Chapter 51
"Hello, I'm Leifang. Hitomi's girlfriend." She said and held out her hand in greeting. Her reflection in the mirror held out its hand as well. Leifang sighed and let her shoulders sag. Today was the day she was going to meet Hitomi's father and if she had been nervous the day before she was a total wreck today.
She wasn't sure how long she was inside the bathroom now but her first intention in here had been to shower, which she had done, and put on her make up. Since it was a special day she opted for rose colored lipstick and some light eyeshadow. That she wanted to look especially good for Hitomi was another reason.
Her thoughts turned to the German and she managed a small smile. She really hoped that today would turn out well and especially wished that they would manage to get some time alone.
After spending a lot of time of the previous evening thinking, she came to a decision.
She would confess today as well.
That's why she was desperately hoping that she wouldn't mess up and that Hitomi's father would really like her.
But even with Hitomi's best efforts in assuring her that everything would be alright she couldn't shake this feeling of doubt. She wondered if she was just letting it get to her way too much, or if it was normal too feel like that.
Had Hitomi felt the same way with her parents, even though they hadn't been together at the time?
God! She must have been terrified of her father then, with all these stories she told her about him.
Leifang looked at herself deep in the eyes, then stood up straight and tried her most charming smile.
"Hello, I'm Leifang." she started again.
Hitomi was already good to go as the doorbell rang. She walked over to the door and looked through the peephole, her hand going to the buzzer, but then stopped when she saw Leifang already standing there and simply opened the door.
"Hey." she said and leaned against the doorframe.
"Hi." Leifang looked over her shoulder to see if someone was in the hall, then leaned forward to give the German a quick kiss. "The door was already open downstairs."
Hitomi looked her over for a moment and immediately noticed the make-up. "We're only going over to my father's place, you know. You didn't need to pretty yourself up." she said.
"Well I want to look my best. Besides," Leifang leaned over and whispered inside her ear. "Who said I made myself pretty for your father?"
Hitomi felt a pleasant jolt running through her body, then looked her over once more. At least she kept it simple with the clothes, though Hitomi was once again marveled at how many skirts the Chinese had.
And stockings apparently, as she wore a pair transparent brown ones.
Don't lose your focus here, Hitomi. Don't forget that you had something you wanted to do today. She reminded herself.
Clearing her throat she asked "So we can go then? Or do you want to sit down for a moment?"
"No no. I'm good to go." Leifang said and Hitomi put on her shoes, grabbed her jacket, then walked out and locked the door.
"We going to take the tram?" Leifang asked.
"Mhm." Hitomi nodded. "Quickest way and with the snow I don't want to risk a cold by driving on my bike. But hey, white Christmas!"
"Too bad, I wouldn't have minded." She would have liked it very much in fact. She loved being like that. She could pretend that it was only them, that the people they were passing weren't there. Just them and the road.
Leifang turned to go but Hitomi was kept standing there. Turning around she saw her girlfriend staring at Viktor's door.
"What is it?" Leifang asked. The look on Hitomi's face changed and she walked over to door and knocked soundly on it. It didn't take long for the man to appear in the door, wearing comfy-looking winter clothes and holding a cup of instant noodles in his hand.
"Hey you two. Going on a date on Christmas Eve?" he asked.
Hitomi gave Leifang a look and she instantly knew what she was going to say. Giving her a smile she nodded.
"You going to be here all day?" Hitomi asked.
"Uh, yeah? Where would I go?" he asked. "No. I'm just going to stay here, watch another re-run of The Last Unicorn and eat my noodles here. I always have a blast watching Schmendrick. He held up the cup for emphasis.
Hitomi's hand shot up and grabbed the cup from him. "You're coming with us to my dad's place."
"Eh?" He was about to grab back his noodles, but then halted in place.
"You heard me."
"Come on." He said, looking a little bit uncomfortable at the prospect. "I wouldn't want to intrude."
"You aren't intruding. I'm inviting you and you know my father won't mind. So come on." she said. "Everything's better than spending Christmas Eve alone."
Viktor looked at her, then at Leifang, and scratched the back of his head.
