Story: Two Kitties' Curiosity (all chapters)

Off in the distance, a lone man could be seen pushing a dull red lawnmower across a huge expanse of bright green grass. The sweet smell of grass clippings floated through a gentle breeze to a hill far away, pleasing to the girl who lay on the grassy knoll. Here the laborer had yet to go about his work, so the grass was lush and long underneath her, tickling the calves that extended past short khakis and the smooth, round arms crossed beneath her head, poking out from the loose sleeves of a brilliant summery t-shirt. The sun shone in the sky in a rare display of moderation; it was bright and clear, but with only a delicious warmth bathing the land below, rather than any sweltering heat. Relaxing, she let the heat seep into her body, filling aching muscles with a fatigue-melting warmth. A small, effortless smile prettied her lips and marked light dimples in her cheeks. Mai had used most of the week's break taking extra shifts at the Linden Baum, the restaurant she worked at. It was only the repeated cajoling of her brother and his girlfriend, and the bright, hopeful look in her roommate's eyes at the thought of an outing, that made her relent and take a day off. The soreness she'd developed in her feet, ankles, and calves from all the extra hours on her legs might have had something to do with it as well.

The beautiful day that had greeted her outing only seemed to serve as confirmation of the rightness of her course. The world itself seemed to support her decision to take a day off, so who was she to argue? Her usual idea of a fun day in the park didn't usually involve napping on the lawn, but she wasn't going to argue with that, either. She just hoped Mikoto was having fun.

In some way, Mai's hope was fulfilled, though she might have wished it done in a quieter fashion. As she half-dozed, she suddenly heard a piercing yell in a voice that was only too familiar to her. Here eyes snapped open instantly, worry flashing in her lavender eyes, and she bolted up. All in disarray, her red hair swung around her face and she glanced around for the source of her concern. She looked down the hill, and near the base where the gentle slope flattened out, she saw Mikoto leaping through the air with a ferocious draw to her lips. It was directed, to her surprise and horror, at Akira standing calmly beneath her. Before Mai could gather enough of her wits to cry out or anything else, she saw Akira coolly slip past Mikoto's airborne form and punch her solidly in the thigh. Surprise and some small amount of pain registered in Mikoto's eyes and she fell to the grass with what Mai felt to be a horribly hard-sounding thud! Even so, it looked like she somehow managed to keep her head, and swept her good leg to take an equally surprised Akira's out from under her. Mikoto rolled over and looked to jump back up, but it became immediately apparent that Akira's hit had cramped up her thigh, and she couldn't do much more than sit herself up for a few long seconds. Long enough seconds for Mai to get herself together and finally intervene.

"M-Mikoto! Akira, Mikoto, what are you doing!?" She levered herself to her feet and started down the hill in a skipping, hopping gait that was fast as she could manage downhill. Akira, rising, turned to face her, looking slightly chagrined, but Mikoto regarded her with bright, happy eyes and a grin to match. Mikoto's attitude gave her a pause, and in that time her brother, surprised by her sudden leap up and run down to the pair, caught up to her and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"No, sis, it's okay. They were just playing," he said. Mai turned incredulously to him.

"Playing? Takumi, are you blind?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously then. "Wait, did you just watch these two go at it?"

"You think I could stop her?" Takumi noted plaintively, glancing at his girlfriend."

"He's my boyfriend, not my mother, Mai-san." Akira chipped in, but Mai fixed them both with flat looks and they fell silent, realizing that they should perhaps have explained before giving in to quips. Mikoto managed to lever herself up now, and hopped with only a little residual limp towards Mai.

"Mai!" She began, her usual simple greeting. Even she could see that something was bothering Mai, and tried to reassure her that everything was fine. "I'm sure having fun, I'm glad you decided to take a day off." She tossed her arms around her favorite person and, as she couldn't recall having done so for at least an hour, indulged in a thorough nuzzling of Mai's chest. Much of Mai's ire faded away at this point, and a warm smile spread across her lips again. Mikoto had that effect on her, now and again. Instead, she fixed a look of mild irritation at her brother's girlfriend.

"What is going on here, then?"

"We were sparring." Akira said simply. Mai looked hard, but couldn't sense any duplicity here.

"Calm down, sis," Takumi entreated again, soothingly.

Mai started. "Oh, sure. Well, jeez, you scared me!" She said defensively, "How was I supposed to know?"

Akira shrugged, and it was Mikoto who spoke up again. "It's okay, Mai." With that easy declaration, Mai gave up. Mikoto let go of her, too, and turned to Akira.

"You're strong," she noted. Akira allowed a little smile.

"And you're nothing if unpredictable, Mikoto-san. Have you actually had and unarmed training?"

Mikoto frowned in thought. "A little bit, but..." Mai noticed Mikoto's hands rise to the front her her, curling into fists and twisting in the air as if holding something. She wondered if Mikoto herself knew that she was doing it.

Akira noticed the motion as well, and nodded understandingly. "It probably wasn't much. Why bother, when you have a sword that can be called to hand at a moment's notice?" Mikoto's eyes brightened; she nodded vigorously.

"You've got enough talent for this, though." Akira admitted grudgingly. "Although, if I wasn't rusty, I don't think you'd ever have landed that hit." Mai, though she still disapproved of what had transpired, had to hide a grin at Akira's disgruntled tone. She obviously had a bit of pride in her own skills, and probably felt she'd just made a fool of herself. Mikoto just grinned broadly in answer and took a drink from a water bottle that lay to the side. She hefted Akira's as well, and offered it to her. Akira looked surprised for a moment, then laughed ruefully, accepting.

"The way you act, I'm almost surprised you didn't apologize for tripping me."

"Apologize?" Mikoto echoed, looking at her blankly, "For what? We can just do it again. That was only round one," she said in a matter-of-fact sort of way.

"Round one? Out of how many?" Akira questioned.

"Do you feel like stopping yet?"

"No."

"Round one out of not enough yet, then," Mikoto answered promptly.

Mai exchanged a startled look with Takumi, and she sighed. "This is going to give me gray hair, I just know it."

Takumi hid his own grin, "It's okay, sis. They'll be fine, let them have their fun."

Mai turned on her heel, making her way back up the slope. She grumbled the whole way up, "Why can't they have fun like normal people? Go throw a frisbee, or eat some ice-cream, or something." She lay back on the grass and looked up to the sky, watching wispy trails of clouds streaking their way to the horizon and trying not to hear the intermittent thuds of what she hoped were arms and legs making contact, rather than heads and other places neither of them needed to be knocking on. The occasional shout by either of them continued to startle her, especially the familiar one of Mikoto, but she was mostly able to live with them after a little while.

"Is a little normality too much to ask?" She asked plaintively to Takumi, who had sat back back down beside her, knees drawn up to his chest and arms looped loosely around them. He shrugged helplessly, not sure how to answer that. He didn't have to, though, as another voice came from behind them to answer, though Mai might have preferred that it not.

"Are you calling yourself normal, mama Mai?" The statement was accompanied by a snort of derision. Mai knew the voice well, so much so that she didn't bother to face her to reply.

"More normal than a first-year who's more occupied with knowing every man in the city by their given name than coming to class." There was no love lost between Yuuki Nao and Tokiha Mai. To Mai's thought, these scars were too deep for any amount of cosmic patching to fix.

"Come now, you really think I go to that much trouble? You don't need to know a man's name to call him on the phone. I just mark them down as Moron 3-K and Idiot 4-B and Pervert 2-V and such. Much simpler that way; any chance you want to know what designation your hubby with the sideburns got?" Mai whirled her face to Nao's wicked grin."

"Shut your mouth, you harlot!" Mai levered herself up on her elbows and whirled her head about to face Nao. "Go away and leave decent people alone!" Nao certainly wasn't decent, to Mai's eye. She was wearing jeans that seemed impossibly tight, and rode sinfully low on her slender hips, while it seemed unbelievable that a blouse could be unbuttoned that far without actually showing anything--though that might change were Nao to lean forward any further than twenty degrees or so. Mai looked at her, eyes blazing furiously. There was no way Tate would ever do something like that, she though angrily.

"Decency! Ha, that's a good one. That's what you'd like everybody to think, isn't it? Goody, kind mama Mai, nobody sees what kind of twisted memories you've got locked up inside." Nao's eyes turned cold and malicious. "Once a killer, always a killer."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Mai spat back lamely, the words burning into her. Nao pressed her advantage, her smile staying fixed firmly in place.

"What's this?" She said, feigning surprise. "Got your little pet fighting for your amusement? Or is this just a little exercise to make her... tender, for later, saving your pretty little hands the work? Even I'm not that twisted." She gave her an expression of mock horror.

"Yuuki-san, that's enough!" Takumi yelled, eyes hard.

"What are you on about? I wasn't talking to you, brat. If you wanna send your boyfriend out to fight and keep tough, that's no business of mine. Takumi flushed darkly.

"Nao--" Mai started, but the sound of Nao's phone in her bag interrupted. She flipped it open and read whatever message she'd received.

"Guess we'll have to continue our chat later, chums. My wallet just arrived for lunch. Ciao." She made a gesture akin to a friendly wave, but with a feeling more similar to flicking something repulsive off of her fingers, and sauntered away.

"Never would be too soon, you vile girl," Mai muttered, and saw that even her easy-going brother nodded his agreement, a distasteful twist to his lips. Trying to shove her mind from the unpleasant encounter, Mai found her eyes drawn back over to the fighting--sparring, she corrected herself--at the bottom of the hill. Nao's intrusion chanced to be somewhat unfortunate for the both of them as well, because it was only then with Mai watching that Akira accidentally landed a solid kick to the side of Mikoto's head, and Mikoto crumpled. Mai yelped, but Akira was instantly over to her, helping her up with a strong hand. Mai was there almost as quickly, having jumped up and gone down, again. She shoved Akira out of the way so she could have a look at her roommate.

"Mikoto!" She whirled angrily to Akira again, too, but was stopped when Mikoto blinked a few times and held out a pacifying hand.

"No, Mai. It's okay." Mikoto turned to look at the girl who'd so handily laid her out. "You didn't even hit as hard as you could, right?" Akira shook her head, though Mai could be heard to mutter rather loudly,

"Looked hard enough to me..."

"That was really neat, how you made me open like that." Mikoto said brightly. "I didn't even notice how I'd gotten my heel out of position, pivoting around that thrust of yours. All I had to do was drop my guard to block those punches, and I couldn't have done a thing to prevent your kick." Mikoto spoke with a warm admiration for the events that had led to her being kicked in the head, and Akira smiled at her spirit.

"I really was only ever good at fighting with Miroku," Mikoto continued, frowning. "Do you think you could teach me how you fight? That would be fun!"

The thunderclouds in Mai's face said that she didn't agree in the slightest with this assessment, but before she could voice an objection Akira had acquiesced.

"Uh, sure. I'm not sure if I'd be a good teacher, but I'll try. Should be easier than trying to convince Taku-chi that he should learn to defend himself." She jerked a thumb at the boyfriend in question.

"A-Akira-chan!" Takumi stammered, flushing, and Mai giggled.

"Taku-chi?" She asked him teasingly, and he turned away, stamping his way back up the hill again. Akira rolled her eyes, but smiled tenderly.

"Better go cheer him up. Mikoto-san, I'll leave it to you to convince Mai-san that we won't kill one another." Mai, still slightly amused at this girl's interaction with her brother, watched her go up the hill. She sat down and through and arm around Takumi's shoulder, almost more like a buddy than a girlfriend, but then she leaned to his ear in a slightly more intimate fashion. Mai couldn't know what she whispered, but soon he was cracking up and laughing, and she kissed him on the cheek. Mai had to smother a sudden flaring of jealous sisterly protectiveness, then felt happy for her little brother. Then she smothered that happiness, and turned a stern, unyielding face to the girl she still held in her arms. Mikoto had been quiet for all of this, not having too much trouble in just sitting and being held by Mai for a little while.

"Now look here, Mikot... Miko..." Mikoto was looking up at her with the biggest, most limpid golden eyes, and her lower lip trembling, and her shoulders slumped down in the most dejected way. She didn't say a single word to interrupt Mai, but she didn't have to. "Mik... Mi..." Mai futilely tried once more, then sighed. "Fine! Have fun, but don't you expect me to feed you when you break both your arms, or something. Mai crossed her arms beneath her breasts and huffed, turning away and refusing to look at Mikoto any more. That didn't stop Mikoto from leaping at her and enjoying a good nuzzle, though, as Mai should have known the girl would do. Mai tried to retain her disapproving air, but soon relented and hugged Mikoto back, giving her a kiss atop her head and saying softly,

"Just be careful. Don't scare me like that again, Mikoto." Granted, Mai knew that Mikoto had been through situations far worse than what she'd witnessed, without receiving any injury worse than a hunger pang, but she still worried about her.

"How adorable," Mai heard a wry but kind voice behind her, and craned her neck around to see Akira. Mikoto's face popped up over Mai's shoulder, too.

"You're back," Mikoto said happily, "Can I start learning now?"

"If it's okay with your moth--"

"Don't say it," Mai said, eyes narrow. Mikoto disengaged herself from Mai and leapfrogged over her caretaker to land in front of Akira. Mai tried to smile her benediction to the both of them, but it came across as a bit sickly. She walked back up to Takumi, and sat watching the two of them below. Akira had insisted they start with the basics, and Mai watched them go slowly and carefully through the motions.

