After school, Aaron's friends would always go to the arcade and blow what little money they had. It had become a tradition. Another tradition was for Aaron to leave and go straight home. Kasumi thought he needed to be more sociable, but he enjoyed spending time at home. Besides, he didn't want to show his friends that something was bothering him. She could understand why.
At the moment, she was standing at the top of a building, observing the city below as she thought back to the conversation they'd had this morning.
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As they ate their breakfast, Kasumi could see the scowl on his friend and master's face as he stared at his phone.
"Is everything all right?" She asked to start the conversation.
"Not really." Aaron sighed, taking a sip of water. "I haven't been able to reach my father since I received the Chimera Driver. It's got me worried."
"Aren't you going to ask your mother and sisters if they've heard anything?"
"I don't know if they've found out either. And if they haven't, I don't want to worry them." Aaron replied, before glancing back at Kasumi. "And you, are you sure everything's all right?"
"Uh, y-yes. Why?" Kasumi asked, stammering a little.
"No reason. You seem to be trying to distract yourself from something." Aaron replied.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Kasumi refuted.
"Then why are you squeezing a stress ball?" the boy asked with a wry smile.
Kasumi then looked at one of her hands and saw that she was unconsciously using a stress ball she'd found during the night.
This made her blush and look away, not wanting to meet his gaze, a man's, with everything she was feeling right now.
"Y-yes. It's all good."
"Okay." Aaron nodded without quite believing it. "But don't forget, if you need help I'm here. We're a team now."
"Yes. A team." Kasumi muttered sadly.
But she didn't want to tell him. She didn't want to worry him or frighten him. She didn't want... her instincts to make him run away, or worse.
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It was a miracle she'd been able to contain herself without it showing too much during class. The more time passed, the more she felt the demon's desire for her. She knew how to calm them. But she was too afraid of what that meant.
She was too afraid that if she gave in... she'd go back to being what she was.
"So, how are you?"
This voice startled Kasumi, who stood up and quickly took his distance while still in fighting stance, while Ayane also stood on the roof of the building.
"Calm down, I'm not here to fight you. If I wanted to, I'd have attacked you and taken you by surprise a lot sooner." She said without really taking her half-sister's attitude seriously.
" I find that hard to believe." Kasumi retorted.
"Oh, can you move on?" Ayane asked in exasperation. "I tracked you down when you were a fugitive for our clan. Then you and Momiji hunted me down before apprehending me and torturing me psychologically and sexually after the demon conquest. And finally I hunted you down when you wanted to leave this army, and we're in a very different world today. Don't you think it's a good way to start all over again?"
"What do you mean?"
Ayane raised her eyes to the sky and simply pointed to the city with her hand.
"Look at all this. All this city and what it has to offer. We could do whatever we wanted, have fun with whoever we wanted. Sow chaos and simply have fun." Ayane proposed.
"After I pull myself together, do you want me to go back to being as corrupt as you are now?" Kasumi growled.
"I just want to have fun with my sister. Is that so bad?" Ayane asked, pouting before taking on a serious air again. "But seriously, don't you miss just enjoying your abilities without having to hide and do whatever you want?"
"Not in the least." Kasumi retorted.
"I see." Ayane sighed, disappointed. "I'd hoped you'd be more receptive. I wonder if the boy you're staying with will be more receptive than you."
This threat brought the Kunoichi off her feet, and she tackled Ayane against the building's ventilation system.
"Well, well, well! Looks like I've touched a nerve... like you did with me shortly after you took me prisoner." Taunted the lavender-haired girl.
"If you touch my master, I'll kill you." Kasumi growled.
"Your master?" Ayane asked before laughing as she realized what she meant. "You swore an oath to him! Now that's the best!"
Then she regained her seriousness, as she observed something else in her sister. And this second realization made her smile in turn.
"How long has it been since you've done it?"
"None of your business." Kasumi growled.
