Chapter 47: The Mask Slips Slightly
"Talk about such a wild string of coincidences. At least that nagging feeling is finally gone," Miia comments after the chaos has settled and we've gotten the most basic introductions out of the way. Polt, Draco, Lilith, and I are sitting together on a couch while Kimihito's homestays are sitting across from us on a similar couch that has a space in the middle clearly reserved for my brother. Rachnera and Centorea stand behind said couch while Meroune is in her wheelchair beside it. How odd to be back in the home I grew up in. It barely resembles how it looked in the past much like my own house looks somewhat different after the radical renovations made. I wonder if our parents know about any of this. Probably not.
"I know, right? It was picking at my brain for the longest," Rachnera sighs.
"Seems a little embarrassing that we couldn't connect the dots until now," Centorea points out.
"Well, we finally have it sorted at least. It's still a lot to take in though," I say.
"Alright, I've got the refreshments," Kimihito announces, returning with a massive tray in his hands as he places it down on the coffee table between the two couches. While everyone else helps themselves to some tea to drink and chips to eat, I choose not to, feeling my stomach slowly swell with stress. It's catching up to me no matter how hard I try to push it down.
"You're not getting anything?" Polt whispers to me.
"Y-Yeah, I'm good," I mutter.
"It's okay, Ryuta," Polt quietly reassures me, subtly patting my back.
"So where do we start?" Kimihito asks, sitting down in his reserved spot. I take a second to think.
"How about how you managed to get to seven homestays?" I ask.
"Well, it goes like this…," he begins to explain. Going over the story with each of them, I find myself constantly surprised for every turn of events he goes over. It's almost like he's describing a lewd comedy harem manga that eventually gets a popular anime and a few spin-offs but not a second season that it so rightfully deserves. "And that's about it for now."
"Wow. That's even more wild than I anticipated. Makes my side of things seem pretty tame in terms of daily chaos," I chuckle lightly.
"I can't imagine it wasn't much easier seeing as Smith handed you two of the troublemakers we encountered," he teases.
"Hey! We've been reformed! Thank you very much!" Draco and Lilith swiftly remark.
"Oh, I'm sure of it. I take it that Polt and Ryuta are responsible for that?" He assumes.
"Damn," Draco mutters, lacking a comeback.
"Got us beat there," Lilith sighs.
"Well, I did seventy-five percent of the work, but Ryuta did the last quarter," Polt smirks.
"Where did all that humbleness when we first met go?" I playfully ask Polt which makes her giggle. Miia and the others seem to intently observe that small interaction, quickly glancing at Kimihito which he doesn't notice. I have to ask this next question seeing as my side has… crossed that line. "Anyway, Kimihito… have you—"
"If you're asking one of two questions I think you're asking, I'm sorry but I won't answer it now," he politely interjects. If this wasn't my brother talking, that would be like a soft yes then.
"About the answer I expected from you. Pretend I said nothing then," I casually shrug.
"I think that's enough about us. I wanna hear about you guys!" Miia ecstatically flips the subject onto us.
"Well, it all started when…," I start to explain how Polt and I met while excluding the more sensitive details which garners the laughter I expected to hear.
"That's so vastly different from us! You seem to have a penchant for near death experiences just like Darling though!" Miia chuckles.
"Seems to be the Kurusu curse at this point," Lala comments.
"Let's not jinx it!" Kimihito and I happen to sync with each other.
"But yeah, I was being completely dumb," I admit, scratching my head. "But to continue on…," I start going over how Lilith and Draco met me. "So here we are now."
"Typical Smith ploys at work as per usual. Don't know how it hasn't blown up in her face yet," Kimihito shakes his head.
"Wait. Something doesn't add up. What made Ms. Smith barge through Ryuta's wall with MON in the first place and was he already a host when that happened?" Rachnera inquires.
"So it wasn't just me that noticed that weird detail?" Centorea adds.
"I'm quite curious about it myself," Meroune comments.
"Yeah, tell us the details!" Miia and Papi exclaim. Polt and I exchange sheepish glances with each other. I was hoping they wouldn't catch that.
"I may have… jumped the gun thinking some amended laws were finally applied to the general public so no, he wasn't a host," Polt answers, blushing.
"Jumped the gun?!" Kimihito's homestays excluding Lala instantly lean forward, deeply curious.
"Y-You two do not have to elaborate on tha—," Miia, Rachnera, and Centorea cover Kimihito's mouth.
"Do elaborate!" They shout. This is really selling that hard no to those two questions.
