Chapter 24 – Alone in the dark
Toshiro was woken up by a silent knock on the door.
What could that be… Urrrgh… I'll try not to wake up Yoshika so… Time bending time…
Toshiro slowed down the time, got up from bed, and opened the door to see who was disturbing him.
Mio… I wonder what… Ah fuck…
He moved into the corridor, closed the door behind him, and turned Mio around a hundred and eighty degrees. After accelerating time, she jumped up.
"Don't scare me like that, moron…" she grumbled quietly.
"Yeah, sorry… I guess this is about the girls?"
"How did you know?"
"I forgot to tell you yesterday that I'll be giving them a rest today. I'll keep them on the base till dinner, more or less, and then shoo them off back where they belong."
"You think they learned something?"
"They may be ten thousand years old, but they are as stubborn as a five year old in a toy shop. Mark my words, they will start their usual prank routine just after Kye re-godifies them."
"So basically, this was for naught?"
"Not entirely… Maybe something will stick in their thick skulls… Although I would become a god myself sooner than that would happen, heheh…"
"How can one become a god?" Mio asked curiously.
"One cannot. One has to be born a god. But in their wonky universe, one can become an immortal, but that a hen's tooth during a blue moon during the 30th of February occasion."
"So basically, nigh impossible?"
"I met some guys that became immortals. But damn, did they have to earn that…"
Mio sighed and said, "One can only dream…"
"Afraid of death, Mio?"
"I'm afraid to die an old prune in some retirement home, but apart from that? The Grim Ripper can try to rip me a new one, he's invited!" Mio laughed quietly.
"Heheh… Okay, you go do whatever you want, I'll go back sleeping."
"Sure you don't want to jog?"
"I'm sure, Mio… I'm damn tired… I guess two weeks without food made a difference…"
"I won't strain you unnecessarily," she smiled. "Till later."
"Yeah, later."
Toshiro returned the same way he wound up on the corridor, and he continued his sleep.
Poking in the cheek woke him up.
"Hrrrmmmm… Yoshika, I will… I don't know what, but..." Toshiro opened his eyes and turned to the side.
Yoshika kissed him by surprise.
"You'll what again?"
"Dunno, I forgot already..."
"Heehee… Where did you go this morning?"
"Oh look, it seems you have a sixth sense for me after all. I had to inform Mio that the girls are off the hook, so she wouldn't wake them up."
"Daaww, how nice of you."
"And I still didn't tell Shirley about our little event planned for today…"
"Heheh, your memory is getting awfully shoddy, Toshiro. You should eat more ginkgo."
"As if we have any here…"
"We don't, that's true… But maybe I'm overreacting, and it's just because your brain is overloaded?"
"Probably… I had to process so many documents yesterday that I should request a damn raise. Or some paid leave… Or both for that matter."
"Heehee… So, what happened yesterday?"
"Erica stomped a Neuroi using her Final Art."
"Final Art?"
"Wait, I didn't tell you? Seriously?"
"Where's the ginkgo where you need it…" Yoshika mumbled. "No, you didn't."
Thus, Toshiro said everything what Kye told him about Final Arts.
"Ah… So my super healing is my Final Art, right?"
"Guess yeah. It's much more effective and gives of a different visual effect."
"And it actually feels less tiresome to use."
"How nice… It's good that you girls start getting stronger, since it's a bit boring to be the only powerhouse around here, heh…"
"True that," Yoshika giggled.
"Okay, should I help you with cooking?"
"No, Mio is helping me."
"Heh, so it seems that it's mutual?"
"Yes, Mio let me call her Mio, heehee… Perrine is jealous as hell!"
"The day Perrine call's Mio by her given name will be the first day of the Apocalypse, haha! Okay, time to get dressed."
"Look into the closet, you'll be surprised."
"Okaaaay…"
Toshiro went to the closet, and after opening it, he was stunned by the amount of clothing.
"Whaaaaaa…"
"Spares for your short sleeve, and long sleeve uniforms, a nice light jacket and a puffy winter jacket. I also got some winter clothes."
"I would probably wear my uniform as it was until it ripped apart…"
"Heh, typical man."
"Speaking of men, did Ichiro give any life signs?"
"Mmmmyeah… He called while you were out cold… He said that mom fainted when she recognized him on the doorstep…"
"Appropriate reaction… Well, time to work. Get dressed already, or will you tease me with that translucent nightgown for the whole day?"
"If I took it off, it wouldn't be teasing, right?" Yoshika asked innocently.
"I swear that one day I'll pop a dick vein because of you…"
"Hahahaha! Be sure to tell me, so I will heal you!"
Toshiro could only cackle like a maniac for the next minute. Once he finally came to senses, he ventured on to the kitchen annex with Yoshika.
Much to their surprise, the redheads were there, cooking something.
"Satan called; he can't turn up the heat," Toshiro said.
The two giggled.
"Judging by the smell, we're having a Liberian breakfast?" Yoshika asked,
"Technically, we both have a Liberian upkeep, so we can handle burgers and other stuff like that easily," Kaylie said
"But don't expect anything fancy from us," Layla added.
"Still, it's amazing you two are cooking out of your own volition, despite what you've been put through yesterday," Toshiro said with a crooked smile.
