"For me, marriage worked differently. As a single person, I never felt totally free. My commitment to my marriage freed me. No lies, no mind games, no judging each other. For me, marriage is pure joyful companionship."
~Shon Mehta~
After clearing up the situation with their honeymoon, Yura and Kyouya endeavored to spend time together. That didn't amount much. If Kyouya wasn't working or at classes, he had to sleep; just fitting in time to eat in his schedule was actually a challenge.
Yura was being bombarded with school assignments and tests. Her grades were starting to slip. She perceived this, but was caring less and less about them or her classes. It wasn't the usual distaste she had for school. It was deeper rooted. Yura kept sensing a twisted pain gnawing in the back of her mind. She still did the work and attended lectures but it became more of a body's response in a delusive attempt to keep up than any motivation from her brain.
She couldn't even find time to draw which only further provoked her. So when she woke up a few days after their date Yura groaned at a new development that had manifested during the night, adding to her frustration. She ran to the bathroom, gathering her phone on the way.
Kyouya stood over Yura, who sat on the bed with her legs crossed, bent over with her face situated into the bed. He felt discomfort just seeing her in that weird position.
"Yura, is everything alright?"
She nodded and waved a hand without raising her head. It was her way of telling him not to worry about her. A few minutes later, Yuki walked into the bedroom with a paper bag. Kyouya raised an eyebrow. Why was the older twin in such hurry?
"Yu-chan." He whispered, touching her back.
She turned to the side to face him.
"Hey." Yuki grinned a little as he patted her head.
Yura was compelled to smile some but it soon fell.
"Here, I hope I got everything." Yuki pulled out a bar of chocolate, a hot water bottle and a box of Eve.
Yura took the chocolate.
"Please try taking the ibuprofen for now Yura, you won't be able to rest otherwise."
'Like I've ever slept well….' She thought in strong cynicism, biting off a piece of chocolate.
The older twin sighed and watched her chew like it took all in her to do it. He grabbed the hot water bottle, intending to fill it in the kitchen. Kyouya followed him.
"Komatsu-san."
Yuki turned around, simpering but with sadness.
"It hurts my heart. Why such a formal address, Ootori-nii-san?"
"I apologize Yuki-san. It was a slip. What is wrong with Yura?"
The smile on Yuki's face changed.
"She didn't tell you?"
"No. When I asked her, she simply denied anything being wrong and said not to worry."
Yuki shook his head a little as he filled the stainless steel kettle to the brim and placed it on the six burner stove.
"Her 'Aunt Ruby' came to town."
Then probably the most stupid question ever escaped Kyouya's lips.
"You have an aunt named Ruby?"
Yuki giggled and went over to his brother-in-law to pat him on the shoulder.
"No Ootori-onii-san, 'Aunt Ruby means…well" Yuki felt the muscles in his neck tighten and a blush impending to creep up on his face. "What's the term for it here again….ah yes! 'Little Miss Strawberry'."
Kyouya's eyes widened. He cleared his throat, looking away from Yuki.
"Oh."
Yuki smiled at the youngest Ootori's reaction but walked away so he wouldn't see it. He drew closer to the stove to listen for the boiling inside the kettle.
"She doesn't have it every month, but when she does the first two days are usually the worst. The last three are okay."
Kyouya nodded, feeling like he should have brought his notebook to jot what Yuki was saying down.
"She'll crave sweets more than usual, but don't give her too much or she'll end up drowsy and will sleep the whole five days. Also, eggs make her feel better so make sure she eats one at some point and get her to move around. Even though she doesn't feel like getting up and walking she knows she should."
Kyouya was creating a mental list in his head.
"What is the hot water bottle for?"
Yuki gave the thick rubber casing a squeeze, heading out of the kitchen with Kyouya behind him.
"This is for her cramps. She gets backaches and bloated too….as well as headaches sometimes but she refuses to take the ibuprofen."
"Why?"
"It wears off according to her plus she says she doesn't want to become dependent on it."
"It is just a mild pain reliever."
Yuki opened the door and gestured inside with his head.
"Tell her that."
