[Semitwinning]

"You know, when she said that she was the Librarian of the Forbidden Archive, I thought she just meant an ordinary Librarian. Not the keeper of a literal maze of books!"

The ginger-haired girl walked down the endless halls, doing her best to navigate them all despite having no obvious landmarks to refer to. It was a difficult task, and yet one that she took on with a bright smile. Why was that, one might ask?

Well, she wanted to visit her friend. It was about to be Christmas, and that friend of hers always decided to bury herself in intense work for the sake of others. So she decided that it might be for the best that she came by and lent her a hand. She was a writer too, after all. So it only made sense to her that she would try and help. Even if a lot of what said friend wrote was way beyond what she could handle. She was only so lewd, she had her limits. She was barely even lewd at that, but the point still stands.

The girl herself, wandering through the halls, was named Pyra. And at this point, she was definitely lost. It was a good thing that had packed herself into a very cute sweater with several of her own characters woven into it, because otherwise the cold Archive might've actually gotten to her. And as cute as she could be when she was frozen, she'd prefer to be safe before anything bad happened.

"Haaaato! Are you in here!? You better be! I didn't come all this way just to see that you weren't home!" Pyra cried out as she tried to catch the writer's attention. She had heard it worked for others, especially Lulu, but... Was it really going to work if the Archive was this big? Hmmm...

Thankfully, she got an answer much quicker than she might've expected. Though it wasn't in the form of Hato shouting back at her or the maze getting any better to navigate all on her own. No, it came in the form of two adorably short girls suddenly bursting out of a pair of books that flew off the shelves, both bowing neatly as they appeared in front of Pyra.

"Oh! Oh, goodness, don't-" Pyra was mildly shocked for a second, before blinking as she noticed how familiar they were. Wait a moment... "M-Mikai? Kimiko? Is that you? She can bring her creations to life in here?"

Indeed, the two girls that were standing in front of her were easy to recognize. It was the Hero of Mimoto, Mikai Fushimi, and her lookalike, Kimiko Namishi. Though there was very clearly something weird about them. And that was the fact that they were both wearing black suits, and part of their hair had turned white. They almost looked like they'd be good Demons, given their new attire.

"Hm? Oh, you're that nice lady that draws all those things for Hato!" Mikai giggled, instantly recognizing Pyra as well. "I guess you've read the story I was from. Sorry to say, but I'm not the same Mikai. At least, not anymore. I ended up here thanks to my story being left open, and Hato decided to hire me because she thought I was so cute!"

"More like because you were going to cause too much trouble for her if you remained yourself." Kimiko snarked, before grinning a little. "That, and she couldn't help herself. We ended up becoming more like her because we read more of her stories, and now we're her assistants. Though I doubt you mind looking at a pair of cute assistants, P y r a." Despite her more malicious nature in her home stories, Kimiko was happy to dial that down to mere teasing. Especially since she was also intimately familiar with the guest... And her rather complicated relationship with her original self.

Pyra blushed as she was called out, pouting slightly as she crossed her arms. "W-Well, it's not bad, but, uh, it might just undercut why I'm here." She said, adjusting her glasses while gazing upon the girls. They were really pretty. Had they always been this pretty, or was it just because they were wearing suits? Goodness...

Mikai giggled and bowed in front of the adorable girl again, while Kimiko just laughed in response. It was really amusing to see her squirm like this. "Undercut, you say? What, you want to be like this too? I'm sure Hato could use another assistant. But I think if you ended up like this, it might just be a bit too much. You don't want to end up a complete p e r v e r t, riiiight?" She was enjoying this far too much. But hey, it's not like she got a chance to enjoy herself that much on an ordinary basis. Guests that were easy to tease like her... Now that was a real treat.

"J-Just tell me where she is, and stop teasing me so much." What she asked was an almost impossible thing to do. But Kimiko simply winked in response, while Mikai walked over towards one of the shelves. All so she could reach towards one of the relevant books that might just make things a bit easier to handle.

Suddenly, the shelves started spinning. And instead of leading Pyra around in a circle, they all started leading her deeper. Into the very middle of the Forbidden Archive. How did she know it was the middle? Because there was an actual table she could take a seat at. Which meant that a certain somebody had to be in there. She just had to be. Why else would she beckon her like this?

"Just remember." Kimiko chimed. "If you're not careful, you might just end up a big pervert. Then again, you've got some real naughty creations of your own, so maybe you're not in as much danger as I originally thought." She wasn't going to let her off without a little bit more teasing. She was too much fun not to.

