Volume 9 - Animate Objects, Chapter 58 - Mission Impossible

It took a while, but Chione got unpacked and settled into her bedroom. She actually enjoyed the cozy snugness of the small room filled with her furniture and belongings. Seeing her old dresser, her familiar school desk, and her favorite posters again really made it feel like home.

On her second day in the Nakahara house, Chione met Tsuen during dinner, though it was more like breakfast for Chione. They chatted a bit and got along great, thanks to their similar attitudes, but Tsuen's schedule was nearly inverted from Chione's, so dinner was just about the only time they'd ever see each other. Tsuen was active early in the morning and always asleep before Chione really got going in the night.

Later that night, Chione met Quess under very different circumstances. No one had told Chione what to expect, so when a translucent pink beauty walked through the back door in the middle of the night, Chione thought she was hallucinating at first. She froze in the hallway and stared at Quess, unsure what to make of her.

Quess turned and smiled. "Oh, you must be the new girl. Chione, was it? I'm Quess." She looked Chione up and down, and her smile widened. "Ooh, you're a cutie. A little on the young side, but variety is the spice of life…"

Chione flushed red and fidgeted with her skirt with both hands. "Uh, th-thanks?" she mumbled. This sudden flirting was unexpected, to say the least. She thought the slime girl was beautiful, but it was more in the way that she thought a flower or painting was beautiful.

Quess slid closer, her gelatinous breasts jiggling from the movement, drawing Chione's eyes. Okay, maybe she is the other kind of beautiful too, Chione thought as her cheeks burned hotter.

"You're even cuter when you blush," Quess cooed. When Chione shrank back instead of playing along, Quess backed off. She looked Chione in the eyes and said, "Sorry for being so forward. I guess I'm still riled up from earlier."

Did something exciting happen today while I was asleep? Chione's curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "Earlier? What happened earlier?"

Quess chuckled, her laughter echoing a little like ringing chimes. "Just some wonderful sexy times with Iormu. She can go for hours, but even the great 'world-serpent' tires out eventually."

Chione locked up again, eyes open wide and overwhelmed by Quess's candid mention of sexual activity. Chione came from a strict private school where sex was never even mentioned, let alone described in terms of hours.

Quess either didn't notice Chione's reaction or didn't want to make a big deal of it. "Anyways, it was nice to meet you, Chione. I'm going to go read something tricky to burn off some of this energy." She turned and half-slid, half-walked to her bedroom, muttering, "Maybe a research paper on the brain's responses to pheromones? I've always wondered how that actually works…"

Eventually, long after Quess had disappeared into her bedroom, Chione blinked, then shook herself awake. Apparently sex is a casual thing here, at least for Quess. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess this is life in the real world?

"Oh, right!" Chione said aloud as she remembered why she was out in the hallway in the first place. Tsuen said I should meet Mara and that we'd get along, since we're both 'young at heart'. I wonder what she meant by that?

Chione walked down the hall and stood by Mara's door. Light was shining out under the door, so she was probably still awake. Chione lifted a hand and knocked politely.

"What is it?!" a snappy voice yelled from inside. "I'm raiding right now, so unless it's an emergency, go away!" Tsuen was asleep on the bed, but she was very heavy sleeper, so the shouting didn't wake her.

Chione's cheerful expression fell into a frown. She looked like an innocent puppy that had just been falsely reprimanded. I don't know what 'raiding' is, but it sounds important. "Sorry! I guess I'll talk to you later!" she called back, then bolted back to her room.

In her room, she flopped onto her bed, then thought, I guess I'll just read those fashion magazines Haru loaned me. At least Haru likes me…

The next day, Mara shuffled out of her room around noon, wearing a pink cat-eared hoodie and her best mix of kitty-themed socks. She felt bad for yelling at the new girl, and wanted to make a better second impression.

Which room did she move into? Mara thought as she stared at the doors of the two southeast bedrooms. She shrugged and opened the one on her left. The room was mostly empty, with a guest bed, a dresser, and a big old-looking chest. Ha! That thing looks almost like a treasure chest from a video game, she thought as she closed the door and started towards the next room.

Oh, I should probably knock… Mara reached up, barely higher than the doorknob, and rapped her carapace-covered knuckles on the wood. "Hello? New girl?" she called, then she waited.

Mara waited for what seemed to her like forever, though it was probably less than a minute. "Screw it," she said as she tried the door handle. It was unlocked, so she opened it and stepped inside.

Antique furniture lined the walls clashing with the brightly colored posters of pop groups, mostly the liminal J-Pop group ANM48, that were plastered on the walls and even the ceiling. A sleeping form was on the bed on top of the sheets.

Mara tiptoed in to get a closer look at the newest member of their house. Chione was sound asleep on the bed, lying on her front. She was so still that Mara wasn't sure whether she was breathing. Her wings were folded up against her back, but even like that, they'd prevent Chione from sleeping on her back.

Mara's gaze drifted downward and she saw a picture of a teddy bear staring at her from Chione's butt. Holy crap, those panties are adorable! Mara thought, then her mind started to drift. The booty underneath is cute too. Mmmm…

Wait. This is not how to make a good impression. Mara quickly stopped ogling Chione's butt and turned in place. She snuck out the door, thinking, I guess she sleeps during the day so I'll have to talk to her later.

On her way back to her own room, Mara walked past the other guest room and was reminded of the strange chest inside. Is that Chione's too? I wonder what's in that thing? Treasure? Magical artifacts from Europe? Her mischievous mind got away from her and her hopes for making a good first impression were forgotten. She just had to know what was in there!

