It was the end of the day, and the heroic officers of the traffic patrol were coming and going as one shift clocked out and another started up their working day. Friends waved their hellos and said their good-byes. And in one corner of the bustling station, a young lady stood there nervously, as if she was waiting for just the right moment. The long hared girl would take a step forward, falter, then step back. She watched, silently, waiting for some undetermined signal. Natsumi noticed this, and so she silently stepped up behind her to gave her a gentle push forward. She leaned forward to whisper in to her friend's ear intensely, "You've got to go for it, Miyuki! You've told me how you feel about him, so now go tell him!" Miyuki looked over her shoulder at Natsumi a bit hesitantly, then she seemed to draw strength from her friend confident gaze. With a much more firm step, she walked over to talk to Ken Nakajima. Natsumi watched her go, a sad little smile on her face, then as quietly as she could she slid her way through the people to leave the police station. Almost as soon as she left the station, the cold night air brushed at Natsumi's skin, the cold, brisk wind bringing a few tears to her eyes as it blew her short hair back from her face. Or at least, she could try to blame the wind for the tears. 'She really loves him,' Natsumi thought to herself sadly, 'she tells me about it all the time. She's just too shy to admit it.' She walked along, lost in her thoughts, enjoying the silence and a few moments of blessed peace. A soft voice called out her name, and Natsumi was violently jerked from her peace and quiet. She turned back to see Aoi gracefully running to try and catch up with her. Aoi Futaba was one of the unit's more interesting police officers. Having started out her life as a male officer, he was on an extended undercover operation where he discovered that he preferred living his life as a woman. So he chose to become one full time. "You just walk too fast," Aoi quite pleasantly complained to Natsumi. She was a little bit taller than Natsumi, but not by very much, and walked with a smooth feminine grace, her long dark hair flowing behind her like a cape. Even the people who actually knew about her secret often found themselves completely forgetting that she was actually a male. "Sorry, Aoi. I guess I had some things on my mind," Natsumi answered her a bit sheepishly. Inwardly, she cursed, wishing that she had just rode her motorcycle straight home, rather than deciding to go take a little walk first. They talked together quietly for a few minutes, then out of nowhere Aoi softly said, "You really should tell her how you feel about her." Natsumi looked quite startled, "What?" Aoi gave her a little smile as she patiently added, "You do care about Miyuki, right?" Natsumi blushed brightly before stammering out, "No, of course not!" She looked away from Aoi's stern glance, mumbling softly, "She's got it bad for Nakajima." "Who mostly ignores her," Aoi calmly pointed out to her. "When he isn't treating her more like his little sister, anyway," she finished. "Sorry, Aoi, but I'm not getting my hopes up," Natsumi said softly in reply. She stopped, and Aoi was startled to see the pain that was visible in her eyes. "I want her happy," she explained, "and I don't think I could do that for her." Before Aoi could say anything else to her, Natsumi was gone, practically running back up the sidewalk to the police station to retrieve her bike and get going. A woman who had been following their walk stepped out of the shadows, pushing her glasses up. Yoriko smiled up at her, taking Aoi's arm as she asked her, "No luck, huh?" They started to walk back to the station, standing close together to conserve warmth. Aoi smiled down at the little police officer, feeling the warmth of her body close to hers. "No, it looks like she's still firmly in a state of denial," she reported. Yoriko looked at Aoi with a bit of concern. "You know, your gaydar could be wrong about them. They might just be good friends," she said. Aoi just raised her eyebrow at Yoriko, answering her indignantly "Hey, when has my gaydar ever been wrong about someone before?" She chuckled softly, "I was right about Sylia and Priss, right?" Yoriko nodded, and Aoi continued on, "And about Rei and Asuka, and about Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu, not to mention Sakura and Tomoyo, and..." "OK, OK," Yoriko laughed, waving her hands in surrender. "I guess we'll just have to keep trying," Yoriko said as optimistically as she could. She looked up at Aoi and asked her with a smile, "Are we still on for tonight, love?" "I wouldn't miss it," Aoi answered, silently glad that it was her turn to cook them dinner tonight. She was a lot better at it than Yoriko was, strangely. Miyuki was strangely quiet during the next morning's roll call, looking ahead stiffly and not meeting the other officers' eyes. She didn't look very good at all, almost as if she might be coming down with something. 