Chapter 46

The very next morning Hitomi found herself cheerfully skipping down the stairs to the mail box, grinning from ear to ear and if anybody saw her like this they would have thought that she might be high.

It wasn't entirely wrong. She was high on feelings. The date yesterday couldn't have gone any better.

After they had watched the sunset from the Castle Hill Tower they rode back into town, taking their sweet time on the way back to the Chinese's place.

She stayed over for a few more hours until it had gotten late. Leifang had asked her if she wanted to sleep over but Hitomi said that it was alright and bid her goodbye with another kiss before heading out.

Back at home she had instantly gone to bed but stayed awake for quite some time, just looking at the ceiling, her thoughts wandering to her girlfriend until she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

It felt... good. No, great. Like she was on top of the world and no one could hurt her. She hadn't felt that way since her high school years.

Hitomi could feel the blood in her cheeks, but didn't care. This was like her own personal spring in winter.

She opened up her mail box and a single letter fell right into her hand. She looked it over a few times seeing her address hand written on it rather than printed and opened it right then and there.

It's from that police officer. She thought and read it. It was mainly about how her case has been shelved because of lack of evidence and, in his words, uncooperativeness on her part. That because of that a potential murderer is still on the loose and that whatever happens now is due to her.

Hitomi stopped reading right there. The letter was still going on for a bit, but that was as much as she wanted to know. The investigation was over. Good she thought.

It was a waste of time anyway. The police, or better a certain super cop, wouldn't be able arrest a bunch of Ninja. And Hitomi had taken care of said potential murderer together with the others. Well mostly the others, but still.

Hitomi folded the letter up and headed back into her apartment where she threw it directly into the trash. She did feel bad for the man of course. Sure she had been rather uncooperative and he was probably beating himself up right now, but what was she to do? Tell him that there were Ninjas that had wanted to summon an army of demons right out of hell?

Sure they lived in a strange world but if she had told the police that she might as well have put on the straight-jacket herself right then. No, he would just have to get over the fact that this one was too big for him. Getting involved might just end up with him dead. It almost did end that way for her.

At least none of it had been leaked to the press. Now that was something she could definitely live without.

Great, and now my good mood is gone she sighed and let herself fall onto her sofa.

"Man this sucks." Hitomi muttered. She would kill for something to do right now. Her father didn't need her at the dojo today, so that was a no go, and football training was on hold for the rest of the semester.

And Leifang was still in class around this time and would be for a good few hours until afternoon.

Damn. She had so gotten used to it having something to do that she was now getting bored out of her mind.

Lying there for a few minutes, and thinking of what she should do, she finally had an idea that would kill time perfectly. She would bake a cake.

With that idea she got up and walked into the kitchen, checking the fridge and every cupboard if she had everything she needed to pull her endeavor off.

Of course she missed a few ingredients. She made a mental list of what she needed and headed out, refraining from taking the bike since she had a lot of time on her hands.

As much as Hitomi loved the mall, since it was easy to reach via tram, she preferred the small shop fifteen minutes down the road from there. It was a small family business that still kept doing pretty well for itself despite the large mall nearby.

She liked being here and sometimes just spent some extra time enjoying the sweet smell in the air.

"Did you find everything you wanted, dear?" Katja, the nice lady that ran the shop asked her with a smile. Over the years that she started frequenting the shop she came to know everyone that worked here. Even the little guy that was the lady's son.

Of course he wasn't so little anymore. Almost towered over her now. Not that it was very hard, since she was, in her opinion, rather small.

"Yeah." she said and put everything on the counter.

"It's been a while since you've been here." Katja commented while typing the in prices and putting everything in a small paper bag.

"It's been a pretty busy time. Studying, working, training." she said but left out the being skewered part. Didn't need to worry her after all.

"And," she started a little embarrassed. "Well I'm in a relationship."

"Oh! So you're making this for the lucky guy?"

"Kinda." Hitomi said and cleared her throat. Of course she would assume it was a guy. Back in the day she always talked about her crushes and how she wanted to make them something. But it was time that she stopped keeping it a secret.

"It's...not a guy actually." The woman stopped typing for a second and looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"A girl. Now that's different. My son has a girl in his class that is interested in other girls. Never thought you'd be the type." she said and continued typing. "Is she nice?"

"Yeah she is nice. And it's been a rather sudden development to be honest. Came actually with its share of drama. But do you know this feeling," she held a hand against her chest. "here, that tells you it's right?"

Katja smiled. "Sounds pretty serious."

Hitomi blinked. Did it really sound like that?

"Does it?"

"Mhm. She must really be a special lady. That's fifteen euro right on the mark by the way."

