Archive of Our Own

There’s something peaceful about driving, Ei finds. 

 Maybe it’s the selective quiet inside the car — the low rumble of the engine, the soft classical music playing over the radio. All the noise from the outside world is pleasantly muted into the background. The inside of the car has long lost that new car smell (she despised that cloying scent of a factory that so many people seemed to enjoy) and now smells mostly like old paints, paper, and various inks. 

It’s another ordinary day. 

She exhales, a good ordinary day. The sun is shining brightly, there’s not a cloud in the pale blue sky, and there is no snow in the forecast. Ei is on the way to the museum. There are a few pieces that need some restoration, and she is delighted by the prospect of spending the next few weeks elbow-deep in paint and varnish and dust and history. 

Her favourite curator at the Tenshukaku Museum emailed her last night that a large shipment of Watasumi artifacts would be arriving today. 

Yes, another ordinary, peaceful day. 

A dark shadow flies out of the trees along the road, crash-landing in the middle of the road right in front of her car. Ei’s eyes widened, reflexively swerving into the other lane to avoid hitting what appeared to be a crow that had seemingly fallen from the sky. 

She watches in her rearview mirror, as the crow picks itself up from the ground kind of pathetically. Evidently worse for wear but still moving. 

Ei should mind her own business and head to work. She was going to be late, otherwise. But something makes her stop, pulling over on the side of the road. Fortunately, at this time of day, the road up to the museum isn’t that busy. 

Carefully, she steps out onto the recently cleared road. Even with the salt and sand on the roads, it’s still slippery, and she makes her way over to the bird who seems to be watching her with wide eyes. 

Crows are intelligent creatures, Ei remembers her sister telling her once, far more intelligent than humans often give them credit for. Makoto always knew random facts. She approaches the bird slowly, careful not to startle them with any sudden movements. Slowly, and with deliberate eye contact, she crouches down and picks them up, cupping them with both hands. They’re smaller than she thought they would be.  

For a moment, she thinks that the bird’s broken, staring at her, unmoving, golden eyes sparkling in the morning sunlight. And then they fluff their feathers up, making them look far more round than Ei thinks a bird has any right to be. They’re warm in her hands and a lot softer than Ei would have thought too.

“The road is not a place for a bird,” Ei says to the creature. “I nearly killed you.” 

The crow huffs, as if to say ‘I know that’. 

“I’m going to put you in a tree.” She isn’t sure why she’s talking to this bird like they understand, but the bird doesn’t try to escape or attack her, so perhaps they really do. 

The snow along the side of the road is thick enough that snow immediately gets inside Ei’s sensible and comfortable loafers. These are definitely not outdoor shoes and she can imagine the look that Makoto would give her if she found out. Still, she soldiers on, making it up to a tree. 

“Off you go,” Ei tells the bird, holding them up to one of the lower branches. 

The bird gives her one more look before hopping up onto the branch. Ei pauses there at the foot of this tree for a moment longer, worried that the bird might fall out of the tree. But the crow perches, sure-footed, on the bark, watching her.

They tilt their head to the side, curious, and lets out a caw — almost reminiscent of an alarm. 

Ah, Ei was going to be late. Hastily, she hurries back to the car, trying her best not to slip in the snow. The warmth of her car is welcome against her chilled skin and she pulls back out onto the road. 

Even as she drives off, she can’t help but glance in the rearview mirror at the crow. The very round crow, she thinks, fondly.

Glittering eyes watch her leave. 

Sara watches as Ei’s silver crossover disappears around a curve in the road. Her talons grip the tree branch firmly, securing her footing. 

Eating pavement and becoming roadkill this morning wasn’t on the menu, but sometimes the world worked differently. It wasn’t like she had intended to fly to work this morning either, but her bike (she knows she shouldn’t ride it around while the roads were so slippery) was currently at the mechanics.

She just figured it would be easier to fly to work than suffer through public transit or pay for a taxi. 

What she hadn’t expected was for an owl to come swooping out of the trees along the road that led up to the Tenshukaku Museum. In an effort to avoid becoming an owl’s lunch, she had crashed through the branches of the trees, diving uncontrollably out of the trees and into the road. 

She can still feel the lingering traces of adrenaline rushing through her veins from when she stared death in the face in the form of bright LED headlights and a shiny chrome front grill. 

