"It was always really hard for me, taking care of her..."
The muffled voice coming from inside the Dawn Consultation office halted Kagari in her tracks. She had been walking down the empty hallway on her way out of school, preparing for another trip home alone, when she heard the conversation. It was Yomi, she realized, and she was talking about Kagari.
Yomi confused Kagari. She remembered that they had been friends once—it seemed a long time ago, though she wasn't really certain—but didn't understand why Yomi was clinging to her so. She'd acted shocked when she learned Kagari had gone to school without her, but why shouldn't she do that? She and Yomi weren't that close...were they?
Still, she was interested in the other girl for reasons she couldn't quite put her finger on. Yomi didn't seem to want to spit out what was bothering her so much, but maybe she was opening up to the counselor. And that's why Kagari stopped to listen.
Yomi was continuing. "I'm just so surprised to see her doing well, and making friends... I'm still a little worried about her, if she can really get along without me after all this time."
Kagari found herself pressing her ear against the door. Get along without you? That made it sound like Kagari had relied on Yomi for something, but that wasn't true; at least, Kagari didn't think it was. Yet it sounded right, even though she couldn't remember it.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the counselor, a woman, spoke. "Nobody would have a hard time just because you're not around. No one needs you that much."
Kagari felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. What was this woman saying? Her voice was almost malicious. She heard half a stutter from Yomi and then an awful, strained silence.
"Oh, I only mean it isn't something you should worry about." Her voice was lighter, as if dismissing the tension she'd just introduced, but it didn't help.
"No one...needs me..." she heard Yomi say slowly, almost to herself.
"What's wrong?" Kagari gritted her teeth to hear the counselor's voice again.
"I have to go!" Yomi abruptly shouted, and Kagari heard sudden scuffling. She hurriedly backed away from the door and tried to make it look like she was just passing by; when Yomi flung the door open and practically stumbled into the hallway, she just gave Kagari one stricken look before running away.
Kagari watched her go, frozen in place. It made her sick to her stomach to see Yomi that way. What kind of monster was this counselor, tearing down Yomi like that? Yomi, her Yomi, who she'd relied on so much in the past...hadn't she?
"Well," said a voice, and she whirled the find the counselor standing in the darkened doorway, very close to her, "this is a surprise."
Her first, strange instinct was to run, but she stayed where she was, watching the woman warily. The smile on her face was downright predatory as she crooked her finger inward. "Won't you come in?"
Kagari followed her inside, passing a desk with a name plate that read "Saya Irino," and sat facing her across a coffee table. There were no lights on in the room, and the only illumination came from between the shutters obscuring the hallway like the bars of a jail cell. Saya smiled at Kagari. "Would you like a cup of coffee? I have sug—"
"No, thanks," said Kagari coldly.
The silence was filled by the ticking of a clock mounted on the wall.
Saya's smile hadn't so much as flickered. "Okay. Was there something you wanted to talk to me about... What's your name?"
"Kagari Izuriha." Kagari let her gaze bore a hole in the dark-haired woman's eyes.
"Kagari. Was there something you anted to talk to me about, Kagari? Something you wanted to say to me?" Saya's gaze didn't waver, either.
Kagari let the silence stretch for another moment, and then began forcefully, "What the hell do you think you're doing to Yomi? Telling her things like that? You're disgusting! " Saya kept smiling. Kagari continued, even more angrily. "It's not even true. People do need Yomi. Where do you get off acting like you know her? I…" She faltered.
Saya leaned forward, a gleam in her eyes. "What is it, Kagari? Please, I'd like to hear what you have to say." She sounded horribly sincere.
"I know Yomi." Kagari struggled with what to say. She didn't know Yomi. She felt like she should, but she didn't. "She… I need her that much…"
"For what?" Saya spoke deliberately. "Kagari, what do you need her for?"
Kagari couldn't look at her now. She stared ahead focuslessly, her mind trying to grasp memories of Yomi that should have been there, but weren't. Saya studied her for a moment before speaking, the smile becoming more a triumphant smirk. "You're just the popular girl now. You have no meaningful connections to anybody." She stood. "And certainly not to Yomi."
The feeling of frozenness was getting worse. For the first time since she was a little girl, Kagari felt scared. It was as if she were actually paralyzed. Saya walked around the coffee table and took a seat on the couch beside her, and she wanted to move away but couldn't bring herself to.
