Chapter 17: Ch 16 - Sisterly Love
The silence of Satoru's apartment felt heavier tonight than usual. Rika Kawashira traced the rim of the mug in her hands, the ceramic smooth and cool beneath her fingers. Outside, the city hummed its nightly song, but inside, an unusual tension settled over the small living space. Misaki was at the office, caught up in some sudden, demanding call. Rei was away on some urgent business trip. Satoru… well, Satoru was just Satoru. Her older brother.
She'd tagged along earlier in the week, ostensibly to help with a minor home project, but mostly because she'd felt restless, needed somewhere quiet to be. Now, lying on the low couch in his living room, surrounded by the faint scent of electronics and his usual brand of coffee, Rika felt a strange mix of nervousness and anticipation. She was here for the night. Alone.
"Something on your mind, Rika?" Satoru asked, not looking up from his laptop. He was hunched over it, fingers dancing across the keyboard, the glow from the screen casting long shadows across his face. He was tall, leanly muscled from years of working with his hands and running, with eyes that were usually analytical and observant, but tonight held a different kind of intensity.
Rika swallowed, twisting the edge of her pajama top. "Just… thinking about how weird it is to be here alone." She met his gaze hesitantly. "Misaki's not here, Mom's gone… it feels like… well, I guess I'm just nervous."
Satoru paused his work, finally turning his full attention to her. The light from his screen reflected in his dark eyes. He stood up, moving silently across the room. The soft click of his bedroom door closing echoed in the quiet apartment. A moment later, he reappeared, leaning against the doorframe. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt and jeans, casual but somehow still radiating an air of controlled power.
"Alone together?" He tilted his head slightly, a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. "Does that feel weird?"
Rika blushed furiously. "Satoru! It's just… well, you know." She gestured vaguely around the room, feeling ridiculous. " You are Misaki's boyfriend And… I'm your girlfriend sister ."
He chuckled softly, a low sound that vibrated in his chest. "But tonight? We're just Rika and Satoru." He took a step closer, closing the distance between them until she could feel the warmth radiating from him. "And right now, I think this place is feeling quite lonely." He reached out and gently brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek with his fingertip. The touch sent a jolt through her.
"Maybe… maybe I should just go home," she stammered, looking down at her feet.
"Nonsense," Satoru said firmly, his hand cupping her chin, forcing her to look up at him. His eyes locked onto hers, searching hers. "You came here tonight. You're staying. And besides…" He leaned down slightly, his voice dropping to a whisper that sent shivers down her spine, "…who's going to keep me company if I decide to get lonely?"
Rika's heart hammered against her ribs. There was no denying the pull of his presence, the way his simple words held such underlying weight. The responsibility, the unexpected closeness… it was intoxicating and terrifying all at once. "Okay," she whispered finally. "Okay, I guess I'm staying."
Relief seemed to flicker in Satoru's eyes before being quickly masked. He released her chin and straightened up. "Good. Now, tired? We can watch something, or just… talk?"
"No," Rika found herself saying, surprising even herself. "I mean… no, I don't want to watch anything. Maybe… maybe we can talk?" Why talk? What could she possibly say? But the words were out.
Satoru nodded slowly. "Alright. Anything you want." He gestured towards the small dining table pushed into the corner. They sat down opposite each other in the dim light filtering through the window. The silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken desires and an electric charge that neither seemed entirely sure how to handle.
"I was thinking," Satoru began, breaking the quiet after only a minute. His gaze was fixed on her, intense. "Rika…"
"Yes?"
He leaned forward again slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. "Have you ever considered… what might happen if certain things were… different?" His voice was low, deliberate.
Rika frowned, confused. "What things?"
He reached across the small space between them and took her hand in his. His touch was warm, strong. She tried to pull away, but his grip was firm.
"What if we weren't related?" He kept looking directly at her. "What if… tonight, we were just two people? Strangers? Or… something else entirely?"
Rika's breath hitched. This was different from anything she'd ever considered. "Satoru…" she started, but he didn't let her finish.
