The Love Box Ch. 01

Notes: All characters are either 18 or above.

Second Notes: Although the main character starts out "straight", there will be no heterosexual sex in this story. Here are some things you can expect! An intersex/futa character, instances of incest and a lesbian harem with side couples.

*****

I'd never been a particularly kind person if I'm being honest.

Now, I've never been mean to people either, but before that day, I can't remember the last time I went out of my way to help someone. And why should I? Most people take one look at my long black hair, my deathly pale skin and the stereotypically squinted Asian eyes my mother so graciously allowed me to inherit and they say "Oh! She's the girl from The Ring!"

So, forgive me for saying that saving that woman wasn't a regular thing for me. I don't even know what I was thinking when I did it! It just... Happened. That's all, I mean, everyone does kind stuff for no reason sometimes, right? It doesn't mean I'm a kind person.

As a matter of fact, that whole day was weird from the start. At 8:00 am, that fateful day, I was playing the latest MMO when my mother burst through the door.

"GOOOOOD MORNING~!" She sang like a bird, only way more annoying.

"Morning," I replied shortly and sweetly. See, I was of the strict belief that if you could convey something in very few words, why not do that then? And no, this belief was not a result of the fact that I was so shy I could barely communicate well with my own mother, not at all.

She walked up to me and hugged me. Maybe if a regular human being had hugged me, my head wouldn't have been trapped between two globe-like breasts, but for some reason, my mother possessed that kind of body that most social activists had been insisting couldn't be possible (you know, huge tits, huge legs, but extra-slim waist), but genetics refused to let me have it as well.

Basically, it looked like I was being hugged by a far more attractive version of myself.

"I made you some eggs and bacon!" She said far too loudly for someone who was, you know, right on top of me.

"Thanks."

"Alright, sweetie. By the way, Ashley asked if you'll be at school on time today."

I sighed. The Ashley in question happened to be the only girl in the world I considered my friend, and she did not relent when it came to using that title to intrude in my affairs (meaning "get me to actually do stuff"). Truthfully, we're probably only friends by default since I've known her since kindergarten.

For some reason, she and my mother liked to talk on the phone for longer than even we talked on the phone. So, Ashley's basically a second mom at this point. Which is disturbing. When I first heard about friends becoming family, this wasn't what I had in mind.

Sure enough, I let my team online know that I was signing out and looked on my phone. One message from one of the only two people who send me messages.

TheFriend: Miiiiriiiiiii! Hello! <3

Me: hey

TheFriend: u on ur way yet?

Me: no

TheFriend: Uh...

TheFriend: What are you waiting for?

Me: motivation, money, hot guys to acknowledge my existence... need I go on?

TheFriend: Just get here already!

Me: fine

Without further ado, I sluggishly put myself together. Basic black hoodie over the basic school shirt, basic brown skirt and basic me, along with a bra that was as boring as possible, with equally boring panties to match. I sighed when I looked at myself in the mirror and realized that yeah, if this girl showed up in front of my children, I'd probably cover my kid's eyes and say "don't worry, she won't hurt you."

Why, oh why, did I have to look like a character from a cheesy Japanese horror movie?

I went down and ate with my mom. She was just finishing up her plate when I thought of asking something.

"Will you be out late today?" I asked. I wanted to know so I could order some takeout or something.

"U-Uh, yeah!" My mom stuttered. "My boss wants me to run over some... Files! Yeah, files."

I sighed internally. I wished she'd just tell me she's a stripper already.

And no, I'm not guessing, she actually was a stripper. Not that I'm judging her, mind you. I realize that as a single-parent she has to make ends meet and all that. I just wish she'd be more honest about it. And I'm not about to come out with "hey mom, I know you've been pole dancing and shit, stop with the excuses."

I mean, did she really expect me to believe her cashier job at UltraMart required her to come in at night to go over files? Come on!

"Alright, I'll get some pizza," I muttered.

She smiled sadly at me and nodded. With that out of the way, I picked up my backpack, which was currently covered in rock band stickers, and prepared for the first day of my final semester of senior year. Holy shit, I was nearly done with that place. I wasn't really the kind of girl that used the phrase "I'm excited" often, but for that moment where I could flip off every single person at that school, I was ecstatic.

