Stress Me Out
Chapter 2
Week 1: A Monday
(Mai, Natsuki, and Nao's home)

Nothing could ever go right on a Monday morning. It seemed like the start of each new week came complete with a new string of problems to go with it. Usually they were nothing big, and Mai could usually ignore them. Even while her housemates ranted for hours on end, she was usually in high spirits. Today, unfortunately, a rather large problem reared its ugly head, and along with it, Natsuki's really bad tempter.

And what a temper it was, too. "God-damn, piece of crap!"

"You can fuss with it all you want Natsuki." Mai sighed with a shake of her head. "We need a new dish washer, plain and simple."

"Tits McGee is right for once, mutt." Nao said from her place, sitting on the counter. "There is no fixing that thing, it's over what? Like twenty years old…"

"Give or take…" Mai nodded. "This house belonged to my grandparents, so everything was already old when Natsuki and I moved in."

"Hey, it was fine for the two years that we were here on our own. Then you moved in, Nao, and you bust everything in your path." Natsuki growled, giving Nao a murderous look.

"Typhoon Nao strikes again." Mai decided to start filling the sink with water.

"Hey, don't look at me." Nao said as she nursed her beer. "It's as old as sin."

"This is taking too long." Mai concluded, putting a comforting hand on Natsuki's shoulder. "Let's just call a repairman later."

"Like we can afford that…" Natsuki shook her head. "Let me keep trying."

"Or, we can just get a new one and spring for the installation fee." Nao said as she glanced to the glass jar they'd dubbed an emergency fund. It probably had enough in it, maybe…if they were really lucky. "This one was old to start with. New build, sounds good to me."

"That's why you rinse the dishes first, jack-off." Natsuki shouted at her.

"Why do you always think it's me, shit-for-brains?" Nao answered back, fire in her eyes.

Before long, both women were out for blood, barking at each other at the top of their lungs. It was their usual style of bickering, so Mai just ignored it. Committing herself to the ruckus with a long lasting sigh.

"Because I sure didn't put my cheese filled plate into that thing." – Natsuki
"I don't eat cheese." – Nao
"On pizza you do." – Natsuki
"We don't have any." – Nao
"You did the dishes yesterday." – Natsuki

Now irate beyond belief, Nao slammed her beer bottle down, the contents sloshing all over the counter and the floor. Moments later, a wrench hit the linoleum with a clatter. Both of them were truly fired up. Mai didn't have to look behind her to know that they were snarling and chomping at the bit. Pushed too far, it would be punches that were thrown next in their battle.

"You did 'em Saturday, could've been you." – Nao
"The dishwasher worked yesterday." – Natsuki
"Then maybe a magic pixie shat on it, mutt, who the fuck knows!" – Nao
"First your door, then the sitting room window, and now this! You break everything!" – Natsuki

The loud banging of a wooden spoon against a metal pan drew their attention. "It doesn't matter who did it." Mai said loudly enough to command their attention long after the pan had quieted. As she put the dirty dishes in the sink she continued her own tirade sternly. "Next person that opens their mouths is getting their head dunked in the dirty dish water, so you better both just shut up."

Natsuki rolled her eyes, but stormed off down the hall.

"Oh, go fuck a pan." Nao barked as Mai reeled on her.

"Just because I'm pansexual doesn't mean I'm into that, but I'll tell you what I'll do." Mai was slow and deliberate as she turned around. "I'll do you with the spoon instead if you don't get the hell out of my kitchen." Mai said with an upraised eyebrow, not entirely joking either by the looks of it. "Then, I'll dunk your head in the dishwater. So go. Shoo."

Mai did the dishes, uncluttered the front room, and hit the shower before scouring her closet for something to wear. Undecided, she consulted Natsuki, who was reading a magazine in her room next door. "What do you think, skirt, or jeans?"

Emerald eyes lifted from the page in front of her. "That depends, what for?"

Mai smirked. "Date."

"Uh, I don't know." Natsuki muttered with a soft scowl. "Jeans I guess, if you're going out and about."

"Thought so, can I bum some of your leave-in conditioner?"

"On the vanity." Natsuki said, not moving from her spot. "You and Reito going to terrorize the karaoke bar again?"

"Shizuru, actually, and no bar tonight." Then with a smug glance to the side, she laughed. "What? I told you she'd call."

Natsuki, stunned, continued to give Mai a burning look. "Wait, the chick from the other night? Are you really into her or something? I mean, you don't usually pick up random girls, or give them your number."

Mai licked her lips. "I did it on a whim. It's hard to say why really. Anyway, she's new to the area, just moved into the share-house three blocks over. The same one boys crash at. I told her that I'd show her around, help her get acclimated."

