Chapter 187

Chapter 187

"Okay, so these are going to be your costumes for Summer Comiket!" Kaede explained after Mio and I changed into extraordinarily skimpy outfits.

They looked exactly like the ones shown in Kaede's manga. The lace leggings pinched my thighs. I couldn't tell if I was putting on weight, or if it was just the costume. The chestpiece was held together by a diamond-shaped jewel between our collarbones. Hell, that thing was working overtime to keep our bust from popping out.

"Yuriha really can make just about anything! So, what do you think?" she asked.

"It's... Are we sure the staff at Comiket are going to let us in? I feel... naked." I tugged on the flowy black skirt and frowned.

"It'd be their loss. I think we're smoking hot in these," Mio said as she checked out her own ass in the mirror.

We turned to Kana and asked him what he thought. A blank stare from the bed was his answer.

"What? You know what my answer is going to be. Why would I say anything less than 'amazing'?" Kana returned to eating his bowl of cereal, more interested in filling his stomach than seeing his two succubus girlfriends in lingerie.

"Anyway, all we're doing is advertising your manga in these costumes?" I asked the ero mangaka.

"Yes! If people ask for pictures, that's up to you. As for me... I'm going to wear a mask this year. People are beginning to recognize and doxx me, and it hasn't been very fun." Kaede sighed.

"Doxx?" Mio looked at me for answers.

"It means people are looking up Kaede's personal info and posting it online. This sort of thing happens when you get famous. As succubus, we're lucky a regular human being isn't much of a danger. But to Kaede, some people can get pretty crazy..."

Kaede folded both hands together and gazed down at her feet. We hadn't been around each other because of college, but I could tell she was having troubles.

"Hey, we gotchu. Any crazies will have to get through us." Mio put an arm around Kaede and grinned.

"Thanks, you two." Kaede smiled.

We changed out of the costumes and into swimsuits. Downstairs, Hitomi and Rika were already changed and waiting for us.

"Ready to go?" Hitomi asked, just now ending a phone call.

"Hell yeah! Time for the open seas!" Mio pumped her fist.

For the second to last day on the trip, we booked a motorboat to take us out to the ocean. Sure, Mio and I could fly, but we wanted to spend as much time with our friends as possible. There was a boat rental at the pier, and we paid extra for a certified pilot option. A much older man, rough around the edges but neatly trimmed, was expecting us in the cabin cruiser, a motorboat that sported a back upper deck and interior cabin underneath.

"Are you Yagami?" Rika asked the captain of the small ship.

"Aye," Yagami simply said, then gestured for us to hurry on.

We climbed onto the boat and set off immediately. Mio was right at the bow, hands on the guardrail and hair fluttering like crazy. Her sun-kissed tan, the child-like smile adorning her face, and the deep gaze at the sea... all of which I wanted to commit to memory, because one day it might not be me who remembers this scene. I thought she was just stunning.

"Isn't she?" Beatrice asked.

I gazed into the fast-moving water and sure enough, Beatrice's reflection was there to taunt me. She was facing in Mio's direction.

"Mio's happy without you. If you come back, you're just going to take that smile away," I said.

"What was that?" Kana shouted over the rushing winds and roaring boat engine.

"Nothing!" I replied.

Mio suddenly turned around and beckoned me over to join her. I got up to my feet, but it was a wobbly journey from the stern to the bow. I eventually made it, but not without shuffling slowly and hanging tight to the rail.

The boat hit a hard wave. I stumbled forward. Thankfully, Mio caught me in her arms.

"How's it going, good-looking?" Mio teased.

"I think we're one step away from the iconic scene right out of Titanic," I said in jest.

"Titanic? That a porn flick?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Is that really what's important to you?"

"Nah." She returned her gaze out to the sea and squeezed me. "This is."

When the boat came to a stop, we were allowed to jump into the waters. As long as we had life vests on. That was the stipulation from the pilot. The water out here was pristine. They crashed gently against the hull of the boat. After putting on their vests, Rika and Hitomi fearlessly cannonballed into the sea and resurfaced a second later. Kaede sat on the edge of the boat, dangling her feet above the waters and hesitating to follow them in.

"A-Are there sharks in there?" Kaede asked.

"The chances of you being attacked by a shark is less than being struck by lightning. Come on in already!" Rika urged the fearful mangaka.

"Okay, but... what if I end up being one of statistics? Someone has to be!" she complained.

"We're going in together!" Mio picked Kaede up by the armpits and flew them over waters.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait—!"

Splash!

Both of them plunged in together, then Kaede popped back up a second later spitting out a fountain of water. Mio followed after, cackling like a beast.

"If a shark starts nibbling on your toes, just tell me. I'll go down and punch the shit outta the thing," Mio said.

"I guess that makes me feel a little better..." Kaede laughed nervously.

While Mio playfully pulled Kaede farther away from the boat, Rika and Hitomi swam up to me.

