2026-08-30: Don't Mind The Mess
- Log: Don't Mind The Mess
- Cast: Yua Ijuuin, Hana Fukami
- Where: Aoba - Penthouse
- OOC Date: 2026-08-30
- IC Date: Wed Jan 02 2013
- Summary: Yua and Hana talk about their relationships, and Yua has some good advice for Hana, particularly regarding jealousy... but she's terribly wary of men, after her experiences with Kimitake, isn't she? Once again, Hana feels the pull of something being not right, but...
- Content warning: Lesbian separatism, discussion of domestic violence, allusions to sexual violence
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua has invited Hana over. With Tyrrha and Miho on an outing together, and Eiko on holidays for a little while to get to spend a romantic end of year with her boyfriend, it leaves Yua to keep an empty house... so of course it's time for friends! Which means putting her hair up... even if she goes for a more casual long-sleeved blouse and skirt down past to her knees, plus those omnipresent FOOT PRISONS.
(If the penthouse is looking a little less kept than usual with their maid taking time off, well, never mind that. Yua's twenty-six weeks along, now; bending has become a trial. Miho has to help imprison her feet in those compression socks each morning, now...)
"Come in, come in!" Yua enthuses, when Hana arrives, opening the door for her herself. She picks up the weighted blanket that was sprawling over the couch to tuck it over the arm, with a, "oh, please don't mind the mess, Eiko-san's just on vacation..."
'The mess' is still objectively pretty clean, just not, you know, live-in maid clean.
It also helps that there are freshly baked cookies on the coffee table.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Hana's glad to come over! ...She's had time to dwell a little on the things Yua told her, and she's sure that the sort of person she wants to be wouldn't abandon her to those difficulties. And she had a chance to talk to her closest people a little about it...
So she shows up in pink as usual, and smiles warmly to Yua when she's invited in. "Oh, it's lovely," Hana insists about the mess or lack thereof. "Thank you for inviting me over!"
"Oh!" she says, as she moves to take off her coat, "Cookies! Did you make these, Yuarin?"
Yes, the nickname she was supposed to use.
"You're looking lovely today, too," Hana says. "How are you feeling?"
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Mmhm! Just this morning!" Yua hums, brightly; that will explain their just-rested fluffiness, certainly. "You know, I send the girls off on their adventures... but I'm already in the kitchen, so why not keep going? I always remember stuff I wanted to make when I'm getting breakfast ready!"
There is, of course, milk with the cookies, which Yua will take a little of when she sits down.
"Things are good," she smiles, to her. "I'm really sorry I said all those awful things last time... but I'm doing good, really! We all did Tsuinuyuru and Sjoogwachi together... you know, Shougatsu!" New Years, she means. "Father was even happy to have Mimi bring him offerings, even though they don't do stuff like that on the mainland... of course, we sent our nenga, too! Oh, oh, did you get yours?!" Because of course Yua sent Hana a New Years' postcard, too, with a beautiful Water Snake decorating it. "I got yours! I really like your handwriting, Kotoba!"
She might bounce a little on the couch, hands waving excitedly as they curl in front of her, as she talks about their mixed traditions. That's normal! Same as the weighted blanket is normal.
"So, so, did you have a good New Years' with everyone?" Yua asks, leaning forward for the gossip. "Did you all get out for the last bell ringing at midnight? Or was it just you and Teruda?" That's right, she's only met Teruo a couple of times, but he's already got a nickname.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Fluffy... "I have no argument," Hana says with a little laugh about wanting to make things when getting breakfast ready. "I find I cook a little more than I used to living with someone, myself..."
Things are good--and Yua of course remembers... "It's all right," Hana assures her. "I'm glad you're doing so well. It's nice to be able to do all those things together, isn't it?" Together with Miho, that is. Of course! "Hmmm, for such a traditional family to embrace different traditions... That's nice, isn't it?"
"I did," Hana confirms, get Yua's. "It was lovely--and oh, thank you! I've always tried to have a nice hand..."
Bounce, bounce. It's very cute, actually. Hana smiles and walks over to the couch to sit with Yua. "Oh..."
She flushes a little at the question, but smiles anyway with a little laugh. "It was very nice," Hana enthuses. "Sa-chan especially was... happy. We all went out, this time, since we're going to be living together in the new year. But of course if anybody asks, I was on a double date with Teruo and the others," she says. "...It was really lovely, though. And it was nice to greet the new year with him yesterday..."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Mm, mm! Cooking is better for other people!" Yua agrees, happily. "Like I told you I'm the oldest, right? So I was always helping make food for everyone! Especially in high school... by then, I could just take care of it for mama without needing help or anything!"
