I have been wanting to write a second part to this story for awhile now, hope you all enjoy it and are doing well.
The Queen of Thin Ice - Epilogue 2.
Arriving at their apartment complex pretty late Friday evening, the worn-out, slightly nauseated Nariyuki Yuiga, quickly got the passenger door open to his and Mafuyu's red little car, then practically stumbled out of the vehicle. Standing there, breathing in the slightly chilly autumn air, a part of him wondered if there would ever come a time when he would get used to Mafuyu's crazy driving.
With this being exam week, it seemed particularly bad these days, since Mafuyu was so unbelievable determined to get to work on time to make a good example for the students. But she was likewise just as determined and eager to get back home. When work was done, it had gone so crazy fast today that Nariyuki was relatively certain that Mafuyu had actually run a red light at some point.
'I wonder what sort of example her driving would be for the students, if they ever figured out how she was behind the wheels' the young husband thought, as he, while listening to the sounds of his wife getting out of the car, reached up and rubbed a bit of sweat away from his forehead.
Stretching her arms and back a bit, Mafuyu let out a tired sigh. "Uhh, it's so good to be finally home; such an exam week can be pretty intense and rough at times. I just hope all of our students were prepared for it and did well. I would prefer to avoid giving bad grades," the pink-haired newly-wed lady said as she hurriedly picked up her bag from the back seat of the car, wondering, for a moment, why it seemed so crazy thick and heavy. It had not been all that long since Nariyuki had helped her thoroughly sort through all the stuff in there, making her, with a bit of a struggle realize, that she was carrying around quite a few items that she simply did not need, like her one egg boiler, her electric toothbrush and last but not least, her yellow potato peeler, which she frankly had no idea how had ended up in there in the first place, but maybe it was about high time she got Nariyuki to help clean up in there again.
With that thought in mind, Mafuyu slowly raised her head and looked over at her young husband, about to say something to him, when she noticed that he seemed kinda wobbly on his feet. Instantly feeling an intense concern for his well-being, Mafuyu hastily stepped over and gently took a hold of his hand.
"You, doing okay there, Nariyuki, dear? You seem a bit queasy. We should hurry and get inside so you can lie down," Mafuyu hastily told him, and then, after making sure that the car was locked, she was about to lead him towards the apartment complex.
Even though the reason for his queasiness was her driving, Nariyuki was so sincerely grateful for his wife's concern that he did not have the heart to tell her that, so with a deep breath, he forced his slightly dry lips apart as he began speaking softly to her.
"I'll—blrg! I'll be okay, Mafuyu; I just need a bit of fresh air and perhaps a drink of water when we get inside," he assured her through a nauseous burp that he was able to hide with the help of his free hand.
Still feeling genuinely worried about the man she loved, Mafuyu frowned a bit, as she tightened her grip on his hand. "Fine, fine, but we are definitely ordering takeout tonight so you do not have to work in the kitchen. I do not want you to collapse from exhaustion," she concernedly insisted in a tone of voice that left no room for disagreement.
"That—brlg! Sounds fine with me, Mafuyu ho-honey, it's been quite awhile since the two of us last got Ogata udon" Nariyuki thoughtfully stated, still breathing slowly but deeply in and out in a almost meditation like manner.
Watching Nariyuki do that, Mafuyu could not deny that a part of her was sort of curious about where precisely her husband had leaned to do such a thing. This was far from the first time she had noticed him do that, when he felt particularly tired and stiff after a long, hard day's work, but after a second or two, Mafuyu decided that she could always question him about it at a later date.
"Mm, yes, Ogata udon would be perfect for dinner this evening. Let's get inside so you can sit down and take it easy for a bit," Mafuyu sternly told him, with a light hint of softness and affection in her voice, and so while simply ignoring Nariyuki's bit of protest about how he would be just fine and dandy, she began leading him towards their home.
Once, Mafuyu got their apartment unlocked, and the newlywed couple stepped inside. The young wife immediately turned towards her precious husband, sending him a hard-stern look as she pointed in the direction of the living room, telling him to go relax and that she would get him a nice cold glass of water, then call and order the takeout food once she had changed into one of her tracksuits.
Almost, laughing out loud at the tracksuit bit. Of course, Mafuyu wanted to hurry and change into her preferred type of clothing immediately after getting off work. Nariyuki just hoped that at least one of them was dry at this point. After putting them all in the washing machine last night, Nariyuki had hung them all out to dry on the balcony early this morning before Mafuyu and him had left for work. But considering the bit of humidity in the air, they might still need a bit more time out there.
"Mafuyu sweetheart, there really ain't any need for you to worry so much about me; I am perfectly alright," he softly reassured, with a gentle smile on his lips that was meant to help lessen her worries.
Frowning ever so slightly at those words, Mafuyu was not entirely certain that she actually fully believed him. Considering how stubborn her sweet Nariyuki could be at times, the pink-haired lady of course knew that he was more than willing to ignore it if his body felt abnormal in any sort of way, and she would not have that now.
"Enough dillydally, Nariyuki, go sit down and let me take care of you for Pete's sake," Mafuyu ordered in a tone that, for the briefest of moment made the flinching Nariyuki's mind flash back to those times in a very familiar classroom, when he had still been Mafuyu's student, and she had been pissed off or annoyed by something she found to be totally inappropriate and unacceptable in her classroom, like Fumino falling slowly asleep or Oomori making just a bit too much, which he had, had the tendency to occasionally do. And so, not at all willing to disagree with his frowning wife at this point, Nariyuki nodded hastily a couple of times as he went off in the direction of the living room.
Quite content with Nariyuki's obedience, Mafuyu felt the frown on her forehead get replaced by a small self-satisfied smirk, as she quickly went after her husband, pleased to find him sitting at the table in the living room, pulling off his tie and shirt, slowly putting them aside on the floor. Once he was done with that, he let out a tired sigh and stretched a bit until his back made a light cracking sound.
Yet, that was not at all what caught the wife's attention; instead, Mafuyu's light green gaze remained fully fixated on the clothes her sweet hubby had left lying on the floor, part of her trying to figure out what exactly to do with those. Practically every single fiber of Mafuyu Yuiga's being insisted pretty firmly on the fact that there was no real harm in leaving them there, that just a few items of clothing on the floor would not hurt anybody. But since she was struggling so hard to get better at picking things up that did not belong on the floor, the woman slowly kneeled down and picked up the shirt and tie.
What followed next, was Mafuyu trying to figure out what precisely to do with the shirt and tie. They-they, at least, smelled sort of nice; Mafuyu really did love the smell of them; the calm smell reminded her of her sweet, precious Nariyuki. Yet, after standing there enjoying the scent of clothes for a few moments, she rapidly shook her head a bit, then moved over and placed the clothes on the couch. Part of her simply figured that leaving them there was most definitely a far better option than the small living room floor; in Mafuyu's humble opinion, it seemed a bit less messy there.
With that task over and done with, Mafuyu next moved over and opened the balcony door. Grabbing her favorite red tracksuit, she was pleased to discover that it was fully dry after hanging out in the chilly fresh air for most of the day. And so, with the red tracksuit in hand, Mafuyu headed off into the kitchen. Even when considering all the wonders things Nariyuki, and she had done together since they became husband and wife, like taking long baths together, washing each other's bodies, and making passionate love on their bed, there was still this tiny, inexplicable part of Mafuyu that, on occasion, felt just a bit embarrassed about changing her clothes in front of Nariyuki, when that happened, she would then go into the bathroom or the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Mafuyu quickly got out of her work clothes and into her much more comfortable tracksuit. Letting out a deep content sigh over how nice and relaxing these clothes felt after a hard day's work, the pink-haired lady, after filling one of her matching mugs with refreshing cold water, turned and stepped back into the living room, simply leaving her used work clothes on the kitchen floor without sparing them a second thought or glance.
Instantly upon reentering the living room again, Mafuyu handed the mug of cold water over to her husband, who took it with a small, grateful thank you, taking a long sip of the refreshing liquid, as he listened to Mafuyu talk into her phone.
