Isaka let out a happy sigh as she held Krystal's hand. "Finally..." she murmured. "We
get to be together again."
Krystal just smiled and gave her a kiss. "Yeah... it was weird to be apart, so it's
nice. Abby said our room is... over here." As the couple headed over to their room, they
heard a slight argument taking place.
"...but why not?" Isaka and Krystal looked to see it was Hina talking to Tsuki.
"Because... it's just... not appropriate," her older sister mumbled, shifting her
weight. "This isn't a good time for this kind of stuff."
"We've... we've always done it, so why isn't it okay?" Hina asked again, pleading with
her sister.
"It's weird Hina." Tsuki said with a touch of finality before walking by her sister.
"I-I'm tired. Please excuse me."
With that, Tsuki left her sister in the hallway. Hina absent mindedly wiped at her
eyes, tears starting to form. Isaka and Krystal exchanged glances before heading over the
young girl.
"Uh, hey," Isaka said, awkwardly. "Are you alright?"
Hina jumped a little in surprise before wiping away her tears. "I... I'm okay."
"What were you talking to Tsuki about?" Krystal asked.
"I... I... asked her if she wanted to take a bath with me," Hina said simply. "But she
didn't want to."
Isaka said, "Well, I'm sure she feels... she probably doesn't want to because of
what's happened with all three of you."
"Yeah, but we all... we all used to bathe together all the time and it was never a big
deal, even... even before the Demon Lord, we did everything together..." Hina looked
downtrodden. "First big sister doesn't want to see us and now Tsuki doesn't want to be with
me either..."
Krystal just rubbed her shoulders. "It will be fine. They just need some time to sort
things through."
"But I thought... I thought that once we were free that everything would go back to
normal - that we'd bathe together and train together and eat together and sometimes we'd
even sleep together... nothing weird happened until Hoshi started... until she started being
weird," Hina said, trailing off. "I always wanted to cry when it happened, because it didn't
feel bad, but every time it happened, I could tell Hoshi was crying on the inside, because
it was wrong..."
Isaka and Krystal were silent as the girl continued. "But I never fought it because I
wanted whatever big sister wanted and what Tsuki wanted. Sometimes big sister scared me and
sometimes Tsuki would cry because the curse wasn't strong enough. But a lot of the time, we
were all okay and we would go back to the way we were," Hina looked over at Krystal. "Like
when you were there - most of the time we were normal. The weird stuff only... only happened
at night."
"We... aren't Hoshi or Tsuki," Isaka started. "But how about we go take a bath?"
Hina seemed to brighten up, though Isaka could feel Krystal's confusion coming off in
waves. "Really?" the little girl asked. "You're alright with that?"
Krystal caught on quickly and nodded. "Yeah. The bathroom isn't as big as the one at
the shrine, but it can still be fun. We can go get it ready while Isaka grabs us some
clothes and stuff." The exorcist looked over at the demon to affirm the plan and Isaka
nodded before going off.
"Everyone here is really nice," Hina said. "But I guess it makes sense since they're
all their friends."
Krystal smiled and ruffled her hair. "It's alright Hina, but thanks for the
compliment."
They went to the bathroom attached to Hina's room and the little girl started talking
again. "Big sister was a lot like you... but she was more detached. I guess I always knew
there was something bothering her... she tried so hard to be perfect and I think that was
the problem," Hina murmured. "She did everything for us but then she broke."
Krystal started to fill up the tub. "I'm sure Hoshi will be better tomorrow and she
will be able to talk to you and Tsuki."
Hina shrugged. "I think Tsuki doesn't want to talk to her. I think she's still scared
of big sister... I wish it could all be the way it used to be... but..." The girl trailed
off and shook her head.
Krystal waited for her to speak again, but Hina only started to remove her clothes.
"Hina, how... old are you?"
The little girl blinked and pulled off her shirt. "I'm 14... I already started
bleeding, so I guess I will start growing more." She laughed at bit as she pointed to her
bra. "Maybe these will grow a little more, like Tsuki's or big sister's."
Krystal laughed as well, but continued her questioning. "But aren't you stuck as 14
year old, even though you've been alive for... however long?"
"Well, we've been alive for... over 300 years longer than we should be... I think. The
curse kept us stuck in our physical forms and all three of us lived together. I guess I
still feel young, as do Tsuki and big sister. Now that the curse is gone, we might start
growing again," Hina took off her pants. "That'd be nice. I always admired my sisters'
bodies so maybe I can be as pretty as them now!"
It was then that Isaka came into the bathroom, juggling a few different sets of
clothes, along with towels, hair products and a mysterious bottle. The demon set them down
on the counter with a sigh before putting things in their appropriate places.
"What's that?" Hina asked as Isaka dumped the contents of the bottle into the tub.
