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Chapter Text

After the day of the Etoile election and its inevitable interruption, school at Astraea hill returned to normal. Shizuma and Nagisa had gotten into trouble by the head Sister, but thanks to Shizuma’s quick thinking she managed to talk them out of punishment and they only received a warning. From then on gossip spread and news of the new couple became the only thing anyone could talk about.

After a while the excitement died down and the gossip stopped. Everyone returned to their normal ways and carried on with their lives. For some the excitement only continued.

Nagisa and Shizuma had grown closer as the year passed. They spent as much time together as they could, considering Shizuma’s impending graduation. It wasn’t difficult for them to fall more and more in love as they got to know each other down to the very deepest parts of their hearts. They had never expected to be as happy as they were.

But happiness doesn’t always last, which was the case when the time came for Shizuma to graduate. Nagisa had grown depressed during their last days together in the same school, and when the last day came she hardly even spoke to anyone. One visit from Shizuma cheered her up, and even though she had tears in her eyes she had a smile too. The silver haired girl could put a smile on her face any day, no matter how down she was.

On the graduation day Shizuma was asked a strange and sudden request by someone she had never expected it from. Amane had approached her and asked for a moment of her time. Shizuma complied and followed the Prince of Spica to the stables where her beloved horse stayed. Once there they found a place to sit and remained in an awkward silence.

Shizuma wanted to speak first but instead waited for Amane to speak up and explain her reason for requesting a moment alone to speak. Eventually Amane started to explain.

Though hesitantly, Amane asked Shizuma if she was going to find a flat near the school so that she could be close to Nagisa during their next 2 years apart. Surprisingly Shizuma hadn’t thought of that yet, and asked why it was being asked. Amane responded by asking if Shizuma would be interested in rooming with her until both Nagisa and Hikari had graduated. She wanted to live as close to the school as possible to be near her little girlfriend, but didn’t exactly have the funds yet.

Having Shizuma help her would give her a chance to find a job to eventually start paying for her portion of the rent.

Shizuma only had to think about it for a minute before she smiled and agreed. She wasn’t very close to the gorgeous horse rider, but she could tell that she would be a pleasure to live with and it wouldn’t hurt to gain a new friend. They would also understand each other best because they both had the love of their lives still attending school.

Shizuma offered to pay for Amane all through the 2 years, but being as prideful as she was, Amane refused. Shizuma couldn’t argue with her and agreed that she would allow Amane 3 months until she found a job and then she would have to start paying for her part of the expenses.

Graduation passed and soon the two young adults moved into a moderately pleasant flat closest to the school. It would only take them 20 minutes to walk to the Strawberry Dorms to visit their loves.

Amane managed to find a job within a month of looking. The stables where she had put her horse in, since she no longer attended school, offered a job of cleaning the stalls. The pay wasn’t the best but it was a start and she would get to spend most of her time with her horse when she wasn’t with Hikari.

Shizuma became a house bum. She had no interest in finding a job or going to university, since she had more than enough money from her monthly allowance and would eventually inherit her father’s successful business once he retired. She also found most of her days passing by in a blur as the only thing she looked forward to doing was visiting Nagisa.

The couples all managed to spend almost every weekend and holiday together.

Amane started attending university and studied law per her father’s request. Because he was a lawyer, and a successful and well renowned one at that, he expected his daughter to follow in his footsteps. The former Prince of Spica never had the heart to tell him that she had no interest in the practise at all, but went to study it nonetheless. After 6 months of meaningless studying, Amane dropped out of university and instead focused all of her time on her job. Her father was not pleased with her decision and eventually stopped fighting on the subject, realizing that Amane was as stubborn as she was serious. He hardly spoke to her after their last argument, and only called every few months.

Shizuma and Amane had grown very close over their 2 years as roommates and before they knew it they had become best friends. They supported each other through their girlfriendless existence until they would one day be reunited.

While their older girlfriends got closer, so did Nagisa and Hikari. Due to their identical situations they found advice and comfort in each other. No one else would really know how to handle them when they found themselves depressed or lonely.

Tamao had grown deeply depressed after losing Nagisa to Shizuma as a lover. Eventually, though, Nagisa had a long talk with her and explained where her feelings truly were. It was difficult, but Tamao worked on understanding and eventually let her hurt and unrequited love go. Only then could she and Nagisa become best of friends again, and remained strong friends throughout their last 2 years at school.

After graduation Myuki had married the man her father had set her up with. She found that she disliked him from their first meeting and hated having to be his wife. As she was too weak to defy her father, she ended up with the man anyway. She tried to put on a brave face, but whenever she would meet up with Shizuma the silver haired girl could tell that she was having a hard time. No matter how many times Shizuma told her to stand up for herself and leave him, Myuki just couldn’t do it and would go back to her vacant house and loveless marriage.

Yaya had managed to get over her feelings for Hikari and remained her best friend. They never spoke of it again, and soon Yaya had even forgotten what it had felt like to be in love with her blonde friend. A certain pink haired girl had helped with her feelings of love, as she had moved them from Hikari to herself.

Tsubomi, the stubborn younger girl with an attitude and a temper to match, had finally managed to get Yaya to fall for her. When Yaya finally confessed to her in her last year of school, Tsubomi had nearly died of happiness. They then started dating and even though Yaya tended to piss her pink haired girlfriend off more than anything, they worked perfectly together and the relationship thrived.

Chikaru had finally confessed to the girl she loved most, and had her entire life; Shion, her childhood friend. At first the blonde had been shocked and rejected the gorgeous brunette. Chikaru hadn’t taken the rejection seriously and simply waited for Shion to sort through her emotions and then eventually accept them, which happened a week later. Hesitantly, Shion went to Chikaru’s room and accepted the confession, as well as her very first kiss. 

In 2 years all the different romances blossomed into strong and beautiful relationships, despite whatever challenges the girls had to face, and at last, Nagisa and Hikari graduated.

Amane and Shizuma had never been as happy as they were on their younger lovers’ graduation day.

After Nagisa left school, Shizuma found an apartment to her liking and moved in with her red headed girlfriend. Amane and Hikari found a modest flat not too far from their friends. Their homes also happened to be close to the university where Nagisa and Hikari had enrolled.

Hikari had decided to study photography ever since she had gotten into the hobby during her previous year at school. Nagisa, on the other hand, decided to study language and literature. She had found her skill in writing alongside Tamao after her friend had asked for her help or had just read her latest work to her. Over time Nagisa built the courage to try her hand at writing and found that she wasn’t that bad at it, and quite enjoyed it.

The same as Nagisa, Tamao was studying for her writing and was determined to make a success of herself. She had gone overseas to study at a well-known university, and kept in contact with all of her friends through emails, phone calls and the occasional video call.

As a year passed Nagisa and Hikari got used to living with their partners and soon they were happy and content. The two younger girls would walk to university together while the one partner went to work and the other lazed around at home. The four of them often visited each other and spent time together, either at each other’s houses or going out somewhere to have fun.

Nagisa had grown to like Amane as much as Shizuma did, and likewise with Hikari and Shizuma. They all got along fairly well and liked to think that they were all very good friends.

Shizuma and Amane tended to cause a lot of trouble though, but that was to be expected when Shizuma was concerned. Amane always ended up in some sort of joke or tease with her and they ended up competing, but this only added humour and excitement to their lives.

They were all truly, very happy.

Chapter Text

“Shizuma, are you sure about this?” a smoky voice asked after a moment of appreciative silence. Gentle brown eyes gazed over to where a figure had just crawled down from a tree.

“Amane, I appreciate your concern and help with this, but I don’t need your doubts.” Shizuma rolled her eyes and dusted her hands off against each other. She sighed in content and then placed a hand on her blue haired companion’s shoulder. “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.

Amane smiled. “Alright then.” The bluenette glanced down at her watch. “I should get going. Our girls should be done with class now.” Amane grabbed her jacket from the backyard table and walked through the house to the front door.

“Thanks Amane, I really appreciate your help.” Shizuma followed her friend and opened the door for her.

“It was the least I could do. Good luck, Shizuma. You’ll call me to let me know how it goes?”

“Of course.”

“Great. See you.” Amane gave a playful salute and then left Shizuma’s house with a grin. She walked down the street towards the nearby University where her girlfriend and Nagisa attended class. Before long the boyish woman noticed the two much shorter figures off in the distance.

Amane broke into a jog and stopped in front of the two who had halted to greet her.

“Amane!” Hikari exclaimed and allowed Amane to pull her into a tight hug. They both sighed blissfully from being reunited after a day apart. “I missed you,” the small blonde whispered into her love’s ear. Amane chuckled and allowed Hikari to step back down onto the ground with their hands interlocked.

“Nagisa.” Amane offered a knowing smile that puzzled the cheerful redhead before she bowed in greeting and responded with a happy smile of her own.

“Are you coming from our house?” Nagisa asked.

“Yes. Your Shizuma felt lonely so she called me over.” Amane placed a tender kiss against Hikari’s brow, causing the blonde to giggle at the ticklish sensation. Nagisa sighed longingly at the display of love between her two friends.

"I think I'll be heading off then." Nagisa waved goodbye and turned to leave, but Amane quickly grabbed her shoulders and spun her around.

"No! Wait! Uh... I... Uh have a question I need to ask." Amane felt her brow twitch in nervousness. Hurry up, Shizuma.

"Oh? Well, okay. What can I help with Amane?" Nagisa smiled brightly, as she usually did, to mask her sudden sadness at being delayed. She really wanted to go home to see the love of her life as soon as possible.

"Uh, you see..." Amane leaned in close and nervously flicked her eyes to Hikari. She tried to come up with something delay-worthy. "I-it's about Hikari and I... You see..." Amane swallowed. Hikari was giving her a curious look which made the blue haired beauty sweat.

Nagisa's eyes widened in worry. "Is everything between you and Hikari alright?" The concern in the red head's voice made Amane's guilt worsen.

The horse trainer sighed. "Yes! Everything's fine Nagisa... I just... Um... Wondered if... If Hikari maybe spoke to you... About... Uh... About..."

Hikari clasped her hands together behind her back and scuffed her shoe against the sidewalk, patiently waiting for her lover to finish talking so that they could go home and spend time together.

"About your anniversary?" Innocent, wide eyes looked up at Amane, oblivious.

"Yes! The anniversary! Did she say anything about it?" Amane internally sighed in relief. Thank goodness for Nagisa's tendency to miss out on the most obvious hints.

"Well, she did say she hopes you've planned something romantic, since last year you had to work and couldn't really spend the day together."

Amane paused. "Th-thanks Nagisa." The bluenette bowed in appreciation while thoughts of Hikari and their anniversary filled her mind.

This turned out unintentionally helpful. I'll make sure to take off for a few days near our anniversary so that I can give my angel the best romantic day she's ever had. Amane smiled tenderly, so lost in thought that she almost missed Nagisa saying farewell.

"Wait! Nagisa, uh..." The red head paused and turned around again, her smile deflating. Just as Amane was about to blurt the first thing on her mind, her cellphone rang.

She pulled the device out of her back pocket and opened the SMS she had just received. It was from Shizuma.

"Ship's ready to sail, my friend! Let the bird free ;)"

Amane rolled her eyes at Shizuma's strange words. If she hadn't known Shizuma for as long as she did then that message would have made absolutely no sense to her. But, luckily, it did, so Amane sighed in relief and waved frantically at Nagisa.

"Sorry for the bother! You can go now, Nagisa, enjoy your day!" Amane didn't wait for a response. She gently took Hikari's hand and pulled the wondering blonde with her down the road towards their own house not that far from Shizuma and Nagisa's home.

Nagisa watched them leave with a puzzled look on her face. "Amane is acting weird again. What did she and Shizuma get up to this time?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion but turned and walked hurriedly down the street.

As she neared the house she shared with her lover her heart sped up in anticipation. She couldn't wait to take Shizuma in her arms and kiss her silver haired lover senseless. Nagisa was in a very dominant mood, especially since she had been delayed and it irritated her in the slightest. She grinned when she imagined Shizuma's surprise at her initiation of some rough lovin'. It was normally the once-Etoile's job to be the aggressive one with the surprise kisses and naked attacks. And there sure were a lot of those. Life with Shizuma was one big adventure.

The sky had darkened considerably since Nagisa had left campus and engaged in odd conversation with her friend. She still wondered what that was all about. It would probably end up being something to do with Shizuma, since the gorgeous woman was known for dragging Amane into whatever trouble she could find. What Amane never admitted was that she tended to enjoy the mischief.

Nagisa approached the front door and noticed that the house was strangely dark and quiet.

“Shizuma?” She asked after entering the house and closing the door behind her. “Shizuma!” Her silver haired girlfriend didn’t seem to be in the lounge, which was discovered when Nagisa made her way down the hall and into the living room. Thinking she might find her in the kitchen, Nagisa entered the room that was only separated from the lounge by a counter.

There was still no Shizuma in sight.

“Where is she?” Nagisa asked herself in worry. Her lover was normally lazing around on the couch or making dinner for them around this time. The red head was about to leave the kitchen to search their bedroom when she noticed a paper on the kitchen table. She also noticed the candle it was leaning against. She picked the letter up and held it under the candle light to read the neatly printed words that she recognised as Shizuma’s.

“Nagisa, my love. Still can’t find me? Well, go take a look in our room. I love you.”

There was nothing else other than those few sentences, so Nagisa placed the paper back down onto the table beside her bag and the books she had placed down, and curiously made her way through the still dark house towards their bedroom.

She tentatively opened the door and gasped at what she saw.

Multiple candles were lined up along the headboard of their bed, as well as scattered on the bedside tables. The room glowed with candle lit brilliance, but not as brilliantly as the shimmering black dress draped over the bed.

Heart now pounding, Nagisa walked over to the bed and retrieved yet another note lying upon the very expensive looking dress.

“Do you find the dress to your satisfaction, my love? Now put it on.”

Following orders, Nagisa gently slipped the dress onto her body after discarding her earlier clothes. The soft silk fabric caressed her skin as it slipped on and settled against the curves of her body. It reached her ankles in length and fit like a second, much sexier skin.

Nagisa walked over to the full length mirror on their cupboard door to see how she looked when she noticed a third note stuck to the glass. The multitude of candles provided more than enough illumination for the red head to read her lover’s script.

“Now that you’ve seen how beautiful you are, slip those high heels on directly below the mirror, and follow the rose petals.”

Nagisa looked down. There sat a pair of equally expensive strapped, black high heels, and running a path along the floor was a trail of red and white rose petals leading out of the room and seemingly headed towards the lounge.

“How didn’t I notice?” The flustered girl asked herself after quickly slipping the shoes on and following the trail. She was so incredibly surprised and excited, and more than anything, she wanted to find Shizuma.

She followed until the petals ended in front of their glass double doors that led to the back porch which then led down to the backyard. Nagisa swiftly pulled the handles down and pushed the doors open.

“Shizuma…” Nagisa whispered in shock at the sight before her.

There were candles lined up along the porch railings as well as on each side of the stairs, sitting in the corners. There were also a large amount of rose petals scattered on the porch and stairs as well as some littering the path that had been created by more candles along the grass.

Stretching from the end of both porch railings were two rows of candles. At the end of the lit runway in the right corner sat a piano beside a tree. Along the tree were golden lights coiling and spiralling upwards.

All at once the beautiful scene and the soft notes of the piano filled Nagisa’s senses. The moment Nagisa had stepped out of the house Shizuma had begun playing.

The tears were threatening to escape, but Nagisa held them back and walked towards the love of her life. She felt overwhelmed with emotions, especially after she had reached Shizuma who then stopped playing, stood, and gently took hold of her hands.

“Nagisa.” Shizuma breathed and placed a loving kiss against her blushing love. Nagisa shivered at the warm contact and opened her mouth to ask what all of this was about, but quickly shut it when Shizuma got down on one knee and looked up at her with love shining in her eyes.

Shizuma’s dress was red and shimmering just as much in the glowing light from the surrounding candles. It was knee length and strapless, with an open slit running from her thigh downwards on her right side. This was, of course, planned by the older beauty so that getting into position wouldn’t be awkward or difficult.

“Nagisa,” Shizuma placed a kiss against Nagisa’s knuckles and took a deep breath.  “Before I get to the point of all of this, I want you to know a few things.”

Nagisa swallowed hard, already guessing where this was going.

“From the moment I first saw you up at Astraea Hill, I knew I would make you mine and spend forever with you.” This time Shizuma swallowed. She felt a lump form in her throat from the force of her emotions and had to take a moment to let it subside before she could continue.

“Shizuma…”

“And now that you’re mine, all I have to do is spend forever with you. So I ask you now, Aoi Nagisa, will you spend forever with me?”

Seemingly from nowhere a woman stepped out of the dark and approached the two emotional figures. She handed a small box to Shizuma and then sat down at the abandoned piano. Only when the stranger started playing where Shizuma left off did the silver haired woman turn back to her teary eyed lover and opened the box.

“Will you marry me and become Hanazono Nagisa?” Finally, the big question was asked.

Shizuma’s heart beat erratically as she watched Nagisa reduce to a whimpering puddle of emotions before finally nodding her head.

“Yes! Yes, Shizuma! Of course yes!”

Shizuma sighed internally and stood, taking Nagisa in her arms and giving her a tight embrace. They laughed together through their tears and allowed the intense moment to calm down before looking into each other’s eyes.

“You’ve just made this Hanazono very happy, Nagisa love.” Shizuma caressed Nagisa’s cheek as she spoke. “You look gorgeous, by the way.” This made Nagisa blush even more than she already had been from all the beautiful surprises.

“Shizuma, you are amazing.”

Shizuma grinned. “Yes, yes I am. But then again, you always outshine me no matter what the occasion. I’m not as amazing as you.”

Nagisa’s heart skipped a beat, as it always did when she was so openly praised by the person she loved most in the world.

“Shall we eat?” Shizuma moved to the side. Nagisa only then realized that a table had been set up with candles and roses.

The red head nodded and allowed Shizuma to pull her over to the table and push her seat in for her after she sat down. The once Etoile then entered her own seat across from her fiancé and gently intertwined their fingers.

“Shizuma, you really went all out for this.”

“Of course I would. You are my life and you deserve the best, only the best.”

“Shizuma…” Nagisa blushed again. She doubted her cheeks or heart would calm down any time soon, since the more time she spent in Shizuma’s presence the more the emotions warmed and overwhelmed her being.

Suddenly a thought hit Nagisa. “Is this why Amane was acting so weird?” She asked.

“Heh, yeah. She helped me set all of this up and then kept you busy until I gave her the okay to let you go.”

