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In the immediate aftermath of Lord van Zieks’s acquittal, Susato finds herself with a lot of paperwork to go through.
Not all of it is about the trial itself; some is in regards to the decisions the defense team has made about its future. Naruhodo-san is withdrawing from the exchange program and, unbeknownst to him, so is Susato. The corresponding documents for both of them to officially do so need to be completed and turned in before they board the next steamship to Japan, which will be departing in two days.
“Two days?” Kazuma-sama echoes, when Susato tells him as much. They’re in the office that he now shares with Lord van Zieks, although the latter is out for the afternoon, and in between filling out her forms, Susato has been helping Kazuma-sama with his own judicial paperwork for the upcoming Stronghart trial. “Cutting it a bit close, aren’t we?”
Sitting at his desk beside him, Susato shrugs and flips a page. “At least it’s not as close as when I had to act as a defense attorney.” It’s an offhand comment, one she mutters without really thinking about it, but it makes Kazuma-sama noticeably freeze up.
“Wait,” he says, turning to look at her with wide eyes, “you did what?”
...Oh, right. Susato never actually told him about that, did she?
The paperwork, which admittedly is almost finished at this point, is all promptly shoved to the side by Kazuma-sama. “Explain, Judicial Assistant Mikotoba. I have to hear this.” He leans forward in his chair, the excited expression on his face like that of a little boy.
Susato rolls her eyes, but humors him. “Long story short, I acted as a defense attorney once, during a brief period when I returned to Japan. To do so, I had to disguise myself as a man and hurriedly submit my registration under a false name.”
“Oh, you fiend!” Kazuma-sama gasps, utterly delighted, and that eggs Susato on.
“Father was actually the one who filled out the forms for me,” she whispers conspiratorially. “And you know what he put down for my name? Ryutaro Naruhodo.”
Kazuma-sama chokes on his amusement. “No!”
“Yes!” Susato hisses, giggling. “So I had to pretend to be Naruhodo-san’s cousin. From the countryside. Who, again, was male.”
Kazuma-sama laughs uproariously, the first time Susato has heard him truly laugh in so, so long, and it’s wonderful to see some levity back in his eyes where there used to only be darkness. Now that the truth of the Professor killings is out, now that his father’s name has been cleared, he can finally begin to walk forward, free of the heavy shackles that had been holding him down.
“Goodness, I didn’t think you had it in you!” There’s a hint of teasing in his tone. “When did you become such a lawbreaker, Judicial Assistant Mikotoba?”
Susato sighs. “I didn’t have any other choice. Rei had been accused of murder, and nobody else was willing to defend her.”
“Ah.” Kazuma-sama sobers somewhat at that. “So it was Membami-san. Yes, I suppose you would do anything for your greatest friend.” But he’s still smiling, still obviously intrigued. “So how was it? Taking the defense bench as a lawyer?”
Susato hums, considering. “Exhilarating. Exhausting. I was so nervous I was nearly jumping out of my skin, and the prosecutor kept calling me a yokel, treating me like I was out of my depth. But when I realized the truth, when I formed my theory and was able to vocalize it—that honestly felt really good. And Rei...”
Memories suddenly flash through Susato’s mind. Rei, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks red when she met Ryutaro for the first time. Rei, repeatedly and unashamedly calling Susato “gallant” and “dashing” throughout the court proceedings. Rei, relieved tears in her eyes after being proven innocent, her smile bright and her entire visage so incredibly beautiful.
“...Are you blushing?” Kazuma-sama asks, snapping Susato out of it, and she immediately slaps her palms over both of her cheeks. “You are blushing. What happened with Membami-san?”
“Nothing!” Susato cries, a little too quickly, a little too vehemently. Kazuma-sama merely quirks an eyebrow as he stares her down, and it’s not long before she caves. They grew up together, Kazuma-sama is like an older brother to her, and she’s never been terribly good at hiding things from him. “Well, it’s just that. When I was in my male disguise, Rei made no secret of how she found Ryutaro to be rather, um... attractive.”
“Oh. Were you uncomfortable with that?”
“No, not uncomfortable. Just... surprised, I suppose, since Rei had never really looked at me like that before.”
“I see.” Kazuma-sama brings his fingers up to his chin, his head tilting as if in thought. “So did you like it?”
“W-What?”
“Did you like it?” Kazuma-sama repeats. “That Membami-san was attracted to you.”
“I-I...”
