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Decadent Habits	By : OverMaster Category: +M to R > Mahou Sensei Negima/Magister Negi Magi Views: 8829 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Negima. No profit at all is made out of this story.

Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
Darkenning, again.

Standard issue disclaimer: Akamatsu Ken created and owns Negima. I am not him. This is a parody, protected speech. Thanks to my cowriters and the reviewers.

Decadent Habits

Chapter 25 - Takamichi

Her mouth was warm and wet around him as he wound his fingers through the curls of her bright orange hair. It was almost the same color as - No. Don't think about that. She bobbed up and down, tonguing him quite skillfully. He avoided paying much attention to the school gossip mill, but some rumors couldn't be ignored. The ones about her, clearly, were remarkable exaggerations. Or so it seemed.

Eventually, his orgasm couldn't be denied any longer. "I'm about to -" he said, to give her the choice of whether or not to take it in her mouth. But her response to his first words was to push her mouth further down on him, making her choice clear. So he honored it, and let go.

It wasn't particularly large climax, understandably so, given the large load he'd pumped into her - technically, into a condom - last night. It was still enough to make her cough to clear her throat before she spoke. "A pleasant way to wake up, I'd imagine?"

"Very pleasant," he agreed.

"Thank you," she said, standing up to reveal that she was already dressed most of the way, with her skirt and blouse already on, only requiring the jacket to complete the transformation into a high school senior. She pulled that on, and added the locket she always wore (or almost always, he remembered, since it hadn't been on her neck as he slammed his manhood into her.) "You were very satisfactory, too."

"Thank you," he replied. "You never did say why you were interested, Arisugawa." She would be graduating this year, and was an honor student, so it couldn't have been 'assisted tutoring', to use the term some of his more libidinous colleagues had coined for what motivated most teacher-student relationships.

"Didn't I?" she asked carelessly. "I suppose that I was just satisfying a curiosity, as well as satisfying other things. And in person, you're not quite as intimidating as your reputation would have it, Death-Specs-sensei."

He snorted at the silly nickname he'd been saddled with as he watched her head for his apartment door. She paused as she put on her shoes. "Was I satisfactory?" she asked.

"Very," he lied.

"You're a terrible liar, sensei," she said warmly. "But I'll let it go. After all, I was thinking about someone else while you were fucking me, just like you were." And with that, she opened the door, peeked out to see whether anyone was in the hallway, and then quickly headed out, closing the door behind her.

Takamichi spent a few fruitless moments trying to determine whether that revelation had been intended to be kind or cruel. He gave up. He supposed that one didn't become a successful member of the student council without becoming a master of mixed messages. He got up and padded over to the door to lock it, since it didn't lock itself after closing.

That done, he picked up his pants from where they'd been dropped on the floor the previous night as he'd brought her into the room, kissing and caressing and tearing each other's clothes off. His wallet was still in his pocket, and he pulled it out to get a hundred yen coin out of the coin pouch and dump it in the jar by the door. Another day of sobiety, he thought. Normally, he'd put it in before he went out for the day, but since he had no plans to go anywhere or do anything until much later today, he might as well reward himself for yesterday.

Then he went back to bed. He wasn't scheduled to do any patrol duty until this evening, thankfully. Probably, he should spend some time going over the lesson plans for the classes that started next week, but he just couldn't get motivated.

Bright orange hair. Just like Asuna's.

He had to stop thinking about her. Especially now that Arika had been freed from her captivity. She hadn't exactly said anything, but their brief conversations led him to believe that she suspected him of having been involved in her capture. She would surely not want him involved with her ... kindred ... any more than he had to be.

And the unfortunate part was, he couldn't even be sure that she was wrong to do so.

Had Gateau betrayed the trust Nagi and Arika had placed in him? His master had not confided in him about such matters. The attack that claimed his life had come as a total surprise to them both; at least, that was what he had thought at the time. But looking back, hadn't there been some signs that not all was well? And then there was Gateau's insistence that Asuna was better off without her memories of him. She was certainly better off without the memories of what she had escaped, but without the memories of the closest thing she'd ever had to a father?

But he had obeyed his master's last command, and all his regrets about it would change absolutely nothing.

Unfortunately, among the things that could not be changed was his desire for her. It had led him into repeated folly, not just last night, but before then as well. She had grown up so much, become such a beautiful young woman. The year he had been her teacher had been an excruciating torment for him. And not simply because her mind was slow in catching up to her exquisite form. The temptation she represented for him ... in the end, he had failed to overcome it.

