Lap's One shots & misc - New July 10, 2024 - "Tatties in the Oven"

WORDS WORDS WORDS


User avatar
Lap
Posts: 167
Joined: Sun May 27, 2018 4:35 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

S12 Entry: No Good Deed

Post by Lap »

For Downix. See end for details.

=========================================

Emi was doggedly forcing herself to slog through an arid text about the Russo-Japanese war of 1904 when a gentle cough broke her concentration. Blinking, she looked up from the book to see Yuuko standing beside her, looking anxious. “Whuh?” Emi asked blearily, her brain still stuck in the Battle of Mukden.

“I’m sorry, Emi, but the library is closing,” said Yuuko apologetically.

Emi squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment, shook her head, then opened them to look around. She was the only student in the library, as far as she could see, and the clock on the wall indicated that it was in fact almost a half hour past normal closing time. “Ah. Right. Shit, Yuuko, you shoulda’ told me sooner.” She began packing up her notes and stacking up the numerous books she’d consulted while trying to write her paper.

Yuuko smiled timorously. “You seemed rather...involved in your studies. You didn’t respond to my earlier closing announcements.”

“I didn’t? Damn, I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right, it took me up until now to finish my closing routine.”

“Yeah, well, thanks.” Emi finished packing up her book bag and held out two books. “Can I still check these out?”

“Of course.” Yuuko took the proffered volumes and headed over to the check-out counter.

Emi rose to follow her, and groaned slightly. She’d been sitting far too long hunched over books. History was easily her least-favorite subject, and the subject of the paper was boring beyond belief, but she needed a decent grade on this paper to get at least a B in the class. So she’d forgone an after-dinner run and spent all evening poring over texts she had no interest in.

Yuuko checked out the books for her, the soft beeps of the scanner the only noise in the empty library. Emi went over to the checkout counter and smiled at Yuuko, then did a double-take, fully looking at Yuuko for the first time. She looked miserable, even more tense and on-edge than usual, her eyes haunted. Emi was startled enough by Yuuko’s appearance to blurt out, “What’s wrong?”

Yuuko flinched and offered up a trembling smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Nothing.”

Emi hesitated. It wasn’t as if she was all that close to Yuuko, but her guilt at having stayed past closing time prompted her to pursue the matter a bit more than she might have otherwise. “Are you sure? You look...” She trailed off, not wanting to say “terrible,” finishing instead with, “Unsettled.”

Yuuko blinked a few times, her eyes suddenly shining brightly. “It’s...nothing. I don’t want to bother you with my troubles.”

“I’d rather listen to your troubles than read about nineteenth-century politics,” Emi offered with a smile, hefting the two volumes Yuuko had just checked out for her.

Yuuko actually smiled at that for a moment, before her expression fell again. She sighed. “It’s just...my parents are coming to visit me this weekend.”

Emi frowned. “Ah...don’t you get along with them?”

Yuuko shook her head. “No, it’s not that, it’s just...they’re going to want to meet my boyfriend.”

Emi’s eyebrows shot up. “Huh. Didn’t know you had one.” The notion of the mousy and skittish librarian having a boyfriend seemed somewhat improbable.

“I don’t. Not anymore, anyway. We broke up a year or so ago.”

“Oh.” Puzzled, Emi suggested, “So, just tell them that?”

“No. I mean...When we broke up, I didn’t tell my parents. In fact...” She trailed off, sounding miserable.

“What?”

“I, ah, continued to tell them about him in my letters home. Just so they wouldn’t worry. And, y’know, pester me to find a new boyfriend.”

“Ah.” Emi grinned. “You lied.”

“Nnnnnnot exactly,” Yuuko began, then groaned. “Well, okay, yes exactly. I lied to them. Mom had been so happy when I started dating. She’d been bugging me for years to ‘get a man,’ as if that would somehow be the solution to all my problems.” She snorted. “They cause more problems than they solve,” she muttered bitterly.

“Well, yeah, lying about a man might cause you problems,” Emi said drily.

“I just didn’t want her to start harping on me about dating again! Having her shut up about it has improved our relationship. I don’t want to go back to that.”

“Gotcha.” Not that Emi had ever gotten that kind of pressure from her own mother, but she’d certainly seen it in movies and on TV. “So, they’re going to want to meet your boyfriend?”

“Yes...” Yuuko looked on the verge of tears.

“Why don’t you just tell them he’s away? Visiting family for the holidays?”

“I’ve already told them that he’s local.”

“So...tell them you just recently broke up, and you hadn’t had the heart to tell them yet.”

“But that’ll just lead to them dissecting what I ‘did wrong,’ and strategizing about how to get him back. Or how to get the next boyfriend. I really want to avoid that, if I can.”

“I see.” Emi scratched the back of her head, contemplating Yuuko’s predicament. “Are you on friendly terms with your ex? Maybe he’d be willing to pretend to be your boyfriend for the duration of a meal with your parents?”

Yuuko laughed, a tight, nervous laugh that went on for much longer than seemed necessary. “No. Just...no. I have enough problems as it is with him stealing library books.”

Emi’s eyebrows shot up. “He’s at Yamaku? Is he a teacher here?”

“No...”

“Staff?”

“No...”

Emi blinked, looking puzzled for a moment, then put two and two together and blurted, “He’s a student?”

Yuuko’s miserable silence was answer enough.

“Wuff.” Emi shook her head, amazed that the shy librarian could have ever actually been so bold as to date a student. Admittedly, Yuuko was barely out of high school herself, and sometimes acted even younger; sometimes it was hard to remember that she was ostensibly an adult. But still, dating a student?

A student...

“Hey, Yuuko, I think I’ve got an idea...”

______________________________________

“You want me to do what?” Hisao pulled away from Emi in bed and regarded her as if she’d just grown a second head.

Although she knew that the idea was a little unusual, Emi didn’t think it merited quite that much incredulity. “Pretend to be Yuuko’s boyfriend for an evening,” she repeated.

Hisao stared at her for a long silent moment, his mouth opening and closing as if he was having trouble deciding which objection to start with. He finally settled on, “I didn’t know you were such good friends with Yuuko.”

“Eh. I’m not, really, but she looked so upset that I felt sorry for her.”

“Sorry enough to pimp out your boyfriend?”

Emi gave him a gentle whack upside the head. “I’m not pimping you out. I’m not getting paid, and if you so much as kiss her, I will be very upset.” Her glower was slightly more serious than her usual playful scolding.

Hisao snorted. “Then why put me in a position where I might get kissed?” He shook his head, and muttered, “And by Yuuko, of all people...”

“Hey! Yuuko is pretty! Why wouldn’t you want to kiss her?”

Hisao gave Emi a quizzical look. “Uh, yeah, ‘pretty’ is not the issue. And why are you encouraging me to kiss her?”

Emi shook her head. “I’m not encouraging you to kiss her, I just mean, why wouldn’t you want to?”

“Aside from my lovely and homicidally jealous girlfriend?”

Emi stuck out her tongue at him. “I’m not homicidal. At worst I’d withhold sexual favors for a couple of weeks.”

“A couple of weeks?” Hisao repeated, looking like he was barely repressing a laugh. “I’d like to see you just try to last that long.”

Emi blushed, and buried her face in the crook of his neck so he couldn’t see her expression. She knew her libido was stronger than average, but she got embarrassed by reminders of that fact. “Yeah, well, just don’t kiss her, and we won’t have any issues,” she muttered.

“That’s all presupposing I go along with this crazy proposal. You still haven’t convinced me that it’s a good idea.”

“I already explained—”

“Yeah, I know, Yuuko wants to avoid conflict with her mother. But surely there’s an easier way?”

“Got any suggestions?”

Hisao hesitated, considering, then conceded, “Well, no. Not really.” He sighed. “And I do like Yuuko, and I guess I wouldn’t mind helping her out...” he added reluctantly.

“Great! So you’ll do it?”

Hisao sighed and hugged Emi closer to him. The warmth of her body against his was making him sleepy, and against his better judgement, he said, “Okay. I’ll do it.”

Emi gave him a kiss and a smile. “I’ll tell Yuuko tomorrow.”

Hisao yawned. “Okay.” As his mind began to wander, a practicality occurred to him. “Say, what’s this ex’s name? Who am I going to have to pretend to be?”

“Kenji Setou.”

All traces of sleepiness vanished. Hisao sat up in bed, dislodging Emi from where she’d been cuddled up under his arm. She yelped at the sudden movement, and he stared down at her with a expression of disbelief that made his earlier expression pale by comparison. “Kenji?”

“Uh, yeah.” Emi frowned up at him. “What, do you feel strange pretending to be someone you know?”

“No—well, maybe—but—Kenji?” He shook his head. “I’d rather pretend to be...be...Taro. Or Misha. Or anyone else other than Kenji.”

“Why?”

“You’ve met him, right?”

“Well...yeah...so he’s a little eccentric—”

Hisao snorted. “A little?

“—but her parents have never met him, so you don’t have to act like him. Just answer to his name.”

“Oh.” Hisao looked slightly mollified by that and lay back down in the bed next to Emi. He pulled the covers up over both of them and sighed. “Just as long as I don’t have to wear that ridiculous scarf.”

Emi laughed. “I think you can get by without it.” She returned to her position snuggled up under his arm, and rested her head on Hisao’s chest, listening to his heartbeat. “Think of it as doing a good deed for a friend.”

“Right.” He sighed and kissed the top of her head. The last thing Emi heard before drifting off to sleep was one last incredulous muttered, “Kenji...”

______________________________________


Hisao was combing out his damp hair and preparing for the evening’s “date” when the door to the bathroom opened and Kenji walked in. Hisao felt his stomach clench, to be confronted by Kenji so close to the time when he was preparing to impersonate him. Just a coincidence, he tried to reassure himself. “Hey,” he said, hoping his voice was sufficiently casual.

Kenji’s head snapped around toward Hisao, and he peered suspiciously through his thick glasses. “Hisao? Is that you, man?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Kenji’s eyes narrowed. “Prove it.”

Hisao sighed. “We’re the only two people who use this bathroom. Who else would I be?”

Kenji relaxed slightly, but shook his head in disagreement. “I dunno, man, I think I’ve seen one of those feminist types sneaking in here. Tiny little thing, probably thought she could slip in under my radar or something. But nothing escapes me!”

Except your sanity, Hisao thought. He didn’t feel like explaining that that had been his girlfriend; that would probably prompt a diatribe he had less than no interest in listening to. “Well, I’m neither a tiny thing nor a feminist spy, so you can relax.”

Kenji just grunted noncommittally in response and headed over to the urinal. Hisao tried to ignore him as he finished preparing for his “date.” Originally, he hadn’t planned to dress up, but Emi had pointed out that if he was actually Yuuko’s boyfriend, meeting her parents for the first time, he’d want to dress to impress. She’d rejected his favorite sweater vest, and insisted he wear a sports coat instead. Buttoning up the front button, he tugged the suit down and gave himself a once-over in the mirror. Not too bad, he conceded. I should dress up like this for Emi sometime. He really wished that it was Emi he was going out with this evening, not Yuuko.

Kenji finished and came over to the sinks. He peered at Hisao in the mirror as he washed his hands, frowning slightly. “You look dressed up. What’s the occasion?”

Hisao scrambled to find an answer that would satisfy the paranoiac Kenji, and fit in with his idiosyncratic world-view. “I’m...uh...I’m...going under cover,” he blurted.

Kenji looked impressed. “Really? What for?”

