The day had been going so nicely, too.

Natsuki and Sayori had agreed that the lake looked very nice, but so far it was being criminally underused. So they got up that morning, gathering together everything they would need and putting on their pretty new swimsuits. Natsuki was clad in a pink two piece, covered with shorts and a tank top. She felt pretty darn good about how she looked, really trying to embrace the whole 'being cute' thing.

Sayori was already downstairs, working on making both a lunch for them and also a few other things before they headed outside. As Natsuki poked her head into the kitchen, she spotted Sayori moving about, humming to herself. She was wearing a deadly, adorable skirt and button-up and for a second she had to stop and just admire her. This was... her girlfriend. One of her girlfriends. She was living in a social oasis where it was just them and she never had to worry about a lack of food or hiding bruises or nightmares or anything like that again. Her chest felt so warm and full.

Finally she leaned up against the wall and cleared her throat, crossing her arms as she watched Sayori and smirked playfully. "What're you working on there? I thought our lunch was already done."

Sayori looked back at her with that usual bright smile, and Natsuki could only hope that for the moment it wasn't one of her fake smiles. She was ashamed to admit that she still didn't know how to spot the difference. "Yuri's still asleep, so I just wanted to leave her a little gift for when she wakes up."

Wandering over, Natsuki looked over the 'gift' she was leaving and smirked. A little set-up for tea, and an adorable note as well. She smiled and pecked her on the cheek. "Dear god, you are just the cutest."

"Nahhh, it was just something that popped into my head. It's not even that big a deal." Sayori shrugged off the compliment, as she often did. It was becoming a normal part of the back-and-forth.

With that done, they linked hands and made their way outside with their bags. "It's still incredibly thoughtful, and I'm sure she's gonna be all happy about it. She'll get that adorable smile she has every time she finds a new book." They both shared a laugh about that, equally familiar with the look.

"I hope so. It's a shame I won't be able to see it." It was nice to see that Sayori wasn't fighting back against the affection as hard this time. Natsuki was fairly certain it was bad form to just brute force your way past barriers like that, instead opting along with their girlfriends to always offer her small, gentle affirmations about how great she was, never too much at once.

"Aww, don't sweat it. I'll make it up to you. You can just watch my cute face instead!" Sayori's blush was the most perfect response she could hope for.

Not that Natsuki had long to gloat about this tiny victory. As they reached the lakeshore and put down their things, they each started changing out of their clothes to their swimsuits beneath. She just couldn't help but look over to see what Sayori was wearing, and was a little stunned to see her in a baby blue flowery bikini that made her blush in turn. Natsuki really didn't understand how the hell she'd gotten this damn lucky.

She didn't have long to ogle before she went running down into the water, wading out carefully. "Ah~! Oh my gosh, I'm a freaking genius. This water is, like, the perfect temperature! You've got to get in here!"

Giggling, Natsuki took the invitation and happily followed after her into the water. She hadn't been kidding, when Sayori made this lake, she really had put her all into making it perfect. "Holy crap, you're a wizard. This is so good. I'm coming out here every day."

"Not without me, you're not!" Sayori cried out, playfully splashing her. Natsuki instantly returned fire, and they soon got into a hearty war of water.

During the melee, Natsuki crept closer and closer until she was able to grab at Sayori, dunking her. The two of them wrestled a bit before coming up for air and finding themselves, somehow, in the middle of a passionate kiss. Unlike their first, there were definitely fireworks now. It was less hesitant, more sure. Pulling away only an inch or so, Natsuki looked into her eyes, beaming. "You are so beautiful." Just like that, her face fell, and Natsuki could have kicked her own ass. Stupid stupid stupid. Goddamn idiot. Don't lay it on so thick. "I-I'm sorry, jeez, I got caught up... Was that too much?"

Sayori almost started to force a smile, then seemed to catch herself, before finally settling for shaking her head. "It's not that. I-I want you to say things like that. I really do. But then you do and I can't believe it and then I get sad. It's a lose-lose situation." She stared off into the distance for a moment or two, deep in thought. Slowly, though, she began to smile, and not in that pained way she sometimes did. "But I think that maybe... maybe I want you to do it anyway. I can't keep letting myself get dragged down by my jerk-brain. You guys mean too much to me!"

That was... kind of a big deal. Natsuki felt like she'd been treating Sayori with kid gloves, and that even when she was able to respect her boundaries, she just ended up being insulting instead. But for Sayori to be say such a thing was huge. She tugged her back in close, looking into her eyes. "Hey. I love you. We all love you. And we'll keep right on taking it one day at a time. It's gonna be just fine." They kissed again, slow and deep, full of hope even if it was hesitant.

The two continued to have a marvelous afternoon together. They swam, they shared a picnic, they laughed and joked and just generally enjoyed themselves. Paradises were supposedly boring places where, sooner or later, you got tired of so much happiness. But Natsuki wasn't bored yet, that was for damn sure. Perhaps it was because they themselves were still flawed, and only the world was perfect. She hoped she never got bored.

The universe heard this, and the universe laughed.

They were in high spirits as they came back into the house, determined to find their other girlfriends and share the love, so to speak. Their hunt for Yuri and Monika brought them upstairs when a series of sounds hit Natsuki's ear and triggered a kind of primal response. The sound of something violent, and then a cry of pain. And again. And again. Her eyes went wide with terror and she ran to the bedroom where the sound was coming from and threw it open.