Fortunately, that failure, that singular failure, had given him the strength to walk away before he failed again. And Negi had been the beneficiary of that decision. Yet even that had backfired, in a way, as she had continued to flourish and grow under Negi's teaching as she hadn't under his.

There was a certain amount of envy in his considerations about that subject, it had to be admitted. Negi had inherited an impossible situation - a student afraid of men given a male teacher, one plotting against the entire order on which Mahora's structure rested, a one for whom fifteen years had not sufficed to make her grow up, a trio of demons, and Asuna, beautiful, childish, wonderful Asuna - and triumphed over it. Far more than his victory in the ring, Takamichi respected Negi for that victory. And, yes, envied it.

Could that kind of envy have driven his master to betrayal? Who could say?

His thoughts were disrupted by the buzzing of his cell phone. Frowning at the early morning call, he picked it up and answered it without bothering to check the caller display. "Hello?" he growled.

"Takamichi?" Shizuna's voice sounded troubled and embarrassed. "I'm sorry to be calling you this early. Did I wake you?"

As always, hers was a soothing presence. "No, no, I was already awake, just lounging about aimlessly. What seems to be the matter?"

"It's the headmaster. He told me to call you immediately and tell you to come to his office ASAP. He's very angry about something, Takamichi. I'm thinking it must have something to do with Evangeline's latest scam."

Takamichi grimaced. Given Konemon's weird friendship with Evangeline, one wouldn't think that he needed a sounding board about her. And yet, every time she did anything, the headmaster turned to him and demanded his input. As though subjective years spent training in her resort gave him some sort of insight into her.

Well, perhaps he did have some insight, since he doubted that Konoemon knew what her face looked like when she was experiencing orgasm. But he wasn't about to share that particular bit of information with anyone, especially his employer.

"I'll be there in ten or so," he said, deciding to skip his shower. Konoemon would just have to live with the consequences of demanding haste.

Ten or so minutes later, Takamichi walked briskly through the double doors to the headmaster's office. "Takahata, reporting as -" he started to say.

"Sit down," said Konoemon's voice. The old man was seated in his chair behind his desk, with its back turned towards the entrance, as though looking out the window rather than towards the person who had just entered his office.

Takamichi blinked. There were no chairs in front of the desk. Was he expected to - well, clearly, he was. He promptly knelt in the seiza position, and waited to be addressed.

A few moments later, Konoemon turned the chair around and regarded him with a grim, angry expression that added several years to his already ancient face. "Takahata," he said, rather than using the more familiar Takamichi-kun to which he was entitled. "I am very much aware of how much you contribute to this school by your presence here. Your activities on behalf of the AAA and the Mahora Mage order are remarkable, as is your work as a teacher. You are respected and admired by your students, as well as your colleagues."

Something was terribly wrong, Takamichi knew. The headmaster's tone was out of step with his words; whatever the reason he'd been brought here was, it was not to be buttered up.

"Considering all of this, I have been inclined to overlook occasional unsubstantiated rumors concerning your activities in your private life. They were, as I have already said, unsubstantiated, after all. The fault, perhaps, is mine, then. Perhaps, had I confronted you before now, we would not be in this unfortunate situation."

Oh no. Takamichi groaned inwardly. He couldn't mean -

"You will please answer the following question directly," Konoemon snapped. "Did you, a little over a year and a half ago, engage in sexual relations with one Konoe Konoka, a fourteen year old member of class 1-A, a student under your care, and my grand-daughter?"

It was all over. "Yes, sir," he said quietly.

"Knowingly? Voluntarily?" Konoemon continued to snap out questions.

"Yes, sir," Takamichi replied.

"'Yes, sir.'" Konoemon repeated, mocking without a trace of humor in his tone. "You say this so calmly and serenely. You easily and readily admit to a criminal act, one that personally affects me. You assaulted a member of my family, one whom I personally placed in your care. Will you at least have the courtesy to tell me why you did this contemptible, despicable thing?"

"Yes, sir. I was drunk." An hour of pleasure, and now, officially, began the lifetime of regret.

Konoemon waited a moment, to see whether there would be anything further, before speaking in a very quiet, precise voice. "Are you actually attempting to claim drunkenness as an exculpating circumstance?"

"No, sir. Not exculpatory. Only explanatory. Had I not been drunk, the circumstances under which I assaulted Konoka-san would not have arisen." He remembered ...

