Six long minutes later, Tomi waltzed his way into the kitchen, hair slightly more mussed than before - and a suspicious-looking mark on his forehead.
If you get a concussion, I swear to God. . .
Pushing down the very real urge to strangle her brother, Yumiko raised a brow. "All good?"
He smiled with the kind of brainless arrogance only alcohol could provide. "All good."
"You've got a red mark on your face."
A hand flew to his forehead, a momentary frown darkening his features, before he shrugged. "The shirt got a bit testy. Not to worry. I put it in its place."
"By slamming your face against the floor?"
"The wall, actually. And I'll have you know I was victorious."
God help me.
"Oh really?"
Tomi splayed his arms wide so she could better see his attire. "I'm changed, aren't I?"
"Your shirt's on back to front."
Brow furrowing, he glanced down. "So it is."
Rolling her eyes, Yumiko stepped forward. "Hold up your arms."
"Really, Miko, we've talked about this-"
"I'm not going to look." Had no desire at all to see her brother's hairy chest and add it to the smorgasbord of haunting images she'd collected over the last decade. "But I'd really like to get out of here before dawn."
"Hot date to get to? Perhaps with a certain knife-wielding terror we all know and love - or, more accurately, fear?"
She didn't dignify that with a response.
"Hold up your arms."
Grumbling, Tomi obeyed. "Only because I love you."
That drew a smile from her, albeit only slight, and she reached for the hem of his shirt. Swiftly, Yumiko drew it up and over his head, pointedly keeping her eyes locked with his all the while.
In a few short moments, she had it switched the right way around, and settled back into place. "See? That wasn't so bad was it?"
Tomi pursed his lips. "You're a little rough."
Shaking her head, Yumiko walked over to the counter, collecting the glass of water she'd already prepared. "A thankyou would suffice."
"Thankyou, oh dearest sister of mine. How ever would I manage without your constant interference?"
"Good question."
She truly wondered sometimes. It was a miracle he'd made it ten years - let alone an entire apocalypse.
"Here." Yumiko passed him the glass - half full, to prevent any clumsy spillages. "Drink."
"I see your level of bossiness hasn't wavered over the last decade." Tomi grunted, accepting the water. "Can't say I missed it."
"Alcohol is dehydrating. As a doctor, I think you'd know that."
"Oh, I do." He languidly took a sip. "Doesn't make it any less bossy, though. Maybe you should consider having children. Just think of it: some little beings whose lives you could constantly micromanage and interfere with on a twenty-four seven basis. You'd be in heaven."
Yumiko kicked his foot. "You think I like bossing people around? It's the fastest way to get a migraine - you're all exhausting."
So bloody exhausting.
He held up a finger. "But it does feed your need for control and you can never have too much of that. You may hate it but you also need it."
She paused.
That was-
Damn.
Tomi's mouth ticked up, clearly seeing his victory.
"Just drink your damn water."
Grinning, he lowered his gaze, taking a long, deliberate sip - completing the effect with an obnoxious slurp.
By Yumiko's estimation, it seemed she already had one gigantic child in her life to take care of. And that one was more than enough. Honestly, he'd been less of a handful back when he'd actually been a child.
No, back then he'd actually had some level of maturity.
(he'd had to)
Speaking of control. . .
Yumiko scratched the back of her neck. "You know, I never really thanked you for what you did back when we were kids. With the sidewalks. . . not just for helping me get past that fear but for giving me the choice. Mum and Dad always pushed me to do things," which more often than not only made everything worse, "but you never did. You always gave me a choice."
And that had made all the difference.
The ball might have been Tomi's but he'd placed it firmly in her court, free to kick or ignore at her own volition. He'd never pressured her. Not once.
"Of course I did." He lifted a shoulder, as though the concept of doing anything else would have been nothing short of ridiculous. "What good would forcing you to do something accomplish? Besides, you're stubborn as hell. Always have been. And even though I didn't know what was happening with you, let alone understand it - I knew you were more stubborn than whatever it was could ever hope to be. Than anything could. . . Just needed a little help to realize that."
She smiled weakly. "A bit more than a little."
