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All Right! Fine! I’ll Take You! – Yui’s Lily Garden – Chapter 5
🕑 Added 2022-06-04 18:00:07 +0000 UTC“Yui, I’m ho—home?” Mama asks, keys still in her hands, the door to our apartment open behind her, her long, pink skirt slowly settling down after her last step.
And she just stands there, staring at Yukinon and me kneeling on the wooden floor between the entrance and the side of our pastel green sofa, rolling Sable to one another, the silly dog thoroughly enjoying all the attention even if we’re basically using him as a substitute for a ball.
Not that he has the patience to spare us when Mama makes an appearance. Mid roll, Sable straightens out and jumps on his feet to take a running start for his projectile leap, only for Mama, keys nowhere to be seen, to catch him in the air in a way that I hope to learn someday (it’s slightly mortifying that my own dog keeps using my belly for target practice).
“Well, at least you two had a chaperone,” she comments as she smiles down at a dog who’s wagging his feathery tail so hard his whole body sways from side to side as Mama holds him from beneath his front legs and lets him hang before leaning in to allow him a quick lick to the nose.
Sable, womanizer that he is, takes the chance for all it’s worth.
… I think Hachi is about the only other male he tolerates. This would be all kinds of worrying if I didn’t have a girlfriend.
A girlfriend who remains frozen in her proper and prim seiza after Mama teased us with that ‘chaperone’ comment, which makes me suspect chaperones are a thing in the Yukinoshita household.
Damn it…
“Hi, Mama. Can Yukino stay over?” I decide to push through the whole thing and ignore any issues that will definitely not come back to haunt me. Obviously. Mostly because the line’s already too long, and they’ll get bored before it’s their turn.
Mama, still getting her nose licked by a very enthusiastic Sable who should’ve gotten his fill of feminine attention after Yukinon and I spent the better part of an hour spoiling, tilts her head. Which just lets Sable change his angle of attack, and so he tries to lick the inside of her nose, making Mama splutter and quickly set him on the floor with an admonishing glare that Sable happily ignores.
So, after she stands back up and pretends to look like a regular adult, she looks at us and tries to tilt her head in precisely the same way, but to much lesser effect.
“When have I ever told Yukinon she couldn’t stay?” she finally answers.
“But… she wasn’t… you know…” I try to explain.
Yukinon, collaborative as she usually is, frezees a bit more on the spot. I don’t know how she does it, but she does.
And no, it’s not because she’s an ice maiden. I’m… pretty sure about that.
Because of the scientific method. Nobody told me experimenting could be fun.
“She wasn’t…?” Mama trails off, affecting a confusion I definitely know she doesn’t feel.
So I glare at her until she cracks, and her grin widens.
“… My girlfriend,” I grumpily tell her, trying to hide the silly grin in my own face and likely failing, going from the tightness in my cheeks and the bubbling burning on my cheeks.
And then Mama squees in a way that makes Sable dive beneath the sofa (he’s always been the smartest of us), then she remembers to close the door behind her before doing a pretty good Sable impression herself as she lunges for me and hugs me, rubs my head in a way that’s just short of a noogie, and keeps kissing my cheeks and forehead.
“I’m so happy for you!”
“Ma—Mama! You’re embarrassing me!”
“Of course I am! You just brought your first girlfriend home: it’s my solemn duty!”
“You’re such a bully…”
Mama goes to answer something likely outrageous (like, I don’t know, it’s not bullying if I enjoy it) before she throws a quick glance to the side and, faster than she should at her age (yes, I am feeling petty) she grabs Yukinon’s ribbon and drags her into the hug.
“Wha—?!” my always composed and eloquent girlfriend blurts out.
“You too! If you’re going to be my daughter-in-law, you join the cuddles!”
“I—homosexual marriage is not legal in Japan!” she frantically protests. Even if she’s not doing anything to get out of the hug.
On the one hand, Mama gives the best hugs. On the other…
I stare at Mama’s cheat items, then at my own, then at Yukinon’s blushing face, and then I decide to glare at my blissfully unaware girlfriend.
“If that’s the only thing stopping you, I’m sure you’ll have it handled by the time you’re of age,” Mama tells her before tenderly kissing the top of her head and making Yukinon sway in place before leaning into the hug and the two of us.
…
I’m starting to get mad.
