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It didn't take Chisato long to find Mizuki. In the few days they had been in Hawaii, she had already mapped out her routine. This bar was her morning drinking spot. It was also her afternoon drinking spot. Occasionally, it tripled as her evening drinking spot. Basically, she was here a lot. Not drinking all the time, thankfully, but always waiting for Hawaiian hunks to approach her, unfortunately. This morning, however, she would have to settle for a Japanese girl.
"Mizuki," said Chisato, as she sat down in front of her. "I need your advice."
"That's a first," replied Mizuki, "What about?"
"I think Takina hates me."
Mizuki made a point to take an extra-long sip of her drink. "First off, she doesn't. Second off, why ask me?"
"Well, I figured that if someone had experience with getting stood up..."
"I'll save you the trip to Kurumi to ask her if Mizuki hates you. She does."
Chisato walked up to the counter, ordered a juice and sat back down in front on her. Mizuki would not usually snitch on her if she tried to order alcohol, well, she might this time after what she just said to her, but she needed all her focus for this conversation.
"Finally starting to feel guilty, huh?" Mizuki asked as she played with her straw. "Took a while."
"Is that what this is?" Chisato asked honestly, then took a sip. Guilt was not an emotion she had a lot of experience with.
"It better be! Have you seriously not considered how skipping town the one day Takina wasn't by your hospital bed made her feel?"
"...She did that?"
"We had to periodically drag her away from you so she could get a decent night's sleep once in a while. I don't think I saw her blink in your presence. And then the second she leaves, you decide to stand up and go on a vacation! After she saved your life with her own hands!" Mizuki was gradually getting angrier and angrier. She took a deep breath. "And when I say 'her own hands', I mean it. She was lucky she didn't need surgery for her rope burns."
That last sentence unearthed a memory Chisato didn't know she had. Her falling. Takina pulling her up. The look on her face. Her hands. Her shoulder. She stayed silent and took a few seconds to do the calculations. "Oh, she definitely hates me."
"You'd think! But I can tell you, she doesn't."
"...Why?"
"You didn't see how she was acting when you went missing, Chisato. At first she was mad, but as the days went by she became the saddest little thing I'd ever seen. I swear, I caught her talking to RoboLyco in one of her worse days." Chisato could tell, she was not joking. "The fact that she's back to normal is proof enough that she'd rather have you around."
Chisato took her words like a shotgun blast to the chest. "Oh god... I'm a monster... I'm a tin-hearted monster..."
"The real problem is your tin brain, idiot," Mizuki said, then flicked her forehead. Chisato thought it didn't hurt enough. "You never apologized or asked her about this?"
"I apologized, of course I did! But I never realized... she didn't tell me... she said she wasn't mad!" Chisato knew how stupid that sounded the second it left her mouth.
"And you believed her, just like that." Mizuki took a sip of her drink. "Maybe she should hate you."
"Mizukiiiii..." whined Chisato, as she rushed to her side to cling to her waist, paying no mind to the amused stares from their fellow patrons around them, "What can I do to get her to forgive meeee?"
"Has she even said anything to you?" Mizuki asked, as she tried to push her away to no avail.
"Not really," Chisato replied as she looked up at her face, immediately back to normal.
"Then where are you even getting this from?"
"I can tell something's up." Chisato pointed at her own eye. "The same way I could tell you were annoyed for a split second when I showed up here."
"Well, I'm not exactly about to find the love of my life with you around, am I?" she said, waving her hand around to highlight the audience they had gathered. Chisato laughed sheepishly and waved at them, then looked at her again.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm not mad about that. You do it a lot. And to a lot of people."
"I do, huh..." Chisato could tell she was thinking about her interactions with many would-be suitors. "Is noticing that a special eye-only thing, or...?"
"This isn't about you, Mizuki! Takina hates my guts!" she said, though now it sounded a bit unlikely even to her. "...Probably!"
"She doesn't! Go talk to her already!"
"Okay, okay! Geez, Mizuki, thanks for all your wonderful advice!"
"Just have an honest conversation with her, idiot."
"I've tried! I just... get this weird feeling every time. Maybe this new heart is a bust and I'm dying again." She was like 95% sure it wasn't that. But it still wasn't entirely a joke.
