Chapter 10: Out of the Bag
Yotsuba quickly reapplied her makeup in the mirror. It was three in the afternoon. She had just gotten done with a shift at the flower shop and was scheduled to coach a basketball practice. And she was supposed to pick Raiha up from school on the way. The younger girl had agreed to watch the practice so she didn't have to worry about rushing to drop her off at home.
After making herself look presentable she hopped on the moped and sped off towards the highschool. She waited outfront with all the other parents waiting to pick their kids up. There was no winning the waiting game. Get here too soon and you have to wait on the kids. Get here too late and you have to deal with traffic. This was one thing Yotsuba was not looking forward to when it came to being a parent.
She still had a few years at least to deal with that. She still wasn't pregnant and not for lack of trying. The previous weekend had been one of their most adventurous. He had gotten a physical examination. Luckily he wasn't incapable of having kids, but at the same time he was the reason it hadn't happened yet. He had a low sperm count and other things holding him back.
Speaking of him, she was regretting not asking Fuutarou for the car. The plan was that he'd go grocery shopping while she was coaching basketball. But she wasn't expecting it to be this cold. Vehicles were expensive though and she didn't want to waste the money on something that the moped was adequate for throughout most of the year.
The bell rang and people started filing out of the school. Memories of her time in that school ran through her head. Hard to believe she had been out of highschool longer than she was in at this point. Raiha was almost done at this point.
The younger Uesugi sibling came walking out with a small group of girls. They were all bundled up in coats and Raiha had a red scarf around her neck. They started going their separate ways and Raiha spotted her sister-in-law.
"Yotsuba Nee-San!" Raiha waved and jogged over. "How are you doing today?"
"Cold." Yotsuba shivered. "Come on." She handed Raiha her spare helmet. "So how was school?" Yotsuba said as she started up the vehicle.
"Pretty good. I've been having fun hanging out with my friend Sakura."
"You'll have to tell me about her later. Hold on tight."
"Yes ma'am." Raiha wrapped her arms around Yotsuba's stomach as she sped off. The wind was too great for them to carry on a conversation. And by the time they arrived at their destination, Raiha had to go to the bathroom and Yotsuba hurried to meet up with her kids for practice.
Yotsuba's team had a long way to go if they were going to stand a chance against the other girl teams in the area. Most of them were passionate about the sport, but lacked any talent. A few of them were talented but unmotivated. One of them had neither but was forced into the sport by her mom.
Yotsuba had to treat coaching the way Fuutarou treated tutoring. She had to earn their respect. She had to make it fun. She had to see each girl as an individual and not as part of a collective. She had made strives trying to get the team to treat each other like family. If only she made equal strides in actually making them good at the sport they'd be unstoppable. But she had confidence, and she was at least proud that they understood what it meant to be a team.
"You're all partners." Yotsuba said. Just like her and Fuutarou and the others were partners.
While she focused on the kids Raiha sat up in the bleachers and studied. She was a lot like her brother in that regard. I actually reminded her of Itsuki if Itsuki was good at studying. Or Yotsuba herself if she stuck with it instead of foregoing her studies for sports and other extracurricular activities.
Their time for practice ran out and Yotsuba dismissed them. She had to wait until all the kids were gone before she could leave so she played with a ball. She passed it back and forth with some of the kids, dribbled and shot some goals. Each toss went into the net, earning a silent cheer from the coach. She still had it. Maybe she should see about joining a league. Or would that be too much? Yeah, she preferred just coaching kids. That's where her heart was taking her.
"Yotsuba pass it." Raiha said as she held her arms out. Yotsuba passed it to her and the younger girl took a shot. The ball hit off the rim and bounced away. Yotsuba quickly ran and grabbed the ball, turned and shot. Her body was off balance from the quick motion and it was the first time the ball didn't go in.
"Looks like you are fallible." Raiha said.
"I don't even know what that word means." She was telling the truth but had a confident grin to make it look like she was only playing dumb.
"It's just assuring that you're not perfect." Raiha added.
"I am the furthest thing from perfect." Yotsuba they started passing the ball back and forth.
"But you're courageous and strong...not to mention absolutely beautiful." Raiha sighed. Yotsuba caught the ball and held onto it. Something about Raiha's tone sparked her curiosity. It was like the younger girl was looking for an opportunity to speak her mind but was holding back. It was a tone Yotsuba knew all too well. It was the same tone she would use when she would cheer "Uesugi-San."
"I'm also really stupid though." Yotsuba started dribbling the ball. "I don't know what I'd do without your brother."
"Fuutarou….when did you know you were in love with him?"
"I don't know. It was always there. I thought he was cute and lonely and I wanted to help. Then we made our promise and it changed me. After a while I realized I was in love with him, or at least the idea of him. Then when I saw how hard he had worked and how much he had changed, I couldn't help but belittle myself and fall in love."
"Yeah ...can't really relate to such deep feelings." Raiha sighed.
"Nothing wrong with that." Yotsuba said. One of her kids shouted her name and waved goodbye. So she waved back before getting back on track. "There's nothing wrong with not liking boys. I'm sure your dad will be happy." She teased.
