Work Text
A Pea Green Boat
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar…
“Allow me to abduct you, Lieselotte.”Was that really what he had been planning to say? He had been daydreaming about this day for the better part of his life, but suddenly when the moment came, L-elf couldn’t even hear the words spilling from his mouth. All he knew in that moment was his princess.“Michael?”“Please! I…I am in love with you. My entire life has led up to this moment. I’d be dead if it weren’t for you!” L-elf sobbed as the only emotions he’d allowed himself in years cascaded out all at once. He momentarily considered that he should be ashamed of himself, but hadn’t she been the one to have seen him at his worst once before? If were to lay himself bare to anyone in this universe, it must be to his dear princess. After the failure of three years ago, he knew that this was his final chance to convince her to join him. All must be said now or not ever.“Oh, Michael. So selfish. I already gave you half of my life all those years ago. Now you ask for the entire thing.” The princess smiled warmly, despite the cold air gushing in through the gaping hole in the side of the room.“Lieselotte, I’m not asking for the other half of your life. I simply want to give you back the half that I borrowed that day.”The princess looked the boy soldier in the eyes and simply nodded; she would go with him.L-elf grasped her wrist and took off without another word. Another man might have attempted to carry the girl like the princess that she was, but L-elf was not a prince. He wasn’t A-drei. For L-elf, touching just her wrist was audacious enough. Holding her would be like trying to hold a goddess. She might difuse into mist or flower petals if embraced.They careened through the halls; L-elf, the One Man Army, dispatching any who stood in their way. After clearing a hallway, the two ducked into an unlocked room that appeared to be an office. After barricading the door with a desk, L-elf spared a moment to glance at his princess. Blood from one of the men he’d shot had splattered onto her tunic. His eyes widened in surprise; somehow he’d pictured Lieselotte to be impervious to any soiling. Blood should fear her perfection and be repelled. He shook his head. Lieselotte was a living human, no longer just a spectre of memory. From here on out, he’d have to become accustomed to seeing outside forces acting upon her, rather than knowing her only as a static photograph or as the memory of a little girl in the snow.He shook his head. He had to get them out of here or he’d never be able to lay eyes upon her again. L-elf knew he was clearly going to Hell if the afterlife did exist and there was no way his sweet princess would be meeting him there.“Lieselotte.”“Yes, Michael?” she looked up at him trustingly. Somehow, his grasp on her wrist had switched to her hand during the confusion.“Would you happen to know if there’s a supply closet nearby? One with chemicals?”“Michael, there’s a closet right there…” she pointed behind him.L-elf’s eyes widened. He had been so busy admiring the princess, despite the current danger, that he hadn’t even looked around the room beyond the desk and swivel chair. He very much needed to get his feelings back in check. After years of bottling everything in, his emotions seemed too enthused at finally seeing the light of day to return to the dark abyss from which they emerged.
BOOM!
Hand-in-hand, the soldier and the princess fled through the snow, using the smoke from the explosion as cover. L-elf had of course fashioned an explosive from cleaning chemicals and office supplies. Lieselotte had no idea that L-elf was so talented to the point of it being almost ridiculous. Really, all she knew until today was that he was a nice young man who was good with a gun. Well, he was nice to her at least. The people he shot probably didn’t share her sentiments.Once the two reached the forest, they shed the white lab coats they had used to blend in better with the snow.“What now, Michael?” the princess breathed as she fought catch her breath. Being locked in a tower for years was one way to avoid gym class.L-elf simply replied, “Tokishima Haruto.”They walked through the forest for some time until they reached the outskirts of town. The street was lined with shops that were closed for the night. The silence suggested that the enemy hadn’t found them yet. The boy once known as Michael confidently strode out onto the sidewalk.“What are you doing?” the princess gasped, still under the cover of the trees. Clearly the young soldier had gone bananas since their last meeting.“Taking a stroll.” L-elf smirked. “Trust me and I’ll show you that my calculations never fail. He’ll be here any minute.”The pink-haired girl hesitantly joined him in window-shopping as they passed by a toy shop. Girls liked that nonsense, didn’t they? Teddy bears and lazily creepy dolls that can’t even bother themselves to be anatomically correct.“Do you like anything?” he asked her.“Michael, you’re not…going to break into the store, are you?”“What? Of course not! I just…thought it would be nice to come back here together once this country is safe.” L-elf mumbled to his reflection in the shop window. He thought back to the current president of New Jior. Maybe girls preferred food over knickknacks?A loud droning sound could be heard approaching.“What’s that?” the princess’s brow furrowed as something red could be seen drawing nearer in the night sky.“Your carriage awaits, Princess.” L-elf made a sweeping gesture toward the Valvrave as it landed and the vampire pilot, Haruto, opened the cockpit.
