Yui walked in the door to her house after some time. She knew she could slacken her pace on the walk home because of rehearsal being cancelled. She got out at least an hour before she usually did, but she wouldn't doddle. She had thought about asking Azusa to hang out somewhere, probably the park since it was free... unlike most other stuff. Yui didn't have the same fiscal leeway as other members of Keion did... one party in particular.
But, it still meant that she had enough time to walk through the park and enjoy herself while rehearsal was supposed to be occurring. She always loved taking the longer way home; it gave her time to think about life, current events, and stuff going on with her life.
Of course, her mind didn't want to think about much else than her Azu-nyan. She could focus on other stuff if needed of course, like not stepping in a giant mud puddle in the middle of the park, but when she didn't have to worry about anything else, she wanted to think about Azusa. After all, that copper eyed girl had been a project almost two years in the making.
The nail wasn't in the coffin by any means yet. After all, there was still a lot about Azusa that Yui didn't know... particularly what an intimate relationship entailed for the younger girl, and that was what worried Yui the most. The type of romance that she knew involved taking the person you loved to all sorts of exotic countries using money that your kids have no idea you had or where you might have gotten it.
But, Yui didn't know where to get money, aside from asking all of the members of the band to get jobs to help pitch in... but she wasn't' sure if she could ask them to do that simply so she could take Azusa to Germany or... wherever other places her parents liked to go. But... what did Azusa like to do within Yui's financial limits?
But, Yui's mind had to make a shift as she walked in the door, met by the surprised, almost frightened face of her little sister. Ui was confused as to why Yui was coming home so early, and almost thought it was a robber or intruder, which was never a good feeling for a sixteen year old girl. She prayed that Yui's habit of coming home at unusual times was exclusive to this week only.
Yui began thinking of a brief snippet of conversation between her and Azusa earlier. "Can I tell Ui?" No... Yui said she would, to soften whatever blow there was. And that's what the dazed looking girl was thinking about as she stood in the door, her bag on the ground behind her, and her little sister waiting for some sort of greeting.
"Hello Onee-chan..." Ui said, a bit dazed as well, but not even asking why Yui was home so early. When Yui had her thinking face on, Ui knew better than to disrupt her with trivial questions that could be asked at a later time. It was just like the morning when she saw Tsumugi's eyes for the first time... Yui was dedicated to her goal.
Yui knew exactly what to say really, it was pretty straight forward, and she wouldn't have a hard time saying it. She would put it in common terms and just tell her sister that she and Azusa were "going out"... despite hating the expression. It was so misleading, like saying that if you went to the mall with your parents, you weren't actually going out with them. But, Yui knew how she had to phrase.
She thought it would be easy, but what really held her back from just getting it out in the air was what it might do to Ui... and she cared for her little sister. Despite lacking the maturity to actually TAKE care of her little sister, she loved Ui far too much to just come out and say something that could shock or hurt her... it was difficult to grapple with.
Now, she knew that Ui was a very tolerant girl, that wasn't what worried her at all... but the fact that Yui was not only homosexual, but also dating her younger sibling's best friend... the now concerned brunette had reason to be worried about her sister's well being. "Hi Ui-chan..." Yui said, diving right in without any sort of plan, "Wanna talk about something?"
Ui tilted her head slightly, the confused expression on her normally calm and controlled face deepening slightly. "Uhh... s-sure!" She replied almost instantly, "What did you want to talk about."
"Uhh..." Yui took a deep breath and shrugged, cursing herself for second thinking herself instead of just saying what she was thinking and keeping calm. It was just impossible to treat this with the same carefree attitude that she treated nearly everything else. She just couldn't dive right in to this. But, she didn't have many other approaches. Head-on was the most common and successful approach she had used yet. "Azu-nyan."
"Ohh..." Ui said, a bit taken aback by the choice of topic, but not surprised by it one bit. There was no way she could be Yui's sister and not know that Yui was obsessed with Azusa. More so recently than ever before. "Sure, what did you want to talk about?"