Did she? Susato doesn’t know, honestly, but now that she’s actually thinking about it, her head just won’t stop spinning.
“...Apologies,” Kazuma-sama says after a while, pulling her back from that spiral. “That was brazen of me to ask.”
Susato, still flustered, vigorously shakes her head to rid herself of the thoughts. “It’s...fine. You just caught me off guard.”
Mercifully, Kazuma-sama changes the subject. “In any case, what you did was admirable. Defying restrictive traditions to stand in court, putting your all on the line to defend someone.” He beams at her. “It may not be my place to say so, but for what it’s worth, I’m very proud of you.”
“That’s worth plenty, Kazuma-sama.” Susato smiles, warmth sprouting in her chest as she presses her hands together atop the desk. “However, I doubt it will ever happen again. I think a single brief stint as an attorney was enough for me.”
He chuckles lightly. “Just once for Membami-san, was it?”
“Of course,” Susato acknowledges, before picking her pen back up and returning to her paperwork. “Rei is my best friend.”
And that’s all there is to say on that.
Getting ready for their departure from Britain is an ordeal, a rushed few days of packing bags and acquiring tickets and wrapping up any remaining business, but once aboard the ship, Susato and Naruhodo-san have plenty of time to talk about what comes next. The trip to Japan will last fifty days, after all, so they should properly sort out their future plans in the meanwhile. Naruhodo-san is clearly delighted that Susato is coming with him, and he hopes that as soon as they return home, they can begin establishing their own law office together.
“Oh!” Naruhodo-san gasps suddenly during their discussion, his expression becoming troubled. “But how will you be able to stand beside me? Women are barred from the courtroom in Japan.”
This issue has apparently only just occurred to Naruhodo-san, but Susato herself has been aware of it from the start, and she knew exactly what she would be giving up when she decided to follow him. In the Old Bailey, women were actually allowed to speak, and Susato was given the ability to change the entire course of a trial merely by providing her own input. So while for Naruhodo-san, returning home to Japan will likely bolster his voice, Susato’s own voice will in turn be stifled.
“I was able to assist Kazuma-sama without ever actually stepping into the courtroom with him,” Susato explains. “I helped him with pre-trial preparations, and offered him my own insights during court recesses.”
Naruhodo-san groans, putting his head in his hands. “But that’s not nearly the same as having you by my side at the defense bench.”
“Believe me, I know,” Susato commiserates, tilting her head to the side. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s certainly not your fault.” He glances back up, frustration lining every inch of his face. “I don’t suppose you would disguise yourself as a man again?”
Susato shakes her head. “Your cousin Ryutaro was born out of desperation, and intended for one show only. The deception would only become ever flimsier the longer we tried to keep it up.” Especially since Judge Jigoku is no longer around to look the other way. “In any case, our purpose in returning is to reform the Japanese legal system, correct? Part of reforming that system includes making it so that I won’t have to hide the fact that I’m a woman in order to be heard. That’s what I’ve chosen to strive for.”
“Ah! Yes, you’re right!” Naruhodo-san brightens up. “You, and any other woman who wants to, should all be allowed the same opportunities as men in Japan’s judiciary.” He clenches his hand into a fist, slamming it down determinedly on the table. “That should of course be part of our goal. And I will fight alongside you to make sure that it happens.”
It’s a sweet sentiment, and Susato can tell from the look in his eyes that he means it wholeheartedly. This right here, this unyielding faith and determination that Naruhodo-san displays so readily, is a large part of why Susato chose to accompany him rather than remain in Britain with Kazuma-sama. Susato is sure that Naruhodo-san, with his earnest, passionate resolve to fight for other people, will only become more and more accomplished as an attorney in their home country—and together, they’ll be able to shake Japan’s judicial system to its very core.
Then, about halfway into their seaborne voyage, they realize that someone else has already helped give them a head start.
That revelation comes in the form of a missive sent by Chief Inspector Hosonaga, containing the files for a Supreme Court trial in which he was accused of illegally infiltrating the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The whole report is honestly rather vague, and from what few concrete details Susato can gather, the entire trial seems to have been something of a fiasco, but the relevant bit is in who Hosonaga called upon to defend him. The defense counsel is officially listed as Soseki Natsume, and it’s also noted that he was assisted in court by one Rei Membami.
