A/N: so this is turning out to be pretty Yumiko-centric fic which isn't what I originally planned but I think it's kind of necessary since the sequel to Conflict Resolution is pretty Magna-centric.

so you've probably guessed by how slow updates are in coming that my health is still getting worse. My cognitive function has deteriorated so much and is only continuing to do so. Which is. . . honestly the most devastating thing that's ever happened to me. My good days now are what my bad days used to be and they're only happening 1-3 times a month. Given that each month is worse than the last it's very worrying. I hate that this happened just when I started writing a lot again. I have so many plans for my yumagna fics and hundreds of thousands worth of extremely rough draft scenes that might end up going to waste. Illness has taken everything from me but I never thought it would take my ability to write. Honestly just praying for a miracle at this point.

I want to thank you all for the comments you leave. They mean so much to me, especially during these times.

They hadn't even made it more than a few steps before the plan to get her brother home met one major obstacle.

That obstacle being Tomi himself.

"You're really not going to tell me what happened between you two?"

Yumiko withheld a sigh. "Maybe when you're sober."

Maybe in your dreams.

She took another step, trying to move them towards the exit - but was no match for the resistance she encountered. Gritting her teeth, she tried again.

This had been so much easier back when they were teenagers and she'd been the taller one.

Curse that bloody growth spurt he'd gone through at the end of high school.

"She didn't cheat, did she?"

Yumiko stopped short. "What? No."

The idea was absurd. Magna may have hurt her - profoundly - but Yumiko knew she would never hurt her like that. Never.

"Good, because I'd challenge her to a duel in your honor. . . but I'm not sure I'd win that fight."

"You definitely wouldn't win that fight."

Though it would certainly present an amusing sight.

(she might even have to borrow Connie's camera)

"Mm." Tomi's brow furrowed. "Does she know fencing? I'm very good at fencing. One might even say brilliant."

Yumiko had to take a moment to picture the scenario her brother had just painted. Found her mouth curling treacherously at the look that would surely adorn Magna's face when she realized what she would have to wear - and that her 'sword' was about as lethal as a toothpick, less than.

Bit back a laugh.

(she would definitely have to borrow Connie's camera)

". . . I don't think it's her area of expertise."

"Wonderful. Let's do that."

Yumiko rolled her eyes. "She didn't cheat on me, Tomi."

"You can't blame me for being suspicious. What, with your taste in women-"

"It was one woman. And Magna's nothing like her," Yumiko said, unable to stop herself from stiffening reflexively at the mention of Nicole.

"I'm glad to hear it."

Though she could tell from the look on his face that he was in no way surprised. He liked Magna. Had formed a rather high opinion of her from just one meeting (though it was possible their mother had more than influenced that opinion). Certainly liked her more than he'd ever liked Nicole, and had made no secret of the fact.

Actually. . . it was entirely possible that he was simply trying to stir her up with this line of questioning, in the hopes that her building frustration would lead her to slip up - and in doing so reveal the information he was truly digging for.

It would hardly be the first time.

"So what did happen then?"

Yep.

She pursed her lips, refusing to give ground.

Undeterred, Tomi stepped away, drawing out a chair from a nearby table and taking a seat. Crossing his legs, he gazed up at her expectantly.

Waiting.

Yumiko groaned internally.

At this rate, she was never getting home.

Tomi jerked his chin at the chair beside him. The invitation plain.

She crossed her arms, not budging.

If he thought he could outmatch her in a battle of wills then he'd clearly developed a case of drunken amnesia. She'd always been the more stubborn of the two of them - and the most patient. At least when it came to obtaining what she wanted and resisting what other people wanted.

(a quality that had served her more than well in the courtroom)

A minute passed.

And another.

"Fine, you don't want to talk about your little lesbian drama, let's talk about how you haven't made a single doctor's appointment since coming here."

It took everything in Yumiko not to throw up her hands and march for the exit.

She'd forgotten how a little alcohol could turn her brother into the most nosey and interfering person on earth - which was saying something given their mother.

All the more reason to never let him near a bottle again.

"Was I supposed to?"

He sent her a look, which was a tad less effective than it would normally have been due to his state of being well and truly sloshed.

Yumiko suppressed a sigh. "I'm fine. I haven't made an appointment because I don't need to make an appointment."