"I suppose this looks safe enough," Mai remarked. She lay back down and tried to relax again, and enjoy this marvelous last Spring day before school started again, the day that she'd felt so sure was a gift to her from the world for all her hard work. It didn't take long now for the soft breeze, cool grass, and warm sun to weave a spell through her mind and encourage her eyes to close, falling into a light doze again. When next she became aware of her surroundings, it was at a gentle call from Takumi. Not to her, but to the others. She noticed that the warmth and light seemed less prominent, and wondered what time it was. She wasn't quite ready to relinquish the relaxation she'd found yet, though, so she kept her eyes shut and tried to fall back into a doze.

"Hey you two, why don't you take a break? You've been going at it for hours," Takumi reminded them conscientiously, and Mai didn't have any trouble imagining Mikoto and Akira losing track of time down there. Mai heard them approach, surprised to hear them laughing like they'd been friends for years.

"You're doing well," Akira said. Mai heard a thump nearby that sounded like the tomboy flopping down unceremoniously. It was followed by a similar thump, closer to Mai herself, that must have been Mikoto. Her suspicion was verified when a small weight suddenly settled itself at atop one of her breasts, and a smaller one--shaped rather like a little hand--settled on her other.

"So what have you been up to this whole time, man of mine?" Akira said, addressing Takumi now.

"I've been happy watching you enjoy yourself, Akira-chan."

"You're either really lazy, or trying to be sweet," Akira said sardonically, but with a note of affection.

"Trying to be?" Takumi objected in mock protest.

"Of course, nobody says sappy things like that any more." There was a pause, and Mai couldn't help but peek a little, to see Takumi quirking an eyebrow up at his girlfriend. Mai suppressed a giggle, apparently Takumi wasn't quite as susceptible to Akira's teasing as he had once been. "At least nobody besides my boyfriend," Akira amended, smiling. "Just my luck." She leaned closer to Takumi, and poked her head up to look over at Mai. Mai tried to shut close the little crack in her eyes before she was found out, and since Akira didn't say anything she thought she'd succeeded. Akira laughed, and for a moment Mai thought that she'd been discovered, but that was cleared up when Akira spluttered,

"I guess I'm finished practicing with Mikoto-san." Mai listened, and Mikoto's breath was coming in the regular draws of sleep. Takumi laughed as well, and Mai noticed that he did so a little more quietly, trying not to disturb either of them.

"She just went to sleep with you over here?" Akira asked.

"Leave her alone," Takumi admonished gently. "She works hard, you know, with her job and school."

"And Mikoto-san," Akira through in.

"And Mikoto-san," Takumi agreed, then continued thoughtfully. "You know, I think maybe we should do something nice for her, then. To thank her for everything."

"Sure," Akira said. "She's been good to most of us, if a little meddling. I can accept that in trade for a hot meal, though."

"She's usually good for that," Takumi said, and the little annoyance Mai had felt at "meddling" washed away.

"So what does she like to do, karaoke? Let's take her out some time, you and me. She can bring Tate, have a double-date or something." Mai felt herself becoming excited already at the mention of it, she loved to go sing.

"That's a great idea, Akira-chan!" Takumi said enthusiastically. "I'm sure she would love that."

"Great," Akira said dryly. "Now you know what I would love?"

"Huh? What's that?"

"For you to shut up." Mai didn't need her eyes open to know what came after that, though she was able to hear a little bit of it. What surprised her, though, was feeling Mikoto suddenly rise up off of her, and move to the busy couple. Mai debated whether to pretend to suddenly wake up, or continue her subterfuge.

"Why do you do that?" Mikoto suddenly asked, and Mai groaned inside, decided to keep pretending to avoid this situation. Besides, maybe Akira and Takumi could teach Mikoto a life lesson and save her some trouble.

"Er, you have seen people doing this before, right, Mikoto-chan?" Takumi said haltingly.

"Yup!" Mikoto answered brightly, "Yukino and Haruka and Chie and Aoi--"

"Enough, that's really enough!" Akira said now, "We don't need to know which girls around here have been locking lips with their boyfriends," she grumbled.

"Boyfriends?" Mikoto said questioningly, and Mai felt a sudden suspicion, but then Takumi was rolling the conversation along.

"Er, yes. This is something you do with people you love. Or just really like, I suppose. That's pretty much it." Mai heard Mikoto make a wondering little noise, and crawl back over towards her. Mai assumed that she was going to hunker back down to continue her rest now that her curiosity had been satisfied. What Mai did not consider, however, was suddenly feeling a pair of lips press down on her own. Her breath stopped in her throat and her muscles tightened.

"I really, really love Mai!" Mikoto announced to the other two. "Thanks for teaching me that."

There was a moment's silence, in which Mai tried to calm down and regulate her breathing. Suddenly jumping up didn't seem like the best idea. Perhaps she could just try to pretend that hadn't happened and go about life as usual.

"Yeah, Taku-chi here is a real good teacher," Akira spoke, voice dripping with sarcasm. "But, ah, why don't you ask Mai-san about it some more later, she might know a few important details, too."

"Okay," Mikoto agreed. "Can you show me some more now, Akira?"

"N-no!" The ninja girl yelped, initially mistaking her meaning, but hastily backtracked before Mikoto's feelings were hurt. "Oh! Sparring, sure, we can do that. Go ahead and get ready." Mai heard Mikoto rise, and her footsteps pounding down the hill.

Akira started to rise, but stopped at Takumi's chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing really. But I think that makes Mikoto-chan the proud owner of my sister's first two kisses."

"What about Tate?" Akira said automatically.

"I'm not sure if they've actually managed that yet," Takumi said. "At least I haven't seen it. Mikoto has some early ones, at least." Mai, listening in, knew that Takumi had gotten the truth of it the first time. She and Tate hadn't spent nearly as much time together as they might have hoped since the end of the year.

"And one of those is your fault now," Akira pointed out. "Better hope Mai-san doesn't catch on to that part, eh?"

"Ah," Takumi considered. "Yes, I don't think I want her to find out that part."

Mai chose that moment to yawn exaggeratedly. "Don't want who to find out what, Takumi?" She asked sleepily, fixing him with sweet eyes.

"N-nothing, sis." He said, voice rising half an octave. Akira laughed loudly, also looking slightly startled, and clapped Takumi on the back hard enough to make him cough before she loped down the hill to join Mikoto, making her escape. A mean thought crossed Mai's mind, then, and she smacked her lips.

"That's odd. I swear I suddenly taste something fishy, but it was Mikoto that had the fish earlier. Isn't that strange, Takumi?"

Takumi laughed weakly.

"No..." Mai grumbled in protest, refusing to believe the grating, high-pitched chirp in her ears. It was impossible, she was so comfortable; it couldn't possibly be morning yet, not when she wanted to sleep so much. She waited a few minutes to see if denial had any discernable effect on the alarm clock (it didn't), before she tried a different tack. Fine, fine, it could be morning, she conceded, but surely it wasn't the morning of the first day of the new school term. Yes, that was it, had to be. The alarm didn't have any business going off, then. Why wouldn't it just turn off and let her sleep? Where the hell had she bought that thing, anyway? She should return it and tell them it was defective, going off on the wrong day. To do that, though, she would have to wake up, unplug, it and take it there. If she did that, she wouldn't be able to pretend it wasn't time for school anymore. She sighed, realizing she couldn't win, and opened her eyes to the dusky gray haze of the morning sun relentlessly sneaking around the curtains and gleefully bringing the first signs of color into her dormitory room. Mai reached down and peeled Mikoto's arm out from around her, then kicked the sheets off of her feet, the only place the sheets still covered after her roommate's nocturnal migration.

"Mikoto, wake up," she said flatly, yawning and sliding out of bed. She heard a mumbled reply as she walked to the bathroom and filled her hands with cold, clear water. She splashed her face and ran her hands through her hair, rubbing at her eyes, trying to take off the feeling of the damp coat of sweat that a warm night and living blanket had provided her with. She was wiping her face on a hand towel when the door opened and grazed her heel. Mikoto walked in and also turned on the faucet, but just ducked her head into the sink and gulped some of the water before letting it run over her face; she wiped herself dry on the large, loose sleeve of her nightshirt.

"Mornin', Mai." The name was stretched out and dipped in pitch with the girl's gaping yawn. "What's for breakfast?"

"Whatever you can find," Mai answered listlessly. "I think we have a few leftovers in the fridge." Some people might think the first day back should be a time for a solid start, but Mai had always felt more like taking it easy and trudging her way through the first day or two of class before facing the reality of it. The double shift she'd volunteered for after the first day school was on her mind now, too, and seeming much worse a thought than it had during the volunteering, so she was not in the best of moods.

"Alright," Mikoto replied. Mai was a little surprised to hear Mikoto sound rather the same as she felt; however, she reasoned, the first day of class could be getting to her as well, or maybe she was still tired--and battered--from "learning" or "playing" or whatever she wanted to call it with Akira the other day. Whatever it was, Mai felt oddly comforted to be sharing in a mutual apathy and desire to return to bed. Mutely she watched as Mikoto shrugged her way out of her nightshirt and fumbled over the new bra, finally stepping over after a minute and helping her hook it in. She took off her own pajamas, and they started changing into their school uniforms. Mai took a moment to look over Mikoto and make sure she'd clipped and clasped everything and her collar was straight, before smacking herself and telling Mikoto to take it off.

"High school uniform today, Mikoto, remember?" For the first time this morning, Mikoto brightened.

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

"Yep, welcome to the ranks of the orange and gray." Mai mustered a smile and noticed, only now after Mikoto had been out of her uniform for a while, that the navy blue skirt and clean white blouse sleeves looked uncomfortably short. She wondered why she had let her go so long looking like she was wearing a short skirt. It was only when her little friend pulled her new skirt snug around her hips, and it came down to the appropriate length, that Mai came to the more accurate conclusion: Mikoto had grown, and in a fair short amount of time.

"Mikoto, stand up straight." Mai said, walking up to her. Sure enough, where Mikoto had only before come up to about her chest, now she could tickle Mai's nose with the top of her head. She also saw that this growth had been just about all upwards. Mikoto hadn't yet put on her shirt or jacket, allowing Mai to see that she still wasn't developing much, her sides nearly ruler-straight from underarm to hip, and Mai also noticed--with a little envy, knowing intimately the girl's appetite after feeding her for a year--she was still very lean, hardly an ounce of spare flesh to be seen anywhere.

"What is it?"

"Ah, nothing. Just noticing that you're growing a bit. Finish getting dressed." Mai only had to step in once more, to show Mikoto how to tie the neck ribbon that came with the new uniform. The young woman in the store had given her a lesson when they had both gone to pick up the uniform, but Mikoto had already forgotten Mai stayed in the bathroom to arrange herself in the mirror while her roommate went back into the main area, probably to get something in her stomach. Mai grunted, gingerly trying to untangle a particularly stubborn knot of bedhead. A little work and her hair was being brushed out straight and shining in all its strawberry-blonde splendor, and Mai herself felt a little brighter afterwards too. She found Mikoto at the table eating from a styrofoam container, leftovers from the Linden Baum a few days back.

"Did you warm that up?"

"Nun-umph," Mikoto shook her head, but she didn't look as though she had a problem with the cold breakfast, so Mai shrugged and went about her own morning. She didn't feel very hungry, though comparing her own "spare flesh" to Mikoto's while she'd brushed her hair playing a small part in killing her appetite. Maid didn't feel like she was fat, per say, just that a little less pinchability around her tummy would be nice. She eyed Mikoto blithely eating and had to smile. To all appearances, this was a concern her highly metabolic friend would never have to bother with. Mai also thought that pasta was looking pretty good, even cold, right after her decision to skip breakfast.

"Hey, let me get a few bites, Mikoto." The younger girl offered her the utensils and they sat down at the table together to finish. Between the both of them it didn't last much longer, and soon they were gathering their packs. Mai noticed Mikoto looking around the floor with a puzzled expression, then shake her head and go to the door.

"Did you lose something?" Mai asked. Mikoto shifted her shoulders uncomfortably, but she shook her head.

"No, I didn't lose anything."

"You remember where you're supposed to go today? You have a different class now."

"I remember, Mai." Mikoto nodded reassuringly. Mai wasn't sure to what degree Mikoto should be believed in this matter; however, she could hardly argue. Mai wasn't her mother, after all, no matter how their situation might feel at some times. They filed through the doorway and stood in the hall, Mikoto waiting while Mai locked the door behind them. A thump from another room made them both start, and their neighboring door flew open and Mai's friend Aoi hopped out, tugging her shoe on and trying to keep her balance.

"I'm late, late, late!" She cried. Her phone rang, and she almost fell trying to answer it, but for a steadying hand from Mikoto's nimble response. She looked at her phone and cringed, pushing a button before stuffing it back into her bag.

"Aoi, what's the matter?" Mai asked, bewildered.

"Can't talk, Chie's waiting for me. See you later, Mai!" Aoi ran down the hall and around the corner. Mikoto looked helplessly to Mai, concerned for their friend, but Mai couldn't offer much reassurance for her and just shrugged.

