No time to stop.
Eitsu came to with a gasp, clutching her chest, but she would think about it later. She dropped the fifth pelt back into the box and seized the sixth.
She was born in a temple, the only one of her siblings to be patterned with the lucky colours of red, black and white. The kannushi1神主 (kannushi) – a Shinto priest. and miko2巫女 (miko) – a Shinto priestess. gave thanks to the kami of the shrine for this auspicious sign and presented the kitten as the official shrine cat in a day-long ceremony. The kami of the shrine was Benzaiten3弁財天 (Benzaiten) – Goddess of things that flow, including wealth, water, luck, music, eloquence and love., Goddess of That Which Flows. A miko claimed that the goddess had come to her in a dream and given the kitten a name: Sansaku. No one was entirely sure how this was supposed to be written. Perhaps the kitten would grow up to like wandering4散策 (sansaku) – walking, roaming, wandering, exploring.? Eventually, the kannushi and miko decided that the goddess must have meant that the tri-coloured patches on the cat's fur resembled blossoms, and so she was named Sansaku, To Bloom Three Times5三咲く (san saku) – 'three' and 'to bloom'..
In the shrine, she grew quickly and safely, fed well and often found happily asleep in the arms of Benzaiten's statue. Worshippers hoped that on the days they arrived, they would be lucky enough to see the three-colours cat held by the goddess.
One day, the butterflies arrived.
At first, it was only one or two. Even this was enough to cause a sensation – maidens would visit the temple in droves, as it was whispered that a white butterfly would show one their true love. As spring drew on, it became said that there were as many butterflies as cherry blossoms drifting through the blue skies.
If one was extra lucky, they would find Sansaku peacefully asleep in Benzaiten's arms, with seven white butterflies perched softly on her fur. Those who did would have good luck for the rest of their lives.
In her dreams, the Sansaku would hear tiny, silvery voices calling to her, calling her true name.
“Eitsu... Eitsu...”
She would wake and see the butterflies, their wings languorously flapping, as if waiting.
“What do you want?”
“There's someone waiting.”
“Someone?”
A year passed. The butterflies left and came again the next spring. And then they left again, and Eitsu went with them.
Her paws hit the ground outside the torii6鳥居 (torii) – a gate usually found at the entrance to a Shinto shrine, marking the boundary between the sacred and the mundane., and a dark wind descended upon her, sweeping aside the butterflies and tossing them into the air. Before she could react, a second breeze, this time rushing out through the torii behind her, blowing away the dark air.
“Hurry, child.”
Across the countryside she ran, following the butterflies, days becoming months, following the glowing insects through strange paths that sometimes did not seem to be connected to the tangible world. She moved like a ghost.
They came to a town.
The butterflies drifted along the streets to a large building, slipping into the crack made by a door left slightly ajar. Eitsu trotted inside.
It seemed to be an anteroom, containing only a few boxes. She leapt up on top of one, and the butterflies, glowing softly white, settled around her.
“So what is it you wanted to show me?”
The butterflies, of course, said nothing. She felt a kind of itch, all inside of her, as if something were about to happen.
For the first time in that life, she flowed into a human form, long hair falling orange-black-white around her bare shoulders. There were pale patches on the darker background of her skin, and she examined her human hands with intense curiosity.
A sound. She looked up as a woman slid open another door and froze.
This woman was extremely beautiful. Her long black hair lay in a silken sheet over her red and white yukata7浴衣 (yukata) – light cotton robes generally worn in hot weather or at a bathhouse., patterned with tsubaki.
Eitsu, covered in butterflies, cocked her head. “Who are you?”
The woman clutched at her neck nervously, but she managed to stammer out, “Ah, I... Please come this way. We'll speak in my room, someone may interrupt us here.”
Eitsu hopped off the box and shamelessly trotted after the woman, completely naked. The woman hurried through the building and quickly ushered Eitsu in through another door. There was only a futon in the room and nothing else.
The woman seemed to collapse. She stared at Eitsu in a daze. “What are you doing here?”
“You know me?”
Her words seemed to break something. A surging rush of desperate desire washed over her, but it was not hers.
Please... Great Goddess Eitsubyou no Mikoto...
“Huh, what's this? Are you... praying?”
The woman stared fearfully. “No... No. I couldn't. I dare not. I don't deserve-”
“I'll judge that. Tell me.”
