Consulting an Expert
Nonon Jakuzure was a complicated woman. Normally she would be described as a selfish and abrasive person, but not when it came to Satsuki Kiryuin. She showed Satsuki the utmost respect, and would follow her to the ends of the Earth; all because of a single speech Satsuki gave when the two of them were in kindergarten. While Nonon was never much for introspection, she had occasionally wondered why her devotion to Satsuki ran so deep. If she were lying in bed at night, unable to sleep for whatever reason, these thoughts would cross her mind. Until her second year at Honnouji Academy, she had never reached a conclusion on such matters. Once she had, she felt only uncertainty in herself; Nonon Jakuzure in love with Satsuki Kiryuin? Impossible. And yet, with the threat of Life Fibers having been quelled and Nonon having less to think about, she had come to accept her feelings. She admired Satsuki. She wanted to protect Satsuki. She longed to be with Satsuki.
Alas, Jakuzure found herself unable to profess her feelings for the woman who preoccupied her thoughts so often. Being expressive and emotional was never her forte. For some time she gave up hope of ever being with Satsuki, feeling intense anguish that she had never felt before whenever she thought about it. She had almost resigned to a life of loneliness when she realized that she knew somebody who was an expert on this matter. The only problem was that this expert is a huge pain in the ass.
Mako Mankanshoku never shied away from her emotions. On the day Ryuko Matoi ventured into space to put a stop to Ragyo Kiryuin's plans of Life Fiber domination, Mako took time away from the completion of this crucial task to ask Ryuko out on a date. It was such a stupid move, and yet it worked. Mako and Ryuko had been in a steady relationship for over a year and a half now. Not just steady; happy. They were sickeningly adorable together. Nonon would catch glimpses of the couple eating breakfast at a cafe while on her morning commute and the two would always be laughing and feeding each other. She recently saw them carelessly frolicking about the city as they were spending time with Satsuki (she, Inumuta, and Sanageyama were trying to get Gamagoori to tell Mako how he felt about her, though he refused to try to "steal Mankanshoku away from an already happy life for his own selfish gain"). It was as though nothing in the world mattered to them but each other. It was disgusting, it was annoying, and it was exactly what Nonon wanted. She had decided, against her better judgment, to consult Mako for advice on asking Satsuki out on a date. This was not going to be pleasant.
Nonon arrived at Mako and Ryuko's doorstep at around noon. After debating in her head for a minute whether or not she really wanted to continue, she let out a sigh of exasperation and begrudgingly rang the doorbell. A few moments later, the door opened; a tall, black-and-red-haired girl found herself looking down at Nonon.
"Jakuzure? What are you doing here?" Ryuko inquired.
"I... I came to get some help," Nonon answered.
"Help? From me? With what?"
"Not from you! I need to talk..." she closed her eyes and sighed, "...to Mankanshoku."
"What could you possibly want from her?"
Nonon glared at her. "Look, can you just let me in?"
After a moment of awkward, silent tension between the two, Ryuko complied. As Nonon walked in, she took in the décor of the small apartment. It was practical; modern, black and white, minimalistic furniture. Not to Nonon's liking.
"Hey! Mako!" Ryuko yelled, "Jakuzure is here, she wants to talk to you! Come out here!"
She turned to Nonon. "Do you need anything?"
"Just tell her not to waste my time," Nonon replied, seating herself on the couch.
Ryuko was just getting ready for a snappy comeback when Mako emerged from the bedroom and bolted down the hall. She then proceeded to hurdle over the couch and land hard next to Nonon, disrupting her comfortable seating.
"Hi Jakuzure!" Mako exclaimed far too loud, "I haven't seen you in so long! Did you get a haircut? Lose weight? Grow a few inches?"
"We saw each other yesterday," Nonon replied, already irritated, "I passed by you at the cafe and you made a huge commotion."
"Oh yeah! You didn't wave back!"
"I must not have noticed you," Nonon scoffed. "Listen, I didn't come here to make small talk. I..." she winced, "...need your help."
Mako was taken aback. "Huh? With what?"
Nonon's face turned red as she averted her gaze from Mako and began staring at the hardwood floor. She noticed that her feet barely reached the ground. Nothing but that to make her feel even smaller.
"I need advice," she swallowed a lump in her throat, "on asking somebody out on a date."
Mako grinned in excitement and leaned uncomfortably close to Nonon. "Who?" she asked.
"S-S-Satsuki."
As was expected, Mako yelled out exuberantly when she heard this. She proceeded to spout some high-speed speech about how wonderful this was for Nonon. She didn't notice. She shut out Mako out of embarrassment. This whole thing was a terrible idea.
