Mariko Yamada’s smiling face greeted us as we entered the clubroom. “Hello, Kiyo, Soren.” The older girl had been tending to an electric teakettle resting on a circular table the dominated the room. She rose to her feet and gave us a cherubic smile. “You’re running a little late.”

“We were distracted with… stuff.” Kiyo was grinning ear to ear, which was unusual from the normally expressionless girl. It’s nice to get a rave review.

I decided to intervene before Mariko could question Kiyo’s good spirits. She seemed like she wouldn’t approve of our fun. “Sorry, ma’am,” I said. I tried to look her in the eye, but I’ll admit that my eyes kept slipping lower. Where Kiyo had a slim figure that made people think she was still in middle school, Mariko’s bust was a magnet that my gaze couldn’t quite escape.

“Why do you always have to call me ma’am? I’m only two years older than you.” Mariko pouted and pretended to take her glasses off to clean them with a rag. They had been perfectly clean, so it was clearly a maneuver to block my line of sight and hint that I should stop admiring her figure. I obliged her before it became an issue. I saw no harm in looking, but I doubted Kiyo shared that opinion.

“Force of habit, ma’am.” I couldn’t keep the teasing grin off my face.

Mariko let out a sigh as she finished. “I swear, I can feel a hair go grey every time you say that.”

Kiyo coughed, clearly not caring for the topic. “Are we late?”

She shook her head. “No, you’re fine. Go ahead, help yourself. I made hot pot.” The room had been set up better than some apartments I’ve seen. There was a nook for a bean bag chair and a TV, numerous shelves for books and game discs, and a small electrical range. Mariko gestured at the bubbling pot on the latter feature, which had a few bowls nearly.

Kiyo was practically drooling. I’d never heard of hot pot, but I knew Mariko’s cooking was excellent, and the air smelled heavenly. It smelled better than it looked. To me, it seemed like a normal stew from back home, just with different vegetables than I was used to and exceptionally thin slices of meat.

Kiyo usually ate sensibly, but she practically inhaled her first bowl. “Where’d you get so much beef, Mariko? This stuff’s expensive!”

I almost felt a little pride, knowing exactly why this was a rare treat. We devils had taken all of the land on Earth except a few islands like Japan. Land was at too much of a premium to support much of a beef industry, and the Wizard Corps tended to get the bulk of it and other such luxuries.

“I check with the dining service sometimes,” she replied. “They had a cut that was about to turn and they were nice enough to let me have it.”

“Aren’t you hungry, Mariko?” It was as tasty as it smelled. Still, I was eating more slowly than Kiyo. I’d have preferred a spoon to the chopsticks Mariko provided. Back in Pandemonium, formerly Rome, we’d adopted western style cutlery. I was starting to learn, but I had to focus to avoid dropping the meaty treasure.

Mariko was leaning against the wall near the door. She saved off my concern. “Oh, I’ll join you soon enough. I just need to be ready for our other guests.”

As if on cue, Hiro Takehara entered the room. I’ve never seen his appeal. To my eyes, he was just an unassuming teen with a slender build and slightly out of control black hair. If you walk through Tokyo as school gets out, you’ll see a hundred boys just like him anywhere you go. Hell, there were a half dozen boys in our remedial magic courses that fit that description.

However, as soon as Kiyo and Mariko spotted him, it was like a switch had been flipped. He had this magnetism that I’ve always found confounding. I certainly never felt it, but the females in my acquaintance did. Kiyo sat up a little straighter and didn’t seem as interested in her second helping of soup. I’d been assured that she was over her childhood crush, and I tended to believe her. It wasn’t jealousy that had me putting a loving hand on her shoulder. Certainly not.

Mariko was never one for broad smiles, but Hiro was always able to wheedle them out of her. “Hiro, come on in!”

I nodded at him, giving Kiyo’s shoulder a firm, but still loving, squeeze. “Takehara.”

Kiyo had the good graces to slump a little and lean into me. “Hey, Hiro.”

Hiro’s face lit up. “Oh, hi Magpie, Kiyo. I didn’t know you’d be here too.”

“It was a little bit of a scheme, I’ll admit. It’s been too long since we got the club together,” said Mariko. She guided Hiro over and dished him up a bowl, which I noticed was heavy on the meat, when she’d left Kiyo and I to fend for ourselves. It was all sadly typical; I’d have called a few of the women at the school Hiro’s harem, if he’d ever had the courage to make any sort of move. I felt like I’d never understand why they all fawned over him so much.

Once Mariko had tended to him, she made her way back to the door, which struck me as damned odd.

