Chapter 1

My name is Kanako Shinohara, a recent graduate from Tokyo University and aspiring author. This is my first day moving into my new home, Kasumi Inn. From the moment I stepped through the door and saw the dorm manager, I knew this place would be special to me. Ichikawa-san and her sister are quite kind, not to mention lovely, so I at least have their beautiful faces to look forward to daily. Ah but I’m getting ahead of myself, I had best narrate how this all started in the first place though introductions would be proper.

I have jet black hair, like a starless and moonless night. I like to keep it long, despite the fact that is can be a bit high-maintenance at times. My skin is fair, beautifully smooth like fine silk and with not a single flaw on it. Am I delicate? Perhaps I am but I prefer to be described as particularly careful when it comes to my appearance, particularly my skin and my long, slender legs. I’m of a modest figure but not completely unattractive. My eyes, a soft sapphire blue and my pale lips, I’m not that attractive as far as I know.

I looked at the magnificent and quaint old building before her. It was structured as a traditional Japanese mansion but with a few minor changes. There was a central building and it also had two smaller wings branching off from it, making the structure a gigantic U-shape when viewed from above. I stood just outside the main building’s door was dressed in a simple, long black dress that didn’t fit too well. I covered my face with the shadow of a large, black hat with a red ribbon at the base and my hands were covered with long, black silk gloves. I looked up and gave a smile, passing through the door to see if anyone was there.

“Hello there? Is anyone here?” I asked as I placed my large black bags on either side of me but I still kept my laptop bag over my shoulder. I looked around and it looked like no one was there. “Ichikawa-san, are you here? It’s me, Shinohara-san, your new resident.”

I took a few more steps inside, noticing the cheerful manner in which the place was decorated as well as the serene silence. It was not the silence that was deafening, a silence where one cannot concentrate. It was a more subtle one, one that felt more relaxing and peaceful. I decided to sit down on the couch and wait for someone to arrive; taking a look first at the small corridor that likely would lead into the main interior of the inn. Then, I began to hear footsteps from behind, accompanied by a slight, happy whistling. I turned around and saw one of the loveliest, most attractive women I had ever laid eyes on coming down.

Her hair was long, shining in the perfect light and magnificent in their blood red color. Her body had an air of elegance, flair and serene, almost geisha-like grace and charm about her. How well her figure was formed, the breasts and hips far superior to mine and yet I could tell that they weren’t so large as to be offensive to the eye. Indeed, in comparison to her skin and the shapeliness of her form, not to mention the serenity of her amber eyes, these things seemed only to enhance her. She looked to me and smiled, coming closer with a touch of curiosity in her expression and a natural, gentle swaying of her hips as she stepped.

Instantly almost, I found myself picturing her in different attire, not the modern and tight-fitting white tank top that was almost sheer, letting me see a tease of what lay underneath. I replaced it with robes, long and absolute purple, wrapped over her body with a hood. Underneath she would be dressed in finest silk, lace over her legs and light armor to cover it all up. Immediately, I had pictured her as one of my characters, a princess born from orphan origins, raising a sword to rise from a slave to ruler of an empire. Then, in a second, I stopped as I felt something warm take my hand. It was her, moving my hand to her body.

“You must be the new resident my older sister mentioned.” Her voice slipped into my ears like a fine melody, easy to remember but infinitely impossible to catch. “I’m Reiko, Yukio’s younger sister.” Lovely as she was, she slowly let go of my hand and reached into her pocket, pulling out a small blue notebook and handing it to me. “That’s a sort of guest registry. Place a picture and fill in the information, please.”

She sat on the seat opposite mine as I browsed through the pictures and profiles of the registry, taking note of all of the other girls on the inn. There was Yukio Ichikawa, the owner and manager of the inn. A widow with no children, she is in her late thirties but the picture shows a young woman of unique features. There is Reiko, the enchanting thing before me now. Nina Audrey Rapier, a foreigner that looks rather intelligent, or maybe it is due to the rectangular-framed, thick reading glasses. Sachiko and Rena Kawasaki, twins yet from their pictures, I get the impression of distinct differences. And last of them is a young devil, Satsuki Hisakawa. Her blood red eyes seemed drawing and appalling at the same time.

