NOTE: Second-to-last chapter; only a little epilogue left! I hope everybody likes how I wrap this up. I'm always nervous when I come to the end of any sort of longform narrative. It's so easy to ruin all your hard work with a mediocre ending, but I did my best!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Sadayo Kawakami's apartment hadn't changed much since the younger of the Niijima sisters last visited. However, it was a completely new sight for the elder. Try as she might, she couldn't suppress a curl of her lip as she glanced around at the shabby surroundings.

"Welcome," the terrified teacher said as they stepped out of their shoes. She was dressed in much more mundane clothing than she had been earlier; simple blouse, yoga pants. The slight bags under her eyes had somehow deepened in color in the few hours since they had last seen her. "Um… I have tea, I think. Or instant coffee, if… you…"

"Coffee, please." She was clearly trying to make an effort. "Don't worry, I don't expect LeBlanc."

"Coming right up."

Once three cups of instant coffee had been passed around, the women sat in tense silence for a few seconds as they sipped. Makoto felt a little awkward because she didn't have much of a taste for coffee, but decided not to say anything for fear of being perceived as immature.

"So I think it would be best if I heard from you first," Sae began once the silence got too strained and stale to be tolerated anymore. "Before I start. What explanation do you have for the situation I walked in on?"

After heaving a deep breath, she whispered, "None."

"Excuse me?"

"I've been thinking about it a lot, and… I don't have a good explanation. I was forcing myself on a student, and… and it was wrong, and… I'm sorry. You'll never know how sorry I am. But you should do whatever you want to me. Makoto is totally innocent."

The younger Niijima sister's eyebrows went sky high. After glancing at the confused Sae, she turned to her teacher. "Sadayo… what are you saying?"

"What's necessary. Be quiet." The order shocked Makoto, but she didn't have time to think about it because she was continuing, "Niijima-san, I will go quietly into custody. I only ask that you not put the handcuffs on me, and let me… let me walk out of here voluntarily. I promise I'm not a flight risk; I have nowhere to go. Just don't drag me down there like an animal."

"Kawakami-san…" Sae's arms folded over her chest. "That wasn't what I asked for. And I think you're lying to absolve my sister of any responsibility."

"I'm not. Just take me in, and…" Seeing the prosecutor lean closer, her voice got quieter. "Please, just get it over with, I don't… want to keep wondering how it's going to go."

"No."

"What? Are you… what are you trying to do? Make me 'sweat it out'? You already have a confession!"

Pointing at the teacher's confused face, she commanded, "Makoto has told me that you haven't had any kind of sexual contact thus far. Not with her, anyway. As such, while I could get you fired from your position at Shujin, there is no legal impetus for me to do so. Your night job is probably against school policy, and immoral, but aside from that… I suppose my sister is old enough to consent to a kiss or two. Therefore, I have no real motivation to drag you in, since this case likely wouldn't go to trial."

"Wait, wait," she protested, waving her free hand back and forth as she set her coffee down. "Now I'm really losing it. Because it almost sounds like… you're letting me off the hook. But why would you? I've been corrupting your-"

"I think it's more likely she's been corrupting you," Sae remarked, glaring over at the red-faced Makoto. "If a certain little display she made just before we came down here was any indication."

"It was just an example," the girl muttered.

Sadayo frowned down at her lap. "But you were so…" Swallowing hard, she whispered, "That was only the second time I've ever had a gun pointed at me. The first, it was just a mugging; as soon as he got my purse he was gone. But you were out for my blood. Don't pretend you weren't. So why the change of heart?"

"My heart hasn't been changed," Sae told her firmly. And Makoto carefully didn't look at her sister in that moment, even though the word 'yet' flitted through her mind. "I simply have deduced from the available evidence that instead of seeking to put a notch in your bedpost, you seem to honestly care for her. Why else would you try to take all the blame when I know my sister, and that she is nobody's victim?"

The room was quiet for a moment. Then Makoto whispered, "I'm sorry, Sadayo. But I can't let you go to jail." Then she said to Sae, "Everything I told you before was the truth. I am to blame. I lured her to the rabuho and I seduced her, over and over. The only thing she's guilty of is not pushing me away, but… I think the only reason for that is she knew it would hurt me to lose her."

"Not the only reason." The teacher's voice was full of undiluted affection as she sat slightly forward. "I'm… I d-don't deserve… you're so good to me…"

Sae's lip curled as she glanced between the two of them. "God. Perhaps I should leave before the dramatic music swells and you fly into each other's arms."

