The scene of downtown Tokyo at night was indeed an impressive one. Endless shopping arcades adorned with an eclectic assortment of bright lights and neon signs, streets upon streets lined with glaringly bright displays, the light midnight traffic rushing to and fro, scattered crowds of people wandering this way and that. It was as if the whole city had become a singular entity, bright, busy and bustling even in the dead of night. The starry backdrop above was lost behind the pale orange glow of artificial light leaking skyward. Two young girls walked side by side down a particularly empty high street; or rather, one walked, the other almost skipped along with a silly grin plastered over her face, giggling like a maniac. The spastic redhead hopped back and forth merrily, head turning every which way as she took stock of her surroundings, her bizarre hairstyle bouncing and flailing as she moved. The other girl, dark hair left hanging loose around her head, wore a disgruntled frown and walked with her arms crossed in front of her, watching her companion and sighing irritably every now and then. "Come on," urged the redhead, reaching out and grabbing her partner's wrist. The other girl gave a surprised yelp when she was promptly dragged along the street towards a brightly lit clothing store. "Hurry up, Ni-na, or we'll be spending all night buying clothes. I wanna go and do something fun!" "You're intolerable," groaned Nina. She snatched back her hand and shot the redhead another frown. "Dragging me out in public like this, you're shameless!" Arika stopped and turned to look at her, bringing a slight blush to her cheeks. Her arms and legs were bared completely, her top half only covered by the briefest of short-sleeved white blouses, with a colourful blue-and-yellow patterned strip all around the hem and collar. It stopped halfway down her stomach, only just covering her navel and leaving a narrow band of bare skin all the way around between the blouse and the top edge of the pleated blue-and-yellow striped skirt that attempted to cover her lower portions. At least that did its job properly, falling all the way down almost to the girl's knees and making any sort of indecent exposure highly unlikely. Arika gave her an innocent grin that could almost be considered lecherous, if it were anyone else. "But Nina-chan is so se-xy in that!" "We must look really suspicious," complained Nina, gesturing to the redhead's own slightly more conservative choice of dress; the same unwashed and rather messy thick brown coat that they had salvaged the night previous, that reached midway down Arika's calves and fell straight past her fingertips, concealing everything from neck to ankle. Thankfully, it had stayed shut so far... "You look like some perverted old man or something." Arika pouted as she sidled up next to her companion and slipped an arm round the dark-haired girl's bare waist. "You're so mean sometimes, Nina-chan," she whined. "Only because you deserve it." Nina squealed when the redhead flicked up the back of her skirt, exposing her naked derriere to all and sundry. "Don't do that," she yelped, holding the garment back down with both hands to cover her rear. "Someone might see!" "Then you should have worn panties," huffed Arika, sticking her tongue out again. "You don't have to say it so everyone can hear!" Nine fumed at her, face turning crimson, and Arika ducked away giggling impishly. "It's not my fault the hotel staff don't leave lingerie lying about." Arika gave her a mildly condescending look. "I could have broken one of the lockers open, you know." "That's stealing! What would the Principal say?" Before she could protest any further, she was grabbed firmly by the wrist again and forcibly dragged into an unfamiliar store. Store after store they went through in much the same way; Arika dashing in recklessly with a feebly resisting Nina in tow, throwing various garments at the dark-haired girl and generally using her as a clotheshorse. Unsurprisingly, most of what they saw was eventually relinquished for lack of funds, Nina having somehow managed to convince her companion that blowing all their money on clothes would be a little short sighted of her. As they went along through various different stores the trends in attire changed, sometimes subtle and sometimes dramatically from one to the next. One moment Nina was wobbling back and forth in high heels and long skirt, the next she was trying to cover herself through an immodestly skimpy bikini. "Ni-na! Ni-na!" Nina somehow managed to turn on one heel without falling over, quite an impressive manoeuvre given she'd only been wearing them for a few minutes at the most, and peered over to where her antagonising companion was all but hopping up and down in front of the store window with excitement. She resisted the urge to put one hand on her forehead and instead simply sighed, a sound of long-suffering well past her actual age. "What is it now?" The deep blue skirt billowed out behind her somewhat as she hurried across the room to where the redhead stood, pointing and staring happily out of the window at something across the street. "Not more clothes, please, I think we've spent quite enough money for one night." Arika shook her head emphatically from side to side, a huge grin on her face. "Over there!" She stabbed a finger at the glass, pointing to a wide glass-fronted establishment of some kind with a variety of gaudy neon lighting adorning its windows. "It looks like..." Nina sighed again. "I don't know what it could be, and that can only be bad." "Excuse me," yelled the redhead to a passing stranger, seemingly oblivious to her own strange behaviour. "Do you know what that is?" She pointed out of the window with one hand at the building in question. The stranger looked quite thoroughly baffled. "Eh? What did you say?" Nina butted in, trying to appear more polite than her partner. "This...this building," she enunciated slowly in Japanese, pointing several times at the storefront. "This. What...is...this?" The stranger looked puzzled for a moment, looking back between Nina and the object of her inquiry several times before nodding slowly. "Ah! AH-KE-I-DO," he pronounced very prominently, and then turned to leave. "Thank you." Nina bowed politely, and then bashed her companion firmly across the back of the head with a fist. "Stupid!" "Ah! Don't hurt me, Nina-chan!" Nina rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like that all the time. And don't do that any more!" She prodded the redhead firmly in the chest with one finger. "You keep forgetting; we don't speak the same language they do." "I won't forget," insisted Arika, hands on her head in an exaggerated expression of pain. "I'll remember! Nina-chan can do all the talking from now on!" "Akeido?" Nina shook her head. "Ake-i-do... Aakeido. Arkeido?" "Ar-ca-do," chirped Arika triumphantly. "An arcade? That thing? It doesn't look like any arcade I've ever seen." Arika gave the dark-haired girl a very curious look, shaking her head. "That's because this is a different planet, remember? Granny always said, "when you go to a different place, everything is different." Right?" Nina stared at her. "Well...anyway... Are you buying those shoes or not?