This particular drabble begins a six part drabble series. There was a prompt on yuri_challenge on LiveJournal for "effort" I started with this one and then wrote more. All are 300 words. The neat thing about the drabbles is that they can be read in as part of this group, or they can be read separately. Somewhere in each of the six the effort theme can be found. Enjoy!
Natsuki ran her fingers through her hair, frustrated. It had not been an easy day, at least mentally. It was more like a "what the hell was wrong with Shizuru?" day. True, Shizuru had worked long hours the past week, but did that really mean that she had to toss a used teabag into Natsuki's cereal with all the strength she could muster? That in itself had required a wardrobe change. Then again, Shizuru using teabags was a sign that she was too busy.
Figuring out Shizuru was tricky business. Natsuki felt that sometimes she just didn't know what was wrong with her. She'd try and try, but often come up empty handed. That girl kept more inside than…something. Natsuki wasn't sure what exactly. She did need to fix things between the two of them though. She hated being at odds with her girlfriend. Whenever things were sour, one partner should always try to help the other somehow. That's what Mai always said.
The only trouble was what could she do? Mai always cooked for Tate. It took only a few seconds of picturing herself at the stove stirring a large pot before it started smoking profusely and became engulfed in flames. She quickly scratched that idea. If she couldn't cook, then she'd try for takeout. Perhaps that place down the street that Shizuru enjoyed…
Takeout it would be. Then what? Surely Shizuru wouldn't be pleased with just that. Natsuki frowned. Clearly this was going to take a lot more effort than she thought. She picked up her keys and headed out the door. She'd come up with the rest of her plan at work. She hoped that at the end of the evening, Shizuru would be back to herself. Or at least keep her teabags away from Natsuki's cereal.