"Now, kitty," Hespera purred, her voice dripping with an indulgent, velvet heat as her fingertips scratched lightly under Kuroka's chin.
The nekomata shivered, a soft, involuntary grumbling purr vibrating from deep in her chest, her eyes half-lidding in bliss.
But Hespera's hand didn't stay playful for long.
Her nails — delicate yet deceptively sharp — scraped ever so slightly down Kuroka's throat in a line that made the nekomata tense.
"Who gave you the right," Hespera whispered, her tone soft but deadly, "to interrupt my bathing time, hmm?"
Her other hand trailed lazily down Kuroka's damp back, every touch electric, every brush of her fingers sending little sparks of conflicting pleasure and fear down the neko's spine.
"Such a naughty little pussycat."
Kuroka's twin black tails — normally languid and content — stiffened immediately, fur fluffing up slightly at the hidden steel threaded through her mate's voice.
Even through the hazy, instinctual euphoria she was drowning in, she felt it.
Dominance.
Irritation.
Displeasure.
Not rage.
Not hatred.
Just a quiet, crushing expectation that will turn countless worlds to dust when disobeyed in the future.
Kuroka whimpered low in her throat, her claws retracting as she instinctively pressed herself closer to Hespera, as if begging forgiveness the only way she knew how: submission.
Hespera's smile deepened.
It was no longer playful but predatory.
The kind of smile a queen gives a kneeling subject she is very fond of… and very willing to discipline.
"Naughty kitties," she murmured, voice thick with that terrible, intoxicating gravity, "deserve to be punished."
She shifted her grip in a blink, grabbing Kuroka by the scruff of her neck with one firm, possessive hand, forcing the nekomata's head to tilt up and bare her throat.
Kuroka froze, a soft gasp escaping her lips as her instincts screamed to submit, to bare herself completely.
Her eyes, wide and golden, stared up at Hespera with a mix of fear, awe, and wild, desperate affection.
Hespera leaned down, lips brushing the shell of her ear.
Her breath was molten against Kuroka's skin.
"Shall I show you," she whispered, "what happens to naughty little kittens who forget their manners?"
Kuroka trembled under the grip at the back of her neck, every instinct in her nekomata blood telling her to melt, to submit, to purr and beg. Hespera's aura wrapped around her like silk dipped in thunderclouds — warm and beautiful but buzzing with unpredictable power.
"Yes… Mistress…" she mewled faintly, not even realizing she'd said it aloud.
Hespera grinned.
"Oh? So you do remember your manners."
She raised her free hand, fingers splayed as threads of shimmering ice — kissed with glints of eternal pyre — coiled into the air.
With a single flick of her wrist, the water beneath them swirled into a whirlpool of magic, and the glowing chains snapped into being — not cold, but divine in nature, forged from enchanted phoenix and elemental will.
They looped gracefully around Kuroka's wrists and ankles, lifting her gently out of the water and suspending her in the air with feline poise — like a kitten being cradled by the universe itself.
Her tails curled with instinctive embarrassment, a delicious shade of red warming her cheeks.
"Now then, kitty," Hespera said sweetly, stepping toward her with slow, measured elegance, water cascading down her curves, utterly unfazed by her own glorious nakedness.
"Apologize properly."
Kuroka squirmed, her ears folded flat as her instincts warred with her pride.
"Y-You're perfect and divine and hot and scary and I'm so sorry I pounced on you while you were bathing, please punish me more—I mean—less—!"
Hespera smirked, clearly enjoying herself far too much.
"That'll do… for now."
She raised her hand to release the chains—
BANG.
The bath doors slammed open.
"HESPERA!!" Rias Gremory's voice shouted, just as the now-healed crimson-haired heiress charged into the steamy chamber in full panic mode.
Behind her:
Kiba and Koneko trailed, red-faced.
Gasper was already nosebleeding into a towel.
Sirzechs and Zeoticus were both trying — and failing — to catch up.
Grayfia held her head in her hands, whispering a desperate prayer to no god in particular.
And in the far background, Ophis, sipping from a glittery strawberry milk bottle, quietly murmured:
"Let her go. This will be fun."
Rias burst through the mist, eyes locking on Hespera's nude form, standing tall and wet like a divine sculpture brought to life, and the very bound, blushing nekomata floating behind her in icy chains.
Time froze.
Steam drifted slowly past them.
A drop of water hit the floor.
Rias blinked once.
Twice.
Her eyes glazed.
Her mouth opened. "Oh Sweet Lucifer's beard."
Then—
THUD.
