[FFML] [fanfic][Yotsuba&/Pretty Neighbor] Yotsuba & Unhappy

[Mythril Moth]

This train just keeps right on rollin'...

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YOTSUBA & UNHAPPY

by Mythril Moth

based on Yotsuba&! by Azuma Kiyohiko

subsequently based on the "Pretty Neighbor" Yotsuba& doujinshi series

no permission asked or given

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Yotsuba wasn't happy.

Yotsuba didn't like being not happy. She didn't like the kind of not happy 
she was when she didn't get to do something she wanted. She didn't like the 
kind of not happy she was when Yanda came around. She didn't like the kind 
of not happy she was when Daddy got mad at her.

And she especially didn't like the kind of not happy she was when the 
grown-ups wouldn't tell her things because she wouldn't understand.

Yotsuba knew she didn't understand a lot of things grown-ups did and said. 
She also knew the grown-ups didn't always tell her everything that was going 
on. But that was okay most of the time, because Yotsuba only really needed 
to worry about the things she understood and the things that made her happy. 
Like Daddy, and Asagi, and Fuuka, and Ena, and Miura, and Jumbo, and Mom, 
and ice cream.

But just because Yotsuba didn't understand grown-up stuff didn't mean she 
didn't know when grown-up stuff was happening, or when other people weren't 
happy.

The other day, Daddy and Fuuka and Ena and Miura had been SUPER happy.

Then yesterday, Fuuka and Ena had moved into their house. They tried to look 
happy, but Yotsuba could tell something was wrong.

Today, nobody was happy.

And Yotsuba was determined to find out why.

Ever since she saw Ena crying that morning, she'd been trying to find out 
what was going on, but nobody would tell her anything. Finally, she had 
enough of it, and did the one thing she knew could force the grown-ups to do 
what she wanted.

She threw the biggest tantrum she had ever thrown. Even bigger than the 
tantrum she threw to get Daddy to take her to the beach.

It had worked. Everyone--Daddy, Jumbo, Fuuka, Ena, and Miura--were sitting 
around the table, all facing her; she was looking at all of them with her 
poutiest, most Not Happy expression.

"I wanna know why everybody's not happy today when everybody was super happy 
before," she said to the group.

They all looked uncomfortably at one another. "Yotsuba-chan, it's...you 
wouldn't under--" Fuuka began.

"DON'T TELL ME I WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND!" Yotsuba screamed. "I KNOW I DON'T 
UNDERSTAND STUFF! I KNOW THAT! BUT EVERYBODY'S CRYING AND NOT HAPPY TODAY 
AND I WANNA KNOW WHY!" She calmed down a bit, and sniffled. "Cuz if nobody's 
happy then I can't be happy and I don't like bein' not happy. So tell me. 
TELL ME!"

They all stared at her, eyes wide.

"Where do we even START?" Miura said, shaking her head.

Daddy scratched his cheek, then coughed. "Yotsuba-chan, you remember the 
other day, right? And what happened with me and Fuuka-chan?"

"Uh-huh," Yotsuba nodded. "You were both super happy and I was happy!" She 
paused. "But I don't know why you were super happy."

Fuuka smiled softly at her. "It's because I'm going to be your new mommy, 
Yotsuba-chan."

"EH?!" Yotsuba exclaimed, staring in shock. "Fuuka's gonna be Mommy?"

"That's right," Daddy replied. "Daddy loves Fuuka-chan very much, so he 
asked her if she'd be your Mommy and she said yes."

"Ooooooh," Yotsuba said, nodding.

"Do you understand?"

"Not really but I get the Fuuka is Mommy part."

"Good, because that's really the important part," Daddy said. "Now, the 
thing is, Asagi didn't want Fuuka-chan to be your Mommy."

"She didn't?" Yotsuba asked, tilting her head.

"Nope," Fuuka--no, Mommy--said. "I don't know why, but Asagi is mean and 
nasty to me the way Yanda is mean and nasty to you."

