Hana Kimi Fan Fiction ❯ All Knotted Up ❯ Julia ( Chapter 6 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: kashuneko 
Anime/Manga: Hana Kimi Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.12.2008 | Updated On: 11.27.2010 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 365 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Hana Kimi Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.12.2008 | Updated On: 11.27.2010 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 365 | Status: Work In Progress
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hana Kimi or any of its characters.
However, if you want to blame anyone for taking this incredibly pure and sweet manga and making it hentai, that'd be me. Please don't sue. I don't own anything to make suing me worthwhile anyway.
ALL KNOTTED UP INSIDE - A Hana Zakari No Kime Tachi E fanfiction
CHAPTER 6
The stewardesses took special care of her on the flight. She cried the whole first hour – from boarding, through take-off, and through the first drink service. They all felt really badly for her. Several of them tried to engage her into conversation, but she was just not talking, so they didn’t even know what was upsetting her. Just that she was going home.
Some of them thought she was crying because she was happy. A couple of them – some of the older ones – thought it was because she was leaving someone special behind. But none of them guessed that she was pregnant and leaving her lover behind without him knowing that he’s even a father.
Eventually, she fell asleep. And the crew let her sleep. The poor child deserved some rest. When she awakened, one of the older flight staff got her a hot moist towel for her to wipe her face, brought her some juice. Which made her think of Sano. But she was done crying. There was no point in crying. She had to go on.
‘We’re about to land, but where will I go? My parents don’t know I’m coming home. My brother doesn’t know. What will I do?
‘Julia! I can get her to pick me up at the airport. And I could probably stay with her for a day or two. And she’ll help me think of something.’
With a plan in mind, she felt a little better, and asked the stewardess for something to eat. The request, punctuated with a LOUD stomach growl, was honored, and she had a nice breakfast meal.
‘There. Do you feel better now?’ she thought and patted her tummy.
“Ah, I take it you enjoyed the meal.” The stewardess removed the empty tray and garbage, but completely misinterpreted the hand gesture.
X X X END SCENE X X X
Once on the ground, Mizuki gathered up her baggage, and then made her way to a pay phone.
“Hello, Julia?”
“Mickey! Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me…” ‘Maybe this was a bad idea… but what else can I do?’
“Wow! This is a great connection! It sounds like you’re so close!”
“Um… That’s because I’m at LAX.”
“What!?! You’re in the states? How long are you going to get to stay?”
“Um… Julia, could you come pick me up? You’ll want to bring the Explorer, though and not the bug… or maybe I can catch a cab and come over for a bit?”
“Wait. Your brother’s not picking you up? … And you need a large vehicle… What happened? Did you get found out and expelled?”
“Um…” She tried not to cry, she really wanted to be positive, but she just can’t help it. This was harder than she thought it would be. She stuttered out, “Can you… can you just come pick me up [sob] and I’ll explain everything?”
Silence for a second.
“Sure Mickey. I’ll be right there.” She sounded firm and determined. And supportive.
“Thanks, Julia. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
X X X END SCENE X X X
Ashiya dragged her baggage to the pick up area so that she’d be seen as soon as Julia drove up.
She sat on her trunk, and stared up at the sky, letting her mind go blank, completely spacing out.
It seemed mere minutes until Julia pulled up to the curb. She got out of the SUV, walked around to Mizuki and pulled her into a warm, enveloping hug.
“I really missed you, Mickey.” She pushed her to arms length and smiled at her. “Let’s load your stuff and get out of here.” Once everything was loaded, she turned to Mizuki, placed her hands on her hips and said, “Okay. Now just tell me where you want to go.”
“Can… can we go to a park and sit and talk for a bit?”
“Whatever you want.”
They drove in silence. Mizuki wasn’t really thinking, just sort of floating in the prolonging of the inevitable, not even trying to plan what to say. Julia just kept quiet, allowing the silent companionship to comfort her friend.
Eventually, they reached a small park – one that Julia knews, but that no one Ashiya knew ever came to. Mizuki smiled at Julia and they got out of the explorer and went over to sit on some swings.
They swung despondently for a few minutes. The sound of cicadas buzzing and a few birds singing was counterpointed by the squeak of the swing chains. Then, “I resigned the school.
“I was changing after a karate session, and one of the dorm heads saw me at a distance – saw that I was a girl. But the dorm heads decided to keep it quiet and allow me to stay.
