Bound Together (17 page)

Incoherent murmurings were the only sound I could make as Misaki spent several very long moments sucking and licking, all the while her fingertips tracing slow, gentle lines of delicious warmth down my sides and across my tummy. I felt myself melt. My muscles were turning to jelly; I knew I couldn't move if I wanted to, but my body reacted to her attentions of its own accord.

I could feel her guide my hand to her as she slid forward, just slightly, and sat up, still straddling my legs. Misaki pressed my fingertips against something soft, warm and just slightly damp. She looked at me with a longing, encouraging expression. I think that she somehow knew that I'd never done this before and was patiently tutoring me.

I curled my fingers and started to rub. I felt clumsy and stupid, but Misaki reacted favorably. Her perked ears drooped forward and her tail curled up on itself against her back as she leaned backward and thrust her hips against my hand. I felt her heat and could smell her scent as she became wet in her excitement.

I felt myself relax, some of the anxiety slipping away as I watched my unskilled fingers bring Misaki more and more pleasure. My fingertips sank into her, slipping past her folds and she moaned loudly. My knuckles bumped against her and sent tremors through her body.

“D-do you like this?” I stammered, trying and failing to be as cool and sexy as she had been only a few minutes before.

Misaki nodded wordlessly. I could see that she wasn't quite as composed as before. Her eyelids were heavy, half-closed over eyes that struggled to focus on mine. Her cheeks were darkly flushed. I stifled a giggle as I noticed she was drooling, not wanting to ruin the moment.

I felt her hand against mine, shaking this time, and she pushed on it, urging me to go deeper inside her. I obliged her and felt her entire body shudder as she teetered on the edge, silently pleading with me to push her over it. My fingers thrust inside and drew out in rhythmic motion. Misaki rocked on her hips, grinding herself against my hand.

She let out a soft whimper and her back arched, her muscles tensing up as her orgasm rolled through her. I felt her clench around my fingers, but I didn't stop. She gasped, her lips parting, her tail curling tightly up against her arched back as she climaxed again.

Misaki's muscles relaxed and she leaned forward, her body swaying a bit as she tried to maintain her balance. She panted, her tongue lolling out of her open mouth and her ears pricked up. Her tail relaxed and uncurled, swishing to and fro across my legs. After a moment of recovery, she found words again.

“Um, yes, I definitely liked that.”

I giggled. “I'm happy you did.”

“I'm going to have to return the favor, then,” Misaki promised. Before I could respond, she rolled off of me and placed her hands on my thighs, spreading my legs apart. I watched, feeling a deep longing desire build up within me as she positioned herself between them and winked at me.

“What are you—oh,
oh
...”

Misaki's lips brushed against me. I could feel her nose press lightly against the clean-shaven and soft flesh as she laid tiny little kisses on me. I groaned a little too loudly for my own comfort as I felt something warm, silky and wet slide into me. The weakness that stole over my body earlier returned and redoubled. If it hadn't been for the pillow I was resting on, I wouldn't have been able to keep my eyes on her.

Even then it was difficult, almost impossible, really. Misaki's tongue was inside me, her lips against my petal-soft outer folds. I felt a burning heat that was all at once soothing and powerfully euphoric, scrambling my thoughts and blanking my mind. Wavy locks of her thick red-tinged golden hair dragged lines of fire across my hips and lower abdomen.

There was no possible way I could last very long like this. My hands sought something to grip, to hold onto. I pressed them to my breasts and clenched and kneaded, sending lesser jolts of pleasure through my body as Misaki's tongue and lips slowly and gently did amazing things to me.

My back arched as I felt myself coming closer to climax. I couldn't possibly hold it back any longer. I felt her fingertips spread my folds apart, intensifying the sensations multiple times over. I gasped, my back still arched, my head thrust back, no longer able to keep my eyes on what she was doing.

I couldn't last any longer. This was my limit. I couldn't stop myself from moaning loudly, no longer capable of caring who might overhear. Misaki's tongue drew up and focused directly on my most sensitive spot.

I shuddered, a leaf in a gale-force wind, and let out a strangely quiet cry of pleasure as I felt the orgasm crash over me. My muscles contracted so tightly that my toes curled up and I thrashed on the futon, but Misaki wouldn't release me just yet. Her tongue kept up its merciless assault and I felt wave after wave of agonizing, delicious ecstasy flood through my body.