"That's not what I'm asking." Natsuki pressed. "You know it."

Mai turned to Natsuki, noticing the way that emerald glared into her. Given their past, it was hard not to take things a little personally. She walked over to the side of the bed and sat down. She knew, on some level at least, that this would be a problem. "You're about to break rule one, Natsuki. You're jealous."

"I'm worried." Natsuki groused. "I mean, think about it. What other women have you been with, seriously?"

"I've been with Nao once or twice." Mai said honestly.

"Yeah, like a year ago." Natsuki sighed with a shake of her head. "And you and her, you two never got serious."

"Neither did you and I, Natsuki, we've always done better with the friends with benefits thing." Mai shot back with a laugh as laid back on one of Natsuki's pillows. "Okay, so if you're not jealous, what's with the look?"

Natsuki shrugged, also laying back and looking at her ceiling. "It's not that big a deal as long as you say it isn't. I was just thinking, you're not exactly a master of the hard crush, hard crash thing. That's Nao's department, not yours."

"Okay, you can stop trying to protect me now." Mai said softly, though her tone was nothing but gentle and understanding. "Honestly though, it isn't going anywhere like that any time soon. She is fun to be with though."

"Oh?" Natsuki asked as she turned to lean into Mai ever so slightly. "Why is that?"

"Shizuru's intense." Mai answered a bit shyly. "Really intense, and I've never met anyone quite like her before."

"Just be careful." Natsuki shrugged. "Your sex life is your thing, just don't get hurt."

Mai looked into those deep emerald pools that searched her for something. Was it a promise? Mai wasn't sure. "you're a good friend, Natsuki." She said while taking Natsuki's face in her hands, she leaned in and kissed her atop the forehead. "I will be careful, I always am." Checking the clock, Mai grinned again. "I've got to get ready. Don't kill Nao while I'm gone."

"I won't." Natsuki said, waving Mai off. "I'd have too hard a time hiding her body."

…
(Maruyama)

The grounds outside the share-house were small, hardly any yard at all. Yet beside the front door there was a short bench for two. Shizuru sat there, hands in her lap as she waited for Mai. It was too early for the carrot-top to show up if Shizuru's watch had anything to say about it. She wore a simple pair of white boot cut jeans, black boots with a small heal, a simple red V-neck shirt, and an open black vest over the top. It matched her small black handbag.

Her hair, as usual, was left free to do as it wished in the breezeless day.

There wasn't much to do but wait. To look at the long path, and count down the moments until Mai to turned the corner. Idly, Shizuru wondered if she was a bit over dressed, but then she recalled that her family would think quite the opposite. These clothes were much too casual, they'd say. Her ex-husband included. That's why she decided to wear them, because they would not approve. It wasn't proper attire for a lady of the house, and they'd likely rant and rave.

Yet, now she was her own master of fate. Maybe, with that excuse, this was enough. Not too much. Never too little. Just enough.

There was no time to consider the situation any further.

"Hey."

Shizuru heard Mai's voice before she saw the woman walking towards her casually. She might as well have owned that street. Breathtaking and beautiful. Shizuru smiled brightly, as Mai seemed to do the same. It was infectious. "It's nice to finally see you again."

"Yeah." Dark gray jeans, pair of black and pink athletics, two spaghetti strap tank tops, blue over white. A jacket hooked on two of her fingers as she draped it over her back. "It really is cool that you live close by. It makes hanging out a lot easier." She ran a hand over her short carrot colored hair. It brushed across her neck, part of it falling behind her ear. "So you moved into this frat pit, huh?"

"A short while ago." Shizuru admitted with a tiny nod, her thumb toying along the thin strap of her purse. "To be honest, I haven't taken the time to get to know most of my housemates. I've been avoiding them."

"They're not too bad." Mai said with a shrug as she inclined her head to indicate down the street. They started walking at a casual pace. "I've got a few friends who live there. I can tell you though, they all get a bit loud at night. It's a young crowd, university students, or fresh out."

"Good to know, I'll keep that in mind." Shizuru nodded, but said nothing to that as they reached a long strip of smaller streets. Most of them led to more houses, but a long narrow one led into a strip of shops. "I've been here before. I usually pick up the things I need from that corner store."

"If you don't mind making the walk, there's a larger place down the way, and some decent food stalls there too. Really, you can't go wrong with things in this area." Mai made a turn somewhere along the way, leading into another narrow strip. A laundromat, a small restaurant, and a few more stores lined the way. They stopped at one of the smaller café's in the area. Mai opened the door. "After you."