Nagisa nodded, now thinking back and understanding why Amane had acted so strange. She sighed and smiled. They really were lucky to have such good friends like Amane and Hikari. Nagisa always found herself surprised that Amane hadn’t disowned them yet, considering Shizuma’s attraction to trouble and always involving the bluenette.

“It took a while to plan this out. I wanted this night to be absolutely perfect.”

Nagisa shook her head. “Shizuma, you could have proposed to me in a box and it would have still been perfect. As long as I’m with you I’m happy.” She squeezed Shizuma’s hand to emphasise her point. “Where ever you are is where my happiness is.”

“Nagisa…” This time Shizuma felt flustered and teary eyed. The little red head sitting across from her really had complete possession of her heart.

To calm herself Shizuma signalled for a waitress she had hired, that had escaped the red head’s attention resulting in scaring the hell out of her when the woman materialized by their table.

The smartly dressed woman gave them a warm smile as she poured red wine into two glasses, and then left to return to her shady spot beside the tree. 

“To my future wife,” Shizuma raised her glass. Nagisa copied her motion.

“To our wonderful future together. I love you Shizuma.”

“As I love you, Nagisa, with all my heart.”

Their glasses gently touched, the resonating clink filling the air as they locked eyes and smiled. The rest of the night was sure to be the most romantic either of them had ever experienced.

Chapter Text

Morning sun spilt in through the bedroom curtains, bathing the two naked figures sprawled out atop each other in luminous early light. The bright disturbance woke neither, however, as Nagisa sighed wistfully and snuggled closer against Shizuma, whose chest she was using as a pillow.

The silver haired former Etoile shifted in her sleep but remained unconscious, probably having the same blissful dream as her fiancé.

What did wake Shizuma, however, came in the form of an annoyingly high pitched ring. The noise stirred the silver haired woman from her sleep, but she ignored it. But the ringing continued a few minutes after it had stopped, continuously grating against Shizuma’s half asleep mind.

She angrily flung her arm out and grabbed a hold of the telephone still ringing from the bedside table.

“What?” Shizuma growled into the phone, wanting the caller to know exactly how this disturbance had annoyed her.

“I woke you again, didn’t I?” the familiar husky voice spoke in part guilt and part amusement.

“Amane-kun,” Shizuma said too sweetly and relaxed back down on the bed and pulled Nagisa tighter against her side. 

“Heh, gomen Shizuma. But it is 10 a.m. already. Hikari wants to come over and discuss the engagement with your Nagisa. I thought I’d call before we show up. You’re naked right now, aren’t you?” Amane said all knowingly, and smirked on her side of the call when she heard Shizuma exhale in amusement.

“As the day I was born.” Shizuma responded and glanced down at hers and Nagisa’s still nude forms. When her eyes ran along the expanse on Nagisa’s smooth skin, she felt the world melt away and the only thing she could focus on was her redhead’s cute face and the healthy glow of her milky skin.

“-Shizuma, oi, Shizuma!” Amane grumbled in exasperation, having correctly guessed the loss of her friend’s attention.

“Uh… Sorry, Amane, I got a bit distracted.”

“Yeah, yeah, stop perving over your future wife. You haven’t even married her yet and you are already in the habit of such sinful ways.”

“Amane,” Shizuma purred predatorily, “You aren’t one to talk. Didn’t I walk in on you and Hikari getting it on in the restaurant bathroom last week when we had dinner with you?” Voice low and threatening, her smirk in place, Shizuma chuckled at the silence from the other end.

“I told you it… it wasn’t like that! I messed wine all over my shirt and had to t-take it off…”

“That I understand, but did Hikari really have to clean you off with her tongue?” Shizuma had to supress her laughter, Nagisa was still asleep.

“She… she tripped… and…”

“Just happened to stick her tongue out and fall face first against your chest? Tsk tsk Amane, you have to be more honest with me.”

Amane coughed nervously. “Okay fine, we made love in the restaurant bathroom. Happy?”

Shizuma chuckled a bit too loudly, stirring her beloved Nagisa from sleep.

“Shizuma?” Nagisa asked in a hoarse voice and lifted half lidded eyes to gaze up at her older lover.

“I'm sorry Nagisa, did I wake you?” Shizuma gently caressed her cheek and smiled when Nagisa purred like a kitten and leaned into the touch.

“No, I was in the process of waking up. Is that Amane on the phone?” Nagisa yawned and stretched her body.

“Indeed it is my love. They want to come over to celebrate our engagement.”

Meanwhile, Amane rolled her eyes as she listened to the lovers talk and wondered when Shizuma would return to the phone.

“Amane,” Shizuma returned to her friend but kept her eyes glued on Nagisa. “Can you give us an hour to get ready?”

“The house that much of a mess?” Amane asked jokingly. There was a pause and then a long exhale.

“Well, yeah…”

“Seriously?” Amane asked incredulously. She really hadn’t expected that to be the case. Then again, Shizuma had gone all out romantic the night before and Amane was sure that Nagisa would have rewarded her for every bit of effort Shizuma had put in. It was a lot. Amane winced, wondering if the couple would still be able to walk.

“We got a bit drunk, but we’re okay now. We need to shower and stuff, so I'm going to put the phone down and ravish my future wife in the shower.”

“Shizuma!” Nagisa exclaimed and blushed bright red. Amane simply shook her head, but smiled.

“Alright, just don’t break her. My Hikari would be very sad if she had to have her friend replaced.”

“Aye aye, captain!”

The phone went dead. Amane stared at the cellphone in her hand in bewilderment, and jumped when a pair of gentle, small hands gripped her shoulders.

“Did Shizuma say something weird again?” Hikari asked softly against Amane’s ear, causing her much taller lover to shiver.

“Like always.” Amane replied and put the phone back into her pocket. She turned around on the couch and surprised Hikari, who had been standing behind it, with a soft yet passionate kiss.

“And that?” Hikari asked breathlessly after her lips had been released.

“Can’t I kiss my lovely girlfriend?” Amane asked playfully and ran her hand through her love’s golden locks.

“O-of course you can.” The blonde responded hesitantly, and lifted her baby blue eyes to meet the depths of her lover’s brown orbs.

“I love you, Hikari.” Amane kissed her forehead. “We’ll leave in an hour. They need to fix the house and such.”

Hikari eventually recovered from her love trance and giggled. “Again? Those two…” She shook her head in amusement.

On their side of the world, Shizuma was chasing a naked Nagisa through the living room.

“Shizuma, we don’t have time for this!” Nagisa said hastily and dodged her lover’s quick hands.

“Aw, Nagisa, why don’t you want to play with me?” The taller of the two chuckled and finally caught her red headed lover. She whisked her onto her shoulder and carried her, laughing and kicking, to the shower. There she switched the water on and stepped in, only letting her love down when she had stopped resisting.

“Did you really think I would do something that could end up giving Amane more teasing material against me?” Shizuma pressed her lips against Nagisa’s ear and spoke softly.

“W-well I know you, Shizuma, and you’re insatiable.”

“It’s all your fault.” Shizuma grabbed her lover’s behind, both cheeks firmly gripped in each hand. Nagisa gasped at the touch. This made the former Etoile laugh out loud. “But don’t worry,” she removed her hands and grabbed a sponge. “I will stop molesting you so that we can finish up and decently welcome our friends.”

“Thank you.” Nagisa nodded in satisfaction and allowed her fiancé to run the sponge along her skin and clean her body. Once she was done, Nagisa reciprocated the action and soon they were out of the shower, dry and dressed.

“What are we going to do for breakfast?” Nagisa asked as she entered the lounge and spotted her love lazing on the couch.

“Let’s go to that restaurant that you like so much.” Shizuma suggested while twirling the remote around in her hand. The object moved flawlessly between her long fingers, not once faltering or falling.

“We should ask Amane and Hikari when they arrive.”

The doorbell rang.

“Speak of the devil,” Shizuma said with a laugh and rose from her seat. She followed Nagisa to the door and greeted her friends once they had stepped inside.

“Welcome, Amane, Hikari, to my humble abode.” Shizuma bowed dramatically and didn’t miss Amane’s eye roll directed at her. The melodrama made Hikari giggle, soon followed by Nagisa who felt equally exasperated yet amused by her silver haired lover’s antics.

“Good morning Shizuma, Nagisa. I see you’re both in a good mood.” Amane bowed her head respectfully.

“Of course we are. The love of my life has agreed to marry me and put up with me for the rest of her life.” Shizuma said with a broad smile.

Nagisa blushed. “Before we get carried away, would you like to have breakfast with us at that new restaurant?”

“That South African place?” Hikari inquired.

“What is it called again?” Shizuma asked and placed a finger to her chin.

“South African Corner.” Amane answered everyone in flawless English.

Shizuma placed a hand on her shoulder. “Good work Amane, let’s all head to The Corner then.”

“The Corner?” Nagisa questioned.

Shizuma shrugged. “It’s easier to remember for us, I guess. Especially you and Hikari, since I know you aren’t that good with English.”

The red head and the blonde hung their heads in dejection.

“But that’s why we are here,” Amane pulled Hikari against her side. “I’ll be your English, Hikari.” The blonde giggled at her blue haired lover.

“Amane, you can be such a goof ball.” She playfully poked her lover’s very firm abdomen. “I love you.” Hikari stood on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss against Amane’s nose. The bluenette blushed.

“To The Corner!” Amane declared after she had recovered from her blush and held onto Hikari’s hand. Hikari was the only one who could make her blush like that, or make her heart skip a beat and accelerate all in the same breath. She really loved Hikari with all of her heart.

They decided to walk instead of taking their cars, since their houses were close to town and the restaurant really wasn’t that far. It only took them 20 minutes to walk there, which would have been quicker if Shizuma hadn’t started her teasing, causing her and Amane to playfully argue.

It was 12 a.m. when the couples were politely ushered to a private table in the back and seated. The waitress, a girl who must have been about 19, with blonde hair tied up in a ponytail at the base of her neck and nervous brown eyes, handed each of the girls a menu and left them to ponder on what to order.

Their seats were adorned with a black and white zebra pattern, the fabric soft and silky to the touch. They knew this because Nagisa voiced her curiosity and stroked the soft seat. Everyone chuckled when she did.

The place was not overly big, with only about 20 tables scattered out with a small distance between them, and the few private booths against the wall. The walls as well as the floor seemed to be made of a dark brown wood, making the place feel dark and mysterious. The windows were small and high, providing little light.

To compensate for the darkness, and to possibly lend a pleasant and calm mood, there were dim lights along the floor against the wall and the proper lights of the establishment were dimmed. Though dark, the place felt very peaceful, and possibly even exciting.

The African art adorning the walls, the patterned rugs upon the floor with each of The Big 5 or the group of animals together, the interesting wooden carvings of African women either pregnant and bare chested, or carrying a clay pot upon their heads with what was presumably water, the cave art painted upon canvas and hung strategically besides that of the other African art pieces; it all presented an exciting and new scene for the four girls.

When Shizuma looked down, she noticed that their coasters were also wooden carvings with African animals or Zulu villagers going about their daily routines of either hunting, gathering, or sitting around a fire and sharing traditional beer.

The place was true to its name; South African and nothing else.

“Uh, Shizuma?” Nagisa tugged on her fiancé’s sleeve to get her attention. “Could you help me choose again?”

Their first visit, which had happened only two weeks prior, following the restaurant’s opening, Nagisa hadn’t been able to read the strange dishes and left Shizuma to order for her. This time was no exception.

“Certainly, my dear little Nagisa.” Shizuma took the menu from her love’s hands and swept her eyes over the English titles. After a minute she nodded and then placed the menu back down onto the table and returned to studying the unfamiliar artworks and culture.

This was really so different from what she was used to, since this wasn’t even close to traditional or modern Japanese culture.

Amane herself was busy picking dishes for herself and her love, since Hikari too felt at a loss once she took a look at the menu. At least each dish had a picture alongside it.

“I want that!” Hikari exclaimed and pointed at the top corner of the menu.

Amane read the name of the dish. “Biltong salad. Are you sure you want this, my angel?”

Hikari nodded. “It looks nice. I want to try something new. Last time I had Ox Tail and that was pretty good as well.”

“Alright,” Amane nodded and placed the menu on the table much like Shizuma had. “I guess I’ll have that too.” She sat back in the chair and gently intertwined her fingers with Hikari’s.

“And for you, my love…” Shizuma pursed her lips. “We’ll have some braai ribs, how does that sound?” Nagisa trusted Shizuma, so she nodded enthusiastically. “And we’ll all have Amarula to drink.”

“Amarula?” Amane tilted her head to the side.

“Yes, taken from the fruit of the famous Amarula tree in Africa. I’ve had it once when my father was at a business meeting with his South African business partners. It is divine.”

All of the other table occupants accepted the explanation, so Amane signalled for the waitress.

“Hi, uh…” Amane spoke in fluent English and glanced at the girl’s name tag that read ‘Anica Du Toit’, “Anica.” Amane had enough knowledge of Western culture to know that calling her by her first name, without any honorific, was acceptable.

They each gave their orders to the girl, who smiled in relief from beginning to end. Probably because Shizuma and Amane both spoke to her in English and the girl didn’t know much about the Japanese language. English wasn’t even her home language, since her family was Afrikaans, resulting in her English also being slightly accented.

“Thank you, I’ll head off with your orders.” the waitress spoke in a soft, lilting voice. Now without her earlier nervousness she seemed friendly and open.

“So,” Hikari began after the waitress had left. The blonde asked Nagisa how the previous night had gone and soon both of the younger girls were lost in their bubble of excitement as Nagisa recounted each moment and gushed over how romantic it had been.

Both Amane and Shizuma spared a tender smile for their smaller lovers and then sat in silence.

Shizuma picked up on music and focused on the song that was playing. A new song started playing with a guitar beautifully strung in the beginning, followed by a husky male voice. The silver haired woman focused harder to catch the words to the song.

“Release myself from holding back, I realise now my world’s not flat. An open mind, an open court, open runways, open the doors. So deep, so dear. So much to do, so little time. I think this just might blow my mind…”

Though it was English, and not normally what Shizuma would listen to, she found the rock song rather soothing and pleasant. It added to the welcoming and new atmosphere of The Corner, which Shizuma decided, would be its new name.

Calling it The Corner was just so much easier.

Suddenly feeling a bit left out, Shizuma turned to Amane and opened conversation. The two spoke, though less animatedly than their partners, until the waitress returned with their drinks and soon after with their food.

Conversation continued as they consumed the tasteful and well done meals, pleasantly surprised at how well it had all been cooked. They had been hesitant about this type of food when they had first come here, considering that they hadn’t tried it before. Now they were grateful that they had given it a try, and vowed to visit the place as much as possible.

If not for the unique food, then for the pleasant atmosphere and friendly employees.

Anica bid them farewell with a deep bow, surprising the four girls, after they had finished eating and paid the bill.

Both couples had returned the bow and added pleased smiles. They would definitely come back.

“Where to now?”  Hikari asked softly, still feeling in a daze after such a wonderful and satisfying meal.

“I feel like taking a walk.” Shizuma suggested.

The others agreed and began the journey around the path they usually took when taking a walk together. Nagisa and Shizuma often spent days together with Amane and Hikari like this.

Since their time at the restaurant hadn’t been short, and the walk consumed more of their time, the couples only arrived back at Shizuma’s house around 5 p.m.

After entering the house, Shizuma suggested that they end the day off with a movie or two. The others agreed, and while the two older lovers went to work on setting the movie up, Nagisa and Hikari occupied the kitchen to make popcorn and get the drinks ready.

“Shizuma seems more mischievous than usual.” Hikari observed and looked over to where the silver haired woman was poking fun at her girlfriend.

“Yeah, I noticed that too. I think she’s just over excited because of last night.”

Hikari sighed wistfully. “That was so incredibly romantic. I knew Shizuma was a romantic person, but I never thought she was that romantic.”

“I know.” Nagisa smiled softly and placed a packet of popcorn into the microwave. “I’m so lucky to have her.” She pressed a few buttons and watched as the microwave lit up and began lazily moving the popcorn packet in circles.

“Amane might not be as romantic or outlandish, but she is incredibly sweet and charming.” Hikari pulled four glasses out of the cupboard and placed them on the kitchen table. “Like you, I'm so lucky to have such an amazing person. From the first day I saw her riding on that beautiful horse back at school, I never imagined that I would end up living with her and waking up to her face each morning.” Hikari retrieved a bottle of coke from the fridge and filled the glasses.

“It’s the same with me and when I bumped into Shizuma when I got lost. I thank my clumsiness every day.” The popping from the microwave stopped and Nagisa removed the now swollen bag. She tentatively tore the hot paper bag open and poured the fresh popcorn into a bowl.

“I wonder what our future will be like in 10 years.” Hikari wondered out loud, glancing over to Amane with love filled eyes. She chuckled softly when her blue haired lover felt her gaze and their eyes locked. Amane blushed the slightest when she noticed the intensity in her blonde lover’s eyes.

“Probably even more love filled and happier than now.” Nagisa smiled at her friend and inclined her head towards the lounge. “Let’s get back to those two before they get up to trouble.”

Hikari nodded in agreement and helped carry the drinks into the lounge. They placed all of the snacks on the lounge table that had been pushed to the side to provide space for the mattress of blankets and pillows scattered on the floor.

“Hikari.” Amane reached out and gently pulled Hikari into her arms once the blonde had taken hold of her hand. She didn’t want to admit it out loud, but she had really missed her even for just a few minutes. She was really so hopelessly in love.

“Alright!” Shizuma pulled the curtains shut to bathe the room in darkness and pressed play on the remote, effectively starting the movie and silencing the last remaining conversation.

The former Etoile hurried over and sat down beside Nagisa, who climbed onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her neck.

“You picked a horror, didn’t you?” Nagisa asked in worry. She gulped when Shizuma nodded and gave her that satisfied grin.

Nagisa hated horror movies, and Shizuma knew it. She only ever watched them so that the redhead would cling to her and utter the cutest noises of fear.

“Did she say h-horror?” Hikari asked softly, starting to tremble in Amane’s arms.

Amane swallowed and glanced over at Shizuma. The silver haired woman gave the horse trainer a thumbs up, silencing any protest from her friend. Amane sighed but decided to follow the plan.

She pulled her blonde angel tighter against her body and wrapped her arms fully around her trembling figure.

“My sweet angel, I will protect you. You can hide your face in my chest if you feel scared, I won’t mind.” She brushed Hikari’s hair from her forehead and placed a gentle kiss against the warm skin. “I will always protect you.”

Hikari sighed in contentment. She no longer cared that a scary movie was playing, the first scene already spilling blood and gore. Hikari hardly focused on the movie because all she could register was her taller girlfriend.

