Outbreak Company: Volume 11

by Ichiro Sakaki

  “C-Clara?!”

  The blanket that normally covered me was missing. Instead, there was Clara, mounted on my midriff. What’s more, she wasn’t wearing her maid uniform, but some shreds of cloth that barely covered her chest and private areas... Basically, no, I mean literally, underwear.

  “Um... May I respectfully ask what it is you mean to be doing?” I slipped into keigo from being totally overwhelmed.

  Clara’s eyes glinted in the dark (that’s a beast person for you), and unlike me, she sounded completely calm as she said, “This is also part of a maid’s duty.”

  “In some R-18 game or something, maybe!” I shouted without meaning to.

  When had this happened?! When had she gotten into my room?! I was sure I had locked the door... Wait, but maybe it hadn’t been closed all the way? Or maybe she had taken Myusel’s master key? The questions flooded my mind, but this wasn’t the time.

  “Shinichi-sama...”

  As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I got a better look at Clara’s slender, bare legs. They were practically picture-perfect: not too slim, not too large, the lines of them so beautiful you could sigh, as if at a painting. And not only that, but I could feel her body heat through my pajamas. My heart was going full throttle, even though I wished it would slow down.

  “C... Clara...?” I looked back at her face. The little flash of red that I saw—was at her tongue? The way it ran over her lips as she sat over me made me think of a predator hunting its prey. Come to think of it... she was a tiger.

  “Shinichi-sama...” she repeated, and then with a sinuous motion, she slid down until she was lying on top of me.

  “H-Heeeek?!

  Nrrrgghhhh?!

  Any desire to sleep was banished somewhere far over the horizon of cause and effect.

  “Shinichi-sama...” Her lips were inches from my ear now, and I could feel her quickening breath along with her sweet, husky voice. Distantly, it occurred to me that her body seemed warmer than you would expect. Did she have a fever? ...No, was this excitement?

  “Oh, no...” I recognized the state she was in. This was—that thing. The “phase of the moon” beast people got. When they went into heat each month...... “Clara, hold on a second! Just calm d—!”

  I never got to finish trying to talk her down. She grabbed my pajama shirt with both hands and tore it open. She might have been small, but she was still half beast—it was no problem for her at all.

  “Hyaaaagghhh!” I let out a genuine scream. Clara, though, hardly seemed to notice as she brought her face down to my now-bare chest. First I felt the softness of her cheek. Then something sort of warm and moist, carrying her heat... That had to be her lips—no, wait, her tongue?!

  “Clara, stop, that tickles—!”

  I got goosebumps all over as the movement of her tongue brought me to the border between ticklishness and some other sensation. Elvia had done something similar, but Clara’s tongue felt different, maybe because she was more of a cat. Wait, was this the time for such a cold, clinical assessment of their differences...?!

  “Clara, no! You can’t! You can’t—”

  My squeaking protestations made no impression on Clara.

  “Clara!” a sharp voice said. The were-tiger froze. At the same time, a light entered the room; not the moonlight, but probably from the sprite lamp by the door. If you gave it a gentle tap, the sprites inside would light up in surprise.

  Obviously, the sharp voice wasn’t mine. But I did recognize it...

  “Amatena...” I said, turning toward the voice.

  Had the door been left open, or just not shut properly? I didn’t know, but now Amatena was standing there.

  “H-Honored sister...” Clara looked up, her face going stiff as Amatena approached with long strides. Her usual impassivity was completely gone. Then again, I guess it had been ever since she got on top of me.

  “N-No... This isn’t...” Clara shook her head emphatically. Clara was willing to declare anytime, anywhere, her undying love for her honored older sister, so for that very person to see her in the situation... maybe she felt like a girl whose boyfriend had walked in on her with another man. Er, then again, I guess they were both girls, and back when I had been a prisoner in Bahairam, Clara had done stuff like this with me on Amatena’s actual orders. So maybe it wasn’t a good comparison.

  “This... I...”