"Hmph, could she have girlfriend trouble more quietly in the morning?" A voice said, sour as milk left out on a midsummer night. Bleary green eyes spied Mai and Mikoto from behind disarrayed strands of crimson hair. "And look what the little cat dragged to my doorstep today," she sneered, looking pointedly at Mai. "What have I told you about carrying around filthy things like that?" She addressed Mikoto in a lecturing tone of voice. The small girl, oblivious to Nao's sarcasm, only looked confused.

"Ignore her, Mikoto, let's get going."

"Yeah, shoo kitty, take that thing out of here." Nao must have had yet another of her indecently late nights, Mai thought angrily as her antagonizer slammed the door, to leave off so quickly without a sharper parting jab; chances were good that she was not going to be in class today.

"What's she talking about, Mai? Shouldn't Nao be going to class now, too?" Mikoto looked to her with brows furrowed.

"Yes, she should, Mikoto, but she probably won't be."

"Why not?"

"How should I know?" Mai answered, more sharply than she meant to, so she softened her tone. "You would have to ask her, Mikoto--but not now!" She hastily amended when Mikoto made move to Nao and Aoi's dormitory door. Her roommate turned quizzically to her. "You can talk to her after classes, if you need to; we need to hurry so we won't be late." The flighty girl would probably forget about it by then, or so Mai hoped.

She walked Mikoto to her first class to make sure she did, in fact, go to the right one, and when she did finally get to her own class, it was with heat in her cheeks. Mai's friends Chie and Aoi had intercepted her shortly after seeing Mikoto off, wondering whatever she could be doing there, with her class in an entirely different direction from the dormitories. They'd teased her about her motherliness, again, but when she rather stiffly suggested they all get to class, the two other girls had mysteriously gone their own way with a brief: "We'll catch up in a minute."

It was only while her thoughts were on that oddity that Mai wondered what they were doing on this side of the school; remembering Aoi's behavior, she tied the two into a larger question: what had they needed to meet so urgently about this morning, so near to Mikoto's class? Sitting in her classroom, she clasped her hands together and sighed, murmuring under her breath a quick prayer that nothing go wrong today, and hoping that there was somebody listening.

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"Mai, are you in any school clubs?"

"Eh?" Mai paused at the unexpected question that had burst with ill-disguised enthusiasm from Mikoto's lips when they met in the halls for lunch. "Ah, no, Mikoto. With my job and all, I never even thought of joining a club. That's too much for me."

"Oh," Mikoto said, looking clearly disappointed in her answer.

"Wait, what's the matter, why do you ask?"

"I was hoping you could tell me a good club to join. People in my class were all talking about what clubs they were gonna join and asking me about it, and I didn't know what to say. I thought that it might be fun to be in a club that Mai was in, too."

"She's just so cute!" A very familiar squeal was followed by a pale brown splash when Aoi lunged from behind them and latched onto Mikoto, rubbing her cheek atop Mikoto's head and obscuring the surprised younger girl's face in a curtain of hair.

"You can't take her home, Aoi," Chie admonished her friend in a dry drawl, walking more sedately to them in the wake of Aoi's dash. "Isn't that sweet, Mai-kun?" She raised an eyebrow in Mai's direction, "Did you join some club, then, that has Mikoto-chan wanting in too?"

"You know I couldn't do that, Chie." Mai replied archly. Chie just smiled easily and turned to Mikoto.

"You could come join the photography club with me, Mikoto-chan," she offered. Aoi let her go and spun her around.

"Yeah, join the photography club with us!" She said enthusiastically, hugging again from the other direction. Mikoto regarded her with an unconvinced skepticism.

"Photography? What do you do in that club?" She asked the older girl. Aoi was taken aback, and glanced surreptitiously to Chie before answering.

"Well, um, that is... you, ah, take pictures. Of things." She smiled nervously. "With a camera!" She added brightly. Mai sighed, and turned suspicious eyes to Chie.

"She only joined because you were in the club, didn't she?"

"Yep," Chie agreed with a rueful laugh, running a hand through her stylishly short charcoal hair. "She's terrible at photography--I've never seen so many terrible pictures of myself." On Aoi's blind side, Chie winked slyly at Mai.

"That's mean, Chie," Aoi pouted. She'd released a thoroughly bewildered Mikoto and fixed her friend with a frown.

"But it's true, dear." Chie shrugged, and smiled the confident, enticing smile that had melted the hearts of more than a few young girls, and that apparently even Aoi's status of closest friend hadn't built up much tolerance against. Putting the final nail in the coffin of Aoi's ire, she added, "Although I can't say I mind you being around."

As she observed Aoi sigh and over to stand very closely alongside Chie, and then to link hands with her, Mai couldn't help but turn a searching eye over the both of them. She blinked, and nagging suspicion finally won out over propriety, and she opened her mouth to speak. "Hey, Chie, Aoi..." How did one ask this? 'Just what is the nature of your relationship?' She tried it out in her head, but it sounded rather formal. Before she got the opportunity to try something else, though, Mikoto came to her with a serious expression and wrapped her arms around her. "Ah, Mi-ko-to?" the name distorted when Mikoto squeezed her around the ribs.

"Mai is bigger and softer. More comfortable, yup," she concluded, rubbing her face once against Mai's breasts and letting go, satisfied with the results of this experiment. "I'm glad they're mine," she nodded.

"Mai-kun?" Chie said, bringing Mai's attention back to the other two girls. "You were saying something?"

"...Never mind," she sighed. "Let's go eat."

In the cafeteria Mai was content to let her thoughts lay forgotten when the conversation turned to something safe again: the matter of school clubs.

"I might not be in a club, Mikoto, but I can tell you that you this: look at everything, and see if there's any club that does things you like to do."

"Things I like to do?" Mikoto asked around a mouthful of her lunch, and her eyes turned thoughtfully to the ceiling. "You think there's a club for eating Mai's lunches?"

"No."

"Mmm." Mikoto grunted her disappointment with that revelation, and concentrated on her meal. Mai rolled her eyes. It wasn't much use expecting Mikoto to carry her end of the conversation at the moment. She supposed she might take it as a compliment to the lunch she'd made.

"What about sports, Mai?" Chie asked her, actually taking the matter seriously. "Mikoto's pretty athletic. She's definitely fast, and we've seen her bounce of the walls before; she could be a school star." Mai considered it. That was by far the best idea she'd heard so far. But what did Mikoto think about it? Turning to her, she sighed, and had to reiterate the idea to her; Mikoto hadn't been paying attention.

"Sports? Like what?"

"Um, there's track and field, and soccer..." Mai shrugged, and turned to Chie and Aoi for some support.

"There's tennis, Mikoto-chan, and swimming. Then there's the volleyball and basketball team, and the softball team, and... oh! I guess there's the kendo club, too." Mai noticed the tomboy's eyes slide to focus over her shoulder. She turned just in time to see a silly grin and confident eyes looking down at her.

"Yuuichi!" Mai cried, surprised, and put on a quick smile. "I didn't expect to see you until after school, what are you doing here right now?" She saw that he was in his padded Kendo uniform, sans the plate, pads, and sword.

"You don't sound very happy to see me, Mai," he said with mock sadness, smiling at her and laying his hand over hers. Mai blushed slightly; Tate had somehow gone from being a goof to an unabashed flirt the longer they had gone on as an official couple.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that! I was just surprised."

"I didn't get to see you yesterday evening, so I couldn't wait until after school. The team can practice without me, for a little while."

"Without their captain, Tate-kun?" Chie asked.

"Hell yeah, they can. Heh, it was the team that told me to go. A bunch of hot-blooded young guys like those understand priorities. Anyway, Takeda is still there, and he was the captain last year. So I get to be with Mai instead of with a bunch of sweaty guys today. Hmm?" Mai saw Tate's face cock to the side questioningly, and for the second time in as many minutes somebody was looking past her, so that she had to crane her head around to see. Mikoto was gazing at Tate as though seeing the young man for the first time, and running her eyes over him--or rather, his outfit--curiously.

"Those clothes are like those other guys wear. Like the funny guy with the scar that I see swinging that funny wooden stick around. What's it mean, Tate? Do you all swing those sticks?"

"It's the Kendo uniform, Mikoto, for the club. Yeah, we all swing those around, but they're called shinai. It's not like all of us can carry around real swords." Tate said defensively, a little embarrassed at Mikoto's assessment of his favorite activity, and Mai giggled at him.

"Shinai?" Mikoto mouthed the unfamiliar word, and shook her head. "And they're wood, with no edge or tip?" Mikoto furrowed her eyebrows, "Like for practice?" Mai blinked, rather surprised she had grasped that without having it explained to her. "I practiced with big wood swords for training with Grandfather, but when I turned ten years old he let me use my real one. How old do you have to be to use your real sword?"

"Ah..." Tate shrugged helplessly.

"Those are their real swords, Mikoto-chan." Chie came to his rescue, struggling not to laugh at his discomfort with the girl's questioning. "It's like a game. They fight each other to improve themselves, and compete to see who's better, but they use those wooden swords and wear pads, so nobody gets hurt."

"Oh," Mikoto nodded, "That makes sense. I wish I would have known about the pads before; even though they were wood, those swords Grandfather would fight me with hurt whenever I would mess up. I wonder why we never used those pads?" Mikoto's lip twisted in thought with the memory. Mai winced. Her roommate's naivete and straightforward charm were often called cute, often enough that it was easy to forget those same traits were the product of an isolated--and occasionally harsh--upbringing.

"Oh, you didn't use any kind of protection, Mikoto-chan?" Aoi gasped, looking horrified. Mikoto had never talked much about her past but with Mai, and then usually sporadically and unexpectedly, as now; Mai hadn't seen any need to tell anybody else about it. "But what about when you were using real swords, like you said?"

"With real swords?" A small smile settled on the young girl's lips, tinged with something that may have been sadness or nostalgia, "I never messed up against Grandfather when I could use Miroku. Never." A momentary silence fell over their table after Mikoto finished her sentence in a low voice, so that when a burst of laughter erupted from a nearby group the rest of them were all slightly startled. "Did you say that Kendo was a school club, Tate?" Mikoto asked eagerly, any trace of her odd countenance washed away and replaced with her usual carefree cheer.

"Um, yeah, it is. Why?"

Mai had only a moment to feel alarmed before Mikoto turned to her with eyes that brimmed with pride. "Mai, I found a club that does something I like!"

Later that day Mai was still wondering which supernatural entity to blame for disregarding her prayers, but it was hard, as she hadn't specified one to begin with. Would it be fair to just blame them all, as it was obvious none of them had helped? It hardly seemed just to blame somebody for something when you hadn't asked him, her, or it to do it in particular, though, so Mai was stumped. Such philosophical rumination did help take her mind off of Mikoto's plans, though, so she didn't worry as much as she might have while she walked to the Kendo dojo after school. While on her way, she passed or was passed by a few of the current club members, all of them suddenly looking bigger, burlier, and more threatening than they ever had before. Even the building loomed more ominously off of the path ahead; it wasn't that Mai doubted Mikoto's athleticism or ability to take care of herself in confrontations, but she could not for the life of her understand why the girl would want to put herself into a position to have to take care of herself, for fun. Tate had done his best to assure her that everybody in the club was basically a good guy, and that a girl who wanted to join didn't have anything to fear, but Mai was having trouble believing just his word, boyfriend or no.

Mai's footsteps had slowed with her thoughts, until she was standing and worrying outside the dojo. She tried to think of exactly what she planned for this visit; chances were that she wasn't going to be changing Mikoto's mind. Oh, she had threats, of course. One mention of a cease to cooking would have Mikoto tearing up in horror and coming home with her, but even with all of her fears Mai didn't feel right doing that. She couldn't think of a good reason for Mikoto not to try the club out, except for the sake of her own peace of mind. She could stand in there and watch Mikoto like a mother hawk to keep her free of molestation, but she wouldn't be able to do that every day. Even today, she really needed to be heading for work. She had called in to tell the restaurant she was going to be a few minutes late, but her shifts tended to start right after school, so this was most definitely a one-time thing. While she gnawed over the situation, she heard a sudden commotion from inside, and dark thoughts fluttered through her mind as numerously as autumn leaves in a midnight rainstorm.

She ran the last handful of yards to the door and flung it open, but her dramatic entrance went mostly unnoticed compared to the attention riveted in the center of the room, where two club members in full regalia faced one another. The taller one moved confidently around the floor in measured steps, seeming to flow around his opponent, who remained cautiously still. He approached with his shinai held with amazing steadiness; the shorter member, though there was a steady authority in the way he held his own shinai, to be sure, seemed unsure of exactly where it should be held on the grip, or in relation to his body. The attention being paid to this spectacle was almost contagious, and Mai's worries about Mikoto took a momentary backseat while she sidled into the room and leaned against the wall by the door to watch.