"Because we can tell apart what's punishment and what's not," Kaylie shrugged.
"Or will you continue today?" Layla asked suspiciously.
"I promised today you two are off the hook, and I don't go back on my word. Unless you want to do stuff…"
"No damn way!" the two shouted in unison.
"Hahaha! Okay, should we help you?"
"The breakfast is on us, Toshiro," Kaylie said. "You can lean back and wait."
"Being served breakfast is something rare for me... I'll bite!" Yoshika cheered.
The incoming girls were also surprised by the fact that the redheads were cooking on their own.
Once everyone ate, unexpectedly, Heidi raised her hand and said, "Um… I have a question…"
"What is it, Heidi?" Toshiro asked.
"Erica has been visiting her family city so… I thought that maybe, just maybe…" she spun her index fingers around one another.
"You want to go to check if your place is still standing?" Toshiro asked.
Heidi nodded.
"Pffff… Well, come on then, let's go."
"So fast!" Shirley shouted surprised.
"I just hope a Neuroi doesn't pop out of nowhere this time…." Trude mumbled.
"Who wants to go with us?" Toshiro asked.
"Oh, I want!" Yoshika cheered.
"You have training, Yoshika…" Mio said with a stern face.
"But Miooooooo…" Yoshika pled with puppy eyes.
"Okay, sheesh… I suppose skipping one training session won't hurt you…" Mio grunted while rolling her eyes.
"Maybe I could also go?" Erica asked.
"If Erica goes, I should also go, just to be sure," Trude said.
"Okay, no more applicants please," Toshiro said.
"Maybe us too, huh?" Kaylie asked with a sweet smile.
"Hurgh, whatever… But I hope you still can fly normal Strikers, heheh…"
"It's like riding a bike…" Layla said confidently.
"You can fall and injure yourself?" Francesca asked while tilting her head.
"Heheh… No, once you learn it, you never forget it," Kaylie said with a smile.
"So we have a nice lot flying over… Calw was it?"
"Oh, I know where that is!" Erica cheered. "I had an aunt in Calw!"
"Really?" Heidi asked. "What's her name?"
"Johanna Schmidt."
"What a coincidence… She's my… she was almost my neighbor. She lived in the first house near the orchard where my house is."
"What a small world we live in…" Minna sighed.
"You don't want to go, Minna?"
"No, I'll pass. Somebody has to be the commander here while you're out, right?" she said. "No hard feelings, Heidi?"
"The fact that so many people want to go with me has already blown my mind. Thank you…"
"Erica, didn't you want to tell the people something?" Trude mused.
"But Sanya is sleeping, and I don't want to repeat myself…" she pouted.
"I just hope you're not trying to bail…"
"I promise that I won't."
"Okay…"
"Erica?" Shirley asked. "You calling her "Erica" is like finding a four leaf clover!"
"Things changed," Trude answered with an enigmatic smile.
"I hope it's for the better," Shirley sighed.
"Let's go, y'all!" Toshiro shouted.
"Roger!"
The gathering went on into the hangar. The redheads approached an enormous crate and the pulled out two XF-2's out of them, as well as two MG 42V's.
Whew… At least Kye didn't give them some obscure prototypes or reciprocating Strikers…
They sat on the edge of the crate and pulled on the Striker Legs.
"Not sporting those funky suits I saw in that movie?" Trude asked.
"Responsible time and universe travel is something that must be heeded, Trudy," Kaylie said. "If we mess up something, the consequences could be dire."
"I don't understand that too well, but whatever," Trude shrugged. "What about you, Erica?"
"The theory of relativity would probably have some application here, but I would have to think it through a bit more…" Erica said while scratching her chin.
"Hoho, I see that the cat has left the bag?" Layla asked.
"Not entirely, unless it's Schrödinger's cat, heheh…" Erica giggled. "I plan to tell the rest at dinner."
"But I see that Trudy is rather content with it," Kaylie noted.
"I'm glad that Erica isn't a numbskull because she is an idiot, but because of her character and psychological background."
Toshiro looked crookedly at her and asked, "Truuudy… What's your IQ?"
"Hundred and thirty, why do you… Fuck! You tricked me!"
"Oh, Trudy is also well above average?" Erica asked. "Impossible!"
"My parents applied me for the Genie Einführung Programm, but all the kids with an IQ of 140+ got in… So I said "Fuck this shit" and I decided to swap brains for brawn… The results you see before you."
Erica shrugged and said, "Meh, whatever. I like the usual Trude, and don't you try to change into an intellectualist right now!"
"Won't happen, not enough reading material to broaden my knowledge."
"I may be of help…" Toshiro said with a sly smile.
"No!" both Erica and Trude shouted, looked at each other, and laughed.
"Heh… Let's go already, or Heidi will have second thoughts if she wants to go with such lunatics."
"I wouldn't mind…" Heidi said with a shy smile.
Speaking of geniuses… I still have that envelope in my stuff that I haven't used… I have to do it after we return.
The whole lot flew up into the air and they set their bearing to Calw. On the way, they passed Weissach.
"Don't tell me you've made such a crater, Erica…" Heidi said amazed.
"Heheh… I got pretty pissed off…"
"I hope my town is in better condition…"
"I hope so too, Heidi," Erica said and patted her on the back gently.
