Epilogue
A few days had passed since Motoko had saved Yumi and life had returned to normal. Motoko had informed her sister of what had happened and then took the opportunity to ask her about something that had been bothering her.
Yumi had taken a couple days off from school, needing to rest after all that had happened in the previous few days. She insisted she was fine, but Shinobu and Motoko convinced her to stay home and take it easy. Motoko took the liberty of getting Yumi's assignments from her teachers and bringing them to her and even helping her with them.
The next day Yumi returned to school. Classes went by one by one and soon the school day was over. She and Yumi began to walk back home, stopping by Shinobu's school to meet up with her. Together the three walked back, enjoying the day. They spent the time talking about classes.
Soon they reached the staircase leading up to the Inn and Motoko changed the topic.
"Yumi-chan, I'm going out to the mountains to train this weekend and I was wondering if you'd care to join me. You don't have to train with me; I'd just appreciate having some company."
Yumi blushed at the idea of being alone with Motoko for the whole weekend. She gave it a moment's thought and couldn't think of any reason why she couldn't go.
"Sure I'd love to!"
Shinobu however did have a problem with Motoko and Yumi's plans.
"But Yumi-chan, you promised you'd help me study for my test next week!"
"Oh crap! I almost forgot! I'm sorry Shinobu. Maybe I can help you study when I come back."
"But the test is on Monday!"
Yumi thought for a second, "Well if Motoko doesn't mind, maybe you can come with us. Then I could still help you study and I can still go with Motoko."
Shinobu turned to the swordswoman, "May I Motoko? Please?"
"I don't know. Won't you just end up being bored for most of the trip?"
Shinobu pouted, "Oh and you think that Yumi wouldn't?"
"I happen to think that Yumi-chan would prefer my company."
Now Shinobu was getting irritated, "Yumi-chan likes spending time with me a lot more than you! Right, Yumi-chan?"
Yumi had an odd feeling that this would escalate unless she chose her words carefully. However, before she could answer, Motoko spoke up.
"I think that she'd prefer being with someone closer to her own age than with a child."
It's quite obvious that Motoko didn't choose her words carefully, and as Yumi was hoping to avoid, the argument escalated.
"I'm not a child!"
"You could have fooled me. Especially considering that you act like one."
"At least I can act like a girl!"
Not wanting to let this go on, Yumi intervened, hoping to get the other two girls to stop.
"Both of you stop! Arguing won't settle anything!"
Motoko and Shinobu did stop, but unfortunately for Yumi, it wasn't as easy as that. Motoko gave Yumi a quick glance and then turned her attention back to Shinobu.
"Yumi's right, this won't get us anywhere. Let's just ask her who she likes better."
"Fine!" The youngest girl turned towards Yumi, "Yumi-chan you like me best right?"
Motoko scoffed, "Don't get your hopes up Shinobu; Yumi-chan would rather spend time with me!" She once more turned her gaze at Yumi, "Right?"
Yumi now found herself caught in the middle of the fight she was trying to stop. She stood with both of the other girls waiting her to answer, and not knowing what to say. Shinobu and Motoko waited for a minute to get a response, but soon lost their patience. The two of them glared at her and spoke in unison.
"Well?"
Yumi swallowed the lump in her throat, "I…I, um."
The other two girls leaned forward slightly; their eyes locked on Yumi.
"I…like you both the same."
Both Shinobu and Motoko weren't satisfied with Yumi's answer. Motoko stood straight and crossed her arms.
"Come one Yumi, you have to like one of us better than the other."
"I…I just don't know! I can't just choose one of you over the other!"
Seeing that Yumi was becoming upset, Shinobu's gaze softened. Motoko's however did not; still not satisfied with Yumi's answer she turned in a huff and went inside.
"Fine! Be that way! When you're ready to finally to give us a real answer you can find me in my room!"
She slammed the door behind her. Shinobu placed a hand on Yumi's shoulder, reassuring the now depressed looking girl.
"I'll go talk to her. Don't worry about it Yumi-chan."
