Hestia is looking at me with red rings under her eyes. She must have been crying. Furthermore, she does look quite tired, too. Maybe she didn't get any sleep? Don't tell me her room is somewhere within earshot of mine and we kept her awake all night? That'd be the most awkward thing to talk about now...
"Miss Chloe..." Her eyes dart around a little and she seems at a loss for words. Finally, she looks at me directly and there's conviction in her expression. "P-Please corrupt me!"
???
I expected words of anger, hatred, or expressing a wish to still remain friends despite me being a demon. Maybe even a confession. But certainly not this. I think my face is showing my complete bafflement, since Hestia blinks at me, before realizing what she just said.
"Wait, no, I-I mean... uhhh." She must have phrased it wrongly there. I look at her wings. There's no sign of gray spots or even black ones. She's still as pure as she was when we first met. "I-I want to remain friends with you, Miss Chloe. And I do not care that you being a demon will corrupt me." Hm, that puts it into relation quite a bit. Since I could think of many ways to go about directly corrupting her... I figuratively shake my head to rid myself of the one particular method that comes to mind the easiest.
"But aren't demons like poison to you Fatas? You may even die."
"I have been sent to this school because I am unwanted in the Fatas Triarchy." She drops this bombshell. "We Fatas do not kill our own, and it is a blemish if one's actions causes the death of a kin. But sending me here without any means to purify myself does not qualify as such. The academy has a barrier against the corruption spread from the Demon Continent, so if I die, it is my own fault, and nobody will shed a tear over it..." Her expression is one assumed by the downtrodden. It may not seem as excessive as how Kamii was when I first met her, but as a human being with a heart, I can't watch it without feeling empathy. Oh wait, I'm not a human being and I don't have a heart - I think. I can still feel empathy for her, though.
"You are the first friend I ever made. Everyone else has put me on a pedestal or kept their distance from me... Nobody ever touched me the way you did." Wait, what? In what way did I touch you? "It gave me a warm feeling... for the first time since I can remember." I think she means petting her hair. Yeah, what was I thinking? "My life has been meaningless so far, so even if I die when I stay beside you, it would make me happier than living the rest of my life alone."
"Don't talk about dying!" I chastise her and she flinches. Bridging the few steps separating us quickly, I hug her to me. She's a little smaller than I, but not as small as Kamii. Her body is trembling at the sudden embrace.
"Miss Chloe?" Looking up to me with an unsure expression, tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes.
"I won't let you die, you hear? I will find a way to keep you alive, even if those wings turn fully black!" I think black wings would look pretty cool, actually.
"I..." Tears begin to run down her face as she's overwhelmed by emotions. Burying her face in my chest, she begins to cry like a little child. I notice Kamii peeking around the corner with a questioning face, and when she spots our embrace, she puffs up her cheeks. That's seriously cute, oi! "Th-thank you..."
Well, this would conclude the situation with Hestia from her side. Now I'll have to deal with how the teachers will treat this outcome. Still, I'm sure they'll have to let her be, if she herself wishes to be by my side. She just has to make that clear, and not leave any room for people to think that I brainwashed her into it.
"So... ummm... a-about what y-you did last n-night..."
Hm?
"C-can... I know the d-details?" In what way are you pure?! Your mind is quite filthy already!
In the end I told her that I'll explain it some other time, because we have to get to class. With perfect timing the bell for the afternoon classes rings. Literally saved by the bell. As we round the library together to return to the main building, Hestia notices that Kamii is waiting for us with a pout. She feels embarrassed, realizing that everything we talked about was overheard by her, but the little dark elf doesn't seem to really understand how significant our conversation has been.
We each go to our own classes with the promise to meet again at dinner. I'm really looking forward to have a long talk with Hestia during and after dinner, now. Of course, I can't really concentrate on the afternoon class, the water magic version of the same from the previous day. Application of water magic is much more extensive than wind, so the class is also more condensed. I doubt I'll retain much, though...
Dinner couldn't arrive any later. When I come to the canteen, Kamii and Hestia are waiting for me outside. Strange, I thought I hurried over, but why are they already here? The same as Kamii during lunch break yesterday and today. Maybe their classrooms are simply closer.
A sideways table at the front of the hall is reserved for teachers, although they're rarely there during mealtime. However, today a lot of them are seated with their meals and watch over the students. Thorvadis is actually among them, too. Some of them look at us disapprovingly, but none take any actions... yet. But my eyes are on the principal. His reaction is the most important one.