Yotsuba's eyes widened in shock. "No way!" She frowned. "I've never seen 
Asagi bein' nasty to you, Mommy."

Mommy covered a blush. "That's because she wasn't nasty to me in front of 
you or in front of Mom and Dad."

"But she was REAL nasty in front of your Daddy and in front of me and 
Miura," Ena said. "Remember how you told me about Yanda stealing your ice 
cream?"

Yotsuba nodded, making her angry face.

"Well, that's what Asagi tried to do. She tried to steal your Daddy from 
Oneechan just like Yanda stole your ice cream."

Yotsuba's eyes widened in horror. "Asagi tried to eat Daddy?"

Everyone around the table spluttered and turned red. She knew the adults did 
that when she said something wrong.

Daddy coughed. "Uh...something like that. And Fuuka-chan got REALLY REALLY 
MAD at me because Asagi made her think I didn't like her anymore."

"But why did Asagi try to steal Daddy?" Yotsuba asked.

"Just because she hates me," Mommy said. "She hates your Daddy too. She 
hates everybody."

Yotsuba's eyes welled with tears. "She hates me too?"

Immediately, Daddy and Mommy rushed over and hugged her. "Yotsuba," Daddy 
said quietly, "Asagi is just like Yanda. She's nasty inside. Really nasty."

Yotsuba sniffled. "But...but...she was always so nice..."

"She pretended," Mommy said. "She was lying."

"Lying's bad!" Yotsuba exclaimed.

"That's right. Lying is very bad. And Asagi is a great big fat stupid liar," 
Ena said.

"Oh," Yotsuba said quietly. "Then that's really bad." She looked at 
everybody. "So that's why Ena was crying this morning?"

The grown-ups looked at each other again, those looks that meant they were 
about to tell her she wouldn't understand.

But before she could yell at them again, Ena said, "Something else bad 
happened, Yotsuba-chan."

"Something else bad?"

"Mama and Papa--mine and Fuuka's Mama and Papa--went away forever and aren't 
coming back."

Yotsuba stared at her, shocked. "Never coming back?"

"Never coming back," Ena said, sniffling. Miura hugged her. Yotsuba noticed 
that Miura hugged Ena the way Daddy hugged Mommy a lot. She'd have to 
remember to ask about that later.

"Why ain't they never coming back?" Yotsuba asked.

"Because Asagi was super nasty to me and Oneechan in front of them, and we 
were nasty right back to her, and they didn't know about Asagi being nasty, 
and they didn't know about Oneechan being your new Mommy, and they were 
really upset because...because..." Ena faltered.

"Because you big-time super lied to them?" Yotsuba guessed.

Ena flinched. "Yeah. Because we big-time super lied to them."

Yotsuba stared at her for a minute. Then she turned to Daddy and Mommy. "I'm 
never gonna big-time super lie to you! So don't go away and not never come 
back!"

"We'll never go away, Yotsuba," Daddy said.

"Even if you big-time super lie to us, we won't go away," Mommy said. "We'll 
be mad, but we won't go away."

"Good, 'cuz I don't want you to go away." Yotsuba sniffled. "But if Daddy 
and Mommy wouldn't go away even if I big-time super lied, why did Other Mom 
and Other Dad go away?"

Fuuka sighed. "We don't really know, Yotsuba-chan. We just don't really 
know."

"That's why I was crying," Ena said. "Because I don't know why they went 
away."

"I know why they went away," Miura suddenly said. Everyone turned to look at 
her. She turned to look at Yotsuba. "Yotsuba-chan, you remember that big 
scary eyeball thing you thought was coming to get you?"

Yotsuba nodded.

"Well, for Ena-chan's mama and papa, finding out Asagi was nasty and 
Fuuka-neesan was your new Mommy and Ena-chan and me we--" she coughed. "Um, 
did something super mean to Asagi, and finding out everyone big-time super 
lied to them about all that stuff? For them, that was kinda like that big 
scary eyeball. And they thought it was coming to get them, so they ran 
away.'

