Chapter 154 – The Heads of the Ito Household
<span style="font-weight:400">Just one bad thing to deal with after another. I didn''t get a chance to rest, not even a full day''s worth before the next bomb dropped on me. Why? Just why? I had a feeling my parents wereing, but why couldn''t the world just side with me for once and prove me wrong like it always did.
<span style="font-weight:400">As Mio and I flew home, the wind against my skin and ruffling my hair felt like needles pricking into me. I had the strongest urge to vomit from the nausea building in my stomach.
<span style="font-weight:400">"You okay?" Mio asked with a worried look.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Definitely not… Half of me wants to ditch the whole region and move to Okinawa," I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">"If we''re going back to the sea, then you can count me in." She smirked.
<span style="font-weight:400">As great as that sounded, the other half of me couldn''t leave Hatsumi alone. Mio knew that, too. I just needed to face forward as I''ve always done.
<span style="font-weight:400">Wended at the front door of my house, and I was already getting cold feet. I sensed three souls within who were undoubtedly my parents and Hatsumi. A thousand different scenarios began ying out in my head.
<span style="font-weight:400">How should I confront them? In my human or subus form? Should I go in on the offensive or hear them out? I had no idea. My heart was pounding harder than drums, and the blood in my veins were turning into cold slush.
<span style="font-weight:400">It wasn''t until Mio grabbed my hand that I snapped out of it.
<span style="font-weight:400">"You aren''t going in alone. Hatsumi''s also in there, so that makes it a three on two. Good odds if you ask me," Mio said.
<span style="font-weight:400">I nodded and squeezed her hand, then we pushed open the door together.
<span style="font-weight:400">The first thing I noticeding through the door was the extra two pairs of shoes. Both ck Armani dress shoes, pristine and without a smudge or tarnish on them. They werepletely out of ce next to Hatsumi''s casual loafers.
<span style="font-weight:400">When we entered the living room, Hatsumi was sitting on the couch with her hands on herp and head down. She threw me a concerned nce, which then flicked over to the kitchen. There I saw my parents atst, dressed in the same dark navy blue work suits as the day they left to go overseas years ago.
<span style="font-weight:400">My father, Masato Ito, was sitting at the kitchen table. He sipped quietly on a cup of tea, but in this silent atmosphere, his gulps rang loudly and painfully in my ears. A man who was clean-shaven to show a powerful jawline as pronounced as his piercing re behind a light pair of sses.
<span style="font-weight:400">Standing with her back to the stove was my mother, Chisato Ito. Her dark brown hair was pulled to a tight ponytail that came down no further than her shoulders. A beauty mark sat just an inch beneath her right eye. Currently, her gaze was fixed at the phone in her hand as she deftly texted away at the speed of a high school girl.
<span style="font-weight:400">Neither of them, despite being in their 50s, had any wrinkles. Which was a surprise since they both worked high in the ountingdder for an international medical firm. Metric <i><span style="font-weight:400">billions</i><span style="font-weight:400"> pass through their eyes and fingers viaputers. Hatsumi and I only ever suspected we were a wealthy family, but only our parents knew the true number to how much we had.
<span style="font-weight:400">Yet in spite of how much they earned, it was all a means to achieve something else.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even though I stood in the middle of the living room as not just a girl but also a subus, they had little reaction to give.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Mom, dad… Wee home," I cautiously greeted them.
<span style="font-weight:400">My father put his teacup down, the harsh kink from porcin hitting the te made me flinch.
<span style="font-weight:400">"We checked in with your school first beforeing home. Your grades started slipping at the beginning of the year, but you pulled it back up in the past few months. ording to the principal, it was just enough to snatch a spot at Tsukiji University," he said.
<span style="font-weight:400">They checked? Students didn''t get to know until another two more weeks.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Th-That''s good—"
<span style="font-weight:400">"No, it''s not. You barely scraped by. How is that eptable?"
<span style="font-weight:400">A lump lodged in my throat as he narrowed his eyes, expecting an answer.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hey, where do you get off? Saeko got into college, didn''t she?" Mio chimed in, but her grip tightened from my father shifting his gaze to her.