“Mama…”
“Yui! I need to get dinner ready! Come help out and tell me all about Yukinon’s tastes; this calls for a feast!”
…
What are Yukinon’s tastes? Other than creepy panda plushies, I mean.
And glaring, broody boys.
And, going by her blushing, disheveled, stammering self? Older women with plenty of cheating power.
…
Yeah, I’m definitely getting mad.
So, as Mama stands up and heads to the open kitchen just beyond the white dining table, I follow her with a mild harrumph that only gets me a confused blink from my clearly not quite attentive girlfriend.
Darn it.
And now Sable is butting his head against her hand, demanding his share of attention after Mama’s screeching has abated enough for him to come out from beneath the sofa. Because, obviously, my whole family is set on courting my girlfriend.
Get your own!
… Not you, Sable. We can’t afford the childcare.
Even if the litters of puppies would be absolutely—aaaahhh! Not thinking about that! Not thinking about cute babies, no matter the species!
I blame Mama…
Who’s holding out a pink apron to me, so I take it and put it on, wondering what does she actually want, because my help in the kitchen is definitely not it.
As Mister Chuuni would say: know your enemy, and know yourself, and you shall… know a lot of people? Which is obviously a good thing? I mean—ah! Right: be undefeated in a hundred battles!
…
That’s silly. I know Hikky and Yukinon plenty well, and I’m not about to bet on me winning against them. At least not in a battle of wits—wait, is that what this means? That I should choose challenges that favor me and not my rivals? Like, I don’t know, maybe rather than trying to outsnark Yukinon, I can just drag her into a kiss so she’s so flustered that she can’t resist me as my hands trace up her delicate frame, brushing her hair aside—
“Are you going to just stand there for much longer?” Mama asks as I creepily laugh while poking my fingers together.
…
Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!
“Yui… Don’t flail around in the kitchen. It’s dangerous.”
“You are dangerous!”
Mama arches an eyebrow and leans back against the fridge, her orange apron creasing when she folds her arms over her chest.
“… What?” I mutter, not surly looking at the mottled tiles on the floor. Really, this is me being mature.
Oh gods, this isme being mature…
“Yukino never thought about a same-sex relationship before, right?” Mama asks.
“I…” I glare at the corner of a tile that I broke years ago when I dropped a pot. We never fixed it, because it wasn’t a big deal and didn’t want to bother with possibly changing the whole floor, but… It always bothers me.
That when I tried to help Mama, I only made things worse.
“Yui?”
“Mama… I… I don’t know how much I can say, but… but Yukinon’s mom didn’t… teach her that well.”
Mama’s eyebrow raises yet again.
“About…” I take a deep breath and look up from the broken tile. I want to help. And I don’t want to mess things up. “About herself. She thought that… that things were… dirty…”
Mama blinks into my (hopefully) determined eyes, and then she pulls me into a hug.
“It’ll be all right, Yui,” she tells me as she pats down my hair. “What do you want me to do?”
…
“To come up with the right way to go about things so I don’t make a mess out of it?” I ask her.
And she chuckles.
“You’re a young woman now. You can’t keep running back to me so I clean up your messes.”
“But that’s what you’re for…” I mumble, the side of my face lying on top of her chest as her fingers keep soothingly petting my hair much like I usually pet Sable.
A quick look over the counter lets me know that Sable is, predictably, luring my girlfriend into giving him plenty of belly rubs and that it looks like Mama and I are in no danger of being interrupted.
Dogs have it so easy…
“I am not. I am here so you can become a wonderful girl who will know what to do each and every time.”
“... You’re doing a terrible job.”
She laughs, surprised, and then she messes my hair until I pull away and try to put it back in place.
“And you’ve spent too much time with your clubmates,” she says, her eyes cheerful as I finally give up and untie my bun.
“I mean… I’m going to spend a lot more time with one of them…” I say as I fiddle with my scrunchie.
“Yup. So let’s make sure your girlfriend doesn’t leave you just because your mother is a terrible host. Come on, start peeling the carrots,” she says as she steps away from the fridge and naturally handles me about the only chore I won’t be messing up.
As expected of Mama.
***
“I… I don’t think you should’ve bothered,” Yukinon says when she steps into the kitchen and sees us in full swing.
