I'm in my bed.
Thinking about nothing.
First, I'm closing my eyes.
Then I deliberately stop hearing things.
My ears just stop registering anything.

After that, I tune my own thoughts down.
According to Zika, my mind has to become a blank space.
I can't think about anything.
Just nothing.
Nothing.

.

.

.

 

"Whoosh"

"Waaaahh!" (I)

 

A jolt rushes through me like an expanding wave and with a start, I rush up.
And well, I also erupt thousands of tentacles around my room.

 

"Whomp"

 

Something crashes into the wall.
A moment later I hear a voice from that direction.

 

"Mum!" (K)

"Kuri!" (I)

 

I look at her.
It seems like one tentacle hit her quite hard.
Did I just abuse my child?

 

"Are you okay?" (I)

"Yes? Why wouldn't I?" (K)

 

She looks totally incomprehensive at me.

 

"I, I hit you." (I)

"And? This can't hurt me." (K)

 

Truly, her body is just a bit of disrupted darkness at the place of the impact that quickly realigns itself.
My child is apparently immune to physical damage.

 

"But you're really fine?" (I)

"I was worried, mum! You wouldn't wake up! I had to pump energy into you." (K)

 

Okay, it seems like eternal slumber is disturbingly much easier to achieve than one might believe and far deeper than I had liked it to be.
Who would've thought?
Well, probably everyone who spent a thought on the meaning of "eternal".
I really should be more cautious about it.

 

"But... Did I sleep? What time is it?" (I)

"Oh, oh! The clock! I know how to read that one! Grandma taught me! Iiiiit's... five and... thirty." (K)

 

One might believe this isn't too hard to read from a digital alarm, but those people overlook that she didn't know any numbers when she came into existence.
From this perspective, it's incredible progress.

 

"Thank you, Kuri. Thank you very much. And I'm sorry for hitting you. Even if no harm was done, attacking others is wrong." (I)

 

Especially with all her power, I believe that's a lesson she should learn better sooner than later.
I spend a bit of time hugging her and stroking her head and especially I concentrate on the place where she got hit since I still feel guilty.
Naturally, I have after this to get rid of a miasma cloud in my room that became so thick that one could physically feel it.

After this, my morning proceeds rather normally.
I switch back into a human form, wash up, bodyshift myself some clothes on my body, since too many uniforms got wrecked recently, and then have breakfast with mum and Kuri.

 

After this, I go to school.
Everything's totally normal.

That is till I'm at the gate.
There I suddenly feel something shift in the air.

 

"Iori?" (?)

 

I turn around in the direction of the voice and directly find a piece of paper stamped on my face.
And subsequently a wall of fire in front of my eyes.

 

"Whoosh"

 

"Waaaahhh!" (I)

 

A moment later it's already gone.

 

"Wha-, wha-, wha-, what was this?!" (I)

"Hmm, truly, complete immunity to this array. You must be quite high-ranked. Yet it still caused a reaction." (?)

 

I stare at the woman in front of me.
Then I realize what that was.
A talisman!
She's an exorcist!

A part of mine, which I can pinpoint very precisely, wants to retaliate, but she just stands calmly there as if nothing happened.
If she would attack now, I would retaliate, but killing people is still too much for me.
Regarding other measures, I just taught my daughter that physical punishment isn't okay.
Even if my dark/necessary cruel side states some very explicit examples of what she would suggest doing to her.
But at least one thing I need to mention.

 

"Just what is wrong with you exorcists and setting other people on fire?!" (I)

 

Strangely, none of the pedestrians took note of her attempt to burn me alive.
Which is either a poor comment about the current state of society, or it means that she did something to prevent others from perceiving us.

 

"Calm down. This was just a suppression spell. It didn't even have an offensive effect."

 

As if that's an excuse for gluing fire paper to my face!

 

"Look, lady. If this is about the barrier, I'm sorry, but it really was an accident! Yet the simple fact that I'm not going to attack you, and that after you threw fire straight to my face, should be a pretty convincing argument that I'm no malevolent entity. However, if this repeats I might turn hostile." (I)

 

No idea how far I'd go, but even my leniency has its limits.
And I'm getting kinda pissed off when people roast me in the most literal sense.

