Thursday, May 6th, Reiwa 42. It was too much to ask to have some time to yourself, huh?

After all the time you’d taken on everything else this week – keeping in mind, of course, you had other coursework to do, chores, and other things in between all the ‘fun’ stuff! – it was to be expected that Mama and Papa would get you on a whole day’s outing. Spending that day at Parc Luminous wasn’t too bad, but it was mostly younger cousins and their parents, or your younger siblings…even Marq skipped out. (Guess it figures the kids your age aren’t interested in roller coasters or midway games anymore.)

A stopover at Aunt Vesta’s condo was unexpected, but not exactly ideal; she’s working late and she isn’t even here! Not even some extra questions…

though, will you need them, now?

You stare out across the city on the balcony of Aunt Vesta’s condo, looking out toward the skyline from atop the Martinez district. From here, past the business district and the countless skyscrapers, you can see the hills in the distance to the north, and even the distant peak of Mt. Kaguya in the shadows. Of course, anything past that is a pipe dream – there’s no way you could see the aerodrome, the industrial and agricultural colonies, nor even the barely-started frame of the Kaguya mass driver…

And here, thousands of miles from anywhere else on the planet, on the equator in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, live forty million people, under a Southern Sun.

…and if you want to help them, there’s no point in hesitating any longer.

You put it off last night. And then you put it off all day today. But with Stella and Korri awaiting you, it’s finally time.

The first tile you touch in your skill tree is red, in the Hypnosis tree, bearing the image of a pendulum swinging right. The tile for Instant Hypnotherapist gains a white glow, as the description expands to show future-past-you’s words:

Hypnosis Opener: Instant Hypnotherapist. You instantly learn everything about inducing trance in a willing subject and using that trance to compel them into certain actions. You are still limited by the traditional limits of hypnosis.

Do you remember Ms. Yi’s classes? Of course you do. The endless possibilities of hypnosis…so much potential. Watching Korrigan’s eyes fade, watching her smile and drool as she hangs on your every word…go on. She’s yours. Just take her.

(How odd…she uses ‘Korrigan’, not ‘Korri’. Did future-past-you really change so much?)

(You wonder, what that might look like – but, perhaps, there’s no way it can live up to the promises of future-past-you, nor even Marq’s writing, or Aunt Vesta’s memories. How could it? It’s still your words…it’s still Cibele. You can’t imagine your talents could ever live up to those of others…)

…

…it doesn’t bear dwelling on. You don’t feel different, but you’re sure it’ll happen when the time comes. For now, you swipe over to the green icons, and despite your nerves, you manage to tap that icon as well, a honeycomb pattern with three hexes filled black:

Enchantment Opener: Suggestion. You may compel a single individual once per day to follow a single, simple command they are not inherently opposed to. You instinctively know what the limits for this command are before making it. This can only be done to a non-hostile target willing to speak with you.

Oh, there’s so much fun you can do with this. You’d be surprised how far you can push before it stops working. You’ve seen videos online, of stage hypnosis…people can be pushed so very far. Stella needs someone to correct her behaviour and attitude…doesn’t this seem like the right place to start?

Ah. This is where the Bad Thoughts truly live, isn’t it?

Everything has made it clear that hypnosis, such as it is, can be used for positive things. That it doesn’t need to be a violation, even if you could make it one with higher-tier skills. But this…even if it can only go so far, it can still push someone into a lapse of judgement, and it can still lead you to much darker things…

If it’s like that, though, the only thing you can do is trust yourself!

Powers don’t make you bad, actions do. As long as you do your best to do the right thing, you’re sure you’ll prevail! And maybe, just maybe…

(maybe, you can help people like Korri or Stella smile a little more?)

---

You wander back into the condo after handling your skills, not really feeling any different, just yet…you’re sure that’ll change, though. Once you get the chance tomorrow, at least.