'If she got some kind of bug from Nakajima,' Natsumi thought to herself fiercely, 'she'd better not give it to me.' Natsumi walked with her over to their little patrol car, and once they climbed in she asked Miyuki, "Hey, is something wrong?" Miyuki gave a little sniff, as if she was fighting back a rush of tears. "We broke up," she said to Natsumi in a soft whisper. Natsumi's eyes widened in shock, hearing the deep pain that was clearly evident in Miyuki's voice. "What?" she asked her disbelievingly. She shook her head even as she asked her, "How could he do that to you?" A bitter smile appeared on Miyuki's lips as she said, "Easily. It seems he's in love with someone." She took a deep breath, adding softly "They're getting engaged." "And he didn't tell you about it before now?!" Natsumi demanded angrily. Natsumi wasn't sure what about this was upsetting her more, Miyuki's odd quietness or Nakajima's stringing her friend along the way he had. 'No, Nakajima pisses me off more,' she decided, and she silently resolved to do something about it as soon as possible. "We didn't promise each other anything," Miyuki said with a weary sounding sigh. The long hared girl looked over at her partner, managing to give her a weak smile as she said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore." Natsumi looked over at her friend's pained expression and swallowed what she wanted to say. She just nodded to her silently in reply, instead. "All right," Natsumi said softly, feeling a sudden stab of guilt about what happened. 'If I hadn't pushed her,' she thought with a sigh, 'this might never have happened.' Their day started to speed up soon afterward, the normal casework of the traffic patrol occupying their minds and keeping them both busy. Finally, they returned to the station to complete their paperwork and close out the day. After getting changed, Natsumi left Miyuki in the locker room, explaining that she'd be back in a moment. The cycle pulled in and Nakajima smiled over at her in surprise. Climbing off his bike he called out to her, "Hey, Natsumi, how's it going?" Without a word being said she stepped up and then punched him right in the face. He hit the ground, his butt taking the impact, a surprised expression on his face. A shake of the head, a rueful smile, and he said, "I guess you heard, huh?" "That was for Miyuki," Natsumi answered him quite coldly before simply turning around and walking away. She didn't think he'd try and cause her any trouble, he was too macho to admit he'd been knocked down by a girl. An odd smile tugged at Natsumi's lips when she saw what was waiting for her in the station's squad room. Miyuki and Yoriko sat comfortably, while in the perfect office lady style Aoi Futaba was pouring each of them their cups of tea. Natsumi took a seat beside Miyuki before asking Aoi, "Could you get me one, too?" Aoi laughed softly, produced another cup and poured tea for her before taking a seat herself. They talked softly, noticeably ignoring the topic of Nakajima and Miyuki. Both Aoi and Yoriko looked concerned about her, though. 'I wish I could watch over her,' Natsumi thought sadly, then she was struck by a brilliant idea. "Could you give me a ride home?" she asked Miyuki softly. Miyuki looked over at her in surprise, then she nodded. "Sure, I'd be glad too." She smiled at Natsumi shyly, "I'll bring the car around, and we'll load your bike into the back," she said decisively, walking off to go get her car. Natsumi noticed the questioning gazes from both Aoi and Yoriko, crossly explaining, "I just don't want her to be alone right now." She jogged off to meet Miyuki over by the entrance, leaving her friends gazing after her thoughtfully. "Wasn't that interesting," Aoi said thoughtfully. "Did you see the way they were with each other?" she asked Yoriko. Yoriko frowned at her, "She's just worried about a friend." She looked off to where Natsumi had gone before quietly adding, "I think." Miyuki smiled over at her from behind the wheel, releasing the back hatch so that Natsumi could load up her bike. She climbed in to the passenger's side, saying quietly "Thanks." They