DISCLAIMER: Sorry for the slower updates lately, I have found myself running into a slight case of the 'wtf it's winter already' blues. :-( But all of your lovely kind reviews have bolstered my flagging spirits, so I have a short update for you all today. ^^ Thanks so much to everyone who still enjoys reading this story, I certainly would not have gotten so far with it without you.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

It had barely been thirty minutes since Shizuru left, but Natsuki was already pacing back and forth, her restored health and confidence giving her a burst of restless energy that she hadn't experienced the likes of since those first few years after being made into a Slayer. Her thoughts were all over the place. Shizuru's revelation of a secret that Natsuki hadn't even known she was keeping and the memory of the kisses they had shared whirling around persistently in her mind; along with her eagerness to free Alyssa from her coma, and her sudden insight into the life of another Slayer that she'd never met. The myriad of different bits of information, each as crucially important as the next seemed to be crowding Natsuki out of her own mind, leaving her desperate for some way to escape the overwhelming demands.

Certainly Natsuki agreed that all of these issues each deserved her undivided attention, and for at least one of them she wished that she could spend some time just repeating it over in her mind for the next week. Shizuru kissed her. Shizuru was her first kiss. She had always heard that your first kiss was supposed to be a life changing event, but Natsuki hadn't realized that she would feel so fundamentally transformed by the simple act of someone else's lips touching hers. But like so many things, the kiss had been more than that. They had been so close that they were sharing air, so close that their bodies overlapped, until it seemed that that Shizuru's lips on hers, and her warm breath brushing over and inside her was the air that Natsuki needed. She had always known that kissing Shizuru would be a pleasurable experience, but it had been profound and life changing in ways that she knew she might never fully comprehend.

But Shizuru hadn't offered her any sort of firm commitments, or asked Natsuki for any of her own; at least none other than the ones they always had to each other. And it was confusing because Natsuki couldn't tell if that made her feel disappoint or a sense of reprieve. On one hand, she felt like she wanted Shizuru to need her, that it was only natural that Natsuki should always be the most important thing in Shizuru's life. But as ever the pleasant feeling of someone needing her in their life was soon overcome by the constant knowledge of a Slayer's dangerous existence, and even though she knew that everyone's lives were impermanent, her own still seemed extremely tenuous; such that the notion of Shizuru depending on her too much caused her to feel a sense of grief for the pain her best friend would inevitably experience.

The sound of familiar movement in the hallway finally distracted Natsuki from her introspective doldrums, and she barely waited long enough for Mai to close the door to their room behind herself before running across the room to pull Mai into a breath stealing hug. "You are amazing." Natsuki murmured into Mai's ear, smiling as the witch blushed shyly at the effusive praise.

"Um... thanks. I didn't expect that you'd miss me that much..." Mai replied awkwardly, her eyes shifting quickly around the room, obviously surprised to find Natsuki alone.

"You got her to come visit me." The Slayer clarified, "You didn't have to do that."

Mai blushed, finally returning Natsuki's hug, "I couldn't resist trying." She admitted, "I know that seeing Shizuru makes you happy."

"Sometimes I don't think I deserve someone like you in my life, you're so good to me." Natsuki said sadly, wondering at Mai's apparent selflessness. Why was Mai so willing to do things for Natsuki that would seem to hurt her?

Mai smirked to lighten the mood but her pale greyish blue eyes still watched Natsuki longingly, "Well it's too late for you to do anything about it now. I care about you and you won't be able to make me stop." Reluctantly Natsuki released Mai from her tight embrace, allowing her to take the few bags from the supermarket that she had been carrying into the kitchen, admiring how snugly the orange haired girl's tight short skirt hugged her rounded curves. "Was your day alright?" Mai asked cheerfully as she put away the groceries, seemingly unaware of Natsuki's intense admiration of her backside.

"Hmm." Natsuki acknowledged blankly as she enjoyed the view, wondering just what her problem was that she could barely stop herself from crossing the room and caressing Mai's soft curves when the taste Shizuru's kiss still lingered on her lips. Although she suspected that anyone seeing Mai bent over like she was to put the vegetables in the crisper might be similarly tempted. "I like your work uniform." She blurted out; wanting to smack herself as soon as she said it, since now Mai would definitely know that Natsuki had been staring at her ass.