Saya put a hand flat to her chest, and she felt her insides turn to ice. "Does it hurt?" the counselor murmured, her tone an awful mixture of twisted sympathy and menace. "Your heart? Go ahead and tell me you're in pain. It hurts to be so apart from everyone, even though they all say they like you, doesn't it?"
Kagari just sat there, listening to the clock tick through the seconds. Why wasn't she moving? Why wasn't she doing anything? It was like the part of her that made decisions, took action, stood up for what she cared about, had fallen into a deep hole…
…An abyss in another world, a canyon in a bleak gray landscape beneath an ugly sky. At the bottom rest the scattered pieces of…something broken.
Suddenly Saya's voice was warm again, and she removed her hand from Kagari's body. "Why don't you go home now, Kagari? It's getting late." The woman smiled that same smile. "And don't worry about Yomi! I'm sure she'll be fine…if you see her again."
She made to get up from the couch, but paused as Kagari muttered something. "I'm sorry. What was that?"
"This isn't how it's supposed to be." Kagari was still staring at the floor, but slowly something seemed to be changing in her eyes. "I'm supposed to…protect Yomi…" She didn't know what she was saying herself. "After so many years, I need to make it up to her. You can't…"
From within the deep crevasse come loud, clanging noises of metal. There is one final crash, and the stillness overtakes the landscape. Then a figure comes leaping up from the very bottom of the chasm, landing on her feet where are attached two powerful wheels.
A large red eye paints itself open in the sky, but the figure below hurls something large, oval-shaped, and brightly colored at it, and it shatters.
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," said Saya, shrugging. She put a comforting palm on Kagari's shoulder. "Maybe it—"
She stopped as Kagari grabbed a handful of her shirt and jerked her forward. "Get your hands off me, you bitch."
There was a new light in Kagari's eyes as she glared at the momentarily speechless guidance counselor. She remembered Yomi now, and what she meant. She remembered her wheelchair. She remembered everything. "You can keep up your little act," she said, releasing Saya and pushing her arm away. "But never come with one hundred meters of Yomi again."
It took Saya a few moments to recover. "My, you're suddenly making demands, Kagari…" She paused. "And what if I do?"
"I'll make sure you end up fired," said Kagari shortly. "Or in jail."
"Who's going to believe you?" She was smiling again. "Who's going to believe you when Yomi doesn't corroborate your story? Who's going to believe the girl who…" She touched Kagari's sternum with her index finger; the girl recoiled but didn't have time to do anything else. "…carved a little pattern into Yomi's skin with a needle?"
How does she know about that? Kagari was momentarily thrown. Could Yomi have told her?
She didn't blame Yomi, but the thought still enraged her: Yomi confided in this woman?
"Stay away from Yomi," she said with murderous ice in her voice. "I will make you regret it if you do."
The glowing red eye is replaced by its owner, a tall woman with long, dark hair and not much clothing. In her clawed hands she holds a large sawtoothed sword the color of blood, and she points it threateningly in the yellow-haired girl's direction. On her face is a permanent, toothy smile.
"What are you going to do about it?" There was a dangerous edge to Saya's tone now. "You can't overpower me or hurt me. But just think what I could do to you…" Her hands brushed against Kagari's ear. "Because I can't have you running to Yomi and telling her any of your silly fantasies about needing her."
"I said don't touch me!" shouted Kagari, and she knocked Saya's hand away. Watching the woman's reaction, she saw an odd look in her eyes at the contact, one it took her a beat to comprehend…and that's when she realized what she had to do.
Without hesitating, she closed the distance between them and brought her knee to rest between Saya's legs, just barely touching her. Saya's eyes widened and the smile disappeared from her face. There, thought Kagari, happy to see the irritating expression shoved down the woman's throat. "What's the matter?" she said. "Isn't this"—she rose on her knees and leaned into Saya, hands on her shoulders, and pushed her down onto the arm of the couch—"what you like?"
Saya just stared mutely back at her, but she couldn't hide what Kagari saw in her eyes.
Slowly she began to rub her knee against the crotch of Saya's pants. "If you do what I tell you, maybe you'll get more. If not…" She moved her leg away, and Saya actually bucked beneath her. Kagari put her face very close to Saya's, so close her breath was hot on Saya's skin while she spoke. "You get nothing."
