Work Text:
"Waaa.... Masu-san, your room is so cool!"
Pareo left her suitcase at the door after dragging it up all those flights of stairs to where Masking and her parents lived above the live house (despite Masking's frequent offers to carry the case for her). She still wasn't entirely sure what to do when visiting another person's home as it was still something she was getting used to, but Pareo couldn't help but give an excited flutter of her hands as her eyes were immediately drawn to Masking's bookcase. It was the reason why she was stopping off here, after all.
"C'mon now, don't gawk for too long. We don't want Chu2 pesterin' us for taking ages. Bet she's been missin' yer like crazy." Masking had teased with a laugh as she strolled over to the case in question and crouched down to inspect the bottom shelf, not bothering to take off her shoes whereas Pareo had done the opposite. "Let's see.... what kinda genre did ya say yer after again?" She asked, her brow furrowing as she ran a finger along the spine of each book. This seemed to require a surprising amount of focus.
Pareo just seemed happy to be there. "Oh anything as long as there aren't many sad parts!" She responded with a happy chirp, clapping her hands together with a jangle of plastic beads from her bracelets. "I just want something nice to read when I'm at my parents' house, is all. Something with.... ah..."
"Pretty girls?"
With a delighted gasp, Pareo replied with an enthusiastic nod. "Yes!"
After giving the younger girl a knowing, smug grin, Masking returned to inspecting the titles of each manga series with intense focus for a moment longer before letting out a triumphant cheer. "Alright! I think I got the sorta stuff that's right up your alley. I know ya said all that stuff about not wanting any romance 'cause of the weird hettie stuff yer got at home, but..." Ignoring the puzzled sound Pareo had made, the drummer began to yoink out more than a handful of different titles from the shelf, only giving the odd few a double check before adding them to the growing pile on the floor beside her. "Ya gonna really dig this lot, I promise."
Pareo has absolutely no idea what Masking meant by any of that, but she still continued to quietly watch as the older girl began to scoop up the heaps of book into her arms, get to her feet (a little awkwardly, mind you) and make her way back over to where Pareo was stood waiting. She could see the covers of the manga already and... huh. For what she supposed was romance manga judging by what Masking had just said to her, they surely didn't look like any romance manga she'd seen before. Pareo was so caught up in staring with intrigue that she almost didn't register what Masking said next. "Wait, okay maybe we gotta sit down there's... there's a lotta manga here."
"A-Ah! Right!" Pareo thus took off her itabag from her shoulders with a clatter from all the badges and key chains in the bag's window before joining Masking on the small sofa that was a short distance away from the bookcase. Once both of them had made themselves comfy, Masking rather ungraciously opened her arms out and let all the books drop onto the table in front of them.
It took Pareo a moment to process what she was looking at.
The table was covered in a variety of manga, that was for certain, but the covers depicted something Pareo had never seen in person before. She didn't even know this sort of thing existed in real life until now. "They're all... girls?" Was all she could say in her state of disbelief. "M-Masu-san said that... these are all romance manga... but they're girls?" She picked up the book closest to her and held it firmly in two hands, as if she was trying to ensure that what she was looking at was solid and real. With wide eyes she gazed in awe at the cover - it depicted two girls, one with much darker hair and the other with a shade of lighter salmon, but posed in that way Pareo would usually see a boy and a girl in genres like this.
"Uh huh." Masking couldn't help but give the younger girl a huge dumb grin as she watched her fumble with the book in her hands. "Ain't that cool? And these are all written by girls 'n' stuff, none of that weirdo trash written by straight dudes is enterin' my house!" She then gave the book a prod. "Go on then, flick through it. Don't spoil the story for yerself too much though, that one's right good."
Barely registering what Masking had said to her, Pareo opened the manga from the middle and began to slowly flick through the pages before letting out little gasps at nearly every single thing she saw. "T-They're on a date? A real romantic date? Not just as friends?" Before Masking could even reply to any of her questions, Pareo continued. "Oh my gosh they're-! They're really in love! And.... and...!" The gasp Pareo had let out next briefly made Masking wonder how the poor girl's lungs were doing. "Masu-san...! They kissed! They're girls and they kissed!"
"Yeah, they tend to kinda do that a lot in these." Masking had joked with a laugh, but after paying closer attention to Pareo's face... oh man, was she about to cry? She looked so happy, happier than Masking was honestly expecting her to be, but now she could see those big glittery eyes begin to water despite such a joyful expression upon her face as she picked up the different manga and gave each of them a check over. "Oi, Pareo, you doin' alright there?" Masking asked her eventually, a drop of concern in her tone.
"A-Ah! Yes! Ever so sorry, I'm just..." Pareo had returned to holding the first book she'd picked up as she gave Masking a nod of confirmation before glancing back down to the manga in her hands. "I... I never knew you could get manga such as this in real life~~! I was so used to seeing online comics like this that I'd read at my parents house, and they don't have these in the bookstores in Kamogawa at all..." She once again looked at the girl on the cover. Tall, pretty dark hair, playing the role Pareo always saw boys playing in the relationships she grew up around yet still incredibly feminine. A girl. "But... Masu-san, that's me! She's just like me!" She exclaimed, her voice so full of joy as she showed Masking the manga and pointed to the tall girl on the cover. "I've never seen anybody like me before in manga like this...!"