End ch.1
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Side: Princess, part 2
Despite L-elf abandoning the plan, Haruto and the others had managed to return safely to New Jior for the time being. The princess had been with them for only a few hours now, but the newcomer was a welcome distraction from the concern of Saki still being lost in Dorssian territory.
“I brought you some strawberry cake. The Prime Minister recommended it.” L-elf sat down at the cafeteria table across from Lieselotte. Shoko followed, grinning, and seated herself next to the princess.
“To think that all this time King Sour Puss, L-elf, of all people had a big fat crush! And on such a cutie!”
L-elf made no move to deny any of it.
Shoko reached over and brought the princess in for a bear-hug. “We’re so happy to have you here!”
“Don’t do that.” L-elf’s forehead wrinkled. It looked like he was restraining himself from reaching across the table.
“Michael,” the princess chided, “It’s okay. She can hug me; I won’t break.”
“I know that…” L-elf pouted then changed the subject. “You haven’t touched your cake.”
“Oh, I suppose we never have eaten together before, so you wouldn’t know… I don’t really care for strawberry.”
“I had always imagined that you’d like it...” L-elf seemed to be speaking to his plate rather than the girl. The color of strawberry cake always reminded him of her hair.
“Come on, L-elf. She’s had a rough day. Unlike you, I’m sure she’s not used to being shot at left and right.” She turned her attention to the princess. “You remind me of our friend Marie. She’s really cute too. I think you’ll like her,” Shoko continued, trying to brighten the mood back up. L-elf could be hard for people to handle.
“’Our’ friend?” L-elf raised his eyebrow.
“Yes, she’s your friend too. She’s not all that mad at you for shooting her, God knows why, so I think we should all go visit her in the nurse’s room later.”
“Michael, you shot her!?” the princess looked appalled.
“She knew too much,” L-elf said in all seriousness.
Shoko rolled her eyes. L-elf still had a long way to go. She felt a little sorry for the princess. “Thank goodness Haruto pushed her out of the way in time or it could’ve been a lot worse! Anyway, how about before we do anything else, we get you some fresh clothes?” The princess was still wearing her blood-stained royal garb.
Shoko stood up from the table, inviting the princess to follow. L-elf stood as well.
“This is girls only, L-elf!” Shoko came up behind the princess, putting a hand on her shoulder to guide her out of the room.
“I’ll be right back, Michael, and then we can catch up some more.” The princess smiled over her shoulder as she was led out.
As the girls left, it occurred to L-elf that he hadn’t seen Haruto seen since they returned to the module.
“So, L-elf’s real name is Michael? He never told any of us.” Shoko tried to make conversation as the two traversed the halls on the way to the dorms.
“Really? He’s always been so open with me the few times we’ve seen each other. I didn’t expect him to be so reserved with his friends.”
“’Few times’? So it was love at first sight, huh?” Shoko grinned impishly.
The princess considered it. “I think it was for Michael, at least.”
“So what about you? How do you feel about him?”
“Well…I’m not sure. He confessed so suddenly and then there was so much confusion and shooting…”
“WHAT!? L-ELF CONFESSED!?” Shoko had only been half-joking about L-elf’s crush this entire time. Sure the boy was human, but the thought of him blushing and confessing like a school girl was too much.
“Confessed to what?” asked Kyuuma as he and Aina rounded a corner.
“Confessed to…to…eating my yokan!” Shoko made a feeble attempt to save some of L-elf’s dignity.
Aina giggled. “There’s only one thing a boy could confess to after going through so much trouble for a girl like that.” She smiled at Kyuuma.
Haruto had explained what he knew of the situation with the princess to the gathered students upon returning to the module. Lieselotte was hastily introduced to the group, but it was decided that it was best to give her some space at first.
“Just make sure I’m the best man, okay? I’ll make sure you everyone gets you good wedding gifts.” Kyuuma kidded as he and Aina continued on their way.
“Michael’s friends are all so nice. I’m happy for him.” Lieselotte said pleasantly as they reached the female dorms.
