Work Text:
A strip of bright, morning sunlight falls through the blinds, and Mamori’s eyes, still closed, shut tighter, her eyebrows drawing together. She rolls over, but the movement causes the blanket to slip off her bare shoulder, and she gives up on trying to hold onto sleep any longer. She opens her eyes, the puffy white blanket is like a mountain, obstructing her view, and she scoots it aside, just a bit. Mamori takes in the sight of the adjacent pillow, and the empty space accompanying it. The apartment seems to be silent, and she’s fairly certain that Mirei has been awake for a while.
Mamori sits up, and immediately shivers. The sudden rush of air against her skin makes goosebumps rise up on her arms, and she hugs the blanket tightly around herself. On second thought, she doesn’t want to get up just yet. She yawns, and slips back down into the bed. It’s no use, however, she might still feel a little drowsy, but she won’t be falling asleep again. A nice shower might help her wake up though, and also warm her up a little.
Slowly, she gets out of bed. It’s rude to just leave it unmade, so despite the morning chill, she arranges the pillows and folds the blanket as it should be. After feeling satisfied with her work, she looks over at the closet. Surely, Mirei won’t mind if she borrows something, a jacket, maybe? She rubs at her arms again, yesterday’s temperature was warm, hot even, but spring tends to be unpredictable, and she really should have been more prepared with her clothes. She wasn’t planning on staying the night though, and the best she can recall is just crashing after arriving at Mirei’s apartment. Maybe she should reconsider accepting invitations to go out drinking with her colleagues from now on. Mamori shakes her head, that’s not her concern right now, not when it’s so cold! She grabs a shirt and a sweater out of the closet, she’ll just have to make do with the shorts she has on under her dress, there’s no way anything of Mirei’s will fit her waist.
Yawning again, she