Chapter 10

"No. Not again. Please...stop," she's so tired.

It's the same nightmare, as Mary expected. Everything is the same. The golden horizon at first, next is the darkness closing in, then finally, the crimson sky.

Once again, she's drowning, surrendering to the inky, black waves just waiting for the inevitable when suddenly, she hears it.

"Mary-san!"

Dread runs through Mary's body like an electric shock. She could recognize that voice anywhere. She hasn't heard it in a while. And this is the last place she would ever want to hear it, again.

"TSUZURA!"

Mary whips her head around frantically, searching for the source of the voice amongst the chaotic water swirling around her. Wave after wave, her body is battered by the strength of the storm and she struggles to keep her head above the black abyss. She pushes forward, swimming whenever she catches a lull between each swell.

Alarmingly, she realizes she can't hear anything over the sound of crashing water. 'Where did she go?'

"Mary-san!"

Her energy renews with vigor at the sound of pure anguish laced in the words.

'I'm going to find her and keep her safe. I'm going to keep her safe. I will always keep her safe.'

Gritting her teeth, Mary repeats the mantra in her head and drives forward through her mounting fatigue.

Above her, blood-red storm clouds are gathering, crackling with intensity in sync with Mary's kicking legs. For the first time since she's experienced the nightmares, Mary doesn't give in. Instead, she fights. She fights with every ounce of power she has left.

"Mary-san!"

The voice is much closer now. Her eyes are desperately scanning every inch of the water in front of her, praying to whoever is listening that she isn't too late.

Then, just to the right of her, she hears a faint splashing, incongruous with the sounds of the thundering tides she's grown accustomed to.

"TSUZURA! Wait for me, I'm coming!" With all of her strength, Mary kicks her legs and propels forward, toward the direction of the splashing.

Her back is to Mary, but she finally reaches her.

"Tsuzura, I got you. Don't worry, I got you," she's crying freely now, tears mixing with the salty water that surrounds the both of them. Her arms are encircling Tsuzura's torso and her legs are doing their best to keep them both afloat. Above it all, the relief she feels is overwhelming. These nightmares always ended with her falling deeper and deeper in the cold darkness that an outcome like this was more than she could ever hope for.

"Tsuzura, I'm so glad I found you," Mary sobs into her shoulder. She can't believe she's holding her best friend in her arms again. It had been so long that she almost forgot how good it felt to be connected together, in this way.

"Mary-san," Tsuzura says shakily.

"It's okay, I got you. You're safe now," Mary reassures her. "Just hold on to me, I got you."

Tsuzura's head lolls back slowly and settles onto Mary's shoulder. Her usually bright, cerulean eyes are hazy, taking in the raging sky above before finally landing on Mary's.

The sight is a familiar one.

She's crying, just like she was on the day she last saw her.

"Tsuzura, please don't cry. You're okay now," Mary's voice is slightly frantic. That same alarming feeling in the pit of her stomach she had before, begins to take root. "You're with me, now! I will always keep you safe, remember?" She squeezes her ever so closer, hoping to dispel the doubt from her mind.

Despite her words, Tsuzura's tears only fall faster. She doesn't make a sound, but Mary can feel her grief. She can see it in every tear that travels down her cheeks.

"You saved me, Mary-san," Tsuzura whispers, trailing a hand down Mary's face. "Why do you keep saving me?"

"What do you mean? I had to. I couldn't leave you out here alone," Mary cries adamantly.

Tsuzura smiles weakly at that and slips the hand she has on Mary's cheek to the back of her head. Adrenaline is coursing through Mary's veins, but she swears her heart beats exponentially faster at the move.

"Stay strong, my prince."

When Tsuzura closes her eyes, Mary does the same and doesn't hesitate to lean in and connect their lips.

The warmth that fills her body from the kiss is almost enough to make her forget that she's dreaming. Almost.

Her blood runs cold. That damned fear that has been sitting in her stomach builds and builds and builds until Mary can't take it anymore and begrudgingly opens her eyes.

The dark, blustery sea has finally calmed, but her arms are empty. She spins, turning in every direction, but there's no sign of Tsuzura.

"NO!" She wails, "No, not again."

She wakes up crying. Her chest aches where dream-Tsuzura had been laying, her head is pounding from the constant tears, and…

Itsuki is holding her in a close embrace.