“Of course, that’s because Sano burst in to the private session with me and the dorm heads and told them that they should. Julia, he knew I was a girl the whole time!”
“Yeah, I know.”
“What?!”
“I kinda figured out that he knew when I was over there. But he was afraid you’d leave if you knew he knew, so I told him I’d keep his secret if he kept yours.”
Mizuki shook her head, unable to fully process this new information.
“So Sano talked them into letting you stay?”
“Sano and Nanba.”
“Hmph!”
“I know he came onto you really hard when you were there, but you can’t blame him really. You’re just too wonderful a person. How could he not be interested in you?” Julia rolled her eyes. “And you didn’t really get a chance to know him. He’s a really good guy. He stood up for me more than anyone other than Nakatsu and Sano.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He tried really hard to help me to be able to stay. Even after…”
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Exasperated: “After WHAT?”
Mizuki paused and took a deep breath before she continued. “Julia, I love Sano.”
“Well, D’uh!”
“After I found out that he knew… he told me that he wanted me to always be by his side. Forever.”
With a big goofy grin, Julia reached over and squeezed Ashiya’s hand. “That’s so GREAT! I’m so happy for you.”
Mizuki ignored her comment and continued on. “And we started dating. In secret. We didn’t want the rest of the school to think that Sano was gay, and we couldn’t let anyone else know that I was a girl.
“After a while, I made a decision. I would not look back. I would give myself to him.”
Julia gasped, and Mizuki looked firmly into her eyes. “I wanted him to know that I loved him. I wanted him to have that to support him always. And I knew I would never love anyone like I love Sano.”
“Oh, Mickey!” ‘Why is she talking like she’s defeated? What happened?’
“Julia, it was so perfect. *He* is so perfect.” She stared out dreamily as she remembered what it felt like to have Sano make love to her – to have Sano call her beautiful and perfect. To have Sano mutter, “Mine” into her ear, like he was jealous that someone else might take her away. It still made her heart take flight.
“But Mickey, why are you here then?”
She looked away from her friend. Looked off into the distance, and said, “Because. I’m pregnant.”
SQUEAK.
SQUEAK.
SQUEAK.
SQUEAK.
The sound of the swings was the only sound for several moments.
“You’re…”
Ashiya turned and looked at her friend and grinned awkwardly. “Did you know that you’re more prone to faint when startled after you get pregnant?”
Julia shook her head no – her eyes still wide.
“I was on a stepladder. Someone bumped it with a cart. I got dizzy and passed out, and fell off the cart. Nakatsu rushed to help me out. He was so worried when I didn’t come to right away. He started to loosen my clothes so I could breathe.”
“Oh, no.”
“About 10 people saw. The dorm heads tried to help. Nanba kept getting called in to the administrators’ offices about it. But the school had no proof, and it was so close to graduation. He kept telling me that if I could keep a low profile that it would blow over because the school wouldn’t want a scandal – wouldn’t want anyone to know that they’d been fooled into letting a girl be at the school for two years.
“But Dr. Umeda-sensei guessed from me telling him about how I passed out, and took some tests to find out if I was pregnant. He didn’t tell me his suspicion until he was sure that I was.
“And by then, it was getting harder and harder. I told everyone in my class the truth about me being a girl. I just couldn’t keep it from them any more. I told them. And they didn’t hate me like I thought they would. They understood and supported me. And they protected me when boys from the other dorms tried to pick on me.
“But it… Staying strong through all of it… It was just too hard. And I knew it was hurting Sano, too. I had to go. And once I knew… I had to go. So… I left. And here I am.”
Julia walked over and hugged her friend. Then she sat back down. “So, Mickey, what did Sano say?”
“He supported my decision to leave. He knew I’d made up my mind.”
“WHAT?! He was OKAY with you leaving with his baby?”
“Um… No… He doesn’t know.”
Pause… “Excuse me?”
“Sano doesn’t know I’m pregnant. And Julia, he can’t find out.”
The look on her face clearly showed even clueless Mizuki that Julia thought she had lost her mind.
“He can’t, Julia. He has to finish school. He has to jump. He has to work out his relationship with his father. This would ruin all of that for him.”
“I just can’t believe he let you go without… without even telling you how he felt!”
“Well…” Ashiya blushed and looked at her feet.