Thank the Archons that the car swerved. 

Even more unexpected, was Ei climbing out of the car to carry Sara off the road to relative safety. Most people would have just driven on, satisfied with not hitting an animal — not Ei. Of course, Ei would get out of the car to make sure she was okay, crow or not. 

It was a touching gesture, if not a little foolish, stopping in the middle of the road as well as touching an unknown wild animal with her bare hands. 

Ei’s hands had been warm and soft and — Sara forces herself to stop thinking about it. She has to get a move on, lest she be the one who was going to be late for work. 

Still, Ei had saved her life. 

(Well, nearly killed her. But she didn’t, so Sara was still alive because of her.)

Crow Kujou Sara vows that she would repay this kindness.

“Sara?” Ei knocks on the door to her office. She was eager to get to work, but there was nothing that said that she couldn’t stop in to see her favourite museum curator.

Usually, Sara kept her door open if she was inside and not desperately busy. To see the door closed was a surprise. 

“Come in!” 

With two cups of coffee balanced in her hands, Ei opens the door with her elbow. She nearly drops both cups when she enters the office to find Sara shirtless, sitting on the small sofa on the side. 

“Oh, Raiden-sama. Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” Sara hastily puts her shirt on, wincing as she pulls the sleeve over one of her arms. 

Ei doesn’t miss the angry scrapes that travel up the other woman’s forearm, all the way to the shoulder. She makes a show of looking around the room as she sets both cups of coffee on the coffee table, careful to use the well-worn coasters (Ei had bought them for her as a gift from the museum gift shop when Sara first started). 

“What are you looking for?” Sara asks, puzzled. 

“My sister — you said Raiden-sama,” Ei says, allowing just a hint of teasing to colour her tone. “Who else could you be referring to, if not Makoto?”

Sara blushes, a delightful pink dusting her cheeks. “You?”

“I’ve told you before that Ei is fine.” 

“But you’re the director’s sister,” Sara argues weakly, faltering under Ei’s bemused stare. 

“I’m merely the conservator here, and you are the curator. We are of the same seniority.” Ei presses one of the coffee cups into Sara’s hand, forcing her to stop pulling on the shirt. 

“I’ll try to remember that,” Sara finally acquiesces. Ei has a feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time that they would be having this conversation.

“Now let me see that,” Ei chides gently. “You have to dress those wounds properly or you’re going to get them infected.” 

From beneath the coffee table, Ei pulls out the oversized first aid kit. Museum safety policy stated that every office needed to have a standard first aid kit, but Sara never did anything in half measures. This kit is practically a mini mobile clinic, short of a defibrillator — that’s hanging on the wall outside Sara’s office. 

“I can do it myself,” Sara protests, reaching for the kit. She winces with the movement. 

Ei moves the kit out of her reach, “You’re not going to be able to secure the bandages by yourself.” 

“I’ll be fine.” 

“Drink your coffee and let me work,” Ei tells her, opening the kit and pulling out the antiseptic as well as some bandages. 

Sara looks down skeptically at the cup in her hand. “Did you make this?”

“For someone who was just calling me, ‘Raiden-sama’, you sure are brave to question the coffee I brought you.” 

Sara looks down at her coffee, her blush flaring to a brilliant red to match the antique hair clip in her hair. 

“Relax,” Ei says, deciding to be merciful today. “Makoto made the coffee. I’m not going to try to kill the museum curator inside the museum walls.” 

“That’s oddly reassuring,” Sara mumbles, taking a sip of the coffee. “Oh, this is good. You remember how I take my coffee.” 

Two milk. No sugar.

Opposite of how Ei liked hers: no milk, two sugar.

Ei would have remembered regardless of the little pattern, but it amused her to know that Sara’s paler milky coffee was almost like the yang to the yin of her darker black coffee. She says nothing about it though, tearing open an alcohol swab.

She takes a deep breath. Should she ask now? It felt like now was as good a time as any, seeing how she has Sara here. Another deep breath, steeling her nerves and the butterflies in her stomach that flutter with nervousness and excitement. 

“Do you want to have coffee with me?”

Sara looks over at her, puzzled. “We are already doing that?” She holds up her cup of coffee.

