Chapter 29 by Gambio

Next Episode: 12th February

Dahlia’s Date Day(Date)

Dahlia was nervous when she arrived at the master suite shortly before noon.

It was a weird feeling.

She never felt that way before. She always knew how to talk to Ash. Of course she did. She was his best friend. His only friend. The only person in the world that he can trust.

She thus was not happy at all when she saw the Dog bully sitting outside of his room.

“What are you doing here?”, Dahlia asked with a frown.

“Reckon what, mate?””, Liz snarled back. "You're the Sheila who gave me this bloody ripper job!"

That’s right. She did.

Dahlia gave her a brief nod. “You should have stopped her.”

“Eh?”

“De Sade. If you would have properly guarded Ash, I wouldn’t have had to do this.”

Liz raised a brow. “Are you having a lend of me? You reckon I'm muckin' up mindin' Shortstuff?”

“Evidently”, Dahlia responded coldly. “You need to do a better job.”

"Righto then, mate."

Liz stood up.

And blocked the entrance to the suite.

“What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like?”, Liz gave her a crooked smile. "I'm just doin' me job, mate."

Dahlia inhaled sharply. “Stop this nonsense.”

“Nah.”

The brunette took a step closer. “Let me through.”

“Make me.”

Dahlia moved even closer and tried to shove Liz out of the way. Unfortunately for her the Dog girl proved to be quite resilient and only scoffed at her efforts.

"That's all ya got, love? Give it some welly, Sheila."

“L-Let me in!”

“Nah.”

Before long, Dahlia was grunting with exertion. She was in decent physical form, but still absolutely no match for Liz.

The dog girl grinned triumphantly, her tail wagging with excitement. "How about you get ya kit off and get on ya hands and knees? If ya chuck us a decent 'sorry', might just let ya througyaaaaahhhhh!!!!”

Dahlia had grabbed her bushy tail.

The sensation was extremely unpleasant. Akin to when your hand falls asleep, only spread over the entire body.

“Let me through”, Dahlia growled.

In response, Liz lunged at her.

Dahlia, who did not expect this, immediately lost her balance and the two girls crashed to the ground.

She kept her grip around the tail though and the sudden shift of balance sent another jolt of electricity through Liz’s body.

“Gaaahhh…”

The dog girl shuddered and convulsed.

Meanwhile Dahlia stubbornly held on. She was planning on joining the police. There is no way she will let herself be beaten by a common delinquent!

“Submit!”, she demanded, now using both hands to squeeze the tail.

“SUBMIT THIS!”

Liz 's hands pushed forward and grabbed Dahlia’s massive boobs in ****.

“E-eek!”

Fondled a contestants breast+0.5 VP

"Oi, good on ya, Sheila! Wanna give it a burl? Let's see how long ya reckon you'll last!"

Liz was sweating. Normally she would just punch the girls light’s out but her body felt weak as fuck. Every single movement felt like she was traveling through sludge.

Because of this, she needed to rely on some more unconventional methods to make this haughty bitch cry uncle.

TWIST.

“AAHH!”

don’t get your nipples in a twist -1VP

First time bonus -1VP

nipple twister! +1VP

First time bonus +1VP

Violation of the masters no **** rule -0.5 VP

With a grin, Liz twisted Dahlia’s nipples. A very effective technique!

Even so, Dahlia held on stubbornly to her tail. Fuck, this bitch was stubborn.

Eventually, Liz noticed a damp wetness between her fingers. What the? Did she draw blood?

TUG!

Violation of the masters no **** rule -0.5 VP

OUCH!

Dahlia had switched tactics and was now yanking on Liz’s tail

It hurt like hell!

That fucking bitch!

TUG!

SQUEEZE!

TUG!

“H-hey! What is going on here?”

The tussle of the two girls was finally interrupted when Ashley stepped out of his suite.

“Ash!”, Dahlia gasped.

“Oi, shortstuff”, Liz nodded casually.

“Ash!”, the brunette repeated, still holding the tail. “She...she didn’t let me through!”

“Liz. Get off her.” Ashley commanded sharply.

“Yeah, yeah” Liz grumbled, exhausted but nowhere near ready to show a sign of weakness. "Was just havin' a bonza time, ya know? No need to get your undies in a bunch."

But Ashley didn’t respond. Instead he just helped Dahlia up. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah…”, the brunette responded, then gasped again as she finally noticed her by now thoroughly soaked shirt.

Ashley blushed and looked away. “Liz…what the hell?”

“What?”, the doggie girl shrugged her shoulders. “Not my fault if Sheila over 'ere's sprung a leak, Shortstuff.”

“SIT!”

…

Carol’s teeth hurt.

