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The human whose name is written in this ledger shall void their bladder. I know this isn't the most original idea; but I ended up rewatching the Death Note anime out of boredom, and thought that I've seen this concept done three times that I can think of, but never seen it done well. I didn't want to distract myself from ongoing projects, so quickly hammered out my rough ideas of which parts to change, and asked Gemini to write it. The result was so bad that I felt like I had to rewrite most of it. So… it probably took more time than writing it myself, but I hope there's at least some continuity to the writing (like, not changing character descriptions every time they enter the room, and not starting every scene with an infodump explaining why future twists will be surprising). Would be interested to see if anyone wants to see more of this; I've written a chunk of chapter 2. Chapter 1 - Cleaner The human whose name is written in this ledger shall void their bladder. 本台帳に記名された者は、排尿するものとする。 The sky over the Daikon Private Academy was the color of a bruised plum. The air was hot and humid, the last vestiges of summer outstaying their welcome long after beach weather had departed. The school buildings were grey concrete, but contrived to imitate the colour of the bruised-plum sky, as if they could escape monochrome dreariness. The walls and courtyards were a little cleaner than other schools in surrounding areas, but it would have been hard to tell visually that this particular establishment was the pride of its district. The ceiling fan in Classroom 3-A rotated with a rhythmic, agonizing click in counterpoint to the overwrought ramblings of Mr Tagaki’s teaching. To the thirty students sitting in rows of polished oak desks, it was background noise. To one boy, light-ginger bangs less than a millimetre longer than regulation and his head resting on the window as he stared out, it was a countdown. “And you will see,” Takagi droned, tapping a piece of chalk against a complex diagram, “that whichever number you choose, it will return to one. Some may take longer than others, but it will be so. Maybe I should ask you to try it. These two rules, “n divided by two” or “3n plus 1”, seem like they should lead in opposite directions. But generations of mathematicians have worked on identifying whether there exists…” The boy by the window wasn’t listening as that voice continued to drone on in the background. He didn’t care about addition and division, like he didn’t care about most of the things the teachers at this school saw fit to drone on about. It was all too simple, like the endless repetition of multiplication tables that he could produce from his head if he wanted to but saw no use for in the real world. He already knew everything he needed to know, so he continued to let his body rest in class while his mind explored the world around him. Today, for example, his gaze was focused on a point between the monochrome buildings and sickly sky where a group of birds were unusually energetic. Maybe they were fighting, but some instinct told him that there were more important things to watch today. A sky blue speck detached itself from the heavens and descended towards the tree in the centre of the East courtyard. It shouldn’t have been particularly notable, except that the sky was anything but blue today, and a single microscopic particle of the colour seemed somehow out of place. He might have thought it just a phosphene; one of those stray specks that dances behind your eyes when you are overly tired. Or perhaps a tiny bubble in the arteries crossing his retina, visible for just a moment. But neither of those would have bounced off the ginkgo branches and made the leaves shake as it tumbled to the ground. Whatever it was, it was real. And the boy didn’t know what it was, which made it very much out of the ordinary. “Right?” a single sharp word cut into his consciousness. He shifted slightly and leaned his head on his palm, then let his gaze drift past the “Diligence” and “Skill through Effort” signs etched on either side of the chalkboard and focused on the teacher. Of course the man was looking straight at him, almost daring him to decide he was too busy to answer today. The rest of the class turned slowly towards him as well. They were probably all waiting for him to make a mistake, or for the lessons to reach a level where he couldn’t coast by on intuition. “Sir?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Two rules, Right,” the teacher said, tapping the board again as he enunciated Right’s name with a pressed voice that was clearly trying very hard not to become a growl of frustration. “You would know what we are discussing if you were paying attention to my lesson, rather than to the crows. How long do you expect it would take you, picking a number at random, before you found one from which this sequence forms a loop?” The class wouldn’t get their moment of schadenfreude today. Not when the answer was so clear. “I wouldn’t try, Sir,” Right said casually, and then turned his eyes back to the tree in the yard before he gave a more complete explanation. “No such numbers can exist. The constants in your expression, being three and two in this case, form a coprime set. Those digits correspond to a mapping of a logarithmic grid onto a discrete projection of the Julia set, as per Erdos’s least famous theorem, where the numbers in each such sequence represent the unit distance to the grid cell whose point density is closest to the exponent of the discriminant of the series. If the Syracuse function has any nontrivial solutions, which we know it does in any 3-adic fractal symmetry, then a looping sequence would necessarily correspond to a line traversing the Julia set which neither intersects nor is parallel to any points with degenerate gradient vectors. And that would obviously be absurd.” The classroom fell into silence for a moment. Right suspected that at least half of his classmates wouldn’t even understand his solution, let alone be able to guess whether it was correct. Maybe there was a simpler solution he had overlooked, because this one seemed a little beyond the level of a high school mathematics class. But Right knew that it was correct; it had just been so obvious when he looked at the problem. Mr Takagi stared at the chalkboard, his mouth slightly open as he compared Right’s answer to the textbook solution that must surely have been at the forefront of his mind when he asked the question. Eventually, he conceded defeat. “I… see,” he stammered, adjusting his glasses. “Yes. Quite. As I expected, you are always Right.” His chuckle didn’t have any humour in it. Right guessed that the teacher was just trying to fill the time, pass another boring lesson while he struggled to impress algebra into minds either too dull or too uninterested to master even such basic logical deductions. Right didn't care about the praise. He was too familiar with the joke by now to give it any attention, and his gaze was focused on one spot at the base of that tree. Where a mysterious speck had landed, which couldn’t have been an optical illusion. The one thing he didn’t know in his immediate surroundings, and thus a cause for interest. He was impatient now, waiting for the bell to ring so that he could satisfy his curiosity and know the truth. He didn’t need to rush; he knew exactly where it had landed among the shrubs, and he doubted that anyone else would be heading out to retrieve the mystery object before him. He was sure he would be able to find it, but once his curiosity had hooked onto something he knew that it would be all he thought about until lunch time. Right wanted so badly to find an answer, and as long as Takagi kept droning on about simple algebraic sequences, he would have to wait before he could get any answer. * * * Somewhere else, where the weather was different but no less oppressive. There was no sky here; anyone looking up would instead see an arched marble ceiling miles above, and stretching to infinity in every direction. Nobody marvelled at the scale of the construction because there were stranger things to be seen; besides which, nobody ever looked up here. The air was filled with steam, although the water temperature was kept at a constant thirty-seven point four degrees Celsius. The whole place smelled of lavender, talcum powder, and soap, although a slight draught might occasionally carry through a faint hint of roasting chicken; a scent which nobody had ever been able to discern the origin of. Any ground was hidden by a sea of bubbles, from soft foam no more substantial than the mist up to floating, iridescent bubbles as large as a man’s head. Thousands of stone pillars rose from the sea of foam, topped with oversized porcelain basins that overflowed with foam of their own as they were disturbed, pouring back to the unseen pool below with a roar that rose and fell like a distant heartbeat. Between the basins, uncountable figures moved through the bubbles and steam. Each one was occupied on their own tasks; all of them busy and no two about the same task. This place worked like a well-oiled machine, with none of the inhabitants ever being in another’s way or needing to ask about the status of their work. Any patterns in the movement would have been too complex to perceive, giving the impression of a million ants moving according to some inscrutable pattern, always industrious and every individual where they needed to be. Except that these were much larger than ants. Some of them towered over the outsized basins, while others had to jump in order to reach, or walked across the shoulders of their brethren, always assuming someone would be there when needed. They were distorted caricatures of a humanoid form, no two alike, and some were even stranger. One figure looked like nothing more than a towering mass of white linen, stretched over bones that looked like featureless ceramic rods where they emerged from sleeves, and made a rhythmic click-clack sound as the creature moved. Another had a head like a crudely carved rocking horse, fused into what could have been a crown or something else entirely. One lanky, shadow-thin figure was perched on the edge of a fountain. It had a smile across its face, frozen in place, and eyes like vacant discs. The blush on its cheeks was clearly painted on, the slightest hint of bright colour in a place where even the light was dominated by pastel blues and greens reflecting off the bubbles that drifted overhead. Its limbs were like sticks wrapped in liquid grey leather, flowing from place to place rather than moving according to the dictates of physics. When it deigned to move, in any case. Right now, unlike its fellows, it stared up towards the distant roof without any attempt at activity. It wasn’t dead, or even idle, but managed to convey a sense of restless contemplation. It gave the impression that it was stationary right now only because it was waiting to be needed; a delay which none of the others seemed to need. “You’re not working,” the folded-linen monstrosity whispered, in a voice that dripped with the hiss of steam and creak of disapproval. “No,” the tall figure answered, and turned its head to deliver the same constant smile as always. “I dropped my ledger. I’m waiting for a replacement.” “We can help you look?” another suggested, pausing for a moment in its own tasks. “It’s below the bath foam, right? Not in the void, or the… the Great Sink? You wouldn’t be that careless would you, Nuk?” “Oh, no. I’d never be that careless. I wouldn’t let my ledger be damaged. But it’s not in the bath now.” “Then where?” another indistinct figure, bloated and barely humanoid, turned towards them instead of walking past. After so many centuries of monotonous work, it was only natural that a break from the routine got the attention of everyone nearby. “The human world,” Nuk answered, and turned his attention back to a mound of bubbles atop a nearby basin. And then, sensing that some explanation was necessary, he added: “I was bored.” “You’ve ordered a new one, haven’t you?” linen-folds said, the creak of worry edging into its voice. “The Matriarch won’t be happy.” “Yeah, well,” Nuk answered, and gave a complex shrug which seemed to involve his shoulders somehow passing through each other. “Mommy’s never really been happy with me, has she? But I guess I should go.” “Go?” the question was asked by everyone at once. “Yeah. If a human found it and I wasn’t watching, that would be such a waste. I do hope I can meet someone… interesting.” The others were speechless as Nuk climbed up onto the fountain and then executed a dive towards the foam below. He never hit the surface, but instead grew farther away, vanishing into the distance second by second. And when he reached the limits of immortal sight, he became a smudge of soot floating in the lavender-scented air, and vanished. The others watched the empty space for a moment, a little tension joining a faint hint of chicken in the air between them, but none knew what to say. They stood there for a short while, and then each grotesque figure turned away to continue with their own work. They were needed, after all. * * * The rooftop of the East Wing was the only place where the air felt thin enough to breathe. School life was hectic, with so many people asking for help or seeking to socialise. Right had a lot of friends, but if there were more than a couple of them in one place, it would take a large fraction of his intellectual capacity to balance their differing desires and personalities against each other, just so he knew what to say so that they would do as he wanted. Right now, with a new curiosity on his mind, he didn’t need that kind of distraction. Up here on the roof there were some planters filled with greenery, a staircase, and a low concrete bench. The view was stunning, but Right could see that any time. He walked over to the bench and opened his bag. His lunch today had been prepared for him by Hitomi Narutaki; whose current investment in the tropes of romance anime showed in the ways she chose to express her interest. He set the bento box on the bench beside him, and lifted off the lid with one precise motion. He could identify grilled salmon, tamagoyaki, and pickled ginger, and he already looked forward to tasting it. But right now, he knew that he would first have to give his attention to the mysterious object that appeared to have fallen from the sky. He took it out, a notebook looking to a cursory glance very much like the cheap but hard-wearing ones that many schools provided for note taking. A coarse paper cover, in a colour he had initially thought to be sky blue but which might, on closer inspection, turn out to be be closer to periwinkle. He wasn’t an artist, so didn’t know the precise names of every shade, but he doubted that the distinction would be worth thinking about in any case. The book clearly wasn’t a school notebook, because there was a printed title on the cover, as well as space to enter dates and some kind of serial number in the corner. Oddly, he recognised the number as being in sanskrit numerals, and clearly printed on by some automated system after the book’s manufacture, but that wasn’t the most interesting thing. The line of text across the cover described it as a ledger; which would explain the serial number, perhaps. He could imagine many situations in accounting where it would be advantageous to know if one book had been removed from a series, particularly in the case of an audit. With consecutive numbers in a batch, it would be just a little harder to change records illicitly. What kind of ledger, he couldn’t quite make out. The printed title had been obliterated by a spiderweb of silver lines, as if this book were a pane of glass in the process of shattering. The lines at the centre clearly spelled out ‘pee note’, over the top of most of the printed label. And as unusual as the title was, it didn’t quite make the cut as the strangest detail about this object. Right’s lunch sat beside him, untouched as he ran his fingers gently over the notebook’s cover, confirming what he had thought he felt. The cover looked like ordinary paper; wood pulp or cotton, perhaps. But it yielded differently under his fingertips, and gripped his skin slightly. Rubber, perhaps, or some kind of vellum. He couldn’t be sure. And as he lifted it to the light, checking whether the texture he felt was visible, he realised that some of the blue pigments might have a trace of iridescence, like the whole thing was wrapped in a soap bubble. That would explain why it was so hard to accurately judge its colour. But now, that was all he could make out from the front and back covers. He set it in his lap, and flipped open the cover to read what was inside. He half expected just pages of blank space, perhaps ruled into columns, but he found that there was text to be read. On the very first page, laid out in silver ink on black paper so thin as to be almost transparent, were listed a set of what appeared to be rules; in the same spiderweb handwriting as the cover. 1. The human whose name is written in this note shall void their bladder. Right stared at the words, and a dry, humorless huff escaped his nose. “A prank,” he muttered to himself, immediately disappointed. “Quite high quality, someone clearly put a lot of effort into this joke. So why does the punchline need to be something so absurd?” He was closing the book again, contemplating whether to repeat the actions of whichever joker had first cast it from the rooftop, or to take it to the recycling collection point outside the gym once he had eaten. But his decision was interrupted as the echo of words demanded his attention, drifting up from the tiny, echoey space where banks of lockers were wedged into an alcove between the foot of the stairs and an entryway that was only used by delinquents in search of …a place to smoke during inclement weather. “She always takes the shortcut behind the gym before fifth period,” a gravelly voice muttered, tinged with a strange sense of anticipation. Right recognised the voice as Ishida, who he shared a history class with and whose report card was a graveyard of red ink. Nothing he was so excited about could possibly be good. “And then what? We just… block her in?” another voice asked. “It’s her own fault,” this sneering tone was Sato, who always looked down on anyone who wasn’t a star player on the football team. He was the kind of boy who was used to getting his own way, and could explode into a volcano of pure fury if anyone didn’t– “She should have shown me some respect.” “You don’t say no to the captain,” Isida reiterated. “So we teach her a lesson. Sato first, then we get what’s left.” Right’s hand clenched into a fist. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing; this sounded like more than just bullying, and he knew that he had to stop it. But he wasn’t dumb enough to think his fists would be any help against this little crowd; if they were Sato’s generals, there would be two more whose voices he hadn’t heard yet, and all his charismatic speech techniques would be no use if they weren’t willing to let him get a word in. Unless he could think of another strategy first, it would be a no-win situation. And calling for a teacher would only help if he could find one close enough. “We should take her phone first,” one of the others spoke up. “Make sure she understands some things shouldn’t be shared.” Right realised that his tightening fist was creasing the notebook in his hand, and again noticed the strange texture of the cover that clung to his skin. Of course he didn’t believe in magic. But after someone had gone to so much effort, it would be a shame not to at least try it. He wanted to give the prankster some credit for their creativity, and the ‘always Right’ part of his brain was reluctant to dismiss any hypothesis without the slightest attempt to prove or disprove. That was just the scientific method. And, of course, there was nothing else he could be doing right now. If he ran downstairs he would draw their ire himself; and if he waited they would be gone before he could reach the staff room. Writing a name in a weird notebook had almost no chance of success, but still infinitesimally better than zero. He yanked a mechanical pencil from his pocket and quickly pressed the button. In the stillness of the rooftop, he could imagine it sounding something like a secret agent clicking off his gun’s safety catch in the better class of spy movies. Then his hand came down, writing without any care for his normal neatness. SATO KAZUO Well, he’d tested it. But the chatter from the thugs at the bottom of the stairwell didn’t change. It was clear the notebook was a prank, and he wasn’t surprised because he’d never suspected anything else. But he also heard a click of the outside door opening, and knew that Sato and his generals were on the move. The girl they were talking about, whoever it was, must have come into view outside. Right didn’t stop to think. He didn’t need to. He wasn’t sure how long it would be before they were far enough from the door that they couldn’t hear his footsteps on the stairs, but he didn’t care. Right’s father had raised him with a strong sense of justice, and he couldn’t let this happen. His mind raced through the probabilities, but he knew that he couldn’t have just let this happen. He left his lunch on the bench now, with his bag and the strange notebook beside it, as he bounded down the first flight of stairs and headed for the science labs. There was a chance that Mr Kondo would be there, setting up for the afternoon’s practical classes, and even the faintest chance was better than nothing in a case like this. He didn’t pay any attention to the wind disturbing his expertly-prepared salmon, or a momentary hint of lavender and astringent soap in the air as a page fluttered back and forth. * * * The walk home felt longer than usual. The air was thick with the kind of static that precedes a storm, but the only thunder Right heard was the constant, low-level chatter of his schoolmates. By the time he reached his front gate, the humiliation of Kazuo had already been processed, memed, and dissected by half the student body. Kondo hadn’t been in the lab today, but Right had hurried to search for teachers in the reading nook in the north courtyard, where an old willow tree provided a little shelter from the noise of the crowds. It was a space used more often by teachers than students, but Right had known before he got there that he was already too late. By then, he’d barely had time to stammer out something about a disturbance behind the gym, and then rushed back to the rooftop to collect his bags. He’d rammed the notebook back into his bag and then bolted his lunch, not expecting to hear anything more about the day’s events however it had turned out. But the classroom had been buzzing with the first fragments of gossip before he even arrived. Sato Kazuo had threatened a girl, they said. A freshman, in the wind orchestra, and socially awkward enough that she didn’t know who to trust. Sato had stepped out flanked by his generals, ordered her not to move, and then pissed himself. Apparently the absurdity of the situation had been stronger than the loyalty of his second in command, and sato had been carried to the nurse’s office by four boys who were still itching for a chance to punish him for their second-hand humiliation. Right couldn’t believe it; but there was no way it could be a coincidence. Could there? He couldn’t work out the odds against the event without measuring how frequently a bully had his name written in a notebook and didn’t wet himself. But suddenly the existence of a mystical pee note somehow seemed the more likely option. He wanted to look at it again, and to read the rest of the rules, but by the time he had any reason to believe the Pee Note actually mattered, he’d been trapped in classes and hadn’t had the opportunity to read anything without someone peering over his shoulder. Now, finally, he was home and he could set about a scientific study of what he had found. The front door of the house clicked shut with a soft, expensive thud. “I’m home!” he called, his voice automatically modulating to the polite, dutiful tone his parents expected. “You’re home early,” his mother’s voice replied from the living room. “Did you not stop to chat with Ryouga at the convenience store? I was just about to start on some tea if you want some, and I have those almond chips you like.” “I have a lot of prep for the mock exams, Mother,” Right said, his voice a perfect mask of studious dedication. For once, the neutrality actually took effort to maintain. “I’ll take the tea, but I should get straight to work.” “Always so diligent,” she sighed, a note of pure, uncomplicated pride in her voice. Once inside his room, Right didn't even turn on the main light. He sat at his desk with the blue notebook resting on the dark wood like a piece of fallen sky. He felt a strange reluctance to touch it again. It was just too absurd, or too strange. Maybe it would be better to actually focus on his studies now, in case his mother came in with the promised refreshments. But the mental image of Sato filled his mind. Among the school’s most feared bullies, a boy who prided himself on physical dominance, crumpling into a state of whimpering, wet disgrace. It was so easy to imagine from all the descriptions he had heard, and he knew enough statistical theory to be confident that the null hypothesis was even more of a long shot. The timing was too precise, Sato’s accident had probably occurred when Right was hitting the first turn on his rush to find Mr Kondo. And even if his family came in… well, the iridescent cover of the book would look so much more suspicious than the normal paper of the inner pages. He opened the cover, and his finger drifted back to the list of rules.The first, he already knew. But when he got to the second, he thought that he would have been extremely impressed if any prankster thought out their jokes so thoroughly. 2. The individual writing the name must have the person's face in their mind as they write the name, in order to avoid affecting others with the same name. 3. The timing of this release should be written within 40 seconds of the name. If it is not, the human's bladder will release as soon as that 40 seconds has elapsed. Right felt the air leave his lungs. Forty seconds. He hadn't written a time. He had simply written the name and walked away. And from every version of the story he had heard, it was easy to believe that exactly forty seconds had passed. “It’s not a prank,” he whispered to himself, the LED glow of his monitors reflecting in his eyes. “It’s a mechanism.” He sat in his ergonomic chair, his mind racing through the implications. If he could do this to Sato, he could do it to anyone. He could dismantle the social standing of every corrupt student, every abusive teacher, every cruel class president or hall monitor who hid behind a mask of dignity. But a single incident at his own school was a statistical anomaly. Two would be a pattern. Three would be a trail which any competent detective could start to pick apart. Right didn’t think that anyone on the Daikon Student Council was smart enough to work out what was happening, even if he filled every page of this notebook with names. But he also knew that it wasn’t a smart move to underestimate your rivals. There was always a chance that some new student would rise up from the mass, someone who couldn’t be outwitted without expending a modicum of effort. His train of thought paused a little more than he would have intended at that stop, when a soft tap on the door heralded the arrival of his little sister bringing up a cup of hot tea and a small bowl of snacks. She was always so deferential, and didn’t want to outstay her welcome, so Right wasn’t worried that she might pry into his business. But still, she gave him a little cause for frustration. “Can you help me with my homework, Right? We’re starting calculus, and I just can’t get my head around it.” And then without a breath, she changed the topic completely. “Oh, and Mum says we’re having chicken nuggets for dinner. Naomi next door bought too many, and it’s better they don’t go to waste.” She must have seen Right’s face falter slightly, because she quickly bowed and left him alone again. Right simply did his best to put the thought of processed meat pieces to the back of his mind, and pulled out the notebook so that his gaze could rest on the page of rules while he decided how best to confirm that they were accurate. While he thought, his eyes skimmed over the next of the rules. 5. If the time is written, the nature and volume of the release and the events which led to it may be written within the next 4 minutes and 19 seconds. He told himself that he was a scientist, and that knowing the truth was the most important thing. Punishing someone who deserved it was nothing more than a side benefit, no matter how good it felt to be on the right side of history. He turned to his computer, fingers dancing across the keyboard, and pulled up ‘Frontline Confessions,’ a social media aggregator for school rivalries in their district. He scrolled past the local news until he found a video posted an hour ago. It showed a group of boys from Wakame Prefectural Academy, who apparently called themselves the “Iron Dogs”, harassing a delivery driver. The video showed the lead dog lifting a scooter over his head, trying to pretend it took no effort at all, before tossing it down an embankment onto a light rail line. It could have been only look that prevented this turning into a more serious incident when a train arrived, but the Iron Dogs supporters were all cheering it on like it was the height of humour. Right read some of the responses, and quickly determined that the boy responsible for this particular attack had been named Ryota. Arrogant. Loud. Untouchable by the Wakame staff because his father sat on the district school board. Right picked up his pencil, clicked the mechanism once, and then hesitated. There was no scientific reason it wouldn’t work, but it just didn’t feel right. Degradation should be permanent. He returned the pencil to its normal home in his pocket, and instead lifted a silver fountain pen which had been his reward for placing first in the national aptitude examinations for mathematics two years ago. Now it felt right. This was the tool for a genius correcting the world. He closed his eyes, bringing Ryota’s sneering face from the video into sharp focus. He felt the weight of the pen, the way the ink flowed onto the thin paper. RYOTA MORI Then he hesitated. Amongst the other comments, he saw a slight trend. Ryota commonly used his position on the school crossing patrol to ensure that elementary students felt they owed him something, or were afraid of him, before they were even at the same school. It made his popularity and respect among the student body unassailable. And Right decided that to get the best value out of this experiment, he needed to confirm the function of the other parts of the rules. His pen descended to the paper again, beside Ryota’s name. 8:12 tomorrow morning. Wets himself in surprise during the school crossing patrol, after a moment of inattention results in him almost stepping out in front of the principal’s car. He wasn’t sure that would work. It was an experiment. And when, after refreshing the Frontline Confessions for ten minutes, he saw no further mention of Ryota Mori, he knew there were two possibilities. Either the first experiment had been a fluke after all, or he would have another result to collate when he checked for new posts on the site tomorrow. In either case, there was nothing he should do to change matters right now. So he could focus on his homework, without any temptation or distraction. * * * The room was silent, save for the low hum of Right’s computer. Two high resolution monitors cast a dim glow across the bedroom. The spot where their light intersected, perfectly centred on his desk, was the only well-lit spot in the room. He set the plate down there. It was covered by a plastic lid to keep the heat from escaping, but he could guess what was underneath. His dinners were more varied when he ate with his family, but they didn’t insist he come down when he had a lot of homework to do; especially when his father was working late again. He looked at the shadows cast by the tiny dome, and then reached out to turn his desk lamp on. “Thank you,” he said, and then looked properly at Reina’s face. She seemed a little nervous, and he knew that she wasn’t just here to bring his food up. She wanted to talk to him as well; and being there for his precious little sister was one of the most important things to Right. “Do you want to sit down?” Reina perched on the corner of the bed, still anxious. Her hands shifted position, each clasping he other and changing places every few seconds, but it didn’t seem to bring her any comfort. “What are you working on?” she asked. “Calculus of modular forms,” he answered quickly. “Pet topic of one of the lecturers I hope to study with at university. If I can learn a little more, I stand a better chance of getting the placement I want.” He paused there. He didn’t want to comment on how thin this was stretching his time; devoting hours to extracurricular studies as well as his homework and all the other tasks that he had to find an opportunity for. There were other things to focus on right now. “Is something wrong?” “No,” she shook her head rapidly, but he thought he saw the slightest trace of moisture around her eyes. And then he was sure it was serious. He had decided long ago that he would never forgive anyone who made Reina cry, and even a single tear was enough to get his protective instincts up. “No, everything’s fine. Everything’s normal.” Right lifted the lid off his dinner for a moment, and then set it back down. She was eager to tell him, he knew that. Otherwise, she would have dropped off the food and gone back to get Mum’s help. So all he had to do was wait, and a few seconds later the dam burst. “It’s not like you can control who you love, right? You can’t make someone care. But Orihime tried so hard to impress him, and she did everything right. And then she was in the bathroom crying all afternoon. It isn’t that he said ‘no’, it’s just the way he did it. Like he was holding it off until it would hurt the most. Like he didn’t even try to let her down gently, he just laughed and sneered, and told all his friends. I hate guys like that, I wish they could be on the other end of that attitude for once. Someone needs to take them down a peg or ten.” Right nodded slowly. He knew Reina’s friends from the orchestra club, but he didn’t know any of the details of their relationships and connections. But he was sure that for Reina to be so agitated on behalf of her friend, someone had really crossed a line. He listened as his sister poured out her feelings, and did his best to provide a shoulder to cry on. It was all he could do right now, and he was sure that it was the most morally responsible way to meet her needs. But at the same time, there was a part of him itching to do more. As she said, it was normal for boys to be thoughtless and insensitive with the feelings of people who cared about them. And he wasn’t sure whether the best way to deal with that would be to punish one individual, or work to change the system. But he didn’t need to think about it yet. First and foremost, he needed to be there to listen, and to take in every detail while Reina sobbed out the story. Orihime was one of the stars of the band; a genius who was as adept with pan pipes as with the bassoon she had inherited from her grandfather, and a girl who might one day become a cultural treasure. Tetsuo Tendou, on the other hand, was an entitled rich kid who thought he was important just because he was on the school’s tennis team. Right could picture his face easily, and thought that even without a specific incident, Tetsuo’s general lack of respect for those around him was a good sign that he needed to have some of the confidence knocked out of him before he could actually learn to be a good person. “I’m sorry,” Reina mumbled eventually, once all the story was told. “It’s not a big deal, it’s kind of normal. But I just wish…” “People need to be better,” he said. “And don’t worry about it. People like that eventually… find themselves in a situation they can’t talk their way out of.” “Really? I think he’s got everything he wants. The world is treating him like a hero, even the teachers act like he’s a big shot sometimes.” “Yeah. But people who only think of themselves always end up in a situation they’re not ready for eventually. He’ll get what’s coming to him. I promise. “I wish I could believe that,” Reina sighed, standing up. “If there was something you could do to make him realise… well… Anyway, thanks for the help. And enjoy your dinner." As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, the atmosphere in the room shifted. No longer a place of comfort, but of tension and negotiation. Right turned to the corner behind the door, where the shadows seemed just a little too deep, and waited. “You can see me, boy?” a rough voice jangled like a xylophone in a trash compactor. “Most people wouldn’t notice until I step forward.” “Why don’t you do that, then. So I can see you properly. You’re an omugami, right? “My name’s Nuk. And yes. You know about omugami?” “Nuk?” Right answered, and then nodded. “And you can call me Right. I’ve heard of omugami before. Pee fairies. Like I've heard of tooth fairies, the easter bunny, and verruca gnomes. I never suspected any of those would be real. But that notebook clearly exists, and someone had to have dropped it. Your existence in some form was therefore an inevitability, and your appearance a mere data point, defining the form you take from all the different shapes you could be imagined in. So, are you here to take your Pee Note back, or to claim my soul because I dared touch it?” “You’ve done more than touch,” Nuk said, and then laughed in a carillion of discordant beats. “You would have the ability to see me while holding the Nursery Ledger. But to perceive me once you put it down, I know that you must have written a name in it. Probably not just one, if I’m any judge of character.” Finally, he stepped forward out of the shadows. His legs and arms looked like nothing more than cylinders of liquid leather, flowing from one position to the next. His face was a perfect circle, bearing a permanent porcelain smile; All in all, the omugami looked more like a child’s drawing than an actual creature subject to physics. It was hard to judge his size; he looked close to nine feet tall, but there was no way such a large creature would have been able to stand in Right’s room with only the slightest stoop. It was as if he wasn’t even subject to the laws of human geometry; a shape pasted into the room without any consideration of whether he could fit. And Right found himself wondering whether that face was a disc, or a genuine circle. A two-dimensional visage, looking the same from every angle, wouldn’t have been the strangest thing he’d seen today. “Pleased to meet you, Nuk,” he said. And then he reached under his desk and quickly produced a baby-blue notebook. He set it on his desk, and carefully licked his fingers before opening the cover. “I take it that means that Rei– my sister wouldn’t have seen you, even if I’d drawn attention to your presence while she was still in the room.” “That is correct. I likely couldn’t even touch her. And there’s no need to keep her name secret. We omugami always know the–” Nuk’s voice suddenly stopped as Right turned to the third page of the notebook, which was a lot more organised than the chaotically scrawled names on the first. The pages were divided into columns by faint blue lines, the kind of thing that would be common in any accounting book. There were no column headers. But it seemed that Right had already decided on a structure. On the left hand page there were six columns total, and they were being used in three sets of two. The first cell of each pair contained a name, and the second a time. In some places, where a time had not been needed, six names were packed between the page edge and the fold on each line. The right page, on the other hand, had been devoted to more precise experiments. The first column was given over to a name, the second to a time, and then the whole width of the page was filled out with however much text was necessary to describe the circumstances of that person’s accident. Nuk glanced across forty names, in studiously neat handwriting. And then the child’s drawing of a man inhaled sharply through teeth that he didn’t in fact possess. “So. What’s the price?” Right asked. “I assume there is one. You must have something to gain by sharing this note with a human.” “Oh, there’s a price,” Nuk answered, and the strange laugh repeated. “Once you started using the Nursery Ledger, if you stop or run out of pages you won’t be able to void your own bladder anymore. You’ll be entirely dependent on me writing your name in my own ledger to control when you can get any relief. A normal function entirely under the control of another, just like the babies we’re supposed to tend to. Didn’t you think to ask about the price before you wrote so many names?” “There are a lot of people who need some lessons in dignity, Nuk. People who think themselves above everyone else and need teaching otherwise. Bullies and petty tyrants. So much filth that needs cleaning up, so that we can have a school governed by dignity and mutual respect.” “You sound almost like a preacher. To so many of the omugami now, writing names in the Ledger is a chore. Doing our job, allowing infants to relieve themselves until they have the control to do it for themselves. But you’ve turned it into both a game and a weapon.” “Not a weapon, Nuk. A filter. Finding those people who don’t deserve to be a part of society and removing them from the flow.” “So that’s your motivation to have filled multiple pages in a single week?” “Partly,” Right admitted. “You see, Nuk, there’s very little in this world that can challenge me. I wanted to understand something new. It’s true that I wanted to help the innocents who have been bullied. But also because we’ve got something in common that I never expected.” This time, it was the human boy’s turn to laugh before he clarified: “I was bored too.” “I’m glad you were the one to find it. Most people would write two or three names and then stop. I think you might be…” he stopped, and seemed to sniff the air, with a nose that was no more than a dot drawn in the centre of his face. “Do I smell chicken nuggets?” “Convenient dinner when I’m working in my room,” Right said with a shrug, lifting the lid off his plate. “Mum’s been cooking them more often lately, just for the convenience when my dad is working late. Would you like some?” “Thank you! Thank you so much, Right! Chicken is the only smell which can pass through the seeing bubbles we use to observe the human world, you see. I’ve been craving an actual taste of the stuff for so long. And now I’m certain that you are the best human who could have formed a bond with my note. Thank you so much!” * * * Daikon Private Academy didn’t have anything so common as a student council. Instead they had the Holy Student Council, which was on a different level entirely. Their council chambers were a pillared chamber which could have been some kind of chapel, right in the centre of the oldest school buildings. Whatever furnishings it might have had back in the days this building was a seminary college were long gone now, replaced by a ring of polished wood desks with brass fittings, arranged in supplication to the higher thrones used by the council members themselves. The occupants of those thrones, four members sitting to each side of president Hana Natsuki, didn’t see themselves as a mere interface to allow the student body to communicate their concerns to the staff; but as an organisation ordained with some divine mandate to enforce the purity and honesty of all the students beneath them. They had the authority to give detentions or even to remove students from class in extreme circumstances, and it wasn’t exactly clear whether their power was greater or lesser than that wielded by the School Board. Competition for council seats was fierce, as they all knew that their roles could be contested by any honors student from a sufficiently affluent family who could maintain a perfect disciplinary record and earn the president’s approval. They were the lords who ruled over the student body, and took great care to make sure that all students lived up to their standards. But in a rare deviation from the norm, the council members were watched today by several attendees who didn’t bow down in fear or awe. To either side of the room were representatives from the District Student Councils, a loose union of six schools with overlapping catchment areas. All of them were respectful, all of them were the right kind of people, but they weren’t students at Daikon and so were not entirely under the authority of the council. And it would have required a very unusual situation for so many visitors to be invited to a meeting. Gatherings of the District Student Council, with one representative from each academy, were not unheard of. But some unspoken impulse had told all of the people present today that this was a serious matter which would best be conducted in the imposing surroundings of Daikon Academy. “The students are calling her ‘Tinkles’,” Bryce said, eyes darting down to a report he surely knew from memory. “It’s on most of the student discords, and making the rounds on Frontline Confessions as well. We’re not sure where the nickname first came from, but it seems to be accepted now that there is someone behind this stain on our reputation.” The president adjusted her glasses, and the light from high gothic windows reflected from the heavily varnished wood frames to cast honey-coloured streaks of light across the room. But before she needed to say anything, Pettigrew stood on the other side of her. “Not just our reputations,” he answered. “There are stains on the floors as well. Thankfully not the valuable carpets yet, but the janitors are starting to talk. They want to know what we are doing to resolve this situation. Is it some kind of literal plague?” “We have already ruled out disease,” and older man answered here. He stepped forward from the shadow of one of the pillars in the corner, a complete breach of the normal protocol. But he wasn’t entirely submissive towards the whims of the council, as he wasn’t a student here. Chief Administrator Arisato was a member of the school board, as well as being here today as a representative of the District Discipline Committee and Civic Council. He wore glasses like many of the council members, but his were less a statement of fashion and identity, more a necessity after many years of poring over every available record in pursuit of the right answer. His hair shaded to grey at his temples now, but he had the respect of someone who had been a member of the Holy Student Council nearly three decades before. “We ruled out environmental toxins as well, of course. Twelve of the victims so far have gone through complete medical examinations at the hospital, and the best doctors in the arrondissement have assured me that there was absolutely no medical reason for their loss of bladder control.” “It simply must be a matter of discipline,” Natsuki finally spoke, and everyone else was immediately silent. There was no space for whispered conversations at the back of the room during the president’s speech, and even Arisato remained silent. “We are aware of the general response on the Frontline website boards, and understand it to be a good representation of the opinions of the students. The victims of this strange phenomenon are often high-class individuals who have our backing, but the general sentiment amongst the student body is that it was something they deserved. That this imaginary ‘Tinkles’ figure is meting out some judgement on those who have abused their position.” This time, Bryce raised a hand and waited for a nod, to ensure that the president had finished before he spoke: “Justice is administered by the Holy Student Council, your honour. Not by an unknown outsider with some mysterious drug or weapon. We should treat this as an attempt to supplant our authority, and ensure that this ‘Tinkles’ is subject to appropriate discipline. Assuming that it isn’t one of us…?” The occupants of the other thrones stared with an expression of studied disdain, or shook their heads o make the point clear. “Other schools have been targeted just as much,” a voice from the edge of the room called out. Chiharu Miku, president of the student council at North Central High School; for once travelling without a secretary to carry her bag and take notes, out of respect for Daikon’s rules while she was on the grounds. “Almost exactly the same number of cases, that we know of. We need a special group to deal with this, we can’t just leave it to Daikon’s prefects.” “Our prefects will investigate the cases on our grounds, or involving our students,” Hana answered without hesitation. “You are, of course, entitled to investigate within your own schools. For the purposes of coordinating a district-wide effort, we shall require a weekly report of all cases, investigations, and suspects to be delivered to this Holy Student Council, from each of the six schools.” She didn’t expect any argument, but she certainly didn’t expect the request to be greeted by laughter from the back of the room. Her gaze turned like a lighthouse, with students bowing their heads as if they feared being tainted by association, until she found a tall boy with blond hair, with his red uniform jacket practically hanging off his shoulders and hair spiked up high enough to block the view of those behind him. Even Seibu Regional High wouldn’t appoint a punk like that to their student council, but he was nevertheless here as their representative. Yochii Hiruma, better known as an athlete than a politician, and apparently he didn’t know the rules of this hallowed chamber. “You act like you’re in charge, Miss President,” Hiruma said. “I’m sorry, but the schools in this district don’t answer to each other. We’ll share our discoveries, but only if you do the same.” The whole room went silent, tension feeling like it might explode at any moment. But the one who broke it was Administrator Kamehama, a young woman with ash-blond hair. Although she was a representative of the city council, and had the authority to regulate all student council policies district-wide, she glanced towards Arisato for approval before saying anything now. His remit was discipline, which made him the one with the most relevant experience in this case. “If I may…” she said. “The District Educational Board feels that this investigation should be led by an impartial body, without ties to any single school. But we also have received an offer from a certain individual you may have heard of, who may be willing to act as an impartial member to lead a team of inquiry with representatives from all six schools.” She stepped forward and set a laptop down on the table in front of the Holy Student Council, where supplicants would normally present their offerings and the accused show their evidence. Half the class could probably guess already who they would be speaking to. There was one student who always spoke through a computer screen, and whose real identity wasn’t known to anyone in the district. He was a genius, that much was beyond dispute. He would help with homework, or suggest solutions to complex interpersonal debates. He had appeared on Frontline Confessions and other district social media platforms to help all students with problems which interested him, regardless of which school they attended, and all attempts to discern his identity had always failed. Arisato had even wondered, at one point, whether the mysterious genius could be his own son. But still, the mystery remained. And if there was any consensus in the whispers that filled the room, it was that everyone kind of trusted this anonymous figure. And maybe, amongst the crowds, there was general agreement that it might be possible for one enigmatic figure to challenge another. The screen glowed into life, pure white. And after a second, a more technically-minded assistant of the Holy Student Council stepped forward and connected a cable to the laptop, so that the same image could appear on the big screen behind the thrones. Conversation in the background rose a little and then fell away again, everyone holding their breath as they waited to see what the genius would say. Finally, a single letter appeared in the centre of the screen; bold and black, in a distinctive typeface designed to be easily readable for dyslexic and neurodiverse students. Maybe it was redundant, as nobody would have trouble reading a single letter at that size, but it was the image everyone recognised as the profile picture and calling card of the mysterious genius. ‘P’ The room was silent for now, as the Holy Student Council waited for this new advisor to say his piece. But now everyone knew that the genius was on the case. The letter that could stand for Prefect, for Perfection, or for Problem Solver. Nobody knew who he was, but they were all sure that he would be able to help. And when an echoing voice started to come from the speakers, the same message would be echoed on social media to ensure that the entire student body knew that P was on the case now. This might not be a solution, yet. It was a declaration of war. And nobody could doubt that the situation was about to change.

