For the Yuri Writing Competition 2019 Title: For My Beloved, I will... Sypnosis: Reina Katsuragi lives with her sister-in-law Tsubasa and secretly harbors a crush on her. When she meets with her senior, Sachiko, she found herself reciprocating her advances. This led to Reina questioning her feelings and the sometimes, sudden lack of thereof for either of them, which she found strange. When Tsubasa arrived at her meeting with Sachiko wearing a strange outfit, the truth is revealed. Reina is then forced to choose. Will she able to...or will she abstain? A/N: I planned this to be a slice of life tragic story...but somehow it ended up like this..xD Spoiler: For My Beloved, I will... -For My Beloved, I will… -Reina- “Onee-san…may I know what you are doing?” Hello everybody, the name is Reina Katsuragi. I am currently being wall-slammed by my widowed sister-in-law, Tsubasa Minamoto. It all started with me casually telling her I would be little late in returning home from work as I would be hanging out with an upperclassman from high school. I could not help but blush at how intensely her gaze was on me. You would think after several years of living together, I would be used to it however I could not help but be captivated by those shiny emerald eyes of hers. Complemented with her silky long black hair and slim model-like body, she was indeed very beautiful. No wonder my late older brother fell in love with her…and I as well. Long story short, Tsubasa was my late brother’s wife. He had passed away suddenly in an accident leaving her alone since her parents died when she was in college. I volunteered to take her in into my apartment since there was room. It was totally not because I was trying to take advantage of her broken heart and filled up the space left my brother in her heart. Nothing too cheesy like that. All I wanted to do was to support her and she accepted. The rest was history. "I object to your meeting with this woman,” she suddenly told me sternly. That earned her a raised eyebrow from yours truly. “Excuse me?” Recently, Tsubasa had been acting strange. We never had any major issues ever since we started living together. She never cared what I do as long nothing bad happened to me. However, she had been starting to ask about what I did for the past few days. I had seen her peeking at my phone when it was unlocked and flipping through my messages and calls. The weirdest was when I saw her examining my used clothes and even my underwear in the laundry basket. I could have sworn she sniffed the latter. Anyways, I wanted to believe she was starting to become interested in me. There was no other explanation. She could just be an over-protective older sister but that did not justify the underwear sniffing. Moreover, the fact I did not reveal my upperclassman’s gender and she assumed it being a woman, meant she was either aware of my sexual inclinations or she was interested in me or maybe both. I could not help but feel excited at the possibility. “What are you grinning about?” I snapped out of my thoughts temporarily forgetting Tsubasa had wall-slammed me. I pushed her away and wordlessly walked over to the door of our apartment. “Reina! Didn’t you hear me?!” She was getting frustrated, but I just ignored her having lost in my fantasy of a happy married life with her in our cosy apartment. I put on my shoes and turned to face her. She had a worried expression on her face. I wondered what she was worried about. It was so unusual. She looked at me as if I would not be coming home. I gave her a smile. “Don’t worry, nee-san. I will back before you know it.” As I left, I could have sworn she said something. “That’s what your brother said too…” xxx -Tsubasa- Seeing the blonde girl leaving, it really reminded me of her brother. He left with a big smile on that fateful day too. I remembered the times he looked at me with caring eyes. It was the same with her but hers was stronger. For years, I pretended not to notice while we were together. If I told her if her affection was all a lie, would she still accept me? I remembered his last words to me. “Please…protect Reina…whatever it takes.” I remembered his words…his last act…in protecting his sister. I hugged him and cried till I could not anymore. I promised I would protect her. I took out my phone and opened a tracking app. Reina probably knew I was reading her messages, but she had no idea I planted a tracker in it too. She was quite a distance away. Suddenly, something broke in the kitchen. The plates Reina had washed before she left were shattered into pieces on the floor. Strengthened by the memory of my former friend and my promise, I went to the closet of the apartment and took out a box. “I promise…” xxx -Reina- “Reina…? Are you alright?” I snapped out of my trance and saw my former school senior, Sachiko Inoue, looking at me worriedly. “Y-yeah. Sorry I zoned out, senpai. What were we talking about?” Sachiko sighed and took a sip out of her iced tea. We were currently having some tea at a café near my workplace. “Seriously, Reina. You haven’t really changed since our school days. You always liked to just zone out and ignore people. Usually, people would be turned off, you are lucky I like you so much.” She then flashed a big smile which made my heart aflutter. Unlike my gorgeous sister-in-law Tsubasa, Sachiko had a princely aura around her. She was obviously a woman but with her short red hair and her preference for boyish and men clothing, she really