Chapter 11

"Hey, where are the aluminum bowls?" Shoutarou asked from the kitchen.

"Bottom cabinet on the right, I think," Yukari said, after shooing Ichigo to his bed. The dog was getting in the way, sniffing around at the food while her parents were trying to move chairs and a poker table into the living room.

The competition that Maki had been obsessively training for was today, and Shoutarou, upon learning that everyone had the day off, thought that it would be fun to have everyone come over and watch the livestream. In the interest of not wearing out the healing Yukari, Maki's house was the agreed venue of choice.

"Found it, dad!" Minami cheered. She had been relegated as the tech expert, though all she needed to do was get the laptop hooked up to the television and find the livestream.

As the first round of matches began, food was delivered, the rules explained, and stories about notable fencers were shared by Shoutarou. When Maki's ex-girlfriend took to the piste, Yukari, Minami, and her father didn't bother to hide their distaste.

Neither did they hide their vindictive glee when she lost in the next round.

"Maki looks more focused than usual," Yukari noted as they watched Maki prepare for her first bout in the semi-finals.

"Actually, it's more like she has been focusing normally, after having been in a slump for a year and a half," Shoutarou corrected, his daughter humming with agreement.

"A slump, huh? Well, it happens to everyone at some point in their career," Keiji said, grinning when Maki earned herself another point. "What matters is that she worked through it."

"Would I be correct in assuming that this slump was human induced?" Tomomi asked, taking a break from taunting Ichigo with dog treats.

Shoutarou winced and nodded. "It ended badly," was all the photographer offered on the subject, though he had to scold his youngest on the startlingly rude things about Maki's ex that she stage whispered to Ichigo.

Privately, Yukari agreed with all the insults the girl had to offer, and had a few more of her own that would have earned her a sound scolding had she voiced them aloud. The subject wasn't one that Maki brought up often, or said much of when it was, but the officer had understood all of what hadn't been said. Needless to say, she wasn't a fan of the French fencer.

"We should light a candle to bring Maki luck in the final match!"

"...I don't think it works like that, Minami-chan."

"You used all of them during Halloween anyway."

"Oh yeah! That was fun!"

"Tell that to the curtains…"

~X~

"I don't understand why we have to move your stuff."

"Minami." Maki crossed her arms and attempted to adopt a stern attitude, failing miserably. Intense, she could do; stern, she couldn't. It was almost cute, in a way.

"Why does she need to leave? Ichigo is happy here, most of her stuff is here. It's not like you don't have room!" The youngest Kamijou pouted unhappily, reluctantly piling a box of Yukari's things in the trunk.

"You know I won't need 24 hour help after I get cast off, Minami-chan."

The girl just grumbled, and refused to answer. Maki tended to go quiet when the topic of the officer leaving was brought up, Yukari sure as hell didn't want to leave, and even Ichigo was against the move. The few times they had been to her apartment that week, he had sniffed around before sitting by the door, moving to his dusty pet bed only after they started cleaning.

'We don't belong here,' he seemed to say. 'Not anymore. Let's go home.'

With every box that Maki placed in her living room, she felt herself agree a little more, but none of that mattered. Her stay at Maki's house had already been extended as far as it could. Six weeks for her shoulder to heal turned into thirteen weeks for her leg cast to come off. Conversations with her parents about moving back to her apartment now held the awkward weight of "are you going to move out?"

She was relieved that they never outright asked, because lying to her parents was never an option, but how could she admit she didn't want to, without that leading to a conversation she wasn't emotionally prepared to have?

No, she only count down the days with something like dejection, and if Maki noticed that she was a little more reluctant to leave bed every morning, that was fine. She knew she wasn't the only one.

~X~

"I think. I have reached a new low."

Ichigo ignored her in favor of sniffing at a bush along the sidewalk.

"Here I thought I was above this sort of thing. Which, really, only belongs in some sappy movie or novel." She kicked at the ground in an uncharacteristic moment of childish frustration, an annoyed glare stuck on her face. "It's not like it could be helped. I'm sensitive to change after working night shifts so long, and of course I adapted."

Her partner wandered back to her side, suddenly alert as he began to recognize the area.

"That's all there is to it." Stopping at the all too familiar driveway, she let Ichigo bolt ahead of her for the door. She didn't follow him, unable to bring herself to stray further than the sidewalk. Listening to his insistent barks and scratching of the screen door, she sighed. "Right. Who am I kidding?"