New episodes are released on Tuesdays at 8pm Eastern Time! ------------- I know a lot of people are stuck at home without much to look forward to, so I wanted to try something a bit different. I've been working on this anime-themed story for about a month, and recently decided to release it week by week, as if you were watching it on TV! That's fun, right? Not annoying? (Honestly I need about a week to write new chapters and edit them. >_<) I think this could be a lot of community fun. Fan speculation, "next time on"s, stuff like that. It isn't really an ABDL story as much as it has Little themes? Though there is light diaper content. It's much more a mysterious magical girl story. So if that's your jam, you should definitely follow along. Unlike other stories, this one will not be released early on Patreon. I want to try to keep all the community engagement stuff in one spot. But when it's over, our Patreon will have the complete PDF and ePub. I'll also be starting a new story on there very soon if you want to check us out! Thank you for reading and playing along! ------------- Special thanks to the following patrons for the extra support: Lil' Erica, Cam, Lizzy, BeelzeDerBock, Lizzie, Phil, Ruka Puddlegum, Selpharia, Scotia3079, Jasmine Starshine, Princess Sarah, Herezulo, Sorka, Keira, and Guilyn. (Honestly, we can't thank you enough!) ------------- Maidens of Fate By Sophie (with Pudding's help) Episode 1: A Dark Decade and a Dazzling Day “We’ve been over this, Midori.” The doll’s lips didn’t move, but the voice came so clearly from her face. It was old, wearing a tattered blue dress with one missing shoe. It was the same doll Midori had loved all her life. “You know what happens to people who claim they have an imaginary friend.” “I never said I would tell anyone,” Midori muttered softly, holding her doll Nari tight against her chest. Taking a doll to school may have been inconspicuous in middle school, but high school was another story. If someone caught her, Midori would be the talk of the town. She didn’t want the attention. “I feel like people would be more accepting if they knew you weren’t make-believe,” Midori told Nari as she pushed her into her backpack. Most days, that was where she stayed. Then there were days like today, where Nari nagged and pestered until Midori took her out. “It’s important not to stand out,” Nari said quickly, in a voice that was both playfully befitting of a child’s doll, and yet inscrutably stern. “You’ve seen all those things on the news lately, about the girls in America and England? What would your mom think if you got hurt, or you disappeared?” Midori sighed and nodded her head. She had already been born with powdery white hair - the universe set on targeting her. If she wanted to stay safe, she needed to stay out of the way. Nari was always right about things like this. “Okay, you win,” Midori whispered. “Now please be quiet.” She clamped the bag closed. Nari started to sing inside the bag - something she had taken to doing recently. She wasn’t that bad, but it sometimes caused Midori trouble during tests. She wasn’t doing so well in school. “Hi Midori!” Pandora ran into Midori in the hall and held out a little brochure. “The Music Club is looking for new members. Maybe you could come by today and see if it’s something you might like?” “You asked me to join the Literary Club last week,” Midori reminded her. “And the week before that, the Bakery Club. Why would I join one of these if you’re going to keep switching out of them?” Not that the two of them were even that close. Pandora moved to Japan from Europe in elementary school. She was exuberant, with bright blue hair, but Midori and Pandora never seemed to click. Their friendship always felt like a little too much work for Midori. “It’s just not good for your academic transcript to have no extra-curricular activities, Midori.” Pandora frowned a little, lowering the brochure. “Tell her that you’re busy,” Nari called out from Midori’s backpack. But Pandora - like everyone other than Midori - couldn’t hear her. “You can’t waste your time on things like that.” “I…” Midori listened to the muffled voice in her bag, but Pandora had a good point. She already wasn’t doing well in school… “I’ll think about it,” Midori finally answered, taking the brochure. “I don’t know anything about music though.” “Oh, that’s quite alright!” Pandora smiled, her spirits lifted at the possibility that she wouldn’t be refused. “You don’t need to know anything; we can teach you all about it! Maybe even how to play?” “You could get hurt,” Nari sighed. “What if a tuba falls on you?” “R-right… yeah, um. I’ll look into it. Thank you.” Of course, Midori knew Nari was right: she couldn’t go frivolously joining clubs. But the idea of doing something after school other than going straight home was so… interesting. After classes that day, Midori walked along the edge of the school boundaries with Nari in her hands. She played softly with Nari’s old dress while listening to her latest lecture. “I don’t trust that girl, Midori. She keeps offering you different things to try and join. Don’t you think that’s suspicious? It sounds suspicious to me, like she’s trying to entice you to do something bad.” “But people do things like that all the time,” Midori pouted. “Part of high school is clubs and stuff, you know? And I feel… I feel like I’m missing out. Isn’t it a good thing to get some stuff on my transcripts? I’m already failing two of my classes…” “You’re doing bad in school because you keep getting distracted!” Nari continued. “You have to focus, Midori. You want to go listen to them talk about music instead of going home to study. What sounds like it’s going to be more helpful?” Midori sighed and looked back at the school. She should spend her time at home studying. It just never seemed to help… “You’re right,” she sighed and held her doll tight against her chest. “Midori!” The voice wasn’t Nari’s. Midori looked up in confusion to see a small blonde girl hurrying toward her from the school. Quickly, Midori stuffed the doll in her school bag and buckled it closed. “Midori,” she said again as she got closer. The girl didn’t look like she was old enough to be out of elementary school, let alone middle school, and her personality didn’t help the misconceptions about her age. She came to a halt in front of Midori and waved her hand in the air. “I’m sorry,” Midori said quietly, “you are…?” “Kachiko,” she said, taking a moment to catch her breath. “Kachiko Kazumi. Panda said you were going to come to the music club today! Did you forget?” “I… uh. I was going to go home and study, actually. To… to try to do better on my exams this year.” “But Panda said!” “R-right…” Midori felt like she was at a loss. “Well Miss Kaz—” “Call me Kachiko, please.” “Uh… Kachiko. I’m just not sure…” Midori bit her lip nervously and Kachiko took her hand. “We saved you a seat and everything. A trumpet too, if you want to try playing.” “Tell her no, Midori.” The voice was succinct and stern, emanating from Midori’s schoolbag. “She’s a distraction, and she’s going to get you hurt.” “Right,” Midori said more to herself than anyone. “I’m sorry, Kachiko, but—” “Please, please, please! Just one minute! Panda will be so happy that you made it. She thought you didn’t want to come, but I told her you must have just forgotten is all.” The small pink-haired girl had such radiance in her eyes. So much energy. So much life. Midori couldn’t figure out how she was so… so strong. Maybe curiosity got the better of her. “Just a minute, then.” Midori forced a smile and let Kachiko drag her back toward the school and into the main building. A heavy sigh came from her backpack. Nari was right about Midori’s schoolwork, but it didn’t quell the ounce of excitement in Midori’s heart. She had never been to a club before! The music hall was on the third floor, on the far side of the building. By the time the girls arrived, most of the school was already cleared out with the exception of the current clubs. Kachiko was practically effervescent as she led Midori by the hand, but they stopped just outside the door to the music room. “I probably can’t stay long,” Midori preempted. “You can stay as long as you want,” Kachiko smiled. “But your doll has to stay out here.” It seemed like such an odd thing to say - harmless or pedantic - but the voice only Midori could hear didn’t seem to see the whimsy. “Midori, we have to go! Right now! She’s trying to hurt you!” “Doll?” Midori forced a laugh. “What doll?” “The one you keep in your school bag,” Kachiko said happily. “Everyone knows you bring it with you.” Midori’s cheeks burned pink and she bit her bottom lip. “I… well, I can explain that…” “It has to stay out here,” Kachiko said with uncharacteristic certainty. “Midori! Leave!” “I… I have to go home,” Midori muttered, holding her bag tight to her chest. “I know you don’t understand, but it’s going to be okay. Just trust me.” Kachiko put her hand out for the bag and Midori looked terrified. Why did she want Nari? “It’s okay,” Kachiko said again, taking a step closer to Midori. With careful movements and surprising speed, she unlatched Midori’s school bag and pulled the doll out from its hiding place. “Don’t let her take me!” Nari screamed. “This was so stupid! You know better!” Midori felt guilt strike like lightning through her spine. She snatched at Nari, but Kachiko pulled her out of reach at inhuman speed “Give her back!” Midori shouted, tears filling her eyes. “One minute inside,” Kachiko said confidently. “You can have her back after just one minute, okay?” “That’s… that’s not fair…” Midori shook her head in confusion. Was Kachiko bribing her with Nari? “I”ll stay out here and take care of it,” Kachiko said, holding Nari to her chest the way Midori often would. “See, safe and sound.” “She’s going to take me away from you, Midori! She’s going to hurt me, I can feel it! Then she’s going to hurt you! I can’t believe how stupid you were… why did you listen to her? Why do you hate me?” Midori felt sicker and sicker, looking down with tears in her eyes. She didn’t understand. Why was Kachiko trying to hurt her imaginary friend? She felt like she was going to throw up… “I…” “Head inside,” Kachiko told her. “You’ll get her back after.” Midori bit hard on her bottom lip and tried to think. Nari was a doll. Even if they were friends, no one else knew about her. No one could hear her. There was only one thing to do: Midori had to go inside. For Nari. The door clicked behind Midori and Pandora stepped out from the corner of the room. “You’re in a lot of danger, Midori,” she said. There were a number of other girls in the room, and all of them seemed to watch Midori with worry. “We don’t have a lot of time.” “I… I’m sorry…?” Midori looked around the music room; the walls were covered in shelves and sheet music. There were only a few instruments and only four girls. Two of them Midori recognized. A taller one stepped between her and the door she came in. Nari was right. This was dangerous… “We were able to get that thing away from you for a few minutes, but it’s not going to last long.” Pandora took a step forward and one of the other girls did so as well. The taller one by the door, with wavy orange hair. “I’m Daisuke,” she said calmly. Something about the way she spoke… it seemed to put Midori at ease. “We have math together, remember? Pandora is right; we are only trying to help.” “I know that thing said we were the bad guys,” Pandora said, “but we’re not. You’re in a lot of danger, but it’s not from us.” “What… what are you talking about? You all sound crazy!” “Crazier than talking to a doll?” Daisuke asked. Midori blinked. They knew about Nari? But no one else could hear Nari. She was Midori’s friend. Midori shook her head and shouted: “You’re not making any sense!” “It’s a parasite,” a new voice said, quiet and mousy. It was a stark contrast to Midori’s yelling. The short girl with green hair approached Midori, aided by braces on her legs. It was clear that each step was a masterpiece of effort and coordination. “You probably don’t remember what it’s like to not feel scared and self-conscious, because that thing has been feeding on you for so long.” “Nari…?” Midori asked softly. Everyone looked at her until, finally, Pandora nodded. Midori shook her head and stepped back, right into Daisuke who was still blocking the door. “Nari’s not… she’s my friend! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” “Nari probably told you not to come in here,” the girl with the green hair said. “It doesn’t want you to know the truth,” continued Daisuke. “If you find out, then it’ll lose its hold over you,” Pandora said. “Your grades have been bad for a few years now, haven’t they? You used to do so well and then one day - like magic - you couldn’t do anything right.” “That’s how they work,” the green haired girl went on. “But they don’t usually get a hold of one of our own…” Midori shook her head, trying not to listen. Tears filled her eyes. She was so tired, so stressed, and these girls… they were trying to turn her against her doll? Midori didn’t understand. It didn’t make sense! So what if she had a doll? So what? She wiped her eyes and tried to push past Daisuke, but the tall girl refused to let her pass. “Lemme out!” Midori shouted. “Please calm down,” the mousy girl said quietly. “If it thinks you’re in trouble, it’s going to hurt Kachiko.” “Like any parasite,” Pandora explained, “it’s going to try to protect its food source.” “Think back to the first time Nari spoke to you,” the mousy girl said. “How long ago was it?” The room of four girls all had their own ideas. Midori was positively tiny, her growth stunted, and she was weak and jumpy and lacking in confidence. She wasn’t supposed to be like this. Nari must have been latched on to Midori for years… Pandora went over to Midori and took her hand, smiling as tears rolled down her cheeks. “It’s okay, Midori. Just answer.” “I… I was six. It was my birthday.” Ten years ago. Had it really been so long? “She never talked until then… but… but I always had Nari, since I was a baby.” Ten years? All four girls looked at each other - Pandora, Diasuke, the mousy girl, and a quiet girl in the corner with black hair. They knew it had been a long time, but ten years was unheard of. “They take the form of something you love,” Pandora explained. “Usually a doll. Sometimes other things, like a pet or a family keepsake. Then they abuse you, because your self-doubt is like food for them.” Pandora wiped one of Midori’s tears away with her thumb. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll keep you—” A loud crash ruptured through the quiet music room from out in the hall, and then the sound of a young girl screaming. It was Kachiko’s scream. “Nari!” In the confusion, Midori pushed past Daisuke and burst into the hallway. Kachiko was sitting on the floor across from a broken window. Midori scanned the hall for the doll but it was nowhere to be seen. She felt a panic rise in her chest. “Wh-where…” “It’s so powerful,” Kachiko muttered, looking dazed. The mousy girl with the leg braces arrived in the hall last and Pandora held Midori back. “It had a decade to feed,” the mousy girl said. “We’ve never seen one so strong before…” But there were more pressing matters. Pandora was struggling to hold Midori back from jumping out the window to find her doll. “Can someone help me with her?!” Daisuke stepped in and pulled Midori back. “It’s not real, okay? It’s using you. It’s trying to hurt you. Please calm down.” Midori thrashed against the taller girl who held her back and finally broke free, rushing to the window. For a moment, it looked like she might jump out of it, but she kept her feet on the floor. Her eyes surveyed the broken glass, then the ground a few stories down. No doll. Nari was gone. Why would she do that, Midori thought. Why would she leave me? “Kuu,” Pandora said sternly. “Go after her.” “Right.” The mousy girl with braces on her legs pulled a lollipop out of her pocket with a shaky hand and stuck it in her mouth. The hallway erupted in light and she lifted off the ground. The braces fell off her legs and onto the tile with a metallic clatter. A brighter, colored light enveloped the green-haired girl and two large wings sprouted from her back, wrapping around her. Only a moment later, they spread wide - showering feathers everywhere - and showed Kuu in a very different ensemble. It looked like a junior’s school uniform complete with suspender skirt, glowing green along the trim. Kuu smiled at Midori and flew straight through the hole in the window - making it much bigger - and showering glass upon the school grounds. Then she disappeared into the sky. … … … “Midori…?” Pandora said. … … “Miri?” Kachiko said. … “Miss Kaneda?” Daisuke said. “She just…” Midori’s voice was far away. “She… flew out a the window…” “Like five minutes ago, yeah,” Pandora sighed. “People don’t… usually… fly out windows…” “People aren’t normally like us.” Pandora picked up the complex array of metal bracing that Kuu left behind - the only reminder that she had been there at all before her transformation - and only the feathers remained thereafter. “I bet you’re starting to feel a little better. The further away it gets from you, the less it drains from you.” “I… I don’t understand…” Midori felt sick all over. She didn’t feel better in the slightest. She felt scared. She didn’t know what to do. These girls, and Nari… “She’s… she’s my best friend. She’s not a parasite…” “Best friend, Midori?” Pandora asked. “Or only friend?” The wind from the broken window blew one of the feathers into the air, which landed in Midori’s lap. “They try to isolate you if they can; it makes you easier to control. If they have their way, they’ll feed on you for years and years and years, slowly destroying everything that makes you who you are.” “She didn’t…” “She did,” Daisuke said plainly. Midori curled up, pulling her legs to her chest, before putting her head down between them and tried to hide from the world. A horrible world, one that would hurt Nari… “You never had any extra curricular activities,” Daisuke said, “never had any friends. You only ever had school to focus on and your grades still slipped. I bet Nari made you feel guilty about it too, as though you weren’t trying hard enough.” “Daisuke’s sister had one,” Pandora explained. “She’s gone now…” Daisuke looked away and went back into the music room. In turn, Kachiko came over to Midori, sitting beside the silver-haired girl and leaned against the wall. “She… she cared about me,” Midori tried to tell Kachiko, or Pandora, or the black-haired girl who stood in the doorway to the music room. Anyone who would listen. “Yeah, she pushed me. But it was a good thing. It’s good to have someone push me, to do better at school.” Though Midori’s mind did wander to an immutable fact: maybe if Nari didn’t sing so much in class, she would have an easier time paying attention. “It does its best to make you hate yourself, Midori,” Pandora said. “To make you obsess over a goal and make sure you can never reach it.” “You shouldn’t be so trusting.” Those were the first words the black-haired girl said, and she said them with venom. “Naomi, don’t be rude!” Kachiko chastised. “Ten years,” Naomi said harshly. “How stupid can she be, really? Is she even fit to be one of us?” “That’s what the Missive said,” Pandora replied. “Are you going to question the Missive?” Naomi rolled her eyes and went back into the music room, following Daisuke. Pandora and Kachiko decided that maybe it was safer in there. “Come on, Miri,” Kachiko said with a smile, helping the white-haired girl to her feet. The three of them joined Daisuke and Naomi in the music room. Kachiko and Midori sat at a table in the corner and Pandora went to talk to her teammates. Midori nervously played with her fingers in her lap, wiping away the tears on her cheeks. It took her a while to stop crying, and the tears came back every so often nonetheless. “She was the only person who understood,” Midori said to Kachiko. “I just… I… I don’t know what I’m going to do without her.” Kachiko sighed and looked around the room, until her eyes rested upon the violin. Then she got an idea. “Hey, Miri. When you were young, was there anything you were good at? Like, an instrument or singing or something?” “Something I was good at?” Midori asked thoughtfully. Truthfully, she couldn’t remember if she was ever good at anything. She had always been so unremarkable. Uninteresting. Incapable. But she remembered when she was younger, she would draw pictures for her dad. He loved them. But maybe that was just because parents always love stuff their kids draw… “I think I was good at drawing. But I stopped doing it a few years ago. It was just a waste of time. It was getting in the way of my schoolwork…” Kachiko’s eyes lit up. “Oh! That’s perfect! One moment!” Kachiko got up from the table and went to one of the desks on the edge of the room. She fished around inside the drawers until she found a few sheets of paper and a pencil. Then she returned to Midori and set them down in front of her. “Draw me something.” Midori took the pencil at her hand and looked at the blank page. White paper was a masterpiece. Anything Midori could do would only soil it. She felt sick again and put the pencil down. “Come on, please Miri? Just a little bit, until Kuu gets back?” “I don’t want to make it ugly,” Midori muttered. “It’s okay if you do,” Kachiko encouraged. “I have lots of paper.” Midori sighed and started to draw. Rough lines in no particular order. Then Midori had a flash of inspiration. Maybe if she connected the lines like this. Then put two more lines here, and a circle here… Kachiko picked up the violin from the corner of the room and began to play softly. The heaviness of the room began to ebb away, and a gentle joy filled it instead. Ten minutes later, Midori had finished a sketch of the music room. It wasn’t amazing, but it was recognizable. The perspective was impressive. It looked like something one would draw after a few weeks of practice, rather than the first thing drawn in years. The pencil shook in Midori’s hand. “See what you’re capable of?” Kachiko said with a smile, and Pandora and Daisuke came over to see what was going on. They each took a seat beside Midori. “Creativity is one of the things it feeds on,” Daisuke said. “Now that it’s gone, you’re suddenly in control again. Things that might have been so hard before will become natural.” Midori looked at the paper, then up at the girls. She felt sick, but at the same time… excited. It was a nervous excitement that made her ill. “I’m… good at something?” “You’re going to be good at a lot of things,” Pandora said with a smile. “More than you thought possible.” “I don’t understand,” Midori said again, though she was starting to understand very well. “Nari was… she was taking care of me. Or she was trying to.” “What did Nari do when you got close to someone else?” Pandora asked. “Did she encourage it, or did she find some reason why you shouldn’t be friends with them? I know I’ve tried to be your friend a dozen times, and that’s just me.” “Well, she said it’s dangerous. I mean, it is dangerous! People get hurt all the time. And there was a girl in England who died last week for no reason, you know? If I died, my mom would be alone. It’s safer if…” But they weren’t Midori’s words; they were words Nari had said to her. Pandora exchanged glances with the other girls and sighed. She would have to explain sooner or later. “That girl on the news was no different to you, Midori. Nari is a creature that hurts people, and one like her had latched onto that girl in England.” “We fight to stop them from hurting others,” Daisuke spoke up. Midori looked at the both of them and then down at her fingers. It hurt that girl in England? she thought. Something like my Nari? “I’m sorry,” Midori muttered. She felt so pathetic. So stupid for being tricked for so many years. “I just want to go home.” “That’s the first place it’s going to look for you,” Daisuke said. “How about you stay here with us for a little while longer,” Pandora offered. “Until Kuu gets back. Maybe we can explain what’s going on.” Though that was usually Kuu’s territory. “There are other people out there, Miss Kaneda. Other girls and other boys who were victims like you were. We protect them.” “Protect them? Like…” Midori thought back to the flash of light in the hallway, and when Kuu grew wings. “You transform and fight them?” “Yes,” Daisuke nodded. “We all transform. And we use that power to save people.” “The Missive tells us who is in trouble,” Pandora said. “But it told us about you and that you were more than just a victim. That you were destined to be one of us.” “I’m destined?” Midori asked incredulously. “How am I destined? I don’t think… I don’t think I can turn into a bird, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Unless Nari was preventing that, too. Would I sprout wings now, without her around? I slid the pencil into my pocket and crossed my arms. “Kuu isn’t a bird, silly,” Kachiko laughed. “No, that’s Kuu’s form and hers alone,” Pandora said. “We all take on different forms when we transform. Our Miko forms bring out our hidden strengths. Yours will be different to any of ours, just like ours are all different from one another.” “We apologize if we are explaining this poorly,” Daisuke cut in. “It’s not as complicated as it sounds. Kuu usually explains this stuff.” “But she’s busy being a bird,” Kachiko giggled. “Okay,” Midori muttered, trying to make sense of it. Apparently Kuu was really good at being a bird, so she became a bird? Midori didn’t understand. Maybe she would turn into a pencil or something, since she could draw? She wondered if Kachiko turned into a violin… “I don’t know how I feel about any of this,” Midori admitted. “I’m just…” In shock, she thought. “When Kuu gets back, we’ll talk more about it,” Pandora smiled. “How about I run out and get us a pizza?” All the girls - even Naomi - agreed to this plan. Midori put her head on the desk and watched everyone else talk. Kachiko and Daisuke tried to start conversations with Midori, but neither tried very hard. They understood she needed time to process. But it was the first time Midori could remember that she didn’t have Nari to talk to, and it made her uncomfortable. Pandora returned with pizzas and Naomi left. She liked to play up the ‘didn’t want anything to do with the new girl’ angle, but Pandora, Kachiko, and Daisuke knew she was guarding the door. Shortly afterward, there was a sound of swooping wings and Kachiko opened one of the classroom windows. With impossible grace, Kuu slid inside and landed on her feet in the center of the room. “I lost it,” Kuu said solemnly. “I couldn’t keep up. She reached down to the bow on the breast of her outfit and tugged on one of the ribbons. The uniform dissolved into light - wings and all - and was replaced with the mousy girl in her school uniform. “I gotcha,” Daisuke said as she caught Kuu in her arms and helped her into a chair. Pandora brought her leg braces over and Naomi poked her head in from the hall. “Well?” Naomi asked. “It got away,” Kuu explained again. “Great. We’ll have to hunt it.” “Tomorrow,” Pandora said. “Tonight we have to talk to Midori about Miko.” “She agreed to follow her fate?” Kuu asked in surprise. “I didn’t really agree to anything,” Midori said flatly. Everyone looked at her, and Midori thought at first it was because she had spoken out of turn. Then she realized it was because she had never spoken out of turn before. “I imagine you have a lot of questions,” Kuu said with a smile, pulling an inhaler from her pocket with trembling hands. “Let’s eat and talk, okay?” Midori watched Kuu curiously. She was is inelegant now, so different to how she had been only minutes before, and it was hard to reconcile the two as the same person. Everyone sat and took a slice of pizza and let Midori take her time in asking the first question. “So, I guess…” Midori started nervously, “what is this Miko thing? What does that mean?” “Unmei no Miko,” Kuu explained. “It’s a really old term that means something like ‘Maidens of Fate’. We’re an order that has existed for hundreds - maybe thousands - of years, all over the world. We operate in secrecy, getting our instructions from a force called the Missive.” “Missive?” “It’s like a magical postal service,” Kachiko explained. “Except the sender is unknown.” “But you just do whatever the Missive says?” “It’s omniscient,” Daisuke said simply. “I’ve seen hundreds over the years. They know things that are happening everywhere in the world, sometimes things that haven’t happened yet. Some Miko think the Missive is sent by a god, and others think it’s the universe itself speaking to us.” “No matter what the Missive is,” Kuu cut in, “we use it to protect humans from the Richi - parasites like your doll. Or at least, we try to. Whatever the rhyme or reason to what we do, our assignment is too noble to ignore.” “Richi…” Midori looked at the boxes of pizza. Normally she had trouble eating in front of people, and a couple minutes ago she wasn’t even hungry. But now… now she was. “So you’re like… magic?” “As much as penicillin would be magic to someone three hundred years ago,” Kuu said. “Historically, magic is just technology we don’t understand yet. But you could say we’re magical, yes. We all possess a weakness and it becomes our strength when we take our Miko form.” “I thought your strengths were your strength…” Wasn’t that what Pandora said; something about hidden strengths? Midori took a bite of pizza and suddenly started feeling much better. She didn’t realize how hungry she was. “Well, our weaknesses become our strengths. For example: ordinarily, I can barely walk. In my Miko form, I can fly.” “So not everyone flies?” Midori asked and Kuu shook her head. Midori wondered what her hidden strength was. “So why am I one of these Miko things?” “Because the Missive said so. You’ve been suppressed for a long time, Midori; it’s amazing you didn’t become a Hollow as a result. You must possess incredible potential.” “Hollow?” “It’s what happens if the Richi take all the potential from a human,” Pandora said, sitting next to Kuu. “They are like puppets. If you cut off the Richi after that, the human dies.” Midori was starting to understand the gravity of the situation. She could have been hours or minutes from becoming one of these Hollow things. She could have died, and left her mom all alone. To think Nari would do such a thing to her… “I’m not special or anything,” Midori muttered. “Maybe you have the wrong person…” “You played host to a Richi for ten years,” Diasuke said. “The moment it was removed from you, your talents started to bubble over almost instantly.” “Ten years?” Kuu asked dumbfounded. Everyone nodded. “That’s unprecedented…” “Tell her the other thing, Kuu,” Pandora said. “About being destined to lead.” “I wasn’t going to put the pressure on so early,” Kuu sighed. “But yes, the Missive did mention it.” “Lead?” Like, lead these girls? Midori shook her head very quickly and waved her arms back and forth. “No thank you! I’m okay. I don’t want to lead. That’s fine.” She didn’t really believe in destiny anyway. “You’ll be ready when you’re ready,” Kuu smiled and got to her feet, adjusting the braces on her legs. “You won’t be rushed into anything, but one of us will stay with you every night until you decide. You’re still in danger, as long as your Richi is out there.” “I’ll take the first night,” Naomi said. No one saw that coming — Naomi wasn’t one to volunteer for things like that. “I’ll be fine,” Midori tried to quell their fears, but the girls didn’t seem interested in hearing it. And though Midori didn’t want to be a burden, she had to admit the magical girls made her feel safer. If Nari really was the reason she felt horrible, then it was nice to be protected. It was decided. After dinner and the sun went down, Naomi and Midori left together for Midori’s house. She wasn’t sure how she would convince her mom to let a friend stay the night on such short notice, but Midori’s usual anxieties seemed so much lighter the past few hours. Almost like they didn’t matter. “You live with your mom?” Naomi asked. The two girls were halfway to Midori’s house before either of them had said a word. “Do you have any reason to think the Richi is attached your mom as well? Has she been depressed lately? Started any new medications?” “I… I don’t think so.” Midori’s mom hadn’t started any new medications and she didn’t consider her depressed, but her perspective was rapidly changing and it was hard to tell anymore. “Can that happen? Can it attach to two people?” “I’ve never seen it happen, no,” Naomi said coldly. “But I’ve never seen one as powerful as yours. Most people become Hollows after a year or two, and the Richi finds a new host.” Naomi moved with a sort of victorian elegance, her bony limbs in perfect choreography. She was persistently alert. “Are you going to be able to tell if your Richi is close?” she asked. “Should I be able to?” Midori had never in the past felt when Nari was nearby, but she rarely left her alone these days. And Midori liked having Nari around. “You’ll feel a sense of apathy at first. Then you’ll long for it. That’s what makes it so difficult for you to break its grasp.” Naomi had dispatched a great many Richi herself, even though she had only been a Miko for a few years. Even so… “Your Richi terrifies me. I think you should know that.” “Why…?” Wouldn’t Naomi’s magic be enough to keep them safe, Midori wondered. The sun had gone down a while ago, but the sky still looked red. Midori didn’t look at Naomi as they walked. “Because the Missive says you’re destined to lead us. This Richi has fed off you for the past decade. Doesn’t that terrify you?” Naomi was never typically so candid. “But… I will protect you. No matter the cost. I want you to know that.” “Oh, I…” Midori struggled for words. What was she supposed to say to that? She played with her fingers behind her back and looked at her shoes while she walked. “I’m not a leader, no matter what the Missive says.” “You will be,” Naomi said without speculation. “We deal in potential, not in outcome. No matter how strong your Richi is, you’ll always be stronger. You just don’t know it yet. And until you do… I’ll take care of you.” The two of them stopped outside a pretty little house. “Is this where you live?” Naomi asked. “Yes, but…” Midori looked at her house, but something was wrong. Like the lights were too bright or too dark. Or the shingles were the wrong color. Something small, something she couldn’t discern. “This doesn’t look—” Just as Midori walked past the front gate, in an instant, everything felt heavy. Little black clouds spun around the property and Midori could hardly breathe. Whatever waited for the two of them was ready, and it wasn’t holding back. [Ending Song & Credits] ------------- Cast & Hair Styles: Midori Kaneda > shoulder length white hair Pandora > short blue hair Kachiko Kazumi > short blonde pigtails Daisuke > long wavy orange hair Kuu > shoulder length green hair Naomi > long black hair