The hollow look in Saya's eyes intensified. She parted her lips, about to speak, bur whatever she wanted to say seemed to shrivel and die before it reached her tongue. She mouthed half a word, perhaps begging something.
Kagari straightened. "Undress."
Her command was not instantly obeyed. Saya gazed at her for another moment, her eyes now frozen, before finally saying in a quiet voice, "I don't… I'm not…"
Kagari tolerated her attempts to speak for a few seconds, then said abruptly, "Shut up." Saya stopped. "I don't like it when you talk," said Kagari. "So from now on you're going to be quiet unless I tell you otherwise. Not a word, do you understand?"
She gave Saya a moment before adding with a sickly sweet smile, "Nod your head, idiot."
Saya did so. "That's better. Now…" Kagari smile vanished, and she stared straight into Saya's dead eyes. "Undress."
Wordlessly, the woman began unbuttoning her shirt, the movements automatic, revealing the white cotton bra that covered her shapely breasts. Kagari shifted herself closer again and ran her fingers over the exposed flesh, feeling the goosebumps on Saya's skin while the woman shivered, hands grasping the fabric of the couch. "Take off the rest of it," hissed Kagari into Saya's ear, continuing her light touches.
Saya shrugged off the shirt, every motion hindered by the swoops in her gut from Kagari's caresses. Next her hands found the hook at her back, fumbling there for a second, and she removed her bra. Immediately, Kagari transferred her hands to the woman's breasts, causing her to clench inwards, leaning forward but pulling back. Kagari impatiently caught Saya's face between her hands, and pushed her cheeks to force her to make eye contact. "If you keep squirming, I'm going to leave." She dropped one hand and let it rest on Saya's chest, palm flat, pushing down. "This is already enough to get you arrested, but we haven't really done anything good yet, right?"
She resumed fondling Saya's breasts as the counselor unbent a little, her abdomen still a knot of tension. Kagari traced her fingers in circles around the outside of the mounds, skirting and flicking the nipples on her way across, then swiftly dug in her fingers and squeezed hard. Saya groaned quietly. "I wonder why you even complained," quipped Kagari, then leaned forward abruptly to bring her mouth a hair's breadth from Saya's nipple. She stuck her tongue so just the tip touched the nub of flesh. And she stopped.
"Saya," she said, speaking the name with distaste, her hot breath again eliciting a shiver from the counselor, "I won't ask you again to take your clothes off." She moved back.
Again, Saya only stared, perhaps for the first time realizing fully the situation she was in. Her mind was blank, however, with no plans or strategies occurring to her. She found herself standing without meaning to, on display in front of the girl, undoing the button at her waist and pulling down her pants—and her undergarment with them. Before she knew it, she stood completely naked before Kagari.
For Kagari's part, she couldn't help the rush of heat she felt. Saya's body was…alluring. Her large-enough breasts made a matching curve to her hips, a silhouette framing what Kagari could see was the obvious wetness between her legs… But Kagari didn't allow herself to be distracted. "Kneel," she commanded, and Saya did.
She advanced, looking disdainfully down on Saya; the woman's own expression was a blend of expectancy, fear, and self-disgust as she looked back up, the hollowness in her eyes magnifying it all tenfold. Kagari was tall, and as she stepped to stand very close to where Saya knelt, her waist ended just above Saya's head. Slowly, watching the hungry sparks in the woman's eyes, she lifted her skirt.
She didn't have the words to tell Saya what to do, but as soon as the white of her panties came into view, Saya moved on her own. With one finger she drew aside the material, and without hesitation she brought her mouth forward.
Kagari forced herself not to suck in a sharp breath a she felt Saya's lips and tongue move to pleasure her. "Deeper," she said as coolly as she could. "Get your face in there." Saya complied, shifting forward on her knees to better wrap her mouth around Kagari's slick flesh. Her eyes were closed, hiding their empty quality, and if it weren't for the perverted actions she was carrying out, she might have looked peaceful.
Kagari kicked off one shoe. Awkwardly, she stuck her foot out to rub up from underneath Saya. Her toes barely slid over Saya's labia, but it seemed that was enough. The woman's breaths, muffled and interspersed with the sound of wet smacking, became heavier, and one hand clutched Kagari's thigh. Kagari writhed momentarily at the touch, but steadied herself on locked knees.
