Braving the Unknown

"Tougou, can't you do something about the nosiness of your wife?" Fu complained while she was getting ready.

"Eh, what's the harm in telling me?"

"You already know, don't you! It's not like there could be many reasons why I leave without a big blue mark on my neck and come back with one there!" Fu looked over to Karin who was trying to look apologetic but didn't quite get it right.

Putting the tips of her fingers over her lips, Yuna giggled. "Oh my."

"Stop it, you're not Tougou." Fu was weirded out.

"Eh, congratulations then!" Yuna fell back to her usual behavior but that didn't help.

"Yuna, Fu has a point, what those two do when they're alone is none of our business." Tougou didn't need to physically do anything to pull Yuna away. "But I recommend that you're a little bit more careful. That there-" Tougou pointed to the deep blue spot on the side of Fu's neck. "Is very obviously a girl's hickey."

"Tougou, that reminds me of that time when I accidentally left you with one near your-" Yuna closed her mouth so quickly when she saw Tougou's look that it looked comical.

Twenty minutes later, Fu was the last to get ready and had insisted on changing her hairstyle a bit to hide the hickey, muse to Yuna's and Tougou's amusement, they all arrived at the rental shop. There was a reserve payment in case the dresses got damaged but other than that it was free for guests that were staying the night.

Their choices were a bit limited by their age and height, but they all found something nice. Tougou opted for a long, blue dress while Yuna went with a similar one that was a gentle pink and had frills at the bottom and the back.

Fu had picked a Chinese dress, a Cheongsam that was a bright yellow with a tiger motive on the back. Karin had initially opted for something simpler but Itsuki had covertly shown her a fitting Cheongsam that was bright red, Karin's color, and fitting pretty well. When Karin came around, after trying the dress on and coming back out of the small cabin, she saw Itsuki showing her a thumbs up.

What a shrewd little sister you have, Fu, Karin thought and smiled. Itsuki was going with a pale green dress that seemed to be made more for an elegant evening stroll at the beach that a dinner but it had a very nice sunflower motive and worked well.

The dinner hall was a lot more elegant than most hotels but still far less so than the girls expected. And most people were not nearly as well dressed as they were. "It feels like everyone is watching us. It's making me nervous." Karin said. She didn't do too well with big crowds.

Fu and Karin stood just a little behind Tougou and Yuna, and, just subtle enough, Fu took Karin's hand, a sign that said both I'm nervous too and I'm here with you. Karin whispered an answer to that gesture. "I didn't know you could be so sweet."

"Learning from the master over there." Fu grinned, nodding just ever so slightly to Tougou's back. It was hard to tell from where Karin stood, but those two were definitely holding hands too.

Contrary to their feelings and expectations, nobody paid more attention to them than usual. People came, went, ate and returned to the buffet to eat some more. They found two tables close to each other that were free and sat there. Tougou and Yuna had their own table while Itsuki sat across her sister, Karin next to Fu.

The dinner was, again contrary to all expectations, very uneventful. The food was great, but according to Yuna the desert was not nearly as good as Tougou's sweets, and after spending roughly an hour eating, talking about inconsequential things like other people at dinner and what they had been doing over the day and just enjoying the atmosphere, they left.

"It's a shame to just go back all dressed." Yuna was walking backwards just slightly in front of Tougou while Karin was feeling not so good after eating too much crab and eel and, together with Fu, falling behind a bit.

"Yes, but we're not old enough to go to the hotel bar and Karin seems to be headed for a rough night."

"I-I'm fine, don't worry about me. T-This is nothing. I-I-" Karin suppressed a burp and felt even more sick afterward.

"Don't worry, I'll get her out of that dress and into bed without any accidents." Fu watched how Yuna and Tougou were showing a very snide expressions on their faces. "You know what I meant! Both of you! Geez, you're terrible!" Fu got a bit louder and blushed.

"Don't w-worry about me, Fu. Just go have fun with them." Karin didn't want to be a bother.

"It's more fun to be with a sick you than go elsewhere without you and if they had a circus there." Fu said while slightly embarrassed.

Itsuki had heard it and smiled. "Oh my, what a loving wife my sister has become."

"Why you, Itsuki!" Fu couldn't get seriously upset at her little sister, even when she got teased.