"Ah to hell with it! Alright, just gimme a minute." Hitomi smiled and handed him his noodles back. He vanished back inside and closed the door. The Chinese walked over to Hitomi and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
"Some people would call you way too nice, you know?"
"Maybe. But nobody should spend Christmas alone."
"I agree."
They waited for a few more minutes until Viktor walked out of his apartment and then the three of them headed off towards the tram station.
"Thanks." Viktor said.
"Don't mention it." Hitomi said with a smile.
The German took hold of her girlfriend's hand and interlaced their fingers as they walked.
The ride was rather full, as there were still a lot of people that went out shopping, and they were relieved when their stop came.
From the station they still had to walk for ten more minutes until they arrived at their destination.
Leifang looked at the house, richly decorated in spirit of Christmas. It was of medium size and had a front garden that looked well kept and had a small pond in it, though it was frozen due to the cold.
"Well, here we are." Hitomi said as they got of the bike. She pushed the bike into the garden and placed it against the fence, locking it in place, then led Leifang to the front door.
Viktor cursed a little as he nearly slipped on the snow but came up shortly after them and noticed that Leifang was fidgeting nervously in place.
"What's wrong?"
"She's just nervous about meeting my dad." Hitimi said and turned to Leifang, placing her hands on her shoulder. "Don't worry. It's just my father, you'll be fine."
"But it's because he IS your father." Leifang said, making Hitomi roll her eyes.
"Viktor, tell her there's nothing to worry about."
"Well he is kinda scary." he said.
"Viktor!" Hitomi glared at him, and turned back to Leifang. "Don't worry. I'm there as well."
Hitomi gave her a peck on the lips. "So here we go then." She turned towards the door and rang the bell.
Almost immediately the door opened and Leifang saw a large man with short hair and a neatly kept mustache. He had a face that was made to look stern, but when he spotted his daughter his lips turned into a smile.
"I was wondering what kept you." he said and ushered them inside.
"The tram ran a bit late." Hitomi said and gave her father a hug. Joachim turned his gaze to Viktor.
"Viktor." He greeted. "So I assume my daughter dragged you here?"
"Threatened me with bodily harm if I refused." Viktor joked and shook the man's hand. Hitomi gave Viktor a look that told him "Why don't you just go up ahead?".
"Ah, I'll just sit down in the living room." he said and walked ahead, leaving the three alone. Hitomi walked behind the Chinese and put her hands on her shoulders to reassure her.
"Papa, this is Leifang. My girlfriend, but you already know that." she said. "Leifang. That's my father."
Leifang saw the man look at her, his face unreadable for a moment, but quickly became pleasant once more and held out his hand. "Joachim Buchfink. But please, just Joachim."
"Gāo Leifang." she said and shook his hand firmly, then laughed a little nervously. "It's really nice to meet you."
"Yes. Apparently my dear daughter wanted to hog you all for herself until now." he chuckled.
"Papa. You know it wasn't like that."
"I know, I know. I'm just joking. So you two, why don't we sit down?"
They all walked into the living room, where Viktor was already sitting in one of the comfy chairs. Joachim sat down in the other one, whereas Leifang sat down on the sofa. Hitomi remained standing.
"Come on, sit down." Joachim said.
"Nope. If I sit down now we'll spend the whole time talking and I need to cook dinner, so I'll pass for now." she turned to Leifang. "Make yourself at home."
As she walked out into the kitchen Leifang could hear Joachim mutter "Shouldn't I be the one to say that?"
"Well, Leifang." he turned to her and Leifang found herself sitting upright. That didn't go unnoticed by him. "Relax. I'm not going to bite."
"I'm sorry. It's just it's the first time meeting the father of the person I'm romantically involved with." she said and tried to do as he said.
"If it's any consolation, I was once in the same situation. Well not in directly the same situation but you know what I mean?"
"Yeah." she nodded.
"I'll be honest though. Normally I would grill the boyfriend of my sweetheart a little." he gave her a wry smile and nodded towards Viktor. "Especially if he was a clown like that guy."
"Hey, I resent that!" Viktor called out. He looked over at Joachim and saw him giving him a look. Suddenly he had the urge to take a smoke. "Uh, I'll just be outside."
