"Okay, Maki-chan. We're going to my apartment, okay?"

"Why not?!" It was very clear that Maki was still drunk, as her speech was slurred. It sounded like she was getting sober, but she was tipsy.

Riko giggled at the cute, drunk girl. "Alright, let me help you into the car." Luckily, the hospital and restaurant were close by, and Riko's car was at the hospital. Riko was blushing as she was guiding Maki by holding her hand. But, she kept herself in line as she helped Maki into the car.

The two were driving along. Maki was dozing off, so she wasn't being too much of a handful. Riko, however, was letting her mind be filled with anxiety.

'I can't believe I'm taking Maki-senpai to my home! I know she's drunk, but maybe I should have taken her to her home. But, I can't just leave her in her drunken state…Whatever, Riko. You've done the deed, and you just have to take care of her.'

The two got to the apartment, and Riko was guiding the other red-head to the entrance. Once they got in the apartment, Riko rested Maki on the small couch. She looked up some hangover cures. She had a good idea of what to make, since she always took care of Chika, Mari, and You after they went out.

As she was finishing up the cure, Maki was stirring. "Hey there."

The red-head rubbed her eye, and still looked groggy. "Hi…I can only assume that we went drinking."

"More like, you went drinking. I was only drinking Coke. I learned that you get drunk from just one beer."

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Maki grumbled. "Where are we, anyways?"

"My home. I didn't want to leave you alone in your house, so I brought you here. I'm just making something to get rid of your hangover."

"Thanks." Maki stood up. "Although, I'm not feeling that bad. How was I while I was drunk?"

"Not as bad as I thought."

Maki was standing in silence, thinking about their small 'date.'

"Eli-senpai said that you remember what happened whenever you were drunk."

"Yeah, it's coming back to me."

The scenes were replaying in Maki's mind. Taking a bite of Riko's sandwich, feeding some of her spaghetti to the girl. 'God damn it, two indirect kisses?!'

"I'm so sorry about what I did. I was drunk, I never meant to do any of that!" Maki was in a panicked state, but snapped out of it when she heard small giggles.

"Maki-senpai, it's okay. I enjoyed our…date." The two girls blushed after Riko said 'date,' but they both were happy because they are able to acknowledge it as a date.

"That's…That's good." The silence was deafening, both girls too nervous to talk to each other. "C-Can I…look around your h-house?"

"Alright…" Riko was basically done with Maki's hangover cure, but her legs felt like they were glued to where she was standing. 'I…I really said that…So embarrassing!'

Maki wandered around the living room, thoughts of her now-called date swirling in her mind. With the small part of her mind not occupied with her date, she observed the clean room. It was plain, with just a couch, a dining table, a television, and a small table in front of the couch. Said table was very clean, with only some papers scattered about. She picked up one of the papers and saw relatively rough sketches of manga panels.

"These are nice," Maki commented.

"R-Really? Those are just sketches, they look awful." Riko was blushing at the supposedly undeserved praise.

"I can tell, but these are really good. Have some more confidence with your stuff."

Riko placed the glass on the table as she stared at the ground. "You see that too, huh? Nico-senpai said that as well."

"Nico? Like, the Nico I know?"

"Yeah. I'm going to be honest, Maki-senpai." The girl sat on the couch and motioned Maki to sit beside her. "I really thought that you were just joking about getting together. I just saw myself as…a pest. You have much better things to do than just be with a college girl."

"My god, Nico is actually right." Maki tapped Riko's shoulder, getting the younger girl's attention. "You are not just a college girl, Riko-chan. I asked you to this date because I really like you. I want to get to know you better and…I only hope that you would as well."

Riko's eyes were watering; she was getting overwhelmed with all of this praise from the woman she loves. But, her self-doubt kept creeping in. She didn't believe that she was good enough for Maki. "You're lying, right? I'm just a plain college girl, and you're an accomplished doctor and idol."

Maki was pouring her heart out, only for Riko to deny any of it. The older red-head was getting fed up with how little Riko thought about herself. She had to shut her up and make sure that Riko was hearing the truth.

So, she wrapped her arms around Riko and pulled her close.

Riko couldn't breathe. Not because of how tight the hug was, but how Maki was actually embracing her. "M-Maki-senpai?"

