There exists a family of luck demons who raise their own fortune by lowering that of others. One would expect that such creatures would be quite powerful, but no. A mighty luck devil did indeed make a good attempt to rule the world, but this drew the attention of the dreaded family of demon hunters known as the Aoyama, who developed the means to counteract the "bad luck" effect that these creatures could impose upon their enemies.
So they learned not to overindulge. They learned not to draw attention to themselves. Because when you put all your eggs in one basket they tend to get broken. There was just one problem with this course of action: It went a little too far. Each successive generation got a little bit kinder, a little bit nicer than the last. They were less and less willing to take the good luck from others, and endured bad luck by the gallon.
Enter a perfectly ordinary human girl. The idea of a demon family adopting an ordinary human girl is quite absurd, isn't it? Surely they must have some kind of wicked intention for her. But no, by this time the Urashima family was far less demonic than their ancestors would find comfortable, and so out of genuine charity they adopted little Kanoko into their family.
She figured it all out quickly enough. Kanoko was always rather intelligent. She read a lot, she learned quickly, watched carefully. She begged her adoptive big brother to feed on a little of her luck, but he always said no. He was just fine, he'd say before somehow tripping all the way <i>upstairs</i> from the bottom step. He didn't need her luck. He didn't need anyone's luck but his own.
And that's how she fell in love with him.
Outside the Hinata dorms, Kanako stood ready. She was wearing a long black dress and a pointed hat, staring at the building with determination blazing in her eyes. She couldn't do it. She couldn't hold back any longer. Oh, true enough, she knew that this feeling was probably being caused by Keitaro's bad luck and that her immediate presence might somehow make things more difficult for him in the long run... But she simply could not stay away any longer! Not when he was shacking up with a <i>succubus</i> of all things! Whatever Granny Hina was thinking, letting those two demonic bloodlines mingle in such a disgraceful manner... It galled her that Keitaro would be used for such a despicable breeding program!
"Last minute check..." she said to herself. Kanako knew all too well that Keitaro would never accept her luck of his own volition. But there was the rub! Kanako had spent years studying the luck-draining technique and working out ways to store her own luck. Now she had stored up three whole years of her own good luck without spending a single drop of it, and now she was ready for the payoff. "Now I will force that boy to take all of that luck, and make him understand that I am a much better match for him than some slutty succubus!"
"Oh, I don't know. Have you ever seen him railing that succubus?" asked a new voice. Kanako immediately slid around into a fighting pose that critically did not look like a fighting pose. She searched frantically for the source of the voice and... Nothing. There was nobody else here. "I did, about an hour ago. It was so hot it ran the risk of turning nuclear." Every other word felt like it was coming from a different direction. Disorienting... "I had the feeling they've been fucking for quite some time. You wouldn't know it to see the way they talk to one another; you'd think they were both still anticipating their first time." Illusion. Kanako spun sharply around, clutched a lucky rabbit's foot, drained it inside herself and threw it directly at the true source of the illusions.
The luck vacuum she'd generated inside the charm pulled luck away from the user, causing their little illusion to shimmer and then shatter. Kanako narrowed her eyes, intending to give this interloper the thrashing they had coming to them, then sent them wide open again when she saw who it was.
"Motoko Aoyama!" she gasped in surprise. Here was another reason to get Keitaro out of there. True, Motoko's competency as a demon hunter was questionable, but if any of her family, especially her sister, decided to pay a visit then the whole dorm was finished. Kanako flicked her wrists, and then in between each of her fingers a good luck charm appeared, which she prepared to drain into herself at a moment's notice. This was bad. If she was referring to Naru as a succubus, then the worst-case scenario must be coming about! "That's a rather fancy new wardrobe you have there. Perhaps I was a mite premature in calling Naru a slut."
Motoko smiled darkly at her and Kanako felt her heart racing a fraction. She really was a pretty girl, and that robe's neckline might not have a bottom. It seemed to be an article of clothing fully intended to make sure anyone looking took note of the swordswoman's rather impressive cleavage and alluring, smooth, flawless skin...
Kanako reflexively jabbed the back of her hand into a strategically placed needle in her dress. This was there for one purpose, and one alone: To protect her mind from psychic attack!
"Very clever," Motoko applauded. "You must have conditioned yourself to automatically do that under certain conditions as a means of defending your mind."
"You're not Motoko," Kanako said, scowling at the doppelganger. "Who are you?"
