Chapter 156 – Unearthing My Past
Chapter 156 – Unearthing My Past
First thing in the morning, someone started knocking heavily on the door. Mio still had me wrapped tightly in her arms. It took a bit of squirming to get away and out of bed. I couldn't find my pants, so I settled on an oversized shirt and opened the door.
"Package for you."
"But I didn't order anything…" I answered, then looked up to find a yokai standing in front of me. This one was certainly dressed like a deliveryman, with a clipboard under his arm and holding a box. The human features ended with his head, which appeared heavily swollen with a large venus fly trap-like mouth.
I didn't take any chances. One magic blast erased the yokai from existence, leaving behind a cardboard box that began to disintegrate. It must have been a part of him.
I shut the door and clapped my hands.
"The fuck was that?" Mio asked groggily from the futon.
"Another yokai. I think that's the fourth one this week… For some reason, they're attracted to our apartment. Or us?" I pondered aloud.
Mio reached blindly for me since her head was still under the sheets and pillow. When I gave her my hand, she dragged me down and pounced like a wild animal. We rolled around on the floor, her stark naked and me in only a shirt that she quickly pulled off. Our bare bodies embraced, then our lips followed.
Two groping hands traveled down my back and squeezed both cheeks of my butt. When I tried to tease Mio in return by rubbing her clit with my tail, she used her own tail to coil around mine and reeled it away. I let out a quiet gasp as she guided our tails into my pussy.
"Wet already, huh? What say we play hooky today and continue where we left off from last night?" Mio asked.
It was hard to think with a tail slowly stirring me up from the inside.
"Mm… You know we can't…" I said, trying to play the good angel on her shoulder.
Mio picked up speed, pumping deeper into me to break my resolve.
"Why not? We're a shoe-in for Tsukiji Uni, right? Besides, Hacchan told me that most third years don't do shit in the last month. We could be partying, playing, and fucking instead."
At the last word, Mio pinched my nipples so hard that she brought me to climax.
"Hahh… Okay, okay…" I gave in as she continued to caress my body. "What do you have in mind?"
Kerchak!
In a bright flash of light, the photobooth snapped our final picture. Mio jumped out with more excitement than a dog being taken for a walk. I followed her out as she plucked the picture strips of us from the dispenser.
"Kahaha! We look so dumb! And damn. I know those cat ears are fake, but seeing 'em on you is making me feel all sorts of ways." Mio purred.
"Pfft… We really do look silly," I agreed, unable to contain the giggles.
Mio handed one strip to me and kept the other for herself. She held onto a third that we planned to give to Kana. It was less wholesome than the others we took, which had us flashing our bare breasts and pussy, including a full frontal naked shot as the final picture. Just something for him to jerk off to while he attended school in Tokyo.
The arcade was Mio's first choice. We weren't the only ones out here. Third years from Tsukiji High and other schools were out in force. She wasn't kidding about people playing hooky. Maybe this was the freedom I wanted.
But… That last look my mother gave me still haunted me.
I shook the image from my mind. No. She didn't deserve my sympathies or guilt.
"Hey, let's play that!" Mio pointed to a Jurassic shooting game booth that had two seats and guns. After tossing a few coins into it, the entire booth came to life lurching from side to side and mimicking impacts from crashes. We were in a car, racing through a gargantuan jungle and shooting raptors, pterodactyls, and a tyrannosaurus hot on our tail.
Unfortunately, the giant dino caught up to the back of our car and took a chomp out of us both. Game over, all because Mio couldn't land her last shot on its other eye.
"Aww, come on! I'm outta coins, too." Mio groaned, smacking the center console.
"You sucked! I had no idea you were so bad at shooting games!" I flashed a teasing grin.
"Oh, pssh. The controls are wonky, and I'm sticking to that excuse." She tossed the gun back onto its console and leaned back in the seat. "You starting to feel better?"
As the adrenaline slowly drained away from my body, it dawned on me that Mio was once again trying to cheer me up.
"A little," I lied.
It was still chewing me up inside.
