Chapter 418: Land of Fluff

While Kat's interview was going on in the room next door, and mostly consisted of Kat trying to cause as much chaos and heartache for the questioner as possible, Kamiko's was taking a very different route.

What neither had realised, is that both of them had been investigated slightly during their first three days of their punishments. This led to them trying to set up the most 'ideal' environment to get information out of them. It was… not working all that well for them when it came to Kat, but Envy felt somewhat justified because the just couldn't find much on her, thinking she was a very private person.

Kamiko on the other hand, was a somewhat known quantity after they found her schooling records. So, her room was drastically different. Instead of a dark dungeon the room was lit perfectly, with the whole ceiling essentially being one giant, if soft on the eyes, light. There was an air conditioning unit pumping cool air around to keep the temperature chilled as well.

When Kamiko opened her eyes and found Kat missing from her arm, she panicked just long enough to examine the room before letting the scenery calm her. The walls were looked like they were made out of white fur and blended nicely with the ceiling lights. Just looking at it made Kamiko feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

The door to exit her room was actually behind her, not that she noticed, because on her side was a large number of beanbags of various sizes. They were a mix of colours, yellows and reds and blues and greens. Most of them just on each, but they were piled onto each other in the edges of the room leaving only a few near Kamiko by themselves.

A nice blue one that seemed to be a little more stable then the rest seemed to call to Kamiko but it wasn't time to sit down just yet. Across from her was a small coffee table with sweets on it, with a person standing behind. Unlike Excalibur who had gone out of their way to hide information from Kat, this person further reinforced the feeling of the room.

They looked like a little old lady, though with less wrinkles. They were short, very short. Currently they were sitting down on the other side of the coffee table on their knees, but even at full height they'd make it no higher then Kamiko's elbows. To add to the look she was wearing what looked to be a very worn light pink shirt with flowers on it.

This combined with her large glasses that highlighted her grey eyes that gleamed with intelligence and wisdom to match her grey hair that had been tied back into a bun using a pair of chopsticks with more flowers on them gave the impression of a very calm person.

"Um… where am I? Where's Kat?" asked Kamiko, still somewhat on edge despite the calming atmosphere.

"She's just hanging out with someone else deary. I wanted to get to know you a bit first. You don't have to answer my questions while you're here but it would be nice. You can call me Bachan, if you want, or use my name, which is Meridith." Said Meridith.

Kamiko flinched slightly at the similar name. *Um… do I just go with Bachan? I don't want to be rude… but she offered… but she gave me her real name… but it's so similar to HER name that I'm not sure I can manage that…*

"Um… if I can call you Bachan that would be nice." Mumbled Kamiko as she slipped onto the blue beanbag she was eyeing earlier. She sunk down into it easily.

"It's no problem deary. Would you like some tea?" asked Bachan pulling out a teapot from seemingly nowhere. *Wow! She must have a pocket dimension! Those are super useful and somewhat rare. Well, no, a lot of high rankers get them, but still they are normally pretty tiny. Unless… nah I don't think that's her weapon or part of her outfit.* 

Kamiko nodded happily and Bachan pulled out two cups before pouring tea into both. Kamiko was about to sit up so that she could grab her cup, it floated over to her while surrounded in a faint blue light. Taking the come gently, Kamiko was happily surprised to find it wasn't hot. Taking a small sip helped her identify that it was cold brew tea and her smile grew.

"Do you like the tea dear?" asked Bachan

"Yeah it's great! Most people who've offered don't know, or sometimes even forget that I have issues with hot drinks" said Kamiko with a smile.

"Oh? What about hot foods?" asked Bachan 'innocently'

Kamiko raised a hand and flattened it out before waving her fingers up in down in a 'sort of' gesture. "It's… a little more complicated then drinks for some reason. They really don't agree with me and I can't stand them. Food though… it's a bit of a mixed bag. I still don't like it too hot, but letting things cool down a bit is normally fine in ways that hot drinks just aren't.

"Even room temperature drinks are a little inconvenient. I actually learnt how to release my demonic fire into my mouth so I can chill them without offending people. It… it took me a while to learn how to do it, but I think it's been super worth it" said Kamiko. She opened her mouth up slightly to show her small pink tongue which started to burn with a slightly brighter pink fire.

Bachan smiled. "That's a rather unique skill you know. Most people can't, or I suppose it's better to say, they don't bother to learn, how to release their fire inside of them. It's actually really useful. With some practice you could freeze poison in your veins or in your stomach" said Bachan.

Kamiko blushed and hid her face with her teacup as she smiled. Bachan's eyes flashed at this, but that was overlooked by Kamiko. "Well… I don't know about that. I mean, maybe I guess… but I think the poison resistance I'm going to keep building up alongside the poison in my nails makes that skill a little redundant…"

"Nonsense deary" said Bachan. "I'm sure your mother could teach you how to do it properly, and what nice tricks you can pull of with it."

Kamiko thought for a second, before answering with. "Is it like how Mum said I might be able to use it to cool myself down? I don't remember it too much, the conversation that is. I think I was complaining about how hot it was outside?"

Bachan shrugged and asked. "I can't be sure deary. Still, your mother sounds like a smart person. What Rank is she?"

"Oh she's Rank 5. It's super cool. She's one of the highest Rank Medical faction members in the whole Hub. I don't think she's the strongest, but she does really well for herself. She doesn't need to work so hard anymore if she didn't want to be she likes the job. I do wish she was around a little more sometimes, but my sisters like to make sure I'm not home alone so normally it doesn't bother me." Said Kamiko

"That sounds very nice deary. My family has drifted apart over the years. Even for a demon I'm getting on in years and I suppose it was bound to happen. We meet up of course, but it isn't quite the same." Said Bachan.

Kamiko nodded while taking a sip of tea. Not the best idea, but she somehow managed to avoid spilling anything. "Yeah, it's sometimes hard when we meet my Grandmas and Grandpas. They just don't quite get it the way the rest of us seem to. They like to bring up HER and make fun of Elmony. It's rude, and we don't spend time with them that maybe we should because of it. I mean, they're still nice to me, and I love them, but for the relatives liked my sister it's as if this new version of her is a personal offence to them…

"And it's even worse for the ones that DON'T like her. They seem to think she's one day away from becoming some terrible monster, all the worst traits from my sister and the old Elmony back before she lost everything. And… she just isn't like that Bachan. It's really sad to see her treated that way. They don't do it when Mum is around because she got sick of it before I was born and started beating them up… but they do it when she isn't or they think she isn't paying attention."

Bachan gave a lengthy sigh before saying. "Yes sadly family can be like that. I've got an old cousin that's still around that I don't like. They could never get over the fact I didn't marry you know. Would you like some more tea?"

"Yes please" said Kamiko as she held out her cup and let it leave her fingers under Bachan's power.