Chapter One: Sakurahata

Four years later…

Shinsei stepped off the bus and immediately took a long breath of the fresh afternoon air. This was it; this was where his new life began. After thanking the driver and pulling his luggage off with him, he fished his tab out of his pocket. The rectangular handheld device had a glass-like screen illuminated with illusory magic and that was just about all the young man understood about the piece of magitech. He, like most people in modern society, enjoyed the convenience of magic without really understanding it.

What he did know was that his girlfriend had sent a map to the boarding house on the device, and he needed it. As the bus rumbled away, he scratched his head and fumbled through the display until he found it, then smiled when he saw the little flower Chie had drawn overtop his destination on the map, as well as the cutesy chubby little arrows indicating his route from the bus stop.

He remembered the conversation he’d had the night before with her over video chat. She had insisted on meeting him at the bus stop, but he argued that he would internalize the directions better if he tried to find his way on his own. The boarding house didn’t look very far from here, but he had grown up in the big city and this was Juhiro’s countryside, he was totally out of his element.

Still, the scenery was beautiful. Rolling green hills of grass dotted with quaint cottages and trees, mostly sakura trees which, sadly, were out of bloom now that summer was on its way. Shinsei would have loved to see what this place was like in the early spring. With a name like Sakurahata, the town had to be a sight to behold.

He began his trek along the sidewalk, taking in the scenery as he went. He wasn’t used to this much green and this much space between buildings. He was conflicted because it looked very idyllic and pleasant but was also giving him a general feeling of unease. It had been a long time since he’d been in such a wide-open space, not since he was a child now that he thought about it.

The carefully dictated path on his map was leading him into a slightly denser thicket of trees resting against a hillside, and eventually he had to climb a cobble path winding up that hill. It was rocky but pretty, and beds of flowers lined the path providing pleasant smells on his journey. Using his trusty camera, he snapped a few photos along the way, already thinking of starting a gallery in his computer dedicated to Sakurahata and its natural beauty. Eventually he reached a sign that read:

Hatamori Boarding House and Natural Hot Spring

Under it there was an arrow pointed in the direction he was going, and something else in smaller text:

Home of the Ever-Blooming Wisteria
Tourists and pilgrims welcome!

“Ever-blooming wisteria?” Shinsei wondered aloud. He’d never heard of anything like that before, but it sounded interesting. In fact, it piqued the very sense of adventure and wonder that brought him to the countryside in the first place. Despite the hike having already drained the nonathletic young man, his curiosity over the tree gave him a second wind, and he continued on his way to the boarding house.

He was excited but anxious. He’d gone on many dates with Chie over the past six months and was pretty sure she was something special to him, but he wondered if it was all moving too fast. He was about to move in with her. Then again, she lived in a boarding house owned by her aunt, so they’d probably have separate rooms. Most places like that had strict rules about romantic endeavors unless all parties involved were married. He hoped things wouldn’t be too awkward.

Finally, his tired legs carried him to the top of the hill. The cobble path extended some ways into the distance from here, but he could now see the boarding house up ahead. Much like the rest of the town, it had very traditional architecture and was fairly well-maintained but also gave a very rustic feeling. The fact that it was surrounded by trees and the buzzing cries of cicadas reminded Shinsei of the times he would stay at his father’s dojo during his summers when school was out.

The feeling of nostalgia was so strong that he couldn’t help himself, he grabbed his camera and took a few photos of the boarding house and the surrounding scenery.

The feeling of anxiety was welling up even more as he approached the entrance. A brief thought entertained the idea of turning around and just going back home. Maybe this was all a bad idea, it was certainly a little impulsive, he’d given up a lot.

He took a deep breath. No, it wasn’t impulsive. He’d thought long and hard about this, he had to stick to his guns. Before giving himself an opportunity to doubt himself yet again, he stepped in front of the entrance. His finger sank into the doorbell, and he heard a sound echo through the building behind the door. His mind was rushing through all the possible scenarios, what if some other resident answered the door rather than Chie? Should he have sent her a message telling her he was here? More importantly, why was he so nervous right now?

