Chapter 10: Love Conquers All

An short time later, the girls from Tokyo said goodbye to their Ooarai friends before leaving the house with their fiancees. "See you in two days, minna!" Minako waved from the hallway. "Remember what I said in my lectures, and don't stay up too late!"

"We won't, Minako-sensei!" Yukari giggled. "Have fun at school tomorrow!"

"As if that's ever going to happen" Usagi grumbled at the thought of morning classes. "Two days of Haruna-sensei and torture and endless boredom is more like it. Why can't Juuban do something fun once in awhile, like starting their own Sensha-do program?" She pushed unpleasant thoughts of school aside and grinned at her close friends from another, much more girl-centric dimension. "Minna, good night and pleasant dreams! If you ever do sleep tonight! Hehe!"

After the girls and their guys had left the house and driven away, Yukari locked the front door and hurried back to the sofa, sitting close beside her boyfriend. "Nishizumi-dono, when are we going to decide who has to stay down here tonight?"

"Someone's in a hurry!" her commander giggled. "But I suppose we really should settle that important issue now, Yukari. Saori, do you still have those paper strips we used earlier to plan our shopping trips?"

"Hai, Miporin. I'll leave out one of the short pieces this time." Saori scooped four of them from her purse and passed the strips to Miho who mixed them up and held out her hand.

"Who'd like to try their luck first?" Miho prompted her team. "This sofa is really big and comfortable. It's almost like a bed!"

The other girls all hesitated, until Hana finally reached out and slipped a paper free. "It's a long strip, Masaru!" she exclaimed. "We're going upstairs!"

"Lucky you!" Yukari laughed. "I'll go next. Cross your fingers for luck, Ryoto!"

"Already doing it, my darling."

The Anglerfish loader slid out her strip. "And it's... aww!" the curly-haired girl frowned. "It's the short one. We're on the sofa, my love. Sumimasen."

"That's ok. Any place is fine as long as we're there together, my princess" her boyfriend replied, though he found himself struggling to conceal growing pangs of self-doubt now beginning to cloud his mind.

"Thanks for taking one for the team, Yukari!" Saori laughed. "I knew we could count on you!"

"Don't mention it" the curly-haired girl muttered. "Nishizumi-dono, we need to set up a signal. Something to let everyone else know my Ryoto and I are awake and fully clothed in the morning, so it's ok for you to come downstairs."

"That's a very good point, Yukari. Um... how about that broom you used yesterday?" Miho suggested. "You can lean it against the wall at the top of the stairs and take it down after you're both up. If we see the broom, we won't come down."

"Hai! That should do it! But first, I need to get something from Makoto's linen closet. I'll be right back!"

Yukari hurried up to the second floor and soon returned with several folded blankets. Placing the small pile on an arm of the sofa, she again sat beside her young man, softly kissing his cheek. "Done."

The living room suddenly became ghostly silent but for the teens' breathing and the soft tick of the wall clock. The five teenage males glanced nervously at one another, wondering who would be first to take the big step with their girlfriends.

"Uh... what should we do now?" Toshiro eventually asked. The seventeen-year-old boy was convinced that a thousand butterfiles were now fluttering wildly within his chest.

Mako looked up at the nearby faintly-ticking clock. "It's past ten, darling" she murmured. "Getting late."

"Hai. Ten" Saori repeated. "It'll be bedtime really soon, Yosuke." She stood and asked her boyfriend, "Would you like to dance with me again? Before we... go...?"

"I'd love to, sweetheart! Let me find something romantic for us to dance to." The near-clone of Kumada Yuuichirou walked over to the piano and inserted an appropriate disc in the cd player.

"Minna, let's all dance together" Miho suggested, admitting to herself that her own growing nervousness was making her hesitate. She thought, 'I wonder if our friends felt this way on their first intimate night together?'

The five Ooarai girls held their boyfriends close, slow dancing until the song had ended.

"You dance divinely, sweetheart" Yusei murmured to the brown-haired girl in his embrace. "I wish I could hold you in my arms like this forever, my Miho."

His girlfriend sighed happily. "That would be heaven, Yusei. We could dance a little more, if you'd like to. Or we could just sit and chat. Whatever you'd like."

Yukari suddenly realized that the couples might choose to linger even longer in the living room. Taking the initiative, she quickly strode over to the blankets, unfolded the topmost one and neatly spread it out on the sofa.

"We can't sit there anymore if you make your bed now, Yukari" Miho giggled. "Everything will get all wrinkled!"

"Oh! That's right, Nishizumi-dono!" her loader feigned a gasp. "Then I guess you'll just have to go upstairs if you want to sit down again. After all, like Mako said before we danced, it is getting late."

