Tenko couldn't watch it happening.

"Almost...done..." the doctor said, but the sound of medical scissors tearing through material was what her ears chose to focus on far more. "There we go! You're free!"

The doctor laughed a little, her voice a little musical in that moment, but it didn't do much to calm Tenko's nerves.

She didn't like hospitals. Or doctors. Or what was going on.

See, Tenko had made the mistake of looking up what people's skin could look like after taking off a cast. From the buildup of dead skin, and sweat, and...ugh.

Of course, Himiko didn't know that was what she had an issue with. The cute mage just thought Tenko was squeamish.

Which was, to be fair, also true.

"Tenko...you can look now, nyeh."

Taking a breath to prepare herself, Tenko did just that, turning around to look at her...friend? Was friend still the right word? Or were they officially more than that, since they'd agreed to go on a date?

Tenko had no fucking clue.

Luckily for her sanity, both Himiko's arm and leg had been wrapped in fresh bandages, and the doctor was telling her to have the crutches handy still, just in case her leg was still having problems or she over-exerted herself.

After the red-head nodded through the lecture, she was able to walk for the first time in months on her own two feet, though not very quickly. Tenko matched her pace, holding her crutches for her until she needed them.

"So, where are we gonna go first?" Himiko asked, a note of actual curiosity in her voice.

If only Tenko could have understood the question. "Um...home?"

Himiko pouted. "I thought you were taking me on a date."

The Ultimate Aikido Master stopped walking in the front lobby of the hospital, struggling to make those words make sense in her brain. "But, I'm not..." She looked down at her clothes, which were just boring casual stuff she was borrowing from Yuu. "I'm not dressed for a date!"

A slight blush on her cheeks, Himiko replied, "Nyeh...you look fine. Date now."

Suddenly, it was quite hard for Tenko to talk. Or breathe. Or think.

But as they exited the hospital and made their way onto the city street, sunny late morning weather ready to greet them, she managed to ask, "Where did you...want to go?"

Tenko had thought of ideas, lots of them, since their fateful conversation. But they all disappeared now that there was no way to do any of the prepwork they required.

With a bandaged finger, Himiko pointed to a shop across the street. It was an ice cream parlor, and together they slowly made their way to the nearest intersection, crossed the street, and entered the store.

Himiko hemmed and hawed over the selection for quite a while, before getting three different kinds of scoops in a bowl together, slathered in strawberry syrup. Tenko was never a huge fan of ice cream, but ordered a vanilla cone just so she'd have something.

Following the smaller girl's lead, Tenko sat with her outside, on a little patio table.

Tenko was already feeling self-conscious. Would anyone realize this was a date? Was this somehow not really a date? Had Himiko somehow completely confused the meanings of words?

The useless lesbian was still struggling over these questions when Himiko broke the silence between spoonfuls of her ice cream. "Nyeh...what do you want to do next?"

That, at least, got Tenko's thoughts on a new track. "Oh, well, um..." Tenko took a lick from her frozen treat, hoping it would give her time to think of something. It didn't. "Well there are parks and I think there's a circus in town and we could get lunch and I saw an artist doing portraits on the way here and-"

"Stop." Himiko reached out with one hand and covered Tenko's mouth, which she was honestly thankful for. (I would never have shut up otherwise.) "I didn't mean the date. I meant...next."

It took a second for Tenko to realize what Himiko meant, and when it dawned on her, she realized she didn't have an answer. "I don't...uh...I guess I still need to get this body back up to shape? Then I can get back to doing Neo Aikido...but other than that I don't really know."

That admission of indecision made, Tenko went back to her ice cream, watching as Himiko seemed to be deep in thought. She'd forgone wearing the witch's hat or the outfit from the show, which was usually what she preferred. Instead, Himiko had gone with a cute blue blouse and a beige skirt, long enough that it covered down past her knees.

She was cute. Very, very, very cute. Somehow, impossibly, cuter than normal.

(Don't stare! Don't stare! I don't want to come off like a creep again...)

"I don't really know what I want to do either..." Himiko sounded...sad.

Tenko immediately wanted to reach out and take her hand, but she remembered what Himiko had said about being too pushy, and held herself back. "What about your talent? Don't you still love magic?"

She shrugged. "I do...but I don't know. I'd have to travel a lot, and I'd miss my moms. Plus..." In a quieter voice, she continued by saying, "I don't really know magic...it's all tricks."

Some part of Tenko wanted to contradict her. (No, Himiko, your magic is real! Really! Don't let other people get you down!)

But...that isn't what Tenko did. "I know." She's always known Himiko couldn't do real magic, but she'd played along regardless. But now, Himiko wanted her to take her seriously, so that's what Tenko would try to do. "What other careers would you want to try?"

Rather than answering right away, Himiko focused on her ice cream, but when the bowl was empty, she looked like she had no choice but to respond. "Mom is a teacher...maybe that?"

Considering her other mom was an accountant, it was definitely the one of the two that would fit her better. "Maybe!" Tenko could see an older Himiko as a teacher, probably to really young kids. She would probably join them in nap time. "But you don't have to do something your parents do, y'know?"

They'd both finished their food, and Himiko got up, seemingly ignoring Tenko's question. She followed Himiko, and they moved down the street quietly, without saying anything for a few blocks.

Putting aside the awkwardness of that last conversation, Tenko was starting to really grapple with something: she was on a date. With Himiko.

Eating ice cream with her was nice. Walking down the street together was nice.

But Tenko wanted more than that.