After a bit, they saw a small town, rather undamaged, with an enormous orchard in the south.
"Oh, this is Calw, I recognize it!" Erica cheered.
"I guess that's your house?" Toshiro pointed out the white painted enormous mansion in the north part of the orchard.
"Yes…" Heidi blushed.
"I could have guessed that wine making pays off…" Toshiro sighed. "We can land on the driveway?"
"Yes, please."
After landing in the front of the house, Toshiro said, "Okay, I guess we should just gently place our Strikers on the lawn. Or what's left of it…" he sighed seeing the yellow grass.
They placed the Strikers on the grass and Heidi said, "Please, follow me."
The group went up the stairs to the front door. Heidi dabbled with the handle, but it was closed.
"I guess we're not going in after all?" Trude asked.
Heidi pulled a big key out of her pocket with a smile.
"I am the heiress to the fortune; I have my own key, heehee…"
"How damn convenient…" Toshiro mumbled.
"I could have opened the door easily, heh…" Layla chuckled.
"Of course you could, as well as I, you little shit…" Toshiro sighed. "But I'd rather you don't use your magic here too much."
"Yeah, yeah… Mom told us it could destabilize this and that… But it's small scale anyway."
"True," Toshiro admitted. "But using it for shits and giggles is unnecessary."
"Whatever…" Layla moaned.
"Hey, Toshiro, let us have some fun…" Kaylie said with puppy eyes.
"Maybe later, the day is still young. Heidi, lead the way."
"Affirmative."
They all looked around in wonder, admiring the rich and spacy interior.
"Some people are just born with a silver spoon in their mouth…" Trude sighed.
"Envious, Trudy?" Erica asked.
"Not exactly, Erica. I come from a middle class family so I never had to endure the hardships of poverty, but I'll be damned if after seeing this nobody would be a tad envious."
"So you are?" Toshiro asked.
"Yes, yes…" Trude mumbled. "So, why are we exactly visiting the interior, Heidi?"
"I… Toshiro, could you follow me? Alone if possible?"
"I can, but I hope you don't plan on doing anything funny, huh?"
Heidi's cheeks blushed a bit and she said, "No…"
"Are you suuuure?" Yoshika mused with a sly smile.
"Absolutely…"
"Okay, go," Yoshika said with normal a smile.
Heidi led him to a single door just on the corner of the corridor. She opened it and went inside the dark room.
"Close the door and don't turn on the lights," Heidi said.
Toshiro closed the door and was enveloped in darkness. Thanks to his integration with Yuki, his seeing in the darkness was above average, as he saw more the outline of Heidi's body easily.
"So, what do you want to do?" he asked.
"This… This is the basement…"
"What basement?"
"THE basement…"
"Oh… I understand… Well, actually I don't understand the purpose of this."
"Ever since I left this household… I was afraid… I had the irrational fear that… If I failed, I would return to this basement… And that I would be locked away here until the end of days…" Heidi explained with a trembling voice.
"And now you want to conquer your fear by returning here?"
"Yes…"
"And you need me in case it's too much for you?"
"Yes…"
"Come on then."
"H-Hold my hand… P-Please…"
Toshiro silently and gently grabbed Heidi's hand.
She's trembling as if she had a fever… Maybe this is a bad idea?
"I won't be using my magic, so please guide me…"
"You should know how to descend these stairs, Heidi. Muscle memory and all that."
"Still…"
"Okay, slowly now…"
Toshiro activated the Hebigan and he led Heidi down the stairs.
"Okay, last one," he said after a minute of slow descent and looked around.
He found him in a huge wine cellar full of oaken casks. The air was filled with the strong smell of vinegar.
Pfew… One of the barrels must have gone wrong…
"We're here, Heidi."
She was silent, but the trembling intensified.
"I think this isn't going anywhere unless…"
"You're not thinking of…"
"Yes."
"No, Toshiro! You can't play shrink right now, and not using such a method!"
"I have to try, Yuki. Remember that there's always the Sacred Flame left."
"Okay then…"
Toshiro let go of Heidi's hand and jumped away from her.
"T-Toshiro? Where are you?"
"Here and there."
"P-Please, Toshiro! Don't leave me alone."
"If you want to conquer your fear, the one to do it is you and only you."
"But I'm afraid!"
"Then vanquish your fear! This is only a room! Nothing more!"
"But because of this room… Because of this room I'm such a weirdo!"
"You're not a weirdo, you're just socially awkward!"
He saw that Heidi was lured in by his voice so he changed his position.
"If this room is such a burden for you, why don't we burn it down then? I have the means to do it…"
"No, please! The house would burn down!"
"Why bother with this house? Your parents have kept you in a damn cellar, why all you needed were welding goggles! What kind of parent does such a thing to his child!?"
"But I love my parents! And they loved me! I can't do such a thing to them!"
"Then stop and close your eyes."
"But…"
"Do it, Heidi."
Toshiro saw that he did indeed stop moving and closed her eyes.
"Set things straight in your mind. This is only a wine cellar, not a prison. Nobody will incarcerate you here, not now, and not in ten, twenty, or fifty years from now. And if they try, I'll smack 'em."
He saw that Heidi smiled slightly.
"Now say this, "I am not afraid."
"I… I am not afraid…" she said quietly.
"Louder!"