made a lot of women swoon for her. Men too but it was the women, such as me, she wanted. She would try her best to win me over but unfortunately for her, I had eyes for someone else. Wait…someone else? Suddenly, I tried to think hard who I had liked back then. Was it not Tsubasa? Eh? Since when did I starting liking Tsubasa in that way? I clutched my head firmly with my hands trying to endure the sudden painful headaches. “Reina!” Sachiko held her hands over mine on the café table. Slowly, my headaches started to subside and when I looked at my senior face, somehow it looked so dazzling to me. My heart started to beat faster and I could not bring myself to look away. Sachiko gave a small smile before slowly moving her face closer to mine. Something deep inside me was telling me to push her away however, I closed my eyes and ignored it, as if bewitched, knowing what was coming. Her lips met mine and we kissed. I never felt so complete before. Sachiko…I love her. I cannot live without her. I need to be by her side forever. This feeling I’m having kissed her…I want to feel it every day. When our lips parted and I opened my eyes, Sachiko looked at me with so much love in her eyes. I scolded myself for rejecting her during our teenage years. This woman loved me, and I was a fool to not love her back. However, I would be willing to give my everything to her. Sachiko’s grip on my hand became firmer as she took a deep breath preparing herself for something. “Will you be mine, Reina?” I was about say to ‘yes’ when suddenly somebody put their hand on my shoulder. Suddenly, I was back to my normal self. I looked behind me and saw Tsubasa wearing an outfit consisting of a white tunic dress which was accompanied with a full-body black cloak and she was wearing a pointy black witch hat. She looked angry. I turned back to Sachiko whose eyes were widely opened in a mixture of surprise and fury. “You ruined it, Tsubasa! Just a little longer, she would be mine!” It was my first time, seeing Sachiko so furious and it was scary. Furthermore, she was yelling about me being hers. Just what did she meant by that?! Suddenly, the headache started happening again. Sachiko went to touch my hand but Tsubasa blocked it with hers. “You.Are.Not.Touching.Reina.Again.” Suddenly there was a flash of light and I found myself in a deserted city. The café we were in as well as everyone else had disappeared leaving only the three of us. I saw Sachiko was dressed in a similar outfit as Tsubasa’s except hers was the inverse, a black tunic dress with a white witch hat and cloak. She had a staff, which was as tall as her, in her right hand. Her gaze was still fixated on Tsubasa who glared back at her. I fell to my knees overwhelmed with confusion of what just occurred that made no sense at all. “W-what…is going on…? Tsubasa nee-san? Sachiko-senpai?” The two looked at me finally realizing I was still there. Immediately, Sachiko quickly rushed over to me but Tsubasa stood in front of me and she drew a sword from under cloak. “You are not getting near her again.” Sachiko smirked and touched her lips. “We already done it, Tsubasa. The contract has been sealed. She is mine now, so step aside.” Sachiko aimed her staff at Tsubasa and a ball of fire flew out from it. Tsubasa managed to deflect it with her sword. She grimaced at Sachiko’s statement and turned to look at me. “Does not look like its consensual so it does not count.” “Come to me, Reina!” shouted Sachiko which sounded like a command to me. My body twitched as if compelling me to move towards my senior. I could see Tsubasa’s eyes widened and Sachiko had a large smile plastered on her face anticipating my move. My body, against my will, got up and slowly walked over to Sachiko. Tsubasa blocked my path and my body proceeded to land a punch right in her stomach. I could see Sachiko trying to hide her excitement seeing my poor relative currently on the ground clutching her stomach. I wanted to apologize but I could not even speak. My body continued walking till I stood beside Sachiko who proceeded to caress my cheek and then hugged me from behind putting her hands around my waist. I slowly found myself overcome by the same sensation a while ago in the café with her. “I love you, Reina,” whispered Sachiko softly into my left ear. I could feel my body getting hot and I turned my face to hers. I felt myself compelled to answer her affection. “I also-…” “NOOOOOOOO!” xxx -Tsubasa- I made a promise with her brother. I would not fail. I MUST not fail. I will protect Reina even if it means breaking the rules. There was no way Sachiko would get her hands on the woman I cherished the most. I proceeded to cast a spell. “Spirits…grant me strength to thy body. Grant me the power to outrun even the fastest mortal. Grant me the strength to surpass an individual. Execute!” A magic circle appeared below me and engulfed me in energy. Before they could kiss, I quickly got up and rushed towards them before Sachiko could even blink and proceeded to punch her right in the face which sent her flying a good several metres away. It took take her a few moments to get up so I needed to do something about Reina. Her eyes which seemed clouded suddenly cleared and she blinked. She nearly fell due to surprise seeing up close. I managed to catch her before she fell on her back. She looked scared which was understandable. This dance had gone long enough. “Tsubasa nee-san…what is going on?” I gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Reina. Everything