"I-I mean what's there to further clarify? It's obvious what Polt and I did," I reply, unable to hide my blushing as well. Kimihito really shouldn't have to hear about me having sex… but—No! Don't even allow that thought to finish! Kimihito's homestays gasp, uncovering Kimihito's mouth.
"So then what are you two supposed to be after that?" Meroune asks.
"Ryuta's my boyfriend, of course!" Polt reveals to them, grabbing my right hand.
"And Polt is my first girlfriend!" I announce, leaning on Polt.
"Awww!" Miia and the others react.
"How delightful! Two lovers carelessly breaking the law together because they just couldn't wait to make love!" Meroune clasps her hands, squirming ecstatically in her wheelchair.
"Did they not hear what you just said?" Draco mumbles in my ear.
"Give it another second," I simply say. The realization strikes immediately after that, the look of shock palpable on their faces even on Kimihito.
"Wait! What do you mean by first?!" They exclaim.
"Kihihi! I'm his second girlfriend!" Lilith reveals, climbing into my lap.
"And I'm his third girlfriend! Heh!" Draco adds, hugging my left arm.
"That's why he's our Sweetheart!" Polt, Lilith, and Draco kiss me.
"There's probably gonna be more down the road too," I chuckle. Kimihito's homestays slowly turn to Kimihito, giving him just as strong a death stare like what Doppel did to me that one time.
"Darling~… we're all gonna have a talk later," Miia warns, the end of her tail lightly lashing against his right leg while Rachnera is sinking her claws into his shoulders but not enough to do any damage.
"D-Do we have to?" Kimihito sighs, knowing he's in the doghouse.
"Yes!" They answer. Polt, Draco, and I quietly let out a guilty laugh, realizing we probably just doomed my brother. Lilith, however, is mischievously giggling as she slides back onto her seat on the couch.
"A-Anyway, thanks for keeping Ryuta company. He can be quite a tsundere tomboy despite what he might have you believe," Kimihito chuckles. Did… Did he just really say that?! Such a dumbass!
"W-What?! I-I'm not like that in the slightest!" I swiftly refute, letting the feminine voice slip out. "Don't make me get up and kick your ass again just like old times!" Everyone looks at me as I just proved his point. "Goddamn it," I mutter.
"Yeah, for being your brother, he's a lot more feminine than just his looks but that's just a part of why we love him," Polt agrees with him.
"P-Polt, s-stop!" I stammer.
"But you know it's true. You're so cute, Sweetheart!" Polt kisses my cheek, smugly smirking at me.
"Tell us more about Ryuta, Kimihito. He doesn't talk much about his younger years," Draco asserts.
"D-Draco?!" I exclaim.
"What? I wanna know!" Draco says defensively.
"I wanna know too!" Lilith chimes in.
"Us too!" The other ladies join in.
"Big brother, don't you dare!" I advise.
"Let's see… appearance wise, he hasn't really changed since high school. A lot of guys used to hit on him and if they pushed their luck, they would learn their lesson pretty quickly when Ryuta immediately wrestled them to the ground, just straight up flipped them over his shoulder or even worse sometimes," Kimihito explains.
"Really? You used to be that violent, Ryuta?" Polt and Lilith inquire, surprised.
"What other choice did I have? They had it coming when they didn't know how to take a hint and get a little too daring!" I elaborate. "Plus they knew I was in the martial arts club so that's just having a death wish at that point."
"Can't say I'm surprised since I've seen you in action for a moment," Draco notes.
"A part of me still can't believe you shattered that guy's wrist but I can hardly blame you seeing as I would've done something similar. At least you learned how to hold back," Kimihito sighs. "But back to the point at hand, it doesn't help that you probably made those guys jealous since when it comes to people you're friendly with, you tend to tease and flirt by sitting on their laps and letting them feed you."
"T-The seats at school were always so cold! I-I wasn't flirting!" I try to explain it away.
"You sit on me and Draco's laps all the time! Don't try to lie about it!" Polt remarks.
"Y-You're supposed to be on my side, Polt!" I shout.
"I am on your side. I'm just keeping you honest," Polt giggles which makes Kimihito's homestays snicker.
"Quite the contrast to Kimihito's chuuni days," Lala comments.
"Oh god! They know about your dark past?!" I force myself to laugh as I internally cringe for a multitude of reasons from hearing it be mentioned. I was hoping to avoid that getting brought up.
"Indeed they do and we really don't need to retread any of that," Kimihito sighs.
"Something we can both agree on," I roll my eyes.
"So what was Ryuta like at home? Anything juicy there?" Rachnera questions. Kimihito's eyes meet with mine briefly. At this point, I'm gonna take the bullet on this because I can't trust Kimihito to remember what's off limits now.
