"-ou okay?"
I blanked out a bit from how hard the liquor hit me, a sudden, warm, fuzziness assailing the back of my head, but I was able to respond. "Yeah. Maybe I should stick to sips from now on…"
I was back at the bar with Shou, who was back in the plain looking clothes I saw her in the last time she went here. I tried to take a gulp of the drink that had knocked me out the night prior and I could already feel the alien sensation of drunkenness creep up on me. Well, maybe not 'alien' but I wasn't able to comprehend the feeling very well the last time.
Shou softly chuckled. "Now do you understand why I was worried when you drank it one go?"
I nodded. "If I'm drunk from that little, then I must've been really fucked up last night. Is it just me or is it getting hot?" I pulled on my collar a bit and Shou laughed a little louder.
"It didn't take you long to speak vulgar words this time."
"Hm? What, fuck? I say that all the time." I took another sip of my drink, and shuddered as my drunken state increased.
"Oh, is that so?" Shou drank her drink at a faster pace, but she was clearly not inebriated yet. Damn those Youkai genes!
"Yeah, I haven't sworn too much in public since coming here, but I did it all the time back in the outside world." I said that while frowning at my drink. "Now that I'm actually tasting it, it doesn't taste very good."
"No, but it's strong. Can I have another?" Shou, having finished hers, called for another.
"You're not human." I said that jokingly as I took another reckless gulp, a pointless sense of pride coming over me to show I could drink it without flinching.
"That I'm not." Shou laughed again, and raised an eyebrow at my second gulp. "Are you?"
"Nah, I'm a tiger, right?" I said those words smoothly… I think? I don't know, my head's getting more clouded.
Shou continued laughing. "That you are!" Then she took the recently poured drink and started drinking it.
"You know, you laugh quite a bit."
She stopped drinking it mid-way. "Is it bothersome?"
"No, your laugh is cute." I took another gulp, already carried away by the heavy feeling sinking into my body and mind. I'd imagine Shou was good and blushing from my words, hehe. I went for another drink, but a hand covered up the drink before it could reach my lips.
"...Hm, I normally wouldn't stop who was drinking with me, but I don't want a repeat of yesterday." Shou said that bluntly.
"Aw, comon! I can build a tolerance to it…" I pointlessly tried to pull Shou's hand off the cup, but obviously I couldn't overpower a Youkai.
"Are you still trying to impress me?" Shou pulled it away and out of my reach.
"Damn straight! All of us men are fools, so why shouldn't I act like one!" I reached out for the drink but I ended up almost falling off my seat. Shou straightened me out with her free hand effortlessly before I ended up falling.
"I appreciate your spirit, but you're trying too hard. We're here for a good time, so you should relax." Shou reprimanded me bluntly with a frown. Ah, I guess I soured her mood a bit by acting that way, huh?
"...Sorry." I sulked as I straightened myself out. I had a tendency of being reckless lately for some reason. Maybe I'm not the calm, cool and collected type like I originally thought I was? All I wanted to do was be suitable enough drinking company for Shou.
Shou being Shou seemed to understand. "You're worried about what I think about you, right? Well you shouldn't worry about that and just be yourself."
I frowned at that. "But I don't have anything particularly special going for me. Hell, back home I only had good bonds with my brother, father, and two other people." I sulked even further. "The only reason I got to know anybody here is due to coincidence and dumb luck."
"Hmm…" Shou seemed to study me for a bit as she took another swig of her drink. "Is that what you think?"
"Yeah. Yuri I only know because I was taken in by her family when I had nowhere else to go, Kyouko because she was the first person I met when I arrived, Mystia because of Kyouko -although I wouldn't call us friends- and the reason I met you… That was just because I was having another one of my tantrums and decided to go out drinking."
I typically got angry about the stupidest things. To make matters worse, whenever I felt angry about something, the feeling always grows until it's completely out of my control and I often lose sight of what the original point was. For example, when I found out that Yuri's father had cheated, my anger agitated me and I kept thinking about unpleasant things in that moment, regardless of what they actually had to do with the situation. Then I take the events very personally despite how little the situation might have to do with me.