Oh man. Pareo’s words, the sight of how happy she was and how she then brought the book close to her chest in a hug really was yanking at Masking’s heartstrings. She’d always seen her as a sort of little sister and always wanted the best for her, especially after seeing the state she was in when she’d unfortunately first seen her in her home town. Seeing her so delighted over something like this... Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry—
"I’ve been so used to rereading fairytales and the few manga that I had but I always used to try and imagine myself as the prince!” Pareo continued, lovingly putting the manga she’d hugged into her open bag before moving onto the next few. “Or... maybe the princess?” But then, she paused. Her brow was furrowed in a mix of thought and confusion. “I’ve... always been confused about that. I want to be a prince, Chu2-sama’s prince! And woo her and do princey things like...like scooping her off her feet! But I also want to... have the demeanor of a princess and wear pretty things.” Almost immediately after finishing her sentence, Pareo gave Masking an apologetic look. “A-Ah! I’m rambling-“
"Nah, listen. Pareo.” Masking waved off Pareo’s concerns before placing a hand on her shoulder. “Yer gay. You don’t gotta apply all that straight stuff to you ‘n’ Chu2’s relationship just ‘cause it’s what yer told to. One of you doesn’t need to be the boy or the girl or whatever. Yer both girls. If you wanna kabedon Chu2 against a wall with a rose in yer teeth one minute and then swoon over the air she breathes the next, then do it.” She then gave Pareo’s straight bangs an endearing ruffle. “Love that little catgirl however ya wanna.”
"Really...?" Of course, Pareo's eyes sparkled at those words. She'd sort of already known the answer, but... it had just been a little hard to come to terms with, as weird as that sounded. It was a thought that was "too rebellious" against everything she was taught so she would always tell herself no despite it being true. Hearing it from Masking, someone else like her, was honestly the reassurance she was looking for. It wasn't like she wanted to be rebellious or anything, she just wanted to do exactly what Masking told her, albeit phrased a little differently. "I... I will! Thank you, Masu-san!" She responded with glee, happily packing the next two books away with a little hum. Saying she was excited to read these was an understatement, her mind was buzzing with so many soft and fluffy thoughts. She couldn't wait to show her Chu2-sama her new discovery, maybe she should even take Masking's advise literally! That'd be so romantic. Oh but these manga.... all these stories about girls being in love in places where it was normal... the thought of reading them all was making Pareo's heart sing. It'd be some lovely escapism for when she was at her parents' house.
Her parents' house. Back in Kamogawa. Her parents' house.
Pareo had been putting her bag back onto her back and was ready to go grab her suitcase for the rest of the books when the thought hit her. Within an instance all those happy thoughts were overshadowed.
"Hey... Pareo? You good? Yer look like you've seen a ghost." Masking had asked her in an attempt to be lighthearted when she noticed how Pareo suddenly stopped what she was doing. The look of worry upon her face was as clear as day.
"I... I can't take these." Was all she replied with. Her voice was a small, sad mumble.
"Huh?"
"I can't... I can't bring these to Kamogawa with me... M-My momma might see them! I-I-" In incredibly uncharacteristic panic, Pareo clumsily began to take her bag off her shoulders and frantically fumbled with the zip much to Masking's concern and confusion.
"Oi, oi, oi! Pareo, calm down!" Masking's first instinct was to stand up and place a hand on the younger girl's arm in some vague attempt at reassurance, her brow furrowing. "What's the matter?"
The contact surprisingly made Pareo tense up. She did stop however, but despite her sudden outburst she looked as if she was unsure about sharing what she was about to say. With a small sigh, the tension fell from her shoulders. "My... parents don't... know about this stuff. That I'm... you know. L-like... like this."
"Pareo. Yer phrasing it like it's a bad thing." Masking had huffed, but as soon as the words left her mouth she realized that it wasn't the best thing to say right now.
"But they might think it is!" Pareo's raising of voice wasn't from anger at all, but more from panic. "They... they don't seem to like this at all. They want me to be thinking about boys, not... not girls. This isn't the sort of thing they want me to read at all..." She'd given up with her initial panicked plan of unloading all the books back onto the table and instead was tightly hugging her bag close to her chest as she spoke. "I just... don't want them to suspect anything if my mother found these in my room."
Then there was silence. Masking honestly wasn't too sure how to react in this situation. It was all so... tricky. She'd had her suspicions about Pareo's parents. The girl never spoke about them at all, only making the odd comment when referring to the fishery her father ran, and she knew things weren't exactly sunshine and rainbows back in her home town now. Raise A Suilen didn't magically cure all her problems, after all. Sure things may be a lot easier for her now since she was surrounded by so much support so often, but that didn't take away the fact that every school day Pareo had to endure such a pressuring environment with little to no support whatsoever. And the thought that Pareo's parents didn't know about her sexuality and couldn't, or potentially wouldn't, support who she was as a person... the poor kid was an only child, too. Masking couldn't imagine it.
