Chapter 161 – What Does it Mean to Forgive?
Chapter 161 – What Does it Mean to Forgive?
I got a call early this morning from my landlord that my apartment had been fixed. Apparently telling Mikami that was a mistake, because she pleaded to come along on the promise to bless my home from any future hauntings. Since she wouldn't get off my case, I eventually relented.
"If you can't even bless your own store, how am I supposed to believe you can do it for mine?" I asked.
"Okay, I confess I can't actually do any blessing. Is it so wrong that I just want to visit my acolyte's house? I even bought you a gift!" Mikami revealed to me a little talisman charm.
"You don't have any friends, huh?"
Mikami nearly tripped over her own feet.
"I have friends!" she exclaimed, then quieted down. "They just all live very far away…"
We came around the corner to the dry, yellowing field in front of my shitty apartment complex. A man was standing in front of my door, and I could tell right away who it was by the upright posture and stern countenance.
Mikami was quick on the draw. "Is that your dad? He looks so young. Is he single?"
"Yes, that's my dad. No, he's not single!" I retorted.
"Okay, but is it a happy marriage?"
"Yes— I mean, I think so? Anyway, you're not hitting on my dad!"
As we walked up, my father turned around to the sound of our footfalls on the creaking metal stairs. For whatever reason, he sheepishly hid both hands behind his back.
"Dad? What are you doing here?" I asked on the way up.
"Oh, I…" He revealed a baseball in one hand and two gloves in the other. "Thought I'd ask if you wanted to play catch. Looks like you're busy though, so maybe I'll come back another time."
Mikami slipped past me and bowed, extending a business card of the Menagerie to him.
"Hi, I'm Mikami! It's so nice to meet you, Mr. Ito. Saeko and I are coworkers— actually, I'm her boss. Working with her has just been an absolute blast!"
"Coworkers? I see. Thank you for watching over Saeko." My father bowed back, then took the business card and raised a brow at me upon reading it. "Occult Goods and Services?"
"Uhh… You know, I think Mikami needs to get back to tending the store!" I dragged Mikami back away, urging her to leave before she moved onto giving him her number.
"Fine! Geez… I'll drop by later tonight." Mikami groaned.
With a wave and holler, the all things occult-chaser made herself scarce and left.
"Sorry, Saeko. If I knew you were having company, I wouldn't have bothered you." My father frowned at his untimely arrival.
"Don't worry about it. More importantly, what's this about playing catch? You know I'm 19 now, right? A little too old for that," I said.
"Right… No, you're right. I should have realized."
Dejected eyes fell to the ball and gloves in his hands.
They looked brand new. Not a stain on the ball, and the leather gloves were pristine. Don't tell me he bought them recently just to play catch with me?
"I'll get going. I'm glad to see you doing well, Saeko." He headed downstairs, until I sighed and called back to him.
"Wait, I have time to play… for a bit," I said.
Truth be told, I wasn't sure what came over me. The fact that my father came to see me with the intention to play catch, then to so pitifully leave like that got me thinking. It's never happened before. It would be our first time ever really… interacting.
Part of me regretted it and wanted to decline. But when he whipped around, eyes filling with an almost child-like joy, it was hard to take back.
We walked to a nearby children's park, but there wasn't any playing around this time around. The place was a small fenced-in area underneath the shadow of an apartment building. Sand and dirt in the lot were packed from use. A rusty swing set was all that was offered here. I was sure the most traffic this park received were those who needed to use the smelly public bathroom on the way to and from work.
My father handed me one of the gloves. It was a little tight, slipping my hand in, but I expected that since it was new and hadn't been broken in yet. Written on the back of the glove was the brand name, Wilson. An expensive brand to buy from for us to just play catch yet.
We started tossing the ball back and forth. Aimlessly. With no real goal in mind.
"You don't seem very thrilled that we're back home," he suddenly said.
"Well, sorry you and mom are like strangers to me. I could literally pick out random people off the streets and it wouldn't feel any different," I said, but it was a lie more for myself than to convince him otherwise.
You couldn't shake that feeling. As though that familial blood had us bonded together more than it just flowing through our veins.
"I understand, and whether you believe me or not, I do care a lot about you and Hatsumi. It's true for your mother, too. Everyday we wish we could go back in time and do things differently. There's no forgiving that we missed out on almost 19 years of your life."
"Then why did you leave?" I fired back, giving him pause to think of an answer.
As the ball landed in his mitt, he held it there and thought in silence.
"We're trying to do right by you two. Our family has enough that even your children's grandchildren can live comfortably. Is that not enough?"
"No!" I shouted.
