Shoujoai ni Bouken: Adventures of Yuriko

The Story So Far: Good advice has come to Yuriko from an unexpected source – her sempai turns out to be wiser than her years. After seeing Sayaka, Yuriko has decided to return to Midori.


Volume 5, Issue 8

"Stand Up, Get Up"


Yuriko rang the doorbell, then stepped back so as to be clearly seen through the peephole. After a few moments with no response, she rang the bell once again. When the door remained unanswered, Yuriko pressed her ear against it trying to hear any noise from within. She thought she could hear sounds but she couldn't make out anything distinct. She rapped her knuckles against the door, then her fist.

"Midori?" she called, then pounded again. "Midori – are you alright?"

At last she could hear footsteps, the background noise receded, and the catch was pulled back. The door opened and Yuriko stepped into an unfamiliar – and unexpected - atmosphere.

In the background, now turned down slightly but still too loud to be comfortably heard over, reggae music from the west pounded out of the stereo. The apartment was filled with smoke and a bottle of sake' figured prominently on the table. The plants that earlier had given the room a light, playful air, now seemed to have closed in - as if she had stepped into a tropical jungle. Yuriko stared at the apartment's occupant, who stared back a little sheepishly while she stubbed out a cigarette.

"You smoke?" Yuriko said in surprise. Yuriko noted that the usually stylishly dressed woman wore a sleeveless t-shirt and torn jeans. If her hair hadn't looked exactly the same as when she left her, Yuriko might well have thought she had just entered the wrong apartment.

Midori drained her glass and cleared her throat before answering. "Well, uh, yes, that is, only when I'm working."

"You're working? That's great!" Yuriko's comment was enthusiastic – and loud. "Can you, can you turn down the music?" she practically shouted, then laughed as Midori bolted over to the stereo system and turned the knob. As the music receded, Yuriko watched Midori through narrowed eyes.

"Smoking, drinking and writing – a pretty classic combination," she commented dryly. "I always avoided the less healthy habits associated with my career." She walked over to the computer, trying to get a look at the screen. "So, you were working? That's terrific, can I see?"

Midori gave Yuriko a sarcastic smile of her own as she shut the program down. "Terrific? Heh, well, I suppose it depends on your perspective."

"What do you mean?"

Midori walked over to a bookshelf and pulled down several volumes. She tossed them down onto a table one at a time as she spoke. "This one, I wrote when my marriage went bad. This one when a love affair I had kind of fizzled and this one," she lobbed a copy of her award-winning novel at Yuriko with a sour smile. "I wrote that after the first relationship I had with a woman went down in a blaze of glory."

Yuriko regarded Midori, her eyebrows raised. "Oh, so your working means..."

"That I'm miserable, yes." Midori laughed happily. "If I knew you were coming, I'd have at least dressed up a little."

Yuriko shrugged and approached the other woman, her face lit with pleasure. "I think you look incredible." She put her arms out to grip Midori's shoulders lightly.

Midori looked up, her face softening. "You came back."

"Someone, a very wise someone, told me that this was where I needed to be." Yuriko lowered her head and met Midori's lips as they came up towards her.

It was a very long kiss.

Midori put her hands on Yuriko's chest and looked up at the other woman. "I'm glad you came back," she said simply.

"Me too." And Yuriko pulled herself into Midori as if she'd never let go.

It wasn't how Yuriko had imagined it - in the late nights laying alone in her bed, or daydreaming. Her visions had been filled with romance and soft music, silk, lace, flowers and slow dancing that faded into slow kisses.

Instead she found her blood humming in her body as they fell to the floor, tugging ratty t-shits off each other, hard kisses that turned into bites, nails and hands stroking each other, as if this was to be their last night together, instead of their first.

Yuriko buried herself in the silken river of Midori's hair, letting it fall across her face, while she stroked shoulders, neck, ribs and at last, almost furtively, breasts that were softer than anything she'd ever felt before. Yuriko sighed loudly, trailing kisses down Midori's neck, until her mouth met soft, pink brown nipples.

Yuri could feel Midori's hands on her back, swirling in lazy circles, moving up her neck, raising goosebumps wherever they passed. Midori's hands were everywhere, coaxing noises from Yuriko's throat that she hadn't known she could make.

Yuriko tugged at the top of Midori's jeans, and sat back to watch as the dark-haired woman stripped. Before Yuriko could move, Midori had covered her with her own body, pressing the blonde to the floor. Yuriko found herself in the face of Midori's desire, able to do no more than lay back and allow the other woman to possess her.

***

It was dark as they lay there, arms around each other, on the floor in front of the sofa. Yuriko trailed her hands through Midori's hair and stared at the patterns the passing train lights made on the ceiling.

Midori shifted, lifting herself up on her elbow, and let her hand rest on Yuriko's cheek. Her skin glowed softly in the low light, and her hair, completely unbound, hung in a thick, black curtain around her face.

"My Yuri," she said quietly.

Yuriko reached up, brushing the hair back from Midori's face. "You are so beautiful it takes my breath away."

Midori leaned down and kissed Yuriko softly. "So are you."

A sly smile crossed Yuri's lips. "I keep expecting you to say you need a cigarette."

Midori chuckled, "I told you, only when I work."

"I promise to do my damndest to help you quit." Yuriko said, as she reached up to draw Midori down to her once more.

Continued