Hiro didn’t seem to notice anything off. We exchanged a few pleasantries. I had to remind myself that the dolt thought I was his friend, for some damned reason. He had grown a little less insufferable as time had gone on, I supposed.

“Mariko called me at just the right time,” Hiro said. “I was getting out of my lessons with Headmaster Tachibana.”

“Still having trouble with your magical affinity, eh?” I’d be lying if I didn’t say I enjoyed his struggles with his magic. It seemed like just compensation for his unearned popularity.

He let out a sigh. “You know it, man. I turn on my Immortal Form affinity or cast a spell and whoosh, all the magic just flows right out of me. I get a little better each week, but it’s been like pulling teeth.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “But I’m sure I’ll get it one of these days. I just gotta keep trying. What have you two been up to? I don’t see you much outside of class these days.”

I squeezed her shoulder again. “Oh, we keep each other entertained.” Kiyo coughed as some soup went down the wrong tube, and I flashed her a wolfish grin.

Hiro nodded. “Right, probably playing a lot of video games. That’s always been Kiyo’s thing.”

I couldn’t tell if he was being dense, or if I was being subtle. Either way, this bunch was far more innocent than anybody from my homeland. “You might say that.”

“Yeah, but Soren is kinda trash at it,” Kiyo said. “How does a guy not even own his own console or gaming rig?”

When the technology level back home was around Earth’s 17th century. You don’t need electricity when you have orcish slaves and magic to do the heavy lifting. What I said instead was, “I just never had anybody to show me. I’m getting better, though. Helps to have a good teacher.”

“Well, I guess I can only pound you into the ground so many times before you catch on.” Kiyo said it without the least bit of malice, like she was reporting the weather.

Hiro smiled warmly at us. “I’ve missed this. I hope we can start meeting as a club again soon.”

“Not our choice, really, after Yukiko kicked us out,” I said.

Hiro’s face fell. “Yeah, I know. I know you two haven’t been avoiding me, but she has. I wish I could get her to explain what’s wrong.”

“I might have something up my sleeve,” said Mariko as she glanced at her watch.

A few minutes later, the last of our party arrived. Mariko was tall for a woman, and she towered over the petite girl who walked through the door. The CEO’s daughter was dressed in a grey dress suit with a knee length skirt. She looked like she was off to a board meeting, instead of a friendly get together. “Good morn…” Yukiko’s greeting died on her lips as she spotted the three of us at the round table at the center of the room.

“Yukiko, hi!” The words tumbled out of Hiro’s mouth a bit too quickly. I’d always suspected he played favorites among his admirers.

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Yukiko stiffened and she gave a polite bow to Hiro. “G-good morning, Hiro.” She cast a sideways glare at me. “Mariko, why is he…”

Yukiko just couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Kiyo leapt up, pointing an accusatory finger at the other girl. “What’s she doing here?”

“It’s an odd state of affairs when Kiyo is faster to speak than you, Ms. Sato,” I said with a smirk.

“Nobody asked you, Marlowe,” she spat back at me. “Mariko, you told me you had something important to talk about.”

Mariko moved behind Yukiko to block the exit. “There have been a lot of hurt feelings lately. I want us to all move past the recent… unpleasantness.”

Yukiko bit her lip awkwardly. “I wish there was something to be done about it.”

“I don’t,” remarked Kiyo.

“Kiyo!” Mariko looked scandalized.

Kiyo shrugged. “Just telling it like it is.”

“I can go,” said Yukiko. “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“You’re our friend, Yukiko,” said Hiro, pleadingly. “Just sit down and have some food with us. Please?”

Yukiko wavered a moment. She clearly wanted to. Mariko took the choice out of her hands, taking her by the shoulders and gently pressing her forward. Yukiko complied. Mariko couldn’t have stood up to Yukiko’s powerful gravity magic if she had wanted to put up a fight, but she humored the motherly woman.

Soon enough, we were eating quietly. Kiyo had sidled up next to me, but I might as well have not been there. She kept casting annoyed glares at Yukiko.

Finally, Hiro broke the silence. “How have you been doing? You don’t answer my calls anymore, Yukiko. Is something the matter?”

“R-right. I’ve been doing fine. My responsibilities as Class Representative have been keeping me busy.”

“What, are you running for real office?” I leaned in. “That’s hardly an answer. For that matter, you demanded a new seat in the back of the room, as far from us all as you could manage. What’s the matter? Too good for us all of a sudden?”