Yumi only gave a small nod in response. The two went inside; Shinobu went to find Motoko and Yumi went to her room. Shinobu found Motoko changing from her school uniform. She let herself in and set straight to the matter at hand.
"Motoko, we need to talk."
Motoko gave her a passing glance, still irritated with her. "About what?"
"About Yumi-chan. I think we went a little too far when we tried to make her choose between us. She looked upset."
Realizing that Shinobu was right, Motoko set aside her pride and forgot that she was irritated with the younger girl.
She turned to face Shinobu, "Go on, I'm listening."
Meanwhile, Yumi was currently lying in her bed, trying to decide between Motoko and Shinobu. As she laid there, she compared them in her mind.
'Shinobu is incredibly cute, extremely sweet and her cooking could put a gourmet restaurant to shame. But Motoko is more mature, both in age and physical appearance, and is graceful and strong, not to mention drop dead gorgeous. I already rejected Motoko once and I felt horrible about it. But I don't want to reject Shinobu either.'
Yumi groaned in frustration, "Why can't I choose!?"
She spent a good deal of time along that train of thought, but still came to no decision. Soon dinner came and she went down to eat. She ate in silence, not looking at Shinobu and Motoko. Finishing her meal quickly she went back to her room, hoping to think more clearly now that she had a full stomach.
It got late and she had to go to bed. But she had finally decided what she was going to tell Motoko and Shinobu. But it would have to wait until tomorrow.
Morning came and Yumi got up early to get ready for school. She waited until everyone had finished eating breakfast to talk to the girls. She approached them and asked to meet them in private.
The three of them went to the kitchen. Once there, Yumi turned to face the other two girls, who were waiting for her to speak.
Mentally steeling her nerves, Yumi began.
"I've made my choice. But I want you to understand that I don't want to hurt either of you."
Motoko nodded, "We promise we'll respect your decision Yumi-chan."
Shinobu also nodded, signifying she agreed. She and Motoko quietly awaited for Yumi to continue.
Yumi took a deep breathe, "Alright I…I…I'm sorry I just can't decide between you two. I don't want to hurt either of your feelings!"
Yumi wasn't sure how they would respond. But what Motoko said next was definitely unexpected.
"So why not choose us both?"
If Yumi's jaw wasn't attached to the rest of her head, it would have hit the floor. She gawked at the swordswoman for half a minute, wondering if she heard her correctly. Seeing Yumi's reaction, Shinobu decided to clarify.
"Let us explain. Yesterday when I went to talk with Motoko we made a promise to each other that we would accept your choice no matter what."
Motoko took over, "Then I remembered something I discussed with my sister the other day. I had asked her for love advice and when I told her that you were the object of my affections she told me that Succubi have an instant attraction to their 'mate of fate.' In other words a succubus can practically sense who their mate is destined to be upon meeting them."
Yumi's eyes lit up, "Like when my mother met my father?"
Motoko nodded, "Exactly, so I called her back last night and asked if it was possible for a Succubus to have more than one 'mate of fate.' She told me that while she didn't know of any that is was still possible."
"Wait, so what you're saying is that you and Shinobu are going to share me?"
Shinobu nodded, "Pretty much. It's going to take some getting used to but we'll work things out."
Yumi took a minute to absorb all of this. She felt completely dumbstruck.
"This is a little much. I don't know what to think of it."
Motoko smiled, "Then don't."
She leaned forward and gave Yumi a kiss on the cheek, Shinobu doing the same to her other one. Yumi blushed furiously and the other two giggled at her reaction. Motoko then headed for the door.
"Come on, we're going to be late if we stand around any longer."
The three left and went to their respective schools. Yumi still found it all hard to believe, but didn't care. She now had two people who she cared for and who returned her feelings. They did not know what tomorrow would bring. They didn't care. They had each other and to them that is all that will ever matter.
End.
Well, it's over. I got the whole 'mate of fate' thing from Rosario Vampire and I just made up the whole thing about it being possible to have more than one. I never was good at endings so I want you to be honest about whether it sucks as much as I think it does. But, I hope you all liked it and feel free to look at my other stories if you haven't already. Until next time, thanx for reading!