LIGHTNOVELONLINE Arc 3, Ch.6: Time goes by… so slowly…
“Look at it on the bright side. You don’t have to worry about me getting anyone pregnant”, I commented lightly and my father furrowed his brows in thought.
Actually, he didn’t have to worry about any of us.
One was gay, the other so young and weirdly innocent that she wasn’t thinking about sex yet, the third so controlled that he would never get anyone pregnant out of wedlock and the fourth…
Just a feeling, but I think Haru would throw any guy trying to not use protection out of her bed. She was very careful in choosing her boyfriends, anyway. Which was also why it had been a while since she had her last one.
My sister appeared to have read my thoughts somehow, since she reacted to them despite being in a conversation with Mizuki. (Kinda one-sided, with him mostly nodding or humming replies, but she enjoyed talking and since he was willing to listen, there was no problem.)
“If Mizuki had an older brother, I’d take him”, she sighed sadly, leaning on the table and twirling a lock of her hair while her eyes wandered over Mizuki.
Well, he has good looks, is a very honest person, is cuddly and cute, will definitely stand by your side, is compassionate but also unbending if needs to be-
Gotta stop singing hymns about him.
“I’ll take that as a compliment on my good taste in boyfriends?”
“Totally. So, Mizuki, any good relatives?”
My boyfriend tilted his head in thought and hummed.
“I don’t think you’d like any of the ones close to you in age.”
“Aw”, she complained wistfully. “That’s too bad. No good siblings, either? Even if a bit younger?”
“Just sisters. Two.”
“Oh my, you, too?”, my mother amusedly said.
Mizuki nodded in response.
“Younger. One very shy, the other… hyperactive.”
“It’s an interesting combination”, I added, remembering Kirumi. As cute as a female version of Mizuki was, she was a bit too hyper for me.
...I don’t think I could get Mizuki to crossdress for me. I’d probably get strangled when asking, which is kind of a shame. I don't even know why I would think of it as a shame, since female bodies don't interest me and I don't think I have a kink for that either, I guess it's just...
Cute outfits?
Not that he'd do it, anyway.
[I wouldn’t say it like that. It would depend on the outfit.]
Huuuuuuh. Good information.
Well, there really is a difference between wearing something like a summer dress or one of the simpler jeans-and-shirt outfits, I guess. Or the really kinky stuff like maid outfits. (the image of him wearing that with his glare is actually rather scary...)
On the topic of men wearing female clothes, I actually don't think of it as overly weird. Not my thing to be interested in dresses, but for those who want to wear it, why not.
As for shoes, I admit I had tried walking in Haru’s high heels more than once after she had declared that it was way harder than it looked.
It was.
I could barely stand and my feet hurt like hell (also because they were way too small) and me laughing and her laughing didn't exactly help with me keeping my balance. It's a miracle how she can walk in those like it's nothing.
I still had fun trying it. No one except her was watching it, anyway, so no real embarrassment for me.
My mother carefully made conversation with Mizuki about his family, as if testing the waters on whether they would get along. It was nice to see that she did that.
I'd be happy if we got to the point of our families meeting up sometime...
We continued eating and then, since an anime movie was running, my parents left for upstairs.
Me, Haru and Mizuki were on the couch. Although I had a ban on teasing him and wasn't too intent on testing myself by being too close, Mizuki still lightly leaned on me.
Laughing, Haru leaned in from the other side.
I never had a problem with that kinda skinship, she was my sister. Sheesh. Not all gestures need to be interpreted weirdly. The whole setting was actually quite comfy.
The movie began, showing the well-animated figures and playing a soft opening music. It was a standalone work, so even though neither I nor Mizuki knew anything about it, we could still watch it.
Although, I was used to anime but Mizuki wasn’t, so he was frowning a bit at understanding the references on cliches and the like.
I quietly explained things when he looked too confused, relieved that he didn't mind me talking during a movie but rather appreciated the help.
Haru, in the meantime, was squealing at the slashy side-character couple.
“You don’t understand”, she said. “They’re totally hinting at the fact that they’re together!”
“I dunnooo. They look like normal friends to me.”
