Chapter 10

It wasn't any surprise to anyone that Natsuki and Mai were often shouting across the house, on any given day, and for any given reason. They fought worse than a married couple when they were provoked by each other. Their fighting, nearly explosive at that, was a sight to behold as Mai wasn't one to back down easily. Neither was Natsuki. Sometimes it was comical, but mostly, it was simply better to avoid the two lovers when they were caught up in a conflict.

"Natsuki, get out of the mayo jar." Mai scolded when she noticed that her lover was taking a long time to come back to the living room. "If you were hungry, you could have just told me."

"Yeah." Natsuki sighed. "But, sometimes I just want a damn spoonful. Can't I do that without getting nagged?"

"It's bad for you." The redhead shot back, prying the glass jar out of Natsuki's hands. "Do you realize how much fat is in that junk? It'll go directly into your arteries and clog them."

"This 'junk' tastes good." Natsuki retorted dipping her spoon in one last time. "I don't get what the big deal is."

"The big deal is that one day, if you keep eating the way you do, you're going to have to have your chest cracked open and your arteries bypassed." Mai shook her head, when Natsuki continued to look clueless. "Five days and Twelve weeks." Mai said. "Do you know the significance of those numbers?"

"No." Natsuki said dumbly, getting the feeling she didn't want to.

"The five days signifies how long Takumi was in the hospital for after his corrective surgery, and the twelve weeks were how long Takumi's rehabilitation took afterward." Putting her hands on her hips, she gave Natsuki an unhappy roll of her eyes. The woman continued to eat the condiment as if it were ice cream. That left Mai unsettled. "You aren't as easy going as he is, and you'd give the doctors hell."

"Damn right." Natsuki said, depositing her empty spoon in the sink. "Glad we have an understanding."

"Natsuki, I mean it." Mai told her.

"Jesus, it was one spoonful!" Natsuki shouted. "One!"

"It adds up!" Mai shot back just as heatedly. "You aren't a kid anymore, you need to cut down and think about your health." She said through gritted teeth as an unsteady sadness leaked into her voice. "It's not so easy, fixing things that could have been prevented in the first place…" Before she knew it, she could feel wetness on her cheeks, but continued on anyway. "God, you're so stupid sometimes…and so reckless…one day, you're going to get yourself killed. Don't you understand that?"

Natsuki stayed quiet, her brows furrowing as the severity of Mai's words cut deep. Without hesitation, she pulled Mai in for a tight embrace, kissing her atop her forehead before murmuring in her ear. "It's fine." Mai tried to pull back to retort, but Natsuki held fast, enduring the weakened punches that fell upon her shoulder. "I promise." Again, Mai tried to pull away. "Stop fighting me…" The speed demon, mayo addict begged. "Stop…"

"You're such an idiot…" Mai sobbed as she clutched the back of Natsuki's shirt, as if her very breath depended on it.

"I know, babe." Natsuki murmured. "I know."

…

(Summer 4 years ago.)

Shizuru was nearby tending to her garden, but, she seemed to be in her own little world. Occasionally, she would say something from her spot in the nearest flowerbed, but, even that seemed rare. Her quiet humming was the only true indication she was among them at all. As Mai told the latest gossip, she knew that on some level Shizuru was indeed listening…it was a wonderful day to be outside, but, it was not a wonderful day to be an older sister to an innocent younger brother.

"She refuses to move out of the boy's dorm." Mai explained one hot day as she and Natsuki rested in the long grass. "Now that I know Akira's a girl, I don't know if I like them sharing a dorm so young."

"Eh, what's the big deal?" Natsuki asked, still not getting it.

"A lot, actually." Mai relented with a sigh. "It's just risky…in a lot of different ways."

"Isn't she kind of a tomboy?" Natsuki asked, perplexed about Akira's attraction to Takumi. "I don't really think you have anything to worry about."

"Maybe not." Mai agreed. "But even so, he's too young to stay with some strange girl."

Natsuki, who found herself uncaring of the entire ordeal, just continued to watch the clouds aimlessly. As one of the puppies she rescued chewed on some bits of grass, she idly ran her fingers through it's soft, fluffy fur. "Akira's strange now is she? That's odd, since Takumi was her most important person." She muttered, but let that statement pass because Mai appeared truly worried about her younger sibling. "Everyone already thinks they were sleeping together, even before they found out she was a girl…and, by the way, not everyone knows that yet."

"I didn't like thinking about that either." Mai said with a shudder. "He's my little brother."

"So what's that supposed to mean?" Natsuki said lifting her head from the grass and rolling to her side. "He's a teenager, and we know not all the boys at the academy are innocent. You really shouldn't expect him to be." She rested her head in her hand, as her elbow dug into a soft patch of dirt. "Don't worry so much…if something was wrong, I'd know about it. I've got eyes all over that school, even now."

Mai covered her face in her hands. "That doesn't mean that I want to think about it." She shot back with a small bothered blush. "Come on, would you want Takumi to assume we're having sex?"

