"Moshi moshi?" came a commanding voice, the slender woman behind it leant idly against the living room doorway in her shared city-centre apartment, her legs aching having just risen from an extended period crouched before a nearby sofa, the tall figure taking the chance to stretch her limbs out as she answered the waiting telephone. "My god, now there's a voice I've not heard in a while," she said, her free hand scratching the back of her neck subconsciously, "How are you bo-" She paused, her coal black eyes reflecting the light from a wide wall mounted fish tank situated to her side, the young woman obviously having been superseded by the voice at the other end. "No, no it's fine Rain, go on," she replied, the name drawing the soft brown eyes of a second woman at the other end of the room out of curiosity. This figure was sat cross legged in the lap of a wide leather sofa, the young woman looking tired and weary and wearing nothing but some flimsy hipster shorts, a thin beige shoal draped around her shoulders and bust as she nursed a swollen, well rounded belly in the autumn heat. The conversation continued, "What? There? Right now?" her partner was asking. The dark haired woman taking the call looked exasperated. "Jesus, which rock did that bitch crawl out from under?" she exclaimed. The moments passed slowly, the lull only drawing the second figure's attention even further. "Kaname?" she asked in a soft voice, but the flustered twenty something waved her hand in dismissal. "What? Well I hope she didn't get an answer," the dark haired woman was saying. Another pause. "No, no, of course not, I know what she can be like. Look, I'll speak to Miyuki; if there's anyone that can talk sense into the bitch it'll be her." She nodded briefly as though the calling party might somehow have seen her through the phone cable. "No, not at all," she gestured, "it's only a short drive from here. I'll leave after I've run a bath for the beached one. It won't take long." Despite the obvious intrigue the conversation was generating, the soft brown eyes observing from the sofa now fondly rolled with a warm smile, their owner shifting her hands across her belly lovingly, her mind lost briefly in the physical sensations within. "Will do; you'll call back if you need help yeah?" the former tennis star was finishing, "Same to you both, talk soon." And at that she returned the slim black handset to its stand. "Kaname?" the waiting figure repeated. "You wouldn't believe who just showed up at their place," the tall woman mused as she wandered back toward the couch, her slender stature now towering over the figure below. "Shizuma?" "Miss middle-of-the-night Hanazono, one in the very same," she replied, her tone somehow sarcastically bemused. "Stupid bitch came back looking after all this time," she added. Kaname disappeared through the bedroom door, reappearing momentarily as the sound of running water echoed from the bathroom at the back. "I won't be gone long I promise," she reassured, "the estate's only a short drive and we're well past rush hour." "Its fine, don't stress," the pregnant woman replied, "I'll lounge for a bit and nap if you're not back in a hurry." There was a brief pause, broken only by the sound of Kaname's footsteps on the wooden floor, followed by the rattle of car keys being collected from a ceramic bowl on the side shelf by the front door. "Won't it be a little weird going back?" the brown eyed woman called across the laminate. Her tall companion chuckled as she pulled a leather sports jacket over her jumper, reappearing in the living room doorway as she answered the question. "Back to Astrea? God I hadn't thought of that," she said, and she grinned wistfully as she continued. "Yeah, I guess." Then, after another long pause those soft brown eyes disappeared beneath a furrowed brow as they reconsidered the matter at hand. "So Shizuma came back to find her?" she asked. The dark haired woman paused, confused by her partner's tone. "That's what Rain said, yes?" "And you're going to get Miyuki to stop her, right?" "Well given everything that's happened, that would seem the prudent choice wouldn't it?" the dark haired woman asked. There was another long pause. "Are you sure?" The living room descended into silence, the sound of the bath tub and the fish tank pump bubbling along musically in the background. The tall figure in the sports jacket finally cocked her head in response, "So after what she did to Nagisa, you'd honestly have a reason why not to?" And finally, the telling answer came, "Well we were hardly holding all the answers that day, were we..."
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