Chapter 131 – Sister Dearest
Chapter 131 – Sister Dearest
"You guys were spying on me this whole time?!" I complained to the trio above my head.
"Forgive us, my que— Saeko," one of the succubus serving Hatsumi said. "It's just that your sister is queen now, even if temporarily, you were the one who wished for us to abide by her rule for the time being."
My sister shook her head disapprovingly. "Now, now, Saeko. They are only following my orders. Like a certain little sister should be, not lying or sneaking off in the middle of the night to have sex."
A chill crept up my spine. How much more did Hatsumi know? The look on Koga's face told me he was utterly charmed. Good chance he spilled everything to her if that was the case.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Hatsumi landed on the ground next to me and slipped two index fingers underneath my choker, threatening to pull it off.
"I'm sorry." I sighed in resignation. "I shouldn't have lied and not gone out behind your back when I should be studying. Is that enough? The kendo club is waiting for me."
Without me realizing, Hatsumi unstrapped the choker from my neck. I instinctively reached out to try and snatch it back, but she sidestepped me.
"That's mine!"
"I won't allow it. Now everytime I see it, I imagine someone else owning you and that just can't be. I may be kind enough to let him live, but you're not wearing this under my roof." Hatsumi folded her arms.
Defiantly, I strengthened my aura around Hatsumi in an attempt to control her. She countered just as quickly, and the battle of our wills rendered the nearby succubi trembling with fear and arousal.
"It's one thing to tell me what to do, but it's another to take what's mine. So what if I had a fling? I liked Koga. He gave me that choker, so you better give it back or we're going to tear this school apart playing keep away." I glared, clenching my fists with every intention to fight.
Taken aback by my rebelliousness, Hatsumi shut her eyes and strengthened her own aura. It was beginning to seem like we really were going to fight…
"Damn, who woke up on the wrong side of bed with gonorrhea?"
Until Mio showed up.
Everyone turned in the direction of the school's back entrance.
"If you guys are gonna duke it out, then it better be with a heavy dose fucking." Mio emerged from the school appearing not so impressed by our display of force. She, out of all of us, understood what happens when two bickering succubus siblings fought.
I backed down and dissipated my spell, however, my sister wasn't so easily swayed. She turned a furious gaze to Mio.
"I know you two have been keeping secrets from me. I haven't been able to say anything until now. How could I? You two were succubus, and I was just a regular human being. Tell me the truth, Mio. What is your relationship with Saeko?" Hatsumi asked her.
If Hatsumi had known all this time about Mio, then did that also mean she knew about Kana?
"Saeko's my girlfriend," Mio said. "There. You heard it straight from the horse's mouth. Watcha gonna do about it?"
Just like that?!
I flipped my gaze between Mio and Hatsumi, wondering if I should step between them in case something happened.
My sister smiled. "Oh, nothing."
I thought that was going to be the end of it, until Hatsumi fired a spell at Mio. It struck a barrier instead. Yumi and Hana flew out to join us in facing my sister.
"Queen or not, we won't forgive you if you hurt Mio." Yumi opened her eyes, putting the succubi behind Hatsumi in a state of terror.
"Uwah… It hasn't even been a week yet, and we're about to brawl again?" Hana groaned aloud.
There was one more succubus in this school that hadn't cast their die in yet, and I sensed their aura nearby. Selene was in the club room right now, just… hiding. Either way, this was getting out of hand. The longer we were out here, the more we risked being seen.
I waved the others down to let me handle this. "Hatsumi, you're going too far. You were the one who told me to be careful about showing my succubus self in public, then you decided to confront me in the open and just now tried to hurt Mio. We can at least both agree that this isn't the place to talk. How about just waiting until I come home?."
Finding reason in my words, Hatsumi let out a long-drawn sigh and relented at last.
"You're right. Our talk continues when you two return, and don't think about staying elsewhere. I have eyes in this whole city now," Hatsumi said.
As she turned to leave, Mio wanted to get the final word in. "You're starting to sound a lot like Bea, and we know what happened to her."
A sentence that I wished Mio hadn't said, because it couldn't sound more like a threat if she tried.
Without even humoring it, Hatsumi returned my choker and the trio of succubus flew off.
Finally able to breathe again with my sister gone. I never expected us to get into a quarrel, but here we were. Giving Hatsumi the sword might have been a mistake. She already proved herself to have qualities of a succubus and was accepted by the Blade when Beatrice turned her.
Thankfully, I had friends on my side.
"The hell was that all about?" Mio asked.
"That's my line! You just threatened Hatsumi," I fired back.
She shrugged. "Sassing queens is kinda my gimmick. Besides, I'm not liking the way she's talking to you."
"That makes three of us," Yumi said, landing next to us with Hana. "While I do not appreciate the tone she has taken with you, I still think it's important you two have a proper talk with her. Your sister isn't unreasonable, as evidenced by her backing down just now."