Yes, Hisao, what for? Hisao wondered. “I’m...meeting a...potential informant. A woman who’s sympathetic to our cause.” He found himself recalling some of Kenji’s previous rants. “She’s seen the true evil of feminism and wants to do what she can to help us.”

Kenji glowered. “Are you sure you can trust her? What if it’s a trap?”

“I’m sure. She’s had...an unfortunate love life, which has turned her against...” No, wait, turning her against men is the wrong direction... “Against other women.”

“What?” Kenji looked confused.

“She is...was...a lesbian,” Hisao extemporized hastily. Sorry, Yuuko. “She wants nothing to do with other women now.”

“Ohhh.” Kenji nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a prime recruit for the cause. You need backup, man?”

Shit! “No, no, I should do this alone, we don’t want to spook her.”

“Hey, I’m subtle like the wind, she’ll never see me.”

You’re subtle like a water buffalo in a tea house. “She’s really skittish. I can handle this alone.”

Kenji squinted dubiously at Hisao, and Hisao tried to sound a little hurt as he asked, “Don’t you trust me?”

Kenji gave a deep sigh. “Yeah, man, of course I do. You’re my number one operative.” He nodded sharply, then slapped Hisao on the shoulder with his still-wet hand. “You’ve got this, dude. Go and get her. Just don’t get burned, okay?”

“Right.” Hisao tried ineffectually to brush the water off his shoulder. “I’d, ah...better get going. Don’t want to be late.”

“Okay. Report back in when you’re finished! I look forward to hearing from you.”

“Yeah, right. Will do,” Hisao promised, as he beat a hasty retreat.

Hisao dropped his toiletries back in his room, then headed out to the Shanghai. Yuuko was apparently killing two birds with one stone, showing her parents where she worked while introducing her “boyfriend” to them.

The wind was brisk and wintery, and Hisao found himself wishing he’d worn something more than just his sports coat. He was thoroughly chilled by the time he got to the Shanghai, and was grateful for the warmth as he entered the restaurant.

He paused for a moment by the kitchen after entering in order to warm up a bit. A warm sweet scent caught his attention, and he glanced over to the servery to spot a half-dozen pies cooling. Smells like banana cream? he thought.

Hisao was distracted from the pies by a voice calling out across the restaurant, “Kenji!” He twitched and almost glanced behind himself for his annoying hall-mate. No, wait, that’s me. He looked to see someone waving to him from a window booth.

He wondered for a moment if the pretty young woman was Yuuko’s mother or sister. It took him a moment to realize that it was Yuuko herself—she wasn’t wearing her glasses, and her hair was put up in an elaborate weave of braids, which made her look older and more fashionable. He smiled and waved back. Taking a deep breath for courage, he headed across the restaurant to join her. On his way there he noticed that one other booth was occupied—by Emi. Emi’s back was to the Shirakawas, and she gave him an encouraging smile and a covert thumbs-up as he passed. He gave her a shiver of a wink in response as he passed, and continued on to Yuuko. It’s showtime, “Kenji.”

Yuuko stood up as he approached the booth, and smiled nervously at him. “Kenji. I’d like you to meet my parents, Mari and Shoya Shirakawa.”

Hisao bowed. “Mr. and Mrs. Shirakawa. It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”

Both Shirakawas nodded back at him. “I’ve looked forward to meeting you for a long time,” said Mrs. Shirakawa. She smiled warmly at him. “Yuuko has told us so much about you.”

Hisao smiled nervously at that. “Only good things, I trust,” he said, his mouth on autopilot. What if she’s told them something I don’t know about? He sat down in the booth next to Yuuko. He smiled at her, while pretending to himself that he was smiling at Emi, to try and make the smile more warm and genuine. His effort apparently succeeded, because Yuuko blushed and her eyes went wide, her lips parting in a silent “Oh” in response. Hesitantly, she returned the smile, her face and posture relaxing slightly.

She actually is pretty, when she dresses up a bit, Hisao realized. He was just turning his head back to face her parents when a flash of color behind Yuuko caught his attention. Looking out the window, he spied Kenji, not three meters away, “hiding” behind a skinny street post with his ridiculous scarf waving in the breeze. He was peering into the restaurant through a pair of binoculars. Hisao froze momentarily. Kenji! What the heck!

“Is something wrong?” asked Mr. Shirakawa.

Hisao whipped his head back around to face Yuuko’s parents, desperate to keep them from looking out the window. “No! No, nothing’s wrong, everything’s fine. Just fine. Say, ah, have you ordered yet?” He wished, not for the first time, that the Shanghai had menus, so he could have something to hide behind for a moment to collect himself. Lacking a menu, he smiled convulsively at the Shirakawas, hoping they’d stay focused on him, and not look outside.

The Shirakawas looked startled by his question. “No, not yet,” said Mr. Shirakawa.

Hisao frantically waved to Kaede, the waitress on duty. Then as she approached he had another moment of panic. What if she addresses me by name?

But apparently Yuuko had anticipated that and talked with Kaede first. “Hi, Kenji,” said Kaede with a smirk. “What can I get for you all this evening?”

Hisao breathed a covert sigh of relief as everyone’s attention was turned toward the waitress, and away from the window. He resolutely refrained from peering out again himself. Maybe if I ignore him he’ll go away, he forlornly hoped.

Kaede took everyone’s orders, and then Hisao was left facing the Shirakawa’s with nothing to say. The four of them smiled nervously at each other for a long awkward moment. Come on, Yuuko, say something!

“So, I understand you’re interested in cryptography?” Mrs. Shirakawa essayed tentatively.

I am? “Uh, yeah. It’s... it’s very interesting,”

“Oh.”

Another long awkward silence followed, and Hisao tried to rally. “It’s the mathematical side of it that’s the most interesting,” he offered, trying to link the conversation to something he was actually interested in.

“Ah, yes. Math,” said Mr. Shirakawa, nodding seriously.

“Right, math,” Yuuko agreed.

“That’s a complicated subject,” Mrs. Shirakawa said.

“Ah, no, it’s not so bad,” Hisao said. “I quite enjoy it.”

“Oh. That’s...nice.”

Hisao shot Yuuko a pleading glance, hoping she would rescue the lagging conversation, but she looked like a deer trapped in headlights.

He looked back at the elder Shirakawas, who both stared at him, apparently also at a loss for how to proceed. Well, at least I know Yuuko comes by her social awkwardness honestly, Hisao thought wryly. I’m glad my first meeting with Emi’s mom went better than this. He was relieved to hear the footsteps of their server approaching.

“Your drinks, Messieurs and Mesdames,” said an all too familiar voice in an awful pseudo-French accent. Hisao looked up to see not Kaede, but Kenji standing beside the table with a tray of drinks, dressed in the same kimono that Yuuko and Kaede wore. It was not a flattering look on him. He spotted Kaede standing by the kitchen door, hand over her mouth and giggling. What did Yuuko ever do to you? Hisao wondered.

Beside him, Yuuko choked back a gasp, and turned to look out the window, avoiding Kenji’s fortunately myopic gaze. Hisao hoped that Kenji hadn’t recognized Yuuko. It had taken him a moment to recognize her when he’d walked in, and his eyesight was 20/20.

“Thank you, young...man?” said Mr. Shirakawa hesitantly. The Shanghai’s uniform kimono was definitely a female style, colorful and patterned, and it looked more than a little incongruous on Kenji. The sartorial look wasn’t aided any by the fact that Kenji was still wearing his red and yellow scarf wrapped around his neck.

Kenji gave a grimace that Hisao assumed was his attempt at a server’s cheery smile, and he set the drinks down on the table at random. “Er...” began Mrs. Shirakawa, but trailed off as Hisao shuffled the drinks around to their correct positions.

Kenji gave Hisao a very intent look that he probably intended to be deeply meaningful, and his fingers twitched in what Hisao assumed were supposed to be some sort of secret agent signals. Signals which were made even more secret by the fact that Kenji had never taught them to him.

Message apparently delivered (at least in Kenji’s mind), Kenji whirled and scuttled away.

“Uh, excuse me, I’m going to go, uh, check on our order,” said Hisao as he rose from the table. He stalked over to Kenji, who was lurking by the servery.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Hisao muttered through clenched teeth.

“Providing backup, my man,” said Kenji, sounding smugly pleased with himself.

“I told you I didn’t need backup. You can’t—I don’t want to spook her. My informant.”

“Don’t worry, she won’t even know I’m here.”

Hisao squeezed his eyes shut tight for a moment, trying to ignore the headache that was beginning to form.

“Do you like my disguise?”

Hisao opened his eyes and rolled them. Which didn’t help his nascent headache any. “What, as a cross-dressing waitress?” he asked sarcastically.

Kenji looked hurt by that, and Hisao couldn’t believe that he actually felt a moment of guilt. It passed quickly, however, when Kenji said, condescendingly, “I wouldn’t expect a rookie like you to appreciate the finer points of disguise and infiltration.”

“The only fine point here is your pointy head.”

“Gah!” Kenji exclaimed, making Hisao jump. “Behind you! It’s that tiny feminist terrorist I was warning you about!”

Hisao looked back to see Emi approaching them, a concerned look on her face. “No, don’t worry, that’s...” he froze a moment, not sure how he could explain Emi as a innocuous bystander to the paranoiac Kenji.

“Hisao!” Kenji shouted. “Duck!”

Hisao looked back to Kenji just in time to see a pie flying toward his face. SPLAT! Hisao stood frozen, incredulous, for one long silent moment, blinded by the custard, until he heard Kenji mutter, “Oops.”

Hisao reached up and wiped the still-warm custard from his eyes, and licked his lips clean. I was right, it’s banana cream, noted some distant part in the back of his brain, even as he growled, “‘Oops?’ I’ll oops you, you bastard!”

He grabbed a pie of his own from the servery, ignoring the cook’s squawk of, “Hey, those are my pies!” and he flung a return missile at Kenji.

“Nooo! You’ve gone over to their side!” wailed Kenji in despair, as the pastry projectile rendered him even more blind than usual. “You’re one of them!”

“Them? Them?” exclaimed Emi. “There is no them, you blithering idiot!” She punctuated this with a flying pie of her own, which missed Kenji’s face but glued a large part of his scarf to his kimono.

“My pies...” moaned the cook.

Kenji picked up two pies, one in each hand, and flung them both blindly. One hit Emi, mostly by dumb luck, and the other landed on the table in front of the Shirakawas, splattering all three of them. Emi tried to advance on Kenji, but she planted one prosthetic foot square in a puddle of goo and slid onto her ass with a yelp.

“You’ll never take me alive!” Kenji hissed as he slipped out the front door. His “dramatic” exit was ruined by his scarf getting caught in the door, almost strangling him. Luckily for him, the banana custard lubricated the scarf enough that he could yank it through, leaving behind a squeegeed blob on the doorframe which slowly slid to the floor.

Hisao looked at Emi, sitting on the floor in a puddle of custard, with more custard dripping down her face. He looked at Yuuko and her parents, who were still sitting frozen at the table, splattered and stunned. Lastly, reluctantly, he looked at his own reflection in the window, and winced.

Emi sighed as a chunk of pie crust slid off the top of her head and plopped into her lap. “Y’know...maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all...”



=====================================

So, my prompt, received from Downix, was:
Yuuko's parents have announced that they will be visiting her for the holidays, and are excited to finally meet her boyfriend of four years.

Problem: She never told them that they broke up last year.

