Hime/Otome Love Part Two
Generations 1 of 3
“Why did Mai lie to me?”
--
After the Carnival...
--
The question had been echoing almost non-stop in my mind since it had left her lips. I hadn't even needed to ask what she meant at the time, the pain in her voice was all too easy to decipher. She hadn't said anything when I didn't answer, gods I couldn't even look her in the eyes but I knew I'd wounded her badly... I could feel it in my heart.
'She knows...' It was a voice I could barely recognize as my own inside my head. I wrapped my arms around myself for the false sense of comfort it provided. 'She knows you betrayed her...' I dug my nails into my sides, hoping the pain would make it stop. 'She knows you've been using her!' It hadn't left, in fact it sounded even louder than before. 'She knows all about your sick little...'
“Mai.”
In my mind I could see an image of her smiling face pressed against my chest, sheer joy in her eyes.
“Mai?”
The image shifted. She was crying now, cold and alone. Miserable and suffering because of me.
“Oh my god, Mai!”
My eyes snapped open to see Natsuki's face mere inches from mine. I screamed and tried to pull away but she was holding onto my arms so I couldn't move. I tried to pull my hands back but realized I was the one holding them in place. I noticed I felt so very tired and angry but I didn't know why, I didn't even know what Natsuki was trying to do to me. Eventually she was able to pull my hands away only to replace them with her own.
“Natsuki?” I asked dazedly, the world slowly came into focus around me. It was strange, she wasn't looking at my face and she had the most fearful and determined look in her eyes. I looked down in hopes of clearing away some of the confusion and saw that I was completely naked on my bed and Natsuki was gripping tightly to my sides. “Natsuki! What are you...” That's when I noticed the blood. I raised my hands to my face, trembling fingers covered in the sticky red liquid. I could hear myself screaming...
--
“Talk,” she said firmly, practically slamming the cup of tea down in front of me before seating herself opposite me at the table.
“It's...” I started, only to be cut off.
“I swear if you tell me it's nothing I should worry about then I'm going to slap you because that's bullshit and we both know it!” she said, gruff and to the point as usual. “What happened between you and Mikoto?” I'd tried to fight it but I couldn't help but wince at the mention other girl's name.
“How did you know?”
“Oh I don't know,” she said sarcastically. “Maybe the fact that she's actually been sleeping in her own room, a room she shares with Nao I might add, instead of snuggled in the confines of that mountain range you call a chest.” A ghost of a smile flashed across my face but it vanished all too quickly as the memories returned. My emotions began fluctuating so rapidly that I couldn't get a grip on them. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
“I betrayed her...” I said quietly, the self deprecating words coming all too easy. “She trusted me to care for her and I... I was supposed to be like a big sister to her! But caring for her like that... hearing her say all those sweet things to me...” I took a deep breath and tried not to picture her sweet, smiling face. “That's why... she was the reason I was able to use my powers against the Obsidian Lord. My most special person wasn't gone... she was standing right there the whole time! She knew it too... she asked me why I had lied to him about how I still had my powers. That's why... that's why she doesn't sleep here anymore. She knows I'm in love with her!” I wailed, the emotional roller coaster coming to a crashing halt as I burst into tears.
“Mai...” Natsuki whispered gently, placing a hand lightly over mine to offer some comfort. “That's hardly news.”
'What did she just say?!' the voice roared inside my head. I looked up, fully expecting to see her disgusted or outraged but instead found her with a wry smile and shaking her head.
“W-What do you mean?”
“Sorry I can't come, Natsuki, Mikoto asked me to read to her,“ she stated in a mockery of my voice, putting her hands out in front of her chest as if to imitate having large breasts. “Don't you think Mikoto would just look so cute in this?! Oh wait, I have to buy some of these, they're Mikoto's favorite! Mikoto just wouldn't hold still last night, I couldn't sleep at all so I just had to lay there and hold her. What do you want for breakfast my little sweetheart? Mikoto. Mikoto? Mikoto!” she finished with a huff and I could only stare at her dumbfounded.