At least Mai didn't really seem to mind, glancing over shoulder to look at Natsuki coyly before slowly rising from her more prone position. "It does seem to get me better tips than I've gotten working at other restaurants in the past." She said innocently, knowing that the idea of other people enjoying the view would drive Natsuki crazy. She giggled slightly when she heard the Slayer's soft growl in response before turning back to putting the dry goods in the few cabinets. "Don't worry though, the boss has a strict 'no touching' policy."

"Hmm." Natsuki replied, her grunt this time a vague noise of approval, silently approaching Mai and gently grabbing one of the globes of her ass in her hand, giving the soft flesh a slight squeeze. "I'm glad you don't have a similar policy in place for me." She teased, enjoying how Mai pushed back into her sudden invasive touch instead of shying away, although it seemed to make her witch unable to speak. She caressed Mai for a few more moments before grudgingly releasing her so that she could help her witch put the rest of the groceries away, smiling at the way Mai glared at her, wondering if Mai was annoyed with her for touching in the first place or stopping so abruptly.

"Hmph. Like you'd stop just because I told you to."

"Mai... of course I would stop if you didn't enjoy me touching you." Natsuki defended herself, confused when she heard Mai muttering under her breath that those weren't the same thing, but as her witch clearly didn't intend to be overheard just then Natsuki didn't press the issue, though she did wonder what Mai meant by that. Natsuki sighed as she realized just how antsy and restless she still was and decided she might use this opportunity to take some of her own advice to Red and try allowing Mai to be more involved in other parts of her life. After all, it seemed obvious from their conversation that this other Slayer normally allowed her friends to be much more involved with the slaying part of her life than Natsuki did, and she couldn't help but wonder if maybe this mysterious Buffy was on to something. Could it really be fair for her to call on Mai and Midori for help only when things were truly dire? "Um... Hey Mai? Are you really tired tonight?"

"I'm not really tired anymore, why?" Mai replied curiously, not bothering to point out that being felt up by Natsuki in the kitchen wasn't an activity that made her feel overly sleepy.

"Well... I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go on patrol with me." Natsuki asked shyly, the request sounding sort of ridiculous once she spoke it aloud, since why would Mai want to do something dirty and dangerous like prowling around dark and smelly alleys looking for vampires?

But Mai was always showing Natsuki how much she still didn't understand the strange girl she lived with, and instead gave Natsuki a surprised and happy grin, "You really mean it? You'll let me go with you?"

"Only if you want to... I'd understand if you didn't. It's not even that fun most nights, I mostly just run into vamps that barely know what they are but it's still important to get rid of them... you know, since they eat people."

"I can't believe you'd ask me to go with you is all... I know it's dangerous."

"A little. But I can protect you." Natsuki said proudly before continuing awkwardly, "...And I wanted to show you that I trust you."

Mai blushed slightly still staring at Natsuki; her blue eyes wide with amazement that made Natsuki feel a bit guilty. Had she really shown so little of her trust in Mai's abilities because of her own over protectiveness? "I... I don't know what to say. I'd love to go with you." Mai replied cheerfully, though after a moment she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Natsuki, "Wait a minute. I know why you're really asking me to go with you. How are you healthy enough to go on patrol tonight? You were in the hospital yesterday."

I have to tell her. Natsuki thought, but when she spoke her words still betrayed her, falling back on the old habit of keeping the big problems to herself. She wondered if she would ever be able to stop. "Well I'm feeling all better now. Did you want me to take off my shirt for you again so you can get a better look?" She teased, wondering just what she would be able to say to explain herself if Mai called her bluff and saw the new dark scars added to the already heavily marred surface of her body. She knew she was safe when Mai just made an annoyed noise at her and walked off, grumbling something about getting changed out of her work uniform. Natsuki swallowed down the pain she felt, wondering why she couldn't just come out and say it, let Mai know more about her life? Or anyone else for that matter?