"I know. But how long do you think you'll last?" Ayane asked as she freed herself and in turn stashed Kasumi against the building's ventilation system. "We may still be human. But let's face it, soon that part of you won't be able to hold out any longer. It won't be able to wait. And when it does, you'll end up doing to her what you did to Hayate."
Kasumi simply looked at his half-sister angrily in response.
"At least now I'm not afraid to face up to that part of myself. My transformation also allowed me to assume this part of myself. If only you'd face up to what you've become instead of running away from it, pretending to be a Kunoichi on the run like you were back then."
Ayane then let go of her sister and approached the edge of the building.
"You know what you have to do if you don't want to hurt him, big sister." she said, before jumping up and disappearing into the city.
Kasumi remained where she was, staring at the ground. She knew Ayane was right, but she refused to admit it. She'd run away from this life, not for nothing.
But... she was still afraid. Afraid of cracking. Afraid of... hurting Aaron in the same way she'd hurt her older brother when she was still under the control of the Regent in the Mask.
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Aaron rummaged in his pockets for his keys as he heard from his neighbor's doorway moans of pleasure coming from two women.
"Damn. She can't wait to go to her club, it's getting serious. She really needs to find someone." He growled as he took out his keys and opened the door.
As he crossed the living room to the kitchen, he was astonished to see that Kasumi hadn't followed him. This surprised him, as she always made sure to let him know if she wasn't back before him for any reason.
He looked at his phone, in case she'd texted him, but nothing. He was starting to get really worried about her when suddenly.
"Are you okay?"
Aaron almost jumped when the voice came from the open door. Kasumi, disguised as Houko, stood there, looking neutral.
"Uh... yes, yes. I'm fine." He replied with some hesitation.
Kasumi quickly noticed the lie and moved closer to him.
As she stepped forward, Aaron stepped back, worried by Kasumi's intentions and not really wanting to show that his lateness was the reason for the concern.
He didn't want to come across as controlling, let alone isolate Kasumi after what she'd been through. He wanted her, even if she was technically his bodyguard, to take some time for herself and really rebuild.
But her maneuvering stopped when he found himself up against the fridge, unable to move back any further.
When she was really close to him, she placed the tip of her index finger on his chest. A gesture that made him blush.
"Hmm." Kasumi groaned as she flashed a seductive smile while her eyes flushed red before gently running her finger down his chest. "Does what we hear at the neighbor's make any impression on you?"
Her bold statement and gesture made Aaron blush even more, and he tried to say something, but could only stammer. This made Kasumi chuckle as she brought her mouth close to her "master's" ear.
"I must admit..." She paused as her eyes returned to amber and she realized what she was about to do.
She gasped and stepped back nervously.
"I... I'm sorry!" She said before running out of the kitchen and into the bedroom where she was sleeping, leaving Aaron perplexed and confused.
Inside the room, Kasumi was curled up against the door, his knees bent against his head.
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The next day, Aaron waited until lunchtime to leave the course and escape behind the shed used to store the baseball club's equipment. He made sure he wasn't followed, even though he'd learned that if Kasumi wanted to find him, she would, wherever he was hiding.
He'd already accepted the girl's inescapable surveillance, but that didn't stop him from trying to escape her from time to time. Especially if he wanted to talk about what had happened yesterday.
Which was exactly what he wanted to do as he called Ryo to explain the situation and ask for his advice.
"Seriously?" Ryo asked, shocked. "Did she really almost initiate a sexual relationship with you because she heard your neighbor screwing so loudly that her moans could be heard outside her apartment?"
"That's exactly what happened, man." Aaron replied. "After that, she stayed locked in her room all evening. Even to eat, I had to drop a tray outside her door."
There was a sigh on the other end.
"Why did she do that? Did you say she was ugly or something?" Ryo asked.
"No! I didn't even have time to get over the surprise and shock of something so sudden that she ran straight into her room." Aaron replied, exasperated.
