NOV. 2022 REWARD (+Story Preview!) (Patreon)

"Every Thorn Has Its Rose(-Colored Soles)"

(Based on characters from Spy × Family by Tatsuya Endo)

Another day, another assignment. By this point it had become entirely routine for the Thorn Princess to excuse herself from whatever family outing she was partaking in, take out the next mark given to her, and try to return in time for dinner.

At least Loid was able to handle the meal preparations, but she had insisted more than once on doing the cooking herself because it was what housewives were expected to do, and as she was posing as one at the insistence of Loid (who had needed a makeshift wife for reasons of his own… not that she knew that), she knew she had to get every detail pitch-perfect to avoid giving herself away.

So it was that Yor Forger found herself shopping for groceries one evening, having left Anya with Loid for some bonding activities of their own. Meanwhile, she had the task of basically foraging for everything requested by the other two along with whatever recipes she wanted to try out herself. She’d been struggling quite a bit to cook properly — after all, it was the role of any housewife to feed her family — but with some help from Yuri, she was making quite a few improvements… at least, some of the time.

That stew in particular could use some extra refinement. It was the same one that she and Yuri enjoyed when they were younger, yes, and it had gone over well with Loid and Anya for sure, but she still felt as though it could be better. Perhaps a few amendments to the shopping list were in order…

“Yor? Is that you?”

She looked up, slightly startled by the familiarity of that voice. A platinum-blonde woman had sidled up to her with a warm smile, one of her eyes obscured by the locks of hair falling over her face. She was dressed in a dark blue jacket with dress pants to match, her dark high heels clicking against the floor tiling as she’d approached.

“Oh! Fiona, I… uh… How nice of you to say hello!” Yor smiled awkwardly, trying to diffuse the slight tension between the two. The blonde had visited the Forgers several times now, and even though Yor always thought Fiona was a very nice woman, Anya was noticeably uncomfortable around her presence, and always clung to Yor and showered her with praise as a mother during every single one of these occasions. No one knew why this was the case. No one but Anya herself.

There was a long and awkward silence between the pair, Yor trying to act casual while choosing a suitable potato. Then Fiona spoke up.

“So… How’s your husband and daughter?”

Yor smiled at her again, feeling a little reluctant to speak at first but eventually swallowing down her hesitation. “They’re doing well, thanks! Loid asked if I could shop for them today, and he’s playing with Anya and Bond at the park right now. I’m pretty much going it solo this afternoon.”

“Hmm.” Fiona tapped her chin. “I’d have thought that Anya would be with you today. Or was that yesterday?”

“We did go to the zoo yesterday, actually! She had a lot of fun! Even managed to feed one of the elephants some of the peanuts I bought her. I wonder if she ever noticed the ‘Do Not Feed The Animals’ sign…”

Fiona shrugged. “Guess you could do with keeping an eye on her a little more,” she said with a chuckle.

The two of them engaged in some cordial small talk as they made their rounds for the next twenty minutes, picking up whatever they had intended to get. Once they made their purchases and headed out of the store, the discussion became what their respective plans were for the evening. Fiona, curiously, seemed to be dodging the question each time Yor asked about it. On the other hand, Yor was struggling to think of an answer herself when the question was directed at her.

“If I had to be honest, I’m not sure how long it will be before Loid and Anya get home,” she said finally. “There’s a lot of places Anya wanted to go. I don’t know how Loid does it, but somehow he’s been able to take her to wherever she wants in the city no matter how far away it is from the apartment. And the park actually is quite far from where I live…”

Fiona nodded. “So, do you think Anya is in good hands, then?”

Yor blushed a little, looking rather flustered. “Wha—?! What are you talking about? I can’t just leave her! I have to show her that I’m the best mother she can have, like she always said I am!”

To her slight confusion, Fiona scowled. “And are you sure you are a good parent to her? She’s been acting awfully clingy to you whenever I visit. I’ve heard cases where children are being held back by their parents, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not. I know you love her as much as Loid does, but she’s got to find the freedom to make her own choices someday.”

They’d arrived back at the Forgers’ apartment. Taking a moment to unlock the door, Yor slipped inside and put the groceries she’d purchased next to the door, before letting Fiona in and shutting it behind them. Yor looked around to see that the apartment was, aside from the two women, entirely empty.

“They’re still out and about, looks like,” said Fiona, the one bag she’d purchased still dangling from her left hand. Yor never noticed that her right was holding a damp-looking rag, nor that she’d lagged behind to prepare it. “How soon do you think it’d be before they get back?”

Yor looked a little worried, and a bit suspicious that the other woman was asking more and more about when Loid was returning. “I… I don’t know,” she said finally. “But I’m sure they will. I’ll let them know that you’ve stopped by—”

She reached out, preparing to pat her on the shoulder, when she felt the blonde’s hand grab hold of her wrist. Fiona wouldn’t know it, but the recording device that Yor had planned to plant on her shirt would never go used this evening.

“Spare me the pleasantries. I’d like to take you out for a little bit this evening, if you don’t mind.”