Thanking her, they made their way to a small booth, where they took a seat. "Do you come here often?"

"It's pretty nearby, so yeah, I guess I do." Mai shrugged as they ordered. Mai requested a cappuccino, Shizuru ordered a black tea. "You're about fifteen from the Broadway, and that puts you about thirteen or fourteen from the Nakano Station. Do you drive everywhere, or do you mostly use the tram?"

"Tram." Shizuru said without missing a beat. "It's far too expensive to drive everywhere I choose to go. I normally leave the car at the port by the station."

Mai nodded, her hands tenting atop the table. "I thought so." She said with a laugh. "Cheaper to go by tram whenever you can. There are some good bike paths in the area too. You could buy one if you wanted. You don't strike me as the type to do a lot of long distance travel."

"I really don't, do I?" Shizuru said, but in truth, that was a lie. "I suppose maybe it doesn't seem like it, but I've only just settled. For the past year and a half, I was moving from place to place."

"A wanderer, huh?" Mai wrapped her hands around her small cup, lifting it to her lips, tasting the gentle froth at the top.

"Family obligation, I'm afraid." Shizuru said simply, her voice void of the icy anger she felt at that. "You seem rather free spirited though, if you don't mind me saying so. You could probably pick up and go wherever you wanted. You have such an air about you, Mai."

"I've always wanted to do that, never got around to it. Probably never will, either, but that's fine with me all the same." Then, tapping her fingers into the table, an afterthought came to mind. "As we say around here; those who live in Nakano stay in Nakano."

"Well then…" Shizuru began slowly, almost a tad uncertain. "Hopefully I can acclimate well. If the saying applies to anyone it should apply to me too, right?"

"Don't worry." Mai said as she pulled out her phone to look up a map. "I'll help you get sorted out. Besides, you live so close, it's not like it'll be a hindrance to do our shopping and things together. You'll get used to it. Only tip I can really give you is try to avoid most of Nakano's Broadway. That is, unless you're really into anime, games and the like. It's an otaku hotspot. They've got a good karaoke lounge, and some decent places to eat, so it's not all bad."

Together, they made a list of the places to visit. Retails stores, the pharmacy, the local community center, and other small places that the locals frequented. After they made the list, they visited those places. The whole occasion was strange, so unlike what Shizuru expected from the busty woman. She was kind, gentle, but she didn't come on strongly at all. The attraction as there, but it was under the surface.

Was it merely courtesy?

She recalled Mai's aversion to being touched that one night at the bar. Hesitancy, in their strangely tangled embrace. Mai had put a finger to her lips, stalled her, and told her simply, but gently 'no', that she didn't want to be touched in kind. Feeling as if that topic was far too fast, far too soon, Shizuru didn't ask.

It was well into the evening and a few shopping bags in hand before they made it back to Shizuru's room.

"Cozy." It was a simple word from Mai as she stood in the doorway. "You know, my friend Reito is on this floor too. He's always pretty busy, but if you happen to catch him, say hi. He's a laid back kind of guy. You'd get along well with him."

"There's only three men in this particular home that I've seen." Shizuru said as she offered Mai the only chair she had in her room; the one by the desk. "I've noticed them in passing, but I've never once thought to ask their names."

"They don't bite..." Mai laughed. "Well, I guess they might if you want them to."

"I wouldn't be interested in that, I fear." Shizuru returned with a small smile before it fell into something just a tad more stern and distant. "I've never been particularly close to men. I find them to be abrasive at best. Strange, I know, since I married one."

"Ah, that would be Tate and Takeda in a nutshell." Mai said knowingly, instead sitting at the edge of Shizuru's bed, beside her. "Reito's not like that though. He interns at some distribution company; sales of some sort. Tate, I went to school with him. He's hot tempered and he doesn't keep a full time job. If you ever need a handy man though, he's the one you talk to. As for Takeda…well…"

"What's wrong with Takeda?" Shizuru asked, seeing the hesitation in Mai's eyes. Conflicted violet glanced upward at the ceiling. "Is he trouble?" Shizuru asked, wondering if the question was too personal.

"Oh, no...Nothing like that." Mai said with a smirk. "He's kind of a pervert, but not in a bad way. I'm not really that close to him. He hangs out with Tate a lot, so, I know he's not a bad person to be around. It's just that, you could say there's a history there. I guess that's just what happens when you stay in the same place that you're born and raised, like we have."

"I wouldn't know anything about that." Shizuru admitted.

"You're from Kyoto, right?" Mai asked as she realized how impersonal the room seemed to be. "Long way from home."