"Hmm…" Her face tightened up. She looked back and forth for a second. She then stepped forward to close the distance between them. "I...is it really okay for me to not like guys?"
"Of course. You can't force something like love. Just keep an open heart and you're bound to love someone eventually."
"I...I do love someone though." Raiha took a deep breath. "At least I think it might be love. It's just uh…."
"Well then what's his name?"
"It's just…..it's not a he. Alright. It's….the only person, the way you describe your feelings the only one who is like that for me is Sakura."
"Oh." Yotsuba bit her lip. Now that she thought about it, it made sense. This was a bit of a taboo and a very touchy subject. Raiha was confiding in her. She was coming out to her. "Have you told her?"
"No. But we ...I was spending time with her and we started talking about kissing and then things happened, you know."
"Have you told anyone else?" Yotsuba asked.
"I passively hinted at it to Itsuki but she didn't press me so I never really came lean. You're the first person I trust who has actually asked me about my love life." Raiha said. "I don't know what to do. I've never been in love so I don't know if this is just a phase or if we were just caught up in the moment or if this is serious. I don't know if this is platonic or if I have feelings for her. And I can't tell my dad. Oh promise me you won't tell my brother."
"I hate lying to him but...yeah I don't think he'd ever ask so I won't tell." Yotsuba promised. "You can trust me."
"This is so awkward." Raiha blushed. "I wish I had your figure." She fumed as she clutched her chest. "It'd be easier to figure out what I'm feeling if I had more opportunities to confront them. Like, am I falling for Sakura because I'm ...that or is it because I don't have any guy friends. Like, Fuutarou had no interest in dating anyone until he had been your tutor for a long time. What if I'm the ..." Yotsuba stopped her ramblings by placing a gentle finger on her lips.
"You are smart and cute and a glowing personality. You're going to figure it out. And I will always be here. You're family."
"Thanks." Raiha breathed a sigh of relief. "You're the best." She wrapped her arms around her big sister. Yotsuba hugged her back and patted her head. Raiha was still a bit shorter than Yotsuba but had grown a lot over the last five years.
"Let's go home." Yotsuba said.
After some time, fighting traffic and sitting in silence, they were at the house. Fuutarou was home and making dinner. Yotsuba discarded her coat and walked over to the heater. Her hands were frigid and her body was shivering.
"Cold outside huh." Fuutarou teased.
"You have no idea. And riding the moped makes it worse." Yotsuba whined.
"Well, if there's ever a day where you have somewhere to be and you don't want to deal with it, you can always take me to work."
"But wouldn't that just take more gas money?"
"Since when did you become economically conscious?"
"I have always supported your stinginess." She defended.
"You're a terrible liar." He tugged on the ribbon in her hair.
"Wah, stop it!" She cried out. "You know I've gotten better!" He set her down and laughed.
"Yeah." Fuutarou said as he fixed the ribbon. "Don't worry about gas money. It beats the hell out of paying for another car."
"True." Yotsuba said as she looked over to Raiha, pacing around the kitchen taste testing the broth Fuutarou had been making.
"So, how was your day?" He asked.
"Busy and cold." Yotsuba answered.
"Cold and stressful." Raiha chimed in.
"But the two of you at least got a little girl time." Fuutarou said.
"A little bit." Yotsuba said. Raiha gave her a quick glance. Yotsuba nodded. Raiha's feelings were her own. Only she could figure them out. All Yotsuba could do was support her. And she would no matter what happened. No matter who she told and what they thought. Regardless of if this was a phase or not, if she got her heart broken or not. Yotsuba wouldn't dream of leaving Fuutarou's side and that meant Raiha would always be a fifth sister for her.
"Learn anything from watching Yotsuba coach?"
"Not really." Raiha shrugged. "Not really into basketball. I spent the whole time studying." Fuutarou glanced over to Yotsuba who nodded to confirm. "My grades are still really good. I'm ranked number one in my class but only number two in the grade. I really want to take that top spot with the next test."
"So long as it's what you want." Fuutarou said.
"And so long as you don't try being an ass about it." Yotsuba said. "Like someone we know."
"Was that a shot at me?"
"It was a shot at both of us." She replied as she buried her face into Fuutarou's back and gave him a nice and tight hug.
"You two are so cute." Raiha beamed.
The three of them had dinner together. After the meal, Fuutarou took Raiha home while Yotsuba cleaned up. She was still putting stuff away when Fuutarou returned home. He sauntered off into the bedroom and Yotsuba joined him as soon as she was done.
"I'm glad Raiha has been doing well." Fuutarou said.
"Yeah, I wish we had more time to hang out." Yotsuba stated as she began to strip down and change into her pajamas.
"You wish that about everyone." He noted.
"Everyone I absolutely love as family." Yotsuba amended his comment. "Really can't wait for that list to grow."
"It will. Just give it time."
"Oh I'll give it something all right." She grinned as she pulled on his nightshirt. The two fell onto the bed with him laying on top of her.
"Not much you can give that I haven't already taken." He sighed. She pulled him into a deep kiss that lasted a whole minute.
"You can always give me more...whenever you want." Her tone was sultry. She was shifting the mood as always at this time of night. "I love you so much."
"I know, and I love you too."