Chapter of Bottled Love: The Sisters and their Time off

“And we’re back!”

Utterly exhausted, I threw myself on the bed.

“Yumi… Haa… You’re such a child.”

“Nn, I am.”

After all, I already looked like one. At least when we were alone it should be fine to behave like one too, right?

“Should we take a nap?”

“Another one?”

“Nn.”

“Mm…”

Karen seemed to ponder whether we should or not.

“I’m tired but I don’t think I can sleep right now…”

“I see… Nn? Sis, what are you doing?”

“Undressing you.”

“I can see that.”

”Why are you asking then?”

“... Good point.”

She had grabbed the hem of my clothes and pulled the shirt off, before doing the same with my pants.

“It’s breezy.”

“Wait a moment.”

Curious, I looked behind me, only to see that Karen was also undressing. Once bare, she grabbed the nearby blanket and joined me on the bed.

“I thought you didn’t want to nap.”

“I don’t. But I want to do this.”

Karen pulled me into her embrace and then threw the blanket over us. It didn’t take long for it to become cosy and warm beneath it.

“Mh, I love this.”

Hugging me close, Karen rolled onto her side and wrapped her free leg around me. All the while my face was buried in her breasts.

“I’ve completely turned into a body pillow, haven’t I?”

“Do you dislike it?”

“No. I like it.”

Being hugged like this gave me a safe and warm feeling. If possible, I’d want to stay like this forever.

“So, you wanted to hug me like this? Or...”

“Yes. I thought we could just lie down and relax like this. Was that wrong?”

“... No, it wasn’t”

Although, I had to admit that I thought for a moment that she had other intentions. Which would have been fine with me if I wasn’t so tired.

“Yumi, I love you. I really, really love you.”

“Sis?”

“Just wanted to say it.”

“... I love you, too, Sis.”

I shifted my position a little, trying to move up higher. While I enjoyed being wrapped in her breasts, I really wanted to see her face.

“Yumi?”

“Nn, one moment. Okay. Now I can see you.”

Karen looked at me, a little surprise. But it was quickly replaced by her usual smile.

“It’s a little harder to hug you like this, though.”

“... Is that a complaint?”

“Maybe. Mm.”

“Mgh?!”

This girl… While I was wondering how to react to that, she stole a kiss from me…

“Ehehe. Yumi, you’re warm.”

“Sis… You are warm as well, Sis.”

“I see.”

Oh well. She could steal as many as she wanted.

“Mm… I really like things like this; Yumi.”

“Just lying on the bed and doing nothing?”

“Yes.”

She strengthened her hug a little before quickly loosening up again. Shifting her body a little, she seemed to look for a more comfortable position. After a while, she gently caressed my back.

“I can’t feel any…”

“Feel what?”

“Bones. There’s something that feels a little harder but it’s too soft.”

“... I think I already made peace with the fact that I don’t have bones.”

It made me wonder how in the hell my body even managed to stand up… But it did. Honestly, so far it didn’t bring me any inconvenience. And everyone seemed to enjoy how squishy I was…

“I wonder if bones are the only thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re closer to a monster, right?”

“Nn.”

“So, if you’re missing bones, maybe there are other things you don’t have either?”

“...”

That… might be the case…

“I guess… that’s possible. I refuse to be cut open to check, though.”

“I didn’t intend to.”

“Good.”

The last thing I needed was someone a little too curious to open up my stomach and checking if I got all my organs…

“Well, it’s not like there’s anything inconveniencing me so far…”

The initial shock in regards to my body changes had long passed already. And by now, I didn’t feel all that uncomfortable anymore when I dealt with my tentacles.

“Guess you can get used to everything with time.”

Honestly, I had begun to take a liking to my current situation even. Though, that was mostly thanks to Karen. Without her, I’d probably still be unable to accept this.

“Hey, Sis.”

“Yes?”

“I’m… fine the way I am… right?”

“... Yes, Yumi. You’re fine like this.”

“I see…”

A smile crept up my lips. It was an incredibly happy thing, having someone accept you the way you were. 