Since your little siblings were traveling with you, they’re over in the common room, no doubt playing some kind of party game; it’s the kind of thing you might have chosen to partake in if you weren’t feeling so wiped after your outing, or if you weren’t so worried about how tomorrow would go. Let alone worrying about the Gamer…

You’re not sure if your upgraded stats feel any different, right now; that said, to be fair, you’re not sure you’ve run into situations where it’d be really obvious. Maybe a few more people are checking you out than usual, but you’re not sure you can know that, and Thought Skimmer is useless in crowds. And ‘Intelligence’ feels quite nebulous; you don’t think going on roller coasters tests it much, based on the narrow description of what it governs!

But there is one sign of a difference…

“Hey, Cibele! Good to see you! You look great!” Aunt Nikita opens her arms up for a hug, which you gratefully return; she likes to alternate between white hair and auburn, and today it’s the latter. “Did you do something with your hair?”

…people keep asking you that!

“Nothing different than usual,” you say. You did spend a bit more time working out your outfit today, maybe tried new makeup, but you look in the mirror and you still look like you. Maybe Aunt Nikita notices you a bit more, but she’s…well, Aunt Vesta’s a very distant cousin and Nikita, one of her partners, is very obviously not related, but it’s still someone you’ve known your whole life! Maybe she’s a bit pretty, but…

“Hmn, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it?” Nikita comes and goes a lot – she’s got her own girlfriends to worry about, separate from Vesta’s. It’s a bit complicated, but they’re a great example to look up to of making a complicated polyamorous relationship work. (Perhaps, it’s down to Aunt Vesta? If she uses hypnosis – no, bad thoughts, bad thoughts!) “You really should consider my offer. Family discount! I can make your worries melt away~”

“Uh, that’s fine, Aunt Nikita! I really don’t think I need a massage –”

…wait.

Those images in your mind’s eye, from Thought Skimmer and reading Nikita’s mind –

that’s not a massage at all!

M-masage was a euphemism this entire time! A-aunt Nikita is a sex worker! H-how embarrassing! How did it take you so long to figure it out?! At least this explains why she kept saying she’d give you a massage ‘when you’re older’…

(But, she does find you cute, at least, so maybe you should be a little happy? M-maybe someday consider that offer…)

…though, as Aunt Nikita lets you go, giggling to herself, it does make you wonder. Just how is it, that despite reading people’s minds, you still know so little about them? You tend to only do it in short bursts, sure – besides all the ethical issues, you seem to get headaches if you overuse it – but even if you just kept it on all the time, you’re sure you’d be missing key parts of a person’s motivations and desires.

Perhaps, the secret lies in your higher-level telepathy skills, like the T1 Mentalism skill Thought Delver? Or maybe it’s just a matter of Adaptability still being at 1; Intelligence is no substitute for social skills, and even a higher Adaptibility would be no substitue for actual experience.

“You shouldn’t tease her, Kolya! She might get the wrong idea, you know?” Ah, that’s Aunt Percy, in the kitchen…compared to the purple-haired Percy you saw in Vesta’s mind, instead the one you’re familiar with is currently wearing blue, twenty years hence. You saw her getting hypnotised, and she loved it…

You just bought Instant Hypnotherapist, though, so in theory you could be making other girls make those lovely faces! But you don’t feel any different yet, do you? Even as you look at Percy, and consider: Percival Lowell’s eyes are often drawn to distracting stimuli, so either a visual focus or a blindfold would be ideal; a strong, stern, and direct command would pull her focus entirely toward you, but the truth is, she’s so well-suited to it that she could be hypnotised by the moon’s pendulum, which is simply a particularly feminine rock –

ah!

…where did all that come from?

“It’s fine!” your mother says, laughing – and oh jeez, she knows what Nikita’s been saying this whole time, is she just okay with it?! Y-your mother’s quite modern, but isn’t that a bit far?! “Cibele’s been working very hard lately. That’s why we’re leaving her to her assignment tomorrow.”

“We’re all rooting for you,” Percy says, as she begins her own espresso pull. Ah, you suppose everyone thinks of it as something that will produce a love confession, which – you’d be very happy if it did! If, perhaps, Stella really is tsundere, but…t-that’s all just wishful thinking and idle speculation!

No, more than that…the way you look at Percy, and can see the way you might draw her in with your words, into a trance –

the knoweldge isn’t just…entirely beamed into your head, all at once. You didn’t just wake up and go, ‘I know kung fu’ or anything. But it’s all there, just waiting to be retrieved when you need it most. A grand mass of knowledge and technique, tantalizingly close to your fingertips, the moment a girl puts her head in your hands.