That's actually part of the reason why I worry and overthink things constantly. If I'm prepared for something, no matter how bad it is, I can keep calm and stay on topic. I'm always embarrassed whenever I look back on these 'episodes' of mine, because I realize that something might have absolutely nothing to do with what I got angry about to begin with.
Rumia made me uncomfortable with her unpredictability, suddenly responding to something so small with such emotion that I ended up getting angry the longer I thought about it until I ended up going to the bar.
I'm a very irrational person who can't let go of things, no matter how pointless they are. It's my biggest weakness as far as I'm concerned, and why I try to be as logical as possible.
"Do you regret it?" Shou asked.
"No, of course not. But, even though I tried to act with enthusiasm and confidence since arriving here, I've been reminded of my shortcomings very recently, and it's been weighing me down… I'm sorry, I don't want to ruin your evening again-"
"No, no, this is good. Talking about your problems over alcohol is normal. If anything, allowing someone to be completely honest is one of the most charming aspects of alcohol." Shou smiled as she looked down at her drink.
"I see… Should I order some alcohol that I can handle then?"
"Didn't I tell you that you shouldn't try to impress me?" Shou looked at me with exasperated eyes, but I shook my head.
"That's the first… no, second time you've misunderstood me. No, I'm just going to order a drink because it feels weird, not having one when we're sitting here talking. Is that not okay?" I tilted my head like so many cute anime girls have done, feeling a little silly, and Shou blinked in surprise.
"Well, no… Sorry."
"It's okay." I waved the bartender over and asked him for something sweet.
"...When was the first time?"
"Hm?" I looked at Shou curiously.
"What was the first thing I misunderstood from you?"
I grinned, half out of nerves, and half out of amusement. "...Not telling. But I'll be sure to tell you someday."
Shou looked at me with expectant eyes. "Come on, surely you can give me a hint?"
I laughed at her cute request, still refusing, and she pouted until I got my drink. We talked about a few different things after that, I felt like the mood was good for the rest of the night. Of course, I never told her what she misunderstood about me.
About how I was evil enough to force someone to obey me while hypnotized…
The next day had nothing important to note, except that Mystia was proceeding smoothly with her initiation. Apparently she was doing such a good job that it was a certainty she would stay there after her trial period. I guess she truly wanted to do whatever her "Goddess" wished of her to do, no matter how she may have not wanted to do it in the past.
Speaking of Rumia, I refused to see her since she yelled at me. The uncomfortable feeling in my stomach never leaving except for the times when I was with Shou, drinking and talking. Aside from how irritating it was that she ruined my plans to make Mystia do 'this' and 'that' with me, I felt upset for some other reason I still hadn't quite put my finger on.
Everytime I run through that moment she yelled at me, it felt like I was about to realize something important, like something was on the tip of my tongue, but when I eventually failed to realize it, I became even more irritated than before and the sinking feeling grew stronger.
I decided to just wait idly in my room until it was the time to go to the bar with Shou again, but when I got there, I got a response to a question I posed to her earlier.
"Eh!? It's fine?"
Shou finally had an answer for me that night at the bar. Before we had gone inside, she stopped me and brought it up.
"Yes… I'll allow you to hypnotize me."
"But it doesn't work very well if we get drunk… do you want to do it tomorrow?" If I hypnotized her while drunk… well, I'd rather not do something so stupid since her mind would already be altered in that scenario.
"No, it's fine if we do it tonight. I must admit I've been curious about it since you've mentioned it, plus… I hadn't given you my answer yesterday, like I promised. This is my way of making up for it." Shou replied.
"If you're fine with it I guess that's okay. But where should we do it? It needs to be someplace where you can relax, that isn't very noisy. A place where you get drinks is obviously not suitable..."
And so we went back to Shou's room.
...Yes, it was that easy.
It wasn't like it was my first time entering her room, and since Shou felt comfortable enough with me hypnotizing her, I guess it made sense. I still felt a bit off being allowed in someone's room when I've only known them for a short while, but when that person is a Youkai, I guess they don't have to worry about being taken advantage of by a human, since they can easily overpower them anyways.