“I just wish he could learn to loosen up a little with us. I think it’ll be good for him to have you around. Well, here’s my room. You can stay with me for tonight.” Shoko let the other girl inside and then began to rifle through a drawer. “Ugh I was sure I had some clean clothes in here! I guess I forgot to do my laundry this week. I was going to let you wear my lucky tee! Ah well, I’ll go see if Marie has anything. She’s closer to your size anyway. I’ll be back in a sec.”
“Okay. Take your time.” Lieselotte had patiently waited in captivity for years. A few minutes was no problem.
Shoko rushed away leaving the princess to sit on the bed with her thoughts. How did she feel about the boy these people knew as L-elf?
As a royal, Lieselotte had learned quite young how to put on an act. Despite her calm response to L-elf’s confession, she was actually somewhat taken aback. After the incident three years ago, she was sure that the boy would have found a different girl and forgotten all about her. She had no idea that he had been pining after her for all this time. He reminded her of a puppy that could think of nothing other than its previous master, even after having been given away and forgotten. She was of course very grateful for the rescue, but did she love Michael? L-elf? She wasn’t even sure what he would prefer to be called. She really hardly knew him. She did know that he certainly was handsome. Very much so. However, so was her other childhood friend, A-drei. Occasionally she had wondered how the L-elf was doing, but it was more curiosity than a deep fondness. She certainly didn’t dislike him, on the other hand.
She sighed as she looked down at her blood-stained clothes. She had pretended to not be bothered by it, but in all honesty, for the past few hours she had wanted nothing more than to spontaneously become a nudist. The very thought of the crusty blotch was making her skin crawl.
Her introspection was disrupted by a knock at the door.
“The Prime Minister isn’t here right now.” Lieselotte called out as she stood from the bed. She listened, but no further sounds could be heard. Curious, she cracked open the door. Peering out, she caught a glimpse of a long red ponytail and scarf swishing away down the hall. She then noticed a neatly folded set of sweats at her feet.
“I’m back! Whoa, where did you get those from?”
The princess’s ornate makeup was in stark contrast with the gym clothes.
“I think someone with red hair left them for me.” The princess replied to Shoko, still a little bewildered about the odd gift-giver.
The Prime Minister giggled. “That would be Akira. I’ll talk her into meeting you properly later. You know, you still don’t look totally relaxed yet. Why don’t you go take a shower?”
The shower was very relaxing. She had used a tub more often back in Dorssia, but a shower was a nice change of pace. Anything was a nice change of pace after being locked up and used as a rune battery for so long. She looked at herself in the mirror. Hair down, no makeup, sweat pants- she felt just like one of the Jioran highschoolers. She wondered if L-elf preferred his new Jioran friends over his old comrades from Dorissa.
“Michael!?” She squeaked, as she stepped out the bathroom, only to crash into L-elf’s back.
“Were you…waiting for me?”
He turned to face her. “I was standing watch. What if someone walked in?”
Standing face-to-face like this, she remembered wishing she were taller at one point or another. It was sometimes hard to feel regal while being so small. Either way, she never felt intimidated around L-elf. He still reminded her of a guard puppy.
L-elf regarded her in turn. He had yet to see her like this, with her hair down, rendered a charming salmon color by its dampness. Without makeup, she no longer looked like a storybook angel. She could be mistaken for any of Haruto’s friends now. A small, odd disappointment briefly prodded him.
“You look nice?” he tried.
Lieselotte laughed. “Michael, please! Relax.”
He did indeed relax somewhat. Her smile was indeed still that of his princess.
“How about showing me around and introducing me to more of your friends? Your best friend is that Tokishima boy, yes?”
“We are not ‘friends’. We merely have a mutually beneficial relationship.” As he spoke, he suddenly recalled H-neun prattling about ‘friends with benefits’. Perhaps L-elf had made a poor choice in of words.
“Michael… did you ever stop to think that maybe there are other people in the world besides just you and I?” the princess asked, gently.
It was true; L-elf had never really considered it before. Other people were nothing but steppingstones to reach his princess. If the two of them were the last two people in the universe, it wouldn’t matter. That’s what he had thought ever since their first meeting. Two halves equaling one whole …but hadn’t he promised Haruto to share half and half as well?
So many things today had not gone according to calculation. It was slightly terrifying.
Lieselotte put her hand to the soldier’s cheek. “We’ve both had a long day. Let’s get some sleep and catch up in the morning, alright?”