Sailor Moon D The Power of Shame, Embarrassed Sailor Warriors by Inku Hime (Incognito Himitsu) 2021 Based on Characters and Situations created by Naoko Takeuchi. This is a story I wrote way back when. Fixed grammar and spelling and tweaked it a little from that old version. Hopefully you enjoy. It was a beautiful Sunday, surprisingly warm for early May. People were taking advantage of the day; Junban park was busy. There was something of an impromptu festival going on, a rock band had shown up to play. They were not particularly good, nor were they particularly bad. It was such a pleasant day that people were willing to be charitable and enjoyed the less than perfect music. Most of the people there were young, children and teenagers. They played or met with friends; or met new friends. Near the middle of the park was a beautiful woman. Her red hair was long, hanging past the small of her back. Her skin was ashen, and her eyes a deep blue. She wore a long black skirt and a crisp, white blouse. Her hair was pulled back from her face with a black ribbon. She had just purchased three balloons from a vendor and walked over to where three children played. She smiled at them. "Here you go," she said. The children happily took them. "Thank you, Miss," they called out in unison. "You're welcome," she told them. The three children ran off, the balloons trailing behind them on strings. "Your Majesty," she heard from behind her. "Copper," she said as she turned around. The man was taller than her, with red copper-coloured skin, and copper-coloured red hair and copper-coloured eyes. All the shades of red was a little off-putting, but he was so very handsome. He bowed very slightly to her, not wanting to attract attention. "I have been investigating, as you ordered." "What have you found out?" "This world is as you desired." "Wonderful," she said happily. "I do so like it." She turned to look out over the park and all the people. "And they need me. So disorderly, with all the different countries and languages and such. A strong ruler to take care of them will do them no end of good." "Of course Empress Platinum. Some will resist you." "Then they will be destroyed," she said simply. "We will need energy, of course." "Do we have enough?" "No. We will have to gather it." "I have already given it some thought." She smiled at him and held out her arm. He took it. "Show me." He led her across the park, looking around. Finally, he stopped. "Those girls over there." Platinum looked where he indicated. A group of four girls stood near a fountain, eating ice cream cones and talking amongst themselves. Copper lifted his hand slightly, making a quick, subtle gesture. One of the girls, a young woman wearing jeans and a T-shirt, suddenly went stiff. A strange look appeared on her face. It was a mixture of surprise and terror. As Platinum watched a dark spot appeared at her crotch, spreading quickly, down her thighs. She let out a little scream, trying to cover the growing wet spot with her hands. She crouched down, trying to better hide what was happening. The dampness spread over her rear. Urine began to seep out of the jeans and splash on the ground. Her friends looked more than a little shocked and for a moment, just stared on. A young boy who nearby began calling out about the girl who had just wet her pants. One of the girls yelled at him, and he ran away. Another of the girls pulled her jacket off and used it to cover her friend's jeans. The three girls quickly got their wet friend away. Platinum had watched the entire thing, then she turned towards Copper. "That was rather cruel." Her tone was not angry or disapproving. She was just stating a fact. "Perhaps. I've noticed that these people tend to produce a greater amount of energy when they are under the influence of strong emotions. You no doubt noticed that the girl was producing a great deal of energy." "Yes." "Shame is a powerful emotion I've learned. While there are many ways to bring it out, I have noticed that they seem to give a great amount of concern over control of various eliminatory functions." "Interesting. Can you do this on a large enough scale?" "Yes. I will be working with a segment of the population known as teenagers. Younger children may not be as shamed by such a thing, and adults often can control, repress actually, their emotions better." "How long till we can set up the first anchor point?" "Within nine turnings of this planet." "When will you begin?" "I will start the initial phase of this project tomorrow. The day after that, we should be able to start collecting energy." "Excellent," Platinum nodded. "I will leave this to you Copper, do not fail me." "I will not my Empress," he said. She regarded him for a moment, then disappeared. Copper looked around and smiled. His Empress would not be disappointed in his work.
 Monday morning found Usagi Tsukino waking up late--not a terribly unusual occurrence. She leapt out of her bed, running to the bathroom. She used the toilet, then brushed her teeth, then ran back to her room. "I'm going to be so late," she said, almost crying. She grabbed her brush, quickly brushed some semblance into her sleep mussed hair. Tossing it aside, she ran to her closet. In short order, she had dressed in her high school uniform, grabbed her briefcase and dashed from her room. She leapt down the stairs, almost tripping, and scampered to the kitchen. She found her mother sitting at the kitchen table, reading a magazine. "Mom, why didn't you wake me?" Usagi nearly cried as she grabbed a piece of toast from the counter. She could not even have breakfast. It was so unfair. "I knocked on your door." Ikuko did not look up from her magazine. "Twice, in fact, and your alarm clock went off. Honestly Usagi, you are a second-year high student. You should be responsible enough to wake up on your own."
 "You're so mean." Usagi stomped her foot. She then noticed the clock on the wall. It was not getting any earlier. "Ah, I've got to go." She ran from the kitchen. "Goodbye," Ikuko said, not bothering to look up from the magazine. Usagi got her shoes on, exited the house, closed the door and took off running as fast as she could. Luck was with her that day as she managed not to trip once. By the time she saw her school, she knew that she would just make it; maybe. As she got closer, she saw Makoto Kino standing by the gates. When the tall girl saw Usagi, she waved to her. "Hurry up Usagi-chan," she called out. Usagi reached the gates, out of breath. "I'm going to die," she gasped out. "Die later." Makoto grabbed Usagi's arm and propelling her along. "We don't want to be late." As it was, they managed to get into the class with something like twenty seconds to spare, more than enough time to take their seats. Minako Aino waved to them as they came in. "Late again Usagi-chan." "Stop being so mean to me Mina-chan," Usagi said as she took her seat behind the other girl. The teacher came in shortly after that and called the class to order so he could call attendance.
 When the day was finally over Usagi bounded out of her chair. "It's finally over," she said happily. "And there's a new ice cream parlour opening today." Usagi was running towards the door when she suddenly was jerked to a stop in a manner that involved a certain amount of pain. She spun on Minako who was holding one of her long, blonde pigtails. "Why did you do that?!" "Cause," she said as she let go of the hair. "We're meeting with Rei at Fruits Parlour Crown to study with Ami," Makoto said, coming up behind Usagi. "But," Usagi began, tears welling up in her eyes, "but the ice cream parlour is giving away free samples today." "Too bad," Makoto said happily as she spun Usagi about and put an arm around her. "We have to study. Especially you." "Mako-chan, you're so mean." "Yes yes," Minako said, waving Usagi forward, "we're all so mean." Outside of the class, Ami Mizuno awaited them. She was not in their class but in the second-year high academic level. "Hey Ami-chan," Minako called out. "Ready?" "Let's go," Ami said. "Free ice cream," Usagi muttered sadly as Makoto directed her from the building. They had just exited the school when they were presented with an unusual sight. There were a group of students crowded near the entrance to the school. They could hear the high pitch voice of a woman calling out, "Free sample cookies." "Free?" Usagi perked up. "Sample?" Makoto said. "Cookies?" Minako said. "Let's go," All three said together, dragging Ami along as they ran for the crowd. After successfully pushing their way through the crowd, no small thanks to Makoto, they discovered a small pickup truck. A young, very pretty, if a little vapid looking, woman was standing in the truck's bed. She sang the praises of the delicious Copper Cookies, not yet in stores. Three burly men were handing out packages of the cookies.
 They were dressed in loincloths and wearing haten jackets, on the back of which were the words 'Copper Cookies'. The four girls all managed to get a package--Usagi getting her hands on two. Usagi put one package into her briefcase and the other she ripped open. The other three had already opened their packages. "These are delicious," Ami said. "These are the best," Makoto said. "Even better than my cookies." She admitted the last a little sadly. "You could love these," Minako said, munching away on the dark cookies. Usagi, feeling like she was a little behind the others, quickly ate two to catch up. "They are wonderful."
 The four girls quickly finished off the cookies and continued onto the sweet shop to meet Rei. They talked about their day and of potential plans for after their study session.
 
