All I Wanted Was New Clothes
All she'd wanted was to buy new clothes.
The day after her first time.
Layla's eyes opened, but she couldn't move an inch in the bed. A thought that had surfaced the moment she woke held her pinned there.
Essence Drain was supposed to be done to humans. But that woman yesterday—by every sign, she had been an unmistakable High Demon.
The skill description was perfectly clear. Absorb. Which meant Layla had stolen that demon's power and enjoyed herself doing it...
"Then she got weaker because of me. That's basically treason, isn't it?"
Of course, she hadn't been given any say in choosing her partner, and even if it had been a mistake, it wasn't the sort of thing she could shrug off as ordinary. Stealing a mere five points of stats wouldn't kill the demon or leave her staggering. But what if that woman tracked her down and made her answer for it?
You dared steal my precious stats? Die, you mosquito of a bitch!
No!
"What if she says she'll have me burned at the stake! I should've just gone home! Why did I force myself to do Essence Drain... sniff. No—later on she wouldn't even let me leave. That woman has a share of the blame too."
...Should she ask her sister?
No, wait. I even told her my sister's name. Proudly, at that. I said she was famous.
Layla yanked the blanket over her head and thrashed.
I'm such an idiot. The king of idiots.
What if this hurt her brother and sister too?
Chewing her nails out of habit beneath the covers, Layla finally crawled out. She slipped on her pink slippers. Every step toward the living room felt impossibly heavy. Her tail and her wings hung limp and lifeless, and her feet genuinely refused to lift.
In the living room her brother sat on the sofa reading the paper, and across from him her sister sat with her legs crossed, sipping tea.
Should she just turn back?
If I ask and get scolded again... No. Better that than letting it blow up because I stayed quiet.
Layla clenched her small fist and pressed it over her thundering heart. Cold sweat slicked her palm. She swallowed hard and perched herself at the very end of the sofa. When both demons' eyes turned toward her, she offered a tiny, foolish smile.
"Um, Sister, Brother. There's something I need to tell you."
"What."
Her sister's eyes lifted over the rim of her teacup.
Ah... should I go back to my room? This isn't nothing, is it? I already feel like I've been yelled at.
Her brother glanced at her once, then returned his gaze to the paper. His taciturn, indifferent nature had never felt so tearfully welcome as it did today.
"The truth is, yesterday I think I did Essence Drain with a demon—and a High Demon, at that... I think I took her stats, and what do I do if she gets angry and comes looking for me...? I'm sorry."
The more she spoke, the smaller her voice became, until the last of it broke into a whimper.
Vivian stared at Layla in silence, then let out a sigh.
"I never explained that to you, did I."
"Huh...?"
"That's just how it is. At first, everyone goes to a demon."
"What? Really?"
"Every demon knows succubi suck essence. That's why they let it slide. They probably enjoy it too."
"Oh..."
Layla blinked her purple eyes and let out a small gasp of wonder.
"Think about it. What if kids went after humans from the start and got themselves killed? That's why I told you to trust the skill. You're an adult, sure, but your stats are pathetic and it was your first time, so of course you ended up with a demon."
"But she was a High Demon. If she got weaker because of me..."
Vivian lifted her teacup and took an elegant sip, then looked at Layla as if she were hopeless.
"A High Demon would care even less. How much can a succubus even absorb? There are plenty of demons who throw themselves at you first, begging to sleep together. And you're sitting here fretting over nonsense like that?"
"Thank goodness."
Only then did Layla let out a long breath. She had long since grown used to the way her sister spoke to her as if she were nothing. With the tension gone, her mouth itched with the urge to brag.
"I-I! Nightmare Leap changed into Reverie Leap!"
Just once, she wanted her sister and brother to praise her.
"And what does that even—"
"Well done."
Layla's and Vivian's heads turned at the same time.
It was her brother.
The one who had drawn their eyes never even looked up from his paper.
Brother praised me!
"Stop flapping your wings. It's noisy."
"Yes!"
She must have been flapping without realizing it.
Even under her sister's scolding, Layla beamed and stilled her fluttering wings. Then she rose quietly and stepped outside.
The air was cool. The dark crimson sky she saw every day looked a deep pink today.
