Bound Together (25 page)

I didn't mention to them the threat the Tsukimura clan tried to use to force me to kill myself and relinquish the Relic. In fact, I left out the details of that case entirely as the whole thing was just too bound up in the classified stuff.

“That's... definitely something else,” Nicole observed, wide-eyed.

“I should have guessed my big sis would have found love through some totally bizarre and convoluted scenario,” So-yi added.

Misaki smiled and sat down next to me, clinging to my shoulder. Her ears were perked up now and her expression was calm and peaceful. I could feel her tail curl around the small of my back and soon I was smiling, too.

“My life has always been pretty weird. This seems like par for the course.”

“Isn't that the truth.” So-yi sipped at her drink now, the initial shock having worn off through the liberal application of both alcohol and demonstration.

“It was Mama's fault,” I complained, stubbing my cigarette out in the ashtray. “She totally bullied me into confessing, right there in front of her!”

“That sounds like Mama, all right.” So-yi laughed and reached out to take my hand. I held my sister's hand and squeezed it affectionately. I was currently pretty surprised myself at how the way I saw her had changed. I knew I finally had some direction to my life, some purpose outside of simply living, making money and buying things. My new life as a spirit hunter was definitely part of that, but my relationship with Misaki was the true spark that lit the bonfire.

I changed the subject. “Speaking of Mama, she told me the two of you are planning to have kids. Why did I have to find out about it from her? Couldn't you have at least told me about this?”

“Honestly, Karin, I was worried what you might think,” So-yi replied. “I was afraid you'd think I was sacrificing my own desires for Mama's sake, that I was letting society's rules crush me down.”

Yeah, it was exactly as I'd thought. I was right on fucking target with that.

“I'm really sorry, sis. Sometimes I can be a pretty terrible older sister.”

I took a sip of my new beer and wondered how many of them I'd actually have to down before I started feeling even a little buzzed. I strongly suspected Misaki's healing thing was preventing me from getting drunk.

“I knew you'd argue with me about it.” So-yi sighed and squeezed my hand. “I was afraid you'd convince me, that I'd agree with you and just go along with what you said, even though this is something I really want and have wanted for a long time.”

I didn't say anything because there really wasn't anything to say. She was completely right. I took it as a good sign that I wasn't starting to feel miserable about it.

“But Karin would never do something so cruel!” Misaki objected. I could tell she was feeling obligated to defend me. I pulled my hand away from my sister's and took Misaki's hand in mine as I looked her in the eyes.

“No, Misaki, she's right. I would have.” I squeezed my love's hand lightly and released it, turning my attention back to my sister and her wife. “For most of your life, I've really idolized you, sis. For a long time, I was, well, in love with you. Not just a little, but like seriously head-over-fucking-heels in love with you.”

So-yi nodded, her lips curving into a sad smile. “I know, Karin. I've known since we were kids. I know that's why you never dated when you were in high school. I know that's why you had such a terrible time with relationships when you went off to college. Why you insisted on calling me almost every day. If I let you, you would have talked to me for hours and hours.”

“Um, I actually did that, more than once,” I reminded her.

“Look, Karin, it's okay. Really.” So-yi's tone was reassuring. “I've known ever since that gloomy, rainy day, fifteen years ago.”

I stiffened in my chair. I knew
exactly
which day she was talking about.

“You've known for that long?”

“I did. It was a week after the funeral,” So-yi murmured, more for Misaki's benefit than anything else. “You were fourteen, almost fifteen, and I had just turned twelve. That rainy day, I kissed you, not as my big sister, but as a sad girl who loved me. Because you wouldn't stop crying and I wanted nothing more than to see your smile again.”

I glanced at Nicole, who didn't look to be surprised to hear these things. She probably already knew, already had this discussion with So-yi years ago.

I lit another cigarette and puffed for a few moments. “I just... I couldn't get you out of my head
or
my heart, no matter what I did. It just wouldn't happen. When I finally figured out what it was, I started seeing a therapist, to try and work through it.”

“I'm really glad to hear you're talking to someone about it,” So-yi murmured.

“Yeah. It was helping a little, but when... when I met Misaki and we started to develop feelings for each other, it changed everything. I don't know or care if it has to do with the bond with the Relic, but I know that was when things started to improve.”

“I'm so sorry, Karin. That you had to go through all of that...”

I felt my eyes start to sting. I knew the tears were going to come and there would be no stopping them at all. I'd always been quick to tears, even as a kid. Misaki clung to me more tightly, sensing the direction my emotions were headed. The warm and soft fur of her tail brushed against the small of my back.