The way her chest rose and fell with each breath she took. The husky aroma of her spray combined with her natural scent. The sound of her deep laughter when she found a certain scene funny, making her chest rumble slightly. All of this helped Hikari relax and all but melt in the arms of her true love. She felt near inebriated because of the feel and smell and warmth coming from Amane. She was so addicted, and Amane was her drug.

Before the little blonde knew it, the movie had ended. This time the younger girls were given the chance to pick the next movie and agreed together on a romance none of them had seen.

As the opening credits rolled in, Nagisa cuddled deeper into Shizuma’s arms. The taller of the two affectionately nuzzled the top of her head and took a deep breath, savouring Nagisa’s sweet scent. It always gave her a natural high, flushed her skin and caused her heart to flutter.

When the second movie finished Amane chose a third. It was a comedy revolving around a family, much clichéd. But they enjoyed it nonetheless.

When the third movie ended they all realized it was nearing 10 p.m.

“Well,” Amane stood and stretched her body. “I think we should leave. It’s rather late.” She helped Hikari to her feet and attempted to leave, when Nagisa stopped them.

“Why don’t you sleep over? I want to watch another movie, and besides, you’ve slept over before.” Nagisa questioned, not consulting Shizuma on the matter since she knew that her lover wouldn’t mind at all.

“I guess we could.” Amane responded after getting an enthusiastic nod from Hikari.

“Great! You, our beautiful soulmates, can take care of putting the next movie in. Amane and I will get some more popcorn.” Not waiting for a response, Shizuma grabbed Amane by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen. She ignored the bluenette’s protests and finally released her once they were inside the kitchen.

“Shizuma?” Amane questioned, not trusting that her friend had simply wanted some bonding time. She was proven right when Shizuma turned to her with a naughty grin and ushered her closer.

“Listen to this…” Shizuma went on to whisper softly to Amane until she had completed her dialogue, and set about getting the promised food as she let Amane think it over.

“Shizuma… no…” Amane shook her head. “That’s a bit overboard, even for you.” The horse trainer raised her hand to silence her friend when she opened her mouth to protest. “But,” Amane grinned. “I do have a better idea.”

“What is this brilliance I am sensing?” Shizuma said with a chuckle and listened as Amane quietly explained. Before she was even done Shizuma was nodding her head in agreement. “I like it,” the former Etoile responded with a mischievous smile.

Amane thought over her suggestion again and suddenly rethought going through with it. But before she could mention her change of heart, Shizuma had already gotten the popcorn and vanished from the kitchen.

The horse trainer sighed deeply and entered the lounge to re-join her lover.

“Amane, have you seen this movie?” Nagisa spoke up and gestured for Amane to go over to where she sat on the blanket. The bluenette stopped beside the red head and looked over her shoulder at the DVD box clutched in her small hands.

“No, I haven’t.” Amane answered, looking at the unfamiliar title of the movie.

“Great!” Nagisa beamed and gave Amane an innocent smile that was returned with an amused grin from the taller woman. “I saw this in the video shop yesterday and begged Shizuma to get it for me. I heard about this from a few classmates and it honestly sounds amazing.” As she spoke Hikari crawled over to them and took the movie from her hands.

“What is it about?” Deep brown eyes focused on Hikari as Amane spoke in her naturally smoky voice.

Nagisa squealed in delight and started her over-excited retelling of the movie’s plot.

“Well, it’s about this woman who marries the guy she has been dating for years. At their wedding she makes eye contact with their florist and she feels an instant attraction to her! So she and the woman they had hired to do their flowers get close and eventually-”

“Whoa there my love,” Shizuma covered Nagisa’s mouth with her hand, muffling the end of her long explanation. “You don’t want to give the movie away, now do you?” Shizuma released her pouting lover and couldn’t resist planting a gentle kiss against those protruding lips.

“I guess… Gomen.” Nagisa blushed bright red.

“It’s okay Nagisa, you explained enough to get Hikari and I quite interested in this movie. What is it called again?”

“Imagine Me and You.” Nagisa answered.

“Ah, is it an American movie?” The red head nodded.

“Dubbed or subbed?” The blue haired woman asked with a smile.

“Subbed. I don’t know why but I always prefer watching American movies with subtitles instead of the Japanese dubbing.”

Amane nodded in agreement. “Me too.”

“Shall we begin then?” Shizuma spoke up, feeling like her little Nagisa had forgotten about her.

When everyone muttered words of consent, Nagisa scurried over to the DVD player and put the movie in, pressed play and then she returned to her warm sanction in Shizuma’s arms.

The movie’s opening scene bathed across the TV screen, providing light that shifted in intensity as the actors played their parts and the scenes transitioned from one to the next. Everyone sat transfixed as the sweet love story unfolded, but before the movie reached the final stretch of its plot, Shizuma glanced down and noticed that Nagisa had fallen asleep.

The green eyed beauty chuckled. Nagisa had been the most enthusiastic about watching this movie but ended up falling asleep before it even ended.

Meanwhile Nagisa smiled and sighed contentedly as her dreams played on in her unconscious mind.

In her dream she was currently walking down the aisle towards Shizuma, who stood at an altar with a soft and loving expression directed only at the redhead.

As the wonderful images filled Nagisa’s mind, snickering sounded around her. A second later Nagisa was pulled out of unconsciousness and rudely awakened when sudden loud bursts of laughter startled her out of her sleep.

Confused scarlet eyes fluttered open and glanced around the room, searching for the source of the disturbance. Nagisa furrowed her brow in deeper confusion when she saw Shizuma and Amane rolling on the ground in fits of laughter.

Hikari sat off to the side seemingly composed, but struggled to keep her own laughter from bursting out.

“Shizuma? Amane? What’s so funny?” Nagisa asked as she groggily sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes. She suddenly realized that she had fallen asleep and missed the ending of the movie she had so wanted to see, causing her eyes to widen and a gasp to escape her lips.

For some reason this made the duo on the floor burst into another round of laughter. Nagisa felt herself growing annoyed.

“Seriously, why are you both laughing? Hikari?” Nagisa turned to her blonde friend but received no response other than Hikari grabbing at her sides and lowering her head to hide her own giggles.

Nagisa’s brow twitched in agitation.

“Shizuma!” the red head yelled in exasperation. It got the desired effect and both Shizuma and Amane silenced their laughter and wiped the tears from their eyes.

After catching her breath, Shizuma stood up and helped Nagisa to her feet.

“I apologise, my love. You were only mumbling in your sleep and happened to say something amusing…” Shizuma lied flawlessly, almost disturbed at how perfectly the fib left her lips. Or perhaps it came out so smoothly because Nagisa had partly been mumbling before she had been woken up. It was only a half truth, then, and not really that much of a lie.

Nagisa, being as innocent and trusting as she was, only took a moment to consider it before she blushed and accepted the reason.

“Gomen,” Nagisa apologised, feeling rather embarrassed for what she might have said in her dream filled state.

“No need to apologise, my love.” Shizuma placed a tender kiss against her burning cheek. “But the movie finished a while ago and I’m tired.” She turned to Amane. “I’m sure you both know where the guest room is. We’ll see you tomorrow morning. Oyasumi.”

“Oyasumi,” Hikari and Amane said together and watched the Hanazono couple disappear down the hall and into their room.

“You two are horrible.” Hikari exclaimed and playfully slapped Amane’s arm. This earned a chuckle from her tall lover.

“Don’t give me that Hikari, you were laughing too.” The blonde stopped her retort and blushed, realizing that she was just as guilty as them since she had indeed laughed. It wasn’t as if she could have controlled it though.

“Anyway, let’s go to sleep, I’m really tired.” Hikari spoke softly and tugged at her lover’s sleeve.

“Of course my little angel.” Amane stood and pulled Hikari against her, not letting her go until they got under the covers and then cuddled close together in the bed.

“Goodnight, sleep well my angel.” Amane said and kissed Hikari’s brow.

“You too Amane.” Hikari blushed and felt her heart swell with joy. She settled down and sighed when her body heated from the warmth seeping into her from her lover’s body.

“I love you Hikari.”

“I love you too Amane.”

Soon they both fell asleep, joined by the couple in the next room.

XxX

Nagisa’s eyes opened slowly as she woke, her vision greeted with the golden morning light spilling in through the crack between the curtains.

She gently extricated herself from her naked lover, threw some clean clothes on and silently padded into the kitchen to begin breakfast, hopefully waking everyone once the aroma of food wafted through the house.

The trick worked, and once Nagisa had four plates full of freshly made food her lover and friends wondered into the kitchen, having followed their noses that were urged on by their empty stomachs.

“Good morning everyone!” Nagisa turned and greeted everyone with a bright smile.

All three of the newly awoken trio halted just inside the kitchen, completely froze and stared with wide eyes.

“What?” Nagisa titled her head to the side in confusion, wondering what her fiancé and friends were up to now.

They all shook their heads.

“No nothing!” Amane waved her hands in front of her as a sign that nothing was up. Shizuma nodded in agreement and bit down onto her lip.

“N-nothing, my dear little N-Nagisa…” Shizuma managed to get out without her laughter following.

Hikari stayed suspiciously quiet and simply clung onto the back of Amane’s white long sleeved button up shirt.

“Well then, I made breakfast so why don’t we all take a plate and watch TV while we eat?” The red head, still puzzled as hell, grabbed her plate and headed into the lounge. The other three followed in surprising silence.

Each couple sat down together and began eating while Shizuma channel surfed until she found something suitable to watch. The silver haired woman snuck a sideways glance at her blue haired friend and gave her a wink. Amane choked on the food she had in her mouth, but recovered when Hikari vigorously pounded an open hand against her back.

“Are you okay Amane?” Nagisa leaned passed Shizuma and asked in concern.

Amane looked to her but paused, seemingly holding something back. Again, Nagisa felt puzzled and confused at their weird behaviour. The bluenette nodded.

Nagisa returned to her food and attempted to rid herself of the annoying confusion.

“Meow.”

Nagisa’s head shot up. “Was that a cat?” she looked around in even deeper puzzlement. The red head looked to her lover and Amane, who both had their gazes intently focused on the ground with their faces turning red. They didn’t seem embarrassed though, so why were they going so red?

After a while of looking around and finding no animal in or near the house, Nagisa went back to her food.

“Meow…” The utterance sounded familiar, though Nagisa couldn’t pinpoint where she had heard that sound before. They owned no pets and she was sure any of the neighbour’s pets had never wondered near her house.

“Meoooow.” This time the cat noise was deeper and longer, different to the first.

“Shizuma,” Nagisa grabbed a hold of her fiancé’s wrist. “I think we have a cat family hiding somewhere in the house.” The red head said with absolute seriousness.

Amane and Shizuma both regarded Nagisa with blank expressions, and then they both couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

“What now?” Nagisa exclaimed, feeling ready to throw something at the two. “I'm serious here! We can’t have animals moving in.” For some reason this made them laugh even harder.

“Nagisa,” Hikari said gravely and took Nagisa by the hand. The red head allowed her friend to pull her onto her feet and then down the hall and into the bathroom. After a few seconds of silence, an enraged scream echoed through the house.

“SHIZUMA!”

The mentioned culprit and her friend both froze and gulped. Now they were in trouble.

“Do you think she’s… upset?” Amane questioned softly, too scared to raise her voice in case Nagisa heard it.

“Upset?” Shizuma hissed in reply. “By that scream, which was not filled with passion or pleasure, was so loud that she can only be really, really, furious.”

Amane rolled her eyes. “Do you always have to sexualize everything?”

“Yes, yes I do.”

Any further conversation was silenced when Nagisa returned with Hikari looking slightly sad. They sat down at their previous seats and continued eating.

“N-Nagisa?” Shizuma tentatively asked, wondering why she hadn’t been dragged to the bedroom and beaten yet.

There was no response. Nagisa simply continued eating and watching the TV. When she was done, the red head took her plate to the kitchen and then stepped back into the lounge.

“Nagisa?” Shizuma asked again in a pleading voice.

Nagisa’s heart clenched at the tone her fiancé used, but glanced at herself in the lounge mirror and felt all sympathy drain away. Someone had drawn whiskers and cat eyes on her face, probably when she had fallen asleep during the movie the night before. That explained the damn meowing, and this made Nagisa boil in anger.

“Hikari,” Nagisa spoke, still ignoring the existence of her love.

“Nagisa my love.” Shizuma begged pathetically, already regretting the prank they had pulled.

“Let’s go out for some coffee and shopping?” The red head asked her blonde friend.

“That sounds fun!” Hikari responded and stood, but was stopped when Amane gently grabbed her hand.

“Hikari?” The horse trainer questioned. Hikari froze, swallowed hard and then pulled free from the grasp.

“There’s this new shoe shop I’ve wanted to see.” Hikari added as she followed Nagisa to the door and disappeared out of the house.

Amane hung her head. “Great, just great. Now my girlfriend is ignoring me too.” She said miserably.

Shizuma sighed. “Well, we’ll just have to make it up to them.”

“How?”

“By treating them like celebrities. Nagisa can’t resist me for long, she never has been able to. You watch, she’ll crack first.” Shizuma smiled confidently and winked.

“I don’t know why I always go along with your plans Shizuma.” Amane rolled her eyes but sighed in resignation. She knew she would end up going along with it anyway.

It was only 11 a.m. so the two decided to keep themselves busy until their lovers returned.

Amane selected one of the books from Nagisa’s bookcase and sat down on the couch to read. About a quarter way through the book she was disturbed when Shizuma plopped down next to her and flipped her laptop open. She typed away on the inbuilt keypad, paused, scrolled for a bit and then giggled every few minutes.

“What are you doing?” Amane asked and gave up on the book. She scooted over to Shizuma and leaned over to see what her friend was up to.

“I’m just on Facebook.” Shizuma answered. “Look,” she pointed at a picture on her timeline and giggled. “That’s Grumpy Cat.”

Amane looked at the picture of a cat that looked incredibly grumpy with a displeased smile, and read the caption out loud. “Row, row, row your boat, gently off a fucking cliff.” The bluenette blinked, and then laughed.

The two spent the rest of their time browsing through Shizuma’s Facebook timeline, laughing at the hilarious memes and going onto their friend’s profiles.

“Wow, Yaya and Tsubomi love putting pictures of them together on Facebook.” Amane commented.

“Yaya is too proud and doesn’t care about what other people think. I bet she had to convince Tsubomi though, since that girl is a lot more private.”

They chuckled together and then grew silent at a picture of Myuki that ended up on Shizuma’s timeline.

“That’s her husband, right?” Shizuma nodded. “He looks like a jerk, and Myuki looks miserable.”

“Yeah…” Shizuma sighed to herself and closed the laptop. “The girls are back.”

The door opened and the two younger girls stepped into the house giggling and smiling. Amane glanced at her wrist watch. It was already 1 p.m.

“Nagisa!” Shizuma exclaimed, not able to control herself because she had missed her red headed fiancé so damn much.

Nagisa froze at the doorway and surprised Shizuma by finally looking at her. She said nothing, though, and headed into the bedroom with Hikari and their shopping bags. Hikari glanced at Amane and felt her face drop into a miserable frown. Her lover noticed this and sighed.

“I don’t think Hikari will last much longer.” Amane said and shook her head. She missed her blonde girlfriend so much that it hurt.

Nagisa and Hikari reappeared but headed out to the backyard and reclined against the porch chairs. This was Shizuma’s chance.

“Quick, Amane, get drinks for them and make it look fancy.” She shoved Amane towards the kitchen and ignored the surprised curses aimed at her.

Shizuma hurried to her fiancé’s side, bowed down in front of her and spoke in a low, gentle voice. “I hope you can forgive me, my love.” She hoped it would get some reaction, but it didn’t, and Nagisa turned to Hikari.

Amane returned with the drinks she had made and grumbled to herself as she placed them down on the table between Nagisa and Hikari’s chair. The two girls looked at her in surprise but quickly looked away and took the drinks without speaking to them.

Shizuma pulled Amane back into the house and frantically whispered in her ear.

“Nagisa,” Hikari spoke up softly, running her finger along the rim of her glass. “Why don’t we forgive them now?” Her need for Amane was obvious by the tone of her voice.

“No, we need to make them suffer a bit more. They drew a cat face on me, made fun of me and then meowed.” Nagisa crossed her arms stubbornly.

“Okay…” Hikari frowned and watched her lover longingly as they stepped back outside. She could tell that Shizuma was up to her usual antics and her poor girlfriend had to endure it.

Amane went over to the back of Hikari’s chair and placed her hand over her small lover’s shoulders, gently kneading and massaging.

Shizuma started by massaging Nagisa’s feet.

The younger girls tried their best to ignore their lover’s ministrations, but soon enough silenced their conversation and focused on the wonderful sensations.

The former Etoile moved from Nagisa’s feet and started stroking her fingers up the red head’s legs. She moved up Nagisa’s body until she was caressing her breathless fiancé’s quivering lips.

“I’ve missed you, my little Nagisa.” Shizuma said hotly, making sure that her sensual voice added to Nagisa’s now excited state. Nagisa shivered and turned her head away, but Shizuma caught her chin and gently turned her face so that their eyes could meet again.

The taller of the two leaned forward and pressed her lips against her love’s, receiving no response at first. She grinned triumphantly the moment Nagisa sighed in defeat and kissed her back with a passion that stole Shizuma’s breath away.

Hikari glanced over and noticed that Nagisa was now giving Shizuma lip service, in a sense, and rolled her eyes. It had been the red head’s idea to ignore their lover’s for that prank and now she was the first one to crack and break the silent treatment.

“Amane,” Hikari said and watched her blue haired girlfriend round the chair and crouch down in front of her. “I missed you so much!” She cried out and wrapped her arms around Amane’s neck, making the taller woman laugh.

“I missed you more, my angel.” Amane soothingly rubbed Hikari’s back, earning a few satisfied sighs.

The bluenette glanced over and noticed her friends were getting a bit too out of hand and decided to stop them before they started ripping each other’s clothes off.

“Oi,” Amane stood and put a hand on Shizuma’s shoulder, waking her from her Nagisa induced trance. “I think you should move that into the bedroom. In any case, I have to leave now since I have work at 3.”

“But it’s Sunday. Aren’t you off?” Shizuma questioned and stood, helping Nagisa to her feet.

“Yeah but I agreed to help out with cleaning the stalls and the horses. It doesn’t hurt that I’ll get extra pay.” Hikari took Amane’s hand after she had stepped up beside her and smiled up at her gorgeous girlfriend.

“Then we won’t keep you any longer.” Nagisa said.

They all headed over to the front door and Amane and Hikari retrieved their jackets and put their shoes on.

