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The power is out again. It's the third time this week, and it's become something of an exhausting certainty. As uncomfortable as it is to be at her second job, with drunken men eyeing Kaede and getting much too close while she plays her piano, it's at least better than being alone in a cold, empty, dark apartment. No electricity means no kotatsu, no heated blanket, not even a light to shower by in the bathroom.
Kaede grimaces and decides to cut her losses now and just go to bed. At the very least, she'll be conserving her energy, and the blankets will warm up with her body heat eventually. She brushes her teeth and washes her face by the glow of her phone's screen, and then crawls into bed.
Whatever.
As she curls up under the blankets, she absently wishes for—god, she doesn't know. The touch of another person. Human interaction beyond tipsy men leering her way. It's only at times like these, by herself in the dark, that she allows herself to miss Shuuichi. He'd always held her so close at night, kept her warm. But… well, with him being a boy… She couldn't keep stringing him along. It was for the best.
Kaede wishes a girl would hold her like that.
As if.
It's late morning when Kaede wakes, her blankets pulled tight around her. She slips in and out of consciousness for a few moments, dazedly trying to make sense of what she's feeling. It's unusually warm. Especially at her back. Kind of like…
She forces herself to roll over and open her eyes, and her suspicion is confirmed: there's someone in her bed. That's a girl, Kaede's exhausted brain helpfully tells her. A completely naked girl with long dark hair that's spilling all over Kaede's bed and wait, shit, are those horns? Those are definitely horns. And tiny bat wings. And a tail, a winding leathery whiplike thing, and Kaede is pretty sure she's freaking out. This can't be real.
Apparently she's moved too much, because the girl's eyes flit open. They're a nice rich brown, almost red, and Kaede could definitely get lost in them. Wait. No, no, not now.
"Morning," the girl says nonchalantly, as if she's lived with Kaede for years, rather than being a complete stranger.
Kaede has some difficulty getting her mouth to connect with her brain, but manages to sputter out a confused "Uh, who are you?"
"You summoned me. You can call me Maki."
"I—no! I definitely didn't summon you!"
Maki narrows her eyes. "You're the only one here."
"Maybe you've got the wrong person?"
That earns Kaede a deep sigh and a flick of Maki's wings. "I can smell how lonely you are. There aren't any other women like you around here."
Kaede feels her face heat up. "So you just broke in?"
Maki sighs again, clearly exasperated at Kaede's inability to understand the situation. "I'll only repeat this once. I am a succubus. We cannot enter unless invited. You asked for someone to be with you. Specifically… a girl. Your arms formed a circle. You summoned me."
Kaede could scream. She nearly does. This whole thing is so ridiculous she has half a mind to pinch herself to make sure she's not dreaming. "Look, this is just… maybe I talk in my sleep? I don't know. I didn't do whatever it was on purpose, so can you just… get out of my apartment?"
Maki's tail twitches back and forth. It's seriously convincing, for a fake. Kaede can't say she doesn't admire the lengths this girl's gone to. "So you're dismissing me?"
Finally, some progress. "Yes! Yes, I am."
Maki says nothing, just lifts herself up and strides over to the window. She unlatches it easily, lifting up the metal screen as she goes.
"Hey! What're you—"
She never gets an answer. Maki puts her bare foot on the windowsill for leverage, pushes herself forward, and gracefully leaps out.
Panic rushes over Kaede. Sure, this girl is completely batshit, but Kaede's apartment is on the eighth floor. She doesn't want Maki dead.
She rushes over to the open window, peering down at the street below and expecting the worst. But there's no broken body on the sidewalk, no concerned bystanders. As hard as she looks, Kaede only sees her normal, quiet street, with the smell of smoke lingering faintly in the air.
[Shuuichi Saihara]: hey Kaede, how have you been?
[Kaede Akamatsu]: kind of a loaded question
[Kaede Akamatsu]: lol, i'm okay. how are you??
[Shuuichi Saihara]: I'm good! I entered one of my stories in a publishing contest so maybe soon I'll be a published author
[Kaede Akamatsu]: oh congrats!!!! i'm rooting for you!
[Shuuichi Saihara]: I also met a guy
[Kaede Akamatsu]: oh??
[Shuuichi Saihara]: but I don't want to get my hopes up yet, you know
[Kaede Akamatsu]: yeah i understand!
[Kaede Akamatsu]: a girl broke into my house last night
[Shuuichi Saihara]: what??????
[Kaede Akamatsu]: I KNOW??? i just woke up and she was here
[Shuuichi Saihara]: ...were you drinking?
