Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater

(featuring the Yuuki family pet)

Julia the drider thought of herself as a patient creature. That was the nature of a web-spinning arachnid, after all, to lay in wait for hapless prey to blunder into her clutches, only for it to realize too late that it was trapped.

Of course, things were a little different since Nao had brought home a box of juicy grasshoppers for her from the pet store earlier that afternoon. More than once, Julia had considered giving up the whole thing and dropping down from her perch on the cupboard to indulge in her favorite snack, particularly since it was sitting right there on the counter below her.

But she hesitated to take the risk. Nao wouldn't mind, Julia was sure; her mistress's attitude was that people should take stuff they wanted if they had the opportunity to do so. And Nao was a novice nun, so she should know about how to charitably teach others a lesson in vigilance and humility.

Where there was holiness, however, there was also its opposite. The nun shared the apartment with not only Julia, but also the Devil Woman, Aoi Senoh, who liked to keep things clean. She objected to leftover cobwebs! Getting into the grasshoppers and letting them start hopping around the apartment would definitely be off the list of things she found acceptable. And there were even rumors that the Devil Woman had been training with Headmaster Fumi! Truly, the powers of evil were terrifying!

This being Halloween, where tradition held that such powers were exalted, Julia decided not to trifle.

(It also didn't help that Chie Harada was visiting Aoi. Chie liked to play Prince Charming; if Aoi squeaked in shock at loose bugs, Chie might take it on herself to squash them all, and what would Julia's snack be then? "You snooze, you lose" was also an underlying principle of Nao's theology, so she would not be overly sympathetic.)

"C'mon, Aoi, we'll be late for the party."

Julia's ears perked up. Party? They were going to a party? Come to think of it, Chie wasn't dressed like usual. She was a handsome girl, but she ordinarily wore her school uniform or other feminine clothes. An immaculate black suit, shoes polished to a high gloss, and shirt and gloves so snowy white they almost hurt Julia's eyes, were not usual for her.

And if there was some kind of special event, Aoi might be going out. She could be gone for hours! Hours in which Julia could help herself to a grasshopper! And if any others did happen to escape the box, well, then Julia would have to eat them as well. As Nao's CHILD, wasn't her duty to help her mistress in making her roommate's life more comfortable? She would just have to catch all the others in order to be nice to the Devil Woman.

Driders were almost as well-known for their skill at self-justifying rationales as they were for their patience.

"I don't know, Chie," came from behind Aoi's closed bedroom door. "Don't you think this is a little much?"

"Of course not. It's perfectly respectable."

"Then why don't you wear it?"

"Because it suits you much better. Even Mai agreed, when we told her about our costumes."

"Okay, okay, fine."

The door opened and the Devil Woman emerged. To Julia, it was like something out of a horror film, when a human-seeming monster had revealed its true, terrifying inner self. Aoi's complaints about the costume really weren't all that justified; the skirt of her black dress wasn't any shorter than her school uniform's, and the white apron gave additional coverage. It was probably just little touches like the black fishnet stockings, or the lace-edged ribbons at neck and wrists, that made her think so. A small lace cap and a feather duster completed the outfit.

It's true! It's all true! Julia thought in horror. The Devil Woman really had been studying with Fumi. And she was far more advanced in her training than Julia had dared think if she was allowed to don the proper uniform of a maid outside of the dojo!

"See, I told you you'd look great," Chie said, smiling broadly. "C'mon, let's get going. I'll give Nao this, she knows how to throw one hell of a party, and I don't want to be late."

The bells of doom seemed to echo in Julia's mind. The party was being thrown by Nao! Were the powers of evil trying to claim her innocent soul this Halloween night? Julia had to act now, before it was too late!

~X X X~

Aoi was reaching for her purse when she saw the shape come flying down at her out of the corner of her eye. Squealing in shock, she lashed out on pure reflex with the feather duster, feeling the impact up her arm as it hit the projectile squarely and knocked it onto the couch.

"Whoa, what was that all about?" Chie said.

"I...don't think Julia likes maids very much."

Looking over at where the drider lay on her back on her couch, her legs twitching, Chie said, "I'm not really sure I can blame her."

~X X X~

A/N: Yes, Chie is dressed as a butler.