Whistling sharply, she waited for Ichigo to obey. The poor dog seemed confused, sitting and tilting his head at her. Whistling again, she watched as he reluctantly obeyed, rambling back to her while visibly upset that they weren't staying.

"I know, boy."

Yes, she certainly did.

Turning away, she started back the way she had come. Her leg was aching fiercely, what began as a low throb now a fiery thrumming of pain with every step. It was beyond reckless of her, to go traipsing around the town when she had only just gotten her cast taken off two days ago, but it wasn't like she planned to take a walk after another sleepless night, in the middle of winter.

"Yukari!"

She faltered, wincing when she wound up placing a little too much weight on her bad leg. Ichigo spun and ran back to greet his second favorite person, who had just pulled into her driveway and climbed out of her car. She was definitely in no condition to be out, if she hadn't noticed the car pulling up.

Drawing herself up in an attempt to hide her pain and appear as normal as possible, she spun around and tried to come up with something, anything to explain what in the hell she was doing roaming around so late. A sense of deja vu came over her, and she spared a moment to hope that this wasn't going to become a common occurrence.

"I was going to make cookies."

She blinked, and, after a beat, relaxed her shoulders and dropped her head. Of course Maki would ignore the necessity of silly things like explanations. "...This late at night?"

"I promised Minami I would make some for her class tomorrow, since they're having a Christmas party, but I got caught up with work. ….And then I dropped the bag of flour." Maki shrugged sheepishly, holding up her bag of newly bought flour. Upon closer inspection, Yukari could even make out streaks of white on the woman's cheek, spots she had missed while presumably attempting to clean herself up before going to the store. "I could use the help?"

"...Okay."

"You don't have to, if you don't want to. It is late, and you should be resting and-"

"Get inside."

"Right." Maki rushed to the door, her "scary, isn't she?" not quite low enough to escape her hearing.

Ichigo jogged along at the artist's side, barking, either in agreement or at his handler to hurry. She followed the two, defeated yet content. Something would need to be done about her crush on Maki, but that was a problem for another day.

~X~

Yukari yawned, sinking into the seat a little more. Blinking sleepily, she stared out of the car window. It was almost too dark to see beyond the headlights, not that there was anything but the mountain walls, painted lines on the asphalt, the sky, and the distant collection of lights that was the city below them to observe.

"We're almost there." Maki's voice was low, barely audible above the soft music of the radio.

Fumbling for a granola bar in her pack, she slowly ate in an effort to stay awake. They'd taken a trip to some small town, Maki going because she needed to do some work there, and Yukari going because it was her two days off and it was better than staying at home. Ichigo was sleeping in the back seat, stretched out and fully content, his worn out K-9 plush resting between his paws.

They had originally planned on staying the two nights and two days, but Maki had mentioned that she wanted to drive out to watch the sunrise from the mountain; an hour long trip from the hotel. Instead of making her drive out there and back, Yukari decided they could cut the trip short and go along with her, heading home straight from the mountain. The artist had put up a half-hearted argument, which was quickly waved off.

It wasn't much longer until the car slowed and they pulled aside into a small parking lot next to the edge of the mountain. Neither one made a move to get out, content to sit in the heated car. It was well into winter, and this high up, the wind had a bite to it that her thin jacket couldn't hope to stand against.

"I came to this town during my summer break, after my first year of secondary school." Maki reclined her seat back a few notches, pulling out her own granola bar. "My father had some work here, and we all came along. I had just quit the fencing club. Too much antagonism from the other members. They hated me for my talent, for my mother's achievements, for being divided over art and fencing. It didn't help that the club lost every team event in our competitions, while I won nearly every singles event. Fencing stopped becoming fun for me when I was with them, so I quit." The way Maki spoke, without her usual blithe dismissal, showed just how much she had hated being in the fencing club, inasmuch as the artist hated anything. Impulsively, she reached over and grabbed Maki's hand.

"Good," she said shortly, feeling a rush of anger on her friend's behalf. "They didn't deserve you."

The artist smiled softly and threaded their fingers together. "My father brought me up here to paint the sunset. We had only planned on being here for a few hours, but somehow it was nearly dark when we left." She laughed, "My mother was ready to call a search team by the time we got back."