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The world was spinning out of control. Darkness hung all around, a sensation of falling endless lengths toward a fate unknown. A horrible sinking feeling welled up as the darkness grew ever deeper and more enveloping... Mikoto woke with a start as the side of her head hit the floor. The impact reverberated through her skull, throwing off her equilibrium and making her whole body tingle. "Ack!" "Dummy..." She sat up, perhaps a little more quickly than she should have as the motion made her head spin again. Instead of a witty retort, or something offensive, Mikoto stuck her tongue out at the woman sitting nearby and arranged her legs beneath her into a sitting posture. "What're you doing here, anyway," she asked with obvious contempt, glaring at the darkly dressed figure. Natsuki gave her a matching glare right back. "What about you," she countered, in a similar tone. "Why are you still here?" Mikoto blinked. "Because...because Mai's hurt and..." She frowned angrily at her would-be opponent and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't have to answer to you!" "After all that, I thought you trusted me?" The young girl looked up at her, her features softening as her expression ranged from frustration toward a more self-conscious kind of dissatisfaction. "Mai trusted you," she said after a while. "Mai trusts you...I guess I should too. But that doesn't mean that I like you!" Natsuki turned her attention toward the window, avoiding eye contact, and leaned back nonchalantly into her seat. "I guess there's not much more I can do to win you over, is there? It's not like we can't just co-exist like this anyway." The youngster failed to reply, instead simply remaining on the floor by the bedside cross-legged with an elbow on one knee, chin resting on the heel of her palm. Silence stretched out between the two, longer and longer, and it soon became clear that the conversation was dead. Despite her best efforts, Natsuki found her attention wandering back to the bed before too long, and the unconscious figure therein. The redhead's eyes were flickering behind their lids as she slept and her chest rose and fell rhythmically, deep sleep enshrouding her from the outside world. It was strange, the way Mai looked while she was asleep. She lay on her back, as usual, with her hair pooled on the pillow underneath in a thick orange mess. Her fringe hung down over her face, obscuring most of her forehead and overshadowing her eyes. Her features relaxed in atypical fashion, a peaceful absence of any expression that was rarely seen on the otherwise expressive redhead. Every now and then, the corner of her mouth twitched upward slightly, as if something in her dream were most amusing. The bed she lay in was a plain, flat, uncomfortably stiff hospital bed, and Mai shifted regularly in her sleep, arching the small of her back up off the bed for several seconds at a time, which made the sheet slip millimetre by millimetre downward. Not that it really covered anything in the first place; the wafer-thin sheet of dull greyish blue fabric only seemed to cling tightly around the redhead's body, showing off a figure that was almost motherly by proportion. Her breasts formed a veritable mountain out of that thin sheet that wafted gradually up and down with her breathing, and anyone could tell that she was naked underneath with a quick glance to her chest. Natsuki averted her gaze. It was bad enough when she was awake, but asleep...she'd be turning into a real pervert in no time, if this kept up. It was Shizuru's fault, of course, her and all her innuendo. And Mai's constant double entendres. She certainly had grown, though she had to admit. True to what everyone had said about her, Mai had only gotten...well...bigger. Yes, perhaps the muscles she had built up during her fleeting years at Garderobe weren't quite as obvious now as they had been, but they were still there. That brought her up short. Natsuki put her chin to her hand again and sighed deeply, eyes closing. How in the world was she to explain this sudden...shared recollection? Shizuru would probably go mad hearing about it, what little she did actually remember at that point. "At least she'll be happy," mumbled Natsuki to herself. "Even in a past lifetime, or whatever..." She shook her head. Kami, even thinking about it in passing made her brain hurt. "I should have listened to you." Natsuki blinked out of her reverie. "Hm?" Her attention rushed back to the semi-conscious girl draped against the side of Mai's bed, now turned to look up at her would-be guardian's face with an indecipherable expression. "You were right," Mikoto elaborated, as if that made any more sense. "Right about what?" The youngster turned her head right round, in a manoeuvre Natsuki found slightly painful to watch, and regarded her with that same strange look on her face. "When Mai's brother died," she said slowly. "And I attacked Mai... I was stupid. I should have listened to you then, because you remembered what I forgot." Mikoto nodded slowly, turning her head again so she could gaze lethargically up at the redhead's sleeping face. "I forgot what was most important." "What was that?" There was a goodly sized pause, and for a moment Natsuki wondered if she had asked the wrong question. But then Mikoto finally answered, "That Mai is the person I love the most." Natsuki couldn't keep from smiling just a little at that. "I always said I was the most sensible of the three of us." "No pants," retorted Mikoto. "You'll never let me forget that, will you?