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."
"Just into her, huh?" she says, breaking into a grin. "Or you want to be, anyway! Yeah...Deep into her!"
"Yeah, yeah." I shook my head.
"This is going to be tough," she decided. "It jumps from Latin to English to French. There's some Greek. This is Hebrew and this..." she flipped backward a few pages, "...is written in Gaelic, I think."
"What's Gaelic?" I wondered.
"Or Welsh?" Yukiko shrugged. "The language of druids."
"Can you translate it or not?"
"Some of it," she said. "The rest we'll have to figure out somehow. We'll start with the easy stuff first. This is going to be fun!"
"I'm glad you're happy," I sighed, but she wasn't kidding. My sister loved languages and a challenge like this was exactly the sort of thing she enjoyed.
Translating, it turns out, is pretty boring. It's also a one person job for the most part. I took notes on my computer, writing down Yukiko's translation while she scribbled in her notebook. She also had me use the internet, finding information that would help her. It turned out that her university had a lot of resources and after logging on with her student ID she could access other universities from all over the world. We started making real progress then.
"You're lucky you've got me!" she said for the umpteenth time. "You'd be so lost. Look, I've figured this part out."
"What is it?" I asked, leaning over to peer at her notes.
"It's in French. Kind of a difficult phrasing, but it's a piece of cake for me!" she said, and I guess my sister had a right to be proud. "Ready? I'm going to read it for you."
"Yeah." I nodded, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. "Go ahead."
"Gremoire du constitutions avec un recveil des plus reres secrets."
I gave her a blank look.
"It means, this is the great Grimoir, containing the rarest secrets in the world," she explained. "Ha! What a load. I hope this girl is worth it."
"Never mind her," I said. "Just keep reading."
"Don't rush me, ignorant little brother!"
"Sorry."
"The great laws of magic. Here you shall find secret chants for the Holy Spirits of darkness.
"The throne of the Apostles shall be assumed by the one who has been entrusted with the Key to the Kingdom of Heaven. In the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to Saint Peter, 'I shall entrust thee with the Key to the Kingdom of Heaven.' and he alone shall have the power to command the Lord of Darkness and his servants.
And they shall be his servants also, and shall bring him honor and glory and worship. Again in accordance with the Lord Jesus Christ's words, 'Thou shalt serve only one God.' By the power of the Key to the Church, thou shalt become the ruler of Hell..."
Yukiko looked up after she finished reading. "What is this?"
"I have no idea," I told her honestly.
"The next part is about Prayer, it says."
"Okay." I shrugged.
"We pray that this book shall serve all those who read it and pray for the success of their endeavors, and that it benefits them. By the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ with which we fill our daily cups, we pray that this book serves all who read it. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, thou art purified.
"After assuming the throne of the ruler of Hell, thou are purified by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost..." Yukiko made a face. "It's backwards, huh?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The style of writing is similar to the Gospels, but what it says is the total opposite. Jesus would never use magic!" She shook her head and turned the page. "Next is a list of what's in the book. A table of contents. There's all these ridiculous words, um...I think they're supposed to be spells. Summoning Demons and Raising the Dead..."
My sister started reading off the list. Some of them didn't make much sense and like the illustrations in the book, none of the spells sounded like they could possibly work.
"A spell to cause a young woman to dance naked?" Yukiko giggled. "That sounds like fun!"
"Hey! Try translating that one," I suggested.
"You little pervert!" She punched me in the arm. "If you even think about trying to get a lap dance out of me..."
"Ow! Stop it!" I yelled. "Jeeze! It isn't even real. I just want to know what it says. Forget it."
"Now, now..." she said, smiling. "Since it's for my darling brother, I'll be happy to translate it for you."
That was the real Yukiko. She always wanted to get a rise out of me, but as soon as I said something that even hinted at sex, she got indignant. Sometimes I thought my sister was a little psychotic. Maybe all girls are. I contemplated that theory while she spent twenty minutes figuring out the spell.
"Alright, I'm going to read it for you now," she said. "Keep your ears peeled, pervert-boy."
"Knock it off," I replied. "I only asked for that one because it sounded more interesting than purifying a goat or whatever."
"I thought you liked the goat?" Yukiko laughed as she turned the pages to find the spell. "Ready? Let's see...First you have to write the first letter of the woman's name in your own blood on a piece of virgin parchment."
"Virgin?"
"Unused, kinda like you." She rolled her eyes. "Next, you wrap the parchment around a rock and place it on top of the manuscript for Holy Mass, and recite the Lord's Prayer. Take the rock and bury it beneath a door through which she must pass."
"Hmmm..." I scratched my head. Whoever invented that spell had never lived in Tokyo. Everything was covered in cement.
"And this woman will go mad," Yukiko continued. "When you witness her dancing naked in a depraved manner, you must look on her not with envy, but with pity...Oh! There's a warning at the end."
"What does it say?"
"Always remember, this is not a spell for those faint of heart," she read. "Hear that? It doesn't say keep out of reach of children. Lucky you!"
"Aw, shut up." I waved her teasing away.
"That spell sounds dumb anyway," Yukiko decided. "Whoever wrote it must have had some serious issues with his girlfriend."