L-elf covered her hand with his own. Being able to touch her once again still seemed like a dream. “Yes,” he smiled wearily.
Lieselotte had spent the night in Shoko’s room. It was the princess’s very first sleepover and she found it quite fun.
Upon waking, Lieselotte stepped toward the dorm room door, planning to set out in search of L-elf in the hopes that they could have breakfast together.
“Tokishima Haruto,” L-elf’s voice could be heard outside the door. Had he been guarding her again?
Not wanting to interrupt any bonding the boy might be having with his best friend, Lieselotte stayed put.
“I don’t think that this is an appropriate time or place,” the albino continued.
“I can’t hold it back. You were with the princess all day yesterday, so we couldn’t… I was having such a rough time without you…”
Lieselotte pushed the door open just a touch as silently as she could. She may have grown up sheltered, but anyone would have to raise an eyebrow at the moment.
Her eyes widened as L-elf, the boy who had confessed his love to her only the day before, pulled his collar down to bare his pale neck to the other boy.
Haruto bit down ravenously, as L-elf’s face contorted in pain. The princess, her own face now somewhat warm, could watch no more.
Shoko began to stir in her bed. The pink haired girl turned to her.
“Shoko…Just how close are Michael and that friend of his?”
“Good morning, Lieselotte. Can I get you anything?” L-elf asked, standing from the table as the princess entered the cafeteria.
“I’m surprised you’re still here. All of the other students have finished eating already,” Lieselotte said, seating herself across from him.
“I was waiting for you, of course.” He sat back down, smiling at the girl. Clearly, yesterday had not been a dream after all.
“Were you waiting in front of my door an hour or two ago?”
“Well, yes. I waited for a little while, but then I needed a break and had to sit down. I was feeling a little light-headed.”
“Michael, I know why you were feeling light-headed. I saw everything. Is there anything you’d like to tell me?” her tone was that of concern rather than accusation.
“Lieselotte, I think we need to go speak somewhere private.”
He led her to a supply closet just outside the cafeteria and shut the door behind them.
“Michael, if you’re in love with me, why are you letting that boy do such things to you? Or do you love him as well?”
“No, no! Oh God, no. I am not in love with Tokishima Haruto of all people.” He grabbed the princess by the shoulders. “I love you, and only you. I love you so much, Lieselotte.” His expression was quite earnest.
“Then can you tell me what was happening?” she coxed.
“Tokishima Haruto is a Kamitsuki, something like a vampire. It started when he began to pilot the Valvrave. We made an agreement to share his curse fifty-fifty, so I allow him to feed from me. No one else must know of this. ”
“Is it ‘runes’ by any chance? The thing he receives from feeding?”
“Yes, it is? How do you know about that?”
“They were harvesting from me back in Dorssia, but that’s not important right now. You saved me from that. What is important is that you really are a good person, Michael and you do care for your friends. Not everyone would let someone feed from them like that.”
She stood on tip-toe and quickly nipped at his neck with her perfect little mouth.
“Wha-what!?” L-elf clasped a hand to the newly pink spot on his neck.
“Oh, I thought maybe anyone who shared fifty-fifty with you was allowed to do that.” The princess smirked playfully, an expression L-elf had never seen from her before, but certainly would not oppose seeing more often.
“I don’t think it works like that.” He stated seriously.
“Alright, then. How about if I want to also try things that you do with your friends, in order to get to know you better?”
“That sounds reasonable.” He concluded.
She bit down harder this time. This was very much different from Haruto’s feedings. Instead of the warmth on his neck coming from his own blood, it came instead from the softness of the girl’s mouth, around and beyond the kitten nip of her teeth. It was comforting, as much as a bite can be, like that one area of his neck was soaking into a warm bath.
After pulling away she looked him in the eye, silent for a moment.
“Michael, let’s continue to share our lives half and half. Please don’t try to give back the half I gave to you when we were children. Keep it. Don’t feel like you owe me anything and for my part, I will try my very best to learn to love the man who holds such a significant portion of my life.”
Planning to leave L-elf to ponder, she opened up the closet door, but was unexpectedly greeted by the grinning face of the Prime Minister.
“Did you two have fun in there?”
“Yes, quite, thank you.” The princess smiled cheerfully.
L-elf remained standing in the closet, face suddenly as red as Haruto’s Valvrave. How did Shoko even find them? His calculations were certainly not what they used to be ever since girls became involved. “It wasn’t fun….” Was all he could manage.
