CHAPTER TEN

That morning, Mahiru wakes up to find that Oboro and Katsura have returned from the Moon Palace. Explanations were given as to how Mahiru, Mitsuru, and Akira returned and for why the extra room has been turned into a hospital for a member of Dawn's Venus. Most importantly, they were told of the warning. Oboro agrees with Misoka on taking the defensive and orders Mahiru not to leave the Moonshine, not even to go to school. The school and her aunt are called with the excuse that she is sick.

At first, Mahiru doesn't mind not being able to go anywhere, understanding it's for her own safety and she definitely doesn't want to be kidnapped again. She's happy for the reprieve from schoolwork, even though she'll have to make up for it later, and she gets the chance to help out more around the Moonshine. Even though I'll miss swim practice and my aunt and friends will be worried, a little vacation won't be so bad, right?

However, on the sixth day of her house arrest, Mahiru is mopping the floors again and sighs. There's only so much of this a girl can take. I wish Dawn's Venus would just try to kidnap me already and get it over with.

Mahiru glances over at Mitsuru. He's standing behind the bar wiping away the water spots on the glasses. She sighs again. That night when we talked on the roof, I don't remember ever going back to bed. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep listening to his voice. But when I woke up I was in my room. Meaning…, Mahiru blushes a little and focuses again on moving the mop back and forth across the tile. Meaning Mitsuru must have carried me back to my room. Every time I try to thank him he gets angry and runs away. He's been avoiding me all week ever since, not even meeting my gaze.

Mahiru finishes mopping the rest of the floor, puts the cleaning supplies away, and stretches, her back sore from bending over for so long. She goes into the kitchen to get a glass of water and finds Akira scrounging through the fridge with a sheet of paper and pencil in hand. "Hey, Akira. What are you up to?"

"Hey, Mahiru," he says as he writes something down. "Just making a grocery list. We're running low on supplies."

Mahiru bites her lip, an idea forming in her head. "Akira, do you think I could do the shopping?"

Akira brings his head out of the refrigerator slowly and looks at her sadly. "I don't know…Aren't you still not allowed to go outside?"

"That's right, Akira, she's not," Oboro says as he enters the kitchen, making Mahiru jump.

Busted. She turns to face him. "Please, Oboro? I'm tired of being stuck inside. I want to get out and stretch my legs and breathe some fresh air." Oboro just stares at her, hands on hips, standing firm. It's at times like this that he reminds Mahiru of a real father. There's only about a one percent chance he's going to let her go out and only with conditions Mahiru is pretty sure Mitsuru is not going to like. She argues with herself for a second, thinking Mitsuru will get really mad at her if she does this, but then decides she'd rather him be openly mad at her instead of treating her like the plague. "Will you let me go if Mitsuru comes with me and I stay by his side at all times?" Oboro raises an eyebrow, surprised at her choice of an escort. The sound of glass shattering echoes through the room. It came from the bar. Mahiru winces. Mitsuru had been listening. Oboro is silent as he contemplates and Mahiru plays her last card. "I'll also bring Mr. Bat with me."

Oboro half smiles and says, "You know how to bargain well, Princess. If you take both Mitsuru and the bat, then you may go do the shopping."

Mahiru lets out a squeal and jumps up and down. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Oboro! I-" Mitsuru's loud cursing interrupts her. Maybe he'll be a little too mad at me.

"Convincing Mitsuru to go with you, however, is all up to you," Oboro says with a laugh and goes over to talk to Misoka who's checking out the sound equipment on the stage. Mahiru laughs nervously and walks slowly into the bar, Akira right behind her ready to intervene in case Mitsuru blows up on her.

Mitsuru is kneeling on the floor picking up pieces of broken glass behind the bar, his face set in a hard scowl and his muscles are tight with barely contained anger.

"Umm…Mitsuru?" Mahiru asks, her voice barely over a whisper.

"What?" he snaps.

"W-will you please come with me to the s-store to buy the groceries?" Mahiru braces herself as she sees his last nerve snap.

"I have better things to do than cart you around everywhere! And why do I have to be the one to take you?! Why not take the stupid dog that was planning on going in the first place?!"

"Uh oh," Akira says and backs away slowly. Mahiru's last nerve has snapped, too. His ears flatten themselves against his head.

Mahiru steps right up to Mitsuru and stabs a finger at his chest to emphasize her words. "I want you to go with me instead of Akira because Akira isn't the one who has been completely ignoring me for days!" Mahiru steps even closer, causing Mitsuru to step back until he bumps into the counter. "So you either take me or I swear when I go insane from being cooped up in here because of that jerk Hokuto I'm going after you first!"

Everyone is too stunned to speak.

Then Mitsuru takes a deep breath and sighs, his anger diminishing. "Fine, I'll go," he says grudgingly and heads upstairs to get his shoes and a coat. Mahiru smiles brightly, her own anger vanishing as quickly as it appeared, and goes to her own room to do the same.

A few minutes later Mitsuru comes back downstairs, yanks the grocery list wordlessly from Akira's hand, and heads back up so Mahiru and he can take off from the roof where they're less likely to be seen.

When he's sure they're gone Akira says, "That was the scariest thing I have ever seen. Mahiru has been hanging around Mitsuru way too much."

"You may be right," Misoka says, "but some good may also be coming from it." Akira looks at him skeptically and Misoka chuckles a little. "You saw what just happened, right? Mitsuru gave in to the Princess's demand without too much trouble. It's getting harder and harder for him to say 'no' to her."