  “Get off of Shinichi.” Amatena grabbed the sputtering Clara by the wrist and pulled her none too gently off the bed. She didn’t resist. Then she stood Clara in front of her, narrowing her eyes. “It’s that day, isn’t it? I know.”

  “Older sister... I am so sorry.” Clara looked at the ground.

  Amatena took this in, then turned to me. “I apologize for the trouble Clara caused you.”

  “Oh, n-no, I... I understand it... just happens...”

  I mean, some people would have said there was nothing to apologize for.

  “It’s pathetic. As a soldier in the Bahairamanian military, it’s shameful,” Amatena said.

  “Huh?” Her reaction wasn’t quite what I expected. Okay, she wasn’t thrilled, but there didn’t seem to be a trace of jealousy there from discovering her “little sister” rubbing herself all over some other person. She said it was shameful for a soldier—but what did that mean?

  “To assault a man out of an excess of desire—it’s proof that she lacks self-control. And a soldier without control is less use than a wagon without its wheels. Beast people already have enough trouble rising in the ranks because of a perception that they can’t keep themselves in check.”

  “Ah.........”

  So that was what was going on. All the Bahairamanians I knew were beast people, so I had started to feel like they represented the country’s entire population. But when I really thought about it, I knew that humans were the majority group all over this world, not just in Eldant. I was sure there were plenty of them in Bahairam, too. Even the Father-Ruler had been a human. (Come to think of it, I even remembered Elvia asking if she didn’t disgust me...)

  I had to suspect that human supremacy was the status quo for most of this world. Bahairam could crow all it wanted about everyone being equal under the Father-Ruler, but there was sure to be some discrimination, at least in the form of physical and spiritual differences among races. It would make sense if it was hard for beast people to get ahead in a human-dominated world. And it wasn’t difficult to imagine humans saying things like “beast people have no self-control” as a way of justifying that.

  That was why, in order to achieve and maintain a certain position in the military, people like Amatena and Clara had to show restraint, self-control, to convince those around them that they were “safe.” But having to repress their emotions, not let them show—that meant looking more emotionless, sounding more stiff, and after years and years of that, it had become their default attitude.

  Who knew? Maybe there was a sense that being able to restrain your biological impulses, your “phase of the moon,” was what made you an adult. But was it just my history as a wimpy home security guard, or did that seem like a huge amount of physical work?

  Clara turned to me and said contritely, “I forgot about your illness... I’m sorry.”

  “My illness...?” I repeated, but I quickly realized she must have been referring to my little lie back in Bahairam. To keep her from just overpowering me, I had told her that doing naughty stuff with a girl would kill me. She didn’t seriously still believe that, did she?

  But it didn’t end there.

  “What? You’re ill, Shinichi?” Amatena looked at me seriously.

  “Oh, well, uh...” I wasn’t sure what to say. Confessing that it had all been a lie didn’t sound very pleasant at the moment. Maybe there was some way to change the subject. “M-More importantly...” I wracked my brain for another topic, any topic. “This, uh, happens to all beast people, not just Elvia, huh?”

  “Yes. It is an unfortunate fact of life.”

  �
�Huh, I see.” Phew. Topic change: successful. So this really was something all beast people had to deal with. But in that case... “Is it something you go through too, Amatena?”

  I meant the question innocently, but the reaction was one I never expected. Amatena blushed beet red, I assumed from embarrassment. “Do not ask!”

  “Y-Yes ma’am! I’m sorry!”

  Her shout was so fierce that it had me seated formally on my bed, apologizing. Argh. Well, she did say how embarrassing it was. What was I thinking, asking a question like that? If this were Japan, she could probably sue me for sexual harassment.

  Just as I was sweating this out...

  “Shinichi-sama?!” Footsteps came pounding down the hallway. “Did something happen?!”

  Myusel and Elvia appeared in the room, with Minori-san a few steps behind them. I guess they had been drawn by my shouting, eventually. Saved! Or so I thought...

  “...Shinichi-kun,” Minori-san said, narrowing her eyes at me behind her glasses. The other two newcomers just stared. “What exactly are you doing?”

