It was quiet in the apartment when Makoto arrived. The television was off. The usual sounds of water boiling were absent. Sis was sitting at the table, staring into her laptop, still as a statue. "I'm home."

"Welcome back," Sis turned her torso as if she meant to acknowledge Makoto, but her head remained fixed on her screen.

"Where's-"

"She had another engagement." Sis's tone indicated she didn't want further questions on the subject. Makoto wasn't sure if it was to maintain her partner's privacy or just a symptom of Sis's fixation on her work.

Either way, it was best not to interrupt her.

"Oh." Makoto finished taking off her boots and stepped into the apartment proper.

Makoto put her briefcase on the chair across from Sis and went to the kitchen to prepare tea. Sis had a tendency to forget to eat or drink when she was focused on a case.

Reaching for a pair of teacups, she smiled to herself. There was something nostalgic about it just being the two of them for the evening.

After starting the electric kettle, Makoto took out her phone, pleased to see a few notifications. Saving the ones from Ren for last, she first checked in on the group chat. It was unchanged, showing the same heart reactions and congratulatory messages from Futaba, Ryuji, Ann, and Sumire.

Scrolling past Ann's earlier DM suggesting they meet up next time she was in town, Makoto arrived at the new messages. One from Haru and a few from Ren.

Haru's was sweet and bubbly. Makoto could almost hear her voice in her head while reading it: "Congrats! Happy for you two! Coffee some time? I want to hear all about it."

Makoto responded, "Sounds great. Let me know when you're free. I'll make time."

Finally, she opened her chat with Ren.

"Haru says hi." There was a picture of Haru seated on a fancy leather couch, waving.

"Is she still there?" Makoto messaged back.

"No, she left hours ago. I only got around to sending this now."

"Hope you both had fun."

"She made me sit and listen as she swiped through her whole axe collection, explaining the features of each one. I think there were over 100 photos."

It was surprising Haru had time for that. "She must've been excited to hang out with you again."

"Something like that."

He was being too modest.

She didn't press it.

"Are you still at work?"

"On the train," he responded. The animation at the bottom of the app indicated he was still writing. "Call you after dinner?"

"Yes please," Makoto typed back. "I'm going to try to talk to Sis tonight if she has time."

Since it was just the two of them for once, it seemed like an ideal opportunity.

"Good luck."

Makoto responded with a single heart and then put her phone back into her pocket. The tea was ready, so she completed her preparations and returned to the table, using a tray to shuttle the filled teacups as well as the kettle.

Sis seemed less distracted when Makoto returned, speaking first. "You came home late last night."

"About that…" It seemed as good a segue as any. "Actually, Ren and I started dating recently. We're still planning on getting separate places of course."

Makoto found herself waving her hands in front of her at chest height, as if that would dismiss any conclusions that Sis might jump to.

"I see." Sis picked one of the teacups from the tray, holding it between both hands. "And is this why you didn't come home on Christmas Eve?"

Even though Makoto knew the question was likely, she still felt unprepared. However, there was no point in sugar-coating it. She opened her mouth to respond, but Sis spoke first. "I withdraw the question."

Makoto pressed her lips together and exhaled. No matter how hard she tried, when Sis was paying attention, little got by her.

"So what is Ren up to these days?"

As expected, the interrogation had begun.