At least at that moment in time. Later, she'd reached a point where she'd no longer needed anyone's help. Where she could manage on her own.
And she hadn't fallen from that point since.
Knock on wood.
"I like that you're stubborn," Tomi added thoughtfully. "Love it actually. Always have. It can drive me up the wall sometimes. How stubborn you are. But I think I would have lost you a long time ago if you were anything else. Hell, it's why you survived the last ten years. Out there. With those. . . things."
Well, Magna had more than a little to do with that. Yumiko wasn't sure what either of them would have done without the other, especially in the beginning.
Her former archery lessons had also come in handy. Her only skillset from before the apocalypse that really had.
No-one needed a lawyer at the end of the world.
No-one, apparently, except the Commonwealth.
"Sometimes stubbornness isn't enough," Yumiko murmured, thinking of the day everything had begun. The man at the truck stop who was no longer a man at all. There'd been no time to react when he'd dived towards her, to understand what was happening, to fend against it. Magna had reacted, though. Magna had a lifetime of defensive reflexes hardwired into her. Reflexes that had saved Yumiko's life that day. And so many days since.
They'd both saved each other over the years. Countless times. Innumerable times.
They'd always been lacking in something. Supplies. Weapons. Shelter. Hope. But as long as they'd had each other, they'd stood a chance. As long as they'd had each other, they could survive. They could make it.
Sometimes Yumiko thought it was nothing short of pure insanity to have made the decision to rip apart that well-oiled machine. The only thing that had kept them alive. Given them a reason to stay alive.
They'd walked away from each other. Because the machine no longer operated like it used to. Had become prone to malfunction, constantly breaking down. Falling apart. And it had seemed like a good idea at the time, the right thing to do, and maybe it had been but. . .
It didn't feel nearly so right anymore.
Yumiko sighed, glancing around the kitchen, trying to distract from that thought. "It's strange. Being in a place like this. Having an apartment again. Just to myself." And lonely. "Even stranger not having to worry about sickos bursting into my bedroom in the middle of the night."
That, more than anything, had been the hardest thing to adjust to. The fact that she no longer had to spend every second on edge. On guard.
That she could shut her eyes at night without the fear that she wouldn't open them again come morning.
Just as well, really. Having Magna sleeping beside her had always been the only thing capable of combatting that fear. The steady sound of her breathing - and later, the warmth of her hold - were what had allowed Yumiko to feel at ease enough to actually slip into sleep.
But these days she slept alone. Entirely alone.
So just as well she knew things were safe. Or as safe as they could possibly be anymore.
(she still slept with a knife under the pillow next to her, though. The place Magna had once kept her own.
Just in case.
The Commonwealth had confiscated her bow on arrival. Yumiko hadn't decided yet if she wanted it back. It felt too much like opening a door she'd spent the last few months trying to shut behind her.
At the same time, she felt almost naked without it.
Vulnerable.
She wondered now whether Magna had been able to keep her rather extensive collection of knives. And how she was coping with their theft - and absence - if not. If things had been like before, it wasn't something she'd need to wonder about.
She'd already know.
She'd know everything.)
Yumiko returned her attention to Tomi. "Though I suppose it's not strange to you at all. After ten years, you must be used to this."
"I suppose I am." He glanced around the kitchen, taking it in. "Though not so much this. My entire bedroom could fit inside this kitchen - with room to spare. The privileges of a baker in no way compare to that of a doctor. Still, I liked that apartment. It was room enough for me. And much better than some of the other homes around here. Many people are lucky if they even get a bed to sleep on. Even luckier if their mattress doesn't have mold." He grimaced, taking another sip of his water. "It makes people sick, you know? The conditions they're living in. I've seen it. Saw it in the old world too. The only way for them to get better is to improve those conditions - but of course that's not an option. So they stay sick. And if they reach the point where they're too sick to work, to be of use," his mouth twisted, "well, then there's no longer any place for them in the Commonwealth, is there?"
Yumiko clenched her jaw.
"But that's not something you or I have to worry about. Lucky as we are. . . useful as we are."
"I think use has very little to do with it."
