BXBX NOVEL Chapter 383: The Family
Chapter 383: The Family
By some unspoken agreement, twenty minutes later Kamiko and Kat left the bath together. Abusing the fact that nothing sticks to their skin, the liquid from the bath simply slid off leaving them completely dry. Kat summoned her outfit on reflex, and Kamiko said in response. "Wait, do you not wear anything else?"
"No?" said Kat confused. "Nothing else fits because of my wings and tail. Well, maybe I could do something about the tail, but the wings certainly."
"Huh… that's… well" said Kamiko "I know I don't exactly wear a bunch of clothes but I have pyjamas at least. Do you not even have a set of them?"
Kat shook her head. "No, there isn't any higher energy in my home dimension so the only thing I can wear is this."
Kamiko's jaw dropped. "Wow, I… I can't even imagine. Practically all clothes have a fitting enchantment on them here. It doesn't increase the price at all it's so necessary. The only people who don't have stuff like that are the ones that need to squeeze those extra few enchantments onto a garment and can't afford it."
Kat shook her head. "Well, I had clothes before, a few sets, but this kimono is the only thing I've worn since my wings grew in." said Kat
"What?" asked Kamiko
"Did I not explain that? When I started taking contracts my various demonic features started to grow in. I could have sworn I mentioned it earlier… well nevermind." Said Kat
"Oh" said Kamiko somewhat despondently and seemingly unconcerned about her current state of undress. "That can't stand. Once my mum gets back we should take you shopping. Just to get you a few outfits. It'll be nice I promise. Even if you aren't one for shopping, you can double your wardrobe with just one purchase!
"Though… speaking of pyjamas, it has occurred to me that I've left mine back in my room." Mumbled Kamiko under her breath.
"Oh, I'm fine. I mean, that's lovely but…? I'm fine" said Kat. *I'm not sure I exactly have the money to buy anything at the moment with my debt and the whole trial thing that supposed to happen after my punishment is done.*
"No no, I insist… though it will need to wait till after we've finished with the punishments now that I think about it" said Kamiko.
"Right…" said Kat, hoping that perhaps Kamiko's non-perfect memory will be the saving grace here.
"Anyway, follow me up to my room" said Kamiko walking out the door and gesturing for Kat to follow, which she did. When they got to the drop Kamiko simply leapt back up to the second floor and Kat was able to follow easily.
*You know, I thought their system for traversing floors was a gimmick, but when you can easily jump between floor two and three maybe it isn't so crazy. It's not even a hard jump or one where I need my wings. Though… the fact that the strange material at the bottom lets you jump is another mystery.*
Kamiko walked down the hallway past the first few sets of doors, before pushing on the fifth one on the right-hand side and walking in. Kat wasn't sure what to expect, as she somewhat timidly followed behind her.
At this point, Kat hadn't really been into many peoples' bedrooms. She'd seen Lily's and a bunch of them at the orphanage, but Kat always felt that wasn't quite the same. She was so used to Lily's room now, and she'd spent time there before it dawned on her that a room was a private space where you brought friends, and not just a place to sleep that gets regular visitors in the night looking to calm down.
Still, Kat hadn't yet picked up the appeal of having her OWN room, mostly just treating it as a place to sleep. It would take time and knickknacks to make it a proper space for her. Kamiko's was already showing her influence from the second Kat walked into the room.
The first thing she saw, and stuck out instantly, was a huge painting on the back wall that sat above Kamiko's bed. It had most of her family, or what Kat was guessing was most of her family. In the centre of the frame were three identical people, Kat assumed were the triplets. *Though if that is the case who painted this? It IS a painting after all… maybe it's based on a picture?* They all had slightly different variations on the same set of clothes.
The main ensemble was a short tulip styled skirt that ended just above the triplets' knees, and seemed to hug their figures that was the same pink as Kamiko's and the triplets' hair. They all wore black shirts of differing styles. Merra had a basic t-shirt that proved that Succubi were capable of gaining muscles, showing them off alongside her muscled legs that were just as pale as the rest of the family.
Erra wore a black smock with pink highlights that covered most of her arms, leaving Kat with the odd impression that she wanted to be wearing a longer skirt but was forced into the whole thing for some reason. Kerra rounded them out with a short-sleeved blouse that while black as well, had a few obvious stains from painting, especially around the sleeves, which Kat noticed, but didn't realise the oddness of at the time.
They all had the same pink hair that Kamiko had, and shared with other figures on the wall, though Kat wasn't entirely clear as to who was who. The triplets kept their hair styled the same with a short bob on each of them, with small horns matching Kamiko's.
The main difference to Kamiko, was clearly in their eyes which seemed normal, and had a green tint to them, slightly clearer than anything human, but nothing too out of place. Moving on from them, Kamiko sat on a small chair in front of them, wearing a plain white sundress while looking back at her sisters and smiling, hair down around her neck much like its current appearance after it had been left down from the bath.
The only male in the picture, was over to the right, and had to be Kamiko's father. Kat was surprised to see that HE was the source of the family's pink hair and green eyes. He looked a little stretched to Kat's eyes. The suit he wore only amplifying this effect. He looked normal enough at first glance sure, but only the first one.
Trying to put that out of her mind, Kat tried to figure out who must have been who. There was still three other women in the picture and Kat was having a hard time figuring out which of them was which. The deciding factor was the eyes, Kat remembered Kamiko mentioning her eyes looked like a cross between her mother's and her sisters.
So Kat simply scraped the two with potential to be either of those, and looked to the third and final figure that had to be Elmony, her sister/aunt. Looking at her now, it made a lot of sense. Elmony had pink hair like many of Kamiko's other family members, and perhaps that was a part of what sold the ruse.
But she stood head and shoulders above the rest of them. She stood behind the triplets towering over them with large ram horns that spiralled out from the side of her head. Her eyes were a deep red and missing the pupil but for some reason Kat didn't find it all that unnerving. Her pink hair was long, and flowed down to her waist, much unlike the rest of the family, and Kat could see her slight smile revealed sharp jagged teeth that locked together rather than a normal human mouth.
The lower half of her was hidden by the triplets, but her shirt was the same black that the family seemed to be going for. It was a suit jacket like their father's but it strained to confine Elmony's assets that dwarfed the rest of the family, the triplets especially who were all rather… compact in that area.
So it came down to the final two people, and Kat honestly wasn't sure which was which. Aslena and Kamiko's mother looked shockingly similar to each other, and they'd made it hard in this painting by wearing the same outfit as well.
*Doesn't help that nobody ages properly in this dammed dimension. They look similar enough that if you told me they were twins I'd believe it. Should I just ask Kamiko who is who? Though… it's an interesting puzzle that I kind of want to work out for myself.*
The big difference was of course in the eyes, one had a large cross that took up her entire eye. Unlike Kamiko's which only took up a normal amount of space, this girl's looked like her eye was cut into four. The other, had black eyes with stars scattered across them, mimicking the night sky. Kat could almost see them shiny back at her from the painting.