Chapter 28: of Soul Expansion: A Little Secret

"... And another one finished. Nn... Let's see..."

I put the freshly made doll next to the other three I had already made. During the last few days, I've become good enough that they were actually recognisable as dolls, but they still looked considerably clumsy. We just reused most of the dolls as materials for practice, so there were no finished ones I could've just taken anymore. At some point, we had been messing around more than making actual dolls...

That was kind of fun though... But it might've been easier if we had kept at least a few practice dolls intact... Well, this will have to work...

After making four dolls I decided to test my magic on them. I had also gotten some mana crystals from the supplies manager. Though, few was an understatement when he just gave me a crate half filled with all the mana crystals they had no use for. Despite having no use they never sold or got rid of them for some reason. How mysterious.

Right now, I was quite thankful for it, though. I could just make my own mana crystals with them. Or rather, those weird pink mana eggs. I really had to ask Ria or someone else about those. Maybe they had an idea.

"Now then..."

I took one of the dolls in my hands. Since my meeting with Yumias, many things had changed, but my lack of understanding of how to even cast these types of magic stayed the same. I just simply threw the mana wherever I wanted it to be and thought about what I wanted it to do. Even if the process became a lot easier since then. If anyone told me that was how magic was supposed to be... I was sure I'd give up ever understanding it.

"Ohh... It's moving."

After I had used the soul magic the doll began to stir slightly. With some very weird looking jerks, it tried standing up and then jumped out of my hand.

Once it safely landed, it lied down on its side and stopped moving.

"Nn? Doll, please move."

The doll raised its arm and made a shooing motion as if it was telling me to go away.

"..."

I grabbed the doll, which promptly was flailing around, and held it up in front of my face.

"Are you messing with me? I made you, so listen to what I'm saying."

The doll stopped flailing and then hung limply in my hand.

"... Hey. Move."

I shook the doll violently, but it made no effort at moving. I decided to take a closer look and realised there was barely mana in the doll.

"How weird... Even though the last time they could stay up for a few hours..."

With a sigh, I put the doll back on the ground.

"Yumi! Yumi! Are you here?!"

With a loud slam, the door to the wagon where I hid myself opened and Emily stormed in.

"Yumi! Found you!"

"Emily? What are you doing here?"

The girl quickly ran over to me and nearly jumped on the ground next to me, making herself comfortable. Behind her, Maya and Sele climbed in through the door.

"Uncle said we should come and help you! That you were trying your best to help everyone!"

"Haa..."

And how are they supposed to help me? I get the feeling this will just get harder with them around...

Sele silently walked past Emily and me and sat down on my other side, promptly hugging my arm. I was rather sure that Maya was the cat but she sure was doing well in her attempt to garner attention like one.

Maya simply sat down next to Emily and stared at the dolls.

"Yumi, what are those?" she asked.

"Nn? Dolls. I am making them move and wanted to see what they can do. If they can... uh... speak? Or something along those lines..."

"Speaking dolls? That's impressive, Yumi!" shouted Emily.

"No, they probably won't actually speak Emily..."

"Oh... so they won't..."

Her sudden excitement disappeared in a flash, leaving only a slightly disappointed looking Emily.

"W, Well... I can't say they won't speak either, you know? Maybe..."

"Eh? Really?"

"..."

I just dug my own grave, right?

But the way her face lit up on those words made it hard to retract the words. Her sparkling eyes, full of excitement, closed in on me, leaving me with no escape path.

"I... I'll try, okay?"

"You can do it, Yumi!"

"Nn..."

I took a deep breath and focussed on the dolls in front of me. Maya watched silently from the side and Sele was more busy occupying my arm. I already realised the last days that asking her to stop was a futile effort. A truly futile effort.

And I still have to... well... reject Sele's confession. How am I even going to do that? Sis, save me...

Now I really want to be with Sis...

