Chapter 9
"Something up, Sawako?"
"Well, seeing all these kids, all alive with youth, it kind of makes me think."
"About what?"
"Well… maybe we should have one?"
"A student?"
"No… a child…"
"No, I don't think so. I already deal with enough kids as it is. I'm not ready to live with one just yet."
"That's ok. I can wait for an eternity as well."
Except eternities are not always so long…
-o0o-
Nanako and Sawako set a blistering pace as they hurried themselves back and forth across the house. Everything needed to be checked and double checked for perfection: the house spotless, hors d'oeuvres prepared and set up, enough seating for all the guests, the upstairs bedroom prepared. Yes, everything needed to be perfect because this was a very important day for the two Legendary Women.
Today would see with it the arrival of their daughter.
The two had been hard at work since six in the previous morning and now, finally finished at noon, they gave themselves a moment to rest. They went straight for the living room, where all the accommodations were already set up and prepared, and fell backwards next to the kotatsu.
"Whew!" Nanako sounded as she stretched her arms out for perhaps the first time in many hours. "Finally, we're done!"
"Hmm," Sawako sounded back. "And we only spend practically both our paychecks to make all the damn food for this! Seriously, Nanako, was buying all that food really necessary?"
"Hey, I just wanted to make sure everything was perfect."
"Me too, but we're adopting a thirteen-year-old girl, not the next sultan. Still, I suppose we won't have to cook again for at least a day or two will all the leftovers I'm sure we'll have."
"That's the spirit! Speaking of spirits, do we have enough of those?"
"Enough to drink elephants under the table," Sawako joked. "Be sure to keep the strong stuff away from Konata and the others. I can't begin to imagine what those girls are like sauced."
"Fine, fine." At that moment, as the clock hit 12:20, the doorbell rang. "Speaking of which, that's probably them." Nanako and Sawako sprung up and answered the door. Just as Nanako predicted, it was all her former Ryoo attendees: Konata, Miyuki, and the Hiiragi sisters, now all graduated and well into their first year of university.
The wives were immediately met with the students grappling them together in a hug. It had been several months since they last saw each other, and while most of them talked from time to time through webcam and phone calls, this was their first in-person meeting since they left for university.
Catching a whiff of the prepared food, the girls almost immediately began to congregate to the living room where they all took a seat and began to munch away. "So how has everyone been at university?" Nanako asked as she took a seat, Sawako to her immediate right.
"It's been great!" Konata answered. "Thanks again for helping me get into Ryoko, Nanako. I practically became a celebrity there overnight."
"Oh?" the blonde answered.
"Yeah. People recognized my face and name from the interviews last year and BAM, instant fan girls."
"Just don't let it go to your head. You're there to study, not goof off. And no, I might not be your teacher anymore, but I'm still the boss of you."
"How does that even-?"
"So, Miyuki, how are things going with you? You got into Tokyo University, right?"
The pinkette nodded back. "Things are going well. I'm getting along with my roommate very well. I'm surprised how similar we are."
"Good to hear. Also, how are things with- Well, you know."
Miyuki blushed. It had been over a year and she still blushed when her love life was brought into question, if only just barely. "Things are fine. Mugi and I actually met up last weekend in Tokyo for a little outing."
"Hmm, good…" The blonde then turned her attention to the lavender-haired sisters. "And what about you two?" she asked.
The twins shifted nervously in their seats at first, but Kagami quickly answered "We're fine, Nanako. Nothing to worry about." Unsure, the teacher turned to Miyuki, the only one here she knew was incapable of lying. The pinkette nodded and grinned back. Looking to Konata yielded the same results.
"Well, if you guys say everything is okay…" And indeed things were. On that fateful night when Nanako Kuroi visited the Hiiragi residence, Miki finally sat down and spoke with her two youngest daughters. She laid everything out on the table and left no opinion of hers unvoiced. And it seemed it all worked because afterward, Kagami and Tsukasa agreed to seek help. Six months brought with it a cure.
At least, that is what they led everyone to believe…
Before long, as everyone chipped away at the hors d'oeuvres, another ring of the doorbell came, signaling the arrival of Sawako's former students. They entered with the same enthusiasm the other students did, greeting the married couple and their friends with pleasure. With the new five's arrival, seating had officially become scarce with only one chair left amongst everyone. As everyone eventually sat themselves back down, both Sawako and Nanako looked around the room and saw that how the girls sat adjacent to each other made a very telling picture of their relationships.
