Chapter 4

Maki stirred, initially failing to remember where she was. The lack of a blaring alarm made her wonder if she had no shift today. Then again, after the last shift…

Her eyes flew open as she remembered what had happened. Her eyes rested on Nico's sleeping face. Her absurd reality solidified in her mind and in the form of the former idol by her side.

She slowly sat up and sighed. Her eyes landed on a clock on the wall opposite – it was gone 1PM. After their late night, she was hardly surprised they had slept in so late, though she was a little more surprised that the paramilitary outfit she was staying with would allow its members to do so. Glancing back at Nico, who was curled up with a sweet look on her sleeping face, Maki could at least understand allowing her to sleep in.

Maki stood and stepped into the bathroom, taking the chance to wash her face. Staring at herself in the mirror, she saw the same face she did every day. She was not sure what she had expected. Perhaps reality had not yet truly set in. The only oddity she could see was her own happiness.

Not that Maki was particularly unhappy most of the time. She had suffered after Nico's apparent death, but it had been a temporary depression. She was never the most emotional of people, but for once she could see the little hints of joy on her face, plain as day.

She was glad that the cause of said joy could not see the silly faces she ended up pulling in the mirror.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she saw a tired Nico pulling herself out of bed. Tired red eyes smiled at her, "Morning Maki."

"Good afternoon."

Nico raised a brow them glanced at the clock, cursing under her breath. "Ah well, we'll still be in time for lunch."

The pair quickly dressed, with Maki wearing the same clothes as the previous day. Nico dressed in a grey shirt and black trousers, a much plainer look than Maki was used to on the former idol. She had noticed a few flashier outfits in Nico's wardrobe when the woman had opened it to select her outfit.

Maki followed Nico out of the room and through the halls, soon stepping into a large room with a table and chairs. There was a partition with a counter, beyond which was the kitchen. At the table were three women, in the middle of eating.

The first woman, Maki recognised as Nozomi Tojo, former vice-president of their school's student council and an old friend of Nico's. As with Eli, Maki had met her when they were students, and also back-stage at a few of Nico's concerts.

The second woman was in the middle of talking excitedly about something as Maki entered. She had orange-brown hair and a bright grin. She was gesticulating with her free hand while using her other to eat between exclamations.

The final woman was much quieter, occasionally making the odd comment in answer to something in a soft voice. She had long brown hair, with a green bow tying a piece off to the side and very soft features. Maki had a hard time believing the woman was a combatant.

Nozomi seemed to notice the newcomers and smiled at them, "Good afternoon Niccochi, Nishikino-san."

"Ah, hi there!" The orange-haired woman had hurriedly stood up made her way over, holding out a hand. "I'm Honoka, or 'Mochi', the vanguard of our unit!" Maki shook the hand, still slightly bemused by that code name. Honoka grinned, "Mum and Dad ran a sweet shop."

"Eh?"

"You were wondering about my code name, weren't you?" Honoka grinned, "Everyone does."

"It certainly is unusual… though all of them kind of are."

The other woman had by this point stood up and walked over. Holding out a hand she introduced herself, "I'm Kotori, or 'Dove', I'm in charge of supplies."

"Nice to meet you… you must be the one who helped pull us up yesterday. Thank you."

Kotori smiled and nodded, "Yes… though it's just doing my job." Maki returned the smile.

"So how are the others doing?" Nico asked as she brought two plates through from the kitchen with some sandwiches on.

"Eli came to bed about 6AM, said that they'd just finished up what they needed to before passing out," Nozomi replied.

"I woke up and Umi was fast asleep next to me, I didn't want to disturb her..." Kotori spoke up.

Maki raised an eyebrow, then realised how rude it was and tried to return to a passive appearance. Nozomi had, however, clearly spotted her surprise. "Eli and I are a couple," she said simply, smiling at Maki.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to be rude… I just didn't think you were… that was inclined," Maki said, scratching the back of her neck. "N-not that there's anything wrong with it or… I'll just shut up now." She realised how flush her cheeks were from the burning sensation as blood rushed to her face.

The other women laughed, before Nozomi spoke, "It's okay, we won't take any offence… not unless you mean to cause it. Aside from Nico, we're all dating girls here… not that we really 'date' you know, being part of a secret organisation and being, well, 'dead'."

"Lots of movie dates, in our rooms," Honoka said with a side-grin.

"Well… that's… statistically unlikely… but… I imagine you don't have many options anyway..." Maki said with a chuckle.

"True, though I would have dated Eli regardless," Nozomi replied.

"Uh… I didn't mean to undervalue it…"

"Just shut up and eat Maki," Nico piped-up. "You're just embarrassing yourself now."

Normally, Maki would have argued, but she really did want an out from this conversation so quietly took the seat next to Nico and started eating.