I let out a sigh at my dilemma, earning me some curious stares from Maya and Emily. Shaking my head I decided to just focus on the dolls. I took one of them with my remaining free hand and attempted to use magic, strongly wishing for it to magically start speaking.

And the doll started moving.

"Ohh! Yumi! Yumi! The doll! It is moving!" exclaimed Emily, leaning forward and staring at the doll from close-up.

You saw this before already, Emily. There's no need to be so excited just because it moves...

Maya similarly closed in and even Sele, much to my surprise, took an interest. I was certain all three of them watched me practising with Lily before, though.

The doll stood up and the bowed elegantly in our direction. Then it stood at attention, one arm held in front and the other on the back. Somehow I had a certain desire to make a hat and a stick for it.

"Yumi! Yumi! Why is it standing so weirdly?"

"Ehh... You could say because it wants to show us its respect? Something like that?"

"Mh... Weird!"

"Ahaha..."

The doll was still standing motionless in front of us so I figured I could try having it do a certain something. I stood up and walked over to a small box I got from the supply manager in addition to the mana crystals. Taking what I needed I returned to my place and sat down.

"Doll, take this and write something."

I handed the doll a pen and a sheet of paper. For all I knew, it might actually be able to write. The doll, finally moving, grabbed the pen and walked over to the sheet. Then, it vigorously began swinging the pen.

Around a minute later, it was done.

"..."

"Yumi! That doll is impressive. Super impressive!"

"Ohhh!"

Emily and Maya expressed their astonishment while Sele leaned over and stared intensely at the sheet.

And me? I was simply too dumbfounded to even find a comment. It didn't write. I half expected that it couldn't. But it sure found a different way.

I took the sheet and held it up. The doll was watching me, as far as I could guess from its motions. Maybe it was anticipating a reaction.

The sheet in question was showing a picture. It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was recognizable enough that I could make out what it was showing. Namely us. There were four girls on the drawing, crowding together and sitting on the ground. As if it was from the doll's perspective. It was actually quite a cute picture.

"Yumi, did it draw us? Is that us in the picture?"

"Nn, Maya. That's certainly us."

"Wow... I've never had someone draw me before."

Neither did I, Maya...

I scratched the back of my head, unsure what to do with this.

Mhh... Wait, if the dolls can draw what they see... How do they even see something? Ahh, whatever, let's try this out...

I took another doll into my hand and animated it cautiously. Once I put it back on the ground it stood up and saluted towards me. I really wondered if those personalities were completely random or if there was some kind of tendency among them...

"Try drawing or writing what you see here," I ordered the doll, giving it a pen and paper.

It quickly took the pen and swung it around, though it was more being swung by it instead. It took some effort before it managed to steady itself, but once it did, it immediately began drawing something.

After around a minute it finished with the sketch.

"Ohh... Yumi. Yumi. We were drawn again!" muttered Emily who was clearly in awe.

She took the sheet before I could and held it up with sparkling eyes. Then, with all her might she turned towards me.

"Yumi!" she nearly shouted.

"Wh, what?"

"Can they make two more?!"

"... They can, but why?"

"So there's one for each of us!"

One for each? I stared at her slightly surprised. Did she want us all to have one?

Maya and Sele also turned to me with clear expectations in their eyes. A wry smile found its way onto my face.

Having something like that for each of us, it was a nice idea and made me a bit happy as well.

"Nn, let's have them make more."

Staying true to those words, I made a few more dolls and animated them. Then I made them draw us more than just once.

At one point, I completely forgot the original intent and we had the dolls draw us multiple times until each of us had quite a few quite adorable sketches. Making poses, simply sitting together or doing other stupid things.

... I need a box where I can keep things like this, don't I?

A while later I finally remembered my original purpose.

Since I confirmed that there was a kind of communication method available, I started quickly making a few mana crystals and inserted them into the dolls.

"Yumi, what did you do?" asked Maya after watching me with wide eyes, her tail swinging left and right with a slow pace.

"Nn, they won't run out of mana now."

"They won't? So, they'll keep moving?"