“It was wonderful having you over, despite that prank.” Nagisa glared at Shizuma, making the silver haired beauty shiver.

“Well, uh…” Amane spoke up, unable to hide her guilt anymore. “It’s true that Shizuma drew on you but… it… was kind of… my?... idea…” Amane smiled nervously and scratched the back of her head. She suddenly feared for her life.

“Shizuma is rubbing off on you.” Hikari said and poked Amane in the stomach. “You will get your punishment when we get home.” The blonde narrowed her eyes but smiled wickedly. She was showing her frightening side, making Amane sweat and swallow hard.

“A-anyway, thanks for yesterday. See you two some other time!” Amane said hurriedly and pulled Hikari out of the house.

Nagisa chuckled once they were gone. “You, dear, are too naughty for your own good. Why do you always pull these pranks, especially on me?”

Shizuma suddenly pushed Nagisa against the wall and pinned her there. She captured her surprised gasp in a passionate kiss and didn’t let her breathe until a few minutes later when she pulled back.

“Because you have the most adorable angry face, and you become so forceful when you’re upset. To be honest, it turns me on.” The fire in Shizuma’s eyes as well as her words made Nagisa blush.

“Oh… So, are you… right now?” Nagisa questioned.

Shizuma grinned rakishly and kissed Nagisa again. “Like you won’t believe.”

Nagisa’s chuckled and started pulling Shizuma towards the bedroom. “Well then, I should take care of that, now shouldn’t I?” She whispered against Shizuma’s lips.

Shizuma growled hungrily in response and pulled at Nagisa’s clothes. The red head happily allowed her fiancé to remove her clothes and then push her down onto the bed.  An equally naked Shizuma soon crawled on top of her and resumed their hungry kiss.

A few hours later, after spending the day into the night in the throes of passion, Shizuma and Nagisa lay contentedly in the bed. They were side by side, staring lovingly at each other as Shizuma gently caressed Nagisa’s face.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you more.” Nagisa playfully shot back.

Shizuma grinned. “Highly unlikely. I love you way more.”

“No way.” Nagisa sat up. “Of course I love you more!”

“Never.” Shizuma tackled Nagisa and began tickling her sides. The red head thrashed under her lover’s assaulting hands and giggled uncontrollably.

“Okay! Okay!” The tickling stopped and she was allowed to catch her breath. Shizuma was still on top of her though, causing both of them to take a deep breath at the delicious sensation of naked, warm skin touching.

Their desires flared once again and soon they were locked in a deep kiss. It was interrupted though, when the phone rang.

Shizuma growled angrily and snatched the phone off of the bedside table.

“Hello?” She asked politely, not wanting to be rude in case it was someone important on the phone.

“Oh, hello Shizuma.” A woman spoke coldly, making Shizuma flinch. “May I please speak to your fiancé?” Shizuma swallowed hard and simply gave the phone over to a very confused Nagisa.

“Hello?” Nagisa said and wondered why her lover looked so frightened all of a sudden.

 “Nagisa.”

“Mother!” Nagisa exclaimed, recognising the voice immediately. “Why are you calling?... Oh… how did you…? Facebook?.... but I didn’t-” Nagisa paused and glanced over at Shizuma, who was watching her with a guilty expression and trying to look distracted by tracing circular patterns across Nagisa’s stomach.

“Alright,” Nagisa continued and nodded. “Yes, of course. I’ll tell her… No, it shouldn’t be a problem. Tell Dad and Nikki that I send my love… Yes, you too… Love you too Mom, bye!”

“Is she upset?” Shizuma asked softly, well aware of Nagisa’s mother’s frightening temper. She had been under the foot of that anger once, and tried her hardest to never do anything to get herself at the receiving end of Mrs Aoi’s anger again. She was just as frightening as Nagisa when she was angry, and it was truly frightening. 

“She sounded upset, but I guess we’ll see how upset she is when we visit for the weekend.”

“She wants us to drive down?”

“She does. We’ll have to leave after my class finishes on Friday.”

Shizuma gulped. Why had she been stupid enough to put that damn status up on Facebook about their engagement before they had told anyone?

Chapter Text

Soft blue eyes cracked open and an arm reached out, searching for a warm body to pull closer. None was found, and Hikari opened her eyes fully to see if the other side of the bed really was empty. It was. The blonde sighed softly, remembering that it was Monday and she had to get up and ready for school.

Soft noises resonated from behind the closed bedroom door, most probably originating from the kitchen. Hikari smiled. Amane was probably in the kitchen making breakfast for her, like she always did during Hikari’s school days.

The blonde climbed out of her bed and walked into the bathroom. She turned the shower on and climbed in, having been naked due to the night’s previous activities. In no time the little blonde was cleaned and dressed, and headed into the kitchen where her love awaited.

“Wow, that smells amazing.” Hikari said as she entered and walked over to Amane.

“Ah, you’re finally up. Here,” Amane turned, gave Hikari a morning kiss and then placed a plate of food down on the table as well a bowl of rice.

“You are an amazing cook, Amane.” Hikari said with a loving smile as she sat down and retrieved the chopsticks lying neatly beside the plate.

“Mm,” Amane responded with her usual gentle smile, and set about getting Hikari’s bentou ready. Once the lunch for her girlfriend was prepared and packed, she placed the box on the table and then took the now empty dishes from the table to the sink.

“You are such a housewife.” Hikari giggled.

“Oh?” The bluenette watched her smaller companion jump up and sat down on the counter and beckon for her to step closer, and when she did she was pulled forward until she stood between Hikari’s legs and a pair of small, sure hands had each a handful of blue hair.

“I love you.” The smaller of the two whispered breathlessly.

Amane smiled, and looked at Hikari with her ‘I’m in love with you’ eyes. “I love you too, my angel.” The horse trainer said with just as much emotion, and the two met halfway in a sweet, passionate kiss. “You should go now or you’ll be late.” Amane said after pulling away, and rested her forehead against Hikari’s.

Hikari sighed. “I hate leaving you.”

“I hate it too.”

“I don’t want to go.”

Amane chuckled. “But you have to.”

“Whose idea was it that I study further anyway?” Hikari asked with a pout.

“It was yours, silly.” Amane gave her an eskimo kiss. “Come on.” She took Hikari’s smaller hands in her own and led her lover to the front door, not forgetting to grab her lunchbox on the way. “Take your lunch, give me a kiss goodbye and meet up with Nagisa.” Amane ordered in a tone that showed she was both amused and serious at the same time.

“Hai, Amane-sama.” Hikari joked and took the bentou from her lover’s hands. She leaned up and gave the horse trainer a soul-searing kiss before she opened the door and headed out. Amane watched her walk down the road, meet up with their red headed friend, and then disappear further down the street.

Amane sighed longingly and closed the front door. She was still in her boxers and t-shirt, and her hair was still dishevelled and messy. She had come home late the night before from work, but forced herself to wake up so early in the morning so that she could send her lover off with a smile and her usual lunch. 

The horse trainer headed to the bedroom, fully intending on going back to sleep and getting that much needed rest, but stopped short of the hallway when the telephone in the lounge started to ring.

“Who could it be this early?” Amane grumbled in question and ignored the sudden tightness of her heart. There was only one person that ever really called this early, and Amane was hoping that it was not who she suspected. “Hello?” She asked after answering.

“Amane.” The deep, familiar voice responded in a clipped tone much like Amane had expected.

The blue haired woman sighed. Her suspicions were correct.

“Sir.” Amane said into the receiver.

“How is life for my daughter?” The man said, making Amane clench her hands into fists and swallow hard. From any other father those words would have caused a smile, but her father had meant them with the most negative intentions.

“I am still with Hikari and my job at the stables is going well, Sir.” She responded firmly. The horse trainer took a seat on the couch and flopped over, ending up lying on her side and taking up the entire length of the three-seater couch.

“Still living such a ludicrous and rebellious life?”

“It only seems that way to you.”

“Watch your tone, Amane.” He warned in an angered tone. This made Amane roll her eyes but she bit her tongue, refraining from firing a few choice words at him describing exactly what she thought of his opinions. “Your mother made me call you.”

“Why?” Amane asked and sat up, supporting her weight on her elbows.

“She was concerned.” He said simply, no emotion in his voice that clearly meant he had no concern or worry at all. “I also wanted to talk to you about something.” He added.

“What is it this time?” Amane said angrily, not bothering to hide her displeasure or annoyance at this man she used to think of as her father. Mr Ohtori took a deep breath, sending a hiss of static through the speaker. It sounded like he wanted to start yelling at his daughter for her disrespect, like he would inevitably end up doing, but instead it ended with the large intake of breath, and he continued talking.

“There is an opening in the firm I work for,” Mr Ohtori said, and cut of Amane’s protest by continuing his normal line of conversation, “and if you accept it, then we are willing to give you the job despite not finishing your law degree. In addition to that, the man you will be working under has a young, eligible son that your mother and I have spoken to. He is more than willing to meet with you and possibly take your hand in marriage.” Amane’s father ended in a self-satisfied voice, feeling that his daughter would at least consider the offer.

Amane dropped back down onto her back and covered her face with her hand. “No.” She said simply, not even having to bat an eye before declining her father’s suggestion.

“Do you understand the opportunity you are throwing away here? You can get a well-paying job and a wonderful husband. You can earn a lot of money before settling down and giving birth to my grandson.”

Amane nearly burst into laughter at the thought of actually being pregnant. She had always imagined Hikari being the one to carry their kids in the future if they ever wanted to start a family. Just the mental image of her having the kids made her choke up on laughter and cover her mouth before her father heard it.

“How can you be so ungrateful?” Mr Ohtori exclaimed over the phone in disgust.

“Sir, with all due respect, I appreciate the offer, but I have told you so many times that I’ve lost count. I love Hikari. I am in love with her, Sir, a girl I met in school. I do not and never will like men that way. Besides, Hikari is my soulmate and I will spend the rest of my life with her.” Amane smiled despite herself. There really was no one else for her other than her little blonde angel. “As for the job, I hate law. I only tried to study and get that degree because you pushed for it. I am happy with my job as a horse trainer, and despite what you think, I make more than enough money to support myself and my lovely girlfriend.”

Mr Ohtori snorted. “Like I could consider what you have with this girl ‘love’. You both are delusional and in denial. I will never stop trying to make you come to your senses, Amane.”

“Try all you want, I don’t care what you or mother, for the matter, think about me or my relationship with Hikari. Her parents support us and we don’t need both of you to as well.” Amane sighed. “Though Hikari believes that at some point in time you will come to realize that who I am is who I have always been and that you will accept us.” The bluenette shook her head. She still didn’t understand how her love could believe so wholeheartedly that her parents would change one day.

“Like I said, you are delusional. I will never condone or accept your life of abomination.” Mr Othori said.

“Then why do you call me every few months? Why don’t you just disown me already and leave me alone?”

“Because you are my only child. Sometimes I wish I had been given a son instead of a freak like you.”

Amane chuckled. “I’m as close to a son as you will ever get. Send my love to Mom. I’m tired of talking to you.” The last bit was uncharacteristically honest. Amane always tried to stay civil during these phone calls, since her mother had asked that of her, but she had taken enough verbal abuse from the jerk who only wanted her to bend to his will for financial and social status.

“Amane you disrespectful little-” Amane ended the call before the insult came through. She was sure that would frustrate her father to no end. She also knew that he would not call again, because he had his pride. Hopefully this would be the last and her disrespectful remarks made him leave her alone.

Amane still had her mother, sort of, since she had met Hikari a few times and absolutely loved the blonde. Though from time to time her mother did attempt to persuade her to listen to her father, and she also had a firm belief that Amane loving another woman was a sin, but it always came down to Amane’s happiness and she could see that Hikari made Amane happy. If only her mother could stand up to her father and defend her daughter for once, instead of letting him harass her the way he did whenever he decided to call, which luckily wasn’t often. 

Amane just shook her head in disbelief and put the phone back onto the table. She couldn’t believe that man, insulting her like that. She had known for most of her life that he resented her for being born a female, as if she had some magical choice in it. When it had come out that she was attracted to girls, he had refused to acknowledge that side of her, and Amane had been content to just keep that part of her life secret from him. But then Hikari happened, and she refused to keep her blonde lover a secret from anyone. 

From the moment she had told him of Hikari he had refused to acknowledge her, and even though it had been years, he had not said Hikari’s name once. Not once in all the time Amane had been involved with her. It angered Amane to the point of making her violent.

She was not a violent person by nature, but when it came to protecting Hikari, she frightened even herself. She would not hesitate to beat the life out of anyone that dared to touch or speak to her Hikari in any negative way. That blonde was her life and she would do anything and everything for her.

The same as she knew Hikari would do anything for her as well.

Amane sighed again and turned onto her stomach. Now she was absolutely exhausted. She closed her eyes and thought of her lover, allowing that gorgeous face and those beautiful eyes to consume her mind until she relaxed and fell into a deep, love-induced sleep.

XxX

At 5 P.M Hikari arrived home and hurried through the front door. She was later than usual because she had gone to a café with Nagisa to discuss some things about the wedding. Hikari thought back to that conversation as she took her coat off and placed her bag on the dining room table.

Nagisa sighed deeply and shook her head. “Yeah, it feels amazing. Most people say getting married doesn’t really feel that different, I think.” Nagisa scratched her head and then just shrugged, deciding to stay with her train of thought regardless if the facts were a bit off or not. “I feel like I love Shizuma so much more now, and she me. Not to mention that we can’t seem to keep our hands off of each other, and we aren’t even married yet.”

Hikari giggled at her airheaded friend, who seemed to be swooning quite joyously and might possibly fall off of her chair. The waiter returned with their tea and set a cup down in front of each of the young woman. Hikari took a sip and then sighed.

“Hikari? What’s with the sigh? You don’t sound that happy.” Nagisa asked in concern.

“No, it’s nothing big, really.”

“Then what is it?”

Hikari took another sip, this time prolonging it and taking her time, before she answered. “I want Amane to propose to me.”

“Oh! I’m sure she will, Hikari, you just have to be patient.”

“I know,” Hikari slouched in the chair. “I tried bringing it up last night when she got home and climbed into bed, but she completely changed the subject. It’s gotten me all worried. Do you think she doesn’t want to marry me?”

“Hikari!” Nagisa gave her a stern look. “If anyone is going to marry you then it’s Amane. I’ve never seen someone so in love than she is with you.” Hikari blushed. “So don’t say things like that. Amane could just be a bit dense, that’s all. You might have to confront her and ask her out right instead of going in circles.”

Hikari nodded and smiled. “You’re right, Nagisa. Geez, what’s wrong with me? How could I ever doubt Amane like that? I know she loves me more than anything in the world.”

Nagisa nodded in satisfaction and turned back to her tea. The two remained silent as they drank and pondered about their partners. Both were starting to miss their lover’s, and it was already getting late.

After saying goodbye and giving Nagisa a long hug in front of the red head’s house, Hikari turned and headed down the street to where she lived with her very own Prince Charming.

XxX

Hikari shook her head and smiled after coming back to the present. She was sure her dashing love would ask for her hand someday soon.

With that thought in mind Hikari went in search of her prince, and found her looking exactly like she had that morning, sleeping peacefully on the couch.

“Amane?” Hikari crouched down and ran a hand through her hair. “Sweetheart, wake up.” She gently shook her lover by the shoulder until sexy brown eyes opened and looked at her in confusion.

“Hikari?” Amane sat up and rubbed at her face. “What time is it?”

“It’s 5 P.M, dear.”

“What?!” Amane uncovered her face and gave Hikari a very surprised look. “I’ve been asleep for the entire day?” She glanced over at the phone on the table and sighed. Her father really did suck the energy completely out of her when he called like that.

Hikari noticed the quick glanced, and put together with how her love had slept the day, realized the reason. “Your dad called?” She asked gently and took a seat beside Amane.

“Yeah.” Amane yawned and stretched her long body. “He was after the usual, but this time he even had a marriage proposal for me.” Amane chuckled in pure amusement. “Some guy’s son is apparently interested, and if I accepted that guys job offer then I could even marry his son.”

Hikari shook her head in disappointment. “That man. How can he do that to his own daughter?” She frowned deeply and placed a hand over her heart that hurt slightly at how insensitive her lover’s father was and how he hurt Amane. Even though her tall lover never admitted it, Hikari knew how each call really hurt her, even if the horse trainer didn’t even notice it herself.

“You are the only one I will ever marry.” Amane wrapped an arm around Hikari’s shoulder and pulled her against her side. She rested her chin against the crown of the blonde’s head and sighed in happiness. “You are all I have ever wanted and all I will ever need.”

Hikari’s eyes widened and she smiled. Now more than ever, she was absolutely sure that Amane would ask to marry her.

“So, how about we have a shower and then I’ll make dinner?” Amane asked.

Hikari stood and shook her head. “Yes for the shower, but no for dinner because I will help you. Amane, you always do the cooking for us.”

Amane chuckled and scooped Hikari into her arms, earning a surprised squeak from the blonde. “Only because you work so hard at school. But alright, tonight you can help.” She carried her love into the bedroom, where she gently lowered her down onto her feet and then captured Hikari in a deep kiss. Despite going through this almost every day, they had missed each other so badly that they couldn’t help but stay glued together when Hikari returned home.

They both sighed into the kiss, and taking the initiative, Amane began to slowly undress Hikari. With each piece of clothing removed and every new inch of exposed skin, Amane placed feathery kisses, driving Hikari insane. Finally the time came for Amane’s treatment, and Hikari grinned seductively as she teased her lover even worse than she had been teased herself. No one would ever believe that Hikari was more of a sexual animal than Amane, and was in fact, not as innocent as everyone believed.

Amane shook and whimpered as her skilful lover drove her passions up the roof. Eventually Hikari relented in her teasing, and they managed to stumble into the bathroom while locked in a deep kiss, somehow turned the shower on and stumbled under the hot water.

The heated liquid only aided in burning their lust to its peak, making them both breath hard and heavy while their hearts raced painfully in their chests.

Amane gently pinned Hikari to the sick shower wall and ran her hand down the blonde’s side, where she stopped and rested it on her hip, running her thumb in circles over the sensitive skin and sending her love in a pleasurable overdrive. Hikari whimpered, and then sucked in a deep breath when Amane moved to kissing and gently biting the skin on her neck. She was oh so sensitive on her neck, and the bluenette knew that.

While the horse trainer lavished her attentions to Hikari’s neck and collar bones, Hikari let one hand run through lush blue hair while the other ran down a long, muscular back. Hikari’s blunt nails left a red trail in their wake, making Amane pant and return her lips to her lover’s. They pressed their bodies together.; wet, naked and hot skin sliding against each other and never losing contact.

