Kusari
I could already tell that Issei was ready to combust.
I was laying on one of the pool chairs while enjoying the sun near where Asia slept and Koneko was relaxing as well.
Rias, Issei, and Akeno were further away near the other end of the pool, but they were loud enough to hear everything.
Rias had decided to have Issei rub lotion on her to tease him and enjoy his attention.
Akeno had noticed and decided she wanted to bother both of them with the opportunity available to her.
Issei looked and sounded like he was trapped and enjoying it.
He had a stupid grin on his face and looked ready to combust while pressed between them as they bickered.
I closed my eyes and laid back deciding I didn’t want any chance of being dragged into it.
Akeno had already been more aggressive with her teasing today than.
I’d rather let Issei take the brunt of it for now.
I could still hear them though.
Rias sounded frustrated and territorial.
“You’re doing this on purpose.”
I could hear Issei make a noise as she probably glared at him for looking happy about Akeno’s attention.
“Yes,” Akeno-san said cheerfully.
I could imagine the vein on Rias’s forehead at that response.
“Akeno,” Buchou said, trying again, “you don’t need Ise for that.”
“I don’t need him,” Akeno-san said lightly. “I want him.”
Isse made another flustered noise.
He was especially useless now.
I decided that this was entertaining enough to risk watching.
I sneakily opened an eye to watch the mess at the other end of the pool.
Buchou’s face was already red.
Akeno had an amused grin and a malicious look in her eyes.
Issei looked as flustered and useless to stop this as I thought he would.
“W-What are you saying so casually?” Rias said.
Akeno tilted her head. “The truth?”
“You don’t need to say it like that!”
“Then how should I say it? ‘Rias, if you’re done monopolizing our cute little Kouhai, I’d like him to rub oil onto me next?’ Though I wouldn’t mind if he did more.”
Akeno pulled Issei closer to her bust.
Rias folded her arms beneath her chest and glared.
Issei instantly locked onto her breasts.
“Ise is helping me first.”
Akeno smiled. “But he could help me first instead.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Issei looked between them, oil bottle still in hand, looking more and more like a toy being argued over by beautiful Devils.
“This is...” he began weakly.
“He’s blushing, I think he wants to help me first” Akeno noted.
“That doesn’t mean anything, he would blush if a girl breathed in his direction. Also, I was making him blush before you started bothering us” Rias said.
“That’s not true!” Issei tried to defend himself.
He realized that all of us were giving him a disbelieving look.
Yuuto, from her chair nearby, gave him a calm, gentle little smile she wore whenever Issei embarrassed himself in a way she found more endearing than annoying.
Asia was already blushing pink and trying very hard to pretend she wasn’t listening while failing to hide she was listening.
Xenovia-san seemed fascinated by the conversation and it would definitely be an issue later.
Koneko just looked bored and like she was moments away from calling him a name.
Akeno hummed thoughtfully.
“You know, Rias, you really are too selfish with him.”
“I’m selfish?!”
“Yes. You let him fuss over you, touch you, admire you, and then act surprised when someone else wants the same thing. But I bet that you haven’t even done anything exciting with him yet!
Rias gave her a dangerous look. “You enjoy provoking me too much.”
“And you enjoy hogging his attention too much.”
I saw the way Rias’s eyes narrowed just a fraction.
She knew Akeno was right to a degree, but still wouldn’t back down.
And Akeno knew exactly where to press to rile her up the most.
Rias exhaled slowly and looked at Issei again, almost as if measuring how much more of this he could survive.
Probably not much.
Then Akeno's smile changed.
It turned shaper
That smile meant that something was about to happen and it was almost certainly bad.
“Well then,” she said. “If Ise-kun won’t oil me after you, I’ll simply have someone else do it instead.”
Rias’s brows drew together. “What are you planning?”
Akeno’s eyes flicked past them to me.
I pretended to be sleeping on my pool chair.