“I can't believe you're apologizing to me. You were just a child. You didn't know any better, but I should have.” I felt the first of the tears roll down my cheeks. I didn't even bother to wipe them away.

“No, Karin.” So-yi shook her head, her gaze boring into me. “We were
both
children. Fourteen isn't any less of a child than twelve. You don't bear any more responsibility for what happened than I do. I'm just so sorry that my kiss imprisoned your heart for fifteen years.”

I watched the tears drip onto my sister's kitchen table. They were really going now, dropping one right after the other. I sniffled loudly, my sinuses starting to become affected by the crying.

Misaki lifted my head and wiped my tears away. She stared at me with her large, liquid green eyes, saying nothing and not needing to. I could tell, just from her eyes, from her expression, from the way her ears drooped forward, that she would be there for me no matter what.

“Well, it looks like my heart received a pardon for its crimes, signed and authorized by Warden Misaki.” I giggled through the tears. I felt as if my soul was being cleansed, the dirt and grime and dried, crusted blood of years being washed away by my tears.

“You have no idea how happy I am that you've found someone, that you're starting to find your way in life.”

“Likewise,” Nicole added. My sister's wife stared at me sympathetically. “Karin, I know we haven't always been on the best of terms, but I know you've always cared deeply about your sister. So-yi and I talked about it often, and so I knew that your love for her got all twisted up somehow. I tried as hard as I could to deal with your behavior because I knew what was going on, but sometimes I couldn't. I'm sorry.”

This was not going how I expected at all. The tears just kept coming. “What? You're going to apologize to me, too? How... I mean, what... why? Why are you two going so easy on me? I haven't been good. I fucking haven't, and you
should
be angry! I should be the one apologizing to the both of you!”

“Why?” So-yi echoed. She smiled at me. “Because we're
family
, you dumbass.”

Clearly she inherited more than just her looks from our mother.

love

I tapped my ID against the auto-lock and walked into my apartment, Misaki following close behind. The place was still a mess—I hadn't bothered to clean up since before we left for Japan. The food in the fridge had been cleared out and we kept putting off going to go shopping.

Getting around was still a little tough for me. I leaned on the cane and a little on Misaki as we returned back to our home.

“Are you hungry?” I asked. It was well into the early hours of the morning by the time we got back, but neither of us ate a real dinner. We went to go visit So-yi pretty late in the evening, so they'd already eaten by the time we arrived. The late lunch we ate while driving to my sister's house was pretty much used up.

“I could eat something, but where are we going to get food this late? It's 3:40 AM.”

“The pizza place is open 24 hours a day,” I reminded her. “They get lots of late-night business from the stoner crowd, plus the students pulling all-nighters, writers with no sense of time, people who stay up way too late playing video games. Really, it's a great business model.”

Misaki giggled. “Not surprised at all. Okay, I want pepperoni, linguica sausage, bacon, salami—”

“—and extra cheese, plus whatever vegetables you want, Karin,” I finished for her, pretty much quoting her usual preference word for word. “You really are very fox-like. Very foxy, indeed. In more ways than one.”

Misaki's ears wiggled and she grinned. “Your lame compliments never fail to make me smile. Unfortunately, they also never fail at being lame, either.”

I pulled out my phone and sat down while Misaki made tea. I entered our order into the delivery interface and received a message moments later, quoting a delivery time of just over a half an hour. Must have been a slow night.

Misaki returned a moment later with tea for herself and a cup of what looked like hot chocolate for me. I took the mug from her and gave her a curious look.

“It's almost four in the morning, Karin,” Misaki explained. “You aren't getting coffee or you'll never get to sleep. You
need
to rest so the regeneration process can repair the nerve damage in your leg.”

“I know, I know.” I held my hands up in surrender. “We've still got three weeks or so before Star puts us back to work. You know, I was thinking...”

“That can't be good,” she commented without missing a beat.

I gave her a sour look. “Mama's
totally
rubbed off on you, it seems. Anyway, so we've got time without responsibility, so what do you think about moving to a bigger apartment than this tiny little studio thing?”

Misaki's ears twitched. “One with a bedroom? And a
real
bath, like at the Takeda family home?”

“Probably not like that, no. Those aren't too common, unless you're talking really, really fancy lofts and the like. But otherwise, yes, an apartment with a bedroom. Maybe a two-bedroom, and we can set the other room up as an office or storage area.”

Misaki's expression became pensive. “We can definitely afford it.”

“Mm-hmm.” I let a sly smile cross my face. “In a bigger place, you know, we could maybe get a dog. I saw how well you and Kaede got on. Wouldn't you like to have a little Shiba like her for your own?”

