Natsuki groaned as the darkness of the room slowly began to leave, a small crack in the curtains letting in more light then she would've liked, hitting directly over her eyes. She didn't do anything to stop the light, reaching up and slowly rubbing her eyes that were very sensitive, wincing when her elbow brushed over her side and turning onto her back.

"Fuck! Goddamnit, that still hurts..." She mutters, opening her eyes and looking down at the side of her chest, afraid to lift her shirt up to look.

She first however looks around her, she half expected to see Yuri in there with her but she was alone in this room, completely alone and shockingly not afraid? That was a first, she always woke up in a panic or rush to try and get out of her house before her father woke up. This time however she felt safe, so much so that she almost wanted to go right back to sleep in Yuri's covers and enjoy the warmth of her bed.

Unfortunately, she still has school and already she's running late, getting up, she looks down and gives a sour expression at her clothes. She hadn't washed them in a while... but there's no way she could wash them and have time to get to school at the same time, not to mention it would be weird to ask to use Yuri's washing machine. Speaking of Yuri, where is she? She isn't in her own room, or at least what Natsuki believes is her room, she didn't leave for school already did she?!

Natsuki quickly gets out from the bed, throwing the covers off of her, she rushes towards the door, flinching with almost every step as her leg is still badly bruised on her calf. She opens it and walks out into the hallway, looking around at the well lit walls and peering into the living room. Yuri is there sitting on the couch by herself, a book in her hands as she reads to herself quietly.

Natsuki breathes out relieved, 'Good, I thought for a second she left me...' she thinks, her heart beating faster now as she comes over to Yuri from behind, wondering why she hasn't started to get ready yet as she's still dressed in her normal gray sweater and pants.

"Um, hey Yuri," Natsuki calls almost softly.

Yuri gasps, startled as she turns around to Natsuki, "Ah, Natsuki, jeez you scared me," she admits, smiling at her softly, "You're finally up. You slept for a really long time."

Natsuki pauses and looks over at the clock on the wall, 7:34, school starts at 8 o'clock, why would Yuri let her sleep for so long?!

"Yeah, well that's your fault for letting me oversleep! Your bed was too comfortable..." she whines, Yuri giggling and getting up, marking her page before setting her book down.

"S-sorry, I didn't want to wake you when you always seem so tired," she says, Natsuki taken aback by Yuri's continued kindness, "Well, relax for a while okay? I'm going to get started on breakfast now that you're up."

Natsuki crosses her arms, "Uh, what? We've got like 30 minutes before school dummy, you're not even dressed we don't have time for-" Yuri places her hand on Natsuki's shoulder quieting her.

"Actually... I was thinking maybe we could... s-stay home today?" she asks nervously.

"What? Why? Nothing's wrong with me that I need to skip school Yuri," the pinkette insists, pushing away from Yuri and already going to grab her bag near the door, "I don't think skipping school would be a good idea and besides, we have to help later with the club decorations!"

Yuri sighed and held her hands together, how could she tell Natsuki the truth about what she had seen? There's no way Natsuki would feel comfortable with Yuri seeing her starved body without her permission, especially when she was asleep, unable to stop her.

"Natsuki..." she mutters, reaching out to her before stopping and taking her hand back, "Please stop, I just..." Yuri pauses, not sure what to say.

Natsuki turns around and sees how meek Yuri is suddenly, why was she acting so nervous all of a sudden? And more so why would she go to an extent to ask Natsuki to skip school by calling in for her?

Natsuki sighs and asks annoyed, "Just what, Yuri? What's wrong that you want me to skip class today, hm?"

Yuri looks away, tinting pink and reaching up to her hair, starting to play with it, "I-I just... Think it would be good for you, Natsuki. You're always rushing and are so hard headed that you forget to take care of yourself, I-I wanted to give you a day to yourself is all..." Yuri admits, giving the best explanation that she could.

Natsuki grumbles and goes to retaliate before her stomach growls in excruciating hunger, having been spoiled from the dinner Yuri made for her last night and demanding more food to fill itself with.

She stops, looking down and realizing maybe Yuri's right, even though it might not seem like it to others, there's definitely something up with the pinkette in some way. Maybe a day off from school won't be such a bad thing in this case?

Natsuki sighs, realizing she might have been a little brutish just then, "I... alright, I guess a day off doesn't sound like such a bad idea," she mutters, conflicted on how to feel about Yuri's treatment towards her.

Yuri perks up a lot, glad Natsuki's agreed to it, "G-great! Would you want some breakfast then?" she asks, Natsuki nodding embarrassed after accepting Yuri's help for a second time.