He begins drinking that afternoon, after his last class of the day is done. He has been craving the taste of fine scotch ever since he saw her radiantly accepting birthday plaudits from her classmates. She has no notion that it isn't her birthday, that the date on the records is the date she was brought through the gate to this world. A birth of sorts, but not the true birth.

And from that moment, the urge to tell her everything begins. He's not sure how the alcohol comes into it. Perhaps he thinks that if he drinks himself into a stupor, he won't be able to do it. Alas. Gateau taught him just a little too well, and so his capacity for intoxication is appropriately high. So he only becomes drunk enough that telling her everything seems like a marvelous idea.

So he marches, or stumbles, across campus, and his reputation is such that no one tries to stop him. And he knocks on the door, and it opens.

Asuna isn't there, Konoka tells him. Ayaka has invited her and a few other classmates she wants to overawe over to her house for a party that is defintely not in celebration of the birthday of any obnoxious monkey girls. Konoka was invited, but her fortune-telling club ran overtime, and so she couldn't make it.

So instead, she listens to him ramble drunkenly about Asuna, understanding perhaps one word in ten. But eventually, when he winds down, she pats his hand and tells him that it's all right. Asuna likes him, too, just like he likes her. While he's stumbling over a way to clarify matters, she sighs and says she wishes that someone liked her like that, but perhaps she just isn't pretty enough. He clumsily assures her that she's very pretty.

She asks him if he's telling the truth, and purses her lips.

His inhibitions are lowered. It is a rotten excuse, but there it is. He leans forward to kiss her, intending perhaps to kiss her cheek, but ending up rubbing tongues. And her hand is down in his slacks, having removed his trousers and belt when he started drinking, and her grip is firm yet gentle.

Within a very short while, she is slamming her hips down towards his as his hands reach up to clutch at her small breasts, riding him with a look of ecstatic transport on her face. He retains enough presence of mind to think there's something wrong with that, to wonder why she takes such pleasure in controlling him, but he doesn't have nearly enough presence of mind to stop himself from driving a warm burst of his essence up towards her womb.

Afterwards, of course, with adrenaline burning off the alcohol, he is horrified and quickly makes his exit just before Asuna returns ... pausing to wish her a happy birthday and say absolutely nothing about her past. With this act, he has demonstrated once and for all that he is completely unworthy of her.

It is the last time he drinks.

"You've pissed it all away, you realize?" Konoemon's voice interrupted his ruminations. The old man sounded less angry and more mournful. "You've thrown your whole life away, and you won't even bother to offer an excuse beyond simple drunkenness. Why her, Takamichi? My granddaughter, a girl who's already suffered such things?"

His head jerked up. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't even bother to find that out, did you?" Konoemon nearly snarled. "I'm beginning to think that it was a mistake to ever let you be a teacher in the first place."

This new anger didn't last long, though, and he was grieving again when he spoke next. "If it were anyone else, I'd still have to fire you, but I could have helped you, found you a job that didn't involve contact with children, done something. Why did you have to make me hate you?" And now there was a faintly pleading note to his tone.

"I've said all there is to say," Takamichi stated. Anything further would probably not be believed, or would damage Konoka's honor. He'd done that enough already.

Konoemon shook his head, wearily. "You are removed from your position here at Mahora Academy, effective immediately. I will be taking steps to inform the AAA of your actions, and I have no doubt that they will act to fire you at their next assembly. Furthermore, your lease on your apartment is contingent on maintaining your status as a teacher here, and so it is cancelled, effective immediately. I would suggest," he continued, with grave formality, "that you start cleaning it out, and then get out of my town before I take it into my head to settle the dispute between us more permanently."

Takamichi rose from his position on the floor, then bowed deeply, before turning and walking out the door to the old man's office for the last time ever.

Despite Konoemon's suggestion, he didn't head right back to his apartment to start packing up. He felt a bit fey, really, as though, if the old man meant his subtle threat seriously, he was quite ready to die. Better, then, to spend a few moments strolling among the familiar sights of the Academy. He passed by the Chao Bao Zi, considered having a final meal, but decided not to trouble its gentle manager with his presence.

Since that gentle manager was presently dealing with Rakan's legendary appetite for food, she would probably have appreciated the gesture had she known about it.

He walked along the tree-lined paths, breathing in their summer scents for the last time.

"Takahata," said a familiar voice from behind him.

Ah. So this was how it was to end. Slowly he turned to face Konoe Eishun squarely. "Eishun-sama," he said politely. "I take it that you are aware of my disgrace."

