Morning.  The time of day when most people get up to “get the day rolling” as the saying goes.  Whether that involved going to work, going to school, or simply getting out of bed and doing something to pass the time and/or feel productive in some way.  In this case, in the place known as Tougetsu City, Japan, a young man was making his way out of his bedroom and towards the bathroom down the hall, mainly to relieve his bladder and to brush his teeth.

The young man - a highschool-aged boy named Honoka Takamiya - slowly lumbered his way down the halls, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he tried to stifle a yawn.  Running his fingers through his dark hair, he pondered whether or not he would need to get a quick shower in or not, depending on how much “mop head” he had woken up with.

“Maybe I can just comb it down if need be,” muttered Honoka to himself.  “If it gets too long, I suppose that means I’ll need to get a haircut.  Maybe Kasumi-chan can give me one if she’s free later in the week.”

After finishing his business in the bathroom, Honoka headed back towards his bedroom to get changed out of his pajamas and into his school uniform, which consisted of a white, short-sleeved button-up dress shirt with the school insignia over the sewn-in pocket on his left side, short blue tie with yellow trim at the end, dark bluish-gray dress pants, and simple black slip-on dress shoes.  Once he gave himself a once-over in the mirror (combing his hair as he finished up), he went through his school-issued carry-on mini-suitcase/satchel that most students used.  Satisfied that he had everything he needed for school, he proceeded out the bedroom door and downstairs towards the kitchen.

As he entered the kitchen, he was greeted by the sight of one Ayaka Kagari preparing a meal at the kitchen stove, cooking up what appeared to be eggs and bacon in a pan.  The towering, stoic beauty was undoubtedly the most famous and renowned student…scratch that, the most famous person PERIOD…at Tougetsu Academy, dubbed with the title of “Princess,” given the natural-born elegance that radiated from her.  Tall, beautiful, curvaceous, well-endowed, refined…these were the words befitting someone like Ayaka Kagari, even for those who didn’t know who she was already.

Powerful was another word to use in describing her, given that she commanded a very high authority within the hierarchical structure at Tougetsu Academy.  You see, whichever student is given the title of “Prince/Princess” at the school answers to nobody else within the school other than the school’s principal/headmaster/headmistress.  Neither the school’s student council nor faculty could tell her what to do or give her any commands, such was the rigid and absolute structure within Tougetsu Academy.  If she so desired, she could almost assuredly have any of the teachers fired or the students either suspended or expelled, so long as the principal approved of the measure.

But Ayaka was also powerful for another reason, in the more literal sense of the word.  Though her body exuded nothing but enticingly seductive feminine charm and grace, she was capable of raw strength greater than that of professional bodybuilders and Olympic-level athletes.  She could punch through brick walls, lift and/or throw objects weighing several hundreds (if not thousands) of pounds with little effort, bend or crush metal in her bare hands, run a marathon without breaking a sweat, or perform any other physical feat which the vast majority of humans on the planet could only dream of being able to accomplish.  In short, when it came to raw physical power, there were very few in Tougetsu City who could match Ayaka Kagari in that field, which was extremely surprising given how seductively feminine Ayaka’s body was, having the perfect amount of muscle tempered with baby fat to give her a physique that would rival professional actresses and world-class supermodels (especially in the breast department!).

And of course, Ayaka stood out for another reason:  She was also a very powerful witch.

In this world, magic did indeed exist, though it was kept under wraps among users in the magic community, in order to keep the broader outside world from learning about its existence and almost assuredly causing mass panic.  After all, those who didn’t use magic would live in constant fear of being at the mercy of those who could use magic, which would undoubtedly lead to things like the witch hunts that occurred throughout Europe during the Middle Ages/Early Modern Era or the Salem Witch Trials in colonial North America.  Therefore, it was deemed safest among those in the magic-based community to keep their existence underground, lest the masses decide to go on another series of witch hunts to literally burn people at the stake.

