A bunch of Chiaki's former classmates.

Hajime opened his door with a scowl, touching his tie as if gesturing to it would show the solicitor how busy he was. "Look, whatever you're selling, I'm late for...?" He trailed off, realizing the group in front of his door clearly weren't door to door salesmen (or men at all, for that matter).

All three ladies there seemed as surprised to see him as he was to see them. "Hajime...?" The redhead in front muttered, before her freckled face fixed into a scowl, as if he'd passed his earlier frown to her. "Hajime, I can't believe this! You're Chiaki's next door neighbor? And you wrote that messed-up stuff about her on the school forum?!"

"Hajime, I thought you were a good egg!" The young woman behind her, pale-skinned and wearing her blue-and-pink striped dark hair in a bizarre two-horned style, shouted accusingly with what sounded like overblown hurt. "But as it turns out, that's not what you cracked up to be?! Omelette you explain yourself if youmalette us in for food...!" She paused her rant to wink and point a finger gun in the air. "That's right, I didn't wake up in time for breakfast!"

"What they said, minus the stupid egg stuff," the shorter girl with her hair done up in a huge blonde crescent ponytail added, showing him a scary, unfriendly smile. "When Big Sis Mahiru told us about it, we were all really surprised to read that trashy joke of a post, Hajime! I'm waiting for the punchline, okay? Hey, I hope it's reeeally funny, since we dragged our butts all the way over here for it!"

Mahiru Koizumi was the name of the redhead at the front of the group. Although she looked down-to-earth compared to the other two, dressed in a simple olive-green dress and beige jacket, the camera around her neck was a persistent reminder of her title as the Ultimate Photographer. As it had been back at the academy, her short-cut hair framed her freckled face, which always seemed to be in a perpetual frown around Hajime. He'd never gotten close enough to her to know why she seemed to hate his guts so much...

The colorful one in the back was Ibuki Mioda, the Ultimate Musician. She was the kind of person you wouldn't forget after meeting once, especially since she hadn't changed her hairstyle. That said, she was now dressed in a violet-dyed leather jacket, a skirt of a similar color, a dark strapless tee with an elaborate skull pattern on it, and a variety of studded belts. Seeing that was a clear reminder how she'd moved on from school and onto the stage.

The last one was Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer. She'd always looked younger than her classmates in school, and now... Well, she was still a little shorter than them (not counting her massive hairdo), but she had filled out into an attractive adult figure. Even for an impromptu visit like this, she was wrapped in an elaborate and floral patterned kimono. As far as Hajime knew, she also hated his guts, but he didn't take that personally; she seemed to treat everyone but her closest friends like dirt.

In any case...

Hajime tried to close his door behind him on his way out of his apartment. "W-well, sorry you came all this way for nothing, but I really gotta get to work-"

Hiyoko reached a palm out past him to hold his door open, then slipped under his arm to finish putting herself in his doorway. "Not so fast! Weren't you paying attention?"

Now, Mahiru looked at him a little apologetically. "Sorry, but it's like that... Can we come in for just a second? I was hoping we'd catch Chiaki herself and she could clear this up, but we didn't have any luck."

Figuring he couldn't say no, Hajime simply sighed and let the three Ultimates past him into his relatively bare apartment, praying that Chiaki had made herself scarce and hadn't left that toy he'd seen earlier somewhere in the room for them to find. He shut the door behind him as he entered as the last one.

Mahiru and Hiyoko seemed to understand they didn't need to go much past his doorway, but Ibuki marched right on in and began gawking at everything. "Holy shit!" she shouted. "This is the most amazingly un-amazing apartment in the history of the Apartmenternet! Hajime, remind me to hire you when my room gets too crazy and I need it kicked down a notch. Say, speaking of mild recipes, about those eggs! Got any tabasco?"

Hajime sighed. "There's eggs in the fridge... Look, you all, I really do need to get on to work, but I guess it's important I make myself clear. I can understand why you're upset, but I'm sorry to say the truth is much worse than just me playing a dumb prank. What I said in that post last night is true: Chiaki's really turned into an imp. There's this magic tome that's taken over her mind, and- Ibuki, do you have to eat that in my bed?! Wait, why are you eating my lunch, anyway?!"

Ibuki now sat on Hajime's bed as though he didn't have a table and cushions, chewing on a sandwich he'd made for his lunch. "I mean, you weren't taking this to work with you anyway, right? Forgetters, leavers, lookers, keepers! And lunch in bed is like, the meal of kings. They say you don't truly know a man until you eat a foot-long in his bed."

"... Is that supposed to be an innuendo...? Never mind, forget it. So, did you all come with a plan to deal with Chiaki?"

Mahiru pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, while Hiyoko only laughed at him. The redhead gave him a response. "No, of course not. We didn't come over here to stop Chiaki from turning into an imp, whatever that means. The three of us are traveling together. I'm the official photographer for their first independent roadshow. We were in the area, and..." Mahiru trailed off, glancing away for only a moment, looking ashamed. "Well, your post was actually the first we'd heard of Chiaki living here, so we wanted to come by and say hi. And tell you off for trying to spread rumors about Chiaki, of course!"

