Honestly, I was only thinking about the reproductive system. I tend to compartmentalize like that - makes it easier to draw comparisons where the big picture is purely superfluous to your needs. But I'll go ahead and fix that in the next draft.
Anyhow... Here we go! Poor Yuki just can't seem to take no for an answer...
I don't know if
Minagi and I had made up for six months of being apart, but we
certainly gave it the old college try. (I use that turn of phrase
intentionally. Bonus points to anyone that can make the connection.)
In the end, we
wound up in her bed, sweaty and tired from our exertion, but dozing
contently all the same. We had only a bed sheet pulled around us
because anything more would have been downright uncomfortable – I
tend to turn into a hot coal under bed covers and it has to be fairly
cool before a comforter becomes... well, comfortable.
With a partner in
the bed? Downright frigid.
I was idly stroking
Minagi's head, contemplating the softness of her body against mine,
how beautiful her cerulean hair looked up close, and the fact that
she came back to me after being away so long.
I've always liked
the saying about letting something go and waiting for it to come back
– if it does, then it's yours, but if not, then it wasn't meant to
be.
And it seemed that
Minagi definitely wanted to belong to me.
I would have to
talk to Seto, or perhaps Funaho, about how this would be set up. I
know that in order for my adoption to go more smoothly I would
probably be set up with someone else like Tenyo or Minaho. And of
course, there would be the stipulation that this arranged wife would
officially hold the position of First Wife. (Asuza was only able to
get away with having Funaho as his First Wife because his claim to
the throne was already secured. That, and Misaki didn't care either
way – for Funaho and Asuza's sake she would tell everyone else
where to shove it and how far.)
Loathe as I am to
admit it, this was of incredible importance because it sets up a
pecking order. Each subsequent wife is, in truth, subordinate to the
wife that precedes her, with the First Wife having the top spot. Any
disputes among the family can work their way up the chain of command,
as it were, and, if needs be, eventually be resolved by the First
Wife.
Therefore, having
one of the available women of the Royal Family be my First Wife would
help ensure that most decisions about my household affairs would
reflect the needs of the Royal Household. I didn't mind the idea too
much because I knew that Seto would let me at least negotiate over
who the lucky lady was to be. That, and I knew that Seto wanted me
to shake things up, which meant sticking me with someone that would
support my non-conformist attitude.
Which naturally
brought me to wondering how Minagi would fit in. For one thing, I
knew that Minagi was a free spirit. Despite the fact she loved
having a family to be apart of, she actually relished being a black
sheep and a lone wolf. On top of that, when confronting enemies she
preferred to strike from the shadows – a left-hand approach if you
will.
So, she probably
wouldn't mind being a subordinate. In fact, she'd probably find
interesting ways to turn that to her advantage.
There was only one
question that really depended on how she felt: did she wish to be a
concubine or have all the rights and privileges a marriage contract
assured?
The sound of the
door to Minagi's closet opening caught my attention, making me
automatically raise my head and look to the source.
I have never been
so surprised in my life.
She stood there,
with a look of abject terror on her face – the only other time I
had seen the look on her face was when a nameless thug in a ski mask
held a military issue M9 Beretta to her head.
“I... I... I need
to find the toilet,” she stammered.
“What are you
doing here?” I said, absolutely horrified and at barely louder than
a whisper but not out of any desire to keep Minagi from waking.
“Whah-huh?”
said Minagi whoozily as she suddenly woke from her doze. “What
is-” suddenly, her eyes found Yuki and Minagi sucked in a breath of
air sharply.
“What are you
doing here?” she said.
Yuki bolted for the
exit.
Minagi waved her
hand and the door shut, trapping Yuki inside with us as Minagi rose
from her bed and strode over to Yuki with a glare on her face – not
caring that she was mother-naked, not caring that just a few minutes
ago she and I were making love...
Or rather, that was
probably the point.
As I discreetly
slipped my pants back on, I then realized that I should probably do
something to help defuse the situation. I got up, went over to where
Minagi was staring down Yuki. Yuki looked up at me, her eyes
brimming with tears. I realized then it was very possible that she
saw what we'd been doing earlier.
What a mess!
