YOHAMARU CATCHALL

[trappingheart]

the loves of my life tbh

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[zuraaa]

Hanamaru has been dropping hints that she's mad. Pretty obvious ones, actually. Like she didn't smile when Yoshiko told her good morning, and stuck by Riko's side at lunch time, and has been periodically shooting glares in Yoshiko's way just in case she happens to catch them. Everyone but Yoshiko has already asked her what the matter is, and that's only been making Maru more mad.

They have library duty after school today, and while that's usually one of the high points of Maru's week, being alone with Yoshiko right now, in that sort of atmosphere... as soon as they set foot in the library, it's already stifling.

She could bring it up herself. That would make it quicker, probably-- Yoshiko has always been bad at cluing on to this stuff. That would be the more mature thing to do, Maru is aware, but instead all she does is point down the library and say:

"Well, I'm gonna go sort the books over there, okay?"

[trappingheart]

It's only really stifling because Hanamaru is making it stifling, isn't it? Yoshiko may be pretty bad at cluing in on when something's wrong, but all throughout lunchtime, she's been thinking about what the problem could be; her girlfriend's been a bit grumpy ever since last evening, but usually when she's short with her like this, it's just a matter of her being a little bit...hangry, they call it? That, or it tends to just resolve itself with a bit of time. In their near-year together as a couple, she can't think of a time when her silent treatment has gone on for this long, and it is pretty bothersome...

Playing it off like she doesn't catch onto it seems to be making it worse, though. If Zuramaru had some kind of an issue, Yoshiko thinks to herself, she would probably be upfront with it; she has no reason not to be, after all. But she hasn't laughed at any of her gags, or even said more than a few words to her all day, no reaction at all aside from the occasional look...maybe she just doesn't want to talk about whatever's bothering her?

As for the death glares, Maru makes that face pretty often, so that's par for the course. But when Maru steps foot in the library and immediately tries to duck her again, Yoshiko comes to a realization that this may be worse than she had assumed...

"Zuramaru, you never start all the way in the back...we always come in and do the mythology stuff together, don't we?"

It's often a bit frustrating, but Yoshiko has a bit of a selective obliviousness--

"You've been like this all day. ...Are you not feeling well?"

That's not it, and Yoshiko knows it; she's seen Maru sick before, and she's definitely not like this; probably the opposite, if anything. But she doesn't really know how to approach the topic that Maru is upset otherwise, just because a situation like this is such foreign territory...

[zuraaa]

Whatever relief Maru may have felt at Yoshiko noticing poofs the next second at that completely off-mark guess. Really, Yoshiko-chan? Is that the best you could come up with...?!

But she smiles, that very particular narrow-eyed Hanamaru smile that foretells the looming end of her patience just beyond the horizon.

"Maru is feeling just fine, zura."

[trappingheart]

...For all of her fallen angel talk, it's obvious who the truly frightening one between them is here. Yoshiko just gulps and starts to feel the sweat trickle down the back of her neck.

Yeah, there's something up here.

"That's...Are you sure? I mean, you've been a little..."

Short? Quiet? Filled with murderous intent? How does she even approach this? She's definitely been avoiding her, but not really avoiding her; thinking about something, but not something she'll tell her outright? And she doesn't want to make a mountain out of a molehill, so to speak, but...

Well, if it's really nothing, maybe it's just a mood, but if it isn't, maybe she should be more direct about it? Yoshiko's at a total loss here, and unfortunately, her impulse when she's at a loss is--

"Kukuku, that must be it, then! If you truly aren't feeling ill, it must surely be the work of a malignant and invisible demon, feeding upon your radiant smile and threatening to drain your life energy by the minute! It, er, must be a sneaky one, to do it in such a way that you haven't been noticing...it was probably drawn to your calm and tender aura. So...I can perform the exorcism post-haste, of course. G-getting rid of it will be simple work for a powerful fallen angel of my caliber, naturally..."

It's clear that she's struggling, from the way her hands start to fidget a little, even as she covers her face with that ridiculous pose. That's...probably the wrong thing to do in this situation, isn't it--

[zuraaa]

The growing twitch under Maru's left eye should be a solid indicator that this not a path Yoshiko wants to be heading down, yet she keeps going on and on anyway, and by the time she's finished Maru is shaking with frustration like the first rumbles of a volcanic eruption. All she can do is stare at her for a second, fists clenched by her sides -- before reaching for the shelf beside her and throwing a magazine at Yoshiko's head.

"I've had enough of this, zura! I don't wanna listen to that fallen angel talk for the rest of my life!"