Susato’s not sure how that arrangement came to be, nor how they all got away with it, especially since none of them are particularly knowledgeable in regards to legal proceedings. Perhaps, in the chaos that ensued after Judge Jigoku was arrested in Britain, the powers that be allowed for a few slips in propriety for the sake of simply getting things done. In any case, while Hosonaga was still found guilty for the infraction, his legal team did manage to reduce his sentence to a mere monetary fine and harsh reprimand—and, most importantly, the trial has gone on record as having had a woman openly and vocally stand in court as assistant to the defense.
The final page of the letter consists of brief handwritten notes from the three persons involved. Inspector Hosonaga assures Naruhodo-san that so long as the information he retrieved from Judge Jigoku’s office was useful for their case, he regrets nothing. Soseki-san sends his warmest regards but also expresses his fervent desire to never step into the courtroom, as either defendant or defender, ever again. And Rei, in her elegant hand, has merely written, “If a woman as inexperienced as me can stand in court, then they have no reason to refuse one as brilliant as you, Susato. See you soon!”
Susato must reread those words a dozen times in the span of a minute, memorizing the neat strokes of the pen as the implications of Rei’s actions fully sink in. Somehow, incredibly, Rei has managed to set a precedent, one which Susato can use to argue for her own place in the courtroom. With this trial record in their arsenal, if they play their cards right, Susato might be able to stand beside Naruhodo-san in Japanese court far sooner than they thought.
“Oh, Rei...” Susato whispers to herself, so utterly touched that she’s tearing up.
“I can’t wait to meet your friend,” Naruhodo-san says, having read the same message from over Susato’s shoulder. “She seems amazing.”
“She is,” Susato agrees, smiling as she rubs at her eyes. “She really, really is.”
Rei picks them up at the port in Tokyo.
It comes as a complete shock to Susato when, the very moment she descends from the ship’s gangway to step onto Japanese soil, she hears a loud cry of her name. Upon glancing up, she sees a familiar figure in yellow and blue dashing down the dock towards her, and Susato finds herself stunned by just how much Rei stands out amidst the sea of people, a bright streak of color and cheer and life. Then Naruhodo-san swiftly snatches Susato’s luggage up and out of her hands—just in time for her to be enveloped in agile, strong arms that promptly hug all the breath right out of her.
“Welcome back!” Rei gasps into the crook of Susato’s neck. “Oh, I missed you so much, Susato!”
Susato huffs out a giggle, gently patting at Rei’s back in turn. “Glad to be back. I missed you too, Rei.”
Rei delivers another firm squeeze to Susato’s midriff before drawing back, wiping away her own happy tears with the sleeve of her kimono. Father chuckles at the reunion but lightly suggests that they move out of the way of the other disembarking passengers, and after the girls do exactly that, Rei faces Father and bows. “Greetings to you as well, Professor Mikotoba. Your journey was comfortable, I hope?”
Father nods. “It was fine. Thank you very much for collecting us.”
“I am more than happy to do so.” Rei then turns to Naruhodo-san, bowing to him as well. “It’s an honor to finally meet you, Naruhodo-san.”
“Oh, no, the honor is mine!” He sheepishly grins and somewhat stiffly returns the bow. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Membami-san.”
“Good things, I trust.” Rei levels a knowing smile towards Susato, then grabs her by the hand to lightly tug her along. “Now come on, everyone. The coach is waiting.”
All the way down the dock to the street, Rei never lets go of her hand, and in the carriage, Rei sidles up close to Susato while both men take the opposite seat. Nothing about that is unusual, per say—Rei and Susato have never really been shy about physical contact with each other—but Susato is much more conscious of it now than she was the last time they were together. Perhaps it’s just because they haven’t seen each other in almost half a year, but somehow, touching Rei like this makes her feel especially warm.
It makes her feel like she’s really home.
The conversation is mostly dominated by Rei as they begin their ride back to Imperial Yumei University. She fills Father in on how the assistants have been running the laboratory in his absence, then tells Susato and Naruhodo-san what little she’s managed to glean about the current state of the judiciary in the aftermath Judge Jigoku’s detainment. Naruhodo-san takes the opportunity to ask about Hosonaga’s trial, which causes Rei to briefly flail her limbs before covering both hands over her face in embarrassment.
“I did my best to act confident at the time,” Rei whines, “but honestly, I’m sure I looked like a bumbling idiot up there.” But then she lets her hands drop, clasping them together before her chest, and she fervently meets Susato’s gaze. “Nothing compared to how gallant you were in the courtroom, Susato.”