“Insecure, lacking in common sense, always curious and a bit of an idiot at times. But kind and always caring and thinking of those around you. I love this Yumi. All of it.”

“...”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have fallen for you. I would have never imagined that I could fall in love with another girl. But I did and I don’t regret it.”

“... Sis.”

Ahh, this girl… Making me tear up now…

“So, you are perfectly fine like this.”

“Thank you, Sis.”

“You’re welcome. Always.”

Karen caressed my hair and hugged me even closer.

“And there are many more parts that I love about you. Like this small butt of yours.”

“Nn? Nyah?!”

Her hand that had been wrapped around my waist suddenly went down and squeezed my butt.

“Sis…”

“Yes?”

“... Nothing.”

She continued to squeeze my butt, looking at me with the most innocent eyes she could offer… Which probably would have worked if she had managed to hold back her grin.

“You can be quite mean sometimes.”

“Only with you, Yumi.”

“Jeez… And I’m stupid for being happy about it.”

Well, if she enjoyed squeezing my butt…

“That reminds me, Sis.”

“What is it?”

“Nn… How to say it… Are you feeling… Well… Hungry again?”

“Ah.”

Her butt squeezing stopped for a moment.

“I… didn’t accidentally absorb any mana or something without noticing now, did I?”

“No, you didn’t. Not that I would have minded.”

“... You should mind.”

But it wasn’t like she could help it. Nor did it hurt me anyway.

“And? Are you?”

“... I was.”

“You… were?”

“Yes…”

Her hug tightened a little as her body stiffened slightly.

“I see. But if you aren’t anymore, I guess that’s good. Although, I really wonder what exactly it even is...”

“...”

If she could satisfy her hunger simply by us hugging naked, then… Well, we assumed that it might be her sexual desire that needs to be satisfied, but maybe that wasn’t quite right.

“As long as it’s gone I guess it’s fine.”

“Mm…”

I returned the hug by wrapping my arms around Karen and then buried my face in her neck. A slightly sweaty but familiar smell entered my nose.

“Nn… Smells good…”

“Yumi…”

With a sigh, she once more caressed my hair, tracing its length with her fingers. Feeling a little mischievous, I moved the strand she was touching and wrapped it around her fingers.

“Wah!”

A surprised yelp escaped her, giving me a reason to chuckle.

“Pfff…”

“Yumi… Don’t do that.”

“But your reaction was nice.”

“... Seriously.”

As if to return the favour, her tail wrapped around my thigh, tickling me a little. To which I responded by wrapping more of my hair around her legs and her waist.

“Caught a Karen.”

“How terrible, I’ve been caught. Just what is going to happen to me?”

“Mh... I don’t know…”

I closed my eyes and rubbed myself against her body.

“You’re like a little animal.”

“So now I’m not even a person anymore?”

“Looks like it.”

With a chuckle, Karen poked my cheek as she teased me.

“Hey, Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“Just relaxing like this might be quite nice as well.”

“Nn. Agreed.”

Just letting ourselves relax in each other’s arms.

“A lot has happened.”

“Nn… That it has. But for now, it’s over and done with.”

“Yumi.”

“Nn? What is it, Sis?”

Karen’s hand stopped caressing my hair for a moment as if she was pondering about something.

“I was a bit scared, after all.”

“Scared?”

“Of what would happen at the village. The Worshippers, the Mother Roper and Yumelia… All of it.”

“... It was the same for me, Sis. It was scary.”

Having seen the large roper and the destruction it could deliver… There was no way I wouldn’t be scared. But…

“But seeing the mercenaries and Korwen in action… I think it was amazing.”

They dealt with such a powerful foe, suffering no losses at all. If that wasn’t amazing, then what was?

“And Ria’s magic as well. I still don’t quite understand what that even was.”

The curious liquid Ria had used. The only thing I understood was, that she had turned it into some kind of weapon through her magic, with which she killed the roper.

“Ahh… They’re strong…”

“Nn, they are.”

Korwen could fight a troll and win. Ria could cast incredible spells, turning the tide of battle on her lonesome. The mercenaries as a whole were well-coordinated and strong.