An hour later they were out of the shower, but still naked and damp, as they changed locations and ended up on their bed. Hikari sat atop her lover’s firm abdomen, and felt the hard muscles ripple underneath her. A shiver ran through them both, and then they continued to make love until they both cried out for the last time and collapsed against each other in an exhausted, post-orgasmic bliss.

It was silent for a long while as the couple cuddled and their bodies calmed down. The sun had long since descended, and their room was bathed in slight moonlight that cut through the darkness.

“Amane?” Hikari asked, breaking the blissful silence.

“Yes, my angel?” Amane replied and gently caressed Hikari’s back since she couldn’t see her face in the dark. Hikari shivered and shifted up along Amane’s body until she could feel the bluenette’s breath against her lips.

“You know,” she leaned down and gave Amane a soft, lingering kiss, “because of all of that love making,” she paused and leaned down again, capturing those full lips in her own. This kiss lasted longer than the other, but eventually Hikari pulled back, but stayed close enough that their lips still brushed together, “I am really hungry.” She ended.

“Well then, my little angel, let’s go and make food like a team. You really wore me out.” Amane wasn’t even joking. Despite having slept the whole day, she felt tired and ready to go right back to sleep. She was even slightly worried that she would be sore in the morning. If she was, though, then she wouldn’t mind. It was completely worth it.

They put some clothes on, consisting of underwear and baggy shirts. Hikari wore black boy shorts that hugged her snuggly in all the right places, with one of Amane’s shirts that sadly hid her very cute behind from Amane as they walked through the hallway and into the kitchen.

Similarly, Amane wore one of her shirts with a pair of her favourite heart patterned boxers that Hikari had gotten for her for their last anniversary. Speaking of anniversary…

“Angel, our anniversary is this weekend. Is there anything special you want to do?” Amane asked as they both retrieved the needed equipment for the making of their dinner.

“Anything as long as it’s with you, Amane.”

The horse trainer paused as she thought. There had to be something really special she could do to make up for last time. She was determined to show Hikari how much she loved her in every way possible.

“Hmmm…”

“Amane?” Hikari watched the thoughtful brown eyes of her lover and felt her heart skip a beat. She never really needed proof of their love, because every day she could see proof of it in the way Amane gazed at her.

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” Amane broke out of her thoughts. “I got lost in thought there for a moment.” Hikari playfully bumped her partner’s upper thigh with her hip.

“I saw that, my love.”

Amane looked into her love’s blue eyes and couldn’t resist kissing her soft, pink lips. “I love you,” she whispered a moment after they parted.

“I love you too.” Hikari replied.

They both smiled happily as they focused on the task at hand and made the best dinner either of them had ever had.

XxX

Tuesday started as usual, except instead of returning to bed or staying at home, Amane walked with her love to the university, where she dropped her off and then headed to work. Since she had been called in to work on Sunday she had been given Monday off. She normally worked from Monday to Friday, from 8A.M to 3P.M, and had Saturday and Sunday off, though she was still allowed to be called in during the weekends. If she was then she was normally given a day off during the week, if she had done enough weekend hours.

Amane arrived at work and went about her usual duties. Time flew by and before she knew it her boss came in and let her off an hour early. Though she was glad to finish her work for the day, she was a bit disappointed. Hikari only finished with her classes at 3, and she normally went to fetch her and then they would walk home together. Now she had an hour to wait before she could see her love and she didn’t want to wait around the blonde’s campus in case someone thought she was some type of psycho stalker.

She sighed and wondered what she could do for an hour, when an idea came to her. She pulled her phone out and dialled a familiar number. It rang and then the call picked up and the familiar voice filtered through.

“Hello there, Amane.” Shizuma purred into the phone.

“Hey Shizuma, are you busy right now?”

“Well,” Shizuma looked around at her lounge and released a deep sigh. “I’ve been dying with boredom. So I hope you asked that because you want my company?”

“Can you meet me at The Corner, then?”

“Sure thing. See you then, Amane.” Shizuma ended the call and Amane smiled. She closed her phone and returned it to her jeans pocket.

“That was a surprisingly articulate call.” She noted to herself as she continued to walk and The Corner came into view.

She went in and took a seat. The friendly waitress from before approached and took her drink orders, she also ordered for Shizuma, and disappeared. It wasn’t long before Shizuma with her never-ending hair arrived and she took her seat across from her friend.

“Hey there Amane. Boss let you off early?”

“Yeah, so I figured I’d pass the hour with you.”

“Hmmm,” Shizuma leaned forward and looked at Amane with thought. “Your anniversary is on Saturday, right?” She asked.

Amane nodded. “It is. I still haven’t figured out what to do yet.”

“Well,” Shizuma paused as the waiter returned with their drinks and then continued as soon as she left, “I can help if you want. You know I’m a hopeless romantic.”

“I’m a hopeless romantic too.” Amane pointed out.

“Ah, I'm the one with money coming out of my ears.”

Amane opened her mouth to protest, and then simply closed it when she realized Shizuma did have a point. “So what do you have in mind?” The horse trainer asked.

“Well, how about I fly you both to Paris for a romantic weekend in the City of Love?”

Amane nearly choked on her drink. “I know what you are thinking, and hell no. I couldn’t accept that big of an offer from you. I’d feel bad about making you spend so much money on me.” Amane pouted. It would surely make Hikari incredibly happy, but she just couldn’t accept something so big.

“Alright.” Shizuma shrugged and accepted the declination, having had this conversation with her friend before, and grew quiet in contemplation. “I have another idea, but listen before you decide against it.”

Amane leaned closer with a dubious expression. “Okay…?”

XxX

Tuesday night ended without incident, with Amane and Hikari sharing dinner, watching TV while cuddling on the couch for a while and then eventually going to bed and falling asleep holding onto each other.

Wednesday came and passed like usual. Amane went to work as Hikari went to school. Amane got off at 3 and fetched her love. They walked home together and Hikari spent the afternoon working on projects while Amane sat close to her or made food for them.

Eventually Wednesday night came and the pair made it through another day.

Thursday was much the same, except Amane and Hikari went over to eat dinner by their friends. Shizuma ended up entertaining their guests as usual, receiving both lectures and giggles from Nagisa.

While everyone calmed from a new bout of laughter, Nagisa excused herself to check on the food. Hikari followed her, and their partners were left alone at the table.

“Hikari?” Nagisa questioned when she noticed that her friend had followed her into the kitchen. “Do you need to talk about something?”

Hikari nodded. “You know me well.” She grinned, but then she blushed slightly and shifted uncomfortably. “I… need to ask a favour of you.”

“Oh?” Nagisa paused stirring and gave Hikari all of her attention.

XxX

“So, did you think about my proposition?” Shizuma asked her friend the moment their smaller lovers had left.

“Yes.” Amane placed her hands on the table and gave Shizuma her most business-like expression. “I accept your offer, Hanazono-san.”

Shizuma chuckled. “Let’s shake on it, Ohtori-san.” She winked and wrapped her hand around Amane’s slightly larger one. They shared conspirator grins as they shook hands, and then relaxed back into their seats.

XxX

“A favour?” Nagisa wiped her hands off on a dish towel and took a seat at the table. Hikari glanced over at their mates by the dining room table, spotting them shaking hands, and then took a seat beside her friend.

“Yes,” she began softly, not wanting Amane to hear her, “I need to get Shizuma to drop a giant hint to Amane about proposing to me.”

“Why don’t you just talk to her yourself, Hikari?”

“I would, but I don’t want it all planned out by me. I want her to go out and do it to surprise me.”

“I see.” Nagisa stroked her chin in thought. “I will drag Shizuma off before dinner and ask her, okay?”

Hikari leaped forward and gave Nagisa a bone crushing hug. “Oh, thank you Nagisa! You really are the best friend anyone could ask for.”

“Speaking of best friend, how is Yaya-chan doing?” Nagisa went back over to the pot and returned to stirring the curry gently bubbling inside.

“She’s good. She finally asked Tsubomi to move in with her. The last time we spoke she told me they were looking for a place. Do you know how Tamao-chan is?”

“I do.” Nagisa sighed. “She says America is wonderful. She is at the top of her class and the people there are really nice. But she doesn’t have any friends and sometimes I think she gets too lonely.”

“Will she come back to Japan once she’s done studying?” Hikari asked and stood. She went over and leaned against the counter beside Nagisa.

XxX

“So,” Shizuma traced a lazy circle on the surface of the table and directed an intense, green gaze at her blue haired friend. “Nagisa and I will soon tie the knot. When are you asking Hikari?”

“Asking Hikari?” Amane questioned and glanced over at her blonde lover. She was hugging Nagisa with a vibrant smile on her face. Amane’s heart warmed at the sight. “Ask her what?”

Shizuma threw an errant chopstick at Amane and rolled her eyes. “To marry you!” She exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

“Oh.” Amane rubbed at her forehead, where the stick had connected with her skull with surprising force. “I don’t know. We aren’t in a hurry. I haven’t really considered when or how I would ask her.”

“Baka.” Shizuma threw another stray chopstick but this time Amane dodged it.

“What?!”

“Don’t you think it’s time? Yes, you have all the time in the world, but people don’t live forever. You could literally die in ten minutes. And then what? You wouldn’t have died as Hikari’s wife.” Shizuma sat back and crossed her arms. “Besides, I overheard Nagisa on the phone with Hikari and I’m sure she mentioned something about her being sure you would propose soon. Hikari wants you to ask her, and she wants you to do it really soon.”

Amane blinked. Shizuma had a good point. “But don’t you think it’s too soon?”

Shizuma shook her head, making her long, silver main swish back and forth. “She probably won’t mind when, but the longer it takes the more she’ll long for it, me thinks.”

“Is… is it really a good idea?” Amane felt her stomach flutter with non-existent butterflies. The thought made her nervous, though excited, because she would be put under pressure.

“Yes!” Shizuma nodded vigorously. “Trust me, Amane. Nagisa is probably going to ask me to talk to you about it. Whenever those two are together they talk about our wedding plans. Take a bit of time to observe and I’m sure you’ll notice that she really wants to marry you.”

Amane glanced over at Hikari who was leaning against the counter talking to Nagisa. She looked happy, and then Nagisa said something and she looked down with exasperation. Did she look a tad bit sad, too?

“Alright.” Amane said in all seriousness. “I hear you.” When she looked to Shizuma she saw the proud smile on her face.

The moment was broken when Nagisa and Hikari returned with the food. After everything was properly set on the tables, Nagisa quickly excused herself and pulled Shizuma with her to their room.

“Feeling promiscuous, my little Nagisa?” Shizuma asked huskily after their bedroom door was shut. Nagisa blushed and shook her head.

“No. I actually need to talk to you.” The red head said, and tried her best to get her fiancé’s seductive voice out of her mind so that she could focus. “About Amane.”

“Oh?” Shizuma raised an eyebrow. “What about her?”

“I need you to talk to her about proposing to Hikari.” Nagisa answered.

Shizuma grinned to herself. She had been right all along. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, my sweet love. Amane needs to take her time. I’m sure she will come to a realization soon.”

“But Hikari…”

“But nothing. Don’t interfere, my love. Let things happen naturally.” Shizuma opened the door and took hold of Nagisa’s hand. She intertwined their fingers and gave a gentle squeeze. “Trust me, love, I know what I’m talking about.”

Nagisa pouted but didn’t protest. If Shizuma told her to trust her, then she would.

They returned to the table and everyone finally began eating. Casual, and not so casual, conversation passed as the food diminished. When everything had been eaten Shizuma and Amane cleared the table and helped clean the kitchen. Once that was done, the Hanazono couple walked their friends to the front door and bid them goodbye.

On their short walk home, Amane walked slowly, with a faraway look on her face. She had done as Shizuma suggested and observed her lover closely. Whenever Shizuma, almost too obvious, mentioned their wedding, Hikari would give a little sad smile and she would look at Amane with longing.

Shizuma was so right that it was scary. Hikari really wanted a ring on her finger, and she probably wanted it by yesterday.

Amane sighed. Why did she have to be so dense sometimes?

“Amane?” Hikari looked up at her lover.

“Mm?” Amane answered and looked down.

Hikari smiled and slipped her fingers in between Amane’s. “I love you.” She said with pure emotion and leaned into her love.

“I love you too, my angel. I’ve only ever loved you, and I will spend the rest of my life loving you.” Amane pulled her closer and protectively wrapped her arms around her. “Always.”

Hikari smiled blissfully to herself, and thought that it really didn’t matter when Amane asked her, because one day they would get married, but until then she would still have such an amazing person in her life. Married or not, Amane would always hold her heart, protecting and nurturing it, and she would always be thankful that Amane trusted her enough to let her hold the Prince’s heart, too.

Hikari leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on her love’s cheek. In response, Amane leaned down and tenderly kissed her forehead. When she straightened she flashed a charming smile, looking very much like the dashing Prince of Spica Hikari had fallen so helplessly in love with.

Chapter Text

Shizuma sighed softly as hot water ran down her tall, lithe form. Steam rose from her flushed skin, twirling up to the bathroom ceiling and coating the surface with a thin sheen of moisture. The once Etoile sighed again, softly, and smiled in contentment.

She thought back to a few hours ago when she had been sending Nagisa off with a kiss. Her red headed fiancé had given her multiple reassurances that she was sure her mother wouldn’t be that upset. Truth be told, Shizuma was quite scared, but Nagisa’s adorableness in trying to reassure her made Shizuma act as if she was absolutely terrified.

Shizuma’s smile widened.

Water continued to cascade over the tall beauty, drenching her never ending silver mane. Long fingers threaded through the silky hair and twirled a thick lock around her hand.

Shizuma let go of her hair and turned the shower off. She stepped out of the stall, wrapped a big, fluffy towel around her wet bodice, and softly padded out of the foggy bathroom and into the hallway. She passed the lounge on her way to her bedroom but paused by the couch and chuckled.

“How did you get in?”

Amane froze. “I, uh… I knocked but you never answered.” The bluenette replied and flashed a nervous smile. Shizuma looked around the room and noticed the big window beside the doors to the backdoor was open. She raised an eyebrow, Amane smiled sheepishly.

“How is Hikari doing?” Shizuma asked, letting the current issue of breaking and entering go, and returned to walking to her bedroom, with Amane trailing behind her.

“She’s good, thanks for asking. How is Nagisa?”

Shizuma went over to the cupboard and let her towel fall to the floor. Soft light shone in through the window and bathed her creamy white skin in a luminous orange glow. Amane leaned against the doorframe, crossed her arms and waited for a reply.

Shizuma smiled. “She’s really good. As soon as I’m decent then I’m going to her campus to fetch her. We’re leaving for her parents directly after.” The former Etoile pulled the outfit she had selected the night before out and set the items neatly across the bed.

“Ah, do you think her mother is still mad?”

“Probably.” Shizuma swiftly climbed into her underwear and then put the rest of her clothes on.

“Is Nagisa’s mother really that scary when she’s upset?”

“Amane,” Shizuma headed over to the dresser and retrieved her brush. She gave Amane an amused glance as she ran the brush through her now damp hair, sorting out the little knots that were there, “remember that time you accidentally punched me?”

Amane shifted from her spot by the door and went over to the bed. She grumbled softly as she plopped down and spread her arms down on the soft blanket. “Shizuma, it was a reflexive response. You came up behind me and groped my chest.”

Shizuma grinned. “I always wondered if you really did have boobs, so I decided to check myself. I honestly never expected you to turn on me like that.” She turned her head and stuck her tongue out.

Amane shook her head in exasperation. “I reacted out of instinct. At least now you know that my first response when sexually harassed is to swing my fist.”

“Yes, yes,” Shizuma chuckled and put her hair up in a ponytail, “but that wasn’t my point.”

“Then what is your point, Shizuma-sama?”

Shizuma sent a droll look to her blue haired friend over her shoulder. “My point is, remember how incredibly upset Nagisa was? The moment she saw blood gushing out of my nose she lost her mind.”

Amane rubbed at her jaw and flinched at the memory. “I never knew Nagisa could punch that hard, or scream that loud with such terrifying anger.” Amane paused. “Holy cow, I don’t even want to imagine what her mother is like.”

“Exactly.”

Shizuma stood from where she had been sitting by the mirror and went over to Amane. She kicked her friend’s booted foot and put her arms on her hips. “Why are you even here?”

“Boss is sick so we closed for the day. I decided I’d go with you to wait for our girls.” Amane answered and watched Shizuma turn and leave the room. She jumped up and followed her friend.

“Well, let’s go then.” Shizuma grabbed her car keys from a bowl on the kitchen table and headed out of the front door. After closing and locking it behind them, she went over to her car and climbed in by the driver’s side. Amane climbed in by the passenger side and both tall beauties strapped their seatbelts in.

“I miss Hikari so much.” Amane whined as the car started and they pulled out of the driveway. The once Prince of Spica rested her head against the window and whined again.

Shizuma spared a glance at her friend and returned her eyes to the road. “I know how that feels. I miss Nagisa too.”

Both cried dramatically with tears streaming down their faces.

When they stopped in front of the university Nagisa and Hikari attended, both women cheered up and climbed out of the car with anticipation.

“How much time is left?” Amane asked.

Shizuma swept her hair to the side and then looked down at her wrist where her small, silver watch sat strapped around her limb. “Ten minutes.” The silver haired beauty responded.

“Alright, this shouldn’t take too long.”

XxX

Hikari sighed softly to herself as she listened to the lecturer speaking languidly in front of the class. He moved his hands dramatically as he spoke and swept his eyes over the large number of students present. When his eyes made contact with one of the students, they would straighten and shake their heads to better concentrate. It had been a long day, and mostly everyone was tired and counting the minutes down.

Beside her, the blonde heard a familiar sigh. She looked at the red head sitting beside her and felt herself smile. She and Nagisa suffered together each day. They hated being separated from their partners, and each afternoon as the clock ticked closer to 3 P.M, their stomachs fluttered with excitement and their hearts felt heavy with longing. It was both painful and wonderful, knowing they were so close to being with their loves again but having to sit there and wait.

“Na-gi-sa.” Hikari gently nudged her friend.

“Hikari?” Nagisa whispered and looked at the blonde.

“Don’t look so sad, there’s 5 minutes left.”

Nagisa shifted her gaze to the clock on the wall and spotted the arm ticking away and another minute passed. She turned back to Hikari with a smile. “Don’t act like you aren’t as depressed as I am.”

Hikari giggled softly. “I know. I just felt like teasing you.”