Shoko closed the closet door in sympathy. The poor boy looked like he could use a moment.
End side: Princess
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
A Pea Green Boat/Side: Idol
“I could’ve stopped her from escaping if your dumb horse hadn’t kicked me!” Q-Vier sulked in his hospital bed, glaring at his broken leg, as if it was personally betraying him by being injured.
“You wouldn’t stop teasing her.” A-drei considered himself lucky that Q-Vier didn’t shoot poor Flugel after the incident. His incessant whining was the lesser of the evils.
“Well, sorry buddy, I gotta go. I have a date,” H-neun grinned. He was constantly attempting to make the other boys jealous, but in reality, none of them really found the time to think about girls. “Don’t you want to know who it’s with?” he asked excitedly.
“We all know it’s with Kreimheld,” X-eins sighed.
The three Dorssian soldiers left the room, leaving Q-vier to sulk and play videogames by himself.
“Welcome back,” Saki grinned, from her seat on the floor of A-drei’s dorm room closet. “What do you think?” She asked proudly as she stood.
“I think that I need to wear that tomorrow and I’d like for it not to get wrinkled.” A-drei stated as the idol turned about, modeling his own Dorssian uniform for him.
It had been three days now since A-drei had discovered that the body of the child, K-zwolf, had in fact been inhabited by the Jioran girl, Saki Rukino.
“I’m getting bored in here, you know.” There was no response from the boy. “What’s up?”
“Our weekly room inspection is coming up tomorrow. I’m not sure what to do you.”
“Isn’t it easy? I’ll just jack your body.”
“What do we do with your body, then?”
“I guess once they discover it, they’ll think I’m dead and I’ll live the rest of my life as Prince A-drei. Though, I’m not sure I’d keep doing that little side-braid thing every day. I think I’d get you a haircut….How do you feel about mohawks?”
“I think it would a shame if your real body was tossed away, to be honest.”
“Oh? Do you now?” Saki took a step forward.
“Yes. That hair of your’s is not something that should be wasted.”
“Well, it isn’t so hot right now. You haven’t let me take a shower.” She inspected her ends wistfully.
“I’m going to have to tell my comrades about you. I don’t see another way this could work out.”
“Do you think they would rat us out?”
“Q-vier would kill you on the spot; he can’t know. I think X-eins and H-neun might be reasonable, if we approach this the right way.”
X-eins’s body was surprisingly more difficult to adjust to than Haruto’s. He was quite a bit taller, which made the experience similar to wearing heels for the first time. Despite his bookish appearance, the coal-haired boy was actually quite well-built. His face had a certain charm, Saki decided as she gazed into the locker room mirror through X-eins’s square frames. Not as cute as Haruto but really not bad, if you were into nerds. The boy soldier’s face could be made to have some of the same innocent and earnest expressions she had grown accustomed to from the Valvrave pilot.
“You okay there, buddy?” the boy with the piercings furrowed his brows. What was his name again? F-neun? Why couldn’t the Dorssian soldiers have normal names? Saki decided that she would designate this particular clown ‘Jimmy’ from now.
Earlier…
A-drei had hoped to introduce both X-eins and H-neun to the situation with Saki at the same time, but as it happened, H-neun was still out on his date. A-drei hoped they weren’t doing anything untoward. X-eins was nowhere to be found either. Maybe he had run out to the bookstore.
After weighing the options, A-drei started back to his own room, deciding that it would most likely be okay to wait until tomorrow morning to sort things out. He trusted his friends. They were nothing like that traitor, L-elf.
However, that plan did not last long either.
“A-drei, may I come in? I have that book you wanted to borrow.” A male voice sounded through the door.
Saki, still wearing the Dorssian uniform top, had been lounging on what must have been L-elf’s bed at one time. She had found something interesting under it that she wanted to ask A-drei about. He had left to speak with his friends only moments before. He and this boy must have missed each other somehow. Oh well. She’d just keep quiet and wait for him to come back. Then suddenly, the door began to open. Time seemed to turn to molasses as the gap between the door and it’s frame grew wider. How could A-drei not lock the door? Did he do it on purpose?
A licorice-haired, bespectacled boy entered the room and Saki’s fangs entered his decidedly pasty neck.
“Welcome home, Honey.”
As A-drei entered his dorm room, he was greeted by X-eins sprawled on his bed, top buttons undone. The pale-haired boy’s mouth opened and closed like a clown prop at a miniature golf course, until he spied the soulless body of Saki lying on the floor.
