"Okay, so," I said, to my gathered daughters and also wife- and through a proxy who'd be having the same conversation with Dean, who was not welcome in Vicky's general vicinity. "I'm letting y'all pick this next one, although Eve doesn't get an actual vote, per se, on account she's already picked her destination. Now. While you can pick anything at all, I will say that I would prefer that it be, say, somewhere somewhat relaxed, where we can stop for ten years and let you guys finish growing up, so that the Jumpchain and the constant bouncing around doesn't fuck up your development. And..." I hummed quietly. "...To be completely honest, and lay my cards on the table... If you have a setting in mind that you think would mesh with the high concept of 'Generic Supers Academy,' then that would be even more preferable, because I intend to do that Jump at some point, and it'd be nice to get that out of the way now."
"That does narrow it down," Vicky said.
"I thought you said you were sick of superhero stuff," Lisa said.
"I am, but it's also a goldmine of amazingly strong powers, especially if the document is, mmm, incautiously edited."
"Young Justice," Amy said.
"Huh?" Lisa asked.
"Oh yeah, that one DC show we were watching the other day," Vicky said, nodding. "It was kind of a spiritual successor to the old Teen Titans show? Kinda sorta? Rose had the other three seasons, so we did get to see them bring in Beast Boy with the VA from the Teen Titans show, but... well, the cast and plot are all different, so." Vicky shrugged.
"Fair enough," Lisa said. "As long as you don't expect me to actually do any of the hero stuff myself."
"I'm down with meeting Batman," Eve said.
"Question," Vicky said. "Can I become a Kryptonian?"
"Absolutely, yes," I said, nodding.
"Yessss," Vicky hissed. "Amy, go Kryptonian with me, it's gonna be awesome. C'mon, you always wanted to fly, yeah?"
Amy blinked a few times, then coughed. "I'll... I'll think about it. Uh, Rose, can I... talk to you about something in private?"
"Sure," I said, creating a portal for her. "Step on through, there'll be a me on the other end."
Amy walked through the portal, which closed behind her.
"...What was that about?" Vicky asked.
"You don't wanna know," Lisa said.
"I mean, that's my sister, I-"
"Trust us," Eve said. "You really don't wanna know."
---
"I can't believe I want to fuck my sister," Amy said, head in her hands. "When she said we should be Kryptonians, I just thought to myself- oh, clearly that means we'll be repopulating the species together, nice. And then I remembered she's my fucking sister."
"Yeah, it's... not ideal," I said. "However... It's not quite as bad as you think."
"What, because I'm adopted, and that somehow makes it not incest?" Amy snapped.
"No, because you probably have a personality disorder that made you latch onto Vicky as the only person in your family who treated you with any kind of affection at all," I said. "Your upbringing seriously fucked you up, Amy. Which..." I sighed. "Well, that's kind of why I want to slow things down and do a longer, more drawn-out Jump, where you'll go from 17 to 27. So that you can grow up, work your stuff out, and... hopefully, recover from a childhood that should've been good enough you didn't need to recover from it, but Carol Dallon wasn't fit to raise children, so here we are."
Amy blinked.
"That was a lot of words, huh?" I said.
"So... you think I don't actually want to fuck my sister, I'm just crazy?" Amy asked.
"That's..." I paused. "...Well, that's not what I was saying, but if it helps, then sure. Vicky is everything to you because she was everything to you while you were growing up, so, y'know. Might have a few wires crossed."
"I might not even be a lesbian," Amy whispered.
"Amy, darling, please be a lesbian," I pleaded. "I already have to raise two or three straight girls, depending on how Lisa and Vicky turn out, I cannot handle the disappointment of being four for four. Please, Amy. Please. Be a faggy little dyke for Mommy."
Amy wheezed, making a noise not unlike a whistling kettle.
"Also, uh." I coughed. "I guess I'm setting you up with a therapist too, so. Actually? Y'know what? Therapy for everyone."
Which... did remind me...
---
"Four Jumps down, six more to go," Karasuba said. "Here's hoping you don't pick up too many more kids, otherwise you'll run out of Jumps for them to pick."
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"If Akitsu knew this was a serious possibility for us, she would laugh herself senseless," I said. "...And also ask a few pointed questions regarding why she wasn't good enough to make me consider having kids, but you were."
"And then there'd be some back and forth about how I had nothing to do with this, and it was more just you changing over time due to circumstances, and then the punchline that you're still not willing to put a baby in her," Karasuba said.
"Naturally," I said, nodding. "Although... Y'know, that doesn't have to be hypothetical."
"You wanna go back to Sekirei during the break?" Karasuba asked.
"A bit, yeah," I said. "I... Well, okay, maybe having Kazehana be my girlfriend and my therapist was a bad idea, but this time, I just want her as a therapist."
