The door of her bedroom opened. "Onee-chan?"

Kotonoha kept hugging the pillow without looking up. She didn't want Kokoro-chan to see her crying.

"What's wrong?" Kokoro asked. "Where is Makoto-kun?"

"He's…" Kotonoha swallowed. "Gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"He… he said he needed some time to think."

"About what?"

"It's… it's not important." No way she could tell her sister that.

"Onee-chan," Kokoro pouted. "You can't hide stuff from me."

"He'll be back," Kotonoha said. "Just give him some time."

"You promise?"

"I promise. Now go watch tv."

"Okay."

Kokoro left her.

Kotonoha sighed.

This was such a mess.

Maybe she could have done more to stop him?

No, no. There was no way she could have stopped him after he saw those pictures.

She shouldn't have shown him those pictures in the first place. But then again, how could she have known that guy was his father?

Think, think.

The damage was done now. He knew. So she had to convince him it didn't matter. And it didn't, at all. Apart from the three of them, no one knew and they had no way of finding out. Assuming his dad didn't try to pull of anything crazy. But his dad didn't knew where they lived. And they had to stay a little bit in hiding anyway given the situation with her parents. So really, it wasn't all that relevant. Unless they wanted to have kids, but they could deal with that later.

The next days were a mess. Being without Makoto was a complete nightmare. Kotonoha had to force herself to eat, go to school, shower, sleep,... not because she cared, but because she wanted her body to be in good shape for when he returned. When, not if. She couldn't even consider the possibility that he might not return.

She called him. He never answered. At first, it was his voicemail, so she talked about how badly she missed him and about how much she wanted him back. But after a while, there was just a voice that told her the number wasn't available. But that didn't stop her from talking. She knew it didn't make any sense, but she kept talking. It was more for herself than for him. She had to convince herself he was coming back and he still cared about her. If she stopped believing that, she might not make it.

Her resolve didn't weaken over time. In fact, it only seemed to grow. He just needed some time. A bit more time. Any moment now…

"Onee-chan?"

Kotonoha shook her head. "Don't interrupt me, Kokoro-chan. There is food in the fridge."

"I don't want food. I want my sister back."

Kotonoha shook her head and tuned out the noise.

Not important.

Maybe she should call Makoto-kun again? Or was it too early? She didn't want to be pushy.

A ringing sound woke her up.

Sekai groaned and picked up her cellphone.

"Do you know what time it is?"

[It's one pm,] a sceptic voice replied.

She jerked upright. "M-Makoto?"

[Oh, sorry. Time difference. I forgot.]

"W-What's wrong? You never called me. It's been… gosh I can't even remember how long."

[Yeah, I'm sorry. It didn't seem worth it to keep in touch. I mean, we're never gonna see each other again anyway, so what's the point? There is no use in pretending.]

"So why are you calling then?" Sekai asked.

[I need your advice.]

"On what?"

[Incest.]

"Doing it with Kotonoha's little sister is-"

Wait a sec.

Wasn't this way worse than incest? This was…

Why had she ever let him do something that crazy? She should have gone to the cops. She should have stopped him. She should have-

[It's not about that. That's my business, Sekai. You left.]

"Yes," she said slowly. "Of course. It's none of my business."

[I discovered that Kotonoha is my half-sister.]

"Okay?"

[What do you mean, 'okay'? This is not okay.]

"Why not?"

[It's incest,] he argued.

"Well everything is incest. Everyone is related to some extent. It's just a little more incest than usual. And it doesn't seem very relevant if you don't want kids."

[How do you know I don't?]

"Please," she said. "You're probably super worried she'd get too loose if a baby comes out of there. And you wouldn't have as much time to fuck her."

[Maybe I care about more than sex.]

Sekai chuckled. "Do you really believe that?"

[Not really,] he admitted.

"So after all this effort, you're just gonna let her go?"

[I let you go, didn't I?]

"I wanted to go. She doesn't. Go get her, Makoto."

[I'll think about it. Thanks a lot.]

"No problem."

Sekai hung up.

She frowned. That was an odd conversation.

Oh well. Time to get some more sleep.

"Whatcha reading?" Kokoro asked.

Kotonoha held up the cover.

Kokoro frowned. "Bikinis?"

"I'm wondering what kind Makoto-kun would like."

"That's the wrong magazine, Onee-chan. Makoto-kun prefers topless girls."

Kotonoha smiled. "Maybe you're right."

"When is he coming back, Onee-chan?"

"Soon. In the meantime, are you doing your exercises properly?"

"Yes, Onee-chan. I… I touch myself every day thinking of Onii-chan."

"And you don't cum?"

"No, Onee-chan. Of course not."

"Good girl."

She patted Kokoro on her head.

Kokoro went to sit next to her on the couch.

"She's cute." Kokoro pointed to the model.

"Yeah," Kotonoha said.

"She has a belly piercing. I like that."

"When you grow up, maybe you can get one too."

"On my belly?"

"Where else?"

Kokoro shrugged. "I don't know. Where else can you get pierced?"

"Your nipples?"

Kokoro blushed. "Onee-chan."

"Maybe he likes that?"

"Sounds like it would hurt a lot," Kokoro said.

"Maybe."

"What about your tongue?" Kokoro asked. "Lots of grownups have tongue piercings."

"Yeah."

Kotonoha wondered how that would affect blowjobs. Wouldn't the metal hurt him?

"Or maybe your lips," Kokoro said.

Kotonoha's thoughts started to wander off. Lips would definitely interfere with kissing. No, most piercings seemed quite dangerous.

Wait a second.

"Onee-chan?"

"I have to go."

"Onee-chan? Hey, wait."