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- When Mai finally awoke again an hour or two later, there was much rejoicing, however quiet it was kept. Mikoto was all over her would-be guardian, clinging like her old carefree, childish self again and chirping the redhead's name now and then with a happy little catlike yip. Mai seemed cheerful enough herself as she fussed over the girl in return. Her eyes sparkled again as she played some silly game or other with her young charge, seemingly oblivious to the stifling hospital environment around her. Natsuki watched, and waited, and found her patience stretching further and further the longer she stayed on the sidelines, observing the pair at work. There was something oddly calming about Mai, there always had been, and Mikoto seemed to have a talent for bringing it out to its fullest. "So," giggled the redhead, attacking Mikoto's sides again with a quick jab of her fingers, to which the youngster laughed heartily back at her. "If you're so hungry, you big food-machine...where should we go to eat?" Mikoto looked up with a confused expression, blinking. "Go?" She squinted when Mai tapped a fist lightly to her head. "Silly! I haven't had much time for shopping lately, remember? So there's nothing much at home I can use to cook with. Unless you want ramen again." Mikoto nodded deliriously, and Mai frowned at her. "That's fine for you, but I'd like something different for once if you don't mind." Natsuki coughed. "Hm?" Mai looked up at her with a hint of a smirk curling at the edge of her mouth. "Did you say something?" "Well..." Natsuki sighed resignedly. "Look, I can make some arrangements, I can get you into some place nice for this afternoon. But you'll have to make do on your own for the rest of the day until then, okay?" Mikoto gave her an odd look, while Mai just smiled. "Thanks." Natsuki waved dismissively. "It's nothing. After everything I owe you..." "No," Mai interrupted, shaking her head, "it's not. It's not nothing. You really don't have to, I mean...I wouldn't want to be imposing on you. I know you don't like people taking-" "-you're really difficult when it comes to taking things from people, aren't you?" Mai looked down at the ground all of a sudden, her face tightening slightly. "I just...like to be able to take care of things myself, that's all," she explained hesitantly. "I don't want to impose..." "Kami's sake, Tokiha." Natsuki smiled and shook her head. "You really have changed, haven't you? Or maybe you haven't changed at all..." A gurgling noise emanated from Mikoto's stomach, effectively shattering the moment. Mai chuckled, and Natsuki stood there still smiling despite herself, shaking her head. After a few moments, Mai managed to lever the youngster off her and shifted round to get out of the bed again and onto her own two feet. "Well, I suppose we should get going if we're going to feed this monster." She patted Mikoto on the head affectionately with one hand as she swung her legs off the bed. "I wonder...where's the nearest ramen shop?" "You might want to rethink that," Natsuki suggested, turning around quickly. "Oh, don't you worry about those doctors. I don't care what they say, I know and you know that I'm perfectly-" "It's not that I'm worried about." Natsuki gestured toward the redhead with one hand, still not making eye contact, avoiding even looking her way. Mai looked down, and then laughed. Her cheeks warmed slightly. "Well, yeah, I suppose some clothes might be nice!" The dark-haired woman was shaking her head as she moved away, walking over towards a small closet on one side of the room. "That wouldn't have been the best move, would it? I wonder if they could arrest me for something like that?" She yelped when something large and cloth-like suddenly landed on her head, blinding her completely. The something in question turned out to be a dress, a light sundress in fact, yet modestly long in the skirt and high-necked in front. Mai couldn't hide a slight pout. "This for me, hm?" She levelled a most displeasured look at Natsuki. "What happened to my clothes?" Natsuki remained impassively silent. "Well," Mai continued dubiously, "you got my size right, why couldn't you get me something a little less...conservative?" "Exhibitionist." "And you didn't happen to get any underwear with that, did you?" There was an awkward pause. Mai kept her pouting glare focused on the other woman's back as Mikoto fidgeted restlessly against her side. "I didn't know your size," relented Natsuki at last, somewhat diffident. "No pants." "Shut up, you!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dawn broke, as it usually did in summer, far too early in the morning. The sun peeked its way up over the horizon and promptly blinded the handful of overnight staff, and one or two nocturnal customers who had gathered in the upper lobby. It was a nice lobby, though. All the way up on the topmost floor of the hotel, the elevator opened out on a wide and lavishly decorated room that barely fit into half the space of the main reception, but was still somehow comfortably spacious. The floor was a light grey, speckled marble in irregularly shaped slabs that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, with a large sunken area in the centre where stood a full-sized pool table and several small bar tables in dark, stained hardwood. Along one sidewall was a bar much different from the one downstairs, much smaller for one, and of the same marble panelling as the floor to make it look as if it had all been carved from one piece. The top was that same mahogany finish wood, smooth and polished to a lustrous shine. Opposite, a set of double doors led into the luxuriously decorated hallway that served access to the most expensive rooms, including the rooftop suite, and the last wall was all floor-to-ceiling windows with narrow metal frames, so as to obscure as little of the panoramic ocean view as possible. Narrow black heels clicked across the marble floor in a steady rhythm, straight across one corner of the room towards the bar. One or two heads turned to spot a very smartly dressed and professional looking brunette woman in her early twenties, carrying with her a thick beige folder in the crook of one elbow, her other hand holding a slender silver mobile to the side of her head. Narrow, unadorned lips moved almost silently as she spoke into the device at her ear, so slightly and quickly that not a word could be made out. She seemed more than just a little engrossed in her conversation, and so failed to notice eyes following her. She certainly wasn't the most striking of women, the bartender might have been thinking to himself. She was as tall as was the average Japanese woman and just as slender, her figure more plain rectangular than "curvy" as one might put it. Of course, the short brown jacket that hung down just above her waist did a good job of concealing her build, and that skirt definitely wasn't exposing much past her knees. Her attire was as straightforward and formal as the rest of her, overall building up quite the aura of professional businesswoman. Somehow, the haphazard mess that was her hair managed not to spoil the look, but only emphasised it even more. She stopped at last right in front of the bar, where she stood for a few moments longer until finally finishing off whatever business she had and clicking the phone shut with a soft snap. She looked up to the bartender and smiled pleasantly, a smile that was as formal as her whole appearance. "Excuse me," she began in a most decorous tone of