Thankfully, many (if not most) magic users weren’t malicious or held evil intentions.  Among the magic community, there were two main groups:  Workshop Witches and Tower Witches.  Workshop Witches were effectively the “good witches,” who trained and educated themselves at “workshops” they formed in cities across the world in order to hone their skills and prevent any magically-related events or phenomena from getting out of hand bringing harm to everyday humans.  Tower Witches were the polar opposite; they tended to operate either alone or in relatively smaller groups compared to Workshop Witches.  They also used magic for their own nefarious and/or selfish purposes, which tended to erupt in some kind of calamity or harm to non-magic users.  Therefore, it became the duty of the Workshop Witches to effectively counter Tower Witches wherever and whenever possible, with different branches and covens formed around the world in order to monitor and stop any potential threats which Tower Witches might pose in one way or another.

In simplistic terms, it was a sort of “cops and robbers” relationship, with Workshop Witches as law enforcement, and Tower Witches as outlaws.

In Ayaka Kagari’s case, she served as a Workshop Witch, and a rather powerful one at that.  While her physical strength was already impressive enough on its own, she became even more powerful when she entered into “witch mode” as it became known, where she donned a witch’s cape/cloak, witch hat, and some type of weapon (in her case, a simple broom).  When in witch mode, Ayaka could utilize a series of different types of magic, though she generally preferred anything that involved the element of fire, given that was what she was most proficient in.  She even ended up with the title of “Hono no Majo” (or “Flame Witch”), such was the power of the flames she wielded.

All in all, Ayaka Kagari was as powerful in her abilities - both magical and physical - as she was captivating and alluring in her beauty, which was to say “extremely” on both.

“Good morning, Takamiya-kun,” said Ayaka in her calm, semi-monotone voice as she set the table.  Like Honoka, she was dressed in her own school uniform, consisting of a short-sleeved white dress shirt and short blue dress tie underneath a dark green vest bearing the school crest/logo, a matching green skirt reaching down to her upper thigh, a pair of black stockings going all the way up to her lower thigh (leaving a gap of visible skin a few inches in length between the end of her skirt and the top of her stockings), and a pair of black slip-on dress shoes.

“Morning, Kagari-san,” replied Honoka with a grin.  He made his way towards the fridge to get some milk, figuring he would have cereal today.

“Takamiya-kun, please go sit at the table,” said Ayaka.  “I’ll make breakfast for today.”

“There’s no need for you to do that,” interjected Honoka.  “I honestly don’t mind-”

“I want to do it,” Ayaka cut him off, turning her head to him as she gently nudged and prodded the eggs in the pan.  “Please, just take a seat.  Breakfast will be ready in a minute or so.”

Deciding not to go against her wishes, Honoka simply shrugged and took a seat at the table.  He had been around Ayaka long enough to know that it was generally not a good idea to go against her wishes.  Once she had her mind set on something, there was usually little point in trying to stop her or change her mind.  Upon taking a seat at the table, Takamiya was greeted by the sight of a large group of people also entering the kitchen.

None other than Honoka’s younger sister Kasumi and five other young women all entered the kitchen one after another.  Like Ayaka, they were also dressed in the standar Tougetsu Academy female uniform and they were all witches, though Kasumi was (like Ayaka) a Workshop Witch, whereas the other five - Tanpopo Kuraishi, Kanna Utsugi, Kotetsu Katsura, Rin Kazari, and Mei Menowa - were all Tower Witches and thus considered the “enemy” from Ayaka’s and Kasumi’s perspective.  However, in light of past developments, the five Tower Witches ended up being taken within the Takamiya household as literal housemates of all things.

You see, in the past, when Honoka started learning about the world of magic and witchcraft, he initially was targeted by the Tower Witches, who desired a sort of hidden power he was holding but not aware of.  Shortly afterwards, he found himself in the protection of Tougetsu Academy’s “Princess” and not long after learned about the powerful entity sealed away within him many years ago when he was a small child.  It was this entity - being by the name of Evermillion - which made Honoka a target in the eyes of many Tower Witches, including the five who were now his housemates, dubbed the “Ivory Quintet” or the KMM Gang.

