In Oculis Domini
She was so pretty, the way her chestnut curls splashed color against the polished wood. "I think I'm in love," Millay grinned, fluttering her hand against her breast as Sister Mary Francis introduced the shy new girl. "Those curls, those eyes. Imagine those legs wrapped around your head as she writhes on the bed...." Her voice trailed off as she eyed Luluko and Shirley lasciviously. Shirley squealed, covering her face with her hands and Luluko tilted her chin defiantly, peering down her nose to study the girl objectively. Sure, she was pretty, but she wasn't the prettiest girl in the classroom by any stretch of the imagination. Millay herself would be the winner on that front, at least in Lulu's eyes, though she had gotten plenty of surreptitious invitations to play between the sheets, all refused with a virginal blush and discreet mortification. Sex seemed much too messy, especially knowing that she had to attend classes with the girls she'd bedded. Now they were barely two months away from the end of term, and Millay's constant, horny haranguing was beginning to wear her nerves thin. An aristocratic eyebrow twitched in annoyance as she pinched the bridge of her nose and ignored the blonde's near-pornographic description of the blessings the regulation skirt did to the new girl's ass.
A finger poked her shoulder, and she glared up at the offender. The new girl blinked down at her in surprise, a gently bewildered expression on her face. "Ah, are you Luluko? The Sister said I could sit here," she said, gesturing vaguely to the empty seat on the other side of the desk. "It's, um, it's the only open seat...."
"Sit if you want," Lulu huffed, turning back to the front of the room where the Sister was starting math. She tried to ignore the wounded look on the girl's face by searching through her desk for a pencil. Finding one, she made a show of flipping open her notebook and taking notes. Shirley stared at her, and Millay grinned knowingly. The new girl just watched.
"My name is Suzako," the girl said. She didn't even bother lowering her voice, and several girls nearby giggled. Luluko glared at her, remembering the sting of the Sister's chalk as it was thrown at her for sleeping, and tried to pass her disapproval through her eyes. The melodious voice didn't stop, though, gently colored with an undiscernible accent. "I just moved here last week. I hope we'll be good friends!" Her eyes shone with good cheer, and Lulu's heart flipped in her chest. She scowled.
"Whatever. Just be quie--ow!" A small white chunk of chalk clipped her ear.
"Luluko Lamperouge! What have I said about talking in class?" Sister Mary Francis demanded. Luluko bowed as gracefully as someone who'd just been zinged with a piece of chalk could muster, surrounded by the tittering laughter of her classmates. Satisfied, Sister Mary Francis turned back to the board, and Lulu crossed her arms, distinctly not pouting. A wad of paper bounced off of the side of her head and she sighed, halfheartedly frowning at Millay, who grinned back.
'We should invite her to the Student Council,' Millay's note read. Yeah, so you can molest her, Lulu mused, then jotted down, sliding the note back across Shirley's desk. The redhead looked affronted until Lulu fluttered her lashes at her, leaving Shirley flushed and flustered. Millay looked ready to cackle, and actually did when she read the note. Her pen moved quickly. 'But of course!' Rolling her eyes, Lulu put the note away and tried to focus on class, shaking her head at Millay's antics. The feeling of paper crinkling under her elbow startled her, but when she looked, Millay was actually paying attention to the teacher and Shirley was concentrating on the doodled hearts in the corner of her page. Lulu tried to ignore the loops that spelled her name.
To her left, Suzako seemed to be watching Sister Mary Francis derive sums with rapt fascination as well, but when she noticed Lulu looking at her from the corner of her eye, she winked and actually had the nerve to put a finger to her lips. Lulu blinked, unfolding the paper to reveal a note in tight, cramped hand.
'Luluko, I think we may have gotten off on a bad start. I'd like to be your friend, if you'd let me. Please let me know what I can do to get on your good side. Suzako
It was hopelessly sincere. Lulu sighed, admitting defeat in the face of fate, and wrote a brief response.
'Suzako-- It's too late. Millay's already claimed you, so you might as well play along. Come to the Student Council room on the fourth floor after classes. She will do terrible things to you, but not as badly as if you don't come. --Lulu
Suzako beamed at her, and Lulu wept inside for gullible young girls.
::Millay squealed happily as Lulu opened the door, revealing Suzako in full costume. Even she had to admit that the brunette looked good, skintight leotard hugging her in all the right places. Suzako did an embarassed turn, revealing the bunny tail resting just above that fine, tight ass. All the right places indeed, Lulu mused, lips twitching as Millay tugged a flustered Suzako onto her lap under the guise of adjusting the fuzzy ears perched atop her head. Millay's hands inevitably drifted to places that had very little to do with being a bunny, and Suzako stammered as she moved them away. Really, Millay was just a dirty old man sometimes.
