Gambling In Love

Chapter 18: For You

"I feel something" the words echoed in her mind for a few moments. The statement that seemed so simple, harmless, meaningless even, had single-handedly managed to take her breath away.

To anyone else, the statement "I feel something" could be as simple as feeling the grass under your fingers or as complex as feeling many emotions tear through you at once, but Mary knew the exact feeling Yumeko was referring to.

Well, she didn't quite understand what the raven-haired girl was feeling, but she understood why she had chosen such vague words. It took her right back to the time in the bathroom when Yumeko had repeatedly said she felt nothing. She was admitting that those words were a lie, and she was telling Mary that she did indeed feel something. Yumeko felt something for her.

"Mary?" her mother asked curiously. The older woman had noticed the tears filling her daughter's eyes, and she wondered what was going on in the girl's head. Of course she too understood that Yumeko was referring to all those times she'd claimed to not feel anything, but she didn't expect her daughter to react so outwardly.

"Just go home," Mary sighed as she refolded the letter and put it back in the envelope.

"You're not going to talk to her about it?" Amaya exclaimed in surprise. She had expected her daughter to rush in there and force a clearer answer out of the other girl.

"I'll talk to her about it at school tomorrow," Mary said with a sigh, tucking the envelope into her pocket, "She said she wanted to spend time with her sister, and if I went in there now, she'd know I opened it before I got home."

Mary's mom gave her daughter a "really?" look before heeding her daughter's orders and driving home.

"Mom?" Mary asked as she took off her coat and shoes.

"Yes?" her mother responded.

"Why did you really go through all the trouble to take over Atari's care?" Mary asked.

"Because I care for Yumeko," Mary's mother admitted genuinely, "and I know her sister means a lot to her."

"You did all of that for her?" Mary asked her mom in disbelief.

"She deserves some peace," Mary's mother said simply as she began reheating their dinner, "don't you think?"

--------------

"So, what's been going on?" Atari asked, "Oh, tell me you have a boyfriend!"

Yumeko was silent for a moment, unsure about what to tell her sister. Would she accept her? Of course she would! She was her sister after all, but that didn't stop Yumeko from worrying.

"A girlfriend?" Atari asked as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Actually," Yumeko began as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"I knew it!" Atari exclaimed.

"Well I don't have a boyfriend... or girlfriend.... Yet," Yumeko admitted.

"Yet?" Atari asked as she shifted her position, seemingly more interested now.

"Mary," Yumeko mumbled, knowing her sister would know what she meant.

"I thought I sensed something going on there!" Atari exclaimed again as she elbowed her sister proudly, "What was that letter about anyway?"

"Kind of a confession?" Yumeko asked more than stated, not really sure what to call it.

"That's cheap," Atari commented dryly.

"She'll bring it up tomorrow, and I'll tell her how I really feel," Yumeko told her sister.