Misaki slowly pulled away, sitting up on her knees between my legs, her fingertips tracing across my thighs. I let out a slurred stream of nonsense syllables, gasping for breath as I tried very hard to open my eyes and meet hers.

She just sat there, her cheeks and lips shiny with my wetness, that trademarked faint and dangerous smile on her face. I somehow managed to blink away the haze that seemed to completely envelop my awareness.

“Misaki,” I managed, the fog clearing away, feeling the strength slowly return to my limbs. I struggled to move, levering my body up into a sitting position. My breath was still coming in short, rapid pants as the natural high of the repeated orgasms receded, leaving me feeling spent, filled with a fuzzy, contented sort of exhaustion.

My lover favored me with an impish grin. “Did you like that?”

“Um... yes!”

“Good!”

She giggled and wiped her face on the edge of the futon's coverlet. I didn't bother to object, knowing that there had to be more of the same underneath me. It'd definitely be going into the wash in the morning. Absolutely. Preferably before Mama saw it.

We disentangled our legs from each other and drew close together in a loving embrace, enjoying the afterglow, not caring that we were both more than a little sticky and sweaty. I lifted Misaki's chin up and gazed into her eyes for a long moment. Our lips met again, lightly, for just a moment, then more urgently. She pulled me into the kiss with a fierce kind of wild passion that was just perfectly appropriate.

Some indeterminate period of time later, I pulled away, breaking the kiss. My heart was full to bursting. I could barely contain my joy. If it hadn't been well after midnight, I would have wanted to sing, though I was sure everyone within earshot was glad I didn't. Misaki brushed a lock of wavy hair from her face and grinned.

“That was yummy,” she announced.

“What was?” I inquired in a sly tone. “The kiss, or the...”

Misaki burst into a fit of giggles.

“Both!”

effulgence

Many minutes passed before Misaki and I were willing to release each other long enough to turn out the lights and climb into bed. As I lay there on the futon, Misaki curled around me, her tail brushing lightly against my ankles, I marveled at what had just happened.

“That was my first time,” I admitted, stroking her hair softly.

“I suspected as much.”

I felt my cheeks heat up a bit. “Is that why you, um, took the lead?”

“Yes. I didn't want you to feel bad about it, or to feel awkward, so I made sure to guide you. I admit I was a little surprised that someone your age wouldn't have much experience in these matters, but I suppose your circumstances...”

“Yeah.” I closed my eyes and sighed. “Things just... got all confused. After Dad and Will died, everything was a mess. Mama wasn't really processing on all cores and So-yi needed me. It was like that until I left for university.”

“Being removed from the familiar left you without direction,” Misaki reasoned.

“Exactly, yeah. I had put so much of myself into making sure So-yi had as good a life as she could for those last four years. Mama was just—I mean, I don't blame her. She lost her husband and her firstborn child. It was bad enough for me to lose my father and older brother, but I held a lot of anger toward them for how they treated So-yi. I can't even imagine how painful it was for Mama.”

Misaki's expression became pensive. “I don't know how it feels to lose a loved one. I was completely serious when I told you that you are the first person to ever love me.”

“Consider yourself lucky, then. It's the worst feeling, the absolute worst.” I yawned and scratched at my scalp. At this point I was really craving a cigarette. I sat up and tossed the coverlet off, not bothering to retrieve my yukata. I opened the pack and pulled a smoke out and slid the shutter open that led to the back yard. Kaede must've gone back inside the house through the doggy-door, because the yard was empty.

Misaki followed me outside. It was a bit chilly, but I wasn't going to be out here very long anyway. I lit my cigarette and blew out a plume of smoke.

“You never really tried to find love, did you?”

I glanced at Misaki. She hadn't bothered to put her robe back on, either. We both sat out on the bench naked under the stars while I indulged my habit. I didn't answer the question right away, instead taking a few puffs to sort of soften the blow to myself.

“Not really. I mean, okay, I went on a few dates, but none ever really worked out. I think I pursued other women more out of pressure and expectation than any real spark or feelings.”

Misaki's head tilted slightly. “You never felt deeper attraction to anyone?”