I sighed, and
without any better ideas, picked up Yuki, went to the bed, and sat
down with her on my lap, her chin over my shoulder as I rubbed her
back. Minagi watched, her expression slowly softening, and she came
over as well, sitting down next to Yuki and myself.
For a while, Yuki's
breath hitched with barely controlled sobs. But after a few minutes
she calmed down enough that I felt it was safe to ask her a few
questions.
“You saw, didn't
you?” I asked her gently.
“yes,” she
whispered.
“Do you really
think you're ready for that sort of thing?” I asked.
“I... I...” she
stammered, trying to find an answer.
“If you can't
answer immediately, then you are definitely not ready.” Yuki was
silent again, but I could almost see the tears welling up in her
eyes. “Yuki-chan... I am not angry that you saw us. That was an
accident and there isn't anything you or I can do to change that now.
But you understand now why I cannot treat you like I would Minagi,
right?”
“...yes,” she
whispered.
“I love you very
much, Yuki. You are such a wonderful little lady. If only we had
met six years from now...”
Yuki took a
shuddering breath and let it go in a sigh. On a whim, I laid back on
the bed, letting Yuki lay on my chest. Minagi laid down with us and
looked into Yuki's eyes.
“Oh Yuki,”
Minagi said at last. “I really wish you hadn't done this. You're
going to be in so much danger now.”
“but... I want to
help any way I can,” whispered the tiny lady.
“You're not
strong enough,” I told her, not unkindly. “Not yet. I still
need to protect you with these strong arms you love so much. But if
you truly want that sort of strength for yourself... then I guess I
have no choice. Rest for now, my tiny love. Tomorrow, you will
enter hell.”
I waited until Yuki
finally drifted off to sleep, and then, with Minagi's help, I alerted
Yosho to the situation. My older brother was perfectly understanding
and said that he would let Yuki's family know. How he was going to
spin this I had no clue, but I had faith in the Old Man.
Next, I called up
Sasami on the
Mimisaka.
“Hello
Gar-nii-san!” said the adorable princess cheerfully. “Is
everything okay over there?”
“Not as okay as
I'd like, little sister. Tell me... you didn't put the idea into
Yuki-chan's head to stow away, did you?” It was one of the few
times I've ever seen Sasami genuinely horrified.
“Never!” cried
out Sasami. “I know how dangerous this trip might be, Nii-san, so
I would never have suggested it.”
I sighed. “Well,
she's here regardless – she stowed away on Scooby.”
“Ohhhh nooooo,”
moaned Sasami. “What are you going to do, Nii-san?”
“I'm going to
train her, but I want your help in doing so.”
“Heeeh!? Me?”
I smiled at my
little sister. “When confronted with an opponent you move like a
ghost skating over water. And you have beautiful skill with a staff.
Your mother taught you very well.”
Sasami sighed. “I
guess I should have realized that Nii-san would know all about that.
When do you want to start?”
“The day after
tomorrow,” I said. “Tomorrow I'm going to start with her
calisthenics.”
Minagi kept Yuki
company through the night.
I worked.
It was not the
first time I've done an all-niter. In fact, aside from the whole
falling-over-your-feet-the-next-day thing, I'm rather partial to
them. There are fewer distractions at night because hardly anyone is
awake, and so you can work away the hours and make terrific progress
on whatever your project is.
That night's
project was a bit of a last-moment thing, but I at least had a very
clear-cut idea of what I wanted to do.
First, there was
the vest. The outer shell I fashioned out of cordura in an
attractive shade of lavender. All around it were a myriad of small
pockets. It was well padded, but not stiff, and lined absorbent
cotton fabric. The other items followed the same theme – the
bracers and leg protectors.
And then I went to
the forge and started to make the weights. I made them as 500 gram
and 1000 gram sizes. I made them out of tungsten alloy, so they were
fairly small – you could fit several in each of the pockets.
And from this, you
could see that I had meant it when I told Yuki that tomorrow she
would be entering hell. If she wanted to be stronger, then by the
Goddesses she was going to get it, and she would get it just like I
did – lots of painful work.
“Yuki, wake up,”
I called out softly, but with a firm and authoritative voice.
“hmrph...” Yuki
mumbled sleepily, not even moving from where she had buried herself
into Minagi's bust.
I sighed and
climbed onto the bed and pulled Yuki away from Minagi. Oddly enough,
Minagi stayed asleep. Yuki on the other hand...
