Closed Log: The Hardest things in life...

[psychicsister]

Who: Yakumo and Harima
What: A conversation that needs to happen
When: Early December
Where: Somewhere around the Tsukamoto residence.
Summary: Yakumo finally fesses up to Harima, Shenanigans happen
Rating: S for School Rumble Antics



It'd been a few days since Yakumo evolved, and a few weeks since Harima and Napoleon had moved into the spare part of her house and things were beginning to feel a little different. For one, Harima was just more present, and for two...the normally quiet girl felt much more comfortable and confident. Perhaps a side effect of her as-yet unrevealed Enlightened status, or maybe she was just finding it easier to express her feelings. It could also be the snow, since they really weren't able to go out and explore as much, but it left her feeling like maybe she should finally fess up. She'd told herself it would be after she had worked through some of her mental blocks...and she'd definitely done that. It was going to be hard, but she needed to do it.

And something about today made it seem like the right time. He was outside taking care of Napoleon, and she'd just gotten dinner all set. The slow cooker was going, simmering to make the miltank stew tender, and there's enough time left that she thinks that now's probably the best time to just...tell...him. Maybe it's stupid, a teenage dream, but she knows she can't go on like this. Blushing every time he looks at her, waiting for him to give her hugs, dreaming of...well...all the things a teenager in love dreams about. He's got a good heart, and she knows he cares about her, but she won't be able to deal with that for long. One day, she'll just blurt it out, or trip over herself.

May as well take the Tauros by the horns and go for it, right? At least, that was what Kotori had told her, and Hanayo...in her own way. She needed to just get it out, and before dinner was probably best. If it went well, they'd have dinner together...like a couple should. and if it went badly? Well...Yakumo is pretty sure she wouldn't want to eat afterwards.

Getting dressed in her warmest coat, she picks up Iori and together she and the Meowstic head out into the snow, trudging towards the stables. The Psychic type knows what's going on, able to sense her nervous emotions, hear the hammering of her heart in her chest, and he gives an approving purr. He and his buddy have been waiting for this. In fact, Napoleon gets a little psychic nudge of warning as Yakumo enters the stables.

It's happening buddy!

Comments

[hige_san]

"--stop apologizing."

Harima spoke roughly, and slowly pulled Yakumo up to her feet as he stood, holding her tightly against him in an attempt to get her warmer. This...was a mess. A big one.

Napoleon lumbered up to them and snuffled at the two of them with his big nose, a look of worry in his eyes.

'Food,' the Mamoswine murmured with a knowing bob of his head, as if he were offering sage advice--

Or, at least a reminder.

Without warning, Harima bodily lifted Yakumo from the ground and made to set her on top of Napoleon. "Let's get you home," He explained, hurried, and climbed up behind her.

It wasn't safe to leave food cooking unattended!

[psychicsister]

The girl doesn't protest as she was lifted. All she did was tap her band and send Teru back to the habitat. It was warmer there...and she didn't need to run off again. She understood that at least.

Leaning against Napoleon, her gaze focuses on Iori, and the Meowstic waddles over to pat her shoulder. Don't worry trainer. He and Napoleon have a plan. A totally good plan.

[hige_san]

A very goood plan.

With a murmered command and a nudge from Harima, Napoleon lurched off into the snow back in the direction of the Tsukamoto residence. At the Mamoswine's surprisingly swift place, it wouldn't be long before they arrived back at the house.

Just in time, too. The snow was starting to pick up again.

[psychicsister]

Once they arrive, Yakumo slid wordlessly off the Pokemon, leaving Iori and despondantly walking into the house. Surprisingly, there's no accident, no fire. The slow cooker was doing it's job, steaming away and making the food extra tender and smelling up the whole dwelling.

She shambled inside, pausing at the door to remove her shoes and ignoring the biting cold. At the very least, she owed him a meal before he left. And she was making for the kitchen when her wobbly legs, weary from the ride, the emotion, and the cold began to buckle. She didn't drop, thankfully. She managed to keep her feet and continue going.

[hige_san]

Harima followed, patting Napoleon one last time before leaving his friend to forlornly watch the affairs from afar. Offering Iori a ride along, he trailed Yakumo closely, worried that she was going to trip over something with her unsteady footsteps, and left his sodden jacket and shoes waiting at the door.

Wordlessly he followed her into the kitchen, hoping that the delicious smelling food would help them with sorting things out.

[psychicsister]

Yakumo made it to the kitchen without incident, graceful under stress. When she pulled back the lid, she nods to herself and gets two bowls down. It's good and ready, tender and juicy as she'd hoped. A fitting thing to offer as a goodbye, as she's convinced he's about to leave.

She ladled the dish out, turning to him and offering him the steaming bowl. Her tearstained cheeks are red and puffy, but her eyes are that same piercing red. She does honestly hope he likes the soup, but she can't bring herself to talk, so she just holds it up for him.

[hige_san]

That look in her eyes was like a blow to the core for him. She looked so desperate that Harima wasn't sure if he even had the right words to tell her everything that she needed to hear in that moment.

Yakumo's confession hadn't fallen on deaf ears. He just didn't want to ruin the one good thing he had in this life.

He accepted the bowl silently, tearing his eyes at her to look curiously at it's contents before picking up a spoon to partake of the meal, and paused.

