Not super long after The Imu Incident, I got a text from Murasaki.

"hey i was wondering. do u want to have a sleepover at my place one day. i have lots of video games and movies. and we can order pizza. it would be just u and me and bebe-tan..."

My response was immediate and honest. "That sounds like it'd be a lot of fun, but it sounds kinda risky. Like, if anyone knew about it, including your sister, who lives with you?"

"she doesnt have to know. u can sneak in thru like the window or something. and i order myself pizza all the time. so it wont be sus."

Part of me was like. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Red flags everywhere, too many red flags. In the most likely scenario, I'd end up fighting Imu. And... what if Murasaki wasn't even herself right now? What if she was being mind controlled, again, and... the one controlling her was trying to kill me, again? So, nope. Big nope.

But then, like... what if me saying no made Murasaki sad? So...

"You're right. We can keep it a secret, and it'll be fun. So yeah, when are you free?"

"is friday ok?"

"Sounds great."

So that was a thing that was happening.

But when I went to leave on Friday, Tris stopped me at the door.

"Where are you going with so much stuff in your backpack?" she asked.

I crossed my arms at her and shrugged, like, did she really need to know about everything I did?

"I'm your sister. You can at least tell me."

I pulled out my phone and typed it in. "You have to promise not to tell anyone."

Her eyes widened. "Okay, now I really have to know."

"Sneaking in through Murasaki's window for a sleepover. We're hoping not even her sister figures out I'll be there. I mean, Murasaki is kind of a total shut in anyway, so it's not like anyone would suspect anything if she orders pizza and locks herself in her room all night."

Her eyes got even wider. "Really? Are you crazy? Linkle, this could be a death trap! Don't you even remember last time, when Ganondorf was mind controlling her—"

I cut Tris off by shoving my phone in her face. "Yeah, I remember, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. I don't want to upset Murasaki by turning her down, and if I have to fight, I'll fight."

"There's a fine line between courage and stupidity—"

This time I cut her off with a loud "ugh" and a stomp of my foot. "You do whatever with Ryona all the time, and she's a Hebijo student too."

"I don't go to Ryona's actual house," Tris snapped. Then she sighed. "How about you just message Murasaki real quick for a change of plans, that you two can have your sleepover here instead? I'll leave for the night, so you two can have your naughty little fun time and I won't be around to interrupt."

"We are not going to do anything naughty," I typed furiously, feeling my own face get hot.

"That's what you think."

At that point I'd had enough. I walked out of the apartment without heeding anything else Tris said, and headed to Murasaki's. Even though I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I got there...

I found the house okay, using the GPS on my phone, but then wasn't sure where to go from there. First things first, I hid in the nearby bushes, then started messaging Murasaki.

"Which window is yours?"

"the back most one to the left. on the second floor. its open already."

"Got it. Be right in." And I scurried from the bushes to the left side wall of the house, ducking down low beneath the first floor windows so no one could see me out them. When I got all the way to the back, I craned my neck upwards to see the second floor. There was indeed one open window right there. So I adjusted my backpack, making sure it was on nice and sturdy, and started scaling the wall. I still wasn't sure what'd happen when I got in. I mean, if this was for real, I was excited. But the possibility existed that she could be being mind controlled by Ganondorf right now, and I'd pop into the window to find her in her transformed state and ready to kill me.

Thankfully she wasn't. She was just sitting on her bed in a comfy looking tank top and shorts, holding Bebe-tan in her lap. Her face lit up with a grin when she saw me.

"You got here!" she whispered, as she set Bebe-tan sitting up against her pillow. And she ran over to hug me. It felt warm and nice. I gave her a smile and an enthusiastic nod as we both went down to sit on the bed next to her. In front of her she had a small stack of movies, and the menu to a nearby pizza place, with a sticky note stuck to it. "Let's order a pizza and watch a movie. Let me know what pizza you want, then pick a movie."

