[FFML] [fanfic][Yotsuba&!][one-shot] Jumbo & Patience (complete)

[Mythril Moth]

Here's yet another one-shot Yotsuba&! fic! This one's 100% complete, and for 
a change, it's NOT Fuuka x Koiwai!

The usual disclaimers apply. C&C welcome.

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Jumbo & Patience
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Ayase Fuuka opened the front door to let the rail-thin, short-haired, 
chain-smoking Torako into the house. "Ah! Torako-san! Oneechan 
isn't...here," Fuuka said.

"Huh?" Torako asked. "But I thought..."

Fuuka shook her head. "Oneechan is *here*, she just isn't *HERE*."

"...huh?"

The younger girl sighed. "Just follow me, you'll see for yourself..."

The teenager led the older girl through to the kitchen, where Fuuka's older 
sister Asagi sat with her elbows on the table, the palms of both hands 
pressed against the sides of her face. On the table in front of her sat a 
most exquisite confection, a piece of rich red velvet cake with marbled 
white chocolate frosting topped with shaved dark chocolate, with a 
half-melted dollop of vanilla ice cream nestled beside it on the plate, the 
whole thing surrounded by a moat of hot fudge sauce. The cake sat completely 
untouched; Asagi was just staring morosely at it. The youngest Ayase sister, 
Ena, was sitting beside her, talking softly to her and patting her shoulder 
encouragingly. Asagi didn't even seem to notice Torako entering the kitchen.

"What the hell happened to her?" Torako asked, discomfited at the sight.

"She got brushed aside for a younger woman," Fuuka said bluntly and with 
absolutely no sympathy.

Asagi heaved a depressed sigh. Ena gave Fuuka a sharp, cross look. 
"Oneechan," she said in an irritated tone.

"Sorry, it's just...she's kicked me when I was down often enough. It's not 
every day I get a chance to get even."

Asagi muttered a very rude and physically improbable suggestion at Fuuka.

Torako raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I've got to know just who or what did 
*this*."

"'Or what' is more fitting than you know," Asagi said tonelessly.

"Oneechan!" Fuuka cried. "You don't have to be rude and mean-spirited about 
it."

"Yeah, it's not like you own him or anything."

"Or even rented him," Fuuka added.

Ena stared hard at Fuuka, cheeks pink. "That was so wrong on SO many 
levels."

"Is ANYONE ever gonna explain this?" Torako asked.

Fuuka looked at Ena. "Janken?"

"No way," Ena said, shaking her head. "You do it."

"But you were there for the really messed up part," Fuuka pointed out. "I 
was just here for the fallout."

"Then you tell that part and I'll tell the other part," Ena decided.

"Fair enough," Fuuka sighed. She turned to look at Torako. "You remember 
Jumbo-san, right?"

"Who could *forget* Jumbo?" Torako asked, exhaling a billowing plume of 
smoke.

"Well, he's had a crush on Oneechan since the day he met her, back during 
the summer," Fuuka explained. "Today, she decided she'd let Jumbo-san take 
her out on a date, just for the heck of it. So she goes down to the flower 
shop to ask him out..." Fuuka trailed off, glancing over at Asagi. "And he 
rejected her."

Torako's eyebrows climbed toward her hairline. "Jumbo rejected Asagi?" she 
asked.

"Yeah. He told her he's spoken for..."

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

Fuuka watched Asagi carefully spoon the hot fudge around her slice of cake 
and the scoop of ice cream sitting adjacent to it. "So, how'd it go?" she 
asked.

"Eh, he said he's got a girlfriend," Asagi said indifferently. "So that's 
that."

"Wow, really?" Fuuka asked. "I didn't know he was seeing anyone. And I 
thought for sure he was totally into you..."

Asagi shrugged. "Love is fickle and fleeting," she said.

"So that's what's up with the cavity bomb, eh?"

Asagi smirked. "No, I just felt like some cake and ice cream. I could care 
less about Takeda-san not wanting to go out with me; I only even asked 
because I was bored..."

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

Fuuka shook her head. "And that would've been that, except..." She glanced 
over at Ena.

Ena sighed. "Except, that's when I came in, and accidentally did this to 
Oneechan by telling both of them about something really weird that happened 
earlier..."

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

Ena had run into Miura and her mother just outside the building the Hayasaka 
family lived in.

"Hey, Ena," Miura greeted. "We're gonna do some shopping today."

"I see," Ena said. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Sure thing," Mrs. Hayasaka said. "When it comes to shopping, the more the 
merrier!"

They had stopped in a few places just to do some browsing, then had gone to 
a book store where Mrs. Hayasaka bought a novel she'd been looking forward 
to reading, and the two girls bought a few manga.

"Before we go grocery shopping, though, I want to stop by a florist and get 
a plant to put in the window," Mrs. Hayasaka said. "The one I had died and 
it wasn't very pretty anyway."

"Ah! If it's flowers, I know where to go!" Ena said. She frowned 
thoughtfully. "Now, where was his shop again..."

"Eh? You know a florist, Ena-chan?" Mrs. Hayasaka asked.

"Yeah," Ena replied. "Jumbo-san is a florist."

Miura jumped back in surprise, eyes wide. "EH?!" she exclaimed. "You're 
kidding, right? That missing link is a florist?"

"...missing link?" Mrs. Hayasaka asked, blinking.

"Mou, Miura-chan," Ena groaned. "Don't say such rude things about 
Jumbo-san..."

