By Hatsumi's urging, I head upstairs to try and talk to Mio. Unfortunately I find myself stuck in front of her door, with a hundred different things to say playing through my mind.
There's a lot I want to ask. Why was she so scared of Selene? Who is she to Mio?
My identity of being a greater succubus is known now. I can't hide it from Mio anymore. The flip side is she can't hide it from me either. It might be a blessing in surprise that a third party was the one to do it.
My sister is at the foot of the stairs, gesturing for me to knock. A minute goes by with me just staring at the door until Hatsumi finally gets fed up waiting.
"Mio! I brought some pudding!"
Hatsumi dives away as the door opens up. Mio's glittering eyes become less interested when she sees me.
"I, uh… brought pudding."
Mio snatches one of the bowls and retreats back inside, leaving the door open. I take it as an invitation to enter.
The guest room looks exactly as it did when Mio first occupied it. Not a single thing out of place except for the bedsheets balled into a pile. I expected her to have upturned this room into an S&M chamber or something.
"Figured you were gonna wanna talk after that." Mio says, taking a seat at the desk.
"I wanted to check up on you since you didn't look too good when we met Selene."
There's an ever so slight twitch in her eyes when I mention that name. Mio stabs the spoon into the pudding. Maybe she was imagining impaling Selene.
"My sister's name was Beatrice. She was queen during the Demon Lord's reign in Elza." Mio begins.
"That much I figured. What I can't wrap my head around is you being royalty." I say in jest.
Mio scoffs. "Neither can I. But you don't get to choose family. I was my sister's property. I hated it so much, being kept on a short leash. Bea had obligations though, so she couldn't always keep an eye on me. So guess who she sent instead?"
"Selene."
"Bingo." Mio says, stuffing her mouth with a spoonful of pudding. "That bitch was nothing but a glorified dog walker. I just wanted to do my own thing, but she always knew how to find me— and made me pay for trying to run away."
Now I feel terrible. The trauma Mio had buried resurfaced when we saw Selene, and I made it worse by allying with her abuser.
"I'm sorry… I had no idea."
"To be honest, I don't care if we're siding with that bitch." She bites down on the spoon so hard her fang leaves a hole in it. "As long as I can wring my hands around her neck once this is over."
I want to reach out to reassure Mio that the only side I'm on is hers. Somehow, the fear of being rejected keeps me from doing so. At the very least, I should say it.
"You've probably already caught on, but the alliance with Selene is only out of convenience. I'll be with you when we break off the partnership."
"You'll finally be willing to kill, eh?" Mio says, smirking.
"I— I don't know about that! If we can send the other succubus back to their world, I'd rather do that instead."
"Kehehe! Pacifist to the end, eh?"
The two of us share a laugh but it quickly dies down and becomes awkward. There's one more thing I want to bring up, but I don't know how to broach the subject.
"Uhm. Actually… I—"
"I know where this is going. Cat's out of the bag. The jig is up. Something, something. Yes, you're a greater succubus." Mio puts a hand up and sighs heavily. She glances up and raises an eyebrow. "You don't look surprised?"
"Eh? Er, well… I mean being a succubus is shocking enough! Hearing this is kind of meaningless to me now. Did— Did you know since the moment you transformed me?"
She seems to buy my cover and gives a weak smile.
"Tally up another reason for wanting Selene dead."
"Why didn't you tell me from the start?" I ask, genuinely wanting to know.
"I don't have a major reason for hiding it from you or anything. It was fun having you depend on me. I thought if you found out you were... " Mio grimaces trying to say it. "Greater, then you'd stop relying on me."
"What? No way! Of course I would continue relying on you."
I used to despise Mio for turning me into this, but she's stuck with me from day one.
Mio shifts uncomfortably in her seat, unsure how to respond to what I said. She shouldn't have to feel ashamed. If anything, I'm the one who should be ashamed for hiding so much. Even now, when she's admitting it, I can't find the courage to do the same.
"Watching you always trip over yourself is fun." She finally says. "It makes me want to tease you, and then take you home to fuck you silly. A lot of what's going on is a pain in the ass, but I've never had more fun in my life."
I'm taken aback by her words, and even Mio becomes conscious of what she said.
"Aahhh! I hate gushy stuff! I swear you're rubbing off on me or something." She grabs my head with both hands and squeezes.
"Ow— owowowow, what are you doing??"
"Taking out my frustration on you!"
Mio lets go and starts chowing down on my pudding. She takes a few bites and then dangles a spoonful of the caramel cream in front of my face.
"What's this?"
"What? If you aren't gonna eat it, more for me."
"Wait— I'll… eat. Ahh…"
Much to Mio's delight, I open my mouth for her to feed me. It's like my early days of living with Hatsumi. I'm too embarrassed to savor the taste, but I let it happen simply because Mio's enjoying it.
Though I won't admit it to Mio, I like that she spoils me every once in a while.
This continues until the bowl is scraped clean. She made sure to feed just enough to draw this out as long as possible.
The door creaks open. Hatsumi peeks in through a crack with a goofy smile. "Looks like all is well in the Ito house. My pudding saves the day!"
"You have more in the fridge, don't you?" Mio asks eagerly.
"Well, you two will just have to join me downstairs to find out!"
***
After last night's talk with Mio, a weight's been lifted off my shoulders. I still can't shrug the feeling that I'm in the wrong for acting ignorant about my greater succubus status. But it seems my worries were unfounded. Mio didn't seem to care contrary to what Torii Sensei said.
