Author's Note - Just to clarify a bit, Shizuru and Viola have been trained since they could properly walk and talk by their mother, to be the 'perfect' young lady...with varying degrees of success in Viola's case :p
As such their speech and mannerisms will be more 'mature' than a regular child their same age ^^
And also to reiterate there is no 'rape' in this story. There never has been, and there never will be. The situation doesn't even get that close.
So, I hope you will all enjoy this next chap ^^
Natsuki always hated him...Nao's father, Hiroshi.
Ever since her mother married the man two years ago, when Natsuki was six and Nao was five.
Hiroshi acted like a calm quiet man, but he always made Natsuki feel uncomfortable, as he would do things like just silently watch her. He would sit in his recliner chair and just stare at her, as she watched tv when her mother was at work. Or when she was outside playing with the neighbourhood kids, he would watch her from behind the curtains, thinking that she didn't notice him.
All of this attention given to a child not his own, also made Nao very angry and jealous. The young redhead had already lost her mother when she died of an incurable illness. She would not now lose her father to this other girl, who was seemingly stealing her father's affections away from her. So, Nao grew to completely dislike Natsuki and also Natsuki's mother, as she was the woman who was trying to take her true mother's place away. So she and Natsuki argued, bickered, and fought all day long and night if they could get away with it. And Nao was extremely cold towards Saeko, despite how hard the older woman tried to get Nao to like her.
To Natsuki her family was painfully dysfunctional.
And now that they had moved into this new neighbourhood, and had already been 'accosted' by the local-twin-welcome-wagon, Natsuki wondered where things would go for her from here. Hiroshi was still creeping her out, as his actions towards her of late had seemed to be getting bolder. No longer was he merely just staring at her, but he was also now slightly touching her. A light brush against the arm here. A tight squeeze against her shoulder there. All normal things most people would say a caring father would do. But it wasn't normal to Natsuki...at least not where Hiroshi was concerned.
Natsuki wanted to mention something to her mother about it, but at the same time she didn't want to cause trouble in her mother's marriage. She knew how much her father had hurt her mother when he had cheated on her, and they ended up getting divorced. And her mother now seemed so happy in her new marriage, even though Natsuki couldn't stand Nao, and her father made her feel worried.
But things between Natsuki and Hiroshi didn't get truly unbearable until two days after they had all moved into their new home. Maybe it was the fact that Natsuki now had her own room, and no longer had to share one with Nao. Maybe it was the fact that his wife was fast asleep in their new room upstairs, while Natsuki's room was located downstairs. Maybe he finally just decided to become bolder in his disturbing behaviour. Natsuki would never know what finally triggered Hiroshi to creep into her room late at night well after midnight, and sit down on the edge of her bed.
Naturally a light sleeper, Natsuki woke up instantly as she felt her bed dip down, and almost screamed in panic when she saw the shadowy figure of her step-father staring down at her, a strange and terrifying gleam in his eye.
Hiroshi immediately clapped his hand down over Natsuki's mouth, and held the fingers of his other hand up to his lips in a 'shushing' motion.
Natsuki could only stare wide-eyed at the man before her, as she waited in terrified silence for him to say or do something. Hiroshi then leaned down, and breathed lightly into Natsuki's ear, "mention one word of this to your mother, and you will regret the day that you were born. Do I make myself clear?"
Natsuki's eyes widened even more in fright, and tears came to her emerald-green eyes as she nodded mutely in agreement.
"That's a good girl," Hiroshi said with a pleased smile as he removed his hand from her mouth, and patted her lightly on the cheek.
Natsuki could only stare quietly at the man before her, frozen stiff as she wondered what he would do next. But then to Natsuki's dizzying relief, Hiroshi merely rose to his feet, and made his way back towards her bedroom door, throwing her a small and disturbing smile before he left.
Natsuki stayed up crying for the rest of the night, and when her mother asked her why her eyes were so red the next morning and if her baby girl was alright, Natsuki just mumbled something about getting something in her eyes, and rubbing them too hard.