There was a little chatter among the other four. It sounded like normal conversation for young women – talking about the latest episodes of shows, their other halves, including Honoka's girlfriend 'Tsubasa', and other random things that had been said or done around the place. Nothing to do with the mission from the previous day, as though it were hardly of importance.

Once they had finished eating, Nozomi stood, "You two need to talk to Eli, right? I'll go see if she's up yet."

"Thanks, we'll go wait in the briefing room," Nico replied.

"I should go see how Umi's doing. It was nice meeting you Nishikino-san," Kotori bowed as she followed Nozomi out.

"I should go see Tsubasa. See you guys later!" Honoka quickly followed the others out of the dining hall.

Nico leaned back and looked round at Maki. "You okay?"

"Yeah… just… this is still a bit weird."

"I can believe that. We try not to talk too much about missions and stuff if we don't have to. It's just a big ol' drag to get all our conversations dragged down by that sort of stuff, ya know?"

Maki nodded, understanding surprisingly well. "I get you… though the way doctors deal with it is dark senses of humour."

"Oh, we have a bit of that too, it comes with the territory." Nico stood, "Come on, we should go to the briefing room and wait for Eli."

Maki could not help but spot a hint of sorrow in Nico's eyes as they stepped out of the dining hall.

Eli arrived about a half hour later, quickly apologising for the delay, understandable though it was. The three sat around a long table, Nico sitting next to Maki while Eli sat opposite.

"So, Nishikino, this is what we're here to talk about..." Eli reached into a pocket and pulled out a small capsule. Within was a single blue pill.

"That… will wipe my memory, won't it?" Maki asked, already knowing the answer.

Nico bit her lip as Eli slowly nodded. "You catch on quickly. This will knock you out, you'll wake up in a hospital bed, having been 'found in the rubble', without a single memory of the last twenty-four hours, give or take. The doctor will diagnose you as having a mild concussion, and of course that coupled with the trauma will explain why you don't remember the incident. The fact that you were a target will mean some police protection, at least until your father bumps up your personal security. You'll occasionally feel like you're being watched by… maybe some fairy or other, but you'll live a normal enough life."

Maki nodded, "Is that the only option?"

Eli studied Maki's face carefully before replying. "No..."

Nico was staring at her feet, keeping her gaze away from Maki's sideways glance.

"Go on."

"Well, I won't beat around the bush. I have spoken to our employers, and we do need a team medic. If you would like to join us, you would be more than welcome."

Maki could feel Nico tense up as Eli spoke. She turned and laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Is there anything else?"

"No, just a choice: live a normal life, or become a Banshee with us."

Maki nodded, then looked back to Eli, "Could we have a little time?"

Eli nodded, "You have about ten hours until we have to worry about the drug's limitations for memory wiping. If you still haven't reached a decision by then, we will require you to take it." Eli stood and turned to leave. "I'll be in the control room if you need me."

Maki nodded. As the door closed behind Eli, she turned to Nico and enveloped her in a hug.

"How many times?"

"What?"

"How many times have I been here before?"

Maki pulled back a little to let Nico raise her head. Crimson eyes filled with tears looked nervously up at her.

"Three, before now."

"And I chose to forget every time?"

"I asked you to."

Maki was surprised, but kept calm. "Why?"

"Because I don't want you to be in danger. It's why I joined the Banshees in the first place."

Maki could feel the shaking of the woman in her arms. In that moment, Nico looked terrified, unlike anything she had ever seen… except when she was talking about the day she 'died'.

"They threatened Eli and Nozomi that time, just to get to me. What if next time it was Mama or my siblings, or… you?" Nico's tears began running down her face, "I couldn't bare to think about that… I wanted you to be safe."

"Nico..."

"You especially… if they hurt you because of me… I'd… I'd…" Nico was failing to form coherent words.

"Nico?"

"Dammit Maki… why'd this all have to happen?" Nico sniffed. "I just wanted to be an idol, and enjoy life with all my dearest friends by my side. I know it was a lot, but I was willing to work as hard as I needed to." Nico pulled back and Maki released her. "So Maki… please don't put yourself in more danger."

Maki nodded, and reached out to pick up the capsule. She examined it – an innocent blue pill. "Isn't there supposed to be a red pill too?"

Nico snorted, crimson eyes filled for a moment with a flash of mirth. "You said the exact same thing every time. I didn't even get the reference the first time. You told me to go watch the film."

"I'm glad you take my recommendations seriously."

Maki stared once more at the blue pill, then back at red eyes. Back and forth, forth and back. Blue and red… blue and red… blue and red… and red… and red…

"Maki, what are you doing?"

Maki placed the capsule back on the table, then turned to face Nico dead-on. "I'm making my choice. I've been a target four times already you say, like Hell am I going to let them get away with this."