“We’ll have to do our best as well.”

“We do.”

Karen’s arms strengthened their embrace, her leg that was wrapped around me tightened it’s grip as well. Her body’s warmth transferred over to my skin.

“Hey, Yumi.”

“Sis?”

“I… I have decided…”

“... Decided?”

Karen’s eyes looked straight into me, her expression conveying her seriousness.

“I want to be a magician. A real one. Not just what my body… my manakin nature brought me.”

“... I see.”

She had decided… Decided what she wanted to be…

“You know, when I see Ria casting her magic… or even when you do your stuff with the dolls and the tentacles… I always thought ‘That’s amazing!’ in my head. Every time…”

My eyes went wide at her confession. She thought it was amazing? Ria I could understand, but even the stuff I was doing?

“Ria is like a great magician from a fairytale, with amazing magic. I think… I think I want to be able to do things like that as well. To be able to cast amazing magic like that.”

“So… you want to be like one of those great magicians?”

“... I guess... you could say that?”

A great magician… I had to admit, it was a bit surprising…

“It sounds a little childish if you say it like that, though…”

“Isn’t that fine, Sis? Even if it’s childish, it’s not like it’s an unattainable dream.”

”A dream, huh… I guess it is a bit of a dream.”

Karen smiled when she repeated my words, looking slightly happy about it.

“So I still had a dream, after all... Yumi. I decided.”

“Nn?”

Didn’t she decide on something before already?

“I want to be a magician. But not just any magician, I want to be like those great and powerful magicians from the fairytales! I want to be able to use amazing magic, even more amazing than Ria!”

“That’s a pretty lofty goal.”

“Isn’t that what dreams are all about?”

“I guess that’s true.”

A magician that was even more amazing than Ria. That would likely take a lot of work.

“Nn, it’s a splendid dream, Sis.”

“Ehehehe, you think so?”

“Of course. And I’ll help you with all I can to achieve it, Sis.”

“Yumi… Thank you.”

She hugged me a little tighter and buried her face in my neck, nuzzling against my hair.

“Really, thank you.”

“Nn.”

I returned the hug and caressed the back of her head, gently patting her.

“I’ll have to work hard.”

“Nn.”

“I’ll have to ask Ria to teach me.”

“I’m sure she’ll help you.”

While Ria was a bit spacey at times, she was quite serious and I had little doubt that she’d be willing to teach her.

Actually, since we were counted as magician apprentices, she kind of had to teach us anyway…

There hadn’t been a lot of time for her to teach us anything, with all the things that had been happening.

“I’ll accompany you, Sis.”

“Huh? But, won’t you have your own work to do? Like, your tentacles and the dolls.”

“Nn, that’s why I don’t know if I can be there all the time, but I think it’d be a good idea to learn at least a little about regular magic. Even if I end up being unable to use it.”

“Huh… Maybe the elemental stones won’t explode in your face anymore if you do.”

“... Let’s not talk about those little devils.”

“They’re stones, not devils.”

They were devils. Without a doubt. And they had it out for me. Why else would they explode every single time?

“Anyway, we don’t know what the captain planned for the near future. I guess it also depends on whether Will would accept that deal.”

“... Do you think he will?”

“Nn… I don’t know. But the captain seemed to be rather hopeful about it. I guess it’d be nice if he does?”

If he did, we’d have a home to return to, after all. The wandering mercenaries wouldn’t be homeless anymore. This probably had a lot of meaning for many of them who travelled since their childhood. Especially seeing how adamant Korwen was about this.

“I wonder what kind of place that fort is… Hey, Sis, what do you think?”

“What I think? I don’t know… It’s been abandoned for a long time, right? I don’t think it’ll be in a good state… We can probably be lucky if it didn’t fall apart yet.”

“... Way to destroy my expectations.”

Not that I could even argue against that. It had been abandoned for so long that Will didn’t even know about it.

“Well… But he said it’s close to the Grand Spirit Lake, right? And next to a forest. So, I think it’ll be a nice place.”