 Usagi, Rei, Ami, Minako and Makoto had grabbed their usual table at Fruits Parlour Crown, and after ordering some small deserts and coffees, they began studying. For the most part, Rei needed little help with her school work for she was disciplined enough. That was fortunate as Ami had to spend extra time with Usagi. It was not so much that the future Queen of Crystal Tokyo was stupid, she was just lazy. Usagi, growing bored with talk of imaginary numbers reached into her bag for the second package of cookies she had. She was tearing it open as Rei suddenly said, "You got those cookies too?" "What?" Usagi said, pulling the package in close to her. "They were giving them out in front of our school today," Ami told Rei. "Mine too," Rei said. "Here, give me one of those dumpling head." "No," Usagi said. "They are mine." She looked around for some support from the others and noticed they were all staring at her a little angrily. "What I meant, is that you can't have them all," she laughed, and then took a cookie from the package before passing it to Minako. They quickly finished the cookies off and then were back to studying.
 Copper stood atop a building in the business section of Junban. He looked around the streets below him, seeing clusters of junior and senior high students wandering around. His agents should have visited every one of the schools. Behind him, a heavily cloaked figure faded into being. "All has been done as you instructed lord Copper," the figure said. "Good. Is the next phase ready?" "Yes." Copper nodded. All was going as planned.
 Ikuko was just finishing dinner and already had the table laid out. Kenji would be home soon from work, and Shingo had come home earlier and was up in his room, possibly studying but more likely playing a video game. She turned the gas off on the range and then picked up a pot of curry from the stove and carried it towards the living room. She was just putting it on the low table in the living room when she heard a somewhat whining voice from the TV. She might have ignored it, but it sounded a little like Usagi and raised her curiosity. 'But mom, I don't want to wear it,' the girl in the commercial said. She was a pretty thing, perhaps a little younger than Usagi. 'But it's for the best,' an older woman, the mother, said. She had a kind tone, and something about her just suggested that she was a good mother to Ikuko. 'You'll not get a good sleep otherwise, and that's not healthy.' 'But I don't want to wear a diaper.' 'It's not a diaper,' the mother said, holding up something that did look like a diaper. Its plastic backing was a soft pink, and there seemed to be cute designs on it. 'It's just an absorbent undergarment. Isn't it better that your sheets, futon and pyjamas stay dry? You don't want me to wash your sheets every day, do you?' 'Well...' the girl did not look too convinced. 'I guess that would be selfish of me.' 'Good,' the mother said, directing the girl into her room. 'Let me help you put in on so its done right.' She screen went dark for a moment, and the word, 'the next day' appeared. Then the commercial continued with the mother going into the daughter's room to wake her up. 'You slept well,' the mother said. 'Yes,' the daughter smiled. 'But I still had an accident.' Her smile was gone. 'That's all right,' the mother said. 'Now let's get you changed.' The scene faded and was replaced by a product shot of two packages, identical except one was blue and the other pink. The words, 'Platinum Undergarments,' appeared on the screen. 'For a healthy nights sleep.' Ikuko watched the commercial, a little surprised. Were there enough older children wetting their beds for such a product to be successful? The last time either Usagi or Shingo had wet their beds was when they had been around five. Of course, if Usagi did wet her bed, she could see the value in such a product. Ikuko was shaken out of her thoughts by the door opening. She went back to the kitchen, still having a few things to do.
 Usagi stood in front of the mirror, brushing her teeth. She had stayed up late watching TV and then had to finish her homework. She spat the toothpaste out, then rinsed her mouth out. All she wanted to do was get to sleep. Tomorrow would come too early. Yawning, Usagi padded to her room.
 
