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“Minato-san, I will be back tomorrow morning.”
“Un.”
“Remember to lock the door if you head out.”
“I will.”
“And close the windows before you go to sleep. It’s getting chilly lately.”
Yukina finally looked up from the score she had been working on to stare at Sayo, who had been standing at the doorway of their shared apartment for the past five minutes.
“You are nosy, Sayo.”
Sayo gave an awkward chuckle. “I can’t help it.”
Yukina quirked an eyebrow, though Sayo did not elaborate. She hesitantly unlocked the front door and stepped out of the apartment – one leg out anyway.
“Don’t sleep too late. It is bad for your health.”
Sayo made a complete exit and closed the door before Yukina could make a retort. At peace at long last, Yukina turned back to her score but found her inspiration dead after Sayo’s long rant. Sheesh, Sayo was just going on a one-night hot springs trip with her family. Did she have to make it seem like this was the 1400s and she was leaving her wife behind to cross the Atlantic in a sailboat?
Whatever. Yukina decided to take a bath first. Maybe it’d clear her head of Sayo’s nagging.
She went into the bathroom, tossed her clothes into the laundry basket, and showered. Yukina was quite picky about her bathroom supplies. She hated poor quality shampoo that left her hair in a knotted mess but was too lazy to apply conditioner separately. For that matter, she didn’t even like separate bottles for body wash and shampoo; she’d get them mixed up if she wasn’t paying attention, and who would pay attention while in the shower? Okay, everybody would, at least to the degree where they wouldn’t get shampoo and body wash mixed up. But Yukina being Yukina, her brain would shut down whenever music wasn’t involved in her decision-making. So, what solution had Sayo come up with? Purchase a 3-in-1 shampoo + conditioner + body wash that was moisturizing and even smelled like roses! Thanks to that, Yukina just blindly pressed on the nozzle to get a big handful of the liquid and rubbed it all over herself, then turned on the shower again. Bonus points: the 3-in-1 formulation rinsed away quickly, leaving no residue. Perfect for people like Yukina who spent a total of three seconds in the water.
Done showering, Yukina moved to the bathtub only to find it…well…empty. Usually, Sayo would draw the water for the bath. Obviously, the tub wouldn’t fill itself without Sayo around. Yukina sighed, plugging the drain and turning on the faucet. It took a good minute or so before the tub was filled, and it was getting awfully cold while Yukina stood waiting, naked and wet. She eagerly stepped into the bath when it was ready – or tried to, but quite literally jumped away after just touching her big toe to the water. Hot! She had thought the steamy water was a good sign, not realizing she had turned the faucet knob all the way to the red end.
“I suppose I cannot even unplug the drain with the water this hot…” Yukina muttered to herself. This bath was taking too much effort. She decided to leave it be till later, drying up first.
She reached for her towel from its usual spot. It wasn’t there.
“Minato-san, stop leaving your towel and clothes outside the bathroom…”
It was as though Sayo was there to scold Yukina’s absentmindedness. Then again, this had happened so many times before that it was only right for the memory to replay itself in Yukina’s mind in response to the current situation.
She sighed once more. This was getting annoying. But she was still determined to make it through the night without Sayo’s aid!
And so, Yukina toughed out the cold and darted from the bathroom for her clothes drawer. As she crossed the living room, she was greeted by a familiar face.
Lisa.
“Whoa, what are you doing, Yukina?”
Yukina yelped, grabbing the closest item to cover herself – the goddamn table cloth.
“That should be my question. Why are you here? In my house, without ringing the doorbell!”
Lisa was laughing her head off. She barely managed to contain herself to speak again.
“Sayo left me the keys so I could come feed the cat.”
“We don’t have a cat!”
As Lisa continued laughing, Yukina realized what Lisa had actually meant. “I am not a…”
Yukina couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. She secretly liked the comparison, even if it was very indignant.
“Anyway, you don’t need to overreact. A table cloth? Seriously? It isn’t as though I haven’t seen you butt naked…”
“We are not five anymore, Lisa!”