“Was it really so...”
“Yes, it was obvious!” she shouted, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “We were all taking bets on when I'd walk in on the two of you panting and moaning!”
“You all knew?” I asked, only to have her nod like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Then why didn't you stop me! It... it's sick!” Her expression quickly darkened over at the implications but I hurriedly shook my head. “Not that we're both girls!” I quickly assured her and she calmed much to my relief. “It's her age...” Natsuki snorted.
“She's not even a year and a half younger than you, get over it.”
“It's not just that! She's... different... you know that. She's... so innocent,” I finished desperately, almost pleading with her to understand.
“Maybe it's just those who haven't stared down the pointy end of her claymore but 'innocent' isn't really the word I'd use to describe her,” Natsuki said with a chuckle. It was so frustrating to see her laughing this off like it was nothing.
“I'm being serious!” I shouted, banging my fists on the table.
“Well so am I!” she countered, mimicking my action but with more force and then stood to glower at me from above. “What are you trying to tell me, Mai? That Mikoto is stupid or something? That, just because she's a little wild, she doesn't understand what she's saying when she says 'I love Mai!' like it's a freaking mantra or something? After everything she put herself through during the Carnival just to try and protect you, are you going to sit there and tell me that she doesn't understand love? … Well?!” I lowered my eyes to the table, unable to meet her burning gaze.
'This isn't how it's supposed to be! She's yelling at me for the wrong reasons!' my inner voice wailed. “I... it's not like that at all!” I shouted through tears of frustration. “You wouldn't understand!” Much to my surprise, she began to laugh.
“That's just the thing Mai... I do. I've been exactly where you are now, hating myself for a love I thought was... unnatural. I tried to hide from it too, to bury it underneath my anger just like you are now. The only difference between us is that I took my frustration out on others and you seem hellbent on hurting yourself.”
“Natsuki... you...”
“Mai, I'm telling you this as a friend... you're an idiot.” That one made me pause. “I had really hoped you wouldn't be as dumb as Shizuru and I were but the two of you are just asking for things to end up badly. And just so you know, if you think where you are now is bad...” she simply trailed off suggestively.
“But what about Mikoto... so many times sleeping in the same bed... taking baths together... now that she knows she probably feels so... violated.”
“Have you tried asking her?”
“Well...”
“Of course you haven't, you just assumed the worst, didn't you? For all you know, she still treasures every second of it. Hell, I'm pretty damn sure that she does.”
“I think I'm gonna be sick...” I said as my stomach lurched from the horrible implications. These past few weeks I'd spent torturing myself, barely eating or sleeping, pasting a fake smile on my face to keep others from noticing how sick I was making myself... was it all for nothing?
“It may not feel like it, but that's a good thing. Realizing what the problem is the first step.”
“What's the second step?” I asked, already knowing the answer. Natsuki gave me a wide grin and thumped the table.
“Getting off your ass and...” she was interrupted by the door being kicked open. Both of us shot instantly on her feet, Natsuki already training her guns on the figure in the open doorway.
“Nao?! What the hell?!” the biker girl shouted, lowering both her guns but only returning one into concealment.
“You!” the redhead shrieked, pointing angrily at me, one of her hands snaking around the other side of the wall to drag a struggling Mikoto into the room. “You're taking back your damn pet, I don't give a shit what the two of you are all pissy about!” she shouted, all but hurling the smaller girl in my direction. I just barely managed to bite back a hiss at the pain that shot through my sides from the collision. With everything happening so fast, I didn't even realize that I was cradling Mikoto to my chest, the tension between us seemingly forgotten for a moment.
“Wha... what happened?” I finally managed to stammer out, taking in the myriad of scratches and bits of torn clothing that littered the redhead. Nao's furious gaze settled on mine and for a second I thought she might attack me but instead they seemed to soften slightly.
“I said something your little demon child there didn't like and she went berserk on me!”
“Is that true, sweetheart?” I asked to the shock of dark hair my cleavage now seemed to be sprouting.