Yui took a deep breath... how she could lead in to this. She took a few steps inside the door, thinking she may have an idea. She looked towards Ui, "I don't really know how to say this... but you'll understand when you get older." She said, placing her hands on Ui's shoulder, causing the only slightly younger girl to withdraw slightly, "You see Ui-chan, when two people really like and understand each other... sometimes they, 'Go out', like our mom and dad do whenever they have enough money."
Ui looked at Yui the whole time... mostly confused by how much older Yui got suddenly. Well... not older actually. For some reason, Ui knew that as Yui spoke, she herself got younger and younger in her older sisters mind. The only SLIGHTLY younger sister watched her Onee-chan with a sort of curiosity... but mostly an expression that said, "What the heck are you doing?"
At the end of Yui's minor speech, she released her younger sister's shoulders. Ui took a second before she reacted. What Yui had said finally registered which really kicked Ui into gear. It took a second for her to think about it, before she finally realized what Yui was referring to. Her expression went from curious, to confused, to even more confused, before shock finally set in. Not because she was offended, mostly because she was surprised. "Onee-chan...? Are you...? You know... uh..." She found her tongue getting twisted. "Dating Azusa-chan?"
Yui simply nodded, a little bit of a smile on her face. She watched her sister, waiting for some sort of reaction. Ui thought about it long and hard for a while, letting that fact set in, which was taking a lot longer than she thought. It was difficult information to absorb, despite how strongly she believed that her sister wasn't normal on sexuality terms. She had no trouble believing that Yui was homosexual, or at least bisexual, but for some reason it was taking longer to register than she thought.
Maybe it was the weird way Yui told her, or because her sister AND her best friend were involved... but it was taking her a while. But, the fact set in regardless, and Ui's face brightened up at the news. "Onee-chan!" She said, holding her hands out. "That's great!"
Yui smiled and held her arms out as well, pulling her younger sister into a tight hug and smiling brightly. Ui returned the hug with a flourish. She was genuinely happy for her sister, and for Azusa. A bit worried about it, of course, but better Azusa than someone else that Ui didn't even know and had no way of contacting. This was perhaps the best thing Ui could have hoped, because she had a connection, and a little bit of control, over both Yui and Azusa. More so for the former, but she still had a little of influence over Azusa.
Mostly because they were best friends, but all the same. Ui took solace in the fact that she could trust Azusa to take good care of her sister... or at least get her home AROUND curfew. And that was comforting enough for Ui. She loved her sister, and she didn't want to risk anything when it came to her... not yet. College was going to be difficult for her... but she was bracing herself for it.
It was in the middle of their hug that the phone rang. Yui held it a second longer, only while she debated whether to answer the phone or continue the hug... but she decided that on the off chance that Azusa was on the other line, she wouldn't want to keep the girl waiting. She pulled away from the hug, and gave her sister a questioning look. Ui returned it with a nod, assuring Yui that everything was ok and that she was dismissed.
Yui didn't waste a beat, and was at the phone immediately. It was Azusa, just as she expected, and she picked it up almost instantly. "Azu-nyan!" Yui cooed into the phone, before walking away from the receiver and towards the living room. She lay back on the couch and began to chat.
Azusa chatted as well, which felt a little strange to the both of them. Normally, neither of them spent too much time chatting on the phone. Usually it was just to discuss plans... but they chatted almost constantly. Ui brought snacks for her sister, confections that she had cooked up for herself to eat while she worked on her homework... but she couldn't resist giving them to Yui. Even though the auburn haired girl was almost completely distracted, she still thanked Ui for the food with a smile.
Ui was grateful to even get that much out of her dazed sister... she knew by the expression on her sister's face that her concentration would be incredibly hard to break. Based on what she was hearing, the conversation wasn't anything close to important. Far from it actually, Ui didn't even understand half of it... probably inside jokes in the making. Some of it was guitar related, Yui trying to think of a name for Azusa's instrument.
From what it sounded like, Azusa was shooting down every option that Yui was coming up with. Ui sighed, over hearing their conversation from the other side of the coffee table, deciding to spend the afternoon with her sister since she was home. Yui may not have been there in mind or spirit, but Ui enjoyed the company all the same. Even having her sister around was comforting to her.