He looks at me, then at Hestia, noticing her happiness while walking alongside me. Closing his eyes for a moment, as if to gather his thoughts, he opens them again and our gazes meet. Time seems to slow down and a connection is made. A smile plays across his lips, barely visible under his beard. Is that approval? He turns his attention back to his meal and the moment is over.
In the end, the three of us sit down together with our food and chatter the time away unhindered. Apparently the teachers quietly reached a decision on their end soon after. I'm sure they must have heard from Ninlil regarding what went down in my room last night, too. I think that's an even bigger issue than me being around Hestia. But not one teacher comes to talk to me about it. We're left alone even when we leave the canteen and return to the dorms together.
"Please come in." I invite Hestia into our room. I did use wind magic to dry the sheets in the morning, but apparently the entire room's been completely cleaned in our absence during the day, and I think even the mattresses have been changed out. I'm impressed. I spot Senka on her bed, again sprawled out like a puppet with its strings cut. Her eyes are staring at the door, and most specifically at the angel, but she obviously doesn't say a thing. "You can sit anywhere you like."
"W-who is that?" Hestia points at Senka with a fearful expression.
"That's just a doll." I walk to my bed and naturally, Kamii follows me. "Isn't she cute?" I think her expression says otherwise, but she brings herself to nod and even sit down next to Senka. Well, you'll have to get used to her presence in this room. This reminds me, where did she disappear to last night? I'll have to ask after Hestia leaves.
"Ummm..." Yeah, she didn't forget about the topic she wanted to ask about at noon. Her face is red, so it's obvious she already knows what the details entail. She's a closet pervert, huh? Well, I think I can work with that. "A-about..."
"I know. You're that interested, huh?" The distance between the beds is already quite small so I lean over to Hestia and use a hand to lift her chin. "Do you want me to teach you?" What are you saying, meee?! The pure-hearted Kamii last night, this pure-bodied angel tonight? Did the dam called reason break inside my mind after what I did with the little dark elf? Please refuse... if you agree now, I don't think I could hold myself back.
"I-I..." Her face is flushed but she's clearly interested.
"The room is ripe with the stench of bitches... and that's my cue to step in." Senka suddenly says and sits up. Hestia sees the unnatural movement from the corner of her eyes and as she turns around, she's greeted with a Glasgow smile.
"Ah..." She fainted. "What're you doing?"
"She'll forget about me. At any rate, I did say I don't mind you doing it, as long as you tell me beforehand. But I think this might be getting out of hand. You're letting your body control your mind. That's a problem a Crawling Chaos has to deal with eventually." Senka looks at me disapprovingly. "I get that it surely feels good to corrupt what's pure, and the purer it is, the better it'll feel. But get a hold of yourself. Did you come to the academy to create a harem or to study magic and countermeasures against it?" Her words shake me fully awake. Damn, I said I wouldn't let myself be controlled by this body's instincts, but here I am, trying to seduce the second girl within two days.
I turn to look at Kamii, but she seems more interested in the fainted Hestia. That defenseless unconscious form... no no no, that's rape!
"Yeah, thank you, Senka." A part of me is unsatisfied, but another one is relieved. I think the latter one is the humanity left within me. "Still, if she wants it..." And that's the former part.
"Well, I think she will come out with it eventually, but please keep it in moderation. Also, remember that she's a Fata and you're a demon."
"I think we're past that point, now." I sigh. I did talk big, but I have no idea how to go about the problem of her wings turning black. So far, they don't show any signs of darkening, but it may be a delayed effect. "In either case, I'll have to keep from doing it until I learn more about how her body works."
"How about asking her directly?" Nice suggestion, but a suggestive one it is. I look at Hestia's heaving chest. Oh, I could get behind asking her body dir- dammit!
"Are you sure she won't remember you?"
"I may not have any magic in this world, but I still retain my skills from the previous one. I won't go into detail, because it's just too dumb when said out loud." She seems annoyed at something invisible again. "Trust me, you don't want to know. You'll pull your own hair at the stupidity of it." Alright, if it's that bad, I won't ask.
Eventually, Hestia wakes up again and Senka lies back down into her previous pose. It's really remarkable that she can replicate it so well, I couldn't tell that she moved at all, if I hadn't seen it actually happen. The angel looks around in confusion but it seems she really doesn't remember why she fainted. Don't tell me you have some memory-erasing powers, Senka...