"Oh god," Mary sighs, quickly wiping the tears from her face. If only there was a way to erase Itsuki's memory of this. So fucking embarrassing.

"We don't have to talk about it, don't worry," Itsuki murmurs. She shifts slightly, pulling the blanket higher over their bodies on the couch they're laying on.

Relieved, Mary burrows her head further into the small cocoon they've made. She covertly hides her reddened cheeks in the process. This is the first time she's been comforted by someone who isn't Tsuzura and she's not sure how to act.

"I hate to admit it, but...I don't deserve a friend like you," Mary sniffles.

Without missing a beat, Itsuki scoffs, "Yeah, you really don't-Ouch!"

Mary brings her fist back from where she jabbed Itsuki in the side, "Don't push it."

Itsuki chuckles, "What? After all that, this is the thanks I get?!"

Despite herself, Mary chuckles wryly. "Yes, and you would be wise to accept it!"

In the early morning light, they settle into a surprisingly easy silence.

"Saotome-senpai," Itsuki begins carefully.

"Hm," she grunts, cautious of where this conversation might lead.

"I...um," she clears her throat and tries again, "I know it might be difficult for you to talk about Tsuzura, but um, I think it might help. With the nightmares."

Mary can feel Itsuki's arms go tense where they're wrapped around her, as if she's worried that Mary might lash out. I don't blame her, Mary admits.

Although a part of her knows Itsuki is right, she's still hesitant to talk about the nightmares because she's almost certain Yumeko is the cause of it, too. She wouldn't be able to tell the whole truth without letting slip of their intimacy together. Collectively, the loss of what-could-have-been with Yumeko resonates too closely to her situation with Tsuzura. The sudden loss is just too jarring on Mary that it must have culminated in these nightmares.

Alright, she didn't really lose Yumeko. But the cold rejection of that morning still hurts when Mary thinks about it. For all intents and purposes, Mary definitely counts that as a loss.

"I thought you said we didn't have to talk about it," she grumbles from under the blanket.

"Yes, of course you don't," Itsuki confirms. "But I'm just saying, you know. Maybe...keeping all these feelings to yourself isn't exactly helping you."

She hates how right Itsuki can be.

"Even if I were to talk about it, I wouldn't really know where to start," she confesses, shrugging one shoulder.

"You can talk about anything. It doesn't have to be the nightmare. Like...what was your favorite thing to do with Tsuzura? Something you miss the most?"

Everything, Mary wants to say. Instead, she stays silent. There are so many things she misses about Tsuzura that words escape her.

"Maybe another time, Itsuki-san," Mary exhales.

"Right."

"No, listen, I appreciate all that you're doing, but," she takes a breath, "you've seen it for yourself. I'm not in the best state to rehash any more than I already have. I'm sorry, but I can't."

Itsuki nods solemnly, "I understand."

"I just want to get back to normal. Sleep in my own bed. And for more than a few hours at a time."

"Well, you're going to need an actual bed to sleep in for that to happen, idiot," Itsuki chides.

"As soon as I start thinking you're a good friend, you go and say something like that," she says rolling her eyes.

"I'm just telling you like it is! Your bed hasn't been made in days, which means it barely counts as a bed. Thus, your 'bed' basically doesn't exist. Logic," she states, matter-of-factly. All Mary can do is glare at Itsuki's chin, which is all she can see of her at the angle she's currently slumped in. "After classes today, why don't we study in your dorm. I'll bring new sheets and you are going to make your bed, so you can sleep in it tonight."

"If you want to kick me out, you should just say so," Mary rebukes, sticking out her tongue petulantly.

"Fine, get off your ass and out of my room, senpai," Itsuki replies mockingly. With an overly dramatic huff, she stands abruptly, snatching the poofy comforter they had been sharing along with her.

From her spot on the couch, Mary tries (and fails) to suppress a shiver and shouts at Itsuki's retreating form, "I take it all back, you're the worst friend, ever!"

"It should be illegal how easy it is to swindle all this money from people."

"It is."

"What is?" Itsuki says, distractedly as she mentally counts her winnings.

"It is illegal to swindle money from people," Mary answers dryly.

"Well, obviously, I was joking," she reasons, unconvincingly. As they turn the last corner of the hallway that leads to Mary's bedroom, they nearly collide with someone passing by.