I nodded, then started perusing the pizza menu, before scrawling my ideas on the sticky note. "Classic pepperoni and then also one with something weird like mushroom onion pineapple?" Then I turned to look at the movies. Most of these choices were... really dark and gruesome. I guessed that was how Murasaki's mind worked most of the time, being the lonely traumatized person she was. I tried to pick out the least dark and depressing one, and set that aside. In the meantime, she was ordering the pizzas with her phone.

"Bebe-tan thinks your weird pizza idea is interesting, and she's excited to try it," she said. I grinned at her.

It wasn't long before the pizzas arrived. Murasaki left the darkness of her bedroom to get them, and in the meantime, I hid under her bed just to be safe. I didn't want to be visible from the doorway if Imu happened to pass by when Murasaki opened the door.

And the worst part was I could hear her out there in the hallway.

"Two pizzas?" she asked, sounding shocked and possibly even a little bit suspicious.

"I want to have leftovers," Murasaki said, before darting back into her room and shutting the door. We were safe again, and so the pizza consuming and movie watching could commence.

Not that we really watched the movie.

I ate like I normally did, which was to say, way too fast, cramming way too much food in my mouth at once, and eating more than I probably even should. But I wasn't going to try to act all dainty to impress her. I wanted her to feel secure when she was with me, knowing she was free to be herself and not get judged. So I felt like I could be myself in front of her too. She did shake her head at me, but she giggled while she was doing it.

"Wow. Where does it all go?"

I shrugged.

After that, we ended up just sitting next to each other, watching the movie but not really paying much attention to it. I was sitting cross legged next to Bebe-tan, and Murasaki was sitting in front of me, leaning backwards and using my boobs as a pillow. I held my phone in front of the both of us, so when she talked to me, I could type my response to her, and she could read it.

"I was almost worried you were being mind controlled by Ganondorf again, and that you were gonna try to kill me," I typed. "But I didn't want to upset you by saying no, so I figured I'd take the risk."

"Are you glad you came?" she asked, her voice hushed so Imu wouldn't hear her saying anything from the hallway.

"Definitely." I nodded emphatically as I typed it.

"You know, I was really, really scared and upset the night that happened, so I'm really happy you were there to save me. I mean, you know I have that power I use involuntarily when I get really upset, and I was using it that night..." I remembered it. The deep purple dome of darkness that had surrounded her, and furiously burst...

"You don't have to tell me about that if you don't want to," I typed. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or pressured around me like ever."

"It's... no big deal," she said, even though her voice was super small and it sounded like it was in fact a big deal. "It's the reason I got into Hebijo in the first place. They like that I can use it." She fidgeted. "It's called the Root of Calamity. And apparently it runs in the family. It probably would have been better for everyone if Imu got it, but we can't be that lucky, I guess."

Root of Calamity... I didn't like the sound of that. Like, it brought back the weird past life memory crap. The word "calamity," associated with dark purplish powerful energy... it made me shiver just thinking about it, and I couldn't put my finger on why.

"Are you okay?" she asked me.

"I'm fine," I typed.

"Are you cold? Should I sit closer to you?" Well, I wasn't exactly going to say no to that.

And I guess that was how it started. How we started cuddling, I mean. We got really close together, and she put her arms around me, and I put mine around her. I kind of scooted into her lap, and she seemed to really like that. She gave me tighter and tighter squeezes, softly rubbing my shoulders, then moving her hands down a little bit lower to my chest. When I turned to look at her, she was bright red, but neither of us said anything. I just gave her a smile as she started massaging my boobs. And I took that as a go ahead to put my hands on hers, and feel them up with equal affection.

I wasn't exactly proud of the fact that my hands had ended up under her tank top, but they had. And it felt really, really nice to squeeze her boobs. Like, for some inexplicable reason, almost all of us shinobi girls were well endowed, but hers were... they had to be the biggest out of anyone's. And they were the perfect level of softness. I massaged them gently, feeling her nipples harden beneath my palms. She let out a tiny gasp. So I immediately removed my hands.