Nagisa giggled too but then dissolved into a frown. “I’m also really nervous about visiting my parents. Mom is really mad…”

They both jumped when their lecturer shouted at one of the guys in their class that had fallen asleep on his desk. The boy startled awake and looked around in panic. Everyone else laughed at his reaction and the lecturer simply shook his head.

“Alright, class is over. I'm wasting my breath.” He went over to his desk and stuffed his laptop into its bag. “Class dismissed. You may leave.”

Excited and relieved chatter started as students packed their stuff away and calmly headed out of the door.

“Why is she mad, though?” Hikari asked, carrying their earlier conversation on.

“She hates hearing important things through other people. Shizuma, being Shizuma, announced to the world on Facebook that I accepted her ring. My mother saw it. She wants to find these things out directly from me, not from a computer.”

They slung their notebook full bags over their shoulders and trailed behind the last few students to the door.

“Hey, hey, Misaki, did you hear?” A girl said excitedly to one of the girls from their class the moment they had exited the room.

“No, what?” The friend replied.

Nagisa was about to block them out and continue talking when the girl spoke up and her words made Nagisa giggle.

“Maki saw these two hotties waiting outside by a car.”

“Oh?” The friend’s eyes widened and she leaned in closer.

“Well, one is this supermodel type with long silver hair, and she’s standing with this pretty boy.”

“Pretty boy, Yume?” Misaki questioned with an eye roll.

“Yes! He is taller than the girl and he has messy blue hair. Apparently he is super-hot.” Yume giggled into her hand and wrapped her arm around her friend’s.

“Oooh, let’s go and see! Do you think they’re together?”

“Well, I don’t know. Maki said she overheard them arguing.”

“About?”

“Something about the girl’s tendency to molest the pretty boy. That’s what Maki said, but you know how she can make things up.”

Misaki giggled. “Yeah, she really can.”

Hikari and Nagisa shared amused grins as they walked slightly behind the friends still chatting away.

“Do you think…?” Hikari asked.

Nagisa nodded. “Yeah, I think.”

Their suspicions were proven correct when they left the building and spotted their partners waiting at the parking lot.

Nagisa’s heart fluttered when Shizuma seemingly sensed her presence and looked up. Their gazes locked, scarlet with shining green, and a radiant smile spread out across Shizuma’s lips. Shizuma pushed away from the car she had been leaning on and slowly walked towards her fiancé.

Nagisa ran her eyes over her soon to be wife’s gorgeous figure. She wore sexy black high heels, together with light grey skinny jeans, blotted with dark grey splashes and a few stylish rips here and there. To complete the look, Shizuma wore a simple black tank top, showing her toned arms and shoulders, and had her hair tied up, giving a view of her sexy, long neck. Her eyes shone with passion and a smug grin replaced her earlier loving smile. Shizuma looked sexy, and she knew it.

Amane stepped up beside her after noticing them, and Hikari sucked in a deep breath. It was as if she was seeing her prince for the first time, and falling in love all over again.

As her friend had, Hikari took the time to appreciate her gorgeous partner. Amane wore black boots, sleek, black skinny jeans and a long sleeved button-up black shirt, with the sleeves neatly folded up to her elbows and her top button undone. A smooth expanse of skin was exposed of her chest. She really did look like a guy, since the black hid the slope of her full breasts. Amane was by no means lacking in the chest department, but her boyish looks and cross-dressing often mislead most to think she was of the opposite gender. Amane knew this, but she didn’t care.

“Well, at least they think I'm a sexy guy, opposed to just a guy.” Amane had said many times before with a cocky grin.

“Hikari!” Amane waved and hurried forward. Hikari giggled and ran into her arms, and let Amane embrace her tightly. “Hikari,” Amane sighed and buried her nose into her lover’s beautiful blonde hair, “I missed you so much.”

Hikari sighed in blissful contentment and snuggled deeper into her love’s arms.

Amane looked over Hikari’s head and locked eyes with Shizuma. The gorgeous silver-head’s eyes narrowed in challenge, and Amane chuckled.

Feeling like it was her duty to be better than Amane, Shizuma pulled Nagisa into her arms, leaned her over and kissed the life out of her right there and then. When she pulled back, Nagisa could only blink in surprise and focus on calming her breathing and heart.

Hikari and Amane laughed together after watching their friend’s outlandish display.

“Hey there, my little Nagisa. I missed you.” Shizuma purred softly into the red head’s ear.

Nagisa shivered pleasantly and let Shizuma straighten up and pull her into a soft, loving hug.

“I missed you too, Shizuma.” Nagisa whispered and placed a soft kiss against Shizuma’s warm, smooth neck. The taller girl shivered. Shizuma let her fiancé go but slipped her hand into Nagisa’s and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Nagisa,” Amane bowed her head in greeting and took hold of her own lover’s hand, as well.

“Hey Amane!” Nagisa greeted her enthusiastically and flashed a bright smile. Shizuma simply watched her fiancés adorable face, and smiled so brightly that she felt like she was about to melt.

“Shizuma!” Hikari leaned over and gently gripped Shizuma’s wrist. “How are you?” She asked cheerfully and gave the wrist in her hand a gentle squeeze.

Shizuma turned from Nagisa and gave Hikari a charming smile.

“I am great thanks, Hikari, as you can see.” Shizuma gestured to Nagisa with her eyes. “I'm sure you’re much better now that you’re back with your boyfriend.” The gleam in Shizuma’s eyes made Amane sigh.

“Boyfriend?” Hikari asked and turned confused eyes to Amane after releasing Shizuma’s wrist.

“Some girls around here think I'm a guy.” Amane said with a grin and simply rolled her eyes. “A ‘hottie’, apparently.”

Understanding dawned on Hikari, remembering the conversation from Misaki and Yume, both gushing over their partners. Hikari covered her mouth and giggled.

“Oh yes,” She placed her hands against Amane’s chest and stood up on the tips of her toes. As their faces came closer, Hikari spared a glance around them and noticed the two friends from earlier, among a few other students, milling about and watching them. She smiled proudly and then turned back to a very surprised Amane. “My prince.” Hikari whispered and then closed the distance and captured Amane’s lips with her own.

Amane’s eyes widened and then shut tight as she was lost in the taste and warmth of Hikari’s kiss. She wrapped her arms around her small lover’s tiny waist and pulled her up into her arms, lifting her from the ground. They did a small twirl as their lips moved together in a familiar dance of love, and then they parted with flushed cheeks and rapid breathing.

Shizuma looked down at Nagisa.

“Don’t you dare.” Nagisa warned, seeing the competitive look in her lover’s eyes.

“But… but…” Shizuma pouted. Nagisa sighed and leaned up to place a gentle peck against those tempting pouting lips.

“We need to go now, love, not make out in front of the entire student body.” Nagisa ran a finger across Shizuma’s cheek and along her jaw.

“O-okay.” Shizuma stuttered breathlessly. Nagisa was the only one who could ever make Shizuma stutter, ever, and she knew it.

“Good girl.” Nagisa smiled gently with a hint of satisfaction and pulled Shizuma towards the car by the hand. Shizuma simply followed in a daze. How did Nagisa manage to put her in a trance like that?”

“Oh wait,” Nagisa paused, pulling Shizuma to a stop, and looked back towards the university building. “I forgot to hand my project in. I finished it early since I will miss school on Monday.” Nagisa dropped Shizuma’s hand and gave her an apologetic smile. “I’ll be right back!” She turned and started off back to class. “See you around Hikari, Amane!” Nagisa called over her shoulder before she disappeared into the building.

Amane turned to her tall friend and gave her a pat on the shoulder. “We’ll be off then, good luck with the in-laws.” The bluenette chuckled at the glare she received.

“Yeah, and,” Shizuma leaned in close to Amane and made sure that what she whispered into her ear wasn’t heard by the little blonde by her side. When she was done whispering like a ninja, Shizuma straightened.

They all said proper goodbyes, and then Amane and Hikari started their walk back to their house. They still didn’t own a car, and Shizuma decided then that she would definitely talk Amane into getting one. Walking everywhere wasn’t the safest thing in the world, especially not in this day and age.

Now Shizuma was left alone, waiting by the car. She sighed softly and crossed her arms over her chest as she resumed her much earlier position and leaned against the car.

About 20 minutes had passed and Nagisa still hadn’t returned, making Shizuma seriously worry. She pushed away from the car and was about to hurry off to find her love when she spotted her walking out of the building. Shizuma sucked in a deep breath. Walking beside Nagisa was a guy, and he had his hand wrapped firmly around her upper arm.

Nagisa stopped walking and turned to the guy, said a few words to him with a polite smile, and continued walking back to the car after the boy had nodded and let her go.

“Who was that?” Shizuma asked sternly the moment Nagisa came into earshot.

“Him?” Nagisa shot a glance behind her shoulder. “Oh, he just wanted to know if he could borrow some of my notes.” The red head responded and gave Shizuma a quick kiss. “We should go right now or we’ll be late and my mother will end up beheading you.”

Shizuma shook her head and smiled. “Sure thing love, let’s leave.”

They both climbed into the car and began the few hour journey to Nagisa’s hometown. Through most of the ride they held hands and shared idle conversation. Shizuma asked about school and Nagisa told her about all of the recent news and gossip. Before they knew it they had arrived at Nagisa’s hometown and stopped at a mall.

“Why are we here again, my love?” Shizuma asked after they had left the car and joined hands as they entered the mall.

“To buy something for my mom.”

“Why?”

Nagisa stopped walking and gave Shizuma a hard stare. “Sweetheart, stop being dense.” Shizuma puffed up and was about to argue but Nagisa held her hand up to stop her. “My mother loves chocolates. If we get her flowers and chocolates then she will probably cool down.”

“Ah,” Shizuma rubbed her chin thoughtfully and then grinned. “Alright! Let’s do this thing.” She walked forward and tugged Nagisa with her. They passed by a few shops and then stepped outside and into the centre of the mall that happened to be a flea market.

“Oh, Shizuma wait here, I’ll be right back.” Nagisa dropped Shizuma’s hand and disappeared into the crowd. Shizuma watched her go and sighed.

“Great, now she’s probably going to get lost.” Shizuma scratched the back of her neck and looked around. There were a lot of people walking around looking at all of the different stands and what goods they had to offer. Nothing really interested her, so Shizuma simply remained standing where Nagisa had left her.

5 minutes passed and Shizuma was about to look for her lover when out of nowhere someone shot out of the crowd and smacked right into her. Bright, red hair flashed before her eyes, and then she was falling backwards. Whoever it was fell right on top of her, and somehow fell in such a way that their lips pressed together in the second of surprise.

The stranger pulled back and sputtered in horror, and then paused and looked down at Shizuma who was sprawled out under her.

“Well hello there.” The strange red head grinned sexily and leaned down on her elbow while giving Shizuma a very appreciative glance. “Is there any chance you aren’t taken?”

Shizuma raised an eyebrow and took a moment to look at this person. Her hair was very red, reminding Shizuma of her certain red head, and long. The scarlet locks were stylishly messy and easily fell down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were just as red as her hair, again, reminding Shizuma of Nagisa.

Remembering that this person had just asked her a question, Shizuma raised her hand and showed the ring sitting proudly on her ring finger. “Sorry hon’, but I’m taken.”

The red head sighed and stood, helping Shizuma to her feet. “Oh well, I had to try. It’s not every day that I accidentally lip lock with a sexy babe.” Shizuma raised her eyebrow again and had to suppress a shiver. “Anyway, I have someplace to be. Ever find yourself lonely, then come find me.” She winked, and then she ran past Shizuma and disappeared. 

The silver haired beauty simply stood there with her mouth agape, still unable to fully understand how that stranger could have flirted with her directly after knocking her onto her ass. She hadn’t even apologised.

“Weird.” Shizuma rubbed at her neck.

“What’s weird?” Nagisa asked, having reappeared at Shizuma’s side, and wrapped her hand around Shizuma’s own.

“This… she…” Shizuma struggled for the words, and then decided to just let it go. “Nothing. So did you get that stuff for your mom?”

“I did.” Nagisa lifted her free hand and showed a bag with a box of chocolates inside and a bouquet of flowers sticking out from the top.

“Great.” Shizuma gave Nagisa’s hand a squeeze and then pulled her away from the market. They re-entered the mall and headed to the entrance. Once out, they returned to the car and rode off towards the red head’s parents’ house.

“Shizuma?” Nagisa asked, and glanced from their joined hands to her lover’s seemingly calm face.

“Yes, my little Nagisa?”

“Uh,” Nagisa glanced at their hands again. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?” Shizuma glanced at her quickly and then looked back to the road.

“You are shaking.” Nagisa said simply and watched her beautiful future wife’s calm expression crack. The silver haired beauty smiled nervously.

“Okay, maybe I'm a bit terrified.”

They turned onto a street and remained silent until they stopped in front of a house.

Shizuma took a deep breath. “Maybe I’m a bit more than terrified…” Shizuma let go of Nagisa’s hand and leaned forward to rest her forehead against the steering wheel.

“Shizuma…”

“Nagisa, your mother is mortifying when she is upset.” Shizuma stated, knowing that her love was about to tell her that she was over exaggerating.

“I’ll be with you Shizuma, don’t worry.” The younger girl said with determination and hopped out of the car. Shizuma sighed with dread and followed her lover. Together they walked to the front door and the taller of the two watched as her companion gave her a reassuring smile and then rang the doorbell.

“Oh crap, I forgot the chocolates!” Nagisa exclaimed in panic and ran back to the car before Shizuma could stop her. The green eyed woman was left standing nervously by the door that was now open, with a much older version of Nagisa standing in the doorway giving her a very cold stare.

“O-oh… Mrs Aoi…” Shizuma swallowed and took a step back. Mrs Aoi’s cold glare melted into warmth and she engulfed Shizuma into a hug.

“Welcome, Shizuma dear!” She said with a big smile and held Shizuma at arm’s length to get a good look at her. “Hmm, you haven’t changed much in the way of looks, but I can see in your eyes that you are happier.” Shizuma stared at Mrs Aoi with confusion. “Where is that daughter of mine?” Mrs Aoi asked.

Shizuma was about to answer but stopped, and gasped, and then raised her arm and pointed. “You.” She said with horror.

“Ooooh, did you get lonely already?” The red head from earlier, the one that had knocked into Shizuma and had accidentally kissed her, stood just behind Mrs Aoi. “How the hell did you find out where I live, by the way?” She asked as she walked around Mrs Aoi and leaned against the doorframe.

Shizuma took a few hurried steps backwards until she bumped into Nagisa.

“Shizuma!” Nagisa exclaimed as she tipped backwards and started to fall. Shizuma spun around and caught her just in time, and pulled her gently against her chest. “Oh, Nikki.” Nagisa pulled away from Shizuma and ran over to the other red head, engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug.

“Oh my God.” Nikki exclaimed over Nagisa’s head. “You are her fiancé?” She asked in horror, and groaned when Shizuma nodded. “I kissed Nagisa’s fiancé?!” Nikki had the urge to flip a desk, but Nagisa being wrapped around her kept her from running into the house and finding the nearest table.

“Wait,” Nagisa pulled back and went over to Shizuma. “You… and Nikki… kissed?” She glanced up at Shizuma with shimmering eyes.

“Nagisa… I…” Shizuma looked from the red head to the older red head, to the even older red head. “Yes, I… I guess we did…”

Chapter Text

Mrs Aoi pursed her lips as the three young girls stared off. She looked from each confused face and narrowed her eyes. “Nikki,” Mrs Aoi grabbed Nikki by the ear and gave her a stern look, “what have you done now?”

Shizuma’s eyebrows shot up at the site of Mrs Aoi holding onto Nikki by the ear, forcing the red head to stumble and yell in pain.

“Mom, ouch! That hurts!” Nikki flailed around with tears running down her face.

Mrs Aoi grumbled and pulled even harder. “What is this about you and Shizuma kissing?” The older woman’s voice sent shivers down each of the girl’s spines, all having experience with the wrath of Mrs Aoi.

“Is this… your sister?” Shizuma asked softly and looked down at Nagisa who was still in her arms. The smaller of the two simply nodded and did her best to keep her laughter at bay.

Nagisa was as confused about this as all of them, and slightly worried, but more than that she was completely amused by her older sister being manhandled by their mother like that. It was a sight she hadn’t seen in years and she had forgotten how much she enjoyed it.

“Yes,” Nagisa pulled her eyes away from her bickering family and gave Shizuma her full attention, “this is my older sister, Aoi Nikki. I told you she came home a few weeks ago, remember?”

Shizuma nodded. “Yeah, I remember. But-”

“But seriously, what is this about you and my sister making out?”

Shizuma sighed. “We didn’t make out. I was waiting for you in that mall when someone bumped into me and we fell, somehow accidentally kissing in the process.”

“And this person was Nikki?”

“Yup.” Nikki piped up from beside their mother, rubbing her ear that was still slightly throbbing.

Shizuma looked to her and glared. “You didn’t even apologise.” She said.

“Apologise?” Nikki asked. “For what?” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorframe.

“You knock me onto my ass and the first thing you do is flirt with me.” Nagisa raised an eyebrow at her sibling and Nikki swallowed nervously. “You could at least have the decency to apologise before asking me out.”

“You asked her out?” Nagisa stepped out of Shizuma’s arms and stepped towards Nikki with a raised fist.

“Now Nagisa, I didn’t know this gorgeous babe is your wife-to-be, I swear.” Nikki raised her hands and slowly backed into the house.

“Don’t speak of Shizuma like she’s one of your conquests!” Nagisa yelled and shot forward. That was Nikki’s queue to run, and she did, heading towards the lounge and all but flying into the room with Nagisa hot on her heels. The younger red head jumped forward and grabbed Nikki by the waist, successfully tackling her older sister to the floor.

The two of them rolled around on the floor trying to overpower the other.

“Nikki!” Nagisa yelled and grabbed Nikki by the shoulders and pinned her down on the floor.

“Oh my soul, chill out Nagisa! I didn’t mean to kiss your woman!” Nikki yelled back and switched their positions. Nagisa growled and bit Nikki’s arm, causing her sister to yelp and stumble back. “No!” Nikki scooted backwards until her back touched the front of the couch. “Stay back, demon!” Nikki hissed and used her fingers to form an “X” towards Nagisa as the red head crawled on all fours towards her.

“All right, that’s enough girls.” A deep, manly voice spoke up, soon followed by the crinkle of newspaper.

Nikki and Nagisa both paused and realized that there was another person in the lounge other than them, Shizuma and their mother.

“Dad?!”

“Old man?!”

“Nikki, I’m not that old.” Mr Aoi said as he shook his head and stood.

“Well, you’re older than me and you’re a man, so as far as I’m concerned you are my old man.”

