Lonely No More
by Cyberchao X
Chapter 46
Disclaimer: The usual.
*July 6*
A/N: Damn I've been falling so far behind…
"So based on your reaction yesterday, should I assume that you never bothered to make 'the arrangement' with Kasuka-san?" Katsura asked.
"No, but it's still not something I'd want the rest of his family to know about. I actually did lay down the rules; the same as with Tatsu-kun and Ari-chan. …I guess it's kind of selfish, isn't it?"
CCX: Yes, when I wrote Chapter 45, I was thinking that Kasuka didn't know, but that would contradict Chapter 42, so I changed it.
"…'Selfish'? How so?"
"Well, the situation's kind of different than it was with them."
"What's so different about it?"
"Arisa's only interested in girls. You aren't. It's a little harder to sell the 'separate' part of having two separate significant others."
"Gross. I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for that anyway."
Suki stared at her. "…You got yourself into this big mess of yours because you were very much ready back in May."
"Exactly. Look at what happened when I tried to grow up too quickly. I'll take my time, thank you very much."
"…So then I suppose that means our relationship will have to get less physical?" Suki teased.
"Ah, I didn't mean that! I…it's different…"
"You don't know how happy that makes me. I'm really scared that the call of the male sex is going to be too strong one of these days, and I'm going to lose you."
"…"
"Katsu-tan?"
"…I can't guarantee that that won't happen. And if it did, we probably would have to scale things back quite a bit. But even if I end up opting for a man…you'll never lose me. I love you too much to let that happen."
Suki pouted. "You might have to, you know. It's not always easy to forgive someone for breaking your heart."
"You'd shut me out completely if that happened?"
"Maybe. I don't know."
"…Well, you won't have to find out for quite some time. I'm here with you…Suki."
CCX: I had to go all the way back to Chapter 40 to confirm how Katsura had been addressing Suki recently. (Last chapter's sex scene doesn't count. This is the first time she's addressed Suki without an honorific outside of the heat of passion.)
…Unfortunately, there's really not much else worth talking about before we'd need to time-skip—not even with a character birthday confirmed to be very close at hand. Although, perhaps we should skip ahead to a character's birthday…
*August 13—Tanabata*
"Is it just me, or have you grown a bit while I was out of the country?"
"Sadly, I'm as short as ever," Miki said. "Maybe this year with a double-strength concentration of wishing power, I can finally change that."
Izei and Suzuka both laughed. "It's not just you. Her height may be the same—I'm starting to wonder if she's reached full height already—but she's growing in other ways."
Miki blushed. "I don't think that's what she meant."
"Actually, it kind of was. You look more like a 17-year-old girl should, albeit an extremely short one. I got you a birthday gift, by the way."
"You wouldn't by any chance have been cutting corners by waiting until my birthday to give me a souvenir from your trip to the USA, would you?"
"That would imply that I'd gotten all of my friends souvenirs, which I didn't. But, yes, I did buy birthday gifts for both you and Kanna-chan while I was overseas." Aside from those two, she only bought gifts for Arisa—not because Arisa had never been to the United States, of course, but rather because she had never been to that part of the United States and Suzuka already had multiple souvenirs from Arisa's visits—and Suki. She wondered what it meant that she considered what would probably have to be considered her primary romantic rival—and someone whom her first meeting with had already cast her in said capacity—to be one of her closest friends still on the planet Earth. "It's because 'two' is overrated," a voice in her head told her, and she had to admit that she wouldn't mind a triangle solution with Arisa and Suki…but of course, that wasn't in the cards at the moment. Should she wish for that? No, it didn't feel right…but of course, last year's wish had as good as come true. She and Arisa were a couple, and it was unlikely that anything would get in the way of that…not even the gorgeous boy standing right next to her.
CCX: I did say that I liked the idea of Miki's birthday being in August as well, remember?
"So, what types of wishes do people make on Tanabata?" Dylan asked.
"Oh, all sorts of stuff. Some people make selfish wishes, and some make selfless ones. If there's anything you're…concerned about, maybe you should make a wish about it." Yeah, that was a good use of this year's wish. Wish that she and Dylan would be able to be together again after both had graduated from high school, since it seemed inevitable that they'd be separated at the end of the current school year. But wouldn't that go against the spirit of last year's wish? Again came the voice telling her that monogamy was overrated. She tried to silence it. Although, Suki had always done a good job of balancing a boyfriend and a girlfriend…
"What are you going to wish for, Katsu-tan?"