The way the information came, when you considered it, when you needed it, makes you think of the idea of some vast library, within which lies all the knowledge of hypnosis in this world. And rather than sorting through it all, contradictory and vague as the topic is, you have some kind of librarian who brings you the information you need, when you need it!

It is, as your powers have been before, kind of awesome!

That said, there is one more power that you need to test out. Suggestion is very Bad Thoughts, sure…but maybe, just maybe, there’s something you can do to test it out that won’t be too much of a violation?

Actually, you think you might have an idea.

“Oh, Aunt Percy…you were on a date with Aunt Vesta last night, weren’t you?” you ask the bluenette in the kitchen. From what you understand, it’s pretty common for Vesta to be working long periods and not be able to get home, but she seems to be able to make her girlfriends happy nonetheless…maybe you can figure out her secret?

“O-oh, you know…we spent some private time together, is all!” Percy laughs, and tries to play it off, concentrating back on her latte art – enough that your Thought Skimmer can’t reach! It definitely sounds like something juicy, too!

So, you let it happen.

You can feel it, tingling on your lips, as you allow the ancient magic within you to join your voice. The way you can reach out to minds is no longer a mere act of observation; you can feel the pressure building, from within you, and released upon the wind by your words:

“…would you tell me about it, Aunt Percy?”

You can feel it.

That pressure briefly, very briefly, impresses itself upon Percy’s mind, and molds it into shape, just for that briefest of moments. And you can see her turning around, her face looking slightly dazed for the briefest of moments –

“A-ah, it’s very, um…it’s very private! Actually, excuse me, I need to go to the washroom…”

E-eh?

Percy rushes off, and both Nikita and your mother giggle a bit, as if they know something you don’t. No way! It says right there on the description that you can’t use it if it won’t work! Is your Suggestion defective or some–

bzzt-bzzt

You quickly pull your phone out of your purse, tapping the fingerprint sensor and seeing that you’ve got a text from, uh, ‘duchessanthrax’? What kind of name is –

!

Y-you hastily turn your phone away, seeing nothing less than a photo of Percy herself, in an elaborate harness of rope – you think that’s called ‘shibari’? – and some kind of suspension setup that makes you really hope it’s totally safe (yet knowing that her partners would make sure); all with her blindfolded in candlelight, and the simple words, ‘don’t tell anyone’…

O-oh my.

This tells you quite a bit, besides, um, merely having that photo for later. (For completely innocent purposes, of course.) Indeed, the Suggestion is a guaranteed success, but there’s quite a lot of leeway in how it’s fulfilled. With that in mind, it’s not exactly a silver bullet…though, the Bad Thoughts potential is immense. It’s enough to make you a bit more comfortable holding such a power, at least…if, perhaps, not so comfortable imaginine just what the rest of the Enchantment tree could do for you, and to other pliant, vulnerable minds. (N-not that you’re looking forward to it or anything, mind you!)

Of course, the real question is…

what kind of heckin’ relationship is Aunt Vesta’s polycule that this is somehow a ‘reasonable’ answer to a question from her cousin’s daughter?!

(M-maybe some questions are better left unanswered.)

---

Judgement Day arrives, as it must: Friday, May 7th, Reiwa 42.

And so it is, inside that same basement room you and Korri have spent so much time in the past few years sharing together, and your family mercifully all out of the house and giving you the necessary privacy for your unusual assignment…you have sweet, wonderful, beautiful Korri sitting right in front of you on that same couch, just waiting to be hypnotised, of her own free will.

Ugh. Why, why, why did she say that? Why did she offer her help?! You couldn’t very well tell her no after that, right? You’re sure, if she knew what fantasies you’d not been having these past two weeks, let alone the powers you had, or what you’ve done with them, she’d be completely and utterly disgusted…

“You look really cute today,” Korri says, casually, bundled up in one of her many hoodies, smiling ear to ear, hair just the slightest bit damp from another day of Southern Sun rain. (If only those words held more meaning than a straight woman’s appreciation.) “Did you do something with your hair?”