Hiyoko glared at him with scary eyes once again. "You're not very funny, Hajime... Are you still holding onto that weak lie? I'm not just gonna let a nasty liar do what he wants living next to my buddy Chiaki. You better come up with a better story before I take matters into my own hands."

Hajime put his hand to his lips again, cursing that he hadn't taken any photos or video as proof. "Look, I'd love to just take you next door and show you what's going on, but- Oh crap, look!"

He shouted as his eyes had wandered to his shared wall with Chiaki's apartment, as though he might be able to see her through it. It turned out, he didn't need to see through it: the imp's shoulders and up were extending through his wall. Her face wore its usual passive look of concentration as she held one finger up to her lips, then began moving her stubby arms in a hypnotic motion around Ibuki's head, reminiscent of a mystic with a crystal ball. As she did so, tiny, glittering specks drifted down from her fingers, twinkling in Ibuki's already-colorful hairdo.

As Hajime watched this, no one else turned around. Hiyoko rolled her eyes with a mocking grin. "Dummy, you think we're gonna fall for that and let you outta here? If you're gonna try the ol' 'Look over there!' trick, maybe wait until we're outside where-"

Before she could protest (and she did protest), Hajime grabbed the girl by her thin shoulders and whirled her around. When the two were facing that way, they were just in time to see Chiaki had evidently turned around and fled, a pink pom-pom tail disappearing into the solid surface of the wall. Meanwhile, Ibuki was suddenly out like a light, snoring loudly with an uneaten bite of sandwich falling out of her mouth and onto the plate in her lap. She fell over onto her side, looking incredibly relaxed.

Hiyoko was staring at the wall with dinner-plate eyes. The small girl stammered. "W-w-what the heck... What kinda trick was that, Hajime? I s-s-saw something on your wall... L-like a tail, but for a second, I'm pretty sure I saw a... butt! I saw a big butt go through your wall! Was that Chiaki?"

Mahiru looked at Hiyoko, startled. She hadn't seen the imp herself, but she seemed to trust Hiyoko's reaction. "Hajime... Chiaki's an imp with a tail now? You weren't lying? You were serious?"

Hajime gulped, then nodded. "Yeah... I know it's hard to believe, but she's actually over there now. You can probably go see for yourselves. And, now that you know I'm telling the truth..." The young man knit his brow, then bent at the waist in a bow of apology. "I'm so sorry, but I've really got to get to work! I don't have any kind of talent, anyway, so I don't think I'd be much help. Can I leave it to you three to bring Chiaki to her senses? I think there should still be a way to undo this!"

Hiyoko, who'd seen the imp, still seemed too stunned to respond, but Mahiru gave him an affirmative nod. Now that the gravity had become apparent, Mahiru seemed to have naturally fit into the role of trying to calm down her friends. "I get it, Hajime. Unlike some of us, you don't have a flexible schedule to deal with this. Hiyoko and I will calm down... take a couple of deep breaths... then, let's wake up Ibuki and go over there. We'll have a nice chat with our friend, and I'm sure we can sort this all out."

The smaller girl had regained some of her composure thanks to Mahiru, but was still staring at the spot on the wall where Chiaki had disappeared. "Chiaki... used some kind of spell on Ibuki, didn't she? There's no way Ibuki would just zonk out like that on a strange guy's bed..."

Hajime chuckled dryly. "I'm not exactly a strange guy... Chiaki introduced us all to each other back at the Academy, right? Uh, nevermind, that's not important right now. I'll leave this to you all. Thanks so much. I'm counting on you!"

"Just do what you have to do, Hajime." Mahiru gave him a reassuring, reliable smile. "We'll lock up for you here. Oh, and uh, I'll make sure Ibuki pays you back for the sandwich later. Sorry about that."

"Ah, don't sweat that." Hajime grabbed his things again, then headed for the door. "Just be careful, okay? Um... I don't think Chiaki's dangerous, but she's definitely not herself. Hiyoko's probably right in thinking she used some kind of spell on Ibuki, so... I don't really have any advice, but keep your guard up."

Mahiru only smiled and shooed him on. Once he was finally out, she let out a sigh she'd been holding in and began trying to shake Ibuki awake.

Hiyoko, finding that process too slow, joined the photographer in shaking their sleepy friend more roughly, clenching her teeth. Once Ibuki began to stir, she turned to Mahiru with unusual timidity. "Big Sis Mahiru... W-we're gonna call the cops or something, right? I mean, this is, like... Actual magic, right? Not like Angie's superstitious mumbo jumbo or Himiko's made-up tricks, but... like actual demons? From anime, or uh... the Bible?"

Mahiru shook her head. "I'm not convinced Chiaki's a danger to anyone yet. I mean, she might have put Ibuki to sleep, but that's just a harmless prank, right? A sweet girl like Chiaki wouldn't hurt anyone. I'm sure all we need to do is have a little chat."