Kyouya looked over at his wife. Yura hadn't moved since they had left the room, the opened chocolate bar lay in front of her, one bite in its brown body. Yuki held him from going towards her to add, "She's sensitive to sound too so keep your voice down."
Kyouya was amazed but only nodded. To think hormones could do all this for nearly a week to a person. How did women survive?
"Yura." Kyouya whispered, crouching down and placing a hand on her hair.
She looked up and he was startled to see the rim of her eyelids were red.
"Where's Yuki?" she asked through barely open lips. It sounded almost like a groan.
"Here. I prepared the hot water bottle for you."
"Thanks." She continued to groan, taking it from him and lifting up her shirt to place it on her abdomen. Yura tried to resume her position.
"Wait!" Both twins flinched at Yuki's volume. "Sorry. But you can't bend over it. It might make the water gush out."
Yura sat up instead and leaned her upper body into the pillows set upright against the headboard. Her eyes were still closed. Yuki held a glass of water along with two white pills.
"Please Yu-chan, you'll feel better and we can try to take a walk."
Yura still refused, placing both hands on the heated bulge under her shirt. Yuki looked at Kyouya who had been staring at his wife during the little exchange. He got down on one knee.
"Yura, why don't you take them so you can get off the bed at least?"
Yura shook her head again. "I'll take them tomorrow. The second day is worse and I use them to sleep."
The three months of them acknowledging each other's existence to the bare minimum flashed through his head: of her lying by herself for hours in pain, not calling her brother sometimes, thinking she was troubling him too much.
He grabbed her hand. Yuki thought Kyouya was leaning towards his sister to kiss her, but Yura's eyes opened and remained so while Kyouya's jaw was moving.
"Yura, please. It is only so you can move around and ease the pain, even if it is only temporary."
Yura's vision shifted from the gray brown eyes to the nose and lips before her.
"He told you…"
Kyouya huffed a small laugh.
"Would you have told me?"
Yura shook her head. Kyouya could feel the rising heat of her cheeks.
"Too embarrassing. Bring them."
Kyouya raised himself and made room for her sibling who put the pills and water in hand. Yura took them, drank the glass empty and tried to get up. She stood tacked at an angle and headed to the bathroom, closing the door.
"I should of checked to make sure she swallowed them." Yuki thought aloud, when they were alone.
"Only time will tell." Kyouya propped on one of the pillars of the king sized poster bed. "By the way, Yuki-san."
"Hmm?"
"What did you mean when you said it does not happen every month?"
Yuki smiled.
"I'm not in any way trying to be rude, Ootori-onii-san, but you should ask Yura some questions too. You can't use me as a manual for your wife for everything."
Kyouya narrowed his eyes at him but the half glare withered. Yuki was right and he knew it. It was his usual method of getting information, but he couldn't do that in this marriage. Not with her. It felt like cheating for some odd reason lately and the youngest Ootori didn't like it.
"Very well, Yuki-san."
Yuki patted the taller man on the back.
"Trust, you'll thank me later."
"Hmph."
Yuki sniggered.
Kyouya stopped his work at nine in the evening and headed back to the bedroom. Yura had already gone to bed, but sleeping...he wasn't sure. The pills Yuki had given her in the afternoon might have worn off by now. He listened for snoring. Nothing disrupted the silence in the large room.
He showered and when he checked the bed again he saw a lump and that Yura's head was gone. He lifted the covers. She was in a turtle float position, her head still turned to the side with her eyes closed tight in an unproductive effort to sleep. Kyouya climbed into bed and rolled up her night shirt. He put his thumbs in the Venusians' dimples on her lower back and began to rub in circular motions. Yura raised her head as the dull persistent pain subsided. She tried to look behind her but unable to, rested her head back unto the mattress and was soon asleep. Kyouya smiled when he heard the snoring. Getting off the bed, he adjusted her until she was in her usual sleeping posture and covered her up to the chin.
His little research online before he began his work had paid off well. Though he came across correctives he knew full well Yura would probably never allow him to do, he was appeased to see what he had gathered worked.