The door swung open, and it wasn’t his girlfriend who answered. This woman was pretty, for sure, with long silvery hair and lilac-colored eyes with porcelain-pale flawless skin; but it wasn’t Chie.

“What do you want?” she asked in an annoyed tone as she cooled herself with a paper fan. Shinsei didn’t think it was all that hot out yet, but she was standing there sweating in a pair of fitness shorts and a loose crop-top.

“Uh, hello,” Shinsei bowed. “My name is Akatsuki Shinsei, I’m the new tenant, starting today.”

The woman raised an eyebrow, “You?” Then she sized him up, eyes rolling up and down his frame.

He shifted his weight uncomfortably, “Uh, yeah. Are you the landlady?”

She huffed, “No. Wait, you’re seriously Chie-chan’s—”

“Yuu-chan,” before she could finish, someone slid behind her, a pair of slender feminine hands appeared at the silver-haired woman’s thin waist, caressing it sensually and gradually moving up under her crop-top. “Who’s there?” the newcomer asked.

“Reiko-san!” the slender, sweaty lady’s face turned red with anger, and she swiftly wrested herself from the wandering hands of this new person and swiped at her with the fan.

The other girl fluidly ducked under the sudden attack, and before Shinsei could even react, she was right in front of him. Her face had a distinctive sharpness and her expression sat comfortably in a realm between mischief and contentment. It reminded the young man of a fox basking in the warm sun. She was very pretty, and if he was a slightly more impulsive individual, he might have snapped a picture of her right then and there. He knew better, though, he shouldn’t do that sort of thing without asking first.

“Fine, you can deal with him,” the sweaty silver-haired woman said, walking away from the front door.

The new girl’s face suddenly changed to one of puzzlement, “Wait a sec’, I’ve seen you before. You’re Chichi’s BF aren’tcha?” She grinned.

“Uh, yeah, Akatsuki Shinsei, nice to meet you.”

Her demeanor shifted, going from curious to delighted, “Oh wow! I’m so glad to finally meet you in person. Chichi talks about you all the time.”

Shinsei felt disadvantaged here, she was referring to his girlfriend so casually so they must have been close, but he had no idea who she might have been.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Hatamori Reiko, Chichi’s big sis. Feel free to call me Reiko,” she held out a hand to shake and Shinsei took it. Now that he was paying attention to the finer details in the woman’s face, he could definitely see some similarities with Chie. He was kicking himself for not realizing it sooner, he had completely forgotten that Chie had a sister.

“Are you another tenant here?”

“Yeah, c’mon, I’ll show you around.” Reiko rather brazenly took him by the hand and began tugging him along into the boarding house. “The ice queen that answered the door was Mochizuki Yuui, by the way, and this whole place is owned by my aunt, Hatamori Setsuka.”

“Does anyone else live here?” Shinsei asked.

Reiko nodded, “Just you now. Someone else is supposed to be moving in within a couple days, but I don’t know much about that,” she shrugged dismissively. “Anyway, I bet you really wanna see Chichi, huh?”

“That would be nice, yeah,” Shinsei replied, truthfully being really lovesick and almost to see his girlfriend by now. Their last in-person date was quite a long while ago and exchanging messages and vids between their tabs only went so far. Part of the reason he’d come out here was so that he didn’t have to suffer through the long-distance relationship anymore.

She led him down one of the well-maintained and tidy hallways of the boarding house, deeper into the building. The neatness was promising, seemed like the landlady took good care of this place. It also had a nice esthetic, borrowing elements from traditional Juhiro architecture and mixing it with modern day amenities. The light fixtures, for instance, were clearly powered by magic but still had the appearance of old-timey lanterns.

Eventually, Reiko led Shinsei up a small flight of stairs up to the second floor. In the short hallway he could see four doors, each one with a name plate on it. The first on the left held a name the young man recognized all too well:

畑森弛懷 (はたもりちエ)

Hatamori Chie, his girlfriend. It was finally happening; he was going to be reunited and he was going to start living with the love of his life. His heart swelled but now the anxiety was in full . It took him far too long to realize he was just standing there, staring at the door without doing anything, and he only noticed because Reiko began waving her hand in front of his face.

