I do not own Upotte in any form. This is a work of fanfiction.

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Chapter 2: getting better

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Efensee slowly woke herself up the next morning, almost surprised that she was in her bed and not still on the couch. "Did she bring me in here?" She wondered out loud.

She went out to the kitchen to find Sako, wide awake, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper. "Finally awake, huh? Coffee is on, nice and fresh." Sako told her.

Feeling like coffee was a good way to start the day, she poured her own and sat at the table with Sako. "Thanks for taking me in my room last night."

"Not a problem."

Efensee thought Sako was acting uncharacteristically nice, since she hadn't made any passes at her yet. Not really wanting to stir anything up, she quietly sipped her morning drink. Sako flipped the page of the newspaper and her eyes lit up. "Hey, let's go to this new range today."

Sako showed her the ad about a new, long range outdoor rifle range that was opening. Efensee looked it over and thought maybe it would be a good idea. "I do need to work on my long range accuracy. Let's go."

Sako started looking sheepish. "Um, can we call this a date?"

Efensee thought about it for a moment, not being totally against the idea, but not wanting any repeats of the last time. "On a couple of conditions. One: please, don't grab my thong. It feels weird when you do that. Two: don't grope me. Three: other conditions are still there, like the hug and kiss thing."

Sako perked up and looked even happier. "Yes! I can live with that. What about holding hands?"

"I guess holding hands isn't so bad."

...

After both cleaning and oiling themselves, then gathering their ammunition, the ladies left for the range. Sako walked along rather cheerily, happy that she got to go out with Efensee again. "You're not planning anything mischievous, are you?" Efensee asked.

"Not at all. I'm happy getting out with you and shooting. I know I've been rather aggressive in my pursuit, but I'm trying to scale back here."

"How come you haven't gotten your kiss yet today? Or are you saving it?"

"To be perfectly honest, when I took you into your room last night, it was after midnight. I kissed you on the forehead. I've already gotten my kiss for the day."

Efensee was impressed about her resistance and honesty. "Really? Well, okay then."

"I want to have my kisses, and I liked that one."

"You liked that one?"

Sako squeezed her hand a little tighter. "It's quite clear that I like you. I like kissing you, and I don't want to jeopardize that by lying about it. I liked that one in particular because it was like I was saying I like you and I want to protect you."

Efensee thought about it for a moment, feeling like Sako was making a little bit of progress towards being normal. "Since it's like that, I suppose we can modify one of our conditions."

"What might that be?"

"Hugs can be anytime, and I feel a little better about the kisses, so you can kiss me twice per day now."

Sako was even happier now. "That's wonderful. I can't thank you enough."

Efensee started wondering when the next kiss would come. "You're not going to kiss me now?"

"I can wait a little while. Let's go shooting first."

...

Efensee and Sako arrived at the range, seeing a few others they knew who were already there shooting. Sig, Elle and Ichiroku were all on the firing line, sending lead downrange. Hyaku was there, practicing for a sniper competition. Hyaku was a Barrett M107, which made her ideal for withering long range fire, able to reach out well past the range of common guns. She had long silver hair, kept in a bun that seemed to bounce back when she fired.

Sako and Efensee set up at their lanes, adjusting their sights for the 500 meter minimum. Sako fired a spotting round, adjusting with Kentucky windage to hit her mark after the first. Efensee fired a shot, then adjusted her sights and fired again, getting closer. The wind shifted and her shots were off again, but she kept adjusting. "If you're having trouble, I can help." Sako told her.

"It's the wind, is all." Efensee said, trying to play it off.

"I know. Instead of planting lead in the dirt and not the paper, just aim a little in the direction of the wind to compensate. That way, you can keep firing with reasonable accuracy while not having to waste so much time in between shots."

Efensee looked over at Hyaku, who seemed to be doing the same thing. She would fire, watch the vapor trail and the wind, then adjust the next shot by aim and was still hitting targets at well past 1km. "Okay, looks like that works."

Efensee zeroed to about 200m, then fired a spotting round like she saw the others doing. When she saw where that shot hit, she aimed against the wind and noticed her shots were getting closer to the paper. Once she had the hang of it, she started hitting the target consistently.