"I've always been on the move." Shizuru pushed some fawn hair behind her shoulder, her voice growing soft. "I was born in Kyoto, and I lived there until about five. Then I was sent to live with a distant relative for a few years in Kumamoto. Later on, I went back to live in Kyoto where I attended middle and high school. I married right after that, and I was sent to live with my husband."

Mai eyed her with a question that Shizuru didn't want to answer, so she went on right beyond it. The less about her past she spoke of, the better. "We travelled all over for the few years we were married. Chiba, Iwaki, Akita, Kobe, just to name a few. After the divorce, I spent a short time in Yokohama with a friend before moving here."

Mai whistled long and low. "Sounds rough. Can't imagine that."

"It was less hectic than it sounds." Shizuru murmured, crimson meeting violet.

"I would hope so." Mai's fingers brushed over the comforter. Even that seemed like something so unlike Shizuru's personal tastes. Something allotted to her, instead of something she personally chose. "Why come here then, with no one to help you, or guide you?"

After a moment, Shizuru just smiled. "I actually moved here because I wanted something new, and fresh." She meant it too, and the shared look between them made sure that Mai understood that. "I really craved a new start, but, I'm used to drifting around. I'm hoping this time is the last time."

"Drifting around huh...not me." Mai looked off to the side, that one empty suitcase, it seemed so lonely. The whole room did. "I could never leave. I actually live with a few friends that I went to high school with. They're my world. In fact, they both mean a lot to me. I could never just abandon them. I guess, when you stay in one place like I did, change is scary."

"Scary?" Crimson eyes widened only slightly.

"Yeah," Mai said softly, "I try to avoid it…"

…
(Mai, Natsuki, and Nao's home)

"Keep pacing mutt, she'll get home, when she gets home." Nao said from her place, laying across the entirety of the sofa as if she owned it.

It was late. Too late in Natsuki's option. She hadn't dared to text Mai, the carrot topped woman was a big girl after all, and she could take care of herself. Still, Natsuki's concern tugged at her as she kept walking a line from the door the other side of the hall. Then she turned and paced all the way back to the door again. One long, completely vicious cycle.

"This is so damn stupid." Natsuki sighed with a sake of her head.

"You're stupid," Nao quipped.

"Think Mai's going to tell Reito she found a new girl to hang around with?" Natsuki asked.

"Not like they're exclusive." Nao muttered with a tired expression. "I mean, we all need to get our kicks somehow, right? Doesn't matter to me what Mai takes, or where she takes it."

Pausing, Natsuki gave Nao a confused scowl. "You… Why… Just… Why?"

"Got bigger fish to fry, mutt." Nao shrugged, she lifted herself off the sofa, forest green cutting into emerald harshly. "You do too. Lay off Mai, and deal with the shit in front of your face. What are you going to do about Takeda? You know he's into you. Are you going to steady with him, or aren't you?"

"I really don't want to talk about that." Natsuki shot back, crossing her arms. "I could fling the same shit at you about Tate. Going to stop screwing around with him before he really gets hurt? Or are you going to woman up and get it done?"

"Dunno Natsuki." Nao huffed, crossing the threshold between them without missing a beat, tossing the taller woman against the wall, dragging her down to a lower level, and kissing her roughly. Hard and fast. "The fuck you going to do about this? Huh? You have that figured out yet?"

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "You're the aggressor here, ass. Why don't you figure it out?"

"Takes two to tango, mutt." Nao hissed.

"And three to really fuck, according to you…" Natsuki added, knowing that idiom well. It was the sordid tale of their lives after all. "For the record, I have never once led Takeda into believing I'm into him. I'd never sleep with him, because he's not my type." Nose-to-nose with Nao, she didn't back down an inch. "Unlike you, I don't suck someone off for the hell of it."

"You're a damn bitch, leave Yuuichi out of this." Nao smirked evilly as she let go of Natsuki's shirt. "Not my fault you've got baggage."

"Could say the same thing about you…" Natsuki murmured. "But I don't. We work because we don't try to figure things out. You, me, Mai…we've never had to sit down and really categorize anything. We all…live our own lives. It…works."

"Then, why the hell are you worried about it?" Nao asked, cutting the tension like a hot knife through butter.

"Because if Mai ever gets serious with someone, Nao, the dynamic breaks…" Natsuki murmured softly. "It would be over, and who knows where that would take her, or us."

The thought was terrifying, and Nao didn't want to think about it. "I hate you."

Natsuki turned the tables, kissing Nao roughly, her fingers tangling into blood red tresses. As they pulled away, lips bruised and puffy, Natsuki pulled her in again, ripping Nao's shirt by accident. Neither one of them cared. "You hate commitment, not me."