With an ear-splitting, very familiar, yell, the more experienced combatant launched himself at his opponent. Mai smiled brightly now, realizing that this fellow who looked to be the better of the pair was Tate; she hadn't gotten very many opportunities to see him at practice, and more often than not it seemed as though he were instructing and presiding over other sparring partners. She was suddenly more vested in even this little practice match, with her boyfriend in there. Tate's opponent was quick, though he moved awkwardly, and got his sword up in time to block the overhead swing. It wasn't the prettiest deflection, forcing Shorty, as she found herself thinking of him, to take a step back in order to meet it in time, and that gave Tate the opportunity to strike again, redirecting his angle to go for his opponent's hand guard. Seeming more confident, however, Shorty moved with surprising speed to block that too, and took a few steps back to gain breathing room from Tate, who didn't pursue. Shorty definitely wasn't bad, but even Mai's inexperienced eye could see that Tate was more experienced, and expending far less energy in his measured steps and swings than his opponent's more wild movements. Tate politely gave Shorty a moment to ready himself, but no more time than that before going back on the offensive. Mai discovered at this point that Tate had been mostly probing his opponent on the last pass, and went to true form this time around, striking quickly and hard. The sounds made Mai wince, remembering again why she was here. She dreaded thinking of Mikoto on the receiving end of that barrage. Tate's voice cut sharply through the air now, again and again, and Mai could see Shorty becoming rattled at the brutal offensive, though Mai credited him for his effort, he was certainly fast and enduring, Mai was impressed that he had lasted so long. Shorty was forced to move, and his balance began to fail with each harried step around the training area, and his blocks came close and closer to missing, slower and more clumsy. Suddenly, Tate gave one more triumphant cry and gave a mighty downward swing, catching Shorty in mid-step and catching him solidly atop his headgear. His arms windmilled for a moment, and he fell back hard onto the wooden floor.

Mai felt a surge of pride and triumph for Tate, but then her blood ran cold as she heard another familiar voice yell in tandem with Shorty's fall, a cry of shock and surprise.

"Mikoto!?"

Now, with the match completed, more eyes turned to the door to find the intruder in their midst. Mai ran into the room, stepping through the members sitting attentively on the floor and ignoring the calls of protest and the angry inquiries to her intrusion. She fell to her knees by Shorty--Mikoto, she verified, now close enough to see through the guard--and helped her sit up, seeing the young girl's eyes widen in surprise.

"Mai?"

Mai didn't have any time for more than verifying her well-being, however, and turned angrily to her boyfriend, who involuntarily stepped back at the fire in her eyes.

"What's the matter with you, huh? Hitting her in the head! Knocking her down so hard! If this is how the 'good guys' are, I'd hate to see if you had any problem members in here! I thought you taught people here, but instead you just shove them into some pads and start whacking away, huh?"

The obscured figure of Tate held his arms out helplessly, but Mai was having none of it, and prepared another verbal barrage of her own, one that would likely have been a bit more personal, and a bit harder to apologize for later, but Mikoto raised a gauntleted hand to stop her.

"Mai, no, he didn't hit me that hard. I was already falling when he swung that last time. I tripped on the bottom of this thing." She kicked her feet a little to show how the blue uniform she was wearing extended just past her toes. Then Mikoto laughed. "I wanna try again, but I don't wanna wear this." Her laugh turned slightly fierce at the end, as she prepared to offer more of her efforts to Tate, and she rose to her feet, Mai keeping a worried hand on her elbow and hovering over her, refusing to think of how motherly this might appear. By this time, the club Captain had managed to remove his headgear and shook his head with a smile. Mai almost asked him angrily what he was so happy about, but bit her tongue at the last second for the sake of Mikoto's explanation.

"Thanks, Mikoto-chan. I was in serious trouble with Mai for a moment, wasn't I?" He flashed his smile for Mai's sake, and she felt herself mellowing slightly, though her belly was still tied in a knot from the rush of anxious worry, and she wouldn't be calming down entirely for a little while, at least. "But you know, she's right. I know you wanted to jump right in and start fighting, but that's not all of what this club is for. Just like Mai said, we're supposed to teach people here." He walked over to her and clapped a hand on Mikoto's shoulder. "You did great, for a beginner, but you should take a little time to learn how we do things here before you spar with anybody again."

Mikoto's lip pushed out in small pout, and she began to protest. "But, I could've won! This armor and these pads are heavy and make me slower and I can't move like I should be able to, and these swords are so light that it's hard to block with them, and I tripped on the bottom--"

"But those are our rules, Mikoto-chan," Tate said, more sternly now. "With practice you can learn how to move in the equipment and how to hold your sword correctly to block and strike. The armor and pads are all regulation and have to be worn, and although shinai come in different lengths and weights, they're not going to be as heavy as steel."

"But--"

"The first thing you should probably do is buy some of your own equipment. That's the closest we have to your size here, and as you noticed, it doesn't fit very well."

"Erm, Yuuichi?" Mai butted in hesitantly at this juncture. He and Mikoto both started, having been focused intently on one another, and he turned over to Mai.

"Yes?"

"How much would a set of equipment cost?"

His eyes widened, and he looked uncomfortable, only now taking into account the particulars of Mikoto's finances. Almost embarrassed, he rolled out a figure. Mai made a funny noise in her throat; she wasn't sure exactly what emotion that she was trying to convey with that noise, somewhere between the sound of a cat getting stepped on and a person swallowing a baseball, but somehow she felt that it was exactly the right emotion to be expressing. She turned to look at Mikoto again. The younger girl had her head bowed, and she reached up to tug off her headgear. Freeing herself from it and jerking the wrapped cloth cap on her head, she looked at Mai with eyes simultaneously pleading and incredibly happy.

"Pleeeaaaaase, Mai?" She asked; one thing Mai had never really been able to explain to her was the concept of money. Perhaps if Mikoto were the kind of person that constantly wanted new things, Mai could have sat down with her and explained the concept of limited disposable income, but Mikoto hardly ever had a want other than food, and between learned frugal cooking and the occasional free food from the Linden Baum, that had never been a big cut into Mai's paycheck. Now, she was asking for just about the only thing she had ever asked for, and Mai was having a hard time thinking of a way to say no to her shining golden eyes.

"S-sure, Mikoto, we can probably find a way..."

"Thanks, Mai!" Mikoto wrapped around her in a hug that knocked the wind out of Mai with the impact of the hard chest plate. Apparently that made the experience less than satisfactory for Mikoto, too, because while Mai gasped and nursed a spot on her ribs that she was sure was going to bruise, Mikoto frowned down at her chest plate, rather put out with it for getting in the way of one of her favorite things. In this moment of calm, Mai looked around and froze, very conscious now of the entire Kendo club having watched their little meeting in the middle of the room.

Apparently sensing the opportunity to speak, one amused voice said, "She's a feisty one, isn't she?"

"Which one?" Another answered quickly, and a chuckle rolled through the club. Mai felt her face heating, but the club members began standing, and most of them were smiling in a friendly way. "Good job, Mikoto-chan." One of them said.

"And she's a beginner?"

"She was talking about heavier swords, though, so she must have used something before, right?"

"Nah, she's probably just one of those dreamer types that has a sword from some con at home that she swings around the backyard."

"I don't think so. Hey, Mikoto-chan? You move pretty well, you must have practiced something before, right?"

Mikoto didn't really get a chance to answer, with the rest of the club continuing the discussion healthily enough without her input. Mikoto didn't look as thought she really knew how to respond, anyway, so it was just as well. She just took a half-step to put her up against Mai, who put an arm around her shoulders while the club milled around, unsettled by the sudden noise and activity in what had been a still, quiet room. She sighed in resignation, and looked at Mikoto.

"So, you like Kendo, eh?"

"Yup, very much!"

"And you wouldn't mind having her, Yuuichi?"

"Not at all, Mai. Hell, after sparring, I want her in the club."

"Fine." Mai smiled helplessly. She sniffed, then, and crinkled her nose. "But, erm, Mikoto, before we talk anymore, could you go change out of this equipment? It smells. Badly."

"It does!" Mikoto agreed fervently, as though surprised that somebody had noticed that as well, and hurried off to the equipment storage room.

Tate laughed after she'd left. "That was another reason I granted her request to get suited up and spar on her first day, you know. I thought that if nothing else, the smell would turn her away from the club and set your mind at ease. But she seems determined to tough her way through this."

"She doesn't like losing," Mai smiled.

"Good. We don't like losing, either. She'll fit right in. Speaking of which..." Tate glanced around at the milling and chatting club members. "Hey! Just because captain gets to chat with his girlfriend doesn't mean you all forget how things are done! Line up, start your warm-ups, you're in practice now!" He barked his orders in a tone that Mai couldn't recall ever hearing from him. She remembered how he'd confessed anxiously to her when he'd gone back to the club and been summarily promoted to captain that he had no idea how to give orders; he'd apparently caught on in the meantime. Mikoto came back out of the equipment room without her pads or plate, stumbling once over the hem of her uniform again.

"Hey," Mai said suddenly after watching it happen, "Does that uniform belong to anybody in particular?"

"No, it was left behind by a senior who graduated last year, didn't take it with him or anything. Luckily he was a little on the short side, so Mikoto-chan could use it."

"Good," Mai breathed. "I can save a bit of money by taking it home and breaking out the needle, then. I'll take in the hem a bit and see if it could use some adjustment anywhere else."

"If you want," Tate conceded, "But it's really the pads and armor that are most of the money, here."

"Every little bit counts," Mai said firmly, trying not to think of the money involved. She felt a twinge of annoyance, she'd almost managed to repress that part of the discussion, before Tate had brought it up again. Tate just raised his hands up in surrender, not even offering to argue the point. He turned to Mikoto, instead.

"Now you remember, too, that we still have a couple of extra, perfectly good shinai here. If you don't find one that you just absolutely love the feel of, maybe you could try to just use one of these for a while, okay?"

"'Kay!"

"Okay, fellas. We lost some time today with our newest member, but now we have to make up for it, got it?"

"Yes, Captain!" The members chorused, lining up and starting on their exercises. At the mention of time lost, Mai breathed in sharply and drew her phone.

"Oh shi---" She bit her lip, "I'm sooo late for work now! Bye, Yuuchi, Mikoto. You're going to have to do leftovers or something instant for dinner, too, I'm working late. Sorry," she frowned at Mikoto's disappointed expression, "It's just for tonight, give me a break!" Softening, she added, "I'll make something extra-special tomorrow to make up for it, so be good." Mikoto brightened, and Mai felt better. She scrambled for the door and picked up her bag, turning around and blowing a kiss at Tate before running out of the door. Sighing, she thought it was probably a bad thing that was still the closest they'd come to kissing.

She hurried to work, now grateful that she'd signed up for the extra shift today. It was supposed to have been part of a grand plan to save up an emergency nest egg so that she wouldn't have to worry about money anymore, but... damn those limpid little begging kitten eyes of hers, Mai pouted, even whilst doing so having a hard time being angry with Mikoto; all the girl had done was follow her advice, and she even had Tate's advocation for this. She'd been determined to deter Mikoto from joining, had subsequently seen her beaten and knocked ove--tripped, she reminded herself--and then walked out planning, of all things, to pay for a set of equipment that would allow her to continue doing this on a regular basis. Still pouting, Mai nonetheless felt good on her way to work, for as much as Mikoto's sorrowful expression had melted her resistance to her joining Kendo, so did her love-filled, thankful eyes eyes still loom vividly in the forefront of Mai's mind.

"So she really did it?"

"Yup, she really did," Mai mumbled. She leaned backwards in her desk to see an upside-down grin pasted onto Chie's face.

"I knew they'd be fighting over you eventually, but I didn't think they would be armed."

"Shut up, Chie."

"Well, somebody's grumpy. Mikoto-chan is happy, isn't she?"

"Duh. I probably could have made her just as happy if I bought her a candy bar, though." Mai rolled her eyes irritably. She sighed and laid her forehead on her desk, the plastic cool on her forehead. As far as Chie knew, Mai was only uncomfortable with the idea of Mikoto's activity. She hadn't explained the bit about gear expenses; there was no reason to make that her friend's worry, too. Would have been an easy way to wipe off that amused smirk, however.

"Tokiha-san?" Mai's head shot up. Well now, this was a rarity, what did the Student Council President have to say to her? Mai looked over a seat at Kikukawa Yukino. She was a very different girl than Mai had first known when she had come to this academy. Then Yukino had been a notably shy, reserved girl, more known for her proximity to the then-Executive-Chief Suzushiro Haruka than for any accomplishment of her own. She had quite literally surprised everybody in the school when she had suddenly announced her candidacy for Council President at the end of the previous year, although Mai, listening to Suzushiro's decidedly enthusiastic and vocal encouragement over the summer, had her own suspicions as to whence that impetus had originated. With the backing of both Suzushiro Haruka, and more surprisingly, the support of Fujino Shizuru, the then-current President, she won in a landslide. Since then, with Fujino and Suzushiro gone to the University, Yukino had stepped forward very neatly to fill both of the gaps they had left behind.

All Mai had known her for before was being Suzushiro's partner, and somebody that Mikoto considered a good friend, but she had already gained a reputation for being easily as diplomatic, persuasive and effective as Fujino had been, yet as hardworking and visible among the student body as Suzushiro had been, in the short period of time that she had been in office. In truth, as Mai turned to talk to her for the first time this school year, she realized guiltily that this was going to be one of the few times she had ever spoken to the girl.

"Yes, Yukino-san?"

"I don't mean to eavesdrop nor pry, but did Mikoto-san get into a fight, is she okay? I might have misheard." Concern swam through her hazel eyes, so Mai knew she wasn't just asking in an official basis.

"Oh, she's fine," Mai reassured her, and explained. "She just joined the Kendo club and had a practice match with Yuuichi; Chie was making a bad joke."

