Lonely No More
by Cyberchao X

Chapter 40

Disclaimer: Insert generic disclaimer here.

*June*

"Who'd have thought that getting grounded would be such a boost to my social standing?" Katsura said.

"Well, the rumors certainly help. Though I'm glad that it's over," Hanna replied.

"Yeah, I guess I am, too."

"You guess?"

"At least when I was grounded, I had a good excuse for being unable to date. But at least my parents won't be watching my every move anymore; having to dial things down with Suki-neesama was a real pain."

"I feel horrible about doing this to you, though. I was the one who told Sempai what you were up to…I unwittingly ended up putting her desires ahead of yours."

"You were concerned. I don't blame you at all. You were right to stop me; what I was doing was stupid. And in the end, it's all working out for the best. I mean, it's not like I have to cease all contact with the opposite sex—though obviously I'm limited to those I can come in contact with in the course of my average school day, so further trysts with high school boys are out of the question. How are things between you and Touga-san, by the way?"

"We're…still friends, actually, even though he's got a new girlfriend."

"Should I be sympathetic, or are you okay with that."

"I'm fine with that. Dating a high school boy was more your idea than mine; I just came along as your, er, winggirl."

"Good to know. I won't keep you any longer; you don't want to keep Hida-sempai waiting, after all."

"Wait, how—"

"I'm surprised you actually accepted my invitation. I would've thought I'd be the last person you'd go on a date with."

"This isn't a date. I'm not allowed to date, remember?"

"But that's just semantics."

"Well, you're someone my parents would probably approve of if they found out that I was still, um, 'consorting' with boys. Also, that fact works in your favor—it makes it more believable if I have to tell them that it's not a date—which it isn't. I also can't help but wonder if you're only doing this to mess with Hanna-chan's head."

"But you accepted anyway?"

Katsura smirked. "Yep."

Kuwata's smile disappeared. "Because it would allow you to mess with my head on her behalf."

"Maaaaaybe," Katsura teased. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Does she know about…this?"

"Maybe. I mean that earnestly, by the way—I didn't outright tell her, but the fact that you gave her your class's paperwork and blew off the meeting, combined with me having knowledge that obviously came from a member of Student Council that she didn't tell me…she might suspect."

"That second part shouldn't set off any red flags. You're on pretty good terms with your own class rep, aren't you?"

"Mayu-chan? Yeah, that's true. I hadn't thought of that. Still, it's starting to feel like we're in two separate worlds."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's spending less and less time with the rest of our group and more time with her high school friends. It's gotten to the point where it seems like outside of school, she's one of them."

Kuwata raised an eyebrow. "And is this a bad thing?"

"I wouldn't say bad…I mean, I guess it's not really a big deal that she didn't visit me during my grounding like the rest of the girls did, but it feels like a condemnation of my behavior. Am I just being weird? Mayu-chan doesn't seem like the type who would get condescending…at least, I don't think she is. Maybe she is? To me, she was always just 'Hanna's fangirl', which is clearly not an accurate description of her anymore. She still admires Hanna, of course, but she's her own person now, with a high school boyfriend and other high school friends entirely independent of him. So I don't know if maybe we're too immature for her now?"

"Can't really help you there. I don't know her any better than you do. Wait, was Watagami-chan included in that 'we'?"

Katsura nodded. "Hanna's able to pull off 'mature' when she needs to, which is more than I can say for myself, but she's…well, she's still immature enough to be my best friend, which says it all right there."

"Don't sell yourself short, Himiya-san. You're pretty decent at being 'mature' as well."

"I'm really not. You just don't know me well enough, so you're fooled by my refined beauty." Kuwata's only response was a blush, and Katsura giggled. "And I guess I don't know you well enough, either. So far all of my interactions with you have been through the prism of Hanna, and, well…"

"Watagami-chan and I don't get along at all," he finished.

"Your choice of honorifics suggests otherwise."

"I do it because it drives her crazy. Neither of us wants to be the first to use the proper honorific for the other one."