She couldn't understand the deeply yearning look in the woman's large dark eyes, that were now beginning to grow watery. She couldn't understand the way those delicate hands trembled as they hesitated to reach out to her. She couldn't understand the single prayer that resonated through her brain.
Please love me.
Eitsu joined the woman on the floor. “That's a big wish.” She took the hands that were beginning to droop and pull away. “You're beautiful. Surely there are others...”
“I have no rights to wish for anyone's love, Eitsu-sama. I'm sorry that you had to hear the stupid request of my heart.” She tried to pull away but Eitsu held her fast.
“I'm sorry. This is the closest thing I can give you.” She gently, gently, kissed each fingertip of the woman's left hand, one by one, paying special attention to the tip of the smallest finger. Then she turned to the right hand and did the same. The woman seemed to have stopped breathing.
“No... Don't be so gentle to me. I'll... I don't deserve it.”
“Can't do that, I'm afraid.” Eitsu's head was ringing with this woman's desperate heart-wish.
Please, Eitsu-sama. Please love me.
“I can't willingly hurt someone that I love.”
The woman's heart stuttered. Eitsu could hear it.
“What's your name?”
The woman's heart stopped.
“Miss?”
“It's Tsubaki,” she said, with a bitter smile.
“Tsubaki... That's a pretty name. You smell lovely, Tsubaki.” Eitsu sniffed the other woman's hair. “Like flowers.”
“... Thank you.”
“What would you like to do?”
“I... This... We don't have to...”
Please, please love me.
“Is there somewhere we can bathe here?”
“Yes...”
“Let's go.”
Hand-in-hand, they walked through the building, almost as if Eitsu were leading rather than the other woman.
“Where is everyone?”
“They're at a party right now.”
“But not you?”
The woman shook her head silently.
The bath house was warm, clearly prepared for when the party ended and everyone returned. Eitsu closed the door, latched it, and turned to Tsubaki.
“Eitsu-sama-”
Please love me.
“I'm here. What would you like to do?”
Tsubaki sat down, bewildered, on a bathing stool. “I... I don't know. I've never...”
“Okay, tell me to stop if you don't like something.”
“...”
“Tsubaki-san...”
“Yes...”
Eitsu carefully peeled off Tsubaki's outer robe. She could smell the anxiety coming from the woman, the desperation.
Please love me.
Tsubaki put her hand to her neck, but Eitsu pulled it back to her lips.
“That's a pretty birthmark. Why are you hiding it? It looks like a heart... or maybe a tsubaki petal?”
Tsubaki closed her eyes.
Eitsu ran her rough tongue lightly along the sensitive inner forearm, gratified to feel the other woman shiver. Her pale green eyes flickered upwards to see Tsubaki's expression. A faint blush had bloomed on her cheeks.
“Don't look.”
“Why not? You're beautiful.”
She slid open the inner robe, lightly kissing Tsubaki's collarbones. She snuggled between the woman's legs, sighing at the way they trembled. “May I?”
Her tongue slipped out again, and Tsubaki clapped her hands to her own mouth. The only sound was her stifled moans as Eitsu carefully licked and kissed, her rough tongue and soft lips quickly wet.
Tsubaki managed to gasp out, “Eitsu-sama, st-stop... We should wash... f-first...”
Eitsu chuckled and pulled Tsubaki's robe completely off. Tsubaki stood unsteadily and hurriedly reached for the oke8桶 (oke) – a bucket or pail., slipping a little on the damp floor. Eitsu caught her easily and pulled her onto her lap.
“Sit here, I'll wash you. Do you have something for your hair?”
To her amusement, Tsubaki clung to her like a monkey in a tree, with arms and legs wrapped tightly. She retrieved a robe tie from the pile of clothes and somehow managed to secure Tsubaki's long dark hair, so that she could tip water onto the woman's body. She followed each wash of water with a gentle rub of her hand, over her shoulders, her back, her arms, her legs...
Tsubaki bit her hand to suppress the sounds she made.
“Don't hurt yourself. If you want to stay quiet, just kiss me instead.”
Their lips met. Tsubaki didn't seem to know how to breathe properly. She gasped and panted and Eitsu pressed forward harder and she let go of the oke and slipped her hand between Tsubaki's thighs.
Tsubaki pulled back, although she was shuddering, her hips moving involuntarily. “N... Eitsu-sama... what... what should I do? Not just... me...”