Oh. There’s that look again. That doting, almost reverent shimmer in Rei’s eyes has returned with a vengeance, and somehow, the mere sight of it abruptly sends Susato’s heart shooting up her throat.
Did you like it? Kazuma-sama’s words from almost two months ago echo mercilessly in her head, and Susato realizes, suddenly and all at once, that she both knows the answer and really, really doesn’t want to have to deal with that revelation at this exact moment.
“You give me too much credit, Rei,” Susato mumbles, turning away in what hopefully will read as an expression of modesty. She just can’t look directly at Rei anymore, lest her face wind up flushing as pink as her kimono, so instead her gaze flits over to the other side of the carriage. Father seems mildly amused, simply smiling as he folds his arms in his seat, but Naruhodo-san is obviously surprised at Rei’s frankness, his eyebrows raised so high that they’ve disappeared beneath the brim of his cap.
Susato pleads with her eyes for him not to remark on it, and thankfully, he doesn’t. But he does chime, “Well, I too can attest that Susato-san is a natural in the courtroom. I’d even go as far as to say she’s the greatest judicial assistant in the world.”
He’s being so entirely earnest in his praise that Susato can’t even be angry over it.
“I know, right?!” Rei cries, whirling towards Naruhodo-san, enthusiastically pumping her fists in front of her. “Oh, tell me she’ll be taking the bench with you once you establish your practice! It would just be such a shame if she was to never stand in court again.”
“I’ll certainly do what I can to make that happen,” Naruhodo-san assures. “For her sake, and my own. Back in the Old Bailey, Susato-san’s competence and strength got me out of more than my fair share of tight situations, and I wouldn’t be where I am as a lawyer without her.”
Now Susato really is blushing, and as Rei cajoles Naruhodo-san into telling her about the trials he and Susato took on together in Britain, he pays particular attention to describing Susato’s own contributions. Before Susato knows it, her friends are practically waxing lyrical about her judicial expertise right in front of her, and her cheeks are burning so hot she almost wants to beg them both to just stop talking entirely. But they both so clearly mean every word, and now Rei and Naruhodo-san are getting along swimmingly, and when Rei goes on to gush about Susato’s defense at her own trial with such admiration and enthusiasm and crystal clear love in her eyes...
Oh. Oh dear.
Susato definitely likes that.
Susato and Rei are both intelligent young women of the same age at the same university, pursuing careers in intensely male-dominated fields. Of course they get on like a house on fire, and even with Susato clueless about medicine and Rei understanding nothing about legal work, they’ve always supported each other, always helped each other study or listened to each other’s troubles or simply kept each other company. Rei is a wonderful friend, her best friend—but until now, Susato never thought too deeply about whether or not she might want Rei to be more than that.
Perhaps Susato would never have thought too deeply about it, if Rei hadn’t been so upfront about her own attraction to Ryutaro. But after Susato’s last talk with Kazuma-sama, during the many idle hours she found herself with aboard a steamship, her mind sometimes lingered on the memory of how Rei looked at her male persona, or just on Rei in general. Rei is bold and brilliant and beautiful and Susato greatly missed her while they were apart—none of that is really news.
What is news is the fact that ever since Susato returned to Japan, she has found herself wondering what it would be like to kiss Rei.
That thought hits her particularly hard now, as Rei casually licks soy sauce from her own pink, wet, soft-looking lips, and Susato catches herself just staring from across the table. They’re having lunch together, the first time they’ve been able to properly meet up for over a week, because Rei has been busy helping Father with some project of his ever since he returned to the lab and Susato has been busy helping Naruhodo-san establish a law office from essentially the ground up. To fight off the winter chill of early January, they’ve ordered two bowls of hot noodle soup from the nearest food stall, but the seating is outdoors, and Rei’s cheeks are still a bit flushed from cold, and for a moment, Susato is struck with the utterly irrational urge to place her hands on those cheeks and lean in close to taste the broth on Rei’s lips...
The notion is quickly slammed down, and Susato is left hiding her own face in her bowl as she gets a hold of herself.
Over the past week, Susato has come to accept the existence of these fantasies, but she knows better than to act on any of them. Yes, Rei has rather obviously expressed an interest of her own, but she has only ever done so when referring to that one time Susato presented as male, and that is not a guise that Susato can or wants to maintain in the long term. Besides, their friendship means more to Susato than anything, and she would be foolish to jeopardize that over what might just be her own teenage hormones acting up. Especially not now, at a time when they’re both making waves with their respective career paths and any upset in their personal relationships would only complicate their lives further.