The horrible second day, Kyouya didn't get to witness, since he had a workplace to go to. He came home as early as he could only to hear Yura had left with Tachibana. The two returned at about seven with Yura looking tired but walking erect in sweatpants and a large shirt, much to his reprieve.
"How do you feel?"
"Better than I thought I would. Walking and jogging helps, but the thought of moving sometimes just…kills the motivation, you know?"
Kyouya smiled but said nothing. He didn't regard Yura had moved next to him.
"Senpai?"
His attention was divided, so he didn't correct her.
"Yes Yura?"
"…Thank you for last night. I really appreciate it."
And before Kyouya could turn she kissed him on the cheek and was halfway to the bathroom. Kyouya sat there gawking at the closed bathroom door for ten minutes, hands suspended above the keyboard of his laptop.
With the first four days passed, Kyouya was starting to mediate on what Yuki thought appropriate to label as 'okay'. He also tried to fathom why Yuki didn't mention the time after her cycle. Yura came home from school and immediately started on dinner, ignoring any homework she had brought with her. When he finished with the paperwork he brought home, he came into their bedroom to find her in the nook watching some sappy romance American movie with a smile on her face.
As he was changing, Yura came over and sniffed him. He moved away a little.
"What are you doing?"
"Did you change your body wash?"
"…The bottle was empty this morning so I had Tachibana buy one on the way home."
Yura frowned.
"I don't like it. You smell different."
"….ok…?"
"When are you going back to your usual one?"
"As soon as this one runs out."
"Good."
She went back to her laptop.
Kyouya laid down with his face in her direction. He had this marked instinct that she might try to wash the scent off of him while he slept. She had also been hugging him almost every time she saw him and would often place her hands on his chest or arms.
A week later, he was leading Tamaki to his office to discuss a business matter. He discerned the sound of hurrying footsteps behind them but ignored it until something tackled him and climbed into his shirt. Kyouya spun around but the figure kept its ground. Soon he was staring down into his blue polo shirt at his wife.
"Yura? What are you doing?!" he yelled in aggravation by her smile and giggling when he called her name.
"Just checking something."
"Checking? Checking wha-?" the question remained unfinished as he felt Yura press her nose into his chest and took a deep breath. She let out a boisterous sigh of satisfaction.
"You went back to your old body wash!"
"Yes…I did…"
"I'm glad."
"…So I see."
She giggled again and rose up to kiss her husband on the chin. Sliding out of his shirt, Yura waved goodbye before taking off the down the way she had come, leaving a rumpled, outstretched shirt on Kyouya and a stunned Tamaki in the hall.
"Kyouya, is Yura-?"
"She is fine." Kyouya straightened out his shirt.
"But-"
"Tamaki, shut up. She is fine. Let's go."
Tamaki looked back to where Yura had run off before catching up with Kyouya.
This went on for another week. Kyouya was sure was either going to lose his mind, yield his self control and attack her or tie Yura to their bed to stop her short of molesting him. But even with the discomfort, Kyouya realized that other than the shirt incident, he didn't actually dislike it. It took some getting used to yes, but it wasn't an issue he would sit her down and seriously tell her to stop doing.
'Besides, I don't think talking would do much.' He was checking the stocks from their bedroom, glancing at Yura who was pressed in the mattress on her stomach with headphones on her ears. The touch-feely behavior had died down, but Kyouya was on the alert regardless. She took off the headphones.
"I've been that bad huh?"
Kyouya glanced at her for maybe the thirty-ninth time.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play ignorant sen-Kyouya. It doesn't suit you.
"Then what does suit me?" he smirked as she came closer.
"Not that smirk."
Kyouya smiled.
"Really?"
"Mm-hm." She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders from behind.
"Is this going to be a monthly occurrence?"
"It doesn't happen every month, so no. Aunt flo always makes me screwy."
He stopped typing.
"Your brother said the same thing. Are you anemic?"
"I have an irregular cycle. So far, I've gone up to two months without one. I've gone to the doctor with Nana, but he said other than a chance of anemia, everything else is fine."
Kyouya put his hands on the pallid arms.
"I guess I should have let you know before we got married." The smile on her face looked pained. "That you might not being getting an heir quickly."
