The Love Letter Lovelies
by Glee-chan
22.
When lunch came around, Maria carefully sidestepped both Hikaru and Mio and turned around to eat lunch at Shiho's desk. Yui was already present, looking down at her unopened bento box. Both of them looked worse for ware, Maria noticed. Shiho's neck was covered in bruises and hickeys, while Yui looked almost pasty white. With an exhausted Maria joining them, she could only imagine the lovely picture the three of them made. She glanced at Makoto and Kaede, who looked as if they were going to have an intimate lunch that day, slightly disappointed.
"Did you get any sleep last night, Maria?" Yui asked. Even though she looked tired herself, she always cared more about others over herself.
"Not very much. Is it okay if I come to your place after school?" Maria pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail.
"Sure." Yui breathed in.
Shiho sat up and winced. Maria noticed this at once. "What on earth did you do at the beach?"
"Uh…" Shiho rubbed the back of her neck, her face turning pink. "I don't think it's very polite to talk about that sort of thing in class."
"Since when have you become the proper type?" Maria teased.
Shiho gave a small smile. "I don't know. I guess I've become a bit girly lately, haven't I?"
Yui nodded. "It's because you're in love, huh?"
"Yeah." Shiho raised her eyebrows. "I can't believe I've become so mushy."
"Is Sora-chan the first time you've been with a girl?" Maria asked in a whisper.
"Yeah." Shiho didn't avoid the question now. "Can I tell you something without it getting to Mako-chan?" Both Yui and Maria nodded eagerly. "Sora-chan is a complete nympho. Even though it was my first time she wore me out."
"Oh wow." Maria blushed.
"What's nympho mean?" Yui asked after a moment.
"Uh… it means she likes sex, Yui-chan." Maria explained. She was used to Yui not always being as bright as those around her. Sometimes it was embarrassing.
"So you don't want Mako-chan to know about that?" Yui blinked, Maria could hear the cogs in her brian turning. They were moving slowly. "Do you think that would upset her?"
Shiho nodded in an innocent sort of away. Maria could tell Shiho was pulling back from being her rude self and being extra nice. "I don't know if Kaede-chan and her have done it yet, sooo-."
"Oh. So Sora-chan and Kaede-chan must of done it before." Yui looked like she finally understood.
"Right." Shiho gave a small laugh. "You won't say anything, will you Yui-chan?"
"Oh no. I won't. I don't want to hurt Mako-chan's feelings." Yui pouted.
"Thanks." Shiho sighed. "Now if only I could keep up with Sora-chan. If I have to go through that every time, I'll be broken in half."
"What exactly does she do to you?" Maria couldn't possible see what Sora was doing to be that bad.
"They're having a lot of sex, Maria." Yui told to Maria.
"I know that, stupid-" Maria laughed at her, but the next moment she found herself reeling back from a slap in the face. Clasping her hand to her cheek, Maria sat forward, wondering what in the world happened. Yui was looking in shock at Shiho, who's face was burning red. Her hand was still extended from the slap. She had seen the girl mad before, but never before at her. The rest of the class noticed the slap as well.
"What was that for?"
"You of all people should know better…" Shiho was seething. "Don't call her stupid!"
"Call her stupid?" Maria blinked, rubbing her cheek. She couldn't figure out what was going on. "You mean, Yui-chan? It was just a joke!"
"It's not funny." Shiho pointed her finger at Maria. "She's not stupid."
"I…" Maria felt lost. She looked at Yui, who looked equally as lost. "I don't hurt your feelings when I tease you, do I?"
Yui blinked heavily, looking as if she were considering it. "No."
"Because if I was hurting your feelings, you would have told me, right?"
"I know you're not trying to be mean." Yui said, then turned to Shiho. "Don't fight over something like that. I am stupid, so it's nothing to get mad about."
Maria's mouth opened slightly in disbelief. "Why are you calling yourself that?"
Shiho's eyes were still on fire. "It's because you keep calling her that. She told me all about it the other day. Everyone teases her and she's made herself believe it. Haven't you realized it? You're supposed to be her best friend!"
Yui looked uncomfortable now. "That's not what I meant Shiho-chan. People say I'm slow because I am. I don't know why, I just am. I try not to be. Even my family admits it. So you shouldn't get mad at Maria…"
Maria felt her heart break. How did Shiho figure this out in the few weeks she had known Yui, but not her? Maria had known Yui almost all her life. This whole time Yui was in pain and she was one of the reasons she why. Hyperventilating, Maria clasped her face and started crying on the spot. She couldn't see it, but she could hear everyone's seats move as they looked at her causing such a scene.
Yui was holding her in an instant which only made Maria feel worse. She felt like a horrible person. She had always thought it didn't bother Yui, that it was a joke they shared. But when she thought about it, Yui didn't joke Maria back about something she was sensitive about. Never once had she teased her about her biracial features, or about how she was a pervert. Yui was always sweet and understanding.
"… probably was too harsh." Shiho was saying. Maria could only now could hear her. "I shouldn't have slapped you like that…"
Maria tried to calm herself down, but she could smell Yui's scent on her as she hugged her. It made her feel all the more like a horrible person. "Yui-chan… I'm sorry!"
"It's okay." Yui's voice was panicked. "I'm fine, really… don't cry."
"I shouldn't have called you stupid all those times." Maria choked out. "What was I thinking?"
"I told you…"
"It's not right for me to call you that." Maria interrupted Yui. She knew Yui all to well to realize that she would somehow pin whatever Maria did on herself, regardless if that was the case. "I love you Yui-chan, I never want to hurt you."
"Maria…" Yui moaned. She could tell she was looking up, possibly at Shiho, for help. "Don't cry."