Of course they did. She noticed the toothache as far back as the night she arrived.

But it slowly got worse and what’s even more concerning, the rate at which it got worse seemed to be exponential.

In the evening two days ago the pain was a 2. Yesterday late afternoon it was a 4

And now, on the morning of the second day, it was 6. A level that could no longer be ignored no matter with what she distracted herself.

At this rate...could she even make it to her date night?

The answer was obvious. 24 hours from now the pain will be so bad, Carol won’t be able to think of anything else. No, she might not even be able to sleep tonight.

The freckled girl glanced upwards towards the clocktower.

10:30.

What a waste.

She planned to explore Ludo Manor today but instead she spend half the morning already with what? Moping around? Pitying herself? She didn’t even make use of that time to get her work done.

This wasn’t like her. She despised procrastination. She was a diligent person. She liked to study and get ahead.

But this was a situation were getting ahead was detrimental. The ideal strategy was to stay in the middle of the pack.

But it wasn’t just that.

Teacher de Sade will win this competition.

Carol had absolutely no doubt about that. Based on the information her teacher provided her, that was a foregone conclusion.

As for Carol. Her place was secured, as long as she would not waver in her loyalty. Her master promised her that.

And for now, that loyalty simply meant biding her time.

On the flip side, that also meant that any excessive actions on her part could be seen as disobedience.

It was frustrating.

She was doing well in the competition too. Tied for second place. Her competitive side wants to get ahead.

But she couldn’t.

All she was good for is offering up her breasts to her fellow competitors like a whore.

That and sucking cock.

…

Carol grabbed the bottle she received from the nurse yesterday. And popped one of the pills into her mouth.

…

Normally, lunch would be prepared for the master by now. This was not the case this time for the simple reason that his date had the privilege to dictate the masters day from noon until evening.

It was clear however that Dahlia had not planned anything of the sorts. Nor was she particularly dressed for a date, opting instead to wear her secretary look, including the glasses. (Not that Ashley was complaining.)

Unfortunately(?) her white blouse was quite ruined by a certain white substance and so the first part of their “date” was spent with Dahlia in the bathroom while Ashley anxiously waited on the couch.

Dahlia finally returned. Still wearing the same outfit with which she arrived, with the exception of her soiled blouse.

That one had given way to a shirt that looked surprisingly familiar.

It was part of Ashley’s school uniform, which he wore when he was ****.

“T-there was nothing else for me to wear”, Dahlia mumbled.

Now, the problem here was that Dahlia had a good 0.3 feet(10 cm) over Ashley and the shirt was thus considerably too short.

Not to mention her massive bust.

The result was something that would give Carol a run for her money.

Ashley tried his best not to stare as he bid his date to sit down on the couch. He followed soon after, leaving a tasteful gap between the two.

"So, your suite is some giant cable car?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. That's pretty neat."

"Yeah, I guess it is..."

...

The atmosphere was surprisingly tense and not just because of the way Dahlia was dressed.

“Ash”, Dahlia finally started after an eternity of silence. “How are you holding up?”

The master **** himself to show a shaky smile. “I...I can manage.”

It wasn't exactly what Dahlia wanted to hear. “Are you still feeling unwell? That teacher...what exactly did she do to you?”

“I…”, Ashley gulped. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Oh...”

Dahlia looked away.

…

Ashley blushed and squeezed his legs together. He then took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Listen. Yesterday...um….some of the girls purchased something with their Bonus Points that uh...affected me.”

Dahlia slowly nodded. “Y-Yeah, I’m aware.”

“Y-You are?” Ashley looked up. “Then, do you know who did this?”

The brunette meanwhile looked down to her legs. “That…”

...

“It was me Ash…”

An even more oppressive silence fell over the suite.

“You…”

“Ash.” Dahlia interrupted him, finally meeting his gaze again. “Do you still trust me?”

Ashley found himself surprised that he didn’t have an answer for that question immediately.

“Ash”, Dahlia repeated. “If I wanted to frame one of the girls it probably would be very easy to do.”

“Framing?”

The brunette nodded. “Liz would be an obvious target. She hates de Sade more than anyone. If I told you it was Liz you would believe me, right?”

The master blinked. “Y-yes...but…”

“I could make something up like Liz wanting to protect you”, Dahlia continued. “Maybe add something about the orders I gave her in my position as manager. But it wasn’t Liz. It was me. I did this.”

Ashley opened his mouth only for no sound to come out. “Are you...are you trying to..."

Dahlia shook her head. “It was me. I did it. If you want to punish anyone, punish me.”

…

Ashley let out a loud sigh.

“You are too good a person, you know that?”