“Here, Reiko-san.” I said as I finished filling out the required information, as well as taking full note of anything I thought might be important in the future. “May I ask where your sister, Ichikawa-san is?”

Reiko smiled at me. What a smile it was! The corners of her lips and the corners of her eyes as they closed during her smile seemed to fade into her face, letting the sublime grace of that simple motion overwhelm the whole moment. An angel, there is of little doubt to that, a magnificent angel. She tilted her head to the side slightly as she glowed in that smile, not forced and not out of habit though. I was infinitely caught curious about her. I could but only wonder is what some would call love at first sight this? I doubt it. This was an exhilarating thought but more on my creative side, I concocted an entire scene in my head.

I stood there, victorious and proud. My lord, the man I had called father in his dying moments, his armor was on me. I had his sword in my hand, stained in the blood of the enemy. I removed my helmet, to show the fallen army before me a mocking sight. That the proud and arrogant warriors of Saturnia, all falling beneath the feet of a mere girl. It was the greatest insult after injury, a grand humiliation.

We were outnumbered, they had three times our forces but numbers didn’t matter. The scale of slaughter we inflicted in that narrow pass was unimaginable. By the end of the massacre, our spears had broken and we had been forced to draw our swords. By that time though, very few were left and they were scattered, unorganized. Stealthily, I ran into their ranks and into the back of their line alone, driving my dagger into the throat of their commander before impaling him on his own spear. We crushed them utterly.

I am Lilith. I am an orphan girl, raised as a mere handmaiden to a nobleman of the small kingdom of Lytheria. He treated me like his own daughter, raising me up and choosing me to be trained as a priestess of the goddess Aria. At the same time, he secretly was training me to be a swordswoman, trained as he was, as a Knight of Lytheria. And on that day, I rode into battle in his armor for he was dead and the army had no leader. In one fell swoop, my phalanx formation and my charge shattered the enemy camp.

I am invincible.

Yes, I can imagine Reiko-san’s face, her expression, her body, her voice as Lilith’s in that tale.

“Shinohara-san, are you listening to me?” Reiko-san asked, leaning close to me and passing her hand over my face over and over again. I had lapsed into a creative flux again, blocking out most everything else. I should learn to stop doing those things. “Hello? Are you still here with us, Shinohara-san?”

“Ah, sorry, I lapsed out there for a moment.” I answered, apologizing to her. Even though I must have been quite flustered, she seemed to remain rather calm. I was enchanted by her. “What were you saying again?”

“My older sister, Yukio, is away for the moment. She’s with Satsuki, making some sort of arrangement with the girl’s parents or guardians. I didn’t particularly catch what specifically.” Reiko answered with a bit of a frustrated sigh. She didn’t seem irritated that much though. “Most of the other residents are away as well. The truth is that you and I are quite alone for the day.” She smiled and then, she steeled her eyes towards me as her hand slipped off one of my gloves. “We’re alone; we can do whatever we like.”

I blinked, one, two, maybe three times after hearing that. I was imagining a torrid moment passing between us; I’d been thinking that since the moment I laid eyes on her and then that! That was a bit too much for me or process without any pretense of intimacy, of torrid kisses and lustful embraces. That is, I remember thinking as I regained reason, if she was saying what I thought she was saying. Then, as I was about to move my hand and start what I thought she wanted me to start; she tilted her head and drew backwards.

Stretching her arms, she smiled wide and looked at the corridor. “I can finally use the main bath alone. I swear, when the others are around, I can never take a dip in there without walking in on someone or the other way around.” I twitched, had I not held back, she might have thought I was going to rape her. She was about to walk there when she turned around and looked at me. “Do you want to join, Shinohara-san?”