“W-wha?” The brunette was understandably confused. “I wouldn’t mind, but… Are you sure it’s okay? If Loid and Anya come home to see me gone—”

“You can leave a note for them, can you? Just put something on a piece of paper saying I invited you to a weekend ladies’ night and that you’ll be back soon.”

Yor thought about it and smiled, letting Fiona relax her grip enough to slip out of it. “Oh, I suppose I could. And in any case, Loid is definitely capable of taking care of Anya on his own — he’s done that many times before! I’m sure he’ll understand…”

Fiona’s smile turned dark, and in the next instance, her companion looked slightly nervous. “Then it looks like you can afford to be back home a little later than usual tonight,” said the blonde. “Hope you enjoy taking a quick nap.”

“Wait, what are you—?!”

Before the dark-haired woman could respond, Fiona had pressed a damp rag to her face. Yor would have reacted instantly and kicked the other woman hard enough to send her flying down the parking lot, but Fiona had the element of surprise on her side. Yor’s struggles quickly subsided as the chloroform sent her entire world fading into darkness…

She wasn’t sure how long it was before she next opened her eyes, but when she came to, blinking sleepily a few times, Yor saw that she was in some kind of large basement or boiler room, light fixtures near the ceiling being its only source of illumination. Various pipes and columns could be seen reaching from the floor to the ceiling, and scaffolding and platforms were everywhere — a factory, maybe?

She was lying on a wooden board with a long fabric cushion secured to it, unable to move her wrists or ankles. The undercover assassin pushed her arms behind her to force herself to sit up, and realized that her arms had been tied behind her back. It was looking down at her feet, however, that made her gasp in shock.

“W-what in the—?!?”

She had been stripped of her footwear, socks and shoes both laid to the side. Four metal rods protruded from the sides of the board near its end, the screw-like threaded free ends in turn passing through the holes on the corners of another, smaller board with a padded underside, secured in place by matching wingnuts. Almost all of her toes had been bent back as far as they could go and forced down by this smaller board, the soles of her slender size nines stretched as taut as they could be.

“So, you’re finally up,” a familiar voice spoke from the darkness some distance away. She looked up, trying to pinpoint the source, only to hear footsteps on the nearby concrete floor. It was then that she realized that she had been placed on a slightly raised platform of concrete in the center of the room, almost like a dais. The light fixtures on the ceiling seemed to be directly illuminating her, their light noticeably stronger than the lamps on the walls.

Oh, no. She instantly guessed what this meant. This was an interrogation.

A familiar blonde stepped onto the platform, the dark sunglasses over her eyes doing nothing to conceal her identity. Fiona hadn’t even changed her clothing. It seemed as though her captive had not been unconscious for very long, but the cold smirk on her face told her that it didn’t matter much.

“So… How are you feeling, Yor? Had a good night’s sleep?”

Yor raised an eyebrow, before stifling a yawn. “I don’t think it’s been longer than a half-hour…”

Fiona bristled a little. “You will be silent. Or at least, you will not talk unless I ask you to. I don’t expect you to remain quiet, after all, but whatever you say can and will be used against you. Am I clear, Mrs. Forger?”

Yor raised an eyebrow. “And what do you plan to do with me, anyhow? You know I never did anything to anybody!”

“Oh, but you did. That’s something to talk about later, though. For now, however… How do you feel about a good laugh?”

Yor blinked. “A laugh?”

Fiona nodded. “Of course! Granted, I’m probably going to enjoy tickling you so much more…”

Yor raised an eyebrow. Tickling? As an interrogation method? What kind of childish balderdash was that?! Granted, plenty of playful nights with Yuri when the siblings were younger had taught her that the bottoms of her feet were absolutely sensitive, and she was quite sure that hadn’t changed, but why would anyone consider tickling them a viable questioning technique?

Come to think of it, though… she actually rather missed that feeling. And this was a pitch-perfect opportunity to experience it again. If Fiona really was planning to tickle-torture her, then she might as well play along.

“Oh no no, pleeeease!” she begged, albeit somewhat half-heartedly, flexing her littlest toes which were the only ones not held back by her restraints. “Anything but that, I’ll tell you whatever you want!”

Fiona scowled. “I can tell you’re not as fazed by this as you’re saying. You think you won’t crack from this, right? Well, guess again. It’s time for a petty thief like you to learn what real torture looks like!”

Yor felt a thrill of excitement as her captor closed in, but made sure to give her a wordless plea for mercy. It would never come, of course — or at least Fiona thought that way — as the blonde reached forward and started wiggling a nail into each taut arch, giving the assassin’s plantar nerves the first electrifying signals of what she knew would be a long and ticklish torture session…

Want to find out what happens next? Check out the full story attached below!


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The following is included in this reward:

• Six high-resolution artworks - three with Yor's casual clothing and three with her Thorn Princess outfit
• Additional versions of all artworks lacking the Patreon watermark and with a different signature
• An accompanying story containing F/F tickling (8,287 words)
• A PSD file version with all layers

-Skaea