Sig was also placing shots on target at a good distance, which wasn't of much surprise to anyone. Elle was trying some new magazines and a new oil, which did help quite a bit with jamming, double feeding and general malfunctions. Ichiroku was putting bursts of lead on area targets out to 800m, which was a bit past what the book said her effective range should be.

When they were done shooting for the day, Efensee and Sako sat down for a moment before heading back home. Efensee took a drink of water to help cool down, Sako soon doing the same. They were joined by Sig, Elle and Ichiroku after a little while. "So, you like this range too?" Ichiroku asked, delighted at the fact that she could now work on her long range burst fire.

"I love it. Outdoor conditions, long range, not worrying about backstop and the like." Sako said with a smile.

"Oh yes, it's wonderful. Sako was just teaching me about Kentucky windage." Efensee added.

"Aiming into the wind sort of thing? It works for quick firing." Elle said.

"I noticed you weren't jamming up as much as you used to. Trying new things?" Efensee asked Elle.

"Certainly. These new mags aren't quite as susceptible to the elements as my factory mags are. That and this new oil I'm trying make things move so smoothly without the same feeding issues."

Sig finally asked a question that was burning her up since she saw Efensee walking into the range while holding Sako's hand. "So, are you two girlfriends now?"

Efensee jumped at the question while Sako answered. "I guess you could say that."

"Aw damn. Well, I suppose if it makes you happy, that's the important thing."

...

When Sako and Efensee arrived home, Efensee kicked off her shoes and sat down on the couch, rubbing her face for a moment. "May I ask what that was about?" Efensee asked.

"What do you mean?" Sako responded.

"When Sig asked if we're a couple."

"Okay, sorry about that. I kind of jumped the gun a bit, so to speak. I guess I was just saying what I wanted to be true."

"Can you at least wait for me to answer a question that someone asks me from now on?"

"That's fair. Again, sorry for jumping to it like that."

After awhile, Sako joined Efensee on the couch. She started rubbing her shoulders. "What's this about?" Efensee asked.

"I wanted to start trying to make it up to you for today."

Efensee sat there and let Sako rub her shoulders. After awhile, Sako wrapped her arms around Efensee, giving her a soft, loving hug. "May I still hug you like this?"

"Yes, you may."

"One other request." Sako said, taking her right hand off Efensee.

"What might that be?"

Efensee turned and saw Sako wearing a Spurdo Sparde mask. "Bunco chan, lemme smash."

Efensee jumped away from Sako, who chuckled lightly. "W-what do you mean by smash?"

Sako started crawling across the couch, lightly grabbing Efensee on her right ankle. "I don't got a benis." She said, moving her right leg to the side, allowing her room to get off the couch if she wanted to.

Efensee couldn't help but to laugh herself. "I didn't think you did."

"Blease lemme smash."

Efensee was laughing a bit harder now, but didn't get off the couch. "What the hell is wrong with you? That's just too funny."

"No smash for Sago chan?"

Efensee took the mask off of Sako. "Talk normally, please."

"I take it that's a no on the smash?" Sako asked, sitting up.

"No, none of that." Efensee answered as she also sat up and gradually stopped laughing.

"I noticed you didn't say no when Sig asked about us." Sako said, putting her arm around Efensee.

"I didn't say anything because I was shocked at the question and your answer."

"So, we aren't a couple then? I mean, I'm fine with that. Just glad to have you as a friend." Sako told her, hugging her.

"We're already roommates, and I guess... you've been playing by the rules."

"I know."

Efensee surprised Sako by kissing her on the lips, even Frenching her. "Two things. One: let me answer questions. Two: nothing lewd in public."

Sako was lightly blushing. "So we are an item?"

Efensee took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. "You already answered that earlier."

Sako turned and started kissing Efensee, moving until she was on her side on the couch, Sako on top of her. She stopped and looked her in the eye. "I'm so sorry, that was more than two."Sako said, sitting up.

"Okay, you can have more than two. But the other conditions still stand."