Chapter 4

Monday Night, April 20th

Talking to my sister could be a lot like having an out of body experience. I wanted to eat dinner as quickly as possible so I could investigate the book I'd found. Yukiko demanded that I eat slowly, however, because this was the only time of the day that we really had a chance to talk to each other. After dinner, we would be busy and distracted by school work or television, or just the household chores that never seemed to get done.

" ... and the next thing I know, he's got his hand under my skirt and I'm trying to act like nothing is going on, but he's pushing my thighs apart and ... What?"

Yukiko narrowed her blue eyes and smiled. She'd been holding her chopsticks in front of her nose for five minutes at least, using them to jab the air when she wanted to punctuate her story.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked. " I don't want to hear about how you got molested on the train!"

"I wasn't molested!" she protested. "I had my panties on the whole time."

"Is that the same guy as last week?"

"I don't know," she said, giggling. "I didn't want to see him. That would have totally ruined it."

"Ruined what?" I shook my head. "Why don't you get a real boyfriend?"

"They're too clingy." Yukiko made a face. "It's more exciting this way."

"You're going to get raped someday," I predicted around a mouthful of rice.

"Do you think so?" she asked, and then shrugged. "That would be okay. As long as it's on the train, it isn't serious."

I blinked at her. "Huh?"

"No strings attached. I wouldn't even have to see his face, just bend over and..." She finally caught the look on my face. "Taki! Oh my God! I'm kidding!"

"You'd better be," I said. "I don't want a nymphomaniac for a sister."

"What's wrong?" she wondered. "Usually you think it's funny when I tease you."

"You never told me you wanted to be raped before."

"Well, I don't want that!" Yukiko snorted. "It's just a fantasy. It's very common, you know. All of my friends want to try it."

"All of your friends are idiots, remember?"

"Yeah." She giggled, trying to look contrite. "I'm sorry, little brother. I'll be nice from now on."

"Right!" As if I'd believe that. She wasn't really my sister, just my first cousin, but that was a very moot point given how close we were.

Yukiko had been four years old when she'd come to live with us. I'd been a baby, not even out of diapers at the time. She'd grown up teasing me and cherished her role as my older sister. I only wished she wouldn't rub her sexuality in my face all the time. Mostly it happened by accident, but once in awhile Yukiko would be more deliberate. Like telling me about a stranger feeling her up on a crowded train. She only wanted to see some taboo interest in my reaction and then pretend to be outraged by my perverse desires.

I could control myself pretty well though. Yukiko was a very attractive woman, no doubt, but she was my sister as well. I'd long since learned to ignore her generous breasts, long legs, and pretty face. She kept her black hair cut short in a careless shag that suited her personality. She had a free spirit and not very many inhibitions, at least not around the house our father paid for.

Even sitting at the dinner table, she insisted on showing off her tits beneath a thin hoody. The zipper was pulled nearly down to her belly-button. Yukiko didn't own a bra, or if she did, she didn't bother wearing it for me. I could see her nipples poking against the fleece and between them the open sweatshirt showed off every inch of her pale cleavage. I couldn't help but stare as a blob of yellow mustard dripped from her chicken and onto her left breast.

"Oops!" Yukiko grinned, scooping the mustard up with her finger. She offered it to me, pointing at my mouth with it. "Want some? It's spicy!"

"No thanks," I said, trying to look at anything other than the way she pursed her pink lips around her finger. She pumped it in and out of her mouth a few times, keeping her eyes on me all the while.

So much for playing nice, I thought.

"That reminds me," I said. "Mister Chimpee says hello. He asked me how you're doing."

"Who?" Yukiko tilted her head. "Oh! The vice-principal? What a pervert! What did you tell him?"

"I told him you're pregnant."

Her eyes grew wide. "You did not!"

"He looked shocked when I told him you don't know who the father is," I said, trying to look serious. "And now you're working as a prostitute so that you can afford an abortion."

