I could count the number of times when I was the happiest on one hand. When Mio said yes, another finger was added to that tally. The look on her face told me she wanted nothing more than to attack me right then and there. No amount of people around would stop us from having sex in public if I gave her the okay.
Boy did my body sure crave for it, but we were already running late for school due to my impromptu confession.
Mio was acting perfectly fine and natural. Meanwhile, I was screaming internally. I couldn't believe I did that. My heart might leap out of my chest at any moment. The words had just spilled out of my mouth.
And she accepted, so I have a girlfriend now! That was one of several things I swore to achieve entering high school.
Ah— Aaaahhhh!
But Mio and I were masquerading as cousins. We couldn't even be lovey-dovey at school even if we wanted.
Well… we could, but getting found out might ruin my social life.
On the other hand… we were succubus who would alter people's memories…
I shook my head until the emerging naughty thoughts left me.
Just inside the school gates, right before the building's entrance, a large board had been set up to display the entire student body's examination ranking by class. Hitomi was right at the top. Rika, Kana, and Mio scored within the top twenty.
"Heh. Looks like I'm the better student. Maybe you need some one on one tutoring with your new girlfriend?" Mio purred in my ear.
"Nnh… You must be cheating somehow," I accused her.
My ranking sat at a paltry 78, still higher than the average, but low enough that it feels wrong to have lost to Mio.
"Guuuyyyysss!" Hana popped out of nowhere and led us by hand to the first-year students' ranking board. "Read 'em and weep!"
Her excitement had me scanning the top ten, but I didn't see her name anywhere. Mio was also looking but had no luck.
"What's the big deal? I thought you had something proud to show us?" I asked.
"You're looking in all the wrong places. Down at the bottom, look!" She pointed to the edge of the board, right at the very bottom.
Dead last in the ranking and with a whopping 0 points to boot. The only 0 on the board. Mio and I stared, flabbergasted and speechless at what we were supposed to share in her enjoyment for.
"What gives? Are you trying to tell me you're proud to be an idiot?" Mio raised an eyebrow.
Hana shrugged, sighing at us like we were the dumb ones. "Ya don't get it at all. I don't blame ya. First place was way too hard to reach. I went with the next best thing— first to last place!"
"But they give you one free point for just writing your name…" I put a hand to my face and groaned.
Unfortunately for Hana, her victory high didn't last very long. Principal Murata, her homeroom instructor, and Hitomi came looking to give her a stern talking to.
"Hana… The only way ya got a 0 was if you was fuckin' around in class. I hope yer ready for remedial lessons." Hitomi's accent and fury came out in full force, dragging Hana by her ankle into the school.
"Help— Help! Uwaaaahh! You shouldn't be treating winners like this!" Hana wept as she and the faculty disappeared into the school.
The atmosphere changed as soon as we stepped into the building. A lot of students, especially the boys, whispered amongst each other when we passed by. It was worse in our classroom.
Then by lunch they couldn't take it anymore.
"Saeko, Mio! We saw pictures of waitresses that looked like you at Isekai Gohan. Are they really you?" one of the boys asked.
"Y-Yes… they are," I answered, swallowing my pride.
"UUUWOOUUUHHHHHH!" They erupted into a simultaneous cheer that I'd gotten way too used to for my own good.
"C-Can I have your autograph?" A student extended a picture and pen to me. I didn't recall him coming to the restaurant. Looking down at the photo, it was a printed picture of me in the lewd bunny costume with a customer's face cut out, and replaced with the student in front of me. I snatched it from him and ripped the picture apart. "My precious picture with Saeko!"
"That wasn't even you! Who else has been printing pictures of us from Isekai Gohan?!" I asked the crowd.
Everyone suddenly retreated from us.
"But damn, Saeko in a maid costume was pretty hot."
"I wish I could have gotten a picture of Mio in a cat girl costume!"
"You're all tasteless. Lewd bunny Saeko is the real breadwinning picture."
I covered my face in embarrassment.
"Ya know, if you guys are looking for some more pictures…" Mio whipped out a whole photo album, similar to the stack Hatsumi kept in her room of me, that was filled with pictures of me in various outfits. "I got the exclusive stuff right here— for a price."
"Me!"
"Right here! I'll take one of each!"
"What the— when did you take those?!" I watched helplessly as Mio sold photos of us like contraband to students in our class, and since word traveled quickly in this school, to students from other classes and years who came to buy them, too.
"We all kind of saw this coming." Kana took a seat at an empty desk next to me.
I still hadn't told Kana about my confession to Mio. Knowing him, he'd have qualms about it but would support my decision nonetheless. It was thanks to his words that I found the courage to do so to begin with. My lingering feelings for him still hadn't subsided yet, and I greatly want both of them at the same time.