"Yes, hello, this is, Mafuyu Yuiga, speaking. I would like to order two, no wait, three large portions of tempura udon, something to drink. Hm, yes. If you would, could you please add a large cola to the order? Oh, you're out of those, then I think we'll just settle for the udon this evening, Mr. Ogata, thank you," Mafuyu told the always-friendly restaurant owner. Truth be told, she never understood why Nariyuki insisted on Mr. Ogata, being one of the most terrifying people he knew. Those times she had spoken with Mr. Ogata in person about Rizu, he seemed like a genuinely kind, extremely devoted father who at times got on his daugher's nerves. But the terrifying thing was not something she herself had ever witnessed. So she had to take Nariyuki's word for it, but a part of her was relatively sure that her husband was simply exaggerating.
Once the phone call was done, Mafuyu immediately plopped down onto the floor beside Nariyuki, sighing softly and drowsily resting her head against his broad shoulder for a few long moments.
"The food will be here in fifteen minutes or so. Maybe a bit longer, since they were quite busy," Mafuyu quietly informed Nariyuki. Who's only response was a brief nod.
"That's good; I am quite hungry after all of today's hardships. You know, sweetheart, back when I was still a student, I would never have imagined that exam week would be just as rough and tough for a teacher as it is for a student. It's really no big wonder why my father was always so stressed out during exam week," Nariyuki said in a low tone of voice, taking in the soft, comfortable smell of his wife's long pink hair.
Nodding ever so slowly up against him. "Yeah, this is a pretty stressful time to be a teacher. But look on the bright side, Nariyuki, honey. It's over and done with for now; there are about four months, or so, until the exam week. But I admit, I am sort of curious here; do you think the first-year students you were teaching did okay?" Mafuyu intriguingly asked her husband, sitting slowly up straight again, then reached over and grabbed his mug of water, taking a small sip from it.
Considering that question with a thoughtful sound, "Hmm, I believe they all did relatively well, Mafuyu; they all seemed pretty confident when we started the test, but it's kinda hard to know with absolute certainty until I go through their exam papers, but that can wait until tomorrow. But what about you, sweetheart? How do you think your students did?" Nariyuki curiously asked her, accepting the mug from Mafuyu's hand, then quickly swallowed what little remained of the cold water inside it before placing the empty mug on the table.
Instantaneously upon that question reaching Mafuyu's sensitive ears, her light green eyes turned completely round, with the upper part of her face turning dark blue in repressed annoyance, which was a sure sighed way to tell how intensely frustrated and dissatisfied she truly felt with the day's test resulted.
"It... mhff, it seems like most of them did well, Nariyuki; they all seemed pretty well-prepared. Except for one person," Mafuyu said, clearly pissed about what little effort this individual had put in during this entire exam week.
Of course, knowing precisely who she was referring to, Nariyuki let out a deep sigh.
"Let me guess, Nakano Ruruka?".
"Yeah, that stubborn, ill-behaved girl is getting increasingly frustrating to teach and deal with. I have tried talking and reasoning with her so many times. You know, she did not even bother showing up today, which means I again have to fail her. I think I am reaching the point, Nariyuki, where I want her out of my classroom. Her loafing attitude is even starting to bother the other students when they are trying to pay attention to my lessons," Mafuyu said, clearly feeling a bit disheartened by the fact that she was incapable of teaching Nakano Ruruka, probably, but with the girl's tardiness now getting in the way of Mafuyu teaching her other students, something most definitely had to be done now.
Reaching over, Nariyuki gently stroked and rubbed Mafuyu's shoulder in a comforting manner. "If you want to, sweetheart, I can go along with you to talk with the principal about it on Monday".
Putting some serious consideration into her husband's helpful offer. The young wife slowly shook her head. "No, no, Nakano is my student, so it's my responsibility alone to deal with this matter. Now, enough work talk, Nariyuki. Let's talk about something more fun. What do you think about the last volume of the He's My Student manga you read? It was number eighteen, right? I am quite a bit curious about what precisely you think of that one." Mafuyu said, her eyes practically sparkling with deep-seated curiosity and childlike excitement over this subject.
Of course, knowing how important this was to Mafuyu, and not wanting to disappoint her with a half-baked, inconsiderate answer, Nariyuki put a great deal of thought into how to best reply to this question, as he slowly stroked his chin with a deep, thoughtful sound.
"Hm, it's getting more and more interesting and exciting, Mafuyu. At this point in the story, it's so obvious how incredibly strong Kurisu sensei and Yuto, attraction, and feelings are for one another. Pretty much the only thing preventing the two of them from actually admitting their feelings out loud to each other is their student-teacher relationship. I really am looking forward to read the next volume," Nariyuki said, still kinda of amazed by how closely the He's My Student manga resembled his and Mafuyu's actual relationship.
Immediately upon hearing her dear husband's well-thought-out, genuinely pleasing reply to this in her mind highly important question, the already intense, curious sparkle in Mafuyu's eyes increased tenfold, as she leaned in towards Nariyuki about to ask him her next question about her favorite manga, and what was currently going on in it, from his point of view. Yet before the excited girl had a chance to actually do that, she was, much to her intense annoyance, rudely interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.
"Oh, that was fast. I wonder, can that really be the food already? It's barely been ten minutes since you ordered the food, Mafuyu," Nariyuki stated in slight wonder, using the table to push himself up from the hard wooden floor, yet as he did that, it was unavoidable for him not to notice the slight hint of disappointment in Mafuyu's light green eyes. Hating to see that look, Nariyuki reached out, gently stroking her soft pink hair in a soothing manner.
"I promise, sweetheart, we'll talk and debate all you want about He's My Student late, when we are done eating. We can even watch some of the anime; you did purchase the entire Blu-ray box set of it during our date to Akihabara. And until now, we have only seen the first three episodes of it. I really would not mind spending a nice quiet evening watching that with you," Nariyuki gently assured his frowning wife, about to lean down to place a light affectionate kiss on her forehead, when his loving actions were brought to an abrupt hold by the doorbell ringing yet again.
Unlocking and opening the door, just as the doorbell rang out through the apartment again, Nariyuki saw none other than his udon addicted friend, the Clockwork Thumbelina, Rizu Ogata, standing right there before him, dressed in her usual blue work kimono and scarf. The short girl had a dull, slightly blank expression on her face that lightened up considerably upon seeing him; she was quite obviously pleased to see him again after such a long time.
"Oh, hey, Ogat..." Nariyuki did not get the chance to finish saying her last name when he received a somewhat sour glare from her.
"Sorry, old habit. Hey there, Rizu it's good to see you. I did not expect you to be the one delivering our food. I thought your younger cousin had taken over working at your family's place after you went off to college to continue your education," he told her.
Nodding slowly at that. "She did. But Shiori is off sick this week, so I am helping my dad out, even though he is still soo annoying. I keep having to tell the big nincompoop to stay a certain amount of meters away from me," Rizu said, mumbling the last part with a frown that just made it so abundantly clear how bothered she was with her father at times.
Immediately upon hearing that Mr. Ogata, was apparently still very much the same overprotective parent, towards his dear precious Rizu-Tama, he had always been, it was almost enough to make Nariyuki laugh out loud. In some peculiar way, it was sort of reassuring to know that certain things never seemed to change, no matter how much time went by.
"It's good to know that he is doing alright, Rizu. Please do say hello to him from me when you get back home from your deliveries, and thank him again for the wedding gift. I don't think either Mafuyu or I expect to get anything so generous from him," Nariyuki said.
Tilting her head back and forth a few times, Rizu nodded vaguely. While most people might very well say that her father's wedding present to the Yuigas was a bit of a peculiar one, both Nariyuki and Kirisu sensei really did seem to appreciate the twenty coupons for udon half off whenever the newlywed couple ate at their restaurant, which according to her father they at times did when they were on their way home from work.
"I'll be sure to tell him that, Nariyuki, I know for a fact that he very much appreciates all of our loyal regular customers, except for the ones who are dumb enough to try to hit on me," Rizu said in a low tone.
If there was anything that the short, well-endowed girl had found to be quite annoying about her getting more emotional understanding and being able to comprehend most emotions so much better now, it was that she was able to recognize it when some odd ball of a guy tried to flirt with her. Rizu simply did not like or appreciate that one bit. Fortunately, she was at this point capable of rejecting such people herself; she was even able to employ her own unique version of her father's scary face, which was enough to scare most guys away; otherwise, Sawako was there to help her out since the two of them were roommates now.