voice. "Room thirteen; we were expecting a delivery..." The bartender sighed as if he had had to deal with this sort of thing early in the morning far too often, and turned to the rack of narrow metal drawers set into the back wall of the bar. "Room thirteen...thirteen..." "That's Suzushiro," prompted the brunette. "Yeah, which one?" Yukino tried her best not to let a self-conscious grin show. "It doesn't matter," she conceded, shaking her head slightly. "There should be an overseas package of some kind..." "Got it," interrupted the man. He turned back and deposited on the counter a thick, puffed-up white envelope with several labels stamped all over it in about three different languages. Yukino slid the phone into her pocket and reached out to pluck the envelope up by one corner in a single fluid motion, obviously practiced. "Thank you," she said in that soft voice of hers, and bowed her head. Before a reply could be made, she turned on her heel and strode across the room along the window, apparently unbothered by the glaring sunlight rushing in over the side of her face. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Room 13 turned out to be the penthouse suite, built right into the roof of the hotel. There was even a set of French windows that led right onto the roof itself, where was built a traditional style Japanese rock garden. There were rows of flowerbeds, somewhat colourless at that moment what with it being the middle of summer, and a narrow paved path wound its disorganised way around a shallow pond, complete with one or two small fish. Inside was another story altogether. The suite comprised only two rooms, both surprisingly cosy if very lavishly made up. The main room was a simple square, the usual television set up in one corner with furniture arranged to suit. There was a very modest kitchenette and a table over to one side that served as a dining area. The whole room was done in a calm, mellow pattern of soft yellows and reds with a few paintings hanging on the walls in strategic locations, as well as a huge gold-framed mirror. The door to the bedroom was as decorative as the room itself, heavy wooden panel doors with gold-leaf handles and hinges, all the trimmings. The bedroom proper was definitively high-class. Thick, soft red carpet covered the whole floor from wall to wall, and a white ceiling helped to brighten the room up. The walls were the same red and yellow scheme as elsewhere, albeit much deeper, more powerful shades of the same colours, as if to emphasise the room itself. A full-length mirror stood in one corner, neglected for the time being it would seem. One wall was entirely taken up by folding doors, hiding a truly enormous walk-in wardrobe that even the most extravagant spenders might have trouble filling during a short stay. There were no real windows to speak of, besides several vertical slits along one wall filled in with almost opaque orange stained glass that barely let in any light at all. Of course, with the room lights off, it all made for a most stereotypically 'romantic' sort of atmosphere. The bed was huge, as well it should be, and only as high as the depth of the mattress itself given that it was built into the floor. It was thankfully not in any strange shape, just a simple square slab that took up a considerable amount of floor space, adorned with sumptuous deep purple sheets and more than enough pillows to spare. Why purple, only the designer could know. On the bed at that very moment was a single person, lying on her side, limbs sprawled out somewhat messily around her and her face pressed into the pillow under her head. Her mouth hung half-open and a soft humming noise emanated from the area of her chest as she breathed deep in sleep. Thick waves of long, soft mustard-yellow hair flowed out behind her to form a decent puddle on the bed, somehow having avoided being trapped beneath her. She lay atop the covers, obviously having not been bothered to go through all the trouble to get into bed properly, and her clothes were still half on. The shamelessly short beige skirt had slid up along those smooth, perfectly sculpted thighs until a flash of bright pink fabric could be seen beyond, and the thin jacket hung off one arm completely, her blouse unbuttoned down to her waist and hanging loosely open. Yukino paused beside the bed and stared for a few minutes, as she sometimes did. It was probably a bad habit, but it was definitely one she could live with, and her wife certainly never complained about having her hovering nearby when she woke up every morning. Without the makeup, however sparingly it was used, the blonde woman looked decidedly different. Her face looked plainer without it, admittedly, and less well defined. Her lips were narrow, her eyebrows fine and light, her cheeks slightly paler, though from head to toe she was clearly a shade or two darker than most local women; evidence of her love of sunbathing. Without the eye shadow, her face appeared not so sinister or devious, not that that was necessarily a bad thing. Putting such distractive thoughts out of her head for the time being, Yukino turned her back to the bed and moved to deposit the thick folder she still carried on the table nearby, where also sat a brushed silver laptop computer, open and powered up, a strange collection of colours and shapes continuously morphing and reshaping on the screen. She sat herself down on a narrow red wooden chair and leaned back a little, to let her lower back relax for a while. Her left hand automatically rose to adjust her glasses while she sighed an overworked sort of sigh. The envelope kept creeping in on her field of vision, imposing itself upon her like some lurking evil. "He said it was urgent," she thought aloud, not as if anyone was around to hear her talking to herself besides the obvious. "I wonder what it could be. He sounded...nervous, was it?" Her nails, short-trimmed but sharp, made short work of the envelope and in no time at all, she was looking at a mysterious black lump about the size of a golf ball, ovoid in shape with a small hole at one end and no discernable markings. Interesting indeed it was, this "important delivery." On further inspection, the hole turned out to be a socket, and Yukino had to rummage through her personal drawer to find a plug that would match. The other end of the thin grey cord slotted into a similar port on the back of her computer with a soft ‘click' and at once, a notice popped up on the screen. She was just about to investigate further, when there came a loud snort from somewhere behind her and a rustling of fabric. "Wuh...hm?" "Haruka-chan...I'm sorry, did I wake you?" The blonde waved one hand in a very loose gesture. "Doesn't matter," she mumbled. "Gotta be up soon anyway for that stupid auction. Don't