Would that be too greedy of me? Was I trying to bite off more than I could chew?
Kana was shuffling something in his hands underneath the table.
"What are you doing?" I squinted, putting on my scolding voice.
He tried to be sly and slipped it into his pocket. "Nothing! Just checking my phone."
"Show me," I ordered, coercing him.
"Hey— that's not fair!" Kana's face didn't match his actions. He had full control of his mental faculties and despaired, but his hands moved on their own to reveal a stack of photos. The same ones Mio was selling. "I, uh… I can explain. Wait, please! Don't rip them! They cost me a month's worth of allowance!"
After school, there was a whole big commotion on the third floor. When Mio and I went to investigate, the band club was waiting outside of the music room. I knew right away what they were troubled about— the big fat hole in the ceiling from when I uppercut Hana.
"Let's pretend we didn't see anything," I said to Mio.
"Agreed." She nodded.
But we turned around to Hitomi staring both of us down. Under her gaze, I felt a lot smaller and weaker despite being a greater succubus.
"Pretend you didn't see what?" the student council president asked.
"A-About the hole in the music room. We didn't see who did it!" I scrambled to put words together, hoping she would buy my bluff.
"Oh, Hitomi! Perfect timing. You won't believe what happened," the music instructor didn't know it, but she saved mine and Mio's asses by calling out to Hitomi.
We snuck past them as they talked, but Hitomi grabbed my hand. I swallowed hard, thinking she had caught onto us.
"Before you leave, Principal Murata wants to talk to you about the kendo club," she said.
"I'll get right to it!"
The principal's room was in a separate room accessed from within the faculty office. Most of the teachers were packing their things and getting ready to leave. Those who were club advisors stayed behind. Others stayed behind to chat a little longer.
"Is the principal inside?" I asked Airi Sensei, who was tidying up her own desk before leaving.
"Principal Murata should still be inside speaking with Hana about her grades," she answered.
Mio stuck a hand out on Airi Sensei's desk and brazenly asked, "Ever thought about committing to an old fashioned forbidden relationship with a student? I hear those are all the rage nowadays."
"O-Oh, my. Where did this come from?" Sensei blushed.
"Sorry, Sensei! Let's get going, Mio!" I pushed Mio towards the principal's door before a crime could be committed.
"Man. I knew I should've banged her at Okinawa when I had the chance. After seeing her in a swimsuit— hubba hubba, do my loins get hot," she said.
"I don't even want to know how many teachers you've bedded already…" I mumbled.
Knocking on the door and calling Principal Murata's name didn't yield any responses. There were definitely people on the other side. I even felt Hana's distinct aura.
Mio and I let ourselves in since the door was unlocked, but I was shocked to see Principal Murata tied on top of his desk, apple in his mouth, getting his ass whipped by Hana.
"Who's puttin' who in the ringer, huh? Give me remedial lessons, will ya? I'll show you punishment! Squeal, piggy! Squeal!" The pink-haired succubus cackled.
"MMmmrpphh! Hmhrr!"
"HANA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I screamed
"Let me in on the action!" Mio summoned her personal whip I hadn't seen in ages and began nailing the principal's other cheek.
Now I was getting flashbacks to when Mio first had sex with him in the nurse's office. This couldn't be good. The principal's definitely going to think something was up when he comes to his senses with sore asscheeks.
"Heya, Saeko! I'm just beatin' off some steam. Turns out, this principal ours has some masochistic kinks. Think I'll start callin' him Big M from now on," Hana said.
Knock. Knock.
"I heard shouting. Is everything alright in there? Principal Murata?" one of the faculty asked from the other side of the door.
"E-Everything's fine! The principal just had some bad news to break to me and Hana!" I shouted back.
Whichever teacher it was seemed to believe me and left. But the problem remained.
"Come on, guys. That's enough! I need to know what the principal had to tell me." The two of them finally stopped. Hana ripped the apple out of his mouth and tossed it into the bin. His face was full of sweat, and a warped expression of pain and joy made it hard for me to pity the state he was in.
"Ah, Saeko. Good timing. I was hoping to speak with you," Principal Murata began, still tied up and unaware of his situation, but in enough control to talk like his usual self. "It's about the Kendo Club."
"Did something happen?" I asked, worried what he might have to say.
"You can say that. It came as a surprise to me that the club made it past Hyogo Invitationals. This is honestly my fault for not considering the possibility, which means the school is running low on funds to bring you to the Kansai Melee in November," he explained.
