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“Nobara,” Maki kissed her forehead softly. “You need to get up.”
Nobara cracked open a single eye before pulling the comforter up over her head. “Ugh, and you’re already ready? Fuck, Maki, it’s too early for this. It’s cold, it’s snowing, and the sun isn’t even up yet,” she bargained.
Maki softly laughed and pulled the ridiculous amount of blankets off of her. “Oh don’t be a baby, We do this every morning. It’s winter, what do you expect?”
Nobara whined in protest, curling herself into a tight ball and withdrawing her arms into the oversized sweatshirt she had stolen from Maki. “Why do you hate me, Maki. Why? ”
“I’ll dump cold water on you next.”
Nobara sat up immediately, eye wide. “I’m up.” She knew Maki wasn’t kidding, this wasn’t the first time she threatened this. Nobara shuddered; as if she could ever forget the one time she didn’t take her seriously.
“Aww, you look like a mess.”
Nobara’s hair stuck up in every direction and the sweatshirt was situated weirdly on her shoulders. She glared up at her girlfriend. “I hate you.”
Maki turned to gather her blade and polearm, while Nobara slowly got out of bed. “Yeah, I really doubt that.”
Nobara grumbled. “What do you know?” But there was no aggression behind her words as she ruffled through her dresser drawers. Her wardrobe had become a mixed mess with all the loose athleisure wear she’s permanently borrowed, to the point where Nobara didn’t know what she actually owned anymore. She felt around for warm fleece-y pieces. She ended up in a pair of thick joggers with a more form-fitting long sleeve (the shirt was definitely hers. She got it to show off her figure, much to Maki’s delight) to protect her from the chilling bite of winter, somewhat at least. She covered most of her short, ginger hair in a beanie, laced up her boots, grabbed her belt and small bag of cursed items, and went to join Maki, who was waiting patiently by the small dorm’s door, a hand resting on the knob. She caught a look at herself in the small mirror next to the light switch. She still wasn’t used to the eye patch— it caught her off guard whenever she saw her reflection. She brought a hand and barely touched the edge of black cloth.
Maki appeared beside her in the frame and rested her chin on Nobara’s shoulder. It was a rare day where Maki didn’t wear her glasses, opting to just bring them along, just in case. “See, together we make a whole pair.”
Nobara turned her head to look at her girlfriend. “How do you make an eyepatch look so sexy?”
Maki laughed. “I don’t know, I could ask the same of you, my love.”
Nobara huffed but didn’t respond.
Maki’s voice softened. “It’s okay to be upset. It’s still fresh, I know.”
“It’s not even the eyepatch,” Nobara looked back at the mirror. “It’s the scars.” She gestured to the several, deep gashes that ran from chin to forehead along the left side of her face. “It’s horrible to look at.”
Maki took Nobara’s still hovering hand in hers. She shook her arm so the sleeve of her sweatshirt fell back to reveal more of her burn scars. “Don’t I know it.”
They stood there for a moment, looking down at their intertwined fingers. Neither of them spoke.
Maki let out a sigh, pulling their hands to her lips and placing a soft kiss on Nobara’s knuckles. “Come on, let’s go before the others get up.”
Nobara nodded and let go of Maki’s grasp. She reached around Maki to pull the door open and step out into the hallway. She propped it open with her hip to let the other out before letting it swing back on its hinges, the door closing with a click of finality. As Nobara walked off towards the outdoor training field, she looked back over her shoulder to catch Maki’s gaze that was focused on the snow falling outside. “Snowmen after?”
Maki grinned at her. “Of course.”
❆❅❉
Training was beyond frustrating. No matter how hard Nobara tried, she could only make contact with less than half of her hits, most were still out of pure luck. Her depth perception was so off-kilter and Nobara just wanted to catch up to everyone else already. She had gotten so much stronger through her physical rehabilitation alongside Toge. The two of them often had arm-wrestling contests in Shoko’s office during their checkups, both were definitely regaining their strength. But what use was it if she couldn’t direct it properly? It didn’t stop her from talking big game though, making endless jabs at Maki in-between bouts of sparring.
They fought one another without weapons, a meager attempt at leveling the playing field—not that Nobara could’ve aimed nails at an opponent anyways. Both of them knew Maki was physically stronger in every way imaginable, so Maki held back for Nobara’s sake. Well, her version of easy, which was still bruising and landing hits at breakneck speed. It was a kind gesture, all in all, both knowing that these extra morning sessions were more of a safe place for Nobara to fail than anything else.