Naturally, the Hiiragi sisters and Miyuki and Tsumugi sat as pairs. Ritsu, however, found herself sitting between Konata and Mio, metaphorically showing that, though Ritsu and Konata had mended their broken bond, Ritsu's mind was still subconsciously split between two people. And this left the remaining two, the sempai/kouhai relationship that was Yui and Azusa, to sit together.
"So, everyone's here now, right?" commented Yui as the festivities got back underway, her mouth half full with food.
"Not quite," Sawako answered. "We're still waiting for Nanako's parents to show. Oh, and- crap, what was her name?- Misao also." Ritsu jerked her head toward Sawako at the mention of Misao's name.
"Huh? Misao's coming?" A bewildered Kagami asked. "Did you invite her, Nanako?"
"Nope," Kuroi answered. "Then again, neither did you, Kagami."
"Onee-chan! You didn't invite Kusakabe-san to the party?" Tsukasa protested.
"Hey, I didn't think she would want to come! Besides, you know how Misao is." Tsukasa was still not pleased, if her puffed cheeks were any indication. "O-Ok, ok, you're right maybe I should have invited her. But it doesn't matter now, because she invited herself, right?"
"Right," said Nanako. "She also asked to bring a friend as well."
"She did? Oh wait, let me guess. She brought along Ayano, right?"
"Actually, no. Um… Say…" Nanako brought her attention to the Ryoo girls exclusively. "I didn't catch this when you guys were still in Ryoo, but did any of you know Kusakabe-san had a boyfriend?"
The former Ryoo students' eyes shot open from shock. "Boyfriend?!" they unisoned. As they then began to barrage Nanako with question as to who this mystery boyfriend was (all to no avail, as she knew nothing of who he was, only that they had been together for a year or so), Ritsu was growing ever nervous. She now knew without a doubt in her mind that Misao was going to bring her little brother, therefore bringing about untold amounts of embarrassment onto her. She didn't want to raise any suspicions, so Ritsu turned to Konata and, playing dumb, asking the bluenette "Who's Misao?"
"You don't remember?" Konata said back. "You played against her during that airsoft match a year ago. Short brown hair, golden eyes, fang, dressed like John Rambo. Remember?"
"Oh… Yeah, her…"
Ritsu grew only more fearful with, ten or so minutes later, the doorbell rang once more. Knowing it was Misao, Nanako got up and left the room to answer. Sawako and all the girls could here Misao from the living room greet Nanako with a loud "Yo!" The girls all went quite, anxiously awaiting the boy to show his face.
Nanako reemerged with Misao popping into the doorway. With a giant smile, she waved to everyone and greeting them with a "Sup gals! How have you guys been!?" When she received modest replied back, she quickly figured out what was going on. "Ooooooh, I see. You told them about my boyfriend, didn't you, Nanako?"
The blonde shrugged back. "Only that you had one, don't worry."
"Well good, because I want all you guys to meet him!" She looked to her right. "Come on, Sato-kun. They won't bite."
A clearly male voice sounded from behind the wall. "Misa-chan, you know I don't want to!" Curiosity piqued for all but one of the girls. The tension could be cut with a knife.
"Oh lighten up," Misao said back. "They were going to find out anyway, now let's go." Misao reached behind the wall and finally yanked the mystery boy into the doorway and into view. It was none other than Satoshi Tainaka, now fourteen years old and sporting the faintest bit of hair on his chin.
All the girls of the Light Music Club (save Ritsu) exploded at once, exclaiming a loud "Satoshi!?" Their eyes then immediately fell onto his sister, who had now sunken so deep into her seat one could swear she was melting.
The others, who had yet to make the family connection, were more shocked at how young the boy looked. That changed, however, when Konata made the connection for everyone else and said aloud "Say, I know you! You're Ritsu's little brother, aren't you?" Ritsu had now sunken as low as she possibly could into the furniture.
"Kusakabe-san?" said Miyuki. "Did Satoshi-san go to our school? Is that how you met him?"
"Oh no no," Misao answered. "He's still in junior high." The Ryoo girls flinched. "And we met in an airsoft match- Whoa, onigiri!" Misao finally noticed the spread of food and, snatching a rice ball, proceeded to stuff her face. She then pulled Satoshi behind her toward the only remaining seating left, which was a single-person chair.
