Maki stared out the window as Hinawa drove. Neither one of them had said a word on the ride back to Company 8, making the car ride uncomfortable for them both. Each time she opened her mouth to say something, she shut it just as quick.

"Maki," Hinawa said suddenly. "Say something."

"Like what?"

Hinawa stumbled for words. It was his fault that the car ride was so silent. He rubbed the steering wheel with his thumb as he thought.

"Did you enjoy the trip?"

"It was okay," Maki said. "I could have done without sharing a bed with you all weekend."

Hinawa sucked a breath in through his teeth. The bed-sharing wasn't his fault. And he quite enjoyed it, after all was said and done. Maki barely took up any room on the queen-sized bed; he took up most of the room, being one to toss and turn in his sleep.

"That may be my fault, sorry I'm such a fussy sleeper."

"Yeah, you hit me a few times."

Maki pulled her sweater toward her knees, the glittery threads glinting in the sun.

"Maybe… sharing a bed wasn't all bad," she admitted sheepishly. "It was nice when I got to ask you those questions."

Hinawa snorted. "You only asked me two questions."

"And I found out some very helpful information."

He looked over at her as he stopped at a red light. "You found out I smoked and that I like thriller novels."

"And that you were close with your mother."

"That wasn't a question, though."

"It was easy to see."

Hinawa sighed. She was right, of course. He loved his mother. She was always at the forefront of his mind when he visited her gravesite. It appears Maki had been paying attention to how he acted.

"We're here," he said, pulling into the garage.

"Hey, Lieutenant Hinawa. Hey Maki. Have a good weekend?" Vulcan greeted them.

"Yeah. It was peaceful. I might have to go back alone soon," Hinawa said, pulling his bag out of the back of the car. He handed Maki her bag and watched as she disappeared inside the cathedral.

As Maki walked through the cathedral with her overnight bag and the shopping bag with Sloth-chan, she felt a small weight drop on her shoulders. Despite what she said, she felt she had gotten absolutely nowhere in her friendship (relationship?) with the lieutenant over the weekend.

"Maki!"

She looked over and saw Lisa waving at her. She gave her a small wave and walked toward her.

"So how'd the trip go?" Lisa asked her as they headed to Maki's room.

"It went okay. I mean, he was going to pay his respects to his mother."

"You mean you and him didn't get to do anything?"

Maki blushed as she remembered sharing a bed with him. "We sat under a kotatsu and talked."

"Nothing romantic ?"

Should I really tell her about sharing a bed with Lieutenant Hinawa? Maki wondered.

"Maki, can I see you for a minute?"

Maki looked over and saw the lieutenant standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She looked back at Lisa.

"I'll be back," she said. Maki joined Hinawa outside her bedroom. "What is it?"

Hinawa closed in on her, backing her against the wall outside her door. Maki braced herself against the wall as he placed his arm beside her head. Maki whimpered; there were less than five inches between the two of them.

"Don't tell anyone we shared a bed," Hinawa whispered, his mouth barely an inch from her ear. "Just do this one favor for me and I might invite you the next time I go."

"Next time?"

Hinawa gave her a hard stare. Maki looked away, blushing. How'd he know that she had so many more questions for him? She pushed him away from her and took a shaky breath before speaking again.

"Maybe I can ask you some later?" she asked.

Hinawa sighed. "I'm not one to divulge much about my private life. You know that."

"You can ask anything you want about me."

"I've known you for three years, there's not much I don't know."

Maki scowled. He was right. He knew so much about her, yet she knew so little about him.

"W-When do you need to go back?"

Hinawa paused. "In March. For my dad."

That's too far away. Maki tried to think — how could she get to know more about him before March? And what does he not know about her?

"I'll come up with thirty questions for you by New Year's!" Maki said.

"Just five will do, Maki," Hinawa said, disappearing into his room.

Lisa poked her head out into the hall. "That sounded important."

"It wasn't."

"Whatever."

She dragged Maki back into her room to show her one of the new romance novels she had bought.

"You'll definitely like it. Friends-to-lovers, the sex scenes are hot, and — "

"I get it," Maki said. She pushed the book away. "But not right now."

"What is the matter with you?"

The lieutenant didn't tell me not to discuss our trip, Maki thought.

"Lieutenant Hinawa was… different."

"Oh?"

"He actually let down his guard for once."

"How?"

" He cried ."

Lisa gasped. "The lieutenant is human? I can't believe it!"

Maki rolled her eyes. "Lisa…"

"Everyone cries, Maki."

"Not him. I've known him for three years, he's never shown emotion."

"Maybe your relationship advanced after all. He's put more trust in you."