"The thing about your parents. Fuck them. And I don't mean to pork them— well, you can if you want— but I mean, who cares about what they think? Bea was a lot like them at first. Always telling me that the shit she does was for my sake, and that I should just obey everything that comes out of her mouth. Don't let them control your life like that. They don't deserve you even thinking about them," Mio said.
"I know… It's just… Unlike Beatrice, they haven't tortured me. It's not like they locked me in a cage or sold me to the highest bidder. They just… weren't around." I clutched the plastic gun tighter to my chest, and Mio reached over to hold my hand.
"You know who was around? Your grandparents. I love the shit out of them. They're your pop's folks, right? How'd the apple fall so far from the tree?" she asked.
"I'm not actually sure…"
Growing up, Grandma and Grandpa were always the kind of people that did things by the family cookbook. I had thought they were the ones who raised my father like he was today, but their last visit didn't lead me to believe so anymore.
"Hey, you want to go visit them?" I asked Mio.
"Would I ever! Don't need to ask me twice," Mio said, then paused with a hand on the game booth's door. "It's gonna be our first meeting since we came out as succubi, huh?"
"Right… I guess we can see how they react."
Since we were skipping school anyway, we might as well go the extra mile. The both of us flew to my grandparents' house in Nishiwaki and held our breaths, landing in front of their house. Telling them I turned into a girl was one thing, but to tell them I was a succubus? That's a whole nother level of crazy pill to swallow.
So, imagine my surprise when they invited us in, sat us down, and brought out a slew of snacks for us to eat.
"Uhm… Grandma, Grandpa? You heard what I said, right?" I asked to make sure.
"We heard you, sweetie." Grandma put down a tray of oatmeal cookies that Mio immediately began devouring. "But I don't even know what a succubus is and why I should care?"
"I know what succubus are. Maybe you can mind control your grandma to show me a little bit more respect. Like not eating the last mochi in the pot!" Grandpa shot her a glare.
"Oh, you look like you're having the worst time of your life eating mochi without dentures!" she retorted.
"I take them off because they get stuck in my dentures, but I love eating those glutinous goodies!"
This went back and forth while Mio and I were trying not to laugh. Would I, Kana, and Mio end up like this one day? Could my parents? I couldn't even imagine them ever coming to an argument.
Grandma placed a gentle hand to my cheek. "Saeko, remember what I said when you told us that you became a girl? We're too old to be worrying about that. Even if we still had a hundred more years ahead of us, whether you're a girl or a succubus, you're first and foremost our adorable grandchild that always asked me to read you a story before bed."
"Damn it, Grandma… I didn't come here for you to make me cry…" I grumbled, trying to face away but only getting her to hug me more.
Over to the side, Mio flashed a small smirk and winked.
"Well, the one thing we are worried about is seeing a great grandchild before passing. I guess it doesn't make sense to ask if you have a girlfriend anymore, do you have a boyfriend?" Grandpa pried with shameless intent.
"I-I'm actually dating Kana," I answered shyly.
They started nodding in approval.
"I remember that boy! You two were inseparable as kids. Sounds like he went on the offensive as you became a girl," he said thoughtfully.
"Aha… on the offensive is pretty accurate." I recalled how aggressive Kana was that night and how much sex we ended up having.
Grandma nodded. "Good kid, that Kana. Smart, too. I imagine your children will grow up to be very smart just like him and have your good looks. From me, of course."
Oh, god. More talk of having children. If we went down this route, there was no coming back. Mio and I would be stuck here until dinner.
This was a good opportunity to ask about my parents though.
"Did you two ever pester my parents about children like this, too?" I asked.
"We don't have to sour the afternoon talking about them," Grandma said, grimacing as she took a sip of tea.
"Well… The thing is… they're back in town…"
"Are they now?" Grandpa asked, his demeanor taking a stern turn. "Of course, neither of them thought to give us a call or visit us. We have maybe a good ten years left if my heart doesn't give out first, but they act like we have all the time in the world."
Somehow, it was comforting to know my parents and grandparents were at odds with each other.
"Let me guess. You and your parents had a fight?" Grandma asked.
"Damn." Mio whistled sharply. "Nothing stays hidden from the grams."