“Kusari-chan.”
Of course.
_________________________________________
Issei
“Kusari-chan.”
Akeno-san looked pleased and was wearing a smile that normally would make me think that I was about to not like what was going to happen, or possibly enjoy it.
It was a fine line with Akeno-san.
I turned too fast.
Kusari-san was farther down the poolside in a chair with a towel draped across one shoulder, reclined back like she had been sunning herself.
She looked like she had almost managed to escape the worst of our madness.
Her silver-white hair was still damp in places from the pool.
Her expression had settled into that blank sort of calm she wore when she was trying not to be dragged into trouble.
If it wasn’t for how loud we were probably being, I would have guessed she had ignored us.
The second Akeno-san called her over, the calm expression she wore flattened further.
She stood anyway.
Not happily.
Not quickly.
Just with the resigned air of someone who knew full well she was walking toward a trap and had decided, against her better judgment, to do it anyway.
When she stopped near us, Akeno-san smiled at her as though inviting her into something harmless.
“Kusari-chan,” she said sweetly, “since Rias refuses to let Ise-kun put oil on me, I thought perhaps you could do it instead.”
Kusari-san looked at her.
Then at me.
Then at Buchou.
Then back at Akeno-san.
Her face didn’t change much.
Her eyes did.
At first she looked irritated.
Quietly, deeply irritated.
Like she already saw the whole shape of the joke and hated every part of it.
Akeno-san went on before Kusari could answer.
“Think about it,” she said. “If Ise-kun won’t touch me, then at least he can watch while someone else does. And if that someone else is you...” She smiled lazily toward me. “He’ll get to see exactly what he’s missing.”
I think my soul left my body for a second.
Buchou sat up straighter.
“Akeno.”
Her voice had gone lower now.
Not loud.
Not playful either.
Warning her.
Akeno-san only rested her cheek against one hand and looked pleased with herself.
“What? If he belongs to you this much, then surely I’m allowed to go to someone else.”
“You’re not only teasing him.”
“No,” Akeno-san admitted. “I’m teasing Kusari-chan and you too. I’ll get to enjoy Kusari-chan's attention up close and distract Issei-kun at the same time. It’s a win-win!”
There was the honesty.
Bright and shameless and dangerous.
Now Kusari-san and I were both targets of Akeno’s teasing.
At least it wasn’t just me suffering from her bullying.
Buchou’s face went slightly pinker.
“You...!”
“And if you get riled up, then it’s working,” Akeno-san said.
Yuuto-san made the tiniest sound that might have been a hidden laugh.
Asia looked flustered and like she wanted to disappear.
Xenovia leaned forward just a little, apparently deciding this was important cultural information.
Kusari-san remained standing beside us in silenencej.
She hadn’t moved.
Hadn’t answered.
Hadn’t sighed, even though I could tell she wanted to.
Then Akeno-san turned that smile on her again.
“So? Will you help me, Kusari-chan?”
Kusari-san gave her a dull look.
“You know I heard everything, right?”
“Of course! But it’s just for some fun. Plus I do need someone to oil me up.”
Akeno-san smiled and batted her eyes at Kusari-san exaggeratedly.
“Then you can wait your turn for Issei to be done with Rias-Buchou. He’d be happy to help.”
“But it’s not fair that Rias is hogging him. You can help your Onee-san and we can give them a little show while you do. I’m sure Issei would be happy to see you with your hands all over me.”
Kusari-san started to look annoyed as Akeno-san wouldn’t let it go.
“Akeno-san, I don’t know what tha-”
“Kusari-chan it’s fine. You don’t have to be shy! You’re Onee-san understands that your nervous about being allowed to touch her that way, but it’s fine. You can have as much fun as you want with it.”
Akeno-san pulled Kusari-san closer and winked at her while whispering to her loudly so we could all hear.
Kusari-san’s annoyed gaze held hers for a long moment looking.
I thought Akeno-san might end up in the pool.
