Chapter 188: Kaguya's Lament (Serious) (Patreon)

The next day, Yukinoshita Yukino opened her bleary eyes. The familiar ceiling swam into view, and she instinctively tried to sit up.

"..."

Yukinoshita Yukino sucked in a sharp breath. The pain radiating from every corner of her body blasted away what was left of her drowsiness.

The black-haired girl lying beside her was woken by the commotion too.

Kaguya, however, said nothing. She didn't even have the energy to move. She just stared blankly at the ceiling, her pupils unfocused, her eyes utterly devoid of light.

Ruined. Everything was ruined.

As Kaguya replayed last night's events, only one thought filled her mind: regret. Deep, bottomless regret.

If I'd known, I should have just held it in.

She had asked Isac for help, to go wake up Hayasaka Ai. Who could have guessed Ai would be sleeping so early tonight...

With no Ai to be found, Kaguya had no choice but to let Isac fill in and carry her to the bathroom.

In her original plan, Isac would simply set her down on the toilet and that would be that. But she had badly underestimated the side effects of the enhancement. She couldn't sit upright at all!

It was lucky Isac hadn't walked away. Otherwise she'd probably have gotten very intimate with the bathroom tiles.

Seeing her predicament, Isac had offered a solution of his own, wanting to ease her troubles.

And somehow, as if possessed, Kaguya had actually agreed. Or rather, she'd been so desperate she had no other choice.

Back in bed she could have held on a while longer. But once she was carried into the bathroom, the sight of it set her body off, and there was no holding back.

It was a case of an arrow already on the string with no choice but to fly.

And then... Isac hooked his arms under the backs of her knees from behind. Her back was pressed tight against his chest, her legs spread naturally apart in an M-shape, and she was lifted in a position of the most mortifying kind.

By the time Kaguya realized what was happening, it was already out.

The overwhelming shame, the sharp pain as her muscles were dragged along by the lift, and the pure relief of letting go all piled on top of one another and left Kaguya with a feeling she couldn't put into words.

So much so that she actually...

Wanna die...

That had been Kaguya's one and only thought at the time. Afterward, if Isac hadn't repeatedly promised to keep it a secret, she'd have been ready to take him down with her.

Even now, thinking about it made her whole body burn.

At the same time, she cursed herself for being so useless. Just pee properly, damn it!

Being held up like a toddler for a potty break was humiliating enough. But somewhere in the middle, she'd gone and lost it on top of that...

As for what came after, Kaguya couldn't remember much. Her mind had been a complete blank. She didn't even recall how she got back to bed or when she fell asleep.

Blacked out, supposedly.

But why didn't the memories before that get wiped too?!

The little Kaguyas inside her head were rolling on the ground. Faced with such a tragic state of affairs, every version of Little Kaguya had lost all strength and all options, even the mightiest of them, Ice Kaguya.

Ice Kaguya, watching you from the heavens while incontinent.jpg

Yukinoshita Yukino had no idea what was going through Kaguya's head. When the other girl said nothing, she couldn't help speaking up. "Sorry for waking you."

Hearing Yukino's voice, Kaguya finally came back from her despair.

"It's fine. I needed to get up anyway."

With that, Kaguya braced both hands against the bed and pushed. Right before Yukinoshita Yukino's stunned eyes, she sat straight up.

?! S-so strong?!

Wait, hold on. Sis?

I'm still lying here, and you just sat up like it was nothing?

Yukinoshita Yukino was dumbstruck. She instinctively tried to move her arm, and her muscles immediately lodged a protest with her brain. The stabbing pain cut her movement short.

Silence was the theme of the morning.

Yukinoshita Yukino watched Kaguya lean against the headboard without so much as a change of expression, and an indescribable feeling welled up from deep inside her.

...I lose.

She knew perfectly well that Kaguya's body had to be in about the same shape as hers. She could move, but it would hurt. A lot.

Which meant Kaguya could only sit up by using her absurd willpower to force the pain out of her mind and drive her body anyway.

In a word, the girl was a superhuman!

So Kaguya's willpower was this formidable after all?

Kaguya noticed Yukino's awestruck gaze. Sharp as she was, she knew exactly what the other girl was thinking. She tugged at the corner of her mouth and didn't explain.

