Mentioned Characters: Marisa, Patchouli, Koakuma

Patchouli Knowledge, the witch of the Great Library, has always been an avid reader. To her, books are like a second set of blood vessels. That's why Koakuma is indispensable to her. Why? Because blood vessels get clogged if you don't treat them right.

Koakuma serves as Patchouli's familiar, using her own ability to keep her mistress's reading habits running smoothly. She's a natural when it comes to tracking down and organizing books, but nobody knows if she actually likes reading them. Judging by her personality, she probably doesn't share Patchouli's taste for complicated books. If anything, she seems like the type who'd rather curl up with something light and packed with over-the-top action.

One day, Koakuma brought coffee to her mistress, who was in the middle of reading. It was just what she needed, and the timing couldn't have been better. She'd been feeling sluggish since she woke up that morning, which made her reading go slower than usual. Grateful, Patchouli explained the situation to Koakuma and accepted the coffee. Koakuma thought it over, then asked Patchouli if she'd ever considered listening to a book instead. "I've heard that in the outside world, some people listen to books instead of reading them." "Listen to them?" "Apparently, someone reads it to you from start to finish, right in your ear." Patchouli wondered if there were servants out there whose whole job was reading books aloud. What a decadent little luxury, she thought. "Books are meant to be read with your own eyes."

Koakuma had an idea, and she made a suggestion to her mistress. "Why don't I read that to you, Lady Patchouli?" Without waiting for an answer, she took the book from Patchouli and began reading it aloud, only to be lost almost immediately. Patchouli had been reading a complex Eastern magic book, its pages a blur of unfamiliar cursive script and cryptic symbols of unknown origin. That's when an intruder strolled in casually as if she owned the place. "Well look at that. I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff too." Neither Patchouli nor Koakuma so much as flinched, since this sort of thing happened all the time. "How do you even read this?" Koakuma asked the intruder. Marisa was more than happy to answer, and explained how to read it. "OK, what about this one?" "That's a symbol for one of the five elements." As Marisa and Koakuma went back and forth above her, Patchouli sipped her coffee and listened absently, all the while thinking to herself: Why has this suddenly turned into a magic book reading lesson?

After a while, Koakuma had drifted off to sleep, breathing softly with a peaceful smile on her face. She'd apparently worn herself out from Marisa's lecture and nodded off without meaning to. Marisa, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found, and the magic book she'd used for her lecture was gone with her. Patchouli vaguely recalled her saying she was borrowing it on her way out, though she certainly hadn't given permission. The Great Library had fallen silent, filled with nothing but the soft sound of Koakuma's breathing. Patchouli stood and gazed at the rows of books lining the shelves, then looked at Koakuma, who was fast asleep. After a moment's thought, she picked out a book from the shelf. Not one of her complicated magic books, but something Koakuma might actually enjoy. She began reading it aloud, leaning in close to Koakuma's ear. There she was, reading a precious book to her own familiar. It was just a whim, she told herself.