I nodded my head and she smiled at me. Her smile is both devilishly tempting and yet angelically innocent at the same time. We both walked up and put my bags in my room before she proceeded to her room to get the both of us some towel. I simply waited in my room and began to think a bit. I blushed madly; I could almost see it, when she walked in wearing little more than a towel wrapped around her torso, leaving little to my very active imagination. She didn’t carry anything else, save for soap, shampoo and our towels. She was tormenting me doing that! I could almost taste her lips; I was so near yet so far that it was insane!

“Shall we go, Shinohara-san?” she smiled, tilting her head and I watched as her body bounced up a bit, a happy reaction. And along with it, her breasts bounced a bit as well and they looked to definitely be real and very, very beautiful. Oh, I’m such a shameless pervert when it comes to these things!

“Yes, let’s go.” I answered her as I stood up, proceeding to lower the black skirt I was wearing. I did so slowly but not slow enough to be of suspect, my own little way of flirting with her. I wonder if she was even looking at me, or was she just taking it all in casually? Considering the rumors that there was a grand, hot spring sized bath here, I would not be surprised if she had seen her fill of beautiful, naked girls. So, despite how bad it was a blow to my ego, I didn’t think seeing my figure really mattered. Nonetheless, I tried to wrap my movements in as much of a seductive poise as I could; I even smiled at her at least once.

Ah but she didn’t seem to mind. Sure, I got the occasional glances from her, I would catch her smiling at me and looking at me but little more than that. So, dejectedly, I walked with her to the bath. A large bath it was, the interior was beautifully tiled, each of the tiles colored so as to form a makeshift mural on them. Oddly though, they were of various themes, Napoleon at Waterloo, Romeo with his Juliet on the balcony, a scene from a Kabuki play and a female vampire sinking her teeth into a young nun.

I had completely given up on getting her attention when she took off her towel completely, exposing her lovely body to me. Every curve, every nuance of her body was so beautiful, my heart melted and I felt I had gone blind. I’ve seen my fair share of women, bodies undressed and every aspect of their prettiness available for my eyes to discern. But Reiko was different, special. I lusted after her and for her love.

Then, as we both took our seats, she moved closer to me. “Do you think my breasts are big enough?” I blinked. Now I was confused, I was under the impression that she wasn’t interested in me, or in other girls for that matter. Then, she leaned closer to me and lifted her breasts up into my full view, blushing at the same time. I was in shock; she was doing this for a total stranger like me! And the temptation to just grab them and take them into my hands and softly massaging them was absurd! “Do you think they’re pretty?”

“You have a very pretty pair of breasts, Reiko-san.” I was tempted to tell her I’d love to grab them and massage them softly to make her blush but I kept away from that. She simply smiled at me and drew away; blushing likely in realization that she had just flashed her lovely chest in a stranger’s face. “Are you okay?”

“Sorry about that, I don’t know what came over me, doing that in front of a new resident. It’s just that I’m a bit worried…” she seemed rather apprehensive, almost afraid and very apologetic. I moved closer, placing a comforting hand on hers, looking into her eyes. So beautiful, even if my attraction to her at that time and at the moment is purely sexual, I wanted to truly love her. “I’m worried that I’m not enough for her.” That word stunned me. I didn’t really know what to make of it. Then, she smiled and kissed my cheek.

Perhaps sensing my confusion, she spoke again. “I’m in a relationship with another woman right now. One of the residents in fact and I’m very much in love. She’s my first girl you know, I’ve never been attracted to girls before until I moved in here with Yukio.” My, being around so many girls can have that effect. “I was worried that I wasn’t beautiful enough for her, since she’s so perfect and all. Thank you for reassuring me.”

In simplest terms, I had been beaten to it. Ah, such things never come easy in life. I resolved to stop any further seduction or flirting with her from then on, it was against even my lax sense of right and wrong to try and steal someone else’s girl. I was curious however, as to the other girls. Were they the same as Reiko?