mind me, I know you're probably busy with something as usual." And just like that, Haruka was wide awake and as energetic as ever. Despite being warned off, Yukino found herself unable to resist the temptation to turn and watch... Haruka first thing in the morning was, surprisingly, much like Haruka any other time of day. Her eyes were slightly unfocused at first and her voice had yet to find its usual forcefulness, but she was just as striking by appearance despite being rather disarrayed. Her hair, miraculously, was almost untouched, a feat that Yukino had yet to understand regardless of how long she had already had to do so. Without any sort of warning, the jacket was tossed carelessly over one shoulder to the floor, and then off came the blouse with little to no visible effort. Haruka stood on the far side of the bed, back to her partner, and the skirt simply fell down her legs without any sort of resistance. It was as if she had carefully adjusted her clothes before sleeping in order to make undressing quite so simple come morning. The multitude of rapidly fading cuts and scrapes aside, Haruka's back was probably one of her best attributes. Mainly because, unlike certain other places, her back showed off just how much muscle she really had hidden under otherwise stereotypically feminine curves. Only when she was pushing them did her biceps stand out, but her shoulders were always that way, and for some reason Yukino found it oddly attractive. Sure, she had reasoned on more than one occasion, she could have a typical girl with a typical body. She could have gone for one of those "girl-next-door" types, couldn't she? Except that she was the girl next door, and Haruka wasn't like any other woman she knew. Haruka was unique, a rarity, irreplaceably singular. She was also walking about the room stark naked, yawning hugely and stretching up on her toes, back muscles flexing for all to see. Even first thing in the morning, her skin had that soft gleam to it, and when she finally turned to look over her shoulder, her eyes were every bit as sharp and alert as always. It took no more than a few blinks to get that sharp, devious gleam back into those deep lavender eyes, and Haruka was suddenly grinning a very mischievous grin as she advanced on her observing partner. Yukino turned back to her work perhaps a little too quickly and set her fingers to flying over the keyboard as they were so practiced at doing. She tried to ignore the sound of bare feet shuffling over the thick red carpet. She tried not to notice the scent of her favourite perfume getting closer and closer with each passing second. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to be getting so worked up first thing in the morning, Haruka-chan," she tried to argue, but her voice came out less than confident. Truth be told, resistance wasn't quite the first thing on her mind. "Really now, you need more rest than that. I know you haven't been sleeping properly these past few da-" The rest was cut off by a pair of warm, soft, luscious lips over her mouth, and she suddenly found her argument dissolving away as if it were nothing. "Good morning," purred the blonde woman when she finally pulled back for breath. Her lips moved for a moment more, but whatever it was she had thought of was clearly not important enough to voice. Instead of going any further with her thoughts, she grabbed her now far more agreeable wife by those delicately slender shoulders and kissed her again, much more insistently. When Yukino finally put a hand to the blonde woman's bare hip, she relented, standing up straight beside the brunette with a look of satisfaction on her face. "Now that's better," she chuckled, and slid her wife's narrow glasses back up her nose. Yukino whined. "I hate it when you do that, Haruka-chan, you know that..." "Only because you enjoy it so much." Haruka grinned almost impishly. "It's not my fault that you taste so good first thing on a morning, now is it? Though I have to admit, you're a little billed today." "Bitter, Haruka-chan," Yukino corrected automatically, giving the blonde a displeased look that took more effort than she might let on. "And that would be the wine I had last night." "Never did much like that Spanish stuff. You really need better taste in wines, my dear Yukino, or else I might just stop kissing you if you're going to taste like sour grapes all the time." "Would you rather I taste like chillies," muttered Yukino sarcastically, turning back to her work. Those same hands caught the sides of her face in a soft yet firm grasp and turned her head for another, almost startlingly passionate kiss that lasted quite a while indeed. When they finally broke off, noses barely centimetres apart, a concerned expression found its way to the brunette's face. "I didn't mean it, you know." Haruka only shook her head. "I just...felt like it, that's all." Yukino was struggling against her, though admittedly it wasn't that much of an effort. "Well if you feel like it for much longer, we're never going to make it to that auction and you'll never get to meet that...what was his name..." She was cut off with yet another kiss, much shorter this time. "No," said Haruka quite firmly. "But Haruka-chan," whined the brunette expertly. "Don't you think that's going to work this time, damn it." Haruka let go of one side of Yukino's head only to give herself space to prod one finger gently against the brunette's chest. "We've both been going non-stop since that meeting in Yokohama and that was over a week ago. I haven't even seen you naked at all since Tuesday." She held up a cautionary finger. "And no, yesterday doesn't count! We didn't even do anything, and I was angry anyway, so I wouldn't have enjoyed it." "Then...what?" Haruka grinned at her, a predatory grin. "Then today you're not going to touch that computer of yours until I've satisfied myself, fully, and you've had at least two hours' real sleep. And to make sure you're properly tired first..." By way of an explanation, she started tracing that projected finger down along the brunette's chest, unhooking the buttons in her blouse as it went and sliding the material apart. "You're insatiable, Haruka-chan," breathed Yukino in her best "schoolgirl" voice, which only made the glint in those lavender eyes even brighter. "I don't hear you saying stop..