She smiles happily and goes straight to the fridge, starting to look through it for any ingredients to make a good filling meal for the pinkette she's suddenly come to care for greatly.

Natsuki looks down at herself and sulks a little, she's never felt so... safe before, so okay being around someone like this. What's ironic is that she and Yuri really didn't like each other not too long ago and now they're seemingly getting along as if none of that had ever happened. She was glad for it of course! But it's so odd that things have changed so quick, almost like someone's altered something in their lives maybe-

"Natsuki," Yuri calls, snapping her out from her thoughts, "I-if you would like, the bathroom is free and I have some spare clothes as well. You can go and freshen up if you want, I can't imagine you like wearing the school uniform all day after all," Natsuki looks down and pulls her shirt down looking at it and sighing.

"Yeah, I'll go do that then..." she mutters, Yuri having already gone right back to getting breakfast ready, her back turned to Natsuki.

She watches for a few more seconds, Yuri grabbing her hair and starting to put it up into a ponytail so it won't get in her way. Natsuki unable to resist any longer as she comes up from behind Yuri. She's so close to her, looking up as Yuri easily towers over her, before she hugs her abruptly!

"A-ah! Natsuki?! What are you-" Yuri asks, startled as Natsuki hugs her.

"Just... I-I wanted to say thanks is all," she mutters, not used to being given so much like this, "I can't really do anything to pay you back right now so just... thank you."

Yuri's quiet, she can feel how nervous Natsuki is right now as her chest pushes against her back. The taller girl just wanted to whip around and hug her back and explain to her everything she saw last night now! But she refrained, deciding Natsuki just needs time to herself for now and to not be overwhelmed on what should be a day she can relax.

"Oh, y-you're welcome, Natsuki. But please you don't have to do anything like that I-I want to do this for you," she assures. Natsuki letting Yuri go as she turns around, forcing a smile, "Please don't think you have to "return the favor" or anything, really."

Natsuki gives Yuri a soft smile and even though Yuri said not to return the favor, she was going to find something to do for her at least, there's just no way she couldn't at this point. Leaving Yuri to make breakfast and walking to the bathroom, turning the light on to the somewhat spacious room and closing the door leaving it unlocked.

Turning the shower on, she starts to undress herself, untying her hair and taking her shirt off first, unbuttoning her undershirt with some annoyance, hissing whenever she accidentally touched her bruise. Slipping her uniform off and setting it down on the toilet seat, doing the same with her skirt and standing in front of the mirror as she waits for the water to heat up. She looks at herself and feels a little disgusted, of course she does, who wouldn't after seeing someone in such a horrible state?

She raised her arm and looked at her bruise, brushing it with her fingers very gently, following it from her side to the middle of her chest. It still hurt pretty bad but she could at least brush her fingers down it now, it seems like it's sort of healing already too since it's more of a light purple rather than almost a deep black. Natsuki looks up at her face, her eyes look tired and like they're dulling, her home life clearly taking its toll on her physically in more ways than she was expecting.

And her bruised cheek... it's not too visible now but it looks like the makeup is finally smearing, 'I don't think Yuri noticed it but still... should I maybe tell her what's been happening?' Natsuki wonders.

Natsuki left it at that and carefully got into the shower once the water was a good temperature, she couldn't have it against her chest too much from the water pressure but still it felt really nice bathing at her leisure for once. The water was nice and Yuri had all sorts of fancy looking shampoos to try out as well, all of these scents fitting with the bookworm perfectly.

She takes a light purple bottle and opens it, smelling a lovely lilac and lavender mix which makes her melt, Yuri coming to her mind as she starts to wash herself. Blushing a little whenever she thought about the tall violet girl who took her in the night before, how she let someone help her for a change...

Natsuki finished her shower with a little difficulty when it came to washing over her bruised areas, humming to herself as she dries her hair with a big toothy grin on. Feeling so much better after having had a bath after such a long time, finishing drying off and looking around for her clothes which aren't there anymore?

Instead there's a whole set of clothes placed where her old ones were, they looked like some clothes Yuri would wear but younger, 'Did she come in without me knowing? Guess I was enjoying myself more than I thought,' she thinks, not too bothered about Yuri coming in with new clothes without Natsuki knowing.

She puts on the clothes that she assumes Yuri left her, surprised to see that she actually has a shirt that isn't a sweater or long sleeved as she dons a cute white shirt with an adorable little curled up cartoon raccoon on the front. Recalling the one poem Yuri wrote involving a raccoon this seems like something Yuri would have. The pants Yuri gave Natsuki were a bit long on her but it fit alright and it felt good having normal clothes on for once.