... Of course, the magazine's thin and a softcover, so it flutters to the floor before making any actual contact. This does not help quell Maru's anger one bit, so she swiftly reaches for the next one on the shelf and throws that at Yoshiko too, harder this time.

[trappingheart]

Well, thankfully it's just a softcover, so even though the second magazine hits Yoshiko's face with a crack like a whip (she doesn't even get the chance to flinch), it doesn't hurt nearly as much as the words do. Sure, it probably wasn't the right time or the place, she'll be the first to admit that, but...

"H-hey! Zuramaru, I was just trying to cheer you up, y-you don't have to throw things at me! What the hell?!"

Her shrill cries echo through the empty library halls, but she hardly cares enough to watch her volume.

"If you don't want to hear it, then...then just tell me what's going on already!"

[zuraaa]

"Fine!" Hanamaru bristles in return, "If you're too thickheaded to figure it out on your own, then--"

... and then she freezes, slack-jawed wide-eyed, indignation overtaken by a look of dread. Sure enough, behind Yoshiko's back, there stands the school librarian -- glasses glinting, the glare of disapproval on her face sharper than a thousand needles.

"Eh... erm..." Hanamaru clears her throat nervously, and then quickly catches herself and takes an apologetic bow. "S-sorry about this, ma'am, we'll pick this up right away! And we'll keep quiet from now on...!"

The librarian waits until the magazines are placed neatly back in place, then gives a stern nod of approval before heading back to her station at the front of library. Maru heaves out a sigh. She has great respect for this woman; in part due her vast knowledge in literature, and in part because she's older and shorter than her own grandma but still, when angered, manages to be one of the most intimidating forces on the surface of the Earth.

... But she and Yoshiko still have much left to talk about, and there's no way she can just hold it in until the end of the day.

She shuffles in place, a bit awkward after her outburst, and says-- "Let's go outside for a bit, then."

[trappingheart]

Yoshiko doesn't quite catch why Maru's anger suddenly gives way, but when she can feel the ice-cold stare of a third party behind her, she can't help but tense up and quickly turn around, giving a stiff bow in return, bending so hard at the waist that she almost feels like she's going to snap. She couldn't give a damn about the old lady, naturally, nice as she is, but the last thing she wants is to get Hanamaru in trouble in her favorite place, even if she is upset with her for some reason...

Hanamaru seems to have the situation with the librarian settled, but on Yoshiko's end, she can't help but mutter an apology to her, for making her explode; there's a big red mark across the front of her face from where the magazine hit her, and it still stings, but she still whispers a quick "I'm sorry" as she bends over to pick up the magazine that nailed her.

She just nods at Maru's request to go outside, hesitant to say anything more at the risk of setting her off again. At least if they aren't in the library anymore, if they head outside to the lawn for a bit, they won't have to worry about getting in trouble. Still, to think it was this serious...no matter how hard she wracks her brain, though, she can't think of a reason why Maru is that upset. What changed between yesterday and today..?

[zuraaa]

With another apologetic bow and a 'be right back' to the librarian, the two of them head out into the schoolyard. It's pretty abandoned by now, their fellow students divided between their various chores and clubs. Maru considers a moment, and then settles down atop her chosen patch of grass, beneath the comfortable shade of a tall cherry tree.

The weather's nice. Warm, even as the sun begins to slink away, dyeing the sky a blend of orange and purple. Maru wishes she could enjoy it a little more, without the uneasy weight rolling in her stomach.

She draws her knees to her chest, resting her chin between them.

"You know," she mumbles, "I wonder if you're really serious about Maru..."

[trappingheart]

Yoshiko just follows her with her arms crossed as she ponders the situation, but when Hanamaru plops down on the grass, Yoshiko hesitantly takes a seat next to her. She can't bring herself to focus on the sunset in front of them, or even on the bright petals of the cherry tree above them; if she did, she might remember having climbed one like this, over a year ago, falling from the top of the branch onto the hard pavement beneath before locking eyes with Hanamaru for the first time in years. But instead, Yoshiko's focus is entirely on poor Maru, even as she recoils into herself.

Still, Maru's worry is an unexpected one; Yoshiko doesn't quite know why Hanamaru is so concerned with that, all of a sudden, but the response is immediate, and Yoshiko instinctively reaches her hand out on the grass between them, her way of closing the distance.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Her voice practically cracks from the surprise. "Of course I'm serious about you, Zuramaru! We wouldn't have been together for this long if I wasn't! What made you think that, all of a sudden?"