"Oh shoot," Nanako cursed. "Looks like we're not going to have enough seating for everyone after all."
"Oh don't worry about it," Misao replied before nearly tossing the boy into the chair and plopping down onto his lap. This further escalated the surprised looks of her friends (and the embarrassment of Ritsu.)
"Well don't get too comfy," Sawako warned. "Nanako's parents are going to show eventually and when they do, none of this lovey-dovey stuff, got it?" Misao gave a thumbs-up back.
And so the festivities returned to normalcy. The focus of the room went naturally to Misao and Satoshi, the university and college students asking the couple a plethora of questions. Though Satoshi hesitated to answer many of the questions (especially being right in front of his sister), Misao seemed not at all embarrassed, though, and answered away.
Remaining strangely quiet, however, was kouhai Azusa Nakano. Instead of engaging in the conversation, she instead looked at all the couples around her and felt- dare she admit it- pissed off. She watched and said nothing for over a year as all her friends found someone they loved, and with each other at that! She kept quiet for that long, but now, she was going to say something.
Out of the ambient chatter of the room, Azusa's voice suddenly stuck out, exclaiming a "… What the hell happened?"
Chatter came to an abrupt stop, everyone's eyes turning to the pigtailed girl. Yui, with a mouth half-full of food, turned to Azusa and asked her "What do you mean, Azu-nyan?"
"I-I mean… I mean what happened here! With all of us! Wha- I mean, did you guys all meet up one day and decide "Hey, let's all turn gay and couple up together- Oh, but don't tell Azusa, because she won't care, right?! I mean- What the hell!"
No one knew how to react initially. They couldn't tell if this was Azusa joking or not, but the flustered look on her face pointed toward "not." And for a moment no one said a word- Until Misao spoke, that is. She raised a hand up slowly and pointed out "Uh… I'm not gay, though."
"M-Me nither," added Satoshi.
Miyuki then added "And I consider myself more 'pansexual' than a le-"
"That's not the point!" a now red faced Azusa protested. "I-It just seemed like it all happened so quickly and now I feel- I-I don't know- I guess I feel left out- AAH!" The girl yelped with her adjacent sempai suddenly leaned over and clamped her arms around Azusa's shoulders. "Y-Yui-sempai? What are you doing!"
"Awww~ Wassa matter, Azu-nyan?" Yui baby-talked to Azusa. "Are you sad because no one confessed to you?"
"Shut up!"
"If you're lonely, Azu-nyan, I'll be your girlfriend, if you want."
"Yui~! Knock it off! That's not what I was saying!" Azusa continued to wriggle and squirm in Yui's grip but it was all to no avail. Her hug was too much to escape from, and eventually the girl gave up. All the on-looking band mates smiled and giggled to each other, musing "Well, if it was going to happen, it was going to be with those two."
"Hey, Nanako!" Misao called out. "I was wondering something. Who's this girl you adopted?"
"Her name's Kana Nakamachi," Nanako answered. "We must have visited at least six different agencies before we met her-"
"Don't lie!" Sawako interrupted. "The real story is, girls, that she got suckered into the first sob story she heard."
"Hey! You chose her too, Sawako!" The brunette rolled her eyes in amusement.
"So have you me her already?" Kagami then asked.
"No, actually," Sawako answered. "Though we did get a dossier with her picture and profile. But honestly, she hasn't had the best circumstances thus far."
"Oh? What happened?"
Sawako proceeded to tell the room of Kana's story, the one outlined in her dossier. According to it, she lost bother her parents when she was but an infant, when they were hit by a drunk driver. She was raised by her mother's mother until she was twelve when the grandmother passed away of old age. She was reported as running away from home as movers were cleaning out the grandparent's house. It is unclear why she ran away, but a statement from one of the movers claimed she was yelling something along the lines of "You won't pack me away with grandma!"
She resurfaced several months later, two months after she turned thirteen. She had been under the care of a local, all female run newspaper whose employees lived in the company building. She helped deliver papers in exchange for room and board. The arrangement work out well and would have continued to do so if the company, due to declining subscribership, had to close. With no other place for a girl of her age to work or live, the newspaper's employees had no choice but to bring her to a local foster home, where she was found by Nanako and Sawako.