She leveled her chopsticks at me. “Why is he here? He isn’t one of us. Not really. He was barely with us a month when I ejected him from the Tactical Innovations Club. He wasn’t there when we founded the club. He wasn’t with us in Taiwan. If we need to have a private discussion, he’s an outsider.”

“Magpie stays or I go too,” said Kiyo. “You kicked me out of the club the same time as him. He belongs here as much as me.”

“This isn’t productive,” said Mariko. “Yukiko, you told me that you were sorry for how things went during the last War Game.”

Yukiko looked betrayed. “I suppose I did tell you that.”

“And do you have something to add besides that?” Mariko looked at the younger girl expectantly.

“Why am I the one everyone expects to apologize? I’m the wronged party here!” Yukiko narrowed her eyes at me. “This one stole my first kiss after I asked him to leave me alone.” Her gaze shifted off of me, to my relief, though Kiyo tensed up. “That one, need I remind you, used her invisibility magic to stalk us all for months on end because she couldn’t get up the courage to confess her feelings to Hiro.”

Hiro put up his hand to try and placate her. “Yukiko, nobody’s saying you’re the bad guy here.”

“I am,” said Kiyo.

Hiro showed one of his rare moments of pique and shot Kiyo a harsh look. “Well, nobody should. I forgave you, Kiyo. I understand that you aren’t good at expressing yourself, and I know you haven’t done it since.” He paused. “I hope.”

She shook her head, sending her hastily assembled ponytail bobbing. “No. I wouldn’t do that to you. Besides, I have Magpie now, and he doesn’t mind having me around.”

“Exactly,” said Yukiko. “Exactly! You spied on us and then when Hiro told you off, you immediately switched to some British Casanova who was trying to seduce you, Rose and I all at the same time! That doesn’t sound like some deep love, that just sounds like desperation!”

Hiro tried to say something, but Kiyo cut him off. “How dare you? You acted all humble and stuff when Headmaster Tachibana laid out just how much of a bitch you were during the War Game, but you didn’t learn anything!” She jumped to her feet and stomped over to loom over Yukiko. “I almost died because of you. You blasted the rock I was sitting on. I was already paralyzed by those dumb magic simulator suits they had us wearing, and I fell down a frigging mountain. I was completely helpless! Magpie caught me and broke some ribs doing it! You just walked on by because you cared about winning and didn’t give a darn if I died on the way to that.”

Yukiko stiffened, and I was sure she was going fire back at Kiyo. Instead, her face softened. “That I am so sorry for. I really am. I don’t know what got into me. You’re right. I was too focused on winning and it didn’t register how much danger you were in.”

“Apology not accepted,” growled Kiyo.

Mariko raised her hand, trying to get her attention. “Kiyo, I…”

“Mariko, you’re my friend, but please. Stop. This isn’t about you, Hiro, or even Soren. This is between me and Yukiko.” She turned her attention back towards the sitting girl. “I thought we were friends, but when the chips are down, you learn who really cares about you. Magpie jumped after me. You walked by. I love him and he loves me, but to you? I’m just some nuisance to you. There isn’t anything you can say to change what you did.”

Hiro tried. He was chivalrous like that. “Kiyo, I don’t think you want to throw away your friendship with Yukiko.”

Kiyo shook her head. “I didn’t. She did. Hiro, you don’t get it. You don’t have the nightmares about falling down the mountain. I do. A lot. I’m used to people overlooking me, but that goes beyond not noticing. That was just telling me she didn’t care whether I lived or died.”

Yukiko slowly rose to her feet, her eyes full of barely contained fury. I thought the shorter girl was going to slap Kiyo. Instead, she bowed deeply. “Kiyo, if that is how you feel, then I will respect your wishes and not bother you anymore.” She pivoted and faced Hiro. “Hiro, it was wonderful seeing you. I think that until my circumstances change, you shouldn’t waste your time on me. In fact, Kiyo, you did me a favor. I was coming to say goodbye anyhow. This just made it easier to say.”

“Goodbye?” Hiro’s face fell.

Yukiko nodded glumly. “I have some… extra responsibilities now. Responsibilities that will prevent me from being in this club or from…” Emotion choked her voice, but she pressed on. “I won’t have the time to be a decent friend, so I think it will be best to move on. For your sakes.”

I could tell she wasn’t telling the whole truth, but for the life of me, I couldn’t see what she was hiding. She’d always been besotted by the boy, and here she was, telling him to stay away. I never saw her socializing with anyone else in our class either, so she wasn’t leaving us for greener pastures either.

“Goodbye,” Yukiko said and turned to leave.