Did it hurt? Of course it hurt.

But compared to what had happened to her, what was this little bit of pain?

No destruction, no creation, as the saying goes.

If she'd had this kind of willpower last night, how could she have...

No. She couldn't keep thinking about it. The more she thought, the more suffocated she felt.

Kaguya let the sharp pain from her limbs wash over her, as though only this could make her feel clearly that she was still alive and hadn't died of social death. The sweet thought made the corners of her lips curl up on their own.

But when Yukinoshita Yukino saw that, she fell silent all over again.

?! M-masochism?!

Yukinoshita Yukino knew Kaguya had a few rather special tastes. She liked being handled roughly by Isac, liked him a little fierce. But the thing was... all of that was purely mental.

Had she evolved overnight?

Wasn't pure psychological abuse enough for you anymore?

This family was done for.

"Knock knock."

Someone knocked on the master bedroom door. Kaguya shuddered all over, then dove back down at lightning speed, slid under the covers, and shut her eyes, the very picture of someone sound asleep.

The sight left Yukinoshita Yukino at the next pillow completely baffled.

Still, a knock couldn't go unanswered. Yukinoshita Yukino cleared her throat. "Come in."

The door swung open and Isac, who had been run ragged all night, walked in. He was alone. The other one was still asleep, and in no better shape than Yukino and Kaguya.

"How are you feeling?"

The moment he stepped through the door, Isac asked about their condition.

"I'm fine, but moving still hurts a bit." As she said this, Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes drifted instinctively toward Kaguya beside her.

Unfortunately she was lying flat on her back, and with her field of vision limited, she couldn't see Kaguya at all unless she turned her head.

Kaguya, meanwhile, showed no reaction to their conversation. She lay perfectly still on the bed like a log.

"Then, do you need the bathroom?" Isac went on.

Yukinoshita Yukino felt the mattress tremble for some reason. She was puzzled, but answered anyway. "I do, but I can hold it. Let's see after breakfast."

The special venison could effectively relieve the side effects of the enhancement. Yukino still couldn't move right now, but after eating the venison, that might not be true for long.

And if worst came to worst, she still had a fallback.

Isac nodded, turned, and left the master bedroom to go downstairs and make breakfast for the two of them.

Once he was gone, Kaguya finally let out a breath and opened her eyes again.

"You just..."

"I didn't do anything just now."

"Then why were you in such a hurry to..."

"I'm not in a hurry!"

"Not in a hurry?" Yukinoshita Yukino was a little suspicious. Didn't you just last night...

Kaguya realized what she'd said. After the way she'd acted last night, how could she not be in a hurry? Wasn't that basically telling Yukino she'd already used the bathroom?

So she hurriedly added, "What I mean is, being in a hurry now wouldn't help. Let's deal with it after breakfast."

"True." Yukinoshita Yukino nodded, suspecting nothing.

Before long, Isac came back upstairs carrying two bowls of venison oatmeal porridge.

Since Isac was the only one on duty this morning, he could only feed one person at a time.

Which meant it was time for the happy dilemma of choosing one of two again.

But before Isac could even begin to agonize over it, Kaguya and Yukinoshita Yukino said in perfect unison:

"Feed her first."

Yukinoshita Yukino's reasoning was that Kaguya had been pushed to the point of forcing herself up from the bed through the pain. She must really be desperate. Add to that the smile she'd had on her face when she sat up, and Yukino decided to suffer a little herself and get Kaguya back on her feet first, before things got out of hand and the poor kid went mad.

Kaguya, for her part, hadn't thought that far at all. Compared to going to the bathroom, she was more afraid of facing Isac right now.

"Let Kaguya go first. She was already showing... well, signs, last night." Yukinoshita Yukino chose her words carefully, describing Kaguya's condition in the most refined way she could.

Kaguya: ...

Sis, I'll call you big sister, okay?

Please, just stop talking.

Nobody knows your own business like you do. Hearing Yukinoshita Yukino's words and feeling Isac's gaze fall on her, Kaguya wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it.

But to keep up the act of someone who hadn't been to the bathroom yet, Kaguya had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept Yukino's kindness.

"Well... okay then."

Isac was holding back laughter.

Seeing this, Kaguya shot Isac a fierce glare. Don't you dare say a word!