"I see." Yukino ducked her eyes, but Mai got the distinct impression that she wanted to say something else. She tilted her head inquisitively to the President and tried to catch her eye.

"You sure that's all you wanted to know, Yukino-san?"

"Ah," Yukino bit her lip. "You see, Tokiha-san, as President I am privy to perhaps more information than many students would like to be aware of. Such as their general personal financial status." Yukino paused to let that sink in. "So, I wanted to ask if Mikoto-chan is going to have any problems paying for the necessary equipment to compete?"

Mai winced, but shook her head nonchalantly. "Oh no, don't worry about it, Yukino-san. I can take care of everything, I'm sure."

"You can take care of everything, Tokiha-san?" Yukino asked rather pointedly. Mai blinked. The old Yukino, even if she had noticed the turn of phrase, probably wouldn't have said anything else. "Mikoto-chan doesn't have any family or source of income to provide for the expense?"

"Well, no," Mai admitted. "But I just kind of, you know, she's my roommate and doesn't have any family, so..." She struggled to find words to explain it. It wasn't the sort of thing that she could even explain to herself, much less a stranger. Mikoto just lived with her, and Mai took care of her. Because... that's the way it was.

"Our dear Mai is a good mother, isn't she?" Chie answered for her over her shoulder. Yukino smiled appreciatively, but focused seriously at Mai.

"I'm glad to hear that she has such a wonderful friend in you, Tokiha-san, and to know that you would go so far for her." Yukino smiled warmly. "However, it may untrouble your heart to know that the Academy has certain programs in place to help students pay for extracurricular expenditures, particularly if they concern intramural competitive events. Is that something you believe that Mikoto-chan may be interested in?"

"R-really!? A school like Fuuka Academy has stuff like that?"

"It does as of tomorrow. I feel positive that there are some spare funds laying about somewhere that need a good cause."

"Hey, wait. No, Yukino-san, I couldn't possibly ask you to do something like that."

Yukino smiled in a way that reminded her eerily of Fujino. "I know you couldn't, Tokiha-san, and you didn't. I just made it up right now, on the spot, and asked if your roommate would be interested in it. Harada-san, did you here Tokiha-san make any inappropriate requests of me? No, rather, did you hear her make any requests at all?"

"No, I don't believe I did, President," Chie answered innocently, slyly winking at Mai, helplessly looking between them both.

"Everything seems in order, then. Don't even bother trying to argue, Tokiha-san, you don't have a leg to stand on. I believe this is the right and fair thing to do, and with all my power as President I will see to its coming about." Mai might have argued in spite of the warning, but the Fujino faded from her smile, and a distinctly Suzushiro hardness replaced it in her eyes. Mai clamped her mouth shut.

Immediately before class ended that afternoon, Mai heard Mikoto's name over the intercom; she was told to go to the council room immediately after classes. While everybody else in the room stood and weaved through the desks, Mai remained sitting and hugged her bag to her chest, debating with herself. Should she go as well? There wasn't really any reason to. Yukino wasn't going to do anything to Mikoto; Mai knew what this was all about. However, she did work the later shift today, anyway, and she didn't have any other plans...

Mai started for the council room. She hesitated at the door, wondering whether to knock, and erred on the side of politeness.

"Yes?"

"It's Tokiha Mai, can I come in?"

"Of course, Tokiha-san, please enter."

She opened the door. Yukino was at the desk in the front of the room, with Mikoto seated in front of her. There was paperwork scattered all over the table. Somewhat disconcertingly, Mai noticed that they were the only people in the room.

"Where's the Vice Pres or Executive Chief, or anything?" Mai asked curiously.

"They're all attending to their own matters at the moment, Tokiha-san, and I hardly need any assistance in filling out paperwork with a friend. Please, come in, pull up a seat."

Mai shrugged and pulled a free chair up to the desk. "Hey, Mikoto."

"Hi, Mai. Yukino's telling me that the school could pay for my Kendo stuff. Isn't that nice?"

"Very nice, Mikoto. What do you have to do?"

"Yukino was just about to give me some papers to fill out, then you came in." Mikoto nodded her head excitedly and turned her attention back to the President. "What do I need, Yukino?"

"Just these forms, Mikoto-chan," Yukino said, neatly stacking the papers on the desk and handing them to the eager girl. Mikoto slapped them down on the desk and reached for a pen in a small cup. She started easily enough, but still fairly close to the top of the page she paused, and looked up. Looking appraisingly between Yukino and Mai, she settled on the latter and fixed her with a questioning gaze.

"Mai, this spot here says I need the name of my parent or legal guardian. I don't know the names of my parents, because I grew up with Grandfather, so do you know who my legal guardian is?"

Mai blinked. Eyes wide, she glanced helplessly at Yukino and shrugged. When all Yukino could do was return the gesture, Mai shook her head and answered, "No, I don't know who your legal guardian is, Mikoto. Do you have any family that you know, anywhere?"

"Only Ani-ue. Grandfather was the only other, and he passed away right before I came to school here."

"Ani-ue..." Mai echoed. "Yukino-san, what do you think? Could Kanzaki-san be considered her legal guardian?"

"Ah, perhaps? I wouldn't know, Tokiha-san. Reito-san has rather consistently stated that, while he is affectionate of Mikoto-chan, he doesn't acknowledge her as a blood relative. In addition, if Reito-san were to be acknowledged as her legal guardian, then..."

"Then?" Mai arched her eyebrow.

"Then the record would probably show that her 'family' is more than capable of financially providing for her equipment, given Reito-san's station, and the burden for that would then fall to he and his. That may not be such a bad situation, Tokiha-san. He does like Mikoto-chan almost as a little sister, and I'm sure if you asked him--"

"No!" Mai interrupted, more loudly than she had intended. Breathing deeply, she continued calmly. "I couldn't possibly ask him something like that, Yukino-san. You may have justified the Fuuka expenditure without my input, but that kind of sophistry won't work again."

"But if Mikoto-chan were to--"

"Nuh-uh." Mikoto surprised them both by jumping in herself. It sometimes became easy to forget about her. Mikoto's eyes were shining fiercely, and she shook her head firmly. "No. I'm joining the team, and it's the Fuuka Kendo Club. Ani-ue isn't part of this, so I can't ask him to get me something."

Yukino's eyebrows shot up, but she composed quickly. Arranging her glasses, she coughed slightly, and asked, "Not to be rude, Mikoto-chan, but why, then, were you prepared to allow Tokiha-san to get the equipment for you?"

Mikoto opened her mouth to answer, and froze. Closing her jaw, she furrowed her brows in consternation. "Because Mai is... she's my... because we..." Every time Mikoto tried to explain the words would die on her tongue, and she looked at Mai imploringly, begging her to explain why. However, Mai was in the same situation that she had been earlier. This time, however, it just irritated her.

"Because, Yukino-san. You heard us, we're not talking to Kanzaki-san. I guess I'm more her legal guardian than anybody else, when you get right down to it."

"Unfortunately, Tokiha-san, you're not of age, meaning that would be legally tricky to arrange. I could perhaps have her recognized as a ward of the academy, but that could be almost as tricky; the school board would require very good reasons for something like that, and it would take some time to arrange." Yukino pressed her fingers together, and gazed seriously at Mikoto over her glasses. "Are you absolutely certain, Mikoto-chan, that you have no--" She was interrupted then by an odd music. Mai perked her ear, and listened curiously. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at Yukino.

"What is that? A military song?" It was a rather annoying trumpeting fanfare, with rolling drums in the background as well. Flushing slightly, Yukino reached below the desk and her hand came up with her cell phone in it, from whence the sound came. She flipped it open and held it to her ear.

"Haruka-chan? Why--yes, yes, I arranged the meeting with Mikoto-chan, I'm getting it taken care of. I'm glad you wanted to check in, but I'm a little busy at the--What? No, I'm not so busy I'll forget, I'm in the middle of the meeting now! It's going fine, Haruka-chan, so I should really get back to it, good-bye." She took the phone from her ear, blushing slightly, but even Mai could hear the voice of the previous Executive Chief bark through the phone. Yukino sighed and gave the pair an entreating expression, asking for their patience. "No, there's nothing you can do right now, I'm taking care of it. No, Haruka-chan, there's no reason for you to come! Ha-Haruka-chan, you're impossible. No, absolutely not, don't come, stay there, you do not need to come!" Yukino brought the phone from her ear and actually yelled that last line into the receiver. Mai was taken aback; that was the first time she could remember hearing Yukino raising her voice in such an irritable manner. Yukino blinked at her phone, and brought it to her ear. "Haruka-chan? Hello? Haruka-chan?" Yukino snapped her phone shut and put it back into her pocket. Her chest heaved with a sigh. "She hung up. I hope I didn't hurt her feelings..." Mai wondered if she should say something to the President, but Yukino just sat up and looked as Presidential as she had a few moments before.

"Pardon, Mikoto-chan, Tokiha-san. Haruka-chan just worries a little bit, you know."

"Sure, Yukino-san," Mai assured her, not really getting it at all. She couldn't really see what Yukino saw in that brash, loud-mouthed person, but it looked like their friendship had extended past their work together at the academy.

"So then, where were we?"

Mai jumped at the loud slam! from behind her and whirled her head around.

"Jeez, Yukino. I just wanted to surprise you a little bit, couldn't you have just said it was okay for me to drop by? Had it all planned out, you say you want me here, and there I am, like I'd been summoned by your lo--"

"Haruka-chan!" Yukino cried, obviously beside herself with all traces of presidential composure lost. "You were already, but... I didn't mean to yell, you know," Yukino blushed like a slightly younger girl might have, and suddenly Mai wasn't seeing Fujino or Suzushiro in her, but the shy little girl with the small smile she had first met. Suzushiro smiled warmly at her, and then seemed to finally recognize that there were other people in the room.

"Tokiha-san, Minagi-san, good day! I hear that Yukino is trying to throw a little something together to help you out with your problem. She always was a softy, you know, but I knew she had the right stuff to do this job!" Mai found herself unconsciously leaning back away from the forceful personality that had burst into the room. She looked much the same as always, though the long wintergreen skirt and pure white blouse she wore gave her an appearance of age and maturity that she had lacked in a school uniform.

Mai was unsure how to answer that confident grin, and it occurred to her too late that she might want to at least smile back. When she tried, Suzushiro was already turned around to Mikoto.

"So you want to represent our school in Kendo, do you? We do need a girl on the team, I think, and maybe it'll keep you out of trouble as well. Don't need any more incidents like the Fall festival, we don't. Best haunted house we ever ran, until you ran right into it. So how's everything look?"

"We only just got started, Haruka-chan," Yukino answered, sitting back down at her desk. "But I suppose we have hit a little snag already. Mikoto-chan doesn't seem to have any immediate family, or legal guardians."

"What? How does that happen?" Suzushiro asked incredulously, and she turned a suspicious eye to Mikoto. "You aren't a runaway, are you, Minagi-san?"

"No, I didn't run away from home! Grandfather told me to go, and come to this school."

"Well, look there, Yukino. The girl's grandfather would be her guardian then, wouldn't he?"

"The Grandfather has passed away, Haruka-chan."

"Well how in the heck is she paying for school?"

"She got the same scholarship I did."

"That strange thing? Historic Alumni descendant Award, or some such?"

"Yes, that one."

"I see," Suzushiro tapped her chin thoughtfully, frowning hard. "Hey, I know, the Suzushiro family could adopt her!"

"What!?" Mai and Yukino shouted simultaneously, and Mikoto looked absolutely terrified.

"What's the matter with you? That would do it. How about it, Minagi-san, how would you like to be my new sister? Wait, I'm of age now! How would you like me to be your mother?" Suzushiro grinned broadly, obviously quite pleased with the idea.

Mikoto shook her head very quickly, and her hand took Mai's.

"No? Why not?" Suzushiro demanded, and Yukino found a voice to intervene.

"It's not that simple, Haruka-chan. Adoption takes quite some time, and how would you explain this to your parents? You're still their legal dependents as well, so I think that bars you from adoption as well. There's probably a less... drastic course we could take."

"This is all rather tedious, Yukino," Suzushiro frowned around at the room. "Why don't I just pay for the equipment and have it done? It's not like the Suzushiro's don't have enough money, and I certainly don't need all of it when I take over. What do you say to that, Minagi-san? I'll get your equipment, if you make me a promise." Suzushiro raised an eyebrow almost challengingly at Mikoto, hands on her hips. Mikoto turned her eyes to Mai, the question clear in them.

"It's up to you, Mikoto," Mai said, shrugging.

"What promise?" Mikoto asked hesitantly, frowning at Suzushiro.

"Promise to compete fair and square, stay out of trouble with Yukino, and always do your absolute, one-hundred and ten percent best at practice and in matches!"

Mikoto's face brightened immediately, and she nodded. "I can make that promise, Haruka! I will, I promise." Her eyes burned with sincerity, and Suzushiro nodded once, shortly.

"All right then, it's a deal," she said, in almost a shout. She extended a rock-steady hand, which Mikoto eagerly took, and they pumped enthusiastically. Mai heard a quiet laugh from the side, and turned her eyes to Yukino, almost forgotten in all of the commotion. The young girl was shaking her head, but there was a little smile on her face.