"Tell her we said hi, Pyra! And tell her to publish more of her stories, the backlog's getting really heavy!" Mikai chimed, her general mood serving as such a nice contrast to her teasing 'twin'. "Now c'mon, Kimiko! Gabriella wandered in here, and Lulu's still sick so we gotta find her!"

Kimiko rolled her eyes as she went on a dog hunt with her 'twin', putting on a black Santa hat as she ran off with Mikai. Leaving Pyra to proceed down the path and hopefully have a nice chat with Hato. Or she'd get teased by her as well. There was a rather decent chance of that happening, if she had to be completely honest.

The ginger-haired girl steeled herself the best she could, as she walked into the very center of the Forbidden Archive. All so she could try and find that big-boobied writer that she called a friend. That albino dame that was kept perpetually active due to a permanently overloaded mind filled with all sorts of depraved ideas.

And yet as Pyra managed to reach the middle of the Forbidden Archive, she... She was nowhere to be found? Oh, darn it. She had actually disappeared. How unfair. She had gone through all this trouble to come here, and she just decided not to show up? How rude. Maybe if she called out to her, like she called out to try and get to her in the first place, she'd show up.

"Haaaato! Where are you!? Are you here?! Are you somewhere else!? Come on, I just met Mikai and Kimiko, and I'd be really disappointed if you didn't show up after they were so nice and helped me get in here!" Pyra cried out. Hopefully, this would get through to her. And then she could have fun with one of her best friends...

*DONK*

"Ow."

Pyra blinked a little as a very dull sounding voice echoed out from under the big table. And she kneeled down to try and see if she could spot the source. Which was actually really easy, to the point where she could feel the tiniest bit of sweat run down the side of her head.

There Hato was. The black-suited, large-chested, short and stout writer and owner of the Forbidden Archive. And a woman that now had a red bump on her head, because she just happened to knock her head against the underside of her table. Not only that, but she looked absolutely horrendous. Like she had barely gotten sleep, and that sleep had been gotten on a terribly tiny mattress...

"...Hato, that's not very healthy." Pyra immediately started to show concern for her friend's wellbeing. Of course she would. Why wouldn't she show concern towards such a good friend of hers when that very same friend had comically injured herself, and generally taken care of herself in a terrible way?

"Don't care." Hato muttered as she yawned, crawling out from under the table. All while adorned with a Santa hat of her own. All while trembling a little from the temperature of the Forbidden Archive. "Too cold." She muttered, snapping her fingers for a moment to activate some of her powers.

Pyra covered her eyes for a second to avoid getting literally and metaphorically flashed by her friend, before pulling her hands away to reveal that the writer was no longer in a suit, but rather in a nightgown. All while wearing a comfortable and chuunibyou-like eyepatch across one of her eyes. Which prompted the other writer to giggle in response, the sight being a little too amusing.

"So. What brings you here, Pyra?" Hato yawned as she tried to remain as courteous as she could. A difficult task for somebody that didn't generally emote very well. "I have a lot that I need to write. Lots of gifts that I'm behind on. And despite my attempts to be close to my work station when I need to wake up, it seems that all I gain is pain."

Ah. So this wasn't the first time she had haphazardly donked her head against the underside of her table. Fair enough. That just meant that she had to help her more. Because this was something she just couldn't allow to continue.

"I wanted to try and help you, so you didn't have to worry about writing so much." Pyra said, before crossing her arms slightly. "But I want to help you take better care of yourself too. I can't just let you hurt yourself because you're being too focused."

Hato stared blankly at the girl, before chuckling a little. "You go above and beyond for your friends. Adorable." Hato muttered, as she reached up and patted the girl on the head. She was actually a little taller than Hato, since Hato had a tendency to prefer her body being short and stocky. Which really only made Pyra want to spoil her more and help her out. "Alright. I guess I can accept that help. I was going to turn down your attempt to help me with writing, because all the stories I have to do at the moment are too much for you. But this? Yeah. This seems like your ballpark." The albino writer explained, before stretching a bit more. "You need any help getting anything ready, or can I just start writing again?"

Pyra paused. Uhhhhh... Right. If she was going to help Hato in that way, then she was going to need to know where all the relevant tools were. "Where's your..." She paused again. "...If I try to leave and find something to help you with, I'm just going to get lost again, aren't I?" She asked a simple question, despite the fact that she definitely knew the answer to that question.

