Chapter 427: How I met My Best Friend

"Sure that's no problem" said Kat. She wasn't really all that interested in pressing the triplets on their insecurities. Minor's situation was rare certainly, but it was something that the triplets could clearly see happening to them if they weren't careful. *It does make me wonder how common injuries are. I can't really be the best judge of that consider I regenerate. Maybe I should ask? I'll save it for later.* "Is there anything you'd like to bring up?"

The triplets shared a glance and asked. "Well we'd love to hear about your first summoning"

*Is this a thing? Like… do people just ask about this? I'm beginning to think this is on of the things all demons must do with each other. Like 'how are your parents' or 'what school did you go to' just… things people always ask.* 

"So it went like this…" Kat decided to explain her first summoning in detail. She'd previously kept the recount short and mostly to the point, but knowing that the chance she'd repeat the story a few more times before she died… *Or hell, based on the pattern I'll probably meet Aslena or Kamiko's Dad tomorrow and go through it all again.* So Kat made sure to really spruce it up. She used her perfect memory to talk about how she was feeling and how confused she was.

As well as how the master and apprentice talked to each other and what she thought they were feeling. She even decided to go a bit further and explain the aftermath, how she'd freaked out in the morning and then the conversation she'd had with her best friend.

The triplets' eyes met a few times before they decided to share their thoughts. When they did, they were slower when speaking, as if they were still thinking of the answer. "You… you took that exceptionally well. Based on that story there's no higher energy at all in your world?"

Kat shook her head, and explained. "No there isn't. D.E.M.O.N.S was actually somewhat surprised. Apparently, the word didn't pick a specific type of higher energy to inhibit, it just said 'no higher energy' and so it actually works against demons. Not perfectly, but better then most it's seems"

"That's actually somewhat strange" said the triplets "We're not sure we've ever heard of a dimension like that. We suppose it isn't that impossible considering, and they'd be hard to find for obvious reasons, but still, very strange to think about"

Kat raised both hands in surrender, "Certainly was, and still is. I think more small… family unit? I guess? Whatever they are, they took in really well. Sure I have demon parts, and that was shocking but none of them actually tested it. Lily could have insisted I was wearing a fake tail, or that everything was a prop. We actually used that to go into a crowded area"

Kamiko beamed a smile at Kat and said. "I think you've got great friends if they are willing to go along with something so crazy."

"Yeah Lily's pretty great. Sylvie's nice too, but sometimes I wonder if she goes along with half of my shit because I'm one of the few people that didn't treat her like a kid. I mean, she IS a child, but she's probably the smartest child I've ever met. She's always calm, she knows what she wants, and she just… isn't a brat most of the time." Said Kat

"Tell us about Lily!" shouted the triplets.

"Well… where do you want me to start?" asked Kat

The triplets turned as one unit to look at Kamiko. "Why are you looking at me?" Kamiko asked, panicked. She glanced between the triplets and Kat a few times before hesitantly continuing with. "The start?"

"As good as place as any I suppose" said Kat "For me… I guess it was when she transferred to our school. It was a little strange because she was only… the second transfer? I think? A lot of kids left our little small town school but, yeah nobody was transferring there. The area didn't have a lot, and if you were moving into the area it was just as easy to live in the suburbs near the nearby city and go to one of the schools there.

"So when Lily swapped to our school, it was a very surprising, but also quite cool. Everyone was interested in this strange new person. I… wasn't actually. I saw new people come into the orphanage all the time. They joined the school too of course but… we didn't refer to them as transfers. They just got added to class and nobody questioned it… does that make sense?

"I think it was a system Gramps worked out with the school. They'd just show up to class, after he arranged everything, and the school would treat it like nothing had happened. Gramps explained it was to ease the new students in because if they were at the orphanage it meant that they'd already lost something and needed some normalcy in their life.

"For the most part, students respected that. It helped, when I was younger at least, that the orphanage kids could sort of stick together. They had other friends sure, but if something went down, we'd back each other up. This changed when I moved to the high school.

"It wasn't so much 'the orphanage kids' as there was… me, and that was basically it. By the time I was thirteen, I was the oldest kid for the most part. I… vaguely recall two times where someone older came in, but it was never for long. Our orphanage was always more for younger kids, so they were just staying over for short times.

"I certainly never saw another orphanage kid in my age once I was in high school. That's when the bullying really started for me." The triplets sucked in a breath all in tandem, but Kat gave them placating gestures. "No no, please don't feel bad. I never cared. See, I have red hair, I actually kept that. This hair colour didn't come in when my tail did it has always been like this.

"A lot of people thought it was died, because while red is a potential colour for humans on my world… it isn't like the red I have? That make sense? If you add onto that I was TALL. I still am even now, but I really shot up that summer between primary, and high school. I was at least a head taller then all the other girls for a long time. I retained my title as the tallest girl in my age group till I left, but some others got closer.

"Anyway, with my hair and height I stood out, and because I was part of 'the orphanage kids' group everyone knew me as the tall orphan girl. Which… I'll admit is not the best title to be known as.

"Apparently I was also somewhat attractive. I didn't find that part out till later, because I never cared. I had other things to worry about, but that all added together made this group of three girls start attacking me. It was a joke. I've dealt with SO much worse in the orphanage.

"A bit of name calling? That's nothing emotionally compared to a kid you've looked after for two years telling you they never want to see you again. Putting glue in my hair? That's you're average Tuesday afternoon if you aren't careful with the younger ones. Calling me out for my height? That's a joke, I lived with kids normally two years my junior if not more, so to them I was a giant.

"So then they tried physical things you know. Bumping me in the corridors, picking fights, that sort of thing. Of course, I'd been walking and running to and from school for my entire life as well as looking after energetic children. Those three bitches skipped out on PE half the time. They had NO chance confronting me physically. Eventually they just got bored.

"Of course, what I'm sure to them looked like a gift from god, as soon as they got bored of me Lily transferred in. She was interesting, and that protected her for like… three days, before everyone realised how quiet and timid she is. If you met her today you'd still say that…

"But she'd freeze up whenever someone tried to talk to her. She'd flinch at casual pats on the shoulder and she was quite short. She managed to grow up a bit in later years, but when she transferred in she was just so tiny. So, my tormenters moved on to her… and… well I just couldn't allow that."

"So I stepped in. I told them that they would not be bullying her. Of course they were all 'who are you to tell us what to do' and I was like, 'you can bully me and I won't fight you, but if you bully her I'll kick the shit out of you' and at this point, I'd already proven to be their physical superior, even three on one. And that's how I met my best friend Lily."