Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
Broken Mirrors, chapter 53
Monday, March 14th. Hikaru Gosunkugi's room.
Gosunkugi woke up and prepared himself mentally for the day ahead, then a creeping dread spread over him as he slowly turned his head to the side and met the hooded eyes of the succubus Kodachi where she laid on the edge of the large bed.
"Good morning, Hikaru." Kodachi said with a soft smile on her luscious lips.
Gosunkugi screamed and practically teleported to the far side of the room.
Kodachi sighed and sat up as she let the sheet fall away and revealed that she was actually dressed. "Is that anyway to greet a friend who just came to wake you up?"
"Perhaps it's the right way to greet a 'friend' who caused you to take to the priesthood because of their actions?" Hikaru answered as he made sure that he was still dressed as he had been when he had laid down.
Kodachi pouted for a moment, then sighed and stood up before she bowed deeply to Gosunkugi. "I am sorry, Hikaru. I meant only to come wake you up, but you looked so peaceful and cute asleep…. I only wanted to watch you for a short time."
"From under my covers?" Gosunkugi asked in a skeptical tone of voice, then sighed as Kodachi blushed red. "You let yourself get carried away, again."
Kodachi laughed and smiled. "You do know me so very well, Hikaru."
Gosunkugi just sighed and looked at Kodachi. "And why did you decide to be the one to wake me up this morning?"
"Mrs. Watanabe had matters to attend to off-site regarding some of the preparations, and she asked me to make sure that you would be ready when she returned." Kodachi answered as she made her way towards the main room of the suite.
"Then she should be back soon?" Gosunkugi asked, and stopped when Kodachi didn't immediately respond. "Or she should have been back but has not yet returned."
Kodachi looked at her watch. "Thirty-three minutes ago. Perhaps she is just running late?"
The two of them shared a look before Kodachi shook her head. "You are right, this is Nabiki, after all. She would have everything planned to the minute. So, that raises the question, where is she?"
Nabiki tried to remain calm as she sat in the darkness. She had just opened the door to the car she had hired when the driver had put something over her mouth and after that, she didn't remember anything until she found herself here. Her hands and feet were bound, and she was seated in what felt like a plushly upholstered chair. There was a floral scent in the air, and muted sounds filled her ears.
She tested the bonds, then relaxed. There was nothing that she could do right now but wait, and be prepared for what might come next. Whoever had taken her was sure to make their play soon. It was not a random act, it had all been planned. That meant there was certainly a reason beyond simple extortion behind what had happened.
Nabiki took a slow breath, and shivered. There was a scent in the air, like cinnamon that tingled the back of her tongue and stirred a warmth in her lower belly. It was familiar, but before she could fully place it a familiar voice broke the quiet of the room.
"It was so good of you to join us today, Nabiki." The voice said before the hood was pulled off of Nabiki's head. She blinked and looked at the woman before her, then gasped.
"Kasumi? What are you doing here? And… Why are you dressed like…. That?" Nabiki said as she glanced around, not fully understanding what was going on yet.
Kasumi turned slowly, the strips of cloth that barely concealed her body shifting with the movements. "Do you not like it, Nabiki Watanabe? Most find them truly enticing."
Nabiki narrowed her eyes. "Who are you? You are not my sister."
"I don't remember saying that I was your sister." Kasumi said as she cocked her hip and rested a hand on it as she eyed the bound woman. "But what would make you say such a thing to your loving older sister, hrm?" She reached out and cupped Nabiki's chin as she forced her captive to meet her gaze.
"You look like her, your voice is the same, but nothing about you fits. So,what do you want from me? What do you think this will get you?" Nabiki said even as she fought to keep her calm demeanor.
"Oh, I am your sister, or at least if things had been… different… then I would be the sister you knew." Kasumi smiled and Nabiki shivered. "And honestly? I don't want anything from you. Now, those that will come for you? Those are the ones I have an interest in. I want their secret." Kasumi said as she gripped Nabiki's chin tighter.
Nabiki shivered as a cold stream ran down her spine. "What secret is that?" She found herself asking, even as she tried to stifle the words.
Kasumi smiled at Nabiki, and it was like staring into the Abyss. Like looking into the yawning pit of hell, itself. "Why, how do they stay here? Why they haven't been cast out, just like this world tries to do with me. What are they doing to remain here for so long?"
"How…. Do you know that?" Nabiki asked, afraid of the answer because she was sure she had more than an idea.