[zuraaa]

Maru starts, caught off-guard by the abrupt intensity of her reaction. The unease trickles away, just a bit, and her shoulders hunch up self-consciously. It's hard to stay mad at Yoshiko when she's so earnest, but she can't stomp down her feelings so easily, either...

"... You really didn't notice? I was really excited about you coming to dinner with my family yesterday. Look, I even told you to dress up nice, didn't I?"

[trappingheart]

"Huh? Why are you bringing that up, all of a sudden?"

She knows what she's talking about, of course, it was only yesterday.

"And I did dress up nice, I wore the most normal thing in my closet and everything! I thought it went really well! Your family was really nice, and I don't think they, like, noticed anything. I tried not to make it obvious that we were, y'know, a thing..."

After all, Yoshiko hasn't told her family, either. Not because she's embarrassed about it or anything; it's more of a lack of contact issue, than anything. Still, in Maru's case, with her family running a shrine and all, the issue is a little more sensitive, so she tried not to be so openly affectionate. And yeah, there was one little mishap, but...

"They even played off my stupid joke better than I thought, all things considered. Even though it was a little humiliating, they didn't seem to mind it, I didn't think...and other than that, I thought it was nice. A little formal, of course, so it was kinda stiff, but I think they liked me, didn't they? Unless they were, like, talking about me behind my back or something..."

[zuraaa]

Whatever's remained of Hanamaru's indignation tapers off into weariness the more Yoshiko explains -- save for a single spike in tension, shoulders squaring up, when she talks about hiding their relationship like it was an accomplishment.

"Yoshiko-chan," she begins, slouching forward with a sigh. What stings most is the realization Yoshiko was doing her best, only with the completely opposite intent in mind-- she wasn't oblivious, she was deliberately trying to keep it a secret...

"Nobody was talking behind your back. Everyone liked you, and your clothes were nice. I just..."

She buries her face deeper between her knees.

"I wanted to tell them."

precure stuff c:

[trappingheart]

"Ugh! No, that one's stupid, too!"

For what feels like the hundredth time today, Yoshiko tears out a page of her notebook and furiously tosses it to the left wall of her room, just above the empty garbage can. She doesn't even react when the crumpled wad of paper bounces off the rim and teeters off towards parts unknown, another addition to the garbage-filled abyss she calls her floor. It's been a solid few days since she's been able to come up with even a workable plan to defeat the Cures, and both her impatience and her demotivation have been showing; she's spent the past couple of nights sleeping at her desk, hoping to get hit with even the tiniest bit of inspiration, from her dreams or her showers or anything in between, but she's had no luck whatsoever. Her boss is getting impatient, too, that much is obvious, and while she had been adamant that this next plan would finally be The One...

Well, she's got nothing to show for her efforts, not even a single semblance of an idea. As the sun starts to set on yet another day, she starts to wonder if she should maybe just give up for now; it's been days since she's even left her lonely apartment room, and longer than that since she's cleaned it. She's been living almost entirely on a diet of Jalapeño Flamin' Hot Cheetos and berry-flavored Monster energy drinks stored up in her meager pantry, and it's been almost a week since she's went to class...all things considered, she both looks and feels terrible, but if she doesn't show something good to the boss by the end of the week, it's not gonna end well...but all she can do is bang her head against the desk for now, completely burned out.

"Hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk! Yooocchan, I didn't know you were so pathetic! You really can't think of even one silly little plan? Aren't you supposed to be the creative one? No wonder no one keeps you around! Hyuk hyuk!"

...In fairness, though, to call the room completely lonely is a bit of a misnomer. While Yoshiko does have company, she'd almost rather it be anyone else but her one companion; to call the chubby little creature a bat would be a bit of a stretch, but it certainly has bat-like features... On top of that, despite the fact that it's quite tiny, it sure does know how to talk quite loudly in its obnoxious voice to make up for its diminutive size. It's also, perhaps unexpectedly on account of its plumpness, quite agile, so when Yoshiko briefly looks up to throw a can of her energy drink at him, he manages to dodge it with ease, without even faltering from his annoying laugh.

"S-shut up, Grendel!" Yoshiko cries, reinvigorated from his taunts. "I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas!"

Still, as frustrating as he can be to deal with, his irritating attitude and relentless teasing can be one of Yoshiko's biggest motivators, simply from a desire to prove him wrong; this time, though, the second Yoshiko grabs her pen again in anger and brings it to the page, she gets hit once again with the realization that she's still got nothing. With a groan, she slumps back over once more; is the whole thing really pointless, after all?