She'd gone ten years without seeing a doctor and had no plans to ruin that streak now.

"Actually, that's something a doctor will decide. You know, when you actually see one."

"Have you seen a doctor?"

Tomi raised his chin a little too smugly. "I am a doctor."

Yumiko rolled her eyes.

"But, for the sake of winning this argument, yes. Regular check-ups. You know, the thing people are supposed to do. Only your check-ups should be a little more regular than most."

She glanced over her shoulder at Magna, just to make sure her attention hadn't strayed their way.

But no. She was still stacking up dishes like her life depended on it - and with a level of focus and concentration her former teachers would have been dismayed to see.

Yumiko didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed by the fact.

Shaking her head, she turned back.

"Look, I'm not in the mood to talk about this."

"Shocking. Is there anything you are in the mood to talk about?"

"At the moment? No. Unless of course you also want to start a conversation about how much you've been drinking lately?"

He immediately fell silent.

That's what I thought.

Still, it was a conversation they were going to have to have eventually.

And not one she was at all looking forward to.

Yumiko sighed. "Let's just go home. Okay?"

He stood up. "Fine. It's your life."

"It is."

The victory was a short one.

"Though that's never stopped you from interfering in other people's lives." He tilted his head. "Little hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Tomi."

"Don't Tomi me. You know that's what you do. Ever since we were little kids. Can't control your own life so you try to control everybody else's. . . how unfortunate for the rest of us."

That hurt.

Yumiko swallowed, forced the feeling down deep, where it wouldn't show on her face.

No cracks.

"Can we please just go?"

But she must have failed, must have missed a fracture - or not gotten to it in time, because he paused, features softening a little. "If Mum was here-"

"But she's not." The response came out sharper than she'd intended it but ten years still hadn't healed the wound of their mother's passing and she was feeling particularly raw tonight. Too raw for this. "And it's none of your business. None of anyone's business."

He glanced over her shoulder. "Not even hers?"

Yumiko's lips pressed together.

Tomi narrowed his eyes, catching the tell. "What exactly have you told her?"

She hesitated.

Which apparently was enough.

"Nothing?" he burst out, at a volume that was far, far too loud.

Eyes widening, she glanced over her shoulder. Found Magna staring back at her. Brow raised, a question in her eyes.

A concern.

Yumiko sent back a small smile, dismissing the nonverbal offer of help. The last thing she needed right now was for Magna to come within hearing range of her brother when he was like this.

Gritting her teeth, she turned back to Tomi, gripping his arm and steering him towards the door. "Would you be quiet?"

He blinked, not resisting. "Seriously. . . nothing?"

"If there was something to tell, I would have told her. But there's nothing, so I've told her nothing."

It was simple enough to understand. Perfectly logical.

Though from the expression on Tomi's face she was clearly alone in thinking that.

Well, he's drunk. No doubt everything is hard for him to understand at this point.

". . . that's quite a lot of nothing not to tell."

For God-

Yumiko sighed, coming to a stop. Her eyes strayed towards the exit a moment, still tortuously out of reach. "There are things Magna doesn't tell me about her past. And things I don't tell her. It's something we've always had an understanding about."

"No wonder you broke up."

Yumiko huffed.

Okay, yes.

But only because one of those things Magna had neglected to tell her actually involved her.

This was different.

And it wasn't something Tomi could understand.

One day she might tell Magna. And one day Magna might tell her. All the things she hadn't yet been able to. All the things Yumiko knew were still lurking under the surface.

But that day hadn't come. Not yet.

And that was okay.

She didn't want Magna to open up to her if it meant breaking apart in the process. And it was something she knew Magna felt the same about in regards to her.

They'd always respected each other's scars. And, contrary to what her brother might think, that wasn't why they'd broken up. It was actually one of the reasons why they worked.

Had worked.

He squinted. "You really haven't told her a single thing?"

Apparently, this was a terribly hard concept for him to grasp.

"In thirteen years?"

"Tomi," she said, warningly.

He held up a hand, starting a path towards the doors once more. Thankyou, Christ. "Fine, fine. You're right - it's none of my business. Though," he paused in his step, "given that you spilled my secret, it seems only fair that I spill yours."