Enter Hisao, who must pretend to be the cryptography genius madlad who she had dated since they started college, all while avoiding having the whole scam exposed by the ever intrusive (and annoying) Kenji.
Last edited by Lap on Sat Oct 08, 2022 10:22 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Scarred Muse Hanako and Rin.
Avenues of Communication: Shizune suffers an accident.
Home: Hanako & Hisao at University, sharing an apartment with their friend Lilly (on Ao3).
One-shots
User avatar
Decaying_Orbital
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:44 pm

Re: Lap's One shots & misc - New S12 Entry 4/4/22

Post by Decaying_Orbital »

Re: No Good Deed.

I read though this and more then once laughed on the entire set up and execution. This is just the kinda thing I could see Kenji doing completely ruining any attempt at being subtle. Emi, Hisao. Yuuko, and Kenji all seemed quite true to character and this was a very enjoyable read thank you.
User avatar
Lap
Posts: 167
Joined: Sun May 27, 2018 4:35 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Any Flavor But Lemon (4/29/22)

Post by Lap »

Any Flavor But Lemon

NSFW, if that wasn't obvious from the title. PWP.

_____________________________________________

"Done."

I closed my math textbook with a satisfied sigh, and looked up, glancing around Emi's room. There was a noticeable absence of Emi, and I frowned, puzzled for a moment, then a vague memory of Emi saying she was going to go take a shower bubbled up out of the back of my mind. I sometimes get a little overly focused when working on homework, especially math or science, and I grimaced as I recalled that I hadn't responded to her at all before she left. I tucked my homework in my bag, then sat back and rolled my shoulders.

Wasn't that over a half-hour ago? I mused as I stretched. She didn't usually spend all that long in the shower, given that she sometimes took two showers a day, due to her working out so often. I glanced at her bedside clock—well past curfew time, so I was going to be spending the night. I smirked to myself at the thought. Not that that was all that unusual, lately. Ever since our talk at her father's grave, we'd grown ever closer, and our love life had become even better and more frequent.

I pulled my evening meds and my toothbrush out of my book bag, then cautiously snuck downstairs to the boy's restroom on the ground floor to take care of my own nightly ablutions.

I managed to make it there and back without being spotted by anyone other than Miki, who smirked and gave me a thumb-up without saying a word. Given that she was slipping into Suzu's room as she did so, it seemed like I wasn't the only one who might get lucky this evening. I returned the thumbs-up and waggled my eyebrows at her. She snickered as she shut the door behind her.

Emi was back in her room when I returned, already tucked into bed and looking adorable dressed in an over-sized green t-shirt as a nightie. Her hair was out of her usual twin-tails, framing her face in a way that made my breath hitch a moment. So beautiful. "Hey there, sexy," I said as I quietly closed the door behind me.

Her answering grin reassured me that she hadn't taken offense at my ignoring her when she'd left earlier. "Hey there sexy yourself," she replied. She pulled back the corner of her blanket and patted the bed beside her. "Looking for a place to spend the night?"

I smiled as I began undressing. "If that place is beside you? Always."

She giggled and stretched, the thrust of her lovely little breasts against the thin t-shirt fabric making it clear that she wasn't wearing a bra. "I think we might be able to work something out," she purred.

I finished stripping and pulled back the covers of the bed to slide in next to her. I was startled to find that she'd spread a towel across the middle of the bed. "Ah...didn't your period end a few days ago?" I asked, as I slipped in next to her. I'd been surprised when she'd admitted that her libido increased during her period, but we'd grown adept at various ways to deal with the mess while making love.

"Uh, yeah. This isn't for that."

I propped my head up on one elbow and stared down at her. "Then...what's it for?"

"I, uh...I wanna try something new. Well, not new, exactly, but..."

I tried to imagine what she could be talking about, what would be so messy as to require a towel. A few possibilities occurred to me and were rejected as soon as they popped into mind. "So...what...?"

She licked her lips, looking adorably nervous. I bent down and kissed her forehead, then lay back down, pulling her in close to me. "Come on, you can tell me," I coaxed. "It can't be any worse than what we did in the track shed, right?"

Her face went bright red, and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. "Well. Actually..."

It took a moment for the penny to drop. "Wait, you want to try that again? After what happened last time?"

After a long pause, she whispered, "Yeah."

"What happened to 'never again?'" I asked.

"Wellll..." She wrapped her arms around me and slid a leg over my legs, pressing her crotch up against my thigh. "Yeah, okay, I kinda felt that way at the time, but..." She buried her face in the crook of my neck, so I couldn't see her face. "Really, I wouldn't have suggested it in the first place if I hadn't already had some interest in it."

"It?"

"Uh. Y'know. Butt stuff."

I snorted. "Butt stuff? And what kind of interest are you talking about?"

"Mmm. When playing with myself, I sometimes like to play around back there too."

"I thought you only wanted to try it because Gentaro said it was 'awesome,' or something like that."

"Ehhh...that...may have just been an excuse." She sounded embarrassed. "I mean, he does like it, too, but I really wanted to try it with you. It feels really good by myself," she added defensively. "It's a different kind of...being stretched and filled. And I'd like you...I'd like you to be the one filling me."

"Our last foray into...dark places...didn't exactly leave me begging for more."

"Yeah, I know, but now I've got some ideas on how to make it better."

"How so?"

"Well, I talked with Gentaro about it—"

"Wait," I cut her off. "You discussed our sex life with your track captain? Our misadventures, at that?"

Emi shrugged, looking embarrassed. "He asked me if I'd enjoyed the lube, and when I said, not really, he asked why, and, well, the conversation just kinda grew from there."

I covered my eyes with one hand for a moment. "I guess I should be glad I don't have any classes with him."

"Hey, it's nothing to be embarrassed about—"

"It's not?"

Emi squirmed, her shoulders hunching up a little around her ears. "Well, he's just...he's easy to talk to, y'know? I mean, I wouldn't talk about sex with just any guy, but since he's gay I know he's not going to use it to hit on me."

"There is that."

"And he's not judgey."

"Judgmental?"

"Yeah, that. And, like I said, he had some suggestions. For how to make it more fun. Less painful."

"Less messy?" I asked drily.

"Yeah, that too. Why do you think I was in the bathroom for so long?"

"Uh..." I stared at her blankly, puzzled by the subject change. "I dunno. Doing girly things with lotions and makeup?" I hazarded.

Emi rolled her eyes. "Girly things. Me. Right. Because I always put on makeup before going to bed."

"Okay, that wasn't my best guess. So what were you doing?"

Her cheeks colored a light pink, looking adorable and obviating the need for makeup. She mumbled, "I was giving myself...an enema."

"Oh." I thought about that for a moment, blushing myself, then said, "Oh! I get it. So you won't be...that is...er..."

"Yeah, yeah, so I won't be so full of shit."

I coughed. "Not how I would have phrased it, but..."

"But that is the idea. A lot less messy, as I said." She paused, then added, "Well, not that kind of messy, anyway. Another thing he said was, if we're not using so much lube that it seems utterly ridiculous, then it's probably not enough."

"Ah. Hence the towel."

"Yeah, the towel."

"Anything else?"

"He said that it's easier to do face-to-face instead of from behind; the angle is better."

I stared at her. "You were discussing it with him in that much detail? Down to what positions we used?"

"Well..." At least she had the grace to look abashed as she shrugged.

I sighed, and wondered if I'd ever be able to talk to her track captain with a straight face again. So to speak. "Anything else?" I asked resignedly.

"Um... He suggested stretching exercises. To, ah, loosen me up." Her mouth twitched. "He made a crack about me being too much of a tight-ass."

I snorted at that. "Not how I usually think of you." Then I frowned. "What kind of stretching exercises?"

"Er..." Instead of answering, she grabbed my wrist and guided my hand to her ass. Not that fondling her ass was ever a hardship, lovely as it was. I wasn't surprised to find that she wasn't wearing any panties, but there was a foreign object in the middle of her buttocks.

"What?" I traced a finger around the soft, rubbery object, then tugged gently on it. Emi gasped. "Is that a, um..." I couldn't finish the question.

"Yeah, it's a dildo. To loosen me up a bit."

"So...you put it in yourself?"

"No, I asked Rin to put it in for me," she snarked. "Yes, of course I did it myself. I've been...practicing by myself."

"Oh." I felt my face burning and my cock rising at the mental image of Emi fucking herself with this rubbery thing.

I gave another gentle tug, eliciting another sharp gasp. "Ahh...even if you don't want to fuck my ass yourself, we could leave it in place while we were screwing. The vibrations would feel pretty good for both of us, I bet."

"It vibrates?" I let my fingers explore the base of the dildo, and felt a raised bump on one side. I pressed it in, and was immediately rewarded with a buzz and vibrations under my fingers.

"Jesus! Warn me before you do that!" Emi gasped, clutching me tight. "Off off off, now!"

"Sorry," I said, as I pressed the switch again. The vibrations ceased, and Emi relaxed in my arms.

"Sorry," I reiterated. "I didn't realize it would have...such a potent effect."

She giggled. "Yeah, well, I wasn't expecting it just then. And it feels even better when I'm in your arms." She ground her pussy against my thigh, allowing me to feel how wet she was.

A horrible thought occurred to me. "You bought this for yourself, right? You didn't, um, borrow it from Gentaro?"

"Ew! No, of course I didn't! I bought it mail-order from a place he recommended."

"And did you buy some lemon lube while you were at it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Any flavor but lemon. Actually, I just went with unscented." She gestured to her nightstand, and for the first time I noticed a new bottle of lube. It was a quarter empty—I guess she really had been practicing on her own.

"Bless you. Dare I ask, do you know why Gentaro likes lemon lube?"

"He said it was on sale at a time when he was tight on cash." She snickered. "I think he may have 'accidentally' left it in the track shed because he's not so fond of it himself ."

"Well, I can sympathize with that."

She pulled away from me enough so that she could look me in the face, and she smiled nervously. "So, what do you think? Are you game to try again?"

I took a deep breath as I considered the proposition. It was true that, before our misadventure in the track shed, I'd sometimes fantasized about anal sex, but the reality of it had proven less savory than fantasy. On the other hand, she'd already dealt with some of the less pleasant aspects of it, and if it was something that turned her on, well, I was always more than happy to turn her on. "Sounds like it's worth a try. Er, how do we start?"

She giggled and nipped my neck, making me shudder. "The same way we usually do, silly. You just have a different destination."

"Well, that, and a new toy to play with."

She grabbed my cock and gave it a gentle tug. "As well as some old familiar toys. And since we don't have to worry about pregnancy, you can go in bare." Her periods were so irregular that she didn't really have any "safe" days, so we always used a condom. The thought of getting to be in her without a barrier between us made my pulse pick up a notch.

She pulled my head close for a kiss. It was a hot hungry kiss, thrusting her tongue into my mouth immediately, her fires apparently already stoked by the toy in her ass.

I responded in kind, and rolled her over onto her back, supporting my weight on my elbows as I lay atop her. I worked my way from her lips to her neck, enjoying her whimpers of pleasure when I hit that spot right where the neck meets the shoulder. I slid my body down the length of hers and pushed her t-shirt up to her shoulders. I paused for several minutes at her lovely little breasts, enjoying the taste and texture of her nipples as they hardened under my tongue. I loved how I could fit an entire breast in my hand. "Anything more than a handful is a waste," she'd once quipped, and I couldn't help but agree. I let her hard little nipple slip between two fingers and I squeezed it as I sucked on the other. The resulting moans were further fuel to my fire.

I continued my journey down her body, punctuating my kisses with lick at her navel, prompting a giggle. As I slipped my head between her legs she obligingly spread them further apart to allow me to fit between her thighs. I felt my own face flushing and my cock twitch as the scent of her arousal filled me. I still sometimes found it absolutely amazing that I could arouse her so much, make her so wet. Though, admittedly, tonight she'd started before I even got to bed, but she'd done so for me—for us—so that was wonderful, too.