Leifang's gaze followed him as he left. She was alone with Joachim now. The man leaned forward a little, placing his elbows on his knees and formed a triangle with his fingers. "Now. Why don't we talk a little?"
Leifang swallowed. "S-sure."
"I want to be honest. I don't like how you left my daughter in the state she was in. Now I can only imagine that it wasn't easy for you as well." he said and turned his head to look at her. "So I want you to tell me why you did that."
Leifang was speechless for a moment. She had expected him to shout at her, not to wanting to listen to her.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she started. "First off I want to say that I'm sorry that I acted that way. But as you said it wasn't easy. Hitomi is my best friend, the one I can confide in most of all, and then all of a sudden she kisses me. But that wasn't the problem. She was already apologizing for it when I kissed her."
She opened her eyes. "And it felt good. But the fact that I liked it scared me so much at the moment that the only thing I could think of at that moment was getting away as fast as possible. It wasn't until much later that I realized how much I might have hurt her with that."
"But you came back." he said.
"Yes." she nodded. "And I never regretted it."
"I see." he sat back in his chair. "I still can't say that I agree with what you did, but my girl is happier now than she ever was, and you stayed by her side when I couldn't, so that is good enough for me. So how about some hot chocolate?"
Leifang smiled and nodded. "I'd like that."
He smiled as well and headed into the kitchen. Leifang could immediately hear the chatter as he entered. She looked around the room and found something on the chimney piece that grabbed her attention.
The Chinese got up from the sofa and walked over. It was a framed family picture. It featured Joachim, with his hair still the same brown that Hitomi called her own, a beautiful japanese woman that had to be Hitomi's mother, smiling kindly and looking like the perfect housewife. And then there was the little girl in the middle, smiling from ear to ear. Hitomi.
How cute! She gushed and looked at the girl more intently. Her hair was braided and she even wore braces.
"That was taken shortly after she started her Karate training." Joachim said and came to stand beside her, handing her a cup. She thanked him and took a small sip.
He took the picture and looked at it, a fond smile on his face. "She would always run around and get into some sort of trouble. I think there wasn't a day when she didn't come home with scraped knees. But she never cried."
He placed the picture back. They sat back down and talked about this and that until dinner was ready.
Dinner had been a quiet affair. They said a few things, mostly compliments about Hitomi's cooking. It had been decided during dinner that they would stay over, with Hitomi sleeping in her old room while Leifang and Viktor would sleep in the guest rooms.
The German was picking up the plates when Joachim stopped her, saying "You cooked, sweetheart, so it's only fair if I do the dishes. Well," he looked to Viktor. "We do."
"I don't have any say in it, do I?" he asked but was mostly ignored.
"So why don't you show Leifang your room, or help her get settled in?" He asked and winked at her.
Hitomi blinked for a moment, then let go of the plates. "Alright. Come on, I'll show you my room."
Grabbing Leifang by her hand she headed out towards the stairs.
The two men were left to their devices and gathered up the plates and cutlery, bringing them into the kitchen. They quickly agreed that Joachim would wash while Viktor would dry.
"So, how have you been? It's been a while since we saw each other in person." Joachim asked.
"It's alright. Can't really complain I suppose." he said and grabbed one of the plates to dry them with a towel. "And yourself?"
"Good good. So..." he hesitated for a moment. "What do you think?"
"Our twosome upstairs?" Joachim nodded. "Leifang is...a nice girl. Can be a little pesky sometimes, but underneath it all she's got a good heart."
He placed the plate on the kitchen counter. "They are good for each other, keep each other grounded. And they are clearly crazy about each other."
"You think they'll manage?" Joachim asked him a bit concerned.
"After what they already went through? Damn straight they are."
"I hope so." the older man said and they continued doing the dishes. "Hey, how about a beer after this?"
"Sure." Viktor chuckled.
1- - -
Somehow Leifang had imagined that Hitomi's old room would have been filled with stuffed toys, but was sadly disappointed in that regard. It was rather simple, lacking even posters of bands or some movies like other teenager rooms would have.
But it was clearly Hitomi's. The welcoming aura of it was proof enough.
They were both sitting on the bed and Hitomi was busy telling her about a fun story involving that rather beaten up looking chair near the desktop.