Having said that, she gave me a long, meaningful stare. I tried to look innocent, but in reality I was already wondering who I should try that spell out on. I mean, it wasn't going to work. There's no such thing as real magic, it's an oxymoron, but a guy can dream. Can't he?
"You're not thinking of trying it, are you?" She knew me too well.
"No," I lied.
"Well, if you're so anxious to see someone dancing naked..." She grinned at me. "Why don't you just ask me to do it. You don't need some old dusty book for that!"
Yukiko stood up, posing as she cupped her heavy breasts in her hands. The sweatshirt she wore was already loose and her tits threatened to spill free as she pushed and pulled them around. My sister wiggled her hips, giggling the entire time and giving me seductive eyes.
"Come on," she said. "Don't you want your big sister to dance for you?"
"No," I said, turning my back towards her. "Stop it, okay? Just stop."
"There you go! Look!"
When I turned my head, her breasts were right in my face. She pinched them just behind her swollen nipples, jiggling her tits and rubbing them against my hot cheeks.
"There! How do you like that?" she teased me. "Does it feel good?"
"Yukiko! Get away from me!"
I pushed myself out of my chair and grabbed my sister by the shoulders, steering her towards my bedroom door. She had to walk backwards and instantly began to pout, but I knew where this would lead -- A happy ending for her and a kick in the balls for me. Seriously. She'd kicked me more than once and it always hurt!
"Are you mad at me?" she wondered with a smirk. "I'm sorry. I thought you liked big tits. Do you want to check out my ass instead?"
"I'm not mad," I told her. "Good night!"
I closed the bedroom door in her face and locked it with a sigh of relief.
"Fine! Play with your obscene book," she yelled from the hallway. "But don't come crying to me when you get in trouble, you prissy little jerk!"
Jesus! Yukiko could be such a bitch! Sometimes I thought her only purpose in life was to annoy me. I stood there feeling angry and ashamed as I rubbed the bulge of my excited cock. I thought about using that spell on her, just to give my sister a taste of the humiliation she piled on me every other day. But that wouldn't work. Even if it did work, I mean. My sister dancing naked at school or on a train, maybe at her work, would be bad for both of us.
People would think she was some kind of freak. Yukiko would become notorious, even if she didn't get raped by some guy who just happened to be standing there. Everyone would laugh at her and then they'd laugh at me. I'd be the little brother of the crazy girl who danced naked down the street. Everyone would hear about it and I'd be just as embarrassed as her. Plus, Yukiko would definitely kill me! I didn't want to forget that small detail.
I sat down and stared at the book. "A naked dancing girl spell?" I laughed out loud. Magic is supposed to be dubious anyway, but this seemed completely indecent, and openly so. They didn't even try to hide behind fancy words and slick innuendo. The author's honesty was almost refreshing. Could such a hokey spell really do what it claimed? Quoting Jesus on one page, turning nuns into strippers on the next...I had to be crazy for even thinking about trying it.
"Hmmm..." I wondered what it would be like to see Imari dancing naked. She really didn't have a body for it though. Or maybe she did, I wasn't sure. When I looked at her, I saw my best friend, not a hot chick I wanted to bone.
Maybe if she was naked, I'd get a whole new appreciation for her. That was one thing to consider. The vice-principal thought I should rape her, but according to my sister he might actually be a rapist himself. Making a girl do a bump and grind in her birthday suit would be sort of like raping her, but without actually doing it. I wasn't sure if that was a pro or a con. Getting my ass kicked by Imari was definitely a con, however, and she could do it. The girl had a black belt in shrinji kempo!
Besides, if people would associate me with my sister, they'd also lump me together with Imari. Everyone already thought she was my girlfriend. The only thing worse than that would be if people thought I was dating a crazed nymphomaniac. She'd be humiliated, I'd be embarrassed, and everything would suck.
I had to find someone else to try the spell out on. Someone I knew and could observe, but wouldn't suspect me of being the culprit -- If it worked. If it didn't work, then it wouldn't matter who I picked. I thought long and hard, but my choices were surprisingly limited. In the end, I only had two: Mika Ito or Ayumi Murai. I spent all day in class with both of them, so if they started acting strangely, I'd notice. They were both seriously cute. Neither of them had any sort of relationship with me outside school.
Hmmm...I couldn't do it to Murai. She was too cute and innocent, and she probably didn't deserve to have a spell like that cast on her.
Ito, on the other hand...What a pain in the butt loud mouth she was! If anyone should be shaking her naked ass in front of the school, I thought, it was her. Abrasive, opinionated, and prone to hysterics, that was Ito in a nutshell. Not to mention the fact that she really believed in all that magic stuff. If the spell worked, it would be ironic justice. Maybe.
I also wanted to know if she tinted her pubic hair green as well.
Now that I'd chosen my victim, so to speak, I began to cast the spell. Where the hell was I supposed to find virgin parchment? I hoped a brand new sheet of paper pulled from my computer printer would be an acceptable substitute.
"Not for the faint of heart, eh?"