They managed to return the dresses without too much trouble. Itsuki went back to the room only to pick up a book and read outside on the balcony with a small but bright lamp, while Yuna and Tougou took a stroll through the now mostly closed park, enjoying the sights in the light of dusk.

Karin felt a lot better after resting in bed for about an hour, during which Fu had kept by her side, listening to music, reading, passing time in various ways but always keeping Karin company. "Toilet." Karin got up on her own and walked to the bathroom but could feel Fu scanning her back to see if she was gonna fall over. "I'm fine, don't worry."

Itsuki was spying on them from the balcony, happy that her sister had found someone to care about like that.

After a hot shower that lasted over thirty minutes, Karin returned to the room, steaming and very much feeling better. Fu was laying flat on her stomach, on Karin's futon, reading manga and almost shrieked when Karin sat down on her back. "You look like a middle schooler like this."

"I am a middle schooler and so are you!" Fu retorted and tried to look at Karin over her shoulder.

"You'll be in high school next year and I'll be left behind."

"If you get lonely, you could move in with us." Itsuki had appeared out of nowhere, suddenly kneeling next to the couple.

"Oh my, things seem to have gotten quite serious while we were gone, Yuna." Tougou and Yuna had showed up as well, tired of walking around and quite tired in general as well.

"Itsuki was just joking." Fu grumbled and looked at her manga again, just letting Karin continue to sit on her back.

"If Tougou didn't live right next to me, I would still totally be staying over at her place all the time." Yuna said as if it was a badge of honor to be so much in love.

"Still?" Karin wondered out loud and that made even the composed Tougou blush a little.

It was, by now, completely dark outside and very little noise came in through the open balcony door. "I'm a bit tired, so I think I'll head to bed early today. We can take it easy tomorrow." Tougou looked at Karin. "And maybe eat a little less."

"T-That was the eel. I just didn't take it well." Karin would never admit to eating too much.

"Maybe I'll go to sleep right where I am." Fu said out loud and earned another of those My, how lewd reactions from Yuna and Tougou. But by now she was not only used but also kinda tired of it. "You two really think about nothing else."

"Eh, we think about each other all day, right Tougou?" Yuna looked lovestruck to her girlfriend.

"Very much so, Yuna." Tougou replied and smiled.

Karin finally got off Fu and laid down next to her, reading the same manga and being generally awfully close. So close that Fu sometimes had to read a speech bubble twice or thrice because she felt Karin's breath on her arm.

Yuna and Tougou stopped teasing the two and started to pull out more Futons. Itsuki struggled a little with the weight but before Fu could get up, Yuna had already helped her. They moved the table to a corner of the room to make more space. Itsuki was close to the balcony door, a good meter between her own futon, Karin's and Tougou's. Yuna blatantly put her futon so close to Tougou's that they combined into one large one.

Karin saw this and her I won't lose mentality made her pull out Fu's futon and imitate Yuna. "Karin, isn't that... a little close." Fu couldn't help but be nervous. It was obvious why Karin was doing this, because she didn't want to lose to Yuna and Tougou in being a couple, but she was definitely not ready for this.

"We've slept next to each other before." Karin had rather fond memories of that trip. Especially about beating Fu in swimming.

"Yeah but we weren't a couple then." Fu whispered and blushed a little.

"I-I'm not saying we should do anything, Fu. Maybe... hold hands." Karin was so innocent that Fu felt her heart ache. The girl was so sweet but so awkward at the same time!

Yuna left for the bathroom first, leaving Tougou behind, which seemed like quite a rare occurrence. Pulling out a historical novel about the sengoku period, Tougou started to read. The futons were so close together it really looked like a futon for newlyweds.

"Tougou, how long have you and Yuna-" Fu looked for the right word.

"Been together?" Tougou finished that question for her. "Hm, I don't really know. We got really close even before we joined the hero club, but after we transformed for the first time, we took it a step further, so I guess since then." Tougou had a very gentle expression when she continued. "You're only in middle school, Fu. You haven't missed anything. Neither has Karin." Especially since you're both former heroes so you can talk about anything.

Both of them looked kinda put on the spot and embarrassed. Tougou couldn't see it but Fu carefully took Karin's hand, locking fingers with her. "Should I move your futon back?" Karin asked.