Aside from the daydreaming, lunch is a simple affair filled with small talk and easy smiles. It’s short-lived, given that they both still have business to get back to, but Rei still does Susato the courtesy of walking her back to the office that she’s currently working out of. It’s in a pretty good location close to both Imperial Yumei University and the Mikotoba estate; Susato helped Kazuma-sama find the space back in the day, and Naruhodo-san was happy to inherit it.
“That was fun,” Rei says when they’re standing outside the office, and grasps both of Susato’s hands with her own. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do this again soon?”
Susato sighs, delivering an apologetic squeeze to Rei’s hands. “I’m really not sure, Rei. My schedule is swamped for the foreseeable future.” There was so much red tape involved with simply getting Naruhodo-san certified as a lawyer in Japan, and there will only be even more involved with getting his female assistant allowed into the courtroom. Susato still has her work cut out for her, and while Naruhodo-san has been doing his utmost to help, he’s much better at shouting objections than he is at all the actual behind-the-scenes work.
“I understand. Please don’t overwork yourself, though.” Rei’s fingers clench tighter in insistence, and Susato could almost swear that Rei is giving her that one look again, but...
No. No, surely not. That blush on Rei’s cheeks can easily be explained by the persisting cold, and as for that adoring shimmer in her eyes... well, given how much fantasizing Susato has fallen into lately, she’s probably just imagining it at this point.
“I’ll do my best not to,” Susato lowers her gaze so that she’s staring at their conjoined hands rather than into Rei’s face. “And if I find a free moment in the coming days, I’ll drop by Father’s lab to check in.”
“I would love that.” Before they part, Rei quickly embraces her, and Susato’s pulse spikes as it occurs to her just how easy it would be to fully yank Rei in and kiss her right here, right now. But she ignores the impulse, persisting through the goodbye hug until Rei withdraws to take off down the snowy street, and then Susato swiftly launches herself through the office’s door with her heart racing in her chest.
She’s fine. She can handle this. These feelings, as overwhelming as they are, are only affecting Susato so drastically because they’re new, because she realized them only recently. Once the initial impact wears off, she’s sure she’ll be able to go right to interacting with Rei normally, without giving herself a heart attack.
“Susato-san?” The familiar voice grounds her instantly, and she glances over to where Naruhodo-san is sitting at his desk. “Are you alright?”
Remembering where she is and what she has to do, Susato closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
“I’m fine,” Susato insists aloud, after willing her composure back into place, and then pulls up a chair to join him in filling out paperwork. “I have a job to do.”
And until that job is done, her emotions can take a back seat.
Naruhodo-san’s first trial back in Japan is something of a whirlwind.
Perhaps that was to be expected, given his history of involving himself in many similarly frantic cases, but after nearly a month of no business, Naruhodo-san abruptly finds himself with a client. A woman accused of murdering her own husband, desperate for any legal representation at all, whom he and Susato just happen to run across in the courthouse the very morning of her trial. It’s incredibly short-notice, but once they hear her story, they know what they have to do.
Getting Susato into the courtroom is somewhat of a hassle, but it does happen, largely due to Susato having campaigned for it beforehand. It took a lot of meetings with the Judges’ Council, some rather fervent arguments, and a qualifying test of her own legal knowledge that was noticeably harder than the one Naruhodo-san himself was issued. But she was already granted official permission to stand by Naruhodo-san’s side in court, so long as she doesn’t actually defend in any official capacity.
(It’s not even that Susato particularly wants to become a lawyer—she’s perfectly content with her judicial assistant work—but the fact that so much emphasis was put on making sure she can’t still makes her blood boil.)
In a welcome change of pace, Naruhodo-san manages to prove this client’s innocence rather easily. The prosecutor’s logic was flawed from the beginning, and if he had only listened to the woman’s own version of events, he might have realized that far sooner. But the day after the ruling is handed down, said prosecutor, in a move that reveals him to somehow be even more of a pain than Auchi, appeals to the Supreme Court to overrule the verdict.
