So That's Where She Gets It Chiyo ended up staying at Sakaki's for the rest of the week. A suitcase had appeared on Wednesday while Sakaki had been at work, so Sakaki knew at least that someone who worked for the Mihama family was aware of Chiyo's location and condition. For the first two nights, Sakaki had barely touched Chiyo beyond occasionally stroking her hair. After the bandages had came off, though, Chiyo had instigated a deeper level of intimacy. They had kissed, they had cuddled for hours, but they had not made the final leap. "This weekend?" Chiyo's tone was hopeful. "Are you feeling well enough?" Sakaki sat beside her on the sofa. She surveyed the bruises, cuts, and scrapes that littered Chiyo's arms and face. They were healing nicely, but it still hurt just to look at them. "I am. But you've been kind of hesitant. I wonder, are you ready?" "Yes." Chiyo clasped both of her hands. "Are you sure?" Sakaki nodded. Chiyo grinned. "You're sure you're sure?" Sakaki nodded again. "When? Tonight?" Sakaki froze. After a moment she nodded. "You're not sure, are you?" "No, I'm sure." Chiyo leaned on Sakaki's shoulder. "Are you scared?" After a long pause, she nodded. "A little." "I promise not to hurt you." Sakaki had to ask the one thing she'd been avoiding since she'd learned that Chiyo had been dating in America. "Do you . . . have much experience?" Chiyo laughed. "None, actually. I've been waiting all these years just for you." "Really?" Chiyo brushed her lips across Sakaki's. "Really." "Are you scared, too?" "A little. But I want this." Sakaki ran her hands up and down Chiyo's back. "Right now?" "Mmm." Chiyo kissed her again, then she drew back and glanced sidelong across the room. "Well, maybe we should pet Maya for a few minutes first, so he doesn't get jealous and bite me again." Maya thumped his tail on the floor. Sakaki nodded. "I suppose we should." ----- Chiyo awoke sprawled on her back. Sakaki lay on her side, sharing the same pillow, with one arm and one leg draped over Chiyo. The cover had been pushed down to their waists, but the room temperature was comfortable. From the angle of the light from the windows, it was probably late morning, close to noon. Well, it didn't matter. It was a Saturday. Neither of them had anyplace else they needed to be. Besides, Chiyo's muscles ached, and she wanted to rest a little longer. She closed her eyes and savored the feel of touching skin and the sound of Sakaki breathing. She hoped she could experience this every morning. After some time, Sakaki moaned softly and her fingers twitched against Chiyo's arm. Chiyo looked at her face. She was still asleep, but her eyes darted around underneath their lids. Chiyo stroked her cheek. "After all that, I hope your dream is very good." Necessity forced her to get up. She carefully slid out from underneath the long limbs, then pulled up the cover around Sakaki's shoulders before going to the restroom. When she came back out, she scooped Sakaki's beige Chococat t-shirt off the floor and put it on. The sleeves hung well past her elbows, and the hem to mid-thigh. She went to the kitchen and set some coffee to brew. Maya sat beside his empty dish and thumped his tail loudly on the floor. Chiyo checked the cupboards until she found the cat food, then she gave him his breakfast. She also rinsed and refilled his water bowl. Deciding to wait on her own breakfast until Sakaki was awake, she returned to the main room and telephoned in to check her voice mail. She only had one message. Trepidation filled her heart when she discovered that it was from Kaorin. Her voice seemed meticulously neutral, which probably meant that she was angry. Chiyo recognized the phone number Kaorin gave for the call back, but she didn't think it was Kaorin's. Chiyo wondered if she should wait until she was home to call her back. But she hadn't really planned on going home this weekend. She looked at the phone cord, and determined that she could make it into the kitchen. If she spoke softly, maybe she wouldn't wake Sakaki. Crouched beside Maya, who ignored her in favor of his meal, she dialed. After the third ring, she heard Yomi's voice. "Hello?" Chiyo was surprised. No wonder the number had seemed familiar. "It's Chiyo. Kaorin-san left me a message." "Ah. Yeah. Right now, she's in the shower. I'm not sure what she plans to talk to you about. But I also wanted to tell you something. Kaorin and I have discussed a lot of things this week. I told her that I do not intend to stop or scale back my friendships with you or with Sakaki. She said she understood that." "Does that imply that you and she are . . ." "Yes. Officially, as of last night. And since she told me she saw you and Sakaki kissing last weekend, I presume the two of you are, officially, as well." Chiyo felt a rush of ice through her veins. "Ah, she . . . she saw that . . ." It had been obvious that Kaorin had figured out that something was going on, but Chiyo hadn't realized that she'd actually seen them. She glanced at her