Here's the must-read chapter, folks, so R&R to your heart's content!
Chapter 19, "The Mihamas' Decision".
A small but fancy car pulled into the Mihama's driveway, parking just behind Tashru's limousine. "Ah, you're mother made it." Tashru surmised, moving to open the door. Osaka marveled at the slender, beautiful woman that entered the room, but deflated when she discovered the same blood-freezing gaze as Chiyo's father had. She also took in the sight of the woman; a few inches taller than her husband, long, flowing orange hair, and hazel eyes that held the same look as her husband's. She gave a formal bow, as though she would be a typical mother, when afterwards she sprang forward. "Chiyo! I've missed you sooooo much!" she squealed, running and hugging Chiyo tightly. "I missed you too, Mom!" Chiyo replied, returning the hug. "Ah, hello. I take it you're one of my daughter's acquaintances?" the woman asked Osaka, releasing Chiyo. "Y-yes, ma'am. My name is Osaka. I mean Ayumu! Ayumu Kasuga." Osaka faltered. She became increasingly nervous when the woman whispered something into Tashru's ear, and the man nodded in agreement. "Alright, I think we need to talk..." Tashru decided. The gathered around the table and sat. "So she's the one you're in a relationship with?" Chiyo's mother asked firmly. "S-she is...I hope you're alright with it..." Chiyo trailed off, looking more worried than Osaka had ever seen her. "Well, it depends, Chiyo..." her mother voiced out, a concerned look adorned. "Well, Miss Kasuga, do you think you could meet up to our standards?" Tashru asked, that gaze stronger now. She gulped, and felt her chest tighten. "Well...?" he inquired forcefully after a few moments. It was then that they realized...she had spaced out. "Osaka! Wake up!" Chiyo frantically attempted, shaking her arm. "Wh-what? What's goin' on?" her girlfriend wondered, coming out of her daze. "...Peculiar..." Chiyo's mother commented. "Ah, no! I'm s-sorry!" Osaka stuttered, waving her hands. "Well? Could you meet our standards for Chiyo?" her father asked with even more demand this time, his eyes narrowing. "Y-yes...yes! No matter what, I'd do anything for her!" Osaka answered, sweating. "...Good. Excellent!" he commended her. "W-what?" Osaka became confused. "That's one standard already." Chiyo's mother told her.
"Oh! Forgive me, I've lost my manners. My name is Senya Mihama" Chiyo's mother informed Osaka. "A-alright? Anyway, what...would I need to do...to stay with her?" she asked timidly. "Well, we do have some requirements, but we'll discuss that later. Right now, we'd like to get a little background information." Senya told her. And thus their interrogation began...
The next morning, the Mihamas discussed their youngest's situation. "You're really alright with this?" Tashru asked as his daughter got ready for school. "Yes, I am. I hope you'll consider it..." Chiyo replied, and got ready to head out the door. She left, leaving her parents to wave goodbye. "Is it right? I mean, should we stop her?" Senya asked, taking her husband's arm in hers. "No, but we'll test her. To see if she's committed to go through with it." He planned as they reentered the house. Chiyo ran to meet up with Osaka, who was currently entranced by a plane. "...How do ya think somethin' that heavy stays up in the air?" she asked as Chiyo neared her. "Well, the wing design allows it to use the air stream and-"the petite girl began to give a full explanation, but stopped from Tomo smacking her across the sidewalk. "What's up? Hey, did your parents split you two up? Are you forever separated by feuding families or something?" Tomo let her imagination run wild, as usual, with Yomi intercepting and debilitating her. "No! They're...deciding what to do..." Chiyo answered. She turned to Osaka. "I'm sorry my parents interrogated you like that." She apologized, ducking her head. "Nah, it's alright. I'm actually kinda glad that stuff's outta the way!" her vacant, current girlfriend answered unabashedly. "Oh...but, well...they asked weird questions..." Chiyo mulled, rethinking it. "Well, they'd be concerned, and maybe this's a test!" Osaka surmised, and looked to her triumphantly. All the while, a pair lurked about, watching this girl's very action toward the smaller girl...
