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Miki Nanao



A sad look flashed across Miki's face as Charlotte rejected her offer to help cook and clean, but the red-eyed girl smiled brightly at the invitation to help with shopping. She wanted to be as useful as possible, they were letting her stay here after all.

"I'd love to help with shopping, Char, but if possible I'd still like to learn to cook, I've always wanted to cook for-... Never mind, I'd just like to learn, if that's ok!"

Miki blushed as she stopped herself from finishing her sentence, changing tack a little at the end. Following Char into the kitchen, she attentively watched every step Char took, taking notes on temperature and length of time per side, and the thickness of the tofu. Admittedly, fried tofu wasn't exactly master chef material, but she would learn what she could, when she could.

"Thank you very much, Char, I really appreciate the lesson, and the favour. Wish me luck?"

Miki spoke with a smile as she took the fried tofu Charlotte held out for her, looking a little apprehensive. Squaring up as best she could, Miki made her way upstairs, and promptly realised she forgot to ask which room was Rednal's.

"Oh no. I don't want to invade someone's privacy..."

Thankfully for her, the first door she tried opened easily enough, and showed (what she thought) was a very boyish room, with a shrine in the corner.

"Lucky~"

Stepping into the room, Miki closed the door behind her, moving up to kneel before the shrine, placing the small serving of tofu onto the offering plate.

"Uh... What now? Mmm... I pray? I guess..."

Unclear of what she should pray for, Miki placed her hands together, closing her eyes, and thought about her family, hoping for their safety.

Miki Nanao



Eyes closed, Miki was praying, thinking about her family, their safety. The first hint, thus, that she had she wasn't alone was when Kyori spoke behind her, causing her to jump in place, spinning around on her knees to face the voice. She hadn't known what to expect, as to how the goddess would arrive, either way she hadn't been ready.

"Ah! How...?"

Her mouth flapped a few times, allowing Kyori to make her remarks on the tofu, which dampened Miki's spirits somewhat, she really should have fried the gift herself, she felt. Then Kyori really dropped a bombshell. Not only had she actually heard Miki's prayer, she confirmed the girl's parents were alive! Practically launching forward, still on her knees, Miki grasped Kyori's hands.

"Really!? How do you know? Are they really ok? Where are they?!"

A mountain of questions were flooding her brain, spilling from her mouth in quick succession, before she managed to get a hold of herself. Wriggling her knees closer to Kyori, still clasping the fox-girl's hands, Miki looked up at the goddess and beamed a radiant smile. And then pessimism sunk in.

"But, how do you know? You could have just been hiding in one of the other rooms and snuck in after me... There's no way you're a real goddess is there? This has to be some kind of trick..."

Miki's heart sunk at the thought, as her mind raced over everything that had happened this afternoon. Had it all just been some big lie? Would someone really go to such lengths?

Miki Nanao



"I... I'm sorry, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just been a... strange afternoon, there's a lot to take in."

Miki sighed and lowered her head. She was stilling grasping Kyori's hands, tightly, and a few tears fell onto both of their fingers.

"They're alive, I believe you. I'm so happy."

Looking up again at Kyori's face, Miki beamed a wide smile, even as more tears fell from her eyes. Unlike before, with Charlotte, these were nothing but happy tears, and Miki made no attempt to hide them.

"Are you able to tell me where they are? Are they safe, or in prison? I want to see them. But first I need to get better, I need to be able to control myself."

A little firmness returned to the girl's voice, and she finally noticed fully the change that had come across Kyori, unable but to be impressed.

Miki Nanao



Miki sighed with relief, but couldn't help feel a little embarrassed at how much she had worried. Her parents were okay, better than ok. Instead, however, of focusing on that, Miki focused on Kyori's next words, asking if she was ready.

"I am. The sooner I have control, the sooner we can work to curing this virus, and the sooner I can go home to my family. But what are we going to do? How am I going to learn to control it?"

Standing, Miki steeled herself, she was ready to do almost anything.

Miki Nanao



"Wait, what? Like... Right now?? Well... Ok. Yes. Sure, let's do it!"

While she was a little taken aback at the suddenness, Miki was all for it. She wanted to gain control as soon as possible, if it that meant right now, that meant right now.

"Ah, wait a second though, I don't want to ruin these clothes that Char gave me, I'll go quickly change back into my clothes, they're already a bit beat up, it doesn't matter if they get worse!"

With that, Miki stood, and rushed into the bathroom, looking for, and finding, her own outfit. She quickly stripped off the fresh clothes that Charlotte had given her, and folded them neatly into a pile, placing them into the same box she unceremoniously dumped her clothes out of.

They were dirty, but as she slipped into her tattered outfit, she felt far more comfortable than she had since the bath. She was used to wearing these clothes, the clinking of the chains, the weight around her.

"Yes! This'll do!"

Stepping out of the bathroom, Miki practically ran back down the stairs, and skidded to a halt in front of the basement door. Barely holding herself back, she almost reached for the handle, but decided to wait until Kyori was with her again, and anyone else who would be coming.

Miki "Kaiserin" Nanao



As she followed Rednal back down into the basement, Miki became very quiet, tensing up. She was afraid, of course, her transformations had never ended well, she had always ended up somewhere unknown after each one. Though she had only known them for an afternoon, she had come to trust the members of Rednal's household, and they all spoke highly of Rednal himself, so she trusted him too.

"Mm. I'm ready."

Moving into the centre of the basement, Miki breathed deep, slowly releasing her breath before a sudden swirl of energy surrounded her body, blowing her hair and clothes like a rough wind. In the blink of an eye, her skin changed hue into a purple-ish blue, her body grew into a more mature form, horns sprouted from her head, and large, chained wings erupted from her back, flexing in the air behind her, testing their strength.

As the energy surrounding her dissipated, the demonic woman now standing in the middle of the room flexed her clawed fingers, rolling her arms as if limbering up, before lifting her head to stare at the pair guarding the way out. Her eyes narrowed, and purple energy flared from them for a moment, before a grin split her seductive face.

"You think you, pitiful things, could control me? Look upon my beautiful form and fear for your lives. Do as I desire and I may let you live."

The demoness took a few steps forward, holding out her hand, palm up, her fingers clawing softly at the air.

"Move."

Miki "Kaiserin" Nanao



"Oho~"

One step forward. Deep purple energy began to swirl around the demoness's claws, visibly pulling in any particles in the surrounding air. Her wings unfurled further, as much as they could with the chains that bound them. She was clearly preparing to attack, but something was holding her back. For a brief instant, the expression on her face softened, before returning to a seductive grin.

"You'll have to try harder than that, I'm afraid, she on the inside sleeps while I play, and I haven't played in so long~"

One more step. Slowly approaching Rednal and Flandre, she tried one more time to get them to move, she wasn't stupid, two-on-one almost never ended well for the sole combatant, especially when she had no idea how strong the pair actually was.

"One last chance, move, or die."