“Nn… What kind of lake is that even?”

“The Grand Spirit Lake?”

“Nn.”

I first thought it’d be Great Spirit Lake and not Grand Spirit Lake, considering how they worshipped the great spirits. Slightly confusing. I better had to keep that in mind lest I mixed it up.

“I don’t know much about it… I only heard that it is a really large lake, so large that you can’t see the other shore.”

“Seriously? That is large, all right.”

Then again, I didn’t really know how large a lake usually was supposed to be.

“And, well… That’s already all I know. Actually, I heard the river that flows through the city is connected to that lake…”

“Nn, well… That’d make sense I guess.”

Rivers, lakes and the ocean more or less went hand in hand quite often, after all.

“I wonder if we can catch any fish in that lake…”

“Yumi…”

“What?”

“Haa... We probably can.”

Why was she sighing now?

“I see…”

“You glutton.”

“... Hey, it’s delicious, isn’t it?”

“... It is.”

Calling me a glutton… I didn’t even eat that much. My stomach had shrunk a lot. That’s why I had to make sure that the little I could eat was delicious.

“Still, a lake sounds like it’d be nice to have around,” I muttered.

“It does. And a forest as well. We can get food from the forest and water from the lake. And fish, too, of course.”

“Sounds like it’d save a lot of food expenses… Makes me wonder if that was part of the reason why Korwen chose that one.”

“But didn’t he select three total?”

Well, he did, but…

“I might be wrong but I think he expected them to get rejected. I mean, I can’t imagine that he would have missed the problems with those. Also, I recall him saying that he had a particular fort in mind already. He also told the Elder about it.”

“Ahhh… That could be. But then, why did he even suggest them?”

“Who knows? Maybe to make it look less like he really wanted this one in particular?”

“Mm…”

The only way we could get an answer to that was by asking Korwen.

“I hope it works out...”

“Nn, it’d be nice.”

“You got a lot of work as well, then.”

“... Right, I do.”

After all, I was part of the reason why Korwen wanted to get a fort now.

“He said that he wanted to get people used to my tentacles… But I don’t know, can people get used to those? Lily didn’t like them already...”

“Maybe if they have enough time? Although, I agree… It might be hard.”

“Nn…”

They were pretty grotesque and not something people would casually approach… Some people might be fine with them but I just couldn’t imagine most of them accepting it… Then again, the mercenaries at the village seemed curious when I used those tentacles but not disgusted or similar… Maybe there was some hope, after all?

“There was also that thing with connecting space, wasn’t there?”

“Nn? Ahh… There was…”

Space… Connecting space… It sounded ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. But after having seen those pitfalls, I couldn’t deny that space was somehow… bendable?

“I don’t even know where to start with that, though…”

“How about trying to connect the pitfalls?”

“Nn… But how? I mean, I barely even understand how the tentacles are doing all that.”

“Hmm… I don’t think you have to.”

That was… Not wrong but… If possible, I’d like to know…

“Hey, Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“When you make those pitfalls, how do you do that?”

“How? I… kinda imagine that I want a pitfall? When I give them the mana.”

“Hmmm…”

Karen fell silent, likely thinking about what I said.

“Yumi, how are the tentacles different from the dolls?”

“Huh? Well, the dolls… They have a soul, I guess?”

“But they also do what you want them to, right?”

“Nn… Sis, do you want to say that the dolls and the tentacles are the same?”

“Maybe not the same… but similar?”

Similar, huh…

“I mean, they do what you want them to, right? So, you could try to ask them to make… A door? A door that connects to another one?”

“A door that connects to another one… I guess I could try that.”

Like the dolls… Maybe Karen was onto something there. Honestly, seeing the dolls being incredibly independent, maybe I had stopped to question how they did everything. Well, except that cursed-looking ritual they used to… upgrade themselves. That one freaked me out a little, to be honest. 

“I guess if I think of it as asking the tentacles, it’s not that… No, I think it would still bother me how the hell that works… Space isn’t something you can just bend… At least, it shouldn’t be.”