"I don't see why I'm a bunny," Suzako was saying as she stood up, twisting to peer at the fluffy tail pinned to her backside. "I don't think I'm very bunny-like."
"It's what was left, really." Shirley's voice was muffled by the screen she was changing behind. Her shadow's breasts bobbed as she bent, and then her silhouette was topped with dog ears. "When this event was planned, there were only four of us, so you get the costume that wasn't already assigned. At least your outfit fits you!"
"Oh, come on, Shirley! It can't be so bad," Millay wheedled, trying to peek behind the screen. A squabbling fight for Shirley's virtue ensued.
"So remind me why we're supposed to be celebrating Easter with animal costumes?" Suzako asked Lulu, sidling up next to her. Her bow tie was lopsided, so Lulu adjusted it before shrugging.
"Millay planned it. I suspect it was her way of getting Shirley into fishnets."
"Makes sense."
"About as much as Millay ever does," Lulu conceded. She fingered the pile of black fabric in her arms reluctantly.
"You'd better get changed, you know. While Millay's distracted, I mean. Or else she'll take advantage of the fact that you haven't to undress you herself," Suzako suggested, and Lulu sighed, planting her face in the cool, silky material.
"I can't." Her voice was muffled by the fabric.
"Why not? We're all wearing goofy animal outfits."
"I can't."
"You'd better, or she'll make you...."
"...shut up. I'm going to the bathroom; I'll be back in a minute."
Behind the door, Lulu stared at the knob. She couldn't bring herself to turn it; the cold draft wrapping around her middle was distracting her. She shifted feet, and nylon squeaked. She vowed her revenge, so long as she could do it from the hall without ever showing anyone the outfit she had on.
"I'm just going to go check on her. I'm sure she's--" The door swung open. Suzako stared. "...fine." Lulu wrapped an arm around herself protectively. Millay leered.
"So cute! I just knew you'd look hot in that one, Luluko!" Millay made grabby hands at her and she took an instinctive step back, teetering dangerously on one stiletto. Suzako grabbed her hands to steady her, and a rush of heat tingled at the vast expanses of skin Millay's costume wasn't covering.
"Thanks," she said, a little bit breathlessly.
"Any time," Suzako responded, cheeks pink. "You kind of look like a porn star."
Lulu blanched, covering her face in humiliation. Suzako was right; there was only one way to take the thigh-high black stockings connected by snaps to the teensy-tiny shorts. There was only one way to take the top so tiny that she hadn't been able to fit a bra beneath, so thin the whole room could see just how cold she'd found the hall. She looked like a streetwalker. "Millay, I can't go out in public like this. Your father would have me expelled. Easter is a holy day, and--"
"Oh, fine," Millay shrugged. "Be a spoilsport. You can't change until we get back, though; I want to take group photos!"
"Just what you'll use those photos for--" Lulu started, hissing and spitting like the cat she was dressed as. Suzako leapt to her side, throwing a blanket over her shoulders as if trying to capture a wild animal.
"Don't worry about it, Millay. I'll keep her company," she said, shooing the others toward the door as Lulu's eyes sparked dangerous promises. Millay looked grateful and Shirley looked mortified and Nina looked frightened as they escaped the black haired girl's wrath. The door closed behind them before Lulu exploded on her.
"What the hell do you think you were doing?!"
Suzako shrugged. "Getting out of it?" Lulu stared. "Wanna play cards until they get back?"
::
When Suzako had been at the school for three weeks, Lulu had to grudgingly admit that she liked the girl. She trusted her, and every part of her seemed to scream wholesome goodness, so she finally decided to take her home to her sister.
"So this is where you live? I thought it was kind of weird that you were never in the dorms," Suzako said as Lulu led her up the stairs to the suite she shared with Nunnally. "I figured you were hiding from Millay."
"You can't hide from Millay," Lulu said bluntly. "Not when her dad's the one who owns this school."
"I've figured that out," Suzako laughed.
"I live here with my sister. She doesn't go to the school, so technically she can't live in the dorms, but Mr. Ashford lets us stay here. We have a tutor so she can keep up with her studies."
"Keep up with her studies? Why doesn't she go to the school?" Suzako's questions weren't malicious, but Lulu bristled.