It was a simple stew, with a delicately cut up miltank fillet in a bubbling soup of carrots, potatoes and other vegetables, clearly spiced carefully throughout the cooking process by a skilled hand. Most people wouldn't look twice at a meal like that...

But Harima had a fondness for meat and potatoes. It was a hearty meal, perfect for weather like this.

How had she known?

"Yakumo..." he murmured, setting the bowl aside. Breaking the distance between them, he leaned in close--

and gently pressed a kiss against her forehead.

[psychicsister]

She expected him to say something about the soup, some...odd little comment about her cooking, or how incongruous this was after a chase through the snow. Instead, he kisses her, squarely on the forehead. She had no idea how to take that, her body going a little rigid as a defense mechanism. She would not fall down. She refused to fall down. She was better than that.

She blinked, staring at him wide eyed.

"H-Harima...?" What...what did that mean? Her lip quivered with apprehension, uncertainty filling her up again like it had at the Soulfast. What...why?

[hige_san]

Harima chuckled softly and watched her, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Are you a mind reader or something? I don't remember telling you I liked meat and potatoes."

...It hadn't come up in conversation at all, as far as he could remember. Discussions about food had come up before, as it inevitably does whenever Napoleon gets involved, but it was never about personal preferences.

He shook his head-- it was a rhetorical question, intended as a joke to ease the tension in the room-- and leaned in again for another kiss.

A proper one, this time.

[psychicsister]

Yakumo froze at the question, but that train of thought is completely blown out the window by his action. She didn't even have time to speak, to answer, when he's kissing her. She knew he wouldn't do that unless he honestly meant it. He wasn't the kind of boy to play games with a girl's heart, despite how he looked. Iori would've warned her otherwise, and Haruki wouldn't stand to be in the same room with a guy like that.

Her arms, galvanized now, wrapped around him and pulled him against her. Her entire body melted against him as she kissed him back, filled with sudden joy and passion, not pulling away for anything. Why would she, when she had what she wanted.

[hige_san]

Brows lifting in surprise, he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, stablizing the both of them, and returned her passion in kind when he realized that it was welcomed. Such a turn wasn't anything like what he had envisioned for his own future...but, there was no denying that Yakumo was special.

She wasn't the sort to say anything lightly. She played no games with people or words. She didn't know how much he appreciated that, and how grateful he was to have someone like that in his life.

[psychicsister]

She stayed like that until she realized that yes, she did need to breath, and when she pulled back she was more than a little breathless. Looking up at him, Yakumo leaned forward, resting the side of her head against his chest.

"Harima...I...heh....thank you." A pause, and she nodded, hair rustling slightly. "I love you."

[hige_san]

Breathless, Harima leaned back against the counter with his arms still wrapped around her, listening to the sounds of the stew simmering in the pot and the two of them catching their breath. The weight of her against him just felt....right, and in that moment he understood why Napoleon and Iori had been pushing the two of them to be together for months.

Looking down at her now, after their shared moment, he felt he heat rising to his face when he realized what exactly had happened.

It was too late to worry, though. Or care.

"No, I..." he took a breath, making sure that the words came out right this time. I love you, too."

[psychicsister]

She nodded once, understanding and accepting the words before sliding away and taking his hands in hers.

"This...I guess changes things a little. Not...too much, but...we're...dating?"

She had to ask, just...for that frame of reference. She didn't know. But a label was helpful, knowing where she stood. Yakumo was very organized, compartmentalizing everything.

[hige_san]

He looked at her, brows furrowed as he very plainly considered the question in it's full context, wracking his mind for something that resembled a coherent answer for her.

Unfortunately, compartmentalizing wasn't that much of a thing for Harima.

"...I dunno," he confessed after a long moment. "Are we? I've never been on a date before."

[psychicsister]

"I would say so," she answered, "I haven't been on one either, but...we've...certainly picnicked enough. That can count. Retroactively."

[hige_san]

"We can do it like that, if you want."

This was too much to think on, and too hard to wrap his brain around at that moment.

[psychicsister]

"Easiest that way," Yakumo replied as she started ladling more soup out.

"For me, anyway. But right now...let's just...let's have dinner? This is something we should just take slow, I think. Don't you?"

[hige_san]

"Yeah, it'll definitely be easier if we take it slow."

Harima was still simply processing this and everything it entailed. It was...new.

[psychicsister]

"Then eat," Yakumo pressed, patting him on the shoulder. Pausing briefly, she ladled herself soup and sat down beside him, smiling gently.

"Thank you...for coming to get me, by the way."

[hige_san]

"...It was my fault. I'm such a dumbass that I didn't know what to say." He didn't look at her while he spoke, and instead stirred the thick stew with his spoon while he gathered his thoughts.

"You don't need to thank me. I wasn't just gonna let you go and get in trouble with the snow."

[psychicsister]

"Still...it was...probably a bit dramatic. But I guess it worked out in the end, hm?"

[hige_san]

"It was weird, an I'm not that good with girls.

...I'm just glad we're still friends."

[psychicsister]

"Me too. But...it's okay. I'm bad with boys too. We'll...just have to figure it out." She smiles and starts eating, suddenly very glad to have the soup warming her cheeks. It's helping hide the blush.

[hige_san]

Harima followed her lead, taking up a spoonful of the hearty stew himself. It was something to do with his hands, and something else that he could focus on.

"Yeah, we will," he agreed.

They would have a lot of things to figure out.