"Nn."

Maya picked up one of the dolls and stared at it. I took a glance to my side and noticed Sele and Emily poking and playing with another doll.

They took quite a liking to them, didn't they?

It made me smile a bit, but since I had already remembered what I originally wanted to do, or rather had to do, I, unfortunately, had to break this up. Then again, I had a small idea.

"Emily, Maya, Sele. Do you want to help me?"

"Help?"

Emily tilted her head, her ears were twitching.

I really want to nibble on them...

"Yumi?"

"Ah... Nn, help. The dolls, I was told to place them all around the fort. At spots where they can watch well."

"Why that?"

"That is..."

Emily stared at me, waiting for an answer.

This was troublesome... I couldn't just tell her that it was basically for spying purposes, could I? What to do...

"... Keeping watch... for... bad men?" asked Sele.

"Keeping watch does sound reasonable."

"Oh, so it was like that? Yumi wants to protect everyone?"

"N, Nn..."

Maya and Emily were suddenly all impressed. It wasn't technically wrong once I thought about it. We just didn't have permission to keep watch. Or Korwen actually got permission but never told me...

"Then, we'll help of course! Right, Sele, Maya?"

"Yes, let's help!"

"..."

Maya affirmed her intention to help and Sele nodded as well. Somehow, they came to an understanding completely on their own. I didn't really mind, though, and honestly, calling it 'keeping watch' sounded better to my ears as well.

"So, Yumi, we just have to hide the dolls somewhere where they can look?"

Maya asked me for confirmation. I nodded and then took one of the dolls into my hand.

"Just set them somewhere where they can watch and it should be good, I hope."

"Okay."

She nodded as well and then began taking a few dolls. Sele and Emily followed suit and soon every one of us had a few dolls in their arms.

"Then, let's go!"

Emily thrust one arm into the air.

"Ah."

And half the dolls fell down to the ground.

"Ah, stay here! You can't run away."

Maybe the dolls didn't like being dropped, but at least the ones that took a dive to the ground all ran away from Emily, some promptly leaving the wagon as well. Emily hurriedly tried to collect the ones she had dropped, including the ones that had already left the wagon.

"There she goes..."

"Yumi... Shouldn't we follow her?"

"Nn... Well, we should."

With a wry smile I took the lead and left the wagon as well, Maya and Sele following behind me.

Once we were back outside we saw Emily running after one doll. I was actually astonished the doll with its short legs was able to keep running away from Emily. Most amusingly, all the ones that she hadn't yet caught were running after Emily. It looked more like they were playing tag.

After a few seconds, she disappeared behind a corner and was gone from our sight once more.

"Emily... ran..."

"She did, Sele..."

I furrowed my brows a bit.

"Still, do we run after her... Oh."

"Come back! Don't run away!"

Emily returned from behind the corner. This time, she wasn't chasing just one doll, but pretty much every doll. Even the ones that she had been carrying were now escaping. In our direction.

"Eh? Wait a moment."

Without slowing their momentum, they ran directly towards me. Before I could even register what was happening, the first dolls already jumped onto, clinging to wherever they could find a hold on me.

"Wait, stop, don't jump on me!"

"Yumi! Yumi!"

"Emily, I'm busy. Wait, Emily? Stop! Don't!"

Wham!

Copying the dolls, Emily jumped straight into my arms.

If only I wasn't her own height I might've actually been able to catch her without getting thrown backwards.

"Yumi! I caught you!"

"Yes, Emily... You did... You certainly... did..."

The saving grace was, that it didn't particularly hurt. Most dolls jumped away the moment Emily launched herself, so there weren't any unfortunate accidents like landing on one of them. Regardless, it was still quite the impact. Nothing I'd want to repeat.

I pat Emily's head. A wide grin was appearing on her face while she sat on top of me.

"Yumi, Emily. Are you alright?"

"Nn, all fine, Maya."

I reassured Maya who was sounding a slight bit worried.