Shou did change into her 'work outfit', so to speak, when we arrived. She felt uncomfortable being in her casual clothes when inside the temple, so she asked me to wait outside for a moment while she changed.
When I was allowed inside, she was already waiting for me cross-legged on the floor. I didn't enjoy being on a hard wooden floor, but I sat down in front of her. Looking at her, I saw that despite her permission, she was tense.
"You know, it defeats the purpose of relaxing if you're nervous." I mentioned.
"Ah." Shou seemed to look at herself in a bit of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, it's still a bit hard to think of hypnosis as being something good."
I nodded in understanding and thought about how to ease her worries the best. "...How about you mention what I'm not allowed to do?"
"I beg your pardon?" Shou looked at me with confused eyes.
"Back in my world, hypnosis typically ends up with the one using it having some sort of control over the person consenting to it. Before that, however, the person consenting to it says what they don't want the person hypnotizing them to do. Listing what you don't want to happen means that you know it won't happen by mistake, so you don't have to worry about it then."
"...I thought you said that you don't seek to control me."
"But you're still worried about that happening anyways, aren't you?"
Shou blinked at me in realization, then guiltily looked down. I continued.
"I said typically, since that's what the person consents to. But you're just consenting to relaxing through hypnosis, so I won't go that far. If you still aren't comfortable with it, you don't have to force yourself to go through with this." If she's just being considerate of me, then there really isn't a point in continuing, but she shakes her head.
"No, I do have a genuine curiosity about what you've described. That being said, you're right that a part of me can't shake off my previous conceptions that come from the word hypnosis. Not that I don't trust you, but… I'm sorry."
"No, that's okay. If you ever get a bad feeling, you could always ask for us to stop."
"Eh? I can?"
"It takes a little work and time to reach the state I was referring to, so if you feel uncomfortable with proceeding at any point, then you can just ask to stop and we'll do so. All I'm doing is speaking, and all you're doing is following instructions, after all. There's no power to speed the process or force you into it, so there's nothing stopping you from taking a break from it and trying again when you're comfortable again." I'm trying to ease Shou's worries and it looks like she has taken my words to heart. Her body has noticeably become less tense.
"Sorry. I'm fine now. You can continue." Shou gave me a reassuring smile, to reiterate that she was indeed fine.
With that, although it had taken a while to get here, I was finally going to hypnotize Shou.
"I'll start then. So, first off, I want you to close your eyes and start taking slow, deep breaths in and out." Shou did as she was told and I could see her expression had stiffened up when she did. "You don't need to try so hard; as long as you're focusing on my words and allowing yourself to relax, then it should be easy."
"Allow… myself to relax?" Shou gave a confused expression while her eyes were closed.
"That's right. You're trying to follow my instructions as best as you can right now, right? But doing it is more important than doing a good job of it. If you stress out about whether you're breathing deeply enough, then it's a little hard to relax even if you try, right? Instead, take slow, deep breaths at whatever pace you feel comfortable. You don't have to worry about how well you're doing, as long as you just follow my instructions and listen to my voice."
"Mm… was I making a face?" Shou opened one eye questioningly, giving me a glimpse of that strikingly pretty golden eye.
"Your face was tensed up, yes. That being said, if you notice that it's tensed up, don't stress over that either. Simply push any thoughts that would make you worry and stress out like that to the side. Do you do anything similar when meditating?"
"Hmm, I do empty my mind of distractions to focus on my inner self, yes."
"Do you find that relaxing?"
"I find it peaceful, so yes."
"Then, how about you think of it like this? Rather than emptying your mind of distractions to focus on your inner self, you're emptying your mind of distractions to focus on the sound of my voice."
"The sound? Not the instructions?"
"Yes. A part of you will always be listening, even if you aren't consciously aware of it. Everyone has the capability of hearing something without being consciously aware of it, so that part of you will follow the instructions when you aren't consciously aware."
"...I see. And that is how your hypnosis works?"
"Yes. When you reach a state of hypnotic trance, your conscious mind is asleep while another part of your mind, the subconscious, remains awake. While in this state, I could instruct you to 'feel yourself relax more and more' and you would do so effortlessly and without hinderance. Instructions that wouldn't be possible normally can be done with hypnosis."