“N-no,” you mutter, once more embarrassed. You really can’t tell, what your increased Charisma has done; all you see in the mirror is Cibele, same as ever. You’re just going to have to trust future-past-you, huh? Even if she’s told you all about what you could do to Korri…

And here she is. Korrigan Trelawney, ready to be hypnotised, ready to entrust herself to your words, your voice, your guidance.

All you need to do is walk her through the process. With such a rich, imaginative inner mind like Korri has, something few others get to appreciate but you, you should have no trouble bringing her under – and you’ve even set up a camera already, just in case. (You doubt Ms. Yi would accept this as part of her official assignment, but…you get the sense it might come in handy? Korri doesn’t seem to mind, at least)

But imagination is only one part of it. Or even experience, which Korri has hinted she might well have. After all, Aunt Vesta, your brother, Dr. Newton, and the myriad authorities within your ‘library’ of hypnosis knowledge have all told you that the most important part of hypnosis is…

“…trust. Do you trust me?” you ask.

“Of course!” Korri says, with a big, broad smile…

…well. This is awkward. Because there’s another lesson you’ve learned about trust:

trust is a form of love.

Upon that soft and comfortable couch, you settle in behind Korri, giving subtle, comforting touches to her hands. You may have a skill called ‘Handshake Induction’ – and don’t get too distracted about the possibilities of bringing someone under with a single touch – but the real, non-cheat-skill techniques of touch in hypnosis (as opposed to the supernatural kind) can help you here. Korri is touch-starved and craves stimulation; using that, using that need, to guide her focus, is an ideal way to bring her into your power.

“Please get comfortable for me, Korri,” you say, and you already feel her tiny, underweight frame go slack from your words.

It helps that she’s willing to do this. So much of the work of hypnosis is on the other side, on the side of the person receiving it; in a way, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, and you merely serve as a conduit for Korri’s natural ability. Multiple authors in both Ms. Yi and Aunt Vesta’s reading lists have told you that a hypnotic trance is not such an unusual state; forms and elements of it are common in everyday activities. The kind of altered focus one has when on a crowded train, able to shut out outside stimulus…or simply being ‘in the zone’ artistically, pushing yourself into your work and letting the outside world fade.

There’s so much you can do to create an environment where this can happen, of course. To make her truly comfortable letting go. And yet, when the time comes for Korri to sink, things are all her. If she were unwilling for it to happen in the first place, or didn’t believe in it…

In this case, it’s not really a concern. Korri’s pretty into unusual phenomena. She’s not quite a believer in such things (although she’s less skeptical than you), but they’re certainly a topic that interests her deeply. Divination, chaos magic, the occult, that kind of thing. Hypnosis sort of crosses those boundaries, a quasi-spiritual state with a scientific basis, or perhaps a quasi-science whose true potential lies outside the falsifiable.

(Or, maybe you’re not giving it enough credit? Ms. Yi seems fond of it…and what a strange thing, for her to be fond of…)

“I want to know something,” you ask, your tone of voice changing. The happy-go-lucky cuteness fades as you concentrate on the idea of yourself, of ‘Cibele’, as an authority. Someone who can be listened to, trusted with such things. “What do you find most relaxing?”

It’s almost scary, the way your voice shifts. The way you’re capable of holding within you that kind of authority. It’s still you, of course, just…just not the ‘you’ you’re used to. A ‘you’ created for the purpose of guiding vulnerable minds, like that of Korrigan Trelawney.

Is this what happened to future-past-you? Are you, even in this, merely playing into her hands?

“…sleeping,” Korri says, and you can hear her focusing on your words, your touch. Such a simple word, yet filled with such meaning. It’s not the first time you’ve heard it, either; in her darkest days, within the Duchy of Cornwall, the only thing that brought her peace was sleep. Being able to sleep, and shut things out, brought Korri back from the brink, a place where felt her only comfort was an eternal sleep. Something she could never tell another soul; it could only be you.

You’re her most important person, the only one she can trust with her darkest thoughts.

(…she’s not right to trust you, is she?)

(You hope she’ll forgive you someday.)