Sele came over as well and tried pulling Emily off me. Her expression was a slight bit scary but that was surely m imagination. Surely.

Once I stood up I dusted myself off.

"Emily, you can't just jump at others."

"Eh? Why not, Maya?"

"It's dangerous. What would you do if Yumi got hurt?"

"... That'd be bad!"

"It is. You understand?"

"I do! Sorry, Yumi!"

Emily turned towards me and apologised energetically.

"It's fine, nobody got hurt."

I pat her head once more with a wry smile.

"That's good!"

Emily's smile made me forgive her readily. I couldn't really get mad at this innocent girl. I really couldn't.

"Yumi, what about the dolls?" asked Maya, returning me to our original topic.

"The dolls?"

Taking a quick look around I realised... The dolls were mostly gone.

"..."

"Isn't this a bit bad, Yumi?"

"... No, it surely is fine... It surely is... Let's... uhm... just pretend they are keeping watch on their own?"

"Yumi... That's no good."

I was scolded by Maya. I was scolded by a girl half my age.

"Yumi, let's look for them, okay?"

"... Nn..."

And so, I was reluctantly dragged away by Maya while Emily and Sele followed silently.

"Did we find them all?"

"Nn... I think so."

I took another look around us but I could spot nothing notable.

It took us not really long to notice that most dolls actually just found a spot from where they could observe the fort's people by themselves. Their degree of autonomy scared me. Quite a bit, in fact. What should I do if they decided to turn against me one day? Maybe I shouldn't think about that.

"Then, we're done," announced Maya.

"Done!"

"... Done."

Emily and Sele joined in and the three threw up their arms. It was an adorable sight.

"Yumi."

"Nn?"

"We're done!"

"Done!"

"... Done."

They repeated their words and threw up their arms again. Maya furrowed her brows and threw up her arms again and again.

"... Yumi... Join us..." mumbled Sele, barely audible.

"Eh? ...Oh."

They wanted me to join in. Maya grinned and then began anew.

"We're done!"

"Done!"

"... Done."

"Nn, done."

And then we all threw up our arms.

A moment of silence followed, but then, Maya and Emily started giggling happily. Sele started smiling as well and so did I.

It took a minute or so until the two of them calmed down.

"Yumi, is there anything else to do?"

"Nn? No, that was all that the Captain asked me to do."

"Then, can we play now?"

The three turned to me with expectations clearly visible in their sparkling eyes.

"Ah... Well..."

I would love to play with them, but Korwen and the others were all busy. I probably should rather look for him and see if there were other things I could do.

"Do you... still have to do something?" asked Maya with a wobbly voice.

It might have been a good thing that I wasn't taller than her. If she were looking up to me with those little tears that were peeking out from the corner of her eyes, I would surely be overwhelmed.

Then again, even without that, it made me feel really bad.

"Nn... I should find the Captain and see if I can help them. I'm sorry."

"I see..."

"Yumi, Yumi. Can we help?"

Emily pulled on my arm and asked.

"I don't know? We can certainly ask."

"Then, let's go together and ask Uncle!"

"... Nn, let's do that."

Emily swiftly grabbed my hand and began softly pulling me in her direction.

"Let's go!"

"Wait, Emily! That's the wrong direction!"

"..."

Emily hurriedly moved in a random direction only to be stopped by Maya.

"Oh? Then, where to?"

"We should ask someone where Uncle is."

"Nn, that would be good."

"Then, let's go!"

Emily thrust her arm up and declared our departure. Sele hugged my other arm promptly before Emily dragged me away again. Somehow, Maya was now being left out.

A bit to my surprise, she didn't seem to be overly bothered by it this time. She quickly took the lead instead of Emily and lead us towards a more busy place.

After a while, we found a few soldiers and they directed us to the fort's warehouse. I was a bit worried that they simply told us to go there. Shouldn't that be an area that was at least a bit guarded?