hand and realized she was shaking. Yomi's voice softened. "I didn't think you would have done it in front of her on purpose." Chiyo took a deep breath, unable to piece together a sentence in her mind. After a pause, Yomi cleared her throat. "Anyway, in other news, you know that incident I told you about? Back at the athletics festival in our last year of high school?" "Yes?" "She doesn't remember it. She remembers how cute you looked in the cheerleader costume, but she doesn't remember talking to me at all." Yomi's voice seemed strained. "I'm sorry." "Ah well, it doesn't really matter." Her tone brightened. "All that matters is the present. And at the present, I'm quite pleased with where she and I seem to be headed. Huh? Ah, wait a moment . . ." Chiyo heard muffled whispers, then Kaorin came on the line. "Chiyo-chan?" Panic closed Chiyo's throat. All she could manage was a squeaky, "Yes?" Her voice called to mind a scowl and clenched teeth, yet also seemed slightly dazed. "I suppose . . . in a way, I should thank you. Although it felt like my heart got cranked through an Italian cheese grater . . . seeing you and Sakaki-san together . . . probably nothing less than that could have shaken my . . . yeah, anyway. Whatever." She sighed. "I don't think I can stand to see Sakaki-san again. Not for a long time. And . . . I'm sorry, probably not you either. Certainly, I don't think I could stand to see you together. Maybe someday. But not now." "I understand. You're being more than reasonable. Thank you for telling me this." Kaorin took a sharp breath. After a brief silence, she chirped, "Anyway, I've got Yomi to cheer me up." In the background, Chiyo heard thumping, like someone was pounding on a door. Then she heard Yomi's slightly muffled grumble of, "Crap. She's back." Kaorin's voice sounded like she had turned away from the phone. "Well, at least we had almost seven hours alone." Yomi muttered something about killing someone. Kaorin's voice got loud again. "Goodbye, Chiyo-chan." "Goodbye." Chiyo hung up. She pulled her knees up to her chest, then rested her head on her folded arms. "Is everything all right?" Chiyo looked up at Sakaki. She wore a loosely tied bathrobe with a pattern of winged kittens, bright suns, puffy clouds, and rainbows. Chiyo found it impossible not to smile. She stood and stepped into Sakaki's embrace. Breathing deeply of Sakaki's scent, she relaxed. "Everything's perfect." ----- After spending most of the weekend nestled in a futon with Chiyo, going back to work on Monday was painful for Sakaki. Chiyo spent the days working on her mathematics research paper, either at Sakaki's apartment or at the library. And every day Sakaki came home that week, Chiyo had a new surprise planned. Monday night, they went to a tea house for a full, formal ceremony. Tuesday, a classical music concert. Wednesday, an exhibit of Hello Kitty through the decades. Thursday, the world's largest Necoconeco, and then dinner at the cafe inside of it. Friday, Sakaki picked up the mail on her way up to her apartment. Her mother had sent a rather thick envelope. She knew what that meant. She considered throwing it in the trash and, if her mother asked about it later, claiming it had never been delivered. When she opened the door to her apartment, a marvelous baking aroma greeted her. Chiyo stood at the counter, artfully arranging sliced strawberries on a white frosted cake. She looked up into Sakaki's eyes and grinned. Sakaki crammed the mail deep into her pocket, then stepped out of her shoes. Chiyo held up the last strawberry near Sakaki's face. "I hope you don't mind having sushi again, even though we had it last week." Sakaki shook her head, then ate the berry from Chiyo's fingers. Chiyo winked. "That's good, because I picked it up on my way back from the library today. And I got tuna sashimi for Maya, of course." Sakaki slipped her arms around Chiyo's shoulders. Resting her chin on the top of Chiyo's head, she stroked the tiny woman's back. Chiyo laughed softly. "Purr, purr, purr." She nuzzled Sakaki's breasts. Sakaki felt her face grow warm. Chiyo looked up, her cheeks reddening. "It's so easy to make you blush, Sakaki-san. It's cute." "You're blushing, too." Sakaki kissed her. "Ah, about the -san . . ." "You want me to drop it?" "I would appreciate it." "Okay." She paused. "I love you, Sakaki-s-- Sakaki." They both chuckled. "It's difficult to change a habit that old." Sakaki stroked her long fingers along Chiyo's cheek. "I love you, too, Chiyo." Chiyo sighed, then snuggled closer. "It's going to be awfully hard to go home tonight." "Do you have to?" "Unfortunately, yes. I'll need to stop by the house first to drop my things off, and then I'll have to go meet my parents at the airport." Sakaki had forgotten about that. Of course, as much as she wanted her to, Chiyo couldn't stay with her forever. "They want to spend the day with me tomorrow, so I won't be able to see you." "Ah." Sakaki felt a heaviness settle onto her heart. Chiyo interlaced