"I did that-"

"To help me. So you keep saying." They came to a stop by one of the grazing tables and Yumiko crossed her arms, wishing that they were somewhere else. Somewhere far more private than this. "Though I can't help but think that you did it to help you."

The accusation stung.

"Is that really what you think?"

After the conversation she'd just had with Magna, it hurt. A lot. Two people in her life, two people who she loved, thinking so little of her.

Yumiko wasn't perfect.

Had never been perfect.

But she certainly considered herself to be better than this.

"I think that it wasn't your choice to make. But that's always been a difficult concept for you to grasp."

Yumiko swallowed.

In this. . .

She couldn't deny that he was right.

Tomi took a step closer, anger building in the dark of his eyes, even as his tone remained light. Amiable. "Is that why you broke up? Did she get sick of you trying to run her life?"

Yumiko's arms tightened around herself. A defensive maneuver. Just a defensive maneuver.

Not because she needed the hold.

The comfort.

She bit the inside of her cheek, forcing her expression to remain still, impenetrable. To not let him see the wound he'd scored. It was a trick she'd learned years ago with Nicole, though not one she'd had to use very often since. But Tomi had always known her vulnerabilities, just as she knew his.

And that made him more lethal than most.

Usually, that wasn't something Yumiko had to worry about. Because even though her brother had the power to hurt her, he lacked the desire to. But apparently, throwing a little too much alcohol into the mix changed things. Or maybe this had simply been brewing. Building. For months, for years. For a lifetime.

Maybe a part of him did want to hurt her.

And she couldn't blame him for that.

"I wouldn't be surprised," he continued, thankfully too caught up in his own feelings to notice any of hers. "It's what you do, after all. Run people's lives. Make decisions for them. Always so convinced that you know best. You weren't happy with me being just a baker-"

"I didn't understand it." Not when he'd worked so hard to become a doctor in the first place. Not when he had the talent, the knowledge. The ability to help people. Not when she'd spent ten years dreaming of practicing law again. "But I didn't need to understand it to accept it. That's not why I-"

"Ruined my life?"

"Don't be dramatic," Yumiko muttered, shying away from the sliver of doubt that suggested he might very well be right. "I was trying to-"

"Fix things. I know. You're always trying to fix things." Tomi threw up his hands, "And it's exhausting for the rest of us."

She blinked.

His words echoed in the space between them, ringing in Yumiko's ears, filling up her chest until she could barely breathe. She wet her lips, thoughts scrambling, struggling to rebuild themselves. The anger in his eyes - the resentment - made them fall apart upon completion. With every new attempt, they continued to shatter.

Eventually, she gave up.

Parted her lips. "You're a mean drunk. You know that?"

Inwardly, Yumiko winced at the throaty quality of her voice. Wished that she'd been able to hide the emotion. The hurt.

That she hadn't let herself slip.

(Nicole would have pounced on the mistake. Exploited it before she'd even had a chance to catch her breath, let alone mount a new defense.

But her brother wasn't Nicole)

Tomi paused. Apparently even intoxicated, he heard it too. The crack. Her mistake. After a moment, he sighed, sagging slightly. "Miko. . ."

"Everything okay?"

They both jumped.

(Yumiko, embarrassingly, a good few inches higher than her brother)

Already knowing what she would see when she turned around - and dreading it - she squeezed her eyes shut. Please don't have been standing there long. Releasing a sigh, Yumiko forced her reluctant feet to move, unable to stop the way her muscles instantly relaxed - just a fraction - at the sight of Magna's face.

Which currently held an expression of concern - and the threatening hint of reproach when her attention moved to Tomi.

"Everything's fine," Yumiko sighed. "Tomi was just-"

"Drunk." Magna's voice cut, that hint of reproach becoming far more than just a hint.

Unsurprising.

She had a bad history with men, and a bad history with drunken men. Yumiko suspected that her brother's raised voice had stirred up more than a bit of it.

Her brother, who was apparently still sober enough to have the decency to look a modicum ashamed.

In truth, though, arguments like this were commonplace between them. Or, at least they had been. Years ago.

And alcohol had never been a necessary ingredient.

Tomi's resentment for her ran deep. And she couldn't even blame him for it. His childhood would have been very different if she'd never been born.

Better.

It was a fact they both knew to be true but had never spoken aloud.