In any case, a few minutes later we found Korwen, Karen and a few unfamiliar faces in a dimly lit warehouse.

"Mh? Yumi?"

When we approached Karen, whose back was facing us, suddenly turned around in our direction. Korwen followed her gaze, discovering us as well.

"Oh, the child squad appeared. Did you finish your job?"

"Nn, all done."

"Uncle! Uncle! We helped too!"

"Is that so. You did well, Emily."

"Ehehe!"

Korwen praised her, causing Emily to giggle happily.

In the meantime, Karen walked over to me. If I had to take a guess she wanted to hug me but was troubled by the fact that Emily and Sele were still occupying either side of me.

"Yumi, why are you so popular."

"Even if you ask me..."

A strained smile was all I could give in response to her question. I didn't know either. Being popular with the kids was nice, of course. I wasn't going to complain about it. Especially not with these three.

"Now, you girls, we're busy. Yumi, help Karen out a bit. And you three, go back to the wagons and see if you can help someone. There's probably enough to do for you."

"Ehh, but Uncle, we want to be with Yumi!"

"Not fair!"

"..."

Emily complained and Maya and Sele voiced or motioned in Sele's case, their agreement. Looking troubled, Korwen scratched the back of his head while looking at them. Fortunately for him, Karen stepped forward, squatting down to our height in front of us.

"You three, don't be selfish. There are people who really need help right now. If we don't, they might be in big trouble."

"That is..."

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"So, be good girls, okay? We won't disappear suddenly, we can just play later, right?"

The three looked down on the ground. Appealing to their consciousness seemed to work quite well, as they nodded and then let go of me.

Karen flashed them a smile and then rubbed each of their heads.

"Big Sis Karen, sorry. We'll go and help out," apologised Emily.

"Mm, do that. We're counting on you, okay?"

"Okay!"

Emily took Maya and Sele by their hands and then pulled them away.

"Until later!"

"Later."

"..."

The three said goodbye and disappeared quickly.

"Sis, you're pretty good at this."

"Ahh... Rather than good, they are all good children, they probably knew it themselves already. I just helped a bit."

Karen pat my head softly.

"Well, well... Thank you for that Karen. They are rarely selfish. It's nice that they act a bit more as children should but..."

"It's fine, Mr Captain."

"Haa... Well, anyway. Yumi, are you done with that?"

Korwen turned to me after thanking Karen for her help.

"Nn, everything done. I can't promise it'll work but I think it should."

"Mh, if it does, that would be quite useful in the future too. Well, enough of that. Yumi, you are good at calculating, so help us out a bit."

He handed me a small pile of documents. It was quite heavy. Taking a look I found that most of them were lists, probably the inventory.

"Those lists are from the past half year. Can you calculate how much of each item is approximately used up in a month?"

"Nn, well, I can probably figure out the average?"

"That's good. That would already be a big help."

"But... Shouldn't something like this be known by whoever is responsible here?"

It was a bit weird for a huge fort not knowing how many supplies they used.

One of the unknown men, who had kept silent until now, stepped forward.

"Miss, the one responsible is... currently down by the disease... And the notes he left are few and rather... illegible."

"..."

He handed me a small paper with some scribbles on it.

"Food. Twenty. Twenty-three. Forty-nine. Forty-four. Weapons. Four-hundred-seventy-nine. Three and a quarter dozens. Six and a half dozens. What? Why did he switch to dozens? And what are these numbers?"

"... We don't know..."

Reading out loud the note made me fear the future of this place. No wonder they had troubles keeping the fort running. All the vital personnel was down. If someone were to attack now, it made me wonder how well they would even be able to fend for themselves. What would happen if the soldiers got the two spears instead of a mace and a shield?

I shook my head in exasperation. Korwen smiled wryly and Karen gave a dry laugh.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks. Karen, help her, okay? Once you're done bring the list to me or Fenna. Afterwards, you're free for the rest of the evening. Tell those three brats to rest then too."

"Will do."