“Hello Shinchi? How’s Juhiro look way up in those clouds?”

He started and laughed nervously, “Right, sorry.” Then he lifted his hand and gingerly knocked on the door.

“Come in!” There it was, music to his ears. The happy and carefree tone that could sunder the clouds and turn a rainy day into clear blue skies. It gave him resolve and dispelled his nervousness like a ray or sunshine cast into a gloomy room.

He turned the knob and opened the door. What he saw upon entering was largely exactly what he expected to see. A bed in the corner, stacked high with a mountain of animal plushies—mostly cats—with more of the same covering nearly every open surface. Walls and decorations colored in various shades of pink and seafoam green, her favorites. A cozy desk covered in eraser shavings, drawing tools, and a sketchbook sitting proudly on display. In the center of the room, a comfortable-looking rug in the shape of a cartoon cat face and a sea of throw pillows atop it.

Also atop these pillows was Chie herself. Her long, golden blonde hair pulled into a pair of petite twin-tails while the rest of it cascaded loosely over her back and shoulders. She was laying on her belly, her green eyes locked on the pages of a manga which, in itself wasn’t all that surprising; she had shelves and shelves of evidence displaying her love of comics. The part Shinsei wasn’t expecting was that she was completely and shamelessly nude.

When she finally pulled her eyes away from the pages of her book and looked at who had entered, Shinsei prepared himself for her to gasp and try to cover herself, possibly turn red and scream. This did not happen, her eyes went wide, sure, but she smiled and immediately leapt to her feet.

“Sei-kun!” she exclaimed and tackled him, with no care given to her lack of clothing nor the massive size of her melons. This sudden gesture would have toppled him, but it seemed Reiko had his back quite literally. Thanks to this, he received all the benefits of a face full of impossibly soft, bare breasts without the concussion of slamming the back of his head against the opposite door.

“Mff—!”

“You’re here, Sei-kun! I missed you so much!”

“Mf hmmf,” Shinsei tried to communicate that he felt the same, but the boobs were too powerful.

“Classic little sis,” Reiko laughed. “Now you know why I call her ‘Chichi’.”

Given that “chichi” was common Juhira slang for “boobs”, the comparison was definitely not lost on him. The implication that her nudity was not rare was also not lost on him, and frankly went a long way to explain the sort of clothing she’d worn on their previous dates. It wasn’t that she always wore tops to show off her considerable “assets”, more that she seemed to not give them much thought at all. Apparently, this was because she spent most of the time going without them.

Finally, Chie slipped down from his arms, though, allowing him the mercy to breathe again. He decided to clarify his suspicion, though, mostly because he was a young man and couldn’t help but dwell on it, “You know you’re naked, right?”

Chie poked a finger against her lip, “Yeah, is that okay?” she asked, genuine concern in her tone.

Reiko didn’t give Shinsei the opportunity to answer, immediately sliding behind her younger sister and taking both of her jiggly orbs into her hands and squeezing them playfully, “Chichi, what have I told you? You should always be proud of your body. Besides, I can tell that Shinchi here doesn’t disagree one bit, judging by the state of his waistband.”

Chie began to look down, but thinking fast, Shinsei grabbed her cheeks and pulled her gaze back up. “That’s fine! She’s right! It’s great! I love it!” he exclaimed in a panic.

His girlfriend tilted her head a moment, but then giggled and smiled, “Okay!”

Reiko gave Chie’s boobs another few squeezes before stepping aside, “You two should catch up. I’ll message Auntie Setsuka and let her know you’re here, Shinchi. “Oh, that reminds me,” Reiko removed her tab from her pocket and proceeded to trade her ID number with Shinsei, and they added each other as contacts. “This was a long time coming; you’re dating my sister, after all.”

“Right.” Shinsei thanked the older sister and mused at how interesting she was. Nice, and pretty cool, but he wasn’t dense and knew it wasn’t exactly normal for older sisters to fondle their younger siblings, even as a joke. Maybe she was a siscon? If she was, Chie didn’t seem to mind. Maybe it was something to bring up later, but not right now.