Kasumi smiled as she let go of Nabiki's chin and let the middle Tendo sister see the rest of the room. There was a tangled mess of men and women performing every manner of lewd and lascivious act scattered around the room. "Because, my dear sister, I have been fighting the pull for years myself. And as much as I enjoy the continuous feast, it grows harder and my…. contractors… last shorter and shorter amounts of time."
"Your contractors. What… What are you?" Nabiki said as she did her best to keep her focus on Kasumi as the form of the being who wore her older sister's appearance shivered as leathery wings and a spade-tipped tail slid into view.
"Why, I'm a succubus, sister dear." Madam K said as she reached over and pulled a woman to her and kissed her hungrily.
Even as part of her mind freaked out, another part of her took a deep breath and did its best to focus on anything but what was going on around her. She pulled her attention inward as she detached from the world around her. This other Kasumi seemed to be preoccupied, so this was the best chance that Nabiki would have to pull herself out of the maelstrom of debauchery the best she could.
And that was exactly what she did, at least noise finally died down, and the room dimmed.
When she let her senses return to the here and now, she saw a beautiful woman, the same one that the other Kasumi had tried to devour, in fact, cleaning up the room. Nabiki looked her over with her eyes barely slitted. It was clear that the woman had been devastating at one time, but now she seemed drained. Pale and worn down with streaks of white in her thinning black hair. Oddly thinned out, like she had been spread thinly and stretched to the point just before she would break.
Nabiki might not know a ton about the strange world she had been cast into, but she had spoken enough to Kodachi to have gathered an idea. This woman, who had been delegated to performing drudgery, was likely either the other Kasumi's contractor or had been at one time. It seemed crazy, from what she had gleaned from Kodachi, but it made some sort of twisted sense.
"Do you think I could get a glass of water, please?" Nabiki asked as she looked at the other woman.
The other woman jumped and looked at Nabiki with a wide eyed expression. The kind of expression you would expect from someone who had grown used to being pushed around and ordered. Someone who had been made into a thing, instead of a person. She looked around as she fidgeted nervously, clearly unsure what to do.
"It's okay, I just need a glass of water. I won't try to escape, okay?" Nabiki said in a calm, soft tone of voice. She was very glad at that moment that she had pushed for mastery of English, instead of just becoming sufficiently proficient to get by like so many others. She had to handle this woman as gently as she could, or she was likely to run like a frightened deer.
The woman hesitated as she looked towards a door and chewed on her lip. The way she moved, the little mannerisms didn't fit the image of an older woman. A horrific thought entered Nabiki's mind, and she took a calming breath before she spoke. "My name is Nabiki, what is yours?
The woman hesitated, then bowed her head a bit so she would not have to look Nabiki in the eyes. "I'm Becky." She said in a voice that , now that Nabiki could hear it a little better, must have been pretty at one time.
Nabiki nodded slightly and smiled a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you, Becky. Do you mind if I ask how old you are?"
Becky hesitated, then poured Nabiki a glass of water after she waffled for a minute on whether she should put ice in first or not. She finally settled on no ice, then walked over and placed the glass down before she looked at Nabiki with her hands tied, then at the glass. She did that a few times before she held the glass for Nabiki awkwardly. It was only after she had managed to spill a little on Nabiki and she wasn't immediately reprimanded that she settled down in a chair near Nabiki and sat on the edge before she decided that she could answer. "I turn nineteen in a few months." She said and Nabiki did her best to hide the shock on her face.
"And how long have you worked for her?" Nabiki asked in a soft, calming voice.
Becky blinked and had to think about it. "I've served the Mistress for what feels like years… but…. Ummm…. I guess it's only been two months or so?"
Nabiki took a slow breath. "And how did you come to serve her?"
Becky smiled and wiggled a little. "She found me shortly after I came here. I used to live in a little town in the middle of nowhere, but I wanted to come here an' perform." Becky bit her lip. "But I was told over and over that I didn't have any talent but taking off my clothes. But then the Mistress found me, and took me in! She had me sign a contract and everything! The work isn't too hard, an' she puts up with me, even though I mess up a lot."
"Does she have anyone else that she has working under a contract like that?" Nabiki asked as she showed interest. If Becky was really not even nineteen yet, then even if she had been abused recently, it was possible that Nabiki could get her to talk about a subject she was still engaged and interested in. Like the person who had warped her into the jumpy woman she had become.
Becky looked around then offered Nabiki another drink of water. "I heard that she did before me, but that she had only lasted for three months before she had to be released from the contract. I don't really understand why, but I guess she didn't work hard enough."