 Ikuko was halfway through washing up the breakfast dishes, Shingo and Kenji had already left. As usual, Usagi was still not up. For some reason she put aside the washing up and left the kitchen, heading to the stairs. She usually just let Usagi get herself up. After all, she was nearly an adult. Soon she would be in university, or getting married. For some reason that morning Ikuko decided to wake her up. She climbed the stairs and was about to knock on Usagi's door, like she usually did, but instead opened it quietly. She crossed the room silently. Usagi did not wake. Luna, Usagi's cat, did wake, looking up at Ikuko from her place on the windowsill. "Usagi, wake up," Ikuko said, pulling the sheets away from Usagi. She stopped suddenly, looking down at what was revealed. On the window sill Luna was also staring, looking just as surprised. "What?" Usagi asked sleepily, blinking her eyes. "Usagi, you wet your bed!" Ikuko eyes were wide, her voice raised. "Ahhh!" Usagi was suddenly awake. She bolted up in the bed, looking down at herself. Her pyjama bottoms and the sheets around her were stained yellow. It was a surprisingly big stain. Usagi stared, trying to figure out what had happened. She could not have just wet her bed. That was impossible. She had not had an accident like that since she was five. She blushed a deep shade of crimson. Ikuko shook her head. "Go and get cleaned up," she told her. "You'll be late if you don't hurry. I'll clean up here." "But..." Usagi started, trying to figure out what had happened.
 "Hurry," Ikuko pulled her out of bed and then, with one sweep, pulled Usagi's pyjama bottoms off, revealing her stained panties. The flush of embarrassment spread across her entire face. "Mom!"
 "Hurry up. I have to get everything in the wash." She tossed the bottoms on the bed and then began to strip the sheets.
 Usagi ran to the bathroom, crying.
 By the time she had control of herself and was back in her room, her mother was gone. She dropped the piss-stained panties in her dirty clothes hamper and then took off the pyjama top, which had also gotten a little wet. She noticed that her futon, as well as her sheets, were gone.
 "What a bad girl you are Usagi," Luna said smugly.
 Usagi looked over at Luna. "You better not tell anyone about this." Luna gave her a cat smile. "If you get at least eighty points on the upcoming tests next week I won't say anything." "Eighty!" Usagi could not believe it. Breaking 60 last time had been a significant accomplishment in her opinion, but eighty? That was impossible.
 "I'm sure Rei-chan would be very interested in this," Luna said.
 "Okay," Usagi said, crestfallen, realizing she was beaten. "I'll get eighty." "Good," Luna said. It was challenging to motivate Usagi at the best of time. A little blackmail was justified, Luna decided.
 A short time later, Usagi was dressed for the day and was running out of her house. She saw that her mother was there, hanging her futon on the drying rod. The big yellow stain was rather conspicuous. "Mother!" Usagi was scandalized, humiliated. "It has to dry," her mother said matter of factly. "And if I don't put it in the sun it will smell. Now hurry up and get to school." Usagi stared at the futon for a moment, then turned away and ran towards the school. She prayed no one ever found out. Usagi was not the only person in Junban who was waking up wet. Minako, woken by her mother, also discovered she was in a wet bed. Artemis would work out much the same agreement as Luna had reached with Usagi. Makoto woke up in the middle of the night to discover her bed wet. She lived by herself, so there was no one to find out. She stripped the sheets and put them in the washing machine, and then clipped her wet futon out on the balcony rail to dry. She pulled a new futon out of her closet with fresh sheets and went back to sleep. On waking in the morning, she found that she had once again wet. Ami woke up and discovered that she had wet her bed as well. She went and told her mother, and the two of them cleaned everything up. Her mother reassured her that everything would be all right and that things like that happened. Of course, Mrs Mizuno, as a paediatrician, knew that such things did not often happen with people Ami's age, not just like that. She decided that she would wait and see what came of it. It might be a one-time thing. Rei woke up earlier than usual, the cold, wet sheets did that. Deciding that she did not want her grandfather or Youichirou to find out Rei cleaned up in secret. She had the sheets in the washing machine and the futon hanging up in a secluded place where no one would see it. Such scenes were repeated all over Junban, mostly with mothers finding their sons or daughters had wet their beds.

 In Usagi's class, and in classes throughout the area, the students were unnaturally quiet. Most were too tied up in their own concerns. Thinking about their wet beds. They did not have it in them to pay much attention to others, to take note that they were not the only ones troubled by their thoughts. And not one of them was going to admit it to anyone else that they had become bedwetters. So the day passed quieter than usual. Most of the teachers were confused but decided the occasional quiet day was not so bad.
 
 While their children were in school, mothers and some fathers, went off to do some shopping. All of them had quickly found the Platinum Undergarments they had seen advertised. None of them thought it odd that only the day before they had not seen a single package in any of the stores. What was important that it was wrong for their children to have to wake up wet. Most of them bought two or three of the packages, just in case the bedwetting continued. After all, they all thought, such things happen. It was perfectly normal. As for the store owners, well, none of them could ever actually remember ordering the Platinum Undergarments. But on the whole, they were glad that they were selling so well. It was better than having the stock sit around. Many of them had doubted such a juvenile garment would sell at all to an older customer.
 
 When the five young women met at the sweet shop, they did not say much. Both Luna and Artemis were aware of why Usagi and Minako, respectively, were upset. The two cats could not understand why the others were. Both cats considered confiding in the other but decided to keep the secret, as they had promised. Earlier than usual, the girls said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
 On her way home, Makoto stopped in front of a drug store. In the window was an arrangement of pink and blue boxes. Platinum Undergarments the writing on the boxes said. Absorbent undergarments. Maybe that's what I need, she thought to herself. Then she shook her head. It was just a fluke and would not happen again. And even if it did, no one would ever know. Rei went out of her way on her way home, finding a drug store some distance away from her home and school. She wished she was not wearing her uniform as it made her easy to identify. She settled for taking the jacket off and putting it away in her briefcase. Not much, but it made her feel a little better, a little more anonymous. She went into the drug store and wandered around, looking at shampoo and things, waiting for the other customers there to leave. When she was alone, but for the older woman at the cash register, she drifted to the back of the store where the things she wanted were. She looked at the adult diapers, not bothering with the heavy-duty ones. All she needed was something to keep her dry at night. She found what she was looking for, kind of a belted undergarment. It seemed very little like a diaper. "Oh, surely you don't want that," the older woman said as Rei took them from the shelf. "What?" Rei asked, a little surprised. She had not noticed the woman approaching. "These will be much better for you," the woman said, holding up a package of Platinum Undergarments. "They will keep you nice and dry."
 "Ah, no, these aren't for me. And these will be fine," Rei told her. She looked at the pink box the woman was holding. It looked like something for babies. "But those might not keep you as dry, you don't want that do you?" the woman asked, reaching for the package Rei was holding. "These will be fine," Rei said, getting a little angry. She pulled the box away from the woman and took a step back. "I would like to buy them."
 The woman looked a little surprised, but then nodded and put the Platinum Undergarments away. "Of course. I just thought you would like the be as dry as possible." "They aren't for me," Rei said, fighting to keep her tone of voice level.
 The woman nodded and walked back towards the cash register. Rei followed, wondering if the world had gone crazy.
 
 Usagi finished her homework early. She did not feel like watching TV. She was a little worried about the possibility of wetting the bed again. She told herself that it was unlikely. After all, it was not as if she was sick or anything. It had been just one of those things. She had herself convinced of that by the time she went to get ready for bed. She changed into her pyjamas and went to brush her teeth. When she returned to her room, she found her mother waiting for her. "Mom? What are you doing here?" "Usagi, I don't want you sleeping in a wet bed."
 "What?" "So, just in case it happens again, I bought these." She took the box of Platinum Undergarments from behind her back. "This way, you won't have to deal with wet pyjamas or wet sheets. Isn't that nice?" Ikuko asked. She opened the box and removed one of the garments. Usagi stared at the pink object. "It's a diaper," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. Luna was staring wide-eyed at what was going on. It was getting bizarre, thought the cat. "It's an Absorbent Undergarment," Ikuko said.
 "It's pink." "That's just to differentiate it from the boys." "There are bunnies on it." "You like bunnies." Ikuko looked to the few bunny toys in the room. "There were also kitties, but I knew you'd like the bunnies more." "I'm not wearing that," Usagi said. "It's bad for you to be in wet clothes, and you won't get good sleep."
 "I don't care. I won't wear that." "Usagi," her mother's tone grew a little hard. "I don't want you sleeping in wet pyjamas and in wet sheets. Neither do I want to wash them, and I don't think you want your wet futon on display, do you? Maybe next time it will be even more visible." Usagi's cheeks armed and she looked down at the ground. Even more visible? It was almost like her mother was threatening to publically humiliate her. But that could not be. So she shook her head. "No." She might have been agreeing with her mother's statement. She might have been quietly begging not to be shamed. "Then this is for the best." Ikuko smiled brightly. "Now take off your pyjama bottoms and panties then lie on your bed." "What? You are going to put them on me?" Usagi's eyes were wide, her mouth dropping open.
 "If they are not taped on just right, they might leak," her mother explained in a matter of fact tone.
 "I can put my own diapers on." Usagi blushed as she realized exactly what she had said. "Have you ever put a diaper on anyone?" "Well," Usagi shifted back and forth, "no." "I am quite familiar with it. I diapered your little bottom that I am quite used to it. That was not so long ago that I forgot how to diaper you, little girl." "But..." "Usagi, do as I say," Ikuko said in a soft voice that was full mother mode.
 There was no way Usagi could disobey her mother. She slid the pyjama bottoms panties down around her ankles. Blushing, she stepped out of the puddle of clothing and lay down on the bed, her hands covering her crotch. Ikuko gathered up the clothing, folded it neatly and placed it on Usagi's vanity. Ikuko shook out the diaper with a rustling snap. She stood over Usagi, looking down at her. "Lift your hips." Usagi did not want to do it, but the quiet command in her mother's voice was not to be disobeyed. She lifted her bottom, up of the bed, her hands still over her crotch. Her mother slid the diaper under her. "Hips down." Usagi kept her body tensed, a trembling bridge that kept her bottom hovering over the diaper. "Hips down," she said and then gently pushed on Usagi's stomach. There was an inevitability to it, and under the gentle pressure of her mother's hand, Usagi's bottom came down on the thick, loudly crinkling padding of the diaper. She was mortified by the sound of it, the feel of its beneath her bum. Ikuko pulled Usagi's hands away from her crotch and gently slapped them with a, "No," when Usagi tried to cover up again. She gripped the front of the diaper then pulled it up snugly between Usagi's legs. A quick pull to make sure it was tight and then Ikuku carefully taped it shut. "Oh, I should have got some lotion and powder. You are always so cranky when you get a rash on your bum." "Mother!" Usagi said in a loud whisper.
 "It's true, and it will be more comfortable." Ikuko patted the front of Usagi's diaper. "There you are, already for sleepy time." She pulled the sheets up over Usagi and actually tucked her in. Usagi felt as if she was blushing down to her toes. It had been a long time since her mother had put her to bed. Ikuko kissed Usagi on the forehead. "Goodnight," she said, then walked out of the room, turning off the light as she went.
 "What's happening Luna?" Usagi asked, near tears. "I'm not sure, but it is strange."
 Similar scenes were playing out all over the town as mothers got their teenage sons and daughters into their new diapers. Minako's mother had lotion and powder when she diapered her daughter. On the other hand, Ami's mother let Ami take care of it herself. She felt as if maybe she should take care of it and make sure her daughter was well diapered, but she did not. After all, Ami did know how to take care of herself. Rei put on her undergarment, tightened the belts and then went to sleep. Makoto put a plastic sheet on her futon, just in case.
 