[Kaede Akamatsu]: no, nothing
[Kaede Akamatsu]: p sure i'd remember taking a girl home even if i was
[Shuuichi Saihara]: well, hopefully that doesn't happen again
[Kaede Akamatsu]: yeah seriously :T
Kaede decides against mentioning the succubus part to Shuuichi. He's got enough on his plate as it is. The last thing he needs is some pseudo-supernatural bullshit from his ex-girlfriend. Besides, if what the girl said holds any weight, she can't come back unless Kaede invites her, which Kaede is definitely not planning on doing. It's all just so strange, Kaede thinks, and she'd rather keep it to herself rather than seem borderline insane. She starts to think, after a few hours, that she dreamed the whole thing. It's too much to be real. But, to Kaede's disappointment, when she investigates, her bed still smells of smoke.
It's a full week of consideration, of mulling over her thoughts and carefully inspecting each second of her memories of the encounter, before Kaede decides to do some research. Curled up in her bed on a Friday morning, Kaede opens her phone's browser, bites her lip, and types the word succubus.
She skims a few articles, her breath caught in her throat. There's a lot of talk about beautiful female demons that steal men's souls. Kaede wonders, idly, if demons can be gay. Probably, she decides. Maki must have at least some interest in women to have shown up in her bed like that. Kaede just hopes that interest isn't fixed squarely on stealing her soul.
So life goes on. Kaede plays piano at night, waitresses during the day, talks to Shuuichi when she can, curls up alone in her bed. The heat goes out, and men hit on her. More than once, she finds herself thinking about what it might be like to have someone to protect her, or keep her bed warm—someone with fangs and claws. Somehow, it seems, she just can't get Maki off her mind.
It could be nice.
When Kaede gets home from the bar late into Tuesday night, she makes her decision. She thinks it over the entire time she's in the shower, but her mind's made up. Maki had been trying to help her; of that much she's sure. It may not have been the greatest execution, but Kaede's willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe succubi just aren't aware of human customs. And if, by some stretch of the imagination, Maki really isn't a demon… Well, then, Kaede will look ridiculous, but at least she can say she tried.
Once she's out of the shower and into her pajamas, she makes her preparations. She clears off a large space on her bedroom floor, pushing things out of the way as she goes, then starts digging through all her storage. After twenty minutes, she comes up with five candles of varying scents, colors, and sizes. Hopefully it won't matter. She lights each of them, placing them on the floor in front of her. Remembering what Maki said about her arms making a circle, Kaede hastily arranges the lit candles into a vaguely circular shape on the floor, big enough for a person to stand inside.
Nothing happens.
Kaede presses her lips together, trying to remember the exact details of how Maki showed up the first time. There's the circle, and the intent. The candles flicker under Kaede's bedroom light. What is she missing?
"Maki," she says out loud. "Um, if you're out there…"
The candle flames soar suddenly, billowing impossible amounts of smoke, and Kaede really hopes this won't set off her fire alarm. She catches glimpses of body parts in the cloud: fingertips, ankles, long dark hair, until they coalesce into a girl with red eyes and a thin tail sitting on her bedroom floor, looking up at her with only the utmost annoyance.
"Explain," Maki says, eyes narrowed, as she stands up to face Kaede. Even naked, her stance and threatening gaze command respect.
Kaede puts up her hands in surrender. "Look, I'm really sorry for kicking you out, I was confused and I didn't realize why you were here and, and—I want to start over."
Maki sighs. "...Fine. But only because you smell good."
"Really? Okay! Also, uh, I have one more thing."
"What?"
"You're not gonna steal my soul or something, right?"
Maki wrinkles her nose and frowns. "No. We haven't done that in at least three centuries. I haven't even been alive that long," she adds.
"Oh, how old are you, then?"
"Less than a century."
"Whoa…"
"Anyway, you summoned me for a reason, so…" Maki blushes, like she's not sure what she's meant to say. "Let me keep you warm."
[Kaede Akamatsu]: hey hey heyyy
[Kaede Akamatsu]: i wanted to let you know i started dating a girl!
[Shuuichi Saihara]: oh! congratulations
[Shuuichi Saihara]: it's not the one that broke into your apartment, is it?
[Kaede Akamatsu]: actually. about that
[Shuuichi Saihara]: Kaede…
[Kaede Akamatsu]: it was a misunderstanding! its okay now, shes actually really sweet
[Kaede Akamatsu]: i want you to meet her sometime
[Shuuichi Saihara]: as long as you're alright, that's fine with me
[Shuuichi Saihara]: do you want to meet up for coffee sometime this weekend? I… might have someone for you to meet too
[Kaede Akamatsu]: omg! yes of course!
When the two of them get into bed, Kaede's delighted to find that Maki's body is even warmer than she'd remembered. It's like being pressed against a space heater. They lie like that, just talking, for almost an hour before Kaede finds herself drifting off. This may not be the way she expected her life to turn, but, well, when do things ever go the way she'd planned?
"Thank you," she says into the dark.
In response, she feels Maki's tail curl around one of her legs. "Don't mention it."
And so, for the first time in a long while, Kaede Akamatsu goes to sleep warm, content, and hopeful.