Fujiwara Chise's Scheme (6)
Morning arrived.
Chise opened her eyes a little later than usual.
Noah...
Through half-lidded eyes she glanced at the space beside her. Noah was fast asleep. The clock read eight. Had they gone to bed late last night?
...Yesterday was nice.
Chise swallowed.
Yesterday she had gone through with it as if something had possessed her. Noah mentioning a "man" had sent half her reason flying out the window.
That didn't change the fact that she had done it while Noah was defenseless. If Noah remembered any of it, she would be furious.
And yet Chise thought:
I don't want to pretend it never happened.
They had kissed. Innocent as Chise was, she wasn't so young that she didn't know what a kiss meant. You only kissed someone you loved. She had used her tongue. She had done it properly.
Noah had trembled in fits and starts. The faint resistance at the beginning had faded after about five minutes.
What did that mean?
...Did Noah feel the same way she did?
Either way, it was clear she had taken Noah's first. She didn't even want to think about it, but even if Noah kissed someone else someday, that first would always belong to her.
I hope she remembers.
Chise's pupils went hazy.
I don't mind if she scolds me.
Once the feelings she had kept locked away so tightly had burst out, they only grew larger, impossible to press back down.
Chise climbed on top of Noah. Just like yesterday.
"Nngh..."
Noah made a small sound. Her eyes opened slowly, then flooded with panic in an instant. Matching that moment, Chise kissed her.
"—!"
Being kissed first thing in the morning left Noah unable to think.
Chise's tongue slipped in, and she couldn't even form the thought of resisting.
...I'm just a girl anyway.
Her will had broken.
Is this it? A life of being trained by Chise? Might not be so bad.
Yesterday's incident had been an enormous shock to Noah.
Not only had she played cute with a perfectly sound mind — she had been kissed, and even gotten wet down there.
She had done everything a girl could do.
The problem was that being held like that... hadn't felt bad.
That only made Noah more ashamed, and it had a lot to do with why her eyes had gone empty.
But—
You're just going to give up like this?
Deep in her heart, Noah's "macho" soul, still barely breathing, spoke up.
Fuck, you're gonna become a pussy at this rate?
This time, the "submissive Noah" floating on the surface, on the verge of swallowing her whole, answered.
So what? I was born a cute girl. Nobody's going to think it's weird if I live like one.
Think about the life you've lived protecting your integrity until now!
None of that is cute. I don't need anything that isn't cute.
You're going to erase your identity just because you were born cute? Were you that weak?
I can just marry Chise, can't I? We can adopt a kid or something. If succession is the worry, we can use technology. Artificial insemination is all the rage these days.
Snap out of it! Don't let this slide!
If it's another girl, it's not even that different from my past life, is it? Of course, we need to get a little cuter. With this level of feminine charm, I can't get Chise to dote on me.
Hey.
There wasn't even a handspan of ground left for "Macho Noah."
Driven to the cliff's edge, he shouted.
How about at least playing dumb?
Pointless! Accept reality, Minamoto!
"Submissive Noah" desperately tried to disrupt her thinking. The remnant of the "macho" shouted with defiance.
Running away is a valid strategy too!
Noah's eyes flew open.
Chise looked down at her, face flushed red. A thin strand of saliva stretched between them.
...I'm still on my period.
Day two was usually the worst. Her stomach actually hurt right now.
Which meant yesterday had been a special case. Normally, she should have lost her reason today.
Noah finished her calculations in a flash and let her vision go unfocused. She spoke in a fragile voice.
"Chise...?"
"!"
Chise was startled for a moment.
She had been about to charge straight ahead, but Noah's condition looked off again today.
Don't tell me... is it that again today?
Sensing she had taken the bait, Noah drove the wedge in.
"It's weird. Why do you keep doing this since yesterday?"
She touched her lips and turned her head to the side.
"Does Chise like this kind of thing...?"
The so-called guilt operation.
She was dying of shame, but Noah resented Chise. If Chise hadn't suddenly gone off the rails, none of this would have happened to her.
"...You don't like it, Noah?"
"If I said I didn't, would you stop?"
"Huh? O-of course."
Noah stuck out her lip.
"Liar."
Chise flailed, waving both hands.
"It's... not a lie."
"Yesterday you forced your tongue into my mouth. Chise is bad."
"B-bad?"
"I hate you."
Chise's pupils widened.
Of course it was a calculated move. She had been subjected to that, but she didn't particularly dislike Chise. She was just annoyed.
At the very least, she wanted Chise to feel the same kind of mental anguish she had. If you were going to freely violate a weak version of her, you ought to at least endure that much, shouldn't you?
Noah hugged the blanket to herself.
"You grabbed weak little Noah's wrists and slobbered on me for three hours. Chise... I didn't think you were like that."
She put on a clearly disappointed expression. Watching Chise slowly turn to stone, she laughed inwardly.
My shattered self-esteem... is filling back up!
"I'm disappointed. I'd like a no-contact order for a while. I never know when a Chise in heat might jump me."
Was she getting carried away?
Noah briefly forgot her act and slipped into her usual way of speaking.
Fortunately, Chise's mental state had already left the building, so she didn't seem to notice.