her fingers behind Sakaki's neck and pulled her down for a long kiss. "Don't look so sad. Anyway, we've got three hours before I have to leave, so let's be cheerful." "Okay." "Shall we have dinner now?" Sakaki nodded. Chiyo called, "Maya! I have tuna sashimi for you! Tuna!" He ran into the room, meowing eagerly. "Tuna!" He rubbed up against her legs, then Sakaki's, and then went back and forth between them. Chiyo grinned. "He definitely knows that word." Sakaki nodded, then put her arms around Chiyo and held her close again. ----- After Chiyo had gone, Sakaki opened the envelope from her mother. As expected, it was another arranged date. She hadn't been entirely truthful when she'd told Chiyo that she'd never been on a date before. She had gone to the first three of these her mother had set up. After that, she'd started refusing them without even reading the enclosed information. Sakaki hadn't mentioned this because it would not have answered Chiyo's question about what kind of person Sakaki liked. It would only have shown what kind of person Sakaki's mother liked. A realization crept through her like cold tendrils wrapping around her internal organs. Chiyo was the only child of a rich family. Of course they wouldn't tolerate their daughter spending the rest of her life with another woman. Chiyo would be expected to marry advantageously. For all she knew, the reason they needed to see Chiyo on Saturday could be that they had an arranged date lined up for her. After all, most people going to another country would have stayed the full two weeks. Why cut it short and come home at the beginning of the weekend? There had to be a reason for it. And the more Sakaki thought about it, the more she worried. Sakaki looked at her clenched fists, resting on the desk, and realized that she was trembling. She slid off the chair and stretched out on the tatami. Holding out one hand, she softly called, "Maya." He padded over and rubbed against her face. She held him and cried into his fur. ----- Osaka and Masaaki had just begun their rather late dinner at Osaka's apartment when a knock came at the door. Osaka responded and discovered Tomo, standing with slumped shoulders, slack jaw, and blank gaze. She appeared to be in shock. "Tomo-chan, what's wrong?" Without moving anything but her mouth, Tomo whimpered, "Kaorin made the scary face at me." "Scary face?" ". . . huge fangs . . . fire coming out of her eyes . . ." Masaaki came up behind Osaka. "Are you perhaps exaggerating, Takino-san?" "I thought I was going to die." Suddenly she blinked, looking much more herself. Grinning, she threw her arm around Osaka's shoulders. "Anyway, since I can't go hang out at Yomi's place for a while, I'm going to hang out with you now." Osaka smiled pleasantly. "Okay." She went to set another place at the table. Masaaki adjusted his glasses. "O-okay?!" His eyebrow twitched. ----- Saturday, Kaorin announced that she felt like cooking, so Yomi headed over to her place for lunch. Kaorin made okonomiyaki, and Yomi declared it to be the best she'd ever tasted. Kaorin blushed and bowed as she thanked her. When she looked up, Yomi recognized The Look. And she knew she couldn't have just imagined it before. On her hands and knees, she crawled around the table. She knelt behind Kaorin. Wrapping one arm around Kaorin's shoulders and the other around her waist, she pulled her back and kissed her on the side of her neck. "What did you have in mind for the rest of the day?" Kaorin sighed, snuggling against her. "Well, this is a promising start." ----- Chiyo had not called at all on Saturday, which only worsened Sakaki's fears. Sunday morning when she called, they decided to have lunch together, but Chiyo was painfully vague about making plans after that. And the "I have something to ask you about" seemed rather ominous, as well. Sakaki took Maya to the park up the street, so he could play in the grass. She sat under a tree and watched him. Normally, this was the most soothing thing she could think of, but she still felt nervous and slightly nauseous. She waited until it was almost time, then she and Maya went home. Sakaki sat at her desk, staring at the woodgrain, listening to her heart pound. Chiyo arrived, dressed in an unusually somber skirt and blouse. But she smiled brightly and said, not the normal greeting of a guest, but rather, "I'm home." Sakaki hesitated. Moisture brimmed on her lashes as she folded Chiyo into her embrace. "Welcome home." "Sakaki? What's wrong?" Sakaki shook her head, unable to speak at the moment. Chiyo opened her bag and pulled out two cans. "Look! Kagura-san's on juice now, too!" The tension broke inside Sakaki, and she even laughed. She took the mango peach, leaving Chiyo with the strawberry, and looked at the -- admittedly, kind of sexy -- image of Kagura lounging on the beach. They sat on the sofa together. Chiyo put her hand on Sakaki's knee. "You still look upset. Was I too presumptuous, saying, 'I'm home,' like that? I apologize." "No. I liked that." Chiyo