"I know… I'll face her when I get home." I frowned.
Mio figured out why it happened right away upon laying eyes on the choker and on Koga who was still in a daze.
"Ohoho~ You and the nerd, huh? Someone to pull into the harem?" Mio nudged me repeatedly.
"N-No! We had a thing for a bit, but I already turned him down. It was all a mistake though, because that led to Hatsumi finding out, and then all that happening just now." I threw my arms up in resignation.
"Heh. All because you couldn't keep it in your pants. It will never not be funny that you used to be like, 'sex with other people? B-b-but my chastity!' Now look who's a horndog. Kahahaha!" She cackled until I socked her in the arm.
With the danger over, Yumi and Hana went back to what they were doing. I put the choker back on and walked over to Koga. He came back to his senses once I broke the charm's hold on him.
"W-What happened? Why do I feel so horny all of a sudden?" Koga glanced around for answers only to see me and Mio.
I gave him the quick and ugly about what just happened since he deserved as much. "I accidentally roped you into a quarrel between siblings. I'm sorry, Koga."
"Can't be too bad, right?" Mio smirked, grabbing me from behind and putting her hand above my crotch. "Ya got to fuck some prime poon in return."
"I-I had no idea! I'm the one who should be sorry! If I caused you trouble, I can't help but feel bad. But for it to continue causing trouble even after we stopped? Maybe I should apologize to your sister?" Koga suggested.
Both Mio and I immediately shut him down.
"That… definitely wouldn't go well," I warned.
After I convinced Koga to leave it at that, we went to kendo practice as I had intended to since school ended. To no surprise of us succubus given what transpired a few minutes ago, many of the boys were walking around weird, faces slightly red, and covering their groins with various items like a towel or helmet.
"Hey, Saeko!" Gouda greeted me, himself also acting weird. "We were just about to start practice, but, uh… all of us started having a little biology problem…"
"You know what that means?" Mio flashed a wide grin.
I slapped a hand over her mouth. "It means, why don't you guys take a breather outside! Maybe the cold will do some good!"
Gouda thought that was a good idea and rallied the practicing members outside.
"Killjoy." Mio groaned.
"Hatsumi's already angry. I'm not coming home smelling like I bathed in cum!" I yelled.
The door to the locker room cracked open and out came Selene, who looked like she was hiding just as I expected.
"And why weren't you outside?" I folded my arms.
"My apologies. I can't bring myself to side against you, but neither can I side against your sister. " Selene lowered her head apologetically.
"Chickenshit." Mio taunted with joy.
After practice, Mio went home first to give me a forecast of how Hatsumi was feeling before I got back. As I took the long way home through the city, I stopped by a cafe to pick up parfait for us. Highly doubtful that it would curb my sister's wrath, but at least I'd be coming home in good faith.
Once I walked inside, however, the aura of an unexpected patron alerted me to their presence.
"Taleia?" I called out.
"Oh, bother. I felt your aura from here and was hoping you'd keep walking." Taleia, Yumi's little sister, suddenly lost the appetite for her parfait, as though my coming here poured a pile of salt on it.
"Okay, it's clear you still don't appreciate my company. I'll just take my leave."
As I went for the exit, the succubus tapped on the glass container of her parfait to call for the waiter.
"May I have the menu, please?" Taleia signaled for the waiter, then returned her attention to me. "I didn't say anything about not wanting to see your face. Let me treat you as thanks for a while back."
Skittishly, I accepted Taleia's invitation and sat down across from her. The waiter brought us a menu, and I ordered their special. Even in the winter, contending against the savory sweetness of a well-put together parfait was hard to beat.
"So, if we're sitting at the same table, does that mean—"
"Nope. I'll never accept you as queen. In fact, I happen to think your sister is a better ruler. Unfortunately, there are some things I have to accept. Like you're really nice and caring about the people around you," Taleia said.
Color me surprised that she could say something like—
"It's too bad you're naive, easily-swayed, a big cumslut, and too much of a pushover. A hammer has more use than you and can still nail a higher body count," she teased, waving the spoon in my face.
"Uu… You really know how to kick a horse while it's down." I hung my head.
The waiter finally came by to deliver my parfait. Drenched in all kinds of topping, just seeing it washed my troubles away. Before I got a chance to get the first bite, Taleia swiped the cherry for herself.
"What put you in a downer?" Taleia asked. "Usually you're always so happy, with a generous helping of aloofness like all that cream in the parfait."
"It's my sister. I think all the power is getting to her head. Being a succubus has probably amplified her lust for me, too. It's been a recipe for disaster because she's been so overbearing lately." I sighed, putting a spoonful of parfait in my mouth. The sugary bite full of walnuts, cream, and syrup didn't wash away my stress but sure did ease it.