"I'll gladly spill the beans. I was always very affectionate towards Kimihito. Outside of school, we might as well have been attached to each other. He would do anything for me and vice versa. Didn't stop me from throwing out a wrestling move at him whenever he angers me though but besides those moments, Kimihito has always been a perfect big brother to me," I answer. Too perfect…
"Ryuta… I'm relieved to hear you still feel that way. I thought there was bad blood somewhere," he sighs, smiling. Nothing is really his fault. It's mine.
"Aww! How adorable!" The ladies react.
"So Boss, if things are fine between the two of you, then how come Ryuta doesn't live here and why has it been a little long since you two talked to each other?" Papi suddenly asks. That question might as well be an invisible bullet that pierces Kimihito and hits me as well, judging by how we just winced at the same time.
"S-Sometimes people just get focused on their own life, Papi. That's just how it is, right, Ryuta?" Kimihito sheepishly asks, trying to walk on eggshells for my sake.
"Y-Yeah! T-Totally!" I stutter. There's an uncomfortable amount of silence as I find myself struggling to look at him. They can clearly smell the bullshit.
"Sorry, but I'll be the one to say what everyone's thinking. Did you two cross that line with each other?" Draco spontaneously inquires, breaking the silence.
"W-What?! No way!" Kimihito and I quickly deny her question.
"Polt, Lilith! W-Were you two actually thinking that like Draco implied?" I ask.
"Unfortunately for you, yes," Polt answers.
"And that's a yes for me too," Lilith nods.
"S-Seriously?!" I stammer.
"That includes us too," Miia adds, everyone else nodding in agreement.
"Heh! All of you have quite the imagination at work! I assure you that Ryuta and I did nothing of the sort. She would pummel the sense back into me if anything like that occurred!" He laughs sheepishly until he notices my death stare. Y-You dumbass! How could you fuck up just like that?!
"…She?" All the ladies question.
"Hahahaha!" I force a laugh out, trying to salvage the situation. "You're such a jackass, dear brother! Saying she instead of he to tease me! What a classic dig!"
"This has gone on long enough. Ryuta, what's the big issue?" Polt asks.
"There isn't one!" I hastily answer. My heart is beating faster and my face is getting warmer while the stress just keeps mounting on me. Why can't we just move on from this damn topic?!
"There clearly is," Polt insists, shooting me a smug look that I just can't take in jest this time and pushes me over the edge.
"Polt, don't," Kimihito cautiously advises.
"I don't have an issue! Maybe you have an issue, Polt!" I verbally lash out, deeply annoyed with her as I stand up to the surprise of everyone. In a rare turn of events, Polt's typical demeanor breaks as well, clearly upset with me as she stands up too. Like something's finally reached its limit.
"Y'know what?! I do have an issue and it's regarding you, Ryuta!" Polt shouts back, frowning at me.
"Oh yeah?! What did I do?!" I yell.
"Why do you have to be so insecure off and on?!" Polt asks.
"Because things are complicated! Not with just my brother but myself too! I'm clearly struggling, but here you are trying to force me to put pieces into a puzzle when I'm not even exactly sure where the fuck some of them go in the first place!" I answer honestly, breathing deeply while my eyes well up with tears.
"Then please talk to us like I said you could so we can help you! We're in this together, Sweetheart!" Polt reminds me, her eyes tearing up too. Kimihito and the others are completely stunned at how quickly things went south.
"Hey… guys, let's go outside for a minute. Excuse us, Kimihito," Draco awkwardly suggests, getting off the couch and grabbing my hand while Lilith does the same with Polt.
"Y-Yeah, that's probably for the best," Lilith agrees. Polt and I allow the two to pull us out of the house. Now outside, I struggle to make eye contact with Polt, feeling the regret amplify by the second.
"If I knew saying something like that would lead to that, then I would've left it alone. I'm sorry, Sweetheart," Draco apologizes, tenderly rubbing my back.
"It's fine, Draco. It's not your fault," I mutter.
"Are you okay, Polt?" Lilith asks.
"Yes… I am. Thanks," Polt wipes her eyes.
"Please talk it out whenever you two feel ready. Doesn't matter who goes first," Draco says.
"… I'm sorry, Polt. It… I… I wasn't trying to yell or get angry at you and I know all of you are just trying to help me. This whole thing is just a lot more stressful than I recalled which is why I just chose not to think about it for so long," I explain as best I can.