My school was just a ten-minute walk away, as it was for most of the other students who also lived in the same neighborhood. I kept my headphones plugged into my brain, pumping Vietnam Era rock music into my body as I walked on the streets of Halfgreen Town.

Halfgreen wasn't a bad place, by any means, but what the hell was it about this environment that made people so damn happy? I get it, there are bound to be people with better lives than mine, not everyone is an unloved Ring child, but seriously, as I marched down the recently updated streets I saw nothing but grins and cheerful conversations all around me.

My phone buzzed.

[TheFriend has sent you a picture!]

Attached was Ashley with her friends, all doing silly poses while looking at the camera. A note below read: "wish u were here"

"... Am I being mocked right now?" I asked aloud.

Because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, of course, I bumped into someone. Whoever they were, goddamn were they strong, because I didn't even get the chance to squeak before I fell on my ass. I looked up, ready to apologize because I'd been maintaining a streak of not fighting people for 18 years and I wasn't about to end it when a hand reached out to me.

"Sorry about that, here, let me help you up."

One of the cutest, most athletic boys I'd seen in weeks was flashing me a toothy grin as he held a hand out.

I froze. This was my first interaction with another human being that wasn't either through the internet or fundamentally family to me in... Maybe years? Beyond just "here's your change" I mean.

"...as my fa..."

"What?" He asked. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"It was my fault," I spoke up 0.001% percent louder.

"Come on, we're gonna be late! Just help her up alr... You!" That's when I noticed the girl next to him. Tan skin, tall and broad-shouldered, pornstar legs and an angry expression? Yeah, it was Kalissa. "You're the Ring Girl!"

As soon as I heard that, I realized my brief stint with normalcy had ended. She was about to say something, but I got up and ran away. I could hear her calling me, but I blocked my ears. I didn't need to hear any insults. Life sucked hard enough already.

After a few minutes, I finally was out of their range of sight and found a bench. I sat down and looked at my clock. 8:25am. I had a few minutes left before I had to come into class.

I wiped away my tears, because yes, I did start crying a little, and walked into the school that I'd unknowingly arrived at.

I took a brief detour to the bathroom to check if my eyes were red or not, looked for any potential dirt that had gotten onto my butt and left. Outside of my homeroom class was Ashley.

"Hey!" She called out. "There you are, cutie. How was your breakfast? Your mom told me she was making eggs and bacon!"

I blushed a little and looked away. Ashley had no problems with complimenting me, something that I absolutely did not like. It was embarrassing, and it was hard to believe any of it was genuine. Me? Cute? Come on.

But, it did make me forget a little about what had happened earlier.

"It was fine," I muttered.

"Great!" She smiled widely, her blonde bangs falling just shy of her brows as she tilted her head. Unlike me, somehow, Ashley managed to look stylish while managing to remain within the confines of technically being dressed in the school's uniform. She had on colorful bracelets, sleek eyeliner, light lipstick and had clearly just gotten her nails done recently, all while wearing the school's brown skirt and a cream-colored shirt.

Why did I even allow people to see us together?

She followed me into History class, the first class of the day, and sat down next to me. Not much in this universe, I believe, is as boring as history classes. Holy shit. I'm sorry, I could not care less what made some dick decide that invading Babilonia was a good idea. I'd much rather talk about current stuff, to be honest.

But, at one point, the middle-aged male teacher with one of those mustaches that screamed "yes, I'm married and no, I didn't have many options to begin with" said something.

"I will now place you all into your groups. The project is due in three weeks, I'll send you all the instructions through your emails."

Instantly, I raised my hand. It was surprisingly brave if I do say so myself.

"... an e do is on...?"

"I'm sorry, what was that?" A few chuckles spread throughout the room.

"Can we do this alone?" I asked again.

"Sorry, but no. Part of the point is to get you all to communicate."

Just like that, my dreams of having a peaceful couple of months were shot in the head right in front of me.

"Sorry, Miri!" Ashley whispered to me with her palms put together. She was aware of just how much I hated this. "We'll get through this!"

And so, the teach' went over the names. I would have rather my group been said at the beginning, but for some reason, my group was the second-to-last one on the list.

"Miri Kazama," (in other words, me) "Marlene Johnson, Cara Thomas and Priscilla Carter."