“No. I mean, well, yeah, maybe. There was one girl, when I was at uni. I thought she was really wonderful. She reminded me of So-yi a lot. Really strong, smart, funny, and we got along well but she... didn't feel the same way about me. She wasn't interested in other women like that.”

Misaki frowned. “I'm sorry it didn't work out.”

“It was just awkward. We usually had fun together, but there was a point where things just got weird and we ended up parting ways. I wasn't confident I was ready to make someone else the center of my attention. I was still worrying a lot about my sister, especially in the first few years.”

“Karin, don't take this the wrong way,” Misaki began, her tone hesitant, “but was it possible that you were in love with So-yi, and that was why you were never able to give your heart to another?”

Wow, she was certainly perceptive. It had taken me years to figure that out and here Misaki was, plumbing the depths of my soul in all its tattered, shitty glory. I took a long, heavy drag off the cigarette and stubbed it out only to light another. I was chain-smoking a lot as of late. It was something I did in response to greater than normal stress levels.

“Yeah. It took me years to figure that out.”

Misaki's expression was one of sympathy. “I thought that might be the case. You must have compared every woman you met to her, at least subconsciously, and lost interest in them because they were not your sister.”

“I'm still in love with her.” I flicked ash over the edge of the porch into the yard. “I started going to counseling not too long ago, trying to work through this. Now I recognize it for what it is, but I can't make the feelings go away so easily.”

“Was that part of why you were so hesitant to admit your feelings for me?”

I nodded. “A small part, maybe. I'm... um... really very taken with you, if you hadn't noticed. Head over fucking heels, to be more precise.”

“Oh, I noticed.” That smile again. “I realized it before
you
did.”

“Come on,” I complained. “You've got way more experience in love than I do! I still don't know what the hell's going on with my head about, well, all of the time.”

“We should make sure that you learn what's going on, then, and quickly. Remember, we
do
have a job to do here. Star didn't send us to Japan to go on holiday. We have to find the summoner who called the shardwight.”

“I know.” I puffed a few times and stubbed the butt out. “Come on, we should get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day if we're going to have to search all over Kyoto to find the summoner.”

coalescence

We left the Takeda family home relatively early in the morning, despite the late night we had. It would have been even earlier, but Mama roped me into helping with some chores around the house before we left. I think in some ways she'll never, ever stop seeing me as that skinny and awkward little twelve-year-old girl with perpetually messy hair.

These days I was a bit more meticulous with the care of my hair, but I wasn't so sure how well I was doing with regards to growing out of the “awkward” part. Maybe not even the “little girl” part, either.

The drive to Kyoto proper took a half an hour longer than I thought it would. It was just after noon by the time we checked in at the hotel AEGIS arranged for us. Inside the room was a little surprise courtesy of Star: a small care package containing dossiers for the companies and corporate officers suspected of involvement in the apparent industrial espionage case. There was also a collection of hacked access cards that would give me access to properties owned or operated by the same.

AEGIS couldn't get me a gun, at least not for this. Japan was the most difficult country in the world to smuggle firearms into. Obviously the Relic was with me and could never be otherwise. The sword would phase in and out of physical reality whenever I willed it, but, well, to put it bluntly, I sucked with it in a real fight.

Star did the best she could and armed me with data. We'd already gone over the paperwork pretty extensively and had a very good idea where to start looking for our summoner. The information narrowed the search area down considerably; the rest would be up to us.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, dropping it in Misaki's lap. She turned and looked at me curiously.

“Contact Star and let her know that we're heading to the first search area. Tell her what you told me this morning. I know we don't usually maintain contact this often but... I don't know. Call it a hunch.”

Misaki nodded. “Okay.”

I turned off the freeway exit and onto the downtown streets. Driving in Kyoto was much easier than I'd expected and the rental car definitely helped with its built-in navigation system. I was hoping that we'd get lucky, but I wasn't counting on it. I made sure to stock up on snacks, drinks and extra cigarettes, just in case.

“I sent the message.” Misaki handed my phone back. I pulled out a cigarette and lit it, rolling the window down slightly, letting the plume of smoke drift out of the rental car. I wondered if Star would be annoyed I voided the deposit.

“How sure are you that it's the Morita family?”

“If I had to quantify it... ninety-five percent sure,” Misaki replied. “When we destroyed the shardwight, I could feel the traces of their invocations in the miasma. If someone else summoned the specter, it would have to be someone who trained with either the Morita or Tsukimura, but wasn't actually a member of either family.”