"Mmhm. Hold on. I can help." Hato said, as she looked towards the surrounding bookshelves. Which books did she have that wouldn't cause problems... Well, she had no books that wouldn't cause problems. But which ones would cause problems that were ultimately a good thing for what they were aiming for?

She thought long. She thought hard. And she flicked her wrist back when she found the right books, causing a small pile of books to fly over onto the table. Before long, there was a tower of books standing tall in front of Pyra. Each themed around a different subject of caretaking. The ones that weren't too much for her or delved into the kind of care that she definitely wasn't trying to handle.

"Whoaaa... That's a lot." Pyra couldn't help but find it awe inspiring that she had that many stories on hand that could help. Or was it non-fiction? No, it couldn't be. She knew Hato. She hated non-fiction with a passion. "Nothing bad is going to happen if I try and read one of these, right?

"I have no idea, honestly." Hato said, as she idly dusted off the top of one of those books. "I don't remember the last time that I used one of these. Nor do I remember what's in them. All I know is that you gotta be careful. If you get too engrossed, you know what happens." Hato had been through self-inflicted tf before. So as long as Pyra did her best to be careful, then everything would be good. "Besides. Maybe if you read all of these, you'll get a better idea for how those girlfriends of yours should split their skills."

That's right. If she read all of these, she could learn more that could help her with characterization and development of her own cute girls. And while that kind of neat future was still far, far in the future... It couldn't hurt to get some ideas now, and file them away for later. When she needed to eventually put some of them to use. Like when she eventually needed to show that one of the girls had learned to cook!

Pyra took a seat close to Hato, who had already begun to furiously write away in one of her empty tomes. As she started to casually read the nice manuscript found within the book. And immediately, she started blushing. Because... Because...

Well, there was a nice dommy lady that served as the antagonist in the book. Trying to suppress the maternal heroine that just so happened to be teaching the kind of lesson that Pyra needed right now. It was really distracting to see somebody like that. She wasn't even really that overtly sexy, it was just the kind of confidence that she exuded...

Pyra put down that book, and started to read another. And yet again, she was confronted with a story about a cool young man with spirit powers... And a teasing partner who loved to possess him and get him to try out new things. New things that included very homely chores. Which again, Pyra couldn't concentrate on. Because the ghost that was doing the possessing was far too cheeky. Far too easy to fall prey to.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Pyra." Hato muttered as she continued typing up a storm. The words practically swirling from her pen right onto the paper. All while her mind was glued to said paper. She was far too focused on her work to truly notice what her friend was doing. And to notice the fact that she had specifically given her a bunch of teasing-adjacent stories that wouldn't be great for teaching the skills she wanted.

Pyra certainly tried. But every book she picked up had the same problem. There was an adorable hero or heroine, most of which had some sort of overlap with Hato's Jõtaider cast... And most every single one of them either got antagonized by a hot lady enemy that distracted Pyra and made it harder to read the actual lesson, or they were partnered with a girl on the same level as Ero. Constantly teasing them. Constantly making them tremble. Just as Pyra was right now.

Of course, if she had paid attention and didn't end up getting distracted to the point of getting engrossed, Pyra might've remembered that she should be careful. And yet here she was. Getting teased over and over. But it wasn't fair. She was the one that was supposed to learn such useful tricks and tips and skills that could let her help Hato. But now?

Now the only thing that she was learning was a devious smirk and a trembling heart that wanted to tease. All while she could feel her hair growing a shade of white. Yes... Yes... She wanted to tease. She wanted to tease the kind of boy that would read all these different teasing stories... And tease good girls too. While she didn't have any good girls on hand, which thankfully meant that her own girls avoided the 'get teased by their creator' treatment, there was one person she could tease. One person right beside her. One person that was meant to be focused on her work. And yet one that was so, so tempting to tease. If she did though, there was such a huge chance that it could backfire.

But Pyra didn't bother weighing her options. No. She wanted to tease Hato. Her newfound whitish hair and her brand new black suit demanded that she should focus on those feelings. And completely tease the writer that she looked up to and was such near and dear friends with. She took a deep breath, as she leaned over. So she could blow into her ear....

Only for Hato to preempt her. She didn't even blink before she whipped around and wrapped her arms around Pyra, pulling her into a hug as their crimson eyes met. "I thought I told you to get your mind out of the gutter. And here you are. Getting distracted. Getting corroded. Altered into another partial copy of me. Just as what happened to Mikai and Kimiko. How. Adorable."