I let my head fall on my chair. Fuck. Out of the two things I had been hoping for, neither came to be. For one, Ashely wasn't on my group. That meant I had no allies in this battle. Second, call me naive, but I had been hoping a boy would be on the group. As stupid as it was, a small part of me hadn't yet given up on the notion that I would meet "The One." But instead, I was on a team full of estrogen.

"I guess it's never going to happen." I said to myself. The students in the class began to segregate into the designated teams until all that was left were four girls, all standing around by their lonesome.

"So, I guess these are my teammates?" I asked myself. Three girls, only one of them I could recognize. Cara was an Irish-American that knew nothing about Ireland, kind of like how I was a Japanese-American that knew nothing about Japan. She stood there, scanning over the room, looking for the same people I was looking for. Only, whereas I was doing it hunched over on my chair, she was doing it standing with her red hair tied into a ponytail and her lips tugged into a smirk, like she was challenging people to volunteer for her group.

Like her though, I didn't know the others. So, I had to guess. I wouldn't have to do it for long though, as the other, far more sociable girl, reeled in the other two classmates.

Somewhat awkwardly, they all turned and looked at me. Fuck, this is too much. My face flushed and I tried to hide behind my open notebook. In a few seconds, they gathered some empty chairs and sat next to me.

"Aight!" Cara started. How about we all introduce ourselves? My name's Cara, how about you?" She asked... Me? Was that bright, confident smile really aimed at me?

"... Miri." I answered after a second.

"You?" She aimed at the girl to her left. She was... Holy shit. She was basically Ashley part 2. Only, way more snobby-looking. She had on a gold watch, one slender leg crossed over the other in a way that revealed a bit too much under her skirt, and a pair of blue eyes that left me looking at them for way too long.

"Priscilla." Her voice sounded so bored I was surprised she wasn't just outright refusing to participate in this whole thing.

"Cool, you?" She aimed at her right. I guessed this was Marlene. I sighed with relief. Finally, someone normal. Light brown skin, curly black hair, slim glasses and calloused hands. She looked ordinary. I decided then and there, she'd be the one I talked to during all this.

"Marlene. Sorry if my pronunciation is not good." She apologized in advance.

"Oh? You're Hispanic?" Cara asked.

"Yeah, Cuban," Marlene replied cheerily.

"I guess we're all from different places, huh?" Cara looked straight at me. Well, that's why I knew her, so I guess it's fair she'd know me as "the Japanese girl". "Anyway," she continued, "let's make a group chat! We can go over what we have to do later."

"Fine." Priscilla actually leaned over and wrote her number down on my notebook! A more brave human being would have, maybe, taken some offense at the lack of manners.

"Sounds good." Marlene did the same!

"Write yours." Cara told me. I did exactly that. "Alright," she ripped the paper out and stuffed it into her own backpack. "I'll see you all later then!" With that, as the bell rung pretty much on cue, the class ended and we all went our (tragically) briefly separate ways.

The rest of the day was pretty much the same as always. Ashley would text me stupid, well-meaning stuff while I mindlessly walked from one class to another. At the end, I was walking back home as usual.

Remember that stuff about me not being nice at the beginning? What I did as I was walking home was perfectly normal. Anyone in my position would have done the same, even with the risk to my own well being.

The orange of the retreating evening sun hit my back as I walked with my head low. I don't know what, but something made me look up. My eyes widened. I found a girl that was about a head shorter than me, which was surprising since I was already short to begin with, walking into the path of a slow-moving car.

I dropped my backpack and started running. Don't read into it, anyone else would have done the same. I ran harder than I had in years, I don't exercise. She looked to her right, watching the car coming far too late to react. Just as the girl was about to get hit, I tackled her out of the way.

We rolled all the way to the sidewalk. I ended up on top of her. Looking down, everything about the girl was strange. Looking back, I should have realized something was up with her the moment I looked into her eyes.

Multi-colored irises. Blue, brown, green, orange, purple, rose, red, all in two eyes. Her hair was the same. I figured she must have been cosplaying something! It's the 21st century, people have done stranger things than that.

We just stared at each other. She was probably in shock, and me? I'm not some hero from a fairy tale. I had no idea what you were supposed to say at this moment.

