Poor or Not, I Still Love You

Pairing: Ikaruga x Yomi

Genre: Romance/Drama

Disclaimer: I do not own Senran Kagura or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Hello, everyone! My name is Yuri and I'm back with another Senran Kagura fanfic, this time it features Ikaruga x Yomi. After reading Major Mike Powell's story, "Family, The Phoenix", it inspired me to write about this pairing. So, I hope you all enjoy!

"So, ready to go on your lovely date, Ikaruga?" Katsuragi asks while observing the dark haired girl in a lovely purple summer dress.

Ikaruga nods as she sighs. "I'm not sure if I can do this."

"Aw, come on!" the blonde says. "It's like, your first date in a few weeks since Yomi decided to confess her love to you. And later on, you accepted her feelings."

"I know, but I actually feel really nervous about how it will turn out."

Katsuragi just grins as she puts an arm around the dark haired girl. "Now, now! It's okay to be nervous on first dates, so it's not that unusual." She leans in closer to her friend. "And besides, you two are going on a train together and walk around the city. How fun will that be? Huh, huh?"

"Yes, I know."

Ikaruga glances down at the floor as she begins to remember a few months back. It was a while after the burn down of Hebijo Academy and Yomi had survived after saving the girls. Ikaruga didn't realize it until she went shopping. Yomi was standing outside, observing some fruit and of course, bean sprouts, her most favorite in the world. Ikaruga was surprised to see the blonde again and so did Yomi. After a few minutes, Ikaruga and Yomi talked for a bit before leaving. And then, a few days later, the two met again. Apparently, Yomi had something to tell Ikaruga and looked a little nervous to do this. But after gathering up her courage to confess her love to Ikaruga. At first, the dark haired shinobi was surprised at the sudden confession, from the girl that used to despise her as a rich girl while the blonde was poor. But after a few minutes, Ikaruga accepted Yomi's feelings by a kiss. A kiss that told her that she loved her as well.

Katsuragi lets go of Ikaruga and pats her on the back. "Don't worry, Ikaruga. You and Yomi will do just fine. So, let's see that smile, Ikaruga."

After a few seconds, the dark-haired girl gives the blonde her best smile. "Okay. I think I'm ready now."

"I wish you both luck," Katsuragi says, giving her a thumbs up.

Meanwhile, Yomi is starting to walk out of the dorms when Homura appears behind her.

"Are you going somewhere, Yomi?" she asks.

"Yes. I'm going to the train station to meet up with Ikaruga-san," Yomi replies. "We're going to walk together through the city."

"I see."

"Though, there's something bothering me," Yomi says.

"What's that?" Homura asks.

"I don't know . . . how this date will go. I mean, I'm still a poor girl and she's rich. Yes, we are friends now, but I can't help but feel . . . different from her."

Homura frowns as she puts her hand on her hip. "But you told me one time that Ikaruga-san was also an unlucky child before she got adopted, so there's no point in worrying about that."

"But still . . . would I even be worth Ikaruga's girlfriend if I'm still a poor girl?"

Homura sighs as she walks over and puts her hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Like I said before, there's nothing to worry about it. After all, you and Ikaruga-san finally understood each other."

All Yomi could do is nod. After the final battle against Dougen and somehow surviving the terrible fire breaking out at Hebijo Academy, Yomi saw Ikaruga while just taking a walk. She and Ikaruga had a talk for a second before Yomi left, mostly because . . . she had this sudden heartbeat from her chest after seeing the dark-haired shinobi again. Was she already falling in love with Ikaruga? Was it really possible? She used to hate Ikaruga because she believed that she's exactly the opposite of her, but when she learned the whole truth, Yomi's heart began to soften. It had softened because of Ikaruga, learning that she, too, was poor child a long time ago. From there Yomi had decided to confess to Ikaruga. So a few days later, Yomi found Ikaruga again and after gathering up all her courage, she confessed her feelings to the dark-haired shinobi. After looking up, Yomi was sure that Ikaruga was going to reject her since she confessed to her out of the blue. But then, Yomi felt lips touching hers, probably meaning that Ikaruga accepted her feelings. But . . . looking back . . . was Ikaruga serious about accepting Yomi's feelings?

Homura gives the blonde a gentle smile. "Hey, there's no need to be like that now. You have your first date with Ikaruga-san now and she would love to see you smiling when she meets you at the train station."

Nodding, Yomi smiles back. "Yes. You're absolutely right." She turns to leave and waves. "Well, I'll see you later."

"See ya. Have a good time," Homura says as she waves.

A few minutes later, Yomi leans against the wall at the train station and glances at her watch. The train is supposed to leave in 15 minutes and Ikaruga hasn't showed up yet. She takes a few deep breaths as she looks down at her two train tickets she's holding in her hand. Though she had very little money, she had enough to afford the train ticket. However, she doesn't have enough to buy her own food, which can be a problem for her and Ikaruga. She knows she can't let Ikaruga buy everything for Yomi, but . . . what else she she going to do?

"Yomi," she hears Ikaruga's voice call from her left.