Surprised by her friend's uncharacteristic forwardness and thankful for Yukari finding a way to break the ice, Miho took her dear friend and Panzer loader's not-so-subtle hint. "Hai" she giggled. "I suppose we will." She grasped her boyfriend's hand in hers, gently squeezing it. "Shall we, my darling?"

Yusei gave his girl a tender smile. "Hai. Our room awaits, my beautiful Miho."

The young soon-to-be lovers climbed the steps hand-in-hand, sharing coy glances at each other until they reached the second floor. Miho turned and smiled down at her team. "Minna... I believe my Yusei and I will be turning in for the night. Oyasumi, minna. We'll see you in the morning." The teens disappeared down the hall to their bedroom, with three other girls quickly following their Sensha-do commander's lead, giggling as they lead their boyfriends upstairs.

After they had gone and the last upstairs door had closed, Yukari sighed happily at her now-blushing boyfriend. "I thought they'd never leave!"

She hurried to collect the broom from its resting place in the hall closet and sprinted up the steps, angling it across the hallway beside the bathroom door. Yukari scurried back down to the boy she so dearly loved, into the tender warmth of her beloved Ryoto's waiting arms.

"Still feeling nervous, my Ryoto? You know, everyone thinks I'm the shy one on the Anglerfish team. And they're right, I almost always am. But not tonight. Not when I'm with you."

She took his hand and began leading him toward the sofa, but stopped when she felt him hesitate. "Ryoto? Is something wrong?"

"Um... hai. There is" he frowned.

"Oh." The smile vanished from Yukari's pretty face. "Would you tell me what it is?" Her voice dropped to almost a whisper. "Don't you want to... make love with me?"

Her young man stared down at his feet. "I do, my princess. So very much! But..."

"How about we sit together on the sofa and you tell me what's troubling you. Would you do that for me?"

"Ok." He followed his girlfriend around the coffee table and sat down beside her. "I'm not sure if I can... go through with this" he murmured, dejected to be disappointing the girl he worshipped with every fiber of his mind, heart and soul.

"Why not? You don't have to sleep with me if you don't want to, my Ryoto. I hope you don't think I'm pressuring you too much." Yukari searched his eyes for an answer, her heart beginning to ache. "Is it because you... don't love me enough?"

Ryoto firmly shook his head. "That definitely isn't the reason, my sweet. Not at all! I'm madly, hopelessly in love with you, Yukari. Ever since we met at that shore party, I knew without any doubt that you were my one and only soulmate. I want more than anything else in the whole world to be with you. Not just this week, but forever more."

Yukari's bright smile instantly reappeared. "That almost sounded like a proposal, my Ryoto!"

"Not an official one yet, but it will happen" he promised. "I do want to marry you, Akiyama Yukari. I can only hope that someday soon when I can ask you properly, you'll find it in your heart to accept."

"I already have my answer ready" his girl replied. "And it will be yes." She exclaimed, "So if we're getting married someday... what's the problem?"

Ryoto again averted his gaze, this time towards the Panzer model on top of the piano. A deep blush of embarrassment reddened his cheeks. "The problem is... I'm really scared that I'll disappoint you by not being... a very good lover. That I won't be able to pleasure you the way you expect me to" he confessed. "The way I should."

"My darling, just being here to enjoy this week with you has already made me so incredibly happy. Please don't be afraid about not knowing what happens next. I know how much you care for me, and if we let our hearts guide us, the ocean of love we share will make every moment absolutely wonderful. I know it will!"

Ryoto smiled hopefully at his beloved. "You sound so sure, my darling."

"That's because I am sure." Yukari slid closer to him until their bodies snugly touched. "Yesterday I had a private talk with Ami, and asked her about her first night with Ryo. Nothing too personal though! I was just curious if it was as incredible an experience as Minako promised us it would be. Ami said that her boyfriend was really shy and nervous at first, just like you're feeling now. But it didn't matter because he followed his heart instead of his doubts and they shared their first unforgettable night of ecstacy together." She giggled, "And since you and her Ryo are nearly identical, that's how I know it'll be the same for us."

"Hontou?" The still-nervous boy gave his girlfriend another shy smile, once more becoming captivated by her glimmering love-filled dark brown eyes. Ryoto gently brought his lips to hers in a sweet, tender kiss that made both of their teenage hearts overflow with love and desire.

"Then... I'll try my very best to please you and make you happy, my beautiful princess."

"I'm very sure you will." Yukari reached out her slender fingers and slowly began unbuttoning his white shirt. She softly spoke, yearning to experience the ultimate act of love and passion with her young man, "How about we make the most of this wonderful opportunity Usagi gave us, my Ryoto. Let's become lovers tonight."

Ryoto's shy smile was accompanied by a single spoken word.

"Hai."

. . . . .