She smiled, licked her lips, and kissed me. Here's a question, the last time you heard a really loud noise, I mean REALLY loud noise, what happened? My guess is that the same happened to you then as what happened to me now. My mind went blank.

Maybe she took this to mean I was into it or something, because she reached up, wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed feverishly onto my lips. "Who, what?" Nothing was making sense in my mind. She brought one of her hands between my legs. I shook. It was like pure electricity. The best way I can put it is, imagine if you just ate your favorite food for the first time, without knowing it was your favorite food.

It was when she bit down on my lip that someone interrupted us.

"What are they doing!?" I heard someone say from my right and I quickly put some space between us.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I yelled.

"Thank you, human! You saved me!"

"A simple thanks would have been good from the start, you didn't have to make out with me!" I replied as I felt my face go the reddest it had ever been.

Damn. That was my first kiss. Goodbye, fantasies of Chris Hemsworth pushing me onto a wall and having his way with me, goodbye!

Wait, what did she call me? Did she say "human"?

"Hahaha," the girl below me laughed. Wasting absolutely no time, I pulled her and myself up on our feet. "Thank you again. My name is Sixcia."

"W-Whatever... Just go already." I licked my lips. A mistake. Her taste was in my mouth again... It was sweet. Like she'd just gotten done drinking iced tea.

"I cannot!" She walked up to me, cutting off any of the personal space we'd created. "Where I am from, deeds like yours merit ownership! I am yours now."

"Listen, I don't know about your culture, but it's fine. I don't need any rewards and I'm not, I mean..." I had meant to say "I'm not a lesbian", but my brain just wouldn't work.

"No buts! Where's your home?" She asked.

"Uh, just up ahead, really, I'll be fine." Why am I even saying that? She was the one in danger!

"Alright, let me know which one it is!" She took me by the hand and as I was about to start pulling back, something incredible happened.

I looked down and saw the grey street growing further and further away.

We started to fly. Regretting what I'd been trying to do almost instantly, I wrapped both my arms and legs around her small body. She laughed, and sped up.

"Which one?!" She asked over the roaring wind. Frantically, I pointed down at the quaint brown house below us. With a giggle, she glided down until our feet softly pressed against the cement.

I had never been that happy to walk in my life. But, with conventional safety out of the way, I had one more thing to address. I looked up at the smiling... Thing in front of me.

"What are you?" I asked simply.

"My name's Sixcia."

"I know, what are you?"

"Oh, silly human, can't you tell?" She twirled with a flourish. "I'm a vesie!"

"Uh, nah, doesn't ring a bell."

"Oh? You don't know what a vesie is?" I shook my head. "Well... We're kind of like humans, but we have reaaaally long lifespans and we can fly, oh, and we can each create stuff! Plus, a whole bunch of other cool abilities humans can't do."

"You can't be serious..."

"We did just fly, didn't we?" She was right. I had to accept it. I had to accept that I, Miri Kazama, had just had an encounter with some kind of supernatural creature.

"So... Are you going to eat me or something?" I asked. I was afraid, okay?

She laughed.

"No, no, no. We don't eat humans, or meat, for that matter." She turned to look at my door. "So, are we heading in?"

"... Uh, I don't know how to explain you. To my mom, I mean." Although she was going to be out late, with work and all, she would come back at some point.

"Oh, don't worry. I can do this!"

She spun, and in an instant, everything about her that had made her weird, was gone. Her eyes became simple brown, her hair black and her short body had even grown a little in height.

"What?"

"Disguise moooode!" She said, putting on a deep voice. "We do when we want to blend in. Most creatures like us can do this."

"There are more!" I asked, blinking rapidly.

"Yep! Vampires, werewolves, poltergeists, ghosts, stricks, helians, etc.!" Disregarding the two at the end that I didn't know, I nearly fainted when I heard that vampires and werewolves and ghosts and whatever were real!"

"Like the movies?!" I asked.

"Not really, if you mean those teen films I've seen. Anyway, let's head inside! It's hot out here!"

I pulled out my key and unlocked the door. She flew in, scanning through every part of my house like a dog that had been let loose. I sighed, closed the door and walked to my room. Setting all my stuff down on beside my bed, I turned my PC on. Goddamn, I need some gaming in my life as soon as possible.