His grounds for doing so are entirely specious and remarkably misogynistic, focused almost entirely around Susato’s mere presence in the courtroom rather than any true misconduct on her part. His arguments don’t actually get him anywhere, and the initial ruling still stands, but Naruhodo-san and Susato still had to show up to the meeting, still had to listen to him go on and on. When it’s all over, Susato finds herself nursing a headache, and after bidding goodbye to a sympathetic Naruhodo-san, she heads straight for the judo hall.
Father introduced Susato to this dojo when she was just a little girl, and she’s been a regular member ever since. The people here don’t care about her gender; she can throw and be thrown without anyone holding back, and as a skilled practitioner of the art, she’s treated with respect. Susato figures that sparring with a few other members would be a great way to let off some steam after that infuriating display, but once she enters the actual training hall, she is given pause.
Oh. Rei is here.
That’s not a surprise, exactly; Susato knows full well that Rei is a regular member, too. But Susato didn’t know she would be here right this moment, and once she lays eyes on Rei’s form, she can’t look away. Rei’s eyes are afire as she pins a man down to the mats, her grip mercilessly tightening around his arm, but once her opponent concedes, Rei quickly scrambles to help him up. The two of them bow to each other before parting, and after Rei begins scouring the room, it doesn’t take long for her to notice Susato.
“Hey!” Rei cries, immediately dashing across the hall to where she’s still standing near the entrance. “I didn’t realize you’d be coming today.”
“Neither did I,” Susato admits. “But after the day I’ve had, I sort of feel like throwing someone.”
“Ah.” Understanding flashes across Rei’s face, followed by a soft smile. “Well, before you go about slamming everyone else to the ground, would you like to go some rounds with me?”
Seeing no reason to refuse, Susato smiles back and nods.
Randori with Rei is always comfortable, perhaps more than it really should be, because of how much implicit trust they have in each other. As such, what proceeds is not so much actual sparring as it is simply practicing techniques, taking turns throwing and letting themselves be thrown by the other, sharing grins when they pull each other back onto their feet. Susato originally came here intending to vent her frustrations, but by the second time she’s sent rolling over the curve of Rei’s back, she’s forgotten that she was even frustrated at all.
Rei tires quickly, though, having been training since well before Susato showed up, so after one more round each, Rei excuses herself to head home.
“Ah, hold on,” Susato calls when Rei turns her back, and Rei obligingly goes still. “Your ribbon is loose. I’ll help you fix it.” Susato tugs the ribbon free, carefully teasing out matted, sweat-soaked strands of hair from where they’re sticking to the back of Rei’s neck, before tying them all back into a proper ponytail. “There, you’re all good now.”
“...Thank you.” Rei sounds a tad breathless, and when she glances back over her shoulder, the expression on her face leaves Susato feeling like she’s had the wind knocked out of her, too. “See you, Susato,” Rei says, and promptly disappears through the curtains that mark the hall’s exit.
Now, Susato isn’t imagining things, because that initial ‘I want to kiss Rei’ panic was, as expected, a brief adolescent mood swing that has since been put behind her. She had lunch with Rei just three days ago and was perfectly fine; ten minutes ago they were grappling their bodies against each other and Susato didn’t even bat an eye. Her mind is clear again, and her senses are sharp, so Susato knows she didn’t imagine that look Rei just gave.
Flushed cheeks, which could have been explained by exertion if not for the fact that Rei was far less red during the actual exercise. A doting gaze, the exact same as whenever Rei talks about Ryutaro, except this time he hadn’t come up at all. A bright smile, so full of love and directed so plainly towards Susato, who even when clad in judogi is still clearly feminine, still clearly herself.
Perhaps, Susato considers, it’s possible that Rei doesn’t only like her as a man.
That right there is a revelation all its own.
Susato isn’t blind to the concepts of romance and sexuality. She’s a well-educated, inquisitive teenage girl with enough privilege to access texts from all over the world; she’s read stories and seen prints that even her ever-progressive Father may have disapproved of her viewing if he knew she’d done so. Susato understands objectively that sexuality can be fluid, and she understands personally that she herself doesn’t particularly care about a potential partner’s gender.
Until now, Susato had been operating under the assumption that Rei was only attracted to men—but honestly, the only way to get a definite answer on where Rei really stands is to ask her directly.
At first, that’s not really a risk Susato wants to take, because she still cares more for their friendship than for bringing up any conversations that could potentially mess it up. But Susato has confidence in her own observational skills, and she’s definitely picked up some pointers in the art of deduction from Mr. Sholmes and Iris and her own father. The furtive gaze has proven time and again to be an extremely telling clue, and the more Susato actually watches Rei over the next several weeks, the more she notices how Rei’s furtive gazes often do land on herself.