"Then, good luck. There's a desk in the back you can use."

And then I was left alone with Karen. Korwen and the few others left us here.

"Is it really fine to leave strangers in the warehouse?"

"... Don't think too much about it, Yumi. Come, let's find the desk."

"Nn."

Karen took my hand and let me through the warehouse. We found the desk in question quickly. It looked old but surprisingly well-cared for. There was only one chair though.

"Nn... I wonder if there's another chair."

"There is no need for one, Yumi."

"Nn? Sis?"

Karen sat down on the chair and then pulled me into her lap.

"See, one chair is enough."

"... I guess so."

I leaned back and Karen put her arms around me.

"We finally got some time for us again."

"We are supposed to work, Sis."

"Don't mind the small details."

"... I don't think it's a small detail."

Karen pulled me close with quite a bit of force, making me feel oddly conscious about what was pressing against the back of my head.

"Yumi."

"Nn?"

"... You see, Korwen left us here so we could have some time for us..."

"Eh?"

I took a look behind me at Karen, her face going visibly red even in the dim light of the warehouse.

"Yumi... You see..."

Karen stopped and her eyes darted through the room, most likely because she was unsure what to say.

"You see... Quite a few people seem to know... about us today..."

"... Eh?"

What did she just say?

"Lily... Involved quite a few people... Like Mr Captain, Mr Vice-Captain, Wanda and Ms Fenna..."

"... Lily, you idiot..." I cursed quietly.

"Also, Yumi...  Did Lily help you?"

"Nn? Ah... She did."

"Well..."

Once more, she stopped. Was it maybe a problem that I got help from her? Thinking back on it, she got too many people involved. Then again, it was a success, so I couldn't exactly blame her.

"You see... I consulted with Lily as well... About today."

"... Wait a moment."

I turned around, this time completely, turning my whole upper body to face Karen.

"... You mean... We both consulted Lily and..."

"Yes..."

"... Let's... not think too deeply about it."

Whatever Lily did, it worked out well for us. We shouldn't pry too much into whatever she did.

Karen flashed me a little adorable smile in response. I really wanted to have this smile all for myself, it was just too cute.

"Yumi."

"Nn?"

"There's one more thing, that I wanted to talk about."

"One more thing?"

"Yes..."

She nodded. I return into my proper position on her lap and leaned back. I could feel her chest heaving up and down with every breath.

"I... I talked about it earlier already... That I might harm those around me..."

"... Nn."

Karen took a deep breath.

"Some demonkin... Absorb mana from others."

"Mana?"

"Yes..."

"How is that a problem."

I couldn't quite wrap my head around it, but that didn't exactly sound like a big issue.

"If a person loses too much mana, they will collapse and in the worst case even die."

"Die... That's... certainly bad."

"Yes..."

I could feel Karen nodding behind me. She embraced me tightly.

"The way they absorb mana... differs as well. Some are... quite dangerous."

"Dangerous? Do they drink blood, or what?"

"That also happens yes."

"Huh... Wait... Blood?"

I stopped for a second. Drinking blood, that sounded familiar.

"Ahh... I think Sele might be in the same situation."

"... Is that so."

"Yes... But drinking blood is still one of the more tame variations."

"Is it?"

How bad did it have to be then? It couldn't be...

"There are some that also... eat... others."

"..."

"Ah, but I don't belong to those, don't worry."

She quickly reassured me when she noticed that I was keeping silent. I did say I wouldn't mind getting hurt on her behalf, but... being eaten was too much of a hurdle, even for me. Way too much of a hurdle.

"That's good to hear... But Sis, why do they even have to absorb mana?"

"... I don't know. I really don't. But I heard, that those that don't follow those... instincts... go mad."

"Mad? Do they go on a rampage, or what?"

"Apparently so, yes."

"Hee... That's certainly not good."

If one had to... eat... others... to keep themselves sane, or they would just indiscriminately attack and cannibalise others... Some might say that everyone had their right to live, but what would you do about this? No matter what, you couldn't keep either side really safe.