"She's blind. Do you have a problem with that?" Suzako's eyes widened and she shook her head. "She can't leave the apartment without help, so I have to bring her the things she needs."
Suzako was silent for a moment before speaking. "You're amazing, Lulu." Her tone was reverent. A pleasant warmth stole over Lulu's skin and she shivered.
"I'm just doing what anyone else would do. She's my little sister. I have to take care of her. She's...all I have left." Lulu blinked at the sudden rise of tears and looked down, checking her shoelaces. Warm arms wrapped around her suddenly and she struggled weakly, pushing against the other girl's grip.
"Having one of you must be better than having ten of my family," Suzako said fervently, her bangs falling in her eyes. "You are amazing, Lulu."
"W-whatever," Lulu muttered, cheeks pink. "Let go of me or else the maid is going to think you're my girlfriend or something."
Suzako coughed, drawing back nervously, and Lulu opened the door.
They'd been kneeling around the low table in Nunnally's room, Suzako teaching her how to fold tiny, intricate creatures out of paper, when disaster struck: a gentle knock at the door, and then Sayoko led in Luluko's favorite cousin, Euphemis. He was tall. He was handsome, and he had that same, hopelessly cheerful outlook Suzako embodied. It was love at first sight, and Luluko felt her stomach twist as she watched Suzako's eyes glaze over.
Euphemis visited for just over an hour. It took less than five minutes for him to wreck everything. For days Suzako could speak of nothing else. Even Millay was becoming annoyed at the pink-haired man's invasion of her maidens' circle.
"...and then Euphemis said--" Suzako was gesturing with a fork to emphasize her story. "Hey!" Millay had swiped a meatball from her lunch.
"Then Euphemis said, 'Shut up about how badly you want my cock already and eat your damned food.'," Millay intoned. Suzako and Shirley blushed, and Luluko felt her appetite flee.
"Enough," she commanded, shoving away from the table hard. She stalked away to dump her tray, feeling the prickle of Millay's eyes between her shoulders.
"Yeah, show some respect. He's her cousin, after all," Suzako scolded. "I don't think she wants to hear about...that." She blushed again. Shirley bit her lip nervously, eyes trailing behind the dark haired girl as she left the room. Millay sighed, scratching idly at the tabletop with manicured nails. Nina leaned forward eagerly.
"Tell me more about Euphemis," she gushed, eyes fever-bright behind her glasses. "He sounds just perfect."
Suzako paused, flustered. "I don't know about 'perfect', but he's...I don't know."
"Millay," Shirley asked tentatively, pressing a hand to Millay's arm. "Is Lulu okay?"
Millay frowned, poking at her food with sudden disinterest. "She'll be just fine."
Suzako blinked. "Is something wrong?"
::
Luluko was a coward. She was a coward, and she hid from her. She hurried to and from class, pretended to be asleep when Suzako tried to pass her notes, and even skipped club meetings with the Student Council. Suzako had already run the gamut from worried to irritated, and was slowly working her way back to worried again. Her friend had even started avoiding the suite she shared with Nunnally when Suzako came to visit. Nunnally could tell her nothing, helplessly shrugging at Suzako's questions. Millay refused to answer, and Shirley looked away awkwardly, sidling out of conversations whenever they turned to the other girl.
She finally cornered her in the school chapel, asleep on a pew. Long black lashes fluttered open when Suzako sat down, but when Lulu tried to jump up and leave, Suzako grabbed those slender wrists in her own hands and tugged her back down. Lulu flushed, turning her face away.
"Let go," Lulu commanded, chin tilted haughtily. Suzako shook her head. "I said let go!"
"I said no!" the brunette replied, curls shaking as she shook her head more fiercely. "What's been up with you?"
"I decided I didn't want to see your stupid face anymore is all," Lulu snapped. She struggled against Suzako's grip. "Now let go before I puke all over you."
"What the hell is the matter with you? You've been acting really weird lately, Lulu." Suzako's eyes were large and pleading.
"Shut up. You're the one who--never mind. Just let go."
"What did I do? Why are you mad at me?" Suzako insisted.
"You disturbed my nap with your kinky hand-holding bondage games!" Suzako's mouth dropped open and she released Luluko's arms. "Figures," Lulu muttered under her breath.
"What figures? You're not making any sense here, Lulu."
"Stop calling me that! I never said you could call me that!"
"Lulu, I--"
"You're too familiar!" Lulu said sharply, turning to Suzako. "And it's all a game. A ruse. You get close to someone, you pretend to be their friend, and then--!" She clapped a hand over her mouth, turning away. Suzako thought she saw those thin shoulders shake.