Nagisa crawled the last bit of distance to Nikki and lightly thumped her on the head. “Don’t call dad an old man, you’ll hurt his feelings.” She chastised sternly.

In response Nikki pulled Nagisa onto her lap and wrapper her arms around her. “My sibling!” Nikki cried out, “I have missed you so much!” She rubbed her cheek against Nagisa’s and gave her a long hug.

“I missed you too Nikki.” Nagisa gave her a few comforting pats on the head until she calmed down and stopped attacking her face.

“’Nikki’?!” Nikki pulled back and gave Nagisa a shocked look, “call me onee-sama!”

“No.”

“Onee-chan?”

“No.”

“Nikki-onee?”

Nagisa didn’t even respond, she simply crossed her arms and sighed. Nikki bowed her head in defeat. “Why won’t you ever call me onee-chan or something?”

“Because you never act like an onee-chan.” Nagisa answered. “You act like a five year old most of the time.”

Nikki’s bottom lip stuck out and she gave Nagisa an adorable pout. “I do not.”

“You do.”

“Don’t.”

“Do!”

“Oh for the love of trees, stop it already!” Mrs Aoi interrupted.

Mr Aoi sighed and shook his head at his wife. “Again with the trees, dear?” He asked. Mrs Aoi simply waved the question off.

“Nikki, stop acting so immature. Your sister is visiting here with her fiancé,” Mrs put a lot of emphasis on ‘fiancé’, “and you are both being rude to Shizuma!”

The siblings stood up from the floor and bowed their heads in shame. “Sumimasen, mother.” They said in union. Nikki recovered from her moment of shame and snuck a glance at her sister. She slid up behind her, wrapped her arms around her chest and rested her chin on Nagisa’s shoulder.

“Nagisaaaa~” She whispered in her ear. “Y U no love me?” She whined dramatically.

Nagisa sighed for the hundredth time that day and shrugged out of Nikki’s arms. “Nikki, you were in America for too long.”

 Shizuma turned to Mrs Aoi, “here, we got this for you.” She handed the chocolates and flowers to her lover’s mother and offered a weary smile.

“Oh! What did I do to deserve this?” Mrs Aoi had a hand to her chest as she took in the scent of the flowers.

“Well, we thought you would still be pretty mad so this is to say sorry.” Shizuma answered and looked to Nagisa who was trying to get Nikki away from her since her older sister wouldn’t stop hugging her.

“Mad? At what?” Mrs Aoi asked cheerfully.

“At… uh… you’re not mad anymore?” Nagisa finally managed to get out of Nikki’s hold and hurried over to her fiancé’s side.

“Sorry about that Shizuma, Nikki tends to get clingy.” Nagisa took hold of her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Mrs Aoi watched them with a gentle smile, Shizuma raised an eyebrow at her and the oldest red head remembered she hadn’t answered her future daughter-in-law.

“Well I don’t think I’m mad anymore,” Mrs Aoi placed a finger to her chin and thought for a moment, “but I don’t know what I should be mad at.”

Nagisa giggled. “Mom, you already forgave us, haven’t you?” Mrs Aoi nodded.

“You knew?” Shizuma asked and looked down at Nagisa.

“Yeah. She’s my mom, I know her better than anyone. She wouldn’t stay mad longer than an hour or two.”

“But… you said… you…”

“I know,” Nagisa looked up guiltily and smiled a bit sheepishly, “seeing you terrified was kind of cute, though.” She said softly and hoped Shizuma wouldn’t be too mad at her. She was surprised when she heard a fond chuckle rumble inside of her lover’s chest, and when she looked up she was greeted with a proud and loving smile, and equally affectionate eyes staring fondly at her.

“It’s alright, my little Nagisa. But don’t think you won’t go without being punished.” Shizuma winked, making Nagisa gulp and shiver, and went over to Nagisa’s father.

He stood in the lounge scolding Nikki for her behaviour and looked up with a smile when he noticed Shizuma approaching.  “Ah, the woman who has stolen my little girl’s heart.” He said and reached out to shake Shizuma’s already outstretched hand.

“Sir.” Shizuma bowed her head respectfully and returned the smile. She quite liked Mr Aoi, even though he was so different to the other women of his family. Unlike his wife and daughters he had black hair, now neatly combed back, and vibrant blue eyes. In those eyes anyone would see his intelligence and ability to understand almost everything. He wore a dark blue pullover over a white shirt with knee length white shorts and smart looking sneakers. Logical, smart and compassionate. He was very much the odd one out when it came to his family, not to say that they weren’t intelligent, but like Mrs Aoi, Nikki and Nagisa tended to be slightly airheaded and clumsy.

“Please, from now on just call me Dad.” He released her hand and smiled again.

“Alright then, Dad.” Shizuma grinned. She liked Mr Aoi even more now.

“Or you could call him old man like I do.” Nikki piped up and draped herself over her father’s shoulders. He sighed and gave her wrist a pat.

“Don’t you have stuff to do?” Mr Aoi asked his eldest daughter.

“Hai, hai.” Nikki slid off of him and waved over her shoulder as she disappeared up the stairs.

“So that’s Nagisa’s older sister?” Shizuma asked, still staring at where Nikki had disappeared.

“Indeed it is. She can be a handful at times, and lazy, and troublesome, and sarcastic, but somewhere in there is a good kid.” Shizuma couldn’t help but laugh. “If you look hard enough, and maybe even squint a bit.” Mr Aoi added with a sigh.

Mrs Aoi smiled at her husband and her still laughing daughter-in-law and approached the two with Nagisa at her side. “Shizuma, why don’t you and Nagisa take your bags up to your room? I’ll call you both down when dinner is ready.”

“That sounds great, Mrs-” Mrs Aoi raised her hand, stopping Shizuma mid-sentence and shook her head. “Mom?”

“There we go.”

Shizuma grinned. It was refreshing to be so accepted, and, well, amused. Nagisa’s parents sure were something. 

The couple left Mr and Mrs Aoi and took their suitcases up to the guest room that had once been Nagisa’s bedroom while growing up. Since Nikki’s return was inevitable, the Aois had kept her room the same and opted for using Nagisa’s as the guest room. They weren’t sure if they should be pleased about being right or not.

After placing the bags by the foot of the bed Nagisa shut the door and leaned against it. “This has been a weird day.” Nagisa said a bit too seriously than she had intended.

“Your family is weird.” Shizuma stated with a grin and pulled Nagisa from the door to the bed. “But I love them anyway because they had you.” She sat down with her love seated beside her. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes!” Nagisa responded quickly, “why do you ask?”

Shizuma studied her for a moment and then shook her head. “No reason.” She wrapped her arms around Nagisa and fell backwards onto the bed, Nagisa resting on her chest.

“Shizuma?” Nagisa spoke up after a moment of sweet silence.

“Mm?”

“I love you.”

Shizuma shifted slightly to look Nagisa in the eyes. “As I love you, my dear Nagisa.” They both smiled and then shared a languid, deep kiss. Shizuma smiled into the kiss and moved until she was hovering above her fiancé. The silver-head moved her lips to Nagisa’s throat and trailed soft, feathery kisses along her neck to her shoulders. Nagisa trembled and bit down on her lip. She lost her hands in never-ending silver hair and pulled Shizuma tighter against her.

Shizuma lightly bit down on the soft, sensitive spot between Nagisa’s shoulder and neck, earning a soft moan from her lover. She continued with her soft bites as she slipped a hand underneath Nagisa’s shirt and traced hearts over her warm skin.

“Nagisa?” Mrs Aoi called from the other side of the door and knocked twice, successfully bringing the lovers back to earth and breaking the steamy mood. “The food is ready! You both can come down and join us. If Nikki doesn’t join you then could you please just get her for me? Thanks!” Mrs Aoi turned and headed back down the stairs. She was smart enough not to open the door, under any circumstance, since she had walked in on the couple once and had the fright of her life.

Shizuma chuckled lightly and helped Nagisa onto her feet. “Might as well go.” She straightened both of their clothes and slipped her fingers in between Nagisa’s.

“Yeah.” Nagisa nibbled on her lower lip in frustration and hoped her flushed face would calm down before they got to the dining room.

“We can always continue later.” Shizuma added hotly right beside her ear, making Nagisa squeak in surprise and swallow.

“H-hai, Shizuma.” Nagisa agreed breathlessly and followed her out of the room. As they passed by Nikki’s bedroom door and approached the stairs, they paused at hearing a shout from behind Nikki’s door.

“Damn you Sangheili scum! Where is my damn Plasma Pistol?!”

Shizuma turned to Nagisa with a raised brow. “We should probably drag her out of her room.” Nagisa said and started for the door.

“No, I’ll get her. Save a spot for me at the table.” Shizuma placed a gentle kiss against her forehead and waved her off. Nagisa smiled in appreciation and headed down the stairs.

Shizuma walked up to the door and reached for the handle. “GAH! WHY? KILLED BY A FREAKIN’ GRUNT? COME ON MASTER CHIEF, DAMNIT!” Shizuma stood frozen in place. What the hell was Nikki yelling about? She sounded incredibly angry and it seemed like she had possibly lost her mind. There was another angered yell and then a loud crash. With a deep breath Shizuma opened the door and stepped into the room.

It was dark, and smelt of dirty socks. The only illumination came from the big plasma TV in the corner of the room, where Nikki sat with her back hunched and her head between her knees. It was such a sad pose of defeat.

“Nikki? Are you alright? I heard a crash.” Nikki jumped in complete surprise and whirled around.

“Are you from the Covenant?!” She yelled and aimed what seemed to be a game controller at her.

Shizuma’s eyes widened and she raised her hands. “The Covenant? What is that? Nikki, are you on drugs?”

“Oh,” Nikki lowered her hand and dropped back down onto her beanbag, “it’s just you.” She sighed deeply and ran a hand over her face.

“What was that all about?” Shizuma cautiously approached Nikki.

“Sorry about that. I’m busy playing Halo 4 and I tend to get a bit too into it.” Nikki rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly and gave Shizuma a bright smile.

“Halo 4?”

“Yeah, on X-box.”

“X-box?”

Nikki stared at Shizuma for a long moment, not saying anything or moving. She possibly didn’t even blink. Suddenly her eyes widened and a devious smile broke out on her face “Take a seat, gorgeous.” Nikki used her foot to pull another beanbag out from the shadows and pointed at Shizuma and then the beanbag with a toe.

“Alright…” Shizuma’s eyebrows came together in confusion but she took a seat anyway. 

“Here,” Nikki dumped a controller onto Shizuma’s lap and buried herself comfortably into her beanbag. “Press that button there,” she pointed at the required button and nodded encouragingly, “it will un-pause the game. I keep dying here for some reason, so be on high alert.”

“Uh… What is this?” Shizuma looked from the controller to Nikki. “What am I supposed to do?”

“This, my sister-to-be, is the wonderful world of gaming. Welcome to the Halo Nation. Now, do as I say and I will teach you how to kick serious alien butt.”

Shizuma didn’t know how to respond, so she simply followed the command and pressed the button. The menu screen dissolved and the game broke out into action.

“Now, you are playing in first person, so you can’t see further of your character’s arms and gun. Hold the controller firmly, put your thumbs on the analogue sticks, yes, like that.”

There was a sudden ball of blue, and then the screen exploded in light and Shizuma guessed she had just been killed.

“Shouldn’t you have shown me the controls before telling me to start playing?”

Nikki paused. “Oh, yeah. You’re right.” She grinned and shook her head. “While it loads and you re-spawn I’ll show you the rest.” Nikki scooted closer to Shizuma and took a hold of her hands. “Hold it like this, let your hands mould around the curves of the controller, keep your thumbs on the analogue sticks. Put your index fingers here,” she helped Shizuma place her fingers in the right position, “those two buttons are LB and RB. Now, use your middle fingers for the buttons below those two, LT and BT. Yes, like that. Tap RT to shook, and use the left analogue stick to move your aim around.”

As Shizuma got a hang of the controls and managed to make Master Chief walk through some rough terrain, a thought struck her. “Nikki, what was that word you said earlier, Sanghai or something.”

“Sangheili? Oh that’s just the name of one of the alien races, they’re also known as the Elites.” Shizuma nodded, absorbing this new and interesting information. “The Grunts are generally easiest to kill since they are basically kind of like retards. They do have a sad background though, since they were actually taken into the Covenant as slaves. It still fun to kill them though. Oh, great job! See? Grunts have blue blood. It’s so pretty.”

“Interesting.” Shizuma leaned forward and continued to play, or at least she hoped she was playing properly. She hadn’t done something like this before.

“Alright, now see that Elite over there? Use one of your Plasma Grenades to take him out, and then use your plasma rifle to break through those two Jackals shields, and then throw another grenade to destroy them!”

Shizuma nodded and tried her best to complete the mission, but forgot which button to use to switch her weapons and ended up dying. Those damn Jackals.

“Wow, that was awesome-sauce for your first time! Well done.” Nikki gave Shizuma a congratulatory pat on the back. Before either could say anything there was a knock on the door.

“Shizuma? Nikki? Has my fiancé been kidnapped?” Nagisa called out from the other side of the door. The two women chuckled and headed to the door.

“No my love, I'm safe and alive.” Shizuma said when they opened the door and stepped out of Nikki’s stuffy room.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Nagisa exclaimed and jumped into Shizuma’s arms.

“Relax, sister, I simply brought your better half to the wonderful world of the Halo Nation.” Nikki waved her hand dismissively and turned towards the stairs. “Shizuma, next time I should introduce you to Kratos.”

“Kratos?” Shizuma questioned, but Nikki had already descended the stairs and taken a seat at the table.

The couple joined everyone at the table and soon everyone delved into conversation as they ate. The topics ranged from the wedding to Nikki’s plans for the future to Nikki’s one-sided conversation on gaming. Before long all of the food had been consumed, the kitchen had been cleaned and Mr and Mrs Aoi retired to bed.

Nagisa and Shizuma were prepared to do the same, but Nikki managed to convince them to sit with her and watch a movie. After Nikki had the movie playing, she took a seat beside Nagisa and wrapped her arms around her.

“Nagisaaa~” Nikki whined. “It’s been so long since I’ve been able to cuddle with you while watching a movie.”

“Nikki!” Nagisa pushed her sister away and grumbled in annoyance. Nikki let her go and stood up with a huff.

“You!” she pointed at Shizuma, “have stolen the love of Nagisa! How could you?”

“Uh…” Shizuma inclined her head to the side in confusion.

“Don’t underestimate the pure, sisterly love Nagisa and I have!” Nikki made a dive for Nagisa and caught her in a surprise embrace. “Nagisa doesn’t love me anymore!” Nikki started comically crying while holding on to her younger sister.

“Nikki, I do still love you.” Nagisa rolled her eyes and looked to Shizuma for help. Her older companion simply sat there staring at them with a raised eyebrow. Why did Shizuma look slightly disturbed?

Eventually Nagisa managed to get Nikki to stop fooling around and they settled down to watch the movie.

“Nagisa.” Shizuma whispered softly and nudged her fiancé on the side. “Has Nikki always been that… obsessive of you?”

Nagisa blushed. “Yeah, it’s weird, I know, but that’s just how she is.” Nagisa shrugged.

Nikki started giggling at something that happened in the movie, but Nagisa and Shizuma didn’t pay much attention.

Shizuma simply nodded at her love’s answer and turned her attention back to the TV. After some time both Shizuma and Nagisa heard slight snoring, and turned to see Nikki fast asleep at the very edge of the couch. A bit too close to the edge. Nikki made a loud sound in her sleep, startling herself awake, and fell over the side.

“Nikki!”

“Are you okay?”

Shizuma and Nagisa hurried over to Nikki’s side and watched her look up at them with glistening, slightly glazed over eyes. She had what they would best describe as a ‘duh’ face, and simply ignored their questions if she was okay.

Nikki stood up, started laughing, and giggled all the way up the stairs and into her room.

Chapter Text

Saturday morning arrived with Shizuma and Nagisa resting quietly on the bed. Nagisa was still asleep but Shizuma was wide awake. She had her small lover nestled against her chest and ran a hand down the length of Nagisa’s bare shoulders, back and to her hip. They were both still very much nude after the love making of the previous night.

“Mm, Shizuma.” Nagisa mumbled in her sleep, making the silver haired goddess smile and place a gentle kiss against her forehead.

“I love you, Nagisa.” she said softly to her sleeping beauty and tightened her hold on her. Shizuma’s heart was beating unevenly and her chest felt warm, so warm and full of the love and adoration she felt for the redhead. She loved her so much that her chest was ready burst with the very emotion.

“I love you too Shizuma.”

“Are you awake?”

Nagisa shifted and pulled her body up, making Shizuma suck in a deep breath because of the deliciously naked friction, until her face was inches from Shizuma’s and she could look into her eyes. “Barely,” the red head answered and gave Shizuma an eskimo kiss by gently brushing their noses together. “You are so warm.”

Shizuma chuckled and pulled Nagisa’s head down to rest in the crook of her neck. She could tell that her love was still very tired and she also didn’t want them to get up just yet.

“How did you sleep?” Shizuma asked tenderly and continued her earlier caresses of Nagisa’s smooth back, causing the redhead to shiver and sigh in content.

“Wonderfully. Who wouldn’t sleep that good after last night?”

Shizuma grinned. “I’m surprised you can still talk.”

“Mm, why?” Nagisa sounded half asleep, dreamy even, and snuggled deeper into her lover’s curvy body.

“Well, with all that screaming of my name you did…” Shizuma chuckled when Nagisa growled playfully and bit her on the neck.

“I tried my best to be quiet but you made it so hard, Shizuma. My parents are in this house and Nikki is right next door.”

“DAMN YOU HADES!” The shout was loud enough that the couple heard it loud and clear through the wall.

“Is Nikki at it so early in the morning?” Shizuma asked in amusement.

Nagisa giggled. “She probably never even went to sleep.” She lifted her head and placed a tender kiss against Shizuma’s lips. “We hardly even slept.” she added.

Shizuma raised an eyebrow but grinned. “We can always take a nap.”

“Your definition of a nap is completely different to mine.”

“How, little Nagisa?”

“Well, for one, when I say nap I actually mean sleep.” When only silence responded Nagisa smiled triumphantly and lifted a hand to caress Shizuma’s cheek. “Exactly.”

“Alright, you win.” Shizuma moved and wrapped her arms around Nagisa’s waist and then sat up, surprising the redhead. “So why don’t we shower and then head downstairs for breakfast?”

