The Bonds we Break 4 (Patreon)

The Bonds We Break 4 - (Post-Shinmai Maou no Testament OC-MC)

It’s been three months since Zest’s already peculiar life had taken a strange spin for the worse.

While her struggle wasn’t exactly something so horrifying as many would suspect, the truth was, at least by what she was told by Chisato, that she was not able to have balance with her schedule.

This didn’t translate in any sort of inability to be independent, but rather the fact her mindset was just too entrenched into liking some obedience. Not entirely, at least not out of bed, but that was still a thing- she wanted to have directives to follow.

Instructions, directions, a daily schedule that wasn’t always the same but provided her with general steps to follow which she could then stray from if she felt the urge to. Zest was not a true slave- this much Basara but also Jo had pretty much enforced her understanding despite the original purpose of the Master-Slave Vow.

It was an odd paradox, but it was Jo’s own words that fully explained the situation back when she first joined the Toujou Household. The girls willingly became ‘slaves’ by magic, but Basara wasn’t forcing himself upon them or pushing them to do his biddings unless it was a ‘kinkplay’.

It made sense, but it didn’t help with her primary issue- she was a servant at heart, and one that needed to be ‘lead around’ to some extent. And since Basara was busy with the other girls, a solution came up when Jo offered a peculiar idea: each morning, he would send her a daily schedule by phone.

It wouldn’t be too different to the previous days, but it would incorporate some changes beyond the ‘three main elements’ in the schedule, which were the meals. It was something that interested Zest, and the woman was soon delighted to feel a sense of ‘fullness’ in merely living. She could stray if she felt the need to, but always have her day sectioned in parts she could memorize and remember.

It was… pleasant. It made her feel like she was truly human despite having been given other means to experience this sort of simpler life. But then something changed three months ago when the news of Fukaya Jo reached her attention.

Watching the video left her perplexed and confused. A deal gone wrong? To Zest, it had been somewhat evident that Jo was not a punching bag- it was the same for the other girls. But it was a surprise that Basara claimed someone that he knew his brother in all but blood cared immensely for.

It was reminiscent of how Zoltgear would have behaved: claim what was of others, lust after the women of others, be greedy, be monstrous but… but why? Basara was a good person. This much she remembered when he rescued her. And while she could say that it wasn’t a cruelty committed with the intention of harming, it was still baffling to Zest that Basara could have done this.

Something wasn’t right- did she miss a build-up? Looking more into the matter tying Basara and Nanao, she learned that Chisato may have had a hand in this. She had stopped Nanao’s peculiar quirk of changing gender due to the fluidity displayed by young vampires/dhampirs. It was clear this enabled a situation that drew them closer but… how come Basara let it happen?

Actually, as Zest studied this further, she noticed how the spontaneous nature of those vows was- it was a pattern, and a common one. There were some exceptions, but there were some headscratching situations that she herself couldn’t justify by logic alone.

Despite her efforts, however, this didn’t solve her main issue: Zest was aimless and these three months saw a lack of progress in solving this mess.

She asked Basara, but then he got buried by other chores.

It was curious how he suddenly had a lack of free time as Jo was now out of sight. His words proved to be true as, without him, the harem fully aimed their grievances back at Basara and he proved unsuccessful in helping around.

He was trying, but he was caught off-guard by the intensity of some of those issues. The fact that his father had been quite disappointed, relaying such a feeling and circumstance to his mothers made the situation even more awkward for the two women to digest. And Zest’s own ‘silly’ dilemma was left untouched for that long.

Maybe it was pettiness, but Zest had been less inclined to have sex with Basara quite suddenly. She still liked Basara, but there was something in his lacking efforts in other matters that put her off in that desire.

This behavior then landed her a weekly therapy session with Chisato for some reasons.

“So, how are you feeling, Zest?”

Nothing has changed. How should that change too?

“Same as usual, Chisato-san.”

The school nurse nodded, checking her papers as today proved to be the same as usual.

“Have you made any progress regarding a schedule?”

“No.”

Chisato hummed. “Are you putting an effort in it?”

Are you putting an effort in taking accountability? Yet Zest didn’t say this as she knew it was just her pettiness perking up at the frustrating question.