Sebastian Milton was no use at all, yet life still seemed to have served him obscenely well. And who was to say that a lawyer was more use than a waiter? The Commonwealth certainly found a need for both. In fact, she would bet a finger that Magna's work hours far outmatched her own.
(and nothing in this world could ever convince Yumiko that her life held more value than Magna's.
That it ever had.)
Tomi's glass landed on the counter with a gentle tap as he straightened, examining her closely. "You know, you have a great deal of privilege here, Yumiko. My advice would be to use it. . . for something other than fancy parties."
Frustration balled up inside of her, filling her chest to painful degrees."I'm trying to."
"I wasn't talking about that," he huffed. "Go to the bloody doctors, Miko."
She pursed her lips. "I'll think about it."
He hesitated, studying her expression. Whatever he saw there must have been less than reassuring. "I can get you some Valium if you need a little something to help you get through the appointment. Only one tablet, mind you, but you're only going to one appointment."
Except, it was never just one appointment.
And it wasn't just the appointment itself to contend with.
It was the days leading up to it. And all the days that followed. An entire week, at the least. But most likely more.
Far longer than a single tablet could hope to tackle.
But Tomi wouldn't understand that. Had never understood that.
(no-one ever did)
And honestly, even if she had a week's supply of Valium, Yumiko still wouldn't take it. Not when she needed to be at full capacity. Becoming foggy and sedated - even just for a week - was too much of a risk.
She'd barely touched her supply in the old world for the same reason. Only in emergencies. Which, granted, a doctor's appointment certainly amounted to. But this wasn't the old world. And things here were far more dangerous. She couldn't afford to forget that. Even though the Commonwealth was the safest place Yumiko had stepped inside for a decade, she couldn't ignore what lay outside it.
Walls had been breached before.
Sanctuaries had been destroyed.
Anything could turn in an instant.
And even without the undead to worry about, Yumiko had learned in the last ten years that the living were just as lethal. If not moreso.
Yumiko exhaled, raking a hand through her hair, the night's exhaustion reaching its peak, coming to land on her shoulders with the weight of an avalanche. "Like I said, I'll think about it."
"At the very least you might be able to get back on some of the medication you were on before. I'd think that's something you'd want. Well worth the hassle of an appointment. And whilst I can't say we'll have everything here, I'm sure that at least some of it will be available. What do you think you'd need? I know about the benzodiazepines and antidepressants, anything else?"
"God, you're such a nosy drunk."
He grinned.
Yumiko sighed. If she didn't throw him a bone, he was only going to keep digging until he found one. At least this way she could be selective about just what he ended up sinking his teeth into. "HRT."
"Oh." He blinked, paused - before understanding set in. Followed shortly after by, yep. Pity.
(she shouldn't have said anything)
"I didn't realize."
"I didn't tell you."
"Or Mum?"
"Or Mum." She shrugged. "It was still fairly new. Never really got around to it."
That was a feeble excuse and Yumiko knew it. She hadn't gotten around to it because she hadn't wanted to get around to it.
Tomi crossed his arms, uncrossed them. In any other context, it would have been gratifying to finally see him be the one caught off balance for once, the one so unsure of what to say. In any other context but this. "What I was saying earlier, about you and Magna, and-"
Yumiko cut him off. "It's fine. We'll talk about it another time."
"Will we?"
Probably.
If you remember this conversation.
If not. . .
Tomi cleared his throat. "Very well. HRT you can definitely start up again here. It's actually very important that you do. The risks-"
"I know." Her voice cut.
She didn't need to be lectured on her own health. She knew more about it than he ever would. Ever could.
She was the one who had to live with it.
Tomi cleared his throat again. "And we should also get you some antibiotics. You were always supposed to have them on hand."
"A little hard to do, given the circumstances."
The supply she'd had on her at the beginning of this hell had run out years ago. She'd done her best not to think about the fact. Linger on it.
Not when there was nothing that could be done.
"Well, given your value to the community, it should be easy enough to justify obtaining some." Yumiko wasn't so sure she liked that. It shouldn't be easy. At least no more than it was for anyone else. "Especially since you most likely won't ever have to use them, so they'll be suffering no loss on their part - not to mention you'll be able to pay. A sound business decision."