“Yukiko, whatever’s going on, cutting yourself off from the world won’t make it any better,” Hiro said. “That’s what things were like when we started here, and you were miserable! Don’t go back to that.” He sounded almost frantic as he strode over and reached out to take Yukiko’s hand, only to find that he couldn’t move.

A blue glow surrounded Yukiko as she held out her hand, pinning him in place with her Gravity Shift. Her eyes were dewy as she said, “Hiro, I will always cherish the time I have spent with you. With all of you.” Her eyes drifted over to me. “Well, most of you.”

“Don’t spare my feelings, tell me how you really feel,” I muttered.

She ignored me, naturally. “It is simply time for it to come to an end. I can’t explain everything, but I need you to trust me. Please.”

Hiro was a jovial spirit who exuded so much optimism it made me ill. Hell, I’d seen him happily cleaning a toilet while he was on punishment detail. Up to that moment, I’d had no idea he even possessed tear ducts. “Alright, Yukiko,” he said, voice quavering. “Take care of yourself. When you’re ready to come back, we’ll be here.” He paused for a moment, casting an almost guilty glance at Mariko before adding, “I’ll be here.”

Yukiko smiled wanly at him. “Goodbye.”

With that, she walked out. Frankly, I wasn’t going to shed a tear over her. We’d never been on great terms, and I’d found her sudden distance from us more curious than distressing. Sensing that the luncheon was winding down, I took the chance to finish my last bowl. I’d never want to waste Mariko’s cooking.

Kiyo looked positively exuberant, though when she noticed how down Hiro and Mariko were, she forced her face back into its normal, neutral state.

Mariko rebounded first. “Well, I think that’s enough excitement for one day.” She put a comforting hand on Hiro’s shoulder. “Are you going to be alright?”

He pasted an utterly fake smile on his face. “Oh, sure, why wouldn’t I be? I’m sure this is all going to blow over soon. Gotta just be some sort of misunderstanding.”

“Sounded awfully final to me, Takehara,” I said. “You might be better off accepting the new normal.”

Mariko shot me a reproachful look, though I knew she had her own motivations for Hiro to get over Yukiko’s departure. “I hope you’re wrong, Mr. Marlowe.”

“Me too, truthfully.” It wasn’t that I felt for Hiro. It was simply annoying to see the exuberant young man fighting back tears. I had enough troubles of my own without wallowing in these neurotic wizards’ problems. “You’re quite right, I think. Quite enough excitement for one day.” I stood to leave, belatedly remembering to bow. It was still strange to me; I was used to the orcs and other lower races bowing to me back home. At least the local custom didn’t require prostration. “Thank you for the meal, Ms. Yamada.”

Kiyo hopped up. “Uh, yeah, thanks.” She patted Hiro’s shoulder too. “I hope she comes around, since I know that’s what you want.”

Mariko frowned at that. Why couldn’t she just come out and admit what she wanted? It made me miss home. When one devil feels anything about another, it doesn’t stay secret for long. Of course, those feelings were more likely to be lust or hatred rather than schoolyard crushes, but that’s neither here nor there.

Hiro laughed it off. It was a hollow sound. “Don’t worry about me, Kiyo. I’m just feeling a little off. I ate too much of Mariko’s wonderful cooking. I think I need to go run it off.”

Mariko sighed. “I’m glad you all enjoyed it. You know I’m always here for you too. You can tell me anything.”

He gave her a thumbs up. “I sure do, Mariko, and that means a lot to me. Thanks for everything.” With that, he dashed out like the Grim Horde was on his tail. Knowing him, he did go on that run. He was honest like that, even if he’d have rather gone off somewhere to cry in peace.

“Well, Ms. Yamada, looks like you have your opening. You’re the last member of the harem standing.”

Mariko blushed. “Harem? Don’t be silly, Soren. We weren’t his harem. We were just friends who hung out together all the time, and all three of us just happened to be interested in Hiro.”

“Sounds kinda like a harem to me,” said Kiyo. “I always knew what we were. Good job, Mariko. Looks like you win.”

Mariko’s frown slowly reversed itself. It was a guilty smile, though. “I… I suppose I did, didn’t I? I’ll have to give him some room to get over Yukiko. I wouldn’t want to scare him off, or seem like I’m taking advantage.”

I nodded, losing more interest with each passing moment. One of the many wonderful things about winning over Kiyo was that I didn’t have to worry about the intricacies of Hiro’s romantic life anymore. “Well, I wish you luck.” There would be much less bellyaching and drama once everyone was out of sight or paired up, which I frankly looked forward to.

Alas, if only it had been so simple.