Natsuki only had to wait for a few minutes before Mai came back into the main room, dressed in much more practical jeans and a form-hugging blue and white baseball t-shirt. "You look beautiful in that too." Natsuki blurted out again, blushing and wondering why she didn't seem to have any trouble at all saying things that were slightly embarrassing. But she felt better when Mai smiled sweetly at her compliment, apparently forgiving her for the earlier teasing. "...You ready to go?" She asked hesitantly, holding out Mai's leather jacket and helmet for her.

"Sure, let's go."

Soon they were sitting astride the midnight blue Kawasaki, Mai clinging tightly to Natsuki as they sped from the darkness of night towards the bright city lights. As they reached the more crowded streets, Natsuki navigated the little motorcycle expertly through the thick traffic, past parks and office buildings, to an area around Tokyo University that always seemed to be one of the favourite hunting grounds for any vampires who preferred the humans they drank from to be young and attractive. The rate of dropouts and even suicides among freshmen overwhelmed by the intense workload made the student disappearances go mostly ignored, the university administration unwilling to acknowledge such an uncomfortable problem.

She drove past the sprawling main campus and into an area full of trendy shops, coffee joints, bars and nightclubs that made up their own little idyllic village within the large city, all of which were swarming with young adults looking to have some fun even on a Monday night. Natsuki grinned victoriously when she spotted a small space between all the vehicles crowded against the sidewalk just large enough to fit her bike. As they climbed off the bike, Natsuki giggled when Mai could barely stop studying their crowded surroundings long enough to hand her the helmet to store with the bike. "I take it you haven't been to Toudai Town before?"

Mai shook her head enthusiastically, "No... I used to think about going to school here though." She blushed slightly as Natsuki took one of her hands and gently pulled her forward, eager to get started on their patrol. "You know, it's probably funny for me to say this, but everyone here is so young!"

Natsuki laughed, "Yeah I know, but most of the 'real grownups' who work at nearby offices or something don't come here. Don't let the party atmosphere fool you though, vamps love this place. Never come here without me."

"Hmm." Mai agreed, glancing sideways at Natsuki teasingly, "Is that why, or are you worried that I would find a handsome college aged boyfriend?"

"You're just trying to test me tonight aren't you?" Natsuki growled playfully, leading Mai into a nearby crowded nightclub, the heavily muscled bouncer collecting money at the door simply waving cheerfully at her as she entered. It was dark inside, a fairly small room that felt smaller for all the bodies crowded onto the small dance floor. It was lit mostly by purple and blue neon lights, the bass from the local college band jamming away inexpertly but with lots of enthusiasm on the small stage loud enough to be felt throbbing rhythmically against their skin.

"They know you here?" Mai asked suspiciously, having noticed the long line of slightly drunk college students they passed on their way in.

"Um, yeah. I try to make it by here at least once every week. Vamps love places like this." Natsuki explained hastily, having to shout to be heard over the loud music. She winced when she heard her name being shouted by a familiar voice, but still headed over to the bar, wondering with some amusement how jealous Mai would be at the attractive bartender being on a first name basis with her.

"Hey Natsuki!" The Slayer rolled her eyes, but still grinned as she approached the tall female bartender waving at her enthusiastically. The young woman's chin length dirty blonde hair and conservatively cut masculine attire was in sharp contrast to what most of the other women in the club were wearing, their fetishy costumes looking more like something out of a strange hentai manga than anything Natsuki would wear in public. ...Not that she knew where Midori kept those in an unlabeled box at the bottom of her closet.

"Yo Sei." She greeted shortly, still holding Mai's hand to keep her close, sending a few angry glares at college boys whose eyes lingered on her witch for too long, much to Mai's apparent amusement.

"New girl tonight?" The bartender teased her dark grey eyes dancing with amusement as she slid two sodas across the bar to the high school aged girls.

Natsuki glared at the troublemaker with annoyance as she felt Mai take a step away from her and let go of her hand, sensing blue eyes looking at her questioningly. "Sei, you know I never bring anyone here."

"Hmm... that may be so. But you always seem to leave with someone."

The Slayer growled dangerously as she stalked closer to her meddlesome acquaintance, "Have you ever seen any of them again after I leave with them? And do I look like a slut to you?"