"No, keep going," she said, her voice almost a whimper. "Wait. Hold on." She took Bebe-tan and put her really close to the movie screen, so she would be absorbed in the movie and wouldn't be looking at us. Then she clambered back into the bed and got up all against me again. "Okay."

I put my hands back on her then, more than happy to oblige if it was what she wanted. As I rubbed them, I gradually lifted up her tank top, completely exposing her to me. And then, almost on instinct, I felt like I should put my mouth on them. I pushed her huge breasts together until her still hard nipples were touching each other, then I engulfed them with my mouth. I wasn't exactly sure how to go from there. Would it pleasure her more if I licked slowly or quickly? In long licks or a bunch of little ones? I wanted her to like this.

I mean, I was liking it. There was something that made me all tingly feeling all over, just from the idea that I had her nipples in my mouth. I felt... dirty, but I liked it. Like I could almost understand how Ryona felt sometimes? But this had to be better than Ryona's weird constant perving, because this was more... intimate and caring. At least, I hoped it was. So I did my best to keep licking and sucking, trying to make Murasaki happy.

"Mmmmh." She finally made a noise that sounded somewhere between a whimper and a moan. "Mmmmmh." I felt a weird swell of pride knowing I'd caused it.

As she lay there, enjoying my hopefully successful attempts at pleasing her, she reached up toward my shirt and started tugging it upward, pulling it off me with a coy giggle.

"If you get to see mine then I wanna see yours," she said, her voice so soft it was almost less than half a whisper.

I fidgeted, feeling myself blushing, knowing mine weren't quite as impressive as hers. But I hoped she was at least a little impressed. I mean, it wasn't like half my classmates hadn't already seen me topless before. But there's something different about being topless in a dim bedroom with a really cute girl, versus topless in front of everyone in the heat of battle while the giant slimy monster is still a threat to everyone's safety. When you're fighting almost naked for like the hundredth time, it's like, whatever. People are gonna see what they're gonna see, and I'm gonna cut a bitch. But this was... I was getting flustered.

Still, she was liking it, so I kept going. I slid my fingers under the waistband of her pajama shorts and her panties, and started slowly sliding both of them down. As I did so, I moved my mouth down, off her breasts, leaving soft kisses down her stomach, lower and lower, until I was, well... like an inch from putting my mouth between her legs.

And then everything went to shit.

The door slid open, and there was Imu, in her own pajama tank top and shorts. Like, she didn't even knock. And, whatever she came in to say, she didn't bother saying it. She just glared at me with complete and total fury, and reached down the front of her tank top to pull her scroll from her cleavage. In seconds, she was there in her full battle regalia, wielding her bo staff, ready to beat my ass.

"I knew there was a reason you bought two whole pizzas. A really bad reason." She glared at me. "Don't. You dare. Touch. My sister."

I was glad I wasn't keeping my scroll in my cleavage at the moment, because, yeah. But I had it on me—wouldn't you like to know where—and it only took another short moment before I was in my green tunic with sword and shield at the ready. I'd do whatever it took to defend myself and Murasaki's honor. I gave Imu a determined stare down, hoping that'd say everything that needed to be said.

Murasaki had hastily pulled her tank top back down over her chest, and her shorts back up over her butt. She was still whimpering, but this time it wasn't the pleasure kind. Nope, it was like she was about to cry. Nope, more like she was actively crying.

"You two... s-sis... please... don't fight..."

Imu didn't listen. She swung her staff down at me, and it would've cracked me on the head if I hadn't held up my shield at just the right moment. I would've attacked her back, but that felt like... well. I didn't want to hurt her. I wanted her and I to get along. But if she was going to start a fight, I'd end it.

Murasaki was still crying. "Sis, I... d-don't get mad at her... she d-didn't start... I wanted this..."

"You what?" Imu finally turned to her little sister instead of me.

"Yeah, I... crap... it's my fault... it's all my f-fault..."

Damn it, Murasaki. None of this was her fault. Well, maybe a little of it was, hers and mine. Maybe she and I were both naive thinking we wouldn't get caught. But most of this, I thought, was on Imu. She could've at least knocked or something. And she could have been willing to talk it out. But no, she drew her weapon right away.