"SIT DOWN! This isn't break time!" Yukari screeched, obviously in her normal disposition after the past three days. They had noticed her recent frequent visits to Nyamo, and only concluded that their suspicions were correct. "So, how's the love life, Yukari?" Tomo asked. "None of your business! Now, get out the work for today!" the erratic teacher ordered, readying a ruler and pointing it at the wildcat. "Here you go!" Tomo replied smugly, holding out the work. "What...? NO WAY! Give me that!" the teacher screeched, ripping the paper from her hands. Looking it over in disbelief, she shoved it back at the girl with a grunt, moving to the sleeping Osaka as her next target. "Wow, you actually did it? I'm impressed, Tomo!" Yomi complimented her, leaning on her shoulder. "Actually," Kagura pointed out, "I think the question is if she did it by herself?" she accused, giving the normally inattentive girl a sharp look. "Hey...yeah, she has a point." Yomi agreed, recollecting Tomo's record of actions. "Alright, so I copied Yomi's! Who cares, as long as I did it?" Tomo asked them, and was hit by both of them as a result. "STOP copying my work Tomo! I'm going to end up getting in trouble for it!" Yomi complained, slapping her on the head. "Do you really think I care?" her girlfriend suddenly questioned, rather vehemently. "I wish you did!" Yomi yelled at her before storming away. "Aw, come on! I-I was kidding! Yomi!" Tomo chased after her. Kagura, Sakaki, and Chiyo simply looked on with exasperated expressions. "I wonder if they'll survive without us?" Chiyo wondered, imagining a relationship dominated by childish thoughts and behavior. "I'm sure Tomo could live like that; it's Yomi that has me worried..." Kagura finished, pressing a finger to her chin in silent contemplation.
Osaka drifted in and out of thought during class, trying to think of a way to win over Chiyo's parents. 'They're so serious about this...I mean, yeah, they'd want her to marry someone who also had a lot of money, but still...would they really split us up? There's gotta be somethin' I can do to make them let me! There just has to!' she brooded, unable to find a solution. Eventually she fell asleep, and had a peculiar dream...
Osaka stood in front of Chiyo's house, unknowing of why she was there. Deciding it best not to think about it too much, she opened the door and entered the living area. The house appeared empty, except for...the orange cat! It sat alone at the bottom of the staircase. When she approached, it turned to look up at her. "So you would like to court my daughter?" it asked abruptly, startling her. "W-what? I mean, well, yeah!" Osaka replied, still completely confused. "Will she be happy?" it asked. This time, Osaka hesitated; feeling she actually needed to think about that. "Uhhh...w-would I...?" she asked herself. "If you're not sure, then you won't." it informed her, much to her dismay when the comment registered. "Wait! I-I didn't mean it like that! Did I?" she became more confused, when she noticed that everything was falling from around her. The house, the yard, everything fell away so that the only thing before her was...Chiyo. "C-Chiyo? What's goin' on? Everything's so...weird." she asked. Her response was none at all. The small girl had the blank stare in her eyes, the same one as when Osaka had pulled her pigtails off in an earlier dream. "Goodbye! I'll see you later!" Blank-Chiyo waved, before fading away. "Wait! What's happening?" Osaka called before an impromptu act awoke her...