“Obviously, Chisato-san.”

After all, it was Chisato’s sudden interest in pairing Basara with Nanao that sprung this mess. Zest was confident that Basara would have not made a move on Nanao unless he had been put in a situation to. But why? And did she know that Jo had an interest towards the girl?

As far as Zest could say… no. Chisato didn’t know, but she still saw fit to push someone like Nanao into the harem. But why?

“My apologies, Zest. I have been… switching questions with what I have to ask Kurumi. She has been the most troubled to speak with.”

And not by a little shot.

The younger sister of Nonaka Yuki had been quite antagonistic towards Nanao ever since the video, and while Basara had tried to calm her down, things in that conversation in particular took a bad turn.

Kurumi was just sure that they needed to find Jo so that a ‘deal’ could be struck. What deal? Why? Zest rationalized it was Kurumi being desperate to some extent in trying to get Jo back.

Out of the entire harem, Kurumi and Maria were the youngest and… both were particularly attached to someone like Jo in the same way a young girl would towards a brotherly figure. In the case of Kurumi, it was a matter of ‘regression’.

That openness that she started to display around Celis in trying to be as naughty as Maria was towards her suddenly vanished the moment that it became clear that Basara caused this out of a mindless act of lust.

It didn’t help that Yuki and Kurumi both shared a sense of distaste in how suddenly Nanao was brought into the fold as they were the sort of women that preferred to be warned about this sort of intrusion in their close group of people.

And then there’s Maria.

If others like Mio and Celis were somewhat more neutral on the topic as they knew Basara was ‘doing something’, Maria was the one that took the news the worst. The first month was the most critical as she skipped meals and kept mostly in her room. She didn’t interact with Basara even when he came to apologize.

“A-Apologize? To me?! Why didn’t you say that to Jo, you jerk!?!”

It was peculiar to see a Succubus outright skipping on sex. Especially one as eager into carnal pleasure as Maria. But the white-haired girl was suddenly ferocious and unwilling to entertain that notion.

It was around a few weeks after Jo’s disappearance and an intervention from her mother, Sheila, that Maria finally was more outgoing and less reclusive. But even now that was a tense status quo. The Succubus barely smiled nowadays, and the puffy red eyes of hers, a sign of recent crying, was a common habit one could spot at school.

When Zest compared her and Kurumi in trying to understand why Maria was so broken by such a news, the truth that came out surprised her: compared to Kurumi, Maria had been the ‘more responsible’ when it comes to Mio. While their ages were similar and the redhead was the oldest of the two, Maria was the one with a greater understanding of the world and its cruelty. She was ‘cushioned’ by the fact that she had a maternal family still alive, while Mio just had her to rely on.

To Mio, Basara was now family and more. But to Maria, Basara was always the lover and then there was a family made by the harem members and… Jo. Jo was the one that stood out to Maria because he wasn’t a lover and because he was a supportive element.

A proper big brother to a little sister that never had the experience of a proper older sibling.

And when the pain came out, when the truth came out- it was clear Maria was hit the worst by this. She hadn’t just lost a friend like many others, no, the girl had lost part of her close family.

Still, Zest was unwilling to expose herself with that specific issue. Not when she knew it would do more harm than good. Thus, taking into heart some of the last words she heard as wisdom from Jo, she would go home after each therapy session to unwind to her diary.

Jo told her that Zest could name it as it was a custom or something akin to that. Up to his disappearance, Zest left it nameless. And now… it was named Jo and her entries became less as an account of the day and more of a letter.

It was refreshing and it made some of the upset she felt at the unchanging times disappear before it was time to prepare for dinner and then go to sleep. It was perhaps hopeless for her but… Part of her wanted to know where he was so he could send those to him.

But for now, Zest just had those unsent letters piling by her diary, and comforting her that, despite being gone, Jo could still be here to listen to her many plights.

Dear Jo, I hope you are well…

—------d-d-d-d—------

AN

Zest being a most complex mind and yet having her own troubles and needing to vent out. She deserves headpats. Maybe by a shota if we go by her preferences through the main artist’s pieces of her and some bois.

Still, next time… training montage!