“Saki! What? Why?” His eyebrows knitted in dismay until they created an angle that would make any math teacher pleased.
“You didn’t lock the door,” The body of X-eins stood up off the bed and pointed an accusatory finger at A-drei. “This nerd came in. What else could I do?”
“I didn’t lock the…. Oh no…” the white-haired boy became even paler. “I was so used to not having to lock when it was L-elf and myself in here. The facility is so secure and I know my comrades wouldn’t take anything... My deepest apologies, Saki.”
Saki, still in the body of X-eins, bounced back onto the bed. “I handled it. Hey, I wanted to ask you this photo album I found under L-elf’s bed. Who’s the girl with the meatball hair?”
A-drei sat beside her. He wished she’d switch back to her own body. Her lifeless body on the floor was making him uncomfortable. Though she had told him that she couldn’t die, regardless it brought to mind images of what would happen if the two of them were found out.
“That’s Liselotte, our childhood friend. L-elf cared for her quite a bit. I hope he isn’t still carrying that picture of her around everywhere…”
“What about you?”
“What’s that?
“Did you care for her?”
“She was very sweet and we enjoyed playing together as children, but I don’t think I saw her quite the same way L-elf did.”
“The sweet ones aren’t your type, then?” the face of X-eins made a very uncharacteristic smirk.
“Do you think you can go back to your old body now?” A-drei attempted to change the subject, as one would some ill-fitting clothes.
“Old body? Are you calling me an old hag? Haha. Just wait until you’re a pruny old man and I still look the same. Forever… I’ll be the same…”
Saki slid off the bed and knelt near her original body. She enjoyed this part. This must be how Haruto saw her that one time. Saki bit down on her own neck…Nothing happened. She bit again and again, causing a gory stain to leak from her body’s neck onto A-drei’s impeccably vacuumed berber carpet.
Saki looked up at A-drei, blood around her mouth like a child playing with lipstick.
“I can’t change back.”
An alarm sounded through out the halls. It was time for a surprise drill.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Shortly after the drill alarm sounded, Saki found herself in the locker room with H-neun. The voice over the dorm loud speaker stated that only X-eins and H-neun were needed at the moment.
A-drei, who’s training was scheduled for the following day, had fussed over Saki like a mother hen, insisting that she tell them X-eins wasn’t well and to not go. Saki, however, was confident in the muscle memory of X-ein’s body and headed out to the locker room, shutting the door on A-drei mid-protest.
“So this drill is to prepare us for taking back the princess from the Jiorians?” Saki asked H-neun as they suited up.
A-drei had explained the situation to her earlier.
“Well of course. We’re not taking the mechs out on a hot date. Are you sure you’re okay? Just follow my lead out there today and take it easy today, alright?” He patted Saki’s shoulder as he exited the room.
The controls on X-ein’s machine were much different than she was accustomed to in her darling Carmilla.
Saki looked out at the snow as she cruised over the landscape. The reflection coming off of it was blinding. How did the Dorrsians ever deal with so much snow? Was this a nation populated entirely by yetis? It must be, if she were to judge by how this cockpit was set up.
She spied a humanoid cardboard cutout standing out against the snow and fired at it. Extra crispy style! Hair style-boy in the nearby mech would be totally impressed.
“…X, you just nuked the princess.” Came the other pilot’s voice through the display.
“We’re not supposed to shoot the targets!?”
“Not that one! You can’t see the pink hair!? You’re supposed to snag her from the Jiorians!”
Saki spotted some more cut-outs she had overlooked in the glare and zoomed in on the display. They all had dark hair and looked about thirty years old. They were unlike any Jioran students she knew. Maybe they looked a little like Haruto if he were still able to age.
Saki caught on quickly after that mishap and deftly zapped some cardboard Jiorians along to the tune of the whirring of the mecha.
As the whirring increased in volume, Saki began to wonder if the noise was normal. It was more like a buzzing than a whirring, like a ringing in the ears.
She looked down at the controls, trying to figure out where the sound was emanating from.
This lever….what did it do?
The stomach she was borrowing from X-eins twinged. She didn’t know what any of the controls did, even though she had only moments ago.
Was she losing her connection with the boy’s body? This had never happened before. Every other time she had jacked someone, she had had complete control of the body for as long as she needed.