"I'd love to do something tonight!" Yui said suddenly, causing Ui's focus from her literature reading to snap like a twig. She looked at her sister, waiting for the conversation to continue. "Ya! I can get some money from Ui..." Yui continued, looking towards her sister with pleading eyes. Ui looked at her with a surprised expression, shrugging a little bit. She didn't have rule over the check book, their parents did. They just left an amount of money depending on how long they would be on their trip for Ui and Yui to live off of. And an emergency credit card.
"Great! I'll see you down town then!" Azusa said in an excited voice, loud enough for Ui to hear from the other side of the room through the phone. Ui sighed in defeat, hanging her head and getting to her feet. She didn't want to disappoint anyone, she loved both of the girls and if she were to let them down it would be more than disappointing for her. She reached on top of the fridge, and pulled down roughly a thousand yen. Enough for Yui to pay for her date as well.
She turned to return to the living room, but Yui was waiting almost right behind her, like a dog waiting for a treat. Ui giggled slightly, her sister was just too darn cute. She handed Yui the bill, before putting her hands on her hips and speaking in the most motherly voice she could manage. "I want you home by eight." She said firmly, looking into her sister's eyes. Yui nodded, looking deep into Ui's eyes, catching and holding her younger sister's gaze with a strange look. "Fine... eight thirty."
Yui smiled and nodded. "Thanks Ui-chan!" She said, giving her sister a tight, excited hug before dashing out. "I'll see you tonight!"
The door shut and she was gone. Ui looked at the clock on the wall; it was just past five thirty. She looked at it a bit curiously, with a faded sorrow. Normally... she had her sister to herself in the evenings. In the calming light of the dusking sun, the house felt almost eerie to her. She just stood and looked around the house, amazed at how lonely it felt with Yui there.
(*SCENE BREAK*)
Tsumugi was excited to be home the moment she stepped in the door. She had such a good idea for Ritsu, it was killing her. A secret admirer letter in Mio's backpack; cleverly slipped in during their shared first hour, which Mio wouldn't find until second hour. Tsumugi knew Mio was interested, and perhaps if Ritsu made enough allusions to who the note was coming from, Mio may get the courage up to mention something.
It was a long and painful process, but Tsumugi was in the zone. It had taken her all of fourth and fifth hour, with a minor break during rehearsal, mostly due to Azusa and Yui, but she had finally managed to get her thinking cap on. She was more than ready to get to work and give Ritsu whatever help she needed.
She had already put so much time into this; she was going to see it out to the end. She knew what the end would be, with only very little room for error. Mio liked Ritsu, and Ritsu liked Mio. Well... MORE than liked, but still. Tsumugi knew that with that chemistry established... the nail was already in the coffin... right?
She was unaware of what was going on less than five miles form her house, the tenacious efforts of Mio to press on and for once in her life take a gamble. She had spent the entire limo ride home thinking and coming up with new plans, including song lyrics. She thought they might work if they pertained to Mio enough, and if Ritsu presented them... there may be some leverage to be gained there.
She also thought of flowers. Maybe if Ritsu brought flowers to school, maybe to give them to "a friend" who wasn't present that day, she could give them to Mio. Flattery was always a positive when given in the right amounts. She almost felt bad about thinking of this plan, since it was just a little bit more devious than any other... but whatever she had to do to get ahead here, she would try or at the very least, think about.
After all, it was crunch time in her world, her world that was totally unaware of the memory book sitting on Mio's bed and the first pages of the dusty collection being revealed for the first time in years. To Mugi, neither of them was even in contact with each other right now.
So she continued with her planning, hoping to do the absolute best for the both of them. She wanted to help make things as comfortable as possible for Mio; she had to take Mio's emotions into consideration. But, she also wanted to make this as quickly as possible for Ritsu. She knew that Ritsu had been waiting for months and months, and these past four days, she had been working her tail off.
And Mugi wasn't going to let Mio or Ritsu walk away from this without something being admitted to. That would have been a shame. This had taken too much effort.