"I am. My daughter told me what you did." The swordmaster had no sword, but Takamichi was perfectly aware that the Shinmeiryuu included plenty of unarmed techniques. He had never formally tested himself against a true master.

Nor would he do so today. "I am prepared for whatever punishment you feel is appropriate, Eishun-sama," he said formally, as the other man began to walk towards him. "If the only way that I can atone for my misdeeds is in blood, then -"

Much more quickly than he was expecting, Eishun was in front of him, and raising a hand up to ... rest it on his shoulder, in a familiar, avuncular manner. "None of that, Takahata. I am sure that father-in-law has punished you enough. I won't add to it."

Takamichi blinked. "That's ... astoundingly merciful, sir," he said.

"Not at all. Besides, I sympathize. I've had her myself, and I know just how seductive and tempting she can be," Eishun said blandly.

And now he felt his stomach and intestines slowly filling with ice. "What," he asked quietly.

"Perhaps we can share her sometime," Eishun continued, as though Takamichi hadn't said anything. "Her and that lovesick bodyguard of hers. You're always welcome at our house, Takahata. And we hope you'll stay for a visit very soon. But right now, I'd suggest you should probably leave campus before reports of your activities become widely known. Fighting off lynch mobs is so tiresome, don't you agree?"

The hand on his shoulder gripped it in a rather painful manner, then released it as Eishun stepped back. "Be seeing you," he said as he stepped past the poleaxed ex-teacher and kept right on walking as Takamichi slowly turned to stare at his back.

What? Takamichi thought. No, no, this makes no sense. Setting aside how furious he should be with me, he would never ever do such things. Not to his own daughter!

Wait. He'd claimed that Konoka had told him. Not that Konoka had told him and the Headmaster. Had he been the one to tell Konoemon? That, that might explain a few things ... but it didn't explain his odd behavior just now. It was tempting to return to the Headmaster's office and report what had just happened ... but under the circumstances, he wouldn't believed. It might even make matters worse for him!

The only thing to do was to go to the one person who might believe him, and the one who'd shown repeatedly that he could do the things that Takamichi could not.

He headed for the dormitory where Negi lived. A few moments later, he was knocking on their door, just a bit frantically.

The door opened, revealing Arika in a housecoat and slippers. "Takahata," she said, with chill politeness. "What seems to be the matter?"

"I need to speak to Negi. It's very urgent," he explained.

She lifted an eyebrow and held open the door allowing him to brush past her as he entered the room. He found it deserted, with a cloak lying on the kotatsu. "Where are -"

"That's Kaede-san's artifact, Tengu no Kakuremino," Arika explained as she shut the door and followed him in. "Negi and some of his partners are having a strategy session with Mana-san in the cloak's cottage."

"A strategy session?" Takamichi asked.

"A strategy session," Arika confirmed.

"Say it! Say that I'm the best lover you've ever had!" Mana nearly shrieked as she pistoned her fingers into Kaede's wet core.

"Nrgh! Not even in the top five!" Kaede hissed in reply as she bent down to savagely bite at Mana's nearest nipple as the two of them grappled furiously on the floor in front of the house's kitchen stove. "Fuuka and Fumika love this one harder than you do!"

Negi tried very hard to keep an eye on the two of them, for fear that they might really hurt each other, but it was hard to focus as he sat on the edge of the kitchen table with Asuna's mouth bobbing up and down on him, not to mention the distraction presented by Konoka's nubile form as Setsuna ground down on her on the other side of the table.

So much for the strategy session, he thought wearily.

"Well, regardless, I need to talk to him, and it is very -"

"Urgent, you said. Forgive me, but I think I'll be the judge of what's urgent where my son is concerned," Arika said, sitting down on the bottom bunk and crossing her legs. "What's the matter, Takahata?"

He drew in a deep breath. "I've been fired from my position at Mahora due to the discovery of a certain indiscretion I committed a little while ago," he began.

"You mean how you had sex with Konoka-san," Arika interrupted. "Yes, I'm aware of the incident. She mentioned it in passing. You have my sympathies for the loss of your job, but I'm not sure what you think Negi can do about it."

"That's not the problem," Takamichi continued, wondering how it had been mentioned in passing. Not to mention wondering at Arika's sang-froid. "That's just the prelude. Konoemon-sensei is understandably furious about it, but when I was confronted by Eishun-sama, he ... he acted as though it was a joke. He even claimed that he'd also had relations with Konoka," he added, softly.