“Well, what? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Uh. The last thing Sano said to me was… Um… He told me he’d come for me after graduation… and he kinda asked me to marry him.”
Silence.
“Okay. Let me get this straight. Let me just see if I’m missing anything here. The man you love, the man you flew halfway across the world to meet, he loves you. He loves you enough that even though he knew you were a girl, and probably very vulnerable for most of the year, he never took advantage of you until he knew that you loved him in return. Then, you make love and you get pregnant, and you leave and don’t tell him you’re carrying his baby. AND, he asks you to marry him, and you say…”
“Um… I said yes, but I don’t think that means anything now…”
“?” It’s always interesting to watch when someone is so exasperated that they lose the capability for speech.
“Well, he may forget about me –”
“Humph!”
“And if not, by the time he comes for me, I’ll already have had the baby. So he’ll probably be mad at me. I figure he’ll give up on me then.”
“So why aren’t you telling him?!?”
Angrily, she spat out the words, “Because if I tell him, he’ll quit school for me. He’ll leave his family and blow working out his relationship with his dad. For ME! And eventually he’ll hate me for that. Julia, I would die if I thought he hated me. I’d rather he just never knew…”
“Well what makes you think that he won’t find out some other way?”
“The only person who knows in Japan is Dr. Umeda. Doctor-patient confidentiality. And the only person who knows here so far is you. And you won’t tell, because you’re my friend.”
“Mizuki… You know I don’t want to hurt you. But you’re going to have to tell someone other than me. You’re going to have to tell your parents eventually. And your brother. And when that happens…”
“I’ll tell Shizuki next. He’s not going to be happy that I’m pregnant. And if I don’t tell him that it’s Sano’s, he’ll assume it anyway. So I have to tell him. But I think he’ll help me. And then… I’ll tell my mom and dad eventually. But if I ask them not to tell Sano, they’ll respect my wishes.”
“O-ka-ay. If you say so. So what do you want to do now?”
“Well can we go to your house? And then maybe you could invite my brother over to talk about me, and I can confront him there instead of at home?”
“Sigh.” She shook her head. ‘You know, I support you too much, Mickey. This is probably as bad a plan as you going to Japan. But then again, you did meet the man of your dreams there.” She sighed. ‘When I get Shizuki over, maybe the two of us can figure out a way to get through to you. And if not, we’ll just have to plan on how we can get Sano to figure it out without telling him.’ “Okay. Ready to go?”
X X X END SCENE X X X
Julia drew Mizuki a bath once they were at her house. As soon as she got Mizuki’s call, she had told her parents that Ashiya might be staying for a day or two. As a decompression from Japan before going back to her own house. Julia’s parents had been very understanding.
After Mizuki was nose deep in bubbles, Julia called Shizuki.
“Shizuki? Hi, it’s Julia…. Yeah, Mickey’s friend Julia. Mickey’s… Um. I got a call from Mickey today. Can you come over in about half an hour? Please don’t tell anyone that I called. Mickey’d be pissed. Okay?... Thanks, Shi-kun.”
X X X END SCENE X X X
Julia let Mizuki soak for about 15 minutes, then called her out of the tub, had her dry off and get dressed and led her into the kitchen for a snack. As they finished up some tea and riceballs, the doorbell rang.
“That’s Shizuki,” Julia announced, standing up to answer the door. “Stay here, and don’t panic.”
After a pleasant greeting that Mizuki could hear – if only in muffled tones – Julia invited Shizuki into the kitchen for some tea. As they neared the kitchen door, Julia called over her shoulder, “Please come in. And please don’t freak out.”
She walked behind Mizuki and placed her hands on her friend’s shoulders. Mizuki braced for disaster, looking more frightened that he’d ever seen her.
“Mi- Mizuki? What are…?”
Julia guided Mizuki to stand and pushed her toward her brother.
“Shizuki!” She ran to her brother, throwing her arms around him. She sobbed into his sweater.
Julia led Shizuki, who was now carrying Mizuki, to a chair where he sat down and pulled her into his lap. She continued to sob into his shoulder. “Nii-san. Nii-san.” She cried and a part of her mind yelled at herself, ‘I thought I was all cried out. What the hell is this crap?’ And the other part of her mind yelled back, ‘Shut up! I missed my brother.’