Instead they got into fights like this. Constantly.

(reason number one why they'd mostly stayed away from each other after high school)

Still, tonight had been worse than usual. Harsher. They'd always fought, yes. But it was rare that they'd done so with the intention to truly wound.

Like fencing, they kept their weapons blunted.

Not tonight, though. Tonight, her brother's had been as sharp as Damascus steel.

And Yumiko hadn't been prepared for it.

Magna glanced at Tomi, crossing her arms with no small level of distrust in her eyes - and contempt. Clearly, his meager act of contrition wasn't reaping much success.

Yumiko could intervene, probably should intervene, but found her motivation somewhat lacking. The sting of his words still burning in her chest.

After a moment, Magna turned back to her, gaze softening slightly. And Yumiko hated how quickly it worked like a balm for her injured nerves, how just staring into those eyes pulled at the knot in her chest, loosening it inch by inch.

She couldn't remember a time when Magna hadn't had that power. When she hadn't affected her so profoundly.

It wasn't something Yumiko had ever minded before. In fact, she'd cherished it. But right now all it did was fill her with a new hurt, a new ache. The ache of loss.

Distance hadn't weakened Magna's hold on her. Not even by a fraction. And she tried to picture what life would be like, with that hold still around her heart, still gripping tight. . .

But with Magna no longer there to hold her.

Really hold her.

And maybe that was for the best. Maybe Magna had been right all along and they really were too different. Like oil and water. No matter how hard you forced them together, no matter how hard you tried. . . they couldn't mix.

Were never meant to.

And Yumiko couldn't forget that she'd hurt her. Lied to her. Betrayed her. Wasn't sure she could ever forget it.

So maybe this was best.

But it sure as hell didn't feel like it.

(and she didn't think it ever would)

Magna's hand twitched at her side, jerking up slightly - before stilling.

And it might have been anything.

Might have been no more than a consequence of restless energy, of which she'd always had too much.

But Yumiko watched the clench of her jaw, felt her own ache in remembrance - and doubted it.

Clearly, she wasn't the only one struggling with this barrier between them. But she was the only one who lacked the power to tear it down. Tonight had proved that if nothing else.

Too many times Yumiko had tried to cross that barrier. And too many times she'd been rejected. Even now, if she was to reach out, she couldn't guarantee that her attempt would be met with anything other than disappointment.

But if Magna was to reach out. . .

Yumiko wouldn't reject it.

Wouldn't reject her.

It was hard for that realization not to sting.

(the realization that she hungered for Magna's touch far more than she did hers)

Yumiko cleared her throat. "We should get going. And leave you to finish up."

Magna's lips thinned for a moment and she caught a hint of . . . something in her eyes before the emotion passed, features evening out once more. She inclined her head towards Tomi. "Need help getting him back?"

"As a matter of fact, y-"

"We're fine."

Magna glanced between them, unable to hide her bemusement at Tomi's apparent eagerness to spend even another second in her threatening company. But that was only because she was grossly unfamiliar with her brother's interfering nature - no doubt inherited from their mother - and that he'd like nothing more than an opportunity to spend some time alone with the two of them.

The mere thought of which filled Yumiko with a nauseating amount of dread.

Magna hesitated, gaze landing on her once more, and settling. "Okay, then." The words came reluctantly, the step back she took even moreso. "I'm going to be here for another hour - at least. So if you change your mind-"

Yumiko smiled weakly, nodded. "Thankyou."

"Yeah. Sure. Don't mention it."

She watched as Magna retreated back to the other side of the room: the slowness of her gait, how she took twice as long as necessary to cover the distance. . . more than once, Yumiko nearly called her back.

Just to have her there again.

At her side.

Just to breathe in the familiarity of her presence.

The comfort.

But she couldn't have Magna around Tomi. Not tonight. Not like this. He was being far too loose with his words. Words that, if Magna was ever to hear one day, should be heard from her and her alone - when she was ready for them to be said.

Magna deserved that.

They both did.

But still. . . she nearly called her back.

Nearly did a lot of things.

A/N: Miko's going to need a spa day after tonight. Does the commonwealth have those? Spa date with Magna is just what the doctor ordered.

(and obviously there's more to the whole situation with Tomi and his job that hasn't been touched on yet)