While the Ivory Quintet initially tried to capture Honoka in order to utilize the power within him for their own nefarious purposes, Ayaka stepped in each and every time to keep that from happening.  Despite their best efforts to defeat the Hono no Majo, she managed to effectively hand them their own asses during each battle, though being merciful enough to not kill them or seriously injure them.  Over time, it started turning into a sort of hobby akin to Team Rocket being defeated on an episode of the Pokemon television series, or a back-and-forth “Tom and Jerry” style battle with Ayaka always coming out on top and defeating each member of the KMM Gang, either one after another or all five at the same time.  Funny enough, though the Ivory Quintet still made the occasional attempt to steal Honoka away from Ayaka, she always managed to get the upper hand and gracefully defeat them while leaving them alive and well (aside from some bruising and mild burn marks here and there).

As for Kasumi, she tended to ally with the KMM Gang from time to time, seeing Ayaka as a common enemy of sorts.  For you see, Kasumi had a particularly strong brother complex towards Honoka, wanting to spend as much time with him as possible.  Over the years, it had become so powerful and concerning that others would occasionally bring it up with her.  It didn’t help that Kasumi declared that she planned to marry Honoka when they got older and have at least three children with him.  So bearing all that in mind, it was of grave concern to at least a few individuals at just how adamant Kasumi tended to be in being with her older brother, though she apparently paid no mind to such concerns.

It was this infatuation which Kasumi held towards Honoka that made Ayaka something of an enemy in her eyes.  Even if they were both Workshop Witches, as far as Kasumi was concerned, Ayaka was a love rival, which made her a target in the eyes of the younger woman.  So if she had to resort to pairing up with Tower Witches in order to defeat the Princess of Tougetsu Academy (as long as she neither killed Ayaka nor formally converted and became a Tower Witch herself), then so be it.

In any case, for the time being, things were relatively peaceful within the Takamiya household as the assembled party gathered around the kitchen table for breakfast.  What was rather remarkable was that since the Takamiya home wasn’t particularly large, the seating around said kitchen table was rather crowded, given that seven people were seated at it (eight once Ayaka finished up at the stovetop).

How does a household originally go from having three occupants (Honoka, Kasumi, and their mother) to having an additional six more housemates?  Frankly speaking, it was Honoka’s and Kasumi’s mother, Komachi, who was behind such a move.

Given how sweet, considerate, and open-armed she could be, when it was announced that Ayaka would be moving into the Takamiya household after an incident in which Ayaka’s in-town residence - a 42-floor mansion/tower referred to as “Babel” - ended up being heavily wrecked thanks in part to an incident involving another Tower Witch (we’ll visit that at a later time), Komachi was only too eager to take her in.  Given the history which Komachi had with Ayaka’s mother (who also happened to be the headmistress of Tougetsu Academy, incidentally), she had absolutely no qualms about bringing in the tall, black-haired, big-boobed beauty into her household.  From Komachi’s perspective, she loved and viewed Ayaka as a daughter already, and was only too eager that Ayaka spend more time bonding and connecting with Honoka both in school and at home.

Not long after Ayaka moved into the Takamiya household, the Ivory Quintet ended up following suit as well.  While it was rather strange to have five highschool-aged girls following suit after Ayaka, Komachi simply didn’t have it in her heart to say no to them, which at first infuriated Kasumi, given how she perceived her mother to be such a doormat when it came to acquiescing to the requests of others.  However, things ended up working out regarding space issues when the KMM gang simply took the guest bedroom which was initially reserved for Ayaka.  When Komachi asked Ayaka if that would be okay, the stoic princess simply said it wasn’t a problem at all.

“But Ayaka-chan, where will you sleep then?  It can’t be comfortable sharing a bedroom with five other girls.”  Komachi raised the obvious question to Ayaka during the transition.

“It’ll be fine, Mrs. Takamiya,” replied Ayaka with her usual “poker face” style of speaking.  “Please don’t worry yourself over it.”

It certainly helped that since the Kagari family was significantly wealthy that they were able to fund whatever additional add-ons and renovations to the Takamiya household while Babel was being repaired/rebuilt.  Kasumi was curious as to how such repairs would be able to made in such a short amount of time, but she was simply told not to worry about such things and go about her everyday life both at work and at home.

Of course, speedy repairs aren’t too difficult to pull off when one uses magic, of course, but that was something which Komachi was kept out of the loop for her own sake.