<span style="font-weight:400">If I didn''t know better, she was afraid.
<span style="font-weight:400">The lights in the kitchen and living room started flickering. A familiar aura was approaching fast, and I was too slow to warn her not toe with my own.
<span style="font-weight:400">Selene bursted through the door in a fury, hands bristling with magic and eyes glowing like the moon.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I will not deign to have Queen Saeko ept your abuse. Parents or not, you will—"
<span style="font-weight:400">"We will what?" my father asked, slow and calcting. "You''re Selene, I take it? Hatsumi told us you are currently upying our bedroom. Thank you for looking after our children, but from today onwards, you aren''t wee in our home anymore."
<span style="font-weight:400">My mother turned around to face Selene, too.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Would you be so kind as to pack your things and find somewhere else to live?" she asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">Selene balled her trembling hands into fists. "No one orders me around except for the queen. You two need a lesson in manners."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Selene, don''t!" I shouted toote, feeling her aura wrap around my parents.
<span style="font-weight:400">To our surprise, however, nothing happened.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even Mio and I were baffled, including Hatsumi who had briefly be a subus and knew how our magic worked. My parents should not have been able to resist that charm. Yet they did. Very easily, in fact.
<span style="font-weight:400">Was it just <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> inconceivable for them?
<span style="font-weight:400">"We''re having a family discussion. Leave," my mother demanded.
<span style="font-weight:400">The atmosphere had grown so thick, I wasn''t even sure Selene <i><span style="font-weight:400">could</i><span style="font-weight:400"> leave.
<span style="font-weight:400">"It''s okay," I told Selene.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I will be with Yumi if you need me," Selene said, seemingly perturbed.
<span style="font-weight:400">My parents waited until the door mmed shut before continuing.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Let''s not mince words. Tell us the truth, Saeko. Are you able to transform back into a boy?" my father asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I… can," I answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Then do so," my mother promptly demanded, the strength in her tone offering no room for discussion.
<span style="font-weight:400">Hatsumi and Mio immediately snapped their gaze at me.
<span style="font-weight:400">It sounded like a request, but I knew better than to know it was anything but. She always spoke calmly and expected us to obey like good children. When I think about it, I''d never heard her raise her voice. Had no idea what it sounded like. Somehow, that terrified me the most.
<span style="font-weight:400">Judging by my father''s look, he wanted the same thing from me. They wanted me to return to being the obedient son. I could. But…
<span style="font-weight:400">"That isn''t up for discussion!" Hatsumi stood up to confront them. "It''s Saeko''s choice. Not yours."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hatsumi, sit down," my mother ordered, then shot a wide-eyed re when she didn''t do as she was told.
<span style="font-weight:400">This was the most defiance we had ever shown after all. Both of them were stunned. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We</i><span style="font-weight:400"> were stunned, but I found strength with Hatsumi and Mio by my side.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Saeko," my father''s voice softened but gradually grew more panicked as he looked at my mother. "You are our <i><span style="font-weight:400">son</i><span style="font-weight:400">. It''s written in your birth certificate, and it''s written in your citizenship. How do you think we feel? We have toe home to find you looking like… that? With two strangers in our house that have magic to cause harm. Have we not given you enough to be good children? A roof over your head, thetest smartphone, a sizable allowance—"
<span style="font-weight:400">Mother waved him off to chime back in. "Honey, stop talking. Saeko, we''re not asking. Use whatever your magic is to change yourself back. Now."
<span style="font-weight:400">"No," I replied with firm conviction. "You haven''t been part of my life for years. You think you can barge in now and bark orders around like I''m one of your employees? If you two won''t ept me for what I am now, then that''s fine. I''m 19 years old, and I don''t want to be treated like I''m still 10. You want me to follow your rules as long as I''m living under your roof and your money? Fine! I''ll be moving out!"
<span style="font-weight:400">Hatsumi gasped.
<span style="font-weight:400">My parents, however, their expressions which were usually unreadable to us finally cracked. Just a little. But that was my win. A victory that I''d won over them, and so as to not give them a chance to take it from me, I stormed out of the house with nothing else but the clothes on my back and schoolbag.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Saeko, we''re not done! Get back here!" I heard my father shout. "If you don''t, then your mother and I won''t be funding your education at Tsukiji University."