"That's not funny," she said, frowning.

"Not part of the fantasy?" I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, I think he's got a thing for Miss Takashiro. You're probably safe."

"I hated that guy," she sighed. "I think they only made him the vice-principal because of the sex thing."

"What sex thing?"

"You never heard about that?" Yukiko asked. "Huh. It was a very popular topic when I was going to school there."

"That was three years ago," I reminded her. "What sex thing?"

"I dunno," she said. "Help me clean up."

"Wait a second," I protested. "Just tell me what you're talking about. All I know is that a lot of girls don't like him."

"I heard he raped a student," Yukiko said, gathering the dishes from the table. "It happened before I got there. Like ten years ago now or something."

"Really?" I frowned, remembering what the vice-principal had told me about raping Imari. I still couldn't believe that!

"It was just a rumor," my sister said, shrugging it off. "I never really believed it, you know."

"But that's why they made him the vice-principal?" I asked. "I don't get it. If he raped a girl..."

"He probably didn't," she told me. "The school wouldn't have kept him if the rumors were true. They made him vice-principal to prove his innocence."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It's politics, like a vote of confidence. Never mind," she sighed. "You wash and I'll dry."

"I hate washing dishes!"

"So do I, but it's your turn," Yukiko said. "Sorry, little brother. Life is fair sometimes."

"What about the Black Magic club," I tried. "You've heard of that, right?"

"Who hasn't?" she said, laughing. "That's another stupid rumor. Black magic in the basement? Demons killing coeds? It's a movie of the week."

"So you never believed any of it?"

"Why would I?"

"I don't know," I replied with a shrug. "Just wondered. This girl at school..."

"Is she cute?"

"Huh?" I frowned at Yukiko's smile. "Yeah. She's okay, I guess."

"She must be really hot!"

"Shut-up!"

"What's her name?"

"Saeki," I answered. "Look, she's hot, okay, but she's into this whole magic thing and..."

"You want to do her?" Yukiko interrupted.

"No!"

"I'll take that as a definite yes," she said with a giggle. "So, get interested in magic."

"Why?"

"So you can do her! God, Taki..." My sister made face. "Pay attention. You're never going to get laid."

"Like you would know anything?" I laughed at her. "All your boyfriends are one-stop stands! Ouch!"

Yukiko slapped me on the back of the neck for that joke. As everyone knew, she could dish it out, but the girl couldn't take it for very long. Sometimes, I decided, life wasn't fair.

"What about Imari?" she asked after a minute of silence. It wasn't easy to ignore each other standing side by side in our small kitchen.

"What about her?" I wondered. "She's fine."

"She's your girlfriend," Yukiko said, smiling once again.

"She is not!" I protested. "Why would you even say that?"

"Everyone knows," she said. "Childhood sweethearts and all that? You guys are famous in the neighborhood."

"You're crazy! Stop..." I held up my hand. "Don't hit me again. Imari was beating on me all day. I'm tired of it."

"She's afraid to kiss you," Yukiko said. "That's why she hits you all the time."

"Yeah? So what's your excuse?"

"What?" She blinked quickly and her cheeks flushed pink before she recovered a second later. "You're my brother. I don't need an excuse."

"That's a good excuse," I said. "And Imari isn't my girlfriend. Okay?"

"Whatever," Yukiko sang sweetly. She obviously didn't believe a word of it. What did I have to do to convince people that Imari and me were just friends?

I had to get back to the real subject before my sister became too busy with her studies to help me translate the book. Despite her reckless attitude, Yukiko took her responsibilities seriously, that included getting her graduate degree. After the dishes were done, she'd lock herself in her room with a big Do Not Disturb sign hanging from the door handle. She'd stolen it from somewhere, probably a love hotel in Shibuya, although I wouldn't say that to her face.