Most times I liked to go slowly, teasing her with kisses to her thighs and gentle, barely perceptible touches to her luscious lips, but tonight she was wasn't having any of that. She put her hand on the back of my head and pulled my face full into her pussy, and I happily obliged by opening my mouth, burying my tongue between her lips. The first taste of her exploded in my mouth, making me moan along with her, lost in the sweet musky flavor of her arousal. She lifted her hips, pushing my tongue deeper into her, which allowed me to slide my hands under her ass to hold her up. Such a sweet ass, so muscular and firm and perfectly shaped. One of my favorite benefits of running.

I slid my tongue up the length of he swollen lips and swallowed a mouthful of her juices. She was incredibly wet tonight. I savored the flavor for a moment, then stuck my tongue back out, this time focusing on her clitoris. "Yessss..." she hissed in approval as I gently ran the tip of my tongue around her clit. I circled it a few times, teasingly close, until she whined, making me relent. I flicked my tongue directly across her soft shiny pearl. I loved the feel of it under my tongue, so hard and smooth, her own miniature erection, a fascinating contrast to her soft swollen labia.

I slid a couple of fingers into her as I tongued her, making her shudder, pressing harder against my face. The back of her vagina felt firmer than usual, and I realized that I was feeling the dildo through the vaginal wall. I curled my fingers forward, seeking that soft spongy spot that made her moan. That, combined with my tongue on her clit, had her panting and gasping in fairly short order. I kept up a steady rhythm until she shuddered and whined, climaxing in a surprisingly short time.

I lay my head on her thigh and smiled up at her. Her face was beautifully flushed, nicely framed by her breasts from this angle. I slowly withdrew my fingers from her and licked them clean, enjoying the darker, muskier taste that I got from deep inside her.

After a minute her panting slowed, and she opened her eyes to smile back down at me. "That sounded like a good one," I observed.

Emi huffed a laugh. "I'm not sure I've ever had a bad orgasm."

"There is that." I blew a gentle breath across her heated clit, enjoying the twitch that it provoked.

"You've gotten really good at that," she said. Not for the first time, but I never minded hearing it again.

"Well, you make it so very rewarding to do so."

She ran a hand through my hair, her smile softening. "I love you."

My heart (metaphorically) skipped a beat. "I love you too." I was always amazed at how happy those three little words could make me. I knew that Emi loved me, but she wasn't very big on sweet talk, and didn't say it often. Mostly only while we were in bed.

"And I love the way you do that."

"Do what?" I asked innocently, as I lapped gently at her clit.

She shuddered and pulled my head away from her crotch. "Do that, you doofus."

I grinned and kissed her thigh. One hand was still under her ass, and I moved it to find the dildo, and paused with a finger over the button. I looked up at her beautifully flushed face. "Now?"

She bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah.".

I pressed the button, and felt the vibrations once more under my fingers.

"Ohhh fuuuck," moaned Emi, arching her back so her clit was grinding against my chin.

"That good, huh?"

"Oh yeah. You should try this sometime."

I could feel myself blush at the thought. I was surprised to find that the notion was...surprisingly arousing. "Maybe later," I hedged. "Ladies first."

She giggled, a giggle which stretched out into a whine of passion. I tightened my grip on the flared base of the dildo and slid it out a few centimeters, then back in. Emi pulled her knees up to her chest to allow me easier access to her backside. The dildo seemed a bit tight, so I reached for the lube and squirted a blob of it around the base. It was fascinating to see this slick rubbery cylinder sliding in and out of her, and I watched for a few moments as I gently fucked her with it, enjoying her whimpers and moans as I did so. I occasionally leaned in to give her sopping wet pussy a lick, provoking more moans. After several minutes of this fun, she pulled my head away from her crotch and said, "Enough! I want you in me!"

"Happy to oblige." I slid the dildo all the way out, surprised to see that it was fairly long—over fifteen centimeters or so. Not as big around as me, but longer. The last couple of centimeters popped out quickly, squeezed out by her sphincter. I glanced at the dildo and was relieved to see it was clean, and I couldn't smell anything objectionable.

I got up on my knees between her thighs and swapped the dildo for the bottle of lube on the bedside table. Squirting a generous quantity into my hand, I slathered it onto my cock, twitching slightly at the cool temperature. I stroked myself a few times, distributing the lube, and was amazed at how much better it felt than just bare-handed jacking off. Maybe I'll have to get some for my personal use, I mused.

I looked at my glistening cock, considering, then remembered Emi's comment about "ridiculous" quantities of lube. I added some more, also rubbing some onto her waiting sphincter. "Are you ready for this?" I asked. Am I ready for this?

She took a deep breath, visibly relaxing herself. "Yeah. Take it slow, okay?"

"Of course."

I pressed the head of my cock against her rear entrance and pushed forward slowly. It was nowhere near as difficult to slip into her this time as it had been in the shed, and Emi moaned this time, instead of gasping in pain. "Oh, yeah, like that," she whispered. Her obvious pleasure pushed back any hesitancy I had been harboring. I rubbed some more lube around my cock near where it was sliding into her, and slowly, gently, pushed myself in. It was tight, tighter than her pussy, but unlike last time it wasn't so tight as to be uncomfortable.

"Fuuuuck, yeah," Emi whimpered, further reassuring me that this was going better than before.

It felt wonderful being bare inside her, a sensual joy. I gave a groan of pleasure myself at experiencing her heat without any latex in the way. The added sense of transgression, of doing something kinky, made it all that much hotter. I lifted her hips and pulled myself deeper into her, staring down to where my cock was disappearing into her ass. It felt like I was impaling her on my cock, even more so than during regular sex. My hips finally hit her ass, and I was buried about as deep inside her as I could go. "Still good?" I asked.

"Yeah, good, good, very good," she panted. She swung her knees around to place them on my shoulders, increasing my access to her ass. "Oh, fuck, Hisao, this is so much better." She slipped a hand between us to rub her clit, her breathing picking up speed.

I gave a short laugh, happy to know that this time she was enjoying it too. I pulled back a ways, still fascinated by the point of our joining as I slid most of the way out, then back in again. With her legs up so high and my cock pressing up from below, her labia looked puckered, compressed between my cock and her hand, a beautiful pink sexual flower. "Can I move a little more?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I began to slide in and out of her, establishing a slow rhythm, feeling like her ass was sucking me in. It was tight, but good, and I loved the way it felt, sexy and hot and a little bit kinky.

"Faster," she urged. Her eyes were closed, scrunched shut in a look of intense concentration, her attention obviously all focused below her waist. Her fingers were moving in a well-established rhythm, her breathing getting quicker and shallower. I gradually picked up speed, thrusting gingerly into her, watching for signs of pain. Sometimes when we made love in this position I hit the back of her vagina, and had to hold back a bit so as not to hurt her. Not because I'm so huge, but because she's so tiny.

I thrust harder, went deeper, but I wasn't hitting anything. I remembered the dildo, longer than me, and realized that I could go as deep and hard as I wanted; there was more room here for me to thrust into. I picked up speed and force, panting, relishing the chance to go as hard as I wanted.

I wasn't the only one enjoying the feeling of my cock buried deep and my hips slapping hard against her ass; Emi was also moaning, "Yes yes yes, like that, oh, fuck me, fuck me hard, love."

I hardly needed the encouragement. Convinced now that I wasn't going to hurt her, I let loose, pounding into her hard and deep, gasping and moaning myself. My heart was racing, but keeping up with me, and I was grateful for our morning runs giving me this opportunity. I never could have managed something like this months ago, before meeting my love and working out with her.

Her voice was becoming a continuous whine, rising in pitch and volume, her hand a vibrating blur between us. "Ah, yes, love, yesssss..." Her eyes flew open, her mouth open wide in a nearly silent scream. She shuddered and convulsed under me, staring me with a look of shock on her face as she came like I'd never seen her come before.

That pushed me over the edge too, and I slammed hard into her and froze, buried as deep inside her as I could get. White lightning coursed through my body, my brain going staticky and nonverbal as all sensation was centered around our point of joining, an explosion of heat and joy as I pumped her full of cum.

I collapsed on top of her, gasping and utterly limp. Emi slid her knees off of my shoulders. We lay there together for a long minute, panting and recovering from our orgasms. The first to recover, she kissed my cheek and murmured, "I love you."

I managed to lift my head enough to plant a return kiss on her lips. "Love you too. You sexy animal, you."

She giggled at that. "You were pretty animalistic yourself, there. Is your heart okay?"

I kissed her again and nodded. "Fine. All your hard work whipping me into shape paid off."

"Best incentive for a workout routine I've ever had."

"Oh yeah."

Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself back up onto my hands and knees and slowly withdrew my cock from her ass. I was surprised when it took a second for her sphincter to close back up after I slid out.

"Pink," I said, startled.

"Wha?" Emi gasped, shuddering from my withdrawal.

"Uh...pink. The inside of your...you...is pink."

"Um. Okay?"

I used the towel to wipe some of the ludicrous quantity of lube off of us. "I dunno, I guess I was expecting it to be brown, or black, or something."

She snorted and reached up for me, and I obligingly lay back down in her arms. "Was that good?" I asked again, even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

"Uh-huh," she answered happily, snuggling into my side.

"No pain this time?"

"Mmm. A bit of a stretched-out ache, but it's more like what I feel after a good workout. It feels good." She ground her pussy against my thigh for a moment, a slow, languorous motion, shivering as orgasmic aftershocks ran through her body.

"We should probably go take a shower," I said regretfully, not wanting to get out of bed.

"Yeah," she sighed, sounding equally reluctant to get vertical.

"Shall I carry you?"

"Hnnnn... Tempting, but I should probably go in first, to make sure the coast is clear."

"Yeah." Not that most of the floor didn't already know I was a frequent overnight guest, but I didn't want to walk in on anyone else undressed. And somehow, miracle of miracles, Shizune seemed to be one of the few on the floor who wasn't aware of how often I spent the night with Emi. Probably because she couldn't hear Emi's screams.

Or maybe she just pretended not to know. Either way, we shouldn't push our luck by rubbing her nose in it.

Emi sat up and reached for the sleeves that fit on her stumps, then pulled on her legs. She stood up, rocked from side-to-side a bit to seat herself, then smiled at me. "So...was it good for you too?"

"Oh, yeah. Much, much better this time."

"D'you think...you might be willing to do it again, sometime?"

I stood up and hugged her close, enjoying the feel of her in my arms. "Most definitely. And I'm intrigued by that idea you had of leaving the vibrator in while we're making love the usual way."

She giggled. "You wanna make me into your vibrating onahole?"

Her lewd phrasing was enough to turn me on again, even so soon after coming. But I definitely needed to wash before sliding into her lovely pussy, even with a condom—I didn't want to risk any infections.

I released her and handed her her t-shirt nightie. "Go check the bathroom so we can wash up, then maybe we'll give that a try next."

Her eyes lit up and she pulled the shirt on. She reached up and pulled my head down for a fast hard kiss, sucking on my tongue with surprising force for just a brief moment. Releasing me, she purred, "I'm glad you've run enough to get your heart into shape, because I think I'm going to give you one hell of a workout tonight."

I grinned back. "Enough of one that we can skip running tomorrow morning?"

She gave me a mock frown. "Why would you want to skip running?"

"Hmm. I guess I'll just have to wear you out before then."

She licked her lips, and I noticed her nipples suddenly poking up through her shirt. "Challenge accepted." She turned and headed out to the bathroom.