  “‘What’? I’m...”

  And then it dawned on me how this must look. Me seated formally on top of the bed, with my pajamas torn open. Amatena in front of me in her underwear, and Clara half naked to boot.

  “Don’t tell me you invited Clara to your room for a little—”

  “No, I didn’t!” I exclaimed, withering under Minori-san’s stare. She (and, I could only imagine, Myusel and Elvia) seemed to think that I had tried to have a little midnight assignation with Clara, only to be discovered by Amatena. “Do you really think I’m the kind of guy who would do that?!”

  “I guess not. I know you don’t have the guts.” Minori-san’s words were as blunt as a slap in the face.

  “...Uh, I’ve got to say, that hurts.” I was glad the misunderstanding had been cleared up, yet the fact that it hinged on being acknowledged as a gutless wonder was something of a tragedy in itself. But just then...

  “That’s no fair!” Elvia exclaimed. She seemed angry for some reason. “After I’ve been holding back all this time?! So why’d the two of you get to have relations with Shinichi-sama first?”

  “Can you not talk about relations?!” I could hardly keep up with the quips necessary here.

  “Hold on... You two, is this about that day...?” Minori-san said, taking a step closer to me. It sounded like she was finally starting to grasp the situation.

  “That’s right,” I said. I was innocent! I hadn’t done anything! I was the victim here... But then something caught my attention. “Huh?”

  You two?

  “I wish you wouldn’t be so selfish, Big Sis Ama!” Elvia exclaimed meanwhile.

  “I have not done anything yet.”

  “Yet, you say! Yet!”

  “I am a proud soldier of the Bahairamanian military! To suggest that I would be overcome by a mere phase of the moon—”

  “Myusel I could understand, but I won’t have my thunder stolen by you, Sis!”

  “U-Um, Elvia-san...?” (That was Myusel; Elvia’s last remark had left her somewhat befuddled. But anyway...)

  “Today is Clara’s phase,” I said, trying to break up the sisters’ argument before things went completely off the rails. Amatena was only here to rescue me from Clara, who had succumbed to the impulse of her phase of the moon......... right?

  “Huh?” Elvia said, turning to me with a look of astonishment. “But I was sure Big Sis Ama’s day was right around now. That’s why I thought—”

  Whack...!

  The hits just kept on coming with Elvia. Who then literally got hit when Amatena smacked her in the back of the head. Yikes. That looked painful...

  “Eeyowch! Wh-What the heck, Sis...” Elvia demanded piteously, crouching back.

  “Keep your mouth shut!” Amatena said, red-faced.

  Seeing Amatena embarrassed like that... It was a fresh, sweet side of her. Although I knew I was asking for a smacking myself if I said that out loud.

  “And? Did your chastity come through intact, Shinichi-kun?”

  “Please don’t talk about my chastity,” I groaned, flopping back onto my bed.

  Meanwhile...

  “Well, y’ didn’t have to hit me, Big Sis Ama!”

  “Quiet!”

  “It’s all because you were gonna attack Shinichi-sama...”

  “I told you, that’s not true!”

  As the beast girls argued in the background, I let out something that was half-yawn, half-sigh.

  Chapter Three: Is a Quiet Life Too Much to Ask?

  And so, break finally rolled around. Which is to say, the day I had promised to let the students take photos at the mansion.

  “Sensei! What do you think?”

  “Look at mine, too!”

  Students were swarming the yard, digital cameras and 3TSes in hand. They looked like they were having a great time. In the end, virtually the entire class managed to show up with some form of photographic equipment. The ones who had gotten digital cameras lent their 3TSes to the ones who hadn’t, so everyone could feel involved.

  With that many kids taking pictures, you can imagine how many pictures got taken. But it was nothing that wouldn’t have happened at any other photography get-together.

  As far as it went, anyway.

  “Okay, look this way!”

  “Say cheese!”

  “Zero wouldn’t pose like that!”

  But it wasn’t just any photography get-together that was happening in our yard. Everyone was dressed up in ways that looked very familiar—specifically, from manga and anime and games.