"Lulu. Lulu." Suzako reached out to touch her friend, but her hand was knocked away. "Fine, Luluko, whatever you want to be called--I wasn't faking. I do want to be your friend. Call me stupid, but I kind of thought I already was your friend." Lulu didn't turn around, so Suzako curled her legs up on the pew, hugging her knees to her chest.
"You were...you were the first person I saw when I walked into that classroom. I just knew we were going to be best friends. Before here, I never really had any friends, but then I had you, and Millay, and Shirley and Nina, and...and Nunnally.... Were all of those things lies? I just wanted a friend--"
"I don't," Lulu whispered. "I don't want to be your friend."
Suzako turned, shocked. Lulu peered at her over one folded arm, lashes wet, expression unreadable.
"Wha--?" Lulu cut off Suzako's indignant cry with her lips, sealing them over the other girl's in a kiss. Suzako shoved her away, wiping her lips brusquely with the back of her hand. Lulu winced as her elbow made a hollow thudding noise on the wooden pew. "What the hell?"
Luluko looked up at her, then away. "I don't want to be your friend," she repeated dully. "I--I like you." Suzako stared mutely at her. Lulu sniffed and pulled herself back into a seated position.
"But," Suzako floundered. "But we're both girls."
"I know that, stupid."
"But Euphemis...." Lulu winced, curling around a knee.
"I know you like him. God, it isn't like you haven't made that clear." Her voice was muffled and watery.
"So you're...you're like Millay, then?" Suzako's voice was soft. Lulu laughed bitterly.
"Millay's only playing. She's a horny teenage girl trapped up in a girls' school. She's got a fiance, for fuck's sake." Lulu looked pensive. "I'm stuck this way."
"I don't--"
"I know you don't like me," Lulu muttered, sinking her head until Suzako couldn't see her face.
"That's not what I was going to say!" Suzako protested. "I do, I just--! I don't...I don't know what to say. I don't know how to fix this." She picked at the hem of her skirt dejectedly. Cool fingertips on her face surprised her, and she looked up to Lulu's inscrutable eyes.
"Kiss me, then?" The dark haired girl flushed. "Just...just once. Please." Suzako blushed, leaning forward slowly. It was different from the kisses boys had stolen in the past.
Lulu's lips were smooth, slightly waxy from her lip balm, and soft. Unbelievably soft. Their mouths slid against each other, lips catching smoothly as they slid into sync. Hot breath puffed against her lips, and Suzako instinctively parted hers to meet the tongue that darted out. It lapped at the inside of her upper lip and she sighed, reaching up to tangle her fingers in Lulu's hair, knocking purple hair clips to rattle on the stone floor.
She pulled away, sitting back on the hard wood. Lulu was pink with exertion and dazed looking, and she followed Suzako back, pressing little kisses against her mouth. "One more. Please, just one more."
Suzako found herself flat on her back, Lulu above her pressing darting kisses to her lips. Long-boned fingers curled in Suzako's hair, tilting her head back before Lulu descended, a force of nature intent on ravaging. She bit and lapped at Suzako's lips indiscriminately, one hand trailing up her side to toy with the knot of her school tie. Her other hand was....
"Hey! Hey, Lulu, wait!" Suzako's eyes widened as Lulu's deft fingers traveled up her thigh. "Lulu, I mean it, I--!" One finger traced over the simple cotton of her panties, and Suzako shoved Luluko away angrily. "We're in the chapel, for God's sake!"
Lulu's eyes were hooded. "I don't care."
"I said no."
"I do--" Lulu looked away, biting her lip. She laughed. It was a brittle, terrible sound. "Sorry. I won't...sorry."
"Lulu...."
"Won't happen again. Scout's honor," Lulu said. The forced humor was chilling to hear. She scooted down the pew to escape, and Suzako caught her arm again, pulling her back to wrap both arms around her waist.
"Don't be sad." Lulu laughed her brittle laugh again, and this time it sounded like sobbing. "Don't be sad," Suzako whispered into her belly.
Standing, she pulled Lulu in for a sweet kiss. The dark haired girl shuddered against her, gasping when Suzako cupped the side of her neck and gently tilted her face to the side. Unsure of herself, Suzako tentatively wrapped her other hand around Lulu's breast, just holding it. Lulu moaned encouragingly against her mouth and covered her hand, guiding and shaping it, squeezing herself with Suzako's fingers. She released a shaky breath, her face falling into the curve of Suzako's neck.
