The familiar smells of lemon floor cleaner, laundry detergent, cedar scented candles and citrus hand lotion welcomed Makoto home from school. She inhaled deeply, welcoming the comforting scents of home after a long day at class. Shucking off her coat, she hung it up on the coat rack beside the door before kicking off her shoes and putting them in the shoe rack. She sighed deeply with satisfaction, putting her backpack beside the kitchen table. Unzipping it, she pulled her binders out and arranged them on the table, ordering them by color so that the binders made an orderly rainbow, just the way she preferred it.

Satisfied that the universe was now in order, she padded over to the kitchen counter and paused at the mug tree. There were a few heavy stoneware style mugs that Sae seemed to prefer. Something about the heft of it perhaps, or perhaps the muted earth tones were what appealed to her. Makoto's mugs however, were of a far cuter aesthetic. For her Makoto's everyday use, there were pastel blue mugs with a small white flower motif of a thick, heavy ceramic. Then, for special occasions or for when Makoto needed a pick me up, there were the larger mascot novelty mugs. The cutesy molded mascots on the mugs made her smile a little as she ran her fingers over the smoothly glazed ceramic. Reaching for one of the blue mugs, she dropped a tea bag inside and set the electric kettle to boil. After a moment's thought though, she pulled one of the heavy earthenware mugs off the tree and set it next to her own. She dropped in a strong black tea bag before heading back to the kitchen table to work on grading the quizzes she'd been asked to help with.

Makoto had only gotten a quarter of the way through the pile of quizzes when Sae opened the door, carrying a few plastic grocery sacks that emitted an enticing aroma. "I've brought home everything you asked for," said Sae without preamble, walking briskly over to the kitchen counter with the grocery bags. Makoto saw the tops of greens poking out, as well as the shapes of square packages that likely contained the beef she'd asked her sister to get.

"Thank you, I'll go ahead and make dinner," replied Makoto, who padded over to the kitchen island and began unpacking the bags. "I made tea for you, it should still be warm if you drink it now," said Makoto over her shoulder. There was a slight edge of caution in Makoto's voice, as though she weren't quite sure how Sae would react. Sae picked up the earthenware mug that Makoto had indicated and took a sip. There was a brief pause before Sae gave her a soft, and slightly rueful smile.

"Thank you Makoto," said Sae, and some of the tension left her face. Clearly, thought Makoto, something had gone wrong again for the case. She didn't even need to ask her sister, Sae's tense shoulders and stiff stance said everything. Makoto began separating out the ingredients, thinking of the best way to incorporate them into the recipe she had been thinking of.

"Why don't you go ahead and sit down," urged Makoto, keeping one eye on Sae who had been sipping her tea and furrowing her brows. Sae blinked, a minor expression of surprise crossing her face. "I won't need any help making this, so you can just go ahead and sit down," continued Makoto, and Sae sat down.

Pulling out a cutting board and knife, Makoto opened up the package and began to dice the meat. She figured a beef curry would be just the thing tonight. Sae had become lost in thought again, and was staring intently into her tea, as though it might have answers.

"So what happened with the case?" asked Makoto, affecting an air of casualness that she didn't quite feel. Sae didn't look up, but she did sigh deeply.

"So you could tell huh?" asked Sae, her voice heavy. "One of our leads turned out to be a dead end. Or at least, he's stopped talking to us. We can't get anything out of him with most conventional lines of inquiry and methods. My boss is thinking about passing the case over to an undercover team for the time being. It feels like he's threatening me," Sae replied and Makoto frowned. She began spicing the meat before setting it aside to pull the vegetables over to be chopped.

"Is there anyway to explain to the Director that you need more time with your lead? I'm sure you'd be able to convince your guy to talk if you could just get a little more time with him," declared Makoto, making quick work of the vegetables. She pulled out a heavy pot and began to brown the beef, the smell of the cooking meat rising from the pot enticingly.

"I'm working on a memo explaining that; I've been trying to figure out how to word it convincingly," replied Sae, taking a sip of her tea. "Anyway, it's nothing to worry about really. Business as usual when you're a woman," she finished, her voice taking on a bitter edge. For a moment, the Niijima sisters were quiet, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. The Sae broke the silence. "So how's your tutoring going? I know Principal Kobayakawa paired you with that delinquent," asked Sae, and Makoto paused, putting the beef stock down for a moment.

"It's...not as bad as I initially thought it would be," replied Makoto haltingly. "Sakamoto is beginning to show improvement, although there hasn't been enough time to determine how successful Principal Kobayakawa and Ms. Kawakami's plan will be," she continued. Sae frowned and furrowed her brows.

"Kawakami is behind this? Well, it does sound like one of her hare-brained attempts at raising her status in the eyes of the Principal. Probably to get funding for her literature club," muttered Sae with narrowed eyes. Makoto winced.

"Well, don't let that boy Sakamoto drag you down. Do what you need to do in order to earn the Principal's good opinion, but otherwise-"

"Study hard, get a good recommendation and get into a prestigious university," Makoto cut across, smiling wryly as she began stirring the ingredients together. "Don't worry sis, I know." finished Makoto, knowing her sister's advice word-for-word by now. At this response, Sae's features smoothed, and she no longer looking so suspicious.

"Exactly. Sorry to repeat it so much," replied Sae, laughing a little. "Getting ahead is important, trying to be a woman in the workplace means you need to get used to working twice as hard for half the result," she continued, her voice taking on that familiar bitter edge that it did every time she thought about her work.

"Don't worry sis, I'm being careful," said Makoto, walking over to sit by across from her sister. Sae gave her a tired smile.

"I know, but I can't help but worry," replied Sae, toying with her mug handle. She covered her mouth with a hand as she yawned. The day seemed to have finally caught up with her sister, Makoto observed.

"Dinner won't be ready for an hour, why don't you go ahead and have a bath? You've had a hard day and you need to relax. Stress negatively affects the body and can make you less effective during the day," suggested Makoto, gently touching her sister's shoulder. Usually Sae shied away from physical contact, but she tolerated Makoto's hand this time.

"Well, when you put it that way I can't argue with you. Thanks Makoto," replied Sae, who stood up and headed to the bathroom. Makoto watched her go with a look of concern. Shaking her head, she stood up and began puttering around the kitchen again, thinking over Sae's words.

In spite of everyone's heavy disdain for Sakamoto, what she'd seen over the few days indicated that he was anything other than the brainless thug everyone thought he was. Sakamoto was hyperactive, loud and a knuckle head, she thought, but she sensed that there was something there that she wanted to see grow and develop. Although he'd had a great deal of hardship, he didn't seem ground down or worn out the way her sister did. Makoto found herself wanting to get to know this boy who'd found a way to keep charging forward into the future