But we got a little off course with the backstory material now, haven’t we?  Back to the “here and now” and all that…

Honoka sat down with Kasumi flanking his left side and the other five housemates gathered side-by-side around the table.  The chair to Honoka’s right was left empty, given that Ayaka made it clear that whenever Honoka sat down for a meal, she was to be given the seat to his immediate right with no argument whatsoever.  The other women in the household (minus Komachi) were made painfully aware of that declaration, even Kasumi, who simply settled for glomping onto her big brother on his left-hand side as much as possible.

Once Ayaka emptied the contents of the frying pan onto both Honoka’s plate and her own, she proceeded to put the pan in the sink, soaking and rinsing it out before joining Honoka at the table.

The other six members at the table proceeded to get/make their own breakfasts, given that they knew better than to ask Ayaka to make a meal for them.  The only person she would go out of her way to make a meal for was Honoka (and Komachi if she asked for one…maybe Kasumi if she was feeling in a generous mood, few and far between as they were when it came to Honoka’s younger sister).  As the rest of the group proceeded to get their own breakfast - either cereal or toast with coffee or juice, Honoka began digging into his own meal made by Ayaka, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, buttered toast, and fresh orange juice.

As was always the case with Ayaka, pretty much everything she did when it came to housework, cooking, or her studies was pretty much flawless.  The meal was delectable to say the least.  Honoka couldn’t help but hum slightly at just how good the food was.

“This is really good, Kagari-san!” chimed Honoka with a grin.

“I’m glad you like it, Takamiya-kun,” answered Ayaka in her simple tone.

“They really do act like a married couple, don’t they?” asked the white-eyed Kanna to the cat-eared Tanpopo.

“Tell me about it,” grumbled Tanpopo, who couldn’t help but find the lovey-dovey interaction between Ayaka and Honoka to be mildly irritating at times.  

It was pretty clear to most people that Ayaka had very strong feelings for Honoka, even with the poker face she normally conveyed most of the time and her somewhat soft-spoken monotone way of speaking.  She doted on the guy whole-heartedly and went out of her way to protect him from any and all potential threats, not just the likes of Tower Witches.  If anybody dared to get between her and Honoka, Ayaka perceived that person as a threat that must be dealt with (even eliminated if it was deemed necessary).

The rest of the meal went off without a hitch, with limited conversation occurring among the group.  Mostly it was the Tower Witches in the group talking with one another about one trivial topic or another, whether it was about schoolwork or after-school plans or what to do on the next vacation period.  Whenever Kasumi spoke during the conversation, it was always to Honoka, usually about things like “What do you want to do for Christmas this year?” or “Do you want to go somewhere special on your next birthday?”, that sort of stuff.  At one point, Kasumi even flat-out asked a rather intimate question right there and then.

“Onii-chan,” she began, “how about we take a bath together after school?”  Honoka instinctively choked on his meal somewhat in response, given how forward and blunt Kasumi was being.

“K-Kasumi-chan,” he said, “you know that we’re too old to do that kind of stuff now!”

“Nonsense,” replied Kasumi without missing a beat.  “What’s wrong with a little sister wanting to spend quality time with her big brother?  It’s been so long since we’ve done that together.  How about we take a bath tonight?  I’ll be sure to get every nook and cranny and make sure you’re squeaky clean, Onii-chan.”  Kasumi said that last part in as cutesy of a voice as she could muster, hoping it would get Honoka’s heart fluttering in response.

“Not happening.” Ayaka spoke plainly in a way that implied there would be no argument over her decision.

“I believe I was speaking to Onii-chan, not you, Hime-sama (Princess)” grumbled Kasumi.

“If Takamiya-kun is taking a bath with anybody, it’s me, and that’s final,” said Ayaka calmly, but with heavy force underneath her words.  She gave Kasumi a sideways glance as she looked down at the younger witch.  Given Ayaka’s nearly 6-and-a-half foot stature, it was only too easy to look down upon Kasumi in a way that denoted power and authority.  And despite Kasumi’s best effort to put on a strong face in response against Ayaka, she ended up folding within a few seconds as she broke off eye contact and returned to her meal.  Satisfied that her body language got the result she wanted, Ayaka returned to her own meal, while Takamiya and the Tower Witches all did anime-style sweat drops in response.

