VOLUME 2
Chapter 3: My First ******
As the banquet continued on the camera one screen, I heard a cold voice interject with an unpleasant tone.
”Neesan, I would appreciate it if you stopped being an idiot and tell me what to do next… also, sensei, please resist a bit more. That’s why neesan tries to take advantage of you so often. Please keep your libidos in check.”
As the clock ticked on and on, Kagami’s movements became more sluggish and she began swaying from side to side as she walked (meaning, she was getting sleepier).
The screen was also swaying with her.
”It seems Sasami-san is heading towards her next purchase. Ah, she’s gone into a hundred-yen shop.”
Just as she said, I saw the me on screen walk into one of the many hundred-yen shops in town.
It was a cozy little shop with some cheap-looking items lined up on display in front of the store as well.
”What should I do? The shop seems quite cramped, so if I go in there is a chance we will run into each other. Should I wait outside the shop? Or should I active this stealth function thing I have and follow her in?”
”Hmmm…”
After draping just her white lab coat over her naked body, Tsurugi sat down in her chair and gazed at the screen.
”But, what is Sasami doing in a hundred-yen shop?”
”Oh? It wasn’t because neesan told her to?”
Kagami c.o.c.ked her head to the side as she hid in the shadow of a telephone pole and got weird looks from the people walking past her.
”I really was under the impression that she went into this shop to look for the next item on her list of things to buy…”
”Well, it’s surprising how much stuff you can find in a hundred-yen shop, but I’m positive she won’t be able to find what I asked her to find in there…”
Tsurugi seemed at a loss.
”Ah, by the way, after that piece of happy family planning, Sasami only has to buy one more thing to finish this ‘shopping quest,’ so with that in mind…”
”After all, there’s only so much time to go shopping after school.”
Kagami let out a yawn.
”Funyaa… I’m very sleepy. I want to go home and just crawl up under a futon… oh?”
As Kagami muttered complaints, she saw me coming out of the hundred-yen shop.
On screen, I began walking off somewhere, carrying a plastic bag in my hand that I definitely didn’t have before.
”Seems like she bought something.”
Kagami squinted.
”Hmm… what did she buy exactly? It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with what neesan asked her to buy, so maybe she made a personal purchase? Shall I use my x-ray vision capabilities to see what’s in that bag?”
”You had that capability?! Okay, do it right now! And then, while you’re at it, also give us a detailed account of what it looks like underneath Sasami’s clothes!”
”I thought neesan would say something like that… that’s why I had kept this ability secret…”
Kagami covered her mouth, as if she had just said something careless.
”Hmm, let’s see… what’s in there…? Sungla.s.ses? And a knitted cap… and also a jersey? A windbreaker? You sure can find all sorts of things in these hundred-yen shops lately… but I really think you should be buying clothing at a normal shop…”
”So, what color are they?! What color are they?! n.o.body in the audience cares about that plastic bag at all! Come on, tell us right now! What color?!”
”Stop being so annoying, neesan. The color of Sasami-san’s panties is completely irrelevant.”
”Well, I want to know the color of her panties too, but I’m actually talking about her nipp-“
”I’m reporting you to the police.”
Kagami responded coolly as Tsurugi’s head got more and more stuck in the gutter. But then, Kagami became suspicious.
”This isn’t the time to be fooling around. Sasami-san is… oh?”
Looking at the screen, I saw that I had stopped in front of a building and was now looking all around me.
This neighborhood was pretty close to our school, but because I wasn’t used to it yet I was a bit nervous.
The building I was standing in front of was a family-oriented public bathhouse. I stood there for a while, reading the instructions posted out front.
”A bathhouse? Why? She could just take a bath at home.”
”Perhaps she doesn’t want to have to worry about Tsukuyomi peeking in on her.”
”Impossible! I never peek! We always take baths together!”
”Eh? W-What did you just-“
Kagami seemed a bit shaken by what my brother had said, but then saw that I had gone into the bathhouse. She hurriedly followed me.