Katsura giggled again. "I should probably get going. Hanna-chan's meeting should be almost over, and Makimaro-sempai did promise to get the whole group together for a celebration of sorts once I was free again."

"I'm sure she wants a lot more than that."

Katsura turned bright red, having completely forgotten that Kuwata had overheard conversations between her and Hanna revealing the truth of their situation—though it wasn't exactly a huge secret among the student body anyway. "I'm sure she's got more self-control than that."

"But do you?" Katsura's response to this question was to punch him in the face. Neither one enjoyed the experience very much.

"Ooh. Your first day of freedom and already you have to beat back the boys?" Suki asked, noticing that Katsura's hand looked hurt.

"Something like that. It wasn't his advances that made me punch him, though."

"Still, you should know better." She began to suck on the reddened area.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Though if you're not careful, we might just undermine the whole point… I probably do need to work on my self-control; that's what landed me in this mess after all."

"I wouldn't change a thing about you."

"Yes you would. You're jealous of the fact that I'm still into boys."

"Am not. I like boys too, remember?"

"Really? Because a pretty girl like you should've had no trouble lining one up. You and Hayama-sempai broke up how long ago?"

"It's only been a little over a month! Anyway, can we please not talk about boys right now?"

"You're so transparent, oneesama. I can see what you're thinking right now: First, how you can get me alone and naked, and possibly also about taking me shopping again because I need new bras."

"Well, you know I can never turn down a shopping trip."

"I know. I've spent the past week or so trying to pretend that I was fine with what I had because I wanted to wait for my grounding to be over before I went shopping for new ones. And before you use that as an excuse to get my dress off, I'm not wearing a bra right now so I'm feeling just fine."

"Spoilsport."

"You'll get your chance. Tomorrow, when we go shopping and you get to strip me down and dress me up again."

"I wonder how much it would cost for you two to just buy the fitting room off of them," Hanna snarked.

"You don't really think we'd use the same one?"

"I'd prefer if you didn't have an encore performance at all," Mayu said.

"Huh? Oh, right, I already had a trip to the mall lined up for tomorrow anyway, didn't I?"

"It's fine, really. I asked you to help out because I knew you'd never turn down the opportunity, but I think I can handle this—it's just a matter of finding the right stores, right?"

"Wait, what—oh. Yeah, I'd rather it be just the two of us," Katsura said.

"Is there something wrong?" Suki asked.

"Well, we'd definitely have to tone things back…it would lead to certain uncomfortable questions."

"No it wouldn't. Well, okay, the fact that you showed up at this year's dance without any indication that you were bi might cause some questions, but I was at last year's rather specifically as Arisa's date. So I don't necessarily think it's a huge problem."

"Can you two behave yourselves?" Mayu asked.

"We'll try to keep it dialed down from last time."

"Good. Maybe I should see if Miki-san minds bringing Sakura-san along as well; she's closer to your proportions anyway."

"…Who?"

*the next day*

"Okay, I'm confused," Suki said. "The phrasing of that sentence suggested a little sister, but…"

"But nothing. What you see is what you get, right, Miki-neesan?"

Miki laughed. "Right, imouto-chan."

"They're fraternal twins, right? All of this big sister/little sister business is just a matter of minutes?"

"Nope. Sakura-san's the same age as Himiya-chan and me," Mayu said.

"Wow. I would not have guessed that you were younger than me."

"That's strange. She certainly appears younger than you," Miki pointed out.

"Was this the person that Izu-kun was talking about?"

"Yeah. Not knowing either one of your ages, a random stranger would probably correctly guess the age difference but not come close to the correct age."

"You've grown a bit since the last time I saw you, Ichirei-san," Suki said. "I don't suppose you need anything at our first stop?"

"First stop?"

"I've had a bit of a 'growth spurt' recently. Certain things aren't fitting the way they should," Katsura said.

"And of course, that's going to be the first stop because undergarments can't exactly be tried on before buying and of course Sempai wants to completely redress Himiya-san."

"Um…"

"Don't worry, I promise I won't be so 'hands-on' with you," Suki reassured Miki. "Katsu-tan's special."

