2.21: The End of a LegendWhen we left the bathroom, I felt… uncomfortable for a different reason even though the pain hadn’t gone anywhere.

  The panties Rui had loaned me were definitely too tight.They were too snug.They were too low on the hips.They were too much wedged in my butt.

  Accepting that was the only way to make it work.

  I didn’t dare say those things aloud… because that would be the quickest way to trigger her oni mode again.And as for the pad…KAMI!

  That thing took up so much room in the front it felt like I had been issued tactical armor to slot in the underwear I wore. I had a wedgie like Aika’s, except mine wasn’t from fighting with perfect martial grace. It was from the differences between our body shapes and sheer bad luck.

  My stained new panties rested on her hamper.

  I tried to ignore the sensations that her panties were giving me.

  Maybe after, uh… everything completes its journey, it will feel looser in the front.But the waistband kept cutting sharply into my hips every step I took.

  Every movement reminded me I was wearing something much smaller than me.

  The three yōkai were back in their human forms now.And, notably, they’d even hidden their tails and ears for some odd reason.

  Their curious eyes were glowing like they were watching the best episode of a drama. Even Akuchi seemed to grasp what I went through.

  “How did it go?~” Ume asked instantly, sparkling with the eager faux curiosity of someone who absolutely knew how it went.

  We failed… sort of.

  “…” Rui eyed me for a long moment and then blushed so hard she looked feverish.

  I said nothing, mostly because I was too embarrassed to say anything… and also because every word I tried to think of was repced by rants about my waves of cramps and the sensation of something too rge jammed in too tight underwear crawling up my butt.

  I’m one-hundred percent sure that no one wants to hear about that.My ears burned.

  My stomach still ached.My legs still felt weak.And as for my back… it had been subtly aching most of the day. I’d attributed that to getting flung around by Ushi earlier and ignored it… but apparently the universe had decided to stack multiple debuffs on me all at once.

  “If you’re thinking about training,” I said weakly, “I’m not sure that I’m up for it… but I’ll do my best.”I raised a thumbs-up that looked like it belonged to a RPG protagonist in combat with only 1 HP left. Not just that, she had a toad spell casted on her. I wanted to fil around, but I knew the cost of doing that would be steep. I didn’t want to move around much.

  Ume cpped her hands, delighted at the gesture like it was the cutest thing she’d ever seen.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Natalia-sama said, her smile radiant and calm. “What I have in mind to get you trained should be like a reset button for your little punctuation issue. It doesn’t matter what condition you are in. It will even get the job done in less real time than it normally would.”

  I blinked in shock. “What kind of magic is this?”

  Natalia-sama ughed softly, covering her mouth lightly. “We’ll train you through a certain yōkai ’s special abilities, actually.”

  Akuchi gasped dramatically, as if Natalia-sama had just revealed spoilers about a season finale that hadn’t yet aired.Ume perked up with excited interest.Even Rui tensed in awe.

  “What are you thinking?” Rui asked. “While it’s true that time passes differently in the Yōkai world, I'm not sure whatever you have in mind would buy us enough time. We’d only have a couple of weeks to train her there before we’re out of time.”

  Natalia-sama nodded. “Don’t worry. With what I have in mind, we’ll have much more time than that. A couple of weeks is probably not going to be enough time to teach Sumire-chan how to fight as well as Aika. And none of us are martial arts masters. I’m a kitsune… the only thing I can teach her is how to fight with spirit. Akuchi is a tanuki. Her transformation abilities are almost entirely self-focused. Ume-chan could change Sumire into a vampire, but that would just overcomplicate everything.” She gave a soft shrug. “But my idea should buy us all the time we need… and she’ll even get a martial artist trainer in the process.”

  “How are you going to pull that off?” Rui asked, skeptical.

  “We’ll get there soon enough… but before then,” Natalia-sama continued, “We need to reach my old house. Everyone will get to pick a room of their own. I have already a firm idea of which rooms would suit everyone most. There are plenty. And we need to make arrangements to move your things… though perhaps I shouldn’t get so ahead of myself.”

  She folded her hands and turned to Rui with gentle formality.

  “Will you accept my offer?”

  Rui frowned, her gaze sweeping across her devastated office… her destroyed memories, her treasures shattered, her ruined sanctuary.

  Her broken kotatsu.Her shattered mug.Her torn up futon.Her beloved anime chair in bent pieces.Her ruined dishes.Her smashed baseball memorabilia.Her father’s desk, which was sporting some gnarly scuffs on it from Aika’s shoes.