“Here... Move your hand down here. Do you feel... A little lower... There... That...” Eitsu pressed her face to Tsubaki's breasts with a sigh. “There...” She shivered too and pushed her fingers into the woman seated in her lap, where she was warm and wet and twitching. Tsubaki let out a strange cry, eyes unfocused.
“Ah... Eitsu-sama! That's... Ah!”
“What, do you want me to stop?”
“No! N- Don't... please don't... Please...” Tsubaki sounded like she was going to cry. “Not now. Not now.”
“I won't.” Eitsu gently begin to nibble at her breasts, running her tongue over and over the velveteen skin of the nipples until they were hard.
“Eitsu-sama... if you do that, I can't...”
“Hm...?”
“For you...”
“But you seem to be having so much fun?”
Tsubaki's fingers dug into her bare shoulders. A strand of loose hair trailed down the side of her flushed face. “I want to do it for you too. I've always- Please, let me.”
Please love me.
She slid from Eitsu's lap and crouched between her legs, but she looked at a loss.
“Don't think about it too much. Where do you like to touch yourself? Try those places on me first.”
If possible, Tsubaki's face grew redder, but she leant forward, poking with her tongue. Hesitantly, at first, but more firmly as Eitsu sighed and shivered.
“A little higher... Gentle... Put... Put your fingers in here. Yes...” She let her head fall back, her whole lower body tensing and releasing. “Ah... Tsubaki...”
Tsubaki's tongue sped up.
“Haha, are you trying to finish me already? Come up here, that can't be go for your knees.” She pulled Tsubaki back on her lap. Their lips were slick and sticky as they kissed again.
Please love me.
“Would you like me to say that I love you?”
Tsubaki's head dropped immediately to Eitsu's shoulder. “Please... no...”
I love you. Please love me.
“Okay, I won't.” Eitsu's hands slid below Tsubaki's thighs and the tips of her fingers brushed lightly against the swollen lips below. Tsubaki's breath hitched.
“You feel ready to explode. Should I...?”
But it felt as though Tsubaki wouldn't let go. She clung tight, her arms around Eitsu's neck. The kaibyou smiled, her lips against the birthmark. “I guess I'll just have to...”
With the flexibility of a cat, she extracted one leg and wrapped it over Tsubaki's opposite one, trapping her. Their slick inner thighs pressed together, Eitsu bounced up and down a little, humming with contentment at the feeling of them rubbing up against each other. “How's that?”
Tsubaki responded with a small noise. She clung even tighter as Eitsu moved her hips back and forth, their breaths speeding up together. Eitsu ran her tongue over Tsubaki's lips until they parted, and their hands grasped at each others breasts as if they might tear each other to pieces.
“Down here.” Eitsu pulled back a little, bringing Tsubaki's hand down with hers, and they rubbed, slippery, swelling, until, with a gasp, Tsubaki's whole body twitched and shook, her fingers unable to keep moving. Eitsu took her fingers with her free hand and helped her finish, then pressed their bodies together once more, joined by lips and teeth and tongue and heaving chests and -
Eitsu's nails dug into Tsubaki's thighs, trembling with pleasure. They kissed as if they would devour each other.
“Good?”
Tsubaki nodded, her hair now completely undone. She looked like she might pass out in the steam of the bath house.
“Window...” Eitsu lifted her and stumbled to the bath house window, cracking it open a little to let cool air in. They stood together by the opening. “Tsubaki?”
“Don't...”
So Eitsu stood wordlessly, looking out into the night, wondering why the woman in her arms had begun to sob.
She understood a week later.
Eitsu walked out alone into the world once more. The butterflies were long gone.
“So this is where you've been.”
Eitsu glared up at the man who crouched down beside her. She drew back as he sniffed the air.
“You smell like her.”
“Who are you supposed to be? Someone else from a past life? Don't tell me you also trapped me in a cage to possess me?”
“Honestly, I should,” he sighed, reaching out a languid hand that became suddenly vice-like and clamped down on Eitsu's neck. “To think, after all that work I did, that woman got to you again. Well, I'm sorry, treasure, but you've strayed too far from Benzaiten's sanctuary. And you have made me very, very angry.”
Eitsu tried to transform, tried to reach into her newly returning powers to drive her attacker insane. His single pale brown eye became a gaping hole.
“Too slow.”
He crushed her throat in a heartbeat.
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