Story: It's Fate

 

 

"Ow."

Eito yelped in unison with the girl who had glommed onto his arm out of nowhere, the two of them recoiling from each other as if stung. Which, come to think, they were. After the initial shock of the sting, Eito rubbed at the part that hurt, but his thoughts went directly to the girl with a sense of creeping horror and concern that went well above worry about himself. Because he's just that kind of guy.

"Are you okay?" he asked. An innocent question.

"No," Namiyo replied. "I'm about three weeks away from a nervous breakdown due to my closeted repressed lesbian tendencies, combined with being in a swim club full of lithe pretty girls."

Her hand slapped so hard over her mouth that you'd swear they were in the middle of a thunderstorm. Here's a quick little formula that was going through Eito's mind right about now: Namiyo's mortified expression plus her wild staring eyes plus that stinging sensation they both got hit by plus the fact that Koemi and Chise were making a beeline right towards them meant -

"Come with me!" Eito yelled, grabbing hold of Namiyo's hand and pulling her away. Her body had gone limp, so she didn't resist. Still in shock from what she'd said. "I think we've been injected with a truth serum -"

And all of a sudden Namiyo took the lead. This was probably for the best, as Eito discovered after a few seconds. He wasn't nearly as physically fit as her. She was easily dragging him down the street with a level of speed and strength that her swimmer's frame didn't suggest, but then again a swimmer's frame should include tightly packed muscle in the right places shouldn't it?

"N-Namiyo slow down, my legs hurt!" Eito yelled. He risked a look back. His two friends were already out of sight. Which probably didn't mean anything, but - "Woah!"

All of a sudden he was being lifted into the air by his collar by an irate lesbian.

"Truth serum, huh?" Namiyo said.

"Oh yes, Chise used to dose people all the time with it as a prank," Eito said, unable to stop himself.

"Alright, then let's prove it," Namiyo continued. "Alright, pervert! What's going on around here?!" Namiyo asked.

As soon as the question was asked it felt like Eito's brain had been bounced around a basketball court,slam dunked, then stuck in an oven while someone loudly played smooth jazz. His mouth worked before he could even stop himself, and -

"I'm using a super advanced computer capable of predicting and altering the future to describe specifications to make the girl I have a crush on happy."

Huh...? What? Girl he had a crush on...? Eito's face turned bright red, to rival any tomato. He - He felt that way about - Ohhh, he could curl up and die for even thinking the thought out loud!

"Girl you've got a crush on?" Namiyo asked, tilting her head. "Is that the Koemi girl, or that crazy Chise chick?"

"Both of them, I really like them both."

Oh, now he understood. He had died. This was his own personal hell. He would be compelled to say things that were designed solely and exclusively to embarrass and humiliate him. Steam must be flying out of his ears. Surely, any moment now, his heart would explode in an act of mercy. But no. Namiyo was standing there. Staring at him. Nodding in appreciation.

"Can't say I like your taste, but to each their own," Naimya said. "Okay, that story is way too crazy, so let's try something else. How did you make those girls... Bigger?"

Eito gulped. "I don't know anything about that. It's probably something Chise did. All I did was serve them milk, I don't know anything about that."

She was about to ask something else, so thinking quickly Eito countered by asking his own question. It was the only way out that he could think of!

"Why do you want to know how to make them bigger?" Eito asked. The first question to pop into his mind.

"Because it would give me a major advantage in the upcoming swim meet - and also a lot of big breasted babes to leer at. You pervert! What are you making me say?!"

"Anything that's not a question," Eito said. Oh blast, shouldn't have given her that opening! "When are you going to let me go?"

"When you tell me about this fancy machine. Where is it?"

"U-Under Chise's house," he said, and then described the precise way to get inside. She dropped him without ceremony on the ground. "You're - you're not going to -"

"Relax," she said. "I won't tell anyone. And I won't use it to upset your little harem ploy either."

"It's -it's not a harem ploy!" Eito squeaked after her.

"Oh wow," Namiyo said while cooly walking off. "Either you really believe that, or the truth serum wore off."

Well... blast. Eito picked himself up off the ground, dusted himself off... and felt something he wasn't used to feeling. He was... he was angry. Really, really angry. His fist struck a nearby wall - he yelped in pain, but then he kicked it before he could stop himself.

"Stupid!" he grumbled. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Now - Now some weird girl knows about it, and th-there's nothing I can do to stop her." Which was true. Completely true. Namiyo was obviously way stronger than him, and faster too. He could give chase - but then what? She'd easily beat him to FATE, and there was no way the pursuit wouldn't be noticed.

The only advantage he had was that she might not know where Chise lived - but that couldn't be too hard for her to find out! Which made knowing what to do next all the more frustrating.

After a minute or so of fussing and venting, Eito slouched down again feeling exhausted and impotent. That machine had no more instructions for him. If it worked the way it said, then he was guaranteed Koemi's victory at the swim meet. Provided that he followed the last instruction and -

And kissed one of the two girls he liked.

"Well, well. Look who we have here," Koemi said. "Huh? No weird girl clinging off you?"

"Come on buster," Chise said, and the two girls reached down on either side of him, hooking his arm before hauling him to his feet. "We're getting your cute playboy butt to school before you're late."

Yep. No doubt abotu it. This was hell. It couldn't possibly be anything else.

<hr>

She was late for school, but fuck it. Namiyo was a girl on a mission. That truth serum she'd supposedly been injected with had opened her eyes to a few things. About herself. About her sexuality. And about a way she could do something about it.

You know. If it actually was a truth serum instead of some other weird concoction.

Luckily, she already knew where Chise lived. That crazy bitch was well noted for being a person to avoid. Creeping around the house, she soon found it. There we go. The concealed hole in the ground that Eito mentioned. Licking her lips with anticipation, she crawled inside and soon found -

"Welcome, Namiyo Maeno. You were expected."

A giant computer the size and scale of which left her floored. She wasn't exactly a tech geek, but at a glance she could see that this was super impressive. It knowing her name was kind of creepy, she'd be the first to admit, but -

"But it proves that I am as Eito described."

"Please don't do that," Namiyo said. "It's really unsettling."

"I am only trying to prove a point," the computer replied. "I already know what you desire, and I already know how to help you obtain it. This fifteen step program will ensure you will have a lesbian harem - without interfering in Eito's mission to secure Koemi's victory at the swim meet."

Secure Koemi's victory, huh...? That's all that dorky boy wanted? Well, that was weirdly more romantic than she was expecting...

"Hrmph! I don't actually want a lesbian harem, or anything that goofy!" Namiyo huffed, turning her nose up. "But I don't believe you could give me one, even if I did want one! Honestly now, a computer that can predict and alter the future? That’s ridiculous, as if something like that can exist."

"Your tsundere behaviour has also been accommodated for," the computer said. Then, its screen flashed, leaving her stunned on the spot. "Follow these steps. Your harem will be yours."

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that..." Namiyo slunk off, hiding a perverse grin to herself as she retreated.

Once it was alone again, the monitor on Fate flashed with yet more text. "Your harem will be yours", it read. "Just as Eito's harem would be his."

1. Eito tries to go through the day without letting weird girls get close to him. While also being unable to look Chise or Koemi in the eye.
2. Namiyo soon finds a chance for her first instruction.
3. The Golden Salmon make their move
4. Something else