Story: It's Fate

 

There's something to be said about a good friend of yours having an allergic reaction, getting pulled back from the brink of death and then taking off their shirt right in front of you. Your emotions are going to go haywire in a situation like that. Especially when you're struggling wit the possibility you might be, you know, kinda gay enough to ask a supercomputer on a whim how to build yourself a lesbian harem. As a lark.

Which was kind of the other issue she was having right now, incidentally. This chain of events had literally only happened because she'd bought that strawberry flavoured milk. Which she had only done because the supercomputer had told her to, which raised a whole bunch of questions about free will and -

God those were such great breasts, how did she get them so firm and perky and why hadn't she noticed that before?

"So, we're already late," Misa said. "You know what that means, right? According to school policy, not showing up to school without guardian permission means we're out of the swim meet already. So, let's make a day of it."

Right, right, she'd forgotten about that little detail in the heat of the - everything. With breath hitched, Namiyo reached out a hand as if checking it was real. It was. In every meaning of the word. It was very, very real. Which was oddly reassuring but also absolutely terrifying. Because she really, really liked touching boobs. That kind of made it hard to pretend, you know? Sort of difficult to deny that you're into chicks when you're at second base with a rather willing girl.

"Not going to say anything?" Misa asked, pouting a little. "Then let me put that mouth of yours to better use!"

"Wait!" Namiyo said, holding MIsa back at arm's length. With her heart pounding in her ear, she held her back and pushed down those lingering feelings. "Listen, I don't think you're in your right frame of mind." Ah hell, Misa looked like she was about to cry. "Uh, it's not that I don't think you're not hot as hell or anything? Hold on, that was too many nots, I lost track of what I was saying."

"You were saying you didn't see me as a romantic partner right after feeling me up," Misa sobbed.

"No, no, that's not it, I swear!" Namiyo yelled, waving her hands around and honestly feeling like a piece of shit. "Ah, that stupid computer! I shouldn't have done what it said!"

Crap. She'd said that out loud, hadn't she? Guh! In that case, Namiyo had no choice. It was the only way to relieve her guilty conscience. Almost killing her friend through allergic reaction, seducing her by way of misattribution of arousal when, obviously, she had absolutely zero intention at all of actually building herself a lesbian harem, pft, get real, who would ever want to do something like that?

"Come on, I'd better show you something. You're never gonna believe this otherwise."

<hr>

At first Misa had thought that Namiyo was taking her to a secret hidey hole where they could neck in peace. Imagine her surprise, winding up at Chise Watanabe's place. Then imagine her greater surprise when she was brought to a really not at all obvious hole at the side of the building that led to a chamber underground that, in the first second of being there, gave off all sorts of really bad 'mad scientist' vibes.

On the one hand, Misa figured she should probably not be here. This screamed 'I am about to be turned into a cyborg slave to a supervillain' vibes. On the other, she was determined to get this closeted lesbian idiot to finally <i>finally</i> pay her attention. Running away screaming when she was invited somewhere seemed counter to those plans.

"Ta-da!" Namiyo said. "Here it is. The reason things have been so weird around here lately. That Eito guy used it to - " Namiyo then trailed off. "Son of a bitch, we've been disqualified from the meet due to tardiness. Argh! That sorta cute but weird Koemi bitch is going to take first place for sure!"

"As if there was any doubt!" a mysterious voice asked. Huh, was that a touch of smug in its tone?

"What is this?" Misa asked, still wary of her surroundings, but curious to see why she had been brought here.

"Oh, not much, just a supercomputer capable of calculating all the lines of the future, cause and effect, then spitting out the best way to make whatever you want to happen, happen. As you do."

Misa stared blankly at her. Then at the machine.

"What, nothing to say?" Namiyo asked. "I didn't believe it at first, but..."

"No, no, I believe you," Misa said.

"I was that convincing?"

"No, it's just that behind your back, the computer was showing every word you were going to say before you said it."

Oh, but that look she shot that piece of hardware. Amazing. Positively astonishing. So that was it, huh? Some kind of weird supercomputer that could alter the future? That raised so many questions about free will, determinism, the nature of time, causality, and so many other philosophical issues that she didn't know where to start!

"So... You're showing this to me because...?"

"Because she requested a lesbian harem, felt guilty about it, and then brought you here to make sure you understood what was happening in a misguided attempt to ease her own conscience."

Have you ever watched someone at the moment they learned how much they wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there for the rest of their life? And then their entire afterlife for good measure. Because oh boy, was Namiyo showing that feeling off for all to see. In fact, she was kind of looking around the room for that very thing!

Which got Misa pouting a bit. That was so, so cute. "A lesbian harem?" she asked.

"It was a joke, I didn't mean anything by it!"

Sure she didn't. Misa hugged her from behind and asked one simple question.

"So, when did you find this computer?"

"I made that Eito dweeb bring me here earlier on," Namiyo answered. "So, I dunno, maybe an hour ago?"

Was that so? Misa pursed her lips and blew on Namiyo's neck, then tilted her head back and gently pressed their lips together. It was chaste, yet promising that in the near future it could be much less so. Much warmer, hotter and wetter.

"I've wanted to do that for much longer than today," Misa said. "You didn't manipulate me into anything. Stop feeling guilty."

"But - "

"If you want to make it up to me, leave me alone with this thing for a few minutes," Misa interrupted. She watched Namiyo closely, trying to see how she'd take that idea. Trepidation, concern... but she seemed to get the idea. Nodded, then slipped out of Misa's grip and out of the room.