Pyra trembled all over as she was called adorable. Any attempt to invoke teasing had been completely taken from her. Leaving her to tremble as Hato held her, gasping and blushing as she kept looking at her. "A-Adorable... L-Like this..?" She asked, her face turning several shades of deep red as she was overwhelmed by emotion. G-Goodness, being teased like this when she was supposed to be the one teasing now. It was.... Ahhh...

"Mmhm. Way too adorable. I could just lick you up and swallow you whole, from how adorable and how sweet you are." Hato said, emphasizing her own teasing with a little kiss on Pyra's lips. "Maybe I should keep you as an Assistant, Pyra. You would make a great one. Especially with your art skills..."

Pyra couldn't stop blushing. She couldn't stop squirming. She just couldn't stop. She wanted to stop. She really did. But with how Hato held her, with how she gently kissed her again, and with how she kept talking in that sweet, seductive tone... She didn't know she could be such a tease. Especially when her voice usually had that dull tint to it. It was so overwhelming that she actually started to steam, given what was coming out of her ears.

Hato just chuckled in turn before letting go of Pyra, adjusting her tie a bit and getting up from her chair. "Honestly. I needed that." She said, stretching as the pen that she magically controlled to make it easier to write fell to the ground. "It's not often that I get to tease you that badly. And it's really not often that you respond so favorably. So adorably." She said, trembling a little as she felt the tension leave her body...

"E-Eh? S-So... T-This helped?" Pyra blushed. She really didn't expect trying to tease somebody would help this much. And yet if Hato said it was actually helpful, then she just had to believe her. "W-What else can I do to help you?" Since she was here, and since she had practically already been seduced, she still wanted to help her more. So she could get more kisses. So she could get more love and care from the writer that had helped her so much.

Hato scratched her chin for a moment. All while casting a glance at the pile of stories that she still needed to write, before casting another glance back at her newest Assistant. She did look fantastic in that suit. Maybe not as curvy as she would've liked, but she completely understood why Pyra was very restrained in that regard. But what could she do with her that would keep her on the right path. She thought about it. Pondered it. As much as she possibly could. Until she started to reach a breakthrough.

Hato snapped her fingers, and a couch took the place of her table. A couch that she could go rest on, stretching a little herself as she motioned for Pyra to come closer. They could share. It wasn't a bed or anything, but it could definitely help her with that sleeping problem she had. Especially since it was soft.

Pyra came closer.... And almost immediately, the shorter writer grabbed her and pulled her into a tight and snuggly hug. Squeezing her tight, prompting more blushing hues to cover up Pyra's most adorable face.

"The best way you can help me is to be here with me when I relax." Hato said, as she yawned and snapped another time, causing a Santa hat to pop down on the new Assistant's head as well.

Now, Pyra's look was complete. She not only wore the same kind of suit that Mikai and Kimiko did, but also a seasonally matching Santa. All while being snuggled by the writer she idolized...

"Uhm, how long are we going to relax?" Pyra asked, and yet she didn't receive an answer. At least not a traditional answer.

Because almost immediately after hugging her and laying herself down on that couch, Hato had found a way to pass out and snooze her way off to dreamland. Without even trying to let go of the other writer, trapping her on the couch until she decided to open her eyes and let go of her.

"Uhm, Hato? Haaaaato?" Pyra struggled against those nice warm arms. They were very nice. And yet she couldn't just stay here. She had a lot to do herself. She had to make sure that she was accomplishing everything that she had promised herself that she would. And yet, that grip was impossibly strong. How one tiny writer like Hato was able to keep her snugly bound like this was... Honestly really weird.

And yet. As she laid there. As she was being hugged and snuggled and even slightly kissed on the neck. The warmth that came with her friend's appreciation for her started to fill her. She was very, very happy to be Pyra's friend. And very happy to be blessed by her attempts to help her. Even if she didn't outright say it.

Pyra couldn't help but smile when that feeling crept up her body. And slowly but surely, she started to close her eyes as well. It was okay to just doze off a bit. Both of them definitely needed this. Because otherwise, they'd both tire themselves out to the point where they couldn't do anything else.

There they laid. Two writers that both adored what the other did. Two writers that supported each other through thick and thin. Though one of them had been infested with the other's teasing streak, that did not change how much friendly love they held for one another. If Pyra ever needed assistance, Hato would be there for her. Just as she had done her best to be for her as well.

But for now, as Christmas crept nearer, the two snoozed away. All so they could enjoy that holy night. Together with their many other friends...

What a wonderful night it would be...