She knew he was right.
And that it was nothing short of idiotic at this point not to ask for something that was so easily accessible to her now. Something she needed.
Only, it wasn't easy.
Not really.
"I'd still have to make a doctor's appointment."
"Which you should."
Yumiko turned away, heading over to the sink. Intent on fixing her own glass of water. She hadn't had one all night. And whilst she knew that her building headache couldn't be blamed on that alone, a little hydration certainly wouldn't hurt.
(and maybe she needed the distraction)
Tomi's voice followed after her.
"But. . ." He hesitated. "I can get you some. In the meantime. Until you feel up to making that appointment."
Yumiko couldn't deny the slight twist in her heart as she reached for a glass, couldn't deny that she was touched by the offer. Especially after how things had been between them lately. "A little unethical."
"So is bribing people to sign NDAs." Yumiko's jaw clenched. "Or only providing treatment to those who can afford it - oddly enough I feel much better about this."
The handle was stiff under her grip and she took her time in inching it up. Just the slightest amount. Enough to allow only a light stream to flow free.
Little by little, Yumiko watched it pour into the glass. Slowly rising. "Thankyou."
She meant it.
"Yes, well," she heard him shift, "don't get used to it. And I will be doing it above board. I'm not going to hide the fact that they're for you - or why you need them."
Yumiko grimaced slightly. She wasn't particularly comforted by the thought of the Commonwealth having access to her medical history - or any of her history for that matter. "Only the bits that relate to the antibiotics. Nothing else."
She could tolerate that.
Mostly.
"Very well." He folded his arms, leaning back against the counter. "Though I don't know why you're so secretive about it."
"Information is power." Yumiko took a small sip. "And I'd rather those like Lance have as little over me as possible."
That wasn't the whole reason, of course, but it was certainly a very important aspect of it. There were many different forms of currency inside the Commonwealth and information was one of them. And from what she'd seen, it was a currency that Lance Hornsby had devoted the last ten years to acquiring in abundance.
Yumiko would be a fool to ignore that.
Tomi squinted. "You know, I don't understand you. You clearly don't trust Hornsby and yet you've been cozied up to him ever since your arrival."
She avoided his gaze. "Well, it's like they say, isn't it? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
"So you consider him an enemy?"
Honestly, Yumiko was still figuring that out.
She'd gotten far too used to the kind of enemies that placed people's heads on spikes just to make a point. This was a whole different ballpark. The lines weren't nearly so obvious.
"Well, I certainly don't consider him a friend."
"You might want to let him know that. From the interactions I've seen, I think he might be about ready to make friendship bracelets - you're going to break his cold, dead heart."
Yumiko rolled her eyes. "I'm an asset to him. Though I suspect it also might have something to do with Pamela."
"Oh?"
She shrugged. "I'm the only attorney in this place who actually passed the bar - but I'm also one of the few people here who went to Harvard. So she likes my company." In the way an old lady enjoyed the company of a lapdog. "And I think Lance gets a kick out of playing with Pamela's toys."
"You give him an ego boost."
Not exactly.
"I. . . help him to score points in a game Pamela doesn't even know she's playing."
And Yumiko couldn't say she was particularly eager to find out what winning that game would entail. For anyone.
Pamela Milton might have her faults but at heart she was a politician. And Yumiko knew how to deal with politicians. Lance Hornsby, on the other hand, was a snake. Waiting in the grass. No way of knowing when he would strike. Or who he would strike against.
He was unpredictable.
And power hungry.
(a dangerous combination)
Tomi's mouth twisted, gazing down at the glass in his hand. "God, I hate rich people. All their little games and subterfuge. The constant power struggles."
"You're rich."
"Besides the point."
"And from what I've gathered, Lance isn't. Or at least never used to be. Back in the old world. He was the Milton family chauffeur."
Tomi's brows flew up. "Well, that explains a lot."
In a way it did.
"The point is, the less information Lance - or anyone here - has on me, the better. I may hope for the best when it comes to this place but I'm not a bloody idiot."