Nabiki swallowed as she looked at the wilted young woman before her and put together some of the pieces she had gained from Kodachi. It was likely that Becky would be drained to the point that she was no longer useful in a month or less, and it seemed unlikely that this version of Kasumi would release her from the pact that she had tricked her into.
So, Nabiki decided then and there that she would get them both out of this mess if she could.
After all, part of her job had always been about dealing with contracts.
Gosunkugi and Kodachi sat across from each other as they tried to figure out what they could do. In theory, either of them should be able to track Nabiki, but the doing of it posed problems for both of them.
For Kodachi, it all came down to a lack of energy. There were things that she could do that were not normal, yes, but they almost all required far more energy than she currently possessed. Of course, the easiest answer to that particular problem sat across from her looking just as delicious as the first time she laid her eyes on him.
But she had done her best so far not to give in to her urges and desires. To try and build something real and meaningful since Ukyo and Akane had started to work with her. She didn't want to throw all that away for the sake of an excuse, no matter how good.
She simply didn't want to lose the distance that she had closed between them, but she would if it was the only thing that they could do.
Gosunkugi sat and thought his own thoughts, only marginally aware of the looks that Kodachi kept casting his way as she had struggled with her own quandary. He could find Nabiki easily enough, even with the much lesser power he commanded now, but the problem was the time it would take. Preparations and rituals were impossible to skip on his own. Now, with a powerful focus, he could bypass most of that. He needed power, a supernatural anchor to help bond his powers.
Like the succubus who sat across from him. The very being that he had avoided, for many reasons. Not the least of was just how tempting it was to just use her, to reforge the pact and enjoy the power that came with it.
But that would mean returning to how he used to be, when he saw everything around him as a tool, and especially when he saw Kodachi as just a tool.
Even if some part of him told him that he had never really seen her in that way. That no matter what lies he told himself, some truths were just not going to go away.
They both jumped as a knock at the door broke the heavy silence that had settled over them both, and they looked at each other before Gosunkugi moved to open the door, and Kodachi hid just out of sight behind the door. Gosunkugi was not prepared for the stunning woman who smiled at him with a hollow look in her eyes. She regarded him for a moment before she spoke with a voice that sounded like silk sliding over glass.
"Are you the priest, Hikaru Gosunkugi?" She asked as she continued to smile with an expression that stopped well before it made its way to her eyes.
"I am, and may I ask what brings you here at this time?" Gosunkugi asked as he gently ran his prayer beads between his fingers in the hand that was hidden behind his back.
"My Mistress wished to send you an invitation." She said before she presented an envelope that was sealed with a wax seal that resembled a pierced heart with the letter K placed in the middle. Once Gosunkugi took it, she nodded and promptly turned on her heel and walked away with a seductive roll to her hips.
Gosunkugi watched her for a moment before he closed the door and looked at the envelope before Kodachi pulled him from his reverie.
"DId you like what you saw, then? You seemed to enjoy watching her walk off like the little hussy she was." Kodachi seethed.
Gosunkugi sighed and gently placed the envelope on a metal platter that room service had not collected yet before he fixed the Succubus with an impassive look. "If you do not tempt me to forget myself, what chance does a mere human woman stand?" He said and laid out a few things around the envelope and missed the blush that swept over Kodachi's face. "So, did you feel it too, Kodachi?" He asked as he finished his preparations.
Kodachi hesitated then nodded. "She felt… Empty. Drained. Someone has been feeding on her."
"I would say that she is almost at the point where she might even become a quasi-succubus, as well. Her body has been denied the Yang energy it needs for long enough that it is possible." Gosusnkugi said and locked eyes with Kodachi. "We have an active succubus who is feeding rather freely."
Kodachi nodded as she regarded the letter and waited for Gosunkugi to signal it was safe before she opened the envelope with one elegant, sharp fingernail without breaking the wax seal. She read the letter inside, then sighed and handed it to Gosunkugi.
After he had finished reading, they both exchanged a look before Kodachi spoke up. "At least we know what has become of her, and what is expected of us."
Gosunkugi nodded as he looked at the letter with a place and a time, and when to expect the driver to arrive for him. "And I am sure that if I were to bring a plus one to this meeting, then it should be okay."
Kodachi nodded and smiled at Gosunkugi. "It will be nice to go out with you again, Hikaru."
He nodded back as he turned to gather his things. "I would not want anyone else at my side when I had to deal with some impertinent Succubus."
Kodachi chose to take that as a compliment.