Christmas Cake
Written for the 4th Fanfiction Challenge: Someone's birthday is coming, and Yutaka wants to make it special. Though slightly diverted from track by use of Christmas.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
XXX
It'd taken Kuroi some time to get used to the concept that Yui had been married for as long as they'd known each other – it'd been a very embarrassing realization – but being introduced to her little sister was somehow even more of a shocking revelation.
How in the world could there be two so very different siblings?
One was an outgoing, hyperactive, irresponsible, and ridiculously healthy woman. Whilst the other spent most of her time bedridden, was extremely shy, had the body of a child, was always careful, and somehow managed to hold on to her innocence even after graduating from high school.
Kuroi had a vague recollection of seeing the small, fragile-looking girl in the company of a certain tall prince-like girl during her time in school, and apparently the two were still friends – though, from what she'd heard, they didn't spend as much time together as they used to due to Minami studying to be a veterinarian.
"Kuroi-sensei?" the blond-haired woman looked up, startled out of her thoughts.
"What is it?" the small girl – technically a woman now, she supposed, though she still didn't really look it – smiled uncertainly.
She suppressed the urge to frown, she wasn't getting that old, was she?
"Was I getting boring?" Kuroi blinked.
"Eh?"
"Well, you seemed to be zoning out..." she fidgeted in a fascinatingly cute manner.
"Ah? Sorry, I was just thinking that I was..." she stopped, and, deciding that there was no point in telling Yutaka about her feeling old, simply waved dismissively and changed the subject, "What were you talking about?"
Yutaka looked at her with an odd expression for a moment, then she began to tell her about what she'd missed.
Kuroi wasn't sure about how the two of them had ended up hanging out on a regular basis, but she suspected that it was related to how Yui's husband had begun getting home at more reasonable hours – meaning that she didn't really have a proper drinking buddy anymore.
They were an odd mix – something that had been pointed out by a certain midget with a thing for twin-tails – and she'd tried to get anyone – seriously, she'd asked everyone – to explain exactly why the little girl had so much spare time, but she never got a decent answer.
Reflecting on it, it seemed as if the answer became vaguer and odder the closer the person who gave it was to Yutaka.
Kuroi sighed, and the small girl startled.
"Umm, were you zoning out again Kuroi-sensei?" Kuroi met her eyes and suddenly felt a little annoyed.
"I guess, but you know, Kobayakawa, it feels awkward being called 'sensei' by someone who's already graduated. So, call me something different." Yutaka blinked, and a part of Kuroi almost smirked at how easily it was to tell that she'd caught her off-guard.
"Eh? Something different...?" she pouted, looking troubled for a moment. "... Then, how about 'Kuroi-san'?"
Though it didn't make her feel nearly as old, she still didn't really feel satisfied with it, so she shook her head, causing the little girl to return to her adorable pondering.
"Umm... then 'Kuroi'?" another shaking of her head caused the girl's face to redden somewhat. "Then... 'Na-Nanako'?" Kuroi suppressed the smile that attempted to creep onto her lips at the girl's hesitant tone and, instead, nodded contently.
"Though, I guess it's a bit weird if it's completely one-sided... so, I guess I'll call you Yutaka." the smile proved impossible to suppress as the small girl's face exploded into an embarrassed red, and she felt it grow even wider than she would've imagined possible.
XXX
"I guess Christmas is coming up..." Konata sighed as she absentmindedly looked towards the ceiling.
Yutaka glanced at her cousin, feeling somewhat confused at the girl's attitude.
"I thought you were looking forward to Christmas, Konata-oneechan."
"Ah? Well..." she fidgeted for a moment, "I am... but... well... there's still this feeling that something is going to go wrong, you know?"
Yutaka looked at the older girl, puzzled, but just before she opened her mouth to ask about it, something inside of her clicked.
"You're planning to wrap yourself up to Hiiragi-senpai again, aren't you?" her comment was met with a flinch, and some more fidgeting. Yutaka sighed. "It'll be fine, just don't mention that you 'avoided wrapping yourself in chocolate since you didn't want her be mad at you if she gained weight' again..." apparently, the story had made both Patricia and Hiyori laugh until they almost turned blue.
"I know! It's just that... well I hadn't planned on telling her that last year either, it just sort of slipped out..." Konata really did look like she regretted it, and Yutaka felt a slight stab of guilt.
"Just don't be so nervous, she'll be happy with it, there's no need to worry. In fact, I think worrying is what caused that big mess last year." Konata looked up, curious, "After all, you seem to tease her whenever you get nervous..." Konata looked down again, proving herself to be guilty as charged.
They continued reading through Konata's gigantic mass of unsorted mangas – nobody wanted to see another wardrobe explode from the pressure – in silence for quite some time, before Konata spoke up.
"So, you giving anything to Kuroi-sensei?"
Yutaka blinked, then turned towards her cousin with a confused expression. There was a twinkle of something in those green eyes, and she wasn't certain if she was entirely comfortable with it.
"I might... why?" she answered hesitantly.