"I am not afraid!"
"Say it like you mean it, for fucks sake!"
"I AM NOT AFRAID!" Heidi yelled so loud that the dust fell off the ceiling.
"Haha! Now open your eyes and see!"
Toshiro could see a surge of magic in Heidi's body and he disabled the Hebigan. Her eyes were glowing green in the dark, something he had never seen before.
"Toshiro… I can see…"
"Well, you're not blind, that's a fact."
"No, I can see better than ever! Oh my… I can see THROUGH you!"
"What? Literally through me?!"
"Yes! I can even see the girls through the walls, and how they are eavesdropping on us by the door right now!"
Toshiro turned on his Hebigan and saw that the magic signatures at the top of the stairs started running frantically.
Another Final Art… Damn, I'm starting to be a little jealous…
He suddenly felt that he was being embraced. Toshiro looked down, and saw that Heidi was grinning at him with a wide smile.
I never saw her smiling like that… Almost as if she's somebody else…
Toshiro ruffled her hair up and said, "My, are you energetic now."
"Toshiro, I finally conquered all of my fears at a single fell swoop!"
"All? You mean your shyness too?"
"Yes! I think I could do a speech before the whole Reichstag now!"
"Hah! Now that's damn nice! Okay, let's go now."
"Wait, wait. I have a token of gratitude, although I think Dad would me mad, heehee… Follow me."
Toshiro followed her behind one of the casks. There was a door there. Heidi opened it and said, "Follow me."
Once he entered the room, he was stunned by the amount of wine bottles, lying on countless wooden racks.
"Da… yum…"
"This IS a winery after all, heehee… Okay, Toshiro. Take this big sack and load whatever you'd like inside."
"Really now? I doubt we'd drink so much…"
"Come on, take it… Oh, but wait…"
Heidi ran over somewhere and returned with four bottles.
"The best we have here," she said and dumped the bottles into the sack.
"Well, shit, if you're insisting… By the way, did you smell that vinegar? Did one of the casks turn into it?"
"Unfortunately, we had one cask only half prepared when my family had to evacuate, or so they told me, so we now have a LOT of vinegar handy, heehee…"
Toshiro proceeded with loading the sack and once it was full, he said, "We're going back now?"
"Yes, we should."
"How is that new ability of yours? You're not feeling woozy or anything?"
"I feel that the magic consumption is a bit higher than my Night Vision, but it's not tragic."
"Let's go then."
Toshiro threw the sack over his shoulder and went forward. He disabled the Hebigan and went out into the light.
"So, what did you hear?" Toshiro asked without beating around the bush.
"Literally everything," Kaylie grinned.
"I wonder how did you do that…" he looked at her with a curious face.
"Um… Well…"
"You little rascal…" Toshiro sighed. "Here, the new and improved Heidi."
Toshiro moved aside so Heidi could pass. She entered amongst the fray with a wide smile on her face.
"Not much different…" Erica said.
"What did you think; she'd get two meters high and get muscles that I could be envious of?"
"Heh, kind of… Whatcha got in that sack, Bro?"
Toshiro slightly moved the bag, so the bottles inside would clink against each other audibly.
"Don't tell me you have so much wine?" Trude asked.
"I have, courtesy of the Schnaufer Weingut GmbH. Heidi, do we have any more business here?"
"Hmmm… Oh, I wanted to visit my room, be right back! You can go mount your Strikers!" Heidi cheered and ran away, up the stairs.
"Sure, go," Toshiro said. "Ladies, we're preparing for leaving," he commanded.
"Roger!" the girls responded.
The wine laden Toshiro was walking last, but Kaylie joined him and asked, "Say, Toshiro… Can I have some of that wine you're carrying?"
"And for what purpose? Alcohol is wasted on you Akari monsters anyway."
"That doesn't mean we can't appreciate the taste of good wine, right?"
"I suppose so. You'll get a bottle when we get back."
"Two!"
"Ugh, but not a quart more!"
"Yay, thanks!" the redhead cheered and ran forward to her sister.
I still think it's a waste…
Toshiro dropped the sack by his Striker and mounted it.
"Toshirooo…" Yoshika mused.
"What?"
"I just thought of something…"
"And what is that?"
"A winter night, snow outside, the fireplace lit in the common room and all of us drinking mulled wine…"
"Oh shit, talk about mood… Who knows, maybe we will stay here for so long…" Toshiro shrugged. "If that's the case, we need to think about Christmas."
"We would like to join!" Layla chimed in.
"We have our family, dimwit," Kaylie conked her on the head.
"Oh, right, heh… But wait, doesn't…"
"Back!" Heidi cheered, interrupting her.
Did Layla just want to say "Doesn't time in our universes scale differently?"? Kaylie, I really wouldn't mind…
Heidi appeared in the door with two teddy bears in her hands.
"Here, girls, these are for you," she approached the redheads and gave them a toy each.
The two looked dumbfounded at each other, but they just shrugged and hugged Heidi from both sides.
"Heehee, I knew you'd like it."
"Heidi, you said you went to your room, but you were supposedly stowed away in the basement. Did you mean your old room?"
"Yes, I had a perfectly normal room before my inherent magic manifested. It's full to the brim with teddy bears, so I thought I'd give our two guest a little gift."