<span style="font-weight:400">I paused in the middle of the street and watched a bicyclist race by, ringing his bell at me for almost running into him. My mother hadn''te out. Only Hatsumi and my father chased me out. She was standing behind him, lips creased with an encouraging smile.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Don''t need it. I''ll pay my own tuition, and you two can just keep whatever you were saving for me to use in your next business project or something. I''m sure that''s more important than me anyway," I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">"See yater, Hatsumi!" Mio waved.
<span style="font-weight:400">We flew away and didn''t look back.
<span style="font-weight:400">***
<span style="font-weight:400">A few days had passed since I confronted my parents. As Iid in my own apartment with the money earned from working at the cosy cafest summer, staring at the ceiling while a rush of pleasure built between my legs and filled my pussy, I was awash with a newfound sense of freedom.
<span style="font-weight:400">Everyone in the room, all six victims of frustration sex, were passed out or dead asleep. Including the stranger whose dick I was riding until a few seconds ago. Now he had gone limp, his load sufficiently emptied into my womb, and just as knocked out as the others.
<span style="font-weight:400">The front door clicked open.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Saeko? Mio gave me a key and told me to drop by, ehh— okay, I didn''t need to see a pile of corpses this morning," Kana said, making an about face to look away from my orgy.
<span style="font-weight:400">I whistled sharply, snapping everyone awake.
<span style="font-weight:400">Seven men and women slowly came to consciousness in various states of grogginess.
<span style="font-weight:400">"My boyfriend''s here, so everyone get your things and get out," I ordered.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Ugh… Sex with a subus doesn''t feel as good as I thought…"
<span style="font-weight:400">"I feel like her tail wrecked my pussy a new one…"
<span style="font-weight:400">Groans of displeasure and pain were plentiful as they made their way out of my apartment. One guygged behind, searching for his sses. As soon he got his bearings, he walked up to Kana and offered a consting pat on the back.
<span style="font-weight:400">"You''re doing the world a service… good luck."
<span style="font-weight:400">Once thest person left, Kana shut the door and sighed.
<span style="font-weight:400">"d to know they survived the night. I thought for sure you would drain them all to death," Kana teased.
<span style="font-weight:400">I pounced on Kana, knocking him onto the sweat and cum-stained futon.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Are you here to take their ce?" I straddled his waist and dry humped the erection growing inside his pants.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Can I offer yakitori instead?" he asked, rattling the stic bag in his hand.
<span style="font-weight:400">My stomach growled as the smell reached my nose. We opened the windows to let out the stank of sex and eat the yakitori Kana had brought.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Sorry you had to see that… I usually get everyone to leave hours before you get here, but you kind of dropped in on me today," I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Honestly, I''m used to it by now. It''s what I signed up for dating subi. Besides, what am I going to do? Ask you guys to starve when I''m not around?" Kana shrugged.
<span style="font-weight:400">I teased him by wagging my tail in front of his face. "As long as you don''t feel weird about being cucked on a daily basis."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Pft. I heard enough of those jokes at school after you told them about us being in a rtionship. Doesn''t bother me. What <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am</i><span style="font-weight:400"> worried about is you. You doing alright after the whole parents debacle?" he asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">Using my teeth, I ripped thest piece of meat from the yakitori and was only left with a charred skewer.
<span style="font-weight:400">They had been trying to reach me ever since. I only told a few people about my living situation. Kana, Hatsumi, my close friends, and the subi I trusted the most to name a few. Mio was living with me now, but it looked like she tapped out of the orgy early and left sometime in the morning.
<span style="font-weight:400">This modest studio apartment at the edge of Tsukiji City was the first thing I found on the web. Plenty of people would have given me a ce to stay. Yumi, Rika, and even Hitomi… Hell, Hana was trying really hard to get us to stay at one of her love hotels.
<span style="font-weight:400">I rejected every single one of their offers to house us. I''d only end up relying on them like I did my parents, and if I really wanted to stick it to them, then living on my own was the only way.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I''m fine," I finally answered. "Hatsumi updates me about them since they''re still in the city. She''s also ying dumb about knowing where I live. Apparently, they went to the police."