You know, how families without live-in maids end up having to find ways to take a few of the 10000 tasks off of mom so she doesn't implode.
She smiles, flapping happily, when Hana notices their blend of traditions. "Mm, mm! We did a mix of them together! I'm not done, either... the Hinukan went back home for the holidays, so in a couple days when he comes back I need to do a proper welcome home offering!"
(The Hinukan, Hana will have picked up when she noticed a shrine in the kitchen the first time she visited, is chief amongst Yua's household Gods.)
"Me too," Yua smiles, of nice handwriting. And hers is very nice, too!
She giggles, seeing Hana blush. "Good! It's lucky to share firsts with everyone in your household, right? Mmhm, mmhm... it's a model for the whole year to follow!" She's not directly saying anything about the first day she spent with Teruo, but, well, Hana can read between the lines.
"I'm really happy you had a good time!" She sparkles, instead.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"You did," Hana recalls. "Ah! That's lovely. Back in high school I didn't cook much," Hana admits. "But I've learned since."
But Hana notices Yua flapping, and it really is nice to see her so happy. The gods went to go back home, though... "I suppose he has to now and then, doesn't he?" she asks. "Well, I hope the rest all go well."
"It is!" Hana agrees. And she wants to gossip but she's a little shy in the moment. ...But then, why not? "I got to have some of those firsts with Sa-chan, too, but it was Teruo I actually got to wake up with. Ah... it's a nice feeling. I'm a little nervous..." The new lease is coming. And Hana can read between the lines. "I want things to go on like this..."
"Thank you," Hana says eventually of Yua being happy. "There's a lot of things I want for this year. And I believe... I may be able to get them."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Cooking is something you can learn any time!" Yua says, cheerfully. "It's not like dancing, where you can't go pro if you haven't been doing it since you were a kid." To be fair, Yua doesn't know much about going pro in the cooking scene, but she's pretty confident it's not age-gated.
"Mm, mm," she nods, hands clapping to her knees as she leans forward to speak on the Hinukan. "He's visiting when he's staying with us, so he goes back home to tell all the Gods what we've been doing all year!"
She giggles, hearing Hana speak of Emisa, too. "I'm sure it was a wonderful celebration!" She says, cheerfully. "If everyone's happy, everyone's happy! We all went to the midnight bell-ringing together, and Mimi and Tomo-kun went home together... but Mimi woke me up for the first day, so it was okay!"
Kimitake of course dropped her home without so much as touching her... which Yua can't take for granted, these days, given how he'll lay her hands on her in violence. Mysteriously, she does not mention him by name -- nor the luncheon she had to attend on New Years' Eve to show off how he had a wife, before she was able to get to the important business, like warding off evil spirits with garlic.
"I hope you are able to be very happy," Yua says, and if she worries that she's ruined those hopes... she doesn't speak of it, as she smiles to her.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"You won't be surprised to hear I cook a lot more than I used to for pretty specific reasons," Hana admits with a low tone. "But professional chefs are so intense...!" She knows a little about dancing; mostly 'choreography' is the word relevant to her. But still!
"I see...! That's a lot to do!"
Hana can't help but blush about Emisa almost as much as she does about Teruo--maybe more, since she's newer in that way. "And when I'm with Sa-chan, Ya-chan is usually with Teruo," she further explains, though she's probably gone into that dynamic before. "Ya-chan's so much more athletic than I am," she admitss with a sigh. And has... other attributes. "But I think we're getting along, too."
Oh, that's lovely, getting to go together," she says then, and listens--Miho went home with Tomoki... before she reacts to that, Hana gauges Yua's reaction, too. But it seems okay. "I'm glad. My, your Miho works hard to keep up... It's good you have someone so devoted."
Kimitake doesn't bear discussing in easy conversation. Hana knows that much.
"Thank you," Hana answers again. "I've thought a lot about everything..."
"And I hope you can be, too, Yuarin."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua nods, conspiratorially, when Hana intimates why she's cooking more. But she actually knows pro chefs, and so Yua gasps, "oh, I can only imagine!"
Yua is... well, not loving having to share, but she considers it her responsibility, managing the home as she is; Tomoki, at least, is considerate of coming into a settled arrangement, and Yua is at least able to like him. Knowing the pressures on Miho from her family to honour her fiancee, Yua made sure she'd have something good to tell them, and... well, she at least got her back when she woke up.
