Lonely No More
by Cyberchao X

Disclaimer: So many shout outs…

Chapter 24

"What? But I thought you liked my pale skin?"

"It clashes with that dress. I want a body as red as a ground cherry." Seeing Katsura's panicked look, she quickly added, "It's just a saying. I won't be grinding your cherry just yet."

"Well, if you think my dress clashes with my skin, I could always just…" she brushed one of the straps off of her shoulder, "lose it."

"Look at you being all sexy! No, leave them on," she said, as Katsura started to remove her shoes, "those you can leave on. You're turning me on."

"But—"

"I'll carry you upstairs," Suki said, and before Katsura knew it, she was being carried upstairs bridal-style.

"…How am I supposed to explain that to imouto-chan?"

"Have you seen Suki-tan?" Arisa asked.

"No, not recently. Not since…before Himiya-san arrived," Suzuka replied, realizing what was happening and knowing that Arisa wouldn't like this response. "Haya-chan's still not here…we left directions on how to get here."

"You think something happened to her?"

"To one of them, anyway. If Nanoha-chan or Fate-chan got hurt, she'd probably stay there, too…I don't want to think about that, though."

"Arisa-san, have you seen Suki-tan?"

"Nope. Suzu-chan says she hasn't seen her either. Not since…not since Himiya-san arrived."

"You think…" Arisa nodded. "Damn…"

The dress fell from Katsura's slender form, her slight breasts coming free from the underwire. Suki kissed each nipple just once before moving onto other parts, laying kisses across her back as her hands caressed the girl's pale thighs. "On-n-neesama…"

"Sh. Don't worry about it. Just enjoy it."

"I can't…I want to convey my feelings to you. Through you…"

"It's okay. I can feel it… Just your reactions will suffice." Her fingers crept upward, under the line of the panties, just as red as the dress that now lay on Suki's bedroom floor. Reaching the end of her leg and going no further (CCX: I know that there is a word for this, but it's decidedly unsexy and would be out of place in this chapter), always just teasing at the sensitive areas. Finally, as she started nipping at Katsura's neck, the younger girl broke down and turned flushed. "That's my Katsu-tan…" Then no more words as Suki's lips enveloped her lover's.

"Hi, Ari-neesama!" Natsume said brightly.

"You're…as energetic as ever, Natsume-chan," Arisa said. "Where's Suki-tan?"

"Ah…I'm not sure what Oneesama and Neesan are doing, but based on the way Oneesama carried Neesan upstairs I get the feeling that they wanted to be alone."

"…Carried?" Tatsuke asked.

"Yeah, just like a bride. Of course, it could've been for practical purposes, because Oneesama didn't even let Neesan take her shoes off."

"…So what do we do?"

"What can we do?" Arisa replied. "Somehow I doubt they meant to show Natsu-tan their relationship, but we can't go barging in now, not with that innocent little thing watching."

"I wouldn't put it past them," Tatsuke replied.

"This isn't Watagami-chan we're dealing with here. Suki-tan definitely isn't cruel enough to use Natsume-chan for such devious purposes, and I don't think Himiya-san is either." Tatsuke pointed out the odd difference in how Arisa referred to the two sisters. "You understand, right? Natsume-chan…has a certain endearing quality to her. It's hard not to like her. Her sister…well, I don't really know her that well, which seems to be by design. She's always been hostile to me, but that's only natural because I'm a rival to her."

"She's not hostile to me, though," Tatsuke said.

"For the same reasons I'm not hostile to you, I'd imagine," Arisa explained. "Suki needs both a male and a female lover. You're the only one filling the former role, but Himiya-san and I are competing for the latter."

"Except you're not competing alone," Tatsuke reminded her, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Neither is she," Arisa replied. "She's got the bitch queen working behind the scenes to manipulate things in her favor."

"Wow. Harsh words."

"You don't agree?"

"I didn't say that. Hanna-chan is indeed proving to be quite a masterful manipulator."

