“Oh, but can you do it yourselves? Should I call one of the men?” she asked, but Yoshie waved her away.
Fujiko answered in a loud voice as well. “We’ll be fine. I’m always by Akuto’s side to serve him!”
The elder’s wife nodded and left, but Yoshie seemed confused.
“You are? You certainly haven’t seemed to be so far.”
“Hmph. You’re just saying that because you don’t know about the strong bond between us.” Fujiko glared at her.
Yoshie cleared her throat. “Um, anyway, it was my idea, so I’ll be the one to do it, okay?”
An evil light flashed in Fujiko’s eyes. “You will NOT. It’s my job to take care of Akuto! You know that!”
“I do NOT know that. I-I know what you’re up to. You’re going to do something naughty, aren’t you?” Yoshie said stubbornly.
Fujiko moved directly in front of her, with a look on her eyes that would electrocute a mouse. “That’s a horrible thing to insinuate. I simply want Akuto to be clean when he wakes up...”
“But that was my idea,” Yoshie insisted, as the two of them glared at each other from across the bucket.
“I bet you’re the one who wants to do something naughty, aren’t you?”
“I do not. It just occurred to me that if I washed his body down, Akuto would feel like he’d gone to heaven. You know, like feel really great?”
“And that’s what I mean by something naughty!”
“You’re imagining things.”
“We’re not getting anywhere. I’m just going to go do it myself!”
Fujiko quickly soaked her towel in the water, wrung it out, and then went to open the sliding door to Akuto’s room.
“No, I said I was going to do it!” Yoshie pulled on Fujiko’s skirt, and Fujiko let out a short scream and fell onto the tatami mat.
“W-What are you doing?” Fujiko looked back up at her, her chest pressed against the floor. Her skirt had been pulled down to her knees, and now her butt was sticking up high in the air. For once, she actually blushed. She tried to put her skirt back on, but the hook was broken. “W-What did you just do?”
“Sorry, sorry. but I guess you can’t go wash Akuto dressed like that. I’ll do it for you.” Yoshie grabbed the wet towel out of Fujiko’s hands.
“Argh! Not happening!” Fujiko grabbed the towel and yanked hard.
“Uwaa!” Yoshie was pulled down onto the tatami.
“That’s what you get! That’s what you get! Now, all I have to do is open this sliding door, and Akuto and I can go to heaven together!”
Fujiko tried to crawl forward, but this time Yoshie grabbed her underwear to pull her back.
“You know I can’t let you do that.”
“Let go of me, damn it!” Fujiko began to flail her limbs around.
“Okay, but we’re going to do it together, then.” Yoshie said, hoping to at least end the argument, but Fujiko shook her head.
“Together? Impossible!”
“What? Why not?” Yoshie replied. “It’ll be a lot more fun with both of us there.”
“No! We can’t do that! It’s too perverted!”
“Perverted... We’re just wiping the dirt off him, right?”
“You really don’t get it, do you? Akuto and I are going to do all kinds of wonderful things together...”
“I knew it! You are planning on doing something naughty!”
“Maybe I am, but that’s none of your business! And for another thing, I don’t think you could do it without hurting him anyway! You’ve never even touched a real man, have you?”
Yoshie frowned. That had upset her. “Maybe I haven’t, but if I can practice, it’ll go just fine. Here, I’ll prove it on you.” Yoshie grabbed Fujiko again.
“W-What are you doing...?”
“Proving I know how to wipe somebody’s body down. I bet you’re nice and dirty from our walk through the mountains too, right?” Yoshie slipped the wet towel under Fujiko’s shirt.
“Hyah! S-Stop that!”
“I’m just wiping you down, that’s all.”
“Y-You don’t have to move the towel around like that, though!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just cleaning you up. You don’t want me to be too rough, right? Or I’ll injure the skin. So I just need to be real soft...”
“Aah!”
“See? I know how to do it. Hehehe...” Yoshie let out a little chuckle.
