Extra 6: Captain Hazel

A woman with platinum blonde hair and opaque eyes stood in front of a mirror. Her expression was lacking as she met her own gaze. After a brief moment of silence, she reached up to smooth her straight silken hair and let out a sigh.

"I miss my old hair… Even if it was an annoyance to brush." 

She gave her cheeks a few slaps before grabbing the lunch bag from the kitchen and opening the front door. Due to her tall stature, she had to duck to avoid hitting the top of the doorframe. As she walked to the Academy from her new home at the tower, her abnormally sensitive hearing was able to pick up the giggles of teenage girls.

"Did you see the Headmaster today?"

"I did! I did! He was in the sun without a shirt on!!" 

"The Gods truly blessed us today with such great weather…"

"I wish they allowed him to always go around like that…"

"He's such a hottie!"

"A total hottie!"

"I think I know why demons always hid from humans, they are all so good looking!!! It makes me want to lock them up in my house!"

"I know, right!? Especially the Headmaster."

"If only he wasn't already with-"

Hazel snarled and quickened her steps, suddenly appearing in front of the girls. All three of them screamed at her sudden appearance and bowed respectfully to her, "C-Captain Hazel! G-Good afternoon!"

Hazel grimaced for a moment before returning back to her expressionless face. She gave a nod, "Good afternoon."

Without waiting to hear their frightened responses, Hazel shuffled forward quickly. Even as she disappeared around the corner, she heard the girls speaking behind her.

"Ah! She's so scary!"

"I know! I feel like she could break my body in half!"

"Do you think she heard us earlier?"

"There's no way. We wouldn't be alive if she heard us."

Hazel let out a heavy sigh and kept walking forward, trying to ignore everyone around her. She finally made her way into the office where she nodded to the secretary, "Good afternoon, Miss Karen."

The secretary let out an exhausted groan, "Why does everyone call me that?"

Hazel ignored this, "How is he doing? Has he gotten his paperwork done?"

"He started napping… I think you'll need to take over again."

"I don't mind." She reached out and grabbed the documents, carrying that and the lunch bag into the Headmaster's office. Zephyr was lying on the desk as a fox, bathing in the rays of sun twinkling in from the window. As soon as she entered, his ears twitched. Although he was in a deep sleep, he shook himself awake.

"Hazel!" As he changed back to his demon form, he jumped into her arms with sparkling eyes. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too." She let out a defeated sigh as she rubbed the top of his head, "Why are people talking about you not wearing a shirt today?"

"Oh, that? The Headmaster's suit was so stuffy and the sun was so strong! I had to take it off or I was going to faint!"

"You can't be taking off your clothes around children."

"I kept my pants on!!! I just removed the suffocating shirt!"

"Keep it on next time or else I will tell Reika."

He puffed out his cheeks with a pout, "Why do you care so much about me wearing a shirt? You never used to on the mountain."

Her eyes suddenly grew dark, "...Because I never had competition on the mountain."

He tilted his head, "Hm?"

"Never mind that. Your secretary told me you haven't finished your paperwork yet."

"Ah, Karen." He plopped down on his seat and crossed his arms, "I get so bored reading and writing all those useless documents."

Hazel calmly approached his desk and went through the documents, "They don't seem useless. These are all applications for teachers, students, and even forms that need approval."

"I will do them later, later."

"We have dinner plans with Cyrus and Reika tonight. Did you forget?"

"Ehhhh? Dinner with them?"

"You don't want to go?

"It's not that…" His finger tapped quickly, "I never know whether I should strangle or impart my wisdom onto Cyrus."

"..." Hazel stared at him expressionless, "...Why?"

"He is my son so I should be imparting wisdom onto him, but I want to strangle him because he's with the woman who was my mother!" Zephyr clicked his tongue in frustration, "What kind of incestual nonsense is that!? Sons shouldn't marry their mothers!!"

Hazel blinked slowly, "You know he's not your actual son, right?"

Zephyr stared at her dumbfounded, "What do you mean?"

"..."

Hazel cleared her throat and changed the subject, "So are we going?"

"Let's go."

"Will you be able to finish all of the paperwork by then?"

"It's fine. It's fine." He waved off her concerns before hopping over to her with a big grin, "So did you bring me lunch again? Is it my favorite?"

She handed him the bag of lunch, "Chicken, just the way you like it."