“Muh... whah?”
She then blinked up at me as I sat her upright on the bed. “Gar-kun?
What is going on?”
“Your training
starts today,” I said in a low tone. Yuki was confused at first,
but I could see the gears in her head slowly catching speed as she
began to remember everything that happened yesterday. I then went
on, without any hint of levity, “This will be the first day of the
rest of your life. Before long, anything before this day will feel
like a distant dream. Now, sit still for a moment. You didn't bring
any proper support clothing with you, so we'll need to improvise.”
Japan had no real
nudity taboos, but that had slowly changed somewhat over the decades
after World War II and the country's rather forced westernization. I
was impressed when Yuki's only objection to me pulling her camisole
off was to gasp and blush bright red.
I then reached into
the satchel I had brought with me and pulled out an ace bandage roll
and some bandage clips and went to work on binding her chest.
It might not have
been needed, really. Yuki's breasts had barely begun to swell with
her developing mammary glands – at the most she may need a training
bra just to get used to wearing one. Therefore, all the more reason
for her to become accustomed to this as soon as possible. Yuki would
be spending many days honing her body, and her body would not wait
around – she was already turning into a woman.
Yuki herself didn't
even ask why – she was Japanese and they had a long history of
women binding their chests. For the longest time, it was the only
form of chest support the women of Japan could avail themselves of
until Europeans introduced them to brassieres.
“In time, you'll
need to learn to do this yourself,” I told her as I finished the
wrap and secured it with a final bandage clip. I needn't explain why
to her – she nodded her head, shyly, still blushing.
I gave her a
querying look. “Why are you embarrassed?” I asked her. “Do
you find your body distasteful?”
Yuki looked away.
“I'm... not grown yet,” she said softly.
“Of course not.
But that doesn't mean you are ugly by any stretch of the word, Yuki.
Your body is a miraculous thing and you should treasure it.”
“How is it
beautiful? It gets so smelly and some places...” she went ever
redder this time. “...make disgusting things.” I sighed and
took her left arm in one hand and placed my other hand on the
corresponding shoulder.
“Do you know what
this is, Yuki?”
“It's my
shoulder?”
I shook my head.
“It is an incredibly complex ball-and-socket joint. It allows for
a range of movement that is seen in very few vertebrate life forms in
the universe. You can swing the limb around in a full circle.” I
then demonstrated by moving her arm around as such. “And you can
even twist the joint through a one-hundred-eighty degree range.” I
then bent her elbow and held her forearm parallel to the trunk of her
body, then raised it and lowered it to demonstrate the twisting
ability.
“A joint like
this is fiendishly complex to an engineer. It is all sweeping and
swooping curves and angles, and held together with a network of
actuators and linkages. And despite all that comlexity, it is
something we take for granted because we have two of these incredible
joints when we're born.
“But the most
magnificent thing about the Human body, I think, is down here.” I
place my hand gently over her pelvis, making sure not to go too far
down. Yuki shot me a confused look and I smiled for the first time
that morning.
“You should know,
Yuki. Down here is your uterus. All girls have one, even before
they are born. It is here that new life can be created. That is the
most miraculous and beautiful thing about your body. Never think of
it as something gross because one day it will give you a son or a
daughter. Maybe even both.”
If Yuki was red
before, she was positively glowing now.
I laughed softly.
“Food for thought, isn't it?” I then let the smile go – as
interesting of a bonding experience this was, there was much work to
be done still. I reached into the satchel again and pulled out some
of the clothes Yuki had brought with her. She spent so much time
over at our house that she was even starting to keep changes of
clothes there in case she and Sasami got into a mess. And she had
brought them all over with her. The clothes that I handed her were
the best ones suited to what we would be doing – a set of
compression shorts (referred to as spats in Japan for some reason),
which she used for her training with Yosho, and a close-fitting undershirt.
“Here, change
into these and do it quickly. We have a lot to do.”
Yuki was taken
aback by the training wear I had made for her, but she accepted it
once I explained it. She donned it and I then loaded her with
weights – ten kilograms on her trunk, and two on each limb.
This would be
brutal, but effective.
I then had her
begin with basic warm-up stretches, and then a five minute run. She
was already starting to breath hard. I let her rest for a minute and
drink water, making sure she took small sips.