[zuraaa]

"Seriously, Maru-chan, I don't know about this... are you sure you shouldn't have gone with the others?"

"Baton, you worry too much," Hanamaru huffs in response, circling the building for a number sign. It's such a bother when they're not at the front-- "Oh, this is number 2! Just a little further down, then."

"I'm telling you, there's something off about that girl! She's so pale and spindly, and with those circles under her eyes, she practically radiates a dark aura. I'm just trying to look out for you!" Thankfully, the street is pretty much deserted around these parts, so there's no one to wonder at the grandmotherly prattling coming from Hanamaru's backpack, a pair of fluffy teddybear ears sticking out of the opened top.

"Yoshiko-chan is my friend! She's a good girl. And you're being awful rude, zura." Shifting the strap to one shoulder, she turns around to flick her familiar's ear, earning her a small, indignant 'ow'. "Don't they teach you not to judge by appearances in fairy-land? It's not nice at all!"

A dozen steps or so further, she perks up-- "Oh, I think this is it! Let's see, the teacher said sixth floor..." She peers at the row of buzzers for the PA; nothing says Tsushima, but there's a blank one around where the sixth floor should be, so she goes ahead and presses that one.

"Yoshiko-chaaaan, are you there? It's me, Hanamaru!"

[trappingheart]

Yoshiko's quiet moping in the dark is interrupted by the loud shriek of her intercom, and the buzzer is so unexpected that it practically knocks her out of her chair. She wasn't expecting company, especially not at this hour...and her surprise isn't dampened any when she hears Hanamaru's voice over the static of the PA system. How on earth did she figure out where she lived?! Over the course of the school year, they've probably had a total of two conversations (that weren't during their not-so-epic battles, of course), so what made her decide to come all the way to her apartment in the middle of nowhere?

"Oooooh, you're gonna get it now, Yocchan! She must be here because she figured out your secret identity, hyuk hyuk hyuk! I mean, you aren't very suuuubtle," purrs Grendel; despite the gravity of what a situation like that would mean for them, he seems to be taking the whole thing in good humor, cozying up to Yoshiko's shoulder and making himself comfortable. Yoshiko fails to see the joke, here, grabbing Grendel by the ear and tossing him off towards the bed; if Hanamaru is going to come upstairs, he'll need to keep himself quiet and pretend to be a stuffed animal or something until she leaves--

"J-just stay quiet and don't move a muscle until I tell you to!" she practically shouts; it's a good thing she doesn't have any neighbors on this floor, she quietly muses to herself as she wades through the mess on the ground, making her way over to the door to push the button to speak. Already, she can feel her hands shaking; she's not even looking at Hanamaru face-to-face, but the idea of talking to her makes her nervous...whether it's from the fear of having her identity exposed or because of their awkward history, even she's not quite sure. ...Then again, it could just be because she's like this with everyone, even putting aside that it's Hanamaru...

Okay, deep breaths. It's just Hanamaru, she doesn't bite--

"I-I'm here, Hanamaru-san. How did you get my address?" She all but mutters into the microphone, before taking a look at the floor beneath her. Good God, what a mess, there's only so much that "I wasn't expecting company" can excuse...

[zuraaa]

Oh, good, an answer! And her voice sounds okay, at least -- definitely not the strangled wail of a dying woman. Whew!

"I got it from the teacher!" Maru answers cheerfully, bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet. "Can I come up?"

[trappingheart]

"The...teacher?" She ponders, more to herself than anything else; why would the teacher give her...

Ah, crap. That's right, she hasn't been to school in days--

"Um...yeah, sure, just, uh, give me a minute? I'll buzz you in, just give me a chance to tidy up a little bit, this place isn't exactly ready for visitors..."

But then, it never is, if she's being honest; she hasn't had anyone come in here other than Grendel ever since her parents picked out the place for her. That's probably the last time the floor was visible, too; boxes still line the walls of the kitchen, things waiting to be unpacked that she never got around to unboxing. The place is filthy as can be, and a minute isn't nearly enough time to make the place presentable, but she can at least make it look a little better as she unlocks the door to the apartment complex for Hanamaru, scrambling to pick up tubes of chips and empty waterbottles off the floor...

From the corner of her room, Grendel stifles a few more chuckles, before Yoshiko shuts him up with a dirty look.

[zuraaa]

"That's okay! Take your time!"

Maru is content to wait a few minutes ouside; it's only fair, given her unannounced visit. She's never been to Yoshikos's place before, not since their kindergarten playdates, and she bounces a bit on the balls of her feet in anticipation.