"Up to more trouble, Sumeragi-san?"

"Oh, Igarashi-senpai!" Itsuki exclaims, bowing her head slightly in apology. "What brings you here?"

Mary merely nods in acknowledgment of the student council secretary. Ever since the night of Tsuzura's disappearance, she doesn't trust anyone that can trust so fully in Kirari Momobami. Having been on the student council herself, she supposes she shouldn't trust Itsuki, either. However, she's never given her a reason to suspect anything, especially if her friendship these past few days has been anything to go by.

"I'm just going to go ahead Itsuki-san," Mary interrupts, taking the stack of bedding Itsuki was lugging for her.

"Ok, Saotome-senpai, I'll catch up with you," she chirps.

Ignoring the side-eye Sayaka gives her, Mary brushes past the pair and heads to her room.

Okay, Mary, you got this. It's just a bed, after all. All you have to do is face what you've been relentlessly avoiding for the past 72 hours. No big deal. Easy as pie, she tells herself.

Once she reaches her door, she clumsily maneuvers the blankets and sheets onto one arm and wrestles with the door knob until it gives way.

Just face your fea-

"Ah, Saotome-sama!" Yumeko purrs, shaking a paw next to her face, "I've been waiting for you."

The pile of bed sheets unceremoniously drops from Mary's arms into a messy heap at her feet.

There, on her bedroom floor, Yumeko places one balled fist in front of the other, slowly crawling to where Mary stands in shock in the doorway. Her jaw is hanging absurdly wide as she gawks at the alluring sight. Her ears take in the 'clinking' sound that the silver band on her thumb produces as it makes contact with the floorboards, the noise growing louder as Yumeko creeps closer. Her eyes religiously follow the motion of her uniform skirt as it billows with a small swish behind her. And when she looks in her eyes, they glow a deep red, burning as hot as the palpable tension in the air between them.

"Where have you been, Saotome-sama? I was getting so, very lonely without you," Yumeko's voice, full of lust, drifts steadily higher from where she's perched on the floor like a snake being summoned by flute.

When they finally reach her ears and process in her mind, she absent-mindedly questions herself, Where have I been?

Then it hits her, Oh, god. Itsuki! She's going to walk in here any second now! Shit!

In a split second, she snaps out of her Yumeko-induced trance and fumbles for the handle behind her. Once open, she slams the door shut and sets to race out into the hallway.

Luckily (well, unluckily really), she doesn't have to go far as the girl she's looking for is standing right outside, arm outstretched as if she were reaching for the door knob.

"Saotome-senpai," Itsuki gasps, her eyes full of surprise, "you scared me!"

Mary can only guess what her own face looks like after seeing the sight she was ambushed with minutes earlier.

"You can't go inside!" she blurts.

"What? Why?" Itsuki scoffs, crossing her arms in front of her.

"I...um, I..." Mary scrambles for any coherent thought, but the only thing running through her mind is the image of Yumeko waiting on the other side of the door.

"Don't be silly, I promised I would help you with this," she counters, making to step around the girl blocking the door.

"You can't!" She bursts out, following Itsuki's movement to obstruct her path. "I, um…" her mind struggles to find words among flashing images of red eyes, short skirts, and sheer stockings. Say something!

"You can't come in because this is someone I have to do on my own- no, SOMETHING! Something I have to do on my own!"

Itsuki snorts, shooting her a peculiar look, "You really are something else, Saotome-senpai."

She can only stare at the girl in silence, hoping that she doesn't push further about her slip-up.

"Fine, I get it. You want to do this alone. I'm okay with that," Itsuki relents, "but just know, that if you need any help in there, you can always call me."

Mary pulls the girl into a tight hug to hide the affronted look on her face.

"Trust me," she mutters, still locked in their embrace, "I don't think this is something you'd want to help me with."

When they part, Itsuki places her hands on Mary's shoulders. "Have a good night, senpai. Try to get a good night's sleep!"

Mary plasters on what she hopes is a convincing smile and feebly waves a hand as Itsuki turns on her heel to leave for her bedroom.

"Holy crap," she wheezes through her mouth as soon as she's out of sight, "what the hell is going on!?"

Taking a deep breath, she reluctantly turns back to her bedroom door bracing herself for whatever comes next.

The door swings open.

The room is...empty? But that magnetism. She can feel it pulling in her chest.