Ei doesn’t let the slight disappointment show on her face — did Sara already consider this a date? Her heart pounds, how foolish. Sara is so many more steps ahead of her. She changes the subject instead, trying to cover up her blunder. 

“This is going to hurt,” Ei warns. 

Sara hardly flinches, only tensing slightly, as Ei begins to work, gently cleaning the gashes. 

“How did this happen?” Ei murmurs, tossing aside a bloodied swab and opening another with her teeth.

“Oh, uh-”

“Were you riding your bike again?” 

“Uhmmmm….” Sara looks at her, wide-eyed and panic-stricken. 

Ei takes that as a yes. 

“I can give you a ride to work, you know,” Ei continues, focused on cleaning. 

“Oh, that’s not necessary, Raiden-”

Ei’s gaze flicks upwards to meet Sara’s and Sara’s voice falters.

“Uh, I mean Ei,” Sara hastily corrects herself. 

“I think you should accept,” calls out another voice from the doorway. 

Ei looks up to find her twin watching them, amused. 

“Raiden-sama,” Sara makes a move to stand up but Ei’s firm grip on her wrist prevents her from doing so, resulting in an awkward half-standing movement where she barely leaves the seat. 

Makoto smiles. “No need for formalities here, Sara.”

Sara looks increasingly conflicted as she looks between the twins. 

“But really, you should let Ei drive you. She hardly lets anyone else sit in her car, so really, it’s an honour.” 

Ei shoots her twin a glare but Makoto’s smile only widens further. “Were you looking for us for something?”

Technically, Makoto is her boss but Ei also knows she’s the best conservator that the museum had on the books. There’s a lot more that she could get away with even if she didn’t share the same face as the director of the museum. 

“Yes, the new shipment of artifacts from Watasumi just arrived. I figured you would want to be there as they unloaded everything.” 

Right, work. 

“I’ll be there in a moment. Is Kokomi in already?” Ei sighs. Unfortunately, Sara didn’t oversee the Watasumi exhibits. 

“She’s been waiting for you,” Makoto replies, pulling out her phone. “I’ve got a meeting to get to. So I’ll see you for lunch then?”

“Lunch,” Ei agrees, turning her attention to bandaging the now-cleaned wounds. 

“Okay, see you both around then.” With that, the sounds of heels clicking sharply against the tile floors signal Makoto’s departure. 

The two of them fall into a bit of an awkward silence as Ei finishes bandaging up Sara’s arm. 

“There,” she says with a satisfied nod. “That should hold.” 

Sara flexes her arm experimentally, testing the limits of the bandages. “Thank you.” 

“It’s nothing,” Ei replies. Something catches her eye, sticking out at an awkward angle against the back of Sara’s neck. “Oh, you’ve got something in your hair.” 

She reaches out, and Sara holds perfectly still as Ei plucks a single black feather from beneath her shirt collar.

Both of them stare at it. 

“Thanks,” Sara says after a long moment. 

They sit there for a moment longer, looking at each other. 

“You’re going to be late for the delivery,” Sara points out finally.

“Ah.” Fuck. 

Ei leaves, but not without one more backward glance at Sara.

“Raiden-”

Makoto cuts Sara off with a sharp glare. Even from across her office, the director is an imposing figure. 

“Uh, Makoto-san,” Sara corrects herself. 

Makoto sighs, “Yes, Sara.”

“Have you seen, uh, Ei?” 

The conservator had driven her into work this morning, as she always had for the last few weeks, looking a little (okay, a lot) worse for wear. Sara had been concerned, but Ei had waved it off as nothing more than a little sniffle. 

“Oh, yes. I had Miko drive her home.” Makoto shuffles around some of the papers on her desk, looking a little more frazzled than usual.

“Miko?” Sara repeats.

“Yes, Miko brought me lunch today. So I had her take Ei home on her way back to the publishing house. She was feeling rather under the weather,” Makoto glances at her over the papers. “Were you looking for her for something?”

“Oh, it’s uh nothing,” Sara says, “I found the lid to her favourite fountain pen she lost the other day. I just wanted to return it to her.” Her fist closes tightly around the purple cylindrical object. 

“Another?” Makoto smiles, “You’re very good at finding missing items.” 

Not good enough. 