  Her expression shifted between rage, grief, and reluctant acceptance.

  “I’ll miss a few things here…” Rui muttered, pouting. “I guess mostly the elevator.”

  Ume snorted softly. “Is that all you’ll miss?”

  “... Not just that…” Rui sighed, her shoulders slumping. “You know… I grew up here. It was so cozy. We slept together in the office. While Dad was working, I’d climb out the window onto the fire escape. There was a stool by the window that I used to climb up to reach the window anytime I wanted. And whenever I got bored, I’d go py in the elevator.”

  As she spoke, her voice softened… the bratty bravado melting into something small and aching.

  A childhood memory wrapped in dust and frustration.

  I looked at Rui with a tiny sigh.

  I still couldn’t imagine how she’d grown so fond of that elevator… The thing was a rusty vertical coffin with buttons. But to her, it clearly meant something.

  She’d said it was safe… But I still wasn’t convinced.

  Especially considering my first experiences with it.

  But as she stood there, staring at the remains of her home, rubbing her arm with a tremble in her voice…

  I understood why she loved the pce so much. It was cozy.

  …

  …

  “Okay. I guess I need a fresh start.” Rui said, forcing a smile that wobbled at first… but it steadied as she spoke, “I’m very comfortable here, but when you have a harem, you have to think about the future. I can’t be so selfish. We need a pce with more room.”

  She straightened, her shoulders rolling back, confidence charging back into her spine like a battery reconnecting.

  By the end she was ughing, a full, cocky, very much her usual viliness cackle.

  “Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

  Ume cackled with her.

  “Ufufufufufufufufufufufufufu!”

  I won’t ugh like that.

  Natalia-sama smiled fondly at them, her expression soft and luminous, as though Rui’s bravado was the sweetest thing she’d ever witnessed. She nodded once, a dignified gesture backed by quiet certainty.

  “Now my harem, we march!” Rui decred.

  “I belong to my mistress, not you!” Akuchi pouted, crossing her arms.

  “We’ll see about that!” Rui cackled menacingly.

  Akuchi blinked and backpedaled.

  Is her opinion of Akuchi changing? The oni loves anything with boobs.

  “We’re not just going to show you the pce,” Natalia-sama said, cutting into Rui and Ume’s cackling. Her voice was as warm as sunlight. “We’ll need to use the gate again. I will make some calls to arrange to have your things moved for you while we’re busy in the Yōkai world… and for certain items to be repced.”

  Rui stopped cackling and perked up, her fingers twitching.

  Natalia-sama extended a hand with polite expectation, her gesture graceful… almost ceremonial.

  “Will you trust me with your key, RuiRui?” she asked.

  Rui froze for a heartbeat.It seemed that despite her bravado, she still had some regrets and doubts.Her eyes flicked around the room… taking in the room, imagining how it was in the past.

  “So many memories here…” she muttered. “I miss you Mom and Dad…” She said softly walking a short distance to the desk to y her fingers on it briefly.” She took a deep breath and walked back, yanking something from her pocket.

  She extended her hand and her office key glinted in her palm. It was worn and scratched. She held it a moment longer than necessary… before dropping it silently into Natalia-sama’s palm.

  A grave, almost sacred quiet filled the space.

  Natalia-sama closed her fingers gently around the key and smiled with full reassurance.

  “We’ll make my old house as comfortable as possible for you,” she promised. “You’ll be surprised how well it cleans up. The garden is beautiful, and there’s even a rge bath.”

  Rui’s entire mood shifted in an instant.

  Her eyes SPARKLED… literal glimmers, like someone had turned on an internal shoujo spotlight inside her head.She had stars in her eyes.Hearts.And possibly a small glitter explosion.

  “That’s a harem dream house!” Rui squealed.

  Natalia-sama ughed softly, the sound elegant and melodic.“I never thought of it that way,” she admitted, “but I am gd you’re happy.”

  We left the office quickly after that, stepping carefully through the carnage Aika had left behind in Rui’s office. The air still smelled faintly of paprika and Rui’s wounded pride.

  But nothing terrified me more than the moment everyone turned toward the elevator outside. It was the only way down except for the fire escape.

  My body stopped by itself.

  My soul froze.

  Even my cramps seemed to hesitate before going on hurting me.

  Everyone else boarded Old Screamy without hesitation. Natalia-sama was serene, Ume was humming lightly, Akuchi was muttering curses about Aika under her breath. She still clearly had a grudge.