"Um..." (I can do this, it's not hard, just got to ask permission.) "Would it be okay if...we held hands?"

Himiko didn't answer immediately, but something about the slight red tint that slowly bloomed on her cheeks made Tenko feel a little better about her chances. "...sure."

Reaching out, Tenko took Himiko's hand.

It was so much better than she could have expected. Date! Date! She was on a date with Himiko and they were holding hands!

"You don't have to blush so much, nyeh," Himiko told her, looking a little mortified.

The admonishment was almost enough to make Tenko pull her hand away, but instead she just took a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions like she would while training. "You're right, sorry about that." Was...was she dreaming, or did Himiko smile a little at that?

They were looking for somewhere to go next, when Tenko spotted something.

"Does that park look okay?"

"Sure."

The lack of enthusiasm in her voice wasn't unwarranted. As parks went, this one was fairly lackluster, with just a small playground for young kids and a small grassy area with a few trees.

It was a school day, so the park was empty aside from them. They walked around a little, but Tenko realized that the limp with Himiko's leg was getting more pronounced. "Did you want to use the crutches?" she offered.

"No, let's sit down." Himiko led them to a bench.

A breeze rolled by, tosseling Himiko's hair a little, and Tenko couldn't avoid looking at her.

Himiko was just...so cute. Tenko loved the way her dark red hair contrasted with her pale complexion, how her eyes looked as she gazed off into the middle distance, the peaceful expression that usually settled onto her face when nothing was demanding her attention.

It almost made her heart hurt, how much just looking at Himiko made Tenko happy.

Which only made her fears even worse. (What if she's just pitying me? What if all these small signs I'm seeing are just in my head? What if-)

"Tenko?"

Her voice knocked Tenko out of the spiral she'd started to slide into. Putting on a face she hoped looked more cheerful than she felt, Tenko asked, "Yeah, Himiko?"

"..." It seemed like Himiko had to really think about how she wanted to phrase what she wanted to say, because it took a minute before she actually said anything back. "Do you feel like...you?"

Oh.

That question.

The one Tenko had really been avoiding thinking about.

"Um..." Tenko put her fingers together, feeling kind of awkward even talking about it. After all...how could she answer it? She'd basically been asked if really was herself. Something she didn't really know the answer to. "I'm...it depends?"

Even though she was kind of hoping Himiko would jump in, instead the Killing Game Survivor was just looking at her, curiosity in her eyes mixed with...something else, something Tenko couldn't quite place.

Realizing she wasn't getting an out, Tenko tried to elaborate. "If you're asking about my body...no, it doesn't feel like mine. I'm trying to make it better? And maybe it'll get easier with time? But right now it...just doesn't feel right." Adding muscle to the new body's frame was helping, but it would probably take some hyper-specific brown dye to stop Tenko from freezing every time she saw her own hair.

"Is that kind of like that 'dysphoria' thing Asahiro was telling me about?"

"Actually..." Tenko considered that. "Yeah? Maybe?" The idea of researching that further occurred to Tenko, but she doubted she'd follow through on it. She just wasn't a research-y type of person. "But, if you were asking about my thoughts and feelings then...I'm pretty sure I'm still me?"

Tenko wished, more than anything, that she could say that with confidence. Normally, that kind of surety came to her easily. But the entire idea of what had been done to her, done to all of them, threw that into question.

Which was why Tenko tried to avoid the circular logic hole that was 'Am I really me?'

Weirdly enough though, Himiko seemed to get it. "I think you're still Tenko too."

Of course, if anyone would...it would be her. Like Tenko, Kaito, and Kaede, Himiko had been left to wonder if she really was who she thought of herself as.

"So, you think I pass the test?"

Himiko nodded.

"Where did you want to go now?"

"Home."

"Oh..." Tenko couldn't keep the disappointment out of her tone, her focus falling to the ground. Home? Already? "I was...really liking the date. I'm sorry that-"

"You don't need to apologize!" Himiko cut in, her tone sharp. Surprised, Tenko looked and saw Himiko was blushing, but her eyes were fierce. "I'm liking the date too. But my leg hurts, so I need to go rest."

"Oh!" Tenko got up, and said the first thing that came to her mind. "Did you want me to carry you?"

Once the words were out of her mouth, Tenko desperately wished she could take them back. Himiko had told her she didn't like it when Tenko was too forward, and this was mega forward!

Which was why it was so surprising to her when Himiko's reply was, "Nyeh...sure."

Actually figuring out how to carry her was a bit hard. Her first idea was piggyback, but Himiko's arm wasn't doing great either, and straining it wouldn't be good.

So instead, Tenko ended up holding Himiko in her arms, shoulders on one, legs on the other. It was difficult not to focus on the fact that Himiko was in her arms and she could feel her warmth and hear her breathing and she was so close and-

All the thoughts shut off at once, as Himiko leaned up as best she could, and put her lips to Tenko's.

A kiss.

The next thing Tenko remembered, she was more than halfway back to Himiko's home, still carrying the magician in her arms. Himiko looked like she was napping, her eyes closed, but Tenko had the strange feeling that she was still awake.

That feeling was confirmed when, without opening her eyes, Himiko suddenly told Tenko, "You remember how I said I didn't know if I liked you?"

Tenko made some sound that probably got across that yes, she definitely remembered.

"I was lying."

It was taking a moment for Tenko's still kiss-addled brain to put together what that meant.

Luckily for her, Himiko was willing to clarify.

"I like you too."