Sara hardly thinks that finding missing items is enough of a repayment for the kindness that Ei has shown her. How many pen caps, USB flash drives, loose keys and paint brushes could Sara return for it to make up for the life that Ei had saved?

Her life ?

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Makoto’s smile widens. “Why don’t you take the pen cap to Ei then? These documents too. They’re urgent. She needs to see them tomorrow.” A drawer rasps as she pulls it open, pulling a thick stack of paper from it and sliding it into an envelope and sealing it.

“Of course.” Sara takes the envelope with her free hand. 

“You can take Ei’s car too.” 

Something silver flies through the air at her, and Sara nearly drops the envelope trying to catch the set of car keys. 

“I was going to drive it home tonight, but I think you should take the car back to her.”

“But how will you get home?” Sara looks at the set of keys in her hands, recognizing most of them as keys to various rooms in the museum. 

“This is just another excuse to spend some time with Miko,” Makoto tells Sara. “It’s been kind of quiet today. I’ll let you have the afternoon to drop that off to Ei.”

Sara looks down at the things in her hand dumbly. Before she can say anything else though, the phone rings. 

Makoto sighs. “Now if you excuse me, I have an important call with the Qixing Museum’s director, right now.”

With that, Sara is dismissed. 

She walks back into the hallway, car keys and envelope in one hand, pen cap in the other.. 

Well, perhaps she could find some way to repay Ei. 

It’s cold. 

Ei pulls the blankets tighter around herself, feeling shivers run down her body. 

She’s miserable and cold and feels like a truck has run her over. The sofa cushions under her head are hardly comfortable but her bed is simply too far.

The sound of something tapping against a surface makes her look up blearily. 

It must be the fever, Ei thinks, as she sees what she thinks is a small and round bird hopping their way into her living room. The bird takes a few more hops, until they’re in front of the sofa, head tilting curiously to the side in a manner that is all too familiar to her. 

Yes, it has to be the fever. 

Why and how else would that crow that she had nearly run over all those weeks ago be here?

Ei rolls over on the couch, pulling the blankets over her head. 

What strange fever dreams she’s having.

Sara creeps quietly back into Ei’s house with the documents and car keys and pen cap in hand. 

She had driven Ei’s car to her house, the address thankfully inputted into the GPS of her car. It isn’t until she’s at the front door that she realizes that despite having all of Ei’s work keys and car keys, there isn’t a house key in sight. And yes, Sara has tried all the keys on the keyring on the front door, despite knowing full well that they wouldn’t open the door. 

Standing at the front door, she hesitated to ring the doorbell, lest she woke up the other woman. If Ei had to be sent home in the middle of the workday, that meant she was really sick, and Sara didn’t want to disturb her rest.  

In desperation, she even texted Makoto, asking if Ei had a spare key somewhere but there was no response. The director was probably still in a meeting. 

Quietly, she did a lap around the perimeter of Ei’s house. The building was nondescript and smaller in size. All the windows were closed, but Sara could see that the small window in the bathroom was unlocked. 

There was no way for her to reach the window (or fit through it) as she was. But she could be something else too. 

She left all the items she was supposed to bring Ei by the front door before taking her crow form, flitting easily up to the bathroom window and prying it open with her beak. 

Easy.

There’s a pile of clothes on the bathroom floor — Ei’s work clothes, Sara recognizes the cardigan that Ei had worn this morning. Archons, she better not have just stripped naked in whatever throes of illness that plagued her. 

For a second, she had thought that Ei would catch her and toss her back outside as she crossed the living room, finding the other woman sleeping on the couch of all places. But Ei had mumbled something to herself, rolling over on the couch. 

From there it was a matter of opening the front door and retrieving the things that Sara had left there. 

Now inside the house as a person, Sara swaps her shoes for a pair of slippers that she finds by the front entryway. There’s a purple pair discarded haphazardly by the foot of the couch that she noticed as she passed by earlier. It feels rude not to follow the rules of Ei’s house. 

Carefully, she places all of Ei’s items on the kitchen counter, somewhere she is sure to see it. There’s a plastic bag with a local pharmacy’s logo on it there too. Perhaps Miko had picked up some medicine for Ei on the way here but it doesn’t look like it's been touched at all. She’s about to retrieve her shoes and leave back through the window when she hears Ei mumble from the couch. 