I sighed and smiled sappily, watching her lovely ass as she went. It promised to be a long and wonderful night.



================================


So, it occurred to me that Emi wouldn't have suggested they try anal in the first place if she didn't have an actual interest in it. This is where that thought lead...
Last edited by Lap on Sat Oct 08, 2022 10:36 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Scarred Muse Hanako and Rin.
Avenues of Communication: Shizune suffers an accident.
Home: Hanako & Hisao at University, sharing an apartment with their friend Lilly (on Ao3).
One-shots
User avatar
Decaying_Orbital
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:44 pm

Re: Any Flavor But Lemon (4/29/22)

Post by Decaying_Orbital »

Lap wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 12:47 pm Any Flavor But Lemon
I do like a good smutfic from time too time, and that was a really good fic. #fansself :shock:
User avatar
Feurox
Posts: 376
Joined: Mon Sep 02, 2013 2:03 pm

Re: Lap's One shots & misc - New 4/29/22 "Any Flavor But Lemon" (NSFW)

Post by Feurox »

Ha, as always incredibly written! I'm not fond of this kind of thing usually, but yours always have the right balance of comedy and seriousness that they come across as very believable. A great piece, if a bit graphic in parts for my tastes ha!

Oh, and doesn't seem you needed my proofreading at all, though one little error did slip through the cracks.
The thought of getting be in her without a barrier between us made my pulse pick up a notch.
Likely meant to be, 'getting to be in her'. Only error I spotted, as always very well done!
My Molly Route
Ekephrasis and Other Stories
I hate when people ruin perfectly good literature with literary terminology.
- CraftyAtom
User avatar
Lap
Posts: 167
Joined: Sun May 27, 2018 4:35 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Re: Lap's One shots & misc - New 4/29/22 "Any Flavor But Lemon" (NSFW)

Post by Lap »

Decaying_Orbital wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 5:55 pm I do like a good smutfic from time too time, and that was a really good fic. #fansself :shock:
Oh, glad it worked for you. By the time I've written and re-written and edited and re-written a steamy piece, it has no heat for me, so I'm never very sure if it's succeeded or not... Thanks!
Feurox wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 8:21 am I'm not fond of this kind of thing usually, but yours always have the right balance of comedy and seriousness that they come across as very believable.
Well, if you can't laugh in bed, where can you laugh? Glad you were able to enjoy some of it, at least! :wink:

Scarred Muse Hanako and Rin.
Avenues of Communication: Shizune suffers an accident.
Home: Hanako & Hisao at University, sharing an apartment with their friend Lilly (on Ao3).
One-shots
User avatar
Oddball
Posts: 3024
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:05 pm

Re: S12 Entry: No Good Deed

Post by Oddball »

I love the set up for No Good Deed, and the fact that it ends in a pie-fight. You don't see that too often in stories.

If anything, the story ended much too soon. This is the kind of thing I could easily see lasting for several chapters without wearing out its welcome.

Any Flavor But Lemon was ... far more in depth and descriptive than I was prepared for. It seems like you really gave that whole thing a lot of thought. You did manage to do a good job recreating the awkwardness of the in-game scene. It felt awkward even reading this.
Not Dead Yet
User avatar
Lap
Posts: 167
Joined: Sun May 27, 2018 4:35 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Katawa Shoujo as a Series of Funerals

Post by Lap »

Saki Enomoto wasn’t the first to go, oddly enough. That dubious honor fell to Natsume Ooe, victim of the 3/11 tsunami. Her death wasn’t directly a result of her handicap, although it might have been that her arthritis slowed her down enough that she was unable to flee the oncoming wave. Her body was never recovered.

Guilt consumed Naomi Inoue, who felt she should have been there to help her lover escape the tsunami and not in Hikone doing research for her book. Technically, her death-by-drunk-driving less than a year after Natsume’s death wasn’t a suicide, but all their close friends viewed it was such. Her ashes were scattered along the shore near where Natsume had been lost.

Saki Enomoto followed not long after. She told no one close to her when she went into the hospital for the final time, and forbade her family from telling anyone. She died quietly in the middle of the night several weeks later, her hand clasped tight by her mother. She shed no tears at her daughter’s passing; by that point, she viewed death as a merciful release.

Kenji Setou’s death by alcohol poisoning surprised no one who knew him---which was almost no one. He’d gone full-bore hikikomori halfway through university, and his body wasn’t found until the neighbors began to complain about the smell. Hisao was one of the few attendees at his funeral. He placed a bottle of cheap bourbon on the altar by Kenji’s ashes, which some might have viewed as insensitive given the cause of death, but Hisao gave it in memory of their lost youths, not Kenji’s death. He was sure Kenji would have approved.

Suzu Nagao (née Suzuki) suffered from a cataplectic attack just as a Shinkansen was pulling into the train station, and fell in front of the oncoming train. It took her husband three years of legal struggle to convince the court that it hadn’t been an intentional suicide, and he wasn’t responsible for the ten-million-yen fine imposed upon families of suicides.

Rika Katayama received a heart transplant during her first year of university and lived to the age of thirty-five, an above-average life span for a heart transplant recipient. She never married, never wanting to burden a loved one with the grief of her unavoidably early death. But she lived her life as well and fully as she could, forever grateful to the anonymous donor whose heart she received.

Shiina Mikado remained in the US after finishing her degree there, happy to live in a country where her sexual orientation did not cause so many problems. She fell in love with and married an American woman, and they were planning to start a family before she had the misfortune to be in a gay dance club the same night as a man who had as many guns as he had psychological problems.

Taro Arai was among Japan’s first wave of COVID-19 victims, dying at age 31 just as his career as a professional chef was beginning to take off. He had the dubious distinction of being most of his friends’ first Zoom funeral service. He would not be the last.

Emi Ibarazaki represented Japan in the Paralympics four times, never winning more than a single silver. She presented a happy face to the world, ever cheerful, but one day she went hiking in the mountains and never returned. Dental records would be needed to identify her body some fifteen years later, although her prostheses left little doubt as to who the body was.

Miki Miura was stabbed to death by a jealous husband at age 47 after he caught her in bed with his wife. He might have let it slide had it been a first offense, but it was the third time he’d caught them together, and he snapped.

Shizune Hakamichi was typing a furious text to her (third) husband as she stormed down the street, and failed to notice the flashing lights of an oncoming hook-and-ladder fire truck. Mercifully, death was instantaneous. At her funeral her youngest son made a joke about her being isekaied to another reality where she could rule the world, which everyone agreed would be just like her.

Lilly Campbell (née Satou) died of breast cancer at age 59, having ignored the odd lumps and pains in her left breast until it was far too late. At least her experience prompted her sister Akira to monitor her own health better, and she managed to escape a similar fate four years later with a double mastectomy. She liked to joke that the surgery didn’t make any changes to her figure. Akira’s own personal demon lay deeper within her chest, and she died of an aortic dissection at age 67, her heart’s aorta popping like an over-full water balloon.

Hanako Sugimoto (née Ikezawa) lived a full and happy life until her husband died of a stroke at age 68. Though she had several loving children and a granddaughter, her own heart died with his, and she did not survive him by more than ten months.

Molly Kapur pursued her dream of astronomy and spent most of her life in cold observatories atop various remote mountains. She found love late in life, a fellow astronomer. He was a quiet man who reminded her in many ways of an old high school classmate, Hisao Nakai. Her husband died at age 72. One evening a few years after that, she sat on a bench outside the telescope she was working on and gazed up at her beloved stars. Her frozen body was found by a graduate student the following morning, who reported that she looked like she was smiling at the stars.

Rin Tezuka painted, and painted, and painted. She gained some renown as an artist, on the basis of her unique vision, not because of her physical limitations. An auto accident at age 54 damaged her legs, impairing her ability to walk or paint. She left the hospital grimly determined, and redefined herself artistically with tiny canvases, painted by mouth. These dense little paintings, fueled by her pain and frustrations, propelled her to greater heights of artistic fame. She died at her easel at age 79 of congestive heart failure.

Hisao Nakai exceeded all expectations and lived to 93, and died peacefully in bed surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He was the last of the Yamaku Class of 2008 to die.
Last edited by Lap on Mon Aug 15, 2022 3:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Scarred Muse Hanako and Rin.
Avenues of Communication: Shizune suffers an accident.
Home: Hanako & Hisao at University, sharing an apartment with their friend Lilly (on Ao3).
One-shots
User avatar
brythain
Posts: 3575
Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:58 pm
Location: Eastasia
Contact:

Re: Lap's One shots & misc - New Aug 15 2022 --"Katawa Shoujo as a Series of Funerals"

Post by brythain »

Ahahahaha I think this is like what I would have wanted to write if I had to summarise 'After The Dream' in one page. Congrats, mate, this is gold.
Post-Yamaku, what happens? After The Dream is a mosaic that follows everyone to the (sometimes) bitter end.
Main Index (Complete)Shizune/Lilly/Emi/Hanako/Rin/Misha + Miki + Natsume
Secondary Arcs: Rika/Mutou/AkiraHideaki | Others (WIP): Straw—A Dream of SuzuSakura—The Kenji Saga.
"Much has been lost, and there is much left to lose." — Tim Powers, The Drawing of the Dark (1979)
User avatar
PsychicSpy
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Nov 08, 2019 1:34 am

Re: Lap's One shots & misc - New Aug 15 2022 --"Katawa Shoujo as a Series of Funerals"

Post by PsychicSpy »

This one hits hard. Really bittersweet, especially Emi’s. Kudos
User avatar
Lap
Posts: 167
Joined: Sun May 27, 2018 4:35 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Re: Lap's One shots & misc - New Aug 15 2022 --"Katawa Shoujo as a Series of Funerals"

Post by Lap »

brythain wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 1:52 pm Ahahahaha I think this is like what I would have wanted to write if I had to summarise 'After The Dream' in one page. Congrats, mate, this is gold.
Just the idea of a one-page AtD is utterly mind-boggling :lol: Glad you enjoyed it!
PsychicSpy wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 2:50 pm This one hits hard. Really bittersweet, especially Emi’s. Kudos
Thanks!

Scarred Muse Hanako and Rin.
Avenues of Communication: Shizune suffers an accident.
Home: Hanako & Hisao at University, sharing an apartment with their friend Lilly (on Ao3).
One-shots
User avatar
Serviam
Posts: 114
Joined: Fri May 30, 2014 4:50 am
Location: Urbs Tagbilaranus, Res Publica Philippinae
Contact:

Re: Lap's One shots & misc - New Aug 15 2022 --"Katawa Shoujo as a Series of Funerals"

Post by Serviam »

This new one? Massive Feels Train incoming.
"What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else."
- Tom Clancy summing up l'état in a nutshell

In order of completion: Lilly > Hanako > Rin > Emi > Shizune
The etymology of this name comes from the Latin: "I will serve," in contrast to Lucifer's Non serviam.
Slava Ukraini!
User avatar
Lap
Posts: 167
Joined: Sun May 27, 2018 4:35 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

SXIII: "Dashing Through the Snow..."

Post by Lap »

SXIII: Dashing Through the Snow...
For XPND.Dev


Rika first realized that she'd left her dorm room door unlocked when Saki burst into her room and woke her at what felt like the crack of dawn on Sunday morning.

"Rika! Wake up!"

"Whuh?" Rika mumbled blearily, then screamed, "Aaack!" as Saki threw open the blinds, letting in a torrent of sunlight. "Flaming hemorrhoids," Rika cursed. "You know I'm photosensitive! Shut the blinds!" She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in her pillow.