"Well... Nega-Motoko seems a little cliche. So does Anti-Motoko. Meta-Motoko has a nice alliterative feel but then I would have to start cracking fourth wall jokes and <i>nobody</i> wants that. Nobody I would want to talk with at any rate... Oh dear, all the names I can think of would be rather melodramatic, cliche, punny or far too much of a mouthful. Amalgamotoko, anyone?"
Name aside, Kanako got the point. That girl was even less competent than Kanako had ever believed possible: Instead of defeating demons, she'd created one instead. Well done! Not many hunters are so bad at their job they have a net negative effect on demon annihilation!
"Ilusions, seduction," Kanako began to list off, then winced. "Luck manipulation... You have all of their powers, don't you? All of the demons who reside at the dorms. Remarkable!"
"Quite so," the doppelganger smiled. "And you might be the only one around capable of beating me. I suppose this would normally be the part where we would fight it out, but I have a better idea."
A demon saying 'I have a better idea' is a lot like hearing a banker say "I deserve my bonus because -". Whatever comes next is bound to be a lie, but a convincing one that ultimately winds up stabbing you in the back.
"I say we work together," the doppelganger said. "Let's see... You want Keitaro, I want to make sure Motoko never works out that her friends are all demons. Ultimately our interests line up, after a fashion. If we co-operate we can both get what we want. If we fight, there's a chance Motoko will work out the truth."
Oof, that was a good one! She had to give the lookalike that much. If they fought then it would definitely draw attention and even Motoko would probably spot Kanako's use of luck manipulation for what it truly was. All of which heightens the chance that Keitaro would get involved. Use his powers openly. On the other hand cooperation meant they could act more subtly towards what they really wanted.
Then again cooperation meant leaving oneself open to being stabbed in the back.
"Fine then!" Kanako sniffed, pulling her charms away. "For my wonderful Keitaro's sake I shall stay my hand for now. At least until we share plans with one another? Then we can negotiate properly."
"Oh, Kanoko, my dear," the doppelganger cackled. It did... Something with chaos magic, and manifested directly in front of Kanoko with her hand outstretched. "This will be the beginning of a truly beautiful friendship."
<hr>
Meanwhile, in a certain cafe, there was a busty young cheerleader bored out of her mind. You see, Haruka had spontaneously lost about ten or so years due to an encounter with a certain powerful demonic amalgamate.
"Y'know, if this place had brighter colours it would be such a cool hangout spot," she said, running her finger across the top of a table. Not a speck of dust. "What am I even doing here anyway? Hrm... My luck reserves are totally shot. Maybe I oughta find some loser to feed off." She grinned and bit her index finger. "Then maybe I'll finally get lucky with Seta."
You see, it's interesting Haruka was quite the worn down woman. A little bit cynical and bitter by real-world experiences. Yet before that experience broke her down, she was a lot brighter and optimistic. She knew how to have fun... The difference was that this was not the Haruka from back then, but rather how she viewed herself from a current, present-day perspective.
Human beings are bad for this, and demons even worse so. We don't view ourselves properly. Our body image is bad enough, but our psychological profile for our own personalities is so far off that we might as well be our own stranger. Now add ten years and a buttload of cynicism and, well...
"Teehee! I can't wait to feel his big fat cock inside me!"
The short version of all that is, Haruka didn't have an especially positive view of herself ten years back. And, to make matters worse, the evil Motoko copy had left completely intact all of her memories of certain contact information for certain handsome professors of archaeology....
<hr>
Alright! Motoko took a deep, deep breath. Somehow, some way, she had managed to get the other residents into a more natural seating position within the springs where they were - for reasons that escaped her - having their meeting. Shinobu, Naru-in-Keitaro and Keitaro-in-Naru were all well away from each other to minimise gropage, Mitsune had been tied down, Su had put on a jockstrap to contain The Beast and Motoko was sitting at the head of the group with a swimsuit on and a towel over that.
"Alright, now that things have come to order we must somehow work to decrease the amount of sheer chaos occurring in the dorms!" Motoko announced. "This is already a good first step, but we must move ever forward! Here is what we must do first..."
Of course, had she known about Kanako, Haruka and her other self she would have been quite a lot less confident that they would reduce chaos that easily... But nobody tell her yet, please. It'll be much more fun this way!
- Motoko tries to rally the troops! Since she doesn't have any troops the other residents will have to suffice. Let's find that demon!
- Motoko mistakes Kanako for the demon within ten seconds of her announcing her presence.
- Kanako inadvertently gives Naru-in-Keitaro all of the luck she's been gathering, which has rather odd effects on the succubus.
- So there Seta was going about his business when suddenly Haruka shows up at his doorstep and wouldn't you know it just as suddenly he's getting a very enthusiastic titjob.
- Something else
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