The Gremory Princess fainted on the spot, toppling face-first into the water with a splash, her last conscious thought likely some combination of "tits," "wet goddess," and "why is that catgirl moaning?"
Hespera blinked.
Paused.
Then looked down at the floating Kuroka.
"…Hmm," she mused aloud, brushing her wet hair away from her face.
"I'm pretty sure my brother didn't have a beard. He cherished his pretty face too much to ruin it with hair. Such a narcissist, that one."
Kuroka tilted her head, "…Gremory princess—?"
"…Mmhmm."
Kuroka blinked again, then purred softly.
"…She's not getting my mate. Mine."
Hespera smiled, brushing a wet lock of Kuroka's hair behind her ear as she released the chains around the nekomata.
"Oh don't worry, kitten," she said, eyes twinkling with dangerous affection. "You marked me first. And besides, she's not my type. I like my girls a little cray-cray."
Kuroka beamed, preening like a smug, soaked housecat. "Good."
And then—
Hiss!
A sharp, startled sound cut through the air like a blade.
Koneko Toujou, standing stiff as stone near the bath's edge, was staring at the scene with wide, golden eyes and an expression somewhere between confusion, horror, and secondhand embarrassment.
Her face was flushed. Her fists were clenched. And her entire aura buzzed with feline alarm.
"What the hell—?! Nee-san?!"
Kuroka jerked, her ears perking at the hiss like she'd been snapped out of a dream. Her eyes locked on the short, white-haired girl in the oversized uniform, tail puffed out like a bottle brush.
She froze.
So did Koneko.
"…Little Shirone?" Kuroka breathed, voice suddenly trembling.
Koneko's eyes widened further at the name.
No one called her that anymore.
No one had in years.
"…You're alive," Kuroka whispered, standing slowly, the water sliding off her skin as she took a hesitant step forward. The playful gleam was gone now — replaced by something raw.
Something aching.
"You're really alive…"
Koneko's fists clenched tighter. Her voice came out sharp.
Defensive.
Fragile.
"Why are you here?"
Kuroka flinched at the coldness but didn't back away.
"I—" her throat tightened. "I didn't know you were here. I just—"
She looked back at Hespera, who sat silently in the water, gaze unreadable but watchful. Then back to her sister.
"I was following a scent," Kuroka admitted with a faint, apologetic smile. "My… mate. I didn't know I'd find you."
There was silence.
Thick.
Unspoken.
Years of absence and abandonment hanging in the steam like smoke that refused to fade.
Koneko looked ready to explode or bolt.
SMACK.
Kuroka yelped as Hespera pinched her butt cheek, making her jump in the air with an undignified squawk.
"Okay, okay, sibling drama later," Hespera sighed, resting her chin casually in her hand, floating in the water like an uncaring goddess of chaos and moisture.
"You two can work through your unresolved childhood trauma after I finish relaxing in my hot bath without being tackled, hissed at, or stared at like some kind of sex deity."
She paused. Thought about it. Then miled faintly.
"...Though I can't really blame them on the last one."
Steam swirled lazily around her as she leaned back again, sighing contently—until something shifted in the air.
Her eyes sharpened in an instant.
She straightened slightly in the water, golden light rippling across her wet skin as she turned toward the west-facing wall.
The Hesperides had returned.
And they were bringing Akeno.
Without a word, Hespera stood from the water in one fluid motion, her long silver- hair clinging to her curves, every inch of her glistening and divine under the enchanted lights of the bathing pool.
Gasper shrieked, blood flooding from his nose. He turned on his heel and bolted for the nearest storage box with a cry of "I didn't see anything I swear I didn't see anything—!!"
Kiba tried not to look. And failed.
Grayfia exhaled the most exhausted sigh known to devilkind.
Sirzechs developed an eye twitch.
Zeoticus whispered a prayer that sounded suspiciously like "bless this mess."
Which just elicited a glare from Venelana.
Completely unbothered, Hespera conjured a thick towel around herself with a flick of her hand, the fabric wrapping snugly around her hips like it had been designed by some scandalously bold goddess of war and fashion.
She stepped out of the bath, water gliding off her skin as if reality refused to let her drip for too long.
"My daughters are arriving with Akeno," she announced, voice rich and clear as crystal chimes. "And depending on the familiar magic signature, I thinking we might have extra company... I'm going to need a very strong drink in order to deal with him."
With a heavy sigh and an annoyed expression on her face, she strolled barefoot out of the bathing chamber, hips swaying like a slow-moving catastrophe in silk.
Wrapped in nothing but a towel.
Kuroka, still standing half-naked and pink-cheeked in the pool, sighed wistfully. "...Wanted to cuddle more~"