“Won't we have to travel all the time, though?” Misaki pointed out. “I'd feel really bad if we had to leave a cute doggy like Kaede at the kennel all the time.”

“Yeah, okay, maybe that's a bad idea.” I frowned. She was right; it wasn't likely that enough cases involving specters would be popping up in and around the city for us to actually meet our completion goals.

“It's fine, but your mother is going to be moving back to America soon enough, remember? Isn't she going to rent a place nearby so she can be available to help take care of So-yi and Nicole's baby? Then I can just see Kaede when we go visit.”

“Whenever that happens. They're going to start the whole process next week. So it'll be another nine months from then, at the least, before the baby is born. Mama plans to move in with them after the little monster pops out.”

“You don't know their baby's going to be a little monster yet!” Misaki objected.

“Oh, yes I do. I know my sister and anything that comes from her DNA is absolutely going to be a little monster. I mean, look at Mama and me! Clearly our genetic material is hopelessly warped beyond anything even resembling normal.”

Misaki giggled and sipped at her tea.

“You're looking forward to it,” she accused.

“What? Me? No way. I'm very baby-averse! Deathly allergic, really. I start breaking out in hives just at the sight of an infant. Being around a toddler would send me into full-blown anaphylactic shock!”

“I don't believe you. I think, secretly, deep down in your heart, you're really looking forward to having a little one call you Aunt Karin, aren't you? Admit it, you are!”

Well, shit.

“... yeah. I am looking forward to it. So-yi wants to be a mama, and she and Nicole will totally make fantastic parents. Way better than Mama was to us, of course.”

“Do you and Yoshiko
always
speak about each other like that?”

“Of course. It's our thing,” I replied, sipping my hot chocolate. It was really good, silky and rich to the point where I think Misaki just used pure cream to make it instead of milk.

“Karin, what about... us?”

I blinked. “What do you mean, what about us?”

“I love you, and you love me.” Misaki was blushing and her ears started to droop forward. It didn't take much insight to figure out where she was going with this, but I had no intention of letting her off the hook so easily.

“Yes. That's true. I do love you, and you do love me.”

“I was thinking, about So-yi and Nicole...”

“Were you now?” I inquired, trying very, very hard to keep from laughing. Misaki shot me a look that was just about pure murder. My not-entirely-successful attempts to keep a poker face pretty much told her that I was fucking with her.

“Why do you have to make this difficult?”

“Because it's fun.”

Misaki let out a frustrated groan. “Okay, okay, Karin, I'm just going to say it since you obviously already know what I'm going to ask! Will you marry me?”

I let my expression change to one of mock indignation. “What, you don't have an engagement ring to give me? And you're not even bending down on one knee? You're really bad at this whole proposing thing, Misaki.”

“I can't exactly go out and buy one at four in the morning and
besides
, that's not even the point,” she growled. “For most of my life, the gifts went to the bride's mother as a dowry, anyway! Your proposal tradition is just as silly as that one.”

“I can't really disagree there,” I said, laughing.

“So... anyway, putting your insatiable desire to tease people aside: Karin Ashley, will you marry me?”

I smiled. “Yes. I will marry you, Misaki.”

Misaki's grin was wider than I'd ever thought possible. Her ears seemed to dance on her head and her tail oscillated back and forth at such a high frequency I wondered if it was going to start emitting heat and light.

The expected pounce came. It was literally a pounce, as in she actually jumped through the air and into my arms as I sat on the bed, knocking me backward against the mattress of the bed we shared. Fortunately, my broken ribs were completely healed by this point or I'd be in a world of pain.

Misaki was on top of me at this point, her tail up and wagging ridiculously fast. She looked into my eyes and her grin didn't diminish in the slightest.

“Hey, now, our pizza's going to be here pretty soon,” I reminded her. “Don't start going to town on me just yet or we're going to either miss our order or give the delivery boy a show he won't soon forget.”

“I'll settle for a kiss for now, how's that?”

“Deal.”

Misaki's lips pressed against mine, hungrily, fiercely. The feral passion that drove her desire for me was even stronger than usual. It really made her seem even more like that of her totem animal than her habit of eating pizza with way too many meat toppings.

I let my eyes close and returned the kiss, trying to match her intensity but pretty much failing completely. When it came to intimacy, I was definitely the bottom. I suppose I was lucky that my lover was such an adorably enthusiastic top.

Some time later, I could hear the sound of my phone chiming a warning that the delivery boy was only a few minutes away from the unit. Misaki drew away from me, licking her lips with a great deal of relish.

“That was yummy,” she announced.