Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater
(featuring the Yuuki, Tokiha, and Minaga family pets)
Mai Tokiha bit her lip, staring at the task before her in intense concentration. It was a delicate process, and if she made the slightest error, she would have to tear out her work and replace it.
A loud chittering sound interrupted her, and she nearly fumbled her knitting needles in surprise.
"Ack! Julia, don't do that!"
The drider extended one spider leg and pointed at a spot four rows back.
"Aw, no, I dropped a stitch! Why didn't you tell me?"
Julia attempted a facepalm, which since she didn't actually have palms (or, for that matter, hands) turned out to be more of a faceleg.
"She's been trying to tell you, Mai," Aoi Senoh told her friend as gently as she could manage. "You were just so focused on what you were doing that you didn't hear."
"Seriously," Nao Yuuki's voice rose from the general direction of the couch, "after begging her for knitting lessons, the least you can do is to pay attention to the expert."
Julia proudly held up the spider-silk scarf she was working on. It was silver and glittering and Mai thought it looked like something that Reito might wear. The redhead just sighed.
"I know." She began laboriously picking out her stitches.
"I still think it's weird that you're asking her for help," Aoi said. She had a somewhat dubious relationship with her roommate's CHILD, where they tried to keep at least the length of a swatting broom between them at all times.
"Yeah, if you want to give your boyfriends a homemade present, just cook them dinner. Then invite us over, too, because your cooking is better than mine."
"That's not the point, Nao. I'm tired of it seeming that food is the only talent I have when it comes to doing things for them."
"Saving the world?" Nao drawled.
"Not really useful on dates," Aoi said.
"Point. And going to karaoke is more of a gift for you, not them, even though you can actually sing. And I assume we're in the 'do something tangible' category, not the 'general whining' category, so talking about your personality and the way you make them feel good through conversation and shared time isn't relevant to your complaint?"
"Of course!"
"Good; I put up with enough of that stuff at the chapel. I swear, I wish self-esteem could be bottled. We'd make a mint. Do you think you could hook Kanzaki up to a tap while he's sleeping?"
"Nao…"
Nao yawned, obviously not impressed by the possible revenge for her smartassery. Mai had to admit that she probably didn't look all that intimidating tangled up in green and orange yarn. She tried to think up a sassy comeback, but failed, and wished that something would happen to change the topic before she completely floundered.
When the smoke alarm went off, she decided it was a good lesson in being careful what she wished for.
"What's going on?" Nao yelped.
"Did your stupid spider leave the stove on again?" Aoi said. Julia huffed and waggled an unoccupied pair of legs at her.
Mai, meanwhile, was the responsible one as usual, jumping to her feet and dashing towards the sound. She came running back a second later.
"What is it?" Aoi asked.
"It's not your alarm. That's from the other side of the wall."
"But that's your apartment."
"I know!" Mai was already rushing out onto the balcony, then down to her door. She yanked it open, and a gush of smoke burst out at once, making her realize that she could have been badly hurt had there been a fire. Aoi and Nao trailed along after her, Aoi clutching a fire extinguisher. There didn't appear the be any sign of flames, though, or even any significant heat.
A small, legless oni was rolling around on the floor, clutching its belly. At first Mai thought Miroku was sick, then noticed his expression and realized that Mikoto's CHILD had been—and still was—laughing.
That's not a good sign.
They proceeded into the kitchen, where they were greeted by a strange sight. The body of a short, wiry girl appeared to have been stuck to the floor by a mess of tacky goo that had apparently started out white but was now blackened and charred.
"What happened here?" Mai boggled.
Since there appeared to be no fire and the smoke was rapidly clearing through the open door, Julia made herself useful by scuttling up the wall and turning off the alarm.
A slender dragon's head poked itself up out of the crusted goop and gave a plaintive yowl like a beached whale.
"Kagutsuchi, you too?"
Kagutsuchi wasn't giving any answers, so Mai bent down and plucked a ceramic bowl off of the prone girl's face.
"Mikoto, are you all right? What's going on here?"
Mikoto's eyes still looked a little unfocused.
"You won't let me use the kitchen appliances when you're not here, Mai," she moaned, "and I was hungry."
"You'll ruin your dinner if you snack now," Mai said, almost by reflex.
"So we were going to use Kagutsuchi's fire breath to toast some marshmallows."
That explained the origin of the sticky, burnt goop, but not how it got there.
"He doesn't always have the best control," Mai said, thinking of assorted environmental destruction from the HiME festival.
"We figured we'd do the whole bag a once; in case some of them got burnt we could just throw them out and eat the rest. We didn't know it would explode!"