-January 17th
Once again, it was a night without dreams.
Before opening my eyes, I feel the need to brace myself. Just like before, I felt a tight embrace encasing my body. This time, it was even stronger. I'd made the mistake of sleeping on my side, truly, an act of utter ignorance.
One, two, three, four. Dang... All four of her powerful limbs held my body in place from behind. Pressing against my back was that same soft sensation that I'd indulged in several times, a bliss I tried my best not to get lost in.
Along with the sudden bear hug, there was a slick, cold feeling moving up and down my neck.
"Is she-?!"
Unable to stop myself any longer, my eyes shot open. I attempted to struggle against her powerful grasp, but my weak, nerdy body was no match. Unable to break free, I had no choice but to leave Cacophony to enjoy herself a little longer.
Currently, she's licking my neck like a cold popsicle in the middle of a summer heat wave.
On top of that, it seems like she's doing it while being asleep. It's not as though I was completely powerless. If I were to say, yell her name, it would most likely be enough to wake her up. It's more like... I just don't want to. I mean, it's not like it's my fault that she crawled into my bed and started doing something weird. At the very least, I should be allowed to enjoy it. Yup! My god given right!
"Veri, how long were you going to wait to stop me?"
!
A tingling shock rushed through my body as I heard those words. My heart's been working overtime ever since I met Cacophony, having so many near heart attacks can't be good for my health.
"Um... Haven't I told you the story of the sleeping princess?! It's bad to wake up a beautiful woman that's sleeping!"
What a horrible misrepresentation of the story of Snow White!
"Is that so? Then let it be known, if you were to one day ever fall into an eternal slumber, I won't wake you up."
The tone she spoke with was odd. Joking, pouting, something else, I haven't got a single clue.
"A-Anyway! Why're you licking my neck?"
Releasing me from her tight embrace, Cacophony's tone changed once more. This time into one that I found even more indecipherable.
"This is a first for me as well. A hunger pang perhaps?"
"...So you're just hungry?"
"Maybe? Again, I've never had something like this happen before. I can't even remember a time when I've slept next to another person before, much less a human. You should be overjoyed, sharing such an experience with me not once, but every night since I've awakened!"
"Sure... Anyway, if you're thirsting for blood, you should feel free to drink from me."
Leaping off the bed, I turned to face Cacophony. At the same time, I pulled on the collar of my shirt, exposing my nape.
Cacophony could probably feel it. My desperate plea is to be helpful and fulfill my given role. It was a pre-existing desire that was only intensified after meaning that angel.
"Stop, stop. I'm not some small fry vampire that needs your charity to quench their thirst. I'll drink when I need to drink, for now, cover yourself back up. And don't you dare pull a stunt like this with another vampire! It's like you're begging to be violated."
'Violated'. Such an extreme term to use.
"You sure? For a superior being such as myself, it's no big deal if you take a little blood."
"I just said that I don't want to, right? I'll wait until the end of the day. Blood tastes better at night anyway. Oh, but since you're feeling so willing to serve, how about you do the laundry? Last night I was messing around with the kitchen faucet and ended up soaking my dress."
"Alright, but it'll have to be when I get back home. Gotta head off to school."
"Just skip it. It's no big deal right?"
"Naw. It's important that I put on the persona of a hard-working student. If I didn't and someone became suspicious, the Angelic Union might come and destroy this whole planet just to find me. Don't worry I'll get it done as soon as I come back. You remember how to use the shower?"
"Don't treat me like some commoner. Of course, I remember."
"Really? I seem to remember that last night I woke up in the middle of the night to find my bathroom completely flooded."
"Even an empress can make slight lapses in judgment."
I sighed after hearing her reply, but somehow I found an involuntary smile forming on my face. I was calm and today would no doubt be a calm day without any shocks. No Magic Order officers, no mystery mages, and no interference from any dark and dreadful intergalactic organizations! Today, I'll go to school like normal and come home to my cute and cuddly empress.
Now then, for both your and my sake I've decided to skip over the part of me getting ready. I mean, surely you've no interest in reading of some high schooler showering and I sure as hell ain't willing to tell it to you in any extravagant detail.
So then, clad in my blue school shirt and long khaki pants, I threw my bookbag on and marched up to my front door.