"Haruka-chan..." she said, but couldn't seem to find words to follow.

"Hey, Yukino. Looks like everything worked out fine, and you won't even have any paperwork. Aren't you glad I came?" Yukino sighed, and rested her chin on her hand.

"Only if you pay for dinner tonight, too," the younger girl said sweetly.

"Of course," Suzushiro answered without hesitation. "Where did you want to go for our date?"

Dater03;? Mai thought, but immediately laughed at herself. Just a flippant turn of phrase, she was sure. Suzushiro hardly seemed like the type to joke like that, though--Mai could recall some of the hard, disapproving stares that the Executive Director had given Fujino and Natsuki soon after their becoming public about their relationship. That hadn't improved Mai's opinion of Suzushiro very much at the time, because Mai had been aware of all the worry and anxiety, as well as the burgeoning happiness, that Natsuki had confided in her during her struggle to deal with Fujino's feelings. Mai had been able to be happy for her friend, and now that she thought of it, was still a little resentful about the reception that Suzushiro had offered to them. It was hard to remember too much of that ill-feeling now, however, seeing Suzushiro and Yukino smiling so genuinely at one another, and right after Suzushiro had apparently handed them a not-insignificant amount of money.

"We can decide that a little later, can't we? Perhaps after this meeting is over?"

"I thought it was over!" Suzushiro exclaimed, surprised. "You two have anything else, or are you happy enough with the arrangements?"

"I'm happy!" Mikoto said immediately.

"Uh, sure," Mai answered with a little less enthusiasm. Not because she held any reservations, but because she still felt as though she were several hands behind everybody else in this poker game.

"Good. Well then, enjoy your afternoon, get to bed at a decent hour, don't do anything illegal, and show up promptly in the morning for classes. Meeting adjourned, let's get going."

Suzushiro didn't waste any time, she extended her hand invitingly to Yukino, who took it, and the pair rushed out with linked hands, leaving Mikoto sitting happily, and Mai staring at the still-swinging door blankly.

"Well, uh, that's good, Mikoto. I guess everything's going to work out."

"Yup. Can we go eat, now?"

"Don't you have practice today?" Mai asked.

"Oh! I almost forgot," Mikoto smiled innocently, and Mai sighed. Almost forgot, she said, after Mai had done nothing but remember about this all day.

"Yeah, yeah, but now you remember. Get going. I'll probably be at work when you get off, but I'll bring home something. If you can't wait... just find something in there until I get home."

"All right, Mai."

"Oh, Tokiha-san!" Yukino's face popped into the doorway, puffing slightly and glasses askew as though she had just run back there.

"Yes?"

"I'm glad I caught you before you left. Don't forget to get Mikoto-chan's measurements for her uniform, and ask Tate-san about equipment sizes, please. Get me that tomorrow and we can have everything shipped in before the end of the week."

"Got it, Yukino-san."

"Thanks, good day." Yukino vanished again. Mai turned to Mikoto.

"Later we'll need to--wait, stop! Mikoto!"

Mikoto paused, shirt pulled halfway up and a hair's breadth from exposing herself. "Huh?"

"Not now... we'll do it later, at the dorm. Just go to practice."

"Okay, Mai."

After work--and after Mikoto had showered, Mai had tried to get close to her with the tape, but she had the decidedly unique odor of well-used Kendo gear about her--Mai went about wrapping a tape about her roommate.

"Stop it," she said irritably, as Mikoto again tried to lean over and read the measure herself. Mikoto stood still, and Mai took the size of her hips, torso, chest, inside and outside arms and legs, and all of those other things. She'd gotten a text message at work that said Suzushiro insisted the uniform were tailored, not just sized. Mai looked at her paper, and shrugged. At least she wouldn't have to worry about anybody in the Kendo club finding out Mikoto's measurements, she thought, or at least they wouldn't enjoy them very much. She could very nearly get away with sending out a form that said seventy-six centimeters, times three. A light touch at the side of one breast caused her to flinch away and she glared at Mikoto, who was staring at her chest with a frown.

"What's this measurement for you, Mai?" She asked curiously.

"Never mind, Mikoto."

"I want to measure them."

"No."

"But they're mine!"

"No, they're not!"

Mai made sure to hide the tape under the mattress while Mikoto put her pajamas on, harboring a suspicion that the girl might not give up so easily when she had gone to sleep; that wasn't the manner in which Mai really wished to be awakened.

**********************************

"Hey, Sis. Er, so what are you up to?" Mai rolled her eyes, unseen to her brother on the other end of the call. Takumi was pretty bad at hiding it whenever he had something to say.

"Not much. You just caught me on break, fortunately."

"Oh! Were you working tonight? I'm sorry."

"So, did you need something?'

"Oh, no, not really, if you're busy... huh, hey--!"

"Mai?"

"Yes, Akira-chan?"

"You wanna go sing some karaoke this weekend. Saturday night, at seven, the usual place?"

"Sure, I'd love to."

"Invite Tate along, if you like."

"Sure, thanks for the invitation."

"No problem. See, was that so hard?" The last sentence was muted, and Mai could tell that she'd taken the receiver from her mouth and was addressing Takumi.

"Ah, great, see you then, Sis." It was Takumi on the phone again.

"Alright. Goodbye, Takumi."

Mai smiled at her phone, but it faltered slightly when she considered inviting Yuuichi out. Come to think of it, had she even talked to him this week, since Mikoto had joined the club? From smiling to resting a weary hand across her brow, Mai knew that she hadn't. She hoped he wouldn't mind too much; after all, she was going to be asking him out, right? Perhaps not just the two of them, but definitely a date date, with another couple. Then she wondered a little bit if it were a bad thing, that her little brother's girlfriend had to be the one that planned their first date. Surely between the both of them, they should have found some excuse to get out... but she had been busy. There was no way around that, but there were still medical bills to pay off, and living expenses for three people.

Growing up sucked, she decided. At least she'd had a few good years to get used to it, and... she didn't want to go back to work feeling glum--not good for tips--so she made herself think about how happy she was to be going out to karaoke this weekend. Growing up might suck, but if she'd done so to take care of Takumi, and he had turned out as good as he had, she must not be too bad at it. Holding a firm grip on that smile, she walked back into the dining room, just as another group of students walked through the door.

****************************

"Mai, Mai, what do you think? Does it look good?" To Mai's surprise, Mikoto jumped energetically at her the moment she walked into the door. She had half-expected to find the younger girl laying prone and listless in some corner, and mewling piteously for Mai's food when she heard the sound of the door. Instead, she flew at her roommate in a blue-and-orange blur, jumping up and down so excitedly that Mai wouldn't have been able to tell what she were holding, if she didn't already know.

"Calm down, Mikoto, I can't even see it," Mai smiled at her little friend, though, glad for the happiness in front of her. "Go on then, hold it up, what's it look like on you?"

Mikoto held the deep-blue uniform by the neck and shoulder, putting it up against her and looking up at Mai expectantly. Truthfully, by this point the uniform was wrinkled, folded, and only barely recognizable as a proper garment.

"It looks great, Mikoto. You got to give it a good workout today?"

"Mm-hmm! I went in right after school to pick it up. Yukino helped me put it on and I wore it all the way to the dojo. It fit a whole lot better than that extra one they had that I've been wearing." She paused for a moment, and sniffed the neck of the uniform. "Smells a lot better too, even after I used it."

"Maybe I should wash it anyway, though?" Mai suggested.

"Yes please! Then food."

"Okay, the--"

"No, wait!" Mikoto interrupted, deep in thought. "First food, then you can wash it?" She counter-offered.

Mai sighed. "Compromise. You get out the noodles and crack me a few eggs while I go drop this off at the laundromat, and I'll cook up some ramen when I get back."

"Deal!" Mikoto bundled her garment and thrust it into Mai's chest before turning quickly enough to slide her heel on the floor before skittering to the kitchen. Mai dropped off her bag and went back out the door and into the dark evening. It was slightly muggy, offset only slightly by a whisper of a breeze. Just as she reached the stairway, somebody walked out their door, obviously planning on walking through more brightly lit streets than Fuuka Academy's gently illuminated paths.

"Nao," Mai acknowledged her with a stiff nod when they started descending the stairs together.

"Mama Mai," Nao replied cheekily. "Is it laundry time in the sweet, loving, perfect Tokiha household? Such a hardworking mother, you are!"

Mai sighed a breath that ended in a grumble. Something had to just come along and put a blot on her otherwise fairly nice day, didn't it? Didn't she? "Like it's any of your business. Couldn't you just go out and do whatever disgusting thing you need to do quietly, without bothering me?"

"What if what I needed to do was bother you, Mama Mai? It wouldn't be a lie: I always put that right at the top of my list when I see you."

"It's nice to know I'm always on your mind," Mai said wearily, unwilling to rise to the bait.

"A little tired, are we? Is that how your little kitty got her clothes dirty. What is that, a little cosplay?" Nao leaned over and peered at the balled uniform, but she couldn't have made out anything in this lighting. Mai jerked her arms away anyway, and glared at Nao.

"It's her new Kendo uniform, if you have to know. She's doing something constructive with her youth, novel an idea as that might seem to somebody like you."

"Whoops, I sense a mother's lecture coming on. I really must run, but you enjoy doing your kitty's dirty laundry, kay?" Laughing so sweetly as to grate on Mai's ears, the sharp-tongued redhead practically skipped away at the bottom of the stairs.

Mai shook her head, trying to dispel thoughts of the vile girl from them. She dropped the uniform into a machine at the student laundromat and slipped in a few coins, taking note of her watch. She could tell Mikoto to go and change it into a drier when it was done. Mai started walking back to the dorm, and her steps slowed. She looked back at the laundromat. Maybe... maybe she would go with Mikoto, though. Better safe than sorry.

Mai walked into her dormitory and dropped her bag to the floor with a satisfying thump. Her hair fell down onto her eyes and over her face, settling while she bounced once, and twice, on her mattress, having jumped back onto it with gleeful abandon. Here she was on a Saturday afternoon. Her waitress uniform hung on the closet door. Mai looked at it, and laughed. She wasn't going to be needing that today. Not for the whole rest of the day... she lay, languishing in the feeling. Free from responsibility.

"Mai? Mai, what's wrong, are you okay?" Free from most responsibility, Mai mentally corrected herself..

"Fine, Mikoto." She answered to the worried gaze that slid into view, an inch from her nose.

"Good." Mikoto drew back slightly, smiling and nodding. Mai tilted her head to the side, and watched Mikoto mirror her movement. She laughed, suddenly and loudly, and wrapped a thoroughly unsuspecting Mikoto in a crushing embrace, nuzzling her chin into the join of her roommate's neck and shoulder and unable to stop giggling. After a while, though, her arms did relax, and she let Mikoto go. The younger girl sprang up like a thin sapling, blinking several times. She looked back at Mai.

"Did I do something good?"

"Uh, not exactly."

"Something bad, did I make you worry?"

"No, Mikoto, not that either. I'm just feeling good today."

"Then I am too!" Mikoto fell back down and wrapped her arms around Mai. The young woman smiled, but a small concern touched her eyes.

"Do you want to know why I'm feeling good today?"

Mikoto was silent for a moment, and Mai could almost see her face screwed up in thought. "Sure, okay."

"I'm going out tonight--" Mai could only say that much before she was interrupted, not entirely to her surprise.

"Really? Where're we going?"

"Er, I'm going to karaoke, with my brother and Akira; Tate, too."

"That's that place we all dressed up before, right?"

"Yeah, but we're not dressing up this time. That was only Midori's idea, we're just going to do the singing part."

"That was fun too! Mai sings with a nice voice, I want to hear it again."

"Erm, well..." Mai had started this conversation knowing full well that it would lead her here, but she still found no really good way to say what she wished. She sighed. There probably wasn't a good way, she thought, so she might as well try a way.

"You're going to have to stay here, Mikoto."

"What? I am here."

"I mean tonight, when I'm doing karaoke, you're not going to be able to come."

"I'm not? Is there something you want me to do instead?"

Mai closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Come on. She wasn't being vague or stepping around the issue or anything of the sort, but Mikoto was going to make this difficult without even trying. She sat up slowly, and Mikoto let go of her. Combing a few strands of hair from her face with a hand, she looked into Mikoto's quizzical eyes and tried to find the words to explain.

"No, Mikoto. You can do whatever you want, but I'm going out with Takumi and Akira and Tate. They... invited me today, for just us four. I'm..." Mai twisted her lip, and wondered why this was so hard to say. It was only the truth, and there was no reason Mikoto couldn't know, she would have to get used to it eventually. "I'm going on a date with Tate, while Takumi goes on a date with Akira, so you can't..." She choked up a bit on Mikoto's disappointed expression, but powered through. "You can't go."

"A date?"

Mai sighed, frustrated. "Yes, a date. Me, and him, two people. A date, with a boy. My boyfriend, a date with my boyfriend! We're going to go out and have fun, the two of us. It's just tonight, Mikoto, you'll be fine for a night."

"For tonight." Mikoto echoed, looking more thoughtful than sad. "You're going on a date with Tate tonight to have fun, the two of you."

"Yes."

"And tomorrow we can have fun again, the two of us?"

"Uh, sure."

"Okay. It's a date."

"Right, it's a--no!"

"No?"