She made her way up to her room, past all of the butlers and maids bustling around and dusting, acknowledging her presence but not really questioning why she was home so early. She seemed busy, so they assumed she had something on her mind, and without tears in her eyes or blood spurting from the bandages on her hand, they had no reason to worry.
She sat down onto her bed and fell back spread eagle, looking upwards at the ceiling. She wanted to think of more ideas... but she found it difficult to do so considering how much her head was hurting and all that had happened recently. Her mind was racing with thoughts that had nothing to do with Mio or Ritsu, as well as thoughts that had to do with nothing but Mio or Ritsu.
The first thing that came to her mind was Yui and Azusa the moment she let her mind wander. She almost kicked herself for not realizing something was happening before... it was so obvious based on how attached Yui was to the Kouhai, in both literal and figurative senses.
Perhaps while she was watching their relationships develop, she had just wrote off Yui's affections as a combination of Yui just being Yui, and Mugi getting her hopes up. Wishful thinking often betrayed her when it came to the old game of, "Who's with whom", and she usually treated her fantasies and hopes as nothing more. But, although in most cases that was beneficial and kept her from getting her hopes up, in some others it kept her from realizing something special.
She did realize something that... Azusa and Yui were perfect for each other, just as she had always found. Though her fantasies often revolved around Yui and Mio, simply because both girls were incredibly cute and Mio's reaction to Yui's affections was simply adorable, Yui and Azusa were simply more compatible. Azusa was less squirrelly when it came to physical contact, and Yui simply attached to her. Not only that, but Azusa was extremely patient in her approach, and Mugi was positive that without that patience, no one could go far with Yui.
It was then that she was reminded of days prior... and she realized that in no time at all, her semi-morbid mental predictions for what was coming were coming true. She took a deep breath, turning her head towards her large, decadent furniture and electronics. She was happy for all of them, Ritsu especially since she knew that she would most likely be entering a relationship pretty soon. However, she had no idea that at that very second, Ritsu was kissing Mio's nose and admitting her "more than liking-ness" for the girl.
Tsumugi smiled, ignorance finally living up to its blissful reputation, as she sat up in her bed and looked towards the television. In short, she was very excited to have been such a huge help over the past few days, and she was very excited for Ritsu. Finally, Ritsu had not only a clue of where to go, but every tool she needed to make it happen. She was a bit scared of what the after math would hold... but right now, she still had ideas.
She smiled as she got a pen and paper, writing the down the various ideas that she had come up with on the way home. Fake song lyrics, anonymous love notes, and flowers. A perfect triad of romantic ideas to really spring Ritsu forward and build Mio's confidence as an admirer.
It was a perfect plan; there was nothing that could interfere with it. She knew Ritsu could lie like no bodies business, and had a poker face that could compete with the best of them. Although she was a bit worried Mio might as her if she knew anything, knowing how bad of a liar she was, she could avoid the subject if she steered conversation away from romance. She had confidence in herself to do that at least, she had hidden her homosexuality from her mother and father, as well as the butlers and maids, for as long as she had known about it.
It wasn't going to be hard to keep this a secret... now she just had to figure out the best way to plan this. What could be a good excuse for Ritsu to have flowers? Ritsu wasn't the flower type of girl... so who would she be delivering flowers to without drawing TOO much suspicion from Mio? A little suspicion was good... but too much could ruin that part of the operation.
She continued to think of candidates. The truth was, she loved this job. It was the most important, and entertaining, task she had had in a very long time. Jobs were great too, she loved seeing how the every man worked and earned their pay... but this was just fascinating to her. She wished there was a future in match making for her... but she couldn't start her own or eHarmony. Even her father didn't have enough money to buy either of those out.
She really wanted to drag this out, make it last as long as she possibly could so she could continue to demonstrate her knowledge and feel as important as she had over the last few days. She loved the attention she got from Ritsu and from Mio. She felt a little bad about betraying Mio's "secret" feelings... but it was for the girl's best in the very end wasn't? As long as that end took to reach of course.