Perhaps she should check in on the other woman.

“Ei?” Sara calls out softly, padding across the room. She crouches down next to the other woman. 

More sleepy mumbles as Ei shivers under the blanket, rolling back over. Sara stumbles backwards, surprised at how close their faces were, knocking into the coffee table with a loud clatter. 

That makes Ei sit up. 

“Sara…?” 

“Uhm, hi,” Sara says awkwardly, straightening out the coffee table. 

“What are you… here? You get in?” Ei rubs her eyes sluggishly, words coming out in a sleepy mumble. Thank the Archons she’s dressed in a matching long-sleeved pajama set, her work clothes that Sara had seen her in, already long shed. 

“Makoto-san gave me the keys,” Sara lies. 

She’s not about to tell Ei how she broke into her house. 

“Mhmm,” Ei replies. She slumps sideways into the back of the couch. 

Sara reaches out to pull the blanket back up over her, hand brushing against her arm as she does. “You’re freezing,” Sara hisses. 

“Is cold,” Ei agrees but makes no further movement. 

“Why are you sleeping out here?” 

“Far.”

“Okay, you’re going to bed.” Sara pulls the blanket closer around Ei, and tries to get her to her feet to no avail. “I apologize for this,” Sara says, and with that, she scoops Ei up easily into her arms. 

For someone of Ei’s size and stature, she sure is light. Sara makes her way down the hall, past the bathroom that she had entered through and to the open doorway at the end of the hall. The corner of a bed, just visible through the doorway is all that Sara needs to know. 

Ei’s room is exactly what Sara thought it would be.

Bed, chest of drawers, closet, and a few shelves full of various knick-knacks, statues, and souvenirs. Various pieces of art line the walls, and a katana sits on full display on top of the drawers, the blade gleaming dangerously in the moonlight streaming in through a window. 

Sara bumps the light switch on the wall as she passes it by and deposits Ei onto the bed. It takes some coaxing to get her under the covers, a hiss of protest as her feverish skin hits the cold sheets. 

“Did you eat?” she asks. 

Ei shakes her head. 

“Okay, I’ll go make you some food,” Sara tells her. 

Unintelligible mumbling is the only response that she gets back.

“Yell if you need anything, okay?” Sara turns off the light and leaves Ei to rest in the comfort of her bed.

She has bigger fish to fry now.

It feels weird to wander around someone else’s house without that said someone else present as a guide, but Sara makes her way back to the small kitchen. Flicking on the lights here, she finds that, of course, Ei’s kitchen is sparsely equipped. She manages to find a rice cooker hiding in one of the cupboards and some rice in a container hiding behind many packages of instant noodles. 

The fridge is also mostly empty, save for an unhealthy stockpile of dango milk and a few apples rolling around at the bottom of the produce drawer. 

Sara isn’t sure what she expected, but it certainly wasn’t this. 

She starts making rice porridge in the rice cooker while boiling water in the kettle. There’s a good amount of tea in the cupboards as well. While she’s doubtful that Ei would want to drink hot tea in her current state, a little bit of warm water would be good to keep her hydrated. 

Her eyes can’t help but wander as she begins the monotonous task of cooking. The rest of Ei’s house is decorated much like her bedroom. 

Various works of art line the walls, most of them are replicas of pieces that Sara passes by every day at the museum. Some are clearly expensive paintings that look like they belonged in an art gallery. 

Sara wonders if Ei ever gets tired of looking at things like this at work and then coming home to look at them some more. 

Perhaps not though, there’s a reason why it's called art after all. 

The largest work is of the Sacred Sakura tree at the Grand Narukami Shrine. Hanging directly across the couch, the position of the scroll strikes a lasting impression. Most people would have a television in that spot. 

Not Ei. 

Carefully, Sara doles out two portions of the porridge — she’s made more than enough for her to eat too, and the smell of the rice porridge, seasoned mildly with an extra packet of ramen soup base (there’s nothing else for Sara to work with), is enough to make her stomach growl. She returns to Ei’s bedroom, tray of food with a cup of warm water and the brand new bottle of cold medicine from the plastic bag in tow.

“Ei?” Sara whispers into the darkened room. 

The lump on the bed rolls over. 

“S… Sara?” Ei replies hoarsely. 

“Do you feel up to eating?” 