Knowing from when he had been tutoring Rizu in language arts, how her father treated any poor guy who got too close to his Rizu-Tama, Nariyuki felt a freezing cold shiver run down his spine as his mind flashed back to an evil smirking Mr. Ogata, wickedly telling him, that he would grind him into noodles if he were to touch his adorable princess Rizu.
'Oh man, oh man, if Rizu ever does bring home a boyfriend, he has better be the most upstanding decent guy imaginable; otherwise, he probably will not survive his first meeting with, Mr. Ogata...' Nariyuki thought as his stomach growled slightly from the scent of the delicious udon, inside the metal delivery box Rizu had used to transport the food.
Yet, before Nariyuki had a chance to even get his thin wallet open to find the money necessary to pay for his and Mafuyu's meal for the evening, he was interrupted by a bit of a sound behind him, which made him turn to see his beautiful, adoring wife, approaching, dressed in another set of her work clothes. The only thing that appeared to be missing from the mostly red outfit were the long black stockings Mafuyu commonly wore to work; she might not have had the time needed to put those on or had more likely been unable to find any.
But while Nariyuki was, of course, quite used to seeing the woman he loved and cherished so dearly in this very familiar outfit, it was a pretty common occasion most days, except for the ones where they had the day off and decided to stay at home and just relax. During those days, Mafuyu would be perfectly content wearing her tracksuit, or on rare occasions, her pajamas, or even one of his shirts, which she had gotten used to wearing after the first time they had played the video game He Is My Ex-Student together. Yet, seeing Mafuyu in her work clothes now made Nariyuki sigh and roll his eyes a bit.
'So even though it's been such a long times since Rizu graduated from Ichinose Academy, and you stopped being her teacher, Mafuyu, you are still so determined to appear prim and proper in front of her. Heh-hm, my wife can be so adorably weird at times. Oh, God, I love her so much; she really is the perfect woman for me,' Nariyuki thought, using his left hand to conceal the light amused chuckles leaving his mouth as he listened to Mafuyu start talking to Rizu in a friendly tone.
"It's good to see you, Ogata, neither Nariyuki nor I have seen you since our wedding. I do hope you are doing okay," the pink-haired woman told her short former student, genuinely pleased to see Ogata Rizu again.
Finding her mind flashing ever so briefly back to the two's wedding, Rizu could still so very clearly remember how stunning, amazing, and incredibly beautiful her former tutor had looked in her pretty white wedding dress. Rizu wondered for a moment if she would ever get the chance to wear such a lovely dress herself one day.
"Yes, yes, I am doing quite well. It's nice to see you too, Kirisu sensei. Oh, sorry, my mistake; it's Yuiga sensei now, right?... Umm, that sounds sort of weird to me; I guess I am just so used to calling you Kirisu sensei" Rizu said, frowning slightly in annoyance over her mistake.
Tilting her head slightly to the side, Mafuyu casually waved off that tiny blunder. "It's perfectly all right, Ogata, no harm done. Truth be told, there are still quite a few of the students at Ichinose who still refer to me by the name Kirisu, and since Nariyuki is working there too, it's kind of easier for them and us to figure out who is who when they do that. But enough about that. Do you want to stay over and have dinner with us, Ogata? We did order three portions of tempura udon".
Being the type of individual who never, EVER, said no to free food, most especially if that food happened to be udon, Rizu nodded eagerly a few times. "Yes, please; that would be nice. I would like to speak with the two of you a bit more; maybe we could even play a round or two of nimuto, I do have that with me," she informed the newly-weds, briefly patting the left pocket in her kimono to make absolutely certain that the game was still there.
"Not to be a buzzkill, Rizu, but what about the rest of your deliveries? Don't you need to get those out?" Nariyuki asked, slightly worried about the rest of the udon inside the delivery box going completely cold while Rizu was hanging out with him and Mafuyu.
Looking at him for a second, like he had just grown a second head, Rizu slowly shook her head a bit. "No, it should be fine, Nariyuki; I have already delivered to almost everyone else. That new scooter my father purchased not too long ago, after I made that small comment about how useful the one Kominami senpai used to drive around on seemed to be, really does make the task of delivering food a lot easier. And it's quite enjoyable and relaxing to simply drive around on," Rizu stated, hoping that the scooter was all right where she had left it in the parking lot. She was at times a bit worried that somebody might run off with it, since in her eyes it was pretty sweet-looking and awesome, with that purple paint job it had.
Rizu was still completely lost in thought about that, when Kirisu sensei's calm voice interrupted her thoughts and brought her back to reality.
"You said mostly Ogata, what about the rest?" Mafuyu asked, exchanging a quick glance with her husband, who was also wondering about that.
"Like I already said, it should be fine for now. My last delivery is to your mom's place, Nariyuki, and when she was informed that I needed to head to your place first, she quickly requested that I keep an eye on the two of you and made absolutely certain that the two of you were having a sweet, wonderful, and romantic time together, then tell her all about it when I got to her place; she even told me that she would pay me some udon for the information," the girl said, with a hungry expression on her face.
"Ohh mom, for Pete's sake. I really did think that after Mafuyu and I got married, that her intense interest in my love life had diminished at least a bit, or that she would start focusing on Mizuki instead," Nariyuki loudly sighed, while rubbing his forehead in mild frustration.
Again exchanging a look with Nariyuki, Mafuyu looked back at the short girl. "Um, if you would, could you please not tell her too much, Ri... ugh, Ogata? If-if Hanae, my mother-in-law, thinks Nariyuki and I are going totally overboard with the romance, She-she always asks me so many awkward, embarrassing questions. Like how many times Nariyuki and I kiss during the day and how long those kisses are, or how many hours we hold hands or embrace one another, I-I do not keep count of that; is that something normal people actually do?" The newly-wed wife asked, somewhat panicky, her face turning more and more red; in some way, it matched her pink hair pretty well.
Fascinating; this was utterly fascinating. Rizu had never experienced the overall uniqueness of seeing the always calm, collective, and down to earth Kirisu sensei all, red-faced and embarrassed like this. There was truly no way to even begin to describe how unbelievable and mesmerizing this sight truly was. Rizu sincerely wished, with all of her being, that her two good friends, Fumino and Uruka, were there to witness and experience this miraculous moment with her. There was no way either one of them would ever believe her if she told them about this.
And as Rizu watched, this unique sight of Kirisu sensei fidgeting around like crazy as she struggled so intensely to contain and suppress her deep embarrassment. The short girl found herself wondering if this was the always-caring Nariyuki's influence. If one of the reasons why the hard-ass that had been the Ice Queen of Ichinose Academy had changed so unbelievable much and had become so much more approachable and friendly was because she had fallen so deeply and passionately in love with Nariyuki, it was most definitely an interesting theory, which she needed to discuss in great length with Fumino later.
For now, however, Rizu quickly shook that thought out of her captivated mind.
"Please calm down, Kirisu sensei. I promise I will not say anything too revealing to your mother, Nariyuki. I'll just inform her that the two of you seem to be doing well and that you are enjoying yourselves," Rizu said in a reassuring tone, which did seem to help calm down the panicky Kirisu sensei considerably.
Instantly, those soothing, considerate words had an immediate calming effect on Mafuyu, who ceased her unhinging fidgeting around, now standing completely straight, while making a vain attempt to brush some of the more noticeable wrinkles out of her skirt. She looked so very much like she was about to teach an entire class of new students that she was absolutely determined, above all else, to make a good but professional first impression on, no matter what.
"Ahem, thank you, Ogata, truly. Nariyuki and I so very much appreciate your understanding and consideration. Now enough chitchat; let's go eat already; I am quite starving," Mafuyu said, acting very much like she had not been an anxious, embarrassed mess mere moments ago, that she was in complete control of her emotions. Then, without further ado, the female Yuiga grabbed tightly onto her husband's hand, dragging him along with her towards the living room.
Staying put in the small entryway for the few seconds needed, to kick off her shoes, which was, of course, proper etiquette in a Japanese home. Rizu smiled at the sight of them. The two truly did make an amazingly cute and adorable couple. Like it had been at their wedding, it was still so obvious how incredibly much Kirisu sensei and Nariyuki loved and cherished one another.