<span style="font-weight:400">"They <i><span style="font-weight:400">what</i><span style="font-weight:400">?!" Kana choked on a piece of chicken.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Seriously! Too bad I''m an adult, so it''s not like they can handcuff and drag me back to my parents. The police gave me a call, I told them my situation, and they wished me a good day."
<span style="font-weight:400">Even if the police did try anything, I would just charm them to look the other way.
<span style="font-weight:400">"What about the whole money issue? You''re a shoe-in for Tsukiji, but it''s not like the school will ept you if you can''t pay for tuition. It''s almost a million yen per year. Don''t get me started on the entry fees and dormitory costs." Kanagroaned.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Must be great going to Tokyo U. for only half the cost." I stuck my tongue out at him. "But Mio and I will find a way. If it gets bad, we can pick up a part-time job or do a gravure photoshoot. Hana''s been wanting to get back into that…."
<span style="font-weight:400">Although I was putting up a brave face, the stress was actually getting to me. Attending Tsukiji middle and Tsukiji high guaranteed me a spot in Tsukiji University, provided I did well in the entrance exams— which I did. While Mio only attended for half a year, her top ten exam scores also guaranteed her a spot. But paying our way through college out of pocket?
<span style="font-weight:400">Families saved years for that sort of thing! Not to mention, Tsukiji was a private school.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hey." Kana wiped my cheek with a napkin. "You don''t have to act tough in front of me. I''ve been with you for years, and I know how you look when you''re stressing the hell out. But, because I''ve known you for so long, I also know you can pull through this."
<span style="font-weight:400">He ced a hand over mine, and with the other, grabbed the back of my head to pull me in for a kiss and nted another one on my forehead.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hehe…" A smile shed across my face which was quickly heating up.
<span style="font-weight:400">Leave it to Kana to really make me feel like a maiden and set fire to my loins.
<span style="font-weight:400">"How''s that cut from the dagger?" I asked, recalling that he had mentioned it being cursed.
<span style="font-weight:400">Kana raised the left hand which he cut into the palm. Theteral cut across was almost healed now.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Doesn''t hurt, but… Sometimes I hear things I feel like I shouldn''t," he said.
<span style="font-weight:400">Strange things? Like yokai?
<span style="font-weight:400">Kana''s phone buzzed with a notification.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I''m sure it''s just my imagination. I better get going since I got tutoring in two hours. When I get some time, I''ll drop by again and do some housekeeping for you. Not that it looks like you need much," he said, casting a nce across the mostly empty room.
<span style="font-weight:400">As Kana stood up, I grabbed his hand tightly.
<span style="font-weight:400">"You''re not leaving that easily. Two hours means an hour and half to have sex." I charmed him toy down.
<span style="font-weight:400">After having my way with Kana, I sent him on his merry way with a slight limp and sore hips. Returning to my empty apartment suddenly filled me with an inexplicable loneliness.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I know Mio''sing back, and Kana''s open to visit whenever but…" I let my train of thought go unfinished and sigh.
<span style="font-weight:400">My footsteps echoed loudly in the unfurnished room. We only had a single futon in the corner of the room, not a television, chair, or couch in sight. Aside from our school bags and phones, the dishes on the counter were all the possessions we had. If I wanted to use aputer, I needed to head to school or a library.
<span style="font-weight:400">I walked into the bathroom and already felt ustrophobic. The shower, toilet, and sink were packed tightly together, and a singlerge step could cross the length of the bathroom. On the counter, Mio''s toothbrush was left outside of our shared cup.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Come on, Mio." I ced her toothbrush back into the cup to join mine and wiped the counter down.
<span style="font-weight:400">Heading back into the living room, the rancid and bitter smell of tobo triggered my gag reflexes. I thought I''d gotten better about it from perfecting my blowjobs. When I nced out the window, my eyes started to water. A biker gang had taken residence in the parking lot in front of the convenience store below the apartment. They were smoking enough to rival a barbecue.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hey, get lost!" I shouted.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hahh? You talking to us, bitch?" the gang leader with a giant pompadour yelled back.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I am, and I said: <i><span style="font-weight:400">get lost.</i><span style="font-weight:400">"
<span style="font-weight:400">This time, I charmed the group to pick up their things and leave, then shut the window so the room wouldn''t smell of tobo.