“Uh-huh.” 

Sara sets the tray down on the bedside table before helping Ei up into a sitting position, supported by her pillow. Her face is sweaty and feverish, but her eyes definitely look more lucid. She hands Ei the bowl of food, careful to pad the bottom of the bowl with one of the kitchen towels so she wouldn’t burn her hands. 

The porridge is definitely on the watery side, purposeful so that Ei could sip at it without the need for a spoon. 

Under Sara's watchful gaze though, Ei finishes the whole bowl while Sara downs hers in five large gulps. 

“More?” Sara asks as she takes Ei’s now empty bowl away from her. 

Ei shakes her head. 

Slowly, as if Ei is a frightened prey animal, Sara reaches out with one trembling hand. Ei doesn’t even react, staring at a point on the floor past Sara. With a frown, Sara lays the back of her hand across Ei’s forehead.

Still very warm.

“I’m going to give you some Teylonol.” Sara pours a capful of the dark red liquid into the cap and hands it to Ei. 

Thankfully, Ei drinks the cold medicine without any protest, making a face at the disgusting artificial cherry flavour. 

“Water,” Sara says, pressing the cup of warm water into her hands.

The other woman sips at the water, quiet and content. Eventually, the cup is empty and Ei slumps back under the covers. Her eyes flutter closed, pulling the pillows into place around her with heavy arms until she’s comfortable again. 

Sara watches her for a moment longer, fond but concerned. The conservator has always been so proud and unflappable at work. It’s perhaps petty, but nice to know that she was only human. Tenderly, she brushes a strand of hair out of Ei’s sweaty face.

She’s resting now, chest rising and falling under the blanket. The cold medicine would kick in soon too, hopefully helping her sleep through the night.

Quietly, Sara gathers up the dishes and retreats back outside. She might as well do the dishes and clean up while she’s here. No sense in leaving them for Ei to do the next morning. 

In the quiet of a mostly empty house that is not her own, Sara does the dishes and packs up the rice porridge into a large bowl with plastic wrap over it. None of the plastic containers in Ei’s cupboard have matching lids. It makes sense, Sara surmises, Ei couldn’t cook. 

Perhaps she should come back tomorrow with more food? Neither of them had work tomorrow, anyway. 

How has Ei gotten by before?

This is clearly a space meant for one.

Perhaps Makoto came by? Or Miko. 

They all seemed close. 

Sara debates staying over on the couch for the night, but that’s probably too much. 

Instead, she gets her things together, putting her shoes outside the front door and leaving the borrowed slippers where she found them in the front entryway. She triple-checks to make sure that the door is locked before heading to the bathroom. 

Frowning at the pile of clothes on the floor, Sara picks them up, draping the relatively clean cardigan over the hook on the back of the door. The rest of the clothes go into the laundry hamper in the corner of the bathroom. 

Satisfied with her work, Sara takes her bird form. 

She’s halfway to the window when hands close around her form, plucking her from the air. 

One second, she’s taking off, wings spread, in the air on her way out, the next second, she’s the meat in a hands-crow sandwich. 

“Oh, hello… little one….” 

Sara twists her head around (thank the Archons for the increased range of motion of a crow) to see Ei standing there in the bathroom, barefooted with mussed-up hair. Her eyes are glassy and half-lidded, cheeks flushed. Why is she out of bed? 

“It’s dark… out,” Ei coughs, burying her face into her sleeve so as to not cough on Sara.

Very considerate of her. 

“Dangerous to… go out,” Ei mumbles at her. She turns unsteadily on her heel, still holding Sara in her hands. 

There’s nothing that Sara can do, but go along, trapped by two warm and gentle hands. She watches, wide-eyed as Ei carries her back to her bedroom.

“Sleep,” Ei says, placing her on one of the pillows and dragging the blanket from the couch up to her so that she’s practically drowning in the material.

Sara wiggles free of the blanket, just enough so that her head pokes out. 

“Sleep,” Ei repeats, putting a hand on Sara’s head. She’s wrapped up in her own blanket now, comfortable and cozy. 

Her hand is by no means heavy, resting on Sara’s form kind of like a weighted blanket. Sara remains in place, watching the other woman’s face as she drifts back to sleep, a peaceful expression on her face. 