I brush the sweat beading on my forehead.
"Ugh… I hate summer…"
I have to walk to school alone today because Mio decided to go early. Apparently she promised to help the student council with some stuff. She wouldn't tell me what it was, citing that it's top secret.
Despite the way she acts and the trouble she causes, Mio is surprisingly responsible. Or maybe she just likes entangling herself in other people's affairs.
"Saeko? I almost didn't recognize you. Can I have a moment?"
Principal Murata approaches me, wiping the sweat from his face with a handkerchief. His complexion is incredibly pale; the sun doesn't seem to agree with him at all.
There's an inkling of a worry that the principal found out about what Coach and I did. I don't care if he gets fired, but it would be bad for me regardless.
"Yes, Principal?"
"I wanted to ask you about the itinerary report for the kendo club's Hyogo Invitational this weekend? Madou Sensei hasn't come in yet, and I can't reach his phone."
Madou is Coach's family name. The principal must be after the paperwork that Coach dumped on me.
I dig into my backpack to hand him the report. "Everything should be in order."
"Ahh. Thank you! I'll go over this when I return to my office. And, while you're here…"
Principal Murata gives me a manila folder. Inside is another itinerary and a number of tickets to Osa-Ryo.
"Huh? Isn't Osa-Ryo that famous resort inn at Osaka?!"
The traditional hot springs inn located at the foot of Mount Taka is known for its beautiful scenery and cuisines. People dream of going there for vacation but it's usually booked years in advance. Yet there are enough tickets in here for everyone in the kendo club, including myself and Mio.
"Haha. Well, it is the kendo club's first time making it to Hyogo. All of your club money has been accumulating over the years. Anyway, I should get going. Good luck at the tournament."
I feel faint. Tsukiji High certainly doesn't skimp when it comes to the luxury stuff. I guess this means the kendo club needs to give more than just their all this weekend.
"Hi, hi, hi!"
An enthusiastic voice greets me from behind.
"Hm— ah?! What the fuck?" I nearly fall over seeing Hana skip up to me dressed in the Tsukiji High women's uniform. "Why are you all coming to my school?!"
Hana puts a finger to her chin. "But it looks like fun. Mio says it's fun! I wanna have fun, too!!"
"You can't just waltz into my school pretending to be a student! First of all, you need a school ID or the disciplinary committee is going to find out—"
She pulls out a school ID that looks like the real deal. I start putting two and two together. There are two entities that can push a new student past bureaucracy with brute force— the principal and the student council. And Mio's been hanging out with the student council.
Therefore...
"This is Mio's doing, isn't it?"
Hana attempts her signature poor whistling.
I grab Hana by her pigtails. "It was Mio, wasn't it?!"
"Uwawowowowowie! I promised not to tell!"
"You don't even have to say anything and I already know! Good god. I just hope she did it legally and not by charming anyone."
"Come on, classmate! We've got lessons to learn, youthful memories to make!" Hana is already heading inside.
I take another glance at her student ID and see that she's listed as a first year.
"Uh, Hana. I don't think we're going to be in the same class."
***
"Uwaaaaaahhhhh! Mio, you dummy! Why did you make me a first year? That's not funny at all!!!"
Hana comes crying to us during lunch complaining about Mio's mistake.
"Kahahahaha! I dunno... it's kinda funny… " Mio doesn't even try to hide her laughter.
"Curses. I wanted to be in the same class. This isn't copacetic at all!"
If Mio and Torii Sensei were popular from the get-go, Hana's popularity can only be described as viral stardom. Her short stature and big personality was an instant hit with the first and second years, and her cutesy and childlike demeanor won every third year's heart.
"It's not like you could get into this class anyway. It was already full. At least you can make new friends in your class." I say, trying to offer a bit of consolation.
Hana grasps her own wrist like she had hit a funny bone. "I have to behave… must resist showing… the class my dildo collection…"
"You— what?!" I open her backpack for a split second to see it full of her stupid erotica toys. "What were you thinking?"
The pink-haired trickster puts a fist to her head and sticks her tongue out.
I feel a headache coming seeing these two together in one place, and at my school on top of that.
"Don't tell me you guys are going to get Yumi in on this…" I ask, preparing for the worst.
"Nah. grade schools are more her thing." Mio waves her hand dismissively.
I notice Torii Sensei coming through the door and making a brief repulsive look in our direction. I wonder if it was a reaction to Hana being a succubus?
The rest of school passes by uneventfully. Mio and Hana decided to make the student council room their new hangout spot. Poor Hitomi now has two troublemakers to deal with.
The last student exits the classroom, and I'm finally alone with Torii Sensei. As I rise to my seat to speak with her, I'm thrown to the back of the room.
"Sensei—?!"
The ground darkens and black tendrils emerge from the floor to wrap me. Torii Sensei approaches with a dreadful aura more suffocating than the constrictions on my throat.
"Sen… sei…?"
"Yesterday and then today. You're conspiring against me, aren't you? You all are. Bringing more succubus to school grounds. Are you? Are you?" She yells so loud that I'm expecting someone to burst through the door at any moment.
"N… ack…"
Is this the true strength of a greater succubus?
I can't say anything. Not with these things around my neck.
Sensei's eyes are filled with rage. Her hands glisten with powerful magic. I'm powerless to defend myself.
"I thought we had a thing going. I guess I just need to kill you and the others, after all."