Then came the
calisthenics. Everything I learned from practicing free running came
into play here. The most important thing was to build her core
muscles. There were a lot of awkward exercises involved for that.
Fortunately, I had known a Pilates instructor who taught me exercises
that, while useful for a man, were incredibly beneficial to women.
The entire time, I performed the exercises with her. It may not have
been a great effort on my part, but the idea was there – we're in
this together.
Yuki will probably
thank me once she realizes what I did. Especially once she has her
first child.
I let her rest
frequently and drink water. She was sweating plenty already and my
intention wasn't to break her. She had plenty of energy, though that
wouldn't last.
Minagi found us and
I had Yuki begin a final five-minute run followed by cool-down
stretches.
“How is she?”
asked Minagi.
“She's trying
very hard,” I answered back softly. “I think she may be more
tired than she's letting on.”
“Do you still
plan on doing more with her today?”
I nodded. “She's
young. She recovers quickly. Besides, I'm hedging my bets.” I
patted a small, pink thermos with a cartoon crab character on it.
“Something from
Washu-chan? Garrick, what are you doing?”
“Nothing bad.
Some nutrients, amino acids, sugars, electrolytes, and medical
nanomachines designed to help her quickly recover from a workout.
This will be the equivalent of two day's rest and recuperation. She
won't even lose much of her adipose tissue and she'll put on healthy
weight at the same time. Best of all? Tastes like a matcha
milkshake. Halfway tempted to drink the damn thing myself.”
Minagi giggled and nodded her head in approval. I then smiled and
asked, “Are you willing to start passing your father's skills with
the sword to her?”
“Yes,” Minagi
answered without hesitation. “If she really wants to be my sister,
then I would be ashamed if I didn't.”
I nodded. “I'm
glad you feel that way. It would have been really awkward for there
to be a rift between you two.”
“The only awkward
thing is going to be how you and I can have intimate time with her in
the equation. I don't want her to feel shut out.”
“We'll find it,
here and there. Sasami will be teaching her tomorrow. I can have
Washu-chan supervise to make sure they don't get up to something.
Pretty sure she won't mind. Ah, Yuki's all done now. On to
business.”
Yuki was still
breathing heavily by the time I got to her. She looked winded, was
covered in a sheen of sweat, and just plain rumpled.
“Good job,
Yuki-chan. Now for a bit of breakfast.” I then handed her the
thermos.
Yuki eyed it,
recognizing Washu's handiwork. “What is it?” she asked.
“It'll help you
recover faster. Go on, drink it. Washu had me try a sample earlier
– it's good.” And that was the only reason why I had so much
energy after pulling an all-niter. Yuki frowned thoughtfully, then
shrugged as she opened the thermos and took a tentative sip.
“HMM!” she
cried out. “Matcha!”
“Whoah!” I
cried out as she sudden went for it with gusto! “Slow down there
or you'll get a stomach ache!” I was nonetheless smiling as I
tried to slow her down.
Minagi, despite her
loving and caring demeanor, turned out to be a harsh instructor.
Already having a
foundation of basics to build off of, Minagi started right away by
teaching Yuki the advanced forms that would soon lead up to the more
advanced combat-drills.
My favorite was
still the fast reflex drill – a veritable minefield bamboo stalks
shorn at varying heights (between ten and fifteen centimeters) and a
bamboo target suspended from a single line dangling from a high
branch. The point was to get a good rhythm of attack going all while
dancing around the obstacles and not getting hit by the target as it
swung wildly all over the place.
Chaos incarnate –
I loved the shit out of it. I even made a variant whose title aptly
described the variation on the drill: floor lava. (This was how I
built myself up to swinging my sword in the tree tops.)
Yosho was
absolutely floored for not having thought of it before.
But for
Yuki-chan... I winced and Minagi struck with her beam sword at
Yuki's leg for being three centimeters out of position. It was
powered down for training purposes, but I knew from our spars that it
still stung like a suzumibachi. Judging by Yuki's reaction, though,
it looked like she had it toned down even further, thank the Goddess.
Yuki was still a
ways off from running the floor-lava drill. But if this kept up, it
wouldn't be long until she got there.
By the end of the
second calisthenics session, Yuki was rightfully exhausted.