The sight she saw within Monika's room made her blood run cold. She was abusing her, there was no other name for it. She knew it when she saw it. "What... the fuck?" Natsuki's mind refused to process this. There was no time to deal with it, no impulse to save her girlfriend, she just ran. She went down the hall to the master bedroom, running inside and diving onto the bed. The door behind her closed, and she turned to see Sayori standing there, looking at her nervously. Natsuki hadn't realized she was sobbing until it occurred to her that she was seeing her girlfriend through a kaleidoscope of tears. "Wh-What was that? I thought Monika was better! I thought she'd stopped being a monster! How... How could she do that to Yuri?"

Sayori crossed the room and joined her on the big bed, drawing her into her arms. Confused and scared, Natsuki just wept into her shoulder while Sayori held her and stroked her hair. "Do you remember what you told me when all this started? Don't forget, you still have me. It's going to be okay." There was a moment of heavy silence before she spoke again. "But... and I-I can't be sure, but I think maybe there's been some kind of misunderstanding."

Sure, that sounded all well and good. Very comforting, very sane. But Natsuki didn't care. All she could think about was her papa's calloused hands and looking up how to hide bruises and crying in the shower. She didn't care about reason or sense. There was a knock at the door. Natsuki braced herself for excuses. Boy was she used to excuses. She was so ready to hear them. Maybe she would get blamed. That would be rich. "Can we come in?" Well, Yuri was the one asking to come in, that was... something at least.

"You can. She can wait out there..."

There was some soft conversation outside the door before the door opened. "Okay. Okay..." Yuri came in while Monika obediently waited outside. She even shut the door again before coming over to sit on the edge of the bed next to where Natsuki lay wrapped up in Sayori's protective grasp. "I'm sorry, Natsuki. That was... wildly improper of us."

She sat up slowly, the other girl still clinging to her. An apology was a good start, though there were still a lot of things that she didn't really understand. "She was... She was beating you. Are you gonna... gonna make excuses for her? Tell me it's a mistake and promise it'll never happen again? Because I know how long promises like that last."

Yuri shook her head, looking deadly serious. "Quite the opposite. It was a delightful experience, and I hope that it happens again."

Natsuki glared at her, eyes narrowing. "Did you two go insane while we were out? It hasn't been that long, why is everything suddenly crazytown?"

She coolly pulled up her sleeves, revealing the scars that covered her arms. They all knew they were there, and they hardly needed to be reminded of them. Hell, their presence just confused Natsuki more. Yuri knew what it was like to take pain too far, why would she willingly subject herself to more? "Every one of these I did to myself. As careful as I was, it was still incredibly stupid. But I continued, because the feeling was too amazing to quit. But I finally did stop, for all of us. Because I never wanted to overdo it and cause a scare. Monika offered to try something new. She was... helping me."

Natsuki huffed, not quite willing to accept that answer right away. "So you thought you would just engage in... in sexy... abuse? Knowing what I've been through? Do you know what it's like to see that? To feel my brain immediately go into fight or flight? I thought Monika had lost it again, like the bad times all over again, but somehow worse. That was... really fucking shitty. I-I can't decide if I should be crying right now or beating your ass. But I guess you'd be into that!"

There was a gasp from both girls, and Sayori's grip on her tightened slightly. "You don't mean that..."

Great job, jackass. Yuri was trying to get off and now you're making this all about you. Amazing work. You're a shoe-in for Girlfriend of the Year. Fuck. Natsuki shut her eyes tight, trying to ignore the voice in her head, the one that maybe sounded a little too much like her dad. She needed to focus on what mattered. Yuri mattered, and Sayori, and yes even Monika. "...of course I don't. I'm just really freaked right now. I wasn't prepared for... all... that." She sighed deeply, finally looking at Yuri, and seeing the hurt that lay there on her face too. "But... if it means that much to you, just... for the love of god, give me warning next time so I can be not here. Or at least so I can get my headphones."

Compromise was really tough, really fucking tough. But seeing Yuri crack a pretty smile even in the midst of it was worth it.

"May I come in now?" they heard Monika say softly through the door. Natsuki rolled her eyes and relented, collapsing back against the pillows, dragging Sayori with her. Yuri took that as consent and went to open the door for Monika, who stood there awkwardly at the foot of the bed. "I am so, so sorry Natsuki."

She shook her head in response and gestured grandly with her arm. "Shut up and get over here. I'm tired of apologies and I want cuddles." The bed eventually sank as all four of them snuggled up together, and Natsuki sighed happily. "We'll figure out all the details later. And you can start making it up to me by doing that pasta dish for dinner tonight."

"Chicken pesto penne?" Monika asked, and Natsuki could definitely detect an air of amusement in her voice.

She decided to ignore it. "Yeah. That." She lay there in silence for a moment or two, considering this entire situation and just how ridiculous it was. "I'm not mad, y'know. Just really freaked out. But I... I love you guys. You feel more like home than my own shitty family. And I'd rather go through the terrifying process of being responsible and mature over the satisfying feeling of being petty. That's all..."

She felt three pairs of lips kiss her in various places on the face, and Natsuki knew things would be alright. How nice, for a minor upset to actually lead to a happy ending. She might have preferred it not happening at all. But she was still happier with this tiny argument than all the 'restful' nights she had in her old place. Because yes. This was home. She was home.