Bismarck groaned. She sat down heavily on a crate in the back of Mamiya's shop, where a wall had stood a few hours prior. All eight the girls had spent all week helping Mamiya break down the deteriorating wall in her shop. It was backbreaking work, and without Akashi's help, they wouldn't have even gotten as far as they had now.
"Damn, I'll feel this tomorrow," Bismarck said again.
"Bis, we all will. We've been moving rock all week," Graf Zeppelin sighed. "If we're not all but bedridden tomorrow, then Mamiya won't owe us free drinks."
"Hey! You guys volunteered to do this. I didn't ask you to. You'll all be getting free meals from me for the rest for the time you are here. That goes for you three, too," she said, looking at Bis, Graf, and Eugen.
"Danke, danke!" All three chorused. "We'll be taking advantage of that for sure."
"Well I think that's enough for today. We'll clear all of this tomorrow. Thanks you guys!" Mamiya said, wiping her brow. The others came together for a group hug, before heading back toward their rooms. Only Hiryuu stayed back, walking over to Mamiya and giving her a hug of her own.
Mamiya sighed. "We've been at this for a week. The question is, can we really finish this up before Nagato comes for my place?" She paused, staring at the ground. Hiryuu looked over at her, then put an arm around her shoulders.
"You'll be fine. We've gotten this much done. We'll see the rest done. Trust me." She gave the older girl a squeeze. "Let's get back, eh? It'll get dark, and we can't have you staying outside all night alone, can we?"
Mamiya forced a smile. "Yeah, good idea. Although I'd rather not have to spend the night alone on the floor. Do you think I could ask Kaga-san for a different place to sleep?"
"I'm sure of it. Despite how Kaga may have once been, her personality pretty much did a 180 after Zuikaku left a while back. If you'd rather, you can share a place with me and Souryuu for the night, until Kaga can figure something out. The other two rooms are getting quite crowded, with four residents and the German girls too. Adding us two as well really makes it tight. I may ask if the five of us can use Zuikaku and Shokaku's old dorms for a while, until we get you fixed back up and the Germans head home." Hiryuu paused. "Seems weird, saying that they'll be heading home, leaving here, at some point. Feels like they've been here forever, huh?"
Yeah, it kinda does. Probably cause we've been working with them and living with them for a week straight, almost," Mamiya mused. She yawned. "We should be close. I need a quick snack, them I'm off to bed. Been a long day, hasn't it?
"Quite. I'll have to eat something too. I think they said they had leftovers from some other time we ate at your place. At least it'll be familiar food," Hiryuu mused, yawning herself.
"Ah, this looks familiar. Should be just around the corner of that building, right?" Mamiya asked. She pointed to one of the dormitories.
"Yeah, those are my official quarters. But I don't use them anymore, at least right now." The orange-themed girl paused as they neared the dorms. Standing on the steps was a familiar looking girl, wearing green. She didn't look happy. "Uh, Mamiya, can you give me a minute? It appears that my sister wants to have to have a talk with me. I'll be back soon." Hiryuu asked, her voice slightly strained.
Mamiya put a hand on Hiryuu's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll wait for you."
"Thanks, I should only be a few minutes. I'll try to keep things brief if I can." She took a deep breath and walked up to meet her sister.
"Did you really tell Mamiya about what happened when we got here several years ago? We both know stuff happened then that is best left buried and never spoken of again.. She sighed. "I don't mind you discussing some of your past with Mamiya or the others, but somethings need to be forgotten. Please, Hiryuu, don't do this. Ok?"
Souryuu's anger seemed to have spent itself out, replaced only by worried sadness. In her mind, she flashed back several months. The mistakes they'd made, and the humiliation, while everyone involved had moved on, Souryuu still remembered, and she was sure Hiryuu did as well. How Hiryuu could have ever dug up old memories like she apparently had, Souryuu had no idea. She wasn't angry per se, but just saddened to have to be reminded of past events.
"Souryuu. If you keep on burying bad memories, you'll never escape them. So I chose to discuss how being humiliated and played made me feel, as Mamiya was probably feeling the same way, although not as strongly. I'm not entirely over everything that happened yet, but I do know this. Hiding how you're feeling, or how you felt, does nothing to make you feel better. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and talk about it." Hiryuu looked her sister in the eye, trying to reason with met her eyes briefly, then nodded. She said nothing. Hiryuu put a hand on her shoulder. Smiling slightly, she turned and made her way back to where Mamiya was still waiting for her.
"Hey. Everything ok?" Mamiya's voice carried a bit of concern in it, although she knew Hiryuu and her sister were very close, and wouldn't end up in lasting arguments if they could at all help it. Still, she couldn't help but worry slightly when she saw Hiryuu's face. She looked a bit paler than normal, and Mamiya suspected it wasn't just the moonlight, Souryuu had seemed pretty shaken by something, and although she could hear the conversation, it had affected Hiryuu more than she cared to admit.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Hiryuu said, fighting a yawn. She seemed more tired than she'd been just a few minutes prior. Looking at her carefully, Mamiya put a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to stop. "What's wrong?" Hiryuu asked, confused.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Mamiya said.
Hiryuu looked at her for a moment, then laughed quietly. "Really, it's nothing to be too concerned about. Souryuu wanted an explanation about why I discussed the stuff we talked about earlier with someone else besides her. I gave her an explanation, which satisfied her. Nothing more, nothing less. We're all good, really. So don't worry about me." She smiled confidently, then started walking again. "Come on, Mamiya-san. I'm tired. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
Mamiya sighed. "You don't need to remind me," she said, trying to remain upbeat. But if she was to be honest, the impending deadline was making her very concerned