The day had arrived that my sister would be returning home, I was not exactly thrilled by this news, quite the opposite. Just knowing that she would be sharing the same house as me was enough for me to curse inwardly. If there was anyone in this world who could put put me down, it was her.

  If I just stayed in bed all day and claimed to be ill would she just magically vanish? Unlikely, though I wish she would. My perfect Sister, the Sister that was always better than me, I was always compared to was actually a witch. She too had a hidden personality, but she only used it to bully me. I didn’t know the reason she hated me so much but at this point it was mutual.

  It wasn’t a school day today and usually I wouldn't have to do my usual routine but with my Sister’s arrival I wanted to make sure I was looking lovely. Maybe one day I could rise higher than her, the look on her face when that day came would be unimaginable. After spending some hour or so making sure I was looking great, the time arrived.

  Buzzzz

  The doorbell signalled her arrival and I could hear my parents exchanging delighted greetings. I rushed down to the door to join them.

  “Welcome home, my darling Daughter”

  “Hey Mom, hey Dad, I’m home. And my adorable little sister too, how nice.”

  Almost immediately after entering she flashed me a two-faced smile with a double meaning only I knew. “How nice” I’m sure. Just seeing her again made me emotional. My parents and sister talked and talked but I wasn't hearing any of it. I had to remind myself to grit my teeth and bare it, she wasn’t going to be here forever. I just had to survive a few days at most.

  My Sister presented me with a bag “Here little Sis, these are for you”

  Inside were school supplies, a textbook and a workbook. “Wow, jeez, you shouldn't have.” I thought of saying but managed to hold myself back. What a wonderful gift, as if saying “You’re going to need it if you ever want to hold a candle to me”. She knew exactly how to rub me the wrong way. I hated her so much, if she suddenly died I don't think I would mourn her. It might be extreme but my relationship with my Sister really was this bad

  “Get it together” I reminded myself internally

  Forcing a smile hoping my bitterness wasn’t showing I thanked her “Thank you so much Sis, I will be sure to work hard”

  Getting used to the nightmare I was going to have to live in for the next few days would be tough but I could do it.

  ?

  As unpleasant as it was, the weekend had passed surprisingly quickly, School would come tomorrow as it did every Monday and when I returned home my Sister would be gone. Things should return to normalcy, as well as they could with my current situation.

  I spent some time over Haruka’s earlier today. She knew that me and my sister didn't see eye to eye and offered to hang out to “study” at her place. I gladly took the offer as any time away from that monstrous woman would be time well spent. While I was there under the guise of study we mostly just chatted about school life and future plans. Of which I had none. We did study a small bit but by the time we started it was late and I had to go home soon after.

  As soon as I returned home I was attacked by a snide remark from my Sister but I just ignored it and went to my room. The sooner I slept the sooner she would be gone which sounded fine to me.

  ?

  I didn’t spend too long on my morning routine as I wanted to get out of the house as quickly as possible. I met with Haruka on the way as I told her beforehand I would be leaving early. Arriving at school this early was a bit eerie. There was something that didn't sit quite right about an empty school, something you couldn't put a finger on.

  I hadn’t had any more contact with Saito since that evening on Friday. I wasn’t going to go out of my way to check on her either, we were barely acquaintances and nevermind friends. I had to admit I was a little concerned for her, the injuries she had were clearly inflicted and couldn't have been an accident.

  After a while homeroom was just around the corner and all the students were taking their places. I noticed Saito-san in the back corner near the window with her poorly cut hair and bruised face. I pitied her a bit. Especially given that some of the girls and boys from Haru’s clique were harassing her over the injuries.

  “Wow Saito-san, that look goes great with you, did you do it yourself?”

  “I bet she got into a fight with some delinquents from another school”

  “Or she was dragged into a back alley, seriously how can you come to school with such a scruffy look, are you not ashamed of yourself?”

  “These people…” I sighed

  “Piss off” Saito stood up with a threatening stance.

  I had said it before, Saito wasn't exactly tall but she had an aura about her that made her seem bigger than she was.

  “Oo~ She’s got bite” one of the girls remarked

  “Hey!-” I began to shout but before I could finish the girls and boys had already begun to back away.

  Saito’s eyes had shot towards the girl's in a terrifying glare. The rude girl got the message and walked away followed by the rest of the unruly bunch.