It wasn't the answer I wanted. Not at all.
"I just wanted parents in my life!" I continued. "Do you know how hard you made Hatsumi work to raise me? She was a kid! You didn't even leave us with any guardian. Grandma and Grandpa were hours away by train. Did you guys even come to our middle school graduation? I can't even remember. I just assume you didn't and won't even come to my high school graduation!"
When my father tossed the ball, I caught it just to let it drop and roll away. He walked over to pick up the ball and looked upon it firmly in his mitt.
"You know, this isn't the first time you wore that." He pointed at my mitts.
"What do you mean?"
"When you were born, I took one out to put it on you. Look. I even have a picture!" My father pulled out a slim wallet clip with much fewer pockets than a normal one. There was a flap that contained a worn photo of a tiny baby boy, and in his left hand. It looked so dumb on him, because the mitt was about the same size as the baby.
"That's such a dad thing to do…" I rolled my eyes and turned away, trying to hold in my laughter.
"Your mother may not want to admit it, and it's true that she wants you to return to being a boy, but I'm not here to take sides: we came back to Tsukiji to stay for your graduation. For me, father-son, father-daughter… Whatever you choose to be, I'm glad we played catch today."
Those words struck me deeply. I didn't even realize until the moment he took another step closer with both arms slightly outstretched as though to test the water. My body moved on its own. With tears in my eyes, I rubbed them away into his chest and let him hug me.
"I'm not changing back," I said.
"That's fine with me. How about a compromise? I'd like at least one grandson to play catch with."
"If I end up having daughters, I'd like for you to play catch with them, too!"
"Okay, that's a promise. You can't take that back." He grinned before I even realized what I had said.
It got a little awkward once we let go, but I liked this more than us feeling like strangers.
"I'll walk you back to your apartment," he said.
"It's just right there." I pointed around the corner. "You don't have to walk me back.
"You're also a girl living alone in the city."
"Dad, I'm a succubus. Who's going to mess with me?"
My father stared at me, dumbfounded. It really did slip his mind. But having him worry for my safety… was nice.
Even so, he wouldn't let it go. We walked back to my apartment, and he called a cab from there. By the time he disappeared into the sea of traffic, I remembered the mitt and ball still in my hands. Or maybe he intended to have me keep them.
"Hehe. I didn't know my acolyte is such a daddy's little girl," Mikami teased.
I whipped around and found Mikami watching me from around the corner of my apartment.
"What the— you were here this whole time?!"
"I didn't leave! Just made a short trip down to a restaurant to eat. Don't sweat it, alright? I brought you some food, too." She lifted the plastic bag that smelled of spicy beef skewers.
"Bringing me something to eat isn't getting you out of this!" I stormed up to her, red in the face.
"Relax, relax! I have a good reason for sticking around. There's a good chance your pops is being haunted."
"Haunted? You're serious. I didn't even sense anything though."
"Felt it when he took my business card." Mikami nodded, then produced another card. "These babies are blessed like talismans. They can detect traces left behind by spirits. When you have time, let's pay your family a visit so we can exorcise them. Until then— last one to your apartment is a rotten egg!"
Without warning, she took off running upstairs. I flew to the upper landing in front of my door, and a panting Mikami skidded to a stop.
"That's cheating…"
"Couldn't get in without me anyway." I jingled the key and smirked.
My apartment was good as new. The wall was repaired, and no one could tell a hole had been blown through it. All of my belongings were where I left them, stacked up against the wall. When I counted some of the clothes I left behind, however, all of my panties were missing.
Great.
I sighed heavily. "Damn perverted construction workers. So what was this about my dad being haunted?"
"Can't be too sure what it is without studying it closer, but it looked like a spirit that was buried into your old man's chest. You mentioned before your parents came overseas, right? Might not be Japanese in origin and is something they carried over from overseas," Mikami explained.
A ghost from overseas? That sounded out of their realm of expertise—
My stomach growled.
"Oh?" Mikami took notice. "See. You were hungry after all. Let's crack open some beers and have a bite of these, and you can tell me about your family situation."
"Mikami… it's not the kind of hunger you think it is," I said, clutching my stomach as the void in my gut grew larger.
She tensed up.
"Eh? You mean… it's that kind of hunger?"
I nodded.
The urge to feed came out of nowhere. Come to think of it, when was the last time I had sex? After Delilah revealed to me what would happen if I continued being a succubus, I kind of just pushed it off without really thinking about it.
"W-What do we do? Should I call you a prostitute? Take you to a soapland?" Mikami asked.
"First of all, you should probably leave before I want to see how you taste. Second… here. Call my sister and set up an appointment. I don't want ghosts harming my family," I said, shooting her the number to Hatsumi's phone.
