Love-Sick Chapter 3: Mai x Kas

One night outside of the Mishima Residence, Kasumi Tanaka, A.K.A Kas, was climbing up a tree so she could get to Mai Mishima's bedroom window. For as long as she was alive, Kas knew she was different from other girls. She didn't have the same interests as other girls, she didn't feel the same way about boys as other girls, and perhaps strangest of all, her crush is another girl. That's why she snuck out of her house, so she could tell Mai how she really felt about her. Kas was going for broke here, because she had no idea what Mai's sexual orientation was. She knew she had to say something to her, or she'll go the rest of her life wondering about what could've been.

Kas climbed up that tree confidently and with ease, "Good thing I exercise," she thought to herself.

She eventually made it to a branch that could get her up close and personal with Mai's bedroom window. She looked in and saw Mai watching Spirit Guzzler (Soul Eater).

"They really need to make an anime adaptation of the manga," Kas heard Mai talking to herself as she watched her anime and ate from a small bag of gummy worms.

"Moment of truth," Kas said as she took a deep breath and started to crawl out on the branch towards the window.

Kas could feel her hearts race faster and faster the closer she got to the window. When she felt she got close enough, she opened her mouth to call out to Mai. Unfortunately, before she could even utter a single word, Kas heard a quiet 'crunching' noise beneath her, and she immediately knew it was the branch that she was perched upon.

"Uh-oh," went Kas.

CRACK!

The branch broke and Kas went falling back down to ground level. To make matters worse, when Kas landed back on the ground, she fell on her leg the wrong way, causing it to break and leaving Kas screaming in pain in the Mishima's front yard. Hearing her screams made Mai open her bedroom window and look down on the ground. There she found Kas holding her leg in pain.

"Kas?!" Mai exclaimed, "What are you doing here?! What's wrong?"

"Get me help, Mai," Kas cried in pain, "Please!"

As if on cue, Futaba, Riku, and Yuuki entered Mai's room, the three of them having heard Kas' screams of agony.

"What's all that noise?" Futaba asked.

"Kas is in pain in our front yard and she needs our help!" Mai exclaimed.

In response to that statement, Mai's parents and brother looked out the window with her at the injured Kas.

"Holy crap!" Yuuki exclaimed, "D-Don't worry, Kas, we're going to call your parents and tell them to meet us at the hospital!"

As Yuuki, Futaba, and Mai left to get their car warmed up so they could take Kas to the hospital, Riku continued to look down at Kas as she just laid there.

"Uh, what were you even doing here at this time of night anyway?" Riku asked.

"Is that so important right now?!" Kas shouted up at the boy.

So that's how Sumire and Ichiro got called up in the middle of the night by Yuuki, telling them to meet them at the hospital to pick up their daughter, who had just broken a leg in their front yard after sneaking out. Saying that Sumire and Ichiro were just a little irritated with this news would've been the understatement of the century. They didn't know why their daughter would sneak out of the house and go to the Mishima's residence, but they did know how weird Kas has been acting whenever the Mishimas are brought up in conversation, more specifically, whenever Mai has been brought up in conversation.

The two gymnastic parents picked up their daughter, who now had a cast around her leg, from the hospital, and gave her a stern talking to about going out in the middle of the night without their knowledge, but figured that the broken leg was punishment enough.

Since it was pretty late, the family of three decided to go to bed. Sumire and Ichiro set Kas up in her room, making sure that she and her broken leg were comfortable, then they told their daughter that they'd further discuss her actions the following morning before the two fo them turned in for the night as well.

"Oh, great," Kas thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep, thinking about what Sumire and Ichiro would have to say to her in the morning.

In Kas' Dreams

Kas' dreams that night weren't so much dreams, but more so flashbacks playing back in her head, and all of these flashbacks involved one thing: Mai.

Flashback #1:

The first flashback was about when Kas' crush on Mai first started, when they were both six years old. Kas was at the playground and she saw a crowd of boys gathering around to play a game of soccer. Kas eagerly steps up, wanting to play with them…only for the boys to laugh at her saying 'no girls allowed'. Kas ended up sitting on the swings by herself and watched as the boys played their soccer game without her. It was at this moment when Mai came up and sat on the swing next to her.