No matter what so many others seemed to think.
"Fair." Tomi placed his glass down, crossing his arms. "Though I struggle to see how that excuse works for Magna."
God, he really was like a dog with a bone.
"And I struggle to see how it's any of your business."
Again, how was she the interfering one?
"Besides, it was a long time ago," Yumiko added, heading over to the pantry.
Opening it up, she half-heartedly scanned the shelves for something quick and simple that would get her through the next few hours. She'd barely eaten at all tonight, too busy, too distracted, and if she was going to endure another round of being interrogated about her relationship with Magna - the things she had and hadn't told her - then there was no way she was doing it on an empty stomach.
"So? I still tell people about the time Dad stepped on my pet snail when I was five. The incomprehensible trauma of that moment." Tomi released a heavy sigh, shaking his head. "Poor little Harold. Gone too soon."
"I still can't believe you named your snail Harold."
"Well, Maximilian II seemed a bit much - and I'm not the one with the habit of naming their pets after food."
"I like food."
"Not exactly the impression I got in high school."
Yumiko sent him a look over her shoulder. "Really? You want to go there?"
Apparently, he didn't. "The point is, there's not exactly an expiration date on these things."
Her gaze landed on the feeble remains of a loaf of bread. Good enough.
"I just don't see any reason in digging up the past." Yumiko swiped the loaf, turning back to face him with a shrug. "It doesn't appeal to me."
"Well, that much is abundantly clear. . ." Tomi narrowed his eyes. "You know, it's my understanding that communication is key in relationships."
"We communicate," Yumiko said, a touch too defensively.
He squinted. "Do you, though?"
"Yes."
Granted, they'd barely spoken for all of three months before tonight but still.
They communicated.
Their communication just also tended to involve a lot of mis-communication.
Tomi looked far from convinced. "It's just. . . communication has never really been your strong suit."
Yumiko blinked. "I communicate."
"Yes, but not about the things you don't want to. Though that doesn't stop you from trying to communicate about the things other people don't want to. It's very annoying."
Look who's talking.
"I don't think that's true."
Not the first part, anyway.
"Alright." He raised his chin. "Why did you and Magna break up?"
Damnit.
"That's privileged."
Tomi's eyebrows shot up, voice rising with incredulity. "The details of your breakup are privileged?"
Yumiko kept her expression even. "Yes."
"You're not a bloody CIA agent going through a divorce, Miko. You can't pull the privileged card on your personal life."
Well, she could certainly try.
"Especially not with your own brother."
"It's private, Tomi."
He threw up his hands. "You're just proving my point."
No. She wasn't. Because this wasn't her secret to tell. It wasn't as though she could explain why they'd broken up without opening the door to aspects of Magna's past that should remain firmly shut. A door Yumiko didn't have the right to touch. Wouldn't touch. Especially not with a member of the Commonwealth.
"Look. . ." she took a breath, "it's not just private for me, it's private for Magna. I'm not comfortable sharing the details without her consent."
Tomi inspected her closely, as though trying to detect the lie - before reluctantly releasing a sigh. "Fine. I suppose that's. . . reasonable."
"It is."
And even if that hadn't been the case, it still wouldn't have been any of his bloody business.
"She does seem like a very private person," he mused. "More private than even you - if one can believe it. No wonder you were drawn to each other." Yumiko hardly thought that was the reason. If anything, it had only created more roadblocks for them over the years. "You know she refused to tell me her favorite color that one time we met? Acted like I'd just upped and asked for her go-to sex position instead."
Yumiko mouth curled. "I think she probably would have preferred it if you had. You might even have gotten an answer."
Mostly to shock him and try to gain the upper hand in their conversation.
Magna had never had much of a filter when it came to sex.
(unless of course you were trying to have a serious conversation about it. In which case she could become incredibly flustered and tight-lipped)
"I mean, Mum was right there so it probably would have made for awkward conversation. . ."
She smirked, unable to stop herself picturing it. "For you two, maybe. Mum would have been having the time of her life."
Tomi closed his eyes. "I hate that you're right."