"That has nothing to do with why I married you, Yura."
Her expression gained more cheer, happy to get the phrase she was secretly hoping for.
"I know."
As time passed, the couple progressed to having quiet days on weekends. Neither of them would leave the bedroom unless they were notified by their bodies that they required sustenance. They would have conversations, but often would just sit in cozy silence, lost in thought.
During these days, sometimes Yura would read sitting between Kyouya's legs, the Ootori male using Yura's shoulder for a head rest as he read along. She could tell whether or not the book interested him by how still he stayed each page. If he was disinterested, he would start kissing her at the top of her spine or play with her hair. Yura found herself one day purposely picking a book he wouldn't like. She laughed, but internally was alarmed.
It was on a snowy day in January they were reviling in this pastime, neither of them having moved out of the bed though they had been awake since morning. Yura was dozing when Kyouya pulled her at the waist and brought her to mould against him. She raised a hand to run her nails through his hair.
"It's hard to see you as the snuggling type." She said faintly, enjoying the warmth on her back and the scent of dark chocolate and sage filling her nostrils. Yura couldn't comprehend how after all these years such a thing could relax her.
"I am not."
"Really? And what do you call this?"
"Holding my wife."
"Ehhh? Is that so?"
"Yes, that is so."
They were smiling broadly by now.
Kyouya pulled down the rim of her night gown far enough to get a kiss on her upper back. Yura's first response, which was dismay, melted as he continued down until he reached the bra she was wearing. He tried to take it off. She twisted around in the bed and kissed him, moving his hands down to her hips. Kyouya was startled by her abrupt movements, but let it pass.
It wasn't exactly his intention to consummate their marriage right then and now, but if she consented, he did not plan on objecting. He moved from her mouth to her stomach, dipping his tongue in her belly button. Yura took a breath and let it out in a big sigh to hide a gasp. There was a featheriness settling in her skull. Her heart felt like it was throbbing in her throat. Kyouya kept kissing her until he arrived at her bra again. One of his hands was propping him up. The other was in the meantime holding unto her thigh, allowing him to place himself between her legs.
His original plan of not going any further was starting to alter. Yura wasn't stopping him as he anticipated. But he did not take that as permission to advance. She stayed on her back, holding him by the shoulders, her whole face red and her eyes almost closed. He wanted to say that if she needed him to stop to tell him but the sentence was stuck in his larynx and was hard-nosed about staying there. So Kyouya nudged her under the chin with his nose. Yura focused on the blur in front of her. She pulled on his shoulder and he obeyed and lowered himself to share another kiss. Yura waited for the distress to come back, interfere with these sensations and use her arms to push Kyouya away. It never appeared. Instead was the voice, small and faint.
"He's your husband. Are you that afraid?"
'Am I?' she opened her eyes and watched as Kyouya opened his own before pulling away.
"Do you want me to stop?" the utterance was thick, husky. A grin was on his face.
She liked the sound. Yura was scared to feel her head about to shake and her mouth forming a no. She gave a small nod. Kyouya's lazy smile widened. He let go of her leg and intertwined their fingers, kissing the back of her palm. Yura's mouth went slack.
'…Who is this man…?'
"Are you okay?" Kyouya asked, very entertained by her astonishment.
She was disconcerted by him and the recognition that she was actually repining her answer. Kyouya moved so he was resting beside her again. And just when the young woman managed to open her lips to convey she had changed her mind, a knock was heard at the door. Kyouya growled. Yura propped herself on her elbows to listen.
"WHAT?!" he roared.
Tachibana opened the door an inch, and replied, "I-I'm sorry to bother you Kyouya-sama, but one of the members of the board is on the phone in your office. He says it's urgent."
"Tell him I stepped out!" he yelled as he settled back into the pillow. "Urgent my arse. Don't these people have other things to do?" Kyouya mumbled, his eyes narrowed.
He looked over at his wife to see she was smiling.
"Go, its fine. I'm not going anywhere."
"Neither is that old fart of a money grubber."