"Why are you by yourself?" Mai asked.

"They don't want girls to play in their game," Kas pouted, "I can play just as well as they can!"

"Who needs them?" Mai said, "They're just jealous because they know you can play better than any of them, and they know you'll upstage them all. Either that or they're just either too stupid to realize how great you really are."

Kas was deeply touched by Mai's words towards her and she couldn't help but blush and smile.

"Anyway, you look like you can use a friend right about now," Mai said, "Want to come over to my house and watch some T.V? We're having gyoza for dinner."

"Okay," Kas gleefully said as she walked off with Mai elsewhere

Flashback #2:

This flashback takes place when Mai and Kas are a little bit older, when they're both 11 years old. Kas is walking through the hall of the middle school she and Mai attended, when suddenly she hears a group of kids laughing, so she decides to investigate. When Kas turned the corner, she found a group of bullies surrounding Mai. Her school books were knocked to the ground, and some of the bullies were playing 'keep away' with some of them as Mai tried, in vein, to get them back.

"Leave her alone!" Kas said as she charged at the group of bullies.

Kas managed to knock out two of the bullies, and that act alone caused the rest of the group to run out of there like bats out of hell. The two that were knocked out regain consciousness and immediately run away from Kas when they see her glowering at them. When the area was safe, the red haired girl turned towards her orange haired friend and she helped her gather her books.

"Thanks, Kas," Mai said gratefully.

"Don't mention it," Kas said modestly, hiding a blush.

Flashback #3

This third flashback takes place closer to the present day when Kas and Mai are at their current age, 16. The two girls are at the park in the middle of the night, sitting on a bench and stargazing.

"I'm starting to think Kaito has a point," Mai said as she looked up at the sky with her friend, "These stars are simply amazing!"

"I know," Kas said wistfully before turning to Mai, "Hey, Mai."

"Yes, Kas?" Mai asked as she faced her friend.

Kas was trying to muster up the courage to tell Mai how she felt about her, but so many factors kept her from doing so. She couldn't find the right words, she wasn't sure what Mai's sexuality was, she wasn't sure how Mai would respond, someone might overhear them given that they're in public. These were just four of many factors that prevented Kas from speaking.

"Nothing, it's stupid" Kas sighed as she and Mai went back to stargazing.

"It sure is a beautiful night, isn't it," Mai said.

"Yeah," Kas concurred, "And I wouldn't want to spend it with anyone but you, Mai."

End flashbacks

It was around 9 A-M the following morning, and Kas was still sound asleep, her broken leg still in its cast and perched upon a pillow. The pain meds that she took the previous night for her leg clearly playing a part in why she's sleeping in so late. Kas won't be asleep for much longer, though, as a light knocking on the door would soon wake her up.

"Who's there?" Kas asked, half-asleep.

The door opened and it was Sumire and Ichiro. Kas let out a sigh, already knowing this was going to lead to a long winded lecture.

"Kas, let's talk," Ichiro said.

"What do you want to talk about?" Kas said.

"You know exactly what we want to talk about," Sumire said sternly.

"What do you think you were doing sneaking out of the house last night and going to the Mishimas without their knowing?" Ichiro asked, "What were you trying to accomplish?"

Kas looked around her room to try and shift her attention to something else. While most of her friends knew about Kas' homosexuality, her parents were two people left completely in the dark. She heard stories about what happened to kids like her who revealed their sexuality, only for them to be completely disowned. She was afraid that she'd end up exactly like those kids, so she always kept her true nature under wraps. But her parents just put her in a tough spot by asking her what she was doing sneaking over to Mai's house, and she was having a tough time coming up with a good enough lie.

"You two wouldn't understand," Kas finally managed to say.

"Understand what?" Sumire asked, "We're your parents Kas. You can tell us anything."

"It's not that simple," Kas tried.

"Enough of this! Kasumi, what are you hiding from us?!" Ichiro demanded.

"I'm not hiding anything," Kas raised her voice, "Just leave me alone!"

"Kas, you're been behaving very strangely lately, especially when Mai is involved," Sumire said, "Just tell us what's going on and we can help you!"

It was getting harder and harder for Kas to keep quiet.

