"Berserker, by my command-" Kirika held her hand out firmly as she spoke, staring down her maddened servant wreathed in shifting black shadows. Behind her stood Oriko, holding on tightly to her girlfriend's shoulder, able to do no more than support her in this endeavour "-you are to permanently reduce your rank in Mad Enhancement to its lowest possible level." Once those words were spoken, the command sprang to life, setting the sigils at the back of her hand alight until one among their number had burned away.
Berserker howled as the command fell upon him, writhing where he stood until the shadows that had overtaken his form faded away, revealing underneath a full suit of steel plate, coloured like the midnight sky on a starless night. He stared at Kirika, and underneath his helmet must have been contemplating the girl seated before him, so small a creature she was, sitting in her chair. Berserker raised his arms, and Oriko's body tightly clenched; she feared for the worst, that the command had failed, or perhaps had worked in reverse and brought the servant to even greater madness. But her fears passed when the black knight instead reached for his helmet, removing it to reveal the man underneath.
His skin was white, his face European, his features aged. His eyes were like dark pools, and his violet hair fell down to his shoulders. "My master," the servant said, taking to the knee with his helmet tucked under his arm, "I am servant Berserker, and if it would please you, I humbly place myself at your service."
Kirika lay in the bed she shared with Oriko, her hand stretched towards the ceiling as she admired the Seal given to her by Oriko to replace the one she had lost in reigning Berserker in. Beside her sat Oriko, shirtless, and adjusting her bra. The long sleeve of crimson Seals covered her arm, from her wrist all the way up to the back of her shoulder blade, and even after giving one up to replenish the Command lost that night, there were so many lining every centimeter of her lover's flesh that Kirika could hardly see a difference.
"What's it like," Kirika asked, causing Oriko to turn towards her girlfriend. "Having that much power contained in your arm, I mean; what's that like?"
"It has its uses, I will admit to that much," Oriko said, looking down at the girl lying beside her. "But looking back on what it took to obtain, the person that I am now would not want to have that power." Oriko tried to put on a smile, but Kirika knew enough to see that her smile was false. "Still-" Oriko reached for her pajama top, and slid an arm into place as she continued speaking "Now that I have it, I would be disrespecting the lives I am responsible for if I were to let them all go to waste. That's why I plan to make sure that every one of them is put to a proper and respectful use."
"So while I ask that you not spend your Seals frivolously, dearest, if you need to use one you can do so without fear." With both arms snugly in their proper sleeves, Oriko leaned over to give Kirika a kiss. But as she did so, her nose wrinkled, and she pulled back saying "Dearest, when was the last time you washed that shirt?"
Kirika blinked, and her head bobbed up and down, not sure whether to look at Oriko or at her shirt, a faded black tee with the logo of some Swedish death metal band whose name she couldn't pronounce. "Uh... Maybe the day you got kidnapped by the witch?" she offered, not quite able to remember for herself.
Oriko clicked her tongue, and in an instant had thrown the offending shirt off of her girlfriend, and into the laundry hamper. "Dearest, that's disgusting. You can't just keep wearing the same shirt to bed every night."
"Well, it's always there on my side of the bed, and it's not like I can really walk over and grab a new one out of the dresser or anything." Kirika stopped herself, upon hearing the snappy town in her voice. She hung her head, saying "Sorry. I shouldn't be getting snappy with you just because I can't walk."
Oriko smiled, and now free from the offending scent of her lover's shirt, could lean down and give Kirika a proper kiss. "I'm right here, dearest. If there's anything you need me to get for you, don't hesitate to ask."
"Yeah..." Kirika's voice trailed off as she stared up at the ceiling once more, losing herself in thought, until, "Hey, Oriko? I was thinking, about what Tomoe said earlier today. I think- I think I would like to see my mom on Sunday."
"Really? What's changed your mind?"
"Well, she's always been really supportive of our relationship, even though she's never had to be. I guess I at least owe it to her, to say hi once in awhile." Kirika rolled over, so that she was on her side facing Oriko, her head in perfect position to receive the waiting hand of her girlfriend, whose touch she was eager to melt in. "And, I mean, Tomoe has a point- She's family; I should at least try to spend time with her, while she's still here."
Oriko smiled, stroking her hand through Kirika's hair. "Your mother is still rather young, isn't she? I'm sure she'll be around for a long time. But if you want to go see her on Sunday, then I'll let her know that our plans have changed."
Kirika melted under Oriko's touch, and like a purring kitten her voice carried with it her utmost contentment as she said "Thanks. I really love you, Oriko; you know that?"
"... So, you want to tell me what that was all about?"
The small dining room felt even more cramped under the oppressive gaze of the Kure matriarch, as she and her beet-faced daughter sat at the table. "Mom, we weren't doing anything, I swear!"
"Uh-huh." The mother Kure didn't believe her daughter for a second. "Then maybe you can explain why you both needed to be half-naked if you weren't doing anything."
"Well, I mean, we were gonna do that, but we hadn't done anything yet when you-"
"When I interrupted you and Oriko and preserved your chastities, you mean?" The mother Kure crossed her arms over her chest, huffing as her daughter's face turned an even darker shade of red. "Kirika... What am I going to do with you? I know you and Oriko are eager to explore the boundaries of your relationship, but don't you think you're still too young for that kind of thing?"
"We're both fifteen, mom; it's not like we're little kids or anything. We knew what we were doing, and we both wanted it, so what's wrong with that?"
"Kids... You slap a second digit next to their age and suddenly they think they know everything." The mother Kure stared at her daughter, sighing, shaking her head as unpleasant memories filled her thoughts. "I was exactly the same as you when I was your age. I was young, foolhardy, I thought I knew everything about everything. That's when I met your father. Oh, sure, we hit it off great, and like everyone our age we were so sure that it'd never happen to us, that we were 'special'." She scoffs. "Your grandfather beat me black and blue when I told him I was pregnant. You know how old I was? Sixteen, just a year older than you are now."
"I had to drop out of school when you got too big for me to hide, and a few weeks after I turned seventeen, there you were. And through all that, through getting pregnant at sixteen because I was to stupid to use protection, through dropping out of school, to having you, to marrying your father, I still thought I knew everything, that everything that was happening to me was fine. As long as I had him, and I had you, that everything would turn out fine for me. Do you know when it hit me, that I didn't know a goddamn thing? When I walked in on your father, fucking another woman in what was supposed to be our bed. And, I know that Oriko can't get your pregnant the way your father got me pregnant, but I still want you to be careful, and to not make the same mistake I did. You might think you love her that much right now, but if something goes wrong I don't want to see you hurting the way that I was..."
Kirika had known that her mother was on the younger side, but this was a story and a side of her mother she had never known. "And I know, everything I just said went in one ear and out the other, because that's exactly how I was at your age. But that's fine. You'll make mistakes, and you'll learn from them. And I'll still be here to support you when you mess up, just like your grandma and grandpa are still here to support me when I mess up."
Kirika stared at her mother, not quite sure what to say in the face of everything she had heard. "Do you... Do you ever regret having me?"
"No. I regret letting your father knock me up, and I regret having to drop out of school because of that, but I do not, and will not, ever regret having you as my daughter." The mother Kure got up out of her seat, walked over to her daughter, and wrapped her arms around the girl. "You are the best thing that's ever happened to me, Kirika. I just want you to be happy, without making the same mistakes that I made. If your relationship with Oriko makes you happy, then I'll support you. I just... Want you to be careful, that's all."
"No, mom, you're right. I-" Kirika smiled, as she returned her mother's embrace. "Yeah, we'll be careful."