<span style="font-weight:400">Not wanting the ce to reek when Mio got back, I turned on the venttor above the stove—
<span style="font-weight:400">Only for it to squeak and immediately fail on me.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Uu… This ce is getting worse by the day." I groaned.
<span style="font-weight:400">My eyes fell to the fridge, then at the box of yakitori on the wall counter that separated the kitchen and living room. Better put that away before it spoils.
<span style="font-weight:400">When I opened the fridge to put the leftovers away, I was greeted by nothing. Absolutely nothing. Only a couple of pudding and ice cream Mio had bought yesterday.
<span style="font-weight:400">Living alone was harder than I thought.
<span style="font-weight:400">Hatsumi normally did all the full-blown grocery shopping, and I supplemented by buying a few things here and there each weekend. Although I didn''t need to eat as a subus, it felt like I already failed living on my own with an empty fridge.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Get ahold of yourself, Saeko!" I pped my cheeks with both hands. "I can be independent. Hatsumi raised me after all."
<span style="font-weight:400">For now, it might do me some good to go to the grocery store and buy some stuff.
<span style="font-weight:400">I flew into the city and ran into other subi soaring about. It was amon sight now. Well, rtively speaking. Our numbers were a drop in the oceanpared to the human poption, but without the need to hide anymore, they were being more open about their identities. After all, it made having sex with people a lot easier when propositioned by a sex demon.
<span style="font-weight:400">An unintended problem did exist though…
<span style="font-weight:400">A spirit was flying by my side. An old, ghostly man dressed in a white robe. The lower half of his body was a misty trail as he followed me.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Have you seen my daughter?" he asked in a quivering voice.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Man… I''m a subus, not an exorcist." I sighed.
<span style="font-weight:400">At least this sort of thing didn''t really scare me anymore.
<span style="font-weight:400">Spirits and yokai popped out every once in a while. Down below in the streets, they wandered about, pranking the unsuspecting, causing mischief, and stalking people without their knowledge. So far, harmless. Hopefully it stayed that way.
<span style="font-weight:400">Inded at a big chain grocery store that Hatsumi and I frequented. It had <i><span style="font-weight:400">everything</i><span style="font-weight:400">. Even a wide selection of foods from foreign countries. Going up and down the aisles, I mostly grabbed ingredients of meals that were easy to make. No need to go big with just Mio—
<span style="font-weight:400">"That''s right. I should surprise her with spicy food. Maybe some mapo tofu tonight," I said to myself.
<span style="font-weight:400">As I turned the corner, I saw my mother in the checkout line and nearly swallowed my own tongue. I quickly dove back into the aisle, then casted invisibility on myself before peeking out again.
<span style="font-weight:400">What was going on? Was I dreaming? That was definitely my mother. She didn''t go shopping, and she sure as hell didn''t cook. It had to be a glitch in the matrix.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Whatcha hiding around for?"
<span style="font-weight:400">I spun around to Hana right up in my personal space.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Shhh!" I put a hand to my lips.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Oh, okie-dokie!" Hana made herself invisible, and then asked again in a whisper. "What we sneaker-deekers for?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"My mom is right there." I pointed to the checkout line.
<span style="font-weight:400">When Hana peeked out with me, she threw her arms in the air to wave.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Saeko Mama— uwaah!"
<span style="font-weight:400">I dragged Hana back into the aisle and pped a hand over her mouth, then forced her into multiple orgasms by constricting my aura around her. The pink-haired trickster''s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she came. A trickle of sweat dripped down her thighs, and she plopped to the ground out of breath.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Uu… Uu… Y-You coulda warned me, chief…" Hana mumbled. "What''s up though? I thought you didn''t care about ''em, but here you are tailing your mama."
<span style="font-weight:400">"I… I don''t know. I''m just curious, alright?" I sighed out my nose.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Heh. Curious, huh? It just so happens Sherlock is my middle name. What say we do some investigating?" She grinned.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"