"…So what's your stake in this? Like I said, regardless of what happens between me and Himiya-san, your position isn't threatened."

"…Tell that to Hanna-chan."

"I see. Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks."

"Y-you're not alone."

"Huh?"

"W-we're united by a common interest—Sempai—but we're n-not…we don't all get along," Reina said.

Arisa remembered that the first time she'd met the girl, she mentioned that Hanna had said she wasn't cut out for the task she was performing. Now, this appeared to have been the truth, so Arisa hadn't thought much of it, but now she had a hunch. "It's not just my imagination, then? Watagami-chan really is kind of a bitch?"

"N-not exactly…usually she's the level-headed one, keeping Himiya-san in line. B-but I guess…I guess Hanna-chan can come off as a bit cold and analytical. Himiya-san…she's the…emotional one."

Arisa was a bit stunned. Even though Katsura had been nothing but hostile to her, she'd never gotten the impression that she was the queen bee type. Yet even though what she'd just been told only bolstered the impression that it was tough to separate the two girls, Reina had referred to Hanna by her given name and a -chan honorific, but used -san and the family name to refer to Katsura.

"That's an awfully negative way of looking at it," Mayu said. Damnit, whatever happened to private conversations? "I prefer to think that Hanna-chan is good at keeping her cool under pressure."

"Aoba-san…I-I didn't mean that I saw it that way, I just said that it could come off that way. Hanna-chan's… actually really nice…"

Mayu smiled. "And smart, too."

"Sounds like you're a big fan of hers," Arisa suggested.

"I guess you could say that. If she was a boy I totally would go out with her. Don't say a word, because I'm already quite certain as to my sexuality and have been for quite some time."

"I wasn't going to say anything. I was certain of mine at an early age, too." Arisa grinned. "Nothing wrong with a little curiosity—I'm certainly grateful for it—but if you know, you know."

CCX: Okay, so it's tough to actually be sure at an early age, because even if you have those types of desires, you won't recognize them for what they are until you get older, at which point you'll retroactively realize that you've been sexually attracted to the opposite sex—or in Arisa's case, the same sex—since before you knew what sex was. …Again, speaking from experience. Given my admitted lack of masculinity, the fact that I was already a casanova wannabe in preschool is one of the few things that allows me to remain confident in my heterosexuality.

"Glad you understand, Bannings-san. You don't seem like a bad person…but I can't help you. Doing so would mean opposing Hanna-chan."

"…Huh."

"What is it?"

"I didn't realize that Watagami-chan had such a magnetism to her."

"Well, she certainly seems repellant enough to you," Mayu said.

Arisa smiled. "You seem bright enough in your own right."

"I manage well enough. I can't measure up to Hanna-chan, though. She's one of the top students in our class."

"Is that so." It wasn't really a question.

"Oneesama…" The two girls laid upon Suki's bed, tightly embraced. Katsura had finally convinced Suki to let her remove her shoes (CCX:…and I'm just now realizing that I failed to explicitly state that she was wearing high heels. I'm sure the implication was there, but I could've sworn I'd said it when describing her outfit last chapter…of course, they're red too), and the two were clad only in their undergarments. "Uh, can I…"

"Yes?"

"It's just, I wasn't actually, you know…"

"…Yes, Katsu-tan," Suki said, guiding Katsura's hands to the clasp of her bra, "it's only fair. Seeing as how I've…stimulated you so much." Her hands wandered back to Katsura's chest.

Katsura nervously undid the undergarment and removed it, and instantly flushed at the sight of Suki's full, round breasts. "Wow…they're so wonderful…I wish my breasts were like yours."

"You're still growing."