'I-I want a boyfriend! One that makes me feel, how Nariyuki used to make me feel...' the short girl thought with a hint of a frown on her forehead as she quickly went after the newly-wed couple, finding them in the living room sitting at the table beside each other, waiting patiently for her.
Genuinely relieved, to finally get a chance to get off her slightly aching feet and relax a bit, after a long, hard day's work, Rizu pulled her blue scarf out of her hair, shaking her hair around a bit to get it in order, then sat down across from the married couple, reaching out for the chopsticks they had so kindly put out for her. Then, while simultaneously saying the words thank you for the food, the three of them started calmly eating their dinner.
Sighing softly and sincerely, enjoying the peaceful ambience enveloping the three of them, Mafuyu swallowed her third bite of udon, then took a small sip of cold water from her matching cup. Following that, as she picked up her fourth bite, the pink-haired lady brought the calm, peaceful silence to an end.
"So, when you are not busy helping out at your family's restaurant, what else are you doing these days, Ogata?" Mafuyu asked, doing a pretty poor job of hiding, how truly intrigued she was about what her former student had been doing since she had graduated.
Taking a long sip of water from her own cup, Rizu tilted her head just a bit to the side. "I've been designing and constructing my own unique board games with help from Sawako and Fumino, the three of us are living together as roommates these days. Currently, we are rigorously working on a third one, where you are supposed to build your own restaurant where you sell udon. But a lot can happen to ruin one's business and income in the game, like the place getting infected with coc... umm, certain insects, or wrecked by an earthquake, but you can also sabotage your opponent's restaurant to make it harder for them to succeed," Rizu explained with a great amount of childlike excitement in her voice.
Even though, Mafuyu could on occasion be a bit slow on the uptake, she understood perfectly well, despite the thrilled Ogata not having finished that eerie, truly terrifying word, what these certain insects were supposed to be. Just the mere thought of them sent a freezing cold, shiver through her body as she scotched in closer to her husband, feeling so much safer and more secure from just being near him.
"Umm, that sounds like quite an interesting game, Ogata. But might I suggest that you remove those spooky insects from the game so that you do not scared of most of your customer base?" Mafuyu stated, simply put, not realizing that not every individual who would purchase this sort of board game, was not as terrified of cockroaches as she was.
Reaching up, Rizu rubbed her chin a bit with chopsticks in hand. "Hmm, I'll consider it, sensei," she softly told the scared woman. Even though there was no way in hell Rizu, would take the cockroaches out of the game, those were one of the most fun and entertaining methods one could use to sabotage an opponent and make them go bankrupt that much quicker and thereby lose the game.
"Good, that's good," Mafuyu stated. Honestly, finding it to be quite a relief to hear that such grotesque little creatures as cockroaches might be left out of a game that appeared, from the brief description of it, to be quite fun and enjoyable. It was certainly something Mafuyu was looking forward to playing with Nariyuki, and Miharu one day, when Ogata had finished making it.
Seeing how utterly relieved Kirisu sensei seemed to be over this. A small frown appeared on Rizu's forehead as she wondered if it might actually be a wise move on their part to make a different version of Restaurant Udon War, where they had mice as a hindrance instead of cockroaches. It was definitely something that she needed to discuss with Sawako and Fumino later, when she got home. It might be kind of fun, if they made a few different versions of this board game.
Rizu did, however, not get long to consider all these things, when she was suddenly brought back to reality by the sound of Nariyuki's kind, always considerate voice.
"It's so great to hear, Rizu, that your board game hobby has developed and come this far since Ichinose Academy. I am really impressed that you are capable of creating your own special games now. I think both Mafuyu and I would very much like to try to play your two previous ones, if that's possible, somehow," the brown-haired young man told his female friend.
Slowly, Rizu tilted her head from side to side a few times, in a deeply thoughtful manner. "Mm, I do have a few copies of those games stashed away in my closet back home, for what can only be described as emergency use and purposes. You can have one of each of those as an extra wedding present from me," the girl said, not entirely able to hide the fact that she was feeling sort of worried about her current finances. Some of the materials required to make those handmade games were quite hard to come by. One had to travel all the way to a certain hobby shop in Akihabara to get some of them. Not to mention the fact that some of the more durable stuff she wanted was also quite expensive. But Rizu really wanted to make Kirisu sensei and Nariyuki happy; she owned so much to the both of them.
Noticing the young woman's concerned expression, Mafuyu was easily able to figure out precisely what was bothering her former student. "We appreciate the gesture, Ogata. But there is no need for you to give us anything else; I feel like those soft matching bathrobes with mine and Nariyuki's initials, which you, Furuhashi, and Takemoto, gave us, were a plenty big enough wedding present. So we will of course pay your usual price for the games, Ogata," Mafuyu reassured the short girl in a gentle tone, happy to hear Nariyuki agree with her on that matter.
Shifting her blue gaze a few times between the newlywed couple, Rizu nodded thankfully a few times, sincerely and deeply grateful for the couple's thoughtfulness.
"My first game, Udon Tag Team, cost 3500 yen, while my second one, Udon Megatron Strikes, cost 4000 yen".
Wondering, for the briefest of moments, if all of Rizu's games needed to have some kind of connection with her favorite food, udon. But he quickly decided against asking about it. However, Nariyuki did sort of hope that at some point in the future, that the udon-obsessed girl would try making something with a ramen theme; there were times when the male Yuiga very much preferred ramen over udon, not that he had the heart to EVER tell Rizu that. He realized if he did, there was a pretty big chance that she would not stop glaring at him for a very long time.
"Hm, that's does sound like a pretty fair, reasonable price. We will pay that, Rizu. You can just drop the games off the next time you are in the neighborhood," Nariyuki said, to which Rizu slowly nodded yes to.
Following that, the married couple, along with their guest, ate their meal in relative silence, where the only sounds that could be heard throughout the apartment were their slurping, as they hungrily ate up their delicious dinner.
Yet the calm, peaceful atmosphere, was brought to an abrupt halt by the noisy sound of Rizu's phone ringing down in her pocket, playing a familiar piece of music from popular romance anime. Pulling her phone out, Rizu looked at it with a small frown as she chewed her food, then with a small sigh of annoyance she pressed the answer button, before bring it to her left ear.
"Yes, hello... No, I am perfectly fine, father... I am just hanging out with Nariyuki and Kirisu sensei... Ok, ok, I'll be back shortly." Rizu said into the phone. Then, with him loudly shouting something about being oh, so worried about his precious Rizu Princess, Rizu hurriedly ended the phone call, not in any sort of mood to deal with her father's weirdness right now.
"Oh, good God, I really do hope that he is not going to treat me like a seven-year-old girl for the rest of my life; it's so annoying. I am an adult woman for Pete's sake," the short girl growled angrily as she placed her phone back down into her pocket, then looked back up at the two Yuigas who were each sending her a teasing, mischievous grin.
And with it being the undeniable truth, that seeing such an expression on Kirisu sensei's face was a pretty rare, and still fresh experience, that Rizu honestly would not mind seeing more often, it was so nice to see the at times overly serious Kirisu sensei let her hair down and simply enjoying herself. Rizu wondered if this was yet another aftereffect of the teacher falling madly in love with Nariyuki and tying the knot with him not that long ago. If that truly was the case, the short girl felt all the more happy for the newly-wed couple now.
So, while forcing away the cheerful grin that was threatening to appear on her round face, Rizu glared a bit angrily at the husband and wife. "Oh, be quiet; my father is enough of a hassle to deal with, without the two of you commenting on his stupid childish behavior. Maybe, it's about high time I ask mom if she can't get him to knock it off. Now I apologize for having to leave so abruptly. But apparently, orders are getting backed up back home," the kimono-wearing girl explained while quickly shoving the rest of her udon into her mouth, not at all willing to let such delicious food go to waste.
"There is no need for you to apologize, Ogata; we understand that you still have some work to do. Please do take care now and drive safely; it's starting to get dark out there," Mafuyu told her former student in a caring tone of voice.