“I feel gross,”
she said as she pealed off the exercise gear I had made for her.
“It's okay, Yuki.
You're body is doing the best it can. Out of all the creatures on
Earth, we Humans have the best temperature regulation.”
“I still don't
like the feeling of dry sweat.” Yuki finally finished with the
exercise gear and blinked. “Wow... I feel so light now!”
I smiled at her.
“You see? And each day I am going to add five-hundred grams to
each piece. By the time we get back home you are gonna leave
everyone in the dust in PE.”
“Maybe I'll try
out for the track team,” Yuki said with a smile. She then smelled
herself and wrinkled her nose. “Ugh.”
“Oh?” I asked
as I then picked her up (“Hey! Put me down!”) and smelled her
(“What are you doing!?”). “Eh. Smells like you worked hard
today. Let's go ahead and get you cleaned up.”
“That is so
gross!” cried out Yuki.
“But I thought
you like how I smelled,” I said innocently (ya right).
“But... you don't
stink... I mean... maybe a little... but it doesn't seem that bad...”
I shook my head. I had not bathed since the day before and I was
positively ripe by now. The thing is, us men actually do have
pheromones. We just don't really notice their presence because we
bath regularly, weakening their effectiveness to almost nothing.
However, go a few days without a bath and see how your significant
other reacts after the initial 'ew!' reflex. Women that say dirty
men are their sexual kryptonite are just particularly susceptible to
male pheromones... As seemed to be the case with Yuki. To top it all
off, she'd been with me since the early morning, so she probably
hasn't even noticed how bad I actually smell. Oh, and let's not
forget puberty – the hormones were strong in this one.
In fact, she was
even nuzzling my chest affectionately, much to my bemusement. Were
she a cat she'd be purring by now.
Minagi gave us a
bemused look. “Pheromones?” she asked right away.
“Probably,” I
answered. “C'mon, princess. Let's go get cleaned up before you
start trying to rape me.”
“HEEEHHH!?”
cried out Yuki, shocked that I would make such an allusion.
That night, I
scrubbed Yuki and Minagi's backs and we all soaked together. Bath
time, as we know from before, is family time and bonding time in
Japan. And since Minagi seemed to be receptive to the idea of us
forming our own little family sub-unit among the Masaki Household, I
decided to go along with it.
Though as a caveat
to my sensibilities, I kept myself covered in the bath.
“I don't feel as
bad as I thought I would,” said Yuki as Minagi brushed out her
hair.
“That's
Washu-chan's restorative drinks I've had you drinking today. You
pretty much recover completely within an hour. That way I can have
you work out again and again. You'll progress a lot faster that way,
but it's still going to take at least a few weeks of continuous
effort until you're even close to my level.”
“And then I can
help out?” asked Yuki.
Minagi shook her
head. “Gar-kun is actually the weakest one out of everyone.”
Yuki shot Minagi a
confused look. “But... he is always the first one to help everyone
else when something goes wrong!”
Minagi smiled.
“That is because Gar-kun cheats a lot. When things are going bad,
he won't play by the enemy's rules. He'll change the game completely
to suit his way of fighting.” Minagi's smile then took on a more
feral edge that made her resemble Ryoko in an uncanny way. “And
then he punishes the bad guys.”
Yuki giggled.
“Because our Gar-kun is a champion of love and justice!”
“Oi, last I
checked my name wasn't Tuxedo Kamen,” I called out playfully.
Yuki hummed
thoughtfully. “No, but I think you would look good in a tuxedo.”
Minagi blinked.
“What's a tuxedo?”
“Men's formal
wear of Earth,” I answered. “Trust me, if you ever saw me in one
you'd probably start trying to peal it off of me.” It would not be
the first time a woman has eyed me like a particularly large
Christmas present packed full of some delectable treat.
And at that, Yuki
went blank-faced and glassy-eyed.
Minagi was quick to
notice and poked Yuki in the face. This elicited no response.
Minagi then gave me a blank look.
“I think you
broke her.”
Double-face-palm,
go! “Uuuuugggghhhh. Okay, no more sexual innuendo around her
until she's old enough to handle it.”
In other news, lots of time off from work means lots of time spent writing. I think my buffer has actually been growing lately... Cool.