"No cats though? You could score bonus points at Sanya."
"Oh? Wait, I do have a stuffed cat!"
"I want a teddy too…" Erica mumbled with a pouty face.
Heidi chuckled and said, "Okay, I can give you one too. Anyone else wants one?"
"Chris… Chris would probably want one…" Trude squirmed around with red cheeks.
"I bet Francesca, Lynne and Perrine would want one!" Yoshika cheered.
"You don't' want one yourself?" Heidi asked.
"I already have a big bear to cuddle to in the night, heehee…" Yoshika took Toshiro's arm and embraced it.
"Heh… Okay, be right back!"
They waited for Heidi to get back, and then returned to the base, loaded with wine and stuffed animals.
Upon arriving, they met Shirley dabbling in her Striker.
"You look like you just robbed a house, Toshiro," she said. "And what's with the stuffed toys?"
"Heidi had a surge of generosity," Toshiro explained. "Anyway, where's our little boob devil?"
Shirley pointed above, and Toshiro saw Francesca eyeing all of them from a beam.
"Hey, Heidi's got a present for ya!" he shouted.
"Present? For me? Want!" Francesca jumped down while making a front flip.
Once Francesca ran up to Heidi, the latter pulled out a pale bronze teddy bear from a bag she took from her home.
"Here, for you."
"Ooooh, a teddy bear! Thanks!" Francesca cheered and cuddled herself into Heidi's voluptuous bosom.
"My, my, what gratitude," Heidi chuckled.
Toshiro silently moved to the exit with the sack full of wine.
"Hey, hey, where are you going?" Kaylie asked.
"I have to store this in the pantry," Toshiro shook the bag.
"You told us we could play now."
"I suppose no harm will be done… Okay, you can use your absurd magic, what do I care."
"Woohoo!" the two cheered.
"But!" Toshiro raised his finger. "If you mess up something, I swear to all the gods in both universes that I will convince Kye to dump you two somewhere on the edge of time, space, and existence with only your mortal powers."
The two gulped so loud one could almost hear the echo in the hangar.
"I'm glad we understand each other," Toshiro said with a sly smile and went on. "While you're at it, I need four labels with "Don't touch under penalty of death" handy."
I have to conserve my powers after all…
"Roger!" Layla saluted and four labels appeared in the air before Toshiro.
"Thanks," he said once he grabbed them, and now he truly went on to the main building.
Reaching the common room, uninhabited at the time, he jumped over the kitchen counter and opened the pantry. He stowed away all the bottles in one corner, and labeled the four premium wine bottles.
"Done," Toshiro said after he slammed the door shut. "Now what the hell should I do? Hmmm… Aaaah! Now I know what I wanted!"
Toshiro strolled on back into the hangar, and he saw that the girls were playing beach volleyball on sand.
What…
Trude smacked the ball to the other teams side and Toshiro whistled. The girls looked at him surprised.
"I hate to interrupt this little match, but I want something from you, Layla."
"Oh?"
"A book from which I could learn Orussian."
"Hmmm… Easy stuff. You probably want something that will bring you up to a native speaker level, huh?"
"No less," Toshiro smiled roguishly.
"Okay," Layla said and a stack of books appeared in her hands. "Here, beginner, intermediate, advanced and post-advanced level material."
Toshiro approached Layla and took the books from her.
"I hope they won't disappear when you go your way?"
"Nope."
"Thanks."
"No problem! But won't you play with us?"
"Are you fucking kidding me? I've had enough of you after that month!"
"Heheh… Okay, go now, the girls are a barrel of laughs already."
Toshiro went on to his room with his new reading material and immersed himself in reading.
A few hours later, Kaylie just poofed herself into Toshiro's room.
"How ya progressing?"
"I'll do much better without you, thank you," he replied not peeking out of his book.
Suddenly he felt that she was straddling on him.
"Oh can it already… Unless you want to take up upon that offer from earlier."
"Hmmm… What offer are you talking about?" she asked with a mysterious smile.
"You damn know what I'm talking about you little tease…"
"We'll see, Toshiro. Maybe I'll convince redhead #2 to do it after all."
"Would be nice…"
"Heh… That's a weird way to spell "Let's fuck like two rabbits already"…"
"Hahaha! As if you're reading my mind. But you can't now, buhehehehe…"
"As if I needed to…" she said and disappeared.
Toshiro got back to studying his bukva's, but then her remembered.
Ah, crap!
He jumped to his chest and opened it. After a bit of rummaging, he pulled out a big brown envelope and approached the PA panel. "Franny, come up to the briefing room, I have some urgent business with you. And do allot an hour of your time, please."
Toshiro ran over to said room, and after half a minute, Francesca came in.
"Wassup?"
"I always wondered Franny… Wondered how well the cogs in your skull are working…"
"Oh? And?"
"I want you to take an IQ test."
"Test? Booooooring…" she moaned.
"Please, do it just for me. If you score lower than the average, I promise not to tell anyone."
"Oh… Kay! I'll bite!"
Toshiro opened the envelope, and after taking a brief glance at the content, he gave her the test sheet and a pencil.
"You have 45 minutes, Franny. You can pick only one answer for every question. And please, do take it seriously."
"Cool, I'm going!" she cheered
Toshiro leaned back in his chair and started reading the material added to the test, listening to the sporadic quiet mutters of Francesca.