“Ugh, so much to do today… I’ll begin tailing her.”
”Here it comes~~!! (^o^)/!! Go Kagami! Go go go!! Go into the women’s bath, that place all men have dreamed of at some point. Take your camera and fill it with wondrous things! And then, history will move!” (1)
”The only thing that will move is the police. Also, neesan, why are you getting so excited? You can just walk normally into a women’s bath.”
”Seeing it in real life and seeing it on camera is completely different! Don’t you understand?! Haven’t you heard about guys who have girlfriends but still play eroge?! It’s the same as… wait, no, that’s not what I wanted to tell you! s.e.xual desire, you see, is-“
“Ah, sorry, I wasn’t really listening… one ticket for a high school girl, please.”
Kagami ignored Tsurugi as Tsurugi just railed on and on. It seemed Kagami was buying a ticket for the bath.
She was probably hiding the camera while she was in front of the ticket vendor, as the screen was pitch dark.
”Now that I think about it…”
Suddenly, the screen became crystal clear.
”I can use an alteration to hide the camera like this. The humans don’t have much divinity, so they shouldn’t notice the camera. Although, this does feel vaguely criminal…”
It was a relatively large-scale bathhouse.
A traditional j.a.panese-style hallway connected to various rest facilities, in which you could go to fancy-looking restaurants, take a bath in a hot spring, or get a ma.s.sage. There were people lounging around, still hot and piping from just getting out of the bath.
I could see myself on screen heading resolutely for the bath area, and Kagami followed me.
”Maybe I should take a bath while we’re at it too… of course, I’ll be turning the camera off.”
”What’s with that utter lack of imagination?! Be more pa.s.sionate, dammit! There are all these viewers who are plastered to the TV screen waiting for the steamy bath scene, and you’re gonna betray all of them?! I’ve seen this happening a lot on TV lately! Playing around with people’s libidos like that!!”
”What in the world are you talking about? Hmm, Sasami-san is…”
Kagami pointed the camera in various directions.
The screen panned randomly for a while, but soon found me in the bathing area.
I had my hand on my uniform, and was just about to take it off.
I untied the ribbon, took off my jacket, and began to unb.u.t.ton my shirt underneath.
My hair swayed heavily back and forth, and my bare shoulder came into view…
”And now time for a commercial break.”
The screen went dark, and then suddenly displayed a huge close-up of my brother.
For some reason, his fix was pixilated, so you couldn’t see what he looked like.
Tsurugi was probably expecting something much more obscene. I heard the sound of her falling off her chair.
”Hey hey hey, what the h.e.l.l are you doing?! You’re not the one I want! Show me Sasami, dammit, Sasami! Hey! Wait! Tsukuyomi, you’re over here, aren’t you?! So what the h.e.l.l is this on the screen?! Why is this ugly close-up of your face over there on Camera Two?!”
”Fufu… fufufu… I’m the brother, after all! So I prepared this dummy video for times when Sasami-san’s privacy was about to get horribly invaded. I modified the camera so that at my signal, the screen would change to this video!”
”You betrayed me! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you betrayed me!”
Tsurugi was angrier than I had ever seen her, but whatever.
”Do not worry, Tsurugi-sensei. I’m not boorish enough to forget the tenets of good taste… I say it’s a dummy video, but I’m sure soon Tsurugi-sensei will see it’s all she could’ve hoped for and that she’ll treasure it forever…”
Tsurugi probably started hitting my brother at that point, because all I could hear was him making gross sounds of “Dogoo~~!”, “Bokiii~~!”, “Myaa~~!” as he gave the camera a bold laugh.
As the two of them screwed around, the screen changed again.
The pixelated photo of my brother gave way to a scene somewhat obscured by noise and static.
It was a dim scene and… wait, that was definitely our house.
The only light I could see on screen came from the moon and stars from outside the window… it was probably the middle of the night.
I could make out the outline of the stairs, looking like black ink running across parchment, and I heard the sounds of someone in only their socks creaking up those stairs.