"And she hasn't seemed strange lately?" Ryo asked, seeking more details to help his friend.
"In fact, the day after Wakana's arrest, she already seemed to have something wrong with her. She seemed elsewhere, and the more time passed, the worse it got. Any idea why?" Aaron asked.
"Well... she told you that they changed her into something else, that she ended up indulging in it until she found her wits and ran away. And after you found her and 'treated her like a human being for the first time', she pledged her loyalty to you. Is that it?" Ryo asked.
"Uh yes... she seemed quite traumatized about her past." Aaron confirmed.
"... given that she seems to have sought intimacy, do you really want me to draw you a picture of what torture she must have gone through to the point of losing her mind?" Ryo asked.
"I don't know, do you have anything to draw?" Aaron retorted. "Say it, damn it!"
"She must have been drugged and raped until she became a sex slave." Ryo replied as if it were obviously shocking Aaron. "And what's happening right now is that it's catching up with her. Her body is crying out to be taken, used to everything she's been through. She's holding back as best she can, but now she's becoming a real pressure cooker. She's about to crack, and not only doesn't she want to, she probably doesn't want to put you through it either. And living with a boy and next to a nympho doesn't help."
There was then a brief moment of silence where Aaron remained mute, assimilating this new information.
"...Are you there, man?" Ryo asked as his friend's lack of response worried him.
"You're not saying that Kasumi is..." Aaron asked, trying to deny it as much as he could.
"Horny, horny, doggy, sex-starved." Said Ryo, finding every synonym he could. "Yes, that's what I mean."
"But... but what can I do to help?" Aaron asked, as panic set in.
"I think you've got a pretty good idea of what to do." Ryo replied.
"No! Not like that. After what she's been through, even more so if that's what it is, I refuse." Said the Kamen Rider in civilian clothes.
"Well then, I don't know. We're too young to buy sex toys, so you won't be able to buy her one to relieve herself. So, either she'll have to find someone to do it, or you'll have to sacrifice yourself for the good cause, buddy." Ryo explained. "Look, you're practically the only positive thing that's happened to her in months. If she really wants it, agree to do her this favor. You never know, you might make a nice couple."
Aaron sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"I really hope you don't ruin anything." He said. "And if anything goes wrong, I promise I'll show up at your house and throw you out the window."
"Roger that." Said Ryo before hanging up.
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When the call was over, Ryo put the phone down on his dining room table and sighed.
"I didn't expect you to ask me to play matchmaker for her." He said to the person sitting on the other side of the table: Ayane.
"Well, after tormenting her a bit, I figured it wouldn't hurt to reward her a little for holding out so long." Ayane smiled before taking a sip from her cup of tea. "Her neighbor's very talented, by the way."
"Told you." Ryo smiled as he read something on a sheet of paper.
"Well?" Ayane asked, curious.
"I think we've got a good customer." Ryo smiled as he looked at a briefcase full of Vistamp with the Vistamp used by the one who had subdued the gangs next to it.
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As night fell, after spending hours in the room, once again dodging her duty to protect Aaron from his impulses, Kasumi left the room, thinking he was asleep, to make herself a sandwich to make up for the evening meal she'd missed.
"Kasumi."
"Hip!" Kasumi groaned in surprise before turning to see Aaron from behind her, his body slightly tense with apprehension.
She cursed herself inwardly for letting her guard down and not checking he was in his room first.
"Sorry." He apologized, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I... I wanted to talk to you about what's going on right now."
"T-there's nothing going on." Nia Kasumi looked away.
"Don't lie, please. Since what happened with Wakana you've been avoiding me when we're at home, you hardly come out of your room, you hardly talk to me. And you practically tried to hit on me yesterday." Enumerated Aaron, increasingly desperate not to really know what was going on. "You worry me, Kasumi. What's the matter with you?"
Kasumi hesitated to answer him, she was too afraid he'd reject her. But her back was against the wall. Her oath obliged her to answer him, especially if his concern for her was really eating away at him.