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "How long are you going to stay there?" Mikoto snorted a reply, and the feeling of hot air brushing her skin through the thin fabric of her dress made Mai giggle. "Don't mind her," retorted Mai as she reached down to run her fingers into the young girl's hair. Mikoto made an irritated whine and shook her head. "Not that you ever do, of course. I guess you two aren't quite as bad as you used to be, hm?" A tap to her shoulder caught the redhead's attention, and she looked up to find a familiar silhouette standing over her, blocking out the sun. "Here," offered the dark-haired woman, one hand out-stretched holding a brightly labelled can with a fine coating of condensation. "Before it gets warm." Mai smiled and took the proffered drink, but didn't open it. Instead, the can sat on the grass beside her hip, and her palm rested atop it. "I remember," she began fondly. "I remember...Tate-kun..." She shook her head. "I guess I shouldn't be reminiscing at a time like this though, should I?" "Yuichi," said Natsuki flatly as she sat down in the grass close by. "I remember there was some kind of... thing with you and him, wasn't there?" Mai shook her head again, much more firmly. "I never really liked him. The way he treated Shiho... Well I suppose that wasn't really his fault, though, was it?" She leaned back on the ground and put one hand up to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. "I really should have been a little more encouraging for her, I think. Him and her together... it works." "Oh, you know all about relationships now, do you?" Mai stuck out her tongue. "I know enough. I know there's a difference between what Shiho-chan wanted and what Tate thought. Stupid boy," she finished in a mutter. "From my point of view, I'd say he saw Shiho as more of a companion than anything else. Like..." "Like Chie-chan," interrupted Mai. Natsuki had to bite back a laugh at that and wisely said nothing. "She and Aoi-chan had this weird thing going, it was like they were a couple...except...it wasn't really like that, y'know?" She frowned. "Okay, I admit, I'm not the best at figuring out relationships." "Like your brother." "Huh?" Mai blinked. "Well...yeah, I guess you're right. He and Akira-kun..." "Like you and me, eh?" Natsuki chuckled to herself. "Like...growing up and turning into old maids together, huh. At least I know I'll always have someone to complain to." "Yeah...yeah," replied the redhead somewhat distantly. She bit her bottom lip, if only for a second. "Like...like you and me...I guess..." Natsuki blinked and looked down at her. "Eh? What, did I say something? It isn't about your brother, is it?" Mai shook her head. "Don't worry," she argued, showing a reassuring half-smile. "It's nothing, really." Then she slowly turned her head to bring the dark-haired woman beside her into view, and grinned. "You look kinda hot in that thing, Natsuki-chan. Why d'you where something like that on a day like this?" Natsuki didn't blush, disappointingly, but she did give her a sour look. "You keep doing that." Mai giggled up at her. "And I told you, this is for riding. It's for safety. You get used to it after a while." "Seems more like for style to me, hm? Oh, don't mind me, I'm not complaining or anything. In fact...it looks good on you." Natsuki directed a single finger towards the redhead. "You stop that right now, I mean it. I didn't come here to help you practice flirting." "Oh you're just no fun," whinged Mai, pouting. Mikoto peered up at her with a puzzled expression and blinked at her. Then, almost as one, they both started giggling again. A gloved hand went to Natsuki's forehead with an exasperated sigh. "Honestly, you two are getting worse and worse every day." She leaned back against the thick trunk of a cherry tree and gazed idly up at the sunlight filtering down through the leaves above her. It had turned out an uncomfortably warm day indeed, between the general humidity hanging in the air and the blazing sun beating down on the city from above. Thankfully, here in the park the ocean breeze carried quite a way and set the still, clammy air to stirring. The leaves rustled in the trees to an unseen rhythm, and the sound of birdsong and cicadas drowned out the far distant traffic. Mai had indeed worn the dress so thoughtfully supplied her, and it fit just as well as expected, covering all from her collar to her knees, sleeveless arms bare and slightly pale in the bright daylight. By now, being out in the open and all away from the stifling atmosphere inside the hospital, her expression and overall demeanour had taken an encouraging turn back towards their normal, indomitably exuberant state. That odd little feline grin had snuck its way back onto her face when she wasn't looking, and now it resurfaced whenever she relaxed. With an echo of that same look on Mikoto's face, the two made a perfect pair, though it was an odd pair indeed. The young girl herself was dressed in her usual thrown-together sort of outfit, a plain old short black skirt and a brightly coloured t-shirt to cover her top half, and was currently curled up in a foetal position, head resting on Mai's stomach. The redhead seemed not to mind, as ever, besides the occasional shuffling and batting at Mikoto's head whenever the youngster moved about too much. All of a sudden, Mai blinked, her cheeks colouring slightly. "Eh?" She looked back down again and found a finger prodding her chest. "Squish squish," giggled Mikoto. Mai swatted at her hand. "Stop it, Mikoto!" She didn't. She kept doing it, even more so if anything. "Squish!" This time, her finger sank quite a way, the soft flesh beneath Mai's dress pillowing impressively. The redhead squeaked, cheeks warming rapidly. "Ah... Mikoto!" "Squish, squish, squish!" Mikoto, finger hovered over a conspicuous protrusion centred atop one of those prominent mounds and then stabbed firmly downward with a gleeful giggle. "Squish!" Mai let out something between a moan and a gasp. "Mikoto!" She batted helplessly at the young girl's hand, squirming furiously. "Should have worn a bra." "Then why couldn't you get me one?" Natsuki frowned at her. "Hey, I didn't have to go and fetch that dress for you. And it's not like I could get into your apartment or anything anyway, is it? Feel lucky they let me get your panties back for you." "That must have looked a little suspicious though," chuckled the redhead while fending off the finger attacks with one hand. "Stealing a poor helpless, injured girl's panties like some pervert." "I take it back," groaned Natsuki. "Shizuru has nothing on you. You're appalling." "You only say that because you care," Mai teased with a grin. Then Mikoto found her target again and the redhead squeaked in distress. "Yeah, serves you right," chuckled Natsuki. "That's what you get for flirting with me. Now no more, or I'll teach her to do that to strangers too." "You wouldn't!" Mai blinked when Natsuki's fist landed gently atop her head. "Of course I wouldn't, stupid, you know that. I bet you might, though." For a moment, Mai stared up at the dark-haired woman with a fond expression, that funny little cat-like grin curling her lips. "You really have changed," she stated in amusement. "I guess