Chapter Seven: Just Once More, No. No More.
"Come with me and tell me your story."
~Rolling Girl by Lollia
Dee and Dum turned me around to face them. Their eyes held something serious and their expressions as I was searching for words. I sighed, collecting myself and told them of Joker telling me the Red Truth of me being a witch and Role Holder. They listened without saying anything. "I guess I didn't know how to say anything until now," I admitted, looking down at my feet. I turned away, wondering if they'd reject me like before. A hand on my shoulder told me otherwise, in fact two hands on both of my shoulders from both twins told me they wouldn't.
"That's great sis, you're just like us. If you can hold off that dumbass knight like you did, who knows what else you're capable of?" Dum said after a bit. I turned and looked up into his crimson eyes, surprised. I suppose he was right. I did not know how I did it however. I could not explain that. Maybe for now, I did not have to explain something I was still learning about? I shrugged, not speaking for a moment or two. Dum and Dee observed me curiously; their twin smirks from earlier returning as Dee picks me up and holds me against him. Out of instinct, I hugged him around his neck, putting my head on his shoulder as I sighed once more, feeling my mental load lighten a little.
They walked over toward the edge of the gates and Dee sets me down between them. I did not have time to react as they pulled down the sleeves of my dress, exposing my shoulders to lay their heads on. I felt a bit surprised by their sudden action but did not question it. In fact, I found it kind of comforting and nice. With their warmth on either side of me, I allowed myself to drift off into a small nap as I felt safe with them. My mind drifted into a light sleep, thinking about everything that I have been through so far since being here…
Like in most of my dreams, I found myself in the colorful dream space with colorful clouds and a blue and pinkish sky above and around me. Instead of Nightmare appearing, two distinct colors: one red and blue appeared to form Dum and Dee instead. They were still wearing their matching pin striped black suits like their physical counterparts. I was shocked to see them here, in my dream space of all places. Where was Nightmare? So many thoughts raced through my mind as I approached them. They looked at me and they were surprised as well.
They look at each other, and then back at me to see if they were really in the same space with me. Sure enough, they were. "Sis, is that you?!" they said collectively. I nodded and then I was picked up by both twins and was trapped between them. I was facing Dum and I tucked some of his stray bangs behind his ears. This was a habit of mine whenever I was near them. I smiled at him and then lay back against Dee as best as I could from my awkward position and tucked some of his stray bangs behind his ears too.
Suddenly, Dum grabbed my chin and kissed me on the lips. I squeaked in surprise from his action but ended up returning his kiss with my own. A blush bloomed across my face and Dee suddenly bites my ear, making me cry out in shock. Dum's tongue snaked its way into my mouth and then proceeded to lick mine in submission and dominated my lips with his. I enjoyed these kisses from them; they made me feel loved and made me love them more. I loved being near them. I hoped they knew that. After a few moments of making out with Dum passionately and Dee nipping softly at my neck, we broke apart, needing air. Then I thought that air really did not matter much here since this was a dream space and all.
They put me down on the cloud like ground, my bare feet touching the soft surface. I thought of Hinamizawa's river where we released the cotton balls during the Cotton Drifting festival. This was our symbolic way of allowing Oyashiro-sama to forgive us of our sins, or so they said. The time was night; the stars blanketed the sky with their twinkling. It was usually a peaceful time in June, or the only peaceful time in June where we gathered to celebrate our village and our village deity. I looked up at the Twins and they probably thought I was crazy. I pulled their hands gently with both of mine, dragging them to the river's edge so they could see the cotton drifting by. I felt like sharing this with them and I turned around to look at the twins.
Their blue and red eyes seemed surprised but held a hint of something else I could not identify. They seemed warm as they returned my gaze and smile. I handed them some cotton I made appear. Confusion mirrored on their faces for a moment until I explained and showed them how to bless the cotton balls by symbolically touching your mind, body and heart and then you release the cotton into the river. They repeated the motion I taught them and bent down beside me, releasing their cotton swabs along with mine. As a trio, they floated down the river with the others. I watched them drift by for a few moments before turning back to them.
"Why show us this sis? Was this something special you did back in your former world?" asked Dee suddenly, breaking the momentary silence. I nodded, saying that this was where we were forgiven for any transgressions against Oyashiro-sama. I explained that she was the village deity of Hinamizawa. They seemed slightly befuddled by this explanation as well as they should.