"It's not your fault," Imu said. And for a second it felt like we would be on the same side, both of us consoling Murasaki. But of course not. "It's this stupid little—" She gestured toward me with her staff.

I sighed and sheathed my sword. If someone had to take the high road, it might as well be me. I scurried over to the bedside table to grab my phone again, then started typing into it, before thrusting it at Imu.

"Listen. I really don't want trouble. I'll leave now if you want me to. But don't think it'll be the last of me, because... I really like your sister, a whole lot. She's cute and sweet and shy and severely underappreciated, and I want to at least be her friend. And she seems to at least sort of like me back too. And when you and I fight, it upsets her, obviously. So, can you and I work things out? We both have the same interests at heart. We both want to make her happy. Deal?"

Imu sighed and grumbled to herself as she read the message. But, in the end, she handed my phone back to me, her expression resigned.

"I guess you're right," she said. "We do both care about her and want her to be happy. Even if you are a Hanzo student, and even if Ganni seems to hate you especially much."

Ah, shit. That whole thing. I grabbed my phone back to type some more.

"About that. It's probably safer for all of us if you don't be friends with her. Like, I know you Hebijo students are 'evil' and all, but she is evil on a whole different level than you guys. The reason she has it out for me is... I have a power she could use to completely rule the world, and she wants it so she really can completely rule the world. And she will kill whoever it takes to get that. So yeah."

"I don't know." Imu frowned. "She is our classmate, and Miyabi thinks it's important to try to be on good terms with her."

"Do you do everything Miyabi says?" I typed.

"Well, it looks like you do everything my sister says."

"I never said I was that smart."

"So you guys are good now?" Murasaki said, from her spot on the bed.

I waited for Imu to respond first. Thankfully, she nodded. So then I nodded. Looked like we really were good now.

"Yeah, whatever," she said. "You two have... fun, I guess." And she left.

From that point on, it was a lot harder for us to get back into the mood we'd been in before we got walked in on. We were snuggled up against each other for the duration of the movie, but it was a lot more chaste now than before. Eventually, we went and brought Bebe-tan to sit back next to us, so she could be included too.

"Sorry about that," I typed.

"You're fine," Murasaki said. "I get it. Now it feels weird, knowing that sis knows you're here. Like every time I hear a creak in the hallway I feel like she's gonna come back in. So, yeah, maybe we can continue that... some other time." I felt my face get warm at that, but I nodded. I kinda did want that to continue later on.

The rest of the sleepover went pretty nice. We finished up all the pizza after awhile—okay, she ate about a quarter of what there was and I ate the other three quarters' worth—and we started playing some video games. She was better than me at all of them, but it didn't bother me any. Eventually, we got tired, and fell asleep snuggled up together again.

And when I left the next morning, I went out through the front door like a normal person.

"Morning," Imu said, giving me a look I couldn't quite read as she sat and ate her breakfast in the kitchen. I gave her a friendly nod back. She seemed satisfied with that. "Guess I'll see you later, then?" she asked. "I mean... it does kinda seem like you're a good influence on my sister after all?" That was good to hear. I gave her a thumbs up before heading out.

When I was safely back home, Zelda took the opportunity to butt back into my brain again.

"I was trying to keep out during all that, so you could have your precious alone time with Murasaki..." I could practically hear her giggle in my head. "But it's just hilarious to me that... I don't know how to explain it. You're all like, I like her a lot, and I think she likes me back, and I want to be her friend. Meanwhile, you're about to go down on her. I'm pretty sure you two are more than friends."

Really? Was she sure? I mean, Murasaki and I hadn't exactly gone on any dates or anything, or had a real first kiss kinda thing, or...

"What do you mean am I sure? You almost. Went down. On her."

Whatever. At least I managed to win over Imu somehow.

"Still not sure how you pulled that one off, but I'm glad you did. The more allies we have in this upcoming battle, the better."

Yeah, don't remind me.