I did something right all those years, eh? You were so uptight and boring when we first met..." Natsuki groaned and put a hand to her forehead. "What?" "Please, I'd rather avoid talking about...y'know...all that." She shook her head. "It's just really starting to hurt my head thinking about it." Mai giggled. "I know what you mean! I suddenly remember all this stuff, and now it's like..." She sighed irritably. "It's like the life I've had up to now isn't...real any more, you know? It's like seeing the real thing and comparing it to what you've got, and when you look you can tell that the thing you had was a fake all along." Natsuki stayed her tongue while words flew about her head, trying to organise themselves into lucidity. "I think," continued Mai regardless, "I think the worst of it is...instead of remembering my real life, now I've got two sets of memories, and they both seem so real. I don't know which is fake. I don't know how, but I get the feeling they're both the truth, and that's just impossible." She shook her head again. "To be perfectly honest, it's a little scary." "You're a lot more philosophical now, that's for sure." That brought out a self-conscious giggle from the redhead. Natsuki rolled right onto her side and tucked her legs up below her. "You should listen to yourself, Tokiha. Back when we first met you were just an ordinary, despicably nice girl...and now you're over-analysing your own life away. It's not like you at all." Mai smiled a slow, resigned smile. "I guess I just grew up, is all." There was another moment of silence as the shadow of a cloud drifted over the threesome. A fleeting chill wind rustled through the nearby trees and wafted through the grass all around them. Mai felt her skin prickling to the touch of that suddenly cold breeze, as it had the same way long before... She turned her head to one side, away from the figure draped beside her and away from those watchful eyes hanging over her. A prickling sensation stung at the corner of her eye, and her vision blurred as she blinked several times. Her lips curled into a mild grimace for just a second or two before she had it all under control again. "I'm sorry," she ventured at last, in a somewhat unsteady tone of voice. "Hm?" Natsuki shifted her weight to one elbow, half sitting up beside her, the break in the redhead's voice setting her off. "What? Is there something wrong?" Mai shook her head, slowly but definitely. "I just...I wanted to apologise," she continued, her voice much more confident after a moment's pause for breath. "I want to apologise for not telling you the truth." She turned her head to the other girl and their eyes met. "What do you mean?" There was an odd look in Mai's eyes that Natsuki didn't at first recognise. Something tugged at Mai's blouse, and she looked down to see a drowsy-faced Mikoto blinking up at her. "Hungry," groaned the young girl softly. She smiled and reached down to run her fingers through Mikoto's hair. "Never mind," she excused absently. "I'll tell you some other time. Right now, I think it's time we go get some food, hm?" Natsuki shook her head ever so slightly and frowned to herself. "I think I saw some guy selling rice balls down near the lake, how about that?" "In this heat?" Mai flashed a mischievous, almost feline smirk. "Hope you like them sticky." "You're intolerable, Tokiha," the dark-haired woman protested in a sarcastic tone of voice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- In the end, it had turned out to be a beautiful sunny afternoon, if also atrociously hot. Nina stood once again back on that narrow hotel balcony just outside their shared room, elbows resting on the railing as she gazed idly out across the vast expanse of green between there and the oceanfront. Her head cocked to one side, one cheek rested atop her folded forearms. The afternoon sun was hot against the side of her face, and the black metal rail beneath was warm through her skin. A gentle ocean breeze rustled through her hair, now loosed from the usual ponytails and hanging in a thick shroud about her head. The sound of the door opening behind her, failed to grab her attention. "Nina-chan," called a boisterous voice into the empty hotel room. "Nina? Where are you?" Nina kept right on not hearing it. She shifted with a sigh over to the other side, cocking her head back again and leaning her other ear on her arm instead. Her hair stayed where it had been as she moved her head, coming to rest in a thick curtain that obscured most of her face and blocked out much of the light from the sun. Her feet shifted restlessly below, swapping places again for the nth time in the past few hours. "Ni-na," whispered a voice directly behind her. A finger brushed against the skin of her left shoulder, drawing a quick arc across her pale flesh. Nina bit back a moan. Her face was hot as she span round to face that most annoying creature behind her with a very displeased expression, scowling darkly. "A-RI-" She trailed off... "Ni-na," chirped the redhead, grinning at her almost stupidly. "Hurry and get dressed!" Arika was wearing a dress, wonder of wonders. More to the point, she was wearing that particular dress, the dress that she had insisted on buying earlier that day, which had cost quite a large portion of their already meagre financial reserves. Long, flowing thin sheets of pale turquoise and a deep aquamarine, criss-crossing back and forth over one another like a braid, ends tied neatly into a small knot at the base of the redhead's neck and then descending over her chest in two parallel plaits. The material fanned out as it fell, spreading out across her hips and overlapping over her lower abdomen, melting into a loose skirt made up of many alternating strips of blue and white that fell all the way to her ankles, ends barely brushing the floor. The way the skirt billowed when she moved, it was as if the whole garment really was held together merely by the knotting. Thankfully, it did cover everything, but the gap in the front dipped almost dangerously low and Nina could only imagine that the back would be just as risqué. With her hair let loose and a lightest hint of make-up, however, mistaking her for royalty suddenly didn't seem so impossible. "That..." Nina shook her head slowly. "You look...nice." Arika grinned back at her, denting the illusion to some degree. "I bet you'll look even better once you're dressed." She took the other girl by her hand and almost dragged her back inside with a giggle. "Come on, let's find that dress you picked and we'll get ready, okay?" "Wait...ready for what?" There was a moment's pause, and an awkward atmosphere descended. Nina frowned. Arika gave her a pleading expression in return. Nina only stiffened her features. Arika pouted a reply. "No." "There's a-" Arika