"Finished!" she cheered suddenly.
"Whoa, already?" Toshiro wondered.
"Yuki?"
"Twenty minutes."
"Damn."
"Okay, gimme the test sheet and wait five minutes so I'll rate it."
"Hurry, I want to play with the redheads!"
"Yeah, yeah…"
Toshiro quickly compared the answers with the key, and after summing everything up, he said, "Franny, I got news for you…"
"Am I stupid…?" she sulked.
"Quite the opposite. You, my little lady, have scored 140 points."
"Oooooooh, is that high?"
"A hundred is the average. According to this graph, you're the top half percent."
"Wooooooooooooooooaaaaaah! Weee, now I can brag!"
"Hold up. You can't squander that, you know? Promise me that you'll pick a nice school after the war, I can fund your education there."
"Mmmmhhhmmm… Kay, thanks!" she hugged Toshiro briefly. "Now I have to run back to the twins!"
Francesca ran out of the room, and Toshiro went to his room after gathering all the papers, and he yet again resumed his language studies.
So our girls are such gifted persons… Hmmm… Figures…
"Dinner, everyone!" Yoshika cheered through the PA system.
"Yolki polki, moya golova… Geez, what a complicated language…" he mumbled to himself.
Toshiro stood up and went to the door. When he pulled the handle, the door didn't open.
"Very fucking funny…"
Toshiro didn't give a fuck and simply kicked the door down and exited his room. The door to the common room he also kicked open, making it fly on the opposite wall.
The girls gave of a scream and Toshiro jumped down on the first floor with sword drawn and Celestial Aura fluttering around him.
"Layla…" he said with a cold voice.
Her face paled immediately.
"Uh… What?"
"You damn well know what…"
"Eheheh… Sorry… But it's my stupid sister's fault, she made me!"
"No I didn't!"
"Did to!"
"Did not!"
"Did to!"
"Trude, find me some steel cable… Or wait, I'll make some myself…"
The redheads stopped quarrelling immediately as a spool of steel cable appeared in Toshiro's hand.
"Why do you need that anyway?" Trude asked.
"I have to be sure that the two don't escape from the radio mast…"
As if that would work…
"Whatever…" Trude shrugged.
"Nonononononono!" the redheads pled while scuttling on their knees towards Toshiro.
"Please no, I'll fix everything!" Layla shouted.
"And what do you have to offer?" he looked at Kaylie.
"Urm… Uh… Sorry?"
"Meh, I suppose that could do... Okay, Layla." Toshiro said and gave her two keys out of his pocket. "Make sure that the locks on the doors match these keys."
"Okay!" Layla shouted and rushed upstairs.
"And you, get off your knees and sit at the table like a good girl."
"Okay!"
"That was scaaaaary…" Francesca said.
"When you have to, you have to," he shrugged and waited for the Layla to finish.
She quickly ran down from the stairs after recreating the door and said, "Finished!"
"Good girl. Now poof this cable away, I don't want to make a mess," he said and threw her the spool, which she disintegrated with one touch.
After dinner, Toshiro said, "Well okay everyone, I guess it's time for the two to go already."
"Awwww…" Francesca moaned. "But I didn't grope 'em enough yet!"
"Enough?" Toshiro asked.
"I managed to cop a feel when we were playing volleyball, heheh…"
"Whatever now, say goodbye, and I'll walk them off. Alone."
"Roger!" the girls cheered and started saying their goodbyes.
Afterwards, Toshiro went into the hangar with the two mischief-makers.
"Before I let you two scamps go, I have a small request."
"Oh?" Kaylie asked. "Fire away, I'm in a good mood!"
"It's actually to your sis…"
"Meh…"
"What do you want, Toshiro?"
"I want to check out a hundred caliber barrel on my 128, since I'm not that creative with my powers yet."
"You what mate?! Toshiro, but that's absurd!"
"I know, but I want to shoot off that shit! I once proposed it to Kye in the simulation, and she almost killed me with laughter."
"Well no wonder… Okay, I guess you can have your toy…" Layla sighed. "Any specifics?"
"Polygonal rifling, a bore evacuator, and a good muzzle break."
"Hmm… Okay, gimme a second."
Layla put her hands forward and slowly, the barrel took shape. Once she finished, the 12.8-meter piece of steel landed on the ground.
"Peeeeeerfeeeeeect… Now, to mount it…"
"Hey, Toshiro, where I know you wanted to walk them… Holy fuck!" Trude ran up to them. "What in Gods name is this?!"
"A hundred caliber barrel for my 128."
"Toshiro fancied one, although he probably knows how this will end."
"Wooaaaah! I want to see it firing!"
"Then help me exchanging barrels."
"Right on it, Cousin!"
Trude quickly ran further into the hangar and took his cannon. She placed it on the ground, and after a minute, she managed to remove the original barrel.
"That was surprisingly fast," Toshiro said. "Now, I'll help you with the replacement."
He guided the part into the socket, and they both screwed it in. Trude secured the barrel, and they were ready to go.
"Okay, Trudy, two training rounds, I want to go all out, heheh…"
"Right-o!"
Toshiro took the cannon and slowly started walking out of the hangar. Trude ran up to him when he was exiting.