"Wh-what was I...?"
"You must be tired. You should go to sleep early tonight." She does indeed look quite tired, especially since she most likely really didn't sleep last night. Kamii has also laid down in bed already and her eyes are beginning to fall shut. No wonder, after the almost sleepless night. "You can sleep on that bed, if you don't mind keeping the doll company." It's a joke.
"Eh?" She looks at Kamii beside me and then to Senka. "Is this not your bed?" Makes sense to think that, right? I think I should be frank about this.
"Kamii and I sleep together in this one." I don't feel any embarrassment at stating this fact. I mean, the rumors should make it clear who was involved in those activities - or does everyone think some boy climbed up to my window at night? There was only one girl's voice, so it's possible...
"Eh?" Hestia makes.
"Eh?" Wait, really?
"You... and Kamii?" She looks between us with a blank expression. "Two... girls?" Can you do something about this, Senka? Maybe cut this from the final product or something? She's not moving, though. My own mess, so I should clean it up myself, huh?
"Yes, I have no interest in boys."
"Tell me more." Huh, did your personality just change? Hestia's looking at me with a serious expression of anticipation. I feel like I won't be sleeping anytime soon tonight, but for another reason than the last.
"Onii-chan, it's time to wake up! You'll be late for school!" A girly voice wakes me up in the morning. My eyes are wide open, because it belongs to someone I don't know. I sit up and find Senka leaning over me with a deadpan expression. "You're finally awake, onii-chan!" Her voice is completely different from her normal one. So it was you! Can't you just wake me normally? And what's with the onii-chan?
I turn around and find Kamii beside me. Alright, that's normal. But I seem to recall that Hestia stayed in our room until very late. I look at the other bed and find her there, lying on her side, covered by her own wings. Phew... nothing happened between us tonight. She's facing our direction but is still asleep. Well, I doubt Senka would slip up like that and let someone see her move and talk.
I kiss Kamii on the cheek and lightly shake her awake, then I get up and walk up to Hestia to wake her up as well. I stop dead in my tracks and my hand moves forward. She lost a single feather in her sleep and it's lying next to her. I pick it up and stare at it.
It's pure black.
Hestia is looking at me with red rings under her eyes. She must have been crying. Furthermore, she does look quite tired, too. Maybe she didn't get any sleep? Don't tell me her room is somewhere within earshot of mine and we kept her awake all night? That'd be the most awkward thing to talk about now...
"Miss Chloe..." Her eyes dart around a little and she seems at a loss for words. Finally, she looks at me directly and there's conviction in her expression. "P-Please corrupt me!"
???
I expected words of anger, hatred, or expressing a wish to still remain friends despite me being a demon. Maybe even a confession. But certainly not this. I think my face is showing my complete bafflement, since Hestia blinks at me, before realizing what she just said.
"Wait, no, I-I mean... uhhh." She must have phrased it wrongly there. I look at her wings. There's no sign of gray spots or even black ones. She's still as pure as she was when we first met. "I-I want to remain friends with you, Miss Chloe. And I do not care that you being a demon will corrupt me." Hm, that puts it into relation quite a bit. Since I could think of many ways to go about directly corrupting her... I figuratively shake my head to rid myself of the one particular method that comes to mind the easiest.
"But aren't demons like poison to you Fatas? You may even die."
"I have been sent to this school because I am unwanted in the Fatas Triarchy." She drops this bombshell. "We Fatas do not kill our own, and it is a blemish if one's actions causes the death of a kin. But sending me here without any means to purify myself does not qualify as such. The academy has a barrier against the corruption spread from the Demon Continent, so if I die, it is my own fault, and nobody will shed a tear over it..." Her expression is one assumed by the downtrodden. It may not seem as excessive as how Kamii was when I first met her, but as a human being with a heart, I can't watch it without feeling empathy. Oh wait, I'm not a human being and I don't have a heart - I think. I can still feel empathy for her, though.
"You are the first friend I ever made. Everyone else has put me on a pedestal or kept their distance from me... Nobody ever touched me the way you did." Wait, what? In what way did I touch you? "It gave me a warm feeling... for the first time since I can remember." I think she means petting her hair. Yeah, what was I thinking? "My life has been meaningless so far, so even if I die when I stay beside you, it would make me happier than living the rest of my life alone."