But when she hears Hana sighing over Miyako, she hears that, too. "If you're worried, you should talk to them," Yua urges her, gently. "When I didn't feel supported, I started getting dreadfully resentful... if you feel like they like someone else more than you, it's not the kind of poison you can just think away."
She laughs, though, hearing Hana's surprise. "Oh, not at all," she says, veiling her smile behind a hand. "Don't you know what they say about Olympians? The really impressive thing is that I can keep up!" Tee hee! Yua giggles, before she folds her hands on her lap, smiling down at her belly. "But Mimi really is devoted... like, I said how I got jealous, but once she realised why I was acting weird she made sure I was okay." Which might explain why she advised Hana to fess up.
Still, her happiness...?
"I'll keep praying," she demurs, still looking to her belly.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Hana has indeed gotten to know a few. And 'gotten to know' a few, for that matter; she ate pretty well in those days... but Teruo also likes to cook, so she doesn't have to do all of it when it's just them.
But Yua is very considerate indeed of her responsbilities; it makes the situation a bit different... but close enough that they can share thoughts about it, too.
"I'm a little worried," Hana admits. "He likes sports, and I'm not really a sporty girl... And, well, I worry that he'll want... a more conventional woman, in the end," she settles on. "But he's never said anything like that, it's just my own wonderings. You're right, I'll talk to them."
She certainly doesn't want a poison!
"It's complicated... what we all want from each other, I think."
But not at all! Hana laughs back. "Oh, I see," she says. "That is impressive! I'm not sure what my excuse is, then..." Because she's certainly also active. But, Miho is devoted. "I see... Yes, that's very good."
It does make sense; Hana may as well learn from Yua's experience, there. "It's..." She considers. "It's different because I haven't been with a woman in a while. And with Sa-chan it's very different, but I'm not sure yet how Ya-chan and I should approach each other..."
But Yua will keep praying. "And I'll do the same."
"How is Tyrrha-chan, then?" she wonders. She's heard of Miho and Tomoki, but...!
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Mm, mm," Yua nods, when Hana resolves to talk to her partners. "I worried about the same kind of thing," because she does view it as the same, "when Mimi told me she loved a man... I thought, you know, Mimi likes being with men most of the time, so what if... what if it was just easier for her to go with him? What if I was too much trouble? I'm already a burden a lot of the time, Mimi has to support me... what if she preferred having a man who wouldn't give her all that extra work? We always said we chose each other, so it wasn't just destiny, but... that means she can choose someone else if she liked him better, too." Yua's voice grows quiet, as she recalls those enormous feelings. "So I became very sulky... it's funny, I was worried about being too much trouble, but it ended up with me just being a lot more difficult. But in the end, I shouldn't have doubted her... Mimi didn't want me to step aside at all. She was trying to take care of Hiroki, too, since she'd need a husband to adopt him..." Yua sighs, shaking her head. "... and it's not like I could tell her why I needed her to be able to do that really soon, but even before Kimi-san showed me who he really was, I knew I didn't want to leave it undone."
Which is to say: she had an impression Kimitake was bad news long before she realised it.
"You don't need an excuse," Yua insists, though, on Hana's stamina. "Whatever makes you happy is the right thing for you!"
She tilts her head, as she considers Miyako. "It's hard," she agrees, "since you're both cats. Have you talked about what you both like together, yet? Hmm... and... why don't you get Saga or Teruda to give you some suggestions? That way you don't just get stuck and watch TV when you try to have bedroom time!"
But then--!! Hana switches gears entirely, to her daughter with gears. "Tykko's out to get another strange food with Mimi!" Yua bubbles, enthusiastically. "She loves eating exotic food the most! This was her first New Years' in the city, too... she was really happy to get all her otoshidama!" The envelopes one gives to children with money inside, that is. It's difficult to imagine Tyrrha wanting for anything, but it's more the tradition of the thing. "And she was really enthusiastic doing spring cleaning...! Though I think most of that was just her enjoying the opportunity to go through mama's stuff..."
Kids are endlessly curious about that sort of thing, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Yua's helpful experience is something Hana has to weigh, considering her feelings and how similar they are to some of Hana's own. "Even if I don't need as much care, I'm still a much bigger danger to his reputation than she is," Hana reflects. "...But I suppose that's the other side, isn't it? If it isn't only 'destiny', then she could choose otherwise..."