"I think that is probably the most abused piece of furniture in the whole world. I took most of my teenage aggressions out on it and you see that one leg there? We had to glue that once." she giggled.
Leifang giggled too and looked around. "It's still a nice room."
"Ah, it's nothing special."
"I disagree. It has a warm atmosphere and makes you feel at home."
The girls looked at each other for a long time until Hitomi averted her gaze and stood up, heading over to her wardrobe. "I-I've got something for you. Brought it here the other day." she said and pulled a wrapped item out of it. After walking back and sitting down again she placed it firmly in Leifang's lap, looking rather bashful. "It's a present. We give those on Christmas Eve here, you know."
"Oh Hitomi, you shouldn't have." Leifang said and looked at it. She didn't even have something to give her in return.
"Yes I did. Now open it up." Realizing that she couldn't argue here the Chinese carefully unwrapped it and pulled a black and white sweater. As she turned it around she saw that it had a cute little panda face printed on the front.
"I hope you like it. I know it's nothing special, but it was the only thing I could think of."
"I love it." Leifang said and pulled it close to her. "But I don't have anything to give to you."
"You don't need to give me anything." Hitomi said and took hold of one of her hands. "You already gave me a very special present. You've been my best friend and more. With you I can talk about everything."
Their eyes met and she knew what Hitomi was about to say.
"Leifang I-"
"I love you too." Leifang blurted out.
Hitomi blinked for a moment, trying to comprehend what she had just heard. "I-what?"
"I said: I love you too." Leifang placed the sweater on the bed. "I realized it yesterday when we were with the children. You are the most kind-hearted person I've ever known. Even today you proved that when you convinced Viktor to come with us. So how could I not love you? And I know you love me, because you told me the other day."
"When!?" Hitomi exclaimed. Had she gotten sloppy?
"It was when I stayed over at your place. I accidentally woke you up, or at least I thought so, but after you told me you loved me you were out again." she giggled. "Romantic even without realizing it."
Hitomi's face grew beet red, but at the same time she was so happy she could do somersaults.
"You really love me too?" she asked, already pulling her closer.
"More than anyone else." Leifang said and their lips met. Hitomi gently pushed her tongue against the other girl's lips, asking for entrance and Leifang granted it, her own tongue meeting hers halfway.
The Chinese let out a gasp of surprise as Hitomi turned them around, making her lie with her back against the sheets, but didn't do anything to stop her. She wanted Hitomi to touch her more.
She guided the hand that had grasped hers and placed it on top of her right breast. A moan ripped through her throat as her girlfriend didn't hesitate one bit to massage the soft flesh under her clothes.
Hitomi's other hand gently caressed her side as it traveled downwards to her skirt, then under it, continuing its exploration. Leifang felt her heart go quicker as she got closer and closer to the place that wanted to be touched so desperately. Touched by Hitomi.
They broke the kiss and their eyes met once again and leifang realized that she was ready to take things further.
She wanted to make love with Hitomi.
But just as Hitomi was about to close in for another deep kiss they heard steps outside that made them realize just where they were.
"Shit." Hitomi swore under her breath and rolled off Leifang. "Sorry. I guess I got carried away."
"It's alright." Leifang said, face glowing red now, and tried to smooth out her skirt. "I, uh, I really liked it."
"I want to be honest, if we weren't at my father's place right now I don't think I could've stopped. And even now there's a part of me that just wants to keep going." Hitomi said and gently placed her hand on top of her girlfriend's. "I want this."
"Me too." Leifang said.
"But not now. Later when we're alone. When no one can interrupt us. I want it to be special."
"I want that too." Hitomi turned slightly to kiss her beautiful lips.
"Stay here for the night." Hitomi said. "I don't want to be apart from you right now."
"Alright." Leifang smiled and let herself be pulled close. Her free hand grabbed the sweater that Hitomi had given her and held it close to her heart.
"I love you, Leifang."
"I love you too"
Eh, a little bit early for Christmas I guess, but at least I didn't get the month wrong. There they finally said it, I wonder what might happen in the next chapter?
Well only one way to find out, huh?
See you next week!