"No!" Her cheeks began to color at the thought too. "God, no…" Natsuki shook her head, trying to push away such a prospect. "There are some things that some people just shouldn't think about."

"Thank you for proving my point." Mai said, a dull expression making her appear sterner than she was. "He's too young to share a room with girl that isn't family."

Natsuki, beside herself and unsure what to say simply grabbed a mayo packet out of the picnic basket. "Give the guy a break." Natsuki said, ripping off a corner and squeezing the substance into her mouth. "He'll be fine, Mai…he's a good kid." Then Natsuki grinned. "Unless you think that Akira might force herself on him."

"She wouldn't!" Mai protested, grabbing the picnic basket before Natsuki could steal anymore mayo. "Would she?" She shook her head. "No…no, not Akira." She had more faith in the ninja than that. "I just don't want them getting any ideas while they're still in school."

"What ideas? If he doesn't already have them, he probably won't." Natsuki couldn't even wrap her head around that. "Mai, I think you're worried over nothing."

"I think that everyone too nonchalant about it." Mai retorted. "This sets a precedent, and I don't know if that's really a good thing or not."

"Ordinarily, I might not take too kindly to the idea myself." A third voice chimed in. "It's ludicrous to assume that a female would reside in the male dormitory." Shizuru explained as she moved to sit by the couple that rested in the grass. "However, considering that it's Akira, I would willingly make the oversight."

"Huh?" Natsuki said, now interested. "But why? You're one of the most straight laced people I know when it comes to that kind of stuff."

"If it were anyone else, I wouldn't allow it." Shizuru nodded. "However, she's spent most of her life parading around as a boy, I think she takes comfort in the familiarity. Besides, she's probably just as worried about Takumi as you are. In the boys' dorm, she can keep an eye on him."

"That's what Fumi said!" Mai complained, rubbing her forehead. "She's actually going to allow it too."

"Then it's out of your hands." Natsuki said with a shake of her head, yawning as the warmth of the sun made her sleepy. "Don't worry so much, you'll grow old before your time…it's not good for you."

"I'll stop worrying so much when you stop trying to kill yourself with mayo." Mai retorted. "Now that's unhealthy."

"I'll stop eating Mayo when Shizuru gives up her tea." Natsuki rebuked, only to hear Shizuru sigh.

"That I'm not doing." Shizuru replied pointedly. "Some things I simply refuse to part with."

"Well then, I guess I'm simply going to worry." Mai answered in kind, crossing her arms. "He's my little brother, it's my right."

"Not if I can help it." Natsuki sat up long enough to tackle Mai into the long, soft grass. "It's fine." Natsuki murmured when she realized Mai was well and truly concerned. "It's...not…like…" Natsuki trailed off. Suddenly she felt a little odd, towering over Mai like that, hovering above her as their fingers intertwined. Mai's palms were soft. A sense of longing seemed to sparkle in violet eyes, and Natsuki swallowed hard when she realized just what she'd done. Worried, she licked her lips as baited breath tried to escape her lungs. "Never mind." She withdrew as quickly as she could.

"Natsuki?" Mai spoke her name like liquid heat, soft and silky, and filled with its own sense of true uncertainty.

"N-nothing." Ashamed of herself, for seeing something akin to hope fizzle out before the embers had even been lit, and Natsuki growled more at herself than anyone else. "It's fine…" She said as she sat in the grass.

"It is." Shizuru said, her crimson eyes leaving no trace of deception in her words. "I won't be angry. You can kiss her, you know."

"I wasn't going to do that!" Natsuki bit out, though, truth be told, she highly considered it. She rubbed her face, exasperated, and not just a little confused. "It was just…she was right there okay?" After scratching the back of her neck, a bad habit she had whenever she was bothered about something, especially pertaining to Mai, she shook her mind free of the mental conflict. "You guys don't have to assume dumb things like that."

"It isn't dumb. If that's the way you feel, then I'm happy." Mai reached out to take Natsuki's hand in her own. Feeling a little unsure of herself, she looked away, her eyes falling to the grass around them. "I want you...need you...to want me." It felt heavy in the air, and Mai felt as if the emerald eyed beauty would never quite understand the depth of such a desire. "To need me…like that."

"Mai don't make this harder than it already is." Natsuki rebuked, but didn't have the strength to pull her hand away or to shun away the warmth of Mai's hand atop her thigh. "I feel like I'm betraying something…" She looked up to Shizuru. "Or someone."

"Natsuki." Shizuru said then from her place in the grass. "You're not betraying anyone." Shizuru told her, taking Natsuki's face into her hands. "You can let your guard down."

"I don't think I can." Natsuki said quietly. "I don't think I really know how."

That caused Shizuru to laugh. "You think I do?" She shook her head.

"You guys are idiots." Natsuki said swallowing hard.

"We may be." Shizuru agreed. "But you care a great deal for us, or you would have run away long ago."