“Called Mai a... a stupid, big breasts girl. But Mai's not stupid!” came the sullen reply. I couldn't help but smile down at the girl, even after everything that had happened she was still so protective of me.
“Well I'm glad you find this so charming but this situation hasn't exactly left me in such a rosy position,” Nao said, sweeping a hand down to gesture at her torn school uniform. “I do have a date tonight unlike you sexually dysfunctional twits.”
“Who's the lucky guys?” Natsuki asked with a sneer, feeling safe enough to stash away her remaining gun. “And how much are you charging for your... services nowadays?” Natsuki paused and blinked for a moment as if suddenly realizing something. “Hey! I'll have you know that Shizuru and I have done it plenty of times and not just in the bed either!” Nao simply rolled her eyes at the now deeply blushing girl and ignored her in favor of staring at me.
“Um, I'm really sorry about all this,” I said, giving the girl a small bow. “I could sew that up for you if you'd like, it'll be good as new by tomorrow... and you could wear Natsuki's uniform tonight. You two are about the same size.”
“Like hell she can! I don't want it to come back smelling like her filthy customers!” the dark haired girl roared in outrage. A smirk appeared on Nao's face after Natsuki's outburst regarding the suggestion had stopped ringing in her ears.
“I think I can deal with that,” the redhead said, shamelessly stripping down to her lingerie and tossing the clothes at me before stepping over to riffle through Natsuki's dresser. “And don't you worry your pretty little head, princess. Since losing my powers I've had to shift my target audience to something a little less... formidable,” she said, motioning the height of someone shorter than her and then tracing out a girl's curves.
“Oh Nao... you're not hurting them are you?” I asked worriedly, having heard stories of some of the things she'd done to some of her former 'dates'.
“Hardly necessary,” she said as she slipped into Natsuki's school uniform. “You'd be surprised how much money a spoiled middle schooler will spend on her sempai... especially after a few kisses and some tickles. Some of them are actually kind of... sweet.” She smiled then, and I'm pretty sure it was the only genuine smile I'd ever seen her give, but all too quickly it was gone, replaced by her usual sneer. “They're not at all like your little creature there,” she finished, eyes burning into Mikoto's back with such loathing that I held the girl a little tighter out of reflex.
'Too thin!' the thought shot through my mind with such force that before I knew what was happening I had the girl at arms length with her shirt lifted up. “Oh, Mikoto...” I could feel the tears begin to well up in my eyes at the sight of her emaciated form, she was barely more than a skeleton. A surge of anger consumed me and I whirled on Nao. “You should know she isn't very good at taking care of herself! Why haven't you been feeding her?!” I shouted, apparently with enough force to frighten everybody in the room.
“Mai...”
“I know she's a little wild but she's so delicate too... so fragile...” I continued, the flames of anger being consumed by tears. I fell to my knees and rubbed futilely at the falling moisture.
“Mai...”
“She needs someone to watch over her... to take care of her where she doesn't know how. She needs... she needs...” I felt like I was collapsing in on myself, my heart aching more and more with every beat in my chest.
“Mai!” I looked up to see Mikoto looking down on me, tears mirroring my own. “I need Mai! Mai's cooking, Mai's cleaning, Mai's breasts for sleeping! I hate living without Mai!”
“Mikoto... I'm so sorry!” I wailed, throwing my arms around her waist and pressing my cheek to her too thin stomach. I could feel her lean down to wrap her arms around my neck and it felt like I was breathing fresh air for the first time in months.
“I want to be happy with Mai again because I love her the most... even if she doesn't love me like I do.” Hearing her put so much conviction into those words ground my tears to a halt. I pulled back a little so I could look up into her eyes.
“What do you mean, Mikoto?” There was so much pain in those yellow orbs that I was almost grateful when she turned away.
“Mai lied when said she loved me so I would stop fighting,” she said, sniffing miserably a few times. “I thought... I thought Mai still had her powers because she loved me. But she didn't! I heard her say it was because she remembered those other people! Why did Mai lie to me? Why did Mai make me so happy then take it away?!” She tried to push away from me but I only held on tighter. It was the most I'd ever heard her say at one time and it had to be the most heart wrenching words I'd ever heard spoken.