Shiho stepped in, speaking in a kind voice. "Yui-chan… she's really bothered at how she treated you. Do you forgive her?"
"Forgive?" Yui hugged Maria tighter. "Yes. I'm sorry for making you feel like this though."
"Oh, Yui-chan." Shiho had a pleading voice. "It's okay to not be there for your friends sometimes. It's okay to have something for yourself. Don't take the blame away from her. Just forgive her."
"But…"
"Yui-chan, she needed this." Shiho pointed out.
Maria pulled herself together. Shiho was asking too much from Yui. It was wrong to call Yui stupid, but that didn't change the fact that she was a bit slow. "I shouldn't have worried you, Yui-chan. Sometimes I can be insentive. Please say you forgive me for saying bad things."
"Okay." Yui smiled a small smile. "I forgive you."
Maria hugged Yui again looked at Shiho from over her shoulder. They shared a worried expression. Now that the dramatics was out of the way, they both understood that Yui was messed up. She allowed herself to believe terrible things about herself. The very thought that she willing accepted the cruel things people said about her as fact hurt Maria. By this point Makoto and Kaede had joined their table, as the rest of the class went back to gossiping.
"What happened?" Makoto was now hugging Maria.
"Just… I just realized something bad about myself." Maria admitted and looked at Shiho again. "Thank you for slapping sense into me."
"I didn't mean it to be a literal slap." Shiho's face was pink. "So I'm sorry about that."
"Everyone's upset." Yui pouted again.
"It's okay." Maria told her. "We're going to cheer up now, alright?"
Taking that as a hint Kaede suddenly changed the conversation. "I talked to Hayashi-sensei about starting a second Kendo Club."
This came out of nowhere for Maria, but everyone else seemed to know about this. Somehow she was left out of the loop in this conversation. "Come again?"
"Last week I requested Shiho-chan and Mako-chan to come with me to the Kendo Club. But that group was a travesty. So I intend on making my own Kendo Club."
"I forgot to you tell you, Maria." Yui suddenly remembered. "With all the moving we did this weekend I guess it slipped my mind."
"That's okay Yui-chan, but why does everyone care about this Kendo Club nonsense?"
"Well…." Yui looked away.
"She sort of volunteered you to join Kaede-chan's Kendo Club." Shiho snickered. "In fact all of us were volunteered."
"What?" Maria blinked. "I don't know anything about Kendo."
"I know you don't," Yui looked worried. "but Kaede-chan seemed really happy about the idea. And since Mako-chan and Shiho-chan were joining I thought it would be fun if we joined too."
Maria opened her mouth to object. She wanted to remind Yui about how she wasn't that great at sports. But after coming off of just being rebuked from calling her stupid, Maria wasn't sure how to branch the subject.
"Hayashi-sensei said he would look into it. He said he might get it passed the board if he called it a Girls Kendo Club."
"I don't know, Kaede-chan." Shiho scratched the back of her head. "The school probably won't go for it."
"I assume as much, but it doesn't hurt to ask." Kaede glanced at Makoto, who was still hanging on Maria.
Getting the hint, Maria politely pushed away from Makoto. "So… uh… if they say no then that's it, huh?"
"Maybe for you, but I said I'd be her student regardless." Shiho told her. "It's the least I can do for all the help she's given me."
"And I said I would too." Yui nodded. "I want to make her dream come true."
Maria knew that if both of them were going to do it anyway, then Makoto was bound to of said yes too. Which would make her the odd one out if she said no. "Uhhh… Well, if all of you are doing it then I guess I should too. Besides, the after club shower should be a reimbursement on joining, right?"
"I bet Mako-chan has a cute butt." Shiho teased.
Makoto stuck her tongue out at both of them. "Stop saying perverted things."
Yui tilted her head, looking at Kaede. "Kaede-chan, does she have a cute butt?"
Kaede had her usual stone face when she answered. "It's rather attractive."
Everyone laughed except Kaede, who may have been amused, but it was difficult to read her. Makoto, even though she was laughing, was covering her face with her hands. Maria felt a pang of jealousy at how lucky Kaede was at landing Makoto's affections. If Kaede had seen her butt, then that answered one question, they had at least seen each other naked. That didn't mean they had sex yet though.
"Speaking of which…" Shiho changed the subject. "What was up with Yukimaru and Harima this morning, Maria?"
Feeling embarrassed, Maria turned away. "Nothing."
"Oh." Yui glanced over at the two girls who were apparently still fighting and not eating lunch together. "I saw they were both tugging at your arms."
"They were grabbing her?" Makoto asked.
"Yeah. They looked pretty mad too. Before lunch, they came over and tried to talk to her again." Shiho added on to Yui's story.
"What happened?" Makoto looked at Maria.
"I was kinda of worked up after last night; my sister has a girlfriend and they don't have a problem with being loud. Well anyway, I stupidly went over and asked one of them out. They got confused on who I asked then got into a fight over it, so I ran away." Maria finally explained.
"You asked them out?" Yui frowned.
"I wasn't really thinking." Maria didn't know why she was justifying herself. "I just was tried of being alone."
"Looks like they're still fighting." Makoto was looking at them. "Geez, they must really like you."
"Don't remind me." Maria rubbed her arms, feeling a chill. "They were literally fighting over me."
Yui shook her head. "They can't have you. You're too good for them." Everyone looked at her. "What? As her best friend, they need my approval first."
"Okay Yui, who do you think Maria should go out with then?" Shiho asked in a sly voice.
Maria wondered what Yui would say to this, but she didn't answer right away. Instead she blushed and looked away. "Everyone good in this class is unavailable." Yui finally said.