talked a bit as they drove home, about the day and some of the funnier things that had happened to them, but all too soon they reached Natsumi's apartment building. They unloaded the bike together, then Natsumi reached out to stop Miyuki a moment. "Do you want to come up for a bit?" she asked Miyuki softly. She looked a bit startled by the request, then Miyuki nodded. Natsumi locked up her bike and then led Miyuki upstairs to her little apartment. Unlocking the front door, she waved Miyuki inside. She blushed suddenly, remembering the sorry state she had left the place in when she left that morning, "Sorry about the mess." Miyuki shook her head, seeing the piles of clothes, sink full of unwashed dishes, and bike magazines scattered all around. "It's not as bad as I was expecting," she said with a smile, her tone of voice indicating the sort of mess she thought she'd see. Natsumi pulled out a small bottle of good sake and two small cups, sat them on the table and poured some of it out for each of them. At Miyuki's questioning glance she smiled at her wryly before describing it as "Pain reliever." Miyuki picked her cup up, and slugged it back in one smooth motion, shuddering a little at the taste. "Thanks," she said with a little smile. Natsumi raised her eyebrow, and topped up both the glasses once again, before getting up to put her old stereo on. Thankfully, the Clint Eastwood CD wasn't in there, and soft, instrumental music began to play. "Not my normal style," Natsumi said with a shrug, "but it'll do." She sat down to drink some of her sake, too, noticing that Miyuki had emptied her cup yet again. Refilling it, she said softly, "Now, I'm sorry I pushed you at him. Forgive me?" "It's all right," Miyuki smiled, a bit of red in her cheeks from the drink. "I didn't know he was such a jerk," she said a bit sadly, "so how could you?" She drank more of the sake, her hands shaking a little, and Natsumi noticed she had begun to cry again. Natsumi sat down by her on the couch, reaching out to gently pat Miyuki on the shoulder. She was surprised when her friend turned in towards her, grabbing at her shirt and crying softly against her chest. Natsumi gently wrapped her arms around Miyuki, stroking her back comfortingly, softly repeating, "There, there." She cried herself out, finally, her grip on the front of Natsumi's shirt loosening a little. Miyuki looked up at her, her cheeks red and eyes bleary, "Sorry. I didn't mean to just fall apart like that. It's just been that I've maintained a brave face with everybody today, and..." Natsumi gently pushed Miyuki's hair out of her eyes, "It's all right." She smiled wryly, "If you need somebody to vent to, I'd like it to be me, partner." A little blush colored her cheeks as she said that, a bit uncomfortable at the intimacy. "Thanks," Miyuki smiled back at her gently. They looked into each other's eyes a moment, and Miyuki's mouth opened, as if she was going to say something. Seeing her pause, Natsumi asked curiously, "What?" Miyuki looked away, "Nothing." She tried to stand up, only to sway dangerously. "Whoa," she said softly, "why's the room spinning?" Natsumi quickly got to her feet, grabbing her arm and steadying her. "I guess you don't drink much," she noted, and gently pushed her back down to the couch. "Looks like you're staying here tonight," she said softly. "I'm fine," Miyuki said weakly, her head spinning. "Sure you are," Natsumi answered her with a sigh. She got out a blanket and a pillow for her, and set the livingroom couch up as a temporary bed. "You want to borrow a T-shirt to wear to bed?" she asked Miyuki casually. The other girl sighed softly, giving in. "Yes, please," Miyuki said quietly. Natsumi dropped an oversized T-shirt beside her friend, then sat down beside her. "Are you going to be all right out here?" Natsumi asked quietly. A little voice in the back of her head suggested she share the bed with Miyuki, but she beat it back furiously. It was not a good idea right now, with how she'd been feeling. "Yes, once I sleep this off," Miyuki answered her a bit blurrily. "Go to sleep," Natsumi said to her gently, and then left her to get ready for bed. She was walking from the bathroom to her bedroom when she paused by the livingroom and looked in. Miyuki had nearly stripped down to nothing, standing there unsteadily in only her panties and bra. 