“Mikoto, you're wrong! The lie I told was to the Obsidian Lord!” I shouted, pressing my cheek against her stomach again when she stopped thrashing. “I was... ashamed... ashamed of what I felt for you. I thought you were too young... too innocent to understand what romantic love was. I thought you would be disgusted by the way that I loved you... the way I wanted to touch you and hold you and...” I pulled away and reached up to press my fingers lightly against her trembling lips, “...and kiss you. I do love you Mikoto... no... I'm in love with you!”
“Mai... loves me?” she asked, the words sounding as if even she couldn't believe she was saying them. I nodded. “Loves me like I love Mai?” I nodded again, a smile now peeking through my tears. “Mai loves me!” she shouted, leaping into the air and howling with joy. She heard Natsuki's laugh and bounded over to the girl. “Did Natsuki hear? Mai loves me!” Mikoto sang happily, giving the girl a spine cracking hug before turning her attention on Nao who waved her hands defensively to prevent the girl from striking.
“Oh no you don't, you feral little cat girl, I don't want you stinking up this spare uniform,” she said, voice sounding a bit odd as she turned and headed for the doorway. “It's been... fun,” she said, making sure it sounded like it had been anything but that, “but I have a date to get to so I'll be taking my leave from this freak show.” Her attempt thwarted, Mikoto came trotting back over to me and buried her head between my breasts.
“Hey, Nao!” I called out just as the girl was about to disappear around the corner. The irritated look on her face seemed to soften upon seeing my misty eyed expression. “Thank you... for bringing her back to me. If you ever need somebody... a friend to talk to or something...” A ghost of a smile flashed across her face as I stumbled with the words.
“Yeah yeah,” she said, turning and waving her hand in dismissal. “Just don't go falling in love with me or anything,” she finished, strutting out the door like she owned the place.
“Hey Nao, wait up and I'll give you a ride to your date!” Natsuki called after her, also stepping towards the doorway. “I've got a date with Shizuru so I probably won't be back tonight,” she said, a deep blush settling across her cheeks. I stood, having to untangle myself from Mikoto to do so, and walked forward to give her a hug of my own.
“Thank you for taking care of me, Natsuki.” She smiled and hugged me back.
“Just promise me you two won't make all the same mistakes Shizuru and I did when starting out, okay? I know you're the one that usually worries but all of us care about you too.” I nodded and gave her an encouraging smile.
“Take care, Natsuki, have fun on your date.” She blushed again and smiled before turning and stepping out into the hallway.
“Nao, are you blushing?” I could hear her ask as their voices drifted down the hall.
“Shut up!”
“Are those tears in your eyes?” The last thing I was able to hear before the door closed was a rather loud slap. I couldn't help the easy smile from appearing on my face as I turned around to see Mikoto staring at me with those adoring yellow eyes.
“Mikoto...” I paused for a moment. “Um...” At a loss for words I simply opened my arms. Never one to be too bashful, she ran forward and leaped into them.
“Mai's breasts are the best!” she exclaimed happily, nuzzling her face into my cleavage. Her hands eventually came down to wrap tightly around my sides, earning a yelp from me as she agitated the injuries. “Mai?” she questioned, touching my sides again only to pull them away as I hissed slightly. Before I could stop her she had taken the hem of my shirt and wrenched it up to my neck, either not noticing or not caring that I wasn't wearing a bra.
“M-Mikoto,” I managed, blushing fiercely as she settled the hem on top of my breasts so she could peer at my sides without the pesky fabric in the way. I couldn't help but squirm slightly as she, with a surprisingly delicate touch, traced the bandages that lined my sided. She lowered her fingers after a few moments and balled them into fists.
“Who hurt Mai?” she asked with such quiet malice that I was almost afraid to lock my gaze with hers. When my grays met with her yellows, however, I couldn't hide from the intensity that burned within them.