Then she smiled.
And every hair on my body stood up.
It wasn’t a warm smile.
It wasn’t shy.
It wasn’t even particularly playful.
It was cool, sharp, and a little mean.
And for the first time since she’d walked over, Akeno-san’s expression shifted.
Not by much, but enough that I knew she had finally realized she might have pushed the wrong person too far into her own game.
“Alright then,” Kusari said softly.
Akeno-san blinked once.
Buchou’s eyes narrowed.
I held my breath
Kusari-san held out her hand to me.
I stared at it.
She tilted her head.
“The oil, Issei.”
“Oh. R-Right.”
I was too stunned to do anything but hand her the bottle.
She turned back to Akeno-san and poured a generous amount into her palm and rubbed her hands together slowly.
She never took her eyes off Akeno-san.
The oil glistened in the sunlight.
Akeno-san was still smiling.
But it was starting to look a little strained.
“Then,” Kusari-san said, voice smooth and far too innocent sounding for the atmosphere. “Please lie down, Akeno-senpai.”
Akeno-san did.
She even managed to make that look enticing despite the situation.
Still, there was caution in the way she settled onto the chair now.
The smallest reservation.
As if she was telling herself she still had this under control.
Kusari-san knelt beside her.
Akeno-san turned her head to Buchou and I and smiled.
She reached behind her back and undid her bikini top.
I could see the portions of her breasts it revealed while she lied on her stomach.
Kuwaiti-san set both hands lightly against Akeno-san’s shoulders..
And began.
At first, it looked almost normal.
A slow spread of oil across the shoulders.
Long strokes down the upper arms.
A careful return to the neck and collarbones.
But even then, something in it was wrong.
Or right.
Kusari wasn’t rushing.
That was the first problem.
She moved with way too much patience, way too much deliberate attention, as though she intended to make Akeno-san feel every inch of her touch instead of simply getting the oil spread around.
Her fingers slid over the graceful slope of Akeno-san’s shoulders and then back again, slower this time.
The heel of her palm pressed in just enough to turn it into a real massage, just enough to make Akeno-san inhale softly through her nose.
“My,” Akeno-san said, voice still mostly steady. “Kusari-chan, you’re being very thorough.”
“You asked me to do this,” Kusari said.
Then she leaned a little closer and said more quietly by Akeno-san’s ear, “I assumed you meant properly.”
The words weren’t indecent.
The way she said them absolutely was.
Akeno-san’s shoulders tightened for half a second.
Then Kusari’s hands moved lower.
They traced down her sides, spreading the oil with long, slow pressure.
One hand drifted just under the edge of Akeno-san’s bikini top at her side, only a little, but enough that it was impossible to miss that it was on purpose.
Akeno-san jolted.
My nose started bleeding again.
Buchou made a small gasp beside me.
I noticed the others reacted to the two of them as well.
Koneko-chan’s eyes narrowed.
Asia was red and looked like she had reached the limit of how much more flustered she could become.
Yuuto-san was still and looked stunned.
Kusari-san said nothing.
She simply kept going.
Her hands slid further down, fingers brushing down along Akeno-san’s sides.
Kusari-san’s hands reached Akeno-san’s swimsuit bottom and ghosted just under the edge of it along her rear.
Akeno-san shifted as her hands moved over her behind and down towards her legs.
Kusari-san could have done more to get a larger reaction.
But instead she suggested that she could..
Akeno-san’s composure wavered for the first time.
“K-Kusari-chan,” she said, trying for her usual teasing tone and not quite getting there, “what exactly are you—”
“What you asked for,” Kusari murmured.” You said you wanted a show? That I could do whatever I wanted right?”
“W-well yes of course. I don’t mind if y-you make it a spectacle for them.”
“Good, then roll over Akeno-senpai. I’m done with your back and need to do your front.”
She said it plainly, but Akeno-san still hesitated before obeying.
