thank you for your concern, Saijou-san. Please get some rest now."
"Mechante va… you too, Tendo Maya…"
"Of course."
Maya waits no longer than a minute until Claudine's breathing has deepened and her pulse has slowed. Only then does she close her eyes and invite sleep to come.
She does feel a bit more tired than she had the night before, but she can only assume that's because of the slight strain her body has been under with two souls inside of it, and because of the adventures she's been going on in the dead of night.
But so long as they continue on this path, she should be free of Tamamo-no-Mae in just another week.
But until then, she opts to curl her tails around Claudine and keep her warm.
A/N: A rare scene of Hikari and Maya together! It was fun to consider how socially awkward they both are, on top of them never really interacting much with one another specifically. But by the end of it all they've grown a little closer!
Also it was fun writing Hikari being an actual child just mainly wanting to touch the fluffy tails. And them holding hands cuz Maya is afraid of ghosts~ So much potential for these two!
Please review!