As of late, group training had been nothing short of brutal on Nobara. Maki recognized that Nobara was getting nowhere by being constantly pitted against Megumi and Yuuji, who were both as healthy as could be, so she suggested these extra early mornings. Nobara, ever the morning hater, despised the idea at first. But Maki didn’t let up, instead, turning to bribery to convince her girlfriend. She let Nobara choose whatever she wanted and Maki had been expecting the extravagant since Nobara never was one to shy away from asking for anything. So Maki was a little surprised when Nobara requested little bits of extra time together. Going on grocery runs. Staying up for an extra movie on the weekends. Review sessions in the common room. Sleeping in another hour. Making desserts for their classmates. They were all perfectly normal things they already did, it was just more so now. They were disgustingly domestic and rarely apart at this point, Toge made sure they knew it too.
Nobara admitted once (albeit in a very sleep-deprived state) that she didn’t want to miss any chance to be by Maki’s side again. That Nobara wanted her around more, out of both desire and fear. Maki had hugged her tightly, pressing her cheek on top of Nobara’s head and reminding her that she wouldn’t let anyone take her away, not ever. Nobara had giggled at that, gripping Maki’s biceps and giving them a light squeeze, claiming that no one could beat her scarily buff girlfriend. This was definitely true, the now-deceased Zen’in clan was a clear testament of that.
Maki easily blocked Nobara’s kick at her ribs, knocking her leg back with her forearm to break Nobara’s stance wide open. Maki slid forward into the gap, throwing a punch at Nobara’s sternum. The strength of the hit forced the orange-haired girl to step back, leaving her off balance. Maki took advantage of the momentum, swiping Nobara’s feet out from under her and colliding their shoulders to knock her flat on the ground. Nobara’s will to fight completely disappeared as her back landed heavily against the ground. The scant amount of snow that remained in their cleared space did little to soften her impact. She was done training for a bit—her bruised body couldn’t take any more losses. They had been at this for at least two hours and the sun had long risen over the horizon. Not that you could see it with the grey clouds blocking out the entire sky though.
Nobara laid there, staring up at the bright yet dreary clouds, limbs spread out like a starfish. She could hear the snow crunch next to her head just before Maki’s bemused face popped into her line of sight. She stood with her hands on her knees to look down at her girlfriend. Her torso shielded Nobara’s light eyes from the brightness of the snow and sky reflecting off one another. Instead, the light illuminated Maki’s skin, making the scars along her neck seemingly glow. Despite the tiredness aching in every muscle throughout her body, Nobara reached up to cup Maki’s cheeks, thumbing softly.
Maki slightly leaned into the touch and met Nobara’s gaze. “Giving up so soon?”
Nobara scoffed. “I think you’ve beat my ass enough for one morning. Let me have a moment to patch up my pride, woman.
“You’re getting better though, I’ll admit that. You landed a pretty good combo last round.”
Nobara’s eyes flicked downward. “Not good enough to go back out on missions though.”
“Don’t worry about that just yet. The higher-ups can fuck off.”
Nobara laughed. “You’re soooo scary, just kill them off if they bother you that badly.” Nobara dropped her hand to grab one of Maki’s wrists.
“That is hardly a solution, al—”
Maki’s hand was ripped from its place on her leg, making her fall forward across Nobara’s stomach. She fell graceless, letting out an “oof” as she tried to catch herself.
Nobara laughed loudly. “There, now I can say I won.”
Maki tossed a handful of snow at Nobara’s face. “Never!”
Nobara let out a sharp gasp at the coldness as she compacted her own fistful as revenge. Maki was already scrambling to her feet and taking off before Nobara could throw it. Nobara jumped to her feet, taking off after her and pelting Maki’s retreating back with the snowball. “Get back here you coward!”
Maki ran in circles to put enough distance between them so she could pause and retrieve their bundle of weapons from the ground before speeding back up. She didn’t let up, forcing Nobara to chase her almost all the way back to the dormitory.
She stopped dead in her tracks, Nobara unable to slow down quick enough, so she smacked right into her back. Nobara wrapped her arms tightly around Maki’s waist. “Oh my god, what the hell.”