Fujiko’s face turned red as she tried to struggle out of Yoshie’s grasp, but she couldn’t get free.
“I-I get it! I get it! Just let me go...”
“Nope! You really are all dirty, so I need to clean you up first.”
“Th-That tickles, though... Hyah! Y-You don’t need to unhook my bra!”
“It’s hard to clean you unless I do though, right? I need to be extra gentle around your most sensitive spots...”
“N-No! Not there! I mean it!”
Fujiko kept struggling and trying to get away, but Yoshie’s hands began to move about her body, touching her right where she needed to be touched. Fujiko turned red and sweaty, and started to moan. Yoshie’s breath was getting hot and heavy too as she enjoyed watching Fujiko’s reactions, when...
“Ackie! You’re awake!”
They suddenly both looked up when they heard Keena’s voice. The sliding door was open, and Akuto was sitting up in bed as Keena hugged him.
“Oops... I forgot about her. How did this happen, anyway?”
“It happened because of YOU!” Fujiko screamed.
○
“Another week’s gone by... Time flies, I guess.”
Lily was wearing a unisex t-shirt and underwear that Hiroshi had bought her, as she ate sardines from a can and watched the data scroll by on her terminal.
“I’m exhausted... The suit’s mana canceler protects me, but I still have to be really careful when I’m doing something,” Hiroshi sighed.
Another week had passed since Lily had moved in. With Hiroshi acting as messenger, and the rebel army’s plan to invade the palace was proceeding, but the load on Hiroshi was starting to wear him down.
“I do feel bad for making you work so hard. But fighting without magic is a lot harder than we thought. We want to make it so that the only people who have to fight are you and 2V,” Lily said.
Hiroshi knew she was right, so he had no choice but to obey. But that didn’t make him any less tired. “I know that, but...it’s getting a little tough.”
“You’ll just have to deal with it. You know this is important, right? If we want our old lives back, this is our only choice,” Lily reminded him. “We’re almost through this, and if you work hard, we can get a few more weapons. We can surround the palace with priests and soldiers, equipped with older weapons that don’t rely on magic. We’re lucky — the palace’s security isn’t particularly tight. And once the fight starts, we know the knights will join our side. When everything’s ready, we’ll be able to give that bitch hell. Until then, just hang in there.”
“Yeah... I know, but...” Hiroshi whispered, still annoyed.
Things were getting worse lately. Of course, 2V’s new laws were at fault, but what was really exhausting Hiroshi was that nobody seemed to really mind.
“Everybody’s out there just living their lives. It really makes you think. Sometimes I wonder if nobody wants us to do this. Or if we’re the ones who are in the wrong.”
“That’s what the oppressor always wants you to think. No matter how much you beat somebody down or how much you steal from them, if you can keep people from working together, most of them are going to think the same thing you do. Ever wonder how a ruling class can maintain its power, when they’re so outnumbered by everybody else? It’s not the fact that they’re better armed. It’s the fact that they make anybody who wants to fight back think they’re alone.”
“Can you dumb that down a little?” Hiroshi asked.
“I don’t think I can, actually. There’s
no easy way to put it.” Lily shrugged.
There was something else on Hiroshi’s mind too: Yuko. And he couldn’t talk to Lily about it either. He’d gone out with Yuko the other day to get a drink at a cafe...
“You don’t mind if I come over soon, right?”
Hiroshi had no idea how to respond. “Um... well...” he stammered.
Of course, he’d love to have Yuko come over. He was happy that she’d even asked.
“You’ve been going home early all the time, right? And you’re busy with some kind of new job, so we don’t get to spend a lot of time together. I’ve got more free time now, since I have less work, so I was hoping we could hang out a lot. If I go at night, we’ll have a lot of time to talk.” Yuko put her hands together and tilted her head. “Please?”
She was an idol, and it was incredibly cute, and he felt himself beginning to waver. But of course, there was a reason he couldn’t take her up on her offer.
“Y-You mean you want to stay over?” he said in a faltering voice.