"Stop saying things that aren't true." Maki was starting to sob. "I might not know that much about you, but I know some things. One. You are very talented. Your drawings are pretty, and your piano playing is breath-taking."

"Maki-senpai…"

"Two. You are such a nice woman. You're a beautiful person, and you have such a loveable personality."

Riko sniffled. She couldn't stop her tears from streaming.

"And three. I haven't fallen in love with too many people. When I have, they all found someone else to love. And I accepted that. But…I don't want you to be taken away from me as well. You are such a wonderful person, and I want to spend so much time with you. I hate that you put yourself down so much when in reality, you are so amazing." Maki released the hug, but held Riko's shoulders. She positioned themselves so that they were facing each other. "Riko-chan, would you be my girlfriend?"

The girl couldn't do anything but nod her head and embrace Maki again.

"I'm…I'm so…happy!" Riko said through her tears.

Maki could only smile. "Me too."

The older girl yawned. "Are you tired?" Riko asked.

"You can't tell?" Maki smirked. The younger red-head lightly slapped Maki's arm. "I'm kidding. But, yeah. I want to sleep, if it's okay."

"Of course!" Riko said, but she remembered something. "I apologize…but, I don't really have a place for you to sleep."

"Well, is the couch fine? I'm okay with sleeping here."

"A-Are you sure?" Riko asked.

Maki laughed at how nervous Riko was. "Yes, don't worry. You can go to your room, and I'll just be here."

"O-Okay." Riko hugged Maki before she went to her room.

Maki sighed.

'She's amazing. I know I'll love her.'

…

Maki was awoken by a piano being played. "Huh?"

She stood up and walked towards the sound, which was coming from Riko's room. She even saw that the light was on and was very curious as to what Riko was doing.

Maki opened the door, startling the younger woman. "M-Maki-senpai?"

"Hey, Riko-chan. What are you doing?" Maki saw the piano in Riko's room.

"I couldn't sleep. With how well this day turned out…I was just too excited. So, I was just playing on my piano. I apologize for waking you up."

Maki took a seat beside Riko on the piano bench, surprising the younger woman. "It's okay. It sounded lovely."

"Thank you. I was practicing for the next recital coming up."

"When is it?"

"About two weeks."

Maki smiled. "I want to come and see it."

"You'll be there?" Riko asked in excitement.

"I'll try my best. I don't know if I will be able to, but I will try my hardest. Because…you're really good."

Riko blushed at the praise. "Thanks."

"Can you play it again?"

"My recital piece?" Riko asked.

Maki nodded. "It was lovely, and maybe it will help me go back to sleep."

Riko smiled. "I'll do that for you."

So, Riko played her piano piece as Maki sat beside her. The older woman fell asleep and had her head resting on Riko's shoulder. At first, Riko was blushing from the contact. But, it changed to a relaxing feeling and she loved having Maki beside her. Now that they were dating.

"I love you, Maki-senpai."

…

"Nozomi? What are you doing?" Eli asked as she walked into their bedroom.

"Just testing the cards to see what they say about Maki-chan and Riko-chan." The purple-haired girl said smiling.

"Gosh…Well, can I see?"

"Of course, Elichi!" Nozomi patted the seat beside her, which her girlfriend graciously took.

"Now, let's see the card."

She pulled it from the deck and saw something that she liked. The Lovers.

"Aww, they're dating!"

Eli was still surprised that Nozomi followed her tarot cards. "So, you think they're dating?"

"They are for sure dating, Elichi." Nozomi pouted. "You always doubt my cards, but they're never wrong."

"Well…I can't argue about that." Eli nodded. "Pull one more, maybe the cards will tell us about their future."

"Ooo, good idea." Nozomi pulled another cad from the deck. She was expecting something like the Doves card. That would mean that they would get married.

However, it was something completely different.

"N-Nozomi…can we trust that card?"

Nozomi wanted to say of course…but she didn't like what she drew. I was one that she had never encountered yet, but here it was.

"N-No! Just ignore it. Let's stop for today, okay?" Nozomi asked, to which Eli nodded.

She put the card down, not wanting to look at it again.

It was a red X. The title of it: Pain.