"Please, Kas," Sumire begged.

"Please," Ichiro chimed in.

"Just talk to us!" They both demanded.

"Fine!" Kas snapped, "You two want me to talk to you so badly and you want to know why I snuck out last night?! Well, buckle up because here comes your answer! Mom! Dad! I! AM! GAY!"

Hearing that made Ichiro and Sumire fall silent, allowing their daughter to further explain herself.

"No, I didn't stutter, and this is not a dream," Kas continued, "I, your daughter, Kasumi Tanaka, am gay, and I have been for a very long time. It's why I always look so flustered around Auntie Ann. Look under my bed, you'll find a shoebox filled with dirty magazines featuring women, don't ask me how I got them, I have my ways. And if you look on my laptop, you'll find a folder on my desktop that has pictures of even more scantily clad women, if they're wearing clothes at all."

Ichiro looked underneath his daughter's bed and found the shoebox that she was talking about. He and Sumire were taken aback when they saw this, but they let their daughter continue to talk.

"And as for why I snuck over to Mai's house last night," Kas continued, "I've had a crush on her for the longest time, and I was going to tell her my true feelings while also getting a gauge on her own sexuality."

"You like Mai?" Sumire asked.

"Maybe even more than that, mom," Kas admitted, "Even though I have you guys and the rest of our friends, I feel like Mai is the only one who truly understands me in this world. She always has my back, just like I always have hers. We're always there for each other and I can't imagine a world without her. I'm really in love with Mai."

Kas stayed silent for a few more seconds as she gathered her closing thoughts.

"Well, there you have it," Kas said, "I'm gay, I'm in love with Mai, end of story. I don't care if you guys hate me for who I am…I like me. And if you don't…then that's a 'you' problem."

Kas looked back at her parents who just looked at her with blank expressions on their faces as they tried to process everything their daughter just told them. The lack of a reaction from them made Kas nervous.

"Oh God, let the disowning begin," Kas thought to herself.

But instead of a negative response to her rant, Kas was instead met with a hug from both Ichiro and Sumire, catching her off guard.

"Oh, Kasumi," Sumire said, "We could never hate you."

"You mean you guys aren't mad at me and you're not going to disown me?" Kas asked.

"Why on Earth would we do that?" Sumire asked.

"Yeah, Kas, you're our kid," Ichiro chimed in, "It doesn't matter to us if you're straight, gay, bi, trans, pan, or whatever. We love you and we think you're perfect just the way you are."

"And you always have our support," Sumire concluded.

"Thanks, guys," Kas said, tearing up, "You two are seriously the best."

"You're welcome sweetie," Ichiro said as he and his wife freed their daughter from their hug, "But on to more serious matters, you said you have a crush on Mai, but you don't know which way she swings?"

"Not really," Kas said, "I mean, she says certain guys are hot, but I never really see her with other guys and she's never outright expressed any kind of desire for them. I don't know where she lands. But I know I have to ask her, and tell her how I feel!"

"Well what are we doing just sitting around here?" Sumire asked, "Let's go find her right now."

"W-Wait, mom, are you serious?!" Kas asked, getting a little nervous.

"We told you that you have our full support, Kas," Ichiro smiled, "Where does she usually hang out at this hour."

"Well, normally she'd be at the arcade with Riku," Kas began, "But the latest installment in the Sole Chunk manga (One Piece) got released today, so she's probably at the comic book store reading it."

"Let's get a move on, then," Sumire said.

Sumire and Ichiro help Kasumi out of bed with her broken leg, and they help her get dressed before the three of them hurry off to the comic book store.

Kas entered the comic book store on her crutches as Sumire and Ichiro followed closely behind. They scanned the area for Mai, and they eventually found her sitting by herself at a table in the corner. She had the latest installment of the Sole Chunk manga sitting on the table not far from her. Mai was instead reading a much larger book, and she seemed to be very interested in it.

"There she is," Kas said before turning to her parents, "Well, guys, wish me luck."

"You can do this, Kas," Sumire said.

"We'll be right here," Ichiro said with a nod.

On her crutches, Kas made her way over to Mai's table as Sumire and Ichiro sat themselves down at a table farther away from them, and they covered their faces with nearby comic books, so they could listen in on whatever conversation her daughter and Mai would have.