And at this point in her career, with Susato having at last reached a certain stability with her current role in Japan’s legal system, perhaps she can afford to rock the boat a little.
It’s on mild day near the end of February, with the chill of winter waning and the spring flowers just beginning to bloom, that Susato invites Rei to a small umemi viewing at the Mikotoba estate. Susato’s home is large and traditionally Japanese, with an outside engawa that faces a private garden containing few of her family’s own plum blossom trees. It’s certainly not as grand a show as a wide scale flower viewing in a public park, but then, Susato would prefer this particular event to be as private as possible.
Now, the girls sit together on the engawa, just the two of them, with their legs dangling over the edge of the wooden floor. Susato briefly allows herself a calming sip of green tea, and Rei, for her part, is happily biting down on one of the sticks of dango that Susato prepared specifically for this occasion. Her cheeks puff out adorably as she eats, and Susato is struck, not for the first time, by the desire to taste Rei’s food from off her lips.
“Rei,” Susato calls, and the addressed turns away from the flowers to face her. Susato’s heart is beating loudly in her ears, but she readied herself for this beforehand, so once placed under Rei’s expectant gaze, she works up the courage to vocalize what she’s left unsaid for months. “I would very much like to kiss you.”
Rei suddenly stops chewing. Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops slightly open, and her entire body goes stock-still at Susato’s confession. Then, finally, after what feels like an eternity, Rei lowers her gaze, audibly swallows hard, and opens her mouth to speak.
“...I see,” Rei says, placing her now empty skewer down on the plate before locking eyes with Susato again. “So what’s stopping you?”
The answer is so frank that it makes Susato’s breath catch, but upon recognizing the permission that it grants, she promptly makes her move. After setting down the teacup and pushing the plates aside, Susato scooches over to close the distance between them, and when she bends in, Rei mirrors the motion so that their lips meet. Susato’s first kiss is soft and sweet and just a bit sticky from the dango, sending her whole body aquiver from just how nice it makes her feel, and when Susato pulls away, Rei is grinning at her with cheeks pink and eyes bright.
“Should I ask what took you so long?” Rei whispers, almost playfully, and the light trill of laughter underlying her voice causes Susato to narrow her eyes.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re teasing me?”
Rei outright giggles then, cheerful and tinkling and unrestrained. “Sorry, sorry! But, Susato, I wasn’t exactly trying to hide how I felt about you.” She reaches up to tuck some of Susato’s hair behind her ear, gray eyes sparkling with affection. “I’ve been sending you signals since before the second time you left for London. For so long, I was just waiting for you give me any sort of response.”
“I’m afraid your signals got me a bit confused along the way,” Susato explains. “At first, I thought you only held those feelings towards the male version of me, who only existed to defend you in court for a single time. I held myself back because I thought I couldn’t give you what you really wanted.”
“Ah.” Comprehension dawns on Rei’s face, and then she dips in so that their noses touch, so that her breaths wash warm over Susato’s lips. “Then let me make myself perfectly clear right now. Yes, I was first attracted when I met Ryutaro Naruhodo, whom I believed was a man. But I only fell in love after I realized that the gallant lawyer who had come to my defense was actually my best friend, Susato Mikotoba, you.”
Susato had already figured as much, but it’s gratifying to hear her conclusion be affirmed—and then when Rei kisses her again, Susato readily reciprocates. In echo of some of the novels she’s read, Susato runs her fingers through Rei’s hair, shifts her mouth so that she’s lightly sucking at Rei’s bottom lip, and her reward comes in the form of a few soft little moans Rei gives against her. Their second kiss lingers on until Rei has to retreat, red-faced and panting for breath, wiping at her wet lips with the back of her hand.
“Hey, Susato?” Rei gasps. “Professor Mikotoba isn’t home, right?”
Susato nods. “Father is out with work colleagues. He won’t be back until after dinner.”
“In that case,” Rei gestures towards the shoji door, “should we perhaps go inside, find a more comfortable place to do this?”
Oh, they probably shouldn’t. They’ve only barely watched the flowers, and they still haven’t finished the dango, and if left out like this, the tea will surely go cold. But...
“Sure,” Susato agrees, an all too eager smile overtaking her lips as she stands. “No objections here.”
...It seems that springtime has come in more ways than one.