I don't know which person you were expecting to be featured in this chapter but I won't be following a strict rooster. When I thought of what I scene I wanted to tell next, Yukino was there in my head, so wrote it down even if it is a shorter chapter.

Yukino

When I arrived back in my room I took a deep breath. If I had said I didn't mind going on patrol basically alone I would be lying, but I had never been good at dealing with conflict and Shiho had seemed bent on escalating the situation if I had not relented. It had been obvious she had just wanted to get away from me; she was not that hard to read. Actually I highly suspected her of skipping out on her part of the campus; however I had not felt up for taking over her share of duties.

I just hoped I would paired with somebody else next time, otherwise I must find the courage to speak up and talk to Midori about it. I sighed as I switched on the water boiler and fetched a bag of tea from the cupboard, thinking about how Haruka wouldn't have had any trouble putting Shiho into place. In Haruka's presence she wouldn't have come up with nonsense arguments like effectiveness. It was obvious to both of us that the safety of our limited number should be prioritized over getting patrols done fast. I tried reminding myself that even Haruka had her moments of softness and insecurity, I had witnessed them more than once, but thinking of her softer side, the moments she wasn't brash and stubborn always without fail brought back memories of the night she had showed up on my doorstep.

I shook my head, it was bad enough that everything around school reminded me of her, but I could not let myself reminiscence of that night. Not when I still could recall eerie instant of it in minute detail.
The water was hot and I poured it into the cup before relocating to the table where my laptop was sitting. Although it was already late, Miu was still online and soon as my icon turned green the chat window popped up. Instead of replying I fished for my headphones and pressed the call button.
"Hi," I said softly when she answered.
"Hey, how are you? You sound tired." She immediately said, even though I had not said more than one word. I smiled, wondering how I had deserved such an attentive girlfriend. "It was a long day, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure, nothing attacked, did it?" "No, nothing happened, apart from Munakata-san insisting on splitting up and most likely skipping out on her duty."
Miu gave a growl of disgust when I told her about Shiho's behaviour, saying she didn't like her even though she had never met her. Before I had packed my bag for Fuuka, I had told Miu the whole story about my extraordinary high school experience, had summoned my element in our living room and described Diana to her.
I had been so afraid about telling her, afraid she might freak out, leave or hate me, but she had taken it all in stride, better than I could have hoped in my wildest dreams. During the last carnival I had seen first hand how bad keeping secrets from your loved ones could turn out, it had gotten Haruka killed, even it hadn't been permanent and I had vowed to myself to do better this time around.

I remembered fondly how Miu had tentatively touched my element as I told her about how scared I had been during patrol earlier, checking around each corner twice with my mirrors before I walked around it. "Good for you, better stay save that way. I want you back in one piece."
She had put her fingers to it so slowly as if they might bite her, or burn her. I didn't know what she had expected. When I had shown her images a soft "wow" had escaped her lips. "This is amazing Yukino." She had declared with wonder.

I had thought that once too, before the carnival had started in earnest and I learned the price. I had not wasted time letting Miu marvel at the wonder of it all, immediately I had told her about how we had to fight to the last one standing, only for this HiME to become the puppet of the Obsidian Prince, in theory. Upon hearing how we had all lost our most precious person, she had paled and regarded my element with a much more sceptical look. Thankfully she had not asked who had died when I had lost my child, whether she didn't want me to bring up this hurtful memory or because she herself didn't want to know, I was not sure to this day but I suspected both reasons had played a part.
"It's much harder being the one left behind than actually dying yourself isn't?" Was all Miu had said on the matter and I had nodded and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "We found a way last time to revive everybody, so if we stick together as a team I am sure we can find a way without anybody making sacrifices this time too." My voice had been the tiniest bit shaky when I had proclaimed it, however deep down I believed it.

Last time, things only had gotten worse when we had been forced to fight each other, if we could avoid being put onto the spot like this again and work as a united force, I believed we could do it.
Come to think of it, it was another lesson I had learned from Haruka, she had always told me that without the rest of the people on her executive committee she could work her ass off all day and not get anywhere.

"I hope we will soon find out the cause of the Orphans returning, at least Midori-san and Mai-san seem committed to get to the root and I guess Kuga-san and Fujino will help too as much as they can even if they don't seem enthusiastic about it. And Himeno-san is providing all the help she can to us. Only Munakata-san appears to be unreasonable and not interested in helping." I sighed.

Miu's face showed concern. "Are you sure you don't want me to come? I can take some time off of work without trouble and be there tomorrow afternoon."
I smiled at the screen, wishing she really was here beside me, so that I might embrace her for being so brave but I shook my head, watching how the little window on the screen showed me my motion delayed and jerky. "No, it's alright. You know how much even the offer means to me Miu, but I couldn't bear the prospect of you getting in trouble or getting hurt because of this HiME stuff."

"I just want to contribute in some way," she sighed. "Sitting around, waiting is not my thing."
This was true. While I had still been mulling over the best way to ask her out or if I might even have a chance with her, Miu had simply come by my work during lunch break one day and asked me out, because, to quote her "it might take me forever to make a move". Nevertheless she had told me on many occasions that she valued my deliberate nature.
"Just knowing I can come online in the evening and being able to talk to you helps already." I told her.
"I'm glad," she replied softly and I could see her love shining through concern. "If you change your mind about needing me in Fuuka, tell me anytime. If Munakata is uncooperative, I'm confident I can at least do more than her."

I couldn't help a grin slipping on my face at the thought of Miu replacing Shiho. She might actually be more useful and I knew she would get along splendidly with Mai and Midori for sure. Miu never failed to raise my spirits. "I will. Now tell me about what I'm missing in the real world. How is your life, what's going on at work?"
I asked. We had spent enough of our conversation on the depressing side of things, now I craved normal talk, like we would if we had met up for dinner only with the difference that we could not fall asleep together afterwards. Miu must have felt the same and she told me about her daily going ons and the latest stories from the lives of her regulars. By the time we bid each other good night, the queasy feeling that had crept upon my while outside had vanished.