Helped upright by Isac, Kaguya quickly polished off a bowl of porridge. A gentle warmth spread through her body, and the pain that had sunk into her bones eased.

Without waiting for Isac to support her, Kaguya threw back the covers and got out of bed. She seemed to have overestimated the state of her body, though.

Willpower could force her to endure pain, but the body's instincts were hard to override. Sitting up in bed and walking on her own were two completely different things.

So the moment Kaguya tried to stand, her legs gave out and she nearly pitched onto the floor. Luckily Isac was quick on the draw and caught her, so she fell into his arms instead of onto the ground.

Breathing in that familiar scent, Kaguya's brain crashed again. This moment was just like last night, and for a while she couldn't muster any strength at all.

Seeing this, Isac couldn't help asking, "Want me to carry you over?"

Kaguya shuddered and bristled like a startled cat, refusing without a second thought. "No need! I-I can manage. Just steady me from the side."

Isac knew exactly what Kaguya was wary of. He found her adorable right now, but didn't dare push her too far.

After all, even a rabbit bites when cornered, and Kaguya was his girlfriend... one of them. She had a lot more places to bite with than a rabbit.

The moment they reached the bathroom door, the sight of it set off her memories again. Kaguya wouldn't even let Isac come in. She limped inside along the wall, one wobbly step at a time, and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Thankfully she didn't lock it in the end, probably worried she might fall and be unable to get up.

After a while, Kaguya came out of the bathroom, her face tight, and Isac helped her back to bed.

Isac washed his hands and began feeding Yukinoshita Yukino.

The feeding went extremely smoothly. Mostly because Yukino had slept straight through the night until morning. Aside from a bit of bloating, she wasn't as desperate as Kaguya had been.

Having a fallback and having no fallback really were two completely different states of existence.

After the pain-relieving venison oatmeal, Isac followed the same routine and helped Yukinoshita Yukino to the bathroom.

Yukinoshita Yukino copied Kaguya and shut Isac out, going into the bathroom by herself.

Honestly, why did the bathroom have to have a regular toilet?

If it had been a squat toilet, wouldn't he have had his chance to shine?

Of course, Isac wasn't all that disappointed. Last night Kaguya had already delivered a huge one to him, and he could milk that secret for the rest of his life!

Thinking of that, Isac turned around and happened to meet Kaguya's eyes again.

Kaguya jumped and hurriedly looked away. Then, probably feeling that was too meek, she forced her gaze back, trying to put on a bold front.

It had no effect whatsoever.

That one incident of Kaguya's had wiped out every last bit of authority she had built up with Isac.

Just kidding. She'd never built up any in the first place.

Still, considering the girl's thin skin and the fact that she was his girlfriend, Isac smiled faintly, looked away, and gave her some room.

Kaguya let out a sigh of relief, quite satisfied with how Isac was acting. Clearly she knew he was going easy on her, and after all that back and forth, her sense of shame had faded a good deal.

When she thought about it, it wasn't as if she'd never embarrassed herself in front of him before. What was one more time?

Basically, she had given up and let it all fall apart.

After helping Yukinoshita Yukino back to bed, Isac looked at the two black-haired beauties. "Want me to bring a few books up for you?"

After taking the venison painkillers, Kaguya and Yukinoshita Yukino still hurt when they moved, but turning pages was a motion they could put up with.

"Please do." Yukinoshita Yukino nodded.

On the other side, Kaguya wasn't nearly as interested in books as Yukino, but she asked Isac to bring one up anyway.

Still, more than books, she cared about where Hayasaka Ai had gone.

They had all finished breakfast, and it was already fully light outside. Why still hadn't she gotten up?

Remembering how Ai had gone to sleep so early last night, the sharp-minded Kaguya immediately thought of the first time Ai had been knocked out by Isac.

Surely that guy Isac hadn't...

The battle must have been intense.

Kaguya was no longer the naive girl she used to be. She had read plenty of smut in her time, and her mind quickly filled with a string of scenes, in which Ai was as pitiful as could be.

The more she thought, the more two red blotches bloomed on her cheeks, and her body grew hot.

Wait, what was she thinking?

Kaguya started in alarm. When had her head become so full of dirty thoughts too?

It was all Isac's fault!