Hitomi handed her the money and took the paper bag. "She is." Hitomi admitted and had to think of all they endured thus far. "And worth every obstacle."

"Ah to be young and in love again." Katja gushed.

Hitomi said goodbye and headed out. As she walked down the street she heard the word echo in her mind.

Love.

Was she really in love with Leifang? They hadn't been together that long. But the brunette knew her for a long time now, was best friends with her, so could it be possible that she already had started to become that serious about it all?

She stopped for a moment to think about it and found herself back on the night that she had been hurt. The last thing that had been on her mind was the Chinese. And she could vaguely remember, when she had come out of unconsciousness, to have been talking about her as well.

Could it be that her subconsciousness had already realized it at that time?

It was certainly a possibility.

I love you she tried in her mind, picturing Leifang standing right in front of her. A warm feeling spread throughout her body and her heartbeat went faster. It made her nervous just thinking it and she felt her hands sweating up, but it also felt so right.

So it's true, huh? She thought and she smiled a small smile as she continued onward. She was in love. Thinking that now it all made so much sense.

Of course she wanted their relationship to work out the way she did if she was already so committed. And from now on she would do everything in her power to make that happen.

She closed her eyes and thought it once more. I love you, Leifang.

Hitomi hoped that the day she could tell her that would come soon. This wasn't something she could afford to simply jump upon. She needed to make sure that Leifang would be ready for it.

Also the mood needed to be right.

Maybe during New Year's Eve? That would give her at least a whole month to pave the road for her confession.

Hitomi snickered to herself. She felt like a high-schooler again. Now she was planning on when and how to confess her love to her girlfriend, taking their relationship to the next level.

Whistling a melody that she liked she decided that she didn't want to return immediately, she still had some time in her hands after all, so she headed towards the mall.

She started by hitting the book store. It had been a while since she read a book out of sole enjoyment, and one or two books sounded like an excellent way to kill some time.

The mall was buzzing with people even at this time of the day and Hitomi had to watch out not to bump into someone as she made her way to the book store on the upper floor. It was quiet inside the store, as befitting for one dealing with books, and the sound from outside was muted due to the thick glass and walls.

Hitomi found herself heading immediately towards the fantasy section. Her being a sucker for Disney had left her with a big love for fantastical settings so she had a few novels of that type at home. She liked the idea of wandering around the world and experience adventures with a group of friends.

It was such a nice contrast to her rather ordinary real life.

Well not that ordinary now, right? She chuckled. Ninjas weren't really a part of an ordinary life. After looking through the shelves for a while she didn't really find something that appealed to her, so she decided to check the other sections. Why not try something new?

As she walked aimlessly through the bookstore she wondered what type of books Leifang would like. After all Christmas wasn't that far off.

Shit, I have to buy some presents soon. Hitomi realized and made a mental note to remember that so that she could buy one for her another time. Try to think of something to give Leifang.

Wouldn't do for her not to give her a present on their first christmas together.

Hitomi stopped and looked around, then stopped as her eyes focused on a very special section. She knew that she should just walk away now, but something in the back of her mind as well as what she had realized just earlier made her walk over to the shelves.

Her fingers ran across the small shield on top of them.

Sex-Guidebooks.

She couldn't deny that she desired Leifang. Hell, the days upon realizing what she felt were proof enough, but after Leifang's return those urges had been in check for a while. But now that she realized how serious she was about her all these little thoughts and fantasies started to creep back up.

As much as Hitomi had her small share of experiences with the topic she knew nothing about the act involving two women. And from what she knew her girlfriend had no experience at all. Hitomi knew that, eventually, she wanted to have sex with Leifang, and she wanted it to be special for both of them. So maybe...

She guided her hand down to let it run across the spines of several books, reading the various titles of the books, searching for something that might help her. Most of these books were, of course, aimed at heterosexual couples, but a handful of them were something she could work with.

Then one book got her attention.

The Women's Guide to Please Other Ladies. she read. Hitomi pulled the book out and read the description of its content. The title and text seemed daring to be sure, but it also seemed to speak of confidence, as if the topic wasn't something to be ashamed of.

Looking at it for another moment she headed towards the checkout to pay for it. For a moment she thought the cashier gave her a strange look, but it was only her imagination.

After having bought her new book she left the mall and headed back home.

She had a lot of things to do.

Aww, little Hitomi finally realized that she's in love. :3

Don't you just love it that Hitomi can sometimes get a little bit to overeager?
Just a little something for all of you that want them to get to the next base.

And hey, Mr. Supercop won't bother her anymore too! Like it's already christmas.

See you all next week!