Makoto groaned. "Shit, I really need to get home now. Thank you for the view."
He smiled and turned away. As he got into the car, he quickly sent a message. His mind was reeling, and he didn't even notice which chat he'd opened.
Back in his bedroom, Yuna was pacing like a caged tiger at the foot of his bed. Mika sat cross-legged on his pillow, scrolling through an online store on her phone. Then the message landed in the group chat.
Makoto: I'm on my way back now. And I'm going to buy you some new lingerie if you can protect my Raiden, Mika.
The silence in the room was shattered.
Yuna stopped pacing. She turned her head slowly to look at the glowing screen. She read the message once, then again. Her face, which had been a mask of simmering rage, went blank.
"Lingerie," she said flatly.
Mika looked up from her phone. A slow smile spread across her face. "Oh. How thoughtful."
Yuna's composure broke. "LINGERIE?!" she shrieked. "HE'S BRIBING YOU WITH FUCKING LINGERIE TO PROTECT A PIECE OF PLASTIC FROM ME?!"
She lunged. Not for Mika, but for the desk. For the Raiden figure standing there in its perfect, fragile glory.
But Mika was faster. In a blur of motion, she was off the bed and standing between Yuna and the desk.
She didn't look scared. She didn't even look angry. She just looked amused.
"Now, now, Yuna-chan," she said sweetly. "Let's not be hasty."
"Get out of my way!" Yuna snarled, her hands clenched into fists.
Mika smiled. "He asked me to protect it." She cocked her head, eyes sparkling. "And I always do what he asks."
The two girls faced off in the messy battlefield of Makoto's bedroom.
"You always do this," Mika said calmly. "Big, dramatic explosion, and so predictable."
"And you always act like this," Yuna shot back, body trembling. "Like you're the calm, reasonable one. Your 'good girl' appearance is so fucking boring."
"Is it?" Mika's smile didn't waver. "My way seems to be working out quite well so far."
Her gaze flickered to the phone, then back to Yuna. "Remember the calculus midterm? You got a 98 but threw your textbook across the classroom because you missed one question."
Yuna's eye twitched. "That's different! And you only got a 100 because you fooled around and found the questions sheet from previous classes, you scheming bitch!"
"It's exactly the same." Mika glanced at the Raiden figure behind her. "You see something you want, and you try to smash everything in your way to get it." Her eyes flickered toward the window, toward the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. "I see something I want, and find a more efficient path to victory."
"He's not a fucking midterm, Mika!" Yuna snarled, taking a threatening step forward, her face contorted in a sneer. "Is this just another game for you? Playing the good, obedient little puppy to take him from me?"
"Little puppy? That sounds funny coming from you, Yuna," Mika continued, her tone designed to infuriate. "At school, you act like an idol, distant and mysterious. You won't even give the captain of the soccer team the time of day."
Her gaze swept over Yuna's trembling form. "But one little text about lingerie, and you're ready to smash his limited-edition figure. You're not very good at hiding it, are you, Yuna-chan? Your love for him."
The accusation hit Yuna like a physical blow. "Shut up! Then what about you, Miss Perfect? You're supposed to be the class representative, the track star, the girl every teacher adores. Do any of them know you sent my brother a video of yourself in the shower? That you get off on being his second wife, being fucked in a Marin costume?"
Mika's smile widened. "No. They don't. That's a side of me that's just for him." She took a step closer, voice dropping to a whisper. "Just like this screaming, jealous, pathetic side of you is just for him."
She looked Yuna up and down. "We're just two sides of the same coin, you and I. We just have different ways of showing our love and devotion, you know?"
Before Yuna could respond, the bedroom door burst open.
Makoto pushed through, slightly out of breath. "Hi there. I'm back. Did I make it in time? Did you miss me?"
He froze.
Yuna was halfway across the room, her body coiled with rage. Her hand stretched out toward the Raiden figure on his desk. Mika stood between them, serene and unmovable, a faint smile on her lips.
They both turned their heads as he entered.
Yuna's face contorted as the rage shifted from the figure to him. "Miss you?" she hissed. "MISS YOU?! You went out on a platonic date with that waitress whore, you came back smelling like her cheap perfume, and then you had the audacity to bribe your little bitch with lingerie?!"
Mika turned to him with a bright smile. "Welcome home. You're just in time, Makoto. Yuna-chan was just about to redecorate this room." Her gaze flicked to the Raiden figure, then back to him. "Don't worry. It's safe, just like you asked."
Makoto let out a sigh of relief. "That was just an... emergency solution. Actually, I was planning to take you both to buy some new lingerie anyway. Hehe."
He smiled weakly and took out a box from behind his back. "And here, I brought donuts for us. For my cute little stepsister who was waiting. Do you want to try one?"
Yuna stared at the box as if he'd just handed her a live grenade. Her chest heaved, her eyes still blazing. "Donuts. You think you can fix this with donuts?"
But she was hesitating. The rage was being slowly replaced by a more familiar force: her insatiable sweet tooth.
Mika stepped forward and took the box from him with a graceful touch. "Oh, you even brought us donuts. You're too kind."
She opened the box. The sweet scent of fried dough filled the tense air. She selected a glazed donut and took a small bite. Her eyes fluttered shut. "Mmm. It's delicious." She held the half-eaten donut out to Yuna. "You should have one, Yuna-chan. You look like you could use some sugar."
Yuna glared at the donut. She glared at Mika, then at him. And then, with a low growl that was half-surrender and half-fury, she snatched the donut from Mika's hand and took a huge, angry bite.
Makoto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and grinned. "You can feed me, too, Yuna."
Yuna was still chewing her donut with furious intensity. She glared at him, cheeks puffed out like an angry chipmunk. She swallowed hard. "Feed you?" The words came out muffled. She looked at the half-eaten donut in her hand, then back at him.
A slow, wicked smile spread across her face. "Fine. Open up, you pig."
She didn't offer it gently. She shoved the donut toward his mouth in one messy, aggressive motion. He caught it with his lips, sticky glaze smearing on his cheek. It tasted of sugar, fried dough, and Yuna's indignant saliva.
He glanced between them. "So what did you two do while I was gone?"
She watched him chew, eyes narrowed. "What did we do?" Her voice turned into an amused purr. "We just made ourselves comfortable."
She gestured vaguely around the room with the donut. "We went through your search history. Judged your taste in hentai. And we ranked your ex-girlfriends based on their social media pictures." Her smile turned feral. "For the record, we both agree you can do better."
Mika, who had been quietly enjoying a chocolate-sprinkled donut, chimed in. Her voice was sweet, almost innocent. "We also planned our shopping trip. For your collar, and maybe a chastity cage."
Makoto nearly choked on his donut. "Ahem, was that supposed to be... a joke?" He leaned in and pecked Yuna's lips. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"