Classroom Changes - Octavia - 3

The numbers of kids under the teacher’s care was slowly pared down over the course of the afternoon.

All the parents were sure they were an exception to the shelter in place directive. Some made excuses, some made demands, some made threats. Their successes tended to vary.

Sato seemed willing to be reasonable, or capable of sympathy, but the second a parent tried to bully their way through… well. Sato seemed mentally incapable of backing down to a challenge to her authority.

There was only one point where Sato got physical. One father started to attack their own child, loudly blaming the poor kid for everything that was going on. Sato very firmly made sure that father left the building alone, and with great haste.

As for the students, it took a variety of methods to handle them. Misumi excelled at firm discipline to discourage more rude or reckless behavior… or, in some cases, students that seemed unable or unwilling to stifle their amourus inclinations. Poku tried to organize games or exercise, looking to keep the kids entertained and find a way for them to burn off their energy.

As for Octavia, she quickly started to notice the kids who had become too quiet. Knowing full well from her own experience that silence didn’t mean a kid was all right, Octavia did her very best to find a chance to talk with all the students who were looking lost or alone. Not everyone opened up to their tentacled English teacher, but that was all right. Octavia well knew the value of just having someone willing to listen.

Octavia also spent a lot of time typing out texts, and then deleting them without sending them. She really wanted Keito to make another attempt to spend time with her, but he might have taken her earlier obliviousness as a rejection. She tried to think of ways she could start up the conversation again, but she was terrified she might turn him off or frustrate him with mixed messages. 

When compared to rampant confidence that some of the other transformed people had gotten with their new forms, Octavia felt a little cheated. Some of the students seemed to have lost all their inhibitions, but Octavia felt just as anxious as ever. 

Hours passed, and eventually the government sent out instructions that people could start returning home, or to sites temporarily reserved to serve as emergency non-human shelters. This was accompanied by a page of instructions and caveats and political grandstanding, but in the end the important things were that people were to go home, don’t start fights or trouble.

As for the teachers, Sato, Misumi, Poku and Octavia found themselves standing around the now much emptier community center, sharing a last moment of comraderie over what would undeniably be the strangest day of their lives. 

“... so… what… do we just come in to class tomorrow, like it is any other day?” Poku asked, an uncharacteristic frown on his altered features.

“The school board will let us know in the morning,” Sato replied wearily, “ no one’s sure about… anything really.”

“... I don’t know how I am going to get up the stairs to my apartment,” Octavia stated sadly.

“I’m pretty sure my tail is wider the steps to my apartment too,” Misuni sighed.

Poku looked himself over, and wisely said nothing. Despite that, he did catch a couple of looks from the other teachers. 

“There’s going to be a housing crisis this time tomorrow,” Misumi noted.

“Tomorrow,” Sato repeated, “for today, there’s still plenty enough problems. I… do not look forward to the discussion I will be having with my wife.”

Four sets of eyes were, for a brief moment, all fixed on Sato’s chest, then slid off elsewhere. 

“So… how are things going with the cute neighbor?” Poku asked suddenly, grinning.

Misumi glared at Poku, Sato looked confused, and Octavia just blushed self consciously, “I… haven’t texted him. And he hasn’t texted back.”

“You haven’t?” Misumi asked, shocked, “but… you’ve been staring at your phone every free moment you have had today!”

Octavia literally squirmed, tentacles writhing and twisting around each other in response to her nervous energy, “I didn’t know what to say to him.”

Poku chuckled, “That’s easy, you say…”

“Don’t!” Sato snapped, “ Poku, please. Just…don’t.” 

Misumi and Octavia shared a quizzical glance, as Poku just stood there chuckling. 

“Poku’s… personal style of romance tends towards a very juvenile form of humor, “ Sato said very carefully, “best aimed at someone who shares his tastes for comedy. And is best not shared with coworkers.”

“Octavia, just… let him know you appreciate his concern, and everything he offered to do today,” Misumi said with a sigh, “if you show you’re available to talk again, he may take the initiative himself.”

“That sounds simple enough,” Octavia admitted slowly.