"You know I can't tell you that, Suki-chan! Although, nothing will ever beat last year's wish coming true…"
"Yeah, but you didn't need a wish to make that happen. You made that happen all on your own." Suki had to catch herself from being more specific. After discovering that her boyfriend's younger sister was Natsume's best friend, it only seemed natural to spend the festival with both the Himiyas and the Kasukas—which meant that more than half of the present company had no idea that she and Katsura were dating. Shin had questioned her about having the two of them together, and she'd told him exactly that—that publicly, Katsura was her best friend, and since by sheer coincidence her best friend's younger sister and her boyfriend's younger sister were best friends, it wouldn't be weird at all to spend time with both of their families at once. And also that he'd better not slip up, because Natsume-chan was the only other person who knew otherwise.
"Wait, I thought you said you came out to your family," he had said.
"Uh…yes, they know that I'm bisexual…just not who my girlfriend is. You're not getting any more information than that."
Suki could be scary when she was angered.
"I want Himiya Katsura to be mine and mine alone."
"There are…certain disadvantages for me having you so readily accepted as part of the family," Sakura said.
"I'm sorry my boyfriend is such an inconvenience to you," Miki replied.
"What do you mean, Sakura-chan?" Izei asked.
"Himiya-san has the benefit of her younger sister to distract her parents. Papa trusting you so much means that I get all of his attention."
"You're forgetting that I'm 17 and the little Himiya-chan is 11. It's a totally different situation," Miki said.
"…True. But on the other hand, she's still too young to even be thinking about dating, isn't she?"
"Not really. She's a sixth-year elementary school student. That's about the right age to start thinking about the opposite sex. Or in some cases, the same sex," she added, thinking about how many lesbian or bisexual friends she'd made since getting into high school.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I won't lose. Looks like even with Makimaro-san around, Himiya-san is still stuck under tight parental watch tonight. Can you two try to help me get some freedom?"
"I'll try…"
Was what Miki was going to say, but it became unnecessary. "Miki-san! Sakura-san!"
Miki and Sakura having mutual friends was advantageous, as it gave a natural reason for Miki and Izei to remain alongside Sakura, "chaperoning" her. "Hey, Mayu-chan!" The sisters gave their father a look, and he nodded, telling them it was okay. They went over to join their friends.
"I want to be free to date Kuwata-san."
"Hmm. I'm surprised to see you and K—Himiya-san apart, Watagami-chan."
"Shut up, Kuwata-kun. She's a bit busy tonight."
"Just a romantic night with her girlfriend?"
"Hardly. She's with Sempai, yes, but also her family and that of her sister's best friend…which also contains Sempai's current boyfriend."
"Wait, what? I have so much trouble keeping up with these relationship trees," Miki said. "Someone needs to make a chart." (CCX: No, I haven't made a chart. Yet.) Hanna explained the situation with the Kasuka siblings.
"Don't worry about her. She's still under parental surveillance…I'm not," Sakura said. Hanna sighed heavily. "What? It's true. Yeah, I doubt I'd be able to get much 'alone time', but I'm free for the moment, and Himiya-san is, well…shit out of luck."
"Sakura-san, that's a bit rude," Kuwata said.
"…Yeah, you're right. Sorry, Shirou-kun. Is it okay if I call you that, since I let you call me Sakura-chan? …Ah, right, but you don't, so I should call you 'Shirou-san', right?"
"Um…yeah, 'Shirou-san' is fine." He blushed. "Why must I keep falling for these girls with overprotective parents?"
"I guess maybe I'll go see Katsura-chan, then," Hanna said.
"Can't stand to see me flirting with another girl, Watagami-chan?" Kuwata teased.
"You wish. Though if you close your eyes, I'm sure you could pretend it was me you were with. Uh, no offense, Sakura-san."
"None taken. I'm honored to be considered a suitable substitute for you where breasts are concerned."
"Crude as ever. I don't know what she sees in you."