“I want you to imagine something for me, then,” you whisper, pressing yourself against her from behind, breath tickling the back of her neck as you trace small circles with your fingers on the backs of her hands. “I want you to imagine we’re in kindergarten again, okay?”

“Okay,” says Korri.

“I want you to imagine that it’s almost naptime, okay?” Korri nods as you whisper to her, and you can feel her relax in your presence. “I want you to imagine that I’m right there beside you, like I always was, holding your hand.”

You’d like to say you had an anime cliche experience, like you promised to get married someday back then, or something. But you didn’t. And Korri didn’t have you there, for years after she left, until she returned to the sunny shores of Southern Sun. You wish you could have been by her side, saved her from all of her hurts, just as you’ve fought for her since the moment she returned to you…

“It feels nice,” says Korri.

“That’s good,” you say. “You’re warm and safe, with me by your side.”

You know you’re already associating the coming state of trance with the idea of being with you. Only just, but it’ll add up. You’re already manipulating her.

Maybe hypnosis isn’t really about trust after all.

“Warm and safe…” she whispers. Your Thought Skimmer has different levels of intensity; right now, you’re only Skimming Korri’s emotions, rather than her thoughts. You’re a bit worried if you skim her thoughts it might confuse you in some manner, or cause those headaches, but the emotions are enough for this act.

“Mhm, warm and safe,” you say. “Warm inside your blankets. Safe beside me.”

Korri nods, and you can already see her fading. You bet she’s done this before if it’s like this – and oh, that does give you such hope, that she could want you, even as you know how unlikely it is – and you encourage her as you feel the positive response from these words.

“Warm inside your blankets.”

“Mm.”

“Safe beside me.”

“Mm…”

You breathe hotly as you feel yourself starting to get t-turned on from this. Fudge, this is just…this is future-past-you’s fault for teasing you so much! N-not to mention those erotic stories, or those images of Percy. I-it’s not because of you.

(…right?)

“Warm inside your blankets.”

“Mm…”

“Safe beside me.”

“Mmmmm.”

You repeat yourself a few times, getting the tone and the pattern just right, adjusting with your Thought Skimmer’s feedback. Your touches, too, are an important part of it, keeping her from getting too used to things, forcing her to keep focusing. (How you long to slip under her shirt, and touch her bare skin…and how you hate, how you hold those desires, knowing what Korri’s been through…)

And once you’re sure you’ve prepare her enough, you set the stage. “Yes, Korri, that’s good…” You can’t see her smile, but you can feel it, from here, how she enjoys the praise you’ve given her for following your instructions.

(Y-you’re sure that if you tried this without Instant Hypnotherapist, your arousal would be obvious even to Korri…y-you almost wish, you could make her dance for you…)

“Now, we’re both warm and safe, and the teachers are going to turn off the lights.” You speak those words, with all of your authority as a hypnotist. With the Charisma you’ve gained through your efforts. It’s only a matter of time, now.

“Mm,” Korri mutters, and you just feel how ready she is to be brought into a proper trance. (Even as you know for a fact she’s not sexually aroused by it like you are.)

“The teachers are going to turn off all five lights. And when they turn them out, you’ll sink so deeply, won’t you, Korri? You’ll fall right to sleep, just like you used to.”

“Mm…!”

…fuc-er, fudge this is hot. S-she’s about to go under, from you, your words, your voice, your power…!

“Alright, the teachers are going now. I’m here with you, Korri. You’re warm, with me. You’re safe, with me.”

“Mmm…”

“They’re turning off the first switch, Korri. Four left.”

“Four…”

“Three left.”

“Three…”

“Four left.”

“…four…”

Introducing a little confusion is helpful, according to some authorities. Distracting your subjects from conscious thoughts so the unconscious can take charge, or something like that. To be honest, a lot of these things contradict themselves, both from your reading and from your library, but…you just need to find the best thing to work with for your subject, in the moment.

And more importantly, speak with conviction so she thinks it works.

“Three left.”

“three…”

“Two left.”

“two”

“One left.”

“one”

“Sleep.”

…and Korri’s body just…

sinks.

Her whole frame slumps down in your arms, her unfocused black eyes staring out into space as she half-smiles, her lips slightly open as her breathing slows…you swear she’s going to start drooling any second. It’s…

it’s

it’s the hottest thing you’ve ever seen.