He stepped into Chie’s room with her. Excited and clearly happy, Chie led him by the arm to her bed and had him sit down. She wasted no time hugging his arm and snuggling into him. This activity wouldn’t have been all that significant, they’d cuddled like this on their last few dates, but the fact that Chie was naked made the situation a little different. He tried his best not to stare; this was his first time seeing her like this.

He felt her poking his cheek, “Sei-kun, you’re so tense. Are you okay?”

There were a couple ways he could approach this topic, but in his experience, honesty was the best policy when it came to Chie. Even if she disliked his honest thoughts, she never expressed it in a way that made him feel bad.

“It’s just, uh, I had no idea you were so… um… free at home.”

Her head tilted; his allusion clearly being lost on her.

“The clothes… or lack of,” he clarified. “Again, I don’t have a problem with it, I just have no idea where I should be looking.”

“Oh!” Chie straightened up as though she understood, then stood up and skipped over to her dresser. She opened a drawer and fumbled around for a few seconds before removing a teal pair of panties. Without delay, she slipped one foot into the garment, then the other, and then pulled it up with her thumbs. When she let go of the elastic and let it slap against her hips, she stood proudly with her arms akimbo, “There! Now I’m not naked.”

A silence fell in the room as Shinsei processed that. “Uh, I mean, I guess that’s true. It didn’t really solve the problem of, um, where to look, though.” And even as he said this, his eyes kept glancing down at her bare breasts and the cute, fluffy pink nipples that topped them.

She smiled and giggled, “it’s okay. You’re my Sei-kun, so you can look as much as you want.” This statement was like an injection of pure serotonin directly into his heart. “I love you!” she announced sweetly and then practically tackled him again as she returned to her spot beside him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

And now Shinsei felt as though he were melting, “I love you too, and thank you.” He clapped his hands together and bowed in her direction. Though admittedly, even he wasn’t sure if he was thanking her or thanking the gods for this blessing.

She laughed at his overreaction then explained, “I’m just comfier this way when I’m by myself.”

“You’re not by yourself,” Shinsei pointed out.

“You don’t count. You’re the most wonderful person in the world.” She was quiet for a moment, and Shinsei looked down at her to find her eyes watering a bit.

“Whoa, hey,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and hugging her, “what’s wrong?”

She shook her head, “I’m so happy but…” she whimpered, “I’m sorry, Sei-kun.”

He almost asked “what for”, but then realized he likely knew the reason, at least from her perspective.

“It’s not fair that I made you move so far away from your home.”

He shook his head, “C’mon, that’s not how I see it.”

“But your job—”

“—Was worth quitting,” Shinsei interrupted. “A lot more went into my decision than just the fact that you didn’t want to move.”

Chie peered up at him, brilliant green eyes sparkling with curiosity, “Like what?”

Shinsei didn’t really want to go into it, but he recognized that she wasn’t likely to believe what he was saying unless she had more to sink her teeth into. He knew this was a major step in their relationship, at the very least he needed to tell her to establish a foundation of trust and honesty.

“Well, after we had that conversation about moving in, I realized that there wasn’t a whole lot keeping me where I was. My job was nice but it was just an office desk-job. Nothing special. Secure, but what else?

“I’ve never really been one to have my head up in my clouds. Growing up, and in school, I didn’t have a goal in life, I didn’t have any dreams to speak of. That led me to the job I had, and a general sense of dissatisfaction. I have this camera, and I like taking photos, but I don’t know if I want that to be a career or just a hobby. I don’t even really know what a career with this thing would even be like.

“So, after a lot of careful thinking, I decided that moving out here to Sakurahata would at least allow me the opportunity to get a fresh new start. This place is beautiful and you’re here making it even more beautiful.”

Chie giggled at the compliment and gave him another smooch on the cheek.

“All in all, this is a great place to find a dream to pursue, and that’s my goal now.” He paused and looked out of the window, smiling thoughtfully and squeezing Chie’s hand in his, “It’s a great place to start a new chapter in my life.”