Upside Down

That"s not to say she isn"t protective of us, because she is. Honestly, a lioness with cubs has nothing on Honoka. It"s very clear to us, she loves us, and we love her.

My hope is at some point Chiaki feels the same way toward our family. She"s so quiet and insular, it makes me wonder why, but no matter how curious I am at the moment, I"ll give her some time to open up to us before I attempt to say or do anything.

I"d much rather someone do something because they love us than because they are paid to do so, since there"s always the possibility of their loyalty going to the highest bidder. I hate to sound pessimistic, but that"s the reality. Love is a much stronger bond than money for most people. Chiaki, at the moment, is a wait and see in my eyes.

As a quick aside, you might remember me wondering in pa.s.sing who Honoka"s more loyal to. Well, that question was inadvertently answered the other day when I asked her what she planned to do after she married Mitty.

She actually laughed and told me, "Sora, even if I marry him, I"ll never leave you. I don"t plan to leave you as long as you need me. Did you forget you asked me not to?" I shook my head and replied, "No. I didn"t forget, but you were noncommittal in what you told me then."

Anyway, at the moment, we"re heading to a mall in southern Tokyo. Yes, the same one we went to get our earrings. We"ve already dropped off Mama and Chiaki. Mama would have loved to come with us, but she tires so easily. One of the reasons we"ve taken over doing everything at home.

How do I say this… Mama has always been concerned about her figure, so she tends to eat light meals. As if I should have to say it, that"s not really enough for her when she has twins to take care of too. The three of us have been badgering her about this for a couple of weeks. Thankfully, she"s finally seeming to get it and eating more.

We spend the next several hours picking out her clothes and accessories. One of them being a dark gray, mini dress. Fitted upper with a flared skirt which reaches mid-thigh. She picks out some sheer white patterned stockings to go with it, along with some red, slouched, high heel knee boots. It perfectly suits her.

We pick out several hair accessories for her, Chinatsu and even a couple for me. While we"re there, we look through several jewelry stores. Finally, in the last one, I find a shop that does custom orders. Now, our sisters are due in December. My Birthday is September 30th, Chinatsu"s is in October 17th, and Honoka"s February 4th. I order a pendant with all of our birth stones with Mama"s in the top, center while making sure there"s room at add more, all surrounded by a large heart. I think she"ll love it. They tell me I can pick it up in five days. I can"t wait to see Mama"s expression when I give it to her.

I know for a fact she"s happy to have Honoka as her daughter, whether she gave birth to her or not, just as she is me. Mama told me awhile back, that I"ve always been family and, of course, I feel the same way. Now, I know this is going to sound bad, but, if I"m honest, I"m much, much happier since I changed s.e.xes and was adopted by Mama and Daddy. Truthfully, I feel much closer to them than I ever did to my birth parents. Told you it"d sound bad.

Back home when we start making dinner, Chiaki offers to help. Unfortunately, our current kitchen is too small for an extra person to help since we"d be getting in each other"s way. Hopefully, this is an indication she"s loosening up and trying to integrate herself into the family, we"ll see.

Next step, the way she dresses. Now, honestly, she does dress better than Honoka did, but that"s a relative thing. Slacks and jeans aren"t something allowed in this household, as you already should know. This will have to change. It"s not my opinion that matters here and I"ve seen the way Mama looks at her dressed this way. Yes, if Mama had her way all women would wear skirts and dresses, intermixed with shorts here and there.

How should I explain… I"d asked Mama about this earlier on. She pulled me into her lap to cuddle with me and said, "Yes, women can do almost anything a man can do, BUT that doesn"t mean they need to give up their femininity to prove it."