"Yeah… It was kind of bad… I was hoping to ask you about them. I don't know a lot about their past. Hell, it's not like they were ever around for me to ask, and they probably wouldn't tell me if I asked. How were they like when they were younger?" I asked.
My grandparents traded glances, like they never expected to go back in time today.
"If you wanted to know if they used to be like this? No. We raised Masato to be good and caring. In fact, it wasn't until they began dating in university did he start to change," Grandma said.
Then it started with my mother?
"Come to think of it, where's your mom's side of the family?" Mio asked.
"They passed away when she entered elementary school," Grandpa promptly answered. "Or so that's what she told us. Poor Chihiro. No child should have to grow up without their parents."
That was news to me. They never came up in conversation. I always figured my mother had a falling out with her parents.
"Do you think maybe that's why she left me and Hatsumi alone? So that we can learn to be independent like she was forced to?" I pressed them.
"I'm not so sure," Grandma began. "Chihiro was never so rigid, not until she entered university."
"And university was when mom got pregnant with Hatsumi, right? Two years later, they had me. I think the years should match up."
Neither of them were sure. They seemed to draw a blank on the topic.
"Hold on. We made a photocopy of your birth certificates before Chihiro got rid of the original documents. Come on, you old stick." Grandma ushered Grandpa out of the living room to look for our birth certificates.
"Wait… Mom got rid of my original birth certificate? Why?" I asked aloud.
"What's a birth certificate?" Mio asked.
"They don't do that in Elza? It's like a document proving that I exist, with details like my date of birth, gender, and what hospital I was born at."
My grandparents were taking longer than usual. Mio and I considered searching for them. We got as far as the door and almost ran into them in the hallway. Both of them had a look of utter confusion on their faces, staring down at the copy of mine and Hatsumi's birth certificates.
"What's wrong?" I asked, then followed their eyes to my document.
The glossy paper had been worn down over the years despite being put in a plastic file. But it was quite clear that the original document was put under a copy machine and printed out. That there wasn't so much as a crease on the papers told me they kept it hidden for years.
Everything on the file looked right as far as I could tell. Born in Tsukiji City, at the maternity ward of Tsukiji Health & Pediatrics. Parents, Masato Ito and Chihiro Ito. Name, Saeko Ito.
Mio gasped.
"Gender… Female?" I whispered. "I was a girl at birth?"
But I had a penis. I was always male.
"Which is odd," Grandma began. "Because I've always remembered you being a boy. When I try to think back, my mind gets a little foggy."
"Mine, too. Like there's a roadblock," Grandpa added, knitting his brows together.
A roadblock?
Mio threw me a suspicious look, and I thought the same.
"Grandma, Grandpa. Let me use some of my succubus magic on you two for a sec," I said.
Both of them were willing and waited patiently. I placed a hand on each of their shoulders and shut my eyes, then delved into their minds. While traveling through a dark tunnel, I eventually came into a branching cavern of beautiful and vibrant memories.
One memory in particular had been purposefully blackened. Rewritten in a sense. I couldn't repair it. Maybe due to my grandparents' old age or something else, but any attempts to undo it were met with an electrifying magical feedback that zapped me back to consciousness.
I returned to my body, awake alongside my grandparents who were both winded from the experience. Mio stood behind them, a hand to each of their backs to keep them steady.
"What'd you find?" Mio asked.
"There's no mistaking it. Their memories were tampered with," I said.
Magic in origins, but what and who was it from? And why?
I didn't want to bother my grandparents any longer. It looked like it was getting painful for them to recall the past, especially with that block in their minds.
They saw Mio and I off at the door, gifting us some snacks for the go.
"Love you, Grandma, Grandpa!" I hugged my grandparents.
"Whatever you find out, give your parents a good kick in the rump for us. Maybe that was our mistake for not disciplining them enough," Grandma said.
"Can I get a hug, too?" Mio asked, seemingly unsure if she should butt in.
"Mio, dear. Of course!" She gave Mio a squeezing hug only an elderly woman with a lot of love and not a lot of time could give.
We returned to Tsukiji in the late afternoon with more questions than answers.