"Huh? Oh, it's just bubble bath. It took me forever to explain to Abby why I wanted
it," Isaka said before looking over at Krystal. "She said that it was the most unromantic
thing ever to have strawberry scented bubbles in a bath."
Hina began to laugh at that as Krystal watched the last of the liquid go into the
water. "Uh... Isaka... aren't you only supposed to use a little bit of that per bath? Not
the whole thing?"
Isaka froze, read the label and gave a shaky smile. "Then... maybe we should just have
extra fun?"
Hina by this time was already completely naked. "Yay! Extra fun sounds great!" The
little girl plopped herself happily into the tub as bubbles began to form. Without a moments
warning, she through some of the suds at Isaka's face.
The demon jumped and wiped it away. Hina pouted. "Too bad - it would have made a nice
beard," the little girl commented.
Krystal laughed and only found Isaka trying to throw the bubbles at her, though
failing horribly. "Hina, how were you able to throw this?"
"I'm a throwing weapons expert, remember?"
Isaka sighed before settling for a more direct approach. Krystal began to laugh and
squirm as the demon grabbed her. She dragged her girlfriend over to the bathtub before
pushing her into the water. "Isaka," she screeched. "My clothes!"
Hina laughed as Isaka said, "Then maybe you should take them off?"
Krystal's only response was to pull the demon in.
*****
After much laughter and mayhem, the three females finally decided that they should
actually get some cleaning done. "Thank goodness these showers have a detachable shower
head," Isaka murmured.
"Yeah, or I'm sure this would be impossible," Krystal responded.
Due to an idea by Hina, the three were lined up in the tub with Isaka in the back,
Krystal in the middle and Hina in front. Krystal was currently rubbing the shampoo into
Hina's scalp, all the while smiling at the secure feeling of her lover against her back and
her hand idly rubbing her stomach.
As Krystal rinsed off Hina's hair, the little girl started to speak again. "You two...
are in a relationship right?"
Isaka laughed and hugged Krystal closely. "Yes, yes we are." As if on cue, Krystal
turned around and gave Isaka a kiss.
"Does it..." Hina trailed off, starting to mumble to herself. "Does it make me
weird... that even though we did all those bad things that I... want to be like that with my
sisters?"
For a moment, it was silent except for the sound of the showerhead. "I-I know that
it... it wasn't a normal thing... or appropriate, like Tsuki said, but I... didn't like it
before because I knew we were doing it for the wrong reasons," Hina stuttered out. "But I...
want the three of us... I want big sister and Tsuki and me to... to be like that, but
without something manipulating our true feelings."
"You... want to be in a romantic relationship with your sisters?" Krystal asked
slowly, in order to ascertain what Hina was saying.
"Yeah..." the little girl whispered. "I like it when me and my sisters are together. I
wasn't sad because they were touching my body... I was sad because we weren't the ones truly
touching each other - it was the Demon Lord using big sister's love for us. I want big
sister to touch me out of her own love and I want Tsuki to touch me without being forced
to."
Isaka suddenly spoke up. "It's not weird at all, Hina. In fact, it's better that you
can be honest about how you feel. My first real crush was on my sister, so I understand how
you feel."
The little girl looked back at them. "...really?"
Krystal smiled warmly. "It isn't our place to judge you for such things. If you really
love your sisters... then it's none of our business."
"What Krystal really means is we don't mind," Isaka said confidently.
Hina faced forward again. "Alright! ...now all I have to do is find a way to convince
big sister and Tsuki."
"I don't think Hoshi is going to have a problem," Isaka said under her breath.
"Just make sure you talk it out with your sisters tomorrow," Krystal said, mentally
agreeing with Isaka's statement.
Hina nodded. "Yeah... I will."
*****
Tsuki had lied to her sister about being tired - in fact, she couldn't sleep. Her arm
was aching horribly from the battle and the shock of being free was too much for her to
sleep away. Thoughts ran wildly throughout her as she found her way to the kitchen.
She was sure Abby wouldn't mind her making some tea. Tsuki rooted through the
cabinets, having to settle on the green tea. For a moment, she missed the shrine, for it had
everything she ever needed for this kind of thing - incense, tea, candles, a meditation
room... but there was none of that here.
As she heated up the water on the stove, she silently cursed herself for her own
thoughts. Who was she to look down upon the dwellings of the kind people who took her in?
Who fed her? Who released her from the curse? The water in the kettle came to a boil and she
fumbled with it before the whistling noise could wake the whole house.
After a few more minutes, she was shakily taking sips from the cup, letting her right
arm rest on the table. Under normal circumstances, she would meditate and reign herself
under control, but this wasn't normal. She could now feel the headache coming on. There was
a solution to her problem, but... Tsuki pushed the possibility out of her head. For now, she
would have to ignore the cramping and aching of her arm.