"A-Alright, I'll see you later!"
Mikami rushed out for her life. I sent a text to a couple of readily available people, then collapsed on the futon with my stomach growling even louder.
Knock! Knock!
Knuckles rapping on my door awakened me. I hurried over and opened the door to Kana on the other side.
"Hey," Kana greeted me. "I came as fast as I could. What's wro—"
I pulled Kana inside, ripping his clothes off and pinning him against the wall. The moment I dropped his pants, an erect cock sprung up to greet me. I didn't want to wait any longer and tugged my underwear aside to press his thick member into my pussy.
"Wait, this is moving a little too fast! The door…"
"Shut up and kiss me!"
I planted my lips on him and hooked our tongues together while bouncing on his dick. Kana, seeing the futility in trying to escape, grabbed my ass and pounded to the rhythm of my thrusts.
"Fuck me, Kana! Cum in my pussy and make me go crazy!" I moaned.
"Saeko… What's gotten into you? It's like you're— aahh!"
Kana shuddered, and a hot sensation filled my pussy a second later. His oozing lust was more intoxicating than what he spurted into me. The scent of which was driving me to climax.
"Just keep fucking me… I don't want to think of anything else other than your dick!" I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and licking his face like a dog.
"Uhm, hello?" someone called from outside.
Our eyes snapped to the door.
"Is that… Koga?" Kana stammered.
"Oh, sorry! Saeko called me up… I didn't know you two were… I'll leave," Koga apologized and turned to go.
"No, you don't." I placed a charm to compel him into my apartment. "Get in here and double team me. Now."
We moved to the futon, so the two of them could take turns using me. As I laid on my back, Koga threw my legs on his shoulders and pistoned into me, and Kana grabbed my horns to facefuck me from the side.
"Mmm… shllrrp… mmm— God… yes! Fuck me more!" I pleaded sweetly.
Hot cum squirted onto my face and breasts. If my pussy wasn't leaking with enough already, they drenched me enough to stain the futon. Both of them tired out and laid down to either side of me.
Then came a knock on the door.
"Queen Saeko, I've come as you ordered!" Layla announced on her way in.
"You invited more?" Kana panted.
"Oh, you're in the midst of a feast! Shall I return later?" she asked.
"You're here because I want you to eat my pussy, Layla. Get to it, and don't let a drop of cum go to waste. If any of them wants to fuck you, you're to let them. Is that clear?" I asked.
Layla froze up and nodded, but immediately fell into her obedient and masochistic streak. As the boys watched her strip naked and kneel down to perform cunnilingus on me, their dicks became erect again.
"Is this… shllrrp… chuup… shllrp… good, my queen?" Layla asked, face buried in my cum-soaked cunt.
"Yes… Scoop it out with your tongue." I gripped Layla by the horns to push her deeper.
Kana and Koga played one game of rock, paper, and scissors. Kana emerged victorious and didn't hesitate to fuck Layla first.
Our foursome continued late into that night until I was satisfied at last. My three victims laid unconscious in a pile on top of each other. The futon had been stained so much it was going to need an extra wash cycle.
"Whew… It felt like I was about to—"
"Starve?" Mio asked, entering my apartment. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm here because Hana and I got worried when Kana suddenly got up and bolted. I figured the only place he could be was here. You know he's still possessed, right?"
It was the most she had talked to me the past week that I almost forgot to respond.
"I-I know. I'm sorry. Kana's the first one I think of when I want to recharge… Uhm… Are you still angry?" I reluctantly asked.
"What do you think?" Mio folded her arms.
"Right…"
"But cum hydrant over there keeps preaching to me about forgiving you. Maybe you can give me a reason why I should," she said.
I twiddled my thumbs while in thought.
"Maybe… you shouldn't. If someone took away my family, I wouldn't be able to forgive them either. You can hate my mom, fine. I hate her, too. I just can't stand the idea of letting either of you go," I confessed in earnest.
"Geez. One year later and you're still a little bitch boy despite being the queen succubus. You want me to move on and forgive you? I got one thing to ask for— me and Delilah, succubus versus succubus. We duke it out until one stays standing," Mio declared.
"W-Wait, she's a greater succubus! You want to fight her?"
"You think I give a shit? You're goddamn right I know she's stronger than me. That's why I don't want her holding back. I win, she leaves the city. Delilah wins, I go back to Elza. You don't let us go through with it, then I go back to Elza anyway. Your choice, Saeko. What's it going to be?" she asked, staring into my eyes and showing not an ounce of backing off from the showdown.