She smiles back. "I'm glad you were able to resolve it, though. That does make sense. Hiroki will do better with a father as well sa his mothers, I think." And that sure isn't going to be Kimitake. "The practical realities make it all more difficult, don't they...? But as for me, I suppose if he only wanted the sort of persona Ya-chan is, we wouldn't have met in a gay bar."
But Yua insists she doesn't need an excuse, and Hana smiles. "Thanks. ...Sometimes I worry it's not very 'womanly', but..."
Still, they are both cats. "We haven't," Hana replies, talked about what they like together. "Just what we like in the others. But that's a really good idea. ...We haven't actually... had... That is, we haven't been 'together', just us yet," Hana says. "But I'd like to. I think that's why I'm not sure where I stand..."
A laugh. "...Even if we do have a lot of good TV to keep up with..."
But Tyrrha! Hana couldn't not ask about Yua's daughter, after all. "That's wonderful," Hana answers, and smiles. The ttradition! "...Ahah. Yes, I imagine it was curiosity too. But that's good. I like to try a lot of new foods, too."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Maybe I don't have very good self-esteem," Yua admits, her smile dimming, "so it's easy for me to think a red string's the only thing I have going for me... but Mimi's never talked like that," she says, shaking her head. "It's just... Kimi-san does, a lot, you know... when I look back, he was always tearing me down... so I guess that was going on underneath, too."
She sighs, as she admits: "Everyone says it, but I don't really think he needs a father. Why is it always how women aren't enough? But... it's practical, mm, in a place like this, it's practical." She shakes her head, again, smiling to Hana. "But that's right, too, you met in a place like that. Maybe he likes sports, but I bet if you looked at it, you'd see a lot of things you do that he likes a lot, too."
Yua adds, aside: "If that made you a bad woman, it would make us bad women, too, and if I catch anyone saying anything like that about Mimi I'll claw their eyes out." M--metaphorically, right? Metaphorically, Yua? You're terrified of violence? Right? Why do you sound so serious? Yua???
(Two things can be true. Yua can both be petrified of physical retaliation and want to blind anyone who talks about her Amazonian Goddess of a wife like she's somehow failed to be a proper woman.)
"Then start there," she adds, of Miyako. "If you don't know what you like, you'll never know where to start. Don't let your dreams go the way of re-runs, Kotoba!"
She's all smiles, though, speaking of Tyrrha. "She's endlessly curious!" Yua says, with fond punctuation. "She still hasn't grown out of asking 'why' about everything... aaa, it's so cute!!"
Yes, Yua does kick her legs when she says that.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Of all the reasons Yua might not have good self-esteem... Kimitake badmouthing her to her face is definitely one. Hana looks sympathetic, her face drawing into something a little worried for a moment. "Words like his, over long enough... Even when it was just back then, I didn't feel good about myself with him," she admits.
But a sigh, and! Hana is thoughtful! She tilts her head, taps her cheek with a finger. "I suppose that's true," she admits. "I just assume that it's a good addition, but it's not as if you aren't enough, certainly." Practical, though. In a... 'place like this'. Well, Hana isn't talking practicalities entirely; after all, society wouldn't favor her, either, not that way....
"Thanks, Yuarin," she says. "I'm sure that's true."
It would make them bad women too... Hana nods firmly. "Good," she says. "...You're right. People who tell women how we're allowed to be... They shouldn't feel free to do that."
But start there. "Yes! For our dreams..."
But Tyrrha is curious. "It's very cute," Hana agrees.
This adorable woman is such a far cry from the despairing person who was at Hana's apartment before... And yet, she is so clearly the same.
"I think it's good when people show their feelings, personally. Stoicism has its charms... but it's fun to see it that way, too."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Yeah," Yua nods, her voice quieting a touch. "I guess you can kind of imagine how he's like... like, even when he talks like he's saying something nice... it's not very nice. You'd think it would be worse now he just says the mean thing out loud a lot of the time now," she adds, glancing aside. "And sometimes it is... mm, like, when I can't tell Mimi why I'm all needy, but... but it's easier now, too, since I don't feel like I'm so replaceable even when he says I'm just in the family to bear children."
He probably didn't say it as clinically as that.
It's not that Yua's viewing it in any kind of childish framework, it's just... hard to discuss these things out in the open, when she spends so much time covering them up.
So it's 'not very nice'. So it's a 'mean thing'. So he's saying she's here to 'bear children'.
... so it's Yua's guilt, as she keeps his secret, and leaves her seishitsu where she's sure she least wants to be: guessing.
"Check with him," Yua encourages her, again. "That way, you can be really sure!"