"It's ok if you don't know. We don't really know if it was real anyway. I served as this deity's shrine maiden in every festival without fail. I repeated this duty throughout the different loops I participated in. Then, suddenly my best friend or somebody I thought was my best friend decided to perform a cotton drifting ritual on me as supposed punishment for wanting out of this hell. I loved this village but if you spent over a hundred years, failing to save your friends, and dying over and over in various brutal ways, you'd probably be sick of it too," I replied, telling them some of my story that I hardly shared with anybody. I sighed again, feeling as if another load was proverbially lifted from my spirit.
They listened in stunned silence, seemingly watching my expression in case I broke down again. This time surprisingly, I was able to hold myself together while I spoke of these loops or the ones that were the most vivid and traumatic in my memory. Without a word, Dum pulled me against him and hugged me tightly. "Thank you Rika, for being honest with us. I feel like we know you a little better now. Like we said before, we aren't going to let you hurt anymore. You can share that pain with us because we love you," he said suddenly. I was too stunned to speak for a few moments. I only clutched at the fabric of his suit jacket, hugging him tightly back, letting him know I appreciated his words in my own silent way.
"We know you appreciate us being with you," he replied again as if he read my mind. My purple eyes widened, did he read my thoughts?
"Yes sis, I heard what you said in your mind," Dum replied once more confirming this. I wondered if Dee heard it too. He nodded in reply as he seemingly heard my thoughts. I somehow also heard his and Dum's thoughts too. They seemed to be thinking about where we go next and stuff like that. I felt the same; I did not know what the future held. Even if I played the Game of Hearts of Wonderland, I have a feeling I still would have chosen these two. Suddenly, I was attacked with two passionate kisses, the first one from Dum since he was closest to me and the second from Dee a moment later. I moaned softly between them, enjoying their affection and hugging them when they released my lips. "Suppose it's time for us to wake up huh?" said Dee with a small smile. I smiled at him and nuzzled his hair softly.
I woke up, my body and back slightly aching due to the position I was sitting in. I had two familiar weights on either side of me. They stirred not too long after I did, groggily also coming to and their eyes blinking as they adjusted to their surroundings once more. "Morning sleepy heads," I said with a small chuckle in my voice. They lifted their heads on my shoulders and looked at me while rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
"'Ello sis," they mumbled and they shook off their sleepiness and stood up, pulling me up along with them. I found myself on my bare feet. I tried to pull my shoulders back up but Dee catches me and nips softly at my skin, causing me to softly cry out, licking the skin on my shoulder and nuzzles it softly. He kisses my skin before pulling back, putting my sleeves up over my shoulder himself. His sudden actions had caused me to blush more. Dum smirked at my reaction and picked me up over his shoulder. Before I could protest, he carried me inside with Dee following behind, wearing a smirk of his own. What were these two up to?
However, before we got much further Uncle Elliot discovered us and asked what the twins were doing. Dum puts me down reluctantly but puts his hands on my shoulders as if to indicate I belonged to them. I rolled my eyes skyward, forgetting how childish these two could be at times. Elliot sighed as well. "You two know she is not going anywhere, right?" he said pointedly. They argued with him, refuting and trading their usual insults with my uncle.
"Oh, so this is the source of the ruckus. Can't say I'm surprised," said the familiar and aloof voice of my father. I turned to see him coming down the steps with my mother, Alice by his side wearing a black dress with a frilly jacket with a light greenish blue gradient. She looked so pretty. I broke out of Dum's hold and went up to my mom and hugged her tight, almost knocking her over with my actions. She chuckled, holding me up for a few moments. I still was lightweight for my age of eighteen and rather short, clocking in at about five feet and two inches. I inquired to why they were dressed up so nice.
"The country is getting ready to move over to Clover. That means assembly meetings at Clover Tower for the Role Holders. Since you're also now a role holder, this means you also have to attend as well, my dear daughter," my father replied. "I also have a dress waiting for you in your room. I suggest you go get changed so you can make a good first impression," he added as he took me from Alice into his arms to hold me for a few moments. I nodded, not saying anything further. The twins grumbled in protest but my father shut them up with a hard look. He set me down, patted my head and I went off to change as he instructed. I did not expect this to happen of all things. I did not question it as it seemed to be the way of things here.
When I entered my room, I found a dress lying on my bed. It was beautiful with a blue and green tint similar to mom's dress with the gradient effect. It had the ring designs at the bottom of the skirt; it appeared to be off the shoulder, with a transparent layer over the bottom of the skirt. I liked it, and went to change into it…
Looking at myself in the mirror, I liked how the dress looked on me as the dress hung off my shoulders, with long sleeves and the colors suited me. I did a small twirl in the dress to watch the long skirt balloon outward as I spun like a flower. I giggled innocently as I spun around again, loving how the skirt looked like a daffodil when I twirled. I felt silly doing this but it made me smile for some reason. I then sat on my bed, looking upward at the dark navy blue material of my canopy that hung over my massive four poster bed. I spaced off for a moment, wondering what kind of people we'd meet in the Clover Country. I lay down on my bed, continuing to stare up at my canopy. I was so lost in thought that I did not notice one of my boyfriends picking me up.