I pricked my finger with a safety pin and started writing a big, crimson "I" on the paper, but then I wondered if I wasn't supposed to use her first name. I changed the "I" to an "M" easily enough, but I had to prick another finger to do it. And then I decided to put an "I" behind the "M", just in case. I didn't want to cast my spell on the wrong girl!
After retrieving a rock from the short walkway outside, I wrapped it in the paper. Shoot! I needed my sister's bible. After kicking her out of my bedroom, she wasn't going to let me into hers without a fight, or at least an apology.
rap-rap-rap ..."Yukiko?" I asked, softly. "Big sister?"
"Who is it?" she replied sweetly. Too sweetly.
"It's your little brother," I answered. "Taki."
"Oh! Did you come to your senses?" she asked. "Do you want to see me dance now?"
"Actually, uh...Can I borrow your bible?"
"What?" The door flew open to reveal a frowning Yukiko.
"I need it for the spell," I explained, smiling sheepishly. At least she was still dressed.
"You're giving me an inferiority complex," she sighed. "Are you gay?"
"Huh?"
"It's over there," she said, pointing towards her over-stuffed bookcase. My sister loved to read and she wasn't the neatest person in the world when it came to putting stuff away.
"Thanks," I said, hardly believing she would give in so easily.
I slipped past her, turning my body to avoid her proudly jutting breasts, stepping over her dirty pink panties, accidentally kicking a hairbrush, and finally walking around her unmade bed. Her room smelled like a girl. Sort of a sleepy, lived in, soft as a kitten, sweaty female odor that I enjoyed quite a lot.
"Where is it?" I asked, crouched and searching the shelves.
"Look under the pile at the bottom," she suggested, leaning against the closed bedroom door with her arms crossed and smile playing at her lips.
"This one? Whoa! What the hell?"
I stared at the cover of a hardcore manga comic.
"Sister Sin?" I read aloud, getting a giggle out of Yukiko. There was another beneath it. "My Sister, My Rape Toy? Yukiko! What is this?"
"Just a little research I'm doing," she replied, shrugging. "You can borrow those, if you want. I have a whole bunch of them."
"I don't even want to touch them!"
"Just don't get the pages all sticky," she said. "Well, not anymore than they already are."
That's why she'd let me in, just so I'd discover her stash of incestuous porn. Naturally, Yukiko kept the bible buried beneath the obscene comics. She had a twisted sense of humor, obviously.
"You're not ashamed to buy this stuff?" I asked, glancing at the barely censored covers as I pawed my way deeper. "It's disgusting!"
"Why would I be?" Yukiko wondered, genuinely curious.
"Never mind," I said, finally getting my hands on her bible. "I'll bring this back later."
"I'll be here," she promised. "Don't you want that dance?"
"Uh...Maybe next time." I waited several long seconds. "Are you going to open the door?"
"What's the magic word?"
"Please?"
"Nope!"
"Yukiko!" I frowned at her.
"Good guess!" she said, giggling as she pulled her bedroom door open for me. I was lucky to escape with my life.
Once I'd finished casting the spell, putting the rock on the bible and reciting the prayer, in Latin, of course, I had to figure out what to do with it. Having no idea where Ito lived, I couldn't bury it beneath her front gate. The only doors I knew for sure that she'd pass through were the ones at the school.
Jeeze! I hated going back there, but I didn't have a choice. I grabbed my jacket and left the house. The ten minute walk seemed longer in the darkness. The rock felt heavy in my pocket too. I knew the spell wouldn't work. It was impossible, so why was I going to all this trouble? Because it would be really awesome if it did work. One chance in a million? Not even that good, I figured, but somebody has to win the lottery. At the very worst, I'd prove once and for all that magic didn't exist, except in the imagination of girls like Saeki and her friends.
The school looked lonely and deserted, both of which it was, and I again cursed my foolishness. A cold wind blew across the desolate schoolyard and in the moonlight, the buildings looked like giant grave markers. The trees swayed with an unhappy creaking sound and a rustling of leaves, but I could hear nothing else. Not even crickets.
Bury the rock, huh? I climbed over the locked gate, and the ground around it had been paved over. I had to find a place she'd be sure to walk through and then it hit me. The shoe lockers were sort of half-inside, half-outside. The floor was basically just gravel, not covered at all. The entrance from the schoolyard was open, but it was still a doorway, right? I could bury the rock there and I didn't even have to dig. I only had to move the smaller rocks out of the way, drop my rock in the hole, and cover it up.
It really was that easy! I smiled all the way home, congratulating myself on finding the perfect solution. Mika Ito was the perfect girl to cast the spell on and soon enough we'd both find out if magic was real or not. She should have been honored, I thought. Saeki and the others would probably be jealous when they realized their friend had actually been enchanted.
Or maybe not.
I told myself not to expect anything. I didn't want to be disappointed, after all. Nothing would happen. Ito would be the same as always, spouting off about magic and demons and ceremonies, making a fuss without actually proving anything. Saeki would smile and wait for Ito to run out of steam before making much more lucid, but no less fantastic claims. At least I'd know the truth and that's all I really wanted anyway.
Sort of. It would be pretty awesome to see Ito naked and I had a hard time falling asleep that night.
