Chapter 144 – I am…

Chapter 144 – I am...

"M-Mom...?" I gulped as soon as I heard her voice and tried vainly trying to keep the jitters to a minimum.

It had been so long since I last heard my mom's voice that I almost didn't believe it was her. The only reason I knew it was her was the strict, no-nonsense tone she took with me. A tone that Hatsumi and I heard too many times and, like dogs conditioned by their owners, become petrified the moment we hear a command to sit.

Not only that, but for neither my mom or dad to ask me how I was doing, how Hatsumi was doing, if we were eating well, or getting enough sleep... the first thing either of them wanted from me was to give a situation report.

"Saeko, I asked you a question. How long are you going to keep us waiting?" Mom asked.Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

Say something. Anything! I told myself.

My mouth flopped open like a fish out of water. Even though I was only on the phone with them, I felt their imposing presence by my side, staring down at me like through a microscope.

"Nothing is—"

"Don't lie," Dad simply said. "There's no way your mother and I won't recognize you. That video of you, next to the woman claiming you both to be... succubus? Is it true?"

"Yes..." I breathed quietly.

There was a pause. Neither of them spoke a word. However, a deep sigh on the other end made me flinch. I heard the phone being clenched tighter.

"Saeko, we're going to be coming home in a month," Mom said.

"Wait, you don't need to! Hatsumi and I are doing—"

"It's clear to us that letting you two live alone was a mistake," my dad began. "Not only did Hatsumi fail to enter the job we delicately set her up for, we've also received the grade reports from Spring that you haven't been doing well in school. So, your mother and I will be coming back to set you two straight. Whatever is going on with your change in gender or grades, we're going to fix it."

"But that was— That... was..." I trailed off, recalling that last spring was when I had all that crap of me becoming a succubus and dealing with Beatrice.

Of course, my grades dropped. There was so much to deal with. Now, too, with evil yokai running amok...

"You understand we're doing this for yours and Hatsumi's benefit, right?" Mom asked.

Benefit?

Something in me snapped.

"I never wanted it!" I yelled, startling even the faculty who were just outside the office.

"Saeko—"

"It's always been the two of you forcing everything down our throats! You... never even raised me, so what gives you the right to dictate what's for my benefit? Hatsumi, too. You've controlled her life until now, years after she's become an adult. Aren't you guys ashamed? I know she's wanted to do more than just stay in Tsukiji her whole life, and you went as far outlining that she'll continue to stay here even after high school. Did you even know wanted to go to Tokyo with her friends? Do you even know what I want?!"

I slammed the phone back into the receiver.

I was drenched in sweat and panting by the end of my rant. For years, I'd wanted to get that off my chest. Cutting them off earlier was the most I ever won and this was the most I ever talked back.

Stepping out of the faculty office, the teachers greeted me with appalled expressions.

The first thing I did was bow a perfect 90 degree angle.

"Yes, I'm a succubus. I'm also still Saeko Ito. I hope you will continue to treat me well and no differently than before until my graduation."

A gentle hand fell atop my shoulders. It was Principal Murata. He was smiling when I looked up.

"That goes without saying. Succubus or not, you're still a student at Tsukiji High. I don't know what you and your parents were arguing about inside that got so heated, but for what it's worth, this school will be glad to have an outstanding alumnus like you," he said.

The other teachers around us nodded to share their sentiments.

I never needed my parents. There were teachers and other adult figures in my life that had always been there for me anyway. However, I was afforded little time to thank them.

A large group of students screeched to a halt on their ankles as they rounded the corner of the hallway.

"Saeko! We wanna know if you're really a succubus!"

"Can you show us your succubus form like from the video?"

"You like sex, right? Will you have sex with me?"

Principal Murata and the other teachers blocked their way.

"What are you doing? Get back to class this instant, or I'll have your homeroom teachers issue you all detention!"

The threat didn't work. Everyone was more interested in getting answers from me. They bumbled down the hall and slammed into the wall of teachers that would break at any moment.

"Saeko, you might want to get out of here!" a teacher warned.

I took off running down the hall just as the barricade broke. The students, many of them thinking with their dicks, chased after me like I was their last resort at solving their sexless and romanceless life.

As I turned the corner, someone pulled me into the home-economics room and shut the door. The stampeding students ran past, none the wiser that I was in here. When I glanced up at my timely savior, I was surprised to find Koga.

"Oh, Saeko, Mio... You two are home early? Sorry, I—"

We rushed to her side.

"Hatsumi, what's wrong? Did something happen?" I asked.

Hatsumi hesitated to tell me. It wasn't until she looked me in the eyes did she become awash with shame and relented.

"My internship called... They rejected my summer application. Everything was going so well... When I asked why, they told me my parents had called and said to have my application voided. Mom called me right after and told me they're planning to have me work overseas at their new company," Hatsumi explained in a shaky voice.

"What the fuck kinda parents are they to just drop that on you guys?" Mio angrily searched mine and Hatsumi's red eyes for answers.