All the grown-ups were staring at Miura, eyes and mouths wide open.

"Holy shit, she nailed it," Daddy said.

"That...you're brilliant, Miura-chan!" Ena exclaimed. "You totally figured 
it out!"

Miura smirked, scratching under her left eye. "I have my moments."

Yotsuba, meanwhile, was trying to wrap her mind around all of that. "So 
big-time super lies are like big scary eyeballs to grown-ups?"

"To some grown-ups, yeah."

"It's a LITTLE more complicated than that, though," Mommy said. "You know 
how you always pretty much get to run around and do whatever you like, but 
your Daddy always makes sure he knows where you've been and what you were 
doing?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, we all ran around doing whatever we liked, but Mom and Dad never 
really asked where we went and what we did, and we never told them."

"Oh."

"And THAT was the big scary eyeball."

"Ohhhhh."

"Do you understand?"

"Not all the way," Yotsuba admitted. "But it's okay because I don't think I 
really wanna." She sniffled. "I don't wanna talk about mommies and daddies 
runnin' away no more because I might have bad dreams about Mommy and Daddy 
runnin' away."

"Okay. We'll stop talking about that, then."

"Is there anything else you don't understand, Yotsuba?" Daddy asked. 
"Anything else you want us to explain?"

"Mmm..." Yotsuba thought back to a few minutes earlier. "Oh yeah! Miura, are 
you and Ena like Daddy and Mommy?"

"Erk!" Miura spluttered.

"Yotsuba-chan!" Ena moaned, blushing.

"I mean 'cuz Miura hugs Ena the way Daddy hugs Mommy."

"Ah...well...that's..." Miura began, looking away and rubbing the back of 
her head.

Mommy buried her face in her hands. "Oh God, how the hell do we explain THIS 
one?" she moaned.

"You're kidding, right?" Daddy asked. "She BARELY gets you and me, 
explaining--" He waved a hand in the direction of Ena and Miura-- "THAT is 
impossible!"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Daddy!" Yotsuba yelled, waving a 
fist and making her angry face.

"And don't call us a 'that'!" Miura added hotly. "That's the kind of shit we 
had to take off Asagi!"

"...sorry. All of you. Sorry." Daddy said quietly.

Ena sighed. "Yotsuba-chan? Me and Miura-chan love each other the same way 
your Daddy loves Oneechan. We're not really old enough for that kind of 
love, and a lot of people think it's really weird because we're both girls, 
but that's just the way it is."

Yotsuba tilted her head. "I don't understand even a little!"

Ena facefaulted.

"But Miura huggin' you like Daddy hugs Mommy makes you super happy, right 
Ena?" Yotsuba asked.

"Yes. Yes it does."

"Then it's okay."

"Anything else, Yotsuba-chan?" Mommy asked. "We don't want you upset because 
you feel left out of stuff."

Yotsuba thought hard. "Oh yeah! I got one more question." She looked right 
at Mommy. "This mornin' after breakfast...why'd you break the toilet when 
Daddy had the squirts?"

Mommy turned a really funny color. Jumbo stared at Mommy, raising an 
eyebrow. Ena fell over onto the table. Miura's eyes bugged out and she 
looked like she was going to bust out laughing.

Daddy spluttered. "WHAT?!"

"Ah! AH! AH! No, that's--" Mommy said, panicking, waving both hands in front 
of her and laughing nervously.

"No Mommy, cause I saw you pull a whole bunch of stuff out of the back of 
the toilet an' then it stopped workin' and that was right before Daddy 
started poopin' all over every--"

Mommy clamped a hand over Yotsuba's mouth and laughed nervously. "Oh-KAY! I 
think that's enough for today..."

"Bus-teeeeeed," Miura quipped.




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Mythril Moth
www.mythrilmoth.net