<h4>Chapter 311: Dodging the Question</h4>


    Kat learnt two things when she finally left the bed at Sylvie''s urging. The first, was that they had a bathtub in the house. The second was that Kat did not feelfortable using, or sharing said bath.


    She had known it was a bad idea when Sylvie asked her. Kat, even with her improved memory, couldn''t remember a time when she had showered with anyone, and the orphanage didn''t exactly have a bath. When she tried to decline Sylvie''s offer though, the girl had just pouted at her, and the rest was history. Kat had just sighed, and agreed after finding her phone to send a message off to Lily.


    This led Kat to then spend ten ufortable minutes trying to wash herself in a bathtub clearly not designed for people with wings while trying to convince Sylvie to actually wash herself instead of just messing around. It was disturbing, because Kat couldn''t remember thest time Sylvie had acted so childish and was wondering what the strange change in behaviour was about.


    Nheless, Kat got through it and was now eating breakfast with everyone. Well, ''eating breakfast'' wasn''t entirely urate. Callisto and Sylvie were eating, and Kat was picking at the food absentmindedly, but Vivian of all people was face down on the table snoring. Callisto and Sylvie were just ignoring this and eating peacefully.


    It took five minutes for Kat to decide they must have been messing with her, and went to confront them about it, however before any sound could leave her mouth, Sylvie and Callisto both put their fingers against their lips signalling her to be quiet in perfect sync. Kat just raised an eyebrow and went back to the food.


    *What the heck is going on here today? The only one acting normally is Callisto and even that is debatably because a lot of the time I don''t see her eating.*


    Another five minutes passed, before Vivian sat up and just started eating like nothing was wrong. Kat gave a quick nce at Callisto begging with her eyes for an exnation but none was forting.


    Kat waited patiently for everyone to finish eating, and then went over to the lounge. Vivian joined her shortly and said "Sorry about that, I''ve been a little busy recently"


    "Ah… that''s ok… are you sure you''re alright though?" asked Kat


    "Of course" said Vivian beaming at Kat. Her smiling face was in contrast to her messy pyjamas and hair, but it still seemed genuine.


    *Yeah… let''s just.* Turning her head to look over the couch, Kat said "Hey Callisto, is Vivian ACTUALLY ok?"


    Callisto paused on the dish she was cleaning. Sylvie, who was sitting on the bench nearby, looked at Callisto as well, waiting for the answer. "Hmmm, well… I suppose I can say she is fine? But also not really. She''s managed to destroy her sleep schedule after picking up an extra project to keep her busy when she was worried about you. She''s finished both the extra and original one now, but she''s still in overwork mode"


    Kat turned to re at Vivian, but the blonde just smiled back at her "I really am fine Kat. I used to do this all the time when I was first starting out. Really, it''s no problem, and I didn''t pick it up only because I was worried about you, but because I owed the client a favour. I''ll just sleep at slightly odd hours for a few days, nothing to worry about" said Vivian trying to be reassuring.


    Kat pursed her lips and sunk back into thought. *Dammit. Even if that''s true, and Vivian wasn''t just worrying about me… I''m not sure I want to share what happened on myst contract… it''s more than a little brutal and I don''t want her worrying even more for me. That might be the worst oue.*


    Deciding to at least show her support, Kat stood up and grabbed Vivian off the armchair she had settled in and pulled her into a hug before sitting back down on the couch. Kat was happily abusing her much taller frame and longer arms to give her adoptive mother a hug like this.


    Sylvie, seeing what Kat was doing, gave Callisto a smile and jumped up on the couch as well, before slipping into Vivian''sp and snuggling into her. "I''m fine guys really, and Kat, isn''t this a bit heavy for you? You should be careful you know"


    Kat heard the concern in Vivian''s voice like a stab to the heart. The worry she was already emanating for Kat even in her position wasn''t pleasant feeling. *Dammit Vivian. You were asleep on the table not five minutes ago, shouldn''t I be asking you that? And besides, I''m supposed to be a powerful demon. If I can''t abuse my super strength to hug multiple people without losing cirction in my legs, then what good am I?*


    "Oh? Really? Well Vivian I''ll have you know I''m perfectly fine" said Kat, and just to prove her point she stood up, Vivian in a princess carry now, with Sylvie settled on top, and pushed some energy into her wings. *This is going to hurt, but I need to reassure them.*


    As Kat started pping, she hovered slightly with the two in her arms gaping. "See, I''m fine. I can easily lift both of you with my wings, a little bit of weight on my legs is nothing" said Kat quickly stopping and sitting back down so that they wouldn''t have a chance to notice the building pain. Kat was lucky the pain was indeed nothing…pared to having your energy channels ripping themselves apart.


    As Kat sat there, keeping Vivian and Sylvie tied down, a thought crossed her mind. When she had been thrown around during her fight with Xiao, she had dropped her fans along the way. She wasn''t pleased by this realisation but made sure to keep the frown from her face in case anyone else picked up on it.


    Kat then felt another pang of guilt realising that she was more upset about a missing hunk of metal than the fact that people died while she was away. *Hey system? I doubt it but do I have any way to get those back? They seemed like a nice set of fans.*


    User Kat will find them on User Kat''s person.


    *What?*


    User Kat will find them on User Kat''s person.


    *I know that dammit… but…* Kat carefully dropped her left hand to her obi and checked for the fans that shouldn''t be there. Except… they were? *Ok please exin this system.*


    User Kat''s chosen weapon is considered to be part of User Kat''s Demonic Attire and were transported out of the dimension alongside Kat.


    *What? I thought I couldn''t change my attire?*


    User Kat cannot at this Rank, however User Kat can add things to User Kat''s Demonic Attire if they meet certain criteria.


    *Well that would have been nice to know before I started freaking out about lost fans.* "Are you alright Kat?" asked Vivian snapping Kat out of her thoughts.


    "Ah yeah I am" said Kat


    Vivian and Sylvie turned to face Kat as best they could and pouted at her in sync. "Are you sure?" asked Vivian.


    *Dammit… that''s cheating, but at least I have an answer.* "Ah yeah, I was just upset about realising I''d lost my weapon in thest summoning before I realised I still have them, see" said Kat before pulling the fans from her sash and showing them off.


    This however, did not assuage the pair on herp. They looked just as concerned if not more so. It was Sylvie who spoke this time, with Vivian holding the pout at full power. "Kaaat, why did you nearly lose your weapon?"


    Kat had to use her full control. Not to gulp at the question. "Well, it''s a littleplicated. It''s nothing to worry about though really. I just thought I dropped them"


    "Kat" said Vivian with a sigh, making sure to flick her eyes at Sylvie to attract Kat''s attention to Sylvie who was pouting with full force and supporting what Vivian was saying. "You were in the hospital. YOU. Kat, Callisto told us how good your regeneration is, and we confirmed it with D.E.M.O.N.S estimation. Anything that could cause YOU of all people had to pretty serious"


    Kat gave a pinched smile, trying and failing to make it look genuine. "Really, it wasn''t so bad, it was just a little problem. My regeneration is so good that they don''t pull my out when I take light damage. So I had to be watched in the hospital for a few days afterwards and now I''mpletely fine"


    "Kat" said Vivian, voice going sharp. "I know you literally cannot lie to me. But stop lying to me. We were provided proper details when you ended up in the hospital, exining what the injury was and that you were very much unconscious for a few days before waking up. I''m not mad that it happened, but I am a little annoyed you tried to avoid telling me about it"


    Kat tightened the hug she had on the pair. "Sorry" mumbled Kat into Vivian''s back.