The only way was to imprison them and watch them go mad...

"You see... Those... instincts... don't surface immediately. They appear suddenly. I don't know why... I never believed they would ever come..."

"But... they came?"

"Yes... Around a week ago."

"A week ago?"

I could feel her nodding again. Her breathing became shallower and I could feel the arms around her tensing up.

"The... the time... you touched my tail..."

"... Eh?"

"That time... I..."

She took another deep breath.

"I wanted... to... to sleep with you, Yumi!"

"Sleep with me? What do you... Ah."

I froze. She meant... That kind of sleeping.

I took a quick glance behind me and saw Karen shutting her eyes close while she was red up to the ears.

"I... I see..."

Muttering those words, I was a bit overwhelmed by that sudden... confession?

"I... I'm sorry."

"Why do you apologise, Sis?"

"That is... I mean, isn't it weird? With two girls..."

Ah, that was it.

"Sis, does it matter whether it is weird or not?"

"But... Others might not accept it."

"Well, considering Lily involved quite a few people, they already do accept it, right? And what does it matter if there are strangers not accepting it? I love you, Sis. That's what is important, isn't it? And those important to us, they don't mind either."

"But..."

I put my own hand on hers.

"Sis, do you love me?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then isn't it normal to want to have sex?"

"Se-!"

Karen gasped audibly. She was probably embarrassed, hearing it so matter-of-factly. Then again, so was I, but I couldn't let it show right now. I had to show that I was the older one now. Even if I was basically just repeating what Lily told me.

Karen was silent for a bit, I could feel her body heating up.

"Well... I guess that's true..."

"See? And it's not like that really hurts me either. Though, I don't know much about that absorbing mana stuff, but shouldn't it be fine if I just absorb mana from mana crystals to replenish?"

"... Ah."

Karen froze. Did she not consider that?

"You... are right. It shouldn't be much, so I think that's fine."

"See. Then, there's nothing to worry about."

I turned around and grinned.

"Thank you, Yumi."

"You're wel-"

Suddenly my mouth was blocked and Karen's face was really close. By the time realised that she was kissing me, it was already ending.

"Ehehe, thank you, Yumi."

"... Don't surprise me like that."

"Ehh, so it's better if I announce it first?"

"That's... I don't know."

That was truly a question I couldn't quite answer myself. I didn't dislike the sudden kiss, but... I did want to enjoy it a bit more.

Karen's expression turned soft and she gently rubbed the back of my head.

"Yumi, when we talked with Lily about girls liking each other... I was really relieved to hear your answer to it."

"My answer?"

"Ahh, I was... Thinking a lot... Since then. Whether it was really alright, whether I really loved you or whether I was just... looking at you lustfully."

"..."

"I think, I really already knew that I was really in love with you, but when I heard it at the time... I couldn't help but think... 'Maybe I have a chance.'"

She pulled me close, turning me back into my original position on her lap, her arms wrapping around my waist.

"When Lily asked whether you already loved someone, I was a bit worried, to be honest. But when I talked with Lily she said, that I if I wouldn't take a step forward I would never find out."

"Ah, well, Lily knew about it..."

"She did, didn't she. We've been dancing in the palm of her hand."

"A bit, yes."

Karen relaxed her arms a bit.

"We should thank her, shouldn't we?"

"Nn."

"I'm really glad, that I found the courage today."

"Nn."

Karen nuzzled her nose against my neck from behind and then kissed it gently.

"Nn, Karen..."

"Ehehe, Yumi. I love you."

"I love you too, Sis."

Her soft breathing tickled my neck every time she spoke.

"Yumi..."

"Nn?"

"Could we... go further?"

"... Nn? Further?"

I thought for a good moment what she meant until I could feel her hand sliding down and touching my thigh.

"Further. Is it... no good?"

"That is..."

I was a bit at a loss of words.

Her other hand also slid down, gently caressing my inner thigh.