"Maybe you should," Makoto teased with a very slight smirk. Sae shook her head as she stood up. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Home. I already told you, if I decided I believed your story, I would let Kawakami remain free. Don't ever give me any new reasons to believe she's taking advantage of you, and I will… look the other way."

Sae was most of the way to the door when she heard "Thank you!" Turning around, she saw the teacher on the floor, bowing as low as she could with her forehead on the floor. "I… I don't deserve your kindness! Thank you so much!"

"Oh, get up. That behaviour is beneath you, especially in front of your student."

As Sadayo sat back on her heels, Makoto stood awkwardly. She had to say this immediately before the moment had passed. "Sis, I'm actually really happy. I know you're probably still upset about all this, but thank you for… for not taking it out on her. Really, I mean it."

Sae started to offer a flippant response, but one look at the earnestness in her sister's eyes made her sigh and dip her head. "Of course."

"You're welcome to finish your coffee," Sadayo told her as she stood again, still trembling all over. "I-if you want. Honestly, I've been kind of hoping to meet you."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"You're the most important member of my- of Makoto's family, of her whole life. I didn't think I'd get to, since we were keeping our relationship a secret, but… now that you're here… I wanted to learn more about what makes you tick, I guess."

"You do not. You just want to learn my weaknesses so you can exploit them."

"Sis!" Makoto burst out.

"I don't," Sadayo assured her firmly, taking a step closer. "But if you think I'm some disgusting, over-the-hill lesbian, I'll understand if you'd rather scram. I mean, why would you think any different? You're such a strong, normal woman, and I'm clearly a weird freak."

Sae smirked for a moment, then let out a little laugh. "You think I'm normal, hm? I'm guessing Makoto hasn't spent much time talking about me."

"Huh?"

"You know I never tell anyone about that," Makoto told Sae pointedly, looking very slightly hurt at the idea that she thought otherwise. "It's not for me to tell."

"Of course," she reassured her little sister as she turned back to the living room, reclaiming her seat. The other two followed suit, picking up their cups of coffee. "It's alright, I can handle it myself. Kawakami-san, do you know what the English word 'transgender' means?"

~ o ~

"Sae has lived such an amazing life," Sadayo breathed as the two of them lay on her couch a couple of hours later. "Thinking about her, and everything she's been through… I feel like I've barely done anything, y'know? What a boring homebody I am."

Makoto nodded, curling against her teacher's side. "You are not. But yeah, that's why I shut down when she gets really upset. I know next to her, I'm nothing."

"Hey." A finger poked her stomach, and Makoto giggled. "Don't do that, okay? I mean, maybe I wasn't helping when I was being stalked and yelling at you for it, but you are an amazing girl! So smart, and talented, and strangely wise beyond your years! You're just… still a kid. That's all."

"A kid you're dating," she teased. Sadayo groaned, and she laughed. "I'm sorry, but you set yourself up for that one."

"Yeah… yeah, I did." Shrugging helplessly, she pulled her 'kid' closer. "But just because your sister won't be hauling me into court still doesn't mean I'm real thrilled about our nine-year gap, okay? I feel like a creep every time I think about it."

"Well yeah, but… what about when you're not thinking about it?"

A little whimper sounded from Sadayo as the teenager crawled up and onto her body, straddling her hips and gazing down into her eyes. The teacher's breath hitched, her lips parted.

"When I'm not… I think you're the best thing to ever happen to my life."

"That sounds better."

Five or ten minutes later, when they took a break from kissing so frantically it was as if they thought they were living on borrowed time, Sadayo pushed to a sitting position, running a hand up and down her face. Makoto sat next to her, rubbing her hand up and down her back and trying to be a calming presence.

"I have to quit that job. I… your sister's right, maybe I don't have any diseases right now but if I keep going down on clients, I'll probably get one eventually. And it's not just my health I have to worry about anymore, it's yours, too. S-so yeah."

"Well, it is how we met… in a way." They shared a brief smile. "But I'll support your decision."

"But I can't! How am I going to pay off the Takases? They… well…"

"What is it?"

Swallowing hard, she whispered, "They came to visit me at school. Said that I wasn't working hard enough to pay them back for Taiki's death, and if I didn't give them more… they would tell the school board about my night job, anyway. So I have to keep working for the money, but if I keep working there, they just have more leverage over me. Damned if I do, damned if I don't."

"They really said that?" Makoto breathed.

"Yeah. Ask your friend Amamiya; he was there."

Her eyebrows furrowed as she tapped her chin. "He said he wanted to talk to me soon, but didn't make it sound that urgent so I said I would the next time we all met up. I m-mean, hung out."