“Aww, you’re so naughty. Don’t get your hopes up like that,” she said, poking him on the cheek.
“Hahaha... Nah, I didn’t mean it like that.” He scratched his head.
—Where the hell do I hide the student council president? No, it’s not like she’d just stay hidden anyway... Should I just tell Yuko my secret and have her help us? No, that would cause problems for her... I don’t know if she could keep a secret, either. And she doesn’t know what the student council president’s like, so she’d probably misunderstand the whole thing anyway...
“Oh, you look like you don’t want to. Don’t worry. I won’t go looking for your naughty books and video data.” Yuko grinned.
“Hahaha... I just want some time to clean up, that’s all.”
“Hmm... I don’t know. I don’t think you should have any of that stuff when you’ve already got a cute girlfriend.”
Most girls didn’t understand that there was no connection between having a porn stash and having a girlfriend, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
“Th-That’s not what I’m talking about. U-Um, I promise you can come over, just not today. Th-They’re doing some remodeling work today. I don’t even have a futon for you to sleep in.” he said as he started to flail his hands around.
Yuko grinned mischievously. “You aren’t trying to get me to share a futon with you, are you?”
“N-No... Well, maybe a little...”
“Then why don’t you let me come over?” Yuko was being really aggressive.
Hiroshi knew he had to turn her down, but when he looked at her flushed cheeks and mischievous expression, this is what he said instead.
“F-Fine... Just not today. Give me a little time... Please,” was all he could stammer out.
After that, he’d said goodbye to Yuko and gone on another errand for Lily. Once he was sure nobody was watching, he transformed into the Brave suit, flew up into the sky, and hid himself in the clouds. From there he located his objective, and began to descend towards it.
His job today was to help smuggle a huge shipment of weapons. He needed to unload them, unseen, from a boat offshore. They were non-mana weapons that had been bought from outside the Empire, and obviously they couldn’t go through customs. With the help of the suit, it was an easy job, but it was one that required concentration, and exhausted him easily.
By the time he’d finished running the weapons to all the priests deployed throughout the city, it was late at night. When he got back to the apartment and opened the door, Lily was there to ask for her usual report.
“How’d it go?”
“It went just fine. Everybody’s got their weapons.” Hiroshi nodded.
“Well done. That’s all the work there is to do for now. Now we just wait for the right time to strike.”
Lily’s mood instantly improved. She walked over to Hiroshi and wrapped one arm around his neck, and then used the other hand to pat him on the head. “Good work, kiddo.”
Nobody had ever done anything like that to Hiroshi before, and it was embarrassing. And to make matters worse, her chest was pressed up right against him. He was used to it by now, at least, looking at it, but Lily was naked except for a flimsy t-shirt, and it was hard to ignore the outlines of her breasts.
“P-President... Please let go. Your breasts... even if they’re small they’re still...”
Lily gasped and let go for a moment, but then began to press her chest into him even harder. “Huh? You trying to tell me I’ve got small breasts? Do you have a death wish or something? Do you want me to just smother you with my breasts, and we’ll see if that shuts you up?
“N-No, I’m sorry! That’s not what I meant!”
“Then what did you mean?” Lily pushed him down to the ground and clambered on top of him, running her hands across his face.
“Owww...”
“Hmph. All you ever do is complain about being tired. Do I need to help you relax? I know. Why don’t I give you a reward, huh?” Her eyes narrowed as she ran a finger along his cheek.
“S-Stop it. That tickles.” He blushed and sat up.
“I don’t think I like your attitude. Man up a little. Have some fun,” Lily said provocatively as she began to unbutton his shirt.
“S-Stop it... Come on...” He didn’t have the guts to push her away, so before long she’d undone the front of his shirt. Sad to say, he could feel his chest starting to get hot, and it was terribly embarrassing. “S-Stop it... You shouldn’t do this...”
“Heh... You’re such a little kid. It’s a joke! Hahaha!” Lily laughed as she began to slap her hands against his chest. “I had you going though.”