I wondered how father or Elliot allowed them to get away. "Simple, we said we were going to get cleaned up too," answered Dee simply as if he heard my stray thought. He smirked at me, his cerulean colored eyes dancing with slight mischief. I knew that look; they were up to something because of course they were. "We aren't up to anything little sis," he replied once again to my thoughts. Mmm hmm, yeah right…
"Honestly sis, we aren't," chirped Dum as if keeping up a charade. I crossed my arms from my position in Dee's lap, looking up at each of them with a quirked eyebrow. I was not born yesterday. I may look like I'm eighteen years old, but I have lived longer than you two put together I'll bet and probably died at least twice that much if not more. This thought took them a bit to ponder but they knew I was right. "I suppose there really is not any fooling you, is there Rika?" he relented after a bit. I shook my head to clarify that position. "Can I say however we think you look beautiful?" he asked me, his crimson eyes looking into mine intensely, his signature smirk coming back and lighting up his features.
I blushed slightly at his compliment. "T…Thank you, Dum," I mumbled shyly, turning away and looking a little embarrassed. Dee kissed me on the cheek suddenly and my attention returned to him.
"Want to take a bath with us?" he asked me simply. I contemplated his offer for a brief moment. In all my time of living here, I did not know where the giant bathroom was. "It's ok, we know," Dee added, smiling more. I could see a brief image of two ornate doors and a giant room with a pool sized bath….before I knew it, the three of us teleported to said room. Were they counting on me to do this? Hmm, knowing these two crafty boys they probably were.
We materialized in the Hatter Mansion's giant bathroom, complete with the swimming pool sized bath and all. It was somewhat ornately decorated with gold accents reflecting off of the tile, walls, bath edge, and doors. It was nicer than anything that anything that we had back in Hinamizawa. Suddenly, they took me off to the changing rooms. I was not sure about this and feeling nervous, never really sharing a bath with anybody except perhaps Satoko. Thinking about her made my heart tighten a little.
They seemed to sense this and approached me. Dum picked me up this time, bringing me against his now shirtless chest and hugged me tightly. I relaxed as his body head flooded through the thin material of the dress I was wearing. I nuzzled his neck, snuggling up to him, and hugged him tightly as if he was a lifeline to keep me from sinking further into more bad memories. "S…sorry," I mumbled, feeling bad for dragging them back into my trauma. I wish these memories would leave me alone. He only hugged me tighter as if to say to stop apologizing for things that weren't your fault.
I was clinging so hard to Dum that I did not notice Dee hugging me from behind until just now. He didn't say anything; he pulls my long curtain of steel blue/indigo colored hair aside so he could nuzzle the back of my neck. I relaxed and felt my breathing returning to a more normal pace the longer they kept holding me and hugging me. "It's ok, Rika. Like we said before, you don't have to keep that pain all to yourself. Please allow us to share some of it with you," pleaded Dee in the back of my neck. He was right; he and his brother had said that to me at a couple points. I nodded, realizing that I was no longer by myself in working through my past trauma.
"Now will you relax and take a bath with us?" I looked up to see that it was Dum that asked me this. He put me down just long enough for them to take my dress off of me, unzipping the back and allowing it to fall to the ground. I tried to cover myself up but Dum only picks me up again, my now naked body pressing up against his, causing me to blush redder than a tomato. Yet, I only snuggled against him more, embracing his body heat. I decided that it would not be so bad taking a bath with them after all, especially when they are already this warm.
Dee took me from Dum and I was flooded by his warmth. They had walked out and got into the pool sized bath while Dee still held me. I clung to him like a koala, my legs wrapped around his waist and arms hugging him around his neck. He put me down suddenly when he got about chest high into the warm water. I did not feel a loss of warmth since the water was warm as well. Steam filled my senses, making me relax further and forget about the bad memories that were haunting my mind just mere moments ago.
My mind went blank for a while; I swam away from them for a moment and went to the edge of the bath to relax for a moment. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth of the water, feeling everything melt away. Then Dum came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist suddenly which brought me out of my stupor briefly. He leaned in close to my ear and then whispered huskily, "Do you trust us, little sis?" His tone of voice sounded kind of sexy in my ear. I turned in his arms to look at him. He was wearing a slight smirk and his crimson eyes seemed colored with lust.