"Oh, nothing, just making conversation~" her sing-song tone made Yutaka sincerely doubt that, but she let it slide, not wanting to accidentally trigger an explanation that would probably either make her confused, or cause her to blush – or do both.
XXX
But what in the world should she give her?
She knew the woman enjoyed drinking, playing games, and had an odd tradition of picking up a Christmas cake from the sales afterward – she'd never really understood that last one – but what would she be happy to get as present?
Yutaka had never been good at games, and knew next to nothing about them, so that was out. She'd probably have problems trying to buy alcohol due to her childish appearance, and since she'd spent a lot of time nursing the woman when she'd had a hangover, she didn't really feel like encouraging any of her drinking habits, so that was also out.
All of this bottled down to Yutaka wandering aimlessly across the shopping mall, looking for anything that Nanako might approve of.
So far, she'd found nothing, and it was starting to make her more than a little frustrated.
But as she passed another display window, she noticed it.
A smile forming on her lips, she disappeared into the shop.
XXX
The suspense was beyond her expectations, as Nanako held the large, wrapped box up in front of her, making a show of trying to figure out what was inside of it before starting the progress of unwrapping it.
Yutaka had already opened her present, revealing the Christmas cake that was usually bought only the day after. Nanako had looked apologetic and told her that she was terrible at buying gifts, and that despite several hours of thinking, and searching, this had been her best idea.
Strange as it might seem, Yutaka was happy with her gift, despite the oddity of it, and had already begun cutting up the strawberry cake in a desperate attempt to calm her nerves as she waited for Nanako to start unwrapping her gift.
For a moment, the air filled with the sound of ripping paper, and then there was silence, as Nanako watched her present with a childish glee.
A lava lamp.
As Nanako hurried off to find somewhere to plug it in, Yutaka breathed out a sigh of relief. She'd liked the present.
Then, as the lamp was plugged in, something happened.
A flash, the sound of something breaking, and then nothing.
It had short-circuited.
The gift she'd spent hours on picking, had short-circuited right before Nanako could enjoy it.
Yutaka felt her chest tighten as Nanako looked up from the lamp, a glimpse of disappointment flashing through her eyes, before they landed on her.
She wasn't sure when the tears had begun traveling down her face, but as Nanako hurried over, she could do nothing but burrow into her chest, trying desperately to fight back the tears that she was certain that Nanako should be the one to spill.
XXX
The small girl curled into her arms, tears making her eyes sparkle in a way that didn't seem possible.
A lot of things raced through Kuroi's head at this moment. She thought of how soft and warm Yutaka was, and how she seemed to have been perfectly melded to fit into her arms. She felt guilt at being part of the reason why she was crying, and a desperate need to make her stop.
Feelings mixed with thoughts and her heart seemed to have forgotten that it wasn't supposed to be beating away at random, but keep an actual rhythm.
She was beautiful.
Kuroi blinked at the thought.
She knew that the girl was definitely attractive, and had wondered to herself on several occasions why she didn't have a boyfriend, but the thought that she was attracted to her. Well, she hadn't really considered that one before.
Yutaka's sobbing into her shirt continued, and Kuroi found her hand in the middle of a very strange motion.
Gently cupping the smaller girl's chin, Kuroi lifted her face to meet her eyes.
Pale green met golden and she forgot to breathe.
Her lips tasted of strawberries, despite the season, and Kuroi breathed in the wonderfully sweet taste.
The kiss lasted for barely more than a second, nothing more than a brief touch of the lips, before the older woman realized what she'd just done, hastily pulling back.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't ha-..." the rest of her words were stolen, as gentle, strawberry-tasting lips closed on her own.
XXX
"So, what did you end up giving to Kuroi-sensei?" Konata was stretched out lazily across the couch, a generally smug air about her – Yutaka was guessing that her cousin had either finally overcome her nervousity, or been silenced before she could say something stupid.
"Ah, well..." Yutaka blushed at the memory, "A lava lamp."
"I see, that seems like a good idea..." she appeared to be thinking about something, and she could hear her mumble something about 'Tsukasa, lava lamp, attention span, threesome, Kagamin' – she decided not to ask.
"Wait, what did she give you in return?"
"A cake." she smiled slightly, remembering eating Kuroi's customary Christmas cake together in the bed, jokingly fighting about the blanket that was the only thing covering them.
"You got a cake?" Konata seemed confused.
"Well, we shared it." that only served to make her more confused.
"Doesn't that seem kind of unfair to you?"
"Not at all," she walked to the door, then turned around and smiled at her cousin, "After all, she tasted delicious."
"It was that good?" Konata seemed at peace, and sunk back in the coach as she left the room.
It was only as she made her way up the stairs that it began.
"Wait, 'she'!"
Yutaka smiled as she heard Konata scramble for the phone, dialing her teacher's number in a frenzy of activity.
"Sensei! What the hell did you do to my cousin!"
XXX
A/n: Whether or not it still falls within the frame of the challenge, well, I'll leave that to you guys.
Yutaka x Kuroi, because I thought of it.