"So are you," Katsura pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess. I've already done quite a bit of that, though. You…still have a lot of room to grow." She rubbed the small breasts appreciatively. She wanted to go further, but this wasn't the time. Now was the time to give Katsura the freedom to run the show. This was about Katsura exploring her desires, seeing if she really was attracted to females. What ensued was…clumsy, but that was to be expected from someone so inexperienced. The desire was there—like Suki said, actions spoke louder than words, and emotions even louder than actions. Suki could feel the intent, and the love, and though it was definitely a step backwards from the way she was able to make love with Tatsuke or the two high schoolers, she enjoyed it nevertheless. "I…love you, Katsu-tan."

"Huh?" It wasn't the showstopper. "Yeah, I know…I love you too, Suki-san."

Somehow, the change in address just made Suki melt.

"Hey. Something wrong? Nobody should be looking so sad at Christmastime," Suzuka said.

"What's it to you? And you're one to talk."

"…True. I seem to be solving other people's problems quite a bit lately, so I thought maybe doing so would help me get my mind off of my own. Forget it; I was wrong to bring it up."

"…No, you've got a point. Maybe we can help each other out. I'm…I guess I'm kind of lonely. I should be happy, because the person I care about the most is happy, but…it probably means I won't get to spend as much time with her."

"Love triangles. Always a killer. My problems involve a…loved one, too. She's not around anymore; she's gone off to a faraway place, but she said she'd be able to come visit to spend Christmas with me. But…she's not here."

"I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm not…I'm not in love with her. Not like that."

"I never said you were. But you do love her, right? 'The person you care about the most'?"

"Well, yeah, of course. She and I have always been inseparable. We squabble sometimes, but…I've always got her back."

"And is it the same for her? Will she always be there to back you up?"

"I don't know. I've never needed backing up. She can be…a bit hard to deal with at times, so usually I'm the one who's smoothing things over. But…yes. Now that I think about it, there was a time…when she was afraid that her new love interest was getting in the way of our friendship. At that time, it seemed as though she had decided which was more important to her, and it was… me…"

Suzuka smiled. "Glad to hear it."

Hanna smiled back. "I just wish I could help you out with your problem. Any idea why your…loved one, didn't show up?"

"No, and so it's only natural to assume the worst."

"You have to be more optimistic than that." She sighed. "Except I totally see the logic in what you're doing. Without any word from her…there's no way to know. And you want to think that it's nothing, but… there's that uncertainty."

"Hm."

"Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, uh…"

"…Oh, right, I don't even know your name. I'm Tsukimura Suzuka."

"Watagami Hanna."

"…I see."

"What's with that response? Oh…you're friends with Bannings-san, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"She's probably said some nasty things about me. I don't blame her. After all, I am trying to help Katsura to steal away her girlfriend."

"Yeah… But, I understand your feelings. Arisa means as much to me as Himiya-san does to you." "And more," she thought, since Hanna didn't seem to actually want Katsura for herself.

"Are you sure? You don't know just how much Katsu-chan means to me."

"…Yeah, I'm sure."

"Suzuka…" Arisa trailed off when she saw Hanna.

"Hello, Arisa. Watagami-san and I were just talking out our problems."

"Uh…"

"Problems?" Mayu asked.

"It's nothing," Hanna insisted.

"No, I'm curious," Arisa said. "What 'problems' could you be having?"

"You should already know," Suzuka replied.

"You having regrets?"

"No!" Hanna said defensively. "But…I'm still…I still love her…"

"What was that?"

"I said I still love Katsura," she repeated, a bit louder, instincts guiding her tongue. "Uh, I mean…"

She stopped as she felt a hand on her shoulder; turned to follow the arm to the pale face of the girl whose best friend had just said the words that her lover could not—that she couldn't say, either. Not yet. It was too soon. But between these two…

CCX: So much more I want to say, but this seems like a spot where a chapter should end. Originally I had an expository author's note right after Suzuka's "Yeah, I'm sure", but then I decided that I didn't want to do that so I had Arisa arrive instead, and we were going to exposit in-story. That…sort of derailed. So, I'd better get Chapter 25 out quickly. CCX, signing off.