"Oh." Chisato could see a flash of realization on Mizuki's eyes, though she couldn't tell what she noticed. Her gaze and smile turned uncharacteristically kind. "You'll be fine, Chisato," she said, as she put her hand on her head and gave her a couple pats. "Nobody's done half as much for me as that girl has done for you. Just take her somewhere nice and be yourself, it will work out."
"...Thanks." Chisato put some extra tension on her arms to hug her, then finally let go of her waist and stood up with a smile. "You know, Mizuki, you're a lot like an older sister at times like these." Wait, she thought, that was way too nice. "Maybe an aunt."
"More like a twin, you little shit!" she replied, playfully annoyed. "Now leave me alone!"
Chisato paced around the café truck that was their base of operations as she ran through the steps once again.
'Hey, Takina, let's hit the beach later!' -> She says yes, obviously -> Heart (artificial) to heart (real) conversation -> Relationship fixed.
A flawless plan. But she should definitely review it one more time just in case. So she did. During her sixth lap, Mika and Kurumi must have decided it had gotten weird enough. He signaled Kurumi to go check on her.
"Chisato, are you having a heatstroke?" Kurumi said, tapping her on the arm to break her out of her loop.
"Oh, I'm fine, Kurumi, I just-" She started saying, until she caught a glimpse of Takina approaching in the distance. "Hey, beach, let's hit the Takina later!" she immediately shouted.
Both Kurumi and Takina gave her a weird look. She could see Takina's lips mouth "Did she call me a-?"
"So are you and I supposed to hit the Takina or...," said Kurumi.
"Sorry! Sorry! I meant... Ahahaha..." She was trying very hard not to laugh, but her mouth wouldn't listen. Maybe she was actually suffering a medical episode.
"Mika, help... Chisato's finally lost it..." cried Kurumi without a hint of urgency, as she sloooowly ran back towards the counter.
Mika shook his head while smiling, then threw a soda can at the now closer Takina. She caught it, then put it on Chisato's forehead.
"Are you okay?" said Takina. There really was something weird about the way she looked at her. It was all Chisato could think about.
"Hah..." The cold did help however. She took the can. "I'm fine, I'm fine!"
"Chisato, you should take a break," said Mika.
"I don't need it! I'm at 100% power!" She opened the can and gulped the whole thing down in a single swig to demonstrate it. That was, evidently, a mistake. "Oh boy, maybe 80% now."
Mika rubbed his forehead. "Takina, do you mind taking her away somewhere for a bit?" he asked. "You're still early for your shift."
"I don't mind," she replied.
Chisato looked back at Mika and Kurumi, who simultaneously winked at her. That woman... she had to spill the beans the second she left her alone.
"Alright, I get it! Let's go, Takina." said Chisato, then let Takina lead the way as she tried to digest the drink.
Kurumi walked inside the truck as she watched the two of them leave. "You know I hate having to agree with Mizuki, but she was definitely right." Her smile got even more smug than usual. "Do you think she realizes how red her face is?" she asked, then turned to look at Mika, who was suspiciously rubbing his eyes. She moved a stool next to him and climbed up in order to pat him on the shoulder. "There, there... They grow up so fast, don't they?"
Mika nodded with a smile. "They sure do."
Takina took her to a nearby park, then sat down on a bench under a tree's shade. It wasn't the beach, but it was definitely somewhere nice. It would have to do. Chisato sat down next to her, turned to look at her and opened her mouth to speak... but nothing came out. Takina was staring forward, so it seemed like she didn't notice. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, which was gently swaying in the breeze. Ever since that bar infiltration, she'd thought ponytails were the way to go for her. Though her hair was beautiful no matter what she did with it. Really, she was beautiful in general. She was obviously getting distracted. Takina finally stared back at her quizzically, which prompted Chisato to just go for it.
"Can I see your hand?" she asked her point blank.
"Huh... sure?" replied Takina as she held her left hand out to her.
Chisato scanned it intently. It didn't look like she had any lasting damage. Even eyes like hers weren't good enough to tell just by looking, though. With her right hand, she grabbed Takina's left and began running her thumb through her palm. She couldn't notice any scars, but it was definitely as hard as a Lycoris' hand ought to be. She wondered if she was keeping up her training, even here. She ran her left thumb through her own left hand. No calluses, soft as a baby's. She ran her right through Takina's hand again. Had it really been that long since they last were working together? It took a while for her to notice she had been caressing her partner's hand for way too long. She looked up at Takina's face, who, seemingly taking it as a signal that she was finally done, interlocked her fingers with Chisato's.