It was then she heard quiet voices in the midst of conversation approaching the dining
room table. Tsuki paused, but then continued to drink.
"You have to go home now?"
"Yeah, since I've been over here a lot thanks to this Demon Lord fiasco, my parents
are starting to get worried."
Tsuki immediately recognized the two voices as that of Eveon and Mina talking. They
were walking past the dining room, in the direct view of the brunette. The two girls
suddenly embraced and Tsuki looked away. In the short time she'd been there, she realized
just how... intimate everyone seemed.
Her thoughts were confirmed as she saw them kiss out of the corner of her eye. Tsuki
set down her tea cup a little harder than she hoped, causing enough sound to alert the two
to her presence. She flushed a bit, hurriedly saying, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Oh no, it's fine," Mina said quickly.
Eveon smiled. "Yeah, it's nothing weird... I guess, maybe it's weird for you, but not
for us."
Tsuki took another drink. "I... suppose so. Are you two... always so intimate?"
Eveon and Mina exchanged glances before joining Tsuki at the table. "Mm-hmm," Mina
said. "We've been dating for... about a year and a half?" She looked over at Eveon to
confirm it and her girlfriend nodded.
"Yep. I'm going to be 16 in a little bit. Only a month to go..." Internally, Eveon was
dreading her birthday because she knew her mommy was going to come up with some crazy kind
of present...
"I see..." Tsuki said. "Aren't you... ashamed of it?"
Mina shrugged. "People obviously disapprove, but we can't allow that to put a damper
on our lives. We love each other..."
"And when you love someone, you'd do anything for them," Eveon concluded.
"R-right," Tsuki said, stumbling over her words a bit. She looked down at her arm, all
the marks on it making a mesmerizing pattern of chaos. "I don't share your feelings for such
things, I'm afraid."
"Why?" Mina asked bluntly, getting a slight jab in the ribs by Eveon.
"Because I... don't quite understand what love is anymore. Or what it means to love
someone as a friend, a relative or something more. Or how to love with your heart as opposed
to your body." Tsuki swirled around the tea in her cup. "None of it makes sense to me."
Eveon tilted her head. "Tsuki, are you gay? Or do you like boys?"
The brunette visibly flinched at the bluntness of the question. "I... don't really
know. I've never experienced any type of attachment to a man, simply because I've never been
really close to any guy. And..." She took some time to think of her answer. "My only
experience with girls has been... so confusing and unfortunate that I can't even begin to
fathom what I want. I'm... so ashamed."
She looked up at the two of them. "Girls... aren't... we aren't supposed to be
together like this. We're supposed to... I guess be with a boy or something of that sort...
and... and..." She looked back down at her arm. "Sisters are supposed to take care of each
other and not come to you at night with no answers or reasons and just suddenly..."
Tsuki stopped abruptly, still trying to weed through her despair. "It's alright to be
confused," Mina said. "No one is going to hand you the answer..."
"The best you can do is try to figure it out from the people around you," Eveon
murmured. "I know that maybe you and your sisters... did some thing you weren't exactly
excited about, but wouldn't your answers come from them?"
Tsuki clenched her fist around the cup. "But I do know the answers. I'm just... afraid
of them..."
An uncomfortable silence wafted through the air. Mina bit her lip as she got up. "I
need to get back home, Eveon..." She gave her a girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips.
As the two pulled away, the look in Tsuki's eyes wasn't lost on Eveon. "Do you... find
us disgusting," the blonde girl suddenly asked her.
Tsuki floundered about for the answer before taking a deep breath. "Yes... yes, I do.
You two shouldn't be... it's shameful."
Mina let out a sad sigh. "But we still are."
With that, she left through the front door with Eveon locking it behind her. When she
returned to the dining room, Eveon found Tsuki putting the cup into the sink. "I'm sorry,"
the brunette said, not looking at her. "It was rude of me to say that."
Eveon shrugged. "If it was truth, you have nothing to be sorry about."
Tsuki frowned. "You really don't mind?"
"Of course it bothers me, but getting mad or offended won't change your opinion that
girls shouldn't be with other girls. Here, let me take you back to your room. I promise I
don't have lesbian cooties," Eveon said with a grin.
The joke didn't seem to lighten Tsuki's mood as the two girls headed to her room. At
the door, Eveon suddenly spoke. "Hey, Tsuki... if there wasn't anything saying it was wrong,
would you still find homosexuality shameful?"
Tsuki paused. "But it's... still... I guess I would find it awkward and embarrassing."
"But doesn't that describe any relationship?" With that, Eveon bid Tsuki good night
and went to her own room.
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