Saki ignored her, and said excitedly, "Look outside! Snow, Rika! Snow enough even for the Snow Queen!"

"Yeah, yeah, it snowed last night. So what?" Rika mumbled into her pillow.

"Yeah, but it didn't stop. Take a look!"

"I can't see a motherless thing," Rika growled. "Too bright."

"Then put on your sunglasses and look," Saki persisted.

"I don't usually sleep with them beside my bed."

"So where are they?"

Rika waved a hand blindly toward her desk. "Outside pocket of my book bag." She left her hand extended. She heard Saki rummaging around near her desk, then she placed her sunglasses in her hand.

"There, now come look!"

Rika sighed and sat up, her eyes still closed. She put her sunglasses on, then hesitantly opened her eyes. The room was still brighter than she liked, but bearable. It took a moment for her watering eyes to come into focus, even with the prescription sunglasses to help her.

What she saw was Saki, still in her nightgown, standing backlit by the horrifically bright window and grinning excitedly. "Look, look!" she repeated. "Your Majesty, your kingdom awaits!"

Rika tossed back her covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, grumbling, "That 'snow queen' line is just as funny now as it was the first two hundred times you used it."

Saki, as usual, ignored her complaints, but pulled on her arm and tugged her out of bed and toward the window.

Proximity to the window made her squint, even with her protective glasses. The outdoors looked like a blazing white sheet of featureless light at first glance, until she picked out some shadows among the white, and processed what she was seeing. She gaped, her annoyance at Saki evaporating. "What on God's green Earth?"

Saki giggled. "Not so green now."

"Uh, yeah."

"I think we got at least a meter of snow overnight. If not more."

"There was barely a centimeter of it when we came back from dinner," Rika said wonderingly. She stared out at the landscape, a rolling vista of white snowdrifts under a coldly brilliant cloudless blue sky. She could see where the trees and buildings were, but most of the bushes and paths were lost under a white glittering blanket. A few hardy figures were wading through the waist-high snow, romping and tossing snowballs around.

"Come on, get dressed, we've gotta go out and play!"

"What?" Rika looked incredulously at Saki. "Have your brains finally turned to cottage cheese? Not only is it literally freezing out there, my skin will fry to a crisp under that sun. The sunlight bouncing off the snow just doubles the effect!"

"So slather some zinc oxide on your face. It won't change your appearance any."

Rika rolled her eyes. "Menstruating Mary, do you even know the meaning of the word tact?"

"Tact is for those who have time to spare," Saki shot back. She headed out of the room, calling back over her shoulder, "Bundle up! I'll meet you at the door in five minutes."

"Fifteen," Rika countered. "I still need to pee and brush my teeth."

"Aesthete. No more than ten."

Rika closed her blinds, returning her room to a bearable level of brightness, and traded her sunglasses for her regular glasses. A glance at her clock showed her that it wasn't actually the crack of dawn—well, it couldn't be, with the sun that high in the sky—and she sighed. She's doing it again. Dragging me into an adventure. She gathered up her toiletries and headed toward the bathroom. Just hope it's not a misadventure this time...

____________________________

Once fully bundled up in her coat, gloves, hat, and scarf, only her cheeks and lips were exposed to the depredations of the sun. Her sunscreen wasn't zinc oxide, but she made sure to lay it on thoroughly, as well as a lip-gloss with a high SPF. Sunburned lips were no fun at all. She brought an umbrella with her as well, as she always did while going outside for more than just a couple of minutes.

Saki snorted when she saw her. "An umbrella? In the snow? Really?"

Rika glowered at her. "I don't like pain."

"You're a pain."

"Not as much as you."

"Live a little! Cut loose!"

Rika sighed. "Why do I like you, again?"

Saki grinned. "My charming personality and glowing smile always win you over."

"Uh-huh. Right. That must be it." After a moment's consideration, she propped the umbrella in the corner of the foyer and left it. I can always come back for it if I really need it. She pulled a pair of dark wrap-around glasses out of her coat pocket and donned them over her already dark sunglasses.

Saki winced when she saw the over-glasses. "Really? It's that bad?"

"Huh?" It took Rika a moment to understand what Saki was asking about. "Yeah. Kinda gotta double-up for this much light."

"Oh." Saki chewed on her lip for a moment, then offered a very quiet, "Sorry."

About opening the blinds, Rika realized. She flashed Saki a grin. "Come on, let's get outside, I'm melting."

Saki grinned back, her momentary embarrassment gone in a flash. They exited the dorms, and were immediately struck by a cold gust of wind. "Whoo! That'll put hair on your chest!" Saki exclaimed, pulling her scarf tighter around her face.

"Like you need any more."

"Bitch."

"Lard-brain."

"Snow queen."

"Jobbernowl."

Saki snorted. "You win. Let's go!" She grabbed Rika's free hand and dragged her off the dorm steps into the snow.

There was a vague suggestion of where the steps were, created by the girls who'd gone out before them, but they still slipped and staggered a bit on the way down. Which prompted Rika to notice, "You're not bringing your cane?"

"Nah, the snow is soft enough that if I fall it won't hurt."

"You hope," Rika said dubiously, but shrugged to herself and let it pass. Saki was a big girl; she could manage her own risks.

They immediately tested Saki's hypothesis as their feet slid out from under them. Saki yelped and laughed as they fell. As it turned out, the snow was deep and soft enough that it padded their falls nicely. This close to the building, drifting made the snow closer to a meter and a half deep, and it took a fair bit of floundering to get back on their feet.

"Hey! Guys!"

Saki and Rika looked to see Emi Ibarazaki plowing her way doggedly through snow past her waist with a huge grin on her face. She wore a festive long red santa cap, and her cheeks were almost as red as the cap from the cold. She was dragging something long and flat behind her on a rope.

"Whatcha' got there, Emi?" asked Saki.

"A toboggan!" said Emi proudly. "It's been gathering dust in the back of the track shed forever, and now we've finally got a chance to use it!"

Rika eyed the flimsy-looking wooden structure dubiously. "Is that thing safe?"

"Of course it is!" exclaimed Saki.

"Of course it isn't!" exclaimed Emi simultaneously. "That's part of what makes it fun!"

Rika snorted at the contradictory answers. She suspected that Emi's answer was more accurate of the two.

"Come on, there's room for three. Let's give it a try!" Emi cajoled. She wrestled it around so that the curved end was facing downhill, then gestured to the other two. "I'm smallest, so I'll get on first, then Saki, then Rika."

"Who said I'm getting on that thing at all?" asked Rika.

"Of course you are!" said Saki. "You don't want me to hog all the fun for myself, do you?"

"Fun?" Rika said dubiously. "Do I look like I have gopher scumber for brains?"

"Hold on to the toboggan so it doesn't slide away," Emi instructed, ignoring her, then she sat down in the front. She braced her feet in the snow on either side of the toboggan, and said, "Okay, you next, Saki."

Saki followed suit, and looked back over her shoulder at Rika. "Come on, Snow Queen! You're not going to find any activity more snowy than this today!"

Rika groaned. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered as she sat down behind Saki and wrapped her arms and legs around her. "We won't go too far, will we?" she asked nervously.

"The ground levels out in the parking lot, we should glide to a stop there," Emi reassured her.

"Okay..."

"Ready? Lift your feet, and let's go!" Suiting actions to words, Emi tucked her feet into the curve of the front of the toboggan. Saki and Rika did likewise, and the toboggan began to slide forward, down the gentle incline toward the parking lot. The path wasn't too steep, being fully accessible for students in wheelchairs, but they picked up a surprising amount of speed as they went. The wind blew Saki's hair into Rika's face, tickling her and making her laugh, and she relaxed a little and enjoyed the chilly sensation of speed.

They laughed and waved at other students out playing in the snow as they sped past, and all too quickly the parking lot appeared in front of them. Rika began to relax, happy that the ride had been without incident. They hit the level ground of the parking lot...and kept going. Their momentum was greater than she'd realized.

"I thought we were going to stop in the parking lot!"

"I guess the toboggan had other ideas!" Emi shouted. "Hang on!"

Saki whooped, apparently delighted with the turn of events. Well, at least that makes one of us, Rika thought, as she wrapped her arms tighter around Saki's waist and hung on for dear life. They exited the parking lot, and headed down the hill towards town. The much, much steeper hill.

The snow covered houses flashed past them faster and faster as they went, and it felt like they barely missed a few parked cars as they leaned left and right, attempting to exert some minimal control over the direction that the toboggan was racing. The run down the hill was mostly a straight shot, but there was a curve in the road just before the business district. Rika struggled to remember what was on the other side of the road at that curve. She'd never paid it much attention, which she now regretted. As the bottom of the hill got closer, the scenery jogged her memory, and she recalled, with a sinking stomach, Oh, right. A wall.

"Abandon ship!" Emi shrieked, and she threw herself to the side off the toboggan. She disappeared behind them, tumbling in the snow as Saki and Rika continued on, still picking up speed.

Is that safer than staying on? Rika dithered. But there was no time for dithering, as the remembered wall rushed toward them. It was a low wall, thankfully, and the drifting snow had piled up against it, making a ramp. So at least they should go over the wall instead of impacting it at terminal velocity. But what lay beyond that wall? I guess we're about to find out. I just hope it's not someone's living room picture window...

"Aaaahhh shiiiiiiiiit!" screamed Rika and Saki in unison as they hit the snow ramp and flew into the air. For one brief glorious moment they were airborne, flying free, and Rika had a split-second of relief upon seeing that the path in front of them was clear of trees or living room windows, being an open field in a park. Then they hit the earth with a bone rattling whump, and were finally thrown off of the toboggan, to tumble and spin through the snow, which seemed much less soft and fluffy when encountered at high velocity. Snow went everywhere, down her jacket and up her pants legs, and her hat went flying off. She ended up face-down in the snow, further adding to the chill.

Rika pulled herself upright, panting and amazed that at least her prescription glasses had remained on. She wiped the snow from her face and glasses, and took inventory of herself. No pain, so, no broken bones, she thought gratefully. Sitting upright allowed gravity to work its magic on the snow trapped inside her coat, and it slid down her front and back. "Frozen fish pizzles, that's cold!"

She looked around for Saki, to find her laying on her back in a drift a couple of meters away, eyes wide and her expression stunned as she stared at the sky. "Saki? You okay? Saki?" Rika waded through the snow over to where Saki lay, and reached out to offer her a hand up.

Saki blinked a few times, then took Rika's hand and stood up. Her stunned expression thawed into a wide grin, and she said enthusiastically, "Let's do that again!" She began hiking toward the toboggan, which had skidded a dozen meters past them.

Rika just stared at Saki as she staggered away, utterly speechless.

"Guys! Guys! Are you okay?" Emi called, as she clambered over the short wall they'd flown over, and waded through the snow toward them. She'd lost her long red hat somewhere in her tumble, and her twin tails were snow-crusted and hanging low.

Rika turned to the approaching Emi and jerked a thumb at Saki. "I'm okay, but this gibbering tickle-brained ferret wants to do that again!"

Saki laughed as she reached the toboggan. "Maybe without the wall next time, but yeah! That was aces!" she called

Rika was pleased that Emi looked as dumbfounded as she felt at Saki's reaction. "I think we need to get her checked for concussion and brain damage," Rika said.

"No shit," agreed Emi.

"Come on, let's go!" Saki cajoled as she dragged the toboggan back over to them.

"What in the name of Saint Joan's flaming dildo are you on about?" demanded Rika.

"We can't do something like that just once," Saki said. Rika wondered how she could sound so reasonable while making such an outrageous statement.