No…not just ‘hot’. Hot is an injustice compared to what you witness.

Korri – sweet, wonderful, beautiful Korri, your very best friend – is sat there, her slight weight held up by your own, her breath and movement slowing, calming in a way you’ve never seen before. Her lips are so delightfully parted (and it makes you wish, so badly, that you could kiss her), even her legs seem to almost s-spread, and bad thoughts, but her eyes, just stare out, her mind feels so still and pliant, so warm and pleasant, and you just want to grasp it in your hands and mold it into your chosen shape, shape Korri into something small and smooth and pleasing to the eye…

What you witness now – that is, Korrigan Trelawney, hypnotised, entranced, yours – is an utter work of art, the truest form of beauty in this world. An alien beauty to be sure, like the mother-spider Maman, one you’re sure you’d struggle to explain to anyone but those few who can truly appreciate a mind beneath their own…but beauty nonetheless. And the fact that this was all you, and you’ve only begun to hypnotise her…

You could cry. From the joy of this act, and from the fear of what it could mean.

…you won’t cry, of course, because Korri would notice. You can tell from your telepathy she’s not exactly in the deepest trance you could get her, or even the deepest she’s been, but it’ll be enough. You can sense how her defenses are lowered, what you could ask, and –

and you kind of wish you couldn’t, because you don’t think such temptation is a good thing.

You hold Korri’s hand, touch her, tip her cheek so you can look into her eyes, so blank and lovely. Guiding her with whispers and touches.

Much as you hate to admit it, your future-past-self was right. Girls are sexier this way; the faint echo of Vesta’s own hypnosis is incomparable to the real thing.

And yet, ‘sexier’ isn’t good enough. You think – you suspect, you hope – that hypnosis is better than sex.

Future-past-you said just what she needed to say. She knew you, because she was you.

Maybe Korri’s not the only one being hypnotised.

Once you’re certain she’s deep enough – although hypnosis is hardly an exact science – you start asking Korri things under trance. Slipping past her conscious masks, her personas to face hardship…and into the depths of her mind, with Thought Skimmer to help determine the truth of it.

“Korri…please, tell me how you feel.”

“Feel…good, and nice,” she says. “Safe, and warm.”

“That’s good.” (It takes so much to not say ‘good girl’.)

“Cibby’s…good at this,” she says. (A bit of drool escapes the corner of her lips.)

“T-tell me, Korri.” You swallow, trying not to show just how badly you want her. Just how much you want to bring her head close, and consume her lips in your own. “Is there anything you’d like to change about yourself? Anything you’d like me to help with?”

…the complex well of emotions your telepathy shows…there’s so many conflicting feelings. It’s not bringing her out of trance, at least, but obviously you can’t expect a complete answer just from this.

But you need to know, as much as you can, about your very best friend.

“I…wanna understand people…wanna be more confident…wanna be able to help people, make them happy…wanna help you, Cibby…”

Fudge.

You want so, so badly to tell her to be your girlfriend. To tell her that’ll make her happy, to be your perfect girlfriend, one of many girlfriends, in a big gay happy love pile. To control her, utterly and completely, to make her yours, in every way that you can.

The skill name ‘I Want The Control’ has never seemed so appropriate before now.

A perfect body, a perfect soul.

…but you know it’d never take. Oh, Korri wouldn’t reject it, but that’s almost worse. You can tell from her thoughts she’s not thinking of you that way, right now, and you know she’d sacrifice her own happiness and sanity for you if you asked – she’d gladly force herself to be your girlfriend, if she ever allowed herself to be. She’d gladly consume everything she is, just to make you smile one more day.

Fudge.

Well, at least you can try and help her. You can try and help her, with what she wants, not what you want. There’s only so much you can do, this first time, but…it’ll be something to build on when you have your higher-level Hypnosis skills.

“Korri, I want you to imagine a box, okay?” you say, as Korri nods, smiling so brightly, still drooling for you. You hope this is straightforward enough for her, because she responds better to clearer language; you’ll have to be careful with that going forward. “This is a box for feelings. You can put feelings in here, and you’ll feel better about them, okay?”