Yumeko steps out from behind the open door.

No, of course the room isn't empty, Mary berates herself, nothing is ever that easy for you.

All at once, that airy, sensual voice is filling her left ear and a familiar hand slinks across the front of her blazer only stopping when it reaches her shoulder. "Was that Sumeragi-san that I heard outside?"

She grits her teeth, focusing on the bed in her room: a reminder of every excruciating feeling that Mary had to endure the past few days. It was a life-line that would keep her from succumbing to the temptation swirling around her.

"Oh, Saotome-sama, please don't tell me…" Yumeko trails off. The hand on her shoulder is inching downwards, a blazing hot palm coming to rest just above her chest. Her breath catches.

You're supposed to be furious, Mary! She left you! Slowly, she rebuilds a protective layer around her heart made out of pure anger.

"Have you...replaced me so quickly?" Her hand closes over Mary's breast as she finishes.

Mary's lips part on instinct. "Unh," she reluctantly lets out a moan.

NO, snap out of it. You can't let her get to you.

"Please, Saotome-sama!" Yumeko pants, moving closer to face Mary full-on. "Please tell me what I've done wrong! What is it that Itsuki has that your Mittens can't give you?"

Regret, remember? She regrets spending the night with you.

Her other hand moves to Mary's elbow and together, they leave a burning trail down the front of her body as she falls, achingly slow, to her knees in front of Mary.

Yumeko's palms come to rest on the back of her thighs, cupping her bare skin as her red eyes bore into her own desire-filled eyes. "I promise to fix it, Saotome-sama…I'll fix it." Her breath whispers across the surface of her skin, leaving goose-bumps in their wake.

She's so close to giving in. It has been so long since they've been together in this way that the temptation is overwhelming. In a panic, she snaps her attention back to the bed across the room.

Focus, Mary. You can't give in. This is the same girl that teased you into believing there could be something more. The same girl who LEFT you, whispering words of regret as she left. Don't give i-

Wait.

She furrows her brow, taking a second look at the room.

My bed…

"My bed," she repeats aloud.

"Oh, yes Master," Yumeko drawls as she hurries to perch herself on the bed.

The sound of shuffling hands and legs on the floor breaks Mary out of her daze. "No! No, I meant my bed. Why are there sheets on it?"

She didn't notice it at first of course, being distracted by the seductress who was now lounging across her bed would do that. But now that she's somewhat alert, she sees that there are definitely new sheets spread across her bed.

"Oh! Are you pleased, Saotome-sama? When I came back after that-um, one morning," she falters slightly at the words, but recovers quickly, "I noticed your sheets were gone. I wanted to be a good house pet and replace them for you."

Mary is simply out of words. This whole time, Yumeko had already made my bed for me? She took the time to actually do this? Wait, even more surprising, she came back after all that talk about regrets?

In hindsight, she hasn't even been to her room once since that morning. Had she returned to her dorm for even one second she would have seen what Yumeko had left for her.

"What…? You...you actually did this?" She watches as Yumeko daintily nods her head in confirmation.

Mary's jaw is starting to hurt from how much she's been hanging it open. She's so fucking exhausted. All of this information is just too much for her to handle.

She walks over to the bed, disregarding her rules about outside clothes on the bed, and crumbles on the soft bedding. Her head falls heavily onto the palms of her hands. As soon as she plops onto the bed, a puff of Yumeko's scent fills her nostrils.

"The bed smells like you," she mumbles under her breath.

Mary must have said it louder than intended because Yumeko hesitantly replies softly, "Oh. Well...I hope you don't mind, but…" Is she blushing? Mary is bewildered. This night just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

"I...was waiting for you to come back to your room, but...you never came," the girl finishes somberly, picking at the fabric of the blanket underneath her. "It would always be so late when I realized you weren't coming, so...I would fall asleep waiting for you here, in bed."

...and more weirder.

Her forehead is wrinkled in confusion and her eyes are barely focused.

"That one night?"

"No," she pauses, "every night. At dawn, I would return back to my room to get ready for classes."

Mary is baffled. None of this...makes sense. This can't be true… Yumeko was so against whatever happened between us that morning. There's no way… Her internal ramblings are interrupted by temptation, once again.

"I was waiting for you for so long," Yumeko whines, sliding her hand over to Mary's exposed knee. Her fingers drift upwards, coming to rest just under the hem of her skirt. "Now that you're finally here, we can make up for lost time."