"My hands healed fine," she said, "it's been months already." Chisato couldn't help but feel deservedly called out. "The one on the shoulder is for life, though."
Was Chisato being so obvious? Or...
"Mizukiiiiii!" she grumbled, annoyed. "It hasn't even been a day, woman! It's been hours!"
Takina grinned at her, obviously amused. Chisato took a deep breath and saved her anger for later.
"Were you really not mad at me?" she asked. "I just up and left after everything you did for me..."
"I so wish I was," Takina replied sincerely. "But the moment I saw you, I just got angry at myself. For not being mad at you."
"Takinaaa... you're such a softie," she said as she bumped her with her shoulder.
"You only get that privilege one time, though." Her expression turned serious. "If you dare leave me again, I will never forgive you."
"I would never." She meant it.
"Good."
They both stared ahead in silence for a minute. Chisato leaned her head on her shoulder. She intended to close her eyes and stay there for a while, but her gaze couldn't help but be drawn to it. She should have noticed at some point. Had she been deliberately hiding it from her?
"Is your scar the reason why you haven't gone swimming with me yet? Are you ashamed of it?" Chisato asked candidly.
"Oh, please." Takina said with a mocking grin she'd never have thought her capable of making the day she met her. "This scar is proof that I saved you. I couldn't be prouder of it." She turned her head towards her, practically whispering in her ear, though she couldn't tell if it was intentional. "I can show it to you whenever you want."
Chisato's cheeks immediately started burning up. She slowly leaned away from Takina and slightly averted her gaze from her.
"Takina, you've become a really scary woman in my absence."
Takina wasn't going to let her get away so easily. The second she leaned away, she took the chance to be the one putting her head on Chisato's shoulder, with her eyes closed. "You don't get to complain about it, Chisato," she whispered. "It's your fault."
Given how close she was, Chisato could no longer resist the urge to run her hand through her hair. "...I'm not complaining."
She didn't know how much time they stayed like that. It could have been a second. It could have been 10 minutes. It could have been year. She wouldn't have minded a year. It was then that she remembered the reason she wanted to talk to her in the first place.
"Oh, yeah!" Chisato exclaimed, which made Takina lean back a bit. "Why were you mad at me these last few days, then?"
"I wasn't mad at you," she replied, unconvincingly.
"Yes you were. I could tell with my special eyes."
Takina rolled her regular eyes. "Fine. Hawaii? Seriously?"
"What's wrong with Hawaii? You not having fun here?"
Takina shook her head. "It's fun."
"Then?"
Takina sighed. "Is that what you thought I meant when I asked about something you'd given up on?"
"Oh..." It finally hit her. "You wanted to know if I'll get a doggo or a kitty!"
Takina facepalmed, took a deep breath, then a second one, then planted a kiss straight on her lips. Seeing it coming didn't make it any easier to believe.
"This is what I meant," she said, inches away from her face, blushing profusely.
"Oh."
"Do you..." Takina said, then leaned away slightly, "not-"
Chisato shut her up with her mouth. How did she take this long to realize? Of course she did. She couldn't let her waste her breath on such a stupid question. She wanted it all to herself. And she would have taken way more of it, if they weren't surrounded by people. It took all her strength to pull herself away from her.
"We're still in public, sadly," Chisato said with a smile.
"I don't care," Takina replied, her face blank. She could tell, she meant it.
"Well, I do! It's embarrassing!"
"This coming from the girl that swept me off my feet in front of an audience."
"That was different! It was to prove a point!"
"Prove that you love me, then."
"I love you," Chisato said with no hesitation, hoping it would disarm her.
"I love you too," she replied in kind, then kissed her again. Chisato could pretend all she wanted, but the truth was undeniable. She was completely at her mercy.
Or at least she would have been, if she hadn't noticed a drone fly away out of the corner of her eye. If she could somehow see inside a certain truck somewhere nearby, she couldn't be faulted for thinking her three coworkers were celebrating a successful rocket landing.
"You assholes..."
"Huh?"
"Come with me, Takina." She stood up, grabbed her hand and began running towards the café truck. "I'm going to introduce my girlfriend to my family, and also maybe become an orphan!"