More trust? Maki wondered. She toyed with the handles on the bag with Sloth-chan inside it.

"What's that?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, this is a sloth that the lieutenant bought for me," she said, pulling Sloth-chan out of her bag.

"He paid 5,200 yen for this?!" Lisa exclaimed, looking at the receipt.

"What?!"

Maki took the receipt from her and scanned it. Sure enough, the lieutenant had spent an outrageous 5,200 yen on Sloth-chan… for her.

"Maki…" Lisa said tauntingly.

"Shut up," Maki said. She shoved the stuffed sloth back into the bag and stood up. "I'm going to go talk to Lieutenant Hinawa."

"No don't," Lisa said, following her. "What if he meant to spend that much?"

"What if he didn't?"

The two women stared at each other. Maki wanted to believe that Hinawa would spend so much on her but on a stuffed animal?

"I'm going to talk to him."

She walked down the hall to the lieutenant's room and knocked on the door. She gripped the handles of the hot pink bag tightly as she waited for him to open his door.

"It's open, come in!"

Maki twisted the doorknob. "Lieutenant did you — "

She halted as she noticed all of his weapons scattered over his floor. She stepped carefully around one of his custom rifles as she made her way to him.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking to see which weapons I need to clean."

She knelt on the floor beside him. "Lieutenant, did you really spend 5,200 yen on me?"

"Yes. As I told you, it was a thank you gift."

Maki watched with piqued interest as he began carrying his weapons back to his gun safe. He spun the lock on the cold metal cabinet, the clicking almost musical. He opened the door and laid the guns inside in an almost romantic sort of way.

"Sometimes I think you care more about your weapons than you do people," Maki said.

"I care about people, but I have to take care of my equipment, too."

Maki tapped her fingers against her leg. "Do you care about me?"

"Of course."

Maki felt a swell of emotions inside her chest.

"You act immature for your age, you still believe in fairy tales, and you're a hopeless romantic. If I didn't care about you, who would?"

"You just ruined a great moment with your blabbering!" Maki yelled tearfully.

She stood up and made her way back to his bedroom door. She yanked it open and walked out, leaving a bewildered Hinawa to stare at the spot where she was sitting just moments before. Sloth-chan smiled back at him, her flowery dress ruffled at the bottom.

"She left Sloth-chan," he whispered.

Was what I said really that bad?

Hinawa sighed, knowing he'd have to fix this. He held up Sloth-chan and looked at her.

"I don't think 5,200 yen will help me here."

He placed the sloth gently on his bed and tread lightly to his door. He walked out and down the hall to Maki's room, where he hesitated before knocking.

What am I so afraid of? he wondered. It's Maki.

He knocked gently on her door. He ran over what to say in his mind before coming up with nothing.

Maki yanked open the door. Her eyes were tinged pink from where she had been crying. "Oh. It's you."

"Yeah. It's me," he said. "You, uh… left Sloth-chan in my room."

"Keep her."

Maki, done with the conversation, went to shut the door. Hinawa, wanting to talk more, apologize properly, kiss her, something, shoved his foot inside quickly and grimaced when the door slammed on it.

"Listen, um, the old man — the guy that runs the inn — gave me some tickets to a hot spring that just opened for the season. Do you want to come?"

Maki crossed her arms over her chest. She could feel Lisa's gaze burning into her, encouraging her to say yes to the lieutenant's offer. But his mean words just made her cry her heart out. She shouldn't.

"She'll go!" Lisa screeched, slamming her hands on Maki's table inside her room. Maki and Hinawa both jumped at the loud noise.

"What? Lisa!" Maki yelped.

"Let her decide," Hinawa said. He pulled Maki toward her bedroom door. "You don't have to go."

"Thanks," Maki said. The offer was great, but was her heart up to the task?

Without realizing what she was doing, Maki leaned into the lieutenant for a hug. She could smell his cologne — the familiar scent created a pool of longing deep inside Maki.

Hinawa wrapped his arms around Maki. Her leaning into him for a hug was wonderfully unexpected, and as he remembered from their few nights together she was delightfully warm. The little space heater he needed. And he could smell the lotion she used — was it strawberry or cherry?

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I was out of line with what I said. Just kick my ass if I do it again."

"I can't kick your ass, you're stronger than me, by far."

Want to find out? was the immediate, inappropriate question on his tongue, but he didn't ask her.

"I think I'll take you up on those hot springs."

Hinawa thought deeply for a moment. "Want to go around New Year's? The hot springs might not be as busy then."

"Sure, I don't mind going then."

"Great. I'll set everything up then."

Maki watched him retreat back to his room and sighed as she slid down the wall beside her door. She was going to a hot spring. With the lieutenant. Alone.