"There's this system," he continued, his eyes never leaving hers. "A conceptual framework I've been developing for some time. It's… complex. It operates on principles beyond standard logic." He paused for effect, watching her reactions closely. She remained silent, captivated by his strange words. "Essentially," he said slowly, his voice dropping even lower, husky with an underlying edge, "it suggests that under certain conditions… impulses become directives."
Rika stared at him, utterly lost. What was he talking about?
"It orders," Satoru clarified, tightening his grip on her hand slightly. "It issues commands based on perceived optimal outcomes." His gaze intensified, sliding down her face, lingering for a moment on her lips before climbing back up to meet her eyes again. "Tonight… Rika… there are conditions that seem to have been met."
His words hung in the air, heavy with implication. Rika's mind raced. System? Orders? Conditions? Was he talking about something philosophical? Psychological? Or was he… actually referring to something else entirely?
"Are you saying…" Her voice barely registered as a whisper.
Satoru leaned in even closer now, invading her personal space completely. His eyes burned with a strange intensity. "The system," he murmured, his lips nearly touching hers, sending a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with cold. "It's… ordering me." He tightened his grip on her hand and gently squeezed her breast through the thin fabric of her pajamas top. Rika gasped at the unexpected contact.
"You're not making sense," she stammered, trying to pull her hand back this time.
"Am I?" Satoru countered softly. "Or is it telling me… telling you…" His gaze flickered pointedly between her eyes and her chest again. "That what happens next… isn't up to us anymore?" He slid his hand up her arm, his touch sending sparks along her skin. "It's being… ordered."
Rika felt a fresh wave of panic bubble up inside her. This was insane! But beneath the panic, a terrifying thrill began to creep through her – a thrill she didn't recognize but couldn't entirely suppress. Was this some twisted game Satoru was playing? Or was there something undeniably real about what he was saying?
"Ordering what?" she asked breathlessly, unable to tear her gaze from his.
Satoru didn't answer immediately. He just looked at her, his expression unreadable yet undeniably potent. Then, leaning forward again, he pressed his lips firmly against hers.
The kiss was startlingly different from any previous experience Rika had had with anyone, least of all Satoru. It wasn't gentle or tentative; it was demanding, forceful. His tongue pushed insistently against her lips until she was forced to part them slightly in surrender. He tasted faintly of coffee and something else – something sharper, more primal. His hand came up to cup her neck now, holding her still against him while his lips worked on hers with an intensity that quickly stole her breath away.
Rika found herself responding instinctively against her better judgment. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his tongue explored the depths of her mouth. It was terrifyingly intimate, terrifyingly powerful. She felt weak against him, swept away by a force she couldn't comprehend.
When he finally pulled back slightly for air, their foreheads pressed together, breathing heavily. Rika felt dizzy from the intensity of it all – the kiss itself, his strange words about systems and orders.
"Doesn't that sound…" Satoru murmured against her lips.
Rika didn't get to finish his sentence before he dipped his head again and kissed her neck, right below her earlobe. His lips were hot and wet as they left a burning trail down her jawline.
"No," she whispered brokenly against his skin.
"Ordered," he corrected softly before nuzzling her neck again.
The euphoria mixed with fear was overwhelming. She wanted this connection so badly it hurt, yet a part of her screamed for him to stop.
He stood up abruptly then, pulling her gently to her feet by his hand still clasped tightly in hers. She stood weakly beside him as he walked them both towards his bedroom.
The door clicked shut behind them, sealing them inside in near darkness. Moonlight filtered through the window blinds, casting long stripes across the floor.
"Rika," Satoru whispered her name softly in the quiet room.
His hand slid down her pajama top again, his fingers finding their way under the band at her shoulder. He lifted her pajamas slightly and kissed the skin there directly.
"No," she protested weakly.
But he silenced her again with another kiss this time on her lips.
"Rika," he breathed against her mouth before pressing another demanding kiss upon her.
He nudged her towards his large bed. She stumbled slightly on the unfamiliar surface before falling onto her back, Satoru hovering above her for a moment before lying down beside her on his side.