"I'm sorry too, Ryuta. I should've pivoted the whole thing when you were clearly not responding well to the pushing. I thought that after the mall, and the fireworks festival that you were ready to be more open about everything going on with you but that's clearly not the case so we only just overstepped," Polt apologizes. "You might not realize it but you show us your true self a lot more than you think but then you try to hide it sometimes and it's so damn infuriating to see you throw a shield up when it seems like you realize you're getting too comfortable. There's at least three things you're battling with and I'm pretty confident that I know the answers you're working towards so I wanna help you get to them faster!"
"Polt!" I hug her tightly.
"Ryuta!" Polt squeezes me just as intensely.
"I know you're right and I'm doing my best despite how it may seem!" I assure her.
"And I can't force you to be ready no matter how much I want you to be!" Polt admits.
"Okay… Is everything cool now?" Draco inquires.
"Yeah," I answer.
"A little scary as it was to see you two legit angry at each other for a moment, it's really cute that the both of you won't allow it to linger," Lilith comments.
"It was a matter of time but we both know it's impossible to stay mad at each other. You're gonna argue with him someday too, y'know?" Polt points out.
"And I'm not looking forward to it whatsoever," Lilith sighs.
"Anyway, you two can head back inside. Let Kimihito and the others know that we'll return in a few minutes," Polt assures them.
"No problem!" Draco and Lilith respond, leaving us alone.
"Our first actual fight, huh?" I ask.
"As small as it was, I hope they don't get any bigger than that. It felt so awful," Polt responds.
"Same here," I agree with her.
"Ryuta, I need you to do a couple things but only if you're willing to," Polt gently places a hand on my cheek, staring deeply into my eyes.
"I'm listening," I nod.
"I accept the fact that you might not directly spill your guts to us ever on some things but please reconcile with your brother. That's the whole reason we came here besides having you properly meet Miia and the others. We'll even stay the night if we have to. Don't you want to hang out with him and his homestays without having an awkward vibe?" She questions.
"Y-Yes, I do," I affirm.
"Second, and I should've asked this much sooner, but I would like for you to please drop the voice," she requests. "It's not like it helped you in most cases anyway given your appearance."
"Drop what voice?" I act clueless.
"Ryuta…," she sighs.
"Sorry, that's a shitty joke," I chuckle sheepishly. Taking a deep breath, I try to exhale all the worries away. "Like this, Polt?" I use my naturally feminine voice.
"So much better! That fits the tsundere tomboy label perfectly!" She teases.
"D-D-Don't bring it back up! He should've never said that!" I stutter, blushing. Giggling, she kisses my lips and I reciprocate. Parting our mouths, our slimy tongues vigorously grapple each other. Our hands find their way to excitedly caressing the other's ass. Running out of breath, we both pant.
"Let's take this to the backseat of the car. That's the last thing I wanna say," she mutters seductively. Before we know it, we're having a quickie in the car, both of us moaning with me rapidly thrusting into Polt's pussy while she's sitting sideways on my lap.
"Yes~! Tear my pussy up, Sweetheart~!" She commands.
"G-God… damn! I-I'm cumming!" I grunt.
"M-Me too!" She bites her bottom lip.
"Haah!" We climax together, our bodies shuddering as semen rushing down my shaft and balls with each quake inducing spurt.
"Love you," she mutters, laying against me while nuzzling my cheek.
"Love you too," I nuzzle her back. After sharing one more sultry french kiss, we clean up the mess with a couple leftover napkins that were stashed away under the armrest and head back inside the house.
"Welcome back, you two!" Miia exclaims.
"Sure took your sweet time," Lilith jokingly scoffs.
"There's only so much for Lilith and I to catch up on," Draco adds.
"All is well now?" Kimihito asks.
"Indeed," I answer, noticing a look of surprise on his face.
"Uh, Ryuta? I think you're forgetting—," Kimihito tries to subtly point at his neck.
"Don't worry about it. It's fine," I assure him. Giving Polt a knowing glance, she nods and goes to sit back down beside Draco and Lilith. This is still embarrassing, but I'm gonna own it as best as I can! Don't focus on the bad part! I can deal with it later! "Big brother Kimi… m-may I have my seat back?"
"If that's what you want," he answers. Walking over to him, I try to ignore the confused faces that everyone except Polt have. "Allow me to properly reintroduce myself. I am Kimihito's little brother, yes but it's not really all that accurate to how I described our treatment of each other," I plop myself down on his lap, feeling nostalgia surge through me. "He called me tsundere tomboy earlier because he treats me like a little sister instead! Hehe~! Isn't that right, big brother?" I giggle with a wide grin.
"Very correct!" Kimihito affirms, resting his chin on top of my head while he hugs me. Such a lovely warmth his hug exudes. A collective blush infects everyone's face even managing to affect Lala too.
"… SO CUTE!" Everyone excitedly roars. Ah! I missed this so much!