That someone soon reached the top of the stairs, went down the hall, and then arrived in front of my door.
There was light spilling out from the cracks in the door.
It was clearly pretty late, but I usually slept late too.
”It was a quiet, winter’s night, with the moon’s light shining dazzlingly bright overhead.”
I heard my brother’s voice narrating the scene.
Ugh, he was so annoying.
”That day, after finishing the housework and my preparations for cla.s.ses the next day, I engrossed myself in the sport of ‘Sasami Watching,’ as is customary.”
I heard my brother’s breathing grow ragged as the camera dropped to just a few inches above the floor and slowly slid past the crack in the door.
What was probably happening was that my brother was now crouched low out in the hallway, and was forcing just his hand and the camera through the door crack and into my room.
The room was almost blindingly bright.
The whirl of electronics was audible. I was sitting there, surrounded by a number of powered-on computers and being illuminated by a rainbow of colors.
”Ahh, Sasami-san is cute today too… she’s so unguarded, and look at her rubbing her eyes like that… ahh, I want to go hug her! It’s pretty shameless to be peeking into your sister’s room, but I just can’t control these pa.s.sionate desires of mine!”
Hey, oniichan?! What the h.e.l.l do you think you’re doing?!
I had no idea… I really had no idea he was peeking at me like this!!
I can’t believe this! You d.a.m.n hentai! Criminal!
Peeking at someone’s private time is the worst thing you can humanly do!
”… Hnn…”
At any rate, on screen… there was something off about me.
I was in my pajamas and my back was to the door.
For some reason, the computer right in front of my eyes was not on.
All I could see is my own absent-minded face being reflected on that dark computer screen.
”Sigh…”
I pushed my chest with a finger and looked downwards, a painful look on my face.
My breathing was uneven. I could see my shoulders rising and falling with an unnatural rhythm.
My pajamas were disheveled and began to slide down.
My shoulders, and then my naked back came into view, exposing my pure white skin to the camera.
”Hnn… ghh…”
I put my hands on my chest as my breaths came out slowly and sadly.
Kyahh?!?!
Kyaaaahh?!?!?!
What the h.e.l.l was this?! This wasn’t right!!
”Uuu… ngg…”
I was going completely crazy, but the me on screen ignored the me in real life, still breathing those sultry, heavy breaths. I watched as I collapsed onto my computer table and began to shake.
”I don’t have many more of these charms that I took from our family shrine left… and I don’t have enough materials to make more… what am I going to do? Just keeping this thing in check with pure willpower is also going to be really tough…”
I chanted a short prayer, my voice still shaking a bit as if I was in pain.
”… Phew…”
I sounded relieved and lifted my head up, restoring my messed-up pajamas to their original state.
At the same time, the me in real life finally understood what was going on.
The G.o.d of my physical body, which I had nicknamed “sarcoma,” was sealed within my chest.
This was a G.o.d that had been trained by my real family.
I was currently in possession of the Supreme G.o.d’s power, and this sarcoma would hijack my body in emergency situations or when I lost conscousness. It was under orders to ensure the safety of my body.
Earlier, this sarcoma had acted without permission and caused all sorts or problems, so I had sealed it with a charm and rendered it powerless.
But, considering I had run away from home, there wasn’t a way for me to get new charms, and on the other hand I also didn’t have enough materials or know how to make more myself. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
At this rate, the sarcoma would revive, and then who knows what troubles that would bring.
”This thing is my own physical body, so it’s probably going to be hard to just cut off this sarcoma… and it looks like I won’t be able to seal him too much longer… what should I do?”
The me on screen was muttering to herself.
”Well, whatever. I’m tired, so I should sleep… hmm?”
I seemed to have sensed that something was off, and suddenly faced the camera with a serious expression on my face. In other words, I was now looking in the direction of my brother who was all hot and bothered and doing a Hindu squat on the other side of the door.
”……?”
Bam! I threw my door open with all my might and looked around.
But, right before that happened, my brother had retracted the camera and crawled up along the walls, finally sticking to the ceiling. He killed his own breathing to escape detection.