"It's fine. I'll just ask Victoria to print me out a new menu without Health Kiss on it, and… and keep working there until the day I die. Or they die, whichever comes first."

"Oh… I don't think that will be necessary."

"Huh?"

The twinkle in Makoto's eye was almost criminal. "You'll see."

~ o ~

A week later and the poor student was being smothered by her teacher's grateful kisses. Not that she was complaining; this was everything she looked forward to on a daily basis. Just because it was a sudden influx of affection that made her squeal and flail around didn't mean it was unwelcome.

"I knew it," Sadayo gushed eventually when the flurry of kissing had finally died down. "I knew you two were the Thieves! Well, probably also a few of your little friends, but at least you and Ren."

Makoto grinned at her as they relaxed on her teacher's sofa-bed. It was still a little scandalous to be there in the first place, but compared to the entirety of their relationship she couldn't seem to care.

"How do you know it's us? This could just be a coincidence."

Her teacher held back a smirk. "Sure, yeah. And we could just be gal pals. Come on, nobody else knows about my situation other than you two, and there's absolutely no way the Takases would have changed their hearts unless the Phantom Thieves intervened. Who else in Tokyo has the power to make crappy people do a complete 180 like that?"

"Could be lots of people," she hedged. Privately, she was also thinking about a certain ace detective and their suspicions, but that wasn't something she needed to worry Sadayo about. The public only knew about the Thieves and their supernatural ability to change the hearts of corrupt individuals, and that's what Sadayo was fixated upon at present.

"Nah, I don't think so." She kissed her student on both cheeks, making her giggle. "But yeah, they suddenly called me this morning and told me they were going to pay back every last yen I had ever given them. With interest! I'm going to be able to live like a queen for a little while!"

"That makes us two Queens." At her puzzled look, she hurriedly explained, "I-it's a nickname my friends gave me. Don't spread it around, though."

"Ohhhh, okay." The elder woman bit her lip excitedly, petting up and down Makoto's side. "So…"

"So?"

"Soooooo, if you're not too busy with Thieves business-"

"SHHH! I haven't even admitted that's true!"

"-and you don't already have post-graduation plans," she went on as if there had been no interruption, "would you…"

When she never finished, Makoto prompted her nervous girlfriend, "Would I what?"

"Would you want to go on a little trip with me? After you graduate from Shujin. Maybe just to, um, Okinawa, or somewhere more exciting? Since I'll have the extra money, and… and I'm really into finding out what you and me can be like when there's nobody to tell on us or judge."

Still stunned, all she could do was whisper, "You… want to go on vacation? Together? Like… together-together?!"

Sadayo gulped. "Yeah. I mean, it's still crazy that I'm with you in the first place, but I can't just sit around, squealing that I'm a lesbian. If we're really in this… I might as well start treating 'us' like it's real."

"Oh. When you put it that way, I can appreciate the logic." Cheeks rosy and smile small, she whispered, "And I think that sounds wonderful."

"Really?! You'd go with me?"

"Of course," she assured her, sealing it with a long, deep kiss. Her girlfriend melted into the contact, humming her obvious interest so loud it was almost obscene. During the moment, they had rolled over so many times she lost count, but they wound up with Makoto on top.

"Ugh, don't look at me," Sadayo half-laughed. "I was too excited to see you and ask you about the Thieves thing, I forgot to do my nightly rituals before I went out to meet you at the subway station."

"What are you talking about? You look as beautiful and sweet as you ever have."

"But I didn't moisturise. Or shower, or… not that I haven't showered today, though! I did this morning before work. But I would rather freshen up before spending any significant time with my significant other."

Makoto's small smile spoke volumes. "Well, how about I bathe you this time? Seems only fair, Becky."

"Wha… hey, that was my job! You don't have to pay me back; you already did. With actual money."

"But I want to take care of you. Please?"

Sadayo smirked and waggled her eyebrows. "You just wanna get me naked, Master."

"I…" Caught off guard, she blushed and ducked her head. "M-maybe, but that doesn't mean I'm not being genuine about taking care of my girlfriend."

"Uh huh." The smirk remained, but a little of that teacher-exclusive sternness crept into her expression. "But what did we say about steering clear of that kind of thing for now?"

Trying for flirty, Makoto leaned forward on her elbows so their faces were only an inch apart. "I didn't say we would do anything besides wash."

"True. But for some crazy reason, I think you have sinister plans, Miss Phantom Thief."

"Shhhhhhhhh! You can't keep talking about that, I'll get in trouble!"