“...I don’t understand any of this. What is ‘slashy’?”
It was funny to spend our time like that. It wasn’t a bad movie.
It was a story about ancient times, with an asia-like setting. The side characters Haru was squealing about were a seasoned warrior and the doctor in the mountains that he would always go to when injured.
Actually, the story was about a young warrior finding the murderers of his family and thus unraveling the secret plot that hid behind a lot of political figures.
I had to admit I liked the side-characters more, they were quite charming. But the main character wasn't bad.
“It’s easier to attract certain groups when you include couples like that”, I explained to Mizuki while continuing to watch. The two characters were on screen, the warrior leaning against a tree and the doctor just wordlessly going over to help him. There was almost no conversation between them happening on-screen, but maybe that was what created a special feeling of chemistry. “They’re not together, but the way the anime shows it, it seems a bit like it’s beyond normal friendship. The anime leaves space for the viewer to decide whether they think the relationship is romantic or not. Relationships that are hinted at, but aren’t openly, gay are called slashy.”
Mizuki’s eyes flicked in confusion.
“I never noticed that there is so much stuff geared towards fujoshis.”
“We hide everywhereeee”, Haru hummed lowly, chuckling.
“On the bright side, it helps society accept it, doesn’t it?”, she sweetly said, looking at the two of us. I looked away.
Haru kept talking.
“You can’t imagine, Mizuki. It was hell for Riku. He didn’t even dare tell the rest of the family that he’s gay, I did that for him.”
Mizuki frowned and tugged at my clothes.
“That bad?”
I sighed.
“It’s just… never a good thing to say you’re different from the average group. It is always dangerous and there are people that might cut you off because of it.”
“If they do that, then they weren’t worthy to have around, anyway.”
Mizuki spoke like it wasn’t anything to care about.
“Man, I wish I could think like that…”
“It would make life easier”, Haru agreed, surprised.
Mizuki was quite decisive in what he wanted and what not, not caring about other’s opinions at all. I admired that, a lot.
“Well, now you have to endure it, because that’s not an acceptable reason for breaking up.”
I laughed happily. I wasn’t planning on breaking up anytime, at all.
As complicated as our relationship might become with society, I wouldn't give him up that easily.
We finished the slightly stupid movie and then went into our rooms. It was a good time to cut off before things might get awkward with Haru, and she was still planning on finishing her doujinshi.
I put on some different series on my tv as we sat on the bed, volume not overly loud.
We were comfortably leaning against the wall to watch, although I kept a distance. After some pestering, I had given him the link to Haru's comics and he read them with a constant twitch of his lips.
"I withdraw my previous statement. This is awkward after all", he coughed. "Although it's amusing to see your character in a constant panic."
"I'm always in panic, that's no surprise", I awkwardly muttered, twiddling my thumbs. "And you made me even more awkward, so that's that."
"Should I expect more of that comic in the future?"
"Probably. Lots of readers and she has fun doing it..."
"Lots?"
"There's the view count."
"...Lots."
"Yup."
He rubbed his forehead.
"That's... a lot of fujoshis."
God, if you knew.
I shuddered at the memory of a certain event and turned my attention elsewhere.
Staring at the clock the last minutes to midnight was hell. The second it ticked to zero, I turned to Mizuki and pointed at it, bobbing up and down in place like an excited kid.
He rolled his eyes at me but that just made me happier. Look, you’ve turned so much more expressive when you’re with me! That’s a good thing!
“Wipe that smug grin off your face.”
I clamped my mouth shut, then noticed that I couldn’t drag my lips down with the sheer movement of my muscles and used my hands to help.
“I’m trying.”
We were still sitting on the bed, next to each other. A tactically good place: The bed was on the side of the wall to outside and the next room to mine was empty Daichi’s. What I’m saying is, no one can hear us from hear since my parents are asleep and Haru is squealing on the phone with some friends.
Also tactically good because I was planning on pushing him down again, which he totally knew. No idea on how far, but one way or another, he's getting pushed down cause that's my favourite angle.
“Alright”, he mumbled, positioning himself so that he faced me. I didn’t quite know why he needed to do that just to tell me whether he had been angry or not.