"What do you want now? Was doing it with Mio vicariously through me not good enough?" I asked.

"I want to speak with her, my little sister," Beatrice said.

The request caught me off-guard.

"And what makes you think I'm going to let that happen?" I made ripples in the water to disturb her reflection.

"It will inevitably happen. If you don't let me, then perhaps years or months or a week down the line when I finally take over your body. Tell her, or so help me whatever gods exist in this world, I'll destroy all you hold dear when it happens," she growled.

"You're talking to Bea, huh?" Mio asked from the door.

I hadn't noticed Mio waking up. She was leaning against the glass screen, arms folded and scowling.

"N-No, I'm just talking to myself!" I said quickly.

"You can't lie to me. Besides, you were distracted when we were fucking. Couldn't make it any more obvious." Mio caught me red-handed, so I fessed up instead of trying to hide it.

"Beatrice... wants to talk to you. I told her—"

"Fine. Let's talk," she insisted.

"The others are going to scold me, I just know it..." I muttered.

There was no turning Mio down when she made demands with a face like that. Hana and Yumi were so intent on not letting her meet Beatrice again. I hope I wasn't making the wrong decision, doing so. Sighing and relenting, I got out of the bath and returned to the bedroom with Mio.

Kana, my cute and sweet sex battery, was still sound asleep. Mio laid down next to him, and I adjacent to her. She grabbed my hand and squeezed. Even though it hurt, I didn't say a thing. Instead, we closed our eyes and let our auras become a whirlpool of magic.

The next I opened my eyes, I was standing in the same forest but with Mio in hand. Beatrice was waiting for us in front of her cottage. She lit up as soon as she saw Mio and hurried down the steps.

"Mio, it has been too long!"

Mio slugged Beatrice across the face. The punch sent her tumbling to the ground. She really didn't see that coming. I didn't either. My jaw hung open.

"What gives you the fucking right to talk to me? Looking at you makes me sick," Mio said, intending to sound as hurtful as possible.

Beatrice stood up, rubbing her cheek. "Well, I was hoping for a sweet sisterly embrace, but that was good enough. I only wanted to see how you were doing in person. We're all we have left as family, you know?"

"Yeah, well... I never asked to be your sister. You wanna know how I'm doing? I'll feel a helluva lot better once you're gone from Saeko for good," she said spitefully.

"Mio, I—"

Instead of humoring anything else Beatrice had to say, Mio exited the dream entirely. Her form vanished in a puff of smoke.

"There you have it. That's how she's always felt about you, in case you needed a harsher reminder. If you really thought it was going to turn out any differently, then you're more delusional than I thought." I scoffed and considered adding a little more insult to injury, but Mio had said plenty.

I always had her protection in mind." Beatrice, hand still pressed to her stinging cheek, wandered to the edge of the creek.

An urge, or maybe it was Beatrice's simmering control over me, compelled me to join her by the gently rushing stream teeming with fish.

"Hard to believe when you kept her caged," I chided.

"You know Mio about as well as I do now. There's no keeping her in one place for too long. If there's something she deems fun, it doesn't matter how much danger there is. How would you keep her safe during a war?" Beatrice asked me.

"You killed her family—"

"Pirates. And she was supposed to use them as sustenance fodder, not befriend them. I'm her only family... but I suppose... I ruined that somewhere along the way." She sat down and stuck her feet in the creek.

Color me surprised. A little self-reflection went a long way, even for her. I quietly sat down next to Beatrice. There was a strange sense of kinship between us, but Mio was the only link. Everything else in between were memories of her hurting me and my friends.

"Have you ever apologized?" I asked.

"For what? Bringing her back to the nest?" Beatrice looked at me funny.

"I can't believe I'm playing therapist for you... Mio's clearly angry with you. To the point she celebrates you being dead. So, clearly you were enough of a bitch that warrants apologizing for," I explained.

Several times, Beatrice opened her mouth with something to say, but promptly clammed right up. So, she clicked her tongue and leaned forward to gaze into the waters.

"You want to know how to defeat the dryads? You don't. Dominate the renegade succubi trying to summon them, and any that make it into your world, tear open a portal to send them back," Beatrice said.

"That's going to take a lot of sexual energy, which might be exactly what you need to make your return," I countered.

"Well then, good thing it's your choice to make. Don't let me keep you. Unless you want to go for a round with me?" she asked, sticking her tongue out between two fingers.

"Bitch." I flipped her the bird.

"Sister fucker." Beatrice did the same.

The dream melted. A vacuum of wind yanked me back to reality where I was lying in bed with Mio, clutching my arm as if afraid I'd disappear.

"I can't believe you went and suckerpunched Beatrice like that," I joked.

"You wanna see me do it again?" Mio smirked, climbing out of bed and stretching her arms. "Still got a bit of vacation left! I don't wanna waste it, laying around."

"What do you have in mind?"

Mio pointed out the door. "You think Rika and Hitomi are up for a four-way?"