Yumiko snorted, tearing off a piece of bread. "Me too." She paused the second it entered her mouth, frowning. "This is stale."
He didn't look shamed in the slightest. "Well, that's what you get for rooting around in somebody else's pantry without their permission."
"I'm hungry."
"Then cook something."
Yumiko raised a brow.
He winced, immediately recognizing his mistake. "You're right, that would be disastrous. I may have liked my old apartment better but I'd still rather not see this one go down in flames. . . looks like you're stuck with stale bread."
She sighed, resigning herself to her fate.
Reluctantly tore off another piece.
"You know, you really are going to have to work things out with Magna. Who else is going to cook for you? It's a wonder you haven't starved already."
Yumiko was insulted.
(mostly by the fact that he was right)
"I'm not that bad."
"Of the two of us here, only one has ever set a kitchen on fire."
Her cheeks flushed.
"Don't exaggerate." She worked free another tough, unappetizing morsel. "It was a quarter of the kitchen. At most."
"And what about the second time?"
Scowling, she threw the crusty chunk of bread at his head.
Tomi grinned, dodging the projectile. "Very mature of you."
Yumiko raised her hand again. "Want another?"
She wouldn't miss this time.
He was disappointingly unfazed. "I'd be more careful about throwing that around. It's your only source of sustenance after all."
Damn him.
Grumbling, Yumko shoved the piece in her mouth, consoling herself with the vivid image of it hitting her brother square in the forehead instead.
She really hadn't appreciated the decade she'd spent as an only child nearly as much as she should.
Guess it's true what they say. You never know a good thing till it's gone.
Only that wasn't true. Or at least, not in everything. She'd never needed to lose her relationship with Magna to value it. To be keenly aware of just how good it was. How vital to her existence.
Yumiko shook her head, not willing to take yet another detour down Melancholy Lane. She'd walked it far enough tonight. "What were you doing asking Magna what her favorite color was, anyway?"
A much safer path to take.
Tomi shrugged. "You can tell a lot about a person from their favorite color, Miko. And their star sign."
She very nearly scoffed. Sometimes she wondered how they were even related. "Magna is a Virgo."
And possibly the worst example of one she'd ever seen.
His brow furrowed. "I wouldn't have pegged that. Honestly, I always thought you were more suited to being a Virgo."
"Proof that astrology is nothing but a hack."
She'd read once after meeting Magna that Virgos were supposed to be non-confrontational. The claim had left her chuckling for weeks, snickering every time her new friend's temper happened to slip - or, as the case normally was, became entirely undone. Magna had been so adorably confused by the response, the look on her face only increasing Yumiko's struggle to keep her amusement in check. This, of course, had done nothing but make Magna even more incensed, triggering a cascade of defensiveness and embarrassment - until Yumiko had scrounged up the article for her to look at one day in an effort to explain. . .
After a long moment, Magna had snorted, a slow grin transforming her face, melting away the storm.
('You weren't laughing at me?'
'I wasn't laughing at you.')
Her grin had softened into a smile then, something relieved and almost disbelieving in it - but also happy. One of the very first times, in fact, that she'd had the privilege of seeing Magna happy. Truly happy. Without hesitance or reservation. Shadows of the past.
Yumiko had known, the second she caught sight of that smile, that she was done for. That what she'd hoped was no more than simple attraction was in fact something far, far deeper. Something that she'd never felt for anyone before. Never had the chance to feel.
And not only could she not escape it but she'd suddenly found that she had no real desire to. That whatever she felt for Magna, that feeling was good. She liked that feeling. And whether it came to something or not, she didn't want to lose it.
Wouldn't ever want to lose it.
(so maybe astrology was good for one thing)
"Oh, I don't know," Tomi started, "Virgos are said to be loyal. It's one of their defining characteristics." He smiled. "And I'd say she fits that to a T, wouldn't you?"
Yumiko hesitated, toying with the bread in her hands, watching the crumbs fall away under her touch. "She's the most loyal person I know."
She just wished that same loyalty could have extended to affording her the truth. Loyal or not, that was a betrayal which had cut deep.