"And?" Arika asked.

"Don't you find that a bit odd?"

"Takahata. You know how Asuna came to be, correct?" she asked wearily.

"That, that and this are two completely different situations!" Takahata nearly shouted.

"Be that as it may, I'm not seeing your cause for concern."

"Do you really think a father would act that way if his daughter had been molested?"

Arika let out a disgusted noise. "There are all manner of fathers in the world. What I wonder is whether he was trying to provoke some sort of reaction from you, perhaps getting you to admit to other incidents of wrong-doing by posing as one who shares your 'interests'. Had you admitted to it, he would probably have killed you. I think you are making something of nothing," she said dismissively.

"Do you really think Eishun-sama would -"

"I think Eishun has changed, in many ways from the way he was when I knew him," Arika interrupted, shrugging. "Some ways for the better, some ways for the worse. What I describe is a fairly common social feint, something that someone with his responsibilities might well use." She paused. "Come to that, though, I was under the impression that he was heading back to Kyoto."

"He's still here, I just spoke with him," Takamichi pressed. "Please, Arika-sama, I am telling you that something very wrong is happening. I'm asking you to please trust my instincts!"

From her frown, he saw that he'd made a mistake. "It is very difficult to trust the instincts of one whom one does not trust, Takahata," she said, standing up as she did so.

He closed his eyes. "Yes, I suppose that would be the case. I can't prove that my master didn't betray you, and I suppose that I am tainted -"

"Nor can you prove that you yourself did not," Arika interrupted again, this time softly.

Takamichi's eyes snapped open and he stared at her. "Me?" he asked hoarsely. "But, but I wasn't even entrusted with your secret. I couldn't have ..."

She shook her head and he trailed off. "You realize, of course, that the only person who can confirm that you were never told the secret is dead," she said quietly. "And even your own memories cannot truly be trusted, Takahata. Gateau was always too fast on the draw when it came to memory manipulation, and I have seen signs that you are the same way. How hard would it be for you to modify your own memories?"

All that Takamichi could do for a moment was just stare at her with his jaw dropped.

There was a knock on the door. "Negiiii?" Ayaka's voice asked. "Are you in there?" She kept it up for about a minute before the silence apparently convinced her that there was no one within the room.

"We're done, here," Arika said into the stillness that followed. Her face softened a bit. "I will tell Negi about what you told me, about your concerns. I will indicate that I think they're groundless, but I will let my son make his own decisions and his own plans. That is the best I can do for you, Takahata."

"It's not enough ..." he answered.

"It has to be." She gestured silently towards the door.

Takamichi turned and slowly walked out of the dorm room, not seeing Arika let the housecoat fall and dive nakedly into the cloak's open portal. He walked away from the dormitory building, and he was halfway to his destination before he realized where his footsteps were leading him.

He had exactly one option remaining to him.

A few moments later, he was knocking on Evangeline's cabin door, hoping against hope that she hadn't completely retreated into her resort. His desperation eased slightly as the door silently swung open without apparent cause. He walked forward into building. "Eva-s- Evangeline-san?" he called out, remembering at the last moment her disapproval of his earlier informality.

"I'm in here," came a voice from her bedroom.

Swallowing, he walked into the bedroom to find her lounging on her bed in her usual black teddy and panties, reading a book that he recognized as Lolita. He flinched as she glanced towards him, then turned back to her book as she spoke. "How are you enjoying unemployment?"

"So you know?" he said.

"What an absurd question. I know everything I care to know," she answered disdainfully.

"Evangeline-san, are you aware that -"

"Yes, Konoemon was told by Eishun, who phrased it as though Konoka sobbingly confessed it to him, though that's not the way that it happened," she said absently.

Takamichi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"None of your business, that's what I mean," Evangeline replied.

"Evangeline-san, something very wrong is happening here, and I think Eishun-sama is a part of it," Takamichi said, almost pleadingly. "He was ... bragging about how he had also molested Konoka, and then he ..." He trailed off, searching for some way to phrase what had happened in a way that Evangeline wouldn't be able to ignore.

At the very least, his tone got her to set down the book and look directly at him. "Bragging, you say? That is a bit odd. When it happened, and just before he left, he was regretful. Not enough to not do it, but still ... odd."

Takamichi's jaw dropped. "When it - Eva, are you telling me -"

"You'd be surprised how many people are venturing beyond taboo lately," Evangeline replied, yawning. "It's almost become boring. But even if that's the case, it means nothing to me. Bad things are happening? I am a bad thing - why should I care?"