"WAKE UP, DAMNIT!" Yukari screeched, smacking Osaka's head with a book this time. "AH! No, please stop hittin' me!" Osaka pleaded, covering her head. "This is the last school year, and we're halfway through it, so I'm going to tell you this now: if you fall asleep again, I'll fail you!" Yukari informed her dramatically. "WHAT? Y-you can't do that!" Chiyo interjected. "I can, and will! And there's nothing you can do to stop me! Now get to work!" their teacher ordered, having no right to say those words when one considered how often she slept. Struggling to keep her head up during another one of Yukari's rants, she still remained baffled by the dream. 'What if...what if it was an omen? Or a premonition, like a psychic has. Wait...does that mean I'm psychic?' her train of thought once again took the sidetrack, and it became a moot attempt to understand. Eventually time came for their next class, Phys. Ed...and a chance for Tomo to interrogate Nyamo. "Hey, Miss Kurosawa! What's up?" the overactive member of the group greeted. "Ah...well...hi, I guess?" Nyamo replied, a bit confused at the gesture. "I noticed something recently, which might involve you." Tomo continued. "Yes, and what might that be?" Nyamo was growing more hesitant by the second. "Well, it seems that Miss Yukari is unusually happy now, and she always blushes when we mention you. Wonder why?" the woman froze at Tomo's implication. "N-now hold on a minute! T-t-there's nothing like that going on! What gave you that idea?" she faltered, badly. But I never said what I was implying, Miss Kurosawa! Sounds kinda...suspicious." Tomo gloated further. "A-alright! So it's true...what about it?" Nyamo admitted defeat, blushing. "I knew it! So how did you do it?" her student inquired eagerly. "Well, actually, I didn't. She came to me, and I just said it. Now we're living together." Nyamo told her, making sure to keep her voice low. "I figured that following my advice would do the trick! Good work, Nyamo!" Tomo did a thumbs-up to her. "DON'T call me that!" she pleaded.
At the end of that period, they readied to leave back to Yukari's before the last class. "Good luck, Ny- Miss Kurosawa!" Tomo told her before she left. "Thanks!" Nyamo responded. Said teacher made her way to the staff lobby, sitting down to take a break. A few students passing by talked with her, unknowing that they were being watched like a hawk. "So, what makes you so popular? I'm as good a teacher as you are! It's not fair!" Yukari whined after her companion was done. "Probably because I don't act selfish, and I try to be friends with them rather than beat them up and...I could make a list, but I think you get my point." Nyamo shot back, but regretted it. First, she received the unexpected act of some random object in the back of the head, before she heard a huff. Turning, a pang of regret surged through her; Yukari, her girlfriend, held a scowl on her face, assumedly having misinterpreted Nyamo's comment. "You obviously don't like me that much, so I might as well just leave." She growled before making toward the door. Nyamo sprang up and took her hand. "Let go of me! It's obvious you don't want my company!" Yukari tried to struggle away, but Nyamo only held on tighter. "I didn't say that! I was just making a point; you need to treat people better." The more responsible of the two informed. "I treat them just fine! Who said I didn't?" Yukari rambled. She whipped around to face Nyamo, and would have begun ranting, if a set of lips against hers wasn't stopping it. Luckily, no one was around to watch the act. The anger drifted out of her as it ended, and she simply leaned into her. "Let's just drop it, alright?" Nyamo suggested as she held her. "If I didn't love you, I'd have beaten you senseless by now..." Yukari mumbled. When they parted, Nyamo became confused as Yukari sized her up. "Hey...damnit! You're taller than me!" she said suddenly. Nyamo looked at her for a few minutes, before she began snickering. Soon Yukari laughed to, until her eyes caught the clock. "Oh no!" she wailed. She kissed Nyamo again before rushing out of the room, leveling several people along the way.
"So what will we do about it?" Senya asked her husband, as the two sat in a classy coffee shop. "As I said before, we'll wait until we have a better understanding of it. After we observe them for a bit longer, we'll talk with her about it. I don't support it either, but it's really not our choice unless we're sure it won't work." Tashru replied, sipping a cup of green tea. Since it'd be another hour before they could do anything, they were content to take Tokyo's culture in for as long as they could; there was no telling when one or both of them would have o leave again. "Hmmm...maybe..." Senya thought aloud. "What is it?" Tashru asked. "Do you think...would this have happened if we'd been here more often?" she queried. "Well, it's really...well..." he thought about it; Chiyo had probably spent in total about one quarter of her life alone, or with a servant. "Are we good parents?" Senya blurted. "Yes! We just need to be there for her more often." He answered. They'd been through this scenario before, and they never seemed to be able to do anything about it whenever it came up. And now the thought that their daughter was exploring an unorthodox relationship like this...the entire thing was troubling them, and they weren't sure how to approach it.