"You're…was this why the three of you crashed Suzuka-san's New Year's party?"

"Yeah, Katsu-tan wanted to spend New Year's with me, even though at the time I was sort of still dating Ari-chan. But—"

"Oh, look, here we are," Mayu said quickly. "Time for you to get started. Sakura-san, I'm sure you must go through bras incredibly quickly; do you need anything? Do you know your measurements?"

Miki answered for her, and Sakura gave her sister a death glare. Katsura couldn't help but remember being groped at the dance. "Why am I not surprised? Though now I can't help but wonder if our initial meeting would've been different if you'd known that I liked girls as well."

"Neesan, you didn't…her breasts aren't even that big! Um, no offense…it's just that most of the time with me, it's envy more than anything else."

"Should I be flattered, then?"

"There'll be plenty of time for that, I'm sure," Sakura said. (A/N: Another bit of wordplay that probably doesn't actually work once you consider the fact that all dialogue is supposed to actually be in Japanese unless otherwise noted.)

"You're just saying that to make me feel better about the fact that you developed so much sooner than I did."

"Well, maybe, but genetics suggests that you'll grow eventually. Most of our female relatives on our father's side have at least a respectable endowment as well, and, well…yeah."

"…And she was built just like you are—looked almost just like you do."

"Okay, what just happened to the happiness in the room?"

"I'm fine. Really."

"And yet you bring an almost palpable gloom to the world," Sakura said.

"It's inevitable. The topic's going to come up. She is bl—a very close genetic relative."

"Wow. Yeah, I think we'll leave this subject alone. Why don't you pick out something you like—on me," Suki said.

"That's…generous, but I was kind of planning on sticking to the amount that I was given to work with…"

"Exactly. This wasn't part of your original plan. But I know that you actually have a boyfriend, and that the two of you…well, we all know where that went."

"Yeah; no need to rehash it," Mayu agreed.

"So you deserve some sexy lingerie."

"They make that in my size?"

"Yeah. Though just to be safe, you've got ID, right? Purchases like that can set off red flags for potential child pornography." Suki said this with a completely straight face.

"Always do. And right now I'm actually able to make good on my stock threat for those who don't believe its validity."

Sakura facepalmed. "And what threat would this be?" Suki asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. It's both crude and disgusting," Sakura interrupted, as Miki was about to elaborate.

"Well now you've just piqued my curiosity." Miki told her, and she started cracking up. "That is disgusting. And probably very effective."

"I've never actually done it, for obvious reasons. But it's fun to give people that mental image."

"I like you. Physical differences aside, you and I are cut from the same cloth. I guess that's why you and Suzu-chan are such good friends; Arisa often says how much alike we are."

"Hey, Suki-chan, what do you think of this one?!" Katsura asked, holding a brassiere up to her chest.

"You know the answer to that. I've been trying to get you to wear red more often ever since that Christmas party. You really do look great in it."

"…Which is why you gave it to her. Mayu-chan, you've been acting kind of oddly today," Sakura said. "Like you're trying to keep a secret that your friends don't know is supposed to be a secret."

"What? That's…crazy."

"I knew it."

"Do all younger sisters have that ability to crack secrets?" Katsura asked. "I tried my hardest to keep my little sister from finding out that Suki-chan and I were more than just friends, and she figured it out anyway."

"Don't I wish. I know for a fact that Neechan has been keeping a secret from me for a long time—she's pretty much said as much. That there's more to the story of…well, I should probably stop there."

"That's really not nice."

"No, I know she wouldn't do that if she didn't think it was for the best. I just wish I knew what was so bad that she's kept it from me for so long."

"Hmm? What was that, Sakura-chan?"

"N-nothing, oneechan."

By the time they'd reached the next store, Suki and Katsura had been filled in on the situation—that Miki was among those who still didn't know that Suzuka was bi and that it seemed that Suzuka was trying to keep it that way. Miki was amazed by the clothes that Suki was able to find. "Do you have some sort of magical shopping powers or something?"

"Please; that'd be a ridiculous ability for a magical girl to have."