Hypnosis…’no’ is a difficult concept in trance. It makes some of the language harder. You can’t simply tell her to ‘not’ feel things, not so easily, you have to express that negative space in a positive way. (At least, that’s one of the perspectives in your library. Fudge, maybe you should hypnotise yourself so you have a better idea of how to access it, give yourself a nice little sexy librarian in your head…)

“Mhm! I see the box,” Korri says, swaying hazily, staring out into space, as you witness her image in your own mind’s eye. Fudge, she’s still so beautiful like this. So perfect.

“What feelings do you want to put in the box, Korri?”

“mn…dunno” she says, head swaying side to side, your hands slipping around hers, her pale skin covered with your olive hue. Like this, she may not be able to think about it…but you know what it is she’d want help with most.

“We’ll start with guilt.” Korri feels so guilty all the time, after all. About what she fails to do, about her past…even though you’re the same age, she lost an entire year of school to her darkness. She’s lost so much, and she can only blame herself, when it was never her choice at all. “Wrap all your guilt into a little ball, and put it in the box.” You can help her. Even if it’ll only do so much like this, you can help her.

Yeah…if you can help her, maybe you won’t mind if she can’t be your girlfriend.

(…right?)

“okay,” Korri says, nodding when she’s completed her mental task.

“Now do the same for your fear. Wrap it in a ball, and put it in the box.”

“okay”

Fudge, she’s so obedient. Hearing her respond to your commands like this…feeling how readily she accepts your words…

“And now, your shame. Wrap it up, and put it in the box.”

“…okay”

“Good girl,” you slip out. You almost bite your lip, but…but she doesn’t notice. Or maybe she doesn’t care –

…no, your Skimming tells you it was the ‘notice’ one. Puddin’ heck, you need to get a hold of yourself!

“Now, I’m going to close the box, and lock it up, okay, Korri? And the key will be with me. So you know it’s safe.”

“okay.”

Guilt, fear, and shame…the three emotions Ms. Yi hates the most in the world. She’s gone on such tirades against them, about needing to accept oneself completely to have control over the will, about how those feelings caused so many awful things…about how religions used them to control people and cover up atrocities like child abuse, about how they poisoned individuals until they burnt out. Well, maybe she’ll be proud of you, for this:

“The box is closed, and locked. You’re safe now.”

Korri smiles.

You’ve set her free. (Or as free as a single trance can manage, at least.)

“thanks, cibby…” She looks…so happy. So wonderful.

Such a lovely, sexy, beautiful, perfect hypnotised girl she is, and so accepting of this, so wonderful, you want her to be yours…

…but, you want to give her some basics, too. More obvious hypnotic tricks. A trigger to get her to do things, and a trigger to bring her back under. And the usual safeties and reinforcements that came with such things, of course.

“Now, Korri…when I move my hands like this –” you make ‘fake glasses’ around your eyes with your hands “– and I tell you to do something, you’ll do it without thinking, okay? And you won’t remember what I say. It’ll fade from your conscious mind.”

“okay,” Korri says, smiling and drooling.

You want to reach over and kiss that drool. You want to suck it up, lick Korri, and bring her lips into yours while she’s still under.

but you don’t.

“And when I clap my hands three times, when we’re alone together, you’ll fall right back into trance.”

“okay…” Korri smiles wider. Fudge, she’s so cute.

You don’t settle on just that, of course. You test. You tease. You ensure everything is (relatively) safe, although you don’t expect Korri to be in a situation where she can be taken advantage of.

And you hold yourself back, because you want to do terrible things to her, and you could never forgive yourself if you did. Ensuring your words take hold, without ever letting yourself cross that line.

And, eventually…

You count Korri back up, with each of the lights. You watch, as she becomes more and more alert with each, and are forced once more to confront how sexy hypnosis truly is…and, in a way, how disappointing it is that she isn’t hypnotised all the time.

Even so, that desire notwithstanding – it’d pose a lot of logistical problems, wouldn’t it? – once the lights are all on, you clap your hands loudly – just once! – bring Korri right out of trance! (You, uh, can’t snap your fingers…mouuu, you need to learn if you’re going to be a sexy hypnotist!) “Wake up, Korri!”