  I stayed frozen a few feet away from the open elevator mouth like it was a hungry yōkai waiting to swallow me whole.

  Rui stuck her head out. “Come on, princess.”

  Before I could protest, she ran out, grabbed my hand, and yanked me inside. The door slid shut behind me with a metallic shrieking that sounded too much like a monster’s jaws snapping shut.

  CLANG

  I clutched my stomach with one hand and Rui’s sleeve with the other, trying not to cry, vomit, or colpse.

  “This is the st ride down Old Screamy,” Rui said brightly, squeezing my hand tightly. “Let’s do it together!”

  Her bravery was infectious.

  Too bad the elevator wasn’t convinced.

  Natalia-sama pressed the button gently. “Everyone… here we go!”

  The elevator groaned… deep, ancient, and resentful.

  Then the screaming began.

  The elevator machinery shrieked like tortured spirits wailing from the underworld. Metal grated against metal. Something inside howled like a dying banshee. Chains rattled in misery.

  My stomach heaved violently as the floor vibrated under my feet.

  My cramps doubled.My fear tripled.My horror squared itself for the fun of it.

  “This is totally normal. Don’t worry yourself to death like our delicate princess.” Rui said, cackling.

  “No, I don’t think this is normal. I’ve ridden on it many times with you and I’m very fond of your elevator as well, but…” Ume whispered, stepping closer to me. “Something is wrong.”

  SNAP!

  The elevator lurched sideways violently. Everyone jerked toward the wall that smmed against the shaft.

  Natalia-sama’s ears would have fttened. She still managed to look very worried without it. “That wasn’t a normal sound, nor was that rocking.”

  “Oh KAMI, it’s finally happening!” I wailed. “I knew this demon contraption would take my life!”

  Rui’s eyes shot open, full round anime panic. “I think you’re right!”

  “Wait! Not NOW! You don’t have to try so hard to impress me, Old Screamy! Susu just got her period! BE GENTLE!” she yelled at the elevator, as though it was an actual yōkai with a spirit.

  “DON’T TELL IT ABOUT MY WEAKNESS!!!” I screamed.

  I was convinced that it would become one if it wasn’t already.

  Akuchi screamed, “I’M TOO PRETTY TO DIE THIS WAY!”

  SNAP!KRACK-KRACK!

  The lights flickered. Sparks snapped from the top panel. The elevator shook violently, wheels screeching up there against rails as though cwing for purchase.

  SNAP!

  Then the world dropped.

  We were falling.

  Falling—Falling—FALLING—

  “GOODBYE, WORLD!” I shrieked.

  Ume screamed in perfect harmony with me.Akuchi transformed mid-air with a distressed POOF.Rui clung to me with both arms, yelling unintelligibly.Natalia-sama muttered, “Not again—!” with a spiritual exhaustion only ancient beings possess.

  POOF!

  Something engulfed us…

  Soft, warm, jiggly…

  SLAM!

  We didn’t hit the bottom.

  We spshed.

  Against something thick. And getinous. And suffocating.

  CRASH!

  Everything shuddered as Old Screamy completed her death plunge by smming into the padded bottom of the shaft.

  Dust exploded outward from the elevator shaft. The emergency lights flickered feebly through the getinous medium. I was smothered and suspended in a warm, quivering mass.

  It was like drowning in a giant pudding.

  “...C-can’t… breat…” I gasped, suffocating inside the jelly-like substance.

  POOF!

  The getin vanished in a burst of smoke as Akuchi transformed back, gasping, “I panicked! I thought… JELLY!! JELLY WOULD HELP!!”

  Without the jello holding us up where we were floating, we dropped the st few centimeters…

  CLATTER-THUMP!

  We nded in a tangled pile on the warped, bent elevator floor.

  The walls were bowed outward like a giant crushed soda can.The floor was buckled.The ceiling hung above us, crooked. Sparks rained down on us.

  Old Screamy was officially dead.

  Rui stood up shakily, dusting off her skirt and hair. “Wow…” she whispered, staring upward at the mangled shaft. “I didn’t think Old Screamy would actually croak like this.”

  She pced a reverent hand on the warped railing.

  “I guess she went too far this time trying to impress me.” She sighed dramatically, patting the wall. “Thank you, Old Screamy.”

  The elevator groaned faintly.

  Then a panel fell off.

  CLANK.

  “...She died as she lived,” Rui said solemnly. “Screaming.”

  Relwing