The cafeteria was rather busy. The last time there had been a mah-jong camp, there had only been six of them. The feeling of being around so many people might have been unpleasant, but considering that they were all generally well acquainted now, Nodoka thought it was quite okay, and the fact that they all had a love for the same game was fantastic.
Looking towards the service counter, it appeared as though it was Ryuumonbuchi's turn for kitchen duty. Touka's voice was rather hard to miss as she gave instructions to Koromo, and peering over Nodoka could make out the red ears of Koromo's favorite headband. Saki, who was walking into the menagerie of players with Nodoka, smiled.
"Koromo-san is cute, isn't she?" Saki commented, leading Nodoko towards the counter. It was neat and tidy, though a few food items in particular had been wiped out completely. It seemed that Ryuumonbuchi had done an impressive job that evening.
"Not as cute as you," Nodoka thought, smiling to herself for perhaps the millionth time that day, feeling fortunate to be with Saki, holding her hand. She couldn't remember any other day when they had spent so much time together. Even the summer festival, which wasn't very long ago, could not compare to today. "Things really started for us that evening, maybe."
Nodoka approached the food counter and began to prepare a plate, selecting a few of her favorites. "That may not be entirely true though. Saki had mentioned the thunderstorm incident around that time as well..."
Nodoka had chased after Saki during that storm, before Saki was even a member of the club. And even though her memories of that day were clear, including her anger at how Saki treated the game of mah-jong, she could not for the life of her specifically place a finger on why she had haphazardly chased down the girl with short brown hair in the middle of a rainstorm. If there had been one time in her entire school career that she had been so out of her own character... Certainly it was that. Certainly there was more to Saki then just a fateful meeting that happened by chance. What had driven her to pursue Saki with such dedication?
"I'm going to visit the bathroom, Nodoka-chan." Saki said, her voice pulling Nodoka from her reverie. She set her tray down on the table.
"I'll be right here," Nodoka replied as she sat down next to where Saki would be seated shortly. Across from her was none other then Mako and Yuuki. Mako eyed her curiously.
"You know, at some point you have to share the details." Mako commented, grinning. Her dinner, or what remained of it, revealed that at some point there had been octopus on the counter.
"Details?" Nodoka asked, finally taking a bite of food after a long afternoon.
"You expect two dozen mah-jong players to not notice that you are calling Saki-san by her first name now?" Mako replied concisely. She wasn't one to avoid the subject at hand, as Nodoka had learned over the coarse of their time together.
Nodoka turned her eyes to look at Mako directly. The green-haired upperclassmen, with her glasses glinting in the light of the cafeteria, had a point. Mako's focus away from the game was just as good as during a back to back hanchan. She glanced to Yuuki, who wasn't particularly paying attention to the conversation as she worked on the copious amounts of octopus inspired foods before her.
"Well," Nodoka began, taking another piece of nigiri off her plate. "Things seem to be changing."
"I would think so! You know, the first indicator being that you completely spaced that last game out. Oh, and then you cuddled up to her..." Mako started. Her ammunition was clearly loaded.
"I did not cuddle up!" Nodoka said suddenly, her face turning beet red. "I moved closer to watch her play."
"You held her hand. You were holding hands when you walked in here too!" Mako was laying it out now, and Nokoda was under the distinct impression she was enjoying this for some diabolical yet pointless reason.
In retrospect, however, this could very well be some plan of Hisa's. It would not have been a surprise if Hisa had recruited Mako to keep an eye on her and Saki, especially after the incident at the onsen earlier that day. Furthermore, Hisa was so busy with the training camp that she probably wouldn't be able to spare even one eye to keep watch on them. "That's probably it."
"We did not cuddle up." Nodoka insisted, returning from her thoughts.
"You wanted to."
"She is right," Nodoka mused to herself again. "I guess we are more obvious then I thought."
"I'll take that as a yes." Mako glanced towards the door that Saki had exited from, "And, you know, Yuuki-san tells me that Saki-san destroyed her as soon as you moved up next to her."
"She didn't destroy me!" Yuuki protested, joining the fray, unintimidated by the matter at hand.
"So what do you call it when you go negative?" Mako asked calmly.
"I was hungry."
"I see." Mako grinned and turned back to Nodoka. "You'd think Saki-san was trying to show off for you, you know. I didn't see the hand, but..."
Nodoka smiled, Mako had a pretty good intuition. She must have heard when Saki only claimed a basic toitoi the round before, as well.
"Saki-san did pass up tenpai in order to get a toitoi yaku." Nodoka could almost hear bragging in her voice, and deftly trying to make her last words more modest she fished for another bite of food with her chopsticks. Remembering part of the motivation for Saki's move, she added, "Well, Saki-san was blocking Yuuki's play too. The souzu-two was a dangerous drop at that point."
"I believe you," Mako explained with satisfaction, Nodoka's tone of voice proving her theory the moment she had opened her mouth. "It's a shame you won't be able to hold her hand during Nationals."
"It certainly is," Nodoka thought, only replying with a nod of her head to Mako. The older girl had her zeroed-in this evening, and she found herself looking forward to Saki's return more and more. If not to be next to the girl that seemed to occupy her every waking thought lately, but to give her a break from Mako's mah-jong infused relationship centric interrogation.
"You should spend more time alone with her while we are here," Mako suggested thoughtfully, her tone adjusting into something softer. She leaned forward so that not even Yuuki could hear, "There are no parents here to give you needless trouble, and..."
"And?" Nodoka asked, curious.
"Well, her family situation doesn't sound so pleasant. Who do you think she's going to turn to when she needs someone?"
"She's a little shy about asking for help," Nodoka noted, and Mako nodded.