"That's why a powerless person can use it…" Shou closed her one eye and continued breathing, apparently satisfied and comfortable enough to continue.
"It seems you've relaxed quite a bit. Knowing more about it must feel like a relief." I wouldn't say, 'quite a bit' but I wanted to give her a positive remark to help her along.
"Yes." Shou took that remark and made it truth, as I saw her completely relax. The subtle suggestion I made affecting her. Of course, who wouldn't want to feel relaxed? That made it easy for her to believe it, even outside of trance.
"Taking deep breaths in and out, at your own pace while listening to my voice will help you relax as well."
"...Haaa…" Shou seemed to settle down completely, no longer commenting on what I was saying.
"That's right, take it easy and let yourself relax, more and more. Push your stresses and worries aside and focus on the sound of my voice, allowing it to guide you. You have plenty of time right now to relax. Now, whenever you breathe in, I want you to open your eyes, and whenever you breathe out, I want you to close them."
Shou's eyes fluttered open midway through her breath in, then they shut closed as she let out a long breath, her body rising and lowering slightly with each action. She was giving me complete trust now.
"Everytime you close your eyes from now on, I want you to imagine your eyelids getting heavy. Each and everytime you close your eyes, they get heavier and heavier, so much so, that opening them will start to become harder and harder. This feeling will continue to grow until your eyelids get so heavy, that they remain shut whenever you breathe in."
Shou didn't give me any facial expression in reaction to my instructions, and the glimpses I saw of her eyes were far away. I got a little excited, but I wasn't planning to do anything sketchy to her, so I calmed myself.
"It feels so nice to relax, more and more, taking slow, deep breaths in and out, and listening to the sound of my voice… And now, I want you to imagine a pleasant, warm, feeling of relaxing energy. This feeling is so wonderful, so relaxing, that when you feel it, it just melts away any tension in the body, and it feels so good. Imagine that feeling, right now, at the tips of your toes…"
"Hn!" Suddenly, that far-away look that Shou gave me focused on her toes, previously curled up in a cross-legged stance, her legs outstretched as though the moan she let out hurt her.
"A-are you okay?" I asked, a little caught off guard from the sudden movement.
"M-my toes… are ticklish…" Shou muttered that, her cheeks turning slightly red as her voice became high-pitched and cute. Her voice was also very… quiet. I could see that her eyes, while focused on her toes, were half-open. She was taking my suggestions very well.
"Then, imagine that feeling covers your entire feet-"
"Hee-heee...heeee-hee!" Shou was starting to giggle sillily, and her body was laying down as she thrashed around.
I never expected such a weakness from her. That being said, it appears as though she hasn't snapped out of her semi-trance yet, since she's still experiencing the feeling.
"This feeling stops feeling ticklish, and it spreads up to your ankles, a deep relaxing feeling."
Shou stopped thrashing around, her expression aloof and her eyes drooping. It seemed she had no intention of sitting back up as she rolled onto her back. "Mmm… That's…"
"It feels even better when you continue your deep breaths in and out."
"...Haaaa…" Shou didn't need anymore convincing and started again, her eyes fluttering closed and, with some more effort, opening.
"See? It feels absolutely incredible. You haven't felt this relaxed in your entire life, and you can only imagine what it'll feel like when the relaxing feeling covers your entire body." Shou seemed to tremble at the idea and I smiled. Her reactions really were cute. "Now, the relaxing feeling spreads again, covering all the way up to your thighs."
Even though she seemed suggestible enough at this point, I didn't want to half-ass anything. I wanted it to be a complete induction. Going into it, I knew I was going to put more effort into her induction than that of the others, since she was relatively powerful. I considered it practice for when I would hypnotize others like her, although those times would probably have evil intentions attached to them.
"And now, the feeling is covering your entire upper body, leaving only your neck and head." I continued, Shou's eyes opening up so narrowly, that I couldn't see the shine of them. They were almost at the point where they would completely close. "Feel it spread up to your neck, relaxing it, and feel yourself begin to sink into this feeling, like it's something you would fall into."