As the story wrapped up, the doorbell rang again. "Oh, that must be my parents," Nanako stated. "Misao, that means get off of Satoshi. And stop hugging Azusa, Yui!" Both Nanako and Sawako got up to meet the former's parent's at the door. After they left, Tsukasa turned to Miyuki and asked her "Yuki-chan, what does 'pansexual' mean?"
The pinkette blushed but promptly answered the question. "Well, Hiiragi-san, by definition it means that you become attracted to people regardless of gender. But I like to see it as you fall in love with who people are, not what they are."
"So," said Konata, "does that mean Haruhi's pansexual? Because in the first episode she said-"
"Oh knock it off," Kagami interrupted. "Who the hell watches that show anymore? It's gotta be, I don't know, over five years old now? Who watches anime that are that old anyway?" What followed was a silence that, if one listened closely, one could hear the fourth wall begin to crack.
In came Nanako's parents: Hina and Takumi. Though both seemed to have aged well enough in the last ten years, Takumi now walked with the support of a wooden cane in his right hand. A slip in the bathroom five years ago, though not a serious one, left his right leg in a bad state that he never fully recovered from. Hina, however, seemed as well as ever.
All the girls (and Satoshi) quickly introduced themselves to Nanako's parents. At one point Hina made the light-hearted joke to her daughter that she should "Make friends your own age." Expecting no other visitors besides the adoptee, festivities resumed. All the children seemed to get a particular kick from the stories Takumi began to tell about his youth, how he claimed he was part of a gang and got into regular neighborhood brawls. Hina, with an amused grin, promptly warned everyone that he was joking.
As Takumi was about to begin his fourth tale, the one about "that guitar woman on a yellow vespa," the doorbell rang once more. This time Nanako and Sawako instantly got nervous, knowing for certain this would be the adoption agency. The brunette quickly pointed to Mugi, who was closest to the window that looked out to the street, and ordered her to "Check outside. What do you see?"
Mugi promptly parted the window's curtain and scanned the outside. "Nothing really…" she replied. "What exactly am I looking for?"
"A company van, maybe with the agency's name printed on the side."
"Hmm… Nope, nothing."
"No? Then who could it be?" Everyone watched as Sawako got up and left the room to the door. The door clicked open, but what followed after that was a long period of silence. Curious, Nanako got up as well. Who she found at the front door were the two people she did not expect to actually show.
At the door stood Sawako's mother and father: Jun and Takao Yamanaka.
It had been but a year or so since her last encounter with Sawako's parents, so Nanako remembered the event well. She noticed a nervous sweat forming on the back of her wife's neck, but she kept her composure well. No doubt Sawako was secretly fearful of why they were here.
"… Mom? Dad?" the brunette finally spoke. "Wha-? What are you doing here?"
Takao grinned back and replied "We're here to see the arrival of our granddaughter, of course. I hope we're not too late."
"B-But how did you find out? I never-" Sawako stopped when Nanako walked past and, much to the brunette's amazement, greeted them warmly, as if they were friends. "No, you're not too late," Nanako stated, leading the two inside. "Come in, please. Take a seat wherever." After the two had left for the other room, the blonde turned back to her wife and received exactly what she expected: her unblinking, unbelieving stare.
"Nanako…" she drew out, lowering her voice to a whisper as so no one else could overhear. "Did you invite my parents?"
"Well…" she answered, doing the same. "Not exactly. They kind of asked if they could come when they found out about the adoption."
"And just how did they find out, exactly?"
"I might have… told them."
"Wha-? Nanako, why-?"
"Oh come on, Sawako, they at least have the right to know that they're going to have a grandchild! Besides, they sounded so happy when I told them that I couldn't say no!"
"But why would they care? After everything between us-"
"Well, maybe when we're grandparents we'll know how they feel. Now come on, Sawako, this is supposed to be a happy day for us! Think of it this way: Maybe they decided to come to show that they haven't completely abandoned you. Maybe they want to make up for things."
"… Did they actually say this to you or are you making this up?"
Seeing that hopeful optimism was not working on Sawako, Nanako decided on a different route. In a brief instant, her eyes went from their normal state to intense and stern, somewhat like how Sawako's eyes got whenever she removed her glasses. "Sawako," she said firmly, "I'm not going to let you kick your parents out of our house. Not today. Not when our daughter is coming as well. Got that? If you three don't make up today, that's fine, but freaking try, for my and Kana's sake."