Hiroshi hid a smirk as he saw that Natsuki was going to obey him, and not dare say a word about him going into her room last night.
Nao scowled at Natsuki, as she saw her father watching the dark-haired girl again, and she dug into her bowl of cereal with gusto to try to distract herself from her anger and jealousy.
So, that's how Shizuru and Viola found Natsuki later that morning. Eyes still slightly-red, sitting on the steps leading down from her front porch, and scowling at the beautiful summer day.
"Hiya, Natsuki! Why don't you turn that frown upside down. It's a great day out, and you shouldn't look so grumpy," Viola exclaimed, as she bounced up towards the green-eyed girl, with Shizuru walking at a much more sedate pace behind her.
"Would you just go away please. I'm really not in the mood to deal with you two right now," Natsuki grumbled, as she turned her head away from the two chestnut-haired girls, trying to hide her still-red eyes from them.
But Shizuru's naturally-red eyes caught the redness of Natsuki's own, and she asked softly, "are you okay, Natsuki? Your eyes are red...like you've been crying," Shizuru asked with a worried look on her face.
"Listen, I said that I'm not in the mood to deal with you two today, so just go away!" Natsuki all but shouted at the twins, as her voice shook and her eyes filled with barely-repressed tears.
Shizuru took a step back, then bowed her head slightly and whispered a soft apology for having bothered Natsuki. Tears then came to her eyes from being shouted at by the girl, with whom she wanted to become good friends with.
Viola looked from Natsuki's teary-eyed, scowling face to her sister's teary-eyed face, before letting out a loud, exasperated sigh.
"Seriously, the two of you are like two peas in a pod. Come on now, let's go," Viola stated, as she first grabbed her sister's hand and then Natsuki's, and began tugging the two of them along behind her.
"Oi, oi! What do you think you're doing! I told you that I don't want to be around you two right now," Natsuki cried out, as she was pulled out onto the cobbled sidewalk before her home, and then dragged along to a hidden path between their houses, that led to the wooded area behind their homes.
"And I don't care," Viola sang cheerfully, as she led her sister and a continuously-protesting-Natsuki down the hidden path, and through the woods to the destination that she had in mind.
"Ugh! Is your sister always this annoying and stubborn," Natsuki asked Shizuru, who was quietly allowing her sister to lead her along.
Shizuru felt a light blush stain her cheeks, as she quietly answered Natsuki, "uh yes...she usually is. You just have to learn to live with it, as Vi never truly means any harm, and she does mean well...usually," Shizuru said with an indulgent smile towards her sister.
Viola turned her head a bit and gave Shizuru a small wink and grin, before bursting through a small stand of bushes and back out into the open air, with her two captives still stumbling along behind her.
"Oh..." Natsuki breathed out softly, as she looked around at her surroundings.
The three girls were by the side of a large, sparkling-blue lake with the sun's warm light glinting playfully across the surface. There was a small hill with a tall tree standing on it, and a long rope hung from a thick branch that extended out over the water. Beside that rope hung another long rope, but this one had a black tire that could be used for sitting and swinging attached to the end of it.
"Hey, sorry to keep you two waiting! But we're here now, and we brought a new friend! Come on Natsuki, I want you to meet two friends of ours. Chie, Aoi, we'll be right there!" Viola called out to the two girls, sitting on what looked like a picnic blanket by the edge of the lake. One of the girls with short, spiky-brown hair waved back and Viola once again tugged on Natsuki and Shizuru's hands, pulling them along towards her friends.
Natsuki groaned loudly to herself as she looked over at Shizuru who let out a light giggle, and then just kind of shrugged her shoulders apologetically towards her big sister's back as if to say, "sorry...you just have to learn to live with Viola."
Natsuki let out another loud groan, as one clear thought crystallized in her mind.
How did I get myself into this!
AN - Hope you all enjoyed~ ^.^
I'll try to have another chapter out soon, and please let me know what you all thought of this one =3
~ Yuri