“Sounds like bullshit to me.” I puffed a bit and blew smoke out the window. “From what you told me these clans aren't the sharing type. I can't imagine either of them giving up their arcane lore to an outsider.”

“Like I said, ninety-five percent sure.”

“Let's not tell Star all her research was for nothing if we manage to get lucky and bingo on the first search area.”

Misaki giggled. “I won't tell if you don't!”

I turned off at the next left and drove through Shimogyo. Despite the fact that I hadn't been here in years, Kyoto was definitely a city that felt familiar to me. The buildings were smaller, the streets felt more open and it wasn't quite as claustrophobic as the endless concrete valleys of Tokyo or New York City. I kept driving, passing hotel after hotel as I rounded Kyoto Station and got on a main thoroughfare heading south in the direction Misaki had indicated.

A few minutes later and the car emerged into a more ordinary series of corporate and government offices. If I squinted and ignored the profusion of signs plastered everywhere in kanji and kana, I could almost mistake this place for home.

The next hour was spent trying to move from block to block in the ward without looking suspicious. This is
much
more difficult than it seems, especially when you're in a car, but Misaki couldn't exactly use her seeking spells on foot where any random pedestrian could see her trace glowing runic sigils in the air.

We settled into a pattern and I fully expected this to continue for at least another hour before we had to move to a different search area as to not attract attention. After only five minutes of searching, Misaki went rigid in her seat. She tapped my shoulder and pointed to a completely unremarkable building about two blocks away.

“There!”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she said, her lips compressing into a thin line. “I've been following the lines of force throughout the city and this is where the signature is strongest. In that building we should find the summoner.”

I gave her my phone again. “Verify it against Star's data.”

Misaki gave me an annoyed look, but did what I asked. After a few moments of scrolling through the scanned documents of corporate and financial connections, she put the device to sleep and handed it back to me.

“It's right. I was right the whole time, just like I told you. This building is owned by a company that is connected to Morita, the most powerful servant house to Tsukimura.”

I pulled the car over into an empty parking spot and killed the engine.

“So what's the plan?”

“I can feel motes of loose mana gathering to a central location in the building. They're slightly distorted, exactly what you'd expect from a human magus using his mundane working hours to replenish his capacity.”

“I wish I had a gun,” I muttered.

Misaki's expression became sympathetic. “You've been saying that ever since we got here. Don't worry, Karin—I'm here with you and I'll protect you. I won't let anything bad happen to you, love. I promise.”

“So... what do you think?” I inquired, trying not to blush at Misaki's words. “Do we just bust in, challenge the summoner to honorable combat and start throwing fireballs, or do we want to play this a little more subtly?”

She gave me a dirty look. “Be a little more serious. This isn't America and AEGIS can't get us out of trouble nearly so easily here. The people we're going up against are powerful and politically influential. We can't count on the local government or law enforcement to play fair with us.”

“Yeah, I thought not.” I opened the door and stepped out of the car. Misaki followed and we walked toward the building in question in silence. I lit another cigarette and tried to look as casual as I could, even taking my phone out and pretending to stare at it while Misaki tried to get an exact position on the summoner.

It didn't take her very long. She motioned for me to come closer and wrapped her arms around me, clasping her hands at my lower back as she drew close for a hug. It was nice, and I was sure she enjoyed it as much as I did, but I knew it was brought on by a desire to appear less suspicious.

She kept her voice low as she reported her findings. “The summoner is on the second floor. I can feel the mana converging there, then disappearing.”

“Can you make out his surroundings?”

“No.” Misaki shook her head against my chest. “I can't
see
anything, but I can feel the path the loose mana takes as he absorbs it. He's definitely there and I don't think he has any idea he's being tracked.”

I nodded. We slowly walked past the building, trying to study the layout as best we could without looking like crooks trying to case a place for a robbery. Well, sure, we
did
intend to break in, but not to steal anything, no! Just to kill someone. No big deal, right?

“There's a loading area in the back with a single locked door. Only one security camera covering it,” Misaki murmured.

“You can deal with it, right?”

She smiled faintly. “Of course. Come on, let's go.”