For a moment, as he was slowly chewing a bite of udon, Nariyuki found himself wondering: how would his wife be on the road if she was driving a scooter instead of her red car? Would she be more safe and cautious on the road if she were driving that kind of vehicle?.
Honestly, Nariyuki quite frankly doubted it; Mafuyu might actually be even worse on something that small and maneuverable, which she could so easily wave in and out of traffic on. And just the thought of how incredibly dangerous such a thing could be for his speed loving wife, was enough for the young man to decide that he should NEVER bring up the idea of them getting a scooter. Even if the day came where they were in need of a second vehicle, he would just take the train wherever he needed to go.
And with that decision made, Nariyuki turned his attention back towards Rizu as she neatly put her long blue scarf back into her hair, then hastily vanished in the direction of the door. Clearing his throat a bit, Nariyuki called out after her.
"It was nice having you over Rizu, please drop by some other time,".
"I will. Thank you very much for the food, it was so tasty. I'll see the two of you later, bye-bye," Rizu hastily called back, following that the sound of the door opening and closing was all that was heard.
With Rizu now gone, the married couple continued eating in silence for a little while. "Hmm, you know, Nariyuki, with the two of us having been so ludicrously busy with exam week, we haven't really had much time for fun recently, so I am a bit disappointed that Ogata had to leave so fast. It was quite interesting and fun to hear what precisely she had been doing since graduation," Mafuyu stated, finishing off her last bite of her udon then stood up, heading over to the office, where she had stealthily changed into her work clothes and stashed away her comfy red tracksuit, when she had discovered that Ogata was the one delivering the food. Entering the office and shutting the door behind her so that her sweet husband would not be able to see her change clothes.
With Mafuyu in there, Nariyuki took the last bite of his own udon, as he thought about her words. "If you are up for it, Mafuyu, we could invite her, Fumino, and Sekijou too, of course, over to play some of their board games," he suggested, while he started clearing up after their dinner.
Appearing from inside the office, now once again dressed in her favorite comfy red tracksuit, yawning and stretching slightly, Mafuyu called out to Nariyuki, who was presently in the kitchen, washing the three sets of used chopsticks and the fancy wooden udon boxes, Rizu had forgotten in her hurry to get home. He would bring the boxes back to Ogata Udon tomorrow or the day after.
"Yes, having those girls over could be so much fun, Nariyuki. We should invite Miharu too; I'm sure that would help cheer her up," Mafuyu said in a thoughtful tone with a hint of excitement.
Finishing up what tasks he needed to do in the kitchen, Nariyuki turned off the water, and then, after using a towel to dry his hands, he stepped back into the living room, with a small frown that made it so abundantly clear to Mafuyu just how genuinely concerned her always caring husband, was about his sister-in-law's well-being.
"What happened to Miharu?" He, of course, asked.
Dropping down onto the couch, Mafuyu let out a tired breath. "Well, I do not have all the details. But you remember that Tsubasa guy she talked so excitedly about the last time she was here?"
"Yeah, I remember, Mafuyu, what happened with him? Judging from your tone of voice, I assume that the date did not go over too well," Nariyuki stated as he sat down on the couch beside Mafuyu, who immediately snuggled up against him, resting her head on his shoulder and sighing softly in pure contentment from the feeling of him wrapping his arm around her thin waist.
"That does very much seem to be the case, Nariyuki, honey. According to Miharu, once she had finally gathered the courage necessary to accept his invitation, and the two went out to eat together. Tsubasa apparently spent a big part of the evening flirting and hitting on a waitress that was a big fan of his; it got so bad in the end that Miharu left about halfway through the date," Mafuyu explained, nuzzling in even closer towards her dear Nariyuki.
Sighing loudly and rubbing his forehead in sheer frustration with his free hand. "Oh, damn it-daaamn it. I am so sorry to hear that, Mafuyu. I really had hoped that Miharu's very first date would be a joyful experience for her, not a disappointing disaster like this. Especially because she seemed so incredibly thrilled and pleased about it. You know what? From the way Miharu spoke about this Tsubasa guy, I really did assume he was a nice, decent person," Nariyuki said. The sour look in his brown eyes making it so very clear how displeased he felt over Miharu getting emotionally hurt in such a lowdown, scummy way. With how kindhearted his sister-in-law truly was, she did not deserve to be treated like that
"Yeah, I believed that too, Nariyuki. Miharu seemed to have such a good impression of the man. So I am quite disappointed that he turned out to be such a nasty individual who would behave in such an unpleasant manner when out on a date with a woman. Hmm, maybe because Miharu has so little experience with men in general, she is not the best at judging their personalities and their behavior. She was even a bit on edge around you when she first met you, Nariyuki honey, so perhaps this was a good first-leaning experience for her. NOT, that I in any way approve of that guy's action; if I ever meet this Tsubasa in person, I'll give him a piece of my mind for hurting my little sister's feelings in such a cruel way," the older Kirisu sister said with that angry blue expression on her face.
Following that not-so-pleasant conversation, the newlywed couple sat in total silence for a little while, each one of them feeling that they needed a little time to calm down. The reassuring, comforting feeling of being held by one another did help a bit. And so, with the sound of their breathing being all that could be heard throughout the apartment, ten minutes or so went by.
Until finally, the slightly tense silence became too much for Mafuyu; she let out a long breath that made the bit of pink hair covering her forehead fly around a bit. She then kicked out with her left foot, carefully using it to maneuver the TV remote that was lying so far away near the edge of the coffee table into range so she could turn the device on. Hoping to find something fun or entertaining that would help take her mind off the issue with her younger sister's first date getting so messed up and ruined in such a mean way, it was stuff like this that made Mafuyu worried that Miharu might never get over her distrust of men.
Once the television flashed on, Mafuyu frowned a bit upon discovering that the later evening news was on, which was quite frankly the last thing she was in the mood to watch.
So without further ado, the pink-haired lady hastily changed the channel, finding the end of quite a tedious quiz show on the next, which, if she was honest, had often found herself drifting off to sleep too. It did not help that she found the host of the show to be more than a little annoying to listen to; thankfully, Nariyuki seemed to share her sentiment when he called out to her.
"Could you please change the channel, Mafuyu? I cannot stand listening to this guy, any longer than I have to. The sheer fact that someone would voluntarily put him on TV is simply beyond me; I do not think I have met anyone who actually likes him." Nariyuki stated.
More than happy to oblige with that request, Mafuyu pressed the button again, pleased to see and listen to the intro theme of an old samurai anime from quite a few years back.
Watching this for only a second, Nariyuki gave his opinion on it. "This please! If you are up for it, Mafuyu".
Nodding slowly against him. "Yes, this is fine with me. We have watched a few episodes of this anime before, and I find it to be quite entertaining and humorous. We should get this series on Blu-ray so we can watch it in proper order, Nariyuki, judging from where we are in the show, it's pretty obvious that we are missing a few important details that are vital to the current plot line," Mafuyu said thoughtfully, watching with great interest as the main protagonist leaped ever so fluently over an incoming attack from behind, landing on a thick, sturdy branch near the top of a tall tree. He stayed there for only an instant of a second before he leaped straight down towards his black-clad assassin of an opponent, pulling out his own sword in the process.
"Just curious, do you want the limited edition of it, like you did with He's My Student? This one might be a bit harder to find, considering how old it is," Nariyuki stated after a few seconds of watching the fast but savage battle between the two immensely skilled warriors on the screen.
Considering that question for only a moment, Mafuyu slowly shook her head. "Mm, no, that will not be necessary, Nariyuki. While I do like this anime, it's nowhere near as enjoyable and fun as He's My Student. I like the somewhat awkward, but still sincere romance between Kurisu sensei and Yuto. As far as I can tell, from what little we have watched of this show, it appears that there ain't overly much romance in it".
Chuckling ever so softly over the fact that his wife. The former Ice Queen of Ichinose Academy was so keenly fixated on romance. If anyone had told him that back in his student days, he would never have believed it. Yet now Nariyuki realizes that it was yet another one of those little things that made Mafuyu so incredibly cute and adorable, especially when she got called out for having such a hobby. Those times, when that happened, she would always act so fidgety and embarrassed.