Sawako reeled her head back in surprise. "Whoa. When did you learn to do that? I thought that was my shtick."
"One learns from the master," she chuckled in reply.
"Hmm, figures… Ok, I concede. They can stay. And I'll try to reconcile with them."
Nanako's face beamed with happiness and the two returned to the living room. To both their delight, the arrival of Sawako's parents was met kindly by everyone, adult and yound adult alike. And once more the get-together got back underway. The massive amount of food the wives prepared slowly began to dwindle away (due in no small part to Misao's bottomless pit of a stomach.)
An hour passed when the doorbell rang for the final time that day. Instantly, Nanako pointed to Mugi and, without being asked, she looked outside to the street. "I see a minivan!" the blonde declared. "Green, with words printed on the side. It looks professional to me." Now there were no more doubts: this would be it, the arrival of Nanako and Sawako's daughter. The two took a moment to get ready before finally getting up and walking to the door side by side.
The two reached for the doorknob as one and, after another pause, creaked the door open… And were both met with a sight they weren't expecting.
They were not met with the sight of Kana, but rather, an intimidating man: thin and tall, shaved head, dark sunglasses, ears studded with silver earrings, and dressed in a black suit with lime green tie. He held a clipboard in his hand and had hanging from his lips a cigar that reeked strongly of cherry-scented smoke.
After taking a long drag, he lifted the clipboard and gave it a look-over. "… Nanako Kuroi and Sawako Yamanaka?" he asked, the smoke flowing from past his lips.
"Uh… Yes, that's us," Nanako answered, "but, uh, I thought we were getting a girl."
"Uh-? Oh, haha!" the guy in the suit chuckled. "No no, I work for the adoption agency. Name's Yasushi Takagi, Yasu for short." He reached a hand forward and shook the two's hand. "Actually, Kana's still in the van. She's a little shy, you see." The two peeked behind Yasu to the distant van and, sure enough, there was someone inside, sitting behind tinted glass.
Yasu held out his clipboard and a pen. "All that's left to do is your two's initials. Just write wherever I marked with a red 'X.'" The two quickly took turns penning their names down and after a minute they were finished. Yasu looked over the forms quickly and, once finished as well, smiled. "Congratulations. You are now officially parents." A sudden murmur came from inside the house. "Family inside?"
"And friends," Sawako answered.
"Hmm. Well, wait here. I'll go get Kana for you." With a smile the man turned and headed back to the van. Nanako and Sawako moved closer together and grasped nervously at each other's hand. Yasu returned shortly holding two stuffed blue duffle bags and a thirteen year old girl. Light orange hair barely reached to her shoulders and bounced slightly with every nervous step forward. Her large, hazel eyes were fixated on the ground in front of her. Her face show clear nervousness.
She stopped a few feet in front of her new mothers, remaining close beside Yasu, and for a moment she refused to look up and say a word. "Go on," Yasu said gently to Kana. "Introduce yourself." Slowly, the girl lifted her gaze to the two female strangers, putting into the sunlight a clear view of her cuteness.
"H-Hello…" she finally greeted. "M-My name's Kana Nakamachi. Thank you for letting me into your ho- AAH!" By the time Kana yelped she already found herself between Sawako and Nanako, the two bending down to grasp the girl in a simultaneous hug. Kana's head was well pressed betwixt the pair's bosoms.
"Oh my God!" Sawako practically squealed from delight. "You are just the cutest thing ever!"
"And she so well mannered!" Nanako added. "I knew we picked right!" Yasu, quickly feeling out of place, put Kana's bags down and took that time to silently slip away and leave. The others from inside slowly began to gather at the doorway, all wanting to catch a glimpse of the new arrival.
"M-Mama!" Kana called out from between the pair of breasts. "You're crushing me!"
The two quickly relinquished their grip. "Sorry, sorry!" Nanako quickly apologized before realizing "Hey, wait a second. Did you just call me- us-'Mama'?"
"W-Well, yeah," she replied. "I mean, if you don't want to-"
"N-No, it's ok. It's just going to get some getting used to, that's all. Eh-hehe…"
The girl poked her head to the side when she noticed the crowd that had gathered at the door. "Uh, is this your family?" Kana asked.