"Maki…?"

"And you're asking me to forget you again Nico? I don't want to wake up in a world where you're dead, not again."

"But… but..."

"Nico, I love you."

Nico froze and blinked. Then again.

"I've loved you since… goodness knows, since the beginning, near enough at least. It took me a while to figure it out, but I love you. I am not going to endure a world without you again!"

Nico's face had turned to the floor again. Maki took a moment to breath. The confession had not been a part of her plan, whatever her plan had ever been, but it had to happen. She had to get all of her feeling across to Nico.

"You idiot..." Nico muttered.

"What…?" Maki was startled as Nico suddenly moved, grasping Maki's shoulders and pulling herself up, pressing her lips against Maki's.

She then pulled back, red eyes full of fury, passion and love. "I called you an idiot. But I guess you're my idiot Maki-chan."

"Does that mean...?"

"Of course Maki, I love you too." Nico gave the least romantic confession possible, but Maki did not care.

Their lips approached each other again, for a gentler second kiss. As they parted again, Nico murmured "Just promise me you're sure about this."

"I am… Nico..."

Their lips pressed together again.

Maki sat on Nico's bed, incredibly nervous. They had talked to Eli and returned the drug. She had been asked to give over her clothes and belongings – her phone her keys and everything else. Her photographs had been copied off her phone at least, but everything else was taken away. They needed to be used to create the illusion of her death.

Another body would be used, the medical results would be faked. The damage to 'her' face would render it unrecognisable. Fake dental results, or something similar, would obfuscate the truth. It was scary how easily 'Maki Nishikino' would die.

Nico entered the room, "It's done."

Maki nodded.

"A female corpse has been found, believed to belong to Maki Nishikino, the owner's only daughter and an intern at the hospital..." Nico quoted the news article which would tell the world what had 'happened'.

"Well, I guess I'm dead," Maki said as Nico sat down on the bed next to her.

"I guess you are."

"Funny," Maki gently took Nico's hand with one of her own, and with the other gently tilted Nico's face towards her. "I've never felt so alive."

They kissed once again, hands soon roaming over each other. Maki soon felt her shirt unbuttoning as Nico pushed her back onto the bed.

Eli stared at the capsule in her hand, leaning back in the command chair in the control room. The media had swallowed the story, hook, line and sinker, just as always, and with it they had all signed Maki Nishikino's death certificate.

The door opened and Nozomi entered. "Everything okay?" she asked.

Eli nodded, placing the pill down on a table. "The usual people are making the usual guesses. Apparently there were a few people running their mouths about having seen some things…"

"Our usual friend?"

"Yeah, she's on the story, of course. She even picked up on the Nico-Maki link."

Nozomi sighed, "Well, let's just hope people keep ignoring her."

Eli nodded. "Yeah… though what's one more conspiracy theorist in the mix?"

"Even if she's right?"

Eli shrugged, "There's a thousand people who have made up theories about our interventions. So what if one is right? The more mad ones there are, the less likely people are to believe a single one."

Nozomi stepped over to her girlfriend and placed her hands on Eli's – very stiff, Nozomi noted – shoulders, gently massaging. "Just don't get complacent."

"I know Nozomi. Uh… thanks, that's just what I needed," Eli relaxed into the massage.

"You feel terribly taut, I need to help you relax occasionally."

Eli laughed a little, "Like a certain new couple?"

Nozomi leaned down and kissed Eli's cheek, "Maybe later hun."

Maki was now certain of what she had said earlier. Warm beneath the covers, pressed against Nico, feeling the warmth of their skin touching as they cuddled and drifted off to sleep…

Though she was dead now, she had never, ever, felt so alive.

Live to Die, Die to Live - Arc End

A/N: Long weekends are the best! I give thanks to our pagan ancestors for creating this Easter thing (yes, it was the pagans, look it up)! But yeah, this is early, thanks at least in part to this long weekend.

Anyway, story arc 1 done! Huzzah! for the record, I am expecting four major story arcs, of which this will likely be the shortest. Next arc: Even cats have only two lives.

So, for those who missed me messing with the story rating a few times - I was a little worried about Ch2 in its original format, so raised the rating. Then I realised just how much that made people not read it (an M-rated 'romance' story without sex? Yeah, that went great...) so I edited Ch2 to be more okay and lowered the rating back to T, and voila, people reading a reviewing again.

I'm really happy with this so far - both in terms of the actual story and the response it has received. Glad to see I haven't lost my touch (in so far as I have a touch...). I have, like, fans, what is this madness? If you really like me, you can now follow me on Twitter (where I promise I will communicate if poked... I don't have any followers, I am sad, please love me!1!1!) - user is on my profile here.

So yeah, shameless attempt to have some form of human connection over... see y'all around.

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.