“It’s no bother at all, dear. Are you tired of spoiling Sable rotten?” Mama answers, stirring the pot of meat and potatoes.
“I… I don’t think Sable’s about to let me get tired.”
“Yes, I think that’s a family trait,” Mama answers with far too much cheer as both Yukinon and I blush to the tips of our ears.
“Mama!” I protest.
“Yui!” she brightly replies, looking up from the boiling pot.
“You know what you’re doing…” I grumble.
“Of course I do: I am an adult. We always know what we’re doing.”
Yukinon and I exchange a single glance, likely thinking about the same chain-smoking, scatter-brained, cradle-robbing teacher, and our shoulders slump.
“I don’t think that’s how that works…” I finally say with a prolonged, mournful sigh.
“Congratulations. You now know more about adults than most adults.”
Yukinon is rubbing the bridge of her nose. Darn, that means I can’t do it or she’ll think I’m mocking her.
“Right. So… What were we talking about?” I ask.
“I was saying that you’re very unlikely to let your girlfriend get tired of spoiling you.”
…
“You’re not supposed to explain that!” I exclaim, hitting the edge of the cutting board and almost throwing all the chopped carrots to the floor.
“Why are you explaining that?!” Yukinon asks, losing her (heh) cool.
“Because I didn’t raise a prude, and I’m quite certain you’ll grow to appreciate that fact?” Mama asks Yukinon, sounding almost confused.
I set the board aside and lean my arms on the cool, pink granite of the kitchen counter before burying my head in them.
“Mama… you’re the worst…”
“You always say that I’m the best, Yui. Don’t go throwing your family away just because you now have a pretty girlfriend.”
“The. Worst.”
“Go rinse the lettuce, Yui.”
“Yes, Mama.”
With a terribly tired groan, I get up from the (cool, comforting, safe) counter and turn to get the lettuce out of the fridge and—
Why is Yukinon staring at us like this?
“Hi?” I ask my weirdly staring girlfriend.
“Ah!” she gets startled and… And…
Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry.
“Mama, give me a minute.”
She looks at me, then and Yukinon, and, thankfully, she’s still Mama, so she understands without me saying too much.
“Of course. Maybe go walk Sable?”
“Right. Thank you. We’ll be back in—”
“Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you.”
I take off my apron and go to the coatrack beside the apartment’s door to get Sable’s red leather leash, something that makes him dart out of his hiding place beneath the kitchen counter (when it comes to dropped food, he’s a ninja), and he excitedly wags his tail as I clip it on his green collar.
And then I turn to look at my lost girlfriend, take her coat, and hand it to her.
… I won’t think about the parallelisms, and I definitely won’t think about Yukinon wearing a collar, a leash, and maybe a pawprint black and white bikini.
…
Damn it.
Thankfully, Yukinon’s almost trembling hand is enough to shake me out of the whole thing, and I can keep a composed and possibly not even creepy face in front of my traumatized girlfriend.
The ride down the elevator is silent, and Sable keeps looking up at us until his wagging tail slows down. He’s always been too perceptive; I guess it comes from growing up with two emotional women who regularly use him as a teddy bear.
He’s also soothingly warm when I get cramps, but let’s not think about that too much.
When we finally step out, Sable slowly walks to the nearest tree, not pulling on his leash and giving me time to grasp Yukinon’s hand.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her.
“For what?” she answers, confusion apparent in her eyes as I tug on her hand while Sable sniffs out his competition.
“I… I think Mama and I may be too much, but… But I didn’t think about…”
Yukinon, once again, blinks at me.
“Yui?”
“I… I know you and your mother—”
Her eyes freeze.
“I’m not so fragile as you seem to think.”
I think about how to answer, and whether it would be worse to argue or to agree, but, thankfully, Sable pulls me along as soon as he’s done marking his territory, and I’m forced to start walking, Yukinon’s slender fingers still clasped in my hand.
“You… I’m sorry, Yukinon, but it’s not that you’re fragile. You’re strong. Much, much stronger than me. I could’ve never stood up to Yumiko the way you did it, but… some things are not about being strong, but about being hurt—and you’re hurt.”
Her grasp tightens on my hand, almost at the verge of being painful.
“So are you,” she says, her tone barely loud enough to be heard above the few ongoing cars.
I chuckle.
“Of course I am. I just lost my first love to my teacher and my junior. Same as you.”