"Some of them, yes," Sawako answered. "The rest are friends of ours."
"Wow! How many sisters do I have!?"
A Few Months Later…
"Nana~! Nana~!" Kana called out for her mother by nickname as she made her way downstairs. She received a reply back of "In here", the voice coming from the kitchen. The girl headed right over and was met, proceeding entering the room, with the smell of brewing coffee. "You're making coffee now?" Kana asked Nanako as the latter poured a cup. "But it's, like, one in the afternoon."
"Never too late in my book," Nanako grinned back. "Say, feel like finally growing a pair and having one yourself?"
"Blegh. You know I hate coffee!"
"Eh, you'll learn to love it sooner or later, trust me. So, what's all the yelling for, Kana?" Kana immediately fell into a familiar pose: she folded her arms behind her back and slowly rocker herself forward and back, an innocent look on her face. Nanako had seen this very pose many times already and she knew exactly what it meant: Kana was going to ask for something.
"Ok, fess up," said Nanako with a grin. "What do you want this time?"
"Oh well~… I was just wondering if, perhaps, maybe… Can we get a cat?"
The girl received back a blank look. "A cat?" Nanako repeated.
"Yeah, a kitty cat! So can we? Can we, can we, can we?"
"No."
"… W-Wha-? But why not~!?" Kana whined.
"Because, Kana," Nanako replied, "if we get a cat, Sawako and I are going to be the ones cleaning up after it, and I don't mean just cat fur. Besides, you're too much of a scatterbrain," she joked.
Kana puffed out her reddened cheeks from irritation. "Humph. You're mean, Nana!"
As much as she was right, Nanako didn't like to see Kana mad at her, so decided to make her a deal. "Ok, ok, wait a sec… If you can convince Sawako to let you have a pet, I might change my mind."
With joy flooding back to Kana's face, she rushed off to the living room, where she knew Sawako was. She found her second mother in her favorite place on lazy Sundays such as this: fully stretched out on the couch, currently in the midst of catching up with her shows.
"Sawa~! Sawa~!" Kana gleefully called out as she came rushing into the living room. "Is it ok if I-"
"No," Sawako answered.
"EH?! B-But I didn't even say anything!"
"I heard you and Nanako talking," she stated flatly. "We are not getting a cat, Kana. We have enough pussy in this house already."
Kana's cheeks reddened again, both from angry and embarrassment. "Grrrr. I could so take care of a pet! Really!"
"Besides, what are you asking such random things for right now? Shouldn't you be more focused on getting ready?"
"Ready? Ready for what."
Sawako suddenly sat up on the couch and locked a flat, deadpan look on Kana's eyes. "You're kidding," she asked. "Please tell me you're joking. You've only been blabbering on about it for an entire week now."
"What do you mean, Sawa?"
"And this is why you can't have a pet- You're date, dummy! The date you're having today?!"
It took Kana a full five seconds before she finally remembered. And when she did, one could claim the yelp she emitted could be heard from space. In the blink of an eye she was already bounding upstairs, cursing at herself. "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"
"Better hurry up," Sawako called to Kana. "He said he'd be here not too long from now." This prompted yet another shrill shriek from Kana, and yet another one came when, only five or so minutes later, the doorbell rang.
Nanako was the first there to answer the door and greet their arrival. "Hey there, Satoshi-kun."
"Hello," said Satoshi Tainaka back. "Is, uh, is Kana home?"
A short time after the arrival party for Kana Nakamachi, the relationship between Satoshi and Misao Kusakabe was ended. And by Misao, no less. With the older girl going away for university, she explained to Satoshi that, while she did love him and the time they spent was great, "Maybe it's time we start seeing people are own age." But there was no love lost between the two. The couple had one last, lengthy romp between the sheets, and before Misao left, she left Satoshi with some comforting words.
"Don't feel sad," she told him, grinning and giggling. "Think of it this way: Now, when you ask that Kana girl out, you won't be a complete idiot when you get her into bed."
As odd of a parting message as that was, it would become prophetic as time passed. Not a week or so later, Satoshi and Kana met each other on the morning train to school and quickly found out they also took thesame one back home. It wasn't long before the two began to talk and became friends. After a couple of weeks, Satoshi finally summoned up the courage to ask Kana out, to which the girl gleefully accepted.