But then, an idea struck the tall drummer. She couldn't magically make Pareo's home situation better, but...
"A-Ah, I'm so sorry Masu-san! I shouldn't have brought this up and made everything all sad! Pareo can just... leave these at Chu2-sama's! Like what I usually-"
"Nah. Pareo, listen. I know yer done a lot of that today but trust me." Masking began, her upbeat tone returning to one full of confidence. "I mean, still do leave those at Chu2's that's probably a good idea 'n' all but... you've not got family there for yer, right?"
Pareo's expression instantly fell. "... R...Right...."
Oh. Man. That wasn't probably a good start. "Y-Yeah... but listen. Y'know RAS? We're yer family now." Masking stood beside Pareo now, a hand firmly on her small shoulder as she stretched out her free arm ahead of the two of them as if she was showing her a great view (despite the view in question just being her wall-mounted TV). "I'm gonna be ya big sister. Lock's gonna be yer... y'know, sister-in-law. 'Cause ya met me first. Lay's... Well, she's got middle-child-syndrome now. And obviously Chu2's yer girlfriend or little wifey or whatever. Me 'n' the other's funny grumpy sister-in-law. And Pareo. Nah, Reona. 'Cause we're getting real. Yer our little sister now. Got it?"
There was then silence yet again. For a split second, Masking internally panicked. Crap, did she say something wrong? Was she too harsh? God, what if that was weird.... was that weird? A sudden little sniffle initially spiked those fears, but soon those anxieties were gone when Pareo turned to give her a big, squeezey hug as the sniffles turned into tears. She didn't want what was supposed to be a simple book-pick-up to turn into an emotional event and she did somewhat feel bad, but the concept of having family figures in her life who knew who she really was and loved her for it... Pareo couldn't cope. She couldn't cope at all, but in a very positive way. It was an intense feeling of relief and reassurance that she'd been longing for as long as she could remember. "M-Masu-saaaan....! T-T-Thank youuu...!"
"H-Hey, c'mon now! Y'gonna make me cry too!" Masking wasn't wrong. This sort of thing was straight from one of the sappy movies that she'd watch with Lock and it would always make her at least tear up a little (which is what she was doing at that moment). "C'mon, we gotta get yer to Chu2 before she wonders what's taking us ages. Her tiny gay heart won't be able to cope, y'know. Don't tell her yer been crying' either."
Pareo responded with a nod as she left the hug, wiping her eyes with the palms of her hands but a happy smile was clearly on her face.
"And... I'll get ya a tissue too." She added.
“Pareooo.... Lay dowwwwnnnn....”
“Just a moment, Chu2-sama! Just three more pages!”
It was who-knows-what-AM in the morning and a good job it wasn’t a school night. Needy, grabby arms snaked their way tighter around Pareo’s middle under the duvet.
“Gngh... At least put the light off....” Chu2 winced and grumbled as her barely-open eyes met with her girlfriend’s phone flashlight. “Are you seriously still reading?” She asked as she squinted upwards.
“I just want to see how this arc ends! I simply cannot go to sleep on a cliffhanger! Chu2-sama understands being unable to put a book down, right?”
“Yeah, but.... I got a reason, Pareo.”
“....A-Ah. Deepest apologies, Chu2-sama.”
A muffled “s’alright” was vaguely heard as the smaller girl snuggled further into Pareo’s side, but after a while it seemed like Chu2 had given up. With a groan, she sat up. “Why are you so invested anyway?”
Pareo stifled her delighted gasp at Chu2’s interest. She did of course show interest when she’d initially showed off the manga from Masking earlier that day, heck she was visibly happy because her Pareo was happy. Seeing Pareo so thrilled made her heart feel all warm and bubbly after all. “You see, Chu2-sama, this story is about how this tall mysterious girl joins this super cool girl gang run by this super cute girl! And you think this gang leader delinquent is going to be the more romantically forward of the two as their romance blossoms because of her overly-confident nature, right? But no! She’s actually an adorable neko-chan around the newcomer!” She gushed as Chu2 gave the pages a thorough inspection. “It’s so romantic~! They just defeated the rival gang and are having a moment to tell each other how much they mean to each other and... oh their kiss was beautiful! Ah... Chu2-sama?”
Chu2 barely registered the last part. Her eyes were definitely no longer half-lidded from her previously newly-awakened state. Big, blue gay eyes were staring directly at the pretty tall dark-haired girl in Pareo’s manga.
Pareo noticed. “Hee hee~ they’re just like us, Chu2-samaaa~” She’d teased, but surprisingly Chu2 seemed unphased as the only result was a warm blush on her cheeks. Instead, she sat up properly and cuddled up to her girlfriend with eyes full of intrigue at the book in her hands.
“...How does it end?”