"Hey, Mai," Kas said to her friend, startling her.

"Oh, uh, Kas, hey," Mai said, flustered.

"What's the matter?" Kas asked, "You seem a bit out of sorts."

"Uh, don't worry about it," Mai said, "So, uh, how's your leg doing?"

"It still hurts a little," Kas said, "The doctors said it'll be a month before I can get it removed. Plenty of time to get some signatures. How would you like to be my first one?"

"Sure," Mai said enthusiastically, "I think I have a marker in my backpack. Let me just put my book away."

Unfortunately, as Mai went to put the big book away, a smaller magazine fell out of it. When it fell to the floor, Kas looked over the table as Mai raced to pick it back up. But by the time Mai grabbed the magazine from off the floor, Kas had already seen what the magazine was, and it was the latest issue of Sky Parlor (Penthouse). Mai was using the big book to cover the magazine up so no one would know she was looking at pictures of naked women.

"Was that a Sky Parlor magazine?" Kas asked.

Hearing Kas ask that question made Mai blush so hard, her face looked like a tomato. Not far from them, Sumire and Ichiro were watching this scene unfold, and they too were in shock, knowing that Mai somehow got her hands on a dirty magazine.

"What were you doing with that, if you don't mind me asking?" Kas asked.

"Well, you know, uh…I've always found the female body to be…kind of…interesting," Mai sheepishly said.

"Interesting how?" Kas asked.

"They're interesting if you're…someone like me," Mai said.

"Wait, Mai," Kas said, "Are you…you know?"

"Well I'm not 100% into girls…but I do prefer them over men," Mai said embarrassed.

Mai glanced over at Kas, waiting for a response from her. All she could say was, "This is the best news I could've ever heard."

"What are you talking about?" Mai asked confused.

At this point in time, Mai was the only person in their friend group that Kas hasn't revealed her sexuality to, as doing that would also reveal her crush on her. But now that Kas knows of Mai's orientation, she felt it was the perfect time to come out to her friend and ask her out on a date.

"Mai…I'm gay!" Kas said.

"For real?!" Mai asked, shocked.

"My line," Ryuji said as he randomly walked by, holding a copy of the new Sole Chunk in his hands. The two girls ignored his random appearance in the comic book store before moving on with this recent development in their friendship.

"Kas, you're gay?!" Mai asked.

"Always have been," Kas said, "And I've loved you since the day I met you, Mai Mishima."

Just when Mai was beginning to think Kas had no more surprises for her, she went ahead and said that, making her feel as though she could walk on air.

"I've always been so scared to tell you how I felt because I didn't know about your own sexual orientation," Kas explained, "But now that I know, I just want to say that I love you with all my heart and soul! You're always there for me no matter the circumstance, always in my corner cheering me on. I want to share so many of life's sweet moments and make countless memories with you, Mai. What do you say? You want to be my girlfriend?

Slowly, a smile grew on Mai's face, and that smile gave Kas her answer.

"Oh, yes, Kasumi!" Mai shouted, "You're one of my best friends, and you're my closest friend. Nothing would make me happier than to be your girlfriend."

"That's so wonderful to hear, Mai," Kas exclaimed with joy.

Mai got up from her chair and wrapped her new girlfriend up in a hug, which Kas graciously returned, along with a kiss square on Mai's lips, causing them both to blush. Sumire and Ichiro watched the two girls' lovefest before looking over at each other, happy that their daughter has found someone to call her very own.

The next six weeks Mai spent most of her time hanging out with Kas, and helping her as her leg healed. She even attended physical therapy sessions after she got the cast on her leg removed. Once Kas' leg made a full recovery, Mai attended every one of her girlfriend's gymnastics competitions, and she was one of the loudest and most supportive spectators there. And of course, Mai and Kas went out on countless dates where they learned more about each other, shared a few laughs, and even found some time for smooches in between.

Mai and especially Kas were really happy with the way their relationship was going, and they very much looked forward to whatever else was in store for them. Kas may have suffered a broken leg leading up to her and Mai becoming girlfriends, but that injury of hers turned out to be well worth it in the end.