"It's not a date, Mikoto!" Mai exclaimed, exasperated.

"We're not going to have fun tomorrow?" Mikoto said softly, bottom lip protruding.

"That's not it, Mikoto..." Mai tapped a finger to her head. "It's just... we're going to have fun, but it's not a date."

"Are dates more fun?" Mikoto asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No, dates aren't more fun, Mikoto, we'll have lots and lots of fun together."

"At karaoke?"

Mai winced, running her account figures through her mind. Yeah, she had the money, but she was loath to spend that frivolously when she was trying to save--even when faced with Mikoto's entreating expression! "No, not at karaoke, but we'll do something fun, I promise."

"So you can only have a date at karaoke?"

"Ah, no." Mai gnawed at the inside of her cheek, thinking. "A date is for a girl and a b..." Mai trailed off, thinking about her friend, Natsuki. Maybe a little less specific, then. "A date is for two people who really, really..." She stumbled again. Couldn't say "like," that would only land her right back in the same spot when Mikoto came back professing just that much like on her part, or asking piteously if Mai didn't like her that much. Couldn't say "love" either. Love was a pretty serious, after all, and just a date didn't need love. She was stuck. Mai fumed for a few minutes, thinking. "It's just... well, you'll figure it out eventually, Mikoto, it's not really possible to explain it that easily." Mai held up her hands, not quite shrugging.

Mikoto nodded slowly, obviously not happy about it, but she said, "Alright, Mai."

Mai considered herself lucky to get this much understanding from her roommate. "And I'll make you dinner before I go, okay? Whatever you want."

"Ra--?"

"Sure, ramen, why did I even ask?" Mai laughed. "At least your grocery list is easy to remember." She ruffled Mikoto's hair affectionately.

******************************************

Takumi stepped down from the stage, red as a beet and averting his eyes from Mai's face, while his sister did her absolute best not to laugh. Mai was definitely not going to laugh. Everybody might know that she wanted to, but she absolutely was not going to actually do it. Somewhere in his enthusiasm for treating his sister to something she liked, Mai suspected that Takumi had forgotten that he was rather unfond of karaoke, as shy and quiet as he was. Akira probably wasn't going to change his opinion very much, as she wasn't harboring any qualms about laughing, whatsoever.

"Geez, Akira-chan..."

"I'm not laughing at your voice, Takumi," she tried to explain between guffaws. "Just that, you know."

"Just what?"

"How you use it. Be a man, sing your heart out!"

"Be a man? More like Tate-san?" Takumi adopted a sly look.

"Eh, no, maybe not that..." Akira conceded.

"Hey hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Tate interrupted, looking indignant.

"Don't mind them, Yuuichi." Mai smiled at him from across the table. "That's just... one more flaw of yours that I'll have to learn to look past." She winked cheekily at him, and looked around the table. "I'm happy you all wanted to take me out, and I do love karaoke, but we can go someplace everybody would enjoy more next time."

"Nah, I'm having fun," Akira waved off her concerns. "Isn't this part of the experience too, anyway? I think it's my turn, now. Gotta show my boyfriend how it's done."

"Come on, Akira," Takumi protested.

"Pay attention, Taku-chi," she winked at him, and punched in the code for the song she wanted. Akira's voice wasn't bad, really, Mai thought, but it sure wasn't her voice that had Takumi turning scarlet as she launched into a slow love song--likely much softer in its original form than her rather rough rendition, but her eyes were soft as she kept them on Takumi throughout. Mai chuckled at her brother's expense, but also felt a little dribble of jealousy in her amusement. She idly found herself thinking about doing something along the same lines, and sneaked a darting glance at Yuuichi. He was bent over the song book, leafing through the pages. Mai immediately thought that was a little rude of him, before she realized that she wasn't really paying much attention to Akira either. Still, she thought, glancing between the singer and her brother, they weren't likely to notice what either she nor Yuuichi were doing right now. And Yuuichi was... Mai focused on him more intently. Could it be that he was thinking the same thoughts that she was, planning on coming out with a love song next, was that a look of purpose in his eyes? Er, then maybe she shouldn't sing one for her turn, and wait for his turn to come around again? Yes, that was it; she could just find some other song she liked, and wait for Yuuchi to surprise her. Mai smiled warmly at him, just as he was looking up. He seemed surprised to find her eyes on him, but he smiled back at her. Akira's song wound down, and he whispered to her,

"You having fun, Mai?"

"Sure am."

Akira stepped down from the stage and sat back down next to Mai. "And that's how you sing karaoke. Right, Mai-san?"

Mai jumped, not expecting her name to come up. "Ah, er, sure. Yeah, Takumi, you just have to get up on that stage and sing like it belongs to you."

"But it doesn't belong to me..."

"You paid for the time, and that makes it yours," Mai pointed out, and smiled slyly. "Maybe it'll motivate you to think that you're only paying for girlfriend to tease you right now? You could get that for free, you know!"

"Sis!" Takumi started to protest, but looked thoughtful. "You have a point."

"I usually do. Now all of you, watch and learn!" Mai smiled and pressed in her song. Nothing too special or fancy, just a pop tune about lazing around on a summer's day that she remembered being popular in middle school; she still knew the words by heart, so she didn't have to worry about that and she could just... let go. And she did. Hardly content with only singing, she used all the stage. She danced and met the eyes of her small audience, throwing out a wink and a flourish and letting the song lift her up. In the lights with the music flowing through her, the bass reverberating through her soul and the notes dancing through her heart, she could still be just a little girl, dreaming of being a famous singer. Mai dropped her burdens off before she stepped up to the microphone and let herself fly... and did her best to take everybody with her with her song. She noted with some pride as the melody faded that nobody had looked away while she was singing, every pair of eyes in the room captive to her performance.

"Did I do well enough?" She said, feigning bashfulness as she walked back to her seat. She basked in the appreciative silence for a moment before looking up at them.

"Eh, it doesn't matter," Yuuichi spoke up, leaning back in his chair. "Just another flaw I'll need to look past."

"Flaw!?" Mai said dangerously, glaring at her boyfriend. He caught her eye and his dispassionate attitude evaporated. Laughing nervously, he waved his hands in a pacifying gesture.

"Joking, I was only joking!"

"It wasn't funny." Mai sniffed, turning away.

"Come on, I was just trying to push a button. You're beautiful when you're angry, you know?"

"Nice try, Yuuichi, but you're not going to have it easy," Mai said, but she mollified and smiled at him, shaking her head with exaggerated exasperation.

Takumi jumped up for another try after that, and although he wasn't so bold as to return Akira's gesture, Mai was pleased to note that he was more confident this time. He certainly didn't have a bad voice, but the way his pitch and tone had wavered and warbled nervously on his first turn had ruined any niceness it may have had. He did better this time, even though Akira shouted, "louder!" a few times in the middle of it, earning her a few annoyed glances from Takumi. His irritation didn't last any longer than it took Akira to sweet talk him again. Yuuichi went up next, climbing the stage along with Mai's climbing expectations...

And then he stepped back down, having sung some some march-like song-- probably from some old anime, Mai thought with undue irritation--that had absolutely nothing romantic about it. She sighed, thinking that perhaps she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up so high in the first place. Mai realized that she'd been looking forward to his turn so much that she hadn't found another song she wanted to sing, so Akira went next while Takumi walked over to the phone to order a second round of drinks.

"You okay, Mai?" Yuuichi asked her, his eyebrow raised questioningly. Mai blinked, she hadn't thought her reaction had been visible. She smiled reassuringly.

"Fine, fine, why do you ask?"

"Oh, you just seemed kind of out of it, for a second..."

"Just your imagination. Hey, anything you want to hear me sing?"

"Me?" He yelped.

"Of course you, unless you have a mouse in your pocket?" She teased.

"Oh, uhm... n-no, nothing in particular."

"You sure?" Mai pressed.

"Nope, I don't really know all that many songs, just stuff from TV, mostly."

"Oh, well, I'll find something," Mai relented. She was a little disappointed, thinking that she had found a way to make a romantic song at least be Yuuichi's idea, but that hadn't worked either. Leafing through the book, she couldn't find the motivation to try one herself, either. The mood was gone, as they said. She frowned for a moment, but when Takumi sat back down, she calmed, and tried to brighten. There was still singing to do, that everybody had invited her to. She still liked to sing, so darn it, she would sing until her voice gave out!

"Okay, everybody, our time's winding down. Anybody want a little more?" Or until the time did, she amended... a couple of hours flew by surprisingly quick, in the end. She looked around. It was rather doubtful that she would get tired of singing until she ran out of money or had need of sleep, but it was probably good to set some limits. Yuuichi didn't look remarkably enthusiastic about staying, and Akira was as impossible to read as ever, but she certainly wasn't doing much to give the impression that she really wanted to stay, so Mai took her cue from them.

"Nah, I think I'm about all sung out, Takumi."

Akira and Tate nodded their agreement, and it looked to Mai as thought they'd been waiting for her lead before they gave their answers. It was a warm feeling, everybody being so nice to her tonight.

"All right," Takumi answered, and turned back to the phone.

"Well, did you have a good time, Mai? Takumi is sure hoping so." Akira smiled as she asked, stretching backwards on the bench.

"Oh yes, very much. This is the best time I've had in I don't know how long!" Mai answered, fairly sincerely. Looking at Yuuichi, she felt a little disappointment--this had been more like a friend's night out than a "date" for them, though Takumi and Akira had made the most of it--but she'd had fun, nonetheless.

"I'm glad, Mai," he said, smiling a little sheepishly, and Mai wondered how much of her thoughts he could read off of her face. Yuuichi was a sweet enough guy, but he'd never been all that surprisingly in tune with her moods, so she was probably getting concerned over nothing, she decided.

"Hey, Takumi?" Akira called out. Mai glanced over to see Akira watching them shrewdly.

"Yes?"

"Why don't we drop by the store to get... I don't know, get you a new apron or something."

"Eh? What for, and why now?"

"Because I said so, dummy."

"Isn't she the subtle one?" Yuuchi rolled his eyes, saying aloud what Mai was only going to think.

"About as subtle as my fist upside your head, ingrate," Akira grumbled.

"Ah, that is, thanks?" Yuuichi tried a different tack, unsure.

"Oh!" Takumi burst out, and when Mai and the other two looked at him he covered his mouth, flushing. Mai buried her face in her hands, and laughed.

"Let's just get going, guys," she said warmly. "Yuuichi and I can find time to be alone without you going apron-shopping, and I'm too tired tonight to take advantage of your offer." A small yawn crawled up her throat and escaped by way of verification. She'd known it was be a bad idea to work late Friday night, but that had been Akane's condition if she wanted Saturday off... man, a day off just didn't count for much if you still felt like you had to go to bed early.

"Ah, are you sure, Mai-san?" Akira said insistently. Mai looked apologetically at Yuuichi, but she nodded. "Thanks, Takumi, Akira, but if Yuuichi wants us to have some time alone, maybe he should ask me out himself next time?"

"I tried! You're always busy, Mai," he protested helplessly.

"I'm not right now. If my little brother can do it, you should be able to. Isn't that right, Akira-chan?"

"She had a point, you know," Akira tapped her chin thoughtfully. "If this thing--" she jerked her thumb at him, "Could work it out, I'm sure that you could put some more effort in."

"I feel a little put down by that, I'll have you know..." Takumi said quietly.

"I'll pick you up later, promise," Akira winked at him, and Takumi flushed again. She turned back to Mai. "Well, can't say we didn't try, but I guess we ought to leave it to you two to work out. Takumi and I are gonna head home, you two do whatever."

As it happened, "whatever" turned out to be home as well, and the four of them walked back to the school together. Yuuichi walked close to her, but he didn't make a move to hold her, or even clasp her hand, looking to unsure of his current standing with her. Mai winced inwardly, berating herself for what she'd said; she hadn't meant to be quite so harsh, but seeing Takumi and Akira so comfortable and... well, flirty with one another had made her want the same, and served to remind her of how distant she and her boyfriend were, really, after a disturbingly long amount of time.

Mai's room was closest, and her steps slowed as they passed it. Yuuchi noticed, and stopped. Eyes widening, Mai could have kicked herself. What if he was trying to invite her back to his room? Then she halted that thought. Why should he, anyway? He hadn't really done anything to warrant her going over... even so, Mai was curious what might have happened if she hadn't slowed her pace, but now that she had come to a stop with him, already, she couldn't make herself take it back.

"Ah, so... I had fun tonight, Yuuichi."

"I'm glad. I'll have to find an excuse to take you out again, soon."

"That would be nice," Mai replied softly. They stood for a few quiet heartbeats. Mai shifted her weight to first one foot, then the other, unsure of how to proceed.

"Er, I suppose I should say good night?" Yuuichi said, sounding like a question as he took half a step forward towards her.

"Ah, yeah. Good night." Mai said, not coming any closer to him. He seemed to lose his nerve for whatever he might have been trying to do, and just smiled his confident smile.

"See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Yuuichi."

They turned away from one another, Mai walking towards the building and he continuing down the path. She looked back once, and saw him with his hands jammed into his jeans pockets, scuffing his shoe on the ground. She sighed. Not exactly the way she had wanted to end her evening out, but... well, she'd gotten to sing, anyway, even if the date part hadn't gone so well. Mai walked up the stairs towards her room; she hadn't been lying about being tired, for sure, so she took the steps heavily and reached for her doorknob with relief. She opened the door and kicked her shoes to the side, yawning sleepily and rubbing at her eyes.