"What, the Warehouse's therapists aren't good enough for you?" Karasuba asked.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but..." I sighed. "Iunno. There was... There's a lot of stuff that I did back there that... still nags at me, unresolved. And... I've changed my mind since I last talked about going back. I think... I think I should go back there, confront some of the less than ideal things I did, and... bring this all full circle."
"...I don't think that's so good of an idea," Karasuba said.
"Oh?" I asked.
"Well, for one, it seems to me like you're hoping to take another swing at recruiting Sekirei companions," Karasuba said. "Which, incidentally, we've already discussed, almost two years ago: I'm not polyamorous, and I'm not okay with you having multiple lovers. I don't care if you technically never broke up with Matsu- you haven't slept with her in years, and I don't want you to change that."
"Fair enough," I said. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been contemplating that exact thing, but... Well. Good thing I talked to my wife about it first, so that she could tell me how stupid I was for forgetting that the answer was already no."
Karasuba snorted.
"Look," Karasuba said, a bit more subdued. "After what happened with our fight, I'm... I'm fine with the idea of being on your leash, and following your lead more. I'm fine with being more submissive to you, in more ways than one. But... I don't want to be harem fodder, Rose. I don't want to be just one of many sexy girls who keeps your bed warm- I want to be your wife."
"I understand that," I said, nodding. "Although- okay, first and foremost, I'm not trying to talk you out of having a boundary, here. My goal isn't to badger and browbeat you until you relent and let me have a harem again. My goal is to try and help figure out more of the truth of who you are, and that means I feel obligated to point out that while I definitely understand and accept your desire to truly be loved, not just desired, that actually isn't incompatible with polyamory. While I definitely didn't do the best job of it during my time in Tokyo, there was definitely an attempt made to truly know and love each of the Sekirei I'd winged... except for you, at the time, because you didn't like me and I was willing to respect that."
"Weren't the only Sekirei you had decent relationships with Matsu and Kazehana?" Karasuba asked.
"I'd count Akitsu too, I think," I said. "We still loved each other, even after the breakup, we just accepted we weren't compatible as life partners, because she wanted to have kids, and I didn't. Musubi also maybe counts? I liked her just fine, it was her girlfriend I didn't like, and... okay, maybe what Musubi and I had was less true romantic love and more just friends who knew each other really well and sometimes had sex. Still, I would like to stress that if we narrowed it down to only Matsu and Kazehana, that is still two Sekirei, which is more than one."
"Mmh," Karasuba grunted, not entirely convinced.
"At the moment, my main curiosity is whether it's the idea of becoming a mere sex object to me, or just the idea of having to share me, that's distressing to you," I continued. "Or, hell, maybe it's something even more specific than that- you know Matsu and Kazehana, after all. They're people you spent your formative years with, people you have feelings about. Maybe you're specifically unhappy with the idea of being in a polycule with them."
"Ugh, polycule," Karasuba grumbled. "Such a stupid word. But... I do take your meaning, yeah. Kazehana and Matsu are..." Karasuba sighed. "I hated them both, to tell you the truth. Saw them as weaklings and traitors- spineless losers who'd happily throw away their own agency just for a chance at getting laid. Right now, I'm... realizing I might have to rethink my perception of them, but... if I had to put it into words how I feel about them now, it's... Honestly, it's jealousy. That part of my brain is worried that they'd out-slut me and steal your attention, leaving me to beg for scraps while Matsu eagerly concocts new bizarre kinks and Kazehana rubs her giant tits all over you."
"I can see that," I said, nodding, and mentally prodding her to keep going.
"Which, when I think about it, is stupid- you already get to do bizarre kink shit to me, because we're both shapeshifters who've been fucking each constantly for a goddamn century if you count those years of time dilation, which I most certainly do, and also, again, I am a shapeshifter, and making myself bustier than Kazehana is something I've already done before. But, well, then there's the question of personality, and yet, if the past three years have taught me anything, it's that you like my personality, and..." Karasuba sighed. "Fuck, Rose. You have really opened a can of worms here, haven't you?"
"Apparently so," I said. "Tell you what though, Kara- let's table the whole 'go back to Sekirei' thing for now, and instead work on you some more. And if we meet someone that we both like, someone that both of us want to date, then we can consider it then, and I won't have to grapple with the fact I've made you the metamour of someone who is, effectively, a sister to you. Because the more I think about the circumstances of the old S-Guard, the more I realize that there are very few Sekirei who were in my personal orbit that you don't have some disqualifying history with. Hell, it pretty much just leaves, uh... hrm... Uzume and Chiho, I think, and I honestly don't think you ever talked to them."
"No clue who Chiho is... oh, she was the short blonde," Karasuba murmured, digging through my memories of what Chiho was like. "And then she stopped being short, and grew some nice tits. Which she promptly misused to cosplay as a Roosterteeth character."
"Hey, those are her tits, she can use them however she wants," I said. "But... yeah. Overall, I think you're right. We've got personal history back there, but... well, it's like I told Dean: the only way is forward."