scooted a little closer. "Then, what is it?" "I've been wondering about your parents." Chiyo nodded. "That's what I needed to talk to you about." Sakaki's heart stopped for a moment. "Was it an arranged date?" "Huh?" Chiyo blinked. "When?" "Yesterday?" Chiyo laughed. "No, no. You don't have to worry about that. My mother told me a long time ago that she would never make arrangements for me." "Really?" "After her experience, she's convinced it's a bad system." "Her experience . . . do you mean your father?" Sakaki frowned. Chiyo shook her head. "Oh no. That's just it, you see? My mother went on more than thirty arranged dates, and hated all of them. And then one day she met my father by chance in a bookstore, and they fell in love immediately." She laughed. "I'm told that my mother's parents were horrified when they saw him. Of course, as soon as they found out he was wealthy, they changed their minds." Sakaki stared blankly for a moment. Chiyo's parents had married for love. That might make them more sympathetic. She hoped so, anyway. On the other hand --'horrified'? What could be so bad about Chiyo's father? "Then what did you want to tell me?" "They want to meet you." "Is that bad?" Chiyo shook her head. "But it does make me nervous." "Why?" "Well, my parents are a little unusual." She cleared her throat. "Okay, my father's a lot unusual. My mother's pretty normal. Except perhaps for her height." Sakaki nodded. Chiyo's shortness had to come from somewhere, after all. Then a realization hit. "Wait . . . they want to meet me?" "Yes." "They know about me? Us?" Chiyo nodded. "They gave me a lot of freedom when I was growing up. I got to do a lot of things alone, and I had to figure a lot of things out for myself. And this was good. It was how I learned." Distractedly, she reached up to pet Maya, who perched between them on the back of the couch. "In exchange for all that liberty, I had to tell them absolutely everything. Sometimes they'd offer advice, if they thought I was heading into trouble. But mostly they just listened, told me I was doing well, and asked me to continue telling them everything. So they started hearing about you on the first day of high school." Blushing, she looked down. "They know I've spent the last two weeks here, too." Sakaki's mouth went dry. Chiyo stood. "Anyway, did you have any plans for the rest of today?" Sakaki shook her head. "Then please dress up. Maybe a little bit formal." Chiyo took a deep breath. "We'll go someplace nice for lunch, and after that, we'll go meet them." Sakaki stood and headed for her closet. She felt Chiyo's fingers brush the small of her back, so she stopped and turned around. Chiyo rested her hands on Sakaki's hips and pressed close. "One more thing." She reached up, and Sakaki crouched for a kiss. Then Chiyo whispered in her ear. "Don't worry. I'm sure they'll like you." ----- Sakaki's heart pounded as she stared at the doors of the Mihama home. She took a deep breath and tried to appear calm, collected, and above all, respectable. Feeling Chiyo's fingers close around hers, she looked down. Chiyo smiled, looking rather nervous herself, then she let go of Sakaki's hand and opened the door. Sakaki followed her into the entryway. Her eyes widened at the sight of a woman no less tall than herself, wearing the most formal of kimonos and with her hair done in a traditional married woman's style. Her narrow eyes seemed cold. Chiyo spoke formally, "Mother, this is Sakaki-san." Sakaki bowed deeply, trying not to shake. "How do you do? I'm Sakaki. I am pleased to meet you." Chiyo's mother bowed her head slightly. "How do you do? Please come inside." Sakaki and Chiyo removed their shoes and stepped up out of the entryway. Now standing on the same level, Sakaki realized that Chiyo's mother was actually a couple of centimeters taller than her. How had Chiyo ended up so tiny? A male voice called loudly, "Welcome, my prospective daughter-in-law." Sakaki looked up to the top of the stairs and saw . . . the orange cat! "A!" On two legs, he walked down the stairs. Sakaki was paralyzed. Unable even to close her mouth, all she could do was stare. The cat stopped in front of her. He was a bit larger than in her dreams, but the tips of his long ears didn't go past her shoulders. He waved and said, in English, "Hello." Sakaki recovered enough to bow and repeat her introduction. She felt dizzy. How was this possible? When she looked up again, she noticed that Chiyo's mother stood with one hand clamped over her mouth and the other over her stomach, shaking. The cat looked at his wife, then back at Sakaki. Then he put his paws on the sides of his head and pushed up. The mask popped off to reveal a round, bald, and very human face. "Just kidding." Sakaki wasn't sure whether she felt relieved or even more shocked. Chiyo's mother lowered her hands and giggled openly. Chiyo slipped her arm around Sakaki's waist and squeezed. "I told you they'd like you."
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