  I was slightly impressed that Saito was able to hold her own against the harassment of multiple other students.

  Hamada had made a comment at some point about how bad the bullying was here and how distasteful she found it. We all agreed.

  I would have stuck up for anyone. It wasn’t that it was specifically Saito-san. I assured myself, that is my duty as class president after all.

  —

  “Let me see it.”

  “Is that a request?”

  “No, will you not show me unless it is?”

  “Whatever.”

  I received a text during lunch break this afternoon from Saito requesting to see me in the gym room afterschool, so I'm here in this dimly lit room with this girl who’s blackmailing me. I lifted my shirt to reveal the bandage that was still wrapped around my tummy. Without saying a word she began to touch and unravel it.

  “Hey! I didn’t say you can touch it!”

  “I want to see.”

  I sighed and let her continue unwinding the bandage. I could see a slight look of disappointment as she finished unwrapping it to realise that there was no mark left. I was still in pain this morning so I decided to wrap it anyway.

  “Happy?” I asked hoping that she would stop.

  She glossed her petite cold hand over the area that used to be bruised which sent a shiver through me causing me to jolt back. What was she looking disappointed for anyway? Did she want to leave a mark on me? That’s weird.

  “Hey! That's enough!”

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  A moment later a grin appeared on Saito’s face. Red flag. My body was screaming at me to get out of here but I knew that I couldn't leave. She was thinking of something and whatever it was, it probably wasn't good for me.

  “Shiori-san, lie there.” She was pointing at a stack of gym mats stuffed in the corner.

  “What? Why?”

  “It’s part of my request, you’re not going to disobey me now are you?”

  I wasn’t. Whatever this was, it was probably a better alternative to having that video sent to the teachers or worse. I did as I was told and lay on the stack of mats.

  “I’m going to mark you Shiori-san”

  A rush of blood flustered my cheeks as I panicked at those words and shot up.

  “WHAT!?”

  “Don’t worry, I won't hurt you, lie down.”

  “No, explain yourself.”

  “That's not part of the agreement now is it? But if you really want to know, I’m going to give you a hickey. Here”

  She was pointing at my tummy where she had hit me a few days prior.

  “What the hell, why? You looked disgusted before when I kissed you so why are you doing this? Is it revenge? Also you cannot leave a hickey, there’s P.E tomorrow.”

  “It’s sorta revenge, but to be honest I didn’t hate you kissing me. Though you suck at it, you should probably practice, that kiss sucked. As for P.E, you can just wear your bandage again can’t you?” She smirked

  I hated that she was right, I could technically hide it but that wasn't the issue here. Hickeys were intimate, the sort of thing you do with someone you are VERY close with. And what was with “I didn’t hate you kissing me”? She clearly looked agitated when I did it. She is so weird.

  “What, are you into me or something? We are not that close, don't you think this is a bit much?”

  “Into you? Well you are very pretty” She teased. “I just do what I feel like, and I feel like marking you. Can I do it now?”

  She was getting impatient with me, I should probably just get it over with before she thinks of something even weirder.

  “Fine.”

  I was very tense, this was the first time something like this was happening to me. It was an intimate act and yet again Saito-san was taking another one of my firsts. She pushed me back gently until I was completely facing up, I could feel her hand wander around the hem of my shirt as she pulled it up revealing my bare skin.

  “You have very soft skin Shiori-san, I bet you take good care of yourself”

  I shrugged off the comment mentally as right now I felt far too tense to respond.

  “You’re acting cute right now you know?”

  I closed my eyes and snapped my head to the side. I didn't want to see her, I didn’t want to hear what she had to say, this was too much and I was flustered.

  “Just hurry up!”

  Right as I said that Saito-san learned down and placed her lips against my skin to the side of my belly button. Her lips were rough, rougher than I was expecting for a girl. I could feel the wetness of her tongue as she started to suck, I wasn't aware of how long she had been at it but it had to have been more than 5 seconds now. She was sucking harder over time and I could feel the warm waves of her breaths on my skin, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling and instinctively I let out a soft breathy moan. She must have found this amusing as she stopped immediately after and through her tone of voice I could tell she was smiling.