She further explains, "We can take advantage of our abilities as well as our s.e.xuality, there"s nothing wrong with embracing both. Sweetheart, the feminists in the past tried to set women above men, giving them special rights and basically saying men are nothing but walking sperm banks that couldn"t see farther than the end of their... Anyway, that"s far from reality and simply elitism. They went so far that most men wanted nothing to do with them, so at one point they had to try to have laws pa.s.sed to force men to marry them. They didn"t like the so-called men remaining from the system they created but rather wanted the ones who walked away from them and their insanity. Sorry, I went a little off course there, but I hope you understand what I"m saying."

I"m fairly sure I do. In other words, embrace not only my s.e.x and what privileges that gives me, but my intelligence and abilities as well, and never allow someone to convince me that I can"t do something simply because I have a uterus.

Sorry, bit of a tangent there.

That being said, Ryu calls me at 8:00 to ask what, if anything, I"d like to do tomorrow. Of course, there is something we want to do. We were watching the news yesterday evening and a story came on about the Tachikawa fireworks and flower festival at Showa Kinen Park. I asked Dad about us going and was given the okay for us to go, but to be back by 11:00.

Sora sends me an amused image saying, "You"ve really become super girly." I silently reply with an image of me smiling and nodding. I have, but I want to be this way. I like how I am. I like the way I look, dress and act. Is that wrong? I don"t think so.

So, I mention wanting to go take a walk there with him and then watch the fireworks.

Have I mentioned that there"s little Ryu wouldn"t do to make me happy? I"m fairly sure isn"t an exaggeration either. If I wanted to go skydiving, which isn"t going to be happening, I"m certain he"d merely nod and say, "Okay, when?"

Anyway, he tells me, "They"ll meet us at the house at 4:00, and then we"ll go to the park."

I tell him, "I"ll pack a dinner for us, since I doubt it"d be very easy to get dinner there otherwise." The park has cafe"s, but I imagine they"ll be packed.

We talk for a bit longer, until he tells me, "Sorry, I need to go, my mom is calling for me. Goodnight Sora. I love you."

"Good night Ryu. Sleep well. I"ll see you tomorrow." I reply and end the call.

I feel a little awkward when he tells me that, because I"m still unsure of exactly how I feel about him. Do I like being with him? Yes. Do I want him as my boyfriend? Certainly. Can I see him as part of my future? Definitely, I can and do. I"ve no plans to push myself, since I"d much rather let it happen naturally. I"m thirteen, there"s no need to try to figure out how I feel right this second. We have plenty of time.

[Sunday, July 5th]

Waking up at 5:30, I kiss Chinatsu awake as well. We probably should have picked out today"s outfits last night, but Chinatsu got me sidetracked. She started teasing and kissing me, so any rational thoughts I might have had flew away.

It"s not a big deal, as we have plenty of time until we have to make breakfast. After a quick kiss and telling each other, "Good morning," we throw on our nightgown, and I delve into my closet to find something cute to wear.

If I remember correctly, Mama ordered me a pink halter top mini dress. A white belt and my white, cross strap sandals will go well with it. After seeing what I chose to wear, Chinatsu heads to her room to pick her outfit for today while I go to collect Honoka for our morning bath.

After showering, we soak in the bathtub with me laying back against Chinatsu while she loosely holds me. This is one of our happiest times of the day, as if I need say that. You should know by this point how much we love bath time.

While we"re soaking, the sweet and invigorating aroma of freshly brewed mocha coffee wafts it"s way into the bathroom rousing us from our blissful stupor.

Chiaki pokes her head into the bathing area. "Good morning. Whenever you get out, coffee is ready."

"Good morning." we reply and Honoka continues, "Thank you. We"ll be there soon."

Tacitly, we agree to get out. After drying off and dressing, we head into the dining room to have some coffee with Chiaki. It"s a perfect opportunity to get to know her a little better.

In our conversation she tells us bit about herself. She"s unmarried, 29, and was personal security for a senior "unnamed female" national diet member, until Dad hired her. She began learning Tae Kwon Do at nine, also able to use just about anything as a weapon, and trained with several different types of firearms. Honoka seems to be impressed, as am I.

