You're doing it again, Ryuko.

Ryuko blinks, suddenly pulled from her thoughts. "Eh? What's that, Senketsu?"

Taking her hands out of her pockets, Ryuko unzips the front of her puffy winter coat. The last thing Ryuko had wanted to do was come outside — not with hard bits of ice whipping in the frozen air and snow piling up past her ankles — but Mako had insisted.

'Ryuko-chan!,' she'd cried. 'The Honnou Winter Festival starts today! We have to go!'

And that's how she's here now, pressed to the edge of the main road by the throngs of people milling through stall after stall, while Mako enthusiastically ring-tosses her way into potential ownership of a giant stuffed eggplant. She looks down at Senketsu; his eye shifts up towards her, then back out towards the crowd.

You're thinking about Mako.

The way Senketsu says it, so matter-of-factly, has Ryuko sputtering embarrassedly, fighting down a sudden flush. "How can you tell that!?"

Senketsu's reply is amused, tinged with a touch of smugness.Your blood's been running hotter for a little while now.

"Quiet, you," Ryuko snorts, looking off into the distance when Senketsu tries to catch her gaze again. Ryuko's eyes find and settle easily on Mako, her purple wool beanie like a homing device amongst the crunch of bodies. She hasn't been keeping count, not quite, but she's sure that this is Mako's fourth time trying for the eggplant. She imagines how quickly she could win it for Mako, how happy Mako would be for it, bouncing, face flushed pink with delight and wintry chill.

Ryuko's warm breath curls in front of her in the air as she sighs, a small smile coming to her lips. Mako's lost again. Ryuko shifts from one leg to the other.

Maybe I should...

Senketsu's voice rings in her head abruptly, exasperated, breaking her reverie. You should just kiss her already, Ryuko!

"Didn't I tell you to be quiet?" Ryuko mutters, somewhat sharply, zipping up her coat and bundling Senketsu back up against her body. She purses her lips, the moment of ire fluttering away. "'Sides, I will." A pause; heat creeps up her cheeks. "Eventually."

Fine, Ryuko hears Senketsu say, mildly dejected. Satisfied with the end of the discussion, she almost misses the kamui's gleeful follow up of, I'll help you!

"Help me with what?" Ryuko starts, her limbs suddenly seizing up, going stiff. Her body lurches forward without her permission, legs wobbling, arms flailing, and Ryuko struggles against Senketsu's grip, yelling, "S-Senketsu, h-hey, stop! Damn uniform, listen to me!"

Some people move out of the way for Ryuko, others are bowled over, all of them stare at her as Senketsu propels her noisily through the crowd. Mako is oblivious to the flurry of Ryuko and snow heading toward her; part of Ryuko thinks that it's so naturally Mako for the girl to not have any idea of what's happening. The other part of Ryuko, well, she panics.

"M-Mako! Oi!" she yells, her mouth the only part of her body under her own control.

Mako startles at the sound of Ryuko's voice, spinning on heel. Her smile is wide, her sparkling brown eyes wider. "Ah, Ryuko-chan, look, I—"

Mako's words fade into a muted squeak as Ryuko collides with her, Ryuko's lips covering her own. Soft, warm, dry. The press of their bodies are buffered by Mako's eggplant — she won it after all, Senketsu notes in Ryuko's mind — and she stares at Ryuko, surprised, as if seeing the brunette for the first time. Ryuko stares back helplessly, blue eyes pleading with Mako. Her mouth moves against Mako's, a stream of please don't be upset I can explain right on the tip of her tongue and ready to fall out.

Yet Senketsu releases Ryuko as quickly as he took control and instead, unprepared for it, she topples over and takes Mako with her, falling to the ground with a soft 'whump.' Mako's eggplant plush lands nearby; snow from the impact flurries around the both of them, melting in Ryuko's hair, on the back of her neck. Mako looks how Ryuko thinks she feels, face red hot, melted snowflakes leaving tiny streaks across her skin.

Mako hasn't moved, is still staring, transfixed.

Ryuko gathers her bearings enough to pull herself away from the stunned girl. "Uh..." Hovering over her, Ryuko waves her hand in front of Mako's face. "Mako...?"

There is another beat of silence before Mako sits up suddenly, instantly and painfully bumping heads with Ryuko. Ryuko reels back dizzily, flopping on her butt with a groan, wet snow soaking into her pants.

"Oh, Ryuko-chan, sorry! Sorry!" Mako exclaims, climbing over to rub Ryuko's forehead with her gloved hand, not at all concerned with herself. "You surprised me! That was really, really bold!"

Ryuko blinks once, twice, her vision of Mako — now hovering over her — consolidating back to normalcy. "Bold?" Ryuko parrots back as the warmth of Mako's hands go from her forehead to her hands, the smaller brunette nudging her, tugging her back upright.

"Mmm, yeah! You're always bold, though, Ryuko-chan!"

Ryuko finds herself flushing and unsure once she's back up on her feet. She thinks it's her turn to speak, to say something, but Mako's just smiling at her, hasn't let her hands go and, aw hell. Giving up on thinking, Ryuko pulls Mako close and kisses her again, this time under her own power. Mako giggles, says Ryuko's name against her mouth in a way that makes Ryuko's stomach flutter, warm and happy.

She'll have to thank Senketsu later.

Maybe.

notes: This fic is loosely based on this tumblr comic. I loved it so much I felt I needed to write it. *g* also, I don't know why, but I vaguely remember something about Mako liking eggplants.