I slipped back against the building and we made our way into the loading area. If anyone caught us, we could just start making out, instantly manufacturing an explanation as to why we'd be back there. Fortunately there wasn't anyone around and the video coverage of the security camera didn't quite make it this far.

“I'm disabling the camera.”

Misaki traced a small, angular rune in the air. I felt a strange sort of crackle, similar to that of static electricity buildup, form in the air around us. I watched as a burst of argent light flashed from inside the camera's protective casing, the electrical discharge powerful enough to crack it from the heat. A plume of acrid smoke rose from the fissures. Clearly, it was thoroughly disabled.

“That'll definitely get someone's attention,” I warned.

“I'm sure it will.” Misaki's lips curved into her usual dangerous little smile. “In fact, I'm counting on it.”

The building security wasn't quite as shitty as it looked from the outside. It only took a little over thirty seconds before a security guard emerged from the single door beneath the camera. He looked up at the device and noticed the damage and the smoke.

Misaki's smile went a bit feral as she twitched a finger, tracing a very abbreviated rune that would repeat and feed back into her previous spell. A small but brilliant arc of electricity leaped from the mangled security camera and struck the guard, knocking him unconscious as surely as if he'd been hit with a high-voltage stun gun.

We rushed over to the fallen guard and I checked his pulse. It was strong and steadily calming down. Misaki's shock bolt hadn't done any real damage to him. He'd wake up in about twenty minutes with a really bad headache, but otherwise would be fine.

I relieved the guard of his security pass and propped him up into a sitting position near the door and against the railing so he wouldn't fall off the raised platform and crack his head open on the concrete below. I took out a cigarette from my pack and left it in his shirt pocket by way of apology.

“Karin, we need to go now,” Misaki urged. “The summoner can't help but notice me if I keep casting spells. He'll feel the disturbances in the mana.”

“You think he'll run if he detects you?”

Misaki let out a bark of unamused laughter. “Wouldn't you?”

“Point,” I conceded. The two of us slowly opened the security door and peered inside, making sure we weren't walking into any conscious security guards. There were none that I could see. I walked into the corridor and Misaki followed.

The nearest door to our right led into what looked like a security checkpoint, probably where the truck drivers would sign in so that they could get a guest pass and unload the building's deliveries. We took momentary shelter inside the little room so that Misaki would have a bit of privacy to shield us from eyes both organic and electronic.

“The invisibility charm won't last very long,” she reminded me. “We have to be quick and quiet. Don't bump into anyone.”

“I'm ready. Do it.”

Misaki traced a complex runic pattern in the air with both hands, the glowing lines forming a sort of highly stylized pictograph of a half-closed eye. This particular charm was the same she used to hide her inhuman features when we were out in public, but several orders of magnitude more powerful.

Small, uncomfortable pinpricks of nothingness enveloped my body. It wasn't exactly painful but it wasn't something I'd do for fun. I watched as my own body seemed to fade to almost total translucence. I could just barely make out the shape of Misaki's body.

“We can still see each other through our bond with the Relic,” she informed me. “We won't be visible at all to anyone else. We need to move fast.”

I didn't bother responding, instead stepping back out into the corridor. Misaki took the lead, following the gathering mana to its destination. I couldn't see it or sense it myself, but she appeared to know exactly where to go.

Opening the door without being obvious took a little imagination. We settled for just barely pushing it open and squeezing through, hoping that would be less obvious than shoving it wide open. The corridor led us to what looked like a shipping area connected to the truck dock outside.

“There's a stairwell that leads to the upper floors,” Misaki whispered.

“I see it.”

The shipping area wasn't exactly busy, but there were a lot of workers moving product from one place to another. A small automated forklift carried pallets full of stacked boxes from one storage area to another while jumpsuit-clad laborers separated them out. I couldn't tell what was actually in the crates, but they looked like the sort of thing used to transport delicate electronics.

We made it to the stairwell without incident and slipped the door just as we'd done before. It was clearly an emergency stairwell intended for use in the event of a fire or if the elevators were out of service. Climbing up the flights of stairs proved to be a bit harder when you could barely see your own feet and body, but we managed without too much trouble.

“Very close now.” Misaki peered through the small window cut into the door leading out of the stairwell and into the elevator lobby on 2F. She cursed under her breath and I felt myself grinning. My bad influence, no doubt.