Chapter Text
When she disembarked, no one noticed her. The ship in which she had arrived at the Asticassia School of Technology was late and the spare parts for the Demi Trainers on board had to be unloaded as soon as possible. Two more transports were about to dock, so the last thing the operators cared about was who the hell the passenger carrying a toolbox and dressed like a technician with her face covered by a hood and a cap was.
She navigated her way smoothly through the cargo bay, consulted her notebook to check that she was going in the right direction, and headed toward her destination at a steady pace.
---
"Suletta, you're going to be late. Again."
Sitting on the edge of her bed, Miorine watched the tall, red-haired girl sleeping peacefully in it.
"Always the same." Miorine sighed. Over the last week, Suletta was staying up until late studying and then there was no way to wake her up in the morning.
On the other hand, seeing her asleep like this, oblivious to all worries, was soothing to Miorine. She could spend the whole morning sitting beside her, listening to her calm breathing and lovingly stroking her flaming mane.
Miorine was reaching out her right hand toward Suletta's mane when she opened her eyes and smiled at her.
"Good morning, Mio-Mio."
Miorine withdrew her hand at full speed. If Suletta had seen her intention or the blush on her face, she showed no sign of it.
"You're going to be late. That's the third time this week, sleepyhead," Miorine scolded her, although her voice did not have the harshness of other times. "And don't call me that!"
Suletta got up with a sleepy face. She headed for the bathroom, but stopped as she passed Miorine and hugged her.
"I'm a real mess," Suletta said. " I don't know what I would do without you, Miorine-san."
Miorine stiffened, but instantly relaxed and rested her head on Suletta's chest. It was impossible to get angry being in those strong but soft arms that gave her warmth and protection.
"Come on, take a quick shower while I make you something to eat on the way," Miorine said gently.
Suletta nodded, but neither of them moved. Finally, they slowly separated, maintaining contact for as long as they could. When Suletta entered the bathroom, Miorine hugged herself, as if she could keep the warm feeling of the embrace.
Look at you, Miorine Rembran, she thought. The Miorine from a year ago wouldn't recognize you.
And yet, she had no regrets about the changes she had undergone since the Mercurian girl had entered her life. For the first time in a years, she was once again feeling something other than hatred or anger.
Miorine took Suletta's Holder uniform out of the closet and carefully placed it on the bed. Then she went to the kitchen. It was fortunate that, since Suletta had joined Earth House, they had fresh eggs, which she traded for her tomatoes. She made a couple of egg and tomato sandwiches and wrapped them carefully. Finally, she made tea and put it in a to-go cup.
Just in time, she thought as she saw Suletta enter the kitchen.
"Here you go. Don't dawdle and above all don't forget that!"
Suletta picked up the sandwiches and took a sip of tea.
"Thank you, Miorine-san. See you in two hours," Suletta said and left at a brisk pace toward the main School building.
Miorine sighed. It was still an hour until her first class, so she was in no hurry. She sat down to calmly sip her cup of coffee. She thought about these little moments of homely chaos that occurred first thing in the morning. Could she live every day of her life dealing with waking up like this?
Yes. Absolutely.
It was clear that her relationship with Suletta had long been more than just a good friendship. And yet Miorine was still afraid to acknowledge it. Suletta didn't seem to mind her attitude, although she too had changed. She was much more confident now than she had been when she first arrived at Asticassia School of Technology. She was also more prone to initiate physical contact, although she did not abuse this privilege so as not to make Miorine nervous.
In other circumstances, Miorine would have been happy. But there were too many factors around the two of them conspiring against the couple.
"Couple," she said aloud. "It's a nice dream."
Miorine daydreamed as she slowly sipped her coffee.
---
She crossed the school grounds without anyone stopping her or asking any questions. All the groups of students she came across were too busy not to be late for their classes and didn't even give her a curious glance. Not even the scruffy guy who had camped out in the middle of a grove of trees next to the road seemed to have the slightest interest in knowing what a technician was doing in the area.
The key to go unnoticed is naturalness, she reminded herself for the millionth time. If you act like you're part of the School, anyone who sees you will think you are.
It was far from the first time she had infiltrated a place. However, one of the things she had learned to be successful in this kind of operations was to always be alert. Maintaining a certain degree of tension helped her to never get overconfident, which was the worst mistake she could make.
Confidence makes people stupid. Stupid people make stupid mistakes. If you do stupid mistakes, people die, Nora taught her. But Nora was dead, and even though she knew it was totally irrational, she still kept blaming herself for it.
She couldn't let the rage blind her, not after so long and not so close to her target. She paused for a second, took a deep breath and made sure to keep control. There would be time for rage later.
She checked she had reached the building she was looking for, took one last look to make sure no one had followed her and headed towards her destination.
---
Miorine leisurely changed, checked that she had everything she needed for today's classes and cleaned up the remains of breakfast. She had to admit that since Suletta had helped her clean up all the accumulated trash, the room was a much nicer place to live.
It's not only this place. Even with our problems, my life is much nicer since you came into it, she thought and felt a slight warm sensation in her cheeks as she blushed.
The doorbell brought her out of her daydreaming.
"Suletta, don't tell me you forgot something..." said Miorine as she opened the door.
It was not Suletta, but a technician from the School.
"Is there a problem?" she asked in her old stern tone. The technician took off her cap and Miorine saw her face. "Oh, my God!"
"Miorine Rembran? We need to talk."
---
Suletta parked the scooter and looked left and right. She didn't think anyone had followed her, but she wasn't going to take any chances. If Miorine thought it was important for her to take precautions, she wasn't going to question her. The message she had sent to her notebook had made that clear:
"Get back here quickly. Tell the teacher you have a personal emergency. If he gets stubborn, tell him you have the right under Article 24, Section 5 of the Special Section of the Regulations, about groom's rights. Don't tell anyone where you are going, not even the people of Earth House. Make sure no one follows you. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT."
Suletta came into the room almost running.
"M-M-Miorine-san, w-w-what happened?"
Miorine was sitting at the table with a school technician. She got up, went to Suletta and put her hands on the Mercurian girl's shoulders.
"Suletta, this can be very hard. But you are not alone. I will be here, with you." She took her by the hand.
Suletta looked worriedly at Miorine, but her face softened. The touch of Miorine's fingers between hers was a powerful anchor.
"Thank you, Miorine."
The two girls approached the table. The technician stood up, removed her cap and pushed aside the hood she was wearing. Her hair, short and frizzy, was a vivid shade of red.
Suletta's eyes widened.
"Hello Suletta. My name is Ericht Samaya. I'm your sister."