One more push, and…
"And finally, feel that wonderful, deeply relaxing feeling, cover your head, and fall into a relaxing feeling of my hypnotic trance."
Both Shou's, and my mind, changed.
"...There is one thing I need you to do while you're still here, Kyouko." I separated from her and lifted her chin up to face me.
"A-anything master!" Kyouko was still wagging her tail away happily as I told her what to do.
"Right now, at this moment, I was only going to hypnotize her simply to make her relax, and nothing else. No ulterior motives or anything. But, I can't do that anymore. Shou has the ability to perceive people's true intentions, however, through simply observing them. That's why I need to go to her with that intention so she'll be comfortable enough to allow me to do so, but I need to change my intention after I have her under in trance. For that to happen Kyouko, I need you to hypnotize me, then watch over me to make sure nothing goes wrong, like time getting close to running out."
It was the only way forward. Shou was my make or break plan to conquer the temple, and with time increasingly short, I needed to do it on the first try. But there was no way I could hide my intentions from her, so the only thing to do was to hide them from myself as well.
"Hypnotize me to forget this conversation. Hypnotize me to continue wanting to help Shou relax with no ill-intent. And finally, hypnotize me to remember this conversation the moment I have her completely under hypnosis."
When I finished, her eyes narrowed and her smile turned into a devious grin as she returned the favor and put my chin in hand, her voice a much lower growl than the peppy high-pitched voice I heard earlier. "Of course… master."
What happened after… well, I might be a bit more inclined to do whatever Kyouko has to say instead of the other way around now.
She was that damn good.
My mind's memories hit me like a truck that ran through the night without sleep and was fast approaching their destination. I blankly stared at Shou for a moment as the realization dawned on me that I was about to make one of the most powerful Youkai in Gensokyo one of my sex slaves.
My heart beat a little faster, but then I remembered our time together.
She was really kind and actually wanted to have me as company. The amount of times someone invited me to something was scarce, as long as we weren't including family, so that sentiment alone made me hesitate. But the fact that she was sharp enough to keep me honest for once… it felt nice to act without regard for appearance in front of someone.
...Well, granted, she'll still do that, just to a different extreme now.
I feel guilty, but unlike Kyouko (before I got to know her), Shou is someone I can really get into the idea of controlling. Her complete and absolute trust in me means… I can probably make her do anything, given enough time.
But I had little time to work with at the moment… How should approach this?
For starters… Let's ask our hypnotized contestant a few questions! (Applause)
"Shou, doesn't it feel amazing?"
"...Yes."
Ahh, that "completely enamored with trance" voice! She's so vulnerable… Ah, I'm turning into a creep! Calm down, calm down…
"Trying different things can lead to something wonderful, can't it?"
"...Yes."
Okay, I've got a lead! Should I push that idea further, or ask more questions…? Hm… Actually, I'm a bit curious about something.
"You had a tiger form before, right? Is there anything you miss from those days?"
There is a long silence before she answers. "Ears… and tail…"
Now that she mentions it, she doesn't have any traits that resemble a tiger aside from her eyes and hair… But I can definitely use this to my advantage. That being said, I only have one shot at this, so maybe I should focus on bringing her deeper into hypnosis?
"Thank you for being honest. Now, I want you to focus your attention on the feeling that's enveloped you. It's so relaxing, so wonderful, and it's growing stronger. This warm feeling of deep relaxation makes your mind feel all warm and fuzzy, and any leftover tension in your muscles, no matter how small and insignificant, completely fades away, giving you a feeling of complete, relaxing bliss. This feeling doesn't stop growing stronger, and might even be considered overwhelming, but it feels far too pleasant for you to complain about it, as you sink into the feeling more and more. Every second, it gets stronger and better and you just let go of everything; all of your thoughts, all of your stresses, all of your worries fade away into nothing. Absolutely nothing is required of you, so you can enjoy this feeling to it's fullest."
I couldn't see any changes in Shou's expression, but the only movement was the slight rising and lowering of her upper body as she breathed in and out. It looked like she was sleeping, which was nothing but good for me. I felt comfortable to continue on.