"Can she hear us?" Misa asked.

"No."

Good. Because Misa had a few questions of her own, which she asked while pacing the room. "Do you already know what I'm going to ask?" she started, testing it out.

"Affirmative! To address those queries in turn - yes, if she follows my commands she will absolutely wind up with a harem, without fail. Second, she will almost certainly follow my instructions based on her personality. And yes, I do appreciate that it is highly improbable that she will be able to persuade numerous cute girls to join a harem under normal conditions."

Right. That last one was pretty obvious. But it had missed one question -

"Yes, I can make you the head of Namiyo's harem."

What? Wh-What, really? She'd been afraid to voice it aloud, in case it had been heard by someone but - But the idea of joining Namiyo's harem had actually felt pretty good for her. It was hitting several kinks she didn't even know she had, and - Obviously she would have to be the 'head girl'. The one in charge of the others. Because she wanted Namiyo to look at her already, look at her the same way she did other girls.

"Alright, one last question then, but I want to say this out loud to make sure it makes sense to myself," Misa slowly said. "You acknowledged there was no way under normal conditions that most cute girls would want to join a harem, never mind a lesbian harem. So, how is it even remotely possible that you could fulfill that ridiculous request?"

A long moment's pause, and then the mighty machine gave its answer. Presumably that was for dramatic effect, because it almost certainly already knew it would have to have this conversation.

"Let me tell you a little about my creator."

<hr>

Let us do something unusual for a moment, in a story focused on manipulating the future - let's step back into the past for a time. Let us look in on a young man, a brilliant young man full of ambition, full of genius, and full of... the lust of youth.

"Where would we be without you, Mister Watanabe?" a teacher said, idly watching as the young man fiddled with the school's water heater. "I swear, your technical expertise is far beyond your years."

"In other words, 'You are saving the school's budget by a button every time you fix something,' the young man sang knowingly, implying that if he wanted to he could easily bilk them out of some hard earned cash. That got the teacher adjusting his collar in a hurry. "Is this where you say it'll help me practise these skills, so it's worth doing it for free?"

"Yes, well, maybe we can think of something more reasonable to compensate you with..." the teacher mumbled.

"Relax, just kidding!" The teenager that would one day be Chise's father slammed the hatch shut and tapped on it a few times. "It's an old machine this, but with my adjustments it should be good for a few decades yet. Anything else needing fixed while I'm at it?"

"No, no! You're all good!" the teacher beamed. "You must've fixed just about every device, gizmo or gadget on the school grounds at this point. Heck, I hear you even helped old man Tatsuya install his new sprinklers."

A faint smile plays on his lips, and he shrugs. It's not worth acknowledging, really. It's a fact. He had done exactly that. And several other odd jobs all around town. It took all he had to not cackle and laugh from the sheer absurdity of it all. To laugh, even in front of these fool's faces, as he considered the fate that awaited them.

He was an inventor, you see, and yes indeed he was a bit of a pervert too. Kukuku! This was his one and only talent, you see. Invention. Devices. Tinkering and computing and scheming and planning, these were his one and only talent. He was surrounded on all sides by cute girls. Cute girls, adorable girls, busty girls, and none of them paid him any attention!

And so, in his hormone addled mind, he had decided up on his first plan as a budding mad scientist. He had planted traps all over town. In school, in stores, everywhere that he could use his wandering fingers to conceal a few very carefully, brilliantly designed devices of his own devising.

The fire sprinkler in old man Tatsuya's store? It would release a slow acting aphrodisiac that only affected women - but it would only do so when it was set off by a fire burning through a lavender scented candle! The school's PA system? With an obscure press of the buttons, it would rely on a continuous potent subliminal message all through the day that he alone would set! He had traps like that set all over the place, ready for a horny little pervert like him to take advantage of at a moment's -

"Oof!"

He collided with a wall of flesh, and found himself staring at a glasses wearing girl that he had never seen before. She stared at him for a moment. Then frowned and hopped up to her feet defiantly.

"Watch where you tread your feet, you fool!" the girl yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Do you not know who you are tangling with?"

"...No?" he replied. "Are you new here? Ah, I heard there was a new transfer student."

"That is correct, foolish mortal!" the girl yelled. She made a really strange gesture that looked almost like a salute. "Now! For the sin of colliding with my supple willing body, you shall visit my home this weekend! I shall not take no for an answer!"

So, a few things should be obvious from this. Firstly, this was Chise's mother. You can see why she turned out the way she did. Secondly, our budding young perverted genius lost his virginity that weekend, and as a consequence of this went through a process called' growing the hell up' and abandoned all his wicked schemes to build a harem. I mean, this one girl was a handful as she was!

Now... that didn't mean he'd dismantled any of the traps he'd set around town. No, no. He didn't have the time to. Besides, they might still be useful, in their way, at some point later on... and it wasn't as if anyone was going to accidentally set them off, the odds of that were astronomical. Besides, what kind of mad scientist goes around cleaning up after their mistakes? A losing one, that's what kind!

In that sense one might say it was fortunate that Eito was the one that had discovered the Fate computer, as he was too selfless and meek to ever take advantage of such things, even by accident... But the same might not be said for a tsunderish lesbian, who was starting to come around just a little to the idea of having herself a yuri harem.