She was surprised by a sudden give beneath her foot, and her upturned big toe slid inside Saya. The soft, squishy sensation wasn't unpleasant, and Kagari began moving her foot a little up and down instead of just back and forth. Saya's hand on her leg twitched once then slipped down; Saya quickly brought it back up, and gripped the opposite thigh with her other hand as well.
The jerky rhythm continued, Saya keeping her face buried between Kagari's legs as though she were lapping sustenance from it. Kagari could feel something building up within her, a tension, almost, and she knew enough to understand what that meant. But it wasn't time for that yet. She withdrew her foot, a shimmering trail of liquid briefly stretching from her toe to the slit it had just exited, and placed a hand on Saya's forehead to push her away. "Lie on your back."
Saya parted her legs and sat, slowly leaning back while unfolding her legs and bringing them to her front. Even as she lowered herself, Kagari followed, keeping her pussy inches from Saya, until they reached the floor, and Kagari settled atop Saya's face without giving her a chance to draw breath. "Keep going," she said, already fighting a shiver from the contact of Saya's lips. The older woman began again, slowly working her way into a rhythm of licking, rubbing, sucking.
Sparing her other hand from holding up the skirt, Kagari reached back, letting her fingers drift as she felt her way across Saya's stomach and down between her legs. She was met first with the bristly hair there, then her digits reached Saya's sex. Cupping Saya there with the heel of her hand, she slid two fingers in and started to work them in what felt like the appropriate motion. With her balance all on her knees and calves, the motions caused her to rock back and forth slightly, and the feeling of her clit sliding across Saya's mouth while the woman licked set off sparks in her head.
"Harder," she said dispassionately, keeping her voice steady with effort, adjusting her perch atop Saya. Her eyes still shut, Saya responded forcefully, bringing her hands up to hold Kagari's butt, half squeezing, and accelerating her efforts. She thrust her tongue upward, the back of her head nearly leaving the ground, to further bury it within Kagari. Kagari hissed; the floaty yet taut sensation building up within her core was making it hard to stay steadily on her legs, but she didn't want to put more weight on Saya's head… Well, perhaps just a little. She let her hips fall, pinning Saya to the ground and bringing her folds and Saya's mouth into tighter, almost fused contact.
She'd hardly been paying attention to her own actions, but her hand was still vigorously pumping in and out of Saya. She pushed as deep as she could, seeing Saya's eyes shut more tightly as her brow furrowed. The heightened force of pleasure seemed only to spur her to eat out Kagari still more completely.
They stayed that way, Kagari atop Saya, for a brief eternity. Her own sensation having turned into a sort of rush of tingling that made her head fuzzy, Kagari felt the walls of Saya's hole contract around her fingers, accompanied by the woman's hoarse moans from around her own labia, and she knew Saya had come. Was it over, she wondered. Did it just work like that? She hadn't done very much… Then why didn't she feel like that, too?
There was a wet smack as she stood, and Saya gasped, breathing heavily and licking her lips over and over. She finally opened her eyes to see Kagari standing over her with a glare, finishing adjusting her skirt and panties. "There," said Kagari, a little awkwardly, a little angrily. "Now, don't ever let me see you near Yomi again."
She turned to leave, heart pounding and eyes wide with shock at herself. Did I just do that? Is that really going to help?
"Wait!"
In another world, the woman with dark hair struggles to her feet, stumbling slightly. The other figure, the girl, whose eyes are deep gold, turns back, readying her blade and shield. But the woman doesn't attack.
"Kagari…" Her voice shook as she spoke the name. "For…for your first time… I can make you feel so much better. Let me…"
Kagari stared at her. "What?"
"Let me make you feel good." Saya was pleading. "I can… I'm not just…"
She didn't know what the counselor was trying to say, but…the way she was begging… Kagari realized this was to her advantage. She switched back to her disdainful look. "So that's what you want? To keep pleasuring me?"
She breathed, "Yes…"
"If I give you that, you have to give me something in return. And I don't mean sex." Kagari continued to look haughtily down at her. "Swear you won't come near Yomi ever again." Then, with strange words brought to her from some depth of her mind: "In this world or any other."