Yukinon freezes and stops walking.
I don’t let her.
So, I pull and force her to move even as Sable wags his tail as he darts toward some interesting scent or another.
This would be a terrible time for him to find Hikki once again…
“Yui? Stop, I’m—”
“No. No, I won’t stop, because Mama was right: I won’t let you get tired of me. I won’t let you remain frustrated, or moody, or sad. You’re my girlfriend, and I’m gonna take care of you—”
“Because he asked you,” she says, her tone bitter enough I could have turned into a charred cookie a year ago.
So this time I stop and turn to fully face her, Sable thankfully entertained enough not to pull on me and ruin my dramatic stance.
“He did,” I answer, staring into eyes that, this time around, have enough ice in them to remind me of the old Yukino.
It’s a good thing she was the one I fell for.
“I…” she hesitates, not ready for me to agree with her. Not when she thought she was attacking me.
And I shouldn’t accept my girlfriend doing that. Mama taught me this much, insisted on it. We should never accept the ones we love purposefully hurting us.
But…
But I think I’ll make an exception when she’s hurting herself.
So I pull her toward me, because, despite everything, she hasn’t let go of my hand, and she stumbles until her chest bumps against mine and I have to look up into her fragile, open eyes.
“He did. He asked me to take care of you. I already told you this. But you know him, Yukinon, better than I ever did, so… why did he ask me that?”
There’s a flash of anguish on her face. And I don’t want to hurt her, but… is it all right when I don’t mean to? When the pain is just the unavoidable consequence of what I’m trying to do?
“He just… He just got rid of us, set us up together—”
“No. I know him better than that. And so do you.”
She’s lost, yet again looking at me as if asking for permission to flee from the question and the answers she doesn’t want to look for.
I don’t give it to her.
Sable pulls on the leash, but I don’t budge, and he walks up to me, curiously looking up between the two of us before he decides to sit down, his tail slowly wagging over the gray, concrete slabs of the sidewalk.
… I’ll have to brush him later.
“He…” Yukinon starts, and then she closes her eyes. “He, despicable man that he is, knows you’re better at handling emotions than he is. Knows you’re better at giving unconditional support. And he may have been selfish enough to drag us into the whole mess he’s involved in, but… But he decided to pull off one of his plans and set you and me together.”
I wait for her to continue, but she doesn’t even after I squeeze her hand.
“Why?” I try to prompt her.
And she sighs.
And opens her eyes.
And there’s a bit of sky blue in them, shining through the plates of drifting ice.
“Because he loves us.”
“Yes. He does. What else.” My voice is barely a murmur, so I pull her closer to me.
“And you… love me.”
“I do. More than you know, I do. What else.”
Her eyes close once again, and I can her swallowing as her throat bobs up and down.
“And I love you…” she barely whispers.
I kiss her lips, barely brushing them. In public, in the middle of the sidewalk. Something the Yukinoshita in front of me still isn’t quite ready for, much less with another girl.
Her eyes shoot open.
“Continue,” I almost beg her.
“And… And we love each other. And he knows… He knows Haruno and I aren’t right, that we’re… broken. And he knows that what I need the most is someone who can love me and only me, who can tell me I’m worth it—”
“You are worth it.”
“… Who can tell me she loves—”
“I love you. I’ll always love you. No matter what. No matter what happens, what we do to each other, how we mess things up, you’ll always be Yukinon. My first kiss. The first girl I liked. My first girlfriend. Nothing will ever take that away.”
She gasps, almost pained as I just keep staring at her, demanding she continues.
And she closes her eyes tightly, something shining in the corners before she forces herself to open them and stare at me.
“Someone who will… help me heal.”
And I kiss her.
There’s nothing brief this time around, and I push her. I push her to open her lips and accept my tongue, to let me embrace her with the hand holding Sable’s leash, to have her body pulled tightly against mine, trapping our entangled hands between us as I can’t help but lift my left foot off the ground as I fully lean against the taller, slimmer, willowy, beautiful girl that is too fragile for me to hold without cracking any further, but…
But that I’m willing to do so, to have her show me her raw scars if it’s the only way for her to heal.
Because she needs it. She knows she needs it. He knows she needs it.
And they’re both trusting me.
So, really, the whole Service Club is in on it, and when have we ever failed a mission?