As Mizuki cried herself out again, and Shizuki worked to comfort her, Julia set the kettle on to boil again, and prepared the teapot to brew them both some hot tea.
This was going to be a long night…
X X X END CHAPTER X X X
However, if you want to blame anyone for taking this incredibly pure and sweet manga and making it hentai, that'd be me. Please don't sue. I don't own anything to make suing me worthwhile anyway.
ALL KNOTTED UP INSIDE - A Hana Zakari No Kime Tachi E fanfiction
CHAPTER 6
The stewardesses took special care of her on the flight. She cried the whole first hour – from boarding, through take-off, and through the first drink service. They all felt really badly for her. Several of them tried to engage her into conversation, but she was just not talking, so they didn’t even know what was upsetting her. Just that she was going home.
Some of them thought she was crying because she was happy. A couple of them – some of the older ones – thought it was because she was leaving someone special behind. But none of them guessed that she was pregnant and leaving her lover behind without him knowing that he’s even a father.
Eventually, she fell asleep. And the crew let her sleep. The poor child deserved some rest. When she awakened, one of the older flight staff got her a hot moist towel for her to wipe her face, brought her some juice. Which made her think of Sano. But she was done crying. There was no point in crying. She had to go on.
‘We’re about to land, but where will I go? My parents don’t know I’m coming home. My brother doesn’t know. What will I do?
‘Julia! I can get her to pick me up at the airport. And I could probably stay with her for a day or two. And she’ll help me think of something.’
With a plan in mind, she felt a little better, and asked the stewardess for something to eat. The request, punctuated with a LOUD stomach growl, was honored, and she had a nice breakfast meal.
‘There. Do you feel better now?’ she thought and patted her tummy.
“Ah, I take it you enjoyed the meal.” The stewardess removed the empty tray and garbage, but completely misinterpreted the hand gesture.
X X X END SCENE X X X
Once on the ground, Mizuki gathered up her baggage, and then made her way to a pay phone.
“Hello, Julia?”
“Mickey! Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me…” ‘Maybe this was a bad idea… but what else can I do?’
“Wow! This is a great connection! It sounds like you’re so close!”
“Um… That’s because I’m at LAX.”
“What!?! You’re in the states? How long are you going to get to stay?”
“Um… Julia, could you come pick me up? You’ll want to bring the Explorer, though and not the bug… or maybe I can catch a cab and come over for a bit?”
“Wait. Your brother’s not picking you up? … And you need a large vehicle… What happened? Did you get found out and expelled?”
“Um…” She tried not to cry, she really wanted to be positive, but she just can’t help it. This was harder than she thought it would be. She stuttered out, “Can you… can you just come pick me up [sob] and I’ll explain everything?”
Silence for a second.
“Sure Mickey. I’ll be right there.” She sounded firm and determined. And supportive.
“Thanks, Julia. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
X X X END SCENE X X X
Ashiya dragged her baggage to the pick up area so that she’d be seen as soon as Julia drove up.
She sat on her trunk, and stared up at the sky, letting her mind go blank, completely spacing out.
It seemed mere minutes until Julia pulled up to the curb. She got out of the SUV, walked around to Mizuki and pulled her into a warm, enveloping hug.
“I really missed you, Mickey.” She pushed her to arms length and smiled at her. “Let’s load your stuff and get out of here.” Once everything was loaded, she turned to Mizuki, placed her hands on her hips and said, “Okay. Now just tell me where you want to go.”
“Can… can we go to a park and sit and talk for a bit?”
“Whatever you want.”
They drove in silence. Mizuki wasn’t really thinking, just sort of floating in the prolonging of the inevitable, not even trying to plan what to say. Julia just kept quiet, allowing the silent companionship to comfort her friend.
Eventually, they reached a small park – one that Julia knews, but that no one Ashiya knew ever came to. Mizuki smiled at Julia and they got out of the explorer and went over to sit on some swings.
They swung despondently for a few minutes. The sound of cicadas buzzing and a few birds singing was counterpointed by the squeak of the swing chains. Then, “I resigned the school.
“I was changing after a karate session, and one of the dorm heads saw me at a distance – saw that I was a girl. But the dorm heads decided to keep it quiet and allow me to stay.
“Of course, that’s because Sano burst in to the private session with me and the dorm heads and told them that they should. Julia, he knew I was a girl the whole time!”