“Maybe you should give up and accept it?”

“I know… I know, but I can’t help it…”

There were some things that would bother you even if you knew you wouldn’t ever get an answer to it. Okay, maybe I could get an answer if I asked Yumias or maybe a Space magician… But neither was around for now…

“And I don’t really want to ask her, either…”

“Yumi?”

“Nn? Ah, sorry… I was just thinking that… maybe that witch would know the answer.”

“You mean Yumias? I wouldn’t be surprised. I mean, she does… appear out of nowhere… and in your case...”

“Nn…”

She took me from a different world and brought me to this one… That was similar to Space magic, maybe it was the same even...

“Ah, maybe the Elder knows something about it?”

“Nn? The Elder? Maybe… she does?”

Well, asking her wouldn’t hurt so I could do that next time.

“I might ask her then. It would be convenient if she did.”

“It would.”

The Elder had lived a long life and she knew a surprising amount of things, despite being stuck in a forest for so long.

“Space magic, huh… Now I’m curious about whether the tentacles would do it…”

“We can try a little after dinner.”

“After dinner, huh…”

Not now, but later. After dinner.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just thought you were cute, Sis.”

“... You’re cute, too.”

“I see.”

I slightly tightened my arms that were wrapped around her. Her soft body and her skin pressing against me were so pleasant and her warmth transmitted to me was comfortable. I could feel her stomach and her breasts against me, making me aware of how we were still naked.

“Well, I don’t want to do it now, either. I hope dinner still takes time.”

“Mh… The sun is still pretty high… I think we still have some time.”

“Great. I won’t move away from here until then.”

“Hehehe, and I won’t let you go anywhere.”

“Not that I intended to.”

We hadn’t had much time for ourselves for the past few days… So I was even happier that we could spend time like this. Just relaxing in each others’ arms.

“This might be a little sudden but… Yumi, you… you like my tummy, right?”

“Nn? Yes, I do. I love it.”

“Hmmm…”

That was indeed a pretty sudden question, though. But I really loved her tummy. If possible, I’d want to rub my cheeks against it all day.

“Why are you asking?”

“Well… We’re hugging like this… and I noticed that you were rubbing yourself against me occasionally.”

“... I did?”

“Yes.”

Scary... I hadn’t noticed that at all.

“It’s not like I mind. I was just a bit curious.”

“I see… I didn’t realise I was doing that. Guess my body already yearns for you without my conscious input.”

“Yu— Yumi…”

Ah, her cheeks were flushed red.

“You have to take responsibility now, Sis. My body cannot survive without you anymore.”

“... I intended to, anyway.”

“... Seriously?”

“Yes.”

Now it was my turn for my cheeks to turn crimson.

“After all, my body cannot survive without you either. So you have to take proper responsibility, too.”

“I will.”

“Ehehehe.”

Karen rubbed her cheek against mine, giggling happily.

“Yumi, you know… There was another dream I had.”

“Nn?”

“To live together with the person I love, build a family and spent our time together. I guess, marrying them would be part of that.”

“That’s…”

Her words surprised me, catching me off-guard. But the shock soon faded, replaced by a feeling of warmth.

“That’s a splendid dream, Sis. I’ll support you with all I have to make it a reality.”

“Ehehe, is that so. But that’s not necessary.”

“Huh? Not necessary?”

“Yes. After all, I realised that it’s impossible. Or rather, it’s no good.”

The heck did she mean with that? Impossible?

“I mean, think about it. If marriage is part of it, then it’s simply no good.”

“Sis… What do you—”

“There’d be no point in marrying my sister.”

“Huh?”

“We’re already family. Even if we’re not related by blood, we’re sisters, right? And rather than just a promise to stay with each other… A promise could be broken. But since we’re sisters, we’ll always be family. No matter what happens.”

My eyes went wide when she explained it to me. I was… flabbergasted.

“No matter what, we’ll always be together. You’re my sister, Yumi. And you always will be.”

“Sis…”

“Although, I guess sharing the same surname would be pretty nice.”

“... Nn, it would.”