“I... I did it. I was thinking about you hating me and I blacked out. When I came to Natsuki was trying to pull my hands away... I was...” she interrupted me with her trademark face to breast tackle and with some amount of luck the bed had been behind us to cushion the fall.
“No more?” she questioned, voice muffled through my cleavage.
“Never again,” I promised, reaching down to run my fingers through her short hair. The image of what we were doing seemed to hit both of us simultaneously. “M-Mikoto!” I shouted, pushing her back a bit and scrabbling to cover my bare breasts. Mikoto, for her part, managed to blush and giggle nervously.
“Mai's breasts... even better with no shirt.” The blush she managed to induce with those words would have made Shizuru proud.
“Yes.. well... I...”
“Is Mai hungry?” she asked suddenly, rescuing me from my embarrassed stuttering.
“I take it you're the hungry one?” I asked, eying her with a smile I didn't think would ever leave. As if on cue her stomach let out a long groan that sounded like a purr of affection to my ears. “I think I can whip us something up but afterwards we're taking a bath, you're filthy! And just look at your uniform!” I shouted, settling into the familiar rhythm of bustling about the girl, fussing over her hair and her clothes while making dinner all at the same time.
--
Dinner had been fairly routine, her eating enough to feed four people while I casually kept pace with my single serving, occasionally admonishing her for eating too fast. To anybody else it would have seemed fairly ordinary, apart from the smaller girl’s intake, but to us it was like spending time with a friend you hadn't seen in years. I was positively giddy inside, having to resist the urge to giggle every time she let loose with a barrage of 'Mai's cooking is the best! type comments.
The bath was another story altogether. Having silently decided to let her set the pace for our relationship I was curious to see how she'd act when we were naked and in such close proximity. For the most part it was pretty standard... until I had finished washing her. The butterflies in my stomach went into a frenzy when she slid back between my legs and leaned against me, tilting her head back to rest in the crook of my neck. On reflex my hands came around to rest on her belly, fingers linking together as I nuzzled her cheek with my own. I froze at the realization of how my body had reacted... it had felt so natural...
“Mai?” the girl questioned, tilting her head so she could lock her yellow eyes with mine. The sound of her voice shook me from my thoughts and I relaxed, letting our bodies meld together.
“It's nothing, sweetheart... I just... felt like we've done this before...”
--
'What was that feeling? Holding her in my arms... it felt like we'd lain like that a million times...' No matter how exhausted my body was I simply couldn't sleep, my mind was buzzing. 'Maybe this wasn't the first time we've done that?' A blush crept into my cheeks at the memory of the two of us in the tub. 'No, I'd definitely remember doing that... But why then? Maybe... maybe we have done it before... in another...'
“Mai...” Mikoto murmured, raising up off of my chest to look down at me with bleary eyes.
“Something wrong, sweetheart?” Her vision seemed to clear a bit and a downright hungry gleam appeared in her eyes. “Miko...mmph!” I muffled into the sudden kiss, eyes going wide as she crushed her lips to my own. The kiss was wild, powerful, and full of energy... as feral as its mistress. My lips felt like they were on on fire and my mind was spinning with the sheer intensity of the passion that was pounding in my veins. But just as quickly as it had started, it was over, my body going limp as she pulled away, the same sleepy look as before on her face.
“Mai breasts...” she murmured sleepily, grabbing the hem of my shirt and hiking it up and over my head in one smooth motion.
“Mikoto! I...” I started but she had already nestled in and was breathing evenly. I reached down to caress her cheek, closing my eyes to allow the image of her angelic face to etch itself into my heart. I felt something warm and wet rolling across my hand and opened my eyes to see tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Tell me again Mai... I want to hear it again...” she asked, voice trembling with pent up emotion. I smiled as my own tears began to fall.
“I love you Mikoto...” She snuggled tighter against me and I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pulled her even closer.
“I love Mai the most too...”
The last thought to pass through my tired mind as I drifted off to sleep, cradling the girl that I loved, was that it felt so natural... like it was meant to be...