Koakuma’s happy squeals echoed through the Voile Library as she flew through it at breakneck speed. The little devil zipped between the bookshelves, up towards the ceiling, back down, turning corners on a dime. She had long ago memorized the Library’s layout, and while she was always happy to be with Lady Patchouli, Koa enjoyed the times when she left; she couldn’t do this while her mistress was here. It might disturb her.
Today, she flew with a passenger. Himawari Furutani, Lady Patchouli’s apprentice, perched herself on Koakuma’s back. She was just as much an adrenaline junkie as the devil was, she’d learned, if not more of one. Holding onto Koakuma tightly, Himawari’s heart was in her throat as Koa corkscrewed between two banks of bookshelves, barreled towards a perpendicular shelf, then pulled straight up with barely a inch to spare between it and her body. The extra weight was nothing to Koa, and she’d quickly adjusted for the aerodynamic changes the human magician brought.
“We are in so much trouble if Patchouli-san catches us!” Himawari said. Her especially; Koakuma being a devil was practically immortal and could survive running straight into a wall at such speeds, while Himawari probably couldn’t. She also couldn’t fly as well as Koakuma could yet, so she flew with her for this. That would change, though.
“Don’t worry! Lady Patchouli isn’t supposed to be back for a long ti-” Koakuma started to say, but cut herself off when she saw the recently-completed portal to Makai start to activate. She flew rapidly towards it and landed. Himawari disembarked from her back. They stood there, waiting as a figure emerged. “Lady Patchouli! Welcome back! You’re early! Don’t worry, Himawari and I weren’t flying around the Library like one of those jet fighters she likes!”
Patchouli wouldn’t have been fooled. Patchouli would have seen through that blatant lie. Patchouli would have picked up on that suspiciously specific denial. Patchouli would have noticed how messy Koakuma and Himwari’s hair was, and how they had neglected to take off their flight goggles.
But Patchouli didn’t emerge from the portal. A little devil did. A little devil like Koakuma. Then another one.
The librarian devil looked at the new guests, and they looked back at her for a few seconds of stunned silence. Then they ran forward and embraced each other.
“Little sisters!” Koakuma shouted.
“Librarian!” they said back.
“Nono, I’m Koakuma! Lady Patchouli gave me that name!” Granted, Patchouli was a bit delirious when she did, but it stuck. “You can call me Koa! Or Koa-chan! Or Koa-neechan! Or…” Koa stopped herself and cleared her throat. “What business do you have here, little sisters?” she asked.
One of the devils, who wore a cute bow in her long red-orange hair, grinned. “Lady Patchouli contracted us to help run her Library and Shinki-sama’s. We’re going to live here with you, Koa-neechan! Mistress named me Aurore!”
The other one, with long twin braids, purple eyes, a hairband and glasses, bowed respectfully. “Lady Patchouli decided my name should be Aréthuse,” she said.
“Aréthuse, Aurore, those are pretty names! French names, too! Pretty French names! Lady Patchouli picks great names when she’s not high as a kite!” Koakuma said, and giggled. Her sisters giggled with her.
Himawari watched all this unfold. Aurore caught sight of her. “You must be Lady Himawari,” she said as she darted over to her.
“Uh, I am, but you don’t have to call me Lady,” Himawari said. She was a modest girl, after all, and didn’t think she should be held to the same level as her mentor yet.
“But you are her apprentice, right?” When Himawari nodded, she said, “Lady Patchouli told me to give these to you. They’re from Shinki-sama.” Aurore took out the five talismans that Shinki had made and Patchouli had handed to her to deliver.
“These will protect you from the miasma in Makai’s air for a few hours each. You should be able to breathe fine, since you’re a magician, but keep these with you just in case.”
Himawari took the ofudas from Aurore and bowed slightly. “Thank you, Aurore-san, but why would I be going to Makai?”
Aréthuse, the other new arrival, spoke. “Lady Patchouli and Shinki-sama spoke about you while we and other of our sisters were contracted to Lady Patchouli’s service. They both thought you contracting a little devil of your own as your familiar would be a good idea, and discussed some of our more mechanically-minded of our sisters as being ideally suited for you. The easiest way to contract one would be to go to Makai and pick one out yourself.”
Her dark expression lightened somewhat, taking on a more hopeful look. “I’d really like it if you were able give another of our sisters a name and a good master.”
“We did it! The first job Lady Patchouli gave us, and we did it perfectly! She’s gonna be so proud of us! Aurore said, and turned back to Koakuma. “By the way, Koa-neechan, what was that I heard about you not flying around the library? Hmmmmmm?” she asked, a devilish grin crossing her face.
Koakuma gaped, and tried to give a stumbling response.
“Don’t worry, Aréthuse and I won’t tell Mistress on you if you give us cake,” Aurore said, latching her arm around Koa’s. Aréthuse took the other one, and they led their sister towards the door, from whence she would take them to the kitchen, where cake surely awaited.
“You gotta show us around, too, since there’s going to be more of us,” Aurore was saying.
“More?”
“Yes, Lady Patchouli contracted seven devils, counting us,” Aréthuse said.
“Seven? Yay, isn’t Lady Patchouli the best mistress ever? I bet she didn’t want to see any of you unhappy. Who else did she contract?”
“You know Aréthuse’s sister? The stern one with the short hair who’s really smart? Lady Patchouli picked her first, named her Sophia, and…”
The conversation trailed off as the devils exited the library, leaving Himawari alone with the talismans and the invitation she had received.
..Lady Patchouli! A-anyone would be lucky to have you as a mother, Lady Patchouli! - Koa hardly seems upset; she just hugs her master tight, smiling from ear to ear. - Koa is very lucky, too..
Patchouli stood there, hugging the little devil. Her eyes were closed, and tears dotted them, but her face was glowing with a smile.