 "Usagi-chan, wake up," Ikuko said as she gently shook her daughter. "Wha..." Usagi yawned. "I had the weirdest dream she said softly." "That's nice," Ikuko said, pulling Usagi's sheets back. Usagi was surprised by that and by what her mother said next. "You're very wet." Usagi sat up and looked down at herself. She was wearing a diaper. It had not been a dream. What's more, it was a wet diaper. The bunnies on it were a much darker colour now, like a neon sign indicating she had peed herself in the night. "You're brother and father are downstairs so no one will see you." Her mother handed Usagi her pyjama bottoms. "Go and get yourself cleaned up." Usagi nodded, too shocked to do anything else. It was the second time she had wet herself in her sleep. Her mother was checking the bed. "Perfectly dry," she announced. "They work perfectly." Usagi looked outside of her room to make sure no one was, in fact, about, then made a dash for the bathroom. Her diaper rustled loudly, and the thick padding made her waddle just a little. Luna was on her heels, torn between concern and amusement.
 "What's happening?" Usagi asked as she closed the bathroom door behind her. "I'm not sure," the cat said. "Maybe this is some sort of attack." "From who? And why like this?" Usagi began to un-tape the diaper, tearing the plastic in her haste to get it off.
 "I don't know," Luna admitted. "I'm sure we can find out. And maybe this is nothing beyond what it seems to be." "What?"
 "Maybe you are just wetting the bed." "Oh, thanks." Usagi almost snarled as she ripped the last tape free.
 "Well, I'm sorry. But it might be the simplest explanation." "I don't want a simple explanation," Usagi snapped as she pulled the diaper off, rolled it in a tight ball, and then dropped it in the trash can. It landed with a dull, wet 'thunk'. She soaked a washcloth with warm water and began to clean herself.
 "We'll find out," Luna told her.
 Before leaving the bathroom, she took a moment to sniff the air, wanting to be sure that the smell of piss has not clung to her. She got dressed and went downstairs, just catching her father as he was going out the door. "You're up early," he observed. "Uh, yeah," Usagi tried. It was the cleverest she could come up with.
 Kenji nodded and left the house. Her mother slipped in beside her. "Where's your diaper Usagi-chan." "In the bathroom wastebasket, and it's an absorbent undergarment." "Oh, yes," Ikuko laughed. "I forgot. Well, I'll make sure it gets thrown out. There is no reason your brother has to find out about this." Usagi nodded, relieved that her mother felt that way.
 "Get breakfast and go to school," she said before going upstairs.
 
 Ami and Minako, as well as many others, woke to similar experiences as Usagi. Rei woke to find her protective undergarment a little wet, but not badly so. It certainly had not leaked. Makoto woke to damp sheets, not particularly wet. She put the sheets in the washing machine, cleaned the plastic sheet off, and then went about her standard routine.
 Copper stood in the middle of the small warehouse. A strange machine, made up of many hoses and cables, was vibrating almost obscenely as it squeezed out packages of Platinum Undergarments. "Are there any problems?" he asked the cloaked figure. "None at all. The energy is coming, absorbed and directed here by the diapers." The Figure pointed at a silver ball that was spinning slowly in the air. "More energy will come soon." "Good," Copper said as he smiled. Soon those wearing Platinum Undergarments would start having day time accidents. And there would be other embarrassing changes as well. Eventually, they would lose complete control of bladder and bowels. Long before that he would have collected the energy he needed for the first anchor point. His infantilized victims would no longer matter.
 Later in the evening, when all the girls had gone home, Artemis and Luna met. "Something odd is happening," Luna said. "I agree," Artemis told her. "Please keep this secret, but Usagi is wetting her bed." "What?! So is Minkako."
 "One I could believe, especially if it was Usagi, but both of them. That is not a coincidence!"
 "What could be causing it?"
 "I don't know. But tomorrow we are going to have to talk to all the Senshi and solve this."
 
 "Maybe I should see a doctor," Usagi suggested as her mother diapered her. This time she had brought baby lotion and baby powder. "Oh, I don't think so," Ikuko said. "This is perfectly natural." "What?" "Look," she held out the package of Platinum Undergarments. "It says right here that most children your age wet their bed. It's all right." She pointed at some lettering on the box. "But that's not true," Usagi said. She knew many people her own age, and none of them wet their beds. Well, not that she knew of.
 "Of course its true silly bunny," her mother said. "It's written on the package." She put the box aside. "Good night, honey." She tucked Usagi in. "This is too weird," Usagi said once her mother had left the room.
 She shifted under the cover, her diaper crinkling. "It certainly is," Luna said. "Minako-san is also wetting her bed." "What?" Usagi asked, not sure if she believed it. "Is she a baby or something?" Luna looked archly at Usagi and then jumped onto her diaper under the covers. The padding pressed into Usagi under the cat's weight, and it crinkled loudly. "Sorry."
 Luna kneaded the diaper under her paws to ensure that Usagi would not forget she was wearing it. "Artemis and I also scouted out Junban. It seems you are not the only ones. It is like an epidemic." "So I'm not a bed wetter?" Usagi was happy to hear that. "Well, you are, but probably not a natural one."
 "What can we do?" "We'll have to talk with the others tomorrow and figure it out."
 
 "Usagi, wake up." Ikuko pulled the covers away from the sleeping girl. Usagi mumbled, "I'm tired, just a few more minutes." She curled up against the cool air of the room. She felt exhausted. Suddenly Ikuko's hand was between Usagi's legs, giving the diaper between her legs a squeeze. "Some little bunny soaked her diaper last night." Her tone was sing-song. "Mom!" Usagi sat up, no longer at all tired. She couldn't believe what her mother was doing.
 The humiliation did what an alarm clock could not. "Go and get cleaned up unless you want me to do it."
 "No!" Usagi jumped out of her bed. "I'll do it." She ran from her room, her diaper bottom shifting back and forth by the exaggerated waddle she was forced into. "What an adorable little bunny." Ikuko watched Usagi go. In the bathroom, Usagi experienced another shock. She had taken off her diaper and was reaching for a washcloth. That was when she noticed her pubic hair was gone. No, not gone. It was all there, a pee sodden mass of hair in her diaper. She soaked the washcloth with warm water and carefully used it to wipe away at her pubic mound. The last, clinging hairs wiped away with the pee, leaving her completely bare. What was happening? Usagi grabbed at the hair on her head, pulling at it, terrified that it was going to come out as well. Still solidly in place, she ended up saying, "Ouch" as the tugging hurt. Reaching down, she touched herself, the skin under her fingers smooth and soft. Was Minako going through the same thing? Were others? Should she go and see a doctor? Should she show it to her mother? The thought of showing her mother the hairless mound made her blush. What would she do if her mother just treated it as being perfectly normal, like she was treating the bedwetting? How could she ask anyone? There was a soft knock at the door. "Usagi, hurry up. Do you need help?" "No," Usagi almost yelled. Of course, Usagi was not the only teenager in the area waking up wet, and finding that their pubic hair was gone. Most were just as embarrassed and confused as her. There were some exceptions, including Rei and Makoto, who woke up dry and happy for it.
 
 At school Makoto, no longer wrapped up in her own concerns about her bedwetting, noticed that most of the other students were acting strange. They were all quiet. After lunch, when all the students cleaned the school, she noticed Minako and Usagi off to the side, whispering. When she approached them, both of them stopped talking and looked embarrassed. "What's going on?" she asked them. "Well..." Usagi trailed off. "It's just that...." Minako trailed off. She sighed and straightened her shoulders. "Usagi and I are wetting our beds," she said softly. "You too?" "Mako-chan, are you...?" Usagi began. "I was, but not anymore it seems."
 "Artemis and Luna tell us that this is happening all over Junban," Minako told her.
 "What?"
 "And our mothers are making us wear diapers." Usagi blushed a deep red.
 "And it isn't such a rare thing."
 Makoto nodded. "Could this be an attack?" "We don't know. Luna and Artemis want us to meet at Crown today after school so we can figure things out."
 "I'll be there," Makoto said.
 All three went back to cleaning their classroom before any of the teachers yelled at them. Usagi was sweeping up a cloakroom when she heard a loud gasp. She turned around and saw Naru Osaka standing not far off. Naru had a horrified look on her face and was pushing her skirt between her legs. Usagi wondered what was happening, then she heard a soft, splashing sound. She looked down and saw a puddle of urine growing between Naru's feet and pressing in on her skirt caused it to get wet as well. Naru's face was all red, and she began shaking her head in denial. A moment later, she began to cry. People were looking on, but few were saying anything. There was a look of concern on all their faces. Usagi understood it; she was now worried she might have a similar accident. Who would dare to make fun of Naru is they might be the next to have such an accident? "Everyone, get back to work," a teacher called as he came up to Naru. He put his hands on her shoulders and directed her towards the stairs. "Get a mop and clean this up," he ordered some boys. Naru cried louder at that. Usagi put her broom aside and followed after Naru and the teacher. The teacher led her to the nurse's room, took her in, and then left. As Usagi waited for Naru to come out, she saw several more students go into the nurse's office as well. Some had obviously wet themselves. After several minutes Naru came out. She was still wearing her skirt with its damp patch. She sniffed loudly, looked around and saw Usagi. She ran up to Usagi and put her arms around her old friend. "It's going to be all right," she told Naru, unable to think of anything else.
 "Oh, Usagi-san." Naru was whispering. "The nurse put me in a diaper." "What?" "She said it was for the best. It's just like with my mother." "I know." Usagi held Naru tighter, comforting her. The rest of the day passed at high tension. Several more students wet themselves, and classes were further disrupted by the students' constant need to go to the bathroom. Usagi managed to avoid wetting herself, but it had been close. Her panties were a little damp from close calls. After school, Usagi knew she was supposed to meet with the others, but did not want to take a chance that she might have an accident. She went right home. "I'm home," she said as she came into the house. She just wanted to go up to her room and hide under the covers. "Usagi," her mother called in a tone that was not angry, but certainly brooked no nonsense. "Come with me." Ikuko turned and walked towards the stairs. Usagi wondered if she had done anything wrong and followed her mother up the stairs and then into her room. Ikuko turned around and grasped Usagi around the waist. She loosened the bow on the back of her skirt, then unzipped it, letting it fall to the floor. It happened so fast Usagi did not even think to stop her.
 "Naru-chan's mother called me." Ikuko grasped Usagi's panties and pulled them down. "I was worried about this," she said as she saw the yellow stains.
 "Mom!? What are you doing?" "This is for the best," Ikuko said as she stood up, took Usagi by the shoulders and directed her towards the bed where a diaper was lain out. "But those are just for the night." "Obviously not," Ikuko said, looking at the stained underwear that had fallen around Usagi's ankles hobbling her.
 Usagi could not come up with an argument against that. She was embarrassed to be in such a position, and her panties were almost tripping her. She could not really stop her mother from pushing her down onto the diaper. It crinkled under her and felt somehow thicker. After Ikuko had diapered her reached for something else. She gave it a shake, and it snapped out. It was a set of bright yellow plastic pants. "Mom!" "The diaper might leak when you are moving around. This will make sure you stay dry." Ikuko threaded Usagi's socked feet through the leg holes then drew the plastic pants up her legs. "There we go," she said, pulling them up around the diaper. "That will keep you dry."
 That done Ikuko turned and walked out of the room. Usagi lay there for a minute, trying to figure out what had just happened. Then she turned herself over and began to cry into her pillow. When her wrist communicator began to beep, she ignored it at first. She was so embarrassed and so tired. Finally, she brought the watch towards her face. "What?"
 "Usagi-chan, this is Makoto, where are you?" "I'm at home Mako-chan." "We were supposed to meet at Fruits Parlour Crown." "I'm sorry. It was a bad day."
 "Rei-chan and I are already here. She's called Ami and Minako. Get over here." Usagi sighed. "I'll be there soon." She said cut the communicator's transmission. Usagi got out of her bed and took off her uniform blouse. She gathered up her skirt and hung it with her blouse. Standing in front of the closet, she looked for something she could wear with her diaper. Slacks were right out, as were shorts. Eventually, she took out a long, loose skirt that she paired with a blouse. It would help hide the bulk around her bottom and should also muffle the faint crinkling sound from the diaper and plastic pants.
 She hoped. Once she was dressed, she went downstairs and walked to the front door. "I'm going out for a while mom," she called as she put her shoes on. Ikuko leaned out of the kitchen. "Try to be home early and take your bag." She indicated a grey and red knapsack by the door before going into the kitchen. Usagi stared at the bag for a moment, it was brand new. She picked it up and opened it. Inside were a few diapers, a pair of pink plastic pants, baby wipes, baby lotion and powder. She could not believe it. Her mother had prepared her a diaper bag. She closed it up and took it, not because she wanted to, but because she did not want her mother to get angry at her. As she set off at a quick walk, she was not really aware of the slight waddle the thick diaper had added to her stride. She arrived last, entering the sweet store, seeing the other four girls and two cats sitting at their regular table. Usagi crossed the floor and took a seat. "Sorry I'm late," she said glumly. The diaper was like a cushion under her bum, and she was sure she heard the crackle and rustle of it. "Well, now that we are all here, let's talk about what is happening," Luna began. "For some reason, there seems to be a lot of junior high and senior high students wetting their beds."
 "And having daytime problems as well." Ami's tone made it clear she was clinical about it. "But neither Makoto nor Rei seem to be having such problems," Artemis said.
 "That's not fair," Usagi whined, looking at Rei. "Fair or not is not important Usagi," Luna said.
 "Why aren't Rei-chan and I having these problems?" Makoto asked. "Well, we'll have to consider exactly what happened," Ami said. Everyone looked at each other, and then everyone's attention shifted to Usagi. As their future queen, it seemed she had the responsibility. Usagi sighed. "Okay. Well, on Tuesday morning I woke up and found I had wet the bed. Actually, my mother discovered it first." "That's what happened to me," Minako said. The other three girls nodded. "That night," Usagi paused, took a deep breath, then continued, "my mother made me wear diapers." Ami and Minako nodded. "I didn't bother with diapers," Makoto told them.
 "Really?" Luna sounded interested. "I used them." Rei blushed. "I did not want my grandfather to find out."
 "When I woke up Wednesday morning, I had once again wet my bed, well, the diaper." "Me too," Minako said. "That happened with me as well," Ami added. "My mother did not seem to think it was a problem though," Usagi told them. "Yea," Minako said. "My mother seems to be confused," Ami said. "She knows that it is not right, but she does not act too concerned. She has given me a physical examination and says that nothing is wrong."
 "That is very strange," Luna said.
 "I had an accident on Wednesday, but just a small one," Rei said. Makoto nodded in agreement.
 "So it was lessening for you?" Artemis asked.
 Both girls nodded. "This morning, I was wet again." Usagi was looking down into her lap where she had grabbed up handfuls of her skirt.
 "Did you lose your pubic hair?" Ami asked, still being clinical. Usagi and Minako both blushed, then nodded. "That did not happen to me," Rei said. "Me neither." Makoto was looked between Usagi, Anime and Minako. "I almost wet myself a few times today. And when I got home, my mother put me in a diaper." Usagi added the last horrible detail. "She's acting like this is all perfectly normal!"
 Ami nodded as did Minako.
 "I have not had any daytime problems," Makoto told the others. Rei nodded in agreement.
 "So why are Rei-chan and Makoto-chan all right now?" Luna looked around at all of them.
 "Usagi, what sort of diapers did your mother use?" Ami asked. "They are called Platinum Undergarments." Usagi was still staring down at her lap. The diaper was getting a little uncomfortable, she thought. It was trapping heat and making her feel a bit sweaty and itchy. Had she perhaps wet it?
 "Those were the same my mother used as well," Minako said.
 Ami nodded. "Mine as well." "Not me. But the woman at the store wanted me to buy them. She was a little pushy about it." Rei shook her head. "Honestly, they looked so babyish." She looked at the three girls currently wearing those diapers. "Sorry." Usagi thought she was not sorry at all.
 "I didn't even bother with that, I put a plastic sheet on my futon," Makoto told them.
 They all looked at each other for a moment. "Usagi. Let me see your diapers," Ami said as she pulled her pocket computer out.
 "What!?" Usagi asked. Minako and Makoto shifted around, pushing Usagi, so she was covered by the table and them, giving her privacy. Rei reached around and pulled Usagi's skirt up. "Hey," Usagi said, trying to keep her voice low. Ami moved close, scanning with her computer. "Don't be such a baby," Rei said, smiling cruelly. "Nice plastic pants."
 Usagi flushed deeply. "Anything Ami?" Luna asked. "There is a strange energy field around the diaper, and it seems to be draining off something."
 Rei pulled at Usagi's plastic pants. "You're wet," she said. Usagi blushed even more, and tears began to gather in her eyes. "The power being drained off just increased," Ami said. "It must have something to do with embarrassment. Good job, Rei." Good job? Usagi could not believe Ami had said that. "Can you find out where the energy is going?" "Yes, I think so."
 "Then let's go," Luna said, then jumped to the floor. Usagi smoothed her skirt down and glared at Rei. Rei simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Keep teasing Usagi Rei," Luna said, "so Ami can track that energy." "My pleasure," Rei said and grabbed Usagi's hand like she was a little girl. "Come on, miss pissy pants." "Rei, stop being mean," Usagi cried. "Is that it?" Luna asked, looking at the small warehouse Ami had led them to. "I'm certain of it," Ami told her. "Whatever is causing this is in there." "Well then let's transform and take care of this." Usagi sounded determined. Between the teasing from Rei and how the wet diaper was rubbing at her, she was more than a little angry. The others nodded and brought out their transformation pens, Usagi opened her broach. The girls called out to the power of their planets. The elements of their control spun around them like mini vortexes, clothing them in their sailor warrior uniforms. "Let's go," Sailor Moon said, heading towards the warehouse.
 