The snow was awfully white. So white…
They never had solved the problem of where to stow Saki during dorm inspection.
A-drei sighed as he stared at Saki’s body on the bed. It hadn’t felt right to just leave her on floor. What if her body felt sore when she was finally able to return to it?
If H-neun hadn’t been out training, he’d definitely have something to say about this. Probably something about how this was the only way A-drei would ever be able to get a girl in his bed. Well, the joke was on him, because he had placed her onto L-elf’s bed anyway. He had only stood between the two beds holding the body for a full minute before deciding which one to use.
He hesitantly placed the back of his hand on her forehead. It was getting cool. He had only placed the body on top of the covers, but now he decided that returning to a cold body couldn’t be very pleasant. He imagined it would be like submerging into a lukewarm bath.
A-drei removed the blankets from his own freshly made bed and carried them over to the bed that formerly belonged to L-elf. He carefully covered Saki up to the chin, tucking the edges around her shoulders, then smoothing the creases.
He stood back, admiring his work. Something wasn’t quite right yet. Her hair was all kinked up under her head and neck.
A-drei pulled a chair over and gently worked the length of the glossy tresses into his hands. Once it was all neatly plaited, scalp to ends, he placed it over her left shoulder.
He sighed. This was all well and good, but it still didn’t do anything to help him with the inspection looming this evening. Hopefully when Saki and H-neun returned, they could get her back into her original body and sort this all out.
As morning creeped into the afternoon, A-drei reluctantly left his room to get some lunch.
He hardly made it half way to the cafeteria before he caught sight of H-neun supporting a somewhat limp X-eins (or rather, Saki) exiting the locker room. A-drei approached them at a rushed walk.
Someone so princely shouldn’t walk like that. He looks like a mother duck shuffling to rescue her babies, Saki imagined, as she looked up blearily.
“What happened out there?” A-drei hissed. He didn’t want to draw the attention of anyone else who may be nearby. Could things get any worse? An image of the traitor, L-elf, crossed his mind before H-neun spoke.
“He passed out while in the air. He keeps saying he’s fine. Maybe he just stayed up too late reading last night. He wasn’t that far off the ground, so he just got a little banged up. You’re really okay, buddy?” H-neun was clearly trying to mask his concern over his best friend.
A-drei relaxed only slightly. At least the Jiorians weren’t here, then. Though he supposed it might make things easier if he could just hand Saki back over to them.
“H-neun, I need to speak with you privately.”
“Now?” the boy glanced at the person he thought was X-eins. “Just let me get X settled and then I’ll be right over.”
“It’s about X-eins. He needs to come too.”
“So we have the empty body of a Jioran girl and X’s mind is AWOL?” he turned to Saki. “So you’re some kind of soul-sucking vampire?”
H-neun figured there wasn’t much reason to not trust Saki. If she was going to pull anything, it would’ve been when she was in control of a giant robot.
The three teens stood in a circle in A-drei’s room as Saki’s body still rested peacefully on the bed. Saki’s raised eyebrow upon seeing her hair styled so nicely didn’t escape from the boy who sported a matching hairstyle.
“Close enough.” Saki smiled.
“What did we write on the canyon wall as kids?” H-neun questioned her, expression intense.
“What are you talking about?”
“She doesn’t have many of X’s memories.”
“I didn’t assimilate him. This isn’t a bad sci-fi. It’s just like he’s tucked into bed in the back seat, while I drive. We’re still two different people.”
“When will he be back in the driver’s seat, then?”
“I don’t know. I tried to get back before the drill and I couldn’t. This has never happened before.”
“Can you try it again now?” A-drei encouraged. He imagined that she must’ve been nervous on the first attempt. Saki liked to talk big, from what he knew of her, but there was no way she wasn’t at least a little uneasy being stuck in enemy territory.
Saki knelt down next to the bed containing her original body. There was no need for her to brush any hair out of the way, A-drei having done such an impeccable job as impromptu stylist, so she opened her mouth wide as if performing a yawn during a dull class, then chomped viciously.
Still nothing.
A-drei crossed the room and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“One more time,” he said gently.
She bit again, less frantically this time. The body of X-eins dropped to the floor like crumpled scrap paper.
“X!” H-neun rushed to support him.
Saki sat up in bed and rubbed at her eyes. “My, this is very cozy,” she said, tugging at the covers. “You Dorssians should really give up the whole military thing and turn this place into a B&B.”
