Remember guys, when the dialogue picks up, Yomi is Yomi, Koyomi is her mother. Further Down the Spiral Within minutes, they found themselves back at the for in the path. Though it had taken Tomo Takino and Yomi Mizuhara a great amount of time to walk from this point to the house of Tomo, as they had done about an hour earlier, the journey back was much more appropriate, time wise, for now, a small ray of hope shined inside of the girls. All in a single day, they had made a decision that was supposed to have made their lives easier. Shortly thereafter, they were shunned by their closest friends, shell-shocked at how their revelation has been received, not with arms wide open, but with prejudice and denial. Even as they walked to come out to their parents, fearing the worst if word got to them by any means other than Tomo and Yomi telling them themselves, both girls felt for sure that the response from both sides would be none the better. But then, for the first time in this tale, there was hope. Mr. Takino, Tomo's father, had listened to their story, and in the end, it made no difference to him that his daughter was a lesbian, and after sharing his own news with Tomo and Yomi about being stationed in America for the next two years, he had told the girls something that had added on to the already existing joy of acceptance. Now, with the promise of a place that the two could call home, there was but one last thing to be one, one last variable to be determined in their equation. Not unknown to the girls, but unfortunate none the less, was the fact that all signs pointed to a bleak conclusion for this particular variable. Because this last variable was Koyomi Mizuhara Senior. Yomi's mother, whom she was named after. Yomi Sr. had graduate Tokyo university, leaving with a four year degree in Theology, and was a proud and active believer in the Christianity religion. Though she was Japanese, Yomi Sr. had been born in America, and after spending a summer there with her great grandparents when she was about seven years old, had picked up on the American Religion of Christianity. From that point on, Yomi. Sr. dropped her family beliefs on Shinto, their Japanese religion, and began to study Christianity. Even though it wasn't big in Japan, the Theology field was general enough for Yomi Sr. to be able to get her degree and still hold on to her beliefs. At the end of the day, Yomi Sr. was the kind of person who probably knew the 'Word of God' BETTER than she knew the back of her own hand. Everyone has a hobby, some carry it farther and call it a passion, something that goes beyond everything else they do. If one were to ask Yomi Sr. what her passion was, the answer would be 'The Study of Christianity' every time. She did not reword that, nor did she mythically paraphrase it. Those four words were exactly what she would say every time, for it was all that she felt needed to be said. She did not work, at least not in the sense of a Nine to Five kind of job, like her husband did. Though there would be times when Tokyo U's theology department, as well as other religion schools around the area, would call her up to come up for some daily assistance, which usually brought in a fair sum of money whenever she was called on. Between that and her husbands business workings, the Mizuhara family lived well, financially. Yomi knew that her mom would go absolutely crazy, in the worst possible way, when she learned that her daughter was homosexual. It went against what she believed in, that romantic relationships be between anybody but a man and a woman, and Yomi Sr. stood by what she believed in, like an old dog would stand by his master. But at this point in time, as the two girls turned and began to walk down the right side of the fork, following its path, they made the mistake of trying to believe. They had, more or less, been shunned by Kagura, Sakaki, Osaka, Kaorin, and Chiyo-chan, (who had probably been told what the problem was by now). But those five, they were children. By the logic of Tomo and Yomi, the mind of an adult was more mature, and therefore more open to possibility and difference. The conclusion was drawn from the fact that Mr. Takino had so easily been able to comprehend and accept this newfound love, as far as the two were concerned. Yomi's mother was a college graduate of four years, and looking to go back for four more for a PHD, and a woman who usually held all the answers to her daughters questions. Surely then, even an active theologist such as Koyomi Sr. could understand and welcome this decision, if anything, just to support Yomi, one who she should love regardless. That was the desirable ending. Normal pace and all, to took the girls all of about five minutes to walk the distance from the fork in the path to where they stood now. It may have been a single story house, and not exactly a great looking one on the outside, but Koyomi Mizuhara Sr. had definitely made the most of it. If one looked past size and exterior, the house was absolutely beautiful, as Yomi Sr. had spared no expense to interior design. On the inside, Yomi's heart had began to feel heavier and heavier with each step that took her closer and closer to her home. Though she did not let it show, which would have ruined this wonderful hope that Tomo was now experiencing, Yomi knew. Her initial hope had faded, and she had fallen back to reality. She feared this meeting, for she knew exactly what the outcome was going to be, and knew that even divine intervention wouldn't change it. Then, upon finally seeing her house, Yomi's heart had hit rock bottom. She'd tried to prepare herself, but at the sigh of her mother, it had all fallen apart on the inside for Yomi. Once again, she knew that the next events about to happen were truly etched in stone, and there would be no changing them. The mere sight of her mother confirmed it. In Yomi's mind, the variable was solved, and the equation was about to turn out bad. Koyomi stood before them. With the exception of height, Yomi's mother was just about a fun-hose mirror image of Yomi herself. Where Yomi had long, brown hair, her mothers was short and rose-blonde. Jr. had glasses, Sr. had perfect twenty-twenty vision, and not to say that Yomi was fat, or that her mother was undeveloped, both by comparison, but when it came down to body figure, Yomi was larger in every way. Though in irony, Koyomi was a great cook and loved to eat. A doctor however had once told Koyomi that her metabolism was abnormally fast, answering the question of why she never put on any pounds. Sometimes, daughter and mother would joke about each others weight in this sense. Though right now, that was the absolute last thing on Yomi's mind. And now, Yomi and Tomo's decision was the cherry on top of it all, the thing that would seal Yomi and her mother as true bi-polar