 Copper looked at the silver ball, the repository for the energy of shame. It was spinning faster now. It was gathering more power than he had expected. His plan was looking to be quite successful. Nearby the diaper machine continued to produce the Platinum Undergarments. Perhaps he should take this place around the world? His plotting was interrupted as the big warehouse door rattled opened, and he spun on his heel towards the noise. Standing in the doorway, backlit by the sun, were five girls in strange costumes. "Who are you? What do you want?" he demanded as he took a step towards them. "We are the Sailor Warriors," they said in unison brought on by much practice. "Fighters for love and justice. For your cruelty and in the name of the moon, we will punish you!" "Who?" he asked. "You heard us you big jerk," Sailor Moon yelled. "I'm Sailor Moon, and you've made me really angry." Copper sighed. He did not know who these girls were, but it seemed they knew something about what he was doing. He looked over at the clocked figure who had been hiding in the shadows. "Deal with them." The cloaked figure threw off her cloak. Revealed was a tall woman with dark brown skin, like mahogany. She wore a black dress, with white lace and a white apron that shone like rubber. "Nanny will take care of you," she called out, placing her hands together. A ball of light formed between them and then from the light shot forth a hail of pacifiers. They slammed into the sailor warriors, like rubber bullets, knocking them down, making them scream. Nanny laughed as Copper looked on smugly. Those trespassers were efficiently dealt with by Nanny. Sailor Moon hit the ground hard and, much to her distress, she felt her bladder let go. The pristine whiteness of her uniform's panties was stained a prominent yellow. The short blue skirt of the uniform hid little of it. "Oh ho," Nanny called out. "It looks like a little girl needs some help. Auper, help her." The machine that had been producing the Platinum Undergarments stopped vibrating. Two lights, like eyes, lit up on the device. Several hoses snapped free and whipped towards Sailor Moon. They wrapped around her, pulling her toward it. Sailor Moon screamed and beat at the hoses, but they would not release. Two of the hoses snuck up under her panties and simply tore them off. Others brought a super thick Platinum Undergarment which they wrapped around her waist. A pair of plastic pants, bright pink, with big ruffles were slipped up her legs over the bulky diaper. Her short skirt did nothing to hide them, and it was terribly obvious she was diapered her legs bowed out by the substantial padding. It had happened all so very fast. Sailor Moon did nothing for a moment, then she began to cry. It was so unfair. As Nanny continued to spray the girls with pacifier bullets Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury also wet themselves. Auper sprung into action, grabbing both up in its hoses and cables so it could diaper them. Then, even though Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter had not wet themselves, Auper was trying to snag them up as well. Sailor Jupiter leapt over a tangle of hoses and spun, calling out, "Oak Evolution." From around her body appeared a storm of oak leaves. The leaves glowed with power as they shot away from her, ripping into Auper. The machine heaved up and down, like an unbalanced washing machine. It started firing out boxes of Platinum Undergarments which hit the warehouse walls and exploded into a shower of diapers. The cables and hoses flailed around and struck like whips. On snapped across Sailor Moon's diapered bottom and even with the padding, it still hurt. "Sailor Moon, now!" Mars screamed, more out of habit than anything else. Sailor Moon was on her hands and knees, bottom-up, crying loudly. Well, obviously she was not going to be of help, Mars thought.
 "Oh well," Mars said, then shifted into her combat stance. "Flame Sniper," she called out loudly, drawing forth a bow made of fire, pulling back a string of flame, readying an arrow of burning power.
 The arrow leapt forth towards Nanny, who was trying to split her fire between Jupiter and Mars. Nanny tried to dodge aside, but she tripped on bits of the exploded Auper. The arrow struck, burning straight through Nanny.
 The woman looked down at the hole that went straight through her. She looked up at Mars. "You are a very naughty girl," she said, "and naughty girls get punished." Mars worried for a moment, not liking the idea of being punished. But before Nanny could follow through on her threat, her dark skin faded to the colour of ash. Then her body just fell into a fine, grey dust that rained down to the floor. Copper had expected the girls to simply fall to Nanny. And while three of them had been taken care of (he looked at the still sobbing Sailor Moon and the diapered Mercury and Venus), the other two had quickly dealt with Nanny and Auper. It shocked him at how easily Nanny and her servant had been dealt with. He thought he might fight them on a fare more equal footing, but decided that retreat was a smarter option until he knew more of these foes. Copper held out his hand, and the spinning silver sphere came to him. "We will meet again Sailor Girls," he called out a moment before he faded away. From the packages of Platinum Undergarments and the loose diapers scattered around the room, and even the diapers and plastic panties that Sailor Moon, Mercury and Venus wore, a black, smoke-like mist rose into the air. It was thick and unwholesome looking, but after a moment the mist dissipated as if it never was. They all looked around the warehouse, the wreckage of Auper and the boxes of diapers. Sailor Moon stopped crying and started rubbing her stinging bum through the padding of her diaper.
 "Is it over," Jupiter asked. "I think so." Luna walked into the warehouse, stepping over scattered diapers. "The malicious energy has all faded."
 "What about us?" Venus put a hand on her diaper.
 "I think that we will all be back to normal in a few days." Mercury brought out her computer and tapped at the keys. "Considering the strength of the magic and the nature of the curse." She sounded quite academic for someone sitting on the floor in a thick diaper, legs splayed by the padding. "None of us were wearing these long enough for it the curse to become permanent." "What about these diapers? Are they still cursed?" Sailor Moon asked, looking down as the diaper she wore. "No, the energy is gone from them." Ami put her computer away. "They are just normal diapers now."
 
 "You have not collected as much energy as you promised Lord Copper," Empress Platinum said. She stood upon a raised platform. Around her were sparkling, bright pastel fields. "I know my Empress." Copper bowed low. "I was attacked by a group calling themselves the Sailor Warriors. They destroyed my servants. However," he held up the sphere, "I did get some power." "You say these Sailor Warriors attacked you?" "Yes, my Empress." Platinum frowned. "Attacking those who serve me is like attacking me. That cannot be allowed. They must be punished for their audacity."
 "Yes, my Empress." She looked at him for a moment. "You will gather more of this energy of shame and humiliation. It has a scent to it I approve of." "It will be as you say, Empress." "We still need to create the first anchor point, and I want you to find out about these Sailor Warriors." "Yes, my Empress." "Do not fail me Copper, or I will return you with the others." Copper swallowed nervously, "Of course." "Do your work."
 
 Usagi lay on her bed, reading a comic book. She was still wearing a diaper, but her mother no longer seemed interested in helping her with them. In fact, she was anxious about Usagi and her health. Usagi told her it was probably some sort of flu, and if she was not better in a day or two, she should go to a doctor. From what Ami said, Usagi was reasonably sure that she would be fine in a day or two. She was still bothered by the diaper she wore of course. What teenager would not be if they had to wear a thick, crinkly diaper? But as she knew that she would not have to wear it for all that long, Usagi did her best to ignore it. "Shouldn't you be studying?" Luna asked.
 "Why?" Usagi did not look up from her comic. "The other's know I am in diapers, and it was not my fault anyway. You can't blackmail me anymore." She stuck her tongue out. Luna sighed. It was nearly a week since they had dealt with Nanny and her machine. Things had gone back to the normal, the strange spate of bet and pants wetting while not forgotten seemed more like a dream to many. The five girls had met in the sweet shop as usual. "Everyone is better now," Ami told them. "My mother heard from a lot of parents after our battle when people still had some accidents. No one is wetting their beds or themselves now." "Well I'm glad that is over," Makoto said. "Me too." Minako nodded. "But we might have a new enemy." Artemis's cat face had a serious countenance. "Well, we'll deal with them." Rei smiled as she looked at the girl at her side. "Right, Usagi?" Usagi was looking down at her lap and looked up when Rei spoke. "Uh, yeah. Of course." "Usagi-chan, are you all right?" Makoto asked. Usagi face went red. "Sure." She laughed. It sounded forced.
 Rei looked at Usagi for a moment, then reached forward and flipped up Usagi's skirt revealing the pink diaper she wore. Usagi squeaked out a 'no' and quickly pushed her skirt down.
 "Oh, no. Didn't you get better?" Ami asked.
 "I did," Usagi told them, tears in her eyes.
 "Then, why?" Usagi sniffed. "I failed the tests I wrote, and my mother told me I could wear these until I stopped acting like such a child." All the others almost fell out of their seats. "Well, that is going to be a long time," Rei said. "Rei, you're mean!" "At least they are suitable for you." "Rei!" Usagi began to cry.
 Ami put a comforting hand on Usagi's shoulder. "It will be all right, I'll help you study. You won't have to wear them that long."
 Makoto, Minako, Luna and Artemis sighed loudly.

In less than a week, I will be attending Con of the North. Which is a tabletop gaming convention. And I was wondering if anyone else has attended conventions at all. I have also attended Animinneapolis.

Yoshimaho: Yoshi Yoshi is the name of a new Anime project, where the protagonist is exhausted by his daily life. He starts thinking "Toddlers can be legally fawned over, they're so lucky...". One day, he buys a blue pacifier. And as he pops it into his mouth, he finds himself reincarnated as a five year old toddler in another world, where he goes to daycare and where beautiful young men take care of him and other children with their "there, there" magic. I don't know if any diapers are involved, but I think it could still be a cute anime for some of us.