“I’m not. It’s just that everyone else is a bully.”

“You know, I was planning on punishing whoever did this to me”, Ashley finally admitted while sheepishly scratching his cheek. “But I also did some pretty screwed up things yesterday. So, maybe the best thing is to just call it even.”

Dahlia had a bit of a complicated look on her face. “Is that really alright?”

“What do you mean?”

The brunette let out a sigh. “Matters are pretty bad, Ash. With the girls, I mean.”

"Did something happen?"

Ashley regretted the question the moment it came out of his mouth. Was he a moron? Of course something happened! She was going to town with LIz! Not to mention all the crazy stuff that happened with Megan and de Sade!

"Ash. You need to keep these girls in line."

“Ah.”

Of course.

Yesterday was proof that leaving the girls to their own devices was not possible.

For the sake of everyone, he needs to step up. He realized this the very first day he arrived here.

Instead of whatever the hell this is he should be strategizing with Dahlia and ask her about the current situation with the girls.

No, he should have been present at breakfast instead of hiding in here.

He knew all this.

But…

It came so easy to him yesterday but now all that confidence is gone again.

“I’m not sure, I’m up to it.”

It was a pathetic thing to say.

Once again, an awkward silence settled between the two.

Dahlia stared at Ashley's conflicted face for a long time.

Then suddenly, she bolted upright so fast that her boobs jiggled. “Alright, I got it! I know exactly what you need!”

“Y-you do?”

His childhood friend nodded eagerly. “Of course! All this moping around and blaming yourself is poison! You need to clear your head and you are certainly not doing this in this depressing suite!"

"I...I wouldn't call it depressing..."

"You need to clear your head!", Dahlia declared in a tone that broke no argument. "You need to have fun! Let’s have some fun today. Just the two of us!"

Ashley blushed. “J-just the two of us?”

“Not like that, you pervert”, Dahlia gave a bashful smile. “We’re going out! Let’s go! Fun!"

…

Tock.

Ashley gave the ball a gentle tap. It rolled down the slope, entered the giant penguin and came out the other side.

Plick.

“HOLE IN ONE!

“CONG”

“RAT”

“ULATIONS!”

The invisible and very scratchy speaker announced.

“Yay! Good job, Ash! That was amazing!"

Ash smiled to Dahlia’s praise. Who would have thought this crazy place actually had something as mundane as a mini golf course?

Well he did. He read the map after all. Obviously.

But even so, it was hard to believe that this was in fact just that. A regular, penguin themed, mini golf course. He half expected something crazy to happen but so far they made it halfway through the course without incident.

"How are you feeling now?", Dahlia asked eagerly. "Better right? This is much better then being stuck in that suite. You're having fun, right?"

"Y-yeah...", Ashley smiled back. "I'm having fun. Your turn."

It was even pretty close. Normally, Ashley had no chance against her but Dahlia still had some problems with her...uh...balance.

Tock.

She punted the ball, but her timing was slightly off, causing it to rebound on the giant penguin.

“Ah shoot!”, Dahlia clicked her tongue. She got it on the second try. “Hey. What’s the score now?”

"Don't worry, you're still ahead. 17:18 for you."

Dahlia widened her eyes. “I-I’m winning? No way! Are you sure?”

“I do think I kept score properly, yes”, Ashley chuckled.

Dahlia clicked her tongue again. “I’m ahead...I’m winning? Seriously? No way…”

The frantic way Dahlia said that somewhat unnerved Ashley. "Uh...Dahlia...what's wrong?"

In response Dahlia showed an even bigger smile. "N-Nothing! Everything's fine! Don't worry about it!"

Right.

“Hey? Wanna take a break? We haven’t eaten yet”, the master suggested to placate the for some reason very frustrated looking brunette.

Dahlia gasped. “W-We haven’t! I’m so sorry!”

Apparently that slipped her mind.

“What are you apologizing for?", Ashley laughed. “I forgot about it too.”

"B-But it's my date. That was my responsibility...", Dahlia responded just as the clocktower began to loudly chime.

“♬ TRIUMPH”

It said triumph 13 times.

“Oh no...it’s already one”, Dahlia looked at the clock tower devastated. “I missed lunch.”

“It’s fine”, Ashley reassured. “We just have a bigger dinner.”

But Dahlia let herself down on one of the benches. “I screwed up again.”

“Dahlia?”

The brunette had a difficult expression on her face. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, Ash. I...this never happened before.”

A bit confused, Ashley joined her. “What do you mean?”

“Mistakes. I’m making way too many mistakes. I nearly got Megan eliminated. I couldn’t protect you from de Sade and now I can't even take you on a proper date. I just...don’t get it.”