  “All done~”

  I sat up quickly and held my top in place to inspect the damage. There was a medium sized bruise left where she had done it. That was my first hickey, another one of my firsts stolen again by this strange girl with gorgeous green eyes.

  “I did not think it would be so red… or that big” I remarked

  “Hmm, me neither. I think it looks good on you though~” She teased

  “I bet you do. So is that it for today? Can I go home?”

  “If you want to, but are you sure? You seemed to be enjoying yourself”

  There was that devilish smile again, at least it was genuine and not forced as usual.

  “You would think that. Yes, I am going home.”

  I fixed up my disheveled appearance and made for the door, just as I did I felt a light tugging on my arm and turned to see a solemn look on the girl's face.

  “Stay.”

  “I've already completed your request, you can’t make me.”

  “Please.”

  She’s begging me? And what's with that look?

  “Fine.”

  Over the last week I had noticed that I have a small soft spot for Saito-san. I wasn't sure why, we barely knew each other and she was blackmailing me at that. Plus, even if it is Saito-san, how could I refuse someone who looks like that?

  Just standing here in silence would be extremely awkward so I should come up with something to talk about.

  “So, what’s with your hair, you didn’t like it long? It's also very messy, did you do it yourself?”

  “It’s complicated”

  She’s never very chatty and trying to make conversation with her is a chore. Surely you can say more than that?

  “Well I can fix it up for you if you like?”

  “Why? Shouldn’t you hate me?”

  “I’m not sure, I don’t hate you though.”

  “Well if you're okay with it I wouldn't mind if you fixed it”

  “Alright then, I’ll go find a pair of scissors, you wait here.”

  “No! Don’t leave, do it some other time. Isn’t it too dark here anyway?”

  “I suppose it is. So then, what should we do?”

  I wasn’t sure what was going on but it was clear Saito-san didn’t want to be alone and I didn’t have anything better to do. It also beat going home to see if she was still there. That said, I still wasn’t sure what I was meant to do here. I’m just twiddling my thumbs as we both sit in the vacant room filled with darkness.

  I found it slightly incredible she could go from the demonic girl ordering me around like she was an empress to this lost puppy look, it was sort of amusing in a way.

  “Hmm” Saito-san began scanning the room and walking around as if looking for something.

  “This will do” She said, pulling up an old dusty tennis racket and ball. I’m not sure how long they've been there but it would surprise me if they were older than the both of us.

  “And what exactly do you suppose we do with those?”

  Just as I asked, Saito-san started bouncing the ball off the wall and hitting it back with the racket.

  “Hey! That's really loud, we’ll get caught”

  “Let’s do it quietly then”

  “Do it quietly” she says. How exactly do you play wall tennis quietly? She hasn't thought about this at all. I sighed.

  I grabbed a racket of my own and began hitting the ball back at the wall as she had. It wasn’t the worst idea, it was actually quite fun for how simple it was. There was also something cathartic about hitting things. I was getting very engrossed in the idea of hitting the tennis ball.

  I began hitting it harder, Saito-san noticed and joined me. We giggled as the ball spun off the wall with more and more speed each time.

  At some point I had noticed that I didn’t have to act around Saito-san. I never had to pretend to be someone else, slowly I was becoming more like me whenever I was around this girl.

  Thump THUD Thump THUD

  It continued on for a short while.

  Just as we were getting into it the fun had to come to an end.

  Thump THUD….

  There was no sound of the ball being returned after it hit the wall, the ball had veered after hitting the wall and hit Saito-san directly in the knee. She didn’t groan or let out any sounds of pain, maybe she was okay?

  “Oh no, are you okay?”

  As I asked, her head snapped up with a darkened glare that sent electricity through me. My instinct was telling me to run, like she was a wild animal about to pounce on its prey and devour it whole. This wasn’t like the carefree girl who had blackmailed me nor was it the lost puppy, it was something entirely different, it was a predator.

  “I- I’m sorry Saito-san”

  She slithered towards me with her face still darkened in rage, I tried to back up but was caught by a low step and stumbled over. Regaining my balance, I looked back at her, she was closer than I thought but before I could say anything the room echoed with a sudden sharp sound and my cheek stung like I had just been slapped. Right, I had been slapped.

  Not even holding back a little, her slap knocked me off balance and I fell down hitting the hard gymnasium floor.

  “What the fuck Saito-san, I said I was sorry.”