"Don't talk about dying!" I chastise her and she flinches. Bridging the few steps separating us quickly, I hug her to me. She's a little smaller than I, but not as small as Kamii. Her body is trembling at the sudden embrace.
"Miss Chloe?" Looking up to me with an unsure expression, tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes.
"I won't let you die, you hear? I will find a way to keep you alive, even if those wings turn fully black!" I think black wings would look pretty cool, actually.
"I..." Tears begin to run down her face as she's overwhelmed by emotions. Burying her face in my chest, she begins to cry like a little child. I notice Kamii peeking around the corner with a questioning face, and when she spots our embrace, she puffs up her cheeks. That's seriously cute, oi! "Th-thank you..."
Well, this would conclude the situation with Hestia from her side. Now I'll have to deal with how the teachers will treat this outcome. Still, I'm sure they'll have to let her be, if she herself wishes to be by my side. She just has to make that clear, and not leave any room for people to think that I brainwashed her into it.
"So... ummm... a-about what y-you did last n-night..."
Hm?
"C-can... I know the d-details?" In what way are you pure?! Your mind is quite filthy already!
In the end I told her that I'll explain it some other time, because we have to get to class. With perfect timing the bell for the afternoon classes rings. Literally saved by the bell. As we round the library together to return to the main building, Hestia notices that Kamii is waiting for us with a pout. She feels embarrassed, realizing that everything we talked about was overheard by her, but the little dark elf doesn't seem to really understand how significant our conversation has been.
We each go to our own classes with the promise to meet again at dinner. I'm really looking forward to have a long talk with Hestia during and after dinner, now. Of course, I can't really concentrate on the afternoon class, the water magic version of the same from the previous day. Application of water magic is much more extensive than wind, so the class is also more condensed. I doubt I'll retain much, though...
Dinner couldn't arrive any later. When I come to the canteen, Kamii and Hestia are waiting for me outside. Strange, I thought I hurried over, but why are they already here? The same as Kamii during lunch break yesterday and today. Maybe their classrooms are simply closer.
A sideways table at the front of the hall is reserved for teachers, although they're rarely there during mealtime. However, today a lot of them are seated with their meals and watch over the students. Thorvadis is actually among them, too. Some of them look at us disapprovingly, but none take any actions... yet. But my eyes are on the principal. His reaction is the most important one.
He looks at me, then at Hestia, noticing her happiness while walking alongside me. Closing his eyes for a moment, as if to gather his thoughts, he opens them again and our gazes meet. Time seems to slow down and a connection is made. A smile plays across his lips, barely visible under his beard. Is that approval? He turns his attention back to his meal and the moment is over.
In the end, the three of us sit down together with our food and chatter the time away unhindered. Apparently the teachers quietly reached a decision on their end soon after. I'm sure they must have heard from Ninlil regarding what went down in my room last night, too. I think that's an even bigger issue than me being around Hestia. But not one teacher comes to talk to me about it. We're left alone even when we leave the canteen and return to the dorms together.
"Please come in." I invite Hestia into our room. I did use wind magic to dry the sheets in the morning, but apparently the entire room's been completely cleaned in our absence during the day, and I think even the mattresses have been changed out. I'm impressed. I spot Senka on her bed, again sprawled out like a puppet with its strings cut. Her eyes are staring at the door, and most specifically at the angel, but she obviously doesn't say a thing. "You can sit anywhere you like."
"W-who is that?" Hestia points at Senka with a fearful expression.
"That's just a doll." I walk to my bed and naturally, Kamii follows me. "Isn't she cute?" I think her expression says otherwise, but she brings herself to nod and even sit down next to Senka. Well, you'll have to get used to her presence in this room. This reminds me, where did she disappear to last night? I'll have to ask after Hestia leaves.
"Ummm..." Yeah, she didn't forget about the topic she wanted to ask about at noon. Her face is red, so it's obvious she already knows what the details entail. She's a closet pervert, huh? Well, I think I can work with that. "A-about..."
"I know. You're that interested, huh?" The distance between the beds is already quite small so I lean over to Hestia and use a hand to lift her chin. "Do you want me to teach you?" What are you saying, meee?! The pure-hearted Kamii last night, this pure-bodied angel tonight? Did the dam called reason break inside my mind after what I did with the little dark elf? Please refuse... if you agree now, I don't think I could hold myself back.
"I-I..." Her face is flushed but she's clearly interested.