blinked. "Nina," whined the redhead. "At least let me explain!" "Whatever it is, knowing you I'm sure it's a bad idea." Nina crossed her arms over her chest resolvedly and turned her head to one side. No amount of that irritating whining or pleading or subversion would work on her this time. Surprisingly, none came. Instead, the young redhead leaned in against her partner, arms curled loosely around Nina's middle, and rested her head against the dark-haired girl's shoulder. "There's a ballroom downstairs," she explained slowly, sounding most dejected indeed. "They're having some big event or something tonight, there's a party and everything, and everyone'll be dancing. I was just thinking...y'know...we could go together? Have some fun, maybe?" Nina felt her resolve melting like ice on a hot day, despite her own mental forehead being banged against a wall. Stupid. Her hands automatically went to rest on the redhead's shoulders as she shifted back a little way, to gently lever the face from her shoulder. Her gaze caught her companion's for a second, and held. "If..." She bit her tongue. Who had gone and planted all these mad thoughts in her head? A short year or two ago there wouldn't have even been an argument, but now she was actually giving in so easily. Arika was clearly a force to be reckoned with, not just for her sheer power. "If it's what you really want," Nina tried not to say, "I'd be happy to go with you." Arika smiled beautifully, and for a very short while there was an awkward, yet agreeable silence. "Oh!" Arika flashed a playful grin as she turned about-face, peeking back over one shoulder at her companion. "Guess who I saw down in the lobby just now! You'll never believe it..." "Stupid," muttered Nina. "I bet you're going to make up some crazy story like-" "-Armitage!" Nina sighed. "I knew it." A distinct look of frustration crossed the redhead's face, hands on her hips as she rounded on the other girl. "It's true! Brigadier General Armitage, in this very hotel!" "You are unfortunately quite correct, Yumemiya-san." Both girls turned with a start to the still open balcony window. The gentle ocean breeze wafted the curtains back and forth in a slow drift, and standing silhouetted in the doorway against the blinding mid-afternoon sun outside was that familiar cloaked figure. "Miyu!" Arika almost squeaked with joy. The blue-haired woman, for her part, showed little emotion at all, though she responded with a very slight smile. "What do you mean," interrupted Nina, just as the whole scene was about to turn nostalgic on her. "If she's here, then the president of Aires is here. What would they be doing in a place like this?" Miyu held one hand up in a silencing gesture, shaking her head only very slightly. "I am afraid the situation around you is considerably more complicated than you might at first assume. Perhaps it would be best if I appraise you both more concisely." Arika blinked, and Nina sighed once again and gestured to the bed. When the older woman failed to take the hint, she instead half dragged her red haired companion alongside her and the two sat side by side on the edge of the bed, Miyu now standing some way apart in front of them. The door was thankfully slid shut, locking out the hot summer air, and the curtain drawn in a slightly conspicuous manner. Arika, for one, showed no apparent sign of noticing anything sinister. Instead, the redhead leaned into her roommate once more, causing not a slight colouring to Nina's face. "So?" Miyu nodded almost imperceptibly, to no one in particular it would seem. "The person you saw earlier was not, in fact, who you think it was. Her name is Suzushiro Haruka, and having seen her puts you both at considerable risk." "I thought we were already at considerable risk," retorted Nina. Miyu showed no obvious reaction, as ever. "Suzushiro Haruka is the owner and director of a well established financial firm with significant influence in the local Japanese economical region. She is also what you might call a somewhat distorted reflection of the same Brigadier General you are both familiar with." Arika blinked again. "Is this about that whole "alternate dimensions" thing?" "Correct," replied Miyu abruptly. "In an alternate world, there can also exist an alternate version of any given person. Suzushiro Haruka is much similar to the Armitage you know, and at the same time she is also very different." She hesitated, a very odd expression crossing her face for a brief second or two. Nina frowned. "What is it?" "I am afraid you will eventually be forced to interact with her personally, if the current situation does not improve drastically. Also, she is not the only "reflection" with which you will no doubt come into contact, given time. Many particular persons you recognise prominently from your own world have alternates in this world, some of them what one may call "disagreeable" or perhaps, even hostile." "Okay...and just how are we supposed to deal with something like this? It seems I can't use my nano-machines at all for the time being, and to be brutally honest, Arinko doesn't exactly instil the highest confidence with her current fighting abilities." "Hey!" Arika jabbed a finger rudely into Nina's hip, eliciting a yelp of pain and an angry scowl in retaliation. "However," interrupted the cloaked woman, still showing no outward emotion. "Your presence here, however necessary, has caused the situation to become much more complicated. The mere action of your crossing the boundary between this world and your own has caused considerable leakage between dimensions." "What do you mean by leakage?" Miyu caught the redhead's eye. "Caution would be advisable from now on." "What do you mean," insisted Nina, "by leakage?" Miyu failed to answer, simply matching Nina's gaze with an expressionless stare. Then, as suddenly as she had arrived, she span dramatically on one foot, the billowing cloak mingling with the fluttering mass of the curtain until her figure was completely obscured. When the movement eventually died down...she was gone. "How does she do that?" Nina sighed. "Right now, I'd be more concerned with the why." "Why?" Arika cocked her head to one side, a puzzled expression growing quickly. "What do you mean?" "I mean her motivation," explained the dark-haired girl patiently. "Why is she doing all these things? Why did she tell us to stay here? Why here, specifically? Why did she even bring us here in the first place?" Arika remained silent, concern flashing behind her eyes as she looked down towards the floor. "And most of all...why won't she tell us?" "Maybe she can't," offered the redhead. "Maybe there's a good reason she can't answer all these questions, Nina. Maybe..." "...maybe she doesn't trust us."
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