But then...
Click.
There was a sound from the door.
“Huh?”
“D-Don’t tell me...” Lily tensed up, but it wasn’t the police on the other side of the door.
It was Yuko.
“Y-Yuko...” Hiroshi whispered in shock.
“S-Sorry... I tried to tail you and lost sight of you... so I decided to hide in front of your apartment and scare you... But I shouldn’t have come in... I’m sorry...”
She dropped to the floor and covered her face with her hands. Of course, she’d misunderstood— no, it wasn’t a misunderstanding. He was living with another girl. She’d just come in at the wrong time.
Hiroshi was too stunned and sad to move, but Lily got behind Yuko and locked the door before she could run out.
“Hmm... I’m not sure what to say, but I’m sure you’re misunderstanding this. Sorry, I was just teasing him.” She coughed.
“Y-Yeah, it’s a misunderstanding...” Hiroshi began to stammer out apologies.
At first, Yuko began to cry, then get mad, before starting to cry again and kicking Hiroshi.
“I-I’ll explain the whole story... so just... stop...”
Since Hiroshi was too flustered (and in too much pain) to explain, Lily told her the whole story. It would mean their secret was out, but it was better than just letting her leave.
It took until morning to explain, but maybe that was for the best. It gave Yuko time to calm down and understand what she was being told. Of course, understanding it emotionally was another matter.
“Then there’s really nothing going on between you two, right?” Yuko said, towering over a kneeling Hiroshi.
“No,” Hiroshi vowed. “The student council president basically has the body of a man. I didn’t feel anything.”
“...Grr.” Lily wasn’t happy, but she knew if she said anything, she’d just make things more complicated. “That’s right. I wouldn’t want him anyway. I barely even consider him a man.”
Yuko didn’t seem to like that. She was looking at Lily with narrowed eyes. Lily wasn’t dense, she simply wasn’t interested in love. But she knew how Yuko was feeling.
Lily frowned, and then nodded and said, “Take him with you, then. That’s what you want, right? I’ll be fine on my own as long as you le
ave me food.”
Yuko silently gripped Hiroshi’s hand.
—I guess I don’t have a choice, huh?
Normally he’d love to go with Yuko, but right now he felt terribly nervous.
“Be sure you’re back by the day of the mission,” Lily said as she shooed them out of the apartment.
It was already morning. The two of them started walking towards Yuko’s condo, but Yuko’s silence was starting to scare him. He tried to explain what Zero and 2V were up to again, hoping she would understand.
“...I get it. What do I have to do to get that woman out of your room?” Yuko said with a smile.
Hiroshi felt like he truly understood now how scary girls could be. “Well, um... she’ll be gone once 2V and Zero have been defeated.”
“Does that mean you want me to just sit here and wait?”
“...Y-Yeah, I guess. I don’t want you to do anything dangerous....”
“Dangerous? It’s not dangerous for a normal civilian like me. I’ll try and come up with some idea,” Yuko said.
—But is it really safe if you’re a normal person...?
Hiroshi looked around the street as they walked. It was morning rush hour, but there weren’t as many people out as there used to be. Over the past two weeks, the number of people working had dropped a lot.
“The rumor is that more and more people are disappearing...” Hiroshi whispered.
“Sure, some people got transferred at work, but nobody’s just disappeared. There’s nothing to worry about. A lot of people skipped class too for a while, but they all came back...” Yuko said, but something still seemed wrong to Hiroshi.
“I hope you’re right...”
The cold air he felt in the city seemed to be coming from something other than the morning chill.
“You don’t have to go to school today, right?” Hiroshi gripped her hand as they got close to Yuko’s condo.
Yuko shook her head. “Sorry, school’s off today, but I’ve got work this afternoon. I’ve got a live broadcast, my first in a long time. Just watch me at school, okay? Once it’s done, I’ll drop by school and we can go home together.”
Yuko let go of his hand, and then ran inside her condo to get her stuff. Then she came back out.
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 8 Page 4