  That’s right: this was a cosplay affair. Both the photographers and the photographees were dressed up. Most of the outfits had been prepared by Minori-san and Hikaru-san. The two of them had suggested the idea out of the blue, apparently concerned that the party wouldn’t be interesting enough on its own. Some kids had even asked their parents to get clothes made by local tailors.

  I had to admit, though, that we had other objectives in mind for this cosplay photo party. One goal was that the kids would understand what it meant to be on the receiving end of a photograph. When they were dressed up themselves, it would help them get a sense of why they might not want someone to take a picture without their permission. That was Hikaru-san’s idea.

  The other hope was articulated by Minori-san: namely, that a cosplay party would keep them busy enough that we wouldn’t have students wandering at random through every room and hallway in the mansion. Clara was one thing, but if Amatena was discovered, it wouldn’t be pretty. If we limited the students’ access in the house to rooms with outlets, and maybe to my and Hikaru-san’s rooms, it would keep the chance of Amatena being photographed to a minimum.

  So anyway, there we were. Most of the students were immediately taken with the cosplay costumes provided by Minori-san and Hikaru-san and quickly picked out their favorites. Our two fashionistas used safety pins and clips to get the sizes right—and before you knew it, our lawn looked like the world’s biggest crossover fic.

  “Perfect, just like that! Look into the distance!” The instructions were coming from someone with her own DSLR camera—Minori-san, out there among the students. “Okay, here we go—three, two, one. Cheese!”

  The shutter clicked away as she shot from head-on, above, below. She was so confident, I wanted to ask where the professional cameraman had come from. Even the way she took the pictures was, like... sexy, somehow. The flattering patter she kept up. I wouldn’t have been completely surprised to hear her exclaim, “Great, now get that top off!” or, “Take it all off, just go for it!”

  She was already lined up alongside the guys, taking photos. And then there was...

  “Yes! Hold that pose!” Hikaru-san had set up camp in the shade and was fiddling with some kind of machine. It was a small box, and sat at his feet puffing out smoke. A smoke machine or a fog machine, I guessed. Come to think of it, I had heard it was fashionable these days to use one of
those to spice up a cosplay shoot. And it did lend the characters a certain mystique. Gothic-Loli and “hard-boiled” types looked just perfect brooding in the fog.

  “Hmm...” I sat in a chair in a corner of the yard, watching everyone pose and snap pictures of each other. Hikaru-san was much better suited to being the teacher in this situation; I planned to help run the electrical outlets and generally do behind-the-scenes work. But then...

  “Shinichi!” I turned in the direction of my name to find an unmistakable figure coming toward me with a smile. It was Petralka. And she was in full costume. “Do you like it?!”

  She had her digital camera in one hand and was giving me a full-fledged grin. She stopped in front of me and spun around, her silver hair and Gothic-Loli skirt billowing out.

  Whoa. Cute...!

  “Does it look good?”

  “Yeah, terrific,” I said. “Is this...?” I recognized almost immediately what her outfit was. How could I not? She was Angelica, the heroine of Angelica—The Burdened Princess. The long silver hair and thick eyebrows, the butterfly-themed hair clips, the predominantly black-and-white outfit. Well, all that was common enough. What was less common was the box on her back, bigger than Petralka herself, and the even larger sniper rifle she was carrying.

  Incidentally, the books never made clear exactly what was in that box. One explanation even claimed it was home to a mysterious life form of some sort.

  “It was Hikaru’s suggestion,” Petralka said with a smile. “It is, after all, a work penned by your father, is it not, Shinichi?”

  “Er... yeah. Well, yeah.” I nodded and half-smiled.

  It was true; my father had written the light novel. It was apparently one of his more popular series, and there were even plans for an anime.

  “That’s really something, though,” I said.

  “Hm?”

  “I mean... You really look like her. You’ve already got the silver hair, so you don’t even need a wig, and you’ve really nailed all the details. It’s like you’ve transcended cosplay.”