"The room is ripe with the stench of bitches... and that's my cue to step in." Senka suddenly says and sits up. Hestia sees the unnatural movement from the corner of her eyes and as she turns around, she's greeted with a Glasgow smile.
"Ah..." She fainted. "What're you doing?"
"She'll forget about me. At any rate, I did say I don't mind you doing it, as long as you tell me beforehand. But I think this might be getting out of hand. You're letting your body control your mind. That's a problem a Crawling Chaos has to deal with eventually." Senka looks at me disapprovingly. "I get that it surely feels good to corrupt what's pure, and the purer it is, the better it'll feel. But get a hold of yourself. Did you come to the academy to create a harem or to study magic and countermeasures against it?" Her words shake me fully awake. Damn, I said I wouldn't let myself be controlled by this body's instincts, but here I am, trying to seduce the second girl within two days.
I turn to look at Kamii, but she seems more interested in the fainted Hestia. That defenseless unconscious form... no no no, that's rape!
"Yeah, thank you, Senka." A part of me is unsatisfied, but another one is relieved. I think the latter one is the humanity left within me. "Still, if she wants it..." And that's the former part.
"Well, I think she will come out with it eventually, but please keep it in moderation. Also, remember that she's a Fata and you're a demon."
"I think we're past that point, now." I sigh. I did talk big, but I have no idea how to go about the problem of her wings turning black. So far, they don't show any signs of darkening, but it may be a delayed effect. "In either case, I'll have to keep from doing it until I learn more about how her body works."
"How about asking her directly?" Nice suggestion, but a suggestive one it is. I look at Hestia's heaving chest. Oh, I could get behind asking her body dir- dammit!
"Are you sure she won't remember you?"
"I may not have any magic in this world, but I still retain my skills from the previous one. I won't go into detail, because it's just too dumb when said out loud." She seems annoyed at something invisible again. "Trust me, you don't want to know. You'll pull your own hair at the stupidity of it." Alright, if it's that bad, I won't ask.
Eventually, Hestia wakes up again and Senka lies back down into her previous pose. It's really remarkable that she can replicate it so well, I couldn't tell that she moved at all, if I hadn't seen it actually happen. The angel looks around in confusion but it seems she really doesn't remember why she fainted. Don't tell me you have some memory-erasing powers, Senka...
"Wh-what was I...?"
"You must be tired. You should go to sleep early tonight." She does indeed look quite tired, especially since she most likely really didn't sleep last night. Kamii has also laid down in bed already and her eyes are beginning to fall shut. No wonder, after the almost sleepless night. "You can sleep on that bed, if you don't mind keeping the doll company." It's a joke.
"Eh?" She looks at Kamii beside me and then to Senka. "Is this not your bed?" Makes sense to think that, right? I think I should be frank about this.
"Kamii and I sleep together in this one." I don't feel any embarrassment at stating this fact. I mean, the rumors should make it clear who was involved in those activities - or does everyone think some boy climbed up to my window at night? There was only one girl's voice, so it's possible...
"Eh?" Hestia makes.
"Eh?" Wait, really?
"You... and Kamii?" She looks between us with a blank expression. "Two... girls?" Can you do something about this, Senka? Maybe cut this from the final product or something? She's not moving, though. My own mess, so I should clean it up myself, huh?
"Yes, I have no interest in boys."
"Tell me more." Huh, did your personality just change? Hestia's looking at me with a serious expression of anticipation. I feel like I won't be sleeping anytime soon tonight, but for another reason than the last.
"Onii-chan, it's time to wake up! You'll be late for school!" A girly voice wakes me up in the morning. My eyes are wide open, because it belongs to someone I don't know. I sit up and find Senka leaning over me with a deadpan expression. "You're finally awake, onii-chan!" Her voice is completely different from her normal one. So it was you! Can't you just wake me normally? And what's with the onii-chan?
I turn around and find Kamii beside me. Alright, that's normal. But I seem to recall that Hestia stayed in our room until very late. I look at the other bed and find her there, lying on her side, covered by her own wings. Phew... nothing happened between us tonight. She's facing our direction but is still asleep. Well, I doubt Senka would slip up like that and let someone see her move and talk.
I kiss Kamii on the cheek and lightly shake her awake, then I get up and walk up to Hestia to wake her up as well. I stop dead in my tracks and my hand moves forward. She lost a single feather in her sleep and it's lying next to her. I pick it up and stare at it.
It's pure black.