After asking around for a few minutes, Ena got directions to Flower Jumbo, 
and a short time later, they pulled up in front of the florist's shop.

"What kind of name is Jumbo, anyway?" Mrs. Hayasaka asked.

"You'll understand when you see him," Miura said.

The three of them entered the shop. "Welcome!" a loud voice boomed. "Ah! 
Ena-chan, welcome, welcome! And the little hula princess is here too!"

"Oi oi, knock off the hula princess thing," Miura grumbled.

"And--" Jumbo trailed off, blinking, as Mrs. Hayasaka stepped through the 
door behind the girls.

She saw Jumbo, and her eyes tripled in size. "You're HUGE!" she shouted.

"Mom, THIS is Jumbo," Miura said.

Jumbo vaulted the counter and approached them, bowing deeply. "Takeda 
Takashi," he introduced. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Please, anything you 
want in the whole store, it's on the house for such an incredibly beautiful 
lady."

Mrs. Hayasaka blinked at him, then blushed prettily. "Oh goodness...thank 
you, um, Takeda-san..."

Jumbo suddenly squatted down in front of Miura. "Oi oi, how come you never 
told me that an amazing bijou like this was your mother?"

Miura raised an eyebrow. "Beeeee...cause I never really thought of it? And 
because she's kind of married to my dad?"

Jumbo slumped. "Oh. Right. Of course." He trudged wearily over to the 
counter. "Anyway, just take whatever you want, it's still on the house, and 
it was a pleasure..."

Mrs. Hayasaka blinked. "What...just happened?" she asked.

"Jumbo-san is weak to pretty ladies," Ena said with a giggle.

"I see," Mrs. Hayasaka said. "Well, even though I'm married, it's very 
flattering to be called pretty."

"Yeah," Ena said, "who'd think someone with the same face as Miura-chan 
would be such an amazing bijou?"

"H-hey!" Miura cried. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?!"

Jumbo jerked upright sharply, blinking audibly. "Say that again, Ena?" he 
prompted.

"Huh?" Ena asked, confused. "What, about Miura-chan's mom looking just like 
her?"

Suddenly, Jumbo was directly in Miura's face, examining her.

"O-oi," Miura protested, stepping back in alarm. "Personal space, personal 
space! Get that huge ape face away from me!"

Jumbo stood, leaning in to examine Mrs. Hayasaka closely.

"Ah...um..." Mrs. Hayasaka stammered, perplexed and slightly afraid.

Jumbo crouched and studied Miura again, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I 
see...so that's how it is..." he mused.


"That's how WHAT is?" Miura demanded.

"Miura-chan, you're around ten years old, right?" Jumbo asked.

"Y-yeah, so?" Miura challenged, confused and somewhat apprehensive.

Jumbo stood bolt upright suddenly, a serious expression on his face. "Then 
it's decided!" he exclaimed.

"Wh-what's decided?" Ena asked.

"Ten years!" Jumbo exclaimed.

"Ten...years?"

"I'll wait ten years!" Jumbo declared. "So, Miura-chan, stay single until 
you're a super bijou like your mom!"

Miura jerked backwards, forming a warding gesture in front of herself, a 
disgusted look on her face. "What the hell?!"

"What happened to your crush on Asagi-oneechan?" Ena wondered.

"Asagi-san is very pretty, but I'm patient enough to wait for Miura-chan to 
be even prettier!" Jumbo exclaimed. "Love is like fishing, it's all about 
patience! If you catch a runty little minnow, throw it back! Sooner or 
later, you'll hook koi!"

Mrs. Hayasaka stared at the large man. "Wh-what...in the world...?"

"Uh...let's...um...pick out a plant and LEAVE," Miura suggested.

"Good idea," Mrs. Hayasaka replied, nodding...

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

Torako stared at Ena in disbelief. "You're joking."

"I'm dead serious," she said, shuddering. "He actually said he'll wait for 
Miura to grow up..."


"He had to have been joking," Fuuka said. "He just had to..." She shook her 
head. "Anyway, once Ena finished telling us about it, Oneechan just kind 
of...broke." With a sigh, she added, "And she's been like that ever 
since..."

Torako, smoke curling from her cigarette and from her nostrils, observed the 
depressed, listless Asagi. "In that case, there's only one thing to do."

"What's that?" Ena asked.

"We eat her cake before the ice cream completely melts."

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

Late in the afternoon, Mrs. Ayase came into the kitchen to start dinner. 
Asagi was still sitting morosely at the table.

"What's bothering you?" Mrs. Ayase asked.

"I lost it all," Asagi said listlessly. "My cake...my giant...even my 
'bi'...I've lost everything..." She slumped flat against the table.

"I...see..." Mrs. Ayase stared at her. "Well...hang in there..."

---------------ten years later--------

"You may now kiss the bride."

A beautiful bride blushed prettily as her towering groom lifted her veil and 
stooped awkwardly to kiss her. After several seconds, he withdrew and stood 
erect, taking hold of his new wife's hands. Their family and friends clapped 
and cheered.

As they walked up the aisle together, leaving the chapel amidst a shower of 
thrown rice and streamers, Miura craned her neck to look up at her husband. 
"I still can't believe you actually waited all this time," she said.

"I always keep my promises," Jumbo said. "And like I said that day ten years 
ago, patience is everything."




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Mythril Moth
www.mythrilmoth.net