"The kind that didn't even bother putting a baby bottle in my mouth when I was little," I answered spitefully, grabbing a tissue to wipe my sister's tear-stained cheeks. "They called the school office to reach me. I... kind of hung up on them."

"You did— what?" she gasped.

Taking both of her hands in mine, I said, "Sis, I don't care what they say or want from us anymore. We're both adults! Going to Tsukiji University is as far as I accept what they want me to do. I don't want their money, not this house or whatever inheritance they want to hold me hostage by! Mom and dad can... They can suck a dick!"

Mio and Hatsumi blinked at me. Their expressions were both blank, but it was Mio who erupted into laughter that dispelled the tension.

"I can't believe you stood up to mom and dad like that. You're growing up so fast it's almost unfair. Then there's me, the big sister, who is still crying like a baby..." Hatsumi sighed.

"You were the one who raised me," I reminded her. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Our parents don't deserve a single thanks for how we were raised."

"That's what I'm talking about! Who the fuck cares what your parents think or want from you. I didn't have parents, and look how I turned out!" Mio put both hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

Hatsumi giggled, her shoulders no longer shuddered from crying, but from a fit of laughter instead. Two hands reached out to our heads, rubbing the sweet spot between our horns.

"Ah~ I couldn't ask for a better family than the two of you." She smiled, then noted the time on the clock and frowned. "Or maybe not. Both of you should still be in school. What are you doing home so early?"

"I actually came back to ask for the sword. Mio and I are going back to Takamagahara to start setting things right. I caused this all to happen, so I have to be the one to fix it. If we leave it alone too long, Tamamo no Mae and Shuten Doji will cause enough havoc to ruin more than just our lives," I explained.

Hatsumi stood up from the dining room chair and summoned the Blade of the First Temptress to her hands. She walked to the other end of the kitchen, staring down at the sword with her back turned to us.

"I don't think I made the best succubus queen. That title has always belonged to you, Saeko. The least I can do for you, especially after you reminded me how much you mean to me, is be a good big sister to you."

Black swirling energy enveloped Hatsumi as she transformed into her succubus form. It kicked up newspapers and mail on the counter, sent our hair fluttering, and distorted the space like gazing through rippling waters. Mio and I were forced to squeeze our eyes shut when the same energy intensified to a blinding light.

Calm returned to the kitchen a split second later, and Hatsumi was back to her human form. The purple and black sword levitated vertically in front of me with the tip pointed downwards. It hummed with energy, awaiting for me to take it. I reached out, and as soon as I grabbed the hilt, the sword vanished and returned to my soul. Not just that. It had once again become an extension of my soul, the other part of me that was a succubus. Power surged through my being as the sexual energy I accumulated earlier drained into the artifact weapon.

I was able to summon it to my hand again, and my reflection along the cold steel greeted me like an old friend.

"Man, I used to want that sword so bad just to shove it up Bea's ass. Now I can't see anyone else but you holding it," Mio remarked with awe.

"Don't anger too many kami, okay? Try to be back home for dinner. We haven't eaten together in a long time," Hatsumi said.

"Thanks, sis. We'll be home before you know it!" I smiled.

Fighting Tamamo and Shuten conventionally still wasn't possible.

Our destination was Kon's shrine. Stronger now with the sword back in my hands, the first thing I needed to do was confront Raijin and Mutoh about their deception. None of the kami were inherently evil. They had to listen to reason. Amaterasu, too. Her greatest desire was to ensure Takamagahara's safety, and with it threatened by evil yokai released into Japan, she had to see that it wouldn't be to heaven's best interest.

"Kon! Open up, Kon!" I banged on the door to his shrine.

Unfortunately, the lesser kami refused to even reject us.

"This isn't working out. I say we charm the guy," Mio said.

"Can we actually charm through walls?" I asked. "I've never done it before."

"Heh. Just leave it to yo girl, Mio." She walked up to the door and cleared her throat obnoxiously. I felt her aura expand and after a few seconds, Kon opened up with a smile on his face to welcome us into his shrine.

"I'm so glad to have you two back! I hope you're doing well. Can I offer you some tea?" Kon asked, orbiting us like a bee around flowers

Nothing much had changed inside. Not that I was expecting any. There was a tea set on the ground next to his cushion, and it looked like he was in the middle of brewing himself a drink when we interrupted.

"If I remember right, what he did last time was..." I shut the door, then rang the bell three times. When I opened the door, we were still in Japan.

"Maybe he's gotta be the one to do it," Mio suggested, then compelled Kon to ring the bell.

We opened the door again, but it wasn't the ever-shining Takamagahara that awaited us. Night had befallen the heavenly city. Where the enormous sun should have been behind the palace was a bright moon instead that casted its lunar light across the realm.

"Whoa... Who turned off the lights?" Mio asked.

"While you guys were gone," Kon began as a matter of factly, "Amaterasu was dethroned."

"What?!" we cried.

He nodded. "Amaterasu has been cast into exile for failing to contain Tamamo no Mae and Shuten Doji. With Takamagahara having fallen into a soul drought, the one who sits upon the celestial palace is the former exiled kami, Tsukuyomi, god of the moon."