After he snatched it away, Hazel sat down at the desk to look through the documents. Zephyr ripped open the bag and started munching, only slowing down once he realized Hazel was at the desk doing the paperwork for him.

He spoke with a full mouth, "Whatcha doing?"

"Helping you catch up."

He forced down a large gulp of food, "But don't you got work to do too?"

"I already trained the new cadets this morning." She began writing and flipping through, "They will call for me if there is an emergency."

"Hmmmmm." 

Feeling a bit guilty, he crept over to her and started putting pieces of chicken in her mouth. Hazel was so focused on the paperwork that she was eating the food placed into her mouth without even thinking about it. Zephyr went back and forth between feeding her and himself until the food was all gone. After that, he turned into a fox and hopped on her lap to cuddle.

After finishing everything, children's voices could be heard chattering playfully outside. Hazel stretched with a sleeping Zephyr drooling on her lap. She heard a few light knocks and looked up to see the middle-aged secretary, "Finished?"

"Finished." She handed them over, "I'm sorry my husband isn't faster."

"Well, he's certainly no Aldrich when it comes to paperwork, but he isn't a terrible Headmaster." Her gaze was drawn to the window, "He really connects with the students. With him in charge, I've seen an increase in grades and mood. He can be really inspiring, always pushing them to do their best."

Hazel looked down at her lap with a soft smile and reached down to gently pet his head, "Yeah, he's really good at that."

The secretary collected the documents and left while Hazel tried to rouse Zephyr. He groaned, "Ughhh… Nap…"

"We have to go meet Reika, Zepphie."

He transformed back into a demon, but accidentally retained his ears and tails. His eyes blinked sleepily as he sat on her lap, "These clothes are stuffy."

Hazel chuckled and gave him a tender kiss, "If you take that off, what will Reika do?"

This seemed to wake him up properly as his face went pale. He scrambled off and rushed to the door, "Let's go before we are late."

Hazel laughed at his flustered appearance and followed after him. They arrived at the Palace where they met Reika and Cyrus in the dining hall. As they ate together, Cyrus and Zephyr started bickering over nonsense.

After finishing their dinner, Hazel stared out of the Palace window at the lights illuminating the city. She swished her glass of wine absentmindedly as her mind wandered.

Reika stepped over to Hazel, "Is everything alright, Hazel? You seem a bit down."

Hazel let out a soft sigh and put down her drink, "To tell you the truth, I hate this face. When I don't have an expression on, I look just like Vira. However, when I smile I look like Orphelio. Why do I have to look like them?"

"You look like Hazel to me."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't lie. Hazel had thick brown hair and a feeble body. I wish I was still like that."

"Is it really that bad to you?"

"It is! Not only am I taller than most women-" She motioned to her chest, "My chest also got smaller! That was Zephyr's favorite feature!! I have to compete with all these women when I lack the quality that he enjoys the most! I'm at a disadvantage!!!"

"I don't really think you need to worry about that." Reika peered at them, "Also, they aren't that small. They are a good shape, you just need to push them up."

"How so?"

Reika reached out and did it for her, "See? Look at how nice that looks!"

"Eh? I guess that's fine."

"See? So don't be too hard on yourself. Mine got bigger when I assimilated bodies, but they are still average. I WISH I had your body shape."

"I don't understand what you mean." She mirrored Reika's movements and did the same, "Look! Yours also look nice."

Cyrus and Zephyr shouted out simultaneously, "S-STOP TOUCHING MY WIFE!"

They both froze and then glared at each other.

Zephyr spat out, "Son, that's MY wife. So technically YOUR mother."

Cyrus narrowed his eyes, "Who is your son? Did you forget MY wife is the one who is YOUR mother?"

Zephyr attacked Cyrus who blocked his nails with his sword. Hazel and Reika silently watched the two of them fight.

Reika chuckled with a slight flush on her cheeks, "It's nice to see Father and Son getting along."

Hazel gave her a look, "Don't you think the relationship we all share is a bit weird? Zephyr and I are technically Cyrus's ancestors and you were our best friend who turned into Zephyr's mother."

"Eh. I just stopped thinking about it. If it's weird, it's weird. I can't change it and I wouldn't want to."

"But I have no idea how to refer to you."

Reika laughed and gave her a friendly nudge, "I'm your friend, aren't I? Just call me that."

"R-Reika!" 

Hazel suddenly picked her up into a tight bear hug.

Reika struggled to breathe, "D-Down girl!"