"Okay, I'll just aim at the usual direeeeectiiooon!" Toshiro swayed so violently that he almost fell to the ground.
"That's one problem," Layla said.
"You don't say. Trudy, load me!"
"Jawohl!"
She loaded his cannon, and went to the side. Toshiro tried to aim straight, but the terrible balance didn't favor him.
"Ah, fuck it, I'll just shoot in the general direction!" he shouted and fired.
He almost fell again, but this time Trude caught him.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah… But… Could you stabilize the barrel for the next shot?"
"Like… physically?"
"Yup, with your strong hands!"
"Heheh…" she giggled. "Okay, I'll do it! But first, loading time!"
She enthusiastically loaded another round, and then, she grabbed the barrel halfway. Toshiro fired another shot, much to Trude's enthusiasm. But then, he saw that the barrel got bent in one place.
"Ah shit…"
"And another problem," Layla sighed. "Now you know why?"
"I always knew it; I just wanted to fire a cannon with such an absurdly long barrel," Toshiro grinned.
"Oh go to hell…"
"Done?" Kaylie asked. "I want to go home!"
"Sure, sure… Trudy, dismissed."
"Okay! Bye again, girls!"
"Bye, Trudy!" the twins cheered, making her blush slightly.
They returned to the hangar, and Toshiro simply dumped the cannon on the floor.
"Okay, Kye, come on and take the two shits already."
She appeared out of thin air as usual.
"I guess you've done your job as best as you could," she said. "But guess what's the chance that they won't start pulling pranks again?"
"I would probably got struck by lightning, after being hit by a meteorite, while holding a winning lottery ticket faster than that would happen."
"Heehee, nice one. Okay girls, time to restore your powers. There you go."
"Instantaneous as always…" Toshiro sighed.
"Um, Mom… We would like to stay for a bit longer…" Kaylie said shyly.
Kye looked at the two and then at Toshiro. She sighed deeply and said, "Whatever, you two are adults… Toshiro, just don't go too rough on them."
"As if I could pull a scab off the two… Wait, does that mean..."
The redheads nodded with mysterious smiles and Kye disappeared.
"Toshiro… Get ready to cross another item of your checklist…" Layla said with a deep voice.
Toshiro found himself in his room with the two only in their lingerie.
"We froze the time around us, so we have all of the time of the world…" Kaylie said.
"Bring it on you two!"
Toshiro was lying on the bed naked and breathing hard, with the two godly redheads by his side.
"Damn… That was the most tiresome shag I ever had…"
"You like?" Kaylie asked.
"I'm surprised you're asking me this…"
"Heheh… Still sour because of the mind reading…"
"But we gotta go now, you know…" Layla said with a sad voice.
"Well okay…" Toshiro sighed. "But I thought it's the man who runs away after his conquest. Or turns around and says good night."
"It's not that we want to fuck and run... It's just that Mom is definitely telling Dad," Layla said
"And Dad gets pissed every time we just fuck for fun."
"Then I'll just have to abstain from visiting LA for a while."
The two giggled and gave him a kiss on both cheeks.
"Goddamn mind readers… But you should have at least washed those mouths of yours!" Toshiro shouted, hugged them tightly, and looked at Kaylie.
"What? I didn't want to impose ourselves…"
"Unless Christmas comes at the same time in our universes, you have an obligatory invite."
"Well okay… But don't expect fancy presents!"
"Oh I think Kye will straighten you out on that when she gets wind of this. Which she probably knew since she became the Goddess of whatever…"
"I'll probably make you something myself, heehee…" Layla said and hugged Toshiro back.
Kaylie did the same and said, "Bye, Toshiro. See you in seven weeks."
"You can come anytime if you want. You just have to obey the rules."
"Sure, sure."
"And bye from me," Layla mused.
"Bye you two. But at least have the decency not to poof right away from my arms."
"If you want…" Kaylie sad.
The two stood up, still in their birthday suits, and walked towards the door, but before they could get there, it was kicked open and a blue fire filled the room, causing Toshiro to jump, and Kaylie and Layla to freeze in place. The blue fire, however did not burn anything.
"What the fuck is…"
"Sorry about this Toshiro," Doran said as he walked in the room.
"Kye send you to my world?"
"No, she brought you to my world," Doran pointed at Kaylie. "Their mother just told me where to find you."
"Daddy! We're naked!" Layla moved over to hide behind Kaylie, though that was ineffective since the two were identical.
"So?"
"You're not supposed to see your daughters naked!"
"I changed your diapers, you little twerp," Suddenly, a pair of adult sized diapers appeared in his hands. "Very funny, love," he burned the diapers with his blue fire, leaving nothing but ashes behind. "Now, come on, girls. You're both grounded."
Layla shot him an unsatisfied look. She walked back over to the bed and stood over Toshiro, straddling his lower region. "If you ground us, I'll bend down! Right in front of you."
"Go, Sis," Kaylie muttered
Doran only raised an eyebrow. "You think I'll be messed up seeing you get it on in front of me? Fat chance. Though if you want an ultimatum… Go ahead and sit down there. While you do that, I'll just ring up your Aunt Elizabeth."
Both Kaylie and Layla suddenly had looks of fear in their eyes.