Placing a long, tender, loving kiss, on top of Mafuyu's head, as he ever so gently ran his fingers through her soft pink hair.
"Understood, I'll be sure to keep a close eye out for any fun, interesting romance anime that the two of us can watch together, sweetheart. As for this samurai anime, I actually think I saw it on sale on Blu-ray the last time we went out shopping for that new rice cooker".
Snuggling and curling even further up into the sweet, tender embrace she was sharing with her precious young husband, Mafuyu sighed in light contentment upon feeling Nariyuki place yet another kiss at the top of her head, that was filled with so much love and affection towards her, as he gently ran his fingers through her soft pink hair, another tender action on his part that made her moan ever so slightly.
"Haah, that's perfect; we are definitely getting that the next time we go out shopping, Nariyuki, it's going to be so much fun just spending a few days lounging around and catching up on this anime. I don't even think we have even watched the first two episodes, so we do not really know much about the main character's backstory; we just kinda fell into this show one day," Mafuyu said, very much hoping that the anime Blu-ray box set was still on sale and that no unsavory individual had purchased it before they could. She was almost tempted to tell Nariyuki that they were going to go get it now; the store where they had gotten the new, much better rice cooker should still be open at this hour.
Nodding ever so slowly at her words. "Fine with me, Mafuyu, we can go see if it's still there tomorrow," Nariyuki said back, easily able to tell from the determined look in his wife's light green eyes that part of her wanted to head off to get it now, but he was in no mood for another fast-paced drive with Mafuyu that evening; he was perfectly content right where he presently was, with Mafuyu wrapped in his arms.
Frowning a bit at that, Mafuyu glanced briefly up into his eyes, from her position against him. "Fine, fine, but we are going there right away when we wake up tomorrow, Nariyuki. So no sleeping in; you do have a bit of a tendency to do that when we have been busy at work."
"I am not the only one guilty of that crime, Mafuyu Yuiga, there have been days after exams, when you sleep till noon," he told her.
"Hmph, well, I'll have you know, Nariyuki Yuiga; that I will not be doing that tomorrow; I'll be up all bright and early, even before you," Mafuyu stated firmly and determinedly.
Simply unable to fully grasp the reason why this seemed to be turning into a competition to see who of them could sleep less. Nariyuki opened and closed his mouth a few times, struggling to find the right words. He wanted to tell his wife that they should just take their time tomorrow and sleep for as long as they possibly could, so they were properly rested, and then go to the store when they felt like it.
Yet upon seeing the look of utter tenacity and determination in Mafuyu's stubborn eyes, the young husband knew that it was an absolute pointless endeavor on his part, trying to talk her out of this.
"Alright then, you are on, Mafuyu. Whoever of us wakes up first makes breakfast," he said, of course fully realizing the likely possibility that he would be the one preparing their morning meal.
"Hmm, that frankly seems to be a somewhat weird bet to me. It means that the one who wins has to do all the work, but even so, I accept. You just wait and see Nariyuki, I am easily going to claim victory in this little wager of ours; you just say whatever cereal you would like to have for your breakfast," Mafuyu immediately answered, phrasing it in such a way that made it sound like pouring cereal and milk into a bowl was going to be such an overwhelming, grueling challenge that would take a massive amount of hard work and effort.
While it was undeniably true, that Mafuyu was definitely getting a lot better at cooking quite a few different kinds of things for dinner, like omirice, curry, and other simple recipes, breakfast, on the other hand, was still something she was struggling immensely to make; she usually preferred grabbing a sweet, not too spicy, meat bun of some kind, on the way to work.
So upon hearing that something as simple as a bowl of fresh cereal was what his dear wife was planning on feeding him if she won this little bet of theirs, Nariyuki found it impossible to keep a few slightly amused chuckles from leaving him, which instantly earned him a sour glare from Mafuyu.
"I'll take cornflakes if we have those, Mafuyu."
Pleased with that response. Mafuyu shifted around a bit until she felt even more comfortable against Nariyuki. "I believe we should have a box of that somewhere; I purchased one awhile ago and have only eaten one single bowl of it, so if cornflakes are what you want, Nariyuki honey, it's what you will get," she confidently stated.
Kissing her head again, and tightening his hold around her. "I'll look forward to it, Mafuyu; it's going to be such a tasty meal".
With that said, a calm, peaceful silence fell over the newlywed couple, as they sat there together on the couch, watching what little remained of the samurai anime episode. Once it was done, they, much to their delight, found that another episode was coming on shortly after a few bothersome commercials; thankfully, those did not last long before they once again heard the familiar intro music to the anime. This episode they watched in relatively silence, with only a bit of small talk here and there.
Yet, as luck would have it, and much to both of their disappointment, that was the last episode of that. What was coming on next appeared to be a pretty well-known zombie horror anime, which, despite its current massive popularity, was not something either of the married couple had much interest in watching. Nariyuki, to put it simply, found such things as zombies and other monsters of that kind to be way too creepy and outright gross. While Mafuyu, on the other hand, needed something a lot more nasty, spooky, and deadly than zombies to frighten her, there was only one such creature that came to mind.
"Tch, how annoying. I really wanted to see what was going to happen to our samurai next; that pretty red-haired thief girl he encountered seemed to have a good eye to him, but I am not sure if it is in a romantic nature or if she just sees him as a convenient way to line her pockets," Mafuyu said.
Nodding slowly in agreement. "Yeah, it really was getting interesting and good. But look on the bright side, Mafuyu sweetheart, we will only have to wait until tomorrow for the next episode; we do not have to wait—who knows how many weeks for it to get released. Now, why don't you try to find something else fun for the two of us to watch while I go make us some tea? I don't know about you, but I am quite thirsty," Nariyuki softly suggested.
Again, Mafuyu glanced up at him from her position. Not too pleased about having to vacate her nice, comfy resting spot against Nariyuki. But the prospect of getting a warm cup of newly brewed black tea was also something the wife found to be immensely appealing.
"Hmm, fine, but hurry back; I am not done cuddling this evening. I need to refill my Nariyuki meter. It's running on empty," Mafuyu sweetly said as she sent him a certain flirtatious look, then slowly entangled herself from him, moving over onto the empty spot on the couch.
Getting up onto his feet, Nariyuki looked with mild bewilderment at his wife. "Nariyuki meter? Um, what's that? Does something like that actually exist?".
Shrugging ever so slightly at that overall mysterious question. "I honestly do not know, Nariyuki, honey. I have heard some women in manga and anime mention such a meter. Even Kurisu sensei says those words to Yuto in the later chapters of He's My Student, after they have been apart for a little while. But to tell the truth, I am not entirely certain what it actually means. Yet I cannot help but think it sounds sort of cute. I definitely have a Nariyuki meter that I want filled at times. So perhaps it's just a way for a girl to tell the one they cherish most that they love them and want snuggle and be close to them," Mafuyu proposed in a thoughtful tone of voice.
Feeling a light red glow appear on both of his cheeks, upon hearing those sweet, affectionate words from his wife.
"If that's truly how it works, then I have a Mafuyu meter, too. I love you soo much, Mafuyu." Nariyuki said back.
Following her dear husband's example, with her face likewise turning red in embarrassment, Mafuyu grasped tightly onto his forearm. "Oh you, my dear Nariyuki, you are so sweet." With that said, she pulled him down into a long, tender kiss that was filled with all the intense, sincere love she felt for her young husband.
Immediately kissing her back, Nariyuki slowly and gently ran his hands down over Mafuyu's back and through her pink hair. An action that made his wife moan softly into his mouth. Yet before Nariyuki could deepen the kiss even further, Mafuyu broke the kiss, resting her forehead against his for a long, tender moment.
"Later, all right?" She said.
Of course, knowing very well what she was referring too, Nariyuki nodded slowly in agreement. "Right later," he answered, and then, after sharing a long, meaningful gaze with the woman he loved so deeply, so sincerely, Nariyuki turned around one foot and headed off towards the kitchen to make their well-deserved evening tea.