She hasn't really had the chance to talk with Yoshiko since their reunion-- friendly greetings and how-are-yous, sure, but never anything deeper. It occurs to her, in that moment, just how little she knows about the person Yoshiko's grown up to be, and how much this visit could tell her. Is she tidy or messy? Does she live with family, or alone? Will she have posters on her walls of movies she likes, comic books, plushies?

When the door opens at last, she's bubbling with curiosity to see what the inside is like, and she crosses the threshold with a tiny hop.

"Pardon the intru-- gwah," she bites her tongue, frozen dead in place upon entry. It's definitely bad form to make any comments about the state of cleanliness in someone's home, especially on the first visit, but she just wasn't expecting there to be so... much.

Geez louise. At least that's a couple of her questions answered...

"I mean! It's good to see you, Yoshiko-chan! Uh, do you have any guest slippers?"

[trappingheart]

That would require ever having any guests to begin with, she thinks to herself; honestly, given that Hanamaru hasn't run for the hills just yet, she should really be thanking her lucky stars. But she doesn't blame her for the reaction; the floor is just a bit more manageable, in that there may actually be signs of tile peeking out from the trash-filled ocean, but, it's still a complete mess, with fluorescent lights above them that flicker every now and again...overall, it's a bit of a sad state of affairs, but at the very least, Yoshiko tries her best to look apologetic for it.

"...Sorry. I didn't exactly have much time to clean up, and I've, uh...I've been pretty sick, these past couple of days. Just, uh, springtime allergies. The worst. I'm really bad with pollen..."

Not putting into account the fact that this is clearly a mess that would take more than just a few days to accumulate, but, it's an excuse. It covers why she hasn't been to school at all, and that's probably what she's here for...

"You can use my slippers, if you don't mind the fact that I've worn them a couple of times. I'm good in my socks."

She goes digging through one of the boxes in the kitchen area, pulling out the slippers from inside of the box...she's been far too lazy to put them on, herself, but at least it seems like her place is some sort of organized chaos.

"If you want, you can sit at the kitchen table. I don't have tea or anything, but I can get you some water, or an energy drink. Been, er, trying to get my electrolytes back up. You know, from my cold..."

[zuraaa]

"Oh, thank you!" Maru accepts the proffered slippers, shedding her shoes in favor of them. She goes to sit by the table, stepping around an empty soda can and four crumpled paper balls on her way across while warding any hints of criticism away from her features.

"Energy drinks?" She can't help but frown at that. "Isn't that stuff really bad for you? If you're ill, Yoshiko-chan, orange juice and tea are the way to go! And speaking of which--!" Reaching into her bag, she produces a large thermos, presenting it proudly. "Tad-dah! I brought some. It's chamomile, so why don't we drink it together?"

[trappingheart]

"They're fine, Hanamaru-san. Besides, they're orange-flavored..." As if that actually means something...

"...Thank you, though. You definitely didn't have to do that. I'll go pour us some, then."

At first, she thinks to herself that it might be some kind of a trap, but, Hanamaru seems genuine enough, and the only one making the traps here is Yoshiko herself, isn't it? It's probably safe; from what she's seen in their battles, underhanded trickery isn't the Cure's M.O. in the slightest. And Hanamaru's going to be drinking it, too, so that rules out the fact that it's some kind of practical joke...

Not that she's ever seen Maru play a prank on someone, of course. But you can never really be too careful.

She takes the thermos over to the cupboard, and pours two cups of tea out for themselves; she has to stop herself from taking a third for Grendel on impulse.

"Did you, um...just come to check if I was alright?"

[zuraaa]

"The one I almost tripped over said berry-flavored," Maru tuts, wagging a finger. She dives back into her backpack, narrowly avoiding smacking Baton as she pulls out her notebooks.

"I brought notes from this week, too. We can go over them together, if you'd like, just to be sure you understand everything!"

[trappingheart]

She gulps, avoiding eye contact even as she puts the tea down for her on the table.

"They have all different flavors, alright? A-and berries are good for you, too! They've got, you know, high fiber, and..."

She trails off with a sigh, realizing just how pointless this conversation is.

"Forget I said anything. And you definitely don't have to do that. It was nice enough that you brought over tea and the work I missed, but you don't have to be my private tutor, Hanamaru-san. That's just going way too far for my sake."

[zuraaa]

Her frown reappears, tugging harsher this time. "I don't think it's too far at all! It's not your fault you got sick, Yoshiko-chan. You shouldn't have to fall behind."

"... And besides," she offers after a beat, features brightening: "You were my best friend in kindergarten!"