"You know you can trust me. I'm your confidant, right?" When Makoto didn't look any more comfortable, she whispered, "I promise I'll take care of you. And that means keeping your secret for the rest of my life; that's an easy choice, Niijima-san."

Rolling her eyes, she chuckled, "We have to get used to being more familiar with each other, Kawakami-sensei."

"Yeah!" she giggled. "Guess so. And… well, if you promise to keep your clothes on, maybe… it won't be so bad. But if you get too fresh-"

"I will be a perfect gentleman," she reassured her teacher with a small smile. "Promise. Cross my heart."

So they moved toward the bathroom. Makoto had a very difficult time suppressing her nerves; this was going to be her first time seeing anyone who wasn't a relative in the nude, aside from brief glimpses in the locker room. Even then, she felt like a pervert and would look away quickly. Now her girlfriend - and that alone was crazy! - was about to be fully disrobed in front of her, and she wasn't sure she could handle that.

But she wanted to. More than anything in the world, she found herself yearning to get closer to this incredible woman who had completely changed her life in ways she was still figuring out. And besides, it was her turn.

"I'm nervous," Sadayo confessed with an awkward smile as she began to strip out of her yellow scoop neck. Makoto found herself staring down at the floor to avoid seeing too much all at once, actually watching the striptease, and saw her teacher's toes were curling with anxiety against the bathroom tile. "Like, have I mentioned that I pretty much never go on dates? I have, right?"

"Y-you have," she breathed, heart hammering a mile a minute.

"And it's different when I'm Becky," she said, as if predicting Makoto was going to mention how confident she was as a maid. Which, to be fair, she had been contemplating. The skirt joined the blouse on the floor, and Makoto's face grew hot. "I'm playing a role then. This is just… me. Sad, frumpy, tired old Sadayo."

"Nothing sad or frumpy about you." When she saw the panties joining the rest, she had to bite her lip to keep from squealing with combined dismay and excitement. "Y-yeah, maybe you're tired, but… that's going to change. Really soon."

A purr had entered her teacher's voice when she stepped closer. "Mm-hmm. And you're doing a really good job of not looking. Now… I'm going to turn and sit on the stool, and then you can look. Okay? Is… that alright? Maybe we should have gone to a bathhouse."

"No, this is fine," Makoto told her gently, smiling at the nearby wall. Once her teacher was in position, she rolled up her sleeves and approached. "Okay, so… please don't think too badly of me. I've never done this before. For somebody else, I mean; my sister used to do it for me, but…"

Her teacher smiled over her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm not expecting my level of professionalism. Or anything, really. Just… y'know, put soap on me and spray it off. Easy. And if you have to jump out, I can wash myself; it's honestly not a big deal either way, okay?"

"Okay," she laughed with a small smile.

The two relaxed into the bathing ritual for a while. Though Makoto was distinctly aroused, and wanted to touch her teacher all over, she didn't have as much trouble forcing herself to stick to washing her as she had worried. The gentle motions and the small hums of contentment from each of them helped to boil the intensity down to a dull simmer: still a thread of sexuality in the air without it being overwhelming. And all the while, for both of them, there was joy at being able to be so close.

Until… "Aren't you going to finish the job?"

"What?" When she caught the look in Sadayo's eyes, Makoto gulped and whispered, "O-oh, I… well, you said we shouldn't do that until we're…"

"I'm kidding," she laughed lightly, though the wicked gleam remained. "You're right, we should behave ourselves. Sorry."

"Maybe I don't want to behave myself," she whispered. The smile slipped from her teacher's face, so she hurried to hold up both hands in surrender. "N-no, no, I won't- I just meant… I really wish I didn't have to. But I agree that it is the wiser course of action as long as you're technically teaching me."

A more subdued sort of amusement entered her face as she looked away. "You say that like you haven't been teaching me just as much, Makoto. But… you're right. Thanks for washing me, I'll, um… I'll take it from here."

For a moment, she simply watched her teacher rinse off her soapy form, longing seeping into every bone down to the marrow. Then she cleared her throat and whispered, "I don't have to go."

"What?"

"Go. I, um… I can…" She closed the toilet lid and sat, hands folding in her lap. "We can talk while you bathe. If you don't mind. Or I can let you soak and relax."

Kawakami was smiling a lot wider. "So domestic." When Makoto rolled her eyes, she giggled and added, "I'd love that. Just don't want you getting bored."

"I could never be bored of you."

Without even realising they began, suddenly she was kissing her teacher again, damp fingers winding into her wet hair to cradle her close. One of them being nude did change things but only subtly; the contact and emotion behind it was much more important. It was everything.

To Be Continued…