Sara waits until she’s certain that Ei’s asleep before she starts trying to wiggle free again. She’s careful not to disturb Ei, but the second that she manages to get halfway out of Ei’s grasp, Ei mumbles, face brow furrowing. Panicked, Sara wiggles back into place — her feathers would be ruffled tomorrow, but that’s a small matter. 

In the warmth of Ei’s hand and the comfort of the pillows and blankets, Sara finds herself also drifting to sleep. 

She had considered staying over tonight, anyway. All she had to do was leave early in the morning before Ei woke up.

When Ei wakes up, her mouth is dry, and her sinuses are clogged. She doesn't feel great, but she’s alive. 

Frowning, she realizes that she’s in her bed. She doesn’t remember walking to her bedroom last night, but she’s glad that she made it to bed. Her bed is infinitely more comfortable and pleasant than her couch — warmer too.

She rolls over, burying her face into the back of someone’s neck, arms wrapped firmly around someone’s waist.

It takes a second, but Ei realizes that she’s not alone in this bed.

Makoto? 

She does have the key to her house. Perhaps her sister had stayed the night. She doesn’t remember Makoto showing up last night, though. 

She sits up, wide-eyed and panicked and tosses the blanket, usually found over the back of the couch, off to the side. A bleary-looking Kujou Sara blinks up at her. 

“Sara?” Ei’s voice is hoarse, and speaking makes her throat hurt. 

Sara is immediately alert, looking up at her, and then down at herself. 

“Sara, how did you get into my house? Why are you here?” 

The other woman opens her mouth to speak, panic written all over her face in big bold letters. All that comes out is a squeak. Sara rolls off the bed, clearly intending to make a run for it. 

Ei is faster though, even being sick, she catches hold of Sara’s hand. 

“Sara!” 

To Ei’s astonishment, she watches as Sara turns into a very round crow, pulling free of Ei’s grasp and leaving nothing but a single black feather in her hand. The crow, - no, Sara flies out of Ei’s reach, landing neatly on the top shelf of one of Ei’s shelves. 

Ei recognizes the crow. 

The round crow with glittering, and intelligent eyes that she had nearly run over. 

“Sara?” Ei repeats, astonished. 

She scrambles out of bed, kicking aside sheets and covers that tangled themselves around her legs. Stumbling, she makes her way to the shelf, where Sara, the crow, perches. 

“You can turn into a crow?” Ei asks. 

Sara shuffles around on the shelf, talons clicking loudly against the wood. She says nothing, a crow can’t speak after all, but Ei gets the impression that she means ‘of course, she can’.

Ei stretches up, trying to reach Sara, who takes a few steps further back into the shelf. There’s no way for Ei to reach her without going to get the ladder from the hall closet and she certainly isn’t about to take her eyes off Sara.

She backs up, slowly and deliberately, never breaking eye contact with Sara. “You… took care of me last night.” 

Her memories of the night before are hazy at best and pieced together haphazardly. She remembers Sara carrying her to bed and bringing her food. 

She doesn’t remember Sara coming to bed with her — no she had caught a crow in her bathroom and brought them to bed. 

Oh, Archons. This is why she hates being sick. 

“Thank you for taking care of me last night,” Ei amends. “I apologize for any inconveniences I might have caused while I was out of it.” 

Sara ruffles her feathers, indignant. 

“It’s quite difficult to speak to you while you are a bird, you know that?” Ei tries again. “Could you return to your human form so we can speak?”

Sara shakes her head no. Emphatically no. 

“Well, I apologize for what I’m about to do then.” 

With three lengthy strides, Ei marches right up to the shelf and starts climbing it. She’s ten again, trying to grab the thick book about history on the top shelf at the library. There’s not an adult in sight, just Makoto, watching her with worried eyes. 

Except for this time, there’s no Makoto, only Sara, this crow, who won’t come down. 

There’s a splintering crack as one of the shelves gives way beneath her foot as she’s about five feet in the air. They were made from a single wooden board after all. 

Five feet isn’t that high up, but Ei finds herself flailing backwards, hands slipping, unable to find a purchase on the smooth material of the shelf. She’s not going to be able to land on her feet, so she braces herself for impact.

The impact never comes. 

There’s no pain, no hard floor beneath her, only two strong arms keeping her secure.

