“Cousins” (PG-14)

“So, how many cousins live with you, exactly?”

It was a question that Nasuti heard often.

Often enough to actually have a story lined up for public consumption.

“Five, fortunately two of which are returning to their families. One is going to go into wildlife photography while the last two have yet to figure out what they want with their lives.”

At least, that’s the story that she practiced at night when the males weren’t home. To tell fellow teachers and students.

It was a different story when asked point-blank by one of these “cousins,” oh how the story died a horrible screaming death.

When asked that question by a prospective boyfriend, it was almost always within the hearing range of either Touma, Seiji, or both of them in the same room. It never failed to work out to where suitor du jour always picked a time when they knew that her “cousins” were home. It was also during these moments that Nasuti Yagyu sincerely contemplated the last few years and whether or not asking Shuu to let the earth swallow her whole was really a good idea.

Because after four years of dodging the answers, the young men had invented their own stories.

The version that prospective boyfriends heard really depended on how either Trooper felt that day.

Today, torturing Nasuti was on the docket.

“Oh, fresh meat,” Touma would exclaim before looking over the suitor with lust in his eyes. “Nasuti, sweetheart, can we share him?”

Seiji’s methodology varied greatly as he never deemed any suitor worthy of Nasuti to begin with. She had a wild idea and a few theories that would make her blush if she thought about them at any length of time, but heaven help her as she bit her lip and held her breath this time around.

Today was Seiji insinuating himself around the young woman, he really did prefer physical over mental, and lightly biting her ear. “I doubt he can handle one, much less three,” he’d speak low but keep both eyes, good god his eyes, on the suitor and smile lightly.

The hold that he’d have on her was normally enough to keep her from killing him twice over as the suitor quickly hurried away, confused as to whether he had been there for the female or for the two males with the female as a bonus.

It was in these moments as the men would happily hold the door open as the suitor sped away down the long driveway, dust devils kicking alive in his wake that Nasuti would find herself in a space of insane clarity.

“Why do you both do this to me?” Shrugging Seiji off at these points was generally a bad idea. Especially bad as he’d often kiss her with enough heat to make her knees weak.

“Naste, I love you to pieces, but really.” Touma grinned and shut the door before whirling around and looking pointedly at the two of them. “When are you going to realize who you really belong to?”