"Because this is your home," he reminded her.

"That I didn't choose," she snapped. "That I had forced on me by someone who treated me like a bad cold he wanted to forget! You and the rest can all go to hell as far as I care!" She sniffed, and turned her head.

"If you really meant that, the door wouldn't have opened in the first place," Takamichi said.

"Maybe I wanted to bully you a little," she sneered, still not looking at him.

"All right. Fine. Be that way. I am not asking you to help me, Evangeline." He took a deep breath, went down on one knee, and lifted a hand. "I come before you as a supplicant, beseeching you for sanctuary."

"Sanctuary," she repeated tonelessly.

"Yes. I will investigate these events myself, but I require a safe place from which to conduct my investigations. My home is lost to me; I beseech you to allow me to share yours."

An evil smile spread across Evangeline's face as sheb finally turned to look at him. "There is a price for asking such favors of evil magi, you know. Oh, what am I saying, of course you know. You've paid that price before. Eagerly, as I recall."'

He nodded once, not trusting himself to speak.

"I grant your request for sanctuary," she said, venomously sweet, as she reached down and undid the string of her panties. "You will begin paying the price immediately."

He started to nod, then paused, and said, "Wait. Aren't you going to change to your -"

"I can't do that out here, remember?" she said sharply. "Out here I'm just a ten year old girl with a very dirty mind."

"Then shouldn't we -" He gestured towards the stairs to the basement, and the resort by implication.

"No," she said.

"But -"

"This is my price. Pay it or get out." She started to unfasten the teddy as he watched.

This was not what he had expected to happen. He'd had sex with Evangeline, even lost his virginity to her, but only when she was in the glamourous form of an adult. The thought of what he was about to do sickened him.

Slowly, he slid off his jacket, loosened his tie and pulled it over his head, and undid the buttons of his shirt, one by one, exposing his scarred chest to her view.

"Nice," she said appreciatively.

He held himself back from flinching at her words. The pants came off next. He left the boxers on as he came over to kneel on the bed before her, leaning down between her spread legs, looking down at the hairless mound between them.

And that's where he froze.

"Come on, Taka-kun," she cooed. "You're not thinking I'm innocent, are you? You know better. That ship sailed long before you were even born. I have out Messalina'd Messalina in my time. What's one more notch on my bed post? Or yours?"

Choking back a sob, he leaned forward, preparing to press his lips to her vulva ... but couldn't stop himself from retching just once before -

A knee slammed into the side of his head, knocking him off the bed. He lay on the floor, dazed, for a moment, and then got up unsteadily.

Evangeline had sat up, her arms in front of her tiny breasts, looking at him angrily. "It makes you physically ill to be with me like this," she snapped.

"Yes, dammit!" he retrorted. "You're. A. Child!"

"And what about Konoka, hmm?" she sneered. "Weren't so virtuous then, were we?"

"I was drunk! I made a mistake! I will pay for it for the rest of my life if I have to, but I will not be worse than I am!"

She stared at him for a moment, then lifted one of her hands to her face. "Of all the times to recover your idealism ..." she muttered. "I really do feel old."

"Well, you're not!" Takamichi snapped, and ignored her glare at him to continue. "And you don't even get it, do you. That's why Nagi didn't take you as a lover. He was smart enough to see through the glamor, and through your bullshit, to see that underneath it all, you're a little girl! The men who passed through your life and between your legs, they were monsters, however virtuous they might have seemed. But we're not all monsters!"

"Oh, shut up," Evangeline said wearily. "Do you really think I don't know all this?"

"I think you choose to ignore it when it suits you. Are we done here? Am I going to have to find another sanctuary?" Shakti, maybe? If he explained what had happened, she might find it in her heart -

"No," Evangeline said. "You can stay in my resort. I will help you as I can."

He blinked. "Why?"

"Because you're right. You're not a monster." She smiled faintly. "And I admire those who have principles, even though I have none myself. Congratulations. The price of my help was a test. And you passed, Taka-kun."

He didn't feel like a winner, as all that had happened finally crashed into him, wiping away what little equanimity he had left. But as he let himself collapse by her bedside, and felt her hand tentatively reach out to caress his shoulders, he felt as though he finally had a fighting chance to do the right thing.

Probably it wouldn't work. But he'd still try.

NEXT: Chachamaru
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Decadent Habits