“Man, she can be really scary sometimes,” muttered Kotetsu to Rin, with Rin simply nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, but I like that fierce side about her,” whispered Mei with a semi-dreamy look on her face.  “She’s pretty even when she’s angry or threatening.  She pretty much looks amazing no matter what her mood is.”

“Guess that’s part of the reason why she’s the Princess,” muttered Kanna.  “She’s simply regal and elegant in everything she does.”

“And it annoys the hell outta me,” grumbled Tanpopo in response.

“You all say something?” asked Ayaka to the Tower Witches, which made them wince and speak up in unison (except for Rin).

“N-no, Miss!  Nothing at all!” replied the Tower Witches.

“Hmmm…you know, it’s generally impolite to whisper and make snide comments, especially at the table,” stated Ayaka as she went back to her meal.

The rest of the meal was wrapped up without any further snippy or snarky commentary from anyone else, be it the KMM Gang or Kasumi.

Now that the meal was done, the group began to make their way out the door and towards Tougetsu Academy.  During this time, Ayaka told the other girls to walk separately from her and Honoka.  While the KMM Gang acquiesced, not wanting to push Ayaka’s buttons and incur any potential wrath from her, Kasumi held her ground.

“Look, I wanna walk to school with Onii-chan, okay?” she replied.  “You get to spend all day in class with him, so just let me have this one little moment with him, alright?”  Ayaka was contemplating on whether or not she should put Kasumi in her place and let her know who was calling the shots, when Honoka stepped in.

“Please, Kagari-san,” he said.  “It’ll only be for a short while.”  Cue the momentary pause from Kagari as she stared down at the Takamiya siblings.

“As long as she doesn’t say anything rude or does anything weird, then okay,” replied Ayaka.  Honoka sighed in relief, glad that Ayaka was willing to compromise from time to time.

So it was that while the KMM Gang walked ahead by several feet, Honoka Takamiya walked with Kasumi glomping onto him by wrapping his left arm with both of her arms while Ayaka looped her left arm around his right arm, lacing her fingers with his.  To an outside viewer, he most assuredly would look like some kind of “player” or ladies man, literally having a girl on each arm as they walked on their way to school.

One thing that would probably give people pause as they watched Honoka walking to school would be the sheer difference in scale between himself and Ayaka as they walked.  Given that he was somewhat short for a Japanese male (currently standing at 5’4”) and Ayaka was very tall PERIOD (not just tall for a Japanese women, tall for anybody at 6’5.5”), the comparison was rather eye-catching to say the least.  The top of Honoka’s head stood no higher than Ayaka’s collarbone and shoulders, which effectively put his face level with her enormous bosom.  Such a thing would certainly get the average hot-blooded heterosexual male rather aroused to be in so close a proximity to such wondrous and heavenly, gravity-defying orbs jutting forth from the statuesque stunner’s chest.

Given his generally shy and gentlemanly nature, Honoka tried his best to avoid glancing over towards Ayaka’s bosom, though it proved to be rather tricky given how her left breast teasingly pressed against the right side of Honoka’s face from time to time.  To some people, it would appear pretty apparent that Ayaka was doing her best to get Honoka to notice her and to intentionally look at her, including her “assets,” so to speak.  Hell, some might even deduce that the towering beauty was practically throwing herself at the young man, as if to say “You can go ahead and look all you want.”

Kasumi was certainly one such person who would deduce such a thing, since she had a front-row seat to the flirting-via-body-language she was witnessing.  Such a thing made her bubble on the inside with both jealousy and rage, resulting in her tightening her hold slightly over Honoka’s left arm and ensnaring it between her own breasts.  While Kasumi was nowhere near Ayaka’s own chest in terms of cup size, she wasn’t so woefully inadequate either, with her own breasts being in the C-cup range.

Of course, the gesture was getting Honoka a little hot and bothered, since he had one very large breast pressing up against his head from the right and a smaller pair of breasts smooshed up against his left arm as well.  He was considering whether he should ask to be let go from both girls, as he knew that singling out one or the other would almost assuredly leave them crestfallen in the process, and he simply didn’t have it in him to hurt anybody’s feelings.  It was a trait which he seemed to pick up from his mother rather well.