At Yumeko's smirk, something in Mary snaps.

The exhaustion, confusion, bitterness, and lust catch up to her like an avalanche and she lashes out, grabbing Yumeko's wrist where it rests on her thigh. In one fluid motion, she pounces on the girl and straddles her torso, pinning both wrists above the girl's head.

Yumeko's hips buck harshly at the breathtaking display of power, but Mary ignores it in the pursuit of much-needed answers.

"What do you want from me," Mary growls.

She giggles. "Saotome-sama, I think you know what I want from you," she replies cheekily.

"Stop! I've had enough of these fucking games!" Mary yells.

Yumeko stares in silence at her outburst. It seems that the seriousness of her tone has finally registered.

"What do you mean, Mary-san?" Yumeko answers, clearing her throat.

"What is it that we're doing, Yumeko?" Mary grits out, letting go of her hold on her wrists.

"I...thought we were on the same page, Mary-san," Yumeko says as she leans up on her elbows. "We...benefit from each other's...pleasures."

"That's...all?" Mary says in a small voice.

"I'm your house pet and you're my master," Yumeko recites. "Plain and simple, no? You're the one who made those rules, Mary-san."

"Which you broke," Mary points out. "Something...changed that night. You know it did." She's looking intently into Yumeko's eyes, watching for any flicker of recognition at her words.

Although she doesn't catch anything, she pushes forward.

"It's like some crazy rollercoaster with you!" She can hear her voice begin to shake, but she can't stop now. Everything is starting to pour out of her mouth uncontrollably. "We were supposed to play our roles: house pet and master. But then suddenly, it's sleepovers and cuddling? What do you expect me to think, Yumeko?!"

Despite her literally sitting in her lap, Yumeko tries to avoid eye contact with Mary.

"No! Look at me, Yumeko!" Mary spits furiously.

Submissively, Yumeko brings her eyes back to the girl straddling her.

"You left me alone that morning, ignored me during the day, and now, now you're here being jealous of Itsuki of all people and telling me that you've been waiting for me to come back to bed! To my bed!"

"Well, what am I supposed to think, Mary-san!?" Yumeko roars, eyes flashing red with fury this time, instead of lust.

Mary is taken aback. This is the most display of emotion she's ever witnessed from the girl.

"You spent three whole days with Itsuki! What am I supposed to think when I see you walking out of her room at the crack of dawn?!"

'Walking out of her room'? Her mind races to keep up with everything that's being said. Is it...the first night I spent at Itsuki's? Distantly, she remembers seeing someone rush into their room and a glint of sparkling light before the door closed.

Mary picks up Yumeko's hand that adorns her signature ring on her thumb. The light must have reflected on her ring before the door closed.

"...That was you?"

Yumeko's face is contorted in aggravation.

"I wasn't ignoring you, Mary-san. You were avoiding me," she accuses. "You thought I wouldn't notice, right? But every time I approached you, you would turn away and hide your face from me."

Mary can't even deny it. She was avoiding her.

"I thought that you would at least talk to me as your friend. But yesterday, you ran from me. You ran away from me and took comfort in Itsuki's arms!"

"In this room, you don't even let me hug you or kiss you or see you without clothes. But I know you Mary-san, and you letting Itsuki comfort you like that is more vulnerable than being naked."

The words settle heavily on Mary's heart, beating down the protective layer she tried to built with anger she had towards Yumeko. Now though, she's realizing that the anger is unfounded. She never once thought that Yumeko would notice, let alone care. But she noticed everything.

"Then why…" Mary swallows, scared to hear the answer to her next question, "...Why did you say that in the morning?"

Yumeko's mouth twitches at that. Ah, there's that recognition she was watching for.

"I thought you were asleep," she whispers.

Mary shakes her head.

"I couldn't face you after hearing what you said, Yumeko-san," Mary confesses. "These past three days with Itsuki...I have been trying to protect myself from whatever-the-hell this is that's going on between us."

She shifts uncomfortably on Yumeko's lap, hyper-aware of their positioning for the first time during the whole conversation. Leaning to the right to remove most of her weight from Yumeko's torso, she locks eyes with the girl she's been avoiding this week.

"Yumeko-san," Mary pleads. "What do you want from me?"