She saw Saya's eyes widen in surprise as she said that. In the half-light glinting through the blinds, she thought she could see an odd, gear-like pattern ringing the woman's irises…
There was a calculating look slowly returning there, too. Saya was silent for a moment, before saying, "There are things you don't understand. I'm—"
The girl with the golden eyes thrusts her shield forward and knocks the unarmed woman to the ground. Her hair splayed behind her like rills of ink, she does not attempt to get up.
Saya's voiced seized up abruptly. Gradually her shoulders slumped, and she whispered hoarsely, "I'm only trying to help."
Kagari smiled. She knelt, cupping Saya's chin and drawing her gaze up. Without her smile wavering a fraction, she said, slowly and clearly, "I don't care."
She took one of Saya's hands and slowly began guiding it toward the hem of her skirt. "Well? Didn't you want something, Saya?" She felt the hand shaking violently beneath hers. "Didn't you want to…do something to me?"
All traces of control were gone from Saya's bearing, and the hollow quality was back in her eyes. "I won't ever go near Yomi again," she said robotically.
Kagari smirked. "That's good. Because if you did…" Again she spoke words that were hers but weren't. "I'd destroy you."
She let Saya's hand drop, and pulled off her skirt and panties.
Immediately, Saya moved forward and brought her right hand between Kagari's legs, while with her left she unbuttoned the shirt of the girl's uniform, popping some buttons off. She looked—down, finally, since they were both kneeling—at Kagari, and waited.
Kagari answered the unasked question with a dismissive tone. "Do whatever you like."
At her words, the woman began to rub gently, holding just Kagari's outer folds, causing her to squirm a little. It wasn't as hotly intense as when Saya had used her mouth, but it seemed very physical, very close. Having tugged Kagari's shirt off from all but her arms, Saya leaned in and wrapped her lips around one nipple; as she did so, she moved her middle finger inside Kagari.
She wasn't prepared for the sudden assault of sensation, and she gasped. Very slowly at first, Saya moved the finger out and in, crooking it slightly inward so it rubbed a place within Kagari that made her see stars. The strong suction as she suckled Kagari was equally intense, and Kagari arched her back into the sensation. Saya's other hand held her under the arm, the pad of her thumb held firmly over her opposite nipple, creating the inverse stimulus. Kagari already felt the tense feeling from before returning, though now it was more focused, more intense. Then Saya inserted a second finger.
Kagari bucked, involuntarily clenching in around Saya's hand, and the woman released the flesh she was suckling. "Does…" she said between breaths as heavy as the girl's were. "Does it hurt?"
"Don't say another word." Kagari glared imperiously through the blush that had risen in her cheeks. "Keep going."
Saya obeyed, sliding her mouth over Kagari's breast again, giving the bud a slight nip before running her tongue over it and resuming her sucking. She surprised Kagari by adding a third finger, but this time it was easier. The pleasure the woman's diligent, skillful hands caused was only multiplied, and Kagari's breaths became ragged.
It was becoming hard to think straight, but Kagari realized Saya was lowering her to the floor. As her bare back touched the carpet, Saya began to move her mouth lower, trailing kisses down Kagari's midriff while placing her free hand on the girl's inner thigh, spreading her legs. Finally, she brought her tongue to Kagari's clit while accelerating the thrusts of her hand.
In seconds, Kagari felt the white-hot pleasure of her first orgasm course through her nerves and muscles simultaneously, but Saya didn't stop. Sucking Kagari's clit, spreading and rubbing inside with her fingers, the other hand rubbing Kagari's soaked labia, she brought Kagari to such intense climax that her thighs closed around Saya's head. She uttered one long moan as Saya continued, and finally fell back to the carpet.
Only slowly did Saya stop, her fingers and tongue still teasing the last tremors from Kagari's body.
When Saya withdrew, licking her own fingers, she found Kagari looking flushed and exhausted but no less resolute. "Not anywhere near Yomi," the girl repeated, sitting up. She examined her discarded shirt. "And you owe me a new uniform."
She turned from Saya, leaving her on the floor to suck the last of Kagari's juices from her digits, her mind already moving to the more important matter—Yomi. Kagari knew Yomi needed her. What was more, she had the feeling Yomi really needed her, right that moment, and so to Yomi was where she would go.
In another world, it is the golden-irised girl who licks her spiky fingers of a glistening liquid, leaving collapsed on the earth the older woman. Casually, the girl tosses something small and pink over her shoulder, where it lands on the woman's exposed chest, sprinkling a few crumbs there.