Sei just laughed unapologetically, "Not a slut maybe, but you definitely seem like a player. And I would know." She looked over Mai thoughtfully, smiling broadly as the high school girl blushed and moved closer to Natsuki again, unused to the grownup atmosphere of the nightclub or the harsh almost boyish speech passing between the two friends. "You must have little Natsuki on a pretty tight leash for her to care so much about what you think."

Mai gazed at the older girl shyly, but felt more confident when Natsuki put her arm around her waist, holding her close as she sensed the witch's discomfort with the strange new place. "Hmm... I'm on her leash actually. She just doesn't like for me to hear things that will make me want to run away." She replied seriously, showing no hint of teasing in her eyes as she leaned into Natsuki's touch.

Natsuki would have laughed out loud at seeing a blush on the insufferably bold Sei's face for the first time if she wasn't blushing so much herself. God, I never know what Mai is going to say. Now Sei is going to think that I'm making Mai do all kinds of kinky stuff, and as soon as she recovers she's never going to stop making fun of me. Natsuki cleared her throat pointedly, drawing Sei's now unusually wide grey eyes back to her. "If you're done trying to make my girl uncomfortable now, have you seen anyone suspicious around tonight?" She asked, generally trusting the college girl's ability to spot vampires. Sei was just a normal human, but she was really great at reading people and her ability to pick out a vamp even in this crowd rivalled Natsuki's own.

"No not yet. You going to stop by again later tonight?" Sei asked thoughtfully, scanning the small crowded dance floor with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, unless things are too busy out there." Natsuki confirmed, knowing that it was far from unusual for vampires to hunt in this place later in the night.

"Hmm. Yeah, well I don't see anyone who looks too sketchy, but you feel free to look for yourself. I know we have a lot less students mysteriously 'dropping out' or otherwise disappearing when you're around." Sei said, wincing as she heard her name being called by a grumpy male voice that sounded much older than most of the clientele in the small club. "Oops... guess that's the sign that I've been slacking off long enough. Thanks again for dropping by. And bring your girl again next time too, seeing her definitely made my night a lot better."

Natsuki barely resisted the urge to punch Sei's cheeky grin off of her face, instead confining her response to a rude hand gesture as she silently indicated to Mai that they needed to get moving. "Sorry about that rude idiot." She murmured in Mai's ear, receiving an amused grin and a shrug in response. Not sensing anything unusual, Natsuki pulled Mai with her out the backdoor of the club and into the dirty alleyway behind it, a feral angry smile on her face when she saw the female vampire drinking from a skinny nerdy looking college guy that she had shoved against the faded brick wall. His thick glasses had fallen off of his face, saved from falling to the ground only by their unstylish nylon geekstrap, and his perfectly ironed dress shirt had been ripped open a few buttons to reveal part of his pale skinny chest and neck where the vampire was currently feeding. The young male looked slightly confused and in pain but he made no move to struggle, as though this was as far as he had ever gotten with a girl, so even if she was acting weird and her face had suddenly turned all bumpy he wasn't sure if he should try and make her stop.

Shoving down her amusement, Natsuki extended the claws in her right hand since her left was still holding Mai's and strode quickly over to the dysfunctional couple, the sharp bony points of her claws effortlessly severing the vampire's head from the rest of her body before she'd even registered the threat. The college boy coughed loudly as the dust from his dispatched abusive 'girlfriend' floated into his airway, glaring at Natsuki. "Hey, what's your problem?" He complained nasally, even as he winced in pain holding a bony hand to his freely bleeding neck.

Natsuki rolled her eyes, "Next time a girl that hot acts really desperate to get in your pants; maybe you should stop and think why she's so interested in you." She offered helpfully, almost laughing when the tall boy continued to glare down at her. Then he seemed to notice that both Natsuki and her companion were female as well, and he perked back up hopefully.

"Um... I don't suppose you girls would want to come to me and my buddies' Warcraft LAN party this weekend? Makoto-kun said he was going to bring beer." He asked plaintively.

Natsuki was getting ready to reply with another vaguely insulting remark, but felt Mai squeeze her hand and glanced over to see Mai giving her a disapproving look that seemed to say 'don't be mean'. Natsuki sighed before replying dully, "Uh, I'm busy that night... but my Battlenet account is OokamiDuran if you want to look me up. I mostly play Diablo though."