"…" Hanna stormed off, trying to figure out what Kuwata meant by that. Normally that was a phrase you used about a romantic relationship, but it didn't sound like that…for starters, unless it was an unrequited love, the gender was all wrong. Actually, it would be an unrequited love either way because she wasn't attached to anyone at the moment, but that was beside the point. All of her loves at the moment were either familial or platonic. Except…
…Katsura. She was special, in a way that transcended not only mere friendship, but also romance. And yet, she'd stuck up for Kuwata at the beach last month, and it sounded like he was about to refer to her by her given name. And Sakura had made a point of the fact that Katsura was still under parental supervision and she was momentarily free, suggesting that she viewed Katsura as a romantic rival. For…Kuwata Shirou's affections.
Hanna had worked herself even into an even bigger furor by the time she'd reached the Himiya-Makimaro-Kasuka gathering. "What's the matter, Hanna-chan?" Katsura asked.
"Kuwata. Shirou," she spat. "Is there something I should know about?"
"There had better not be," Mr. Himiya responded, "because Katsura isn't allowed to consort with boys without strict parental supervision."
"There isn't," she reassured her father. "I know the rules, and even if I was going to break them, Hanna-chan means more to me than any boy could. I wouldn't go out with someone my best friend hates. Well, not someone she hates that passionately, anyway."
"True. That would be quite a betrayal of trust, going after a boy that your best friend has such passionate feelings about," Natsume teased.
"Don't say things that could be misconstrued like that, Natsu-chan."
"I didn't misspeak."
"Ooh, one of those cases?" Kasumi asked, and Natsume nodded. "Your sister's friends sound like fun; we may have to try to tag along with them more often."
"Okay, enough chatter from the junior ero society," Katsura said, and Natsume stomped on her foot.
"Katsura! You apologize to your sister right now!"
"Why do I have to apologize?! She just stomped on me!"
"Natsume, that's not the proper way to respond when your sister is mean to you."
"…Sorry."
"Yeah, I'm sorry too, Nee-san."
"It's okay. You were perfectly justified in being mad at me." "After all, I nearly blew your secret, when you've been keeping a far larger one for me." She made a note to find some alone time to properly apologize to Natsume.
"I still reacted poorly."
"Nah. A moment alone, please?" Forget "finding some time". "I'm really sorry, Natsume-chan. I haven't given you nearly the respect you deserve."
"Eh? But I'm the one who's supposed to treat you with respect, Nee-san!"
"And you do. You may tease my friends, even though they're also your elders and therefore people whom you should treat respectfully, but you've always been a dutiful younger sister. You've even kept my bisexuality secret from Otou-san and Okaa-san. And yet, I nearly revealed your secret…I'm just lucky that they didn't press it and simply assumed I was just being rude. But even that shows that I haven't always been the best neesan." She put her arms around her younger sister and gave her a kiss on the temple. "You're the best imouto a girl could ask for, and I'm sorry I haven't appreciated that enough until now."
"…N-nee-san…" Natsume was moved to tears.
"And, furthermore…that's what I meant by 'respecting you more'. Even though we're not even two years apart, I sometimes treat you like a little kid. You're clearly not one anymore, and I feel like maybe I should be treating you more like a friend than I have in the past. We're not that different, after all."
"Nee-san…thank you." She dried her eyes. "Now, let's get back to the others before Otou-san and Okaa-san start worrying about us. By which I mean you." She smiled.
"…Yeah."
"I want to be free to date boys again."
CCX: See what I mean about never knowing exactly where my fics will end up going? I totally did not expect a Katsura-Natsume bonding scene in here.
?: Well, it's not like it's the first time you've written a bonding scene between sisters.
CCX: Your "sisterly bonding scene" was nothing like this.
?: Chapter 49. Way back in the Book of Kurolanime.
CCX: That's…not exactly comforting. I still didn't fully have a handle on writing original works back then; there are far too many references to the real world in there and most of them are religious.
CCX: …Damnit, lost my flow. Actually, it doesn't seem like there's much more to do with Tanabata…or, for that matter, most of the rest of 2013. Let's wrap this chapter up here, and Chapter 47…will very nearly catch me up to the calendar. CCX, signing off.