Read Or Die Fan Fiction ❯ Read or Dare! ❯ Home Life ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Home Life

Yomiko Readman hummed to herself as the black haired woman walked to the housing complex on the edge of the school’s property, dragging her usual suitcase of books behind her A high rise apartment building it housed much of the teachers, professors and other staff for the island, with room left over for stores and restaurants on the lower level.

‘No bookstore, tho,’ Yomiko noted sadly as she walked to the elevator, her nose burried in the latest novel imported from Japan. While not of the same level as one by Nenene Sumerigawa it was good, holding her interest as she walked home.

The elevator pinged softly as Yomiko walked in, instinctively dodging people as she did so. “Tenth floor?” a familiar voice asked.

Looking up reluctantly from her book Yomiko blinked owlishly a moment before the face registered. “Revy-san,” she smiled politely at the security woman in the building. Yomiko didn’t know much about Revy, other than her black hair and intense gaze, coupled with a terse but not unkind manner.

“Miss Readman,” Revy smiled wryly as she leaned against the wall of the elevator. “I watched you walking, I thought you were going to run into someone reading that book,” she noted conversationally.

Yomiko shrugged slightly, “It’s fine, really. I have lots of practice.”

Revy nodded slightly as they reached Yomiko’s floor. “I suppose I’ll have to take your word for it,” she conceded as she watched Yomiko leave, reading her book once more as she strode down the hall.

Unerringly Yomiko navigated her way home, even unlocking the door without looking away from the printed page. “I’m home,” she called out as she went inside.

“Welcome back,” Nancy Mukahari smiled, the dark purple haired woman looking up with a smile from a diningroom table covered by papers.

Yomiko put her book down, marking the page gently before hugging Nancy, kissing her on the cheek. “I’ve missed you,” she smiled.

“Obviously not enough,” Nancy leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, a long lingering kiss as she pressed their bodies together firmly.

“Nancy...” Yomiko blushed furiously, her breath coming just a little faster.

Nancy just smirked as she pulled back a bit and asked, “How was your day?”

Still a little flustered Yomiko sighed, “Not bad. After Shane’s meeting a few days ago, it looks like the English department in general will be getting more funding.”

“Which is good,” Nancy nodded as she stacked up the papers.

“What is that?” Yomiko had to ask, “Information on hidden books or libraries?”

Nancy snorted in amusement, “Nothing so grand, love. I don’t want to be living off your pay forever, so I’m applying for a investigator’s licence.”

“A private eye?” Yomiko smiled, “Like Phillip Marlowe! Or Sherlock Holmes!”

Nancy chuckled softly, having already known Yomiko would draw those kind of comparisons. “Thanks,” she said, “but I’m not planning to aim quite that high.”

“How hard is it to apply?” Yomiko asked, her eyes widening at the pile of sheets.

“Not as bad as it looks,” Nancy said as she hauled the papers over, “but it’s all that in triplicate stuff that gets you.” She looked over at Yomiko, “Is Shane bringing dinner, or do we have to cook tonight?”

“Shane’s getting takeout,” Yomiko said with some relief. She paused thoughtfully, “Is it pretty bad that the guy is the only one who can cook?”

“Yes, it is,” Nancy laughed.

It wasn’t that Yomiko couldn’t read a cookbook and follow the instructions, there was another problem. She was such a avid reader that while checking details in the cookbook she would find herself reading along contentedly, getting several chapters in while dinner burned. Nancy, on the other hand, had only mastered relatively basic cooking on her own, and wasn’t quite confident in her skills to feed a group.

Not long afterward there was a brisk knock then Shane came in, carrying a fair sized bag of local takeout food. “Everybody decent?” he called carefully, still remembering the time he had walked in on them while they were occupied with each other.

“I’m never decent,” Nancy called from where she and Yomiko were sitting in the living room, “but we’re fine.”

Shane chuckled, his brown hair a bit messier than usual as he headed to the kitchen and unloaded the bags. “I really don’t think you’re as nasty as you claim,” he noted mildly as he set up to reheat dinner.

“She’s nasty enough for me,” Yomiko winked, making Nancy laugh.

“I saw Revy hanging around,” Shane frowned, “is she still keeping a eye on us?”

“We kind of had to expect it,” Nancy said with a sigh, reluctantly letting go of Yomiko so they could both stand up.

Getting Shane and Yomiko onto the island and working at the academy had required the calling in of old debts and much string pulling, enough that the head of the island knew about it. She might not be able to trace back the influence but she knew there was a reason someone wanted the two on the island and she was determined to find out what.

“We’ll just have to keep our heads down,” Yomiko said optimistically, “it’s not like we’re here doing anything wrong.”

“Maybe,” Shane said as he opened up the oven and began pulling out hot food, “but the book we’re looking for might be something they want too.”

“True enough,” Nancy conceded the point.

Plates were gotten out and they shared the hot food, sitting down at the diningroom table, Yomiko and Nancy side by side, Shane on the other. He had to fight back a smile as the loving couple shared food of their plates and fed each other.

“You two are almost too cute for your own good,” Shane noted the fact mildly as he finished off his own dinner.

Yomiko blushed but Nancy just smiled, winking. “How is the library search going?” Yomiko asked, trying to change the subject.

“It’s not in the catalog, but we expected that,“ Shane said as he took a drink of soda, “now I’m manually going through the shelves to make sure it’s not hidden under another cover or a false title.”

“Time consuming,” Nancy noted.

“Very,” Shane agreed, “but if we don’t do it and the book turns up we’d look pretty bad.”

Yomiko looked thoughtful, “We need to find some old maps of the region and look for any signs of the old library. Or even libraries.”

“So far I’m just hearing rumors,” Nancy cautioned them, “but it sounds like at least one facility was buried at one point “

”Oh lovely,” Shane muttered thoughtfully.

:”That’s not the worst rumor,” Nancy offered with a evil smile, “the other one I heard was about a island library that was flooded.”

“That would be worse,” Yomiko winced in sympathy, imagining wading through a flooded building filled with ruined books

“Well, hopefully that last one is just a rumor,” Shane sighed as he finished his drink. He got up and stretched before checking the time. “I think I’ll go do some reading then go to bed. Catch you in the morning.”

“Goodnight,” Yomiko and Nancy called, their attention already focused on each other.

To be continued....