Akeno-san rolled over while pressing her bikini top to her chest to cover herself.
Kusari-san stood and let her sheer kimono drop off of her, leaving her only in her swimsuit.
At the same time she got onto the pool chair with Akeno-san, and was kneeling with her legs on either side of Akeno-san’s..
Akeno-san opened her mouth to protest but then Kusari san leaned forward
Her chest brushed against Akeno-san’s while she placed a hand down next to Akeno-san’s head to steady herself.
And then her other hand moved down again, between the two of them.
Akeno-san’s eyes went wide and she stared at Kusari’s face.
“Kusari-chan!”
“I’m just rubbing oil on your stomach, Akeno-senpai. Is it an Issue?”
Kusari-san sounded calm while explaining herself to Akeno-san, but also slightly challenging her.
My mouth had been hanging open for a while now and Buchou was also staring so intently that she hadn’t scolded me yet.
Everyone was watching them silently.
Kusari-san continued.
Akeno-san sucked in a breath.
Sharp enough that every person by the pool heard it.
I was dying.
This was amazing to witness, not just for the fact that there were swimsuit clad oppai pressed together!
Because now it was obvious what Kusari was doing.
She was not just obeying Akeno-san’s request.
She was punishing her.
Not with cruelty exactly.
But with a much more intense teasing than I would have expected from anyone, especially Kusari-san.
Every slide of her hands under the edges of Akeno-san’s bikini suggested I could go farther without actually doing it.
Every time she stopped just shy of too much, it made the next touch worse.
Or better.
For me, definitely better.
For Akeno-san... possibly catastrophic.
They were pressed close together as Kusari-san continued to rub oil on Akeno-san.
Kusari-san’s body was getting coated in it as well as she poured more oil out of the bottle and spread it between them.
When she spoke again, her voice was noticeably less stable.
“Kusari-chan...”
Kusari leaned down further and spoke quietly near her ear now.
“I thought you wanted to put on a show, Onee-san” she breathed.
Akeno-san shivered.
I had never seen Akeno-san lose control of her teasing like this before.
She was always the one smiling knowingly from above.
Always the one deciding how far a situation went.
Now she was the one pinned in the center of it, body tense, breath uneven, and clearly no longer sure whether Kusari-san meant to stop at all.
Kusari-san was bullying her and she didn’t know what to do with it.
Kusari-san sat up on her calves, her hands slid over Akeno-san’s waist again, then up beneath the lower edge of the bikini top once more, thumbs pressing into the muscles at either side of her spine as though she were only being practical.
Only giving a massage.
Only doing what Akeno had asked.
Akeno-san made a small noise.
It did not sound anything like her usual laughter.
Kusari’s hands moved lower once more, gliding down to her hips, fingers slipping under the tied edge of the bikini bottom just enough to send my imagination straight to hell.
Buchou’s face was burning red now.
Whether from jealousy, secondhand embarrassment, or being flustered in general, I genuinely couldn’t tell.
Maybe all three.
“Enough—” Akeno-san started.
But then Kusari-san leaned forward again.
Her free hand traced down between their stomachs again and Akeno-san’s voice cut off.
For one second Kusari-san pressed their bodies together from shoulder to hip, using the oil between them to spread it farther over Akeno-san’s body
Akeno-san trembled.
And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, Kusari-san stopped and stood up.
She stepped back.
Straightened.
Looked down at Akeno-san,who was flushed, breathing harder than normal, and visibly trying to gather herself.
Then Kusari-san asked, in a calm, level voice that made the whole thing somehow worse:
“There, all done Akeno-senpai.”
Nobody answered.
The pool had gone so quiet I could hear water sloshing in the pool
Akeno-san opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Then opened it again.
“My...” she said, and for the first time since I’d known her, she sounded genuinely at a loss. “Kusari-chan, that was rather more—”
Kusari finally looked away from her.
And that was when she realized.