As Mako was in the middle of some tangent about cotton candy, Nonon stymied her.
"Listen, will you help me or not?" she barked.
"Of course!" Mako replied with an exaggerated expression of determination on her face.
Nonon forced herself to put up with this. "Well, I was wondering how you did it. You were able to just approach Matoi about starting a relationship like it was nothing. Weren't you afraid of her saying no?"
"Nope!" Mako responded, "I never had any doubts that Ryuko loved me!"
Ryuko, who had been in the kitchen fixing up lunch while Mako and Nonon conversed, perked up when she heard this.
"She's got a point," Ryuko projected. "How does your relationship with Satsuki stand right now?"
Nonon took a moment to think. "Well, I can't say that I know she loves me," she said.
"Would you at least say that you're close?" Mako asked.
"Well, kind of..."
"Do you make each other happy?" Ryuko inquired.
"Not particularly, I guess-"
"Has she ever shown interest in you?" Mako chimed in.
"Well, sort of-"
"Is she-"
"Shut up!" Nonon bellowed.
Nonon buried her hands in her face. She was losing hope. There was no way Satsuki reciprocated her feelings.
"This is pointless," she lamented. "I think I'll just go home."
But before Nonon could get to the door, she heard the sound of somebody making a call on a cell phone.
"Hello, Satsuki? Mako began. "Can you come over? We have Jakuzure here and she wants to talk to you in person."
Nonon's heart filled with dread. She quickly turned around and sprinted toward Mako to grab the phone out of her hand and tell Satsuki not to come.
"Okay, bye!" Mako said as she hung up the phone. Nonon was too late.
"Why the hell would you do that?!" Nonon shouted.
"Because," Mako responded, bringing her fist down onto her open palm, "you need to do this! If you don't ask Satsuki out now, you'll never do it!"
Nonon began to growl. She was about ready to pounce on the girl and tear her throat out when she realized what was in store for her.
"Oh God," she said as a sense of horror set into her mind, "Satsuki is coming here. Soon."
"Yup!" Mako exclaimed, oblivious to Nonon's internal trauma. "She said she'll be here in half an hour!"
Nonon, defeated, collapsed onto the couch after hearing this.
"I'm screwed," she lamented in a dejected, empty monotone. "You've gone and invited her over and I have no idea what to do."
"Just ask her out!" Mako insisted. "You don't have anything to lose!"
"Except my hopes, my dignity, and any respect Satsuki has for me."
"But she might say yes!" Mako said, trying to encourage the girl.
"She won't."
"You don't know that!"
"I do. She won't."
"And on what basis do you say this?" Ryuko interjected. "The way I see it, as long as there's some possibility of her saying yes to you, you should ask her out."
Nonon was silent.
"Look," Ryuko continued, "would you rather ask her today and risk being rejected, or go the rest of your life never knowing? And if she does feel the same way toward you as you feel toward her, do you really want her to go through her whole life never having a chance to be with you?"
This is what struck Nonon. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and the only way to get out was to work up the courage to ask Satsuki out on a date.
Dammit.
"Come on, why don't you have lunch with us?" Ryuko asked. "Croquettes and rice. I know you like it."
If they were as good as Sukuyo Mankanshoku's croquettes, she was right. Too emotionally drained to reject them, Nonon silently got up and trudged over to the dinner table. Over the course of the next few minutes, Mako proceeded to shovel food into her mouth at an inhuman speed as Ryuko just watched her and laughed. Apparently, in some universe, this slobbish behavior was charming. After Mako finished her food, she and Ryuko casually chatted as the latter ate at a normal pace. Nonon barely ate, and remained silent the entire time. Once she was done, she got up, moving in a zombie-like fashion, thanked the couple for the food in a hollow tone, and slowly went back to the couch to lie down as she did before and contemplate the crushing disappointment she would inevitably feel in a few minutes' time. Sure enough, not much later, the doorbell rang. Nonon immediately shot upright when she heard this. Panic started to set in. Ryuko opened the door and greeted her sister with a hug. She let Satsuki in.
She was so beautiful. Statuesque was the only word that could describe such a woman. Her pale, silky skin, her shining black hair; long or short, it was gorgeous. The amazing curvature of her figure... It was too much for Nonon. As if she weren't nervous enough, this proverbial goddess was now in her presence.
"Good afternoon, Nonon." Satsuki greeted her.
This jolted Nonon out of her seat. "H-hello, Satsuki. How are you today?"
"Fine, thank you. What did you want to talk to me about? And why here?"
"Well..." Nonon started to choke on her words. She couldn't do this. What the hell had she gotten herself into?