"Now, as you are relaxing so very deeply, allow all other noises to fade away except the sound of my voice. You don't need to consciously comprehend the words I'm saying, you just need to hear the sound and let it soothe you further. The more you hear the sound of my voice, the better you feel as it becomes next to impossible to do anything but relax and listen, but you don't care about that. You don't need to care about anything right now, so you can leave everything up to me, including your thoughts."
No obvious reaction to my words. I'd like to call it my victory, but I need to still keep an eye out for anything that could ruin this, like someone coming in and hijacking my hard work near the end (Cough, Rumia, Cough).
"My words sink deep into your empty mind, becoming your thoughts. Even though you can't comprehend the meaning of my words consciously, they will still affect your mind, becoming your own personal truth. These words relieve you from thinking for yourself, so it's a very comforting and relaxing feeling as they sink deep into your mind."
And now, I'll start planting some more… direct suggestions.
"You can begin to feel a strange feeling in two points on top of your head, in the area where your tiger ears would be is you had them. It's a weirdly pleasant massaging feeling, and as it continues, you feel some strange energy flowing into those points on your head. This feeling grows stronger and stronger, and as it continues to do so, you can feel tiger ears, exactly like the ones you had in your Youkai form starting to form. Not too far behind from that, you begin to feel that same massaging feeling in a place where your tiger tail would be in your current state. That's right, you are growing your tiger ears and tail, and you can feel them and move them around like you did when you were a tiger. The massage feeling in all areas is now growing hot, and you can tell that they are almost finished forming. In a moment, they will form completely."
I have an idea on how to get submission and obedience out of Shou from doing this.
"That moment is over now. Feel your ears and tail completely grow out, formed perfectly. You can move them around like you did when you were a tiger, and you will be able to see them on your body whenever outside of hypnosis. You remember how they were when you were a tiger, and that vivid recollection of them makes your new ears and tail feel completely real. When you awaken from trance, you will be incredibly happy and amazed at what I was able to do when you stopped thinking entirely and let me think for you. You will be glad you tried this new and wonderful experience, and will want to try it again almost immediately after waking back up. Forgetting to think altogether and letting me think for you was a wonderful experience and nothing bad came from it; you know this for a fact. Not only that, but you know that you can trust me fully and completely, and that nothing good comes from doubting me. If you let your doubts stop you, you wouldn't have felt this amazing, so, even if I act in a suspicious way, you won't doubt me because that doesn't do either of us good."
She did agree that trying new things could lead to something wonderful, so as long as I make her comfortable with the idea of letting me think for her, I can expand on that to achieve my goal of making her my sex slave. Not only that, but it would be painful if she wouldn't let me hypnotize her again because she noticed my habits, so I added a little persuasion that doubting me wasn't good for her.
I then took her through a slow process of waking her up, making sure to emphasize how wonderful and amazing it was to allow me to do all the thinking for her, even if it was just for a little while.
"...And one! Wide awake!"
Shou's eyes lazily opened, a look of grogginess in her expression as she tried to grasp her surroundings, but then her eyes began to widen as she turned to look in a space near her hips.
"...Eh? ….EH!?" Shou sat up and her hands grasped thin air, but it looked like she was feeling out something. I guessed it was her tail. Then, as though she was putting two and two together, she reached up and touched two spots on her head. Her mouth trembled, agape, and her golden eyes were still staring at the spot her "Tail" was.
"Surprised? I deci-" My words were cut short as I watched her with stun eyes.
Shou's golden eyes shimmered as clear streams of tears fell down onto her cheek, but they weren't shed because of sorrow. It was clear that she shed them because she was happy.
"I never… Thought I'd feel these ever again… I accepted that I wouldn't, b-because that was just what needed to happen… but now...!" Shou couldn't finish her words as she sobbed, clutching her "ears" ontop of her head, and a sharp pang shot through my chest.
I only made her feel them because I wanted to take advantage of her happiness, but now that I see just how much they meant to her, the guilt I thought I pushed aside was surfacing once more. I couldn't have even begun to imagine just how important they really were, for her to be reacting like this, but if I had to guess… Maybe it was like an amputee, regaining the limbs they lost. Her emotional reaction to it was that strong.