"Do... do you remember what I told you about running away?" She asked, before getting more specific. "About my capture, and... what was done with me."
"Yes." Aaron nodded, restraining himself from demanding to know more, not wanting to rush Kasumi.
"It's... much truer than you might think... I... I was raped beyond belief." she confessed.
This shocked Aaron, because it validated part of Ryo's theory.
"But there's more to it than that." She continued, turning to him with her eyes closed. "Whoever ordered my capture, as well as all the services I underwent, changed me into... a sex demon." she revealed, revealing her red eyes to Aaron, who flinched as he saw his friend's eyes change color. "After that, I was one of his commanders, carrying out various missions for him. Including capturing two other girls and giving them the same treatment I'd had, only worse. And I succeeded in both missions, turning a friend and my half-sister into a sex demon and a docile slave."
Her body began to tremble.
"When I was part of this man's army, me and the other two girls had daily orgies with men and demons to calm our urges and satisfy his army. But since I ran away, for fear of going back to what I was before I ran away, I haven't done it anymore... and it's getting harder and harder to resist." She said as tears threatened to well up in her eyes.
"Oh, Kasumi... I..." Aaron said, feeling for his friend and taking a step forward to comfort her.
But then she backed away, not out of fear toward him, but what she might do to him if she snapped and he got too close to her.
"Don't come any closer!" she sobbed. "I don't want to... I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't hurt me, Kasumi." Said Aaron in a comforting voice. "I want to help you."
He moved slowly towards her, and instead of protesting, she looked away. No longer daring to look at him, she thought that not seeing him would calm her growing urges, already on the verge of explosion.
It was then that Aaron got close enough and embraced Kasumi, surprising her.
"Aaron, don't..." she begged. "I... I don't want to go back to what I was."
"I told you, nah. We're a team." Aaron reminded her, surprising her as he blushed a little thinking about what he was going to say. "We can... we can be more if you want. I don't mind... I don't want you to suffer, Kasumi. I'm ready to help you in any way I can to make you feel better... I... I love you." He confessed, without thinking about whether this statement was real or not. All he wanted was for her to be well.
This statement made Kasumi's eyes widen as she finally decided to really look at him despite her reluctance.
"Aaron..."
Then he kissed her. She was taken by surprise and struggled a little. But she gave in to the kiss. Then they separated to breathe.
The Kunoichi's face turned red, as did that of the Kamen Rider. Then she kissed him again, but this time she wrapped her arms around his neck.
" ... Aaron." She said once the kiss was broken as they looked at each other. "Don't... Don't leave me... I don't want to lose you." She begged.
Aaron nodded, noticing that Kasumi's face was blushing again. She then began to unbutton his shirt, exposing herself to him. He tried not to look, but she grabbed his shirt and pulled it off. She then pressed her chest against his and kissed him again, embracing him.
As they kissed, they made their way to Aaron's bed, on which they leaned, still entwined. Aaron was trying to be gentle with her. She wanted to go further, so she removed her underwear, exposing herself fully to the young man.
He looked away, but she moved her head so that he was looking into her eyes. She took his hand and placed it on her breast. Kasumi kissed her again, but it was as if she was groping him. He knew this was a special moment, but he didn't feel right taking advantage of her like this.
He didn't want to take advantage of the situation any more than she did. He wanted her to feel what it meant to be loved. Then they lay down on her bed and Kasumi let her desire for him flow out of her. She wanted him to hold her, to kiss her, to take care of her as if she were the only girl who mattered. And so he did.
It wasn't like what she'd experienced before she met him. He was gentle, tender. He didn't make her feel like a tool to satisfy her desires. He made her feel... loved.
After this romantic moment, they lay against each other and kissed. She ran her hand over his face and he felt her beautiful chestnut hair. She smiled at him, more satisfied than she'd ever been before, and told him just one thing before falling asleep.
"I love you, Aaron."