Her face flushed. Her legs weakened. She couldn't bring herself to speak. But she had to. She needed to do this, now or never. Mustering up all the courage she could, Nonon replied:
"Satsuki, I wanted to ask you... W-wi-will you go ou-out on a d-date with m-me?"
She could barely force the words out of her throat. It was horrible. What a mess she must have looked like.
Satsuki was taken aback. It seemed as though she didn't know how to respond. She blushed... Was that good or bad?
"Nonon..." she spoke softly, almost in a whisper. "This... I..."
Nonon already felt crushed. She wasn't too far off from crying at this point.
"...I need some time to think about this, okay?" Satsuki finished. "This is sudden. Can I talk to you about this tomorrow?"
"Y-yes." Nonon answered sheepishly, surprised to have not been immediately rejected.
Satsuki shut the door without another word.
Silently, Nonon retreated back to the familiar couch and dropped her limp body onto the cushions.
"This is great!" Mako exclaimed.
"This is terrible," Nonon corrected.
"Why?" Mako asked.
"Because now, instead of just being rejected, I have to wait in miserable suspense until tomorrow to be rejected."
"Jeez, don't be too optimistic," Ryuko responded snidely. "Why do you automatically assume the worst?"
Nonon turned to look at Ryuko. "Because if I don't get my hopes up, they can't come crashing down." She was starting to cry.
Seeing this, Ryuko sat down next to the girl. She tried to put her hand on Nonon's shoulder, but she evaded Ryuko's touch.
"Why don't you stay with us tonight?" Ryuko offered. "I can tell Satsuki to just come back here tomorrow."
Having surrendered to depression, Nonon didn't have the energy to resist. Besides, she probably didn't have enough control over her legs to make it home.
"Sure," she mumbled.
"Alright then," Ryuko replied. The level of kindness in her voice was surprising; it was almost soothing to hear.
Ryuko and Mako started to make arrangements for Nonon to stay the night. They mentioned something about Nonon sleeping on the couch; it was hard to catch most of what they said. Nonon had tuned them out again at this point. She was too wrapped up in her own misery.
The next few hours were something of a haze. Mako and Ryuko both tried a few times to cheer her up, to no avail. Ryuko stopped trying after a little while. Mako didn't. Dinner eventually came around. Nonon couldn't even recall what they ate. Was it croquettes? Twice, in one day? Maybe. These people were weird enough. Later into the night, the couple, now both clad in their pajamas, sat down on the loveseat adjacent to the couch Nonon had claimed as her own. They turned out the lights, put on some movie about giant monsters fighting giant robots, acted disgustingly cute together as usual, then went to bed after making sure Nonon was comfortable (or at least as comfortable as she could be now).
As the hours of the night passed, Nonon gradually became more lucid. She couldn't sleep. She was forced to be alone with her thoughts.
How humiliating this was, having her rejection dragged out over the course of 24 hours, all the while surrounded by a couple of (admittedly hospitable) idiots. Why did Satsuki have to put her through this? No, it probably wasn't her fault. She probably needed the day to think about how to let Nonon down as nicely as possible. She was so kind like that... Who was Nonon kidding? She didn't have any right to be with somebody as magnanimous as Satsuki. Such an angel would never want to go out with a caustic, pink-haired dwarf. What an idiot Nonon was for ever thinking she might have had a chance.
Nonon sat up, got on her feet, and walked down the hall to go to the bathroom. She just needed to splash some water on her face or something. She came to the end of the hall, stopped in front of the door, and pushed it open.
What she found was not the bathroom. Instead, she found Ryuko and Mako both lying naked on their bed, with Mako's face buried between Ryuko's thighs. The two looked over at Nonon as she slammed the door shut, her face burning red.
"Sorry!" she shouted in embarrassment. "I thought this was the bathroom!"
She ran back to the living room and dove onto the couch which had essentially become her home. She started to sob into her pillow. This was all too much for her. A few minutes later, Mako came out of the bedroom wearing her pajamas.
"Jakuzure?" she called.
Nonon said nothing. Mako walked over to her and sat down on the small area of the couch not occupied by Nonon. Mako saw that Nonon was crying and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Unlike before, Nonon was accepting of the contact.
"There's no need to cry, Jakuzure," Mako said, attempting to allay Nonon's despair.
"Seeing you two like that doesn't exactly make me feel better."
"Are you afraid of intimacy?"
"Kind of... no... I don't know," Nonon whimpered, "I've never really been able to be close to anybody, but now it's all I can think about. I've been confused for a long time."
"You know, I bet Satsuki has just as hard a time being emotional!"
Nonon looked up from her pillow.
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Mako started, "she's always been reserved. Even with Ryuko, she would never say out loud that she loves her."