The blonde turns to see her lover running towards her. After a hug and a peck on the cheek, Ikaruga says, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"No, no, it's fine," Yomi says. "I didn't wait that long." She then notices the outfit her girlfriend is wearing. "Wow, Ikaruga-san. You look . . . beautiful."

The dark haired shinobi blushes. "Oh, th-thank you. Y-you, too,"

Though, Yomi is wearing a simple pink summer dress, the blonde is surprised to hear Ikaruga say that. After about a minute of staring at each other, admiring each other's outfits, Ikaruga proceeds to pay for her own tickets. When she looks back, she notices Yomi having her own tickets as well, wondering how in the world can she afford that with so little money. After paying for the tickets, she and Yomi enter the train and sit next to each other by the window. After everyone gets on board, the train starts moving. While the speed increases, Yomi scoots closer to her lover to touch arms and shoulders with her. Ikaruga smiles as she gently squeezes her lover's hand as they enjoy the train ride all the way to the city.

About an hour later, the train finally arrives at Tokyo. Ikaruga and Yomi exit the train and take a walk out in the streets. There were so many people walking by that Yomi decided to stay close to Ikaruga in case they get separated. She links arms with her lover as the two continue walking in the busy streets, observing every building and pointing at amazing sculptors they see. Ikaruga even took some selfies of themselves at some places like at the huge fountain, and at the bridge. And so far, Yomi seems to be enjoying herself . . . until they come across a clothing store, something that is probably expensive even for her. As she reluctantly comes in with her, she looks around at beautiful dresses that she wanted to wear, but is unable to buy. First off, there were some sun dresses hanging that Yomi really wanted. The teal dress may look good on her. When she's about to pick it up, Ikaruga beats her to it and examines it a little before smiling at the blonde.

"Would you like to try it on?" she asks.

The blonde blushes as she nods. Both of them go to a changing room, however, she blushes even harder at the sight of Ikaruga standing there, watching.

"Go on," the dark haired girl encourages. "There's no one here but us."

"B-but . . ." Yomi is nervous about Ikaruga seeing her in her underwear, probably her thinking she's a pervert. But then again, Ikaruga's seen her many times in that under garments anyway, so it really doesn't matter. She slowly takes her dress off and puts on the new teal colored one and turns around. "How do I look?"

Ikaruga smiles as she crosses her arms. "It looks great on you, Yomi."

"Th-thanks."

She glances at the floor while still blushing. Arms wraps around her, followed by a kiss on the forehead as the blonde looks up at the dark-haired shinobi.

"Ikaruga-san . . ." No other words are said as the two stare at each other when Ikaruga glances at the summer dress.

"Want me to buy this for you?" she asks.

Yomi gasps and pulls back. "N-no! It's fine! I don't really want this dress anyway."

Ikaruga shakes her head gently. "It's alright. Besides, you need new dresses, so let me buy this for you, okay?"

Yomi can't argue with that. She undresses and hands the teal summer dress to the dark-haired girl.

"I can get you these dresses as well," Ikaruga says as she shows her a few more beautiful clothing that looks pretty expensive.

"I-Ikagruga-san, please," Yomi says. "You don't have to buy all of this for me. You'll run low on money if you keep this up."

"Don't worry," the dark haired girl says. "I have plenty."

Yomi is getting really worried. Her girlfriend is being so generous in buying stuff for her that she is unable to return the favor since she has very little money left. Yomi reluctantly puts on more clothing, received many good praises from her girlfriend and went to the check out line. But while waiting in line, Yomi glances at Ikaruga, still feeling bad for Ikaruga that she's buying stuff for her. Why can't she do anything in return? Is there anything to give to Ikaruga?

After doing checkout, the girls exit the clothing store and Ikaruga hears Yomi's stomach rumble, which makes the dark haired shinobi giggle.

"You hungry?" she asks.

"Mm-hmm," Yomi's voice is quiet from that answer. She didn't want Ikaruga to buy anything else. "Um . . . why don't we just grab a simple snack. Hey, there's a fruit stand right over there! Wanna grab an apple? Oh! There's even bean sprouts over there!"

Ikaruga rubs her chin in thought as she turns towards a crepe stand and walks over there to buy two crepes. Yomi clenches a fist as she curses to herself. A minute later, Ikaruga comes back with two crepes and hands one to Yomi.

"Here, let's have a seat at this table," Ikaruga gently takes the blonde's hand and leads her to a small table for two.

As both girls sit down, Yomi digs into her bag.

"Hmm," she says. "You know something that will go great with this?"

"What is it?" Ikaruga asks.

Yomi pulls out a brown paper bag and digs her hand into it, revealing to be pieces of bean sprout inside.

"This!" Yomi says cheerfully. "Can't go without some bean sprouts!"

Ikaruga just smiles with a soft sigh. How did this blonde manage to take some bean sprouts with her on this date? Yomi inserts some of the bean sprouts into the crepe to mix it in with the other vegetables and meat inside and eats it.

"Mm~! So good!" The blonde cheers.