Everyone was staring.
Me, bleeding from my nose and mouth agape.
Buchou, red-faced and rigid.
Yuuto-san, still composed but not meeting her or Akeno-san’s eyes.
Asia, who looked as if she had been fried from being flustered.
Xenovia, staring in utter fascination.
Koneko-chan, saying nothing but missing nothing.
Kusari-san’s face did not fully crack.
The faintest flush crept into her cheeks.
Just enough.
She looked at Akeno-san once more and then at the bottle now spilled on the ground.
“Akeno, I-I’m sorry that was too fa-”
“K-Kusari-chan, I’m fine really.”
Kusari-san looked panicked for a moment before Akeno-san told her not to worry while steadying her breathing.
Kusari-san looked like she was going to protest when Akeno-san cut her off again.
“I mean it.”
Kusari-san slowly relaxed while looking at Akeno-san’s face intently.
She then glanced at the rest of us and her blush came back.
“I was just teasing Akeno-senpai back,” she said, trying to play it off.
Her tone was smooth.
It would have been convincing if we hadn’t witnessed everything.
“...Lewd…”
Koneko-chan commented from her chair, looking faintly annoyed.
Kusari-san ignored her and continued.
“I just wanted to tease her back, and may have gotten slightly carried away.
Akeno-san, to her credit, somehow found enough of herself to smile faintly.
Though the smile was still a little unfocused.
“My, my,” she said, voice softer now, “what a frightening Kouhai. That was only a little carried away?”
Kusari-san’s flush deepened by half a shade.
Then, very carefully pretending she had not taken things further than intended, picked up her kimono and said, “I think that was sufficient.”
No one stopped her.
She turned and walked back toward a farther chair, movements composed, controlled, and only slightly too quick to be entirely natural.
At the last second, before sitting, she added without looking back:
“And don’t stare at me like that. It’s embarrassing.”
Then she sat down, wrapped a towel around herself, laid on her side away from us, and very clearly pretended she no longer existed.
The silence lasted another beat.
Then Akeno-san finally exhaled, one hand coming up to brush her own hair back.
She was still flushed.
Still breathing a little too hard.
Still recovering.
Buchou looked from Akeno-san to Kusari-san and back again.
Then she covered her face with one hand and muttered, “Honestly...”
It was the most understandable response possible.
Not furious.
Not cold.
Flustered. Exasperated. Probably annoyed.
Very aware of what she had just witnessed.
Very aware that Akeno had deserved some of it.
Very aware, too, that seeing Kusari-san do that had done absolutely nothing good for anyone’s peace of mind.
I, meanwhile, was gone.
Absolutely gone.
My soul had died twice.
Akeno-san tilted her head back and laughed once—softly this time, and with far less control than usual.
“Well,” she murmured, “I certainly won’t underestimate Kusari-chan again.”
Koneko-chan said, “You brought some of that on yourself.”
“Yes,” Akeno-san admitted.
That surprised me enough that I almost stopped bleeding.
Almost.
Then Yuuto-san rose from her chair with that calm, collected grace of hers and held out a towel toward Akeno-san.
“You wipe off the excess oil,” she said softly.
Akeno-san accepted it with a smile that still wasn’t quite her usual one. “Thank you, Yuuto-chan.”
Xenovia decided to ask a question that seemed to be confusing her.
“So, is that normally how tanning oil would be applied?”
Koneko-chan stared at her for a minute.
“....You’re joking right? Senpai, tell me you're joking.”
Asia, after visibly debating whether saying anything would make things worse, finally whispered, “Kusari-san looked really embarrassed at the end...”
“She should be,” Buchou said.
Then, after a tiny pause and in a quieter voice, “Akeno should be too.”
Akeno-san laughed again.
“Rias, you wound me.”
“You started it.”
“And Kusari-chan finished it.”
That was true.
Terribly true.
Hopefully the rest of the day at the pool would calm down from here.
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