"Hmph. I bet you haven't tried to think from your sister's point of view. I doubt she's doing all this just to hurt you. If Yumi was fawning over me, I'd let her do whatever she wants and call that a blessing." The siscon succubus fell into a reverie, fantasizing about her sister.
I suddenly became unsure if Taleia, another obsessive succubus sister, was the right person to be consulting about a big sister problem. If anything, she would side with Hatsumi 100% of the time.
"Alright, I'll humor you because you're treating me. What part of seeing it from Hatsumi's perspective is supposed to help me understand where she's coming from? Because as far as I can see, I'm the one being oppressed here!"
"Hatsumi's taken care of you your whole life, hasn't she? Until recently, you two only really had each other. Don't forget, certain events as of late put you in very real mortal danger," Taleia harshly reminded me.
When I opened my mouth in an attempt to counter, no words came out.
Between Beatrice, Sarena, and going to Elza, it's likely given Hatsumi a heart attack and a half. Each event had the threat of me not coming back alive. Hell, at some points, I almost didn't think I'd survive. That still wasn't any excuse for Hatsumi to helicopter mom me.
The waiter came back with the receipt already paid in full.
"You charmed him to pay for our parfaits?" I whispered angrily across the table.
"We're succubus, why wouldn't I? Don't worry, he'll come out of it later thinking he splurged on himself," Taleia said.
My initial reaction was to scold her for irresponsibly using magic when she didn't have to. However, dictating too much how she should live would only make me like my sister, and I had already made enough rules to how succubus should live in this world.
I ordered two more free parfaits to go and thanked Taleia. As we were leaving the cafe, I was about to fly off when she put a hand on my shoulder.
"At the end of the day, an older sister only wants what's best for you. They sometimes get it wrong, and that's okay. What isn't okay is when you start butting heads, then neither of you are getting anywhere productive, right?" Taleia asked.
Of course, Yumi and Taleia would give the most sound advice about being open. I envied their relationship. However, they weren't like me, in a relationship with two people that I was already in love with, and a sister who wanted me for herself.
Navigating this wasn't easy.
When I returned home, Hatsumi and Mio were in the living room. It looked as though they had just finished talking to each other.
"I said my peace." Mio hopped off the couch. "It's your turn now."
She grabbed one of the plastic containers of parfait and went upstairs, leaving me to face Hatsumi alone.
"I bought this for you. I know it's your favorite." I sat down across from Hatsumi and put the second parfait on the coffee table.
"Are you and Mio really together like she told me? With that boy, Kana, too?" Hatsumi didn't so much as give the parfait a look over.
Damn it. Mio gave me the hard part.
"Yes, it's true. I'm in a relationship with Kana and Mio. I really do love them both, and there's nothing you can say or do to make me get rid of those feelings." I stood my ground, expecting to be scolded like back at school.
However, the cowl of anger fell away and was replaced with an infantile sadness. Hatsumi's wings and tail drooped, and she began to hiccup and sniffle.
"A-Are you crying?" My knee-jerk reaction was to grab her a tissue, but she waved away my help.
"I'm just… so… jealous! I love you so much it hurts. It's not fair that they get to have you! I can't help that I feel this way. You're the only one I ever want. No one, not even my last boyfriend makes me feel the way I do around you…" Hatsumi cried, full of tears and snot running down her face.
Blown away by my sister's explosive outburst, it took me a few seconds to snap back to my senses. I'd never seen her like this before. My big sister, the most reliable and affectionate person I've known, was reduced to tears. Even back then, when she resolved to throw herself off the school building to end the magical time loop, it didn't compare to the tears she was shedding now.
Her feelings were known to me for quite some time now. Our relationship as siblings was mostly familial and sexual, but neither of us had pushed the boundaries of that dangerous four letter word.
"What am I going to do with you?" I asked, taking a seat next to her and wiping her face with a tissue. "I won't give up Kana or Mio. There's no future for me without them. But that's true of you, too. I'll always have room for my big sister."
I was a selfish person. I knew and understood that. I wanted my sister, but I didn't want her to be with anyone else. She felt the same for me.
"Watching you grow older, I was afraid because I knew this would happen eventually, whether or not you became a succubus. Show me, then… that there's still room for me," Hatsumi said.
Upon wiping my sister's face clean, I leaned in to kiss her. Our fingers interlocked, and soon, she was on top of me. Our bodies pressed together, wrapped in each other's arms, and gazing into eyes that were full of love.
By the time we were done making out, the parfait had lost most of its volume and looked unappetizing.
"Maybe I'm not worthy after all. Giving you the sword back might be for the best," Hatsumi suggested.
I shook my head. "But I still have college entrance exams. Hang onto it a while longer."
"It's going to be hard for me to accept Kana and Mio, but I'll do my best for your sake. But for now… I can have you all to myself, right?" Hatsumi whispered seductively into my ears, her hands slipping underneath my school uniform to caress me.