“Not that you’ve grown much on the chest…OOF”
Yukina flung her cat cushion at Lisa. Lisa stood in disbelief that her athletically-challenged childhood friend actually managed to hit her. Maybe she should’ve pissed Yukina off more back in high school, then their class might not have flopped so badly in the Sports Day competitions.
And so, while Yukina changed in the bedroom, Lisa started on the dinner preparations. Lisa was pretty confident she’d woo Yukina’s stomach with this meal, lest Yukina brag again about how Sayo’s cooking was the best. Unfortunately, it didn’t end how Lisa would’ve liked.
They were now seated at the dinner table, plates placed on the bare wood since Yukina refused to cover the table again with the same cloth she had previously wrapped herself in. As Yukina started on the fish stew, Lisa stared intently at her.
“What?”
Lisa grinned. “Don’t you have something to say about the food?”
“You have my gratitude,” Yukina answered dully.
Lisa rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, how do you find it?”
Yukina’s droopy eyes landed on the stew. She looked at it for two seconds, then returned her gaze to Lisa.
“Too much fish.”
“Eh?? But you like fish!”
“It is out of proportion.”
“I was trying to indulge you!”
“Your indulgence is excessive. And why are there carrots in the stew?”
Lisa’s hands flew dramatically to the sides in exasperation. “Why can’t there be carrots in fish stew?”
“Sayo doesn’t cook it with carrots.”
“Your MOM cooks it with carrots!”
Yukina just shrugged, and all but drank the stew without so much as tasting it, fish and all. She rose up and took the bowl with her to the kitchen sink.
“I am done. Thanks for the meal.”
Lisa shouted behind her. “What an ungrateful cat!”
“I said thank you,” came Yukina’s muffled reply from behind the kitchen door.
After dinner, Lisa insisted on staying longer to have a childhood friends’ talk, which consisted of her whining some more about how Yukina has been converted to Sayo’s anti-carrot camp, amongst other changes to her tastes.
“You used to like my cooking.”
“I still like your cookies.”
“Oh come on, last time you told me ‘Sayo can make them just as crunchy now’.”
“That is not untrue.”
“Still a rude thing to say to someone feeding you!”
Their argument lasted five hours, even when Yukina had conceded just so she could continue working on her score. It only stopped because Lisa had gotten so heated she was practically screaming, which led Yukina’s neighbour to knock on the front door and awkwardly tell them to shut up because it was already past midnight. Lisa left shortly after that, but it was already too late to work on the composition. Yukina flopped onto the couch in exhaustion. She would’ve fallen asleep if not for it being far too small for her, and her neck and back started hurting from their strained positions. She ended up rolling off the couch onto the rug, dragging with her Sayo’s sweater which she had grabbed from the vicinity earlier to keep herself warm. Too tired to move to her bed, Yukina dozed off right there on the rug.
……………………
“Minato-san…”
“Minato-san, where are you?”
Footsteps neared, stirring Yukina from her sleep. She groaned when her eyes cracked open to the morning sunlight.
“Minato-san! Did you sleep the whole night on the rug!?”
“Ughnn…”
Yukina grunted from the night’s discomfort. Sayo’s sweater hadn’t been enough to keep her warm, so she latched onto Sayo and attempted to bring her closer so she could steal her body heat. Sayo pulled Yukina’s upper body up so she could bring her into her arms.
“You should go to the bed if you still want to sleep.”
Yukina welcomed such suggestion with yet another groan. She wasn’t keen on moving herself.
“Sayo, carry me?”
Sayo didn’t respond for a moment, then just sighed.
“Very well. Just this once though.”
Yukina nodded and snuggled into Sayo’s chest as Sayo lifted her up and moved her to their bed. Truth be told, Sayo hadn’t had too well a night’s sleep either, worried over whether Yukina had set the house on fire in her clumsiness. She really needed to start teaching Yukina to be more independent. But for now, Sayo was contented to catch up on some rest with Yukina by her side once more. She pulled the covers up for them both, Yukina settling down in her embrace.
“Welcome home, Sayo…” Yukina muttered, her voice trailing off with sleep.
Sayo brushed a hand through Yukina’s hair; she herself drifting off.
“It is good to be back.”