After a few coughs, Noah said, dripping with cuteness,
"But I'll forgive you. Chise. From now on, no more naughty things!"
"Okay..."
Suffer at least half as much as I did...! Fujiwara Chise!
Watching Chise slump her shoulders and climb off the bed, Noah wore a villain's smile.
She had realized something. Being in dummy mode didn't mean she had to take it lying down. Precisely because she looked like this, there was a kind of bullying she could do. Namely, the conscience-stabbing attack.
A child's innocence could land harder than a yakuza's stream of curses, after all.
Deep in Noah's heart, the "macho" soul that had shrunk to the size of a bean swelled rapidly.
Meanwhile, Chise.
Cute, Noah.
With cold eyes, she looked at the mirror on the wall.
Noah, covering her mouth slightly, giggling.
You were in your right mind from the start, weren't you?
Chise was always watching Noah. Hand movements, tone of voice, speech patterns — even the minute shifts in facial muscle.
Noah's peculiar constitution wasn't a one- or two-day problem. She had seen it any number of times.
So she knew. When Noah went into moe mode, she never spoke more than two lines at a time.
She had felt something a little off starting at the movie theater yesterday, and today she was certain.
That brief slip back into her usual speech just now had been fatal. There was no way Chise would miss a single word Noah said. And that look of amusement as she watched herself, not even realizing there was a mirror.
At this rate, it was as if she were writhing around begging to be found out.
Noah really can't lie. I suppose I have no choice but to play along.
In the bathroom, Chise smiled brightly. She licked her lips with her tongue.
But then.
Shouldn't a child who lies... be punished?
The intent had come through loud and clear.
Noah wanted to pretend this kiss incident never happened. She would desperately act like she didn't remember.
Chise's answer was no.
If she let this golden opportunity slip, who knew when their relationship would progress.
Finishing things once you had the momentum — that was the Fujiwara spirit.
I'll make it so you have no choice but to remember.
Chise took Noah outside. She said she wanted to go on a date.
This girl, for real. She thinks this is her chance and she's just dragging me around?
Noah glared at Chise when she wasn't looking.
"Chiseee, where's Icchi?"
"It's the weekend. I believe she's working her part-time job."
Noah was walking with her arms wrapped around Chise's. She had been whining the whole time. For the record, Noah hated this version of herself enough to die. She still couldn't stop.
She hasn't caught on, has she?
Because Chise's attitude had been strangely off.
"Pet me."
"No."
"Whyyy...?"
"People will see."
Since when did you care about that!
Noah puffed out her cheeks. Of course she didn't actually want to be petted. She was just annoyed that Chise, of all people, wasn't obeying her "orders."
"Then I wanna have candy."
"That's not allowed either."
Noah stopped walking. Dummy mode or not, getting angry here seemed like the right call.
"Why is everything not allowed?"
"No more freebies."
Chise was cold.
"I don't get it, Noah. Why are you angry?"
"I'm not angry."
Chise's face was blank. Noah barely held back a scowl.
"It's just that there are no more freebies."
Chise stopped walking.
At the icy response, Noah let go of Chise's hand.
"The usual Noah protects me. The Noah right now doesn't, does she?"
Oh, is that how it is?
Chise started walking again. A vein popped in Noah's brow. This tiny little thing was climbing up on her...?
For now she tagged along, thinking.
Is Chise treating me as a completely different person right now?
Normally Noah worked Chise like a slave. If her shoelace came undone, Chise tied it. That said it all. Especially after they had moved into the dorms independently, Chise handled all the housework and management.
You could call it a near-vertical relationship. Noah sat in a perfect position of power over Chise.
That had been possible because she protected her. Noah was prepared to protect Chise no matter what happened.
Chise, in turn, devoted herself to supporting that version of her. That was their relationship.
But in this dummy mode, could she protect Chise? Of course Noah was only acting; she was fine. But Chise knew she was acting.
Looking like this, she probably didn't inspire much confidence.
She understood. If anything, the current Noah was someone Chise had to protect.
You just wait until tomorrow.
Noah was trembling. Even if she had become useless, she didn't like this palm-flip change in attitude.
"Where are we going?"
Chise walked down an alley.
The area around Saints Academy had excellent infrastructure. It being the weekend, students out to play were visible wherever you looked.
But the farther they walked, the fewer people there were.
A dead end appeared. Chise led Noah into a corner.
Blocked by the wall, Noah couldn't even look at Chise and stared at the floor.
"Why here..."
"You said you wanted candy, didn't you?"
"Y-yeah."
A bad feeling crept in.
With a gentle hand, Chise lifted Noah's chin.
There was a piece of candy in Chise's mouth.
"Go ahead and take it."
"...Huh?"
"Noah-chan has to work for it herself."
No more freebies echoed in her ears.
That's what she meant by that...?
"Hup."
Chise grabbed Noah's wrists and pinned them to the wall.
"Ch-Chise... if you hold my hands, I can't take the candy."
"There's another way, isn't there?"
Chise said it with a suggestive look.
"Just do what I did last night."
"......"
Only then did Noah understand what Chise was thinking.
...I'm completely screwed.
Noah sincerely regretted putting on an act this morning.
It was like leaving a fish in a cat's care.
Eleven in the morning.
Until tomorrow, thirteen hours still remained.