"...That sounds exactly like something you would do." She wondered if there was more to this spot than Maki was telling her, but there was no way of knowing with that one. Getting the artist to talk about deeper emotions, seriously talk about them, was near impossible.

"Do you think he will let us steal the blanket?"

Glancing back at Ichigo, whose front half was resting atop the thickest blanket, she calculated her chance of successfully wrestling it from him. "We may have to bribe him with a treat."

His ears perked up, and within a minute, he had received his treat and they had rescued the blanket. Climbing on top of the car, which was pleasantly warm beneath them, they curled up under the blanket and sipped on their coffeeshop acquired hot chocolate, waiting for the sun to rise. It was disturbingly date-like and romantic, and a tiny bout of shyness came over her. Sipping at her hot chocolate self-consciously, she tried to calm herself down.

'It's not that serious. It's only Maki.'

Well. Not the best argument she could have used against herself.

'Let's be honest. How is this any less "romantic" than curling up on the couch together, taking vacations together, or sleeping in the same bed? ...Okay. Definitely not helping. I really am hopeless.'

"Yukari?"

"Sorry, what?" Whoops.

'Focus, now. On anything other than Maki's lips next to my ear.'

"...Your drink is empty."

Staring down at her mug, she slowly put it down in her lap. "Right."

"You aren't used to being up this early anymore," Maki told her with a chuckle.

It was true, she'd been on day shifts since her return to work, and her sleep schedule was now fully normal. There had been a chance to return to her graveyard schedule, but her replacement had ended up preferring the graveyard shift, and that was that. Aside from the occasional nightmare, she rarely had reason to wake up before the sun was out anymore.

A cold breeze hit them, penetrating the thick blanket. Maki shivered dramatically, quickly pulling her as close as possible without dragging her into her lap. "Do you think we can get Ichigo up here to sit on our laps?"

It was impossible for her to not be very, very, aware of the arm around her waist, and she had to take a long, deep breath to steady her nerves. Nothing she had ever done with her previous boyfriends, or that one kiss from Ayana she tried to forget ever happened, had made her heart race as much as being close to Maki did. Frankly, it had always been this way, but damned if she hadn't tried her hardest to ignore it.

"Not if you want your car unscratched. The sun will be coming up soon anyway."

There was a line of pink that blended into yellow near the horizon, growing brighter with every minute. Thick dark, fluffy clouds floated on from the south, promising rain later in the morning. The town below sat surrounded by sparkling white snow, with the occasional glimpse of leafless branches and dark green coniferous trees. It was peaceful here in the same way her park was, if far more picturesque. "I can see why your father brought you here."

Maki hummed. "I'm glad I can share it with you," she murmured.

Irrationally, she was as annoyed as she was flattered by the sentiment, even as she ducked her head to hide her blush. How could the artist say something like that so easily, as if it were perfectly normal to drop cheesy, heartfelt, romantic comments? Just thinking about saying things like that herself made her cringe in embarrassment.

There was no way to respond to a comment like that, not that she could really think of, but after so many months of the constant touching and holding and cuddling and all around being the girlfriends they claimed they weren't, she did the only thing she could think of.

She kissed Maki.

After what seemed like an eternity, Maki kissed her back insistently. Only Ichigo's whining to be let out interrupted their eager makeout session, and when they eventually left -grinning like total idiots-, she was relieved that her now official girlfriend didn't ask what had brought that on. But then, knowing Maki, maybe she already knew why.

~X~

"MOOOOOOOOM! TOMOMI-SAN! MAKI AND YUKARI ARE DATING NOW!"

"Minami!"

Yukari hid her face behind her hands.

"Well it's about time."

"You owe me lunch, Azusa."

"Mom! You had a bet?!" She couldn't believe it! Her own mother!

"If you kissed her first, she wins dinner too."

She groaned, briefly contemplating disowning her parents.

"Ahaha. Congratulations?" Maki laughed and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Oh, your grandmother will be so happy to hear."

"...I can't wait," she said miserably. How had she thought this was a good idea? Could she take it back? Reverse time? Okay, so she didn't want to go that far, just maybe skip ahead of all the teasing.

Maki wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "It'll be fine, Yukari."

Against her will, she felt her shoulders relax and some of her stress melt away. "Oh well. They think we've been dating since before my accident anyway."

"...That explains why they welcomed me to the family the first time we met! I thought she was just unusually nice."