"So?"
"So maybe she does love you! Maybe the only thing she's ever wanted is to spend the rest of her life with you, but she could never say it!"
The only thing? A bit of a stretch, but Nonon caught what Mako meant.
"Maybe..." Mako began, putting on a semi-serious thinking face, "Maybe she's kept you around all these years just because she wants to be close to you!"
Nonon wiped away her tears. She wasn't crying anymore.
"You really think so?" she replied.
"I know so!" Mako answered sprightly.
Probably an exaggeration, but Nonon appreciated it. She at least had some hope now. Satsuki could have gotten anybody to be the fourth Elite. Perhaps she really did just want to be with Nonon...
"Thanks, underachiever," Nonon said with a tired smile.
Mako immediately hugged Nonon, much to her surprise and disdain. She was probably saying something to Nonon, but she was too busy trying not to die while being smothered by Mako's breasts to pay any mind to it. It took a little while, but Nonon managed to break away from Mako's grip.
"One more thing," she said, with her usual tone of annoyance back in her voice. "Next time, don't have sex while you have a guest over!"
"Sorry!" Mako exclaimed, now embarrassed. "Ryuko thought you were asleep!"
"Yeah, I could say the same for you two. Turns out we were all wrong."
"Well, just don't make that mistake again, okay?" Mako said as she got up from the couch.
"What."
"Goodnight!" Mako sang as she went back to the bedroom.
Nonon laid back down on the couch. She felt relieved now. Maybe... Just maybe, the future wouldn't be so bad for her after all. She soon fell asleep.
The morning was a pleasant one. Nonon got up, ate breakfast with Ryuko and Mako, and got to hang around with the couple for a while. She had almost forgotten her worries when, without warning, the doorbell rang.
Shit.
Not even so much as a call, and she was already back? It wasn't even noon yet... Nonon started to panic. All of the doubts she had before started to come back in spades. She was about to go to the bathroom and vomit when she remembered Mako's words of encouragement.
Maybe. Maybe it will all be alright. Maybe not. But now wasn't the time to think of the negative. Now was the time to be brave. Now was the time to take action.
Ryuko was just reaching for the doorknob when Nonon jammed herself between her and the door. She grabbed the knob authoritatively and swung the door open.
There she was. The veritable angel that Nonon loved was standing at the door; her Lady Satsuki. The two just looked at each other for a moment. Neither seemed to really know what to do. Despite her new take-charge attitude, Nonon was still blushing and shaking. She couldn't help it. But regardless of how much of a mess she may have been, she had to do something. She was going to kiss Satsuki right there and then, damn the consequences. Even if Satsuki rejected her, she would still always have that. Suddenly, though, Nonon felt something pulling at her shoulders. Then it happened.
Satsuki kissed her.
She didn't kiss Satsuki. Satsuki was the one who kissed her. Not a word before, no warning, she just pulled Nonon towards her and brought their lips together.
Brief as it may have been in actuality, to Nonon, the kiss felt like it lasted forever. She was completely stunned when they broke. Not a word could escape her. Her legs nearly collapsed underneath her, and her face felt hot with blood.
Satsuki, also blushing, said, "Nonon... My answer is yes." She looked at Nonon with a tender look in her eyes that she had never seen before.
Nonon tried to respond, but she ended up coughing when she attempted to speak; literally choking on her own words. She fell to her knees for a moment, before taking a few deep breaths and bringing herself back up. She then suddenly jumped up and hugged Satsuki as hard as she could manage with her petite body.
"Satsuki..." was all she could manage to say. Tears were welling up in her eyes. She was so happy, so relieved, so surprised, all at the same time.
Nonon pulled back, keeping her arms around Satsuki's neck and looking her into her deep, blue eyes. Neither of them could resist smiling. Nonon swiftly pecked Satsuki on the lips a few more times before burying her face in the junction of Satsuki's neck and shoulder.
"I'm so happy..." she cried, tightening the hug.
Satsuki closed her eyes. "Me too, Nonon. Me too."
After a few moments, Ryuko cut in. "Look, I'm really happy for you two, but there's no need to be so melodramatic. Why don't you two come inside and have some tea?"
Nonon turned around to look at Ryuko. She was standing there with an almost proud smile on her face. Mako was a few feet behind her, cheering boisterously and incomprehensibly.
"That sounds nice." Satsuki said warmly.
And so the four of them did just that. They all sat at the dining room table, drinking tea and eating pastries for a good long while. It was something Nonon hadn't really experienced; having a good time with somebody she loved and a couple of friends. For the first time in years, she was finally content.
Maybe they would double date sometime.