Note: I own nothing, and been a long time. I now have no internet, so yeah... Enjoy!
Night & Day
Ch.1
-Break the Ice-
It's nothing new, she'd been there and done that. The Carnival left her torn and tattered, but that was sixteen years ago. Minagi Mikoto isn't the child like she was back in those days, she moved on with her life and now a vet, but a dangerous one in both the medical and the gambling field. The money she made aren't from her parents, but hell, they know better than to reprimand her when she earned a living through gambling and saving animals.
Everyone moved on since the Carnival, and slowly most of them started to settle down. All but Fujino Shizuru, she finally came out to her family which ended with her being disowned by her father. It didn't matter even though she suffered from a broken heart when Kuga Natsuki got herself a boyfriend. But with time, Shizuru picked up the broken pieces and moved on. Now a vet with her own clinic, all is right again with a smart and shy business partner: Kikukawa Yukino.
"Haruka-chan wanted you to meet her at the Bin LaDiem for dinner," Yukino said minutes before closing.
"Ara, I'm thinking of just heading home for a good sleep since its weekend tomorrow." Shizuru said though she wasn't in the mood to go out for dinner.
"I rather not have her kicking the door to your place down, she'd been planning it for the last two weeks. So please come?" Yukino begged with her hands clapped together in front of her.
"Ara, ara... I guess I don't have a choice then," Shizuru said with an amused smile playing on her lips.
The place was nice and filled with people when the trio meets up in front if the shop. Shizuru can't say that the foods are bland either; they enjoyed the foods and nice conversation with Haruka raising her voice once in a while. That was until someone flipped a nearby table causing quite a ruckus, but the one that sat at the table made no move or say anything even with all eyes on her/him.
"Cheater! You wouldn't win the game if you didn't cheat, give us back our money!" Shouted the tall and muscular man with a few men standing behind him.
"This coming from the actual cheater," a calm and cold voice replied causing the man's brow to twitched.
"Liar!" He shouted already throwing his fist at the person sitting still on the chair in front of the flipped table.
Shizuru watched calmly as a hand snatched onto the man's fist before it reached its destination, and pushing him down hard to keep him in place. The other men didn't dare to jump in when the man cry out in pain from having a knee pressed against his right shoulder ready to dislocate his arm. The person that pinned him down pulled cards that were hidden from the sleeve of his shirt to everyone's eyes.
"This is how you cheat; I don't because I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt." The person pinning the man down said calmly.
"Scoot before I call the cops on you for illegal gambling along with cheating. Just because I just come to Tokyo, doesn't mean you should try to get money from me." That person said before letting go of the man and his goons helped him up and together they run out of the place.
"Sorry about that," the stranger said to the owner and handed him a thick wad of cash to pay for the damages and left without waiting for him to say anything.
"Isn't that..." Yukino trailed off as she took off her glasses to rub her eyes.
"Someone you know?" Suzushiro Haruka asked her girlfriend.
"I'm not sure, but she looked like Mikoto-kun." Yukino said.
It had been a numbers of years and Shizuru find it odd that Yukino would call Mikoto -kun instead of -chan. No one know what happened to that cat-girl, she seemed to disappeared off the face of the earth. However, that person doesn't look much like the Minagi Mikoto that Shizuru remembered, that head didn't have spiky raven hair but nicely combed raven hair and a slender and tone body.
"Didn't that brat said she come back to help you?" Haruka asked taking a bite of her salad.
"Two weeks ago and she's not a brat Haruka-chan," Yukino said in a reprimanding tone.
"Help?" Shizuru asked with a quirked brow.
"We've been talking about expanding our clinic, and we need someone to help us out. Someone we can trust."
"Why not Suzushiro-han?" Shizuru asked in her usual Kyoto-ben accent.
"I handle the family's construction business," Haruka said.
"Anyway, I've been in contact with Mikoto for six years, not sure how she managed to find my number though. She'd been a vet somewhere in the States, but she'd been traveling around the world on some volunteering job since last year. When I asked her, she says okay and will fly back here soon after her volunteer is done." Yukino explained.
"Ara, I can't wait to see how grown up she'd become." Shizuru said and Haruka only nodded her head in agreement.
"How about tomorrow? She told me pick her up tomorrow at a hotel somewhere in downtown," Yukino said and Shizuru just smiled before nodding her head.
"Great," Yukino said with a wide smile and excitement in her voice.
"The next day, Haruka picked Shizuru up for what she called a picnic at a nice and quiet park. They found a nice place to set up the cover to sit on and packed foods to eat. The two sat down and enjoyed a bottle of beer under the tree's shade before two people walked up to them.
"Yo," a young but tomboy looking woman greeted Haruka and Shizuru.
"Damn, you grow your hair out." Haruka said.
It is true, Mikoto grow her raven hair out, longer than before, but still short and clean. She kept it nicely combed to the right side; it made her look even more charming than a handsome man. She's taller, and toner than before too. She nodded her head in greeting toward Haruka and Shizuru.
"Beer?" Yukino asked holding a bottle of beer in Mikoto's direction.
"Hadn't had one over a year," Mikoto said taking the bottle and opened it with ease. "Thanks," Mikoto added before chugging the entire bottle down in a single gulp.
"Ready for work tomorrow?" Haruka asked as both Yukino and Mikoto plopped down on the ground.
"Sure, if those dimwits stop making a fuss over a game of card," Mikoto replied.