A few minutes later, Mara was at the empty guest room's door again, but she'd changed clothes. She was wearing a tight black long-sleeve shirt, black arachne-cut shorts, tall black socks on all her legs, and a black beanie over her pink hair. She looked like a stereotypical robber, and she would be quite hard to see in the dark, except that she forgot to cover her huge, bright pink abdomen. Other than when it got in the way of using normal chairs, Mara tended to forget about what she affectionately referred to as her 'spider-butt'.

Mara glanced to her right toward the kitchen, then back toward Quess's room and Mara's beyond that. Once she was sure that no one was watching, Mara carefully opened the guest room door and slipped inside, then silently closed it behind herself.

Faint sunlight shined through the curtains and cast the room in dim yellow light. Mara sidestepped around the room, surveying the mysterious chest. As she sized it up, she started humming the Mission Impossible theme song to herself, "Hm-hm himhim, hm-hm, humhum. Dunnana, dunnana, dun-dun!"

Once she'd thoroughly cased the joint, she stepped up in front of the chest and crouched down to investigate the latch. The lock was pretty sturdy-looking, made of gold-colored metal, and it had a large keyhole as if for an old-fashioned skeleton key.

"Hmm, I guess I'll check if it's even locked first…" Mara grabbed the rounded top of the chest and tugged but it didn't budge.

Mara flopped down on the floor and muttered, "Figures it'd be locked." She poked and prodded the keyhole with a finger but the hole was too small and she had no idea what she was doing. I knew I shoulda had big sister Meer teach me how to pick locks before she moved away from home.

Not one to be discouraged, Mara kept thinking about how to open the chest. I need something to pry it open… She looked around the room but it was nearly empty and there was nothing to use.

"Side mission accepted: find a crowbar," she whispered, then jumped to her feet. She skittered to the door, looked back at the chest, and said, "I'll be back."

Mara started in the kitchen, creeping stealthily from one piece of cover to another, eyeing everything and considering its potential prying effectiveness. Maybe silverware? Or one of those big forks for the grill? Nah, Yuisu would kill me if I broke that.

Wait a minute… Yuisu has tools for all the house maintenance and stuff. Mara grinned wide, until she realized she had no idea where Yuisu kept them.

Thankfully, it didn't take long to find the tools since Mara's search quickly lead her to the fitness room. Ever since the girls got their memberships to Sports Club Kobold, the exercise equipment at home got barely any use and that little room had become an impromptu storage room. In the back corner sat several large toolboxes. In the first one Mara opened there was a legitimate crowbar.

"Jackpot!" Mara triumphantly hefted it over her head with both hands, then sprinted back to the guest room, stealthiness forgotten.

As Mara noisily ran past Quess's room, the pink slime peeked out and blinked in confusion at the black-clad, crowbar-wielding arachne. Quess just shook her head and thought, Whatever she's up to, I doubt it'll end well.

In the guest room, Mara knelt before the weathered gold and wood chest. She felt like Indiana Jones, about to open a sealed reliquary to swipe the treasure inside. Hopefully this isn't like that holy ark. I prefer my face whole and unmelted, thank you very much.

Mara found a gap under the lid on the left side of the chest, so she lifted her crowbar and wedged it in. Here goes nothing! she thought, then tugged downward. Nothing happened, so she pulled harder. And harder. Eventually, Mara was hanging on the crowbar with all her arms and legs, hanging her entire weight on it, but to no effect.

"I won't be defeated so easily, treasure chest!" Mara made sure the crowbar was firmly wedged in place, then she hopped up onto the top of the wooden chest. She swung her arms forward and back a couple times, lining up the jump, then she sprang straight up, nearly reaching the ceiling.

As she fell, she curled up into a carapace-armored cannonball and aimed right for the crowbar. She hit it dead on, and the crowbar moved under the force. The crowbar levered downward until it hit the floor, then fell away to the side.

"Aha! Easy-peas—" Mara started to cheer, until a heavy weight suddenly pressed down on her back. Mara's breath was knocked out and her legs were splayed helplessly to the sides as she was pushed flat onto the floor.

Confused and startled, Mara looked back over her shoulder. The chest was still securely latched, and all Mara had done was tip it over onto herself. It wasn't heavy enough to hurt much, but she was pretty well pinned under the left side of the heavy wood-and-metal box.

"All good treasure is protected by traps. I'd expect no less from this one," Mara mumbled. She pushed off from the floor with her arms. As the chest started to lift, Mara mentally thanked Tsuen's fitness routine. Once she had a couple inches of wiggle room, Mara planted her eight legs on the floor. She crouched down, then launched herself forward and out from under the heavy chest.

The chest teetered for a second, then fell on its side and crashed to the floor with a bang. The lock sprang open from the impact and the lid popped open and…

A living, breathing woman spilled out onto the floor. She had light pink hair, and she was wearing long blue-and-white striped gloves, along with a similarly colored shirt. Her shirt was sheer and did nothing to hide the pink bra underneath. She wasn't wearing any pants, so her blue side-tie panties were also on display.

Mara's first thought was, Bwhuh thefuh?!

Her first coherent thought was, Ooh, she's pretty hot. After a few more seconds, she'd worked her way up to important questions. Who is this woman? What is a woman doing in a chest? Hang on… that chest belongs to the new girl, Chione… what kind of sicko is she?!

The woman raised a hand to her face and brushed at her eyes, then yawned sleepily. In a very young and innocent-sounding voice, she asked "Chione, is that you? Can I come out now?"

No one heard her, however, since Mara had already bolted from the room, screaming.