Tsumugi wanted to keep that end postponed as long as she could, without even knowing that's what she wanted. She wasn't greedy by any means, but something deep down in her knew that she was making this too complicated. Perhaps that part also knew that Mio and Ritsu had just had their perfect kiss and were now fixing to get some snacks and watch a nice quiet movie, to give Mio's mind a chance to relax a little bit.
Perhaps that part of her mind also knew that Ritsu knew better than to assault Mio in any way, and even after the kisses and the hugs, would still do her best to make Mio as comfortable as possible. That part of her mind knew that Ritsu knew Mio better than Mugi did, despite Mugi and Mio being closer personality types, and Ritsu had enlisted Mugi's help to get the ball rolling.
But that part of the mind didn't know any of the details. All it knew was that Mugi had, and still was, making it more difficult than it had to be.
But that part of the mind didn't tell the rest of Tsumugi's brain, because it knew a good thing when it saw it. It knew how much all of this meant to the blonde, and it knew that all of this was giving her a purpose beyond being a tea supplier, key board player, and friend. It gave her a distraction, and a quest.
Or it did. Tsumugi picked up her cell phone and excitedly went to her text messaging inbox. She selected Ritsu as a contact and typed in an enticing message to hopeful bring Ritsu in to her new genius plot. "Hey, I have lots of new ideas! Get back to me when you can!"
Tsumugi left it at that, and sat back on her bed with her phone hugged tightly to her stomach. She turned on the television, and watched whatever the most distracting thing she could find was, which turned out to be a stupid child's cartoon. She needed to distract herself while she waited for Ritsu's response. She knew that Ritsu was tiring of this, and really wanted things to go one way or the other.
Her face brightened as she felt the phone vibrate against her stomach. She didn't waste any time flipping open the phone and reading it. The response wasn't what she had expected. "I dont think Ill need em. Thnx though!"
Mugi looked at it queerly for a second, trying to decide why Ritsu had taken so long to reply. Her mind immediately went to the idea that Ritsu had lost faith in Mugi, that the brunette was tired of waiting. Mugi immediately replied, her heart dropping in her chest and a chill running up and down her spine. "I know it's taking a while, but I promise it'll be worth it!"
Ritsu received the text message, and politely excused herself from the couch. Mio let her go no problem, and paused the movie while she waited, still dizzy from everything that had happened. Ritsu went to the bathroom, and calmly dialed Mugi's number. Half way through the first ring, Tsumugi answered. "Hello?"
"Hey, Mugi-chan..." Ritsu said quickly, "I'd figure I might let you know before you put too much more time in... Mio came through for me. What you did worked! We kissed, hugged, and we're watching a movie now."
Tsumugi gulped as she listened, her heart sinking and her eyes fading in and out for a second. She listened, a mixture of dread and happiness over coming her, making her lay back on her bed. "So... it's over?" She asked finally, pausing for a while after Ritsu finished.
"Ya I think so! Thanks for the help. I gotta get back to the movie, so I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Talk to you later!"
Tsumugi heard a click on the other line, and she looked at her phone for a minute. Everything she had heard sunk in, and she slowly closed her cell before looking up at the ceiling. Her entire body felt ablaze with cold flames as she looked at the floral pattern on her ceiling. She was happy, and sad. She was a bit down trodden that her ideas were pretty much through with, and that her minor head ache had been brought on for no reason. She took a deep breath, looking at the ceiling and biting her lip as she traced the vines through the bright pink and blue flowers on the design. She spoke calmly in the late afternoon light, barely even realizing she was talking as she spoke. "Now what...?"
(*SCENE BREAK*)
An early release! I don't know if I'll have internet for the next few days, probably through Sunday, so I'm covering my bases. I hope you enjoy this early release by all of two days!
This was kind of a melancholy chapter... because yes, it's the catalyst for the next major couple in the series! I know I'm throwing them at you like gang busters, but progress has to be made!
There will be more fluff in the latter chapters, I promise you that, but for now this one was a turning point. Getting from Mio and Ritsu to Ui and Tsumugi.
I hope you're still enjoying the story. Reviews are great, to let me know if you still are! Ohh and I finally broke the 100,000 word barrier with this chapter! Yay!
Thanks for reading, more next week!