The nerdy college guy grinned excitedly at not being completely shot down, "Hey no problem. I love Diablo! I'll add you when I get home. My name is Chul by the way."

"Yep. Um... you be more careful about picking up strange girls alright Chul-kun? Don't want you to get eaten before we at least get to pvp." She replied, deciding that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be casual friends with him. Giving him a wave she glanced back at Mai who was now smiling at her sweetly, making Natsuki feel a bit like a puppy that had just done a cute trick. "You ready to go Mai?"

"Yeah." Mai said quietly, giving the boy a friendly wave as she and Natsuki headed off down the narrow alley together, "It was nice meeting you Chul-kun." Despite her indication that she thought Natsuki was being a bit too harsh on the poor guy, Mai burst out laughing as soon as they were out of earshot. "Oh my gosh, do you see stuff like that a lot?"

"Almost every time I go on patrol." Natsuki confirmed cheerfully.

"How is it that everyone doesn't know about vampires then?" Mai asked in disbelief, "And that boy, he didn't even seem to realize what had happened!"

Natsuki shrugged helplessly, "About eighty percent of people I come across being attacked by something demony tend to react like that. It's like their brains can't really record the memory of what happened to them accurately, so they aren't nearly as scared as they should be." She said slowly, since she was still confused by the phenomenon as well. "Some people like Sei back at the bar seem to be able to put the sketchy lurkers and mysterious disappearances together to get four, but most people remain oblivious. I'm not sure if it's something about the vampires themselves, some sort of denial on the part of the victims, or a combination of both."

"That's the strangest thing I've ever seen."

"It is... but at least it keeps knowledge of powerful things under the radar of people with too much money..." Natsuki said, voicing her worries about what had happened to herself and Alyssa because of powerful men who wanted to control forces greater than them.

Mai glanced over at Natsuki with worry in her blue eyes but for the moment said nothing. After walking a little ways they turned down another alley, the smell of urine and alcohol so strong here that she felt her stomach flipping over uncomfortably in protest. "Are you okay Natsuki?" She finally asked when the Slayer made no move to speak again and clarify what she had meant by her cryptic comment.

"Yeah." Natsuki replied unconvincingly, kicking an empty beer can forcefully with her heavy boot, sending it skittering loudly across the cracked cement to clang lightly against an overflowing rusted metal dumpster. "...Have you heard from Takumi-kun lately?" She asked suddenly, trying to deflect Mai's concern for a little bit longer until she could organize her jumbled thoughts.

"Sort of. My uncle emailed me earlier this week to say that they got the money my dad wired for them. Takumi was too tired from physical therapy to do more than type me a sentence to let me know that he was okay and that he misses me. Uncle said that the doctor thought Takumi would be strong enough to undergo the surgery next week." Mai replied, only a little bit of her intense concern for her little brother leaking into her voice since she'd sadly grown so accustomed to worrying about him over the years. "We're really hoping that he's finally going to be able to get better after this."

"You have a dad?" Natsuki asked and then wanted to smack her own forehead at how surprised she sounded, "I didn't mean it like that... I mean obviously you have a dad..."

Mai hugged the flustered Natsuki sympathetically, "Hey, I know what you meant. Yeah... He still takes care of both of us; he's a fisherman though so we don't get to see him much... Especially these last few years since he's been working so hard to raise the money for Takumi's surgery." Mai sighed softly, her blue eyes glancing nervously around the dark alley, "I really hope that the surgery can help Takumi... I don't think dad could take it if all his work wasn't enough. He was already pretty devastated over mom."

"That must be hard on him."

"Yeah... especially since my uncle, my mom's brother, for the longest time blamed the accident on my dad." Mai said, shaking her head. They walked for a few moments in silence, heading out of the narrow alley. Natsuki lead them to a nearby little park across the street, gesturing to Mai that they should sit down on an empty wooden bench, even here most of them were filled with small groups of college students enjoying their food from one of the nearby shops and the soft breeze of the warm spring night.

"Why would he blame your dad for that? It was an accident right?" Natsuki asked in confusion.