"Nn, Sis, there is..."

It was a ticklish, but pleasant sensation, even through the cloth of my one-piece.

"Yumi, can we?"

Karen stopped stroking and caressing. When I took a look behind I saw Karen's serious expression. It was quite stiff.

"Sis..."

I leaned forward, towards that way too serious expressions. It didn't suit her. I wanted her to be more relaxed, to have fun, to be happy.

My lips met Karen's shortly after. We didn't separate this time. Every time it seemed we would separate, one of us pushed forward, catching the other.

After a short while, we finally separated, each of us breathing heavily from a lack of oxygen.

"Yumi, I love you. I love you so much."

"Nn, Sis."

Karen once more embraced me tightly. Her hand slowly going downwards and reaching the hem of my dress. Without giving me time to react, she pushed me off her lap and pulled the dress up, undressing me in but a moment.

"S, Sis, wait."

Suddenly being stripped of my only piece of clothing was a bit too sudden for me.

"I won't wait, Yumi."

True to her words, she didn't. Turning me around, so that I was facing her, she pushed my back and I fell onto the desk.

"Ah."

"There's no escape, Yumi."

She must've undressed as well immediately, as she wasn't wearing a single piece of clothing anymore either.

And now, Karen was close above me, who was now lying defenselessly on the desk. Her expression, as if she was in a trance.

"Yumi, Yumi!"

Karen lowered herself and kissed my lips again, and once she separated she kissed me in the nape of my neck, my collar bone, my chest. Then, she began licking my chest.

"Sis, there is... bad..."

"Why is it bad?

Simultaneously to that, one hand was slowly circling around my stomach, gently caressing the area around my navel, then slowly reaching downward, on my inner thigh. The pleasurable feeling only grew stronger and my entire body was heating up.

"Nn! Sis!"

"If you don't tell me, I won't stop."

"That is..."

Karen stopped licking my chest and instead closed in on my face and kissed me again. After a few seconds, she separated and flashed me a mean smile. In contrast, I was breathing heavily, from the kiss and from pleasure.

"Does it feel good, Yumi? It does, right?"

"Haa... Haa... Si... Sis..."

"Yumi, you're so cute."

Her free hand that was caressing my thigh slowly wandered upwards, at the one place she had avoided until now.

"Yumi! Yumi!"

Karen's eyes were staring straight into mine. It was as if they were glowing.

"Sis..."

I raised my hands, circling them around her neck, pulling her close for yet another kiss. But before our lips met, her hand had reached its goal.

"Nngh!"

An unknown feeling shot through my body the moment her fingers brushed down there.

"Sis! Don't..."

"I won't stop."

The feeling slowly abated. When I opened my eyes that I had closed reflexively I saw her hand, that was teasing me just a moment ago, right in front of me. Her fingers seemed to shimmer as if they were covered in a fluid.

"Such a naughty little sister I have."

Her hand disappeared from my view once again, replaced by Karen's approaching face. A kiss, her tongue invading my mouth, together with her hand that was gently caressing my lower body.

And then, without any warning, another shock went through my body. I gasped for air, ending our kiss. In the moment of separation, I could glance at Karen's intoxicated expression, as if she was drunk, her eyes glowing. Not metaphorically, they really were.

"Yumi!"

Whatever she was doing down there with my vagina, it felt incredible. A jolt ran through my body.

At this point, my consciousness grew slightly hazy. Karen was endlessly caressing me. My chest, my vagina, my stomach, my thighs. She left nothing out.

At one point, she guided my own hand to her lower body, rubbing herself on my arm. I had no idea what I should do, so I let her do as she pleased while she played with my lower body at the same time.

"Yumi! Yumi!"

The pleasure was building up, more and more.

"Sis... Sis..."

Until it finally reached its peak.

"Nngh!"

"Ahhh!"

Pleasure washed through my body, followed by a warm, fluffy feeling of happiness.

And then, my consciousness cut off.

Rinne

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