And now, I'm going to…
…
….
"Thank you…. Thank you so much, Steven…"
It took Shou calling my name for me to realize I was looking at the floor. I couldn't look her in the face right now, for what I was about to do…
"I… don't know what I can do to ever repay this gift…"
Each and every word she said made it more difficult, but…
Do I have any other option!?
If I didn't proceed and decided walk out now, my chances of getting Byakuren and her followers were nearly non-existent. Not to mention those who forced me to do this fucked up game would punish those close to me in the outside world, if Rumia didn't kill me first. Knowing that-
"...!?"
"..."
Shou didn't push me away as I hugged her. I swallowed my hesitation and spoke softly.
"Sorry. I… don't know what to do when someone is crying, so I just hug them and hope it helps." Oddly enough, that was the the real reason I decided to hug Shou was so that I didn't have to look her in the eyes while talking to her.
"...But I'm not sad, it's quite opposite."
"...I know."
We stayed there for a long while and I forgot about my worries for a moment, wishing I could just hold onto her forever in that moment.
Eventually, when Shou stopped crying and we separated, she showed interest in being hypnotized again, like I had planned. I then proceeded to do a condensed version of my earlier induction, and if Shou noticed something was wrong with me, she didn't mention it.
I told her it was good to let me do all the thinking.
I told her she didn't need to think for herself at all when I was around.
I told her she wanted it, because it led to good things that made her happy like… getting her ears and tail back.
And I gave her two trigger words, one which I would use that would make her my mindless slave, who would stop thinking entirely and obey my commands at the mention of it, and one which would bring her back to an alert state, unaware of my commands.
Then, I woke her up, said my goodbyes after insisting that I didn't needed to be walked home, and left.
I had told Kyouko to watch over me before being hypnotized by her, so it only took me calling out her name for her to appear from nearby. She was about to speak in a cheerful tone, I had guessed from her mannerisms, but stopped when she saw my expression.
"Master, are you okay?"
Her tail, wagged from worry and she looked up at me, clutching her chest with her tiny hands. That sentiment was enough to shake me out of it as I smiled and rustled her hair abit.
"Yeah… I just need some rest."
Kyouko still looked unconvinced, but didn't pursue the matter further as we walked back. To keep my mind off things, I ran through what I would do tomorrow and I gave a self-deprecating smile.
"With the way things are now… I'll conquer the Myouren Temple tomorrow."
Kyouko looked up at me with surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah, really."
Shou was the key to everything, and I already made sure she would do whatever I wanted. I just needed her to convince Byakuren to be hypnotized by me and not fuck up doing that… no pressure.
"Tomorrow morning, I'll go over the entire plan verbally with you and Yuri, just to see if there are any problems. For now though, I need rest. Do you think you can sneak off again from the temple to meet up for that?"
"Yes, master… as long as Mystia isn't looking."
"Mystia?"
"Well, she's taking her job seriously, so she'll try and make sure I don't slack off now."
"Ah, I guess Rumia did only tell her to practice the religion faithfully…" My words trailed off as I thought about Rumia again. The attitude she gave me still bothered me, but then I recalled something I thought about earlier; how I overreacted to small things.
Wouldn't the way Rumia reacted to me simply saying one sentence, without confirming what I meant by that, count as overreacting?
"Master?" Kyouko looked at me with a worried expression, and I blinked.
"Is that seriously it, or am I overthinking things again?" I mumbled this as I ignored Kyouko and ran through my theroy in my mind again. After doing so, I sighed and looked off at the dark forest. "Sorry, I shouldn't be thinking about other things right now."
"Um… it's okay?" Kyouko looked really confused. I guess I couldn't blame her since I didn't speak aloud my thoughts, but I would deal with Rumia after conquering the temple.
I shook off all of my worries and when I arrived back home, I went straight to "bed". Try as I might, however, the anxiety of my looming plan, the possibilities of failure, and, even though it wasn't immediate, what I was going to say to Rumia began to swirl around in my head, and I uncomfortably shifted around in my futon until sleep dragged me down into a nightmare.