And when Hana nods firmly, Yua does, too. "It's a double standard, even for straight people, you know? I hear a lot how women are expected to keep their husbands happy... but they're not supposed to think about bedroom stuff? They're not supposed to care? But that says something really awful about men! If you don't care about it, you don't really want to do it, and that means it's not really okay!" Yua, who has never comprehended asexual living a day in her life, certainly thinks affirmative consent works like that. "And I mean, even good men are really selfish," she adds, a frown glowering over her face for a moment, as she remembers her scare over the pressures Miho faced from hers. "... but if they're good, they at least stop doing the bad things when someone calls them out and they actually think about it. So I don't really know how I feel about men... maybe they are people who would be happy to force their wives to get themselves off without having to have an impure partner, but I want to think at least some of them would be embarrassed if we pointed out just what they were asking for when they said women shouldn't like this stuff."
... maybe it's hard to blame Yua for being a bit man-hating, when her man is Kimitake, but... just how many positive male relationships does she have, anyway? At least she's definitively classing Hana in the 'us' and not the 'them', unlike some writers.
(Incidentally -- counting generously, and family excluded -- six men. There's Tomoki, despite her misgivings about his character, and Shiryuu, of course, and Seiji, and then her enemies, Masao and Katsuya... and Para-Mind... and... ... ... ... does Tiger count? Can we count Tiger? Can Tiger bring us to seven whole men who Yua would trust to not immediately be the worst people in existence?!)
Yua smiles, though, as she thinks about stoicism. "Mm, but it can be twice as rewarding to figure someone out when they don't show it!" She says, because of course this is more talking about Miho which remains her favourite thing. "Since it's not like they're not feeling things under there, you know? People forget that a lot, so it's a really easy way we can take care of them!"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"I'm glad you don't feel that way," Hana says. "...He's wrong, too. You're there because Miho loves you, aren't you? That's different."
But check with him... "I will," Hana assures Yua. She's actually kind of looking forward to it now. A chance to talk about how she's feeling...
Maybe that's one of the differences, too.
But a double standard... "That's true," Hana agrees. "That's the stereotype, anyway; I'm not really immune to those... if I don't play it close to how a woman is 'supposed' to be people tend to decide I don't count." She listens, though. "...I agree that if we look at it that way, it makes men look terrible," she says. "It's funny how the stereotypes reveal such terrible underpinnings..."
It makes her think, anyway. "But then, it's women as much as men who tell me how I'm 'supposed' to be."
"...I wonder..."
If she's adhering to these ideas... Is she pressuring others to do the same? When they result in feelings like this?
Hana is kind of uncomfortable with that part of the conversation, but she pushes through, "The people who tell us who we're allowed to be... Those are the ones that most get to me."
But, Yua smiles. Hana smiles too. "Hmmm, that's true too. It's important to remember, too. ...I don't really share all of my feelings with everyone, either."
"Hmmm. Maybe that's a connection point with Ya-chan... She's a little more stoic..."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"A whole lot," Yua nods, of Miho loving her. It sounds like they've both got relationships like that!
But then -- stereotypes. "That's not fair," Yua grumbles, scowling. "I don't like when people decide a woman doesn't count. But... mm..."
Her frown deepens. "... I guess it's a woman who keeps doing 'that'," Yua says, quietly. "But she's doing it to fix me... so I'll treat men right. It's not like I can tell her my husband wouldn't want it, anyway..." She makes a discomforted noise, wordless, in her throat. "If men weren't like this, she wouldn't have an excuse," is how she settles it for herself.
The alternative is that she just can't trust anyone... well, maybe Miho's right about that, too.
"What I'm allowed... I guess I'm used to that."
Maybe it's best not to think about it.
"Mm, mm," Yua hums, instead, smiling as Hana speaks of stoics. "You need to learn how to read her, Kotoba! That way, you can help her open up! You just need to find the trick that gets in under their walls... like I touch Mimi's face! It's our code for it being safe for her to think about feelings and stuff!"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"I don't like it either," Hana says.
But it's a woman doing that... Except, that it's about men after all. Hana quietss at this way of ettling things. She doens't rally have anything to say; she can't contradict Yua like that in her own home, when she's talking about such delicate things...
"I guess we all get used to it," what's 'allowed', "But maybe we shouldn't have to."
Still, there is a nice possibility there. "Right," she says. "...That's sweet. Maybe I can give her another person like that..."
She smiles. "Well, I haven't tried your cookies yet, have I? Let me go ahead and have one. We were talking so much that I almost forgot!"
Delicious.