Yura chuckled. She was cheerful to see him so pissed at the interruption. The fact that he intended to stay without a doubt made it easy to tell him to go. The young wife had come to terms with the conclusion that he would always put work first. It warmed her heart to see that maxim proven wrong.
"Go take the call…Kyouya." she urged, happy to have stopped herself before she addressed him as senpai, "It could actually be very important."
'Not more important than you.' The thought passed through his head before he could even concede to it. He peered at his partner for some minutes.
"…Are-"
"Yes, I am sure. Go ahead. Otherwise, I'll leave."
That made Kyouya get up.
"Inform him that I will be there in a few minutes."
"Yes Kyouya-sama."
Kyouya undressed as he made his way to the bathroom, putting a towel over his shoulder. Yura fixed her blurry sight at the ceiling, smiling until her cheeks hurt at the grumblings she heard.
When he returned, the quarter Brazilian made sure to cut the second round short so they could eat. Kyouya was mollified to see she hadn't been pretending to be alright this afternoon. He'd be an enormous imbecile if he let work come before her. There would be no reason at that point to get another chance at gaining her trust.
Yura was upset. Doing two weeks of studying in addition to an all-nighter only to have the class, her only class of the day, cancelled. It made her want to tear her hair out. When she arrived, she collapsed on the couch in her study and didn't move until the early evening. She decided to take a shower before starting on dinner.
By then, Kyouya came home from work with a surprise for her. He checked the study and finding it void of its usual occupant went to their bedroom, thinking she was napping. He watched the steam pour out of the unclosed door. He opened it further, expecting to wash his hands. He halted with the door knob in his grasp.
When Yura took showers, Kyouya was either sleeping or in his home office so she saw no need to pull across the shower curtains. So now Kyouya was taking in the sight of Yura's nude hinder form. Hot water poured unto her gray body while she scrubbed her scalp.
All the years he had known her, even if she was quite unreserved with her brother, Yura was prudent in terms of being clothed. Even when they had started what she referred to as 'heavy petting' a month ago, the most he had seen was her stomach; getting such an eyeful all at once left Kyouya wandering along her body with his eyes. He would be lying if he said he wasn't curious. The changes he had seen on paper were now in front of his face without the burden of clothing. What he saw only made him more desirous to see the front.
His admiring quickly became a jarring wreck when Yura removed her hair from her back to rinse it. Outset from the left shoulder blade and going in an upward diagonal was a scar dull pink and ragged at its edges, stopping a little below her right shoulder blade. Judging from its color, texture and width, Kyouya could see it wasn't recent; the scar looked as if it had spread out with her growing body. He realized then why she would always distract him when he tried to remove her shirt or bra. Why she remained on her back…
"KYOUYA!"
The business man jerked out of the contemplative stupor to find Yura hiding behind the shower curtain, furious and blushing.
"Do you mind?" she said between clenched teeth.
He murmured an apology and shut the door.
Kyouya's head was down so he didn't see Yura until her unshod feet came in his view.
"What the blazes do you think you were doing?"
Kyouya responded, but was distracted by his thoughts. "I apologize. I did not know you were in there."
She sighed. Seeing he appeared surprised, Yura took his unintentional lie for the truth.
"Whatever, I'll just be sure to lock the door next time." Yura cracked her knuckles as she walked off.
"Yura?"
"Hmm?"
"…How long have you had that scar?"
Yura stopped. She put her hands on her hips and looked at the closet, quiet for a time.
"Heh. You just couldn't see it and not say anything, huh?" She turned to him.
Kyouya looked up over his glasses.
"You would not tell me how if I asked you."
Yura narrowed her eyes, but not at him.
"Most likely not…It was my ticket/departing gift out of that house. How about we leave at that?"
Yura didn't wait for him to agree. She left the room. Kyouya took off his glasses and rested them on the table, putting his entwined hands to his mouth and closing his eyes.
The phrase "Little Miss Strawberry" was found on a blog site with English translations of slang from around the world that were used to indirectly inform a person of a woman's "gift from mother nature". The Japanese word for it (according to Google translate) was 'gekkei' (月経) but I decided not to use romaji in this story, minus the honorifics.
Chapter 39 next!
Love and Peace.