His touch was everywhere now – her neck, her collarbone, her shoulders. His fingers were tracing intricate patterns along her skin, sending shivers through her body that were rapidly replacing the fear with something raw and undeniable – desire.
"Satoru," she whispered his name again.
His response was another kiss directly on her mouth.
He continued kissing her for a long time – slow, deep kisses that explored every inch of her mouth, tasting her, claiming her. His hands roamed over her body freely now under her pajamas – down her back, around her waist, cupping her breasts through the thin cotton.
Rika gasped when his thumb brushed against one of her sensitive nipples through the fabric.
"Does this feel like an order?" he murmured against her lips before sucking gently on one of her ears.
Her body trembled beneath him. There was no going back now.
He continued kissing his way down her body after breaking their embrace for air. His lips found their way across her collarbones, down her chest – stopping briefly at each nipple until he finally managed to work down further until they were level with them.
His lips encased one sensitive nipple first. Rika cried out softly as his mouth closed around it, sucking deeply and flicking his tongue against the hardening peak. Heat radiated instantly from that spot across her entire body.
"Oh god…" she breathed.
He repeated the sensation on the other breast before moving down towards her stomach. His lips followed the curve of her waist down into the small dip between her ribs.
"Your system…" she managed to gasp out between breaths.
"Is ordering you," Satoru replied without looking up from his work as he continued kissing his way lower towards the waistband of her pajamas.
His mouth reached between her legs and hovered just above her opening for a moment before dipping down. Rika gasped as his tongue flicked out tentatively against her clitoris.
Involuntary shudders ran through her body as his tongue swirled around the sensitive nub with practiced precision – slow circles at first, teasingly long pulls before settling into a relentless rhythm designed to drive her crazy.
"Oh! Satoru!" Her hips bucked instinctively off the bed as his tongue found its rhythm.
She wrapped her legs around his neck instinctively as he continued his assault below. His hands weren't idle either – one of them reached under the waistband of her pajamas and gently parted her folds before inserting a single finger into her wet heat.
"Oh god…" she moaned louder now as two fingers replaced one. He curled his fingers inside her, hitting just the right spot deep within her body.
The combination of his mouth on her clit and his fingers deep inside was too much for Rika to handle. Wave upon wave of pleasure crashed over her body as she cried out his name in pure ecstasy. Her climax was intense – sharp ripples of sensation that seized every part of her – before receding into a satisfied warmth spread across her belly.
Satoru withdrew his fingers and moved up her body to kiss her again slowly as she came down from her high.
"That felt ordered," she whispered dazedly against his lips.
He chuckled softly before pulling back completely and sitting up beside her on the bed again. He reached for the remote on the nightstand and clicked on the bedside lamp overhead.
The sudden brightness made Rika blink instinctively as she looked at him properly for the first time since everything had escalated.
"You okay?" he asked softly.
Rika just looked at him – at the intensity in his eyes – and felt another wave of mixed emotions wash over her. Fear? No. Wonder? Definitely. Confusion? Absolutely.
She had no idea what had just happened or what Satoru's strange system was all about. But she knew one thing for certain: she wanted more.
"Did you understand all that?" she asked him quietly.
Satoru's smirk returned full force. "Probably not."
"But you still…"
"Still did what seemed ordered."
He reached over and switched off the lamp again, plunging them back into darkness and erasing their words with a single gesture.
"Are you ready for what else is ordered?" His voice was rough with implication as his hands began undoing the remaining buttons on her pajama top.
"Yes," Rika whispered back breathlessly into the dark room.
She didn't know who she was anymore – the sister, the confused young woman – but right then and there beneath Satoru's roof in his strange system-driven fantasy (whatever that was), Rika wanted only one thing: to be guided by whatever forces dictated that night.
And as Satoru's hands continued their exploration under the moonlight filtering through the blinds, Rika understood that maybe some boundaries were meant to be crossed tonight. And maybe for Rika Kawashira, tonight was destined to be anything but ordinary.