Kanako Urashima paused as the black haired woman collected the mid-morning mail delivery, holding the package for her close as she dropped off each person's items at their rooms. Su got her regular technology magazines, Shinobu got a letter from her mother, Motoko got a letter from a romance publisher, and so on and so forth. Returning to the manager's rooms Kanako sat down by the small table there, unwrapping her package a bit nervously. As ordered there were several novels from a prominent lesbian publisher, as well as two guides to coming out. 'I'm still not sure about this,' Kanako sighed, thinking of the flutter in her chest she felt when she looked at Motoko. A blush colored her cheeks and she picked up the coming out book, settling down into reading. Returning to her room Motoko blushed faintly as the tall black haired woman saw the letter. With unseemly haste she opened it, her eyes widening a little as she read the typed page. "Very impressed with your work..." she read from it aloud, "will send contract?! They're publishing my story!" "What story?" Ema Maeda asked as the younger, brown haired girl passed by, the open door having carried Motoko's voice out into the hall. Motoko blushed redly, "I submitted a short story I wrote to a small publisher, they want to include it in their magazine." "Congradulations!" Ema beamed. "Thank you," Motoko managed to smile, still blushing furiously. Noting her friend's embarrassment Ema asked, "Do you want me to keep it a secret?" Motoko smiled a bit sheepishly, "Could you? I'm still getting used to the whole idea of being published..." "It's fine," Ema said as she hugged her pet lizard close, "Leon and I can keep a secret." "Thank you," Motoko chuckled as both girl and lizard headed off. Upstairs two figures snuggled close together, laying in a tangle of sheets on the futon. "Utena," Anthy murmured as the dusky skinned girl looked over at her fondly, "it's time to get up." "Do we have to?" Utena asked softly. Anthy kissed her softly. "Sorry," she said, "but we both have to work." "Augh," Utena made a regretful sound as she got up, her short pink hair standing up oddly as she stretched. "Get some clothes on," Anthy's voice became husky as she looked at her pale lover, "or I won't be responsible for my actions." "I wouldn't stop you," Utena winked as she picked up her shirt and pulled it on. "Tease," Anthy laughed warmly as she got up and wrapped her arms around Utena from behind. She rested her head on Utena's shoulder as she added softly, "Thank you." Utena turned a bit as she looked down at Anthy, "For what?" "Forgiving me," Anthy said, burrying her face against Utena's neck. "The things I did...," she murmured, her voice muffled. "Anthy," Utena eased a arm around her comfortingly, "you thought that was the only choice you could make. It wasn't your fault he lied to you..." "You're too kind, Utena," Anthy said as she looked up at her tenderly. "I love you," Utena answered seriously, "it makes forgiving easier." Listening with a mildly disgusted look Koalla Su put the small device away as she sighed, "I don't think we'll have a repeat of last night's fun." "You really shouldn't be listening to them," Shinobu said disapprovingly, the black haired girl also blushing furiously. Despite having a crush on Motoko she was still not used o the idea of two women in love like Utena and Anthy were... "How else are we supposed to learn things?" Su shrugged casually, clearly not very bothered by the idea that spying was wrong. Deciding it was best not to pursue the argument Shinobu mused, "It's nearly time for lunch, I'd better get to it." "Yeah," Su grinned, "after what they did last night they'll need to regain their strength!" Shinobu blushed brighter, "Su!" Hurrying downstairs to the kitchen Shinobu shook her head in dismay. Sometimes she really didn't understand her friend Su, especially her attitudes around privacy. As far as she could tell Su didn't care about her own privacy, therefore she didn't understand other people worrying about their privacy. "Hello, Shinobu," Rei Hino nodded as she left the front living room, the black haired priestess in casual shorts and a loose white blouse. "Hi Rei," Shinobu smiled as she bustled about making soup. Rei Hino smiled to herself, glad to see the girl looking less stiff than she once had. While her and Ami living together had generally been accepted without too many problem there was a degree of nervousness still lingering. "Where's Mizuno-senpai?" Shinobu asked curiously. "Upstairs studying for a quiz," Rei revealed, "we got tipped off about it by a assistant teacher." She looked a bit pleadingly at Shinobu as she asked, "I was hoping I could bring some lunch up to her?" "I'll make you a tray," Shinobu promised as she finished up the preparations. Not long afterwards she had a tray set up with soup, rice and crackers too, all ready to go. "Thank you," Rei said with a grin, "now I just have to pry Ami away from her textbook long enough to eat." "Good luck," Shinobu waved as she walked off. "Excuse us," Utena called as she and Anthy hurried in, both looking rather scruffy in night shirts and pants. "Slept in?" Shinobu asked, unable to resist teasing the happy couple. "Something like that," Utena blushed faintly. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Anthy offered to Shinobu politely. "No, no," Shinobu answered quickly, "everything's fine." One of the things the Hinata house residents had learned was that Anthy was truly frightening in the kitchen. It wasn't just that she was a bad cook, she had a seeming gift for cooking disasters including fire, flood and randomly exploding curry. "Heh," Utena smiled as she was served her soup. Tennyo Masaki came in dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, looking healthy with her muscles and faint tan. "Yard's been swept," she reported, "anything else?" "You sure you want more to do?" Shinobu asked as she poured some soup for her as well. "I've been doing a lot of office trips and not doing chores," Tennyo took the soup thankfully, "I want to do my share." Anthy paused in spooning up her soup, "I think Mutsumi mentioned she could use a hand cleaning up around the café.": "Mutsumi, huh?" a faint blush colored Tennyo's cheeks, "I think I'll see if she still needs help then." "Good idea," Shinobu said, hiding a smile.
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