Tomi was either oblivious to her mood or steadfastly choosing to ignore it. "Honestly, though, I feel a little like you two got each other's signs. She should have been the Leo and you the Virgo." He tilted his head. "There's something oddly romantic about that, don't you think? Like the universe got its wires crossed somewhere and the only way to correct things was to bring the two of you together."
Yumiko raised a brow. "Just how drunk are you?"
"Hardly at all."
"Mm hmm." She shook her head, unable to deny the slight pull of amusement to her lips. The words were ridiculous but the sentiment behind them was nice at least, even if she couldn't believe in it. "Magna's favorite color is black, by the way. Like her soul."
Or so she'd said the one time Yumiko had asked.
Always so dramatic.
Tomi paused. "I feel like I should have seen that coming."
"Mm." Yumiko sampled another piece of nightmare bread. "She does wear a lot of it." Less so now. But during that first year out of prison it had been hard to find her in anything else.
"Maybe I should get her something black then. Like a puppy. A black puppy. Maybe that would endear her to me."
"Don't get her a puppy." Magna and dogs had never been a good combination. She'd probably think the gift was an act of war. "Besides, black isn't her real favorite color. Just her public one."
"Her public one?"
"Yep."
Yumiko hadn't even known that such a thing existed. A favorite color you had for the world to see, and one you kept entirely for yourself - and the rare few you chose to share it with. Not before meeting Magna.
(she hadn't known a lot of things before meeting Magna)
"Her real favorite is something else entirely."
Blue.
Not what Yumiko had expected. And it had taken her even longer to learn the reason behind it. But still. . . blue.
"Why on earth would she lie about her favorite color? Of all things."
Because it was the color of the dress her mother most often wore. Soft, powder blue. To match the ribbons she put in Magna's hair, buried in amongst the curls. The only ribbons she never tore out of that hair. Blue. The color of unconditional love.
Yumiko shrugged, tearing off another piece of bread. "Her real one just isn't edgy enough, I guess. Black sounds cooler - and she likes to look tough."
It wasn't entirely a lie. But even if it had been, it was one of the few she'd feel no guilt in delivering.
The things Magna had shared with her throughout their relationship would always be safe. So many little things, hidden layers hidden beneath hidden layers, and all of them entrusted to her.
It was an honor.
A privilege.
(and one she might never be granted again)
"So what is her favorite color then?" Tomi asked, drawing her back from the dark edge of that thought.
She gave another shrug. "That's something you'll have to ask her."
"She says, knowing that her wife will stab me if I do."
Yumiko smirked. "One can only hope."
Tomi narrowed his eyes. "You're going to regret that when she actually goes through with it. Be absolutely filled with guilt. Overcome. Completely beside yourself."
"We'll see."
He huffed, turning away. "Perhaps I should change my name."
What on earth?
Yumiko raised a brow. "And why would you do that?"
"Might help my case, if the puppy is no longer an option. . . I don't think she likes it very much."
Her brow drew higher. "Your name?"
"Mmm."
"What makes you think that?"
"Because when I introduced myself, she looked like she was holding back the urge to punch me. And I don't think I have a very punchable face. So either it was my name, or you told her something rather unflattering about me."
"I didn't."
Though the temptation had certainly been there.
"So my name then." He pouted. "It's a good name. Not sure what she has against it."
"Tomi, back then Magna was always holding back the urge to punch someone. I doubt it had anything at all to do with you - or your name. That was just the way she looked at people." Yumiko shoved some of the loaf into her mouth, "I do disagree on the count of you not having a very punchable face, though."
He scowled. "I'll have you know that only five people have ever found this face worthy of punching."
"Only five?" She smirked, trying to hold in a laugh. "I'm in awe."
He grumbled, raising his glass to his lips. "Shut up and eat your demon loaf."
A/N: So I didn't actually CHOOSE Yumiko and Magna's star signs. I had to work out their birthdays ages ago in order to properly organize their backstories (you know how I plotted their lives down to the month lol) and make sure events fit properly. So I got curious and looked up what their star signs would be and the Virgo thing made me laugh.