 

"Oh please, no offense!"

"No offense!? You just tried to light up my face!" (I)

 

If anything, this attitude could be reason enough for teaching her a lesson.
But it wouldn't end well for me and my normal school life if I'd desolate the whole area.
Well, also because it's a bad thing to do.

 

"Mum?!" (M)

 

Makoto?
Wait!
Makoto's... mother?!
What was her name again?

Haruna.
That old geezer said it back then, so I should remember, with that perfect memory of mine.
I have no time to deal with this.
The woman, now Haruna, smiles at me.
A smile like only mothers are capable of, somewhat twisted by sheer weirdness.

I turn to Makoto to inquire further about this situation.

 

"Whoah! I-Iori?" (M)

"Yes, who else would end up in this kind of situation? Now could you please explain to me why your mother ambushed me in front of the campus?" (I)

"I, I, I have honestly no idea. M-mum, what is it now?" (M)

 

Okay, there's apparently no reason to be angry at him.
I've seen enough anime to identify someone who has permanently to deal with insane relatives.
Nonetheless, I'd like to hear an answer to my question.

 

"After hearing what happened I couldn't just stay still. Naturally I had to check up on your demon-turned little friend." (H)

"Wh-what? No. You know the assembly decided that we absolutely should not interfere!" (M)

 

Assembly?
What kind of assembly?
Does this mean there is some kind of exorcist conference?
Was that the reason why he wasn't attending school recently?

 

"Bah, those old geezers. They don't know a thing. Someone had to do some field research!"

"Field research?! You're supposed to completely ignore her!" (M)

"But I learned so much. For example that a strong enough array can force her to show her true self!" (H)

 

Wait! Does that mean...
God, I'm in demon mode!
Makoto's freaked-out face, when he arrived, should've been enough of a hint.
But I thought it was only because his mother approached me.
Which would be reason enough.
Anyway, as quickly as possible I transform back to my normal appearance.

 

"No! You'll leave her alone!" (M)

"Awh, how sweet of you, how you're all protective of your friend! Say, how long are you two already a pair?" (H)

 

WHAT!?
Aaaand, I'm back in demon mode.
But this was honestly too much to maintain a stable illusion.

 

"Wha-, what do you mean, a pair? (M)

"Yes. How long? Ah, I remember how I was around your age when I met my husband in training camp. I was totally uninterested back then. So how was it with you two?" (H)

 

Right now I have to fight the urge to get into her head and pull this idea out.
I know this would be a bad thing to do, but this mere suggestion is already as wrong as it could be.

 

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! We're not together! Never were! Never will be in this way! This is even more impossible than, for example, me turning into an outer god while sleeping! And let's be honest that was probably the greatest joke the multiverse ever told!" (I)

 

Instead of answering she leans over to Makoto.

 

"If they're denying it this hard it means they're interested." (H)

 

Okay, the tentacle extraction plan becomes more and more tempting.
Makoto's face now turns bead red.
And I, I think I'm steaming miasma.

 

"Can we... Just go inside?" (I)

 

I say so while giving my all to switch back to my usual form.
But it's extremely difficult now because I'm in a thorough inner turmoil.

 

"Oh, now she seems to have problems turning back." (H)

"And whose fault is that?! Seriously, those powers are emotion-affected! Naturally I cannot concentrate at the moment!" (I)

"See? She goes all woozy about you, Makoto." (H)

"Mum!" (M)

"Where is the demon racism when I need it? Can't we simply go with "My son won't fraternize with demons!"?" (I)

 

My mind is a mess right now.

 

"Oh my, you're so sweet. Here take this, this array should help you focus a stable illusion." (H)

 

While saying so she ruffles my hair and at the same time presses another talisman into my hand.

 

"Bye, bye you two lovebirds!" (H)

 

I hope that thing works because for the near future I won't be able to focus at all.
While I'm walking into my school thousands of eyes sprout in all the dark corners of the environment.
All of them twitching vigorously.