Even from inside the confines of my home, I could tell that it was a truly mystical day worthy of experiencing for myself. The birds sang in their singsong voices and the trees blew lightly with the wind as their whimsical conductor.
My oh-so-brazen hand extended toward the doorknob and grabbed it with confidence. As I twisted it, I shouted out these words: "Come on world! Give me all the happiness that you can muster. Then as the sole sovereign of this world, I'll double it and throw it right back at you!"
And so I opened the door. I thrust it forward with all the energy needed to seize the day, and yet, the day seemed to seize me first.
It was the most unusual sight ever, and that's not all due to the fact that my sanctuary had a visitor.
My throat was hit with an unexpected dryness as I looked at the girl standing in front of me.
Her stern, yet undeniably cute face was framed by the morning sunlight, and her vivid purple hair shimmered as if enchanted. She stumbled back slightly, startled by my sudden burst of enthusiasm, but quickly regained her composure. My own reaction wasn't nearly as dignified. My jaw slackened slightly, and my eyes widened as I took her in.
It wasn't just her presence that threw me off guard—it was her attire. Gone was the usual school uniform I was used to seeing her in. Instead, she wore a simple yet elegant dress, light in color, with subtle floral patterns that made her look… almost delicate. The sight was a paradox that scrambled my brain for a solid five seconds.
"...You alright?", Her voice broke me out of my haze and I scrambled to regain my lost composure.
"Charlotte?" I blinked. "What… what are you doing here? Don't tell me the Order sent you?"
Her lips pressed into a thin line as her usually stern gaze faltered. Her eyes, which had only stared directly into my own, flickered elsewhere. She looked to the trees, then to the ground, and then just past my head.
When she finally looked at me in the eyes once more, her facial features had softened considerably.
When she first opened her mouth, no words came out, so she closed and reopened it, as though she were trying again.
"Veri..." She spoke unnaturally loudly, but her voice carried little confidence. "I would like to ask you to please go out with me!"
*
*
*
"Wha—"
Her cheeks had reddish blush to them that I'd never seen on her face before. Safe to say, I was completely and utterly stunned.
Charlotte, realizing the misunderstanding, quickly waved her hands in front of her, shaking her head vigorously.
"N-no, no! Not like that!" she stammered, her voice rising in pitch before she cleared her throat, "What I meant was... I want you to come with me to a place... It's so that we can... talk about something that's kind of important."
I blinked, still processing her words. My brain was caught somewhere between relief, confusion, and a faint hint of disappointment I wouldn't dare admit.
"I—I see! So what—"
Before I could say more, Charlotte held up a hand, stopping me mid-thought. "Wait. I understand this might sound... sudden. And I get it. It wouldn't be fair of me to just expect you to go along with whatever I say, no questions asked."
Her serious tone and the way she avoided my gaze told me she'd been thinking about this. A lot. It was all so unexpected. My heart was torn from seeing the girl that I respected so much in such a state of...
"So," she continued, meeting my eyes with her usual determined expression, "I have a proposal. We'll take turns."
"Turns?"
"Yeah! We'll take turns taking the other to one place that they want to go. Basically, you take me to a place that you want to go to and then I'll take you to a place that I want to go to. And, you can take me anywhere and I won't complain!"
"Alright," I said cautiously, "but why this sudden plan? And why me? I hesitate to think that you've been swept away by my otherworldly charms. I guess another option is that you've been brainwashed, but if that's the case then I can try and cure you."
She hesitated, biting her lip slightly before responding. "It's... complicated. But I promise I'll explain everything when we get there."
She avoided even acknowledging my delusions... Somehow that made me even more uneasy about the whole situation. I'd expected her to call me an idiot or maybe stop me midway, but she didn't do either. Instead, she looked at me with such a serious expression and quietly took in every word. She then elegantly only responded to the part she could make sense of.
Before I could do any more thinking, she leaned slightly forward, her brows furrowing in her usual authoritative manner. "So? Do we have a deal?"
"What about school? Do you just plan to skip for the entire day?"
"Is school really so important? You can't miss out on one day? Just think about it, you can release yourself of all that extra stuff for just one day. It'll be fine, trust me."
There was an air of desperation in her plea that I couldn't ignore. Whatever I'd been thinking before, I decided right then and there what I would do.
"Fine! Let's... Let's do it."