"No, it's fine." I wouldn't mind more than holding hands now, though. Fu grinned to herself. Yuna returned from the bathroom, changed into pajamas.

Tougou went next and Yuna crawled into her futon. Laying down and looking at the ceiling, Yuna suddenly spoke up. "I'm happy for you two. I was worried that with being heroes and everything, you two wouldn't find anyone since we're usually so busy and, well, we know what it's like out there."

"Yuna..." Fu was a little moved. Those two really did care.

A loud and very cute yawn from Itsuki interrupted the somewhat touching mood. "Sorry, I'm just really tired."

"This is because you kept her up all night." Karin said and smirked.

"I get excited easily, okay!" Fu defended herself and there was Yuna's dirty grin again. "Yuna!"

"Did you hear that, Karin? She get's excited easily, she says! Better watch out where you touch or you'll set her off." Yuna overshot her mark by a lot and watched Karin turn red as a tomato. "O-oh. I was just teasing you, Karin. I don't think it's... erm..." Tougou! Help!

"O-Of course I know that." Karin tried to get her act together but she failed midway.

A moment of awkward silence followed until the noise of Itsuki writing on her scratchpad got their attention. She wrote down Sis really gets excited easily. The other night- Itsuki had run out of space and Fu groaned. "Itsuki! Stop giving them the wrong ideas!"

The little sister finished the second page which even had a small emote on it. She found a secret in a video game and played all night.

Karin and Yuna visibly breathed sighs of relief. "You two, what do you take me for?!" Fu growled, horribly exaggerated, causing the other three to start laughing. "And Itsuki, why do you still use the note pad?"

"Because it's funny." Was the simple answer which made Yuna laugh even harder and Karin grin at her girlfriend. "See, Karin understands."

"Betrayed by blood and love!" Fu overplayed and pouted.

Tougou returned just then and Fu used that chance to take her turn with the bathroom.

Karin felt a little abandoned but Yuna and Tougou didn't tease her at all. Instead, Tougou went back to her novel and Yuna and laid down next to her, procuring a small MP3 player from somewhere within the futon and listening to music on one ear.

They looked so naturally belonging together to Karin that she became a little envious. She wanted to be like that with Fu as well. But oddly enough she didn't feel that she was losing to them, like she usually would. Maybe it was because of what they each had said.

Seven minutes later, that felt much longer to Karin, Fu returned and Itsuki went into the bathroom, leaving Karin for last. Fu read more manga and Karin joined her until Itsuki came back. Taking the chance and kissing Fu on the cheek before she got up, Karin almost hovered to the other room, feeling quite elevated.

"Can I turn off the lights?" Karin asked when she came back out.

Everyone agreed, in fact Itsuki was already asleep despite the light being on, and Karin turned off the light, stumbled over a bag on her way to Fu, or rather her own futon, and crawled into it. Now that she was actually laying right next to Fu and the room got really, really quiet, she could hear and feel Fu's breathing.

A little embarrassed to actually follow through on her own suggestion, Karin slowly reached out into her love's futon and hit very soft and bouncy resistance much earlier than expected. A finger was put on her lips and an arm moved around her waist and then she was pulled into a warm embrace. "Be really quiet." Fu whispered right into Karin's ear.

Their futons were so close together that they functioned as one and now they were both laying together in the middle. One way or another, Karin's hand still found her way to Fu's and they locked fingers again. Being of the same height and getting used to the dark in the room, Fu and Karin could see that they were very intently looking at each other.

Fu had one arm around Karin's waist and the other right between them, holding Karin's hand, while Karin's free arm went over Fu's waist, resting just slightly on her back. "Comfortable?" Fu whispered.

Every time Fu breathed in, Karin could feel their chests touching just a little bit. But despite her expectations she didn't get horny from it. It was comforting instead. "Yeah." Karin whispered back.

What felt like the entire night passed by before Fu, heavily blushing, got even closer and kissed Karin, first softly, testing if she was okay with it and then stronger, when the kiss was returned with a bit of fervor.

Love really was a hurricane, Fu thought. Not too long ago, she saw Karin as just another club member, a friend. And now she was exchanging passionate kisses with her in bed, in the dark, just a meter away from her little sister and friends, and she still thought it was totally worth the risk of being found out and teased to oblivion.

She was totally in love with Karin.