How the h.e.l.l could he move like that? G.o.d, that was disgusting.
”Maybe… it was my imagination…”
I didn’t notice that my brother was right above me, and slowly walked back into my room.
I finally turned off the lights, and my house settled into a state of quiet calm.
”Fufu… fufufu…”
On the other hand, my brother stayed stuck to the walls, silently opening my door and slithering in. Once he got close enough, he pointed his camera at me.
”Fufufu… this is what Sasami-san looks like when she’s sleeping…!”
This fan service scene (for my brother, at least) continued for a while longer, displaying only a close-up of my angelic face while my brother continued his gross mumblings.
That good-for-nothing commercial (?) came to a close, and the scene cut to black.
Whether I took a bath or did something else, enough time had pa.s.sed that I probably had already finished whatever I was doing and had left the bathhouse.
”Too much time pa.s.sed… it was the long-awaited bath scene too…”
Tsurugi knit her pretty eyebrows in displeasure, a look of frustration on her face.
”H-Huh? Did the camera break? Nothing’s showing on screen.”
Just as Tsurugi said, even though whatever Camera Two was filming should’ve been showing up on screen, all we saw was pitch black.
I couldn’t hear anything either… had Kagami turned the camera off?
”Maybe I should give her a call…”
Tsurugi took out her cell phone and pushed a few b.u.t.tons with her small fingers.
RRRRRRRRRR (that’s the ringtone).
”… Hey, h.e.l.lo? Kagami? What’s wrong? Something happen?”
It seemed that Kagami had picked up on the other side. Tsurugi had a hint of worry in her voice.
Kagami probably picked that time to turn the camera on again, and the display came back to life.
She was still in the bathhouse.
”Stop. Talking. You. Are. Very. Annoying.”
Kagami sounded three times as lazy and grumpy as she usually did.
The camera shook violently and soon was showing Kagami herself.
”Funyaa. I’m finally feeling comfortable, so can you please not interrupt?”
It seemed Kagami had also taken a bath. Her skin looked silky smooth from just getting out of the hot water, and she was now donning a yukata. (2)
Maybe she was trying to cool down, but she had a fan in one hand, and a can of iced coffee by her side.
Gnnngnngnn…
I thought I heard a weird sound, but then realized that Kagami was sitting in a ma.s.sage chair.
She had settled into that position pretty well. She didn’t look in the least bit ready to move, and also seemed pretty sleepy… actually, she looked half-asleep.
”If you want to know about Sasami-san, then she didn’t even really take a bath… she just went off somewhere. Unfortunately, it seems that this is as far as I’ll get… ahhhh, this is wonderful… ma.s.sages… makes you realize how ridiculous it is to be busy all the time…”
After she had taken a bath and fallen prey to the ma.s.sage chair, Kagami seemed like she really couldn’t be bothered to follow me anymore.
Of course, Tsurugi wasn’t happy with this.
”You idiot! Don’t take a break and chase after her! Are you not listening to your older sister?! Did you forget the debt you owe me?! Your older sister loved you so much that she had lots of fun scheming about fun baby-play we could do! I could change your diapers, you could suck on a pacifier…”
”I have no idea what you’re talking about. You huge pervert.”
”Call me more names!!”
Tsurugi’s breathing grew erratic as she listened to the abuse her little sister was hurling at her, but she seemed to realize that she was wasting time and began to put on the clothes that she had stripped off and flung away earlier.
”I guess it can’t be helped… it was my fault for leaving this up to my little sisters! We’re going to go too, Tsukuyomi! She’s still in the neighborhood, so if we hurry we can catch her! Hey, Kagami, can you at least help out by navigating for us?”
”Zzzz… zzz…”
Kagami had fallen asleep.
Geez, she really had just gotten extremely tired of everything…
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
(1) A direct reference to a doc.u.mentary TV program, “sono toki rekishi ga ugoita!” which literally translates to “at that time, history moved.”
(2) j.a.panese traditional wear.