“Yeah, I know.”
“What?!”
“I kinda figured out that he knew when I was over there. But he was afraid you’d leave if you knew he knew, so I told him I’d keep his secret if he kept yours.”
Mizuki shook her head, unable to fully process this new information.
“So Sano talked them into letting you stay?”
“Sano and Nanba.”
“Hmph!”
“I know he came onto you really hard when you were there, but you can’t blame him really. You’re just too wonderful a person. How could he not be interested in you?” Julia rolled her eyes. “And you didn’t really get a chance to know him. He’s a really good guy. He stood up for me more than anyone other than Nakatsu and Sano.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He tried really hard to help me to be able to stay. Even after…”
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Exasperated: “After WHAT?”
Mizuki paused and took a deep breath before she continued. “Julia, I love Sano.”
“Well, D’uh!”
“After I found out that he knew… he told me that he wanted me to always be by his side. Forever.”
With a big goofy grin, Julia reached over and squeezed Ashiya’s hand. “That’s so GREAT! I’m so happy for you.”
Mizuki ignored her comment and continued on. “And we started dating. In secret. We didn’t want the rest of the school to think that Sano was gay, and we couldn’t let anyone else know that I was a girl.
“After a while, I made a decision. I would not look back. I would give myself to him.”
Julia gasped, and Mizuki looked firmly into her eyes. “I wanted him to know that I loved him. I wanted him to have that to support him always. And I knew I would never love anyone like I love Sano.”
“Oh, Mickey!” ‘Why is she talking like she’s defeated? What happened?’
“Julia, it was so perfect. *He* is so perfect.” She stared out dreamily as she remembered what it felt like to have Sano make love to her – to have Sano call her beautiful and perfect. To have Sano mutter, “Mine” into her ear, like he was jealous that someone else might take her away. It still made her heart take flight.
“But Mickey, why are you here then?”
She looked away from her friend. Looked off into the distance, and said, “Because. I’m pregnant.”
SQUEAK.
SQUEAK.
SQUEAK.
SQUEAK.
The sound of the swings was the only sound for several moments.
“You’re…”
Ashiya turned and looked at her friend and grinned awkwardly. “Did you know that you’re more prone to faint when startled after you get pregnant?”
Julia shook her head no – her eyes still wide.
“I was on a stepladder. Someone bumped it with a cart. I got dizzy and passed out, and fell off the cart. Nakatsu rushed to help me out. He was so worried when I didn’t come to right away. He started to loosen my clothes so I could breathe.”
“Oh, no.”
“About 10 people saw. The dorm heads tried to help. Nanba kept getting called in to the administrators’ offices about it. But the school had no proof, and it was so close to graduation. He kept telling me that if I could keep a low profile that it would blow over because the school wouldn’t want a scandal – wouldn’t want anyone to know that they’d been fooled into letting a girl be at the school for two years.
“But Dr. Umeda-sensei guessed from me telling him about how I passed out, and took some tests to find out if I was pregnant. He didn’t tell me his suspicion until he was sure that I was.
“And by then, it was getting harder and harder. I told everyone in my class the truth about me being a girl. I just couldn’t keep it from them any more. I told them. And they didn’t hate me like I thought they would. They understood and supported me. And they protected me when boys from the other dorms tried to pick on me.
“But it… Staying strong through all of it… It was just too hard. And I knew it was hurting Sano, too. I had to go. And once I knew… I had to go. So… I left. And here I am.”
Julia walked over and hugged her friend. Then she sat back down. “So, Mickey, what did Sano say?”
“He supported my decision to leave. He knew I’d made up my mind.”
“WHAT?! He was OKAY with you leaving with his baby?”
“Um… No… He doesn’t know.”
Pause… “Excuse me?”
“Sano doesn’t know I’m pregnant. And Julia, he can’t find out.”
The look on her face clearly showed even clueless Mizuki that Julia thought she had lost her mind.
“He can’t, Julia. He has to finish school. He has to jump. He has to work out his relationship with his father. This would ruin all of that for him.”
“I just can’t believe he let you go without… without even telling you how he felt!”
“Well…” Ashiya blushed and looked at her feet.
“Well, what? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Uh. The last thing Sano said to me was… Um… He told me he’d come for me after graduation… and he kinda asked me to marry him.”
Silence.