Fortunately, it wouldn’t be too much longer on the walk to school, so Honoka simply kept himself from speaking up and tried to make the best of the situation.  To be clear, it wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the sensations he was experiencing at the moment.  He just didn’t want to go down the proverbial rabbit hole and get lost in a fantasy realm involving naughty subjects and “adult only” kind of activities.  The way he saw things, if these girls kept teasing him with their bosoms the way they were doing, it would only be a matter of time before he got lost to the passion and the heat of the moment and ended up doing something he would otherwise never do.  Honoka was a straight male after all, and he wasn’t exactly some kind of chaste monk or anything along those lines.

After twenty minutes or so of walking and simply taking in the nice weather of the day, Honoka and the others had finally arrived at Tougetsu Academy.  That of course meant that Kasumi had to finally let go of her big brother’s arm and make her way to the junior high section of the academy, since Honoka, Ayaka, and the others were all high school students.  Initially pouting that her quality bonding time with her onii-chan had come to a close, Kasumi begrudgingly relented and released her grip from Honoka.

“Promise you’ll wait for me after school?” asked the younger Workshop Witch to her big brother, giving him a cute, puppy dog look in her eyes as she did so.

“I promise,” replied Honoka with a smile and a grin, which in turn resulted in Kasumi glomping onto him in a big hug.

“I love you, Onii-chan,” Kasumi cooed into Honoka’s chest as she blushed.  It was that natural kindness of his that made her blush with giddiness and want to spend as much time as possible with him.

“Alright, that’s enough now,” Ayaka gently chided, figuring she had to speak up or it would be a long while before Kasumi let go and made her way to the junior high branch of the academy.

“Alright, alright,” grumbled Kasumi as she let go.  “Don’t go doing anything weird to my onii-chan while I’m away, understand?  I don’t care if you are the princess of this academy; nobody messes with my big brother, got that?”  Ayaka simply stared down at Kasumi, using her great height and close proximity to her advantage.  Such a gesture tended to get most people to back down before her without Ayaka needing to say a word.  After all, how many people want to go toe-to-toe with someone who towers over literally all the other students and even several of the school staff and faculty?

After the brief staring contest between the two love rivals, Kasumi simply took her leave with a minor huff and headed towards the junior high school branch, leaving Honoka and Ayaka alone with each other (the KMM Gang already heading inside with most of the other students and staff).

“I wish you two would get along better,” sighed Honoka.

“I don’t have any problem with her, Takamiya-kun,” said Ayaka.  “In a way, I can respect her drive and ambition.  She’s not afraid to go after what she wants…and who she loves.  As long as she knows her position in where things stand, I don’t have a need to confront her or fight with her, that’s all.”

“What do you mean by ‘where things stand,’ exactly?” asked a confused Honoka.

The young man got his answer a moment later when Ayaka leaned down and pressed her supple, super soft lips against his and wrapped an arm around his upper back, pressing him against her generous bosom as she kissed him deeply.  The action certainly caught Honoka off guard, but rather than fight it and try to push Ayaka off of him, he simply closed his eyes and let the kiss run its course.  This certainly wasn’t the first time Honoka had kissed Ayaka (nor she kiss him for that matter), though it definitely was a particularly passionate kiss she was giving him at that moment…the kind of kiss that effectively tells the world, “I’m in love with this person.”

After ten seconds or so, Ayaka broke off the kiss and stood straight tall once more, her head completely above Honoka’s own head and her breasts once again at face level to him.

“So long as everyone understands that I am your girl and you are my man, then there’ll be no problems in the future.  That’s what I mean when I say ‘where things stand,’ Takamiya-kun.”  Ayaka spoke with such clear conviction with that statement, basically declaring that the young man before her was her mate and not to be either harmed or stolen away from her.

For his part, Honoka simply stood there in awe, completely at a loss for words and blushing distinctly, still getting over just how damn good that kiss was.

“Come along, Takamiya-kun,” continued Ayaka.  “We don’t want to be late for homeroom now.”  After shaking his head to get his mind out of the funk he was in, Honoka proceeded towards the double doors of the school’s front entrance, with Ayaka walking alongside him all the while, serving as his de facto bodyguard as the pair of them entered the high school building.