Anyway, I'd brought up Saeki not to talk about Imari, that would be stupid, but so I'd have a good excuse for having a book about magic. I just needed a plausible explanation and knowing how desperate I was for a real girlfriend, Yukiko bought it completely.

"So this girl let you borrow her book because you promised her you could translate it?"

"Uh-huh." I nodded.

"But you can't, so you want me to translate it for you," she continued. "What's in it for me?"

"I have to pay you?" I stared at her in disbelief.

"Not in money," Yukiko said. "I know you don't have any, so..."

"So what do you want?"

"Hmmmm..." Her head bobbled about as if she really had to think about it. "A massage."

"What?"

"Yeah," she said. "A real massage with oil and everything."

"But..."

"A long one too," she insisted. "If this book is as complicated as you say it is, I'm going to need a serious massage afterward."

"I've never given anyone a massage!" I said. "That's asking too much."

"Is it?" She smiled at me. "How badly do you want to impress this girl?"

I had to think about it. I wouldn't mind giving Yukiko a massage, that wasn't the point. I just didn't need all the teasing that would go with it. For all I knew, my sister would use it as an excuse to get naked or something. It was bad enough watching her parade around the house in her underwear sometimes. How could anyone be so shameless? Probably because she was my sister and nothing could happen between us. But a massage?

"Fine," I agreed. "I'll give you a massage..."

"Goody!" She clapped her hands.

" ... but only after you translate the whole book," I continued. "Deal?"

"Deal," she said. "Just don't try and weasel out of it. I want a real massage, don't forget."

"I won't forget," I promised, crossing my fingers under the soapy water.

"And if my translation gets you laid, you have to tell me everything."

"Everything?"

"All the juicy details," Yukiko said with a lascivious grin. She even wiggled her eyebrows.

"Whatever," I sighed. "Sure. But I don't think Saeki is that kind of girl."

"Yeah, she is."

"How would you know?"

"Because..." Yukiko shrugged. "We're all that kind of girl."

Fifteen minutes after that dubious observation, I sat in my bedroom looking at the black book. Yukiko wanted to take a bath first and I hoped she wouldn't be in there all night.

This was my first chance to study it under fluorescent lights and it looked ominous just sitting next to my computer. The silver hexagram and sword embossed into the leather fairly screamed what the book was about -- Magic. The heavy tome looked like it belonged in a museum, not on my desk. I imagined I could still feel the chill and damp of the basement storage room radiating from beneath its musty cover.

The pages had a yellowish hue, but many of them were stained as well. In some places the words were nearly unreadable. Along with the cryptic diagrams, there were notes written in the margins. Some of them I recognized as references to bible passages. In fact, inside the front cover someone had scrawled Exodus 22:18-20 beneath a crude drawing of a goat's head. I looked at my bookshelf, but I didn't have a bible. I had to go to my sister's room and borrow hers.

"Heh!" I grinned when I saw her panties on the bed. Pink ones with a dark spot staining the crotch. I glanced at the open doorway, but Yukiko was still in the bathroom...

I picked up her panties and held them to my nose. Not too closely, just enough to catch the fragrance of my sister's girl juice. She must have been wearing those panties on the train, but the crotch was soaked. She'd worn them all through dinner, obviously. Wouldn't she have wanted to change them right away?

I felt ashamed to realize that my cock had grown stiff in my pants. Those were my sister's panties, I reminded myself. If they'd been anyone else's, I might have kept them. The scent was amazing and I recognized it as being very similar to the natural perfume Miss Takashiro had been wearing earlier. Female arousal, it was unmistakable, and the memories evoked by that rich odor were obscene.

My erection felt ready to burst though my clothing and I had to resist the temptation to jerk off right then and there. I hated jerking off. There were so many gorgeous girls at school, why should I have to pleasure myself? I wasn't picky. Hell, I'd even go out with Ito if it meant I could get my dick between her sexy legs. It shouldn't have been that difficult to find a girlfriend, but for some reason I just couldn't seem to...