"Just because you're due to die next week doesn't mean you need to rush it, you absolute muppet!"

Emi flinched, but Saki's grin just got bigger. "All the more reason to live it up now! Tell me you don't feel more alive now than you have in ages!"

Rika opened her mouth to deny the allegation, but the lingering effects of adrenaline coursing through her body lent credence to Saki's claim. "Maybe," she hedged. "But there's no denying that it was just dumb luck we didn't crack our skulls. With emphasis on dumb." She spotted her hat in the snow a few meters away, and trudged over to retrieve it. It turned out that her outer glasses were tangled in the hat, and she gratefully put both of them back on, after shaking off as much snow as she could.

Saki was already trudging up the hill, pulling the toboggan behind her. She slipped and slid as she went, but she seemed cheerfully determined to climb back up and go at it again. Rika looked at Emi and shook her head. "She's certainly living her life to its fullest," she said ruefully.

"Even if she's also actively trying to shorten it," Emi agreed. She made a spirited if somewhat futile attempt at jogging in waist-deep snow to catch up with Saki. Rika groaned and hurried after them.

Saki shot her a grin as Rika took ahold of the toboggan's rope, assisting in pulling it uphill. "Tell me you won't remember this day fifty years from now."

You won't, thought Rika. But maybe making these kinds of memories with others is your reach for immortality. Or at least, a little less mortality. She grinned back at Saki. "You're right. But maybe we can find a slightly less terrifying hill for our next run?"

"Please," agreed Emi. "The hill at the back of the bleachers onto the soccer field should be safer."

"Almost anything would be," said Saki cheerfully. "Oh, all right. But you're still coming with me, right?"

Rika grinned at her friend. "Yeah. You won't get rid of me that easily, you rice-brained mammering lobster."

"Pants-wetter."

"Canker blossom."

"Pox-ridden harpy."

"Donkey's codpiece."

"Are you sure you guys are friends?" asked Emi curiously.

Saki and Rika looked at each other over the shorter girl's head. They both grinned. "Nah," they said in unison, then laughed.

"Right..."

Still laughing, they ascended the hill back to Yamaku.


======================================

Victim: XPND.Dev.
Prompt: An unexpected blizzard passes through, leaving snow waist-high. Saki, Rika, and a character of your choice decide to try sledding downhill all the way into town. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

Scarred Muse Hanako and Rin.
Avenues of Communication: Shizune suffers an accident.
Home: Hanako & Hisao at University, sharing an apartment with their friend Lilly (on Ao3).
One-shots
User avatar
Feurox
Posts: 376
Joined: Mon Sep 02, 2013 2:03 pm

Re: Lap's One shots & misc - New Jan 3 2023 - "Dashing Through the Snow..."

Post by Feurox »

Ha! A charming little tale indeed! I wonder why I enjoy the insult slinging so throughly, but I truly do! A brilliant story and very very fluffy. Well done! :D
My Molly Route
Ekephrasis and Other Stories
I hate when people ruin perfectly good literature with literary terminology.
- CraftyAtom
User avatar
Lap
Posts: 167
Joined: Sun May 27, 2018 4:35 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Re: Lap's One shots & misc - New July 10 2024 "Tatties in the Oven"

Post by Lap »

Tatties in the Oven

Secret Santa 2023, for NoticeMeOppai (Naryzhud)


Hanako was stretched out on the recliner in Rin’s studio, reading a book on her phone. She wasn’t modeling at the moment, but on her days off from work she liked to just spend time with Rin while she painted, occasionally watching her lover as she worked. As an added benefit, the recliner had an extendable footrest that allowed her to put her feet up, which was a welcome relief given that her feet had been swelling more and more as of late.

A small ding from her phone notified her of a new email. She switched to the mail app and was pleased to see it was from Lilly. She eagerly opened it up and read it, smiling as she read. “Oh, how nice!”

“Hmm?” 

“Lilly and Jack and the b-boys are coming to Japan for a couple of weeks next month, and they want to spend some t-time with us.”

“Mmm.”

Hanako re-read the message, and realized that the dates Lilly was proposing were over Christmas. She and Rin rarely did much for Christmas—Rin wasn’t big on romantic gestures, and Christmas was primarily a romantic holiday in Japan. 

Of course, that’s not the case for Lilly and her family, she realized. Lilly and her family were Christian, and probably celebrated Christmas in a more religious fashion. I wonder if I should try and get a Christmas tree? She’d seen Christmas trees in movies and in stores, but she’d never put one up. That would entail not only finding a tree, but also all of the lights and decorations, too… She shook her head. That sounded like quite a task, to say nothing of the expense of buying all those ornaments and lights for a one-time use. Perhaps they can just visit one of the Christmas light festivals in the city.

But what else could she do to make their visit more “Christmassy”? I’m sure if they want to go to church, they can find one on their own. Japan was less than two percent Christian, but she had a vague recollection of having seen a Catholic church somewhere in Tokyo—it had reminded her of Lilly, in fact, which was why she’d noted it. 

She thought back over some movies and TV shows she’d seen about Christmas, trying to think of what else she could do for her friend and her family. Gifts, of course, I’d normally want to give the boys something anyway. It’ll be nice to have an excuse to give Lilly a gift as well. But what on Earth should I get for Jack? She didn’t know him anywhere near as well as she did Lilly, and didn’t know much about what his interests were. I suppose I can’t go wrong with a tie… she mused dubiously. 

Oh! Christmas dinner! She remembered seeing a Christmas movie where a special dinner figured prominently in the plot. I’m sure they’d like that. Happy with her decision, she sent off a reply to Lilly, telling her that they were welcome to spend as many days with them as they liked, and offering to make Christmas dinner for them all. 

She looked up at Rin, still painting away. I’ll have to tell her all this after she’s done painting. Telling Rin anything important while she was focused on her painting was usually an exercise in futility, since it went in one ear and out the other. Hanako had learned to wait to tell Rin anything that she wanted her to actually remember.

Hanako dropped the footrest of the recliner, stood up slowly, and groaned quietly as she stretched out her back. 

“Are you all right?” asked Rin 

“I’m fine, just a little stiff.” She rubbed her lower back for a moment, then rested a hand on her belly. “Ao-chan and Hajime-kun…have been kicking my k-kidneys for the last little while.”

A small frown creased Rin’s face for a moment, then she cocked her head. “Come here.”

Hanako walked over to where Rin sat in her chair, and Rin raised her arms in a gesture making a request for a hug. Hanako leaned into Rin’s embrace, her distended belly pressed to Rin’s face. “Be good to mama,” Rin admonished quietly, addressing the twins directly. Hanako smiled down at her lover, pleased that Rin had enough concern for her to interrupt her painting. She wrapped her arms around Rin in turn, hugging her gently. Rin relaxed into the embrace, pressing her ear to Hanako’s belly. She made a small happy humming noise as she leaned against Hanako.

“What are they saying?” asked Hanako. 

Rin shot her a quizzical look. “Nothing. They won’t speak for the first year or so.”

Hanako laughed. “Of course.”

“I’m not sure if the gurgling noises I’m hearing are them moving around, or your stomach.”

“P-probably my stomach,” Hanako admitted. The twins pressing up on her stomach meant that she didn’t have the capacity to eat very much at any one time, so of late she’d been eating lots of little snacks and munchies instead. And antacids. Lots and lots of antacids.

Still, it beats throwing up after every meal. The first trimester had been hell, and she’d sometimes wondered if she would actually survive to term. But thankfully the morning sickness had faded out by week nine. 

“I’m going to get a bite to eat. D-do you want to break for lunch?”

Rin leaned back away from Hanako and turned to her painting. She cocked her head, studying it for a long moment, before nodding and standing up. “Yes. I think I can leave it alone for a while. Behave yourself.” That last was apparently directed at the painting, Hanako realized. 

As Hanako pulled together a lunchtime repast for them she told Rin about Lilly’s message, and the upcoming visit. When she mentioned making Christmas dinner for them, Rin frowned. “Will you be able to do that much work?”

It took Hanako a moment to realize what Rin was asking about. “I d-don’t see why not. I’ve still got a few months to go. And starting in December I’ll be on m-maternity leave, so I’ll have plenty of time for shopping and prep.” Rin looked dubious, so Hanako added, “If it turns out that it’s all t-too tiring for me, we can alway order…Kentucky Fried Chicken.” The traditional Japanese Christmas dinner.

Rin nodded, apparently reassured by that contingency plan. 

Over the next few weeks, Hanako had fun planning out the menu for the upcoming Christmas dinner. After doing some exploration into what Lilly and her Scottish family might find traditional for such a meal, she settled on a menu of turkey with stuffing, roasted potatoes, glazed carrots, dinner rolls, cheese cauliflower casserole, and the delightfully named neeps and tatties. With figgy pudding for dessert. She hadn’t been sure if figgy pudding was a real thing or just something that appeared in Christmas carols, but it turned out to be a steamed fig cake.

At the beginning of December, Hanako began her maternity leave from her job. On the one hand, she felt like two months before her due date was early to start, but on the other, she was grateful for the extra opportunity for sleep and relaxation. As various friends kept reminding her, she’d be short on sleep soon enough. 

A week before Lilly and her family were due to arrive, she received another email from her.

Dear Hanako,

I hope you and Rin and the twins are doing well. We’re all looking forward to seeing you, and I can’t wait to feel what your belly is like by now—despite having gone through this twice myself, I have difficulty imagining you heavy with child. It’s so exciting!

If it’s not too much of an imposition, might we add my cousins Shizune and Hideaki to our guest list for Christmas dinner? We haven’t visited with them in a couple of years, and a holiday meal would be a lovely way to catch up with them. 

I can’t wait to hug you and catch up with you. Just seven more days!

Love,

Lilly

Hanako didn’t have to think too long about her reply—she had already planned the menu to include leftovers, and could easily add two more guests to the list without changing much of anything. She wrote back to Lilly to tell her so, and at dinner time passed on the news to Rin.

Rin frowned for a moment, then said, “That reminds me, I asked Emi if she and Hisao and Seita would join us for Christmas dinner.”

Hanako felt a small lurch in her stomach. “Really? W-what did she say?”

“As long as it was okay with you.”

“When was this?”

Rin looked thoughtful as she chewed on a bit of chicken. “Yesterday? Or the day before?”

Hanako sighed. “You n-need to tell me these things…sooner, dear.”

Rin nodded amiably. 

Hanako reviewed her menu plan in her mind, then decided to call Emi after dinner to talk it out. 

“Emi? It’s Hanako.”

“Heya, Hanako, how’re the twins doing?”

“F-fine, thanks. I was calling to t-talk with you about…Christmas dinner.”

“Oh, yeah, Rin mentioned that you were doing that this year.”

“I w-would love to have you here, b-but I wondered if I c-could ask you…to bring a dish?”

“Of course! Or even two.”

“I n-normally wouldn’t ask, b-but Shizune and Hideaki have also been added to the guest list, and I d-don’t know if I have the energy to cook too m-much more than I’d been planning.”

“Hey, we don’t have to come, I know Rin’s invite might have been out of the blue for you.”

“N-no, that’s fine, and I’m sure Lilly and…Shizune would love to catch up with you, too.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice. I haven’t seen them since the five year reunion.”

Hanako smiled. “You were pretty p-pregnant yourself, then.”

“Yeah. And now he’s a little terror, running around more than I do.”

“Th-that’s hard to imagine.”

Emi laughed. “He’s learned to skip since we saw you last. Much to the annoyance of our downstairs neighbors.”

“I look forward to seeing that.”