"Oh?" Yukino looked at Mikoto with a raised brow.
"Yeah, they cheats and still loose to me. Been a hella long time since I gambled. Lucky bastards I haven't call the cops on them." Mikoto said and Shizuru realized that this is the same person she saw at Bin LaDiem just last night.
"You were there last night!" Haruka exclaimed the very thing on Shizuru's mind.
"Yeah, checking out the city since I haven't seen it over a decade," Mikoto said laughing heartily.
"Where you been?" Haruka asked.
"The states: gambling and schooling." Mikoto said shrugging her shoulders.
"You're good..." Haruka said, honestly she respected Mikoto for being able to do two things and succeed.
"My parents weren't happy, but they didn't say anything since I paid for my college with my gambling money." Mikoto said.
Before long, Shizuru came to learn something new from the handsome Mikoto, she smokes but not the expensive type of cigarettes.
"Anything else I should know?" Yukino asked as she watched Mikoto took a drag of the cig.
"I gamble and smoke, that's all." Mikoto replied putting the cigarette out with her fingers.
"Often?" Yukino asked.
"Nah, only the cheaters and I don't smoke often." Mikoto answered.
So, they started working together with Mikoto doing a damn good job at what she does; she just doesn't give them info on the place she lives. She spent much of her time at the clinic, and hardly hang out with fellow co-workers. The clinic expanded, and the late shift seemed to belong to either Shizuru or Mikoto.
"I'm soo ready for some shut eyes," Mikoto said as she come out of the operating room.
"Ara, ara, likewise," Shizuru said.
"How about a drink Shi-chan? It's on me," Mikoto said with a smile on her lips.
"I'm too tire to even drive home, maybe next time?" Shizuru asked.
"Sure," Mikoto said and left.
The word 'Shi-chan' left Shizuru tossed and turned in her sleep, it has been too long since she last flirted or dated anyone. Furthermore, no one ever called her like that, not even her short-term lovers. Yet the way Mikoto says it made her feel special and alive, so alive that she talked to Mikoto the next day about going out for dinner and a drink or two.
"Enjoy dinner?" Mikoto asked as they wait for dessert to be served.
"Ara, I do and it's a nice place." Shizuru said with a smile on her face.
"To be honest, hasn't had a nice dinner with another vet since vet school." Mikoto said as dessert got served.
"And I haven't a nice dinner in quite a while myself," Shizuru nodded her head in agreement.
Things returned to normal after that night, tension thick in the air and Yukino sensed it since she's in a good relationship. So she tried her best to set her friends up but to no avail.
"You call?" Mikoto asked upon entering Yukino's office.
"Yukino-han, what's the next case..?" Shizuru asked but trailed off when she noticed Mikoto's presence.
"Sit," Yukino said in a commanding tone and both of them sit down in front of Yukino's desk.
"I will be checking on the animals for a bit, and I expect to see you two talking and laughing when I come back here." Yukino said as she stood up to leave her office.
"Honestly," Mikoto said.
"Ara, she gets quite meddlesome sometimes," Shizuru said breaking the ice between them. "I was wondering if you have time to grab dinner and a drink with me today." She added.
"I got foods at my place if you don't mind leftover," Mikoto said.
"Sounds wonderful, after work?" Shizuru asked.
"Yeah, just follow me in your car." Mikoto said and silence reigned over the office.
Yukino was rather upset upon returning to her office, but there aren't much she could do and leave it at that. She was curious to know what was going on between her two good friends, but also doesn't want to know about it either. Perhaps she was the only one to noticed the chemistry between those two, that even they didn't know about it.
"Ara, ara... You cooked all these?" Shizuru asked as Mikoto set the table for her usual pork soup with carrots.
"Yeah, it's good food and help with my sleep." Mikoto answered as she sat down opposite of Shizuru.
"Family issue?" Shizuru asked.
"Parents wanted me to settle down now that I'm in my thirties," Mikoto said shrugging her shoulders in an uncaring manner.
"No one caught your eyes yet?" Shizuru asked feeling curious for some reason.
"No, the girls I've dated years back are no good or they've settled down and I'm the godmother to their kids." Mikoto said. "What about you? Feeling ready to settle down?" She asked after answering Shizuru's question.
"Ara, ara, not yet. Hard to find someone who isn't interested in me for my body and whatnot," Shizuru replied.
"It's all on the inside," they said it in unison, Shizuru was shocked but Mikoto just laughed.
"I like you," Mikoto said taking a sip of her wine.
Those words really made Shizuru felt happy and slightly embarrassed. It's been far too long since anyone say such words to her. It made her feels like she's caught in a hurricane that night, she might go insane if she doesn't get her feelings about the raven haired woman off her chest. She wanted some alone time, some times off so she could talk to Mikoto and get her feelings known to the latter.
"Ara, didn't expect anyone here but me since its the third shift." Shizuru said when she ran into Mikoto as she headed to her office after a check up on the animals there.
"Just checking on the stray black cat that came in yesterday after it got hit by a car." Mikoto said as she walked along with Shizuru in her protective riding jacket.
"Dark? I think Yukino-chin plans on spaying her and put her up for adoption." Shizuru said with a warm smile on her beautiful face.
"Oh," Mikoto said as they reached Shizuru's office.
"You mind coming in for a bit?" Shizuru asked opening the door to her office.
"Sure," Mikoto said calmly entering the office behind Shizuru.