"Well... Because she'd gone out on dad's boat with him one weekend. He and the guys in his crew were taking their wives to one of the nearby islands for a weekend trip... but by the afternoon one of those summer storms came up. My mom wasn't really that great of a swimmer... and she ended up falling into the ocean." Mai explained, her grief at remembering the event making her words come slowly and haltingly.

"Oh. I'm sorry Mai, I shouldn't have asked..." Natsuki apologized, even as she wondered what sort of guilt Mai's father must have felt. After all his wife had been killed by the same ocean that he made his living on. And am I any less foolish for taking his daughter with me to my job that is almost certainly more dangerous?

Mai glared at Natsuki, obviously guessing from her dark expression where her thoughts had gone. "But it wasn't his fault at all. So I don't want to hear that. They'd gone on that trip every year for ten years before that and nothing bad had ever happened, and my mom went with him on the boat plenty of times besides that. I don't think she would have wanted to give up one of the few times of year that she got to spend lots of time with my dad just to have been a little safer." She looked into Natsuki's eyes, "And even if it took my mother, I still love going out in the ocean."

"I didn't think that it was his fault..." Natsuki said defensively.

"No, but you were thinking about how if anything happened to me tonight it would be your fault." Mai pointed out, her tone slightly teasing to lighten the mood but not allowing Natsuki to speak again to protest. "Why don't you tell me about what's really bothering you tonight?"

Natsuki smiled faintly, her green eyes taking another quick sweep of the occupants of the park to make certain that no one seemed out of place. Satisfied that there weren't any undead lurking about, she turned back to Mai, "Alright, you win. I'll accept that you're out here with me completely voluntarily, because you'd never do anything just because I wanted you to."

Mai smirked, "Maybe not, but I'm certainly open to suggestions."

Natsuki blushed at the many possibilities that brought to mind but shook her head sadly, knowing that this wasn't the time to be distracted by such pleasant thoughts, "Could I ask you a sortof random question?" At Mai's confused nod she continued hesitantly, "...When did you realize that Takumi was really important to you?"

Mai blinked in surprise; of all the questions she'd been expecting this certainly wasn't one of them. "Um... I don't know really. I was pretty excited about getting a little sibling as soon as my mom told me she was pregnant. After he was delivered he had to stay in the ICU for a while because his lungs and heart were too weak, and I was so disappointed that I had to wait longer to meet him, but I was so worried too. When she finally brought him home from the hospital he was still so tiny and quiet for a baby... I just wanted to take care of him immediately..." Mai trailed off wistfully as she thought about her little brother who she still thought of everyday despite how much she was enjoying senior high school and her time with Natsuki. "Even though taking care of him was a lot of work, I wouldn't want to imagine my life without him."

Natsuki listened quietly as Mai spoke, thinking back to the first time she saw Alyssa singing in the small cathedral on campus. What did she feel? She had thought that the little girl seemed so cute and fragile certainly, and she had felt very protective of her. But was it any different from what she felt looking at any small child? Did some part of her recognize Alyssa? Did it matter if she didn't? "Mai... what if you didn't meet him that way?"

Natsuki's question drew Mai out of her contemplation of Takumi's younger years, and blue eyes focused sharply on the Slayer's troubled expression, wondering what exactly was worrying her to cause such a strange line of questioning. "...I'm not sure I understand your meaning. How else would I have met him?"

The Slayer shrugged, scooting closer to Mai on the bench so that she could rest her head on her witch's shoulder, gazing up into her now very concerned blue eyes plaintively in a way that immediately made Mai put her arms around her and give her a hug. Natsuki smiled thankfully before speaking, her voice hesitant, "Well... I don't know why it would happen. But what if somehow he got switched with another kid at the hospital and your mom brought home the wrong baby. Now, I know that you all would be awesome to the other baby no matter what, but that's not my question." She sighed softly as she struggled to find the right words, "If you met Takumi years later, do you think you would know there was something special about him? Even if you hadn't known he existed until that moment?"