"Of course I trust you both," I replied evenly, crossing my arms with a bit of an annoyed expression on my face. Seeming satisfied with my answer, he leaned forward and kissed me passionately. I was taken aback but kissed him back. He released my lips and looked at me with those intense red eyes of his. What has gotten into him? He leaned forward to bite my ear softly, causing a few small moans to escape my lips. Dee then captured me from behind, also wrapping his arms around me and I was sandwiched between them. He then decided to nuzzle my neck softly, making me moan a little more. "You two…." I tried to say but was cut off with another passionate kiss by Dum, his tongue diving into my lips and all, causing me to shiver as I felt chills shoot down my spine.
While they've kissed me and nuzzled my neck and things of that nature, they have never acted like this before. Then Dum's words made sense…he was gauging on whether or not they had consent to have sex with me possibly. A sharp bite on my ear from Dee made me yelp suddenly as Dum released my lips so we could breathe. Damn boy, that was some kiss…and why that bite? I did not mind them being loved on from them. "Please allow us to play with you," Dum pleads again, hugging me tighter against him. I blushed a little at his statement, looking away for a moment.
"Only because it is with you two, I don't want to be loved on by anybody else beside you two," I replied simply, looking back up at him, my purple eyes meeting his red ones. He smirked more, kissing me as if to say he was happy with my reply. Then Dee grabbed my chin, making me turn my head in his direction and also gave me a kiss. His hair was down around his shoulders. I had to admit that it looked better that way in my opinion. Of course, I thought Dum looked handsome as well. If I had a way of hugging them both from my current position from between them, I would. Dee seems to rest his head on my shoulder while Dum rests his head under my chin. It made me happy when they snuggled me like this. It was simple but being held like this made my heart warm. I wrapped my right arm around Dee behind me and one around Dum's shoulders.
I relaxed more as they snuggled me, the warm water still making me relax further. That heat in combination with their body heat made me fall into a light sleep. I did not experience any bad dreams. I did not sink into a deep sleep, just lightly dozed until Dee nipped at my ear. My eyes jerked open as I tried to turn around to look at Dee. He only nipped at my ear again. Did he hear my thoughts? Another nip confirms he did. Dum nuzzled my neck lightly, seeming to be content and my fingers ran through his hair softly, combing the strands away from his face.
"Are you happy with us, sis?" whispered Dee's voice in my ear, deep and silky sounding. I moaned softly from the air of his breath hitting my skin. I leaned my head back against him under his. Dum started biting my neck softly as Dee licked my ear, dipping it in and thrusting inside my ear every so often which sent chills coursing through me once more. What do you think? Yes, I love you two. I have told you that countless times. I received two bites in reply for that confirming they heard me. I still could not figure out how they could hear my thoughts. Is it because I was a witch or becoming a witch or something else?
"Because you accepted us as yours," answered Dee in reply in a low voice in my ear before he licked my earlobe some more. I sighed in relaxation. If things kept going like this, I would be moaning loudly with one of them inside me. This made Dum look up and smirk while kissing me forcefully. The steam in combination with their bites and licks on my skin lead to me relaxing, Dum working his way inside me and I gasped suddenly….then after a while of him thrusting inside me, Dee had his turn with some extra licks in between my folds, and I was made theirs in another completely different way…..
"Did you enjoy that baby?" purrs Dee in my ear. I was panting and tired by the time our little sexcapade got done. I nodded while my senses were completely filled with Dee and Dum's presence. He gave me a harsh kiss while he cradled me against his bare chest. I forgot to admire how handsome they both were. They were both slightly muscular with nicely toned chests. While they appeared handsome on the outside, it was their personalities I loved more. I nuzzled Dee's neck softly in affection. I then was kidnapped by Dum who hugged me tightly, also kissing me.
"Do you love us?" he asks me. What do you think? I suppose I shall speak it in red truth so there is no room for misconceptions…
"Yes, I love you very much, Dee and Dum," I confirmed with my red truth. They seemed happy to hear that. Dee took me back from Dum and we all collectively decided we should probably leave the bath. I'm sure my parents were suspicious by now. I shrugged; some things could not be helped sometimes. I liked spending time with Dee and Dum. They did make me happy. They helped me get dressed again but not without more kisses, nuzzles, and affection. I moaned softly from their actions.
"You look so pretty in your new dress," said Dee softly. I blushed lightly at his comment, kissing his cheek softly in reply. Dum decided to pick me up after they were dressed back in their suits. We then left the bathroom, feeling clean, and my relationship with Dee and Dum felt stronger. I hoped to be with them for a long time….