Ikaruga stares at the blonde as she happily eats her crepe mixed with her favorite bean sprouts. She's very glad both of them are dating. Her feelings for Yomi can never change, even if she had learned about Yomi's past and her hatred towards her. But now Yomi had changed and came to love Ikaruga. These two were happier than ever before.

When Yomi finishes her crepe, she stands up to stretch out her arms. "Man, that was so good~!"

"I'm glad you liked it," Ikaruga says as she takes a bite of her last crepe. "Though, I gotta wonder: why do you carry bean sprouts with you anyway?"

"Just in case I'm unable to buy any," Yomi replies. "Besides, I keep a whole sack of bean sprouts! Just ask Haruka-san!"

"She bought all that?" Ikaruga raises an eyebrow while the blonde nods.

Ikaruga sighs for the second time and stands up. "Do you want to walk some more?"

Yomi nods and immediately takes the dark-haired girl's hand. Both of them start their walk on the sidewalk, despite the crowd of people passing by them. Just then, as Ikaruga looks over at some awesome sales at a window, something catches Yomi's eye. A homeless man is sitting in a corner, with a small box next to him. She walks a bit closer to realize that he has received very little money in that box. He's overweight and has a large beard on his face, plus his clothing is partly torn. Yomi digs into her bag and holds out her little amount of money and glances back at the man. She then thinks about how she's going to repay Ikaruga since she's done so much for her already. With this little amount of money, she can't buy anything. She goes over and drops all of her money into the box and walks away when the man turns to see what he received. She slightly looks back to see a small smile on his face when looking down at the box.

A horrible memory suddenly flashes from Yomi's mind. She remembers the time when kids made fun of her in the streets because she was poor and lost her parents from starvation. It then flashes to her last moments with her parents when she was given the last bit of food while they were dying.

"That was very kind of you, Yomi," Ikaruga says from behind her.

The blonde jumps at the voice and turns toward her. "Ikaruga-san!"

The dark haired girl pulls out her little amount of money. "In fact, I think both of us can show a little kindness." She goes over and sets down her money in the box and waves at the homeless man while he whispers "Thank you" to her. When she rejoins her girlfriend, she finds her frowning for some reason.

"Is there something wrong, Yomi?" she asks while tilting her head in concern.

"Why?"

"Huh?" The dark haired girl raises an eyebrow. "Why what?"

"I'm . . . I'm really grateful that you and I are girlfriends, but . . . do you really love me?"

"What are you talking about? I do love you, Yomi. You know that!"

"You do?" Yomi looks up while having tears fall down from her eyes. "Even if . . . even if I can't return the favor?"

"What do you mean?"

Yomi chokes a sob as she wipes her tears with her arm. "You . . . you were always willing to buy stuff for me and I'm really grateful for that but . . . the thing is . . . I have nothing to give you in return!"

"Oh, Yomi . . ." Ikaruga gently hugs her lover as she kisses her on the forehead.

"Why does life have to be like this!?" Yomi sobs. "While you're rich, I'm still the poor girl like I was before! You've done so much for me, Ikaruga-san! I love you, but . . . I don't know if you just love me just because I'm poor!"

She then feels a hand tip her chin and lips locked into hers. Yomi's eyes widen for a bit before closing them, relaxing her body as she joins the kiss. Bliss, she thinks to herself. Such bliss is wonderful . . . The couple pulls away due to them lacking oxygen and Ikaruga looks at her girlfriend with a serious expression.

"Yomi," she says. "I love you. You know I do."

Yomi sniffles as Ikaruga caresses her cheek.

"Look, if anything, you're a great girlfriend to me. Since you've confessed to me, I began to like you more and more. You've changed, been really fun to be around and is really full of energy. It doesn't matter if you're poor or not. All that matters is that you're a good girlfriend to me."

"R-really?" Yomi asks.

Ikaruga nods as she wipes her tears with her thumb. "I'm positive."

Yomi gives her girlfriend another hug while resting her head on her chest. "Thank you, Ikaruga-san. Ever since my parents passed away from starvation, I've always been alone and been bullied by kids on the streets just because I was poor and lonely. When you and I started dating, I began thinking: did she really love me just because I'm poor? I wasn't really sure if you loved me that way or was just joking."

Ikaruga shakes her head as she kisses her on the forehead once more. "No, silly. I love you no matter what."

Yomi's eyes fill with tears from hearing her say that. "Ikaruga-san . . . you . . . really mean that?"

"Yes," the dark haired girl says as she gives a quick kiss on the lips. "Whether you're poor or not, I still love you."

More and more tears fall from the blonde's eyes as she nods and wraps her arms around her girlfriend with a kiss.

"Thank you, Ikaruga-san!" she says. "I love you!"

"And I love you, Yomi," Ikaruga replies as she hugs her back.

Yomi is happy. She now understands that no matter how poor she is, Ikaruga will still love her. She's been a great girlfriend to Yomi for the past few months. And this is there official first date, which went really well for the most part. All in all, Yomi's worries fade away by a passionate, heartwarming kiss. The two ninjas, also maidens in love, shall never forget this wonderful date.

A/N: Well, what do you guys think? It's my first Ikaruga x Yomi fanfic, so I tried my best on it. Feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)