A dark blur had leapt from the bookshelf. Sara grabs her and pulls her close as the curator lands on the floor beneath Ei, absorbing most of the impact. 

They skid across the floor, Sara stubbornly refusing to roll to disperse more of the force and let Ei hit the floor at all. Eventually, the side of the bed stops their momentum and Sara lets out a small oomph as her side bumps into it.

Ei immediately sits up, not caring that her limbs are tangled with Sara’s and she’s practically sitting in her lap. 

“Sara?” Ei touches the side of Sara’s face gently, tilting her head so that she’s looking up at her.

“Are you alright?” 

The first words out of Sara’s mouth, of course, she’s checking up on Ei. 

“I’m fine. You were the one who landed on the floor,” Ei chides, checking her over for any obvious injuries. Thankfully, nothing seemed broken and Sara sits up with little difficulty. 

“It’s nothing,” Sara says. “I’ve survived being nearly run over-” She stops mid-sentence, eyes wide. 

“You were that crow on the road,” Ei smiles with some satisfaction. She’s known for all of ten minutes now, but to get some verbal confirmation is nice.

“The one you attempted to murder, yes,” Sara says. Her tone is light and clearly teasing.

“That was an accident,” Ei argues. The pieces click in her head. “I- that’s why you were injured that day. It wasn’t a bike accident!” 

“I mean,” Sara looks off to the side, embarrassed. “It was technically a bike accident. I was flying to work because my bike was in the shop.”

“Sara,” Ei stares at her sternly. “I would have just driven you to work if you asked.”

“I couldn’t possibly trouble you like that. You already saved my life once, I was trying to repay you for that-”

“I didn’t even know you were the bird that I almost murdered,” Ei points out. “Is that why you’ve been hanging around my workstation so frequently lately?”

“Yes. Though I hardly think that retrieving your missing items is enough to repay you for saving my life.”

“Oh.” It’s foolish to feel crestfallen, Ei knows that, but she can’t help it. She had been reading too much into the other woman’s actions, hoping for something that didn’t exist.

“Why? Did I bother you when I was there? If I’m annoying you, I can stop, I can ask Makoto-san to transfer me to some other museum-”

“No,” Ei puts a hand out, covering Sara’s mouth. She was only making things worse. 

“Sorry?” Sara squeaks.

“I thought you were hanging around because you wanted to spend time with me,” Ei mumbles. She wants to look away, but she can’t, caught in the golden honey of Sara’s eyes like a helpless animal. 

Sara pries Ei’s hand away from her mouth. 

“I mean, I did want to spend time with you. I still do.”

Ei’s heart rises, bumping into the back of her throat with every hammering pulse. 

“Did you also think that when we had coffee as I was patching up your injuries was a date?”

Sara tilts her head to the side, confused. “A date-” she pauses, thinking hard over the conversation they had. Her eyes widen, realization dawning on her like the morning sun. “You were asking me on a date?”

“Yes.” 

“Oh.”

Ei smiles softly. “The offer still stands, you know.”

Sara sneezes, hard enough that it dazes her, and she stares blankly at Ei for a moment until her gaze refocuses.

“Although, maybe, you should get back in bed. I think you’ve caught whatever it is I have, sleeping next to me last night.”

“You’re the one who put me there and got me sick,” Sara laughs softly, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. 

“I-” Ei frowns. “I apologize.” 

“It’s okay.” There’s a glimmer in Sara’s eyes, “Wouldn’t be the first time you attempted to murder me.” 

“Sara.” 

Sara looks up from where she’s curled up on the couch, blanket wrapped tightly around her shivering form. She has a cup of tea in her hands while Ei reheats the leftover rice porridge. 

“What’s this envelope?” Ei coughs. She stands at the kitchen counter, the microwave whirring behind her. 

It takes a moment for Sara to realize what Ei is referring to — the envelope that Makoto had asked her to bring to Ei.

“Makoto-san asked me to bring them to you. She said that they were some important documents.” 

A loud ripping sound fills the air as Ei tears open the envelope. 

Silence.

“This is just blank paper?” Ei asks, puzzled. 

Sara turns to look at Ei, equally confused. 

Makoto had asked her to bring Ei blank paper?

Somewhere in Inazuma City, a museum director sneezes.