Natsuki walked out from the bathroom, tying her hair up again as she walked into the living room, smelling something absolutely mouth watering. It was savory and tinges of spices tickled her nose as she peaked over at Yuri, feeling herself blushing almost instantly at her. She was still wearing her sweater but she had her hair up in a ponytail and is wearing an apron tied around her front.

Natsuki stared, her eyes having a feast as Yuri cooked, 'She... Looks almost motherly when like that. A-and she's kinda... beautiful too,' Natsuki thought, her face turning a bright red as Yuri turned around smiling at her.

"Natsuki, I'm almost finished with the food, was your bath nice?" she asks, using a couple of chopsticks and turning what seemed to be a full slab of eggs with them.

Natsuki nods almost dumbly, "Uh... y-yeah, thanks for the clothes by the way um... they're really cute," she mutters.

Yuri chuckles at her, continuing to twirl the eggs gently, "I'm glad, I have your uniform in the wash with my own so they'll be clean," she says, glancing at the pinkette and noticing she's staring at Yuri really intently.

Watching her with every single little movement Yuri made, it was impossible not to feel Natsuki's gaze on her while she cooked, a small pink blush dusting Yuri cheeks now as she tried to ignore it before blurting out suddenly, "N-Natsuki... um... y-you're staring."

Natsuki turns away and tries to cover her rouge colored face, trying not to look, "N-no I'm not! D-dummy..." she grumbles, Yuri only blushing more at the thought that Natsuki's embarrassed from staring at her.

Yuri finished cooking and Natsuki just sat quietly on the couch, constantly wanting to glance over at Yuri but not trying to seem creepy or anything no matter how beautiful Yuri looked right now.

"N-Natsuki, it's done," she says, bringing the food over to the island, pulling out a stool for Natsuki as she comes over to sit down with her.

She climbs up and looks at the plate in front of her, it's... weird looking to her. She's never seen this before, it's a big dome of egg with seasoning and chives on them.

"Thanks um... What is it?" she asks as Yuri hands Natsuki a spoon.

"Omurice," she says, sitting down and raising a brow at the pinkette, "Have you never had it before?"

Natsuki shakes her head, her little bangs shaking with her, the pinkette scooping the omurice with her spoon. Fried rice packed underneath the blanket of egg that just smells absolutely heavenly to Natsuki, not even daring to think twice again as she stuffs her mouth full of it. It's savory and soft with a tang of soy sauce in the rice, goosebumps running down her body as her sensitive taste buds are overwhelmed with flavor.

"Holy shit..." she mutters, her mouth still full as she goes for a second spoonful before finishing the first one, Yuri watching both satisfied with the reaction but saddened as well.

She forces a giggle behind her hand, "It's good then?" she asks, eating some herself as Natsuki continues to stuff her face.

"Hell yeah it is! I never knew you could cook such amazing food, this is so good!" she exclaims, Yuri watching as color in Natsuki's face returns for a few moments.

Yuri can't help but feel overjoyed, smiling warmly as she eats her breakfast and Natsuki continues to enjoy her own, the muffled squeals of delight warming Yuri's heart as they both eat together quietly...

Natsuki finished her omurice quickly and Yuri served her a second helping of the breakfast, it definitely helped Natsuki from the looks of it and the way she slumped into her chair. She felt full for the first time in years, no words were able to describe the way she felt after getting three meals and a full night of no abuse or hurt. It was all so melancholic and Yuri could tell from the way Natsuki was sitting there, her eyes were somber, trying to process everything.

"Natsuki?" Yuri called gently, Natsuki looking at her, sitting up and coming back to her senses, "Do you feel okay? You're spacing out quite a bit," she forces a giggle at the pinkette.

She gets a little embarrassed but doesn't snap at her or anything, "N-no I'm fine! Just... I've never had omurice before, it's really good. It was really soft to..." she mentions, not used to anything so easy to eat like this omelet was.

Yuri gets up and takes Natsuki's plate from her as well as her spoon, "Well it is a comfort food in a sense, I'm glad you liked it though. It's a difficult food to make for some people so I've taken time to get it right," she explains.

She watches Yuri take everything and place it in the sink before she comes back to her, "Really? I never knew you could even cook," she says, getting up and leaning against the table, "Brewing tea is one thing but a complicated breakfast? What other secrets are you hiding there hm?" Natsuki asks slyly but still in a joking way.

Yuri looks away and rubs her arm, "Well... I am a little lacking in my baking," she admits as at least with something like omurice she can fix it if she messes up.