"Not shy enough to come to you when she needs it. She may not call you in the middle of the night, but you seem to have a knack for reading her when she doesn't have words." Mako retreated back into her seat. "Anyways, I'll leave Yuuki to you. I think I'll be off to clean up."
Standing up with her tray, Mako took her leave just as Saki was returning from the bathroom.
"Someyo-senpai," Nodoka called.
Mako turned around with a smile.
"Thank you."
Mako put up a hand in acknowledgement, then turned around once more to head off. Saki sat down next to Nodoka moments later, her stomach rumbling.
"Are you okay, Saki-san?" Nodoka asked, suddenly becoming aware that Saki had been away for longer then a quick trip to the restroom. In that same moment she chastised herself for forgetting about Saki's whereabouts.
"Oh, yea, I'm okay... I just kind of took a wrong turn on the way back." Saki explained sheepishly, glancing at Nodoka in mild embarassment. This wasn't the first time this had happened.
"I'm glad you're back now," Nodoka said. "Let's eat, it sounds like you're hungry."
"A little, I think."
A moment of quiet ensued, with only the clicking of chopsticks as Saki picked hers up. Nodoka, having just turned back to her plate in thought, faced Saki once more as she forced out a bout of hesitation for the third time that day.
"Saki-san... After dinner, will you go with me somewhere?" Nodoka asked, knowing full well the answer she would receive but still feeling a bit of a knot form just the same. A knot that did not form because it was hard to ask the question. No, that was not it. Nodoka had other things planned, of course, and it was those things that had given her the slightly uneasy feeling in her stomach.
"Of course! Where are we going?" Saki asked excitely. It was easy to make her smile.
"It's a secret," Nodoka replied, taking her right hand and mingling it with Saki's left. She met Saki's smile with her own, and for a brief moment their eyes locked.
"Hmm?" Yuuki looked up from her meal, her ears perked and her eyes widening at the thought of a daring adventure. "Secret place?"
"Yes, I want to take Saki-san with me," Nodoka replied calmly, diverting her attention from Saki and wondering if the feisty auburn-brown haired girl had put together the pieces of her conversation with Mako at all. Right now it didn't seem that way, which wasn't particularly surprising.
"But I want a rematch!" Yuuki demanded enthusiastically, her chopsticks hitting the table much like the scoring stick during a riichi, as she stood up in challenge. "Tonight!"
Saki glanced away from Yuuki, turning to Nodoka easily in a simple, purposeful motion. Her mouth was open a little, and her eyes showed a hint of worry. Her expression was clear as daylight.
Nodoka smiled, "Not tonight, Saki-san and I already have plans."
"You just made those plans!" Yuuki countered. "I'm going to be all alone tonight!"
"I propose a compromise: We play mah-jong tomorrow after breakfast." Nodoka replied with an unmovable air. There was no way Yuuki was going to finagle a spot into her plans with Saki tonight, mah-jong or no mah-jong involved.
"But we are already going to play tomorrow morning!" Yuuki stated, flustered with the situation, especially since she knew she wouldn't be winning it. She may have tuned out most of the words that had been exchanged between Nodoka and Mako only minutes before, but the endless energy in her wanted to be, perhaps selfishly, included.
"I guess we don't have anything to worry about then." Nodoka replied matter-of-factly.
"Nodoka-.. chan," Saki whispered, feeling as though she was suddenly in a tug of war between her classmates. It may not have been fair that she adored one over the other, but still... She leaned over to Nodoka. "Is it really okay if we go and... umm..."
Nodoka blushed, Saki's words had, by accident, been romantic in the strange way that only Saki could possibly execute. She smiled, taking them in as scenery to a story she was already dead-set on playing out.
"Not tonight, Yuuki. Do you know why?" Nodoka asked, her tone authoritative now.
"Maybe."
"Then you understand why?"
Yuuki grumbled to herself for a moment before giving in. "I guess."
"Umm, Nodoka-chan... Maybe we can spend time together with Yuuki-san afterwords tonight for a little bit?" Saki said thoughtfully.
"Saki-san is so sweet," Nodoka thought to herself. "She doesn't like to leave people out, but she was so excited to say yes to me too. She's probably a little torn."
Yuuki had heard the words clearly, however she doubted Nodoka's approval and said nothing. It was therefor surprising when Nodoka agreed with a nod after a few moments of introspection. Renewed vigor spread throughout Yuuki's limbs as they suddenly came to life with unkempt energy.
"Really!?"
"As long as we don't get back too late," Nodoka replied. "Takei-senpai might scold us if we are up too long past bedtime."
"You have a deal!" Yuuki replied happily, moving her chopsticks onto her tray as she prepared to leave the table. "In the meantime I will have my revenge on someone else!"
"Please win one for me," Saki requested softly, smiling.
Nodoka was caught in a gaze as she stared across the table to where Yuuki had just been standing moments before. Saki turned to her with the same smile she had given to Yuuki, and Nodoka's gaze shifted to the girl she presently held hands with. Several food items still remained on her plate, but she had forgotten about them. It seemed that her hunger had abated as a wave of new feelings washed over her, feelings that she hadn't felt before but had filled her mind completely once the commotion with Yuuki was over. The emotions had been waiting to flood her consciousness as soon as there was room; certainly the weight of her commitment that night had to fall on her at some point.
"I want you," Nodoka thought, the simple realization repeating in her head until it was a cacophony of desire. "I want you and only you."
At the very least, her hunger for Saki had not abated.
- - -
Author's Notes:
Thank you for reading! Sorry for the bombardment of mah-jong terms last chapter, but it wouldn't be Saki without mah-jong, right? Chapter 3 is due out on May 18th! ~Kira
Beta: karaus