"Hey, Mikoto, I'm home!"

"Mama's home!" Mai stopped stock-still, eyes flying open and all thoughts of sleep evaporating at the sound of that mocking voice. "And I thought the kids would have all night to themselves, while she enjoyed the company of her gentleman friend."

Mai could only stare into the room. Nao sat at her dinner table, head resting on an arm laying folded on the surface. Her fingers drummed a little staccato with painted nails as her green eyes looked piercingly at into Mai's own. Mikoto sat blithely across from her, and her face held nothing more than pure happiness for Mai to see.

"Wha-what are you doing here?' Mai finally demanded.

"Ah, I think it's about time for me to say goodbye, Mikoto," Nao turned to face Mikoto instead of answering her. "When mama's away we might play, but she'll return and my hide she'll flay. I don't see how you can deal with it, little kitten." Nao rose lazily, looking more like a cat herself by the slow, leggy waltz she adopted on her way towards the door.

"Huh, you have to go?" Mikoto called after her, brow furrowed.

"Yes, yes she does, Mikoto." Mai answered for her, watching Nao warily.

"Now now, Mama Mai," Nao admonished, smiling sweetly. "As her owner, you need to take responsibility for what the cat drags in, she can't help her nature."

"I always throw out what trash she brings in, Nao, and there's nothing else to it." Mai grinned tightly at her.

"That's a good mother. Dinner was fabulous, by the way. I left you a tip on the counter. I can't imagine how hard it is for single mothers these days, and I have more money than I know what to do with, being young and free of responsibility and all that." Nao winked at her and, laughing gaily, slipped out the door. Laughing gaily, she slipped out the door. Mai looked over to the counter to see a few crumpled bills tossed out next to the sink. Conflict twisting at her stomach, Mai just sat down at her table.

"You're home! Did you have fun on your date?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, right up until I got home. Mikoto, what was she doing here?"

"I was practicing my swing outside--you told me not to practice inside, remember?" Mikoto paused.

"Yeah, I remember, go on," Mai urged.

"So, I was outside when Nao left her and Aoi's room. Chie was inside there, too, and seemed mad at Nao, 'cuz she closed the door after her pretty hard. Nao looked mad, too, and I asked her what was wrong, but she wouldn't tell me. She asked me what I was doing and I told her Kendo, and she said she remembered you saying something about that before, and asked where you were. Um, well, she actually asked where my mama was, but I was pretty sure she was talking about you, so I told her you were out on a date. She just said, 'whatever,'" Mai almost laughed at Mikoto's impression of Nao's profession of nonchalance, until she remembered that they were talking about Nao, one of the people most removed from laughter in her mind. "And said something about finding somebody to go to dinner with. I said that if she didn't already have a plan, she could have some dinner with me. I mean, I didn't really want to give up any of the food you made for me, but this one time I figured I could eat a little less. Nao didn't eat much, though, so I still got a lot. She seemed to really like your cooking, though, and said so, and gave you a tip, just like you get at work--"

"Okay, okay, Mikoto, I get why she was here now." The younger girl wasn't showing any signs of stopping her narration, which was rather unlike her, usually content with short--even to the point of being vague--answers and explanations.

"I hope it was okay, Mai. I didn't do something wrong, did I?"

Mai struggled with that one. "No, not exactly, but you know that I don't like Nao, don't you?"

"Yeah, you two don't like each other very much. But Nao was pretty nice before you came, we just talked about Kendo and school and..." Mikoto trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"And what?" Mai asked with an eyebrow arched, ever-more unpleasant possibilities playing through her thoughts.

"Um, that's a privacy thing, I think. Yup, definitely a privacy thing," she nodded firmly.

"Mikoto, what did she ask you to do for her?" Mai demanded. "I remember what privacy meant before, no privacy."

"Yes privacy," Mikoto answered stubbornly. "She didn't ask me to do anything, but we talked about things that... that I don't want to talk to you about. I promise it's nothing bad, but I'm still entitled to my privacy."

"And it's always that girl that makes you think so... are you sure, Mikoto?" Mai pressed. "She didn't want you to do anything, or tell you anything you think is strange?"

"No, Mai." Mikoto looked at her with pleading eyes, and Mai finally relented. Whatever it was, Mikoto would probably let it slip later, anyway. If Nao really hadn't told her to do anything or said anything Mikoto would think of as strange... there was probably nothing to worry about. Probably. Mai sighed. There was always something to worry about with that girl; what was her problem? You'd think that all the HiME had gone through would have settled her down a bit but, if anything, she seemed even more determined to take her shots at Mai now.

"Fine," Mai stood up, and eyed the dishes from dinner. There was no way she was going to understand a girl like Yuuki Nao, so why bother trying? "Guess I better wash up," she said brightly, trying to clear the atmosphere between her and her roommate a little bit. Mikoto stuck her arm between the dishes and Mai, though, and shook her head in a definite negation.

"I'll do it, Mai. I can clean up after myself and my guest," Mikoto affixed an uncharacteristically serious expression and gathered the dishes. She marched them over to the sink as Mai looked on, infinitely surprised at what might have been Mikoto's first volunteering for a household chore. Mikoto had never balked at helping out when Mai asked her too before, she even helped out cheerfully, but this jumping to keep Mai from working at all was a little different.

"Thanks, Mikoto," she said softly, a little unsure of herself in unfamiliar circumstances.

"No problem, Mai. It was really delicious."

"Thanks. Um, if you would, could you just leave the dishes drying so I can use them tomorrow? No need to put them away."

"Alright."

Mai watched Mikoto at the sink for a couple of minutes before shaking her head wonderingly and beginning to undress for bed. Maybe it was the Kendo? Maybe she could ask Yuuichi about it sometime, if they taught their members about doing work around the house, or properly repaying others kindness, or something. That was probably it, she decided; maybe this club would be good for something more than making Mai worry, after all. She fell back on her bed in her pajamas, and dozed lightly to the sound of running water and dishes clinking, until she was vaguely aware of a silence, and the feeling of Mikoto slipping into bed beside her, and then she fell into a deeper sleep. A strange dream pieced itself together over the course of the night. A scene of Mikoto teaching Yuuichi about what a date was, and how to properly wash Nao's mouth out with soap, and then Shiho burst in for some reason and wrapped Mai up in her hair and shook her around, yelling about how Mai shouldn't be a mother yet--no matter how big her breasts were, she was too young!--while Mai tried to argue that she wasn't a mother, and that she and Yuuichi hadn't even done anything yet... but then Nao came flying by in a cape with a sudsy smile and saved her from the octopus before carrying her away and dropping her into a fancy ball where her friends Chie, Aoi, and Yukino danced, and the executive director was there, too, and they were all in pretty, sparkly dresses and she looked around, wondering where the boyfriends Mikoto had talked about were, except that Natsuki was there too so she couldn't really wonder about that too much or she might get soapy artificial respiration from a spider and she hated spiders with all their hairy, jerky little legs and freaky mouthparts and...

Mai awoke with a shudder. For some strange reason as she climbed out of her dreamy murk, perhaps for her presence in that dream, Mai's first cohesive thought was where Nao might be. Was she still avoiding her own room, for whatever conflict had happened there? She tossed the thought aside as she became more alert. It was no concern of hers where that girl went, none at all. Her eyes rolled to the clock. It was four in the morning, and she groaned. She didn't fell remotely tired anymore, although Mikoto looked as though she wasn't going to wake up for a year, as dead to the world as she was. Abandoning any ideas of getting up and doing something constructive, mostly for not having a single idea of what she could do at four in the morning that could be considered "constructive," Mai lay in the dark and watching silently as the morning blossomed into the room with time, lightening the dark room through shades of nighttime blues and dusty grays until finally a cheery, sunshine-yellow bathed the air, all the while tossing her thoughts around like a juggler with his balls, thinking of her boyfriend and Mikoto and that damnable girl who kept intruding on her consciousness. Why had Mikoto had to let her in last night? Mai sighed. Singing and enjoying herself, how long ago had she been doing that? Hours ago, only hours, and she'd come back just to fall into the same trap of thinking and worrying that she had left. She exhaled explosively, venting her emotions in an impotent sigh. Wasn't everything supposed to be better now that all the unpleasantness with the HiME had ended? And yet, though she no longer had to worry about her own life or the lives of the people she cared about in quite the same immediate way, all of life's smaller worries were still there, and they added up. First the Headmaster had vanished, and the support for Mikoto's livelihood had gone with her. Somehow or another the board of directors had inherited her estate in the absence of blood relations, andand callously jerked themselves free from all of the Headmaster's obligations. At least, so had said a letter in place of Mikoto's usual monthly stipend. Mai had her suspicions about that, Mashiro had genuinely seemed to care for them, but if she had made some other allowances for Mikoto's well-being, they had been lost.

On top of that were Takumi's medical bills and his and her own livelihood... Mai sometimes felt as though she could pose in the Church windows and nobody would notice a thing, stretched so thinly that light would shine right through her. But still, Takumi was healthy now, and happy--and looking for a job, though this late in the year most students who had wanted to had found employment, and prospects were thin--and Mikoto was happy as well, which wasn't much of a change for the effervescent little girl, but she could still put Mai to smiling, which made everything pretty okay there. Stepping back like this and looking at everything objectively, it didn't seem as bad as she'd made it out to be. Money problems could never really measure up to the life of a loved one, now could it?

Maybe she was just used to being as fussy as an old mother hen, she conceded ruefully. Perhaps... Nao had a point, in all of her poking and baiting. Hmph. Thinking the one thought that could make her go sour now, she considered that facet of her life. Nao... that girl was really, if she thought about it, the only real blemish to her new try at being a normal girl. The only change Nao seemed to have made after the festival was gaining a newly awakened passion for tormenting her at every convenient turn, and even those not-so-convenient... though perhaps Mai wasn't helping matters; she treated Nao as coldly, and reciprocated with with just as much animosity, as she received. It was hard, though, to try to do anything else. That girl could pick at all of her insecurities with the uncanny precision of an expert marksman, and delighted in it. Mai never could find it in herself to ignore that, not after all that had happened.

The euphoria of a happy ending wore off too quickly after all. For so long she'd had to experience the rawest emotions her heart was been capable of producing, running purely on feeling. Fear and rage, loss and regret, yearning and sadness... a maelstrom, which in the calm of its eye had only one thought: if only I could have a normal life, if only I could know then what I know now, I could do everything right. That yearning for the simplicity of a school-girl's life was powerful, and it had probably anchored itself so fast in her soul that she hadn't noticed how swiftly she grabbed for it. She might not have been the only one. It seemed as though if the universe could just hit a "reset" button and fix everything that had gone so terribly wrong, couldn't she do the same? Couldn't she just go back to the way it was before everything had fallen apart, ignore everything that had happened, and it would be fixed?

Life wasn't so simple. It was a somber thought, but one she couldn't deny at this point. She'd gotten that second chance, but that's all it was. Considering her life since the Festival, she realized that she hadn't been treating it like a chance, at all. She had been treating it like a giant, cosmic band-aid that, if given the right amount of time, would make everything all better again without any help from her. As she had once thought, she was the girl that worked at her part-time job all the time, that cooked well, and that was Takumi's sister. That was who she had been for so long, she had simply continued being that person, despite everything that had happened to scream to her that she needed to live for herself. After all, if everything around her spoke that the Festival had never happened, why should she have to remember the painful lessons learned?

Mikoto stirred and started mumbling feebly about being hungry, jolting Mai from her spinning thoughts. She smiled, and instantly her thoughts filled with cooking. The feeling made her pause. For that brief moment, right after her thoughts had wandered and just before she had stopped them, her mind had been free of worries and negativity. Of course that had ended when Mai caught it, but she recognized it just the same. Mai pondered that as Mikoto's stirrings became more insistent. Strange. Mai wasn't sure if she was happy with the person she was, but in little ways, perhaps, it wasn't all that bad. Little steps. She could work on finding out who she really was and what she really wanted, while still being the girl with the part-time job who liked to cook, if that made her happy too... and it did. She liked to cook, and have Mikoto and other people appreciate it. Then she thought about going to work and putting on her uniform and about gossiping with Akane, and realized she liked that, too.

Yes, the mistake she had been making recently was falling too far back to who she had been. The same person who had weighed so heavily on Takumi's spirit and thought of Mikoto as a nuisance and hurt everybody by trying to take too much on herself, that was who she was reverting to. Today was a new day, however, a brand-new time to see what she could do about changing that.

"Wake up, Mikoto!" She used the burst of optimistic energy her thought pattern had given her to shout brightly at Mikoto and have the girl leap up in alarm and fall clumsily off of the bed in a heap of tangled limbs. There, she thought, a little selfishness and she could get up out of bed without fighting herself free of Mikoto's limbs. Plus, she got to have a little laugh at the confused look on Mikoto's sleepy face as it popped up over the edge of the mattress. Thinking about herself could be nice now and again, too. Mikoto smiled at her when her eyes focused enough, and Mai returned the expression beatifically.

"I'm hungry."

"Just hold tight, Mikoto, I'll have something ready in a little bit."

End of Part One.