After she got off the phone she emailed Emi the recipe for neeps and tatties that she’d found, and happily crossed that item off of her list of things she had to prepare.

It was two days after that that Lilly sent her another email.

Dear Hanako,

Just a quick note, I suddenly realized that Akira will also be in Tokyo over Christmas too. If it’s not too much trouble, might she join us? On the bright side of things, she doesn’t eat much, so she shouldn’t add too much to the cooking burden. And I’m sure she’d be willing to supply the wine for the table.

I’m so sorry to spring this on you at this late date, please let me know if it’s too much of a burden.

See you in five days!

Love,

Lilly

Hanako sighed, and sent off another reply in the affirmative, despite a sense of foreboding that was beginning to build in her chest. Or maybe that’s just heartburn from the twins kicking my stomach. Again…

She looked around the small dining area of their flat. It’s going to be a tight fit, getting twelve of us in here. We’ll have to spill out into the living room. Fortunately, Rin had a couple of work tables in her studio that could be pressed into service as dining tables, as long as the paint stains were covered with table cloths. I’ll ask Emi and Hisao to bring a few folding chairs with them when they come.

Despite her nervousness about the size of the meal, far larger than any meal she’d ever cooked before, preparations went smoothly. She got the shopping done in good time, and the weather cooperated by being cool enough that she could store the excess groceries on the balcony when the refrigerator reached its capacity.

Rin dove into the dinner preparations with surprising enthusiasm. Hanako wasn’t sure if it was because she was looking forward to seeing old friends, or if she was just trying to take care of Hanako. Either way, she was grateful. Maneuvering around her belly in the kitchen was a challenge, but she managed it. The day before the party, before everyone was due to arrive, she felt a burst of energy and they managed to get everything prepped and ready for the next day in good order. She even managed to get through the day without a nap, which was unusual for her the past few weeks.

The morning of the party, Hanako donned the prettiest maternity dress she had and was bustling around the kitchen by nine o’clock, putting the turkey in the oven to roast. She’d been amazed at the size of the bird, by far the largest piece of meat she’d ever cooked. It had taken some hunting to find such a large turkey, but, as Hisao was fond of saying, you could find anything in Tokyo if you looked hard enough.

Emi and Hisao and little Seita arrived an hour before everyone else, by request, to help with the final details. Hanako relaxed a bit at having another helper around. Emi worked well with Rin; she probably understood and worked with Rin better than anyone other than Hanako herself. Emi looked incredibly festive in a red minidress with red and white striped stockings over her prostheses. Hanako complimented her on her holiday spirit. 

“Ah, just trying to fit in,” Emi said cheerily. “Where d’you want the neeps and tatties?”

Rin peered curiously at the casserole dish in Emi’s hands. “They look like mashed potatoes.” She sounded vaguely disappointed. 

“Well, they’re that, plus mashed rutabaga.”

"Oh." Rin's disappointment visibly deepened. "With a name like that, they should be something more interesting."

Rin directed Emi to the kitchen, while Hanako and Hisao set to work finalizing place settings on the tables. 

A little over an hour later, the doorbell rang, making Hanako’s heart leap with anticipation. She hurried to the door and opened it. “Lilly! Hello! And Jack, and K-kieran and Ian, welcome!” Lilly was in a lovely dark green dress and wearing a red brooch, looking very Christmassy. She wasn’t using her cane, instead holding onto Jack’s arm for guidance. Hanako reached out and took Lilly’s free hand, and Lilly responded by letting go of Jack and stepping forward to embrace Hanako. She didn’t get very far before bumping into the twins.

Lilly laughed, “Goodness! I knew intellectually that you were pregnant, but feeling it for myself is another thing altogether.” She gave Hanako an awkward A-frame hug, working around the baby bump, then she stepped back a step to place her hands on Hanako’s belly. “I’d heard that twins make for a larger belly, but I didn’t realize it was this much of a difference.”

“Er, may we come in too?” asked Jack from behind Lilly, sounding amused.

“Oh! S-sorry, of course,” Hanako said, stepping back out of the entryway and allowing Lilly, followed by her family, to fully enter the apartment. Ian gave Hanako a hug, which warmed her heart; Kieran hid shyly behind Lilly and looked up at Hanako with wide eyes, clutching his mother’s dress. 

Jack helped her hang up all the coats, then Lilly hugged her again, which Hanako happily reciprocated. When they pulled apart, Lilly rested her hands on Hanako’s belly again. “It’s hard to believe you’re having twins.”

“The evidence is…quite compelling,” Hanako laughed. “Overwhelming, even.”

“I knew multiple births were more common with IVF and artificial insemination, but I didn’t expect it to happen to two of my friends.”

“I’m j-just grateful it’s only…twins.”

“True. Poor Shiina and Cat seemed a bit overwhelmed, when last we spoke.”

“Tired, but…happy, I think. Three at once is…a lot of work, but also a l-lot to love.”

Lilly smiled. “That’s a lovely way to look at it.”

“I j-just hope I can be…so philosophical about it at…three a.m.,” Hanako said wryly. 

“Oh, I’m pretty sure you won’t be. Just be sure to wake up Rin before you hit your limit.” Lilly paused, a small frown crossing her face. “Ah…is she feeling prepared for all…this?” Lilly patted Hanako’s belly again.

“Oh, yes. She’s been p-practicing…changing diapers with a doll. She’s even resigned herself to occasionally w-wearing her prostheses, at least for the first few months. She says she w-wants…to be able to hold—ooof!” That last was due to the twins squirming around.

“Ah! I could feel them moving,” Lilly said. 

“They’ve been…extra restless today.” Hanako rubbed at the small of her back. 

“Eager to meet their mamas, I’m sure,” Lilly said with a smile.

“Come in, sit, say hello t-to Hisao and Emi,” Hanako urged, and she lead Lilly toward the living room. 

“Oh, they’re already here?”

“Yup, we’re here. Keita too,” Emi said, coming up to Lilly and putting a hand on her arm. Lilly responded by hugging her. “Keita and Ian look like they’re already checking each other out,” Emi told Lilly after they broke apart. Hanako looked across the room to see the two five-year-old boys eyeing each other dubiously, then Keita held out a toy truck he had brought with him. They started to talk, but Hanako was distracted from the boys by another kick from inside.

Lilly heard her little grunt, and frowned at her. “Would you like to sit down? I’m sure we can finish dinner preparations without you if you need to rest. It smells wonderful, by the way.”

“Thanks, and, n-no, I’m fine.” Hanako took a deep breath to try and relax. The timer on her phone in her pocket started beeping, and she said, “Excuse me, I need to ch-check the potatoes.”

She left Emi and Rin to find out peoples’ drink preferences while she went to the kitchen and checked the potatoes. They were turning a lovely golden brown, but they still felt a little undercooked when she poked one with a skewer. While she had the oven open she took the opportunity to baste the turkey, which was likewise browning nicely. 

The doorbell rang again, and she looked out of the kitchen to see Rin inviting Shizune and an unknown tall man inside. She didn’t bring a date, did she? Hanako had a moment of panic at the thought of adding another place setting to the already crowded tables. Then the man turned his face to the side, and she recognized Hideaki. She hadn’t seen him since high school, and the ten years had made an enormous difference. The awkward skinny androgynous boy had become a slim and handsome young man, who towered over his sister. 

Hideaki stepped further into the room, and Akira stepped into the entryway behind him. Hanako was surprised to see her in a red skirt and white top. Well, I guess a business suit is hardly appropriate attire for a Christmas party, she conceded to herself. Akira was carrying what looked to be a heavy canvas bag that clinked a bit as she approached the kitchen, and Hanako.

“Merry Christmas, Hanako!”

“M-merry Christmas to you, too, Akira.” Akira set down the bag and wrapped Hanako in an enthusiastic hug. 

“Wow, you are getting huge, girl.” Akira patted Hanako’s belly and grinned. “Glad you and Rin finally figured out how to make this work.”

Hanako nodded. “Us too.”

As if realizing that they were being talked about, Hajime-kun and Ao-chan chose that moment to do what felt like another little dance on her liver. She staggered slightly, and held on to the kitchen counter, breathing deeply until the pain passed. Akira placed a hand on her arm, looking concerned. “You okay, Hanako?”

Hanako took another deep breath, then straightened up. “I’m f-fine. They’re just…extra rowdy today. I think they want to join in the party.”

Akira laughed. “Well, if they do show up, we can all toast their arrival in style.” She opened the bag she’d brought, revealing a half-dozen bottles of wine and champagne. Probably fairly good bottles, if she knew Akira. 

“Thank you. If you want to chill any of those, j-just put them on the balcony.” She waved in the direction of the sliding glass doors that lead outside. It was about two degrees outside, perfect for cooling wine.

“Will do.” Akira pulled a of bottle of white wine and two bottles of champagne out of the bag and headed toward the balcony, stopping to say hello to her sister and brother-in-law and nephews along the way. 

Hanako turned her attention back to the meal, and Emi popped back into the kitchen to fill a pitcher with water. “How’s it going, Hanako?”

“G-good. I just checked the turkey and potatoes; I think everything will be ready in…half an hour or so.”

“Right on schedule.”

“I hope.” She had never cooked a bird as big as this turkey, and she hoped that the time estimates for cooking it were accurate. 

“I’ll come back in ten minutes to start re-heating the other veggies and the rolls.”

“Thanks.” Hanako tried not to feel overwhelmed by the quantity of food that they had to get out to the tables. It’s all under control. Emi and everyone else will pitch in as needed. 

She went back out into the living room and greeted Shizune and Hideaki. \[Welcome!\] she signed, one of few words of sign she knew, having looked it up for this occasion. 

Shizune smiled and signed back, and Hideaki said, “Onee-chan says, thank you for having us, and everyone else, too. It’s no small feat, especially when you’re so large with child.”

Hanako snorted. “Emphasis on ‘large,’ I think. B-but I’m happy to do it, glad to see everyone.” She sat down on the sofa with a small oof, and smiled up at Hisao as he handed her a glass of ice water. “Th-thank you, Hisao.”

“No problem. Gotta keep you hydrated. It’s hot in that kitchen.”

Hanako nodded in agreement. 

Hanako spent the next little while chatting with her guests, getting caught up with what everyone had been doing. Emi disappeared into the kitchen as she’d promised, to work on the vegetables, and Hanako tried to relax and let her. I don’t have to do everything. That’s why she and Hisao are here, and Rin. She felt a little guilty, but also, her feet hurt, and it was nice to sit down.

Alas, the timer in her pocket for the turkey went off shortly after that. She struggled to her feet and went back to the kitchen. She pulled out a meat thermometer and checked the turkey. Seventy-five degrees, perfect. She lifted the heavy bird out of the oven, then felt another twinge in her abdomen, followed by a gushing feeling of warmth on her thighs. She stood in a puddle the middle of the kitchen, holding the roasting tray with the turkey on it, a slightly panicked expression on her face. “Uh, Rin? I th-think my…water just broke.”

As Emi helped Rin call the birthing center, Akira said cheerfully, “Well, I hope the bubbly is chilled by now. Where do you keep your champagne flutes?”


So, here you go, Nary, sorry it's taken so long!

And, as ever always, thanks to Feurox for beta reading and helping me hash things out. And thanks for the info on Scottish cuisine, and the title.

Original Prompt: Years on, one of the cast is hosting a western-style Christmas meal for their old school friends. Things do not go to plan.


Scarred Muse Hanako and Rin.
Avenues of Communication: Shizune suffers an accident.
Home: Hanako & Hisao at University, sharing an apartment with their friend Lilly (on Ao3).
One-shots
Post Reply