Just then, X-eins came to as well. Another explanation was in order, very quickly.
They filled him in on the details and, as expected, he took it quite well, especially after H-neun assured him.
“Well, our room inspection is up first. After it’s finished, we should somehow get Saki in there before they start on your room.”
“X, can you and H go figure something out? I need to speak with Saki.”
“Oooooh. A-drei and Saki sittin’ in a tree~” H-neun chanted, as X-eins pushed him out of the room.
“Saki,” the silver-haired boy began, “I’m hardly an expert on space vampires, or whatever it is you are, but I’m pretty sure that something isn’t right. Between having such difficulty returning to your body and passing out during the drill… Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked earnestly.
“I really don’t know. This has never happened before…” She began to think about the other Kamitsuki. She hadn’t witnessed Yamada or Kyuuma body-jack at all nor had she seen the end result of Akira’s jacking. That left Haruto. What if she was running short on runes like he often did? She didn’t think that anyone but him was dependant on feeding from humans, but that had to be it. Maybe the rest of Kamitsuki just didn’t need to feed as often as Haruto? It was worth a try. It’s not as if drinking from A-drei was in any way objectionable to her. She had to admit that he was more handsome than Haruto. When she first saw him through the eyes of K-zwolf back in the canyon, she had thought for a moment that he was sent to welcome her into heaven.
She was still sitting up in the bed. “I think there actually might be something you can do. Sit.”
A-drei complied and sat on the edge of the bed.
The girl moved to brush the hair from his face. She told herself that she needed to move the hair out of the way so she could feed, even though his bangs were nowhere near his neck. Her hand halted and pulled back.
“You can’t see out of that eye?”
The half-blinded boy turned his face away from her, looking as if she had just shoved a yellow citrus fruit in his mouth.
“Your new ‘friend’ L-elf did this to me.”
Saki thought for a moment. “That was Haruto! My…friend Haruto. He can body-jack just like me. He was just trying to protect us. L-elf didn’t do anything to you. It’s true that he’s helping us, but he’s a good person… more or less. I think. Anyway, you can now see that we Jiorans aren’t bad and I can see that you Dorssian kids are just a little misguided. I think… that you and your buddies should consider going back to New Jior with me.”
A-drei opened his mouth to speak, but Saki cut him off.
“Just think about,” she spoke sharply to the side of his neck before biting in. Waiting any longer wasn’t an option if she didn’t want to lose control like Haruto did that time.
She tried to concentrate on taking in runes rather than body-jacking. She hoped that was how it was done.
The scar over the boy’s eye twisted to the point where it could hardly be found anymore among the contortions of his usually handsome face. Not that Saki could see anything with her face attached to his neck like a little bat. She could feel him twitch. She knew from experience that this hurt quite a bit, but it couldn’t be much worse than what Haruto did to his eye.
Haruto… He was a kind boy, if somewhat plain. It would be hard for anyone who knew him to dislike him. She enjoyed their little date that time nearly as much as she liked the idea of the fame she could gain from dating him, the savior of the Jiorans. She didn’t want to spend all eternity with Haruto, however; she wasn’t in love with him, nor he with her. His heart was in the right place asking her to marry him, but she knew that he was doing it out of guilt for the attack. She couldn’t agree to that. Maybe, when she returned home, it would be time to have a talk with Shoko. She had to grudgingly admit that maybe she would be good for him…
A-drei’s hand on her shoulder roused her back to the present. She guessed he was trying to steady himself. She was mildly surprised that he hadn’t tried to push her way, or even protest.
Her strength was beginning to return, as she told herself it was time to stop. She did so enjoy the feel of that white skin between her lips. She sighed as she released him.
His face was paler than ever, making his scar stand out angrily until he brushed his hair back over it, using the hand that had been resting on Saki’s shoulder.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked, taking breaths between the words.
“I do, thank you.”
“That’s good. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I need to lie down. I can’t say that I have any experience with vampires drinking me dry before, but I’m guessing that if I don’t lie down on my own now, I’m going to keel over on top of you.”
He shakily lifted off the bed and meandered over to his own, lying facing the wall.
He suddenly felt something warm next to his back, causing him to tense once again..
“I thought you might be cold after losing that blood.” A voice said into the back of his uniform.
“That’s very considerate.”
“Will we be okay be with the room inspection?”
“We’ll worry about it when we can.”
“Will you come back with me?”
“We’ll worry about it when it’s time.”
End Side: Idol