I heard the bathroom door opening and I dropped Yukiko's panties, beating a hasty retreat before she caught me in her bedroom. I hadn't gotten her bible, but that had been a close call. If she ever caught me sniffing her underwear, I wouldn't have been able to live down the humiliation. I sat down at my desk, making sure my sister caught me studying the book when she poked her head into my room.

"Taki?"

"Hmmm..." I turned in my chair to see her wearing a short towel that hid very little of her breasts and none of her legs. I swallowed hard as I thought I saw a wisp of dark pubic hair peeking from beneath it. Another half inch higher and I would have seen her pussy for sure.

"Why were my panties on the floor?" Yukiko wondered. She twirled her pink panties around her finger.

"How would I know?" I answered, gruffly. "Hurry up and get dressed. This is a thick book."

"Hmph!" she snorted, but didn't pursue the mystery further. She'd made her point.

While I waited for Yukiko to get dressed, I continued paging through the book. I paid particular attention to the illustrations, as those were more understandable than the text. Some of them anyway. Most of the pictures were surprisingly well done and full of intricate detail. I examined an image of a man mounted on a cross. Jesus? Possibly, but the woman mouthing his erect penis seemed a little out of place. She had upturned breasts and a taut belly, but the body of a snake rather than legs. She'd coiled herself around the base of the cross and she had a barb at the tip of her tail, much like a scorpion, dripping some dark fluid. I imagined it was probably poison.

Another picture depicted a pregnant woman having sex with a goat. She knelt on her hands and knees in the center of a glowing triangle. The goat was a shaggy beast with curving horns and a pointed beard. His forelegs hugged the girl's waist. His rear hooves were planted deeply in the ground as he thrust into her sex from behind. Her swollen belly bulged as if she might give birth any moment. With her back deeply bowed, her nipples pointed towards the ground. She had her head raised, mouth open as she screamed with obvious ecstasy.

"I didn't know you were into bestiality," Yukiko said, surprising me as I felt her hand on my back.

I jerked and quickly turned to the next page. She'd gotten dressed in a hurry, and then I understood why -- She'd just put her same old clothes back on.

"Maybe we should get a pet," she suggested, giggling as she rubbed my shoulders. "A big dog, wouldn't that be nice? Male, of course."

"Are you going to help me or not?" I asked, ignoring the bait.

I felt her breasts rubbing against the back of my head, being pushed apart as Yukiko leaned closer. They seemed to be trying to envelop me through the old sweatshirt she wore. I hated her constant teasing, but I didn't dare move. For some reason that drawing of the girl with the goat had given me an erection and my sister wasn't helping the situation.

"Of course I am!" she replied. "What a crappy looking book. Did that girlfriend of yours find it in the trash or something?"

"She bought it used," I said. "Stop it!"

"Stop what? This?" Yukiko giggled again as she gave her huge tits a shimmy with my head caught between them. "Don't you like my boobies? Lots of guys do."

"Please?" I leaned forward, escaping that obscene hug.

"Fine. Whatever," she sighed. "You're no fun. Let me see that stupid book."

Yukiko sat on the foot of my bed, which put her right next to my desk. She turned the black book towards her and began looking through it. She'd always favored short skirts and I couldn't help but notice her legs. When she crossed them, I caught a glimpse of her clean white panties. I really wished we weren't related sometimes. My sister had grown up beautiful, but the idea of doing anything with her seemed pretty sick. I'm sure she felt the same way about me, despite the way Yukiko threw her sexuality in my face. That might even be why she did it, but that idea was too deep for me.

"Magic, huh? There's a lot of religious stuff in here," she said. "Passages from the bible, scriptures ... Hey! You're not getting all weird on me, on you?"

"Huh?"

"Did you join a cult?" Yukiko asked. She looked so serious I couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

"No! I told you, this girl's into magic," I explained. "I'm not into this lunacy at all."