Chapter Text
Based on Artwork by Yananeruu
The sky was slowly turning red above a small high school in Japan. It was a warm spring day, and there was barely a cloud in the sky. In one of the rooms, a tall girl with long, purple hair just took her leave after stashing her red, leather-bound book in her bag. After a shy wave to the two girls who stayed behind, she hurried out of the door and closed it behind her.
“Alright, I guess we better get started…”, Yanagi sighed. The young woman had been assigned to cleanup duty this week, together with her class and club mate Monika. Both of them were part of the Literature Club, which currently only had five members, with Monika as its president. Yanagi joined relatively recently, and was the newest member at this point in time. Still, she had managed to befriend the other members relatively quickly, and ended up entering a special kind of relationship with Monika.
Monika stood at the window, clearly lost in thought and fiddling with her long, brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail by a white bow, like almost always. Yanagi knew that the past few days had been rough on her, so she decided to start her tasks while giving Monika room to breathe for a moment.
“Yana…”, Monika began in a soft voice, “Do you think we should tell the others soon?”
Yanagi flinched as she heard these words, and nearly dropped the chair she had just wanted to put on the table. For nearly a month now, Monika and her had been in a committed relationship, but they decided to keep it a secret for the time being, due to multiple reasons. For one, they couldn’t predict how the people around them would react to two girls dating each other. And on the other hand, their relationship was sure to somehow affect the dynamics of the already small club. Neither of them wanted to risk the collapse of the Literature Club, so they only ever went on dates to places relatively far away, where nobody would know them, and avoided showing affection in public and especially around school. It was certainly not easy to hide one’s love like this, but both of them agreed that it was for the better.
“Mon, I really wish we could. But I think we need to take it slow with that.”
Monika, of course, understood why her girlfriend thought so. But still, after almost a month, she was tired of waiting.
“We have been taking it slow for so long. Can we not at least have a sleepover tonight, so I can get to feel your love properly?”
The club president turned away from the window, now facing Yanagi directly. As always, she looked like a goddess in Yanagi’s eyes. Her perfectly taken care of appearance, the gentle smile to hide her sadness, and these green eyes that were hiding so much. But of course, within the last month, Yanagi had finally had the chance to see beneath that perfect exterior, and found an overwhelmed, love deprived, and insecure girl. Of course, Monika still did her best to hide all of these things, but once in a while her mask slipped off. And of course, Yanagi wanted to support her in being who she truly was. Hiding their relationship simply put even more on Monika than she already had to bear.
“Well, it’s… risky, isn’t it?”, Yanagi responded, of course wanting to fulfil Monika’s wishes, but also still scared of how other’s would react to their emotions.
“What is supposed to be risky about two girls having a sleepover on the weekend?”, Monika asked, pouting demonstratively.
“Mon, we’re not twelve anymore… I don’t think sleepovers are that common for high school students.”
Monika just sighed and let her shoulders hang in defeat. She understood Yanagi’s feelings and fears better than anyone, but she still desperately needed some alone time with her girlfriend. Was that really too much to ask for?
Seeing Monika’s reaction, Yanagi couldn’t help but feel guilty. And she also knew for sure that she, too, needed exactly the same thing as Monika. She genuinely just didn’t know how to handle this situation.
“How about we talk about this after we’re done?”, Yanagi suggested out of desperation, “And I will go fix up things in the closet so we get done faster!”
Of course, this was just an excuse to get some quiet space to think. But Monika did not try to stop her, clearly seeing through what her girlfriend was doing. With a worried smile, she started cleaning up the club room.
Yanagi found some quiet time in the closet at the back of the class. She knew she had to make a decision on what to do, but she wasn’t sure if she was strong enough to make the right one. She always tried to put up a tough exterior, but in the end, she was still afraid of this choice. But in the end, she knew what she had to do. She knew that she had to leave these fears behind and stand next to her girlfriend with pride. Yanagi took a deep breath as she took this decision. She would bring Monika home that night, and tell everyone else first thing the next day.
“It’s still so fucking scary…”, Yanagi whispered to herself.
“You know you shouldn’t use dirty words like that, honey”, the gentle voice of Monika scolded Yanagi, who was too surprised to react. Suddenly, two slender arms reached around her waist. For a moment, Yanagi was surprised, but she quickly realised that the girl she loved had embraced her from behind. Unsure how to respond to this gesture, Yanagi simply enjoyed it. Monika held her tight, pushing herself against the slightly smaller girl in front of her. She didn’t want to speak a word, she simply needed Yanagi’s warmth. Yanagi gently put her hand around Monika’s, before taking another deep breath.
Without much resistance from Monika, she turned around to face her and clumsily put her arms around her girlfriend too. Both of them pulled each other closer, with Yanagi’s face being pushed against Monika’s chest, but neither of them cared. All they wanted was this feeling of togetherness, of emotional and physical connection. In this moment of vulnerability, Yanagi’s heart beat faster, and she could feel that it was no different from Monika. Without thinking, she raised her head, looking into the shining, emerald green eyes of her girlfriend, and holding onto her by her shoulders. In this moment, she noticed how soft Monika’s face looked, and how gentle her expression was. Yanagi wasn’t even able to tell how nervous her perfect club president was in this moment. She simply closed her eyes, and prepared for what was to come.
Gently, Monika closed the gap between their faces, holding her beloved Yana tight. She shivered slightly, unable to hide how scared she was of this moment. They had kissed before, of course, but this felt vastly different than anything she ever experienced. Her lips were only millimetres away from those of Yanagi.
Their lips touched, gently and clumsily, and Monika tried to pull Yanagi closer than she already was. A rush of emotions filled her head, and a warm feeling spread throughout her entire body. All of her worries were gone, even if just for a moment. All she cared about was this tender moment, and this gentle love. After what felt like an eternity of heaven, the two girls pulled apart once more, but the limitless affection was still clearly visible in both of their faces. Monika’s smile was different than usual, showing what almost seemed like obsession. Yanagi had entirely dropped her hard and reasonable persona, only looking at the girl she loved so much with eternal longing.
Monika gently traced her finger along Yanagi’s back, all the down to where her blazer ended and her skirt started. Yanagi shivered with every bit of movement, unsure how to handle such a thing.
“My love… don’t you want to take this even further?”, Monika asked with the most seductive voice Yanagi had ever heard. Unable to raise her voice, she simply looked at Monika, shy and worried about what might happen, but still yearning for so much more. Her body and mind both screamed for Monika. For her love, for her touch, for her very being.
But before Monika had the chance to do anything more, the door to the closet suddenly opened. Yanagi’s face was petrified in shock, as she was trying to act nonchalant about what had happened. Monika simply turned her head towards their uninvited guest, smiling awkwardly. Natsuki was standing at the entrance, not saying a single word and simply looking on in silence, unsure how to react to what she had just witnessed. None of the girls dared to move a muscle. At least until suddenly, Natsuki’s mouth shaped into a grin.
“Heh, I knew it”, was all that she said for a moment, and neither Monika nor Yanagi knew how to react. They were standing there, in the middle of the act, like frozen.
“So, is this what they call ‘closeted lesbians’?”