“Sounds good to me.” Nagisa nodded and locked her arms around Shizuma’s neck as the older girl lifted them out of the bed and padded them over to their bags to get robes; since they couldn’t walk around naked like they did at their home. This was Nagisa’s parent’s house, after all.

Shizuma placed Nagisa on her feet, put a robe on as her lover did, and then picked her back up and headed for the door. They left the room and started down the hallway to the bathroom, but found the door closed.

“It seems someone beat us to it.” Shizuma stated.

Nagisa growled unhappily and leaned forward to knock on the door. There was no response at all, and then the door swung open and Nikki blinked over at them. Steam bellowed out from behind her and she had a towel around her shoulders to protect them from her still wet hair.

“Awww, that’s so cute~” Nikki wiggled her eyebrows and grinned suggestively and then glided around the two and escaped back to her room.

“When did she have the time to shower?” Shizuma asked. Nagisa simply shrugged. They both sighed in exasperation and then Shizuma stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind them.

XxX

“You can’t be serious.” an angry voice spoke up.

“Unfortunately I am,” a second voice responded lightly.

“But you promised!”

“I know.” Amane sighed and turned to Hikari who was standing by the kitchen door. “I’m sorry my love, I really am. But they need me at work right now and I can’t say no.” The tall woman finished with her breakfast, placed the dishes by the sink and walked over to her upset lover. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“But Amane, it’s our anniversary, I'm sure your boss will understand.” Hikari argued while following her girlfriend to their front door.

Amane didn’t respond until she had put her shoes on and stood. “Hikari, love, this is something that I must do, but please,” she took Hikari’s hands in her own and gave each knuckle a tender kiss, “don’t be too upset with me, alright?”

Hikari pouted and willed her tears to wait. She was very angry, angrier than she ever had been, but Amane was being so sweet and she couldn’t bring herself to be angry at her or show her exactly how deeply she was hurting. “Okay,” Hikari said with a quivering lip.

Unbeknownst to her lover, Amane noticed the shivering lip and leaned in to give the blonde a long, love-filled kiss. “I will try my best to get home as soon as possible.” she promised when she pulled away from the kiss. “Wait for me until then, okay?” She leaned forward again and engulfed Hikari in a tight embrace. “I love you so much,” she whispered lovingly.

Hikari sniffed lightly, feeling that her tears were about to gush out before Amane even left. She was hurt that her lover had been called in to work despite the plans they had, and that she had accepted it without hesitation. The other reason that she needed so desperately to cry was that she just loved Amane so much that being mad at her made her heart ache.

“I’m going, then.” Amane let her go and stepped up to the door. “Don’t keep Nagisa away for too long.” Amane said with a knowing grin, gave a wink and then left the house and made her way down the street. Hikari sighed and ran a hand over her neck. Amane knew her so well.

Whenever something like this happened she would go over to Nagisa, talk to her on their way to school or give her a call just to have someone to vent to. Yaya was so busy with Tsubomi these days that Hikari always felt bad for calling and imposing on them, and since Nagisa had expressed her care and that she didn’t mind at all, the redhead became her listener.

With another heavy sigh Hikari trudged over to the lounge, grabbed the phone and then plopped down on the seat. She dialled the familiar number and waited as it rang.

“Hello?” Nagisa answered, sounding slightly out of breath.

“Hey Nagisa, is this a bad time?”

“No! I was just chasing Shizuma around the bedroom. She stole my underwear when we were in the shower.” Hikari could hear the irritation in her voice and guessed that she was rolling her eyes. “I managed to tackle her and tickled her until she told me where she hid them!”

“Aw, my little Nagisa, don’t get others involved!” Shizuma whined from the background, making Hikari giggle.

“Sounds like your hands are full,” the blonde commented and covered her mouth with her hand to stifle another giggle.

Nagisa sighed but laughed. “Anyway, is everything alright? Isn’t today your anniversary?”

“Yeah,” Hikari sighed too, “That’s why I’m calling. Amane had to go into work and I feel really sad.”

“But I thought she took a few days off and promised that she wouldn’t go to work today?”

“She did, but she said today is too important to miss and that she would make it up to me.” Hikari sniffed heavily with tears now streaming down her face.

“Aw, Hikari-chan, don’t cry. I'm sure she has her reasons.” Nagisa said and wished that she was there to give her best friend a hug in comfort.

“Hikari,” Shizuma had taken the phone and spoke into the receiver, “don’t stress it over. Like my little Nagisa said, Amane has her reasons. Don’t be too mad at her.”

“She told me the same thing.” Hikari stood and headed to her room. “But thank you for the advice, Shizuma, Nagisa.”

“It’s alright, Hikari. If you ever need someone to talk to we are always available, unless we aren’t.” Shizuma said.

“Give that back!” Nagisa snatched the phone back after finally getting Shizuma to get off of her and put the device to her ear. “Hikari, you can always celebrate tomorrow! The specific day doesn’t matter, right? As long as she is with you then it should be alright.” Nagisa wrestled with Shizuma as she spoke and managed to pin her arms down while sitting on top of her.

Hikari was about to respond but she heard another woman’s voice over the line and guessed that it was Nagisa’s mother. “I’ll be fine. Talking to you both has really helped. I can hear that you need to go.”

“Yeah, my mother just called us for breakfast. Sorry for cutting this short, Hikari. Call me later if Amane doesn’t come home early and you feel down, okay?”

“I will. Bye.”

“Bye!” And the line went dead.

Hikari placed the phone on her bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Staying at home felt depressing so the blonde decided to go out for coffee or something.

She finished up with her shower and dressed comfortably, and then once she was ready she left the house and walked to town. It wasn’t that long of a walk but if felt too long because Hikari felt down and she was alone. It wasn’t often that she walked alone like this.

In no time Hikari made it to her favourite café and took a seat inside. The place wasn’t all that busy, further deepening Hikari’s sense of loneliness. She sadly glanced down at her hands and then startled when a waitress appeared at her side to take her order. Once the blonde relayed her choice of coffee the waitress zipped off and Hikari was left alone again.

Hikari sighed deeply and tried not to slump her shoulders.

“Is the great and pure Hikari sighing so ungracefully and looking all sad?” a boisterous voice spoke up, making Hikari snap her head up and widen her eyes in surprise. “What has you so down?” the person spoke up and walked closer to the surprised blonde.

“Yaya!” Hikari exclaimed happily and launched herself at her brunette friend.

Yaya just smiled and returned her hug with equal enthusiasm, stroking her hair. “Is everything alright?” she questioned with concern. The two of them sat down at the table and Yaya made an order for herself, and then turned to Hikari and gave her the most serious expression she could manage.

“Amane is working today and it’s our anniversary.” Hikari finally said as her coffee arrived and she looked sadly down at the brown liquid. “I’m a little sad.”

“A little? Bullshit.” Yaya reached over and covered Hikari’s hand with her own, a naughty grin on her face. “I’m going to cheer you up.”

“But don’t you have things to do?”

“Pfft, nah! I was just wondering around when I saw you. So, what do you say to spending this awfully sad day with me?”

Hikari giggled at her friend’s silly tone of voice and nodded. “Okay, Yaya-chan.”

They spent the next hour drinking coffee and talking at the café, and then they left afterwards and walked through town window shopping. Yaya spoke of how her life with Tsubomi was going, and apologised for how little she had been there for Hikari since leaving school. Hikari expressed her happiness for her friend and assured her that she didn’t need to feel bad.

Eventually Yaya managed to convince Hikari to check out a clothes store with her, and pulled the reluctant blonde into the store with her.

“There’s this dress I keep seeing here that would look amazing on you.” Yaya commented.

“Yaya, I don’t have money to buy clothes and I don’t need another dress.”

“Okay, cool, but I want to at least see you in it.”

“Yaya…”

“Please? I haven’t seen you in such a long time and I'm trying to cheer you up. Do this one thing for your best friend?” Yaya gave her best puppy dog eyes with an adorable pout. It worked and Hikari sighed in defeat.

“Fine, but only one dress and then I have to leave. It’s getting late and I want to be home for when Amane gets back from work.”

“Yay!” Yaya grabbed Hikari’s hand and carted her off to the back of the store. She left Hikari by a rack of clothes and hurried over to one of the helpers, whispered softly to her and then disappeared with her for a moment. When she returned she had a naughty glint in her eyes and an equally naughty smile on her face. She had a beautiful white dress in her arms that wasn’t too formal but not particularly informal either. It lacked patterns and was strapless.

“Here, put it on!” Yaya thrust the dress at Hikari with an excited smile and waited for the blonde to take it. Hikari just sighed and took the dress from her friend, noting that the dress was made of silk and immediately warmed at her touch. She made her way over to the dressing booth and climbed in to put the dress on.

Once she was out of her clothes and the dress sat snuggly on her body, Hikari took a moment to look at herself in the mirror stuck to the wall of the booth. She had to admit that the dress looked amazing on her. She would have to mention it to Amane sometime, since she really didn’t have the money for it now.

Hikari stepped out of the changing booth to show Yaya and blushed at the whistle she received.

“Damn, Hikari, you look amazing. Amane is one lucky woman.” Yaya searched around them for a moment and then she locked eyes with the lady she had spoken to earlier, nodded ever so slightly and rushed into the booth to collect Hikari’s discarded clothes. She grabbed the blonde’s wrist and pulled her out of the shop, ignoring her cries of distress.

“Yaya! What are you doing? We need to return this dress!”

“No we don’t.” Yaya responded with a smile. She kept pulling Hikari behind her and searched the stores for a familiar shop. “Just trust me.”

“What if they call the police? Yaya, stop right now and let me go.” Hikari used as much of her strength to stop her friend’s pulling and succeeded in making the brunette sigh and stop.

“It’s already paid for. Just trust me, Hikari. I'm not a thief and I’d never do something like that to you. Now, we have somewhere else to be…” She skimmed her eyes over the area again and finally noticed the place she had been searching for. Yaya hurried over to the shoe shop, Hikari still being pulled behind her and approached the counter.

“Hi, it’s Yaya. Is it in?” she asked softly. The cashier immediately recognized her and nodded with a smile.

“Here you go.” She placed a shoe box on the table and gave Hikari a wink. “You’ll love them.”

“Love what?” Hikari didn’t have time to get an answer because Yaya was already pulling her out of the store after grabbing the box. She gave up trying to figure out what Yaya was up to, but found it difficult to hide her irritation. Yaya just kept telling her to keep quiet and trust her.

They ended up going to a hairdresser next where Yaya forced Hikari to get her hair done. The blonde was beyond confused and annoyed at the situation but went along with it for her friend. After that Yaya pulled Hikari out of the mall and into the parking lot where she dragged her over to the car and told Hikari to get into the passenger seat.

“Where are we going?” Hikari asked, moments away from yelling.

“Just trust me.” Yaya jumped into the driver’s seat but didn’t start the car. Instead, she pulled the shoe box out and opened it to reveal a beautiful pair of strapped white high heels. She took them out and instead of telling Hikari to put them on, grabbed the blonde’s feet and put them on for her. Hikari struggled and made it difficult but in the end Yaya managed to get them on and sat back with a triumphant smile.

“Yaya, what is going on?” Hikari asked, bewildered. Of all the things for Yaya to do to cheer her up, this must have been the most bizarre.

“Just trust–”

“Do not say that again, or I will cry. What are you trying to do here?”

Yaya just sighed and started the car. She offered not one reply and instead focused on the road. Hikari realized she would get no response and settled against the seat, tired and an emotional wreck. On top of feeling depressed that Amane was at work, she was also irritated with her friend’s weird behaviour. Hikari watched as they drove right past her house and turned a corner.

Where were they going?

They continued on in silence, Hikari hoping this would end soon so that she could go home and wait for her lover, if she wasn’t at home already. Yaya just continued to drive, sneaking glances at Hikari every now and again.

After an hour of silent driving they arrived at a popular beach and drove up to the dock.

“Yaya? Why are we here?”

“Hikari,” Yaya stopped the car and turned to the blonde. “I have one more thing I need you to do for me.”

Hikari crossed her arms. “And that is?”

“I need to blindfold you. But trust me, like, really trust me this time. I'm not doing this to be a jerk or anything.” Yaya raised her hands to show that she meant no harm and held her breath.

Hikari threw her hands up. “If I agree to this will you take me home straight after?”

Yaya grinned. “I’ll do whatever you want!” She quickly pulled a blindfold out of her pocket and tied it around Hikari’s eyes.

Hikari couldn’t see anything at all and bit her lip to keep from asking more questions. She heard Yaya jump out of the car and then open the door to her side. A hand guided her out of the car and then Yaya placed both of her hands on Hikari’s shoulders.

“Now, just keep walking forward, okay? I won’t let go.” Yaya said, pushing Hikari forward.

“Okay.” Hikari agreed and took a few hesitant steps forward. She took a shaky breath, reminding herself that Yaya really wouldn’t do anything to harm her, and then she started taking more confident steps.

At some stage Yaya’s hands left her shoulders for a moment, and when they returned they felt different. More gentle but firm, and Hikari was struck with a sudden worry. She continued walking forward, led by those hands until she felt the surface under her feet rock slightly and uttered a gasp.

The blindfold was suddenly pulled off and Hikari blinked her eyes to get used to the sudden light.

“You look gorgeous,” a familiar voice spoke into her ear, and it wasn’t Yaya’s.

Hikari gasped loudly and turned around, coming face-to-face with the chiselled face of her brown eyed lover. “Amane?!”  Hikari looked around for Yaya, but she was nowhere in sight. They were also standing on an expensive looking yacht.

“I’m sorry for making Yaya bring you here the way she did, and I'm sorry for making you think I went to work.” Amane bent down and placed a tender kiss against Hikari’s forehead. She straightened and then gently turned Hikari around.

The blonde’s eyes widened and watered at the sight that greeted her. They were at the front of the yacht where a table had been set up. Candles sat in the centre of the table with an expensive dining set, a bottle of wine, and there were red rose petals scattered all around the floor.

“Happy anniversary, my love.” Amane hugged her from behind. Hikari couldn’t contain her happiness and turned around in Amane’s arms to sob into her neck. “Hey, I didn’t want you to cry. I'm sorry for making you sad this morning.” Amane said with concern. She gently rubbed Hikari’s back until she had calmed and stopped crying.

“This makes up for it.” Hikari said, tightening her arms around her lover. “This is so sweet.” she commented, leaning back to look into Amane’s face. “Making me think you would have to work on our day was mean, but it made me want something like this even more. I can’t even…” Hikari sniffled and Amane smiled gently down at her as she wiped her tears away.

“Now, let’s set sail and enjoy a wonderful dinner together on the open water.” Amane turned, Hikari’s hand in her own, and went over to the control panel of the yacht. An attendee of the dock untied the yacht and Amane started it up. She skilfully steered it out of the dock and into the direction she wanted. Hikari commented on how she never knew Amane could drive a boat, and Amane just smiled.

They drove quietly for a while, just enjoying each other’s company, and then finally Amane felt satisfied enough to kill the engine and drop the anchor. It was dark by then, with the stars shining brilliantly above and the water shimmering under them.

“Come on.” Amane took Hikari’s hand and led her back over to the table where she pulled a chair out for her. “I’ll go and get the food.” Amane disappeared into the lower section of the yacht and then returned a moment later with plates of food. She placed a plate down on each side of the table and took her seat.

“Amane, did you make this?” Hikari asked, eyes wide.

“I did. I planned all of this just for you.” The bluenette smiled in amusement at Hikari’s sigh of awe and then she poured them each a glass of wine. “To us.” She raised her glass.

“To us.” Hikari echoed and clinked her glass against Amane’s. She went to work on the food and couldn’t help a moan in delight. It was delicious.

As they ate Hikari noticed that Amane kept giving her a smile. Eventually her curiosity got the better of her and she turned to Amane. “Amane, why do you keep smiling at me like that?”

Amane raised her eyes to meet Hikari’s and flashed that smile again. “No reason,” she replied simply. She noticed Hikari frown and quickly leaned over the table to kiss her softly on the lips. “Can’t I smile at the love of my life?”

Hikari blushed and kissed Amane back. “You’re right. Sorry. I guess Yaya’s suspiciousness this afternoon made me paranoid.” Amane just chuckled and the couple returned to eating, talking to each other and sharing sweet smiles and looks of affection.

When the meal was done Amane cleared the table and they sat down at the outside couch fixed around the railing. It was made of white leather and it was very comfortable. The couple just sat there together, cuddling and looking up at the stars.

Hikari sat comfortably in Amane’s lap, looking up into her eyes with all the love she could muster, and gently caressed her taller lover’s face. “Amane, I love you.” the blonde said softly, voice thickened with emotion. Hikari honestly hadn’t been expecting this surprise, and it made her so happy that Amane had gone out of her way to make this day special.

Amane leaned down and captured Hikari’s lips for a passionate kiss. As it went on tongues came into play and hands started roaming, but before it got too heated Amane quickly pulled back and tried to calm her breathing and heart.

“Amane...” Hikari whined, not happy that Amane had stopped the kiss.

“Wait, there’s something I need to do before we get distracted.” Amane reached over for her jacket and pulled something out of it. “There’s a reason I tried to make this classy. I could have just done something romantic at home for you, but I wanted this to be memorable.” She quickly got down onto one knee in front of Hikari and looked up at her with a gentle smile.

Hikari covered her face with her hands, heart racing. She knew where this was going.

“Hikari, look at me.” Amane crawled forward and rested her arms on Hikari’s shaking legs. “I love you so much. I need you now and forever.” She smiled charmingly and took Hikari’s hand into her own, slowly pulled it up to her lips and gave each finger a gentle kiss. “Will you marry me, Hikari?”

Hikari released a soft sob, tears pouring down her face. She started crying even harder when Amane sat down and slowly slipped the ring – that had a beautiful heart diamond placed on top of three spiralling golden bands that twisted around each other – onto her finger.

“I promise to love you for the rest of our lives, Hikari.” Amane said and then released a puff of air in surprise when Hikari launched herself at her and knocked them both backwards.

“I can’t even formulate a proper thought right now.” Hikari said with a sniffle. “This is all so overwhelming. I thought you would never propose.”

“I would have eventually, but Shizuma gave me a little kick to realize that sooner would be better. I want to marry you Hikari, I want us to take the next step in our lives. I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Hikari replied, not knowing what else to say. She decided to substitute words for actions and crawled up along Amane’s body to start a deep, rough kiss. Amane growled sexily at her tiny lover’s aggression.

Hikari sat up and pulled the dress over her body, revealing her black bra and equally black panties.

Amane just stared, until Hikari attacked her lips again and started pulling at her clothes. She growled again, deciding that she should propose more often if this was the result.

She loved it when Hikari became the aggressive one, sometimes.