"You think your parents were knee deep in some hoodoo shit or something?" Mio asked.
"Not sure. I get the feeling if I ask, they'll just clam up and pretend not to know anything. But it's really weird. You remember when Selene tried to compel them? It just didn't work. They resisted like it was nothing. I thought it was just that it broke logic for them to ever be nice, but maybe it's something more?" I wondered aloud.
My phone suddenly rang, and speak of the devil. It was Selene calling. She asked to meet at Kana's house, so that was where Mio and I flew towards.
We let ourselves in just as Kana was serving tea to Selene and a couple of succubi, one of which was flirting with him.
"You're just the cutest thing. I can see why the queen has taken a liking to you," a succubus said, stroking Kana's arm as he handed her a cup.
"Back off my merchandise, sister." Mio growled.
The succubus backed away immediately.
"One of you wants to explain why my house turned into a succubus meeting place?" Kana folded his arms.
"Selene?" I turned to the one who invited us all here.
"As you asked, we looked into the phonebook and found three known exorcists in Tsukiji City. We've brought them." Selene let ripple her aura. In a second, the front door opened and a succubus led in three old men.
They looked absolutely terrified and without a clue as to what was going on.
"Did you just kidnap them from their homes?!" A horrified Kana asked.
"We gave them a choice," Selene insisted in defense of herself. "We were only a little heavy handed about it."
"Uhh… Can we know what's going on?" A bald man in brown robes raised his hand, causing the buddhist beads on his wrist to rattle.
"My boyfriend's been possessed by an onryo." I pointed to Kana. "I want you to exorcise him. Whoever succeeds gets a foursome with the succubi that brought you here."
The three supposed exorcists glanced over their shoulders and gulped, letting loose a wave of lust that tickled my nose. I had a bad feeling because none of them looked confident when Kana showed them the eyeball on his hand.
"Okay, be honest. Are you really exorcists?" I charmed all three of them to answer truthfully.
"No…" they answered together.
Thought so. They were frauds after all. As soon as I freed them from my charm, they leapt to the ground to grovel.
"I'm sorry for lying! Exorcising is the only way I earn money while in retirement!"
"My father was the one who pressured me into this!"
"Please don't hurt us… We didn't mean to mislead you!"
Selene put a hand to her face and sighed.
"I'm terribly sorry, my queen. I didn't intend to bring frauds to your doorsteps," she said.
"Just send them home and leave them with a nice dream or something." I waved them off.
The three lesser succubi escorted the exorcists away. I walked over to Kana and grabbed his possessed hand. The eye blinked at me.
"Everything will be fine. I'm sure you guys will find a way. Besides, it's not like this thing is actively killing me," Kana joked to make light of his situation.
"If Mio and I lose you like we almost did when Shuten possessed you…"
"You're not going to lose me," he promised.
"Oh, we got a gift for you!" Mio chimed in and slipped the erotic photostrip of us into his hand.
Kana went wide-eyed and popped an erection.
"Make sure to spank the bank with that eyeball hand," she added.
"W-Wait a minute, is this why you two were missing from class today? Mio, you can't just play hooky!" Kana scolded.
"Why the hell not? We're dragging you along tomorrow. Better yet, we're staying over and getting our fuck on."
While they were talking, I pulled Selene out to speak in the foyer.
"I wanted to ask— Around 19 to 20 years ago, did any succubus come to Earth like Hana and Beatrice did? Like to Tsukiji specifically?" I asked.
"An odd question. I might not be the best one to ask, having been at odds with the then queen. After all, only those closest to Beatrice or the dark elven queen could have traveled between worlds. They needed an extraordinary amount of magical power, like from the Blade of the First Temptress or an artifact of similar strength," Selene explained.
"Would you say… someone who was close to either of them had to be close confidantes to ask for a portal to this world?"
The greater succubus before me thought for a moment and nodded.
"I imagine so. For example, Beatrice would not just send anyone. It would have to be someone she trusted very well and had a very good reason to send here. Why do you ask?"
"Because I think a succubus came to Tsukiji City about 20 years ago and messed with my family," I said.