“We’ll have to think about it. Ah, we should talk with Rina as well. After all, she’s our sister as well.”

“Nn.”

Tears were welling up as I buried my face in her shoulders. Somehow, I felt so happy. So incredibly happy. I didn’t even know how to describe it anymore. It was just… overwhelming happiness.

“But I do want to… Well, expand our family one day.”

“Ex… pand?”

“I mean, you know… with you…”

“... Ah.”

My face instantly went as hot as if it was on fire, realising what she was implying.

“That… That would be great. I’d like that too, one day.”

“Ehehehe, it’s a promise, Yumi.”

“Nn. It is.”

“One I won’t let you break.”

“I didn’t have any intention to.”

It was probably still far off in the future… We’d have to settle into our new life first, deal with who knew how many problems and then… then…

“But… would that even be possible?” I wondered.

“It should be possible, right? Mrs Karker told us about that magic.”

“Nn… I remember that. But… I mean, I’m not quite a normal person.”

“Ahh… Hmm… I think it should be fine. I mean, most of your body is pretty much the same as ours.”

“Nn…”

But most… wasn’t all. I didn’t have bones, for starters.

“Also, you’re similar to a roper, right?”

“Yes, I guess so…”

“Ropers procreate with many other races, don’t they? So I’m sure you can do something similar.”

“... That’s true. It’s not unlikely that I could.”

There were still a few things about me I didn’t quite grasp. Especially in regards to some tentacles. But anyway, since ropers were known for… their breeding capabilities… it made sense to assume that I could do that, too.

“It’d be better if we tried to find out…”

“You’re only allowed to with my help,” Karen declared.

“Huh?”

“I mean, what if something happens and you unexpectedly… you know…”

“Got it. Only when we’re together and alone. Then, there’s no way something could happen, right?”

“Good. I’ll take your word for it.”

I couldn’t help but smile. While I’d prefer if nothing happened by accident—after all, if it happened, I wanted it to be on purpose—this way we could make sure that, at the very least, it wouldn’t turn into the worst-case scenario.

“Ehehe, it feels like we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little…”

“Nn… Well, it’d still take some time before we should consider it…”

“Right… But… I feel really happy talking about it, about the future. I’m really… really looking forward to it.”

“So am I.”

A future with Karen... Of course, I was looking forward to it. To all the happy things that would come to us. Even the bad things, that we’d overcome together. I was sure, it’d be a wonderful future.

“Nn, we got a lot of things to prepare for that, don’t we?”

“We do. Hey, if we’re going to live in the fort, do you think we’ll get our own room?”

“That… I didn’t really think about it. That would depend on how large the fort is, right? But we might.”

“Hmm… A room in the fort… That might a good home for us as well, wouldn’t it?”

“... It does.”

Now that she mentioned it… Sure, the wagon was our place right now, but strictly speaking, it was hard to call it ‘home.’ A home to return to. After all, this home moved together with us wherever we went. And with all said and done, it wasn’t a large home. Nothing where a whole… family, could live in… Which might be a little rude, seeing how most of the mercenaries and their families lived in tents… But if we had our own place in the fort…

“It does sound more appropriate. Let’s bother the captain and get our own room when the time comes.”

“Let’s do that. And we have to make sure it’s big enough, considering the future.”

“Right.”

We looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“I wonder what the future will bring.”

“Nn… But I know it’ll be a lot of fun with you.”

“I hope so.”

“I’m sure of it.”

Releasing my hand from the embrace, I gently touched and stroked her cheek.

“At the very least, we’ll be together for it. No matter what it will bring, right? After all, just as you said, we’re already family. And nothing will tear us apart so easily.”

“Yu— Mgh?!”

I sealed her lips with mine before she could respond. Savouring our kiss for quite some time, indulging in each other’s presence. Once we parted, we both smiled.

“Just what am I going to do with you, Yumi…”

“Don’t know? How about another one?”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“Nn.”

Once more, we approached each other’s lips.

We kissed, hugged and caressed each other for a long time… A time so happy that I felt like I was on cloud nine.