"Sorry, Toshiro! We gotta go!" the twins said as they hurried out. Their respective outfits miraculously disappeared from the floor and appeared on their bodies as they ran past Doran.
Toshiro sighed. "Why didn't they just poof their clothes on when you first arrived?"
"They were surprised. Sorry about this, Kiddo. Kye will clean your room up and transport you back to your world. After I close you're door, it'll open to your base again."
"So you're not mad at me for this?"
"Mad at you? Nah."
"But you know, they are adults. You gotta cut the cord…"
"Technically, physically, and mentally, they are not adults. Chronologically, they are nine thousand nine hundred and fifty five, but they were imprisoned as mortals when they were sixteen and did not age even a second until they were freed about a year ago. Nope, they are still seventeen and under my proverbial roof."
"I just fucked a pair of minors?"
"Your girlfriend is a minor."
"True that… but we're engaged."
"That hardly matters…" Doran smirked. "Livy, did you by chance blocked off Toshiro's memories of you having a rather spicy relationship with Toshiro and Yoshika from being red by my offspring?"
Livy appeared out of nowhere as usual and said, "I won't lie, I did. I was afraid Master's love conquest wouldn't succeed if the two knew."
"Hah, you're simply too good for him!" Doran laughed. "So, Toshiro, what's your view on bigamy now?"
"Once you've tasted the forbidden fruit…" he sighed. "Aren't you one to talk though?"
"Spot on, Bucko. If you want to be my equal, you have to bang Trudy or Mami now."
"Ah pfff… I know that the two would probably let me do it but… I'm still not convinced about that whole cousin love bit…"
"Right, you have two perfectly normal, unrelated by blood, women that will do almost anything you want them to do, so it's no wonder you don't want to mess that up. See ya!" Doran shouted and walked out of the room, restoring the door to its proper state.
Toshiro laid back on his bed and let out a deep breath.
"Livy, you really did that?"
"Indeed, Master…" she said as she sat beside him on the bed.
"Why though?"
"You wanted to put the two on your list, and you had them on your eyes before you met me, so I wasn't one to complain, Master."
"You're really too good for me…" Toshiro smiled and took her right hand. "So… I'm naked already… A bit sore, but…"
"I would gladly mess around a bit with you, Master, but the Mistress is just behind the door."
"What?"
The door opened and Yoshika came in.
"Oh? Why are you naked?" she asked. "And with Livy… Hmmmmmmm…"
"Ummm…"
"I hope you two weren't doing it in the middle of the day?" Yoshika asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Errrrmmmm… You see… The redheads… And I… Uh, but without Livy!"
Yoshika made a sour face and said, "You did the two without me, huh?"
"Yes…" Toshiro mumbled.
She sighed and said, "That means we're currently at 11:8 for you. After today, it will be 11:9, so I have to find someone…"
"Who's keeping count now, huh? Ask Trudy."
"Trudy? Seriously?"
"She wants to get laid, but I'm her cousin. So it's either you or those two."
"Hmmm… Trudy… We're not blood related, and we're not cousins yet… That should work…"
"See? Problem solved."
"But you really should have invited me…" Yoshika mumbled.
"Then it would be 11:10 for you, then 11:11, and after you would ravage Trudy, it would be a fucking 11:12! Who the hell would I have to fuck to close that gap?!"
"Tough question... I guess how it ended up now is the best."
"Unless we count Toshiko in…" Toshiro pondered.
"Nooo, that's more masturbation than sex, heehee…"
"Heh, well, you could say that I had sex with myself technically…" Toshiro chuckled. "By the way…"
"Yes?"
"My dick is sore…" Toshiro mumbled.
Yoshika chuckled and said, "You sir, are the worst… I'll heal your sausage, and you can go back to studying."
After two hours or so, Toshiro heard a knock on the door.
"Enter."
"Sup!" Adolfine entered energetically.
"Oh would you look at you, all sparkling. I bet you can't wait, huh?"
"Hell no, let's do it now!"
"Oh shit, I still didn't tell Shirley…"
"Moron… But I guess you're busy now?"
"Da, tovarishch general!"
"I'll go tell Shirley about our event, and look through the papers you were supposed to review."
"Have fun. Not."
"You underestimate my perseverance in the office, Toshiro. Oh, remember to get a bath."
"Ditto for you."
After supper, everyone went to the bath, and then, after everyone went to their rooms, Toshiro's room got awfully crowded.
"Ahem…" Toshiro cleared his throat. "We've all met today to have the first fivesome in the history of the 501st. Joining for the first time in our little group is Mio. Applause."
The girls applauded silently while containing their laughter. Or at least trying.
"Thank you, thank you," Mio bowed around. "I hope you'll be gentle," she chuckled and looked around, only to see ravenous faces. "Um… What is this about?"
"Mio, it's only natural that everyone wants a piece of you…" Toshiro said with a cold voice.
"But… But…"
Yoshika snatched Mio, pushed her against the bed and it all began.
(cue in all people that hate my story for the abundance of sex)
If you feel like it, please leave a review. However, I have only one request – if you want to leave something the size of a short story, please consider discussing your points over PM. If you want to leave an anonymous review, I respect your decision to do so, but if you sign in, I can actually discuss anything with you, dear reader. Thanks for reading, and I hope the next chapter will also garner your attention!