"Brother talked to me. And it was praise!"
It had been an offhand remark, but it was still that.
Maybe they're done treating me like a bug.
The wings she had stopped flared into a vigorous flutter all over again.
Come to think of it, her sister had been the same. Last night she had waited until Layla came home, and today she had even held a real back-and-forth conversation. Normally her brows knotted the instant their eyes met.
Had she finally been acknowledged as real family?
Kyaa...
Layla clutched her flushed cheeks and twisted her body back and forth.
Her sister was a succubus everyone knew by name alone, but her incubus brother was even more so. His name was Dietrich. The moment he stepped outside, female demons lined up to trail after him, and rumor had it even the wives of High Demons came running out. Sharp eyes, few words—and yet the rare sentence he tossed out was said to melt demons completely.
Only today did Layla understand what that meant.
"I melted from a compliment too..."
Until now she had simply assumed he was popular, but the instant that low voice said well done, her body went soft and melted like a slime.
"If you get technical, what he said to me isn't the same as that... but good is good."
Maybe she should take this mood straight into town and buy some clothes. She did like the leather skirt she had on, and the leather tube top that bared her navel. Still, she was in a good mood today, and she wanted something new.
Once she stepped into the heart of the village streets, shops lined up in a row. Beneath the eaves hung lanterns shaped like skulls, or jack-o'-lanterns with grinning faces. There was a minotaur easily twice Layla's height, and a vampire with a face white as porcelain walked the street beneath a lavish parasol, every stride haughty.
The clothing shop she was headed for lay a little past this bustling square. She arrived while glancing this way and that, taking in the sights as she walked. Layla peeked through the window a few times, then opened the door.
"H-hello..."
"Oh my, welcome~."
Compared to her own small voice, the reply that came back was far too high and bright.
Ssshhk. Ssshhk.
The one who revealed herself was a lamia. Her upper body was that of a slender woman, but below it a serpent's tail glittered with scales, and every time she moved, the ornaments wound tight around her wrists and neck chimed.
"Looking for anything in particular?"
The clerk glided closer. Her thick snake tail swept in circles around Layla's feet, and afraid her own tail might brush it, Layla quickly caught it in her hands.
"Uh..."
Too close. A heavy perfume hung in the air.
"...May I look around a little?"
Layla said it while averting her eyes toward the short dresses hanging on the wall.
"Of course. Take your time. I'm sure something will catch your eye."
"Thank you..."
The clerk smiled, quick to read the room, and drew back.
Flipping through the hangers one by one, Layla thought back to that day. Her sister had told her to dress so she'd be easy to take off, but actually hearing herself called lewd for how she'd dressed left her a little unsettled.
I did go there for sex, but I wanted to look pretty more than lewd... No, lewd isn't a bad thing, but...
That woman probably hadn't meant it as an insult. That was why they'd gone at it so mindlessly, wasn't it? Still, losing the upper hand had probably been the fault of that see-through slip, too.
Next time I'll dress properly. Like a succubus. Sister only told me to wear that because she was afraid I'd hesitate.
But she could have been the one to pounce first.
What she settled on, after choosing and choosing again, was a black dress. The back plunged all the way to the waist, and the front was cut open to bare the valley of her chest. The hem ended perilously high on the thighs. The sides were mesh, so once she put it on, the line of her waist would come alive, cinched and narrow.
"I'll take this one."
The clerk approached, her scales whispering across the floor.
"Oh my, you've got an eye. You're a succubus, aren't you?"
"Y-yes!"
"I knew it. You succubi have heart-shaped tips on your tails, so I can tell at a glance. Every time I see one I think the same thing—they're honestly too adorable."
The clerk said it, flicking a tongue split in two.
Layla laughed along awkwardly and hurried through the payment. All this shrinking away came down to a lack of confidence. A personality that timid wasn't going to fix itself overnight.
"Haa... time to go home."
She left the shop with the wrapped dress. It had barely even been a conversation, and yet she was completely drained. Not wanting to cross the square, she turned into an alley that served as a shortcut.
That was a mistake.
"Oh my? Who's this. Layla? It is Layla, isn't it?"