Suzako could feel the nipple hardening beneath the flimsy regulation blouse. Lulu's lips traveled along her throat, distracting her as she toyed absently with the tight bud. She pinched it. Lulu panted.
She was afraid to say anything, terrified that it would end here if she broke the spell. Lulu cautiously lifted her hand away, guiding it to the buttons of her blouse. Suzako opened it automatically, exposing the creamy white skin beneath. Candlelight flickered, giving her flesh color and illuminating the pert nipple raised from Suzako's attentions. Suzako brushed it with her thumb, and Lulu whimpered. Her tie, loosened but not removed, tickled her bare skin as Suzako explored.
Suzako gently pressed her back against the pew. Her skirt fell up around her hips and she blushed, writhing against the wood into as demure a pose as she could. Suzako touched her thigh, kissed her knee just above the top of her socks, then leaned over her, just brushing her lips along Lulu's. Lulu leaned up to capture her lips in a kiss, but Suzako ducked back, stretching out over her to lap kittenishly at an exposed breast. Lulu's legs fell open and Suzako settled between them, marveling at the heat of the other girl, even through their clothes. Suzako flicked her tongue over a nipple and Lulu's hips bucked against her stomach.
Beneath her hands, Lulu's skin raised goosebumps. Her belly shivered below Suzako's jaw as she trailed reverent fingertips over the pale skin. One leg wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer toward the heat between those thighs, and Suzako felt a tug in her own stomach. She lifted Lulu's skirt out of the way and paused to look back at her friend.
Lulu's eyes were wide and dark with emotion. She was biting her lip, and Suzako found herself hoping equally that Lulu would tell her to stop and to keep going. Instead, Lulu said nothing, reaching down to tangle her fingers in Suzako's hair and pull her up for another bruising kiss. Suzako palmed her through her panties, and Lulu's breath hitched against her mouth.
It was strange, sliding her hand inside Lulu's panties. Suzako bit her lip at the sensation of dragging her fingers through pubic hair, smooth and soft, then curled with moisture. Lulu felt dangerously fragile there, all soft skin and slick stickiness. She cried out against Suzako's shoulder when Suzako stroked a finger along just the edge of her outer lips. She cried out again when Suzako repeated the motion, using two fingers to gently open her for exploration.
Lulu's head rocked back, her hair forming a dark halo beneath her. Her eyes were closed in pleasure, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Suzako focused on the bruises bitten into tender skin and closed her ears to the rushing of her blood. Her hand slipped, fingertips tripping away from the tight circles she was making around Lulu's clit to brush against her entrance. Lulu's eyes opened suddenly at this, nervously darting to Suzako's face. Suzako gave her a strained smile, and she visibly relaxed. The first finger went in easily.
If she wasn't lying, Suzako could admit that she'd tried this on herself. She was familiar with the tightness, with the grasping, ridged muscles, but the angle was odd, and she'd never been able to get this deep before. Sticky wetness pooled around her knuckles as she sank all the way in, rubbing carefully inside in the way she remembered liking. Her own body throbbed. She drew her finger out and added another, sliding to the first knuckle. Lulu whimpered, and Suzako shoved her sweaty bangs out of her face to look at her friend. Lulu was flushed and sweaty, but her face was strangely solemn. Suzako looked away.
"Too tight for two," Suzako chuckled weakly, pulling the extra digit out. Lulu curled an arm around her shoulders.
"That's okay. One is good," she murmured, kissing at the side of Suzako's face. "One is really good." Suzako nodded, resuming her rubbing. Her thumb slipped in Lulu's wetness to brush against her clit, and Lulu keened, wrapping her other arm around Suzako's shoulders to hold her as she shook. Her body clenched around Suzako's hand as she made a little choking gasp and came. Suzako wiped her sticky fingers on Lulu's panties as she drew her fingers out. Lulu sighed, throwing an arm over her face and turning away from Suzako, brooding.
"I, er...." Suzako watched her awkwardly. The air held the tang of sex mixed with candle wax and incense.
"Just go." Lulu's voice was tight.
"I--"
"It's okay, Suzako. Everyone gets their heart broken sometime. You've been too good to me." Suzako was suddenly glad for the arm hiding Lulu's face. She reached down to gently button her friend's blouse. Lulu peered through her fingertips at her, and Suzako's chest felt tight.
"You'll catch a cold sleeping here," she said, blushing. Lulu snorted, but kept watching her as she slid down the pew a bit. When she laid her head over Lulu's heart, it was racing. "Let me keep you warm."