"Well, most 'magical girls' are ridiculous."

"I don't know; they're not so bad." "At least not the few I've met."

"Really? I never knew you were into that kind of thing," Katsura said.

"I'm not. It's just…never mind."

"Maybe she really is a magical girl," Miki said sarcastically.

"You don't seriously believe those exist, do you?" Suki replied.

"Of course not," Miki responded.

"Right." "This day is just full of secrets, isn't it?" "I'm going to see how well I did picking clothes out for Katsu-tan."

"They might be awhile," Mayu warned. Suki stuck her tongue out.

"I might just have to bring my bags into the fitting room with me, too," Miki said. "Just so I can see how I look in them."

"I wonder how Izu-kun will react. You know he doesn't like the way you always seem to want to go faster than nature intends for you."

"Yeah, but I also know that he's having trouble waiting much longer for nature to do its thing."

Once they were alone in the fitting room together, Katsura asked again. "So then if you're not a closet fan of magical girls, why'd you defend them like that?"

"I'm not a fan of magical girls in general, but there are…a few of them that I like."

"Which ones? I'm not really into them, either, but Natsu-chan is so I might recognize the names."

"Nah, it's not important."

"I'm surprised you'd clam up about something as trivial as this. You can't possibly be that embarrassed…you don't look embarrassed at all. The younger me, the one that just idolized you and thought you were absolute perfection—"

"That was only a year ago."

"—would've simply thought that this was just another way in which you were so cool—not getting even a little flustered when something embarrassing happened. But that's not what's going on at all, is it?"

Suki hesitated. "No, it is."

"I'm not convinced. If nothing else, the fact that I've managed to get this far into changing without your unique brand of 'help' tells me that your mind is elsewhere—and it makes me think that you're concentrating on trying not to slip up."

"You look ravishing. Sorry, I'll be more hands-on." She raised Katsura's arms above her head and pulled a t-shirt onto her, which clung tightly to what little curves Katsura had.

"Thanks. This is going to bother me to no end, though…because the 'logical' conclusion of this train of thought is totally ludicrous."

"Oh? Come on, work with me."

"The only reason you'd be so dodgy about it is if Ichirei-san's sarcastic suggestion was correct, or at least damn close to it, and you know for a fact that magical girls are real."

"You're right. That is ludicrous."

"So then that relief you're feeling is just from not being tempted by my sumptuous girl-flesh now that I'm fully dressed?"

Suki sighed. "You look good, but…perhaps I blundered. You're better off sticking with skirts."

"I know. Even the Lolinator out there has a bigger butt than I do."

Suki started laughing. "You look good. Don't worry too much about it."

"I'm not. If you were an ass woman you'd still be with Arisa-chan."

"Yeah…" "I wonder what would happen if I'd slipped up. It's not my secret to tell—it was barely even their secret to tell."

"You're still thinking about it, aren't you? I don't suppose they're the magical girls."

"You know as well as I do that that's all just fiction."

"Humor me. You're awfully quick to protest."

"Do you really think I would've broken up with a magical girl?"

"Maybe you didn't know she was one until after you broke up with her."

"…Sure, whatever." Katsura smiled, finally satisfied.

CCX: Wow. Finally an entire chapter in which the only characters actually appearing are OCs…and yet, it's one of the few thus far where it's actually relevant that the source anime for this fic is a magical girl anime. So in between how strong a distraction Fire Emblem Awakening has been (I got it for my birthday, which you'll recall is March 31), the fact that I had a major project for my online class due at the end of the month, and the fact that the Internet connection in my house pooped out yesterday and didn't come back until I accidentally managed to fix it this evening, I very nearly missed my self-imposed deadline. (Of course, my computer's been glitching out in other weird ways—it's been about an hour since the clock moved, among other things.) But I didn't—the streak lives on! Until next time, this is Cyberchao X, signing off.

…wouldn't you know it, the act of trying to actually utilize the newly restored internet connection, to post this fic, brought the clock back to reality. Also I had to copy-paste because there was something glitched when I tried to save the final document.