Natsuki can't help but feel like she's finally got something she can use to her advantage against Yuri, if there's one thing Natsuki can do it's bake after all. Maybe a nice little thank you cake would be in order when she can find the ingredients to make one for her?

"Wait, speaking of, didn't Monika want you to bake cupcakes for her today?" Yuri asks, Natsuki sighing and feeling annoyed suddenly.

"Ugh, damnit, I forgot about that!" Natsuki grunts, even if she had remembered how was she going to get any of the ingredients for the cupcakes?

Yuri hums and looks at her fridge, "Well... I may have what you need to make them here. We should have more than enough time to bake them as well."

Natsuki looks at Yuri like she's crazy, "What?! No, you've already done... a lot for me, Yuri. Seriously I can't just let you offer to bail me out of this too, I'll just tell Monika I forgot to make them-" Natsuki's stopped when Yuri suddenly grabs her hands softly...

Her hold on the pinkette is soft and gentle as she looks down at the pinkette who's caught off guard and unable to move, she's so close to Yuri suddenly.

Yuri's blushing a little too but she's insistent, "N-Natsuki... please, stop saying that to me okay? I don't mind helping you with something so small and besides," Yuri looks away, her lips are a little quivery as she forces herself to say, "I-I'd like it if you maybe taught me how to bake... a-at least a little?"

Natsuki can't help but feel like Yuri wanted to say something entirely different but she didn't ask, too flustered from just how forward Yuri was being, "U-um! Ah! Well I guess since you're this serious sure! B-but only cupcakes, I'm still reluctant to use your food like this," she stutters out, trying not to show too much weakness to Yuri and keep control of the situation.

To say the least Yuri was happy, letting go of Natsuki and beaming with excitement, "Great! There's an extra apron over there in the pantry if you'd like," she points to the pantry.

Natsuki hurried and got herself dressed, grabbing a few ingredients while she was there like flour and sugars, ect. Coming back to Yuri watching from behind the island, nervous but willing to follow what Natsuki does as she continues to grab the things they'll need for the cupcakes.

The pinkette is almost a master as she runs around grabbing what they need, Yuri feeling as if she's just getting in Natsuki's way until she suddenly places down a carton of eggs in front of her.

"Can you get two glass bowls, Yuri? And a couple whisks?" Natsuki asks politely, measuring out some milk, completely focused.

Yuri gets what Natsuki asked for, deciding to get some tins out for the cupcakes while she was at it before returning to Natsuki who's gotten two sets of ingredients measured out.

"H-here, Natsuki. Are these alright?" Natsuki takes a bowl and a whisk from Yuri, nodding at her.

"Yup! These are good, you ready to get started?" Yuri nods at her, taking a whisk and watching what the pinkette does.

The two get started on the cupcakes, Yuri watching what Natsuki does and replicating it as best she can, noticing the sense of control and familiarity the pinkette has when doing this. Yuri struggling with the whisk a bit as she stirs in the batter, Natsuki already done with hers, decides to help her out.

"Hey, Yuri, c'mere," she calls, Yuri not even able to look at the smaller girl in time as her hand comes from behind her.

Grabbing the top of Yuri's wrists and her other on the side of the bowl Yuri's using. The tsundere showing Yuri how to properly whisk the batter together, if only she was paying attention and not focused on Natsuki being dangerously close to her cut up wrists.

"There see? Much better, you actually did a pretty good job," she compliments, a little surprised.

Yuri, while thankful, is quick to pull away from the pinkette, Natsuki backing off with a huff as Yuri turns away, continuing to whisk on her own.

"T-thank you, Natsuki... Um... I-I have it now," she assures, Natsuki crossing her arms and tilting her head in suspicion.

'What was that all about? I was just trying to help her,' she thinks, trying her best to brush it off and grabbing her bowl of batter.

They pour their cupcake mixtures into the tins, Natsuki making sure to instruct Yuri as best she can as the two girls fill four full tins worth of it all. Yuri putting them all in the oven while Natsuki watches, impressed how quickly they got everything done! The two girls talking for a while as they wait until the cupcakes are ready to be taken out, cooled, and soon after decorated.

Yuri was pretty happy with how hers had turned out, they looked a lot better than the last time Yuri had tried to bake some for herself. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said when Yuri tried to help in decorating the cakes, by the end it was very clear who decorated what.

"They look pretty good!" she exclaims, Yuri backing up with a bag of frosting in her hands, sighing.

"I suppose..." she mutters, a little disappointed in her derpy looking cat cupcakes compared to Natsuki's that look expertly done.