Mai didn't really know how to respond at first, Natsuki's questions seemed hypothetical enough, but the way she asked them made the witch very aware that the Slayer had some sort of emotional investment in Mai's answer. Mai just couldn't seem to sort out why that would be the case. "Well... I really don't know Natsuki. In some ways it's so hard for me to imagine not knowing him..." She trailed off, gazing over at a young couple and their small toddler, wondering idly if they were students at the university too or recent graduates who were coming back here to relive old memories. Perhaps they met here. "I'd like to think that I would feel something anyway. That some part of me would recognize how like me he is in so many ways... But that might be purely wishful thinking on my part too. I really don't know." She looked down at Natsuki who was nuzzling her cheek against Mai's jacket, looking like nothing more than a scared girl who was overwhelmed by how big and confusing the world was. "Do you mind if I ask why you're so curious about this? I don't mind telling you anything at all, but it just seems a bit unusual."

"Last night..." Natsuki shivered as she remembered the combination of wonder and sheer crushing responsibility that rivalled even her duty as a Slayer that had briefly overwhelmed her when Miyu first told her about Alyssa's creation. Seeking comfort she looked up into patient and gentle blue eyes that always made her feel safer even if she was the one who was supposed to be the protector, "Last night I found out that Alyssa is my sister." She felt Mai's shoulder stiffen under her, and the gentle arm thrown around her tighten its grip as the witch gasped in surprise at the news.

For a few moments Mai simply stared at Natsuki in amazement, not sure how to reply. Of all the things she had expected Natsuki to tell her, this certainly wasn't one of them. "I... I really don't know what to say." She admitted, "I don't know how I would have reacted to hearing something like that. Are you okay?"

Natsuki shrugged, "Honestly I don't know. I know that from the moment I first saw her I felt really protective of her... but I'm a Slayer you know? That's how I'm supposed to feel when I look at something small and helpless." She smiled up at Mai, "Though I guess everyone is supposed to feel that way. It's just stronger for us apparently, since that's why we exist." At least that's what Duran always told me. "So in some ways I can't tell if I should feel differently now just because I know who she is to me... but Mai... I do feel differently about her. I wanted to save her before, but now I need to save her."

Mai felt her heart clinch as she thought of Takumi being in an unwaking coma that she couldn't understand; of his small frail body being further taxed by dark magicks more powerful than she could imagine, growing slowly into less and less the kind little boy that she cared for so much. She felt tears stinging her eyes as she remembered the now deathly pale and dark haired Alyssa sleeping in the large hospital bed, realizing all of a sudden why the small girl had looked so familiar. It was like seeing the strong and brave Natsuki as a much younger child, and with that thought Mai found herself becoming completely invested in this fight in a new way. No longer was she in it only to help keep Natsuki as safe as she could, she was in it because she realized more clearly now that this endless fight of Natsuki's; it was a good fight. If they didn't fight, so many countless children like Alyssa and her Takumi would face futures more terrible than she could imagine. The touch of dark magick tearing away at her own mind and sanity during the ritual, flooding into her body and trying to rip her from it would forever be a vivid and horrible memory, and she knew without a doubt that Alyssa must feel something similar every time she summoned some powerful creature from a hell dimension. "I'll help you." She replied simply, no trace of doubt in her voice or eyes.

"...But it's going to be really dangerous. And I don't want you to have to do something if you're not sure."

"She needs you. And if you need my help in order to help her, then I'm here for you Natsuki. Whatever you need. My magick, my support, my secrecy, anything you need." Mai promised seriously gently caressing Natsuki's cheek, her heart pausing slightly at the feeling of moisture on smooth skin and she looked closer to see green eyes shining suspiciously in the glow of the streetlights. "I promise Natsuki. I'd only regret it if I didn't do everything I could to help you."

Natsuki leaned in close, her lips ghosting lightly over Mai's own before she rested her forehead against the witch's, gazing into slightly startled blue eyes, "Thank you." Mai could only nod silently, and try as she might she couldn't find it in her to worry about all the terrible things that might happen to them if anything went wrong. She knew that agreeing to help Alyssa would mean facing the powerful magicks that had scarred both of them deeply, even if Mai's scars were only in her mind; but looking into Natsuki's bright green eyes, and feeling the slight tingle from the chaste and innocent kiss on her lips seemed to scatter her fears harmlessly like fog in the sunlight. After all, what could be so powerful that we could not face it together?