'Beautiful,' Natsumi found herself thinking, 'she looks so beautiful.' Swaying a bit, Miyuki then awkwardly pulled the T- shirt over them, and Natsumi fled. But she found that sight lingered in her memory long into the night. Aoi raised her eyebrow as she and Yoriko finished up their reports and got ready to leave the police station. Nakajima lurked near the front doorway, looking rather uncomfortable. Oddly, a large bandage was stuck on the bridge of his nose, and a bit of toilet paper was wadded up underneath it to stop any fresh blood flow. 'Gee,' Aoi thought with a smile, 'I wonder who could have done that to him?' She and Yoriko walked towards him together, and she noticed he looked the worse for wear. The somewhat flushed looking officer stepped up to them, and then he hesitantly drew Aoi aside. "Could I talk to you a moment?" he asked Aoi. Aoi looked up at the obviously pleading expression on his face, and gave a soft sigh. Turning to smile at Yoriko, she said, "Go on ahead, I'll meet you outside in a few minutes." "Don't be long," Yoriko said, and with an impish little smile she leaned forward to give Aoi a little peck on the cheek before she left. "Wow," Nakajima said, sounding more than a bit surprised. "So how long has this been going on?" he asked her softly. "Is that the only thing you wanted to talk to me about?" Aoi asked him sternly, raising an single elegant eyebrow. "No, no," he said to her quickly. A short pause, then a much more subdued sounding Nakajima asked her, "How's Miyuki doing?" "She's been really hurt, obviously," Aoi said, a bit of her anger showing through her usual calm. She had already heard some of the rumors about him breaking up with her that were already spreading through the station grapevine. Another thought occurred to her, "Natsumi is really angry, by the way. I'd advise avoiding her." He sighed, reaching up to brush at his blunt nose, and then winced at the flare of pain. "Too late," Nakajima said softly. Aoi tried not to smile, finally realizing how the man had gotten his nose broken. 'I have got,' she thought with a hidden smile, 'to get the story of how Natsumi did that!' She looked at her watch, then asked Nakajima, "Is there anything else?" A bit of a blush appeared on Nakajima's cheeks. "If you see Miyuki," he quietly said, "could you tell her how sorry I am?" "You really need to do that yourself," Aoi said to him gently. She smiled a bit, "Once both of them calm down, anyway." Nakajima sadly nodded his agreement. "Thanks," Nakajima said with a sigh, and he turned to walk away. 'Why did seeing her like that effect me so much?' a somewhat groggy Natsumi found herself wondering as she put some coffee on early the next morning. A large bottle of aspirin sat nearby, and a small pot of warm cereal was heating up on the stove. 'It's not like I don't see her get changed for patrol almost every day,' she thought with a frown. A soft, drawn out groan came from the livingroom, and Natsumi picked up the aspirin and a cup of coffee before walking in. Miyuki sat up on the couch, her hair sticking up, holding her head in her hands and looking truly miserable. "What happened?" Miyuki groaned softly. Natsumi had to fight back a smile at how funny her partner looked just then. 'Cute, too,' she noted, then blushed. "You drank a bit too much last night," she quietly said, putting the items down on a table by the couch. Miyuki flinched at the sound. She picked up the aspirin, alternating swallowing them with big gulps of her hot cup of coffee. She managed to smile up at Natsumi, "Could you drive me and my car back home? I need to get dressed for work." "Do you want to call in sick?" Natsumi asked her. She really didn't think Miyuki looked very good this morning. "I'm sure no one would mind." "No," Miyuki said, shaking her head. She paled from the pain the motion triggered and took a few more aspirin before adding "I want to try and stay busy." They silently sat together at the little kitchen table, eating a quick breakfast of cereal and fresh orange juice, and then the clothes issue came up. Natsumi honestly thought Miyuki looked even funnier in the borrowed clothes from her closet, but it was just until Miyuki could get back to her own apartment and get changed. Natsumi was also more than a bit surprised at how good those old pair of shorts really looked on Miyuki's body, hugging her hips in a far more sexy way than they had ever done on her. 'Think pure thoughts,' she silently commanded herself. Miyuki stopped still, noticing Natsumi's gaze resting on her. "Do they really look that bad?" she asked her a little wistfully. Natsumi blushed quite redly. "No, no, you look fine," she stammered out nervously, trying not to meet Miyuki's eyes.
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