Natsuki rolls her eyes at the bookworm and takes the bag of frosting from her, "Yuri, you need to be a little more confident with yourself okay? They look fine, really! Besides, this was your first time making them and decorating is really difficult," Natsuki says, smiling to the point that her fang was showing.

Yuri tints pink, finding the assurance of the pinkette comforting and adorable as well, looking at the cat like cupcakes and feeling a lot better knowing that she did alright. Natsuki watching Yuri's smile grow, the taller girl playing with her hair a little before she puts the bag of frosting down to start packaging the pastries to bring to the literature club. Natsuki eyes the frosting that's left over and slowly swiped it away when Yuri wasn't looking, putting a little dot of the stuff on her finger and waiting.

Yuri turning around and instantly getting Natsuki's frosting covered finger booped onto her nose, "Gotcha!" she chimes, the pinkette standing on her toes just to reach Yuri's face.

Yuri blinks a few times, processing what just happened before wiping her nose, "That... was rather immature of you, Natsuki," she mutters, eating the frosting from her finger... before suddenly grabbing the bag and squeezing some of the sugary glaze onto her hand.

The hair stands up on the back of Natsuki's neck as she quickly runs to the other side of the island, Yuri smirking darkly before chasing right after her. The pinkette laughed and screamed as Yuri and her chased the other around, the two of them quickly getting covered with frosting and making a pretty big mess. Not at all caring that they were ruining Yuri's kitchen as they both were just having fun together.

Yuri ducks as Natsuki flings some frosting at her which just hits the wall behind her.

"This is war! A strangely delicious war!!!" the pinkette decrees, Yuri huffing, five minutes of running around leaving her out of breath.

"You're going to get it you little brat," Yuri fires back laughing through puffs of air.

About to run back around the side of the island to shove the little bit of frosting she had in her hand into Natsuki's face before the pinkette meets her halfway there!

Suddenly grabbing Yuri's wrists and trying to move her back, normally Natsuki wouldn't be able to get Yuri to even budge but just this once, she played along and moved backwards. Natsuki pins Yuri to her fridge, her fingers gripped around her arms but nothing tight, Natsuki looking up at her as the two girls pant from all the excitement.

"Hah! Got ya!" she exclaims proudly, keeping Yuri pinned to the fridge door and giggling.

Yuri just laughs back and rolls her eyes at her, "Yes it would seem that way wouldn't it? But just wait until you let your guard down! I'll be able to get you easily after that~" she teases, not even caring that Natsuki's grabbing her cut up wrists again.

The pinkette gets closer to Yuri's face as both have playful but competitive glares on before they both break out into tired giggles. Natsuki lets go of one of Yuri's wrists and wipes her face, Yuri brushing whatever frosting was on her hand off, deciding she'll get her revenge later when Natsuki isn't laying her face against her chest. Wait...

Yuri blushes as Natsuki rests her head on top of Yuri's breasts, grabbing her wrist again and holding it gently, "N-Natsuki? Um... are you-"

"I'm fine!" she assures, sighing out and closing her eyes a little, "Sorry I'm just kind of tired is all y'know? It's been so long since I've had this much fun," she mutters, Yuri watching with sympathy.

"I... can say the same, it gets so quiet all the time here. Besides that however, you are a formidable foe with frosting," she jokes, Natsuki laughing at her and looking back up to Yuri with the most genuine smile Yuri's ever seen her have!

Yuri's eyes go wide, seeing Natsuki, the real Natsuki, for the first time ever. The pinkette letting Yuri's wrists go and backing off to lean against the island again, moving some hair out of her face and looking away cutely.

"Yeah well... speaking of frosting, we should probably finish packing these up huh?" Natsuki says, referring to the cupcakes.

Yuri agrees as she starts to undo her apron as she won't need it anymore. The both of them packing all of the cupcakes up in these little hard plastic pastry containers that Yuri had already.

"We should go now, if we do we can make it just before the clubs start," Yuri says looking at the clock on her wall.

Yuri undid her pony tail quickly, grabbing the two containers of sweets and walking with them towards the door. Natsuki opens it for her as they both walk out together, the pinkette taking one of the plastic containers as they walk towards the school.

"Aw, you took your hair down? I liked seeing you with it up," Natsuki blurts out, Yuri chuckling at her.

"Well perhaps I'll put it back up when we bake again, c'mon, we don't want to make Monika worried for us," Yuri encourages.

Natsuki nodded and took the taller woman's hand, pulling Yuri along, excited to get to the literature club quickly to share their treats with them all. Yuri's heart having never felt so full in a very long time...