While Nariyuki was in no way near as proficient at making and preparing tea, as Miharu, who was a bit of an expert in that certain craft, it did not take long before a tiny clay pot of water was slowly simmering away on the stove. And knowing from prior experience how long it would take for the water to reach the correct temperature, Nariyuki stepped over and opened one of the cabinets in the hope of finding some canned peaches, which he knew Mafuyu would enjoy snacking on while they drank their freshly made soothing tea, frowning a bit upon discovering that the only thing in the cabinet was two cans of tomatoes and one can of matcha soda, wondering for a moment where that green can had so mysteriously appeared from, since neither Mafuyu nor he liked that kind of soda. But since it was still unopened, Nariyuki saw no major harm in leaving it in the cabinet, since it, simply put, did not take up much space in there.
Quickly adding canned peaches and tasty sodas to the nearby shopping list. That was, in Nariyuki's humble opinion, growing WAY too long and outright cumbersome. Thanks to the increasing amount of work Mafuyu and he had been putting in throughout this entire week, their need to go out shopping was steadily reaching the point where it was getting downright ridiculous.
Even though, despite however much enjoyment Nariyuki found in doing normal everyday stuff together with Mafuyu, like grocery shopping or cleaning their home, it was such a nice peaceful way for the two of them to spend time together. Nevertheless, getting every single object on this massive, bothersome shopping list was going to be such a hassle, since it was not possible for them to go to just a single store to get everything they needed.
So it frankly seemed that the most obvious choice was to divide up the list, with Mafuyu getting half of the items, and he taking the other half. If they did it like that, they might be able to knock every item off the damn list in a couple of hours.
'Oh, maaan, we definitely need to find a way to get better at shopping and buying our groceries during exam week. How in the world did Mafuyu even handle this task on her own before we got married and moved in together?,' Nariyuki thought, his mind briefly flashing back to those two times when he, still as a student, had encountered Mafuyu when she had been out bulk shopping. Both times, her bags had ripe immediately after stepping out of the store, meaning he had to help her get home with all of her groceries. Thankfully, Fumino had been there the second time, which had made it a bit easier carrying it all, but knowing Mafuyu, those were likely not the only times she had done something like that.
Chuckling softly in remembrance when he thought back to Mafuyu's panicky reaction to her shopping bags breaking so suddenly, Nariyuki took a quick glance around the kitchen for something else Mafuyu, and he could snack on while watching television. Spotting a big, white, and golden box of chocolates standing on top of their rarely used microwave. That worked. Picking up the pretty box, he went back to the living room, pulling the cellophane off it at the same time.
Immediately upon spotting her dear sweet hubby appear, with the box of chocolates in hand, Mafuyu's eyes light up, as she let out a sound of intense pure delight.
"Ohh, chocolate! I love chocolate, when did we get those, Nariyuki?" The young wife curiously asked with a look of hunger on her face.
"Tuesday, last week, I think. I was out buying printer paper when I ran into my mother. She had apparently won three boxes of chocolates in a luck of the draw spin; she gave me one of them," Nariyuki explained as he opened the box, taking a piece that contained marzipan, which was his favorite, then handed the box to Mafuyu.
Looking over the many pieces with a hungry look in her sparkling light green eyes, Mafuyu finally grabbed the one she thought looked most tasty of all.
"Mm, so yummy! Those round pieces with marzipan and nuts really are the best! Please remind me, Nariyuki honey, to thank your mother, um Hanae... Um, mother, for the truly generous present the next time we see her," Mafuyu said, still having not entirely grown used to actually calling her mother-in-law by her first name, or mother, like Hanae, had so loudly and excitedly told Mafuyu to call her when Nariyuki and her had been by to tell her, along with the rest of the thrilled Yuiga family, that they were getting married.
Reaching out, Nariyuki took an interesting-looking triangular piece in the far left corner of the box, putting it into his mouth, then immediately frowned ever so slightly at the familiar unpleasant taste of nougat, which was simply not something the young man enjoyed the taste of all that much. Back when Nariyuki was still living with his mom and siblings, he would usually let one of them have the nougat pieces. Hazuki in particular, seemed to enjoy them. Yet even so, after slowly chewing the chocolate a bit longer, he finally swallowed it.
"Urgh, that nougat flavor is never going to be good. Ahem, of course, I'll do my best to remind you, Mafuyu; I believe that she would very much appreciate it. Now, I think the water should be about ready. I'll be back shortly."
Having barely finished telling her that, when Mafuyu hastily reached out and took a hold of his hand. "Please, do hurry, Nariyuki. My Neighbor Totoro; is about to come on. I have never watched that before, and I want to watch it together with you," she told him in a sweet tone of voice.
Finding the prospect of watching that classic old anime together with his wife quite appealing, Nariyuki nodded a bit. "That does sound like a load of fun, sweetheart. You just get nice and comfortable under our big soft blanket; I'll be back in a moment," he reassured, then continued onward towards the kitchen.
More than happy to oblige with Nariyuki's considerate suggestion to get cozy underneath their thick red blanket. Mafuyu casually reached out and pulled the ever-so neatly folded blanket in close, very much appreciating the fact that it was so crazy big that her sweet hubby could so very easily to get underneath it together with her, so they could continue snuggling like they had been doing before. Letting out a deep, contented sigh, Mafuyu picked out her second piece of chocolate.
Yet, the very instant, the relatively big piece entered her mouth and she started slowly chewing it, Mafuyu immediately recognized the massive, crucial mistake she had just made. Her gaze turned completely unfocused, her cheeks slightly crimson, as she swayed sluggishly from side to side.
"This is... this is... ohh no...".
Reemerging from the kitchen again, Nariyuki called out to Mafuyu. "The tea is served, Miss Yuiga. I really do hope that My Neighbor Totoro is as good as I remember; I have not watched that in years. It was one of my father's favorite movies to watch together with Hazuki and Kazuki. I do hope you like it, Mafuyu-dear,".
When Nariyuki did not immediately receive a response from Mafuyu, he quite frankly did not think much of it, as he slowly approached the coffee table. Ever so carefully placing the small round tray down on it without spilling a single drop. Noticing that there was still no visible reaction from Mafuyu, Nariyuki wondered for a moment if she had actually fallen asleep during the relatively short time he had been out in the kitchen, but since her eyes were still fully opened, that seemed kinda unlikely.
Feeling an intense rush of concern race through his mind and body over his wife's strange, inexplicable behavior. Nariyuki was just about to call out to her again when, suddenly, without warning, the altogether dazed Mafuyu stared into his brown, worried eyes for only an instant. Then, with a loud shout of incomprehensible words, she leaped straight towards him with such crazy speed, flinging her arms around his neck with such unbelievable force that Nariyuki felt them falling backwards towards the floor.
Barely having the time to perceive what was happening, Nariyuki let out a surprised shout at his wife's sudden action. Speedily, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Mafuyu's thin waist; by doing that, he was able to keep the two of them standing.
"Shh, easy there, Mafuyu! I got you. I got you. There is no need for you to be scared; I'll take care of it. Just tell me where it is," Nariyuki ever so gently reassured her in a soft, soothing tone of voice, one would most commonly use, to console a sad or scared child. Simply figuring that the only logical reason why Mafuyu would act so weird all of a sudden was because she had spotted a cockroach, in her mind the most dangerous enemy of mankind.
But with Mafuyu clinging so fervently to him, it was nearly impossible for Nariyuki to take a proper look around the apartment for the evil little critter. What only added to the difficulty of the current situation was the distracting but altogether pleasant sensation of his dear wife's attractive round breasts being shoved and pressed so energetically into his chest, as she kept on embracing and holding so tightly onto him, like her very life depended on being near him right now.
Still ever so tenderly touching and stroking Mafuyu's back, as a way to try to make her feel as safe and calm as possible. Nariyuki was just about to bite the bullet and outright ask his wife where precisely she had seen the cockroach, of course knowing fully well that just by mentioning the word cockroach, he would only add to her already emotional panic and frighten her even further, resulting in him getting squeezed near half to death by the anxiety Mafuyu, while she continuously cried out for him never to say that word, that such a grotesque word were not permitted to be said in their house. But Nariyuki believed that he did not have much of a choice here under the circumstances, since he could not find the little bastard, no matter how hard he tried.
"So Mafuyu sweetheart, where did you se, aww... easy, please..." That was about all Nariyuki managed to get out before Mafuyu tightened her already impressive grip on him, pressing and rubbing her face against his broad shoulder as she let out another shout.