She"s 163cm tall, maybe 54kg, moderately sized b.o.o.bs, and a svelte figure. She"s not gorgeous like Mama or even pretty like Mirai, but definitely a rather cute woman with chestnut hair that falls to mid-back and almond shaped, brown eyes.

After two cups of coffee, it"s time to get breakfast made. Simple and filling is the order of the day. Therefore, it"s fried eggs, hash browns, sausage gravy and biscuits. Chiaki asks Honoka to let her help cook. While we make breakfast, it"s easy to see she"s well versed in it.

Mama and Dad enter the dining room as we"re finishing everything up. As we eat, Mama mentions that Chiaki"s attire is inappropriate for this house, so they"ll go shopping for her new outfits tomorrow morning. Chiaki doesn"t even bat an eye, and merely nods. Of course, we won"t be going with them.

Anyway, let"s fast forward to this afternoon. I cooked and packed a large picnic basket for our dinner. Fried chicken, potato salad, and the like.

After the boys arrive, Ryo picks up the somewhat heavy basket, we load up in the car, and snuggle up to our boyfriends for the trip.

After we arrive and pay the entrance fee, I take Ryu"s hand as we slowly amble down a path until we reach an open area. I"m literally awestruck by the view spread out before me. It"s like someone cut out a piece of heaven and placed it here.

A smile lights up my face as I look around me. This is one of the most beautiful things I"ve ever seen. A kaleidoscope of colors carpet the area in all directions, seemingly without end. Each area we come to is more beautiful than the last. This is a true artform. Everything lovingly and painstakingly crafted and cared for. I"ve never thought about taking flower arranging, as the thought of which flowers should be placed beside what is something I"d never even considered or cared about, but I think about it now. If their intent is to awe and inspire, they most certainly achieved it in my case. Between the warmth of Ryu"s hand in mine, the delicate scents of the flowers carried on the warm summer breeze, and the beauty of this place spread out before us, how could I not be happy at this moment?

This is the most romantic place I"ve ever been. If it wasn"t for the crowd of people around us, I"d ask Ryu to take me in his arms and kiss me, pa.s.sionately, right here, right now.

Slowly continuing along the path, we make our way to the northern side of the park where the cherry blossom trees are. There are some thirty varieties of them and around fifteen hundred cherry blossom trees here.

Picking out a spot under a rather large one, we spread out a blanket, so we can eat and head over to pick out a good viewing spot for the fireworks.

By no means is this the largest fireworks festival in Tokyo, that honor belongs to the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival. The boys don"t know it yet, but they"ll be taking us to it. We"ll be surprising them by wearing yukata"s, which Mama will be taking us shopping for soon. The Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival is held at the end of July, which is perfect, since it coincides with the end of the school term.

The amount that Ryo eats amazes me and the compliments he gives me on my cooking makes me blush. I"m happy everyone finds it tasty, but nothing I made is all that complicated. Basic picnic fare, but filling.

After we eat, we put everything back in the basket. Since we still have half an hour until they start letting people in for free, we slowly make our way over to the field, taking in the breathtaking sights as we do.

Reaching the field with a few minutes to spare, we pick out a spot on the opposite side of where they shoot them off. Spreading out our blanket again, we take a seat and chat while we wait for the show to start. I told you already, this isn"t the biggest fireworks festival in Tokyo, but it"s still a large one that lasts for over an hour and consists of over five thousand shots.

It begins a few minutes late after an announcement welcoming everyone. I climb over in front of Ryu to sit in between his legs and lean back against him while he gently embraces me within his arms. My eyes almost sparkle in excitement, not only from the show, but from being so close to someone I love… Eh? Did I say that? Is that really how I feel? I think it is...

Turning to look over my shoulder, I slip a hand behind Ryu"s neck to pull him down to me. Quietly, well, relatively quietly, considering how loud it is, I tell him, "Ryu, I love you."

His, "I love you too," elicits a blissful smile from me, until his kiss wipes it, and everything else, away.