I had to keep my eyes focused at the point between the principal's eyes. We were having such a serious conversation, but he was completely naked and ass red as a cherry. Hana and Mio were in their succubus forms waiting to return to the whipping frenzy, but he didn't notice them.
"I guess our win was a surprise to me, too. Then does that mean we won't be able to attend Kansai despite qualifying?" I continued to press.
"It's not a large amount. But you and the club will need to do some fundraising efforts. What do you say? It could do for some team building exercises!" he said.
If I really wanted, we could bypass this whole dilemma by dipping into the money I earned working at Isekai Gohan. A club fundraiser did sound fun, and if we came out short, I had the money to front the rest.
"It's two months until November, I think the club and I can do it." I was psyching myself up more than anything.
"Splendid! When you come up with an idea, just make sure to notify me and your new coach. She's quite the— mmrphh!" Principal Murata's was stuffed back with the apple.
We left Hana to continue her S&M play with the principal. I had a feeling retribution was coming to her soon in the form of a furious student council president. Mio had her fun and didn't want to be there when Hitomi came back.
"New coach, huh? I guess the substitute from before summer break got replaced. I wonder who it is?" I asked myself.
"Principal said it was she. Maybe it's a bombshell babe. If she is, I'm ditching you to fuck around with her," Mio said.
I glared at Mio, but she was in her own little world. As we exited the school to head around back where the club buildings were, a tickling sensation ran up my spine. Mio felt it, too, and we knew exactly who it was.
Selene, the only other greater succubus in the city, wandered past the gate and into the rear courtyard. She was staring at a piece of paper in her hand, scowling at every student who threw weird looks at her.
Mio looked at me. "You don't think…?"
"Oh, boy." We caught up to Selene who was just about to smash open the equipment locker door. "Selene! What are you doing here?"
"Saeko, Mio. I was recently hired to a new job after a whole month of certifying myself as a school instructor. I'm looking for Tsukiji High," she said.
"You came to the right place, but don't tell me… You're our new coach?" I hesitantly asked.
"Starting today, I will be your new coach. There will be no insubordination, no slacking or half-assing, and most of all, no disrespecting your que— ahem— manager. Do I make myself clear?" Selene asked, much like a drill instructor who was given a fresh batch of recruits.
"Yes, Coach!" the team shouted in unison.
At first, I was anxious about Selene becoming the new kendo club coach. She was our enemy after all. That part of our past could never be erased. Sure she had been reduced to a job hopper and debt-slave for how much she owed for destroying the Coliseum, but this was the same succubus who double-crossed Beatrice and me.
Misery did have a knack for reforming people, succubus or not. Selene seemed to be taking her job seriously. She even put effort into her attire, coming dressed in a track jacket and pants like a real coach.
Moreover, the kendo members were as into her as they were of me and Mio.
"Hey, don't you think our new coach is kinda hot?" one member asked another.
"Hell, yeah. Our last coach getting fired was the best thing to ever happen to us," the other said.
"Best club ever!" They both cheered.
Okay… maybe this wasn't such a good idea. There were now three succubus in a room with a whole bunch of boys hopped up on testosterone.
"Hey, Saeko!" Hayato, who was filling in as captain since Gouda was out sick, came running over like he had a secret to share. "I heard you were— whoa!"
"Who said you could approach the que— ahem— the manager so casually?" Selene lifted Hayato up by the scruff of his neck.
"Put him down! He just wants to talk!" I scolded her.
She let him down immediately.
"Damn, Coach. You got some arms on ya!" Hatayo said, fixing his jacket.
Selene glared at him, but Hayato was too much of a friendly aloof bumpkin to catch on to her fury.
"While you're both here… Sorry to spring this up on you on your first day, Selene. But the principal said we're going to need to do some fundraising if we want to goto the Kansai Melee," I explained.
"What is that? A battle to the death?" the war-bred succubus asked.
"Looks like our new coach is a real jokester! The one before ya was always a killjoy." Hayato nudged Selene's arm, his excessive friendliness was getting on her nerves.
"It's a competition our club has with other clubs in the country. No one's dying in it. Won't matter unless we figure out a fundraising strategy. Any ideas?" I asked the vice-captain and new coach.
"Why don't we do a carwash?" Mio chimed in. "It's still hot as hell outside, and I wanna wear a bikini again. 'Sides, we can break Selene in while we're at it."
"I like it! I'm with Mio!" Hayato announced.
"Break me in?" Selene repeated, raising an eyebrow.
It seemed the old antagonisms Mio had with Selene were still present, because the look in her eyes tells me she wants to seize this chance to humiliate her old enemy.
"Kahaha! That's right. You don't wanna lose your job, do ya? Gotta make a good impression on the students and faculty." She cracked a grin.