The bell sounded the loosing of crowds of students, with the group no exception. "I can't wait 'til we graduate! Then we'll be rid of this place once and for all! No more Yukari; speaking of which, I can't believe she hit me like that!" Tomo went on. "Well, obviously you shouldn't have been bouncing around the room like a little kid." Yomi retorted. Tomo faked a hurt look at the comment. "You're so mean! Stay away from me!" she cried, running away from them. "Jeez, what a child! I wish she'd act mature just once." Kagura chipped in with an exasperated sigh. "Believe it or not, she has moments where she's probably smarter than any of us, beside Chiyo." The hyper wildcat's girlfriend replied. "I find that hard to believe..." Kagura shot, feigning indifference, secretly wondering if it might be true. "Who are they?" Sakaki interrupted, pointing to a couple approaching them. "Mom! Dad!" Chiyo called in excitement, running to greet them. "Her parents?" Tomo questioned, having reappeared and was now grappled onto Yomi. Osaka said nothing, but felt a rising sense of anxiety from their arrival. "We'd like you to come home early, Chiyo. We have things we need to talk about with you, since we're going to be leaving soon." Her father informed her; earlier, he'd received information that he'd need to head out of the country on business. "But...a-alright." She deflated. "Miss Kasuga, too." Senya added. An audible gulp came from the latter, as she followed the Mihama family away from the other girls. "Oooh, busted!" Tomo commented, causing Kagura and Yomi to hit her at the same time.
"But why?" Chiyo pleaded, looking from one to the other for a weakness. "We just want you to give it time. When graduation time comes, we'll let you make whatever decision you want." Tashru instructed firmly. Osaka sat in silence, listening to this horrible news; they wanted to separate her and Chiyo until they graduated. Although it was less than half a year away, it seemed like an unbearable stretch of time. "But I've already made my decision! Why can't it stay like this?" Chiyo continued. "I'm sorry, but our decision is final. You've had plenty of freedoms up to now, but we want you to wait on this subject. We won't change our minds." Her father finished. Their daughter was on the verge of bawling, but Osaka spoke up. "I-it's alright, Chiyo. It's only 'til graduation." She made it sound as if she was fine, but it ate her away on the inside. "It's for the best, Chiyo. Please, just give it a little time." Senya calmed her. Between her parent's influence, and Osaka's agreement, her resolve broke. "O-okay, I'll w-wait." She sniffled. "There, it's settled! I promise we'll have a full discussion about it later." Tashru finalized it. Almost on cue, his cell phone rang. "Yes? Oh...I see...of course, we'll be there as soon as we can...thank you. Goodbye." He ended the conversation, "They need us in Kyoto for a deal, and want us there as soon as possible to make sure nothing's left undone." He told Senya. "They can never do it themselves, can they? I'm starting to think we're negotiating peace." She huffed in contempt. "Huh? What's goin' on?" Osaka asked. "Oh, it's nothing," Senya replied, turning to Chiyo, "I'm sorry, Chiyo, but we have to leave again. We'll be back soon, okay?" she moved to hug her daughter. "Aw! But you just got home!" Chiyo cried, returning it. "I apologize. We'll come and spend time with you the second this is over, alright?" her mom told her. "Yes! I'll miss you!" Chiyo answered, walking over to hug her father. "We'll see you later, Chiyo." Tashru told her. The couple exited the home, and took their place in the limousine. The vehicle left, leaving Chiyo and Osaka alone once again. On account of dusk encroaching on them, Osaka decided it best to head home; she wanted time to sort this out, anyway. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ayumu." Chiyo told her. A bit taken aback by the use of her real name, she stepped up to the smaller girl. She leaned down, placing a kiss on her forehead. "See ya, Chiyo." She said, and made her way home. After she got home, she fell asleep on the couch in her living room. That night, storms rolled in, symbolizing the new turmoil in their now-strained relationship.
Well, it's taken far too long, but here it is! I apologize if anyone seems OOC, but I was at a loss of inspiration until just now. R&R please!