Chapter 443: Tired

As Kat walked down the garden path toward Kamiko's house she found herself shaking out her arms. She was very surprised to find that her body felt… not tired, that wasn't the right word for it. It was like she'd been stretched out by the ends of her arms and legs. After a full day of using her powers without stop, though Freddy did offer to let them make their own lunch at some point, Kat felt something weighing on her.

Her mind was also tired, more so then her body. Unlike her body's regeneration, her mind lacked the ability to patch itself up easily. As funny as it was to think about, today was probably Kat's most strenuous day since she became a demon. During her time with Minor it was mostly walking, even for the dream sequence, the Tournament had Green participating in a lot of events and… more walking.

Then there were the cultivation idiots. Sure, there was a massive fight and it HURT and the problems seemed to pile on, but her mind was able to push through it all. On top of that, her other early ventures were all very minor things. The talk with the King, scaring off that one guy for the system, letting the master and apprentice panic.

Heck, even the other Punishments weren't so bad. Wrath was half a day at most. Envy was fucking around really, Pride had been skipped, and while Greed was likely the next taxing, it was nowhere near as full on. Greed was mostly abusing her regeneration and messing around with interesting items. They could take it at their own pace, but at Gluttony because of the time dilation and Kamiko's excellent knife skills Kat was constantly managing multiple dishes the whole day without stop. Splitting her mind on them all to keep things running smoothly with little bits and pieces of help from Freddy mostly and occasionally Kamiko. So, yes, Kat found herself feeling tired.

*And I wonder who I'm supposed to meet today? Based on the pattern it should be either Kamiko's father, or Aslena, or heck maybe it's even Meridithna. We always seem to meet someone knew so I suppose I need to prepare myself. Hopefully whoever it is will be kind to me. Aslena is probably the shortest straw. I know Kamiko doesn't like her.* 

Kat braced herself as Kamiko opened the door, for once Kat was solidly behind her demonic friend. This also let her see that Kamiko's tail was drooping, much like her own actual was, and realised that despite Kamiko's upbeat attitude at the end of the day, she was perhaps just as exhausted as Kat.

*Well, that's just great. I'm scared of the family drama we are about to encounter. I don't want Kamiko to deal with that while she's tired. Please no Aslena… please no Aslena. Heck, can we get Elmony again, that seemed to be the best. No teasing from her mother, no issues with the triplets, no walking issue in the form of a fashion designer. Her Dad might be fine, let's just go with no Aslena as the wish though.* 

Kat was honestly surprised when the main part of her wish was granted. Kamiko strode inside to be greeted by…

Nothing. Nobody else was home and Kat honestly felt her heart soar. *YES! We can relax. I need this.* Kat didn't even question Kamiko who headed straight for the drop downstairs. Kat followed knowing exactly where her friend was headed. A short drop and a little walker later and they were in the bathroom. Kamiko swung the taps around letting the bath fill with liquid. She didn't wait for it to be full though before walking of the edge and faceplanting into the water.

Kat almost wanted to wince at the sight. It looked kinda painful after all. Then a larger part of her mind said 'that's just for humans though' and promptly did the same thing. Kat's body hit the water and it was a strange situation. Before, she'd always sunk in calmly, and her mostly hydrophobic skin didn't really change that process. Faceplanting it seemed. Did. When Kat hit the water, she was braced for the impact. She'd accepted that price for the privilege of spending less time standing.

Instead of a sharp pain though, she felt the water pushed away from her as it slowed her down. The water chased itself away, slowly bleeding out the energy before seemingly giving up and enveloping her. Kat was surprised at how gentle it ended up being. Instead of a sharp sting, it was more like somebody had tightened a blanket around her for just a moment before letting go.

*Well. This was much less painful then I'd imagine I guess I count this as a win. Is that why Kamiko did this? Because it's not that bad for some reason?* Kat decided very quickly that she didn't care. She'd used her brain enough today and until she got some rest in it didn't matter.

So, Kat just floated. Her wings had spread out as far as possible already assisting her in keeping herself afloat with their added surface area. Her tail had, at some point, curled itself around her leg, even that normal lively limb had decided it had indeed had enough for today. Thus, Kat simply floated there, almost like her meditation, as she let her mind relax. Meditating might have been better for this situation, but she wasn't thinking of it, and even if it was suggested she'd have complained.

It took her about ten minutes before she started to feel the need to breathe. It wasn't exactly a problem… well, it would become one, but the more immediate concern was that it was taking more energy to stop the need to breathe and Kat didn't feel like using anymore. Her energy reserves, while full, where not currently easy to draw upon. It certainly wasn't automatic, she needed to use her mind to practically drag the energy along for the ride, but with her mind as it was, Kat wasn't a fan of the process.

*Hmm. What's more painful… dragging my uncooperative energy along for the ride, or flipping myself over. They both sound like so much effort at the moment.* Kat wanted to just lay there and do nothing. She didn't feel like making any choice right now, and wondered how Freddy could do this all the time.

Of course, she what she didn't know, was that Kat and Kamiko had performed marvellously. Kat, perhaps more because of her regeneration, and Kamiko for her skill and powerful will. Constantly drawing their energy, even automatically, did use some mental energy. Keeping themselves constantly in a heightened state of power was not an easy thing. Even a ten minute break at some point would have halved the fatigue the pair were currently feeling, but alas, they worked through the whole day.

Freddy was fine because of his higher Rank and the fact that while they didn't notice it, he was hardly actually using his energy. It just wasn't necessary to keep up with them both while they were keeping their output at the same level as their regeneration. Which was of course, another reason for the difficulty. Keeping the output so precise the whole time was just one more layer of difficulty, and Freddy was very impressed.

It took another two minutes for Kat to decide to turn herself over. The tiebreaker vote was that she heard Kamiko doing the same thing during her mental angst which led Kat to believe that Kamiko must know something she didn't, which was also true.

Using demonic energy as a substitute for air was… not a good long-term solution. It was an automatic response, one made easier for Kat because of her regeneration, but the cost rises exponentially over time and wasn't really viable for anyone long term unless you had a specific ability for it.

And so Kat joined Kamiko in turning over, and stared at the ceiling. Kat was somewhat regretting her choice already. Compared to the dulled light of staring at the bottom of the bathtub, staring at the brightly lit and in large part, white room was hard on her eyes. Sure, it wasn't actually doing damage to them, and it was more that a part of her mind was screeching in protest as it declared the false sun an enemy of all good demons, but Kat still felt the pain, if perhaps more in her heart then her eyes.

Kamiko really wasn't any better. Her little wings were plastered against her back rather then slowly flapping under the water as normal. Kamiko's tail was wrapped around her leg as well, just like Kat's. She was also deciding the bright light was an enemy… but getting out of the bathtub to turn of the light was an even greater cause for concern. So she lay there in the cool water hoping it would chill her aching mind and body.