will be clear once I do this.” I kissed Reina however to my surprise, she did not resist instead she kissed me back willingly. Once we broke the kiss, tears started to form under Reina’s eyes. “R-reina…?” “Tsubasa…I remember everything…” xxx -Reina- Visions…my mind started to be filled up with them. Visions of the future? No…this was my memories. In my memories, I saw myself in school with my friends, including Sachiko however I was wearing robes and a pointy witch hat instead of the usual sailor uniform. Next was my meeting with Tsubasa introduced as my brother’s partner. However, instead of my brother, Tsubasa was engaged to me due to her liking women. I gasped as I saw the many moments, I had shared with Tsubasa. Sachiko also frequently appeared trying to woo me and I saw myself reciprocating somewhat. The next memory was tragic as it showed my brother did indeed die but not because of an accident. He died protecting me from a bitter duel between Tsubasa and Sachiko which went out of control. My memories showed that magic existed, and that witches and wizards lived among of us. In fact, Tsubasa and Sachiko were two of the brightest of their age. Having the two prodigies fighting over a girl like me who was not outstanding, was a smear to their reputations. The duo did not care and refused to part from me. Thus, instead of having me separated from them, the duo agreed on ending their feud over me if I chose one of them however I was not in a state to choose after my brother’s death which led to my memory being manipulated by them. A pocket reality was created just for this purpose. The feud would end if I had chosen before I regained my memories. Regaining my memories, I finally realized my two suitors had cheated. Sachiko had outright tried to use a charm spell as knowledge of its effects came to mind. Tsubasa had subtlety used it to influence my feelings. I had loved them both…but somehow knowing what I did for this to happen made me so guilty. There was only one possible conclusion. I must leave them…I did not deserve neither of them… I looked at the two women in front of me. I caused them so much pain…because of me…my brother died and the two of them had to go through so much. “Reina…don’t leave…” I saw Sachiko reaching out her hands to me urging me to come to her. Despite her actions, I could tell her feelings were sincere. I did not deserve such strong passionate feelings. Tsubasa, on the other hand, only looked at me with a tired expression as if telling me to decide and she did not care what I chose as long it made me happy. I placed both my hands on my chest as if to calm myself as what I was going to say would be extremely painful for all of us. “Sachiko…Tsubasa…I’m sorry.” Sachiko looked like she was going to cry while Tsubasa’s expression remained unchanged. I walked towards them. This would be our final farewell. If it was fated, perhaps we would meet again. I proceeded to give them both a kiss on the cheek. That action finally released the waterworks for them. I turned facing away from them and my clothes slowly changed to a grey tunic, cloak and pointy hat. I then cast a teleporting spell. “REINA!” They shouted my name as a last-ditch effort to get me to stay. “I’m sorry.” I teleported away without looking back. -End-
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH !? Didn't you already post it before ? I am quite sure i already saw this story before. Edit: aaaaah, now i think i remember, you didn't create it's own thread before. Edit 2: *Only checked the ending* As it's not a good ending story i don't like it. Sorry you won't be getting my vote.
ah thats too bad. I usually preferred bittersweet or tragic endings for my oneshots. it was meant to be...but after so many edits and tries...it ended up not being SoL lol.
Personally I can enjoy a good tragedy every now and then like this one but not too frequently... but as for the SoL it’s kinda right in the beginning? At least before the climactic reveal I’d say it’s SoL (after rereading it twice that’s a thought change of mine) Spoiler: Edit Edit: Also realized that I could tolerate the story’s tragedy because it’s one of two events: 1- The brother’s death, but it happened prior to the story so it’s more of a tragic setting/backstory. 2- The MC leaving at the very end was a proper decision towards the other two’s actions. Normally I’d say that being indecisive would could lead to problems later on (like how the two FL’s killed the brother who died protecting the MC, implying that the two nearly killed her because they were fighting over her...), but I mean she was nearly killed by them so it stands to reason that she’d justified to getting the hell away from them (also for the fact that they’d been trying to manipulate her into choosing them over the other through magic... it’s a mess).
I feel quite weird for knowing (didn't look at name before reading) that the previous winner of yuri competition that i voted for would be make a drama oneshot.
This is interesting yuri story, I like it. My third fav story, other first or second is chinese yuri story.
A surprising twist But though it ended like that, it really does make sense. Spoiler Though the both of them do seem to love her, they still did try to force her to love them back using magic... Whether the influence was subtle or not, it still wouldn't have been true love in the end Overall, nice pacing! And it was an entertaining read, so thank you~