Maki breathily laughed. “Didn’t you say you wanted to build a snowman after training?”
“Yeah! Make a snowman, not run a marathon!”
“You’re being a bit dramatic, dear.”
Nobara pouted and let go of her girlfriend to kneel on the ground. She scooped up the snow nearest to her legs into a large pile and began compacting it to form an oversized snowball.
Meanwhile, Maki took a few more steps forward to reach the stone path to drop the bundle in her arms. She turned on her heel and watched Nobara for a moment. The cold bit at Nobara’s cheeks and nose, turning her face bright red. Her breath still came out shallowly, it billowing visibly in the stiff morning air. Maki couldn’t help but smile at how cute the whole scene was.
Nobara looked up and scrunched her nose at Maki’s stare. “Are you going to help me or not?”
“Since you’re going to twist my arm like that,” Nobara gave her a smug smile. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”
Maki crouched in the snow across from Nobara, building up another snowball. They worked in relative silence, Nobara chattering about random things here and there. She listened attentively, nodding and commenting when appropriate, but she wasn’t entirely focused on the random bits about the importance of proper color palettes.
She was smacked back to reality when snow hit her right on the forehead. “Pay attention!” Nobara demanded. Without hesitation, Maki leaned forward and snatched the beanie right off Nobara’s head and put it on her own.
She expected Nobara to protest, to put up a fight, but instead, Nobara leveled her with an unreadable look and held out her free hand, palm open. “Wrist.”
Maki pulled her sleeve up a little so Nobara could easily take one of the extra hair ties she kept on her. Despite no longer needing them, Maki still kept some on her for her girlfriend.
Nobara pulled up as much hair as she could gather to make a small bun. “Ya know, I was going to tackle you for it back, but navy blue really is your color. Looks good on you.”
Maki was glad the hat covered the tips of her ears as they burned from the compliment. She leaned forward to grab the collar of Nobara’s shirt and pulled her closer. Their lips were inches apart, Nobara’s eyes flickering between them and Maki’s eyes. Maki tilted her head slightly, mouth twisting into a smug smile. “Thought you hated me?”
Nobara’s face couldn’t flush any redder as the cold had already stained her cheeks. “Oh shut up and kiss me already.”
Maki obliged her. The kiss was searing, warming up the both of them. Nobara didn’t hesitate to deepen it either, snaking a hand around Maki’s neck. They kissed themselves nearly breathless before a new voice broke up their moment.
“Hey, are you two gross lovebirds almost done? You’re going to miss breakfast.”
The pair looked over to see Megumi and Yuuji standing over on the path. Neither of them were dressed properly for the weather, Yuuj in a cutoff sweatshirt and Megumi in a thin sleep t-shirt. However, Yuuji looked completely unbothered by the cold, him coming over to join the girls in the snow.
Nobara stood up to punch his arm. “You idiot, you don’t even have shoes on! You’re going to freeze!”
Yuuji wasn’t even phased by the hit. “And? I feel fine.”
Megumi and Maki stared at one another, both knew this wasn’t going to end peacefully. Maki slowly stood and backed away from the bickering duo, trying not to raise their attention.
Nobara’s voice came almost as a screech. “ AND? Really Yuuji?”
Yuuji cocked his head to the side. “Yes ‘and.’ What are you going to do about it?”
Those were the words that broke the dam. Nobara easily snatched up the now gigantic snowball in her arms and swung it at Yuuji. The pink-haired boy didn’t have time to react before he was drenched in snow drenched. Yuuji stood there, slack-jawed, staring at Nobara.
Nobara beamed at him. “Eat shit, pretty boy.”
With a war cry, Yuuji dove at Nobara’s legs, grabbing her thighs and knocking both of them to the ground. Nobara screamed and flailed her arms around wildly.
Behind them, Maki elbowed Megumi to get him to get his attention. “So you said breakfast was ready?”
Megumi nodded. “Yeah, Toge cooked for once, so who knows how edible it is.”
“Good enough for me. These two will be a while.”
“Yeah, they’re not my problem. They’ll be complaining of frostbite later though.”
Maki laughed loudly and picked up her and Nobara’s stuff before walking off towards the front doors. “Predictable, aren’t they? Can’t help but love them though.”
Megumi didn’t respond, just blushing lightly and following Maki back inside.