opposites, so to speak. Yomi could now do nothing but hope for the best of the worst. Koyomi had been outside watering her flower garden, when the sound of approaching footsteps on the stone path leading up to her house entered her ears. As she turned, she met the two girls with a look of curiosity. "Oh, Yomi, Tomo." She gave daughter and her daughters best friend, as far as she knew, a serene smile to go alone with the look of curiosity. The fact of the matter was that Koyomi was a very nice person, and part of the emotional pain for Yomi was the fact that she was about to tell her mother something that would break her heart. But this was something that had to be done. "Is the ball game already over?" Koyomi asked, but already suspected something. She knew that the time the girls had been gone would barely had been enough to get to the ballpark and back. "Well...we...uhmm...that is to say..." Yomi was visibly struggling. Oh, how hard this was for her. Tomo observed both that fact, and the fact of Koyomi's growing concern. Quickly, she took charge of the situation before Koyomi could jump to her own conclusions, which could only make this more difficult. "It's a bit of a story, ma'am." Tomo tried to illustrate the point, while at the same time, be brief as possible. "We should probably go inside. Plus, Mr. Mizuhara may want to hear this too. May we?" With an arched brow, Koyomi nodded and opened the door, ushering the two girls into the house and following them in, quickly shutting the door behind her. Her suspicion was rising faster than would do the girls any good. For you see, Tomo had already made a mistake of being out of her own character. Who was this girl that looked like Tomo? Calm, formal, polite? This was not the girl Koyomi's daughter had grown up alongside, and the observant Senior Mizuhara had picked up on that. At the sam time, though, Koyomi hadn't the slightest idea of what to make of the situation. In a sense, that worked to the girls immediate advantage. The first sound the girls heard upon entering the house was the sound of the TV. The door leading to the exit of the house brought them into the living room, where a High Definition Television was placed, surrounded by three sofas, a coffee table, and various pictures hung up around the room. Sitting on the center sofa, leaned back and relaxed, sat Mr. Mizuhara, Yomi's father, channel surfing attempting to find something to watch. His curiosity rose also when he saw Tomo and Yomi enter the room. "Well, hey girls." Mr. Mizuhara said, his voice more curious than welcoming. "Who won?" Yomi's dad never doubted what his daughter did. If she said she was going to a baseball game with her friends, then when she came home, her father assumed that she'd been to a baseball game. He trusted her, and Yomi loved him to death for it. She prayed that his love could continue through this. "No-" Tomo was about to say, but Koyomi didn't give her the chance. "Tomo said there was something that we needed to hear, darling." Koyomi always made sure the story she heard was the one that he heard, nothing fabricated. She looked at the two girls. "Have a seat and do tell, honey." She took her own seat beside her husband, while Yomi and Tomo sat on the couch to their left. For a moment there was nothing. Then Tomo decided to start. "We didn't end up going with the girls to the game." She started with calmness that both parents saw as unnatural. "We told our friends about this, we told my dad about this. You're the last two that need to know. So now you get to know." "Go on." Koyomi said simply. Mr. Mizuhara also nodded, as to agree. Tomo sighed heavily, as if preparing herself. "We're-" Again, she was cut off, this time by a vice grip like hug from Yomi, who had small tears in her eyes. "We're in love!" Yomi proclaimed loudly, as she held on to Tomo, her eyes shut tightly. "We're in love. I thought she was just a friend when we first met, but over time, I've realized I care for Tomo, deeply. She feels the same way." This statement was met with a nervous nod by Tomo, who did her best to free an arm and place it around Yomi, who wasn't quite done. "It may go against everything you go for, but I can't help it. This is the way it has become for us, and now you know." There was a long, long silence. Mr. Mizuhara looked thoughtful, but Koyomi was completely shocked, at a loss for words. In the dead silence, Yomi opened her eyes. Had it gone okay? Had it? Any reason for either girl to think that it had gone okay slowly melted away, as the expression on Koyomi's face slowly changed from emotionlessness, to rage. "You..." Koyomi stammered with the words, bu there was no denying that the words she found would not be pretty. "You're no daughter of mine!" Her tone quickly changed, and even Mr. Mizuhara jumped at the sudden rise in volume. "I'll have no daughter that's a dyke! I'll condemn no daughter of mine to hell for such things!"Tears were now in Yomi's eyes, and Tomo was doing her best to comfort her, though she herself was slowly breaking out into tears too. Koyomi continued her rampage. "Anything from you room that you want, pack it. I want you out! I don't care where you go, but I want you out! Honey, come get me when that little...ugh is gone!" Koyomi immediately turned and walked away, heading out the back door. Mr. Mizuhara was shell-shocked. He looked to his wife, his daughter, his wife, his daughter again, before finally giving up. He took one last look at Tomo and Yomi, and with true sincerity, he spoke. "I'm sorry, girls." With that he turned and ran after his wife, though he knew that he had no power to change her mind. Yomi and Tomo knew that her dad meant what he had said. Unfortunately, he was in the kind of relationship with Koyomi that gave him little decision power. His wife was just hard headed, and had it been up to him, the girls knew this probably would have been a lot better. Tears running down their faces, they helped each other up, and slowly up to Yomi's room to pack. Tomo cried because her highest hopes had come crashing down, while Yomi cried because, while she knew this was the outcome, she had not planned on her mother completely disowning her so quickly. It was a heartbreaker that some people in this world couldn't look past what was skin deep, so to say. Either way, it had all fallen back down, and now, Tomo Takino and Yomi Mizuhara, had fallen further down the spiral. Authors Note: I tried to do my best to explain a few things, like why Koyomi was a Christian as opposed to a believer in Shinto, stuff like that. Overall, I like how the story is going. I know it seems a little out there that people would jump to such conclusions, but I know from experience that there are people in real life that can be so easily affected by one thing.
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