“Dahlia come on”, Ashley smiled. "This date is great. I'm having fun!"

"No, you don't", Dahlia responded. "Not enough at least. I didn't even prepare anything for today. I completely screwed up!"

Ashley's smile wavered. There was something very wrong here. "Why are you letting this bother you so much? This isn’t like you.”

“Exactly!”, Dahlia’s voice had a slightly manic tone to it. “This isn’t like me! I don’t make mistakes!”

“What are you even talking about?”, Ashley tried to sound casual but the sentence came out strained. “This situation is way too crazy. Of course we’re making mistakes.”

“Then do you remember?”

“Hm?”

Dahlia stared at Ashley. “Do you remember a single time I made a mistake before?”

…

Ashley racked his brain.

Common sense would dictate that of course she did. He has known Dahlia for as long as he can remember. If the benchmark is as low as missing lunch then there should be plenty of examples.

And yet.

Every memory of Dahlia came up as her being perfect. A spotless record.

...

“See?”, Dahlia stared at him. “Something’s wrong with me. I’m probably affected by another transformation. Or something those bullies did to me.”

It was indeed odd, Ashley thought.

But the pit in his stomach had a somewhat different cause.

“The hedge-maze.”

“The what?”, Dahlia cocked her head.

“When we were kids we got lost in a hedge-maze. Remember? That counts as a mistake.”

“Well, I guess…”, Dahlia didn’t sound very convinced.

“In fact”, Ashley let his gaze wander towards the large green structure that loomed at the edge of the garden.

“How about we rectify that mistake?”

…

The Hedge-maze was beautiful and intricate in design. It was also rather large and thus you could not overlook it the moment you entered the garden.

Of course, Ashley wasn’t a moron.

Entering a Hedge-maze in a place as insane as this was just asking for trouble.

But, well.

He could use a bit of trouble.

There was a queer sort of tension between Dahlia and himself. Something that never existed before. They always understood each other on a fundamental level.

Then there was the strange way she was acting.

Her claiming she never made mistakes was absurd. Yes, he couldn’t think of many examples, but that’s just how the brain works. We don’t remember insignificant occurrences.

Up until now he just chalked this up to this situation. Dahlia’s odd behavior could easily be explained by the immense stress.

And yet…

A very, very disturbing thought slowly but surely reared it’s head.

He tried to dismiss it, but the more he tried to ignore it, the more consistent it became.

Was this person really Dahlia?

It should be nonsensical. Both Shizu and Kikki knew her. Neither of them voiced any concerns.

But then again it was also true that neither of them knew her on such a deep level as he did.

Why Dahlia of all people? He didn’t have these misgivings with any of the other girls. De Sade was terrifying but very much still the same biology teacher that abused him. Shizu betrayed him but she was also still the very same person he knew since childhood.

So, why only Dahlia?

“Ash?”

The question snapped him out of his reverie.

“Ah, y-yes?”

His childhood friend(?) smiled at him. This was better. Looking like that she really was indistinguishable from the Dahlia he remembered.

“I’m surprised you still remember that. The maze I mean.”

He did.

“It had to be...over ten years now?”, Dahlia mused as she slowly walked the green path. “We were together with Shizu at that old run down creepy amusement park.”

“Right”, Ashley nodded. “I think it was called Cheery Clown Land?”

“Crazy Clown Country.” Dahlia smiled, as if she was remembering a treasured memory. “Shizu just got her drivers license and she decided that the best way to celebrate that was going on a cross country roadtrip with the two of us.”

Ashley laughed. “She wasn’t even telling us what she was planning to do before we were on the highway! It was basically an abduction!”

“Right!”, Dahlia grinned. “And that park in the middle of nowhere had like five rides. And three were out of commission.”

“No wonder we went into that stupid hedge maze. It was basically the only thing you could do in the entire park!”

“Corn maze.”Dahlia corrected, turning a corner. “Ah shoot, dead end.”

“Yep”, Ashley nodded with a small chuckle. “Shizu was way too eager too. We ended up getting separated and you started crying as it was getting dark.”

“I didn’t cry!”, Dahlia gasped in outrage. “I even told you the left hand on wall trick to get us out faster!”

…

“You did”, Ashley confirmed. “Got us out just before the park closed.”

“And Shizu was just waiting at the exit, not looking bothered in the slightest!”

Ashley smiled. Not because of the memory. It was pretty terrifying actually. But he was glad that Dahlia remembered.

Mentally he took a deep breath.

“Do you remember the promise we made back then?”

Dahlia blinked a few times. “O-of course I do.”

“We promised that if we make it out of there alive we would get married.”

…

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Dahlia was blushing from head to toe.