Certain kinds of nightmares are seemingly universal. Falling into darkness, arriving before class to deliver a presentation or take an exam while completely naked. Perhaps it is less to do with common fears, and more to do with how the very idea of them as nightmares is so ingrained into culture that of course it seems that a lot more people have these kind of nightmares than really do? Because Motoko certainly never had any kind of nightmares like that. Her worst nightmare was worse. It was not born simply from some fear or phobia, but a place of love.
“S-sister?!” she exclaimed, momentarily forgetting herself from the sheer and terrible shock of this unexpected visitation. “What are you - I beg your pardon, your visit was unexpected.”
It might seem strange that she would be afraid of someone that she also loved, but is it really? True, the responses these emotions tend to evoke are considerably opposite to each other in particular ways, but the most terrible fears are often born from that which we love. Fear of losing them. Fear of disappointing them. Yes, though they may be opposite emotions in many ways, feeling them both at once can easily result in these two opposing emotions amplifying one another instead of cancelling each other out.
In a similar vein, staring up into her sister’s eyes and seeing the same face - and more importantly same figure - that she always knew was oddly reassuring, and Motoko felt that if anyone could assist her through this inexplicable event then it would simply have to be her older sister. On the other hand, seeing Tsuruko’s face turn from a warm smile into a deep and worried frown when her eyes trailed down Motoko’s body was just a little bit like something out of her worst nightmares. And not for the reasons she was expecting.
“Oh dear,” Tsuruko said. It was strange. Motoko might have expected disappointment, anger or - something. In retrospect she could handle the idea of her sister being angry or disappointing, though it hadn’t felt like it when the idea crossed her mind initially. She could handle that. But not this. Never this! Not - “Motoko, this is very important. When did this happen? Tell me everything you know, quickly.”
Fear. Her sister was afraid. She was trying to hide it behind a calming veneer, but it was showing in her eyes. A woman that had faced demons and devils of all sorts, and they could barely ever touch her. The woman that she had looked up to for as long as she could remember, aspired to be as great as… Afraid. That thought by itself almost completely broke her down there and then.
“I do not know much,” she admitted, attempting to cast her eyes to the floor and instead casting them to the top of her amazing rack. She almost slapped herself for those last two words, but restrained herself due to the presence of her sister. “It happened when I woke up. My body was different. My room had transformed before I even noticed. And I have been having strange thoughts that were not my own -”
“Shh,” her sister said, gently pressing her fingers against Motoko’s lips. A little strange, but under the circumstances not altogether bizarre compared to the memories of her sister that this… whatever it was tried to put in her head. “This must be such a terrible burden to you. As your older sister, I know you quite well. You must be blaming yourself for being unable to fight this terrible force, but please do not feel shame. Even at a glance I can tell that this is the work of something both powerful and devious.”
Motoko opened her mouth to say something, but then out of nowhere she felt a hand slap against her forehead, and then an electrical charge pulsed through her entire body. The experience wasn’t unpleasant. Quite the opposite, in fact. It felt like the universe was singing her a rock ballad, and every cell in her body was holding up a candle. Her vision blurred, her hearing became unfocused and everything just became pleasure. Even her perspective of time passing was skewed, as it felt like a hundred years before her back hit the floor even though it was a mere ten seconds. The rational choice in this circumstance was, obviously, to lie there with a great big grin plastered on her face.
“Not quite the effect I intended,” Tsuruko noted, plucking the ofuda from Motoko’s forehead. “Well. These aren’t my speciality in any event. How are you feeling, Motoko?”
“Pretty good,” she replied. Only then catching herself. “Ah! How shameless of me! I’m so sorry, I did not mean to -”
“Of course not,” Tsuruko said. “Motoko. For the time being, you are no longer my little sister, but rather the victim of a terrible curse. Do you understand?”
Understand? Yes. Of course she understood. It was the same thing for other professions as well. If a doctor found himself in a situation where he was the only one that could treat his wife, then he must cast aside all of his affections and treat her as though she was any other patient. The second that he allowed a single emotion to sway his judgement was the same second she might die. The same applied here, and it made Motoko aware of a fact that she wasn’t truly appreciative of until this very moment.
Her sister loved her. Loved her so much that she was willing to squash that love for her benefit.
“Where do we start?” she asked.
“Meditation,” Tsuruko replied. “I want you to meditate, and attempt to reach a state where you externalise your thought process. I wish to understand what thoughts this curse is attempting to make you think, so that I may better understand how to dispel it.”
That thought may have made Motoko feel humiliated even two minutes ago. But now? Not a single bit of it. She closed her eyes without hesitation, and tried to drown out her thinking. A difficult task with the lingering memory of that explosive climax - She would persevere. She would overcome. She would prevail. With her sister helping her, she would get past this.
Except… That now Motoko’s eyes were closed, she could not see Tsuruko’s breasts swell up underneath her robe, which was twisting and morphing in a manner clearly intended to reveal as much of her body as possible.
“Remember your breathing,” Tsuruko said with a strangely reassuring smile on her face that almost, but not quite, matched what Motoko imagined she looked like at that very moment. “And relax. I shall have those distracting, unnatural thoughts dispelled from your head in no time.”
- Meanwhile, Naru’s dragged Kitsune off to another room for a bit of fun.
- Kitsune’s slipped away from Naru, who is really starting to freak her out.
- The real Tsuruko arrives and gets rid of the imposter.
- This is the real Tsuruko. What’s actually going on?
- The sisters are encountered by another person.
- Something else
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