“W-woah!” Korri sits right up and looks around, still disoriented from her trance…until she turns around and hugs you tight! A-ah, she’s just so amazing, Korri is the best… “Oh, Cibby! That was…kinda nice, actually…”

“Of course it was! Hypnosis isn’t anything bad,” you say, giggling a bit. Which is…kinda true, you guess. (Maybe not in this case, though.)

“Hm, but how do I know it really worked?” Korri blinks, her eyes so wide and full of curiosity, you just, she’s so…perfect…

(She should belong to you, that part of you whispers…)

Ignoring your Bad Thoughts, you place your ‘glasses’ around your eyes, just like you instructed in her trance. “Cluck like a chicken, Korri!”

“Bwgark!” Korri says, waggling her arms like chicken wings even within your embrace. “W-woah! How did you do that?” Even your suggestion to forget the command worked, it seems!

“That’s my little secret~” You laugh, so happy, so wonderful, so much, it’s just, everything’s so, it’s…aaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

“You’re amazing, Cibby! Wow, I didn’t think…hypnosis is really cool, huh? I never thought it could feel as good as that!” Korri’s…Korri’s really into it now, huh? You must be pretty good…or at least your librarian is. “Maybe I should’ve expected it, though. You seem…different, today.”

“Maybe I’m just cuter?” you joke. Sure, it sounds like a joke…but it’s literally true if your Charisma description is correct. Maybe you should trust it, rather than just worrying because you can’t see it in the mirror?

“Well, Cibby is the cutest already, so I don’t know how you could be.” (Even Skimming, you know Korri doesn’t mean that in the right way.) “Anything else you want me to do?”

You nod…and clap three times, not bothering to warn her. (Always test your triggers after installation, kids!) With that simple application, Korri goes slack immediately – right back to that beautiful, nearly-drooling trance face, that makes you want to…t-to just, deal with those urges!

(Fudge…y-you might need to masturbate between Korri leaving and Stella arriving, assuming the guilt doesn’t get to you first.)

A-and apeaking of guilt…

“Korri, when I wake you up, you’ll forget what happened in this trance,” you say, whispering to Korri, holding her there, wishing you could kiss her. “You’ll know you were under, but you’ll forget, and you’ll be okay with forgetting.”

“okay,” Korri says, not even registering the breach of trust. (Or is it that she trusts you completely, and would never consider this a violation at all?)

“Korri…” You swallow once more, as what spills out afterward is assuredly already too far, let alone what you’d want to do. “What do you think of me?”

“you’re…mm. you’re…my best friend. wanna…wanna make sure you’re happy. was hoping that someday soon i could find you a girlfriend…”

And there it is.

Your telepathy confirms it, within her mind, within those glass pebbles seeping blood – pebbles that feel more ordered and structured after your trance, and yet bleed more from it. Not an iota of romantic love – or at least, nothing you can recognize as such, anyway. Just…just a deep friendship. The kind people tell you in stories you shouldn’t disrupt with romance, but isn’t romance just a kind of friendship, in its way? Is it truly so different?

You…try not to frown. You try not to hate this.

(You don’t do a very good job.)

“Wake up, Korri,” you manage after a moment, clapping your hands, and your very best friend looks right at you again.

“Woah…that was neat!” And with that, Korri hugs you tightly! Wah, too close, too close for being this wet between your legs –

“Woah, hey!”

“Aw, you helped a lot…I feel kinda okay,” Korri says. “Let’s, um. Let’s do this again soon?”

…you think of refusing her. You think of telling her to run. But can’t bring yourself to say ‘no’.

“Yeah. Soon,” you whisper, so close to Korri, to your very best friend, so sweet, and wonderful, and beautiful, and perfect.

Or at least, as perfect as Korri can be, without being under your power. Without a dazed expression, without drooling lips, without a focused mind.

…you want to tell her to run, but you can’t.

Because if you gain more power, if you gain more skills, if you start buying the abilities that let you perform far greater violations than mere mundane hypnosis ever could?

By the time you’ll grasp her like this again, you’re sure you’ll be able to…