"Oh, Nariyuuuki! Nariyuki! Nariyuki! My sweet precious, Nariyuki! You are so good at walking in a straight line while carrying a tray. And you are also good at breathing properly; how do you do that? And you are so good at choosing anime for us to watch! That is so much fun... And-and you, mhmm..." Mafuyu moaned in soft delight, swaying slowly back and forth against him as she kept on strongly embracing him, like there were no tomorrow.
The realization of what precisely was going on hit Nariyuki Yuiga like a ton of bricks.
'Wha...? How is she suddenly drunk? How the heck did that happen? We don't have any alcohol in the house,' Nariyuki thought in total and utter bewilderment, his gaze searching frantically around their apartment for the source responsible for Mafuyu's sudden, inexplicable intoxication. Had any alcoholic fumes seeped in from the outside? No, no, that was not possible since the window was firmly closed, so what else could it be?.
Finally, Nariyuki's obsessive searching ceased when his attentive brown gaze found its way to the large box of chocolates. Feeling a nag of deep suspicion rush through his mind, but not really seeing any obvious way to distinguish what precisely was inside every single piece of chocolate without knowing beforehand, Nariyuki settled for asking the drunken Mafuyu instead, hoping that she was just sober enough to give him some sort of reply.
"Mafuyu, honey, how did you get so drunk?" He softly asked.
"Hic... chocolate se-second piece, rum, not good, not good at all... I-I, it feels so good when you are holding me, Nariyuki... Teeh-heh, you are so very good at holding me! So good at kissing my lips, and when you wash my back in the bathtub, your fingers feel so good on my bare skin! My good husband," Mafuyu drunkenly praised him, lovingly petting his short brown hair in a deeply affectionate manner, as she next started mumbling about how good he was at cleaning.
Mentally cursing the sheer fact that he had not considered the possibility that there might be some pieces of the chocolates that might have liquor inside them, Nariyuki reached up and took hold of the hand Mafuyu was still using to rummage through his hair.
"Come, Mafuyu, let's go sit down on the couch so you can relax a bit and try to recover."
"No, I do not want to! I want to stay right here, so you can keep holding me. Feels good... Mmm, I love you, Nariyuki! Love-you-love-you-love-you-love-love-love-love you! Looveyou-love-you-love-you-love you so-so much, hic my sweet Nariyuki... You are so dear to me, hic...!" Mafuyu said, then suddenly stopped for a moment, like her inebriated mind had completely forgotten where she had gotten to in her happy speech, but it took less than a second before she continued, telling him over and over again how much she loved him.
With Mafuyu practically meowing those sweet, affectionate words to him in pure happiness and delight, Nariyuki felt his face growning more and more red. This was getting kinda embarrassing; it did not help much on the situation, that from the way Mafuyu kept on pressing and rubbing her slender, sexy body up against him, it was becoming increasingly obvious to the young husband that his wife was not wearing a bra or anything else underneath the red tracksuit jacket. Quickly steeling his resolve, Nariyuki did his best to ignore the feeling of her round tits.
"I love you too, Mafuyu, so much. What do you say? We move to the sofa so you can sit down and take it easy for a bit while I get you a nice cold glass of water," he gently suggested, hoping that she would listen to him this time as he carefully tried to guide her to the sofa.
That suggestion was immediately met with a loud, dissatisfied moan from the frowning Mafuyu. "No couch! Bad couch, stupid Nariyuki! Hic, feels good when you hold me. I love being in your arms... Mmm, Nariyuki-dear I love you. Have I told you that today? Mmm, feeling so, so sleepy..." she mumbled as Mafuyu finally stopped grinding against him in that overall seductive way, now standing completely still.
"Of course, you have Mafuyu, so many times. Now then, honey, since you are feeling so sleepy, why don't we get you to bed so you can get some sleep?".
Giggling drunkenly at that. "Mmm, bed is good; bed is so soft! Teeh-heh, you know, Nariyuki, when we are in bed together and do naughty stuff! It's so good—so amazing! You make me feel so good! I want—I want your children soon, Nariyuki!" Mafuyu drunkenly stated, with a hazy but still somewhat determined look in her eyes, before finally passing out in her husband's strong, caring arms.
Spending the next couple of minutes carefully putting and tucking his slumbering, passed-out wife to bed, he then slowly pulled her small blue socks off, knowing from experience that they would soon bother Mafuyu in her sleep. Following that, Nariyuki found himself sitting on the floor beside their double bed, silently taking in and admiring every single feature of Mafuyu's delicate sleeping round face. She looked, oh, so stunningly beautiful, and as a happy, deeply contented smile appeared on her red lips, and she softly mumbled out his name, Nariyuki immediately felt his rapid-beating heart skip a beat.
Reaching out, Nariyuki used his right thumb to ever so gently stroke and caress Mafuyu's soft cheek. The deeply meaningful words that she had told him so affectionately, mere moments ago, echoed repeatedly through his mind.
'...children soon; I want your children soon...'.
"Children? She wants children. We talked about children before. And we both agree that we want them. But we have never been able to figure out precisely when we want them, but Mafuyu said soon, didn't she? Which means she wants them at some point in the near future. I-um-I definitely need to have a serious heart-to-heart with her about it when she wakes up, is sober, and does not have a hangover. So maybe not tomorrow, but the day after. But still, how in the world am I even supposed to approach such a delicate subject? Just casually bringing it up while Mafuyu and I are sitting down for breakfast seems so weird. Should I take her out for dinner? So we could discuss it then? But, on the other hand, if there are other people nearby and they happen to overhear us, it would be so embarrassing for the both of us. Ugh, this is rough..." Nariyuki mumbled to himself in a low whisper, finding this even more difficult to figure out than when he had tried to come up with the best and most romantic way to propose to Mafuyu; this was quite frankly even more nerve-racking than that.
Yet, as Nariyuki was sitting there on the floor, thoroughly considering all those things, when his hand was suddenly brushed aside.
"Emff, ticklish, annoying, want sleep...mmm..." Mafuyu mumbled out to him in her sleep, then moved around a bit on the spot in an attempt to get into an even more comfortable position.
It was only at that moment when his precious wife suddenly went and did that, that it at long last finally dawned on the completely absent-minded Nariyuki, that he had ever so gently been stroking Mafuyu's cheek all of this time, an action on his part that was evidently starting to bother her even as she slept so peacefully.
"I am sorry, Mafuyu; it was never my intention to disturb you. Sleep tight, honey, I love you".
"Hmm, Nariyu...swee...mm."
Those whispered-back, barely incoherent words were the only response Nariyuki got from Mafuyu, as she, with a bit of happy mumbling, turned over onto her left side, wrapping her arms tightly around her soft pillow, embracing it in a manner that reminded the young husband of how she would occasionally, hold onto him, when she was sound asleep, with her head resting on his chest.
Smiling softly at the precious, adorable sight of her, Nariyuki stayed put right there on the floor, as he still struggled intensely to come up with the correct answer to when he should bring up the subject of children with Mafuyu, but he was quite frankly drawing a blank. For only a moment, Nariyuki sort of wished that there was someone he could ask for advice on this, but there was no way in hell he was bringing this subject up with any of his family; his mother would go totally ballistic with excitement over the prospect of actually getting grandchildren, and Mizuki would get all weird and quiet. Plus, Kobayashi and Oomori, his two best long-time friends, were a definite no-go either; just the thought of Oomori's overall nutty reaction to this almost made Nariyuki feel mentally ill.
Sighing softly in defeat. "Not to sound like a broken record here, but this is rough. Good thing I still have time to figure things out," Nariyuki said, finally pushing himself up from the hard wooden floor. Moving over, he dropped tiredly down onto the couch, figuring that he might as well watch My Neighbor Totoro alone, even though he would have preferred doing it in his wife's company.
The End.
Two things: I would still very much like to hear what you guys think of this story, so if you could spare a moment to leave a short review, that is something I would very much appreciate.
Next, I have no idea what board games cost in Japan, so the prizes for Rizu's games might be totally crazy and far out there. If anyone knows what board games cost in Japan, then could you please tell me? So I can correct the prizes and make it more realistic.