“Life is simple, “ Poku said, attempting to look sagely, “women make it hard.”

“Aiiiiiyaaaaa,” Misumi groaned as a massive snake’s tail whipped through the air to slap Poku upside the back of his, unfortunately, armored skull. Misumi winced, cursed, and Poku, apparently none the worse for wear, just grinned.

“I was so close to retiring,” Sato moaned.

“Are you… uhm,” Octavia looked the dragon girl up and down, “... are… you even old enough to retire anymore?”

Sato’s new face did not seem made to look horrified, but she managed, “Sweet heavens, this change was a curse! You mean I might have to keep dealing with entitled parents for perhaps decades longer?”

“Unless dragons do live for centuries,” Octavia noted.

“Misumi, you shall be my second. Find me a sword so I can die honorably,” Sato stated with mock severity.

“Ha ha, she wishes she was a dragon! Dragonewts live around 200 hundred years or so,”  said the white haired demoness, who had yet to return home, managing to enter the conversation unnoticed.

There was a moment of silence, as the teachers regarded their unsettling student, as instincts still new to them tried to communicate warnings their human experiences and past had no explanation for. 

“That is… good to know, Starry-San,” Sato replied after a moment, “and thank you for your advice on the student’s inclinations earlier.”

Octavia eyed the grinning lilim uncertainly, quiet out of habit but not lacking in questions. From the looks of the other teachers, she wasn’t the only one who’s curiosity was piqued. 

Serass focused on Octavia, looking her strait in the eyes, “Come on, I know you are suspecting something, miss tentacle muffin.” Serras said with a grin, checking to see the rest of the students had left her alone with the teachers.

Octavia paused a moment, collecting the little thoughts and observations she had made during the day. About the way most students acted and reacted, and how one in particilar seemed to differ. How most people who had changed seemed to be discovering themselves, and one seemed to be completely unconcerned.

But? To voice that tiny suspicion, the one that might sound completely crazy to all her coworkers? Octavia knew how to be more careful than that.

“Why… do you think certain people were changed, and not others. Why us?” Octavia asked very carefully.

Serass smiled while her serafuku changed into a elegant black dress as she sat on a dark cloud that apeared from nowere. “The question is, why you feel soo comfortable now?”

All the teachers took a large step back at the display of power. Though not as large scale as the events earlier in the day, the evidence that she was able to so effortlessly wield actual magic sent a shiver down all their respective spines.

“I… don’t…” Octavia stammered, fidgeting with her phone as she felt the demon’s gaze upon her.

“Because this is who our souls remember being when we were sleeping.” Poku stated simply, as if the answer was blindingly obvious.

“Oh? The guy in shorts is somewhat right, although this is just a side effect of me being in this world,” laughed the lilim.

“Don't fear it, I know no one of you would choose to change back, not one of the students either, nobody in this whole planet too.”

“If this is because you’re here…” Misumi said slowly, the math teacher not very comfortable putting this particular two and two together.

“Then who are you, and why are you here?” Sato finished as Misumi hesitated.

“I just thought that she might be here, but I still sense her in this world, I guess its time to search elsewhere…” Serass said to herself in a loud voice, though seeming to talk less to the teachers and more to herself.

“As for who I am? You kids don't need to know it, just enjoy this gift, ” stated the lilim with a sincere smile.

“As for you, you're the reason I’m revealing myself to all of you, tentacle muffin,” Serass announced, walking towards Octavia.

“Stop selling yourself so short, and grab what you wish with those tentacles. It irritates me seeing such a wonderful creature act like this,” The lilim advised, before vanishing and leaving the confused teachers alone.

All eyes moved from the now demon free space the lilim occupied, to instead focus on Octavia with a mixture of confusion and concern. 

“Did… did she…?” Octavia stammered, clearly overwhelmed. 

“Reveal herself as some mysterious eldritch entity, and then proceed to give you relationship advice?” Sato finished, nodding.

“But… why?” Misumi asked, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

Poku casually scratched under his chin, “I’m guessing she’s just a fan of tentacle hentai.”

“POKU!” Sato and Misumi snapped in unison, as Octavia simply stared wide eyed at her phone.