“Okay. Let me get this straight. Let me just see if I’m missing anything here. The man you love, the man you flew halfway across the world to meet, he loves you. He loves you enough that even though he knew you were a girl, and probably very vulnerable for most of the year, he never took advantage of you until he knew that you loved him in return. Then, you make love and you get pregnant, and you leave and don’t tell him you’re carrying his baby. AND, he asks you to marry him, and you say…”
“Um… I said yes, but I don’t think that means anything now…”
“?” It’s always interesting to watch when someone is so exasperated that they lose the capability for speech.
“Well, he may forget about me –”
“Humph!”
“And if not, by the time he comes for me, I’ll already have had the baby. So he’ll probably be mad at me. I figure he’ll give up on me then.”
“So why aren’t you telling him?!?”
Angrily, she spat out the words, “Because if I tell him, he’ll quit school for me. He’ll leave his family and blow working out his relationship with his dad. For ME! And eventually he’ll hate me for that. Julia, I would die if I thought he hated me. I’d rather he just never knew…”
“Well what makes you think that he won’t find out some other way?”
“The only person who knows in Japan is Dr. Umeda. Doctor-patient confidentiality. And the only person who knows here so far is you. And you won’t tell, because you’re my friend.”
“Mizuki… You know I don’t want to hurt you. But you’re going to have to tell someone other than me. You’re going to have to tell your parents eventually. And your brother. And when that happens…”
“I’ll tell Shizuki next. He’s not going to be happy that I’m pregnant. And if I don’t tell him that it’s Sano’s, he’ll assume it anyway. So I have to tell him. But I think he’ll help me. And then… I’ll tell my mom and dad eventually. But if I ask them not to tell Sano, they’ll respect my wishes.”
“O-ka-ay. If you say so. So what do you want to do now?”
“Well can we go to your house? And then maybe you could invite my brother over to talk about me, and I can confront him there instead of at home?”
“Sigh.” She shook her head. ‘You know, I support you too much, Mickey. This is probably as bad a plan as you going to Japan. But then again, you did meet the man of your dreams there.” She sighed. ‘When I get Shizuki over, maybe the two of us can figure out a way to get through to you. And if not, we’ll just have to plan on how we can get Sano to figure it out without telling him.’ “Okay. Ready to go?”
X X X END SCENE X X X
Julia drew Mizuki a bath once they were at her house. As soon as she got Mizuki’s call, she had told her parents that Ashiya might be staying for a day or two. As a decompression from Japan before going back to her own house. Julia’s parents had been very understanding.
After Mizuki was nose deep in bubbles, Julia called Shizuki.
“Shizuki? Hi, it’s Julia…. Yeah, Mickey’s friend Julia. Mickey’s… Um. I got a call from Mickey today. Can you come over in about half an hour? Please don’t tell anyone that I called. Mickey’d be pissed. Okay?... Thanks, Shi-kun.”
X X X END SCENE X X X
Julia let Mizuki soak for about 15 minutes, then called her out of the tub, had her dry off and get dressed and led her into the kitchen for a snack. As they finished up some tea and riceballs, the doorbell rang.
“That’s Shizuki,” Julia announced, standing up to answer the door. “Stay here, and don’t panic.”
After a pleasant greeting that Mizuki could hear – if only in muffled tones – Julia invited Shizuki into the kitchen for some tea. As they neared the kitchen door, Julia called over her shoulder, “Please come in. And please don’t freak out.”
She walked behind Mizuki and placed her hands on her friend’s shoulders. Mizuki braced for disaster, looking more frightened that he’d ever seen her.
“Mi- Mizuki? What are…?”
Julia guided Mizuki to stand and pushed her toward her brother.
“Shizuki!” She ran to her brother, throwing her arms around him. She sobbed into his sweater.
Julia led Shizuki, who was now carrying Mizuki, to a chair where he sat down and pulled her into his lap. She continued to sob into his shoulder. “Nii-san. Nii-san.” She cried and a part of her mind yelled at herself, ‘I thought I was all cried out. What the hell is this crap?’ And the other part of her mind yelled back, ‘Shut up! I missed my brother.’
As Mizuki cried herself out again, and Shizuki worked to comfort her, Julia set the kettle on to boil again, and prepared the teapot to brew them both some hot tea.
This was going to be a long night…
X X X END CHAPTER X X X