Today, Satoshi arrived at the Yamanaka/Kuroi/Makamachi household for what would be his and Kana's first date.
"Yeah, she's here," Nanako replied. "She's upstairs getting ready." She turned around and yelled into the house. "Kana! Satoshi's here!"
Another piercing shriek sounded. "H-Hold on, Sato-kun!" Kana called back. I'll be there soon!"
Nanako turned back to Satoshi and could not help but grin and shake her head at Kana's forgetfulness. "So, where are you two heading?"
"Oh, in town. She's been talking about that movie that came out on Friday, the one based off the anime series. She suggested- Well, insisted, really- we go see that."
Nanako laughed. "I see. Well, I have coffee inside. Want some?"
"Eh, no thanks." Coffee in the afternoon reminded him too much of his ex.
Just then, Sawako appeared from the living room and approached the doorway. "And look who decided to join us," Nanako joked. "Coffee?"
"Sure," Sawako replied. As Nanako let for the kitchen to fetch the drinks, Sawako turned her full attention to the young man who stood before her. "Nervous?" she asked him.
"No, not really…"
"Good. But, uh, before you go…" Sawako bent down to met Satoshi at his eye level. "I just want to say something to you…" A hand reached up to her face and with one swift motion she snapped her glasses off. Her normal, rounded, friendly eyes became sharp and fierce in an instant, taking Satoshi by surprise. This was what his sister had mentioned many times in the past.
"Ok, lover boy, listen up," Sawako threatened. "You might have had free range with Misao and did God-knows-what in the bed, but Kana is my daughter. So if I hear that you two have so much went beyond kissing without my consent, we are going to have big, big problem on our hands… Am I clear?"
"Y-Yes, S-S-Sawako-san," a now livid and shaking Satoshi replied.
"Good," smiled Sawako back as she put her glasses back on. Just then, the sound of descending footsteps came from within. "I'm ready, Sato-kun~!" Kana called out as she stepped onto the front porch. She dressed herself for her first date in a plain but colorful sundress and tucked her favorite hairpin into a lock of her hair. She looked the epitome of both innocent and cute.
"Ready to go, Sato-kun?" she asked. "Sato-kun? You look a little pale? Are you ok?"
"Y-Yeah," he stammered in reply. "I'm fine. Uh, you look good, Kana."
The girl beamed back a smile. "Thanks!" she replied as she grasped Satoshi by a wrist and pulled him along. "Now let's go, we don't want to be late. Bye Sawa! Bye Nana! I'll be home before dark!"
"Take care." Sawako looked on and smiled as the two went on their way, walking along the sidewalk toward the direction of the nearest station. Nanako joined her only a short moment later with a mug of coffee in each hand, one of which Sawako took.
"Jeez, did you scare Satoshi enough?" Nanako asked sarcastically. "Try not to scare the boy too much. We want them to have a second date, at least."
"Just needed to set some ground rules is all…" She took a sip of her drink and voiced a long, pleased sigh. The weather could not have been any more perfect that day and it directly reflected the mood she had been in for the past few months, ever since Kana entered her life.
"You know," said Nanako, "it's kind of funny."
"What is?" asked Sawako.
"A year ago, the thought of having a child, adopted or otherwise, was completely out of the question for me. And look at us now."
Sawako chuckled. "Yeah. I remembered when you collapsed when I mentioned the notion at that performance your girls set up."
"And two years ago, I never thought we'd be together again… I thought that after we began drifting apart after we graduated that that was it. We'd go our separate ways and we'd both move on…"
"But somehow fate brought us back together…" Sawako reached over and grabbed Nanako's free hand. "And I'm glad it did."
Because when lucky stars and guitars meet, the bonds are unbreakable and the possibilities are endless…
THE END
[Author's Notes] Well my friends, it's been a long time coming- too long for my own tastes- but this is it: the final installment to the Lucky Stars and Gitahs series. I have nothing but thanks for all of you have stuck around since the beginning and I hope it has been an enjoyable experience reading what I now consider my claim to fame on this misunderstood website of ours.
But this mean I will stop making Lucky Star/K-on crossovers. Honestly, I don't know, but I'll leave the prospect in the air. There are so many more things I want to write right now, but if in the future the desire is strong enough, I might re-walk these oh-so-familiar grounds.
But until then, this is ParadoxBattleZone wishing you all happy readings.