My first story, it’s probably a bit weebier then most stories on this site, feel free to leave critique. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— “Senpai, you can’t keep pushing yourself like this, you’ve barely slept at all these past two weeks…” Mash stood slightly behind the lithe frame of her Master, whom even as they walked showed signs of excessive fatigue. Her frame slouched as they trudged onwards to Gudako’s quarters after yet another session of gathering QP. Mash’s frown only deepened as Gudako stumbled over her own foot, Mash swiftly catching her before she could collapse. Steadying herself Gudako waved off Mash with a slight nod of thanks. “Can’t you see, if you keep going like this, you won’t last until we can open the way to Solomon’s Singularity. Please Senpai, I know how much stress you’ve been under, but you need to tend yourself as well.” Mash pleaded as she steadied her Master. Gudako didn’t respond immediately, instead pausing to rub her tired baggy eyes for a moment before adjusting her posture and continuing on at a careful pace. “Mash… I know you mean well, but I can’t. We are on the cusp of the final confrontation, we don’t have the luxury of rest…” Pausing once more in her step the red head turned to give a tired smile to her first and most loyal Servant. Gudako’s appearance was haggard, eyes half lidded, and deep set with bags that spoke of many a sleepless night. Her crimson hair, commonly done in a small side bun hung, loose and messy. Every so often her left hand twitched ever so slightly, atrophy starting to set in, mana exhaustion taking its toll. Her outfit similarly had suffered, her simple white blouse and skirt ruffled and stained with the sweat of the long day’s toil. “We are so close now. Just a little bit more... than we can all take a well deserved rest. ...Maybe go visit Orlean’s again, see the ocean once more.” Gudako pondered before turning to once more continue on. “You needn’t worry about me so much, you have been taxed just as I have. ...I’ll be fine the rest of the way, thank you so much for your hard work... I’ll see you tomorrow morning at five, we still are lacking the Demon Heart’s Merlin desperately needs. Goodnight…” with a lazy wave over her shoulder, Gudako disappeared around the corner. “This can’t continue…” Mash gazed worriedly after her Master, knowing for a fact that she’d get no sleep. The nightmare’s had started after they had returned from Babylonia, the singularity had pushed them all to their limits. Gudako had brushed death (literally even) far to often for the pinkette’s tastes. However the image that had haunted her Master’s dreams for the past fortnight had been the fate of their shared friend and guide Siduri. The twisted abomination she was transformed into clashed heavily with the kind and friendly women they had known. It’s visage twisted even further with time, had left the red head with naught but guilt and sorrow. Mash had been on her way to visit Doctor Roman for a routine checkup when she had heard the near silent sound of her Master’s stifled sobs. Approaching the door yielded the truth that despite all her assurance’s Gudako was not fine. Afterwards she would visit Gudako’s door nightly, listening to her weeping into the early hours. Mash was at a lost of what do, her attempts at confronting being brushed off with empty promises and excuses. Her Master was so stubborn sometimes, refusing to seek help as to not be a burden. Mash couldn’t do this alone, there had to be someone who could help her, help Senpai. Looking to Fou perched on her shoulder, she noticed his forlorn stare towards the end of the hallway. “What can I do to help her…” she softly asked the fluffy beast of Gaia, not particularly expecting any answers. “Fou, fou… fou.” She sighed at expected response, before starting as Fou hopped off her shoulder and began scurrying off behind her. Turning, she noticed him staring at her almost expectantly. “What is it Fou?” Fou pointed with his snout behind him, “you want me to follow you?” With that question Fou continued scurrying down the hallway, Mash curious, followed after at a hastened pace. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fou led the way hurrying through the sterile halls of Chaldea with purpose, coming to a stop in front of a nondescript door that Mash recognized all too well. The door led to personal quarter’s of Minamoto no Raikou, the self proclaimed mother of Chaldea. Her maternal proclivities often caused trouble with some of the more caustic Servants. One such incident occurred when upon catching Jalter harassing some of the newer servants she insisted on placing her in timeout. Needless to say this went over poorly with the volatile Avenger, threats of burning Chaldea to the ground being the least of them. Her tantrum was short lived however as Raikou managed to temper her rage with just a few hushed whispers. Mash wasn’t sure what was said but the results spoke for themselves as Jalter’s complexion became even paler (if that’s even possible) before hurriedly apologizing through gritted teeth and beating a hasty retreat. Needless to say Mash was more than slightly hesitant to ring the bell in front of her. Looking down to Fou, she awaited his wisdom on the matter. “Fou.” “...You’re right, things can’t stay like this. Senpai needs some rest… even if it kills her.” Mash resolved herself before she reached forward, and pressed the innocuous button. A pleasant chime could be heard, followed by slow steady footsteps as the sole occupant made their way to the door. Bracing herself, Mash faced the now open doorway to greet the Berserker. “Oh… Mash you are here late, did Master forget to use up all our AP again?” Raikou greeted cordially. Raikou's appearance was that of casual clothes, the long purple sweater and sweats she wore giving off a homely feel. Raikou’s expression however fell at the sight of Mash’s frown. “What is the matter my dear? Are Gil and Ozy at it again?” Raikou queried, remembering the incident that had happened just days prior. The two of them had had a competition resulting in heavy damage to the training simulator and even more stress upon the overworked technicians. The fact that the two left cackling at their mutual victories did not help the morale of the staff. “No, I’m here to ask a favor of you in regards to Senpai’s wellbeing.” Mash explained steadily. Raikou’s frown deepened at the mention of her Master’s health. She had not been able to see her in about a week due to her near constant deployment to the seven singularity’s to insure stability. “Tell me everything Mash…” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After listening intently to Mash’s explantation of the situation, Raikou’s first instinct was to sprint to her dear daughter’s room and hug her until she stopped hurting. Mash, assuaged her that such an approach would be counterproductive. They discussed for a bit how best to mend the situation, this entailed mainly Mash shooting down all of Raikou’s overbearing suggestions. Seeing no progress, Mash eventually relented and left after ensuring that Raikou wouldn’t do anything too drastic. This left Raikou to ponder over how best to save her darling daughter from herself. ‘She’s been suffering such terrible nightmares all alone, and I was not aware. I’m a terrible mother for not noticing sooner!’ Raikou berated herself, missing the fact that she had barely seen Gudako the past few weeks. ‘I will make this right to her, no matter what! What she needs is the comfort that only a mother can provide.’ At that thought Raikou’s vision drifted to the door at the back of her quarter’s, the pink heart giving little to its purpose. ‘It’s still too soon to introduce her to that room.’ Raikou blushed as her thoughts were consumed by the contents of said room. ‘But trauma and nightmares are hard to rid oneself of… Now has to be the time… Yes, by tomorrow night she’ll be sleeping like a baby!’ Raikou stood suddenly, her mind made up. She stepped to the holophone and entered Mash’s number waiting a mere moment before the pinkette picked up, worry still etched on her face. “Mash, I have determined the best course of action for Master. After tomorrow’s battle’s I need you to bring her to my quarter’s as soon as possible. By tomorrow all of her trouble’s will have faded, this I promise as a mother!” Raikou spoke with conviction. Mash mulled over her words for a minute, then finding them sincere, finally promised that she would bring Master right after their final battle of the day. After nodding a goodnight Raikou hung up, and glided over to the enigmatic door which very few had been in. Running her hand over the biometric lock, the door smoothly slid open revealing the surprise she had been preparing. A fully furnished nursery, the walls a light purple to match her signature armor, the floor a cushy light brown carpet covered in snuggly blankets and various extra bolts of cloth. A crib hugged the back corner filled with plushies of many of the creature’s they had met on there many journeys. A mobile rotated gently above it decorated with plush Saint Quartz as a light lullaby played. On the opposite wall a changing table lay stocked full with diapers of various shade’s, it’s soft rubber top lined with automatic restraints (courtesy of certain eccentric inventor) for especially fussy baby’s. An open closet revealed several different lacy play dresses as well as a few cozy looking onesies with snaps for quick changes. At a quick glance one would be forgiven for assuming it was a mundane nursery, on closer inspection however, the proportions seemed far too large for that to be the case. In truth this nursery had been built with the sole intention of one day being her new daughter’s room. She had been building it up in the storage room connected to her quarters for quite some time, with the assistance of an ever mischievous Da Vinci collecting the supplies needed. Originally Da Vinci had been hesitant to assist the overbearing Berserker, but eventually came around with a mixture of pleading and promises of pictures. The process had started while Gudako had been away in the fifth singularity and was slowly constructed in secret. Da Vinci worked with Raikou to sneak the resources they needed to the small room before they both set to work. Da Vinci designed the furniture and retrieved the materials they needed (with only a little bit of coercion), while Raikou stitched the many outfits and plushies that littered the room. The most recent and important addition being the copious amount of diapers that filled the changing table. Custom designed disposables with Gudako’s command seals plastered on the front as a wetness indicator, a touch requested by Da Vinci herself. Raikou had wanted to wait till after the incineration of man had been averted to introduce her Master, soon to be baby daughter, to the nursery. But drastic times called for drastic measures, and if her daughter suffering from sleeplessness and nightmares wasn’t drastic, then nothing was. Humming to herself Raikou set about the place preparing for her Master’s impending visit, flitting about the place cleaning and putting away excess materials that she had yet to stitch together. After stowing everything away she found herself standing in front of the closet debating on which of the many adorable outfits would be cutest, finally deciding with a nod to pick out a onesie with light purple and pink ruffles alternating, and chibi depiction of Chaldea’s unofficial mascot Fou ironed on its chest, as well as a pair of soft white socks to keep her feet nice and cozy. Gathering the selected clothes, she finally picked up a pair of locking pink mitten’s. While Raikou hated to have to restrict her daughter in such a way, she agreed with Da Vinci in how important they were. The pair of mittens had been enchanted to cut off magical signal’s, negating the possibility of Master panic summoning another Servant. That would be just too awkward for everyone. Raikou was sure however that the mittens would not be needed once her Master became more accustomed to being her daughter full time. ‘Well at least once Solomon’s finally dead at least.’ Raikou smiled at the imagined demise of the Grand Caster. She picked one final thing, a pacifier whose shield matched Mash’s own, before closing the closet. Moving to the changing table she deposited the gathered clothes on a small awaiting shelf. Happy with her choices, Raikou left the nursery turning off the light and locking the door securely as she left. With a few strides she found herself in the standard kitchen that many of the servants had requested be added to their rooms. Opening a few cabinets Raikou began to gather the ingredients to create a batch of fudge cookie’s she had learnt from Emiya, the resident masterchef. Not only were these Gudako’s favorite, but they also allowed Raikou to set her plan in motion. Tonight she’d prepare the batter, baking them fresh right before her Master arrived, then she’d serve them to help ease Gudako into her role. With the batter prepared and put away, Raikou took out a couple of baby bottles and poured milk into each, adding a small white pill to half of them, before also stowing them in the awaiting refrigerator to chill. With everything complete, Raikou took a moment to appreciate all the effort that went into making this a reality. She would definitely have to thank Da Vinci afterwards. Tomorrow the baby daughter she had wanted for so long would finally come to her. “I’ll finally be a true mother...” Raikou cheerfully said aloud to herself, before giddily walking to her bed to await the events of the morrow. “Everything will go perfectly!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gudako found herself once again exhaustively making her way through the halls of Chaldea once more. Today had been rough on her magical reserve’s, having had to use all of her command seals to prevent casualties after a simple QP expedition had gone south. Thing’s had started off fairly mundane at the start, but it would seem that Solomon was not going to allow them freely bolster their forces as several Shadow Servants had been summoned to attack the Chaldean forces. The battle was rough as several organized squads had ambushed them one after another, leaving them with no rest nor chance to retreat. It was a miracle that no one got grievously wounded (Cu had been run through several times while personally redirecting attacks against her, he had insisted he was fine with a sword still firmly lodged in his gut, what a guy). *sigh* “I can’t believe how rough that was, I knew Solomon wouldn’t be content to rest on his laurels, but that was just ridiculous!” Gudako whined to her ever loyal Kouhai. The day had not helped with the constant exhaustion she had been experiencing ever since the nightmares had started. Now all she wanted to do was collapse in bed and rest her aching body, even if she’d get no actual sleep. “Senpai, I know you are quite tired right now, but one of your servants wanted to meet briefly with you today. She said it was urgent…” Mash bit her lip as she spoke softly, unsure as to her Master’s reaction to the solution she had concocted. Gudako paused mid step and turned looking quizzically, motioning for her to continue. “Umm… Raikou wanted to just check up with you and make sure you were alright. You know how she can be at times…” Mash spoke looking intently at her Master’s expression. Gudako’s reaction was fairly muted. Truthfully Gudako liked Raikou and valued her as a strong Servant, but at times her overbearing and possessive nature could be, well slightly off putting. It was endearing that Raikou thought of her as a daughter, at time’s at least, although it got a tad creepy when she would insist on constantly providing lap pillows, sometimes even in battle. ‘It’ll be fine, I’ll just pop in and say hello, then be on my way. No big deal I’m sure’ Gudako shrugged her shoulders. “Sure, it’ll be nice to see her after so long, and maybe I’ll be able to ask her to make some of those fudge cookies that Emiya always makes when I feel down.” Nodding her head to herself in a sagelike manner she motioned for Mash to lead the way. Smiling to herself, Mash began to retrace the steps she had taken last night. Within a little over five minutes they were standing in front of the door to Raikou’s quarters. Pressing the button quickly Gudako didn’t have to wait long as the door almost immediately opened with a soft hiss. ‘She must’ve been looking forward to this…’ She thought to herself as she greeted the friendly visage of Raikou. Raikou was wearing a similar out to the night previous with the addition of a light pink covered in hearts apron adorning her person. The smell of chocolate drifted out into the hallway, causing Gudako’s stomach to growl in protest. “Hehe… I guess we did miss lunch after all…” Gudako sheepishly admitted rubbing the back of her neck. “You know how I feel about you missing meals Master…” Raikou chided before finishing by saying softly “but its ok as I have prepared you some sweets that I’m sure will be just what your little stomach needs. Come in and settle yourself my dear, I’ll be along in a moment. I just need to ask Mash a favor real quick.” Gudako surprised that she was left off without much of a lecture entered the room at a brisk pace, excited to devour as many cookies as her stomach could take. There would be no prisoners. Once Gudako was out of sight Raikou turned with a smile to Mash. “She seems offly eager…” Raikou chuckled to herself. “I must thank you again for bringing her here. I assure that she’ll be well rested by the end of tomorrow. As such I wanted request you to postpone any planned expeditions while Master recovers.” Raikou asked placing her hand on Mash’s shoulder comfortingly, before continuing “Oh my, how rude of me, would you like a couple of cookies as well? I made plenty, and I’m sure our Master will be willing to share” a glance backwards “Maybe.” Mash shook her head smiling still, “I’m just relieved that Senpai will finally have some well deserved rest. As for the cookies, I must decline I’m afraid, as I have a scheduled checkup with Doctor Roman tonight. Ah, but they do smell delicious I’ll be sure to partake next time. When should I expect Senpai to return?” Mash giggled a little at the soft sounds of her dear friend waging war upon cookie kind. “By the day after next, I assure she’ll be ready and energized.” Raikou hummed, “Feel free to visit anytime, I wouldn’t mind having two daughters.” Mash thought for a moment, ignoring the odd phrasing. “I’ll see if I can get time tomorrow... until then I’ll place Senpai in your care. Thank you very much, and have a pleasant night Raikou.” Mash excused herself and left with a slight skip in her step. ‘Mash would make a good daughter too, I’m certain.’ Raikou thought to herself eyeing up Mash’s proportions as she walked away. ‘For now though, I have a baby much in need of attention.’ . Turning to her room she entered smiling to herself, strolling over to the now silent kitchen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “S-siduri…? Is that really you…?” Gudako faced the horrifying twitching form of a Lahmu, Tiamat’s demon offspring born of human suffering. Most Lahmu had attacked Gudako and her servants on sight, however of all the Lahmu they fought through, the most terrifying one was the one who refused to retaliate. As the fight continued until the Lahmu had fled, later they would discover how exactly they came to be. When Gudako had finally made the connection, the guilt had almost devoured her. If not for her duty and her companions she would never had been able to continue on. These nightmares however were hardly as accommodating as she once more found herself crouched yet again in front of the monument of her guilt. “q@z &at# <o 9j k*e!” utter gibberish scream out at her, tearing at her mind. ‘You left me to die!’ Gudako cringed at the throbbing in her head. “q@z &at# 6x t88 <o k*e!” ‘You left us all to die!’ The pain amplified. “D1>t w9r-y y(o w%7l j0in uz…” The creature screeched, launching itself towards the now prone form of Gudako, screaming as she felt the first limb puncture her abdomen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gudako woke with a start, sweat matting her hair, eyes glazed with tears unshed. Taking deep breaths one after another, her breathing slowly calmed as she came to her senses. ‘It was just another nightmare calm down, it was just a nightmare.’ She repeated the mantra in her head, as she finally started to relax, laying back down into the plushies that surrounded her. ‘It’s fine, I’m fi... wait plushies, what?’ Finally taking note of her surroundings Gudako was baffled by her current circumstances. The wooden bars encompassing her being the first thing that struck her. ‘A cage?’ A second glance confirmed the lack of a top, despite being fairly tall. ‘A- is this a... crib…?’ Looking beyond the bars of her current prison she scanned the room, the furnishings infantile in nature. There was a rocking chair in the corner against the wall, what appeared to be some sort of table stuffed with… cushions? The floor was littered with various toys, leading her to conclude it was a large nursery. ‘What? I must still be dreaming...sheesh, a dream in a dream how annoying... I’ll just pinch myself and wake up from this nonsense.’ Moving to enact her genius plan, she quickly realised her location wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Looking down to herself only confirmed that her outfit was made for an baby, if not for the fact that they seemed to fit perfectly. The fleece onesie felt snug on her bare skin clinging to her in a comforting way. As she sat up her attention was drawn to a bulk between her legs that she had previously missed. The soft thump of a pacifier that was clipped to her outfit, seeming to have been recently used, distracted her for only a second. Her focus switched back to the most concerning topic at hand. Reaching towards her crotch with a shaking mitten covered hand she confirmed her worst fears. ‘WHAT THE FUCK!!! Why am I wearing a diaper of all things?!?! What the hell happened? Where am I?’ The thoughts came frantically to the now panicking redhead. Diaper crinkling as she thrashed about, mocking her plight. Realising that trying to tug the mitten’s off was far impossible, she calmed herself down for moment and began to cast a Gandr to free her hands. *meep merp* The comical sound effect of spell fizzling immediately only added to her current frustration. Looking to the mittens her hands were trapped in, she reached out with her sixth sense, noting the complicated spell woven into them. “Why would anyone waste their time enchanting something like this...? Whatever, I’ll just summon a Servan-... Oh right.... Solomon… you bastard…” Cursing Solomon for creating yet another problem in her life, Gudako took stock of the situation now that the immediate panic had ran its course. ‘This crib is too large to climb out of, my clothing has been replaced with this mockery of an outfit, and I’m trapped in a nursery like a baby’ a twinge from below ‘and I have to use the restroom, fantastic…’ Gudako looked down at her own padded crotch for half a second before swiftly shaking her head to rid it of such a terrible idea. ‘How did I get here… I was walking with Mash to visit… Raikou I think, then I ate a ton of fudge cookies (no regrets there), then I.. ah… fell asleep? This is Raikou’s fault isn’t it…’ As if summoned by that thought the door the nursery slid open at the moment, Raikou’s form obscuring the room beyond. Holding a bottle full of milk, Raikou entered the room immediately noticing the irate redhead glaring daggers at her. “Ah… my darling you are finally up. I didn’t expect you to be asleep for so long, I guess your body was desperate.” Raikou hummed as she approached the crib. “What exactly is this Raikou…” Gudako was doing her best to not let her anger tinge her speech. Well she tried at least. “Oh, this is simply the result of your own poor choices. You have been working yourself so hard, and with no rest, to the point that Mash saw fit to intervene. She explained to me that you have been having nightmares nightly and refusing her emotional assistance. So feeling helpless she felt it necessary to take action to help.” Raikou explained, getting a slight twitch at the mention of the nightmares. “As such I’m here to help you relax finally, and what better relaxation is there than a mother’s tender love and care.” Raikou frowned. “Beside’s mama is very upset that you would hide this from her, and as such you need to be punished.” “This is insane, how is any of this supposed to help me? I just feel like you’ve kidnapped me!” Gudako retorted angrily, not even trying to hide her disposition. “Oh but this will help you. After your punishment is over I’ll be sure to pamper and coddle you like my daugher. First however, your punishment for lying to mama and your friends.” She explained before placing the full bottle in the crib next to Gudako. “Do you really expect me to just drink this because you told me to?!?” Gudako growled out. “If you want to be a good girl, then yes I do. However if you decide to refuse I will be forced to be a strict mommy and spank you, even if will hurt me to do so.” Raikou retorted with a dangerous glint in her eye. Gudako looked like she had been smacked across the face. ‘Surely she isn’t serious right?’ The frown on her face didn’t ease Gudako’s worries. A brief memory of the last time she saw Raikou fight, how she had thrown a boulder at a wyvern, painted a very painful possibility for her posterior. Deciding that the road that involved not being potentially crippled, was the safer route. Gudako reluctantly reached for the bottle. Finding difficulty with holding it, she was forced hold it with both hands in order to properly grip it. Looking once more between the bottle and Raikou’s now saccharine smile, she sighed before placing the nipple in her mouth. Having difficulty at first with the bottle, she soon worked out how to suck it in such a way as to be rewarded with rich creamy milk. The milk was crisp and cold on her dry throat, the taste slightly off. The rhythmic nursing, was quite soothing to her to her disbelief, and the bottle was empty before she realized it. “Good girl! Mother is so happy she didn’t have to spank you, it was hurt her much more than you.” Raikou beamed as she reached into the crib, lifting Gudako as easily as the baby she was dressed as. Supporting her by her padded bum, Raikou pat her back eliciting a small burp after a moment from the now bright red Gudako. “There there, that wasn’t so bad now was it? Now be a dear and play with your toys, mama has to make dinner. Don’t worry I will only be in the next room” Raikou explained as she set Gudako down on the carpeted floor. Gliding swiftly out the door before Gudako could form a response, door locking with an audible beep. “......Well…..that was…...mortifying…..” Gudako was still as red as a tomato, her anger given way to pure distilled embarrassment. “And I’m trapped, in an oversized nursery, great…” ‘I don’t think I’ll ever live this down if anyone finds out… Hopefully Raikou isn’t that cruel… or unobservant....’ Dread filtered through the young mages veins as images of Gilgamesh and Jalter’s cackling echoed in her ears. ‘I suppose I should do as instructed… What I do to survive…” With a sigh Gudako attempted stand up, immediately falling back on her padded butt, unused to the bulk between her legs. Sighing once more, Gudako decided to just crawl over to where a pile of various toys and plushies were laid out awaiting her, each movement causing a cacophony of crinkles. Arriving after a torturous minute, she surveyed the collection. There was a wide range of options from wyvern plushes to doll’s of several of Chaldea’s finest servants. “Really a Blackbeard plushie? Is this a joke?” Gudako eyed the plushie with ire, its face invoking horrible memories of his lecherous gaze. This would not do one bit. Sorting through the collected dolls Gudako swiftly and methodically created an ideal servant composition more than enough to take down the perverted Blackbeard and his army of wyvern’s. Speedily Gudako’s team of Merlin, Jalter and Waver lept into motion. Waver and Merlin pooled there spells towards enhancing Jalter to the heights of the gods (not Ishtar). Jalter with her new found power made short work of the Blackbeard’s draconian minions, before finally finishing off the scourge of Chaldea’s fairer sex with her noble phantasm. Blackbeard burnt to crisp instantly falling flat on his face after a mere moment. Victorious, the servants made their way to their Master ready to be praised for their valiant deed. Indeed they deserved all the praise she could muster. Blinking for a second Gudako snapped out of her power fantasy noticing the various plushies that been involved with her fantasy strewn throughout the nursery. “Hehe... maybe I got a tad carried away....” “Although I have to wonder how that bottle was a punis-” A growl from below interrupted her, as she soon felt a shift in her guts. She doubled over in pain desperate to keep her diaper and her dignity safe. ‘Agh… where did this come from so suddenly…’ Gudako rolled around as she desperately tried to stop the inevitable. Redoubling her efforts, however fruitless, to remove her clothing despite the mittens covering her hands. ‘Ugh, I’m not going to poop myself, I’m not going to poop myself!’ Chanting that mantra to herself Gudako fought against her primal urges, rocking on the balls of her feet holding on for dear life. Her gaze drifted upwards caught on an unto now unnoticed plushie of Mash, smiling happily at her. That momentary distraction was all it took, as she felt what little control she had leave her. With a involuntary push, a warm mud like mess coated the back of her diaper spreading everywhere, pushing against the restrictive confines of her onesie. As the messing finally concluded, she felt her bladder release warming the already full diaper. For a moment Gudako couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. She just messed herself like any other infant. At that moment she felt strength leave her and she fell down onto the awaiting mess, with an audible squish, the smell of *her* diaper, causing her nose to twinge in displeasure. Tears started to form on the edges of her eyes as the full impact of what had just happened finally clicked. The continual stress finally breaking her as tears began to flow, starting as sobs, before building to full on bawling. A mechanical hiss and rushed footsteps did not register in Gudako’s mind, far too overwhelmed to care. She was soon lifted and carried over to awaiting rocking chair. Held closely in Raikou’s lap as she began to softly hug and comfort her poor messy baby. “There there, let it all out. You’ve been suppressing so much, just let it all out and you will feel much better.” Raikou whispered stroking her hair. “You don’t have to be responsible for everything.” Raikou plopped a pacifier in the still sobbing Gudako’s mouth. Instinctively she began to rhythmically suck seeking any comfort possible. Gradually the tears began to abate, subsiding into gentle even breaths. Gudako seemingly fallen asleep so much emotional strain. Raikou chuckled to herself admiring the now resting form of her new daughter. “I suppose dinner will have to wait until tomorrow.” She mused aloud, setting about to ready her child for a restful night of sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mash excitedly rushed through the hallways, the early morning night filtering through the blizzard filled windows. She had managed to convince Dr. Roman to give her the day to spend with Senpai. Picturing the rested and relaxed image of her Master, invigorated her as she raced to the room in which her Master had stayed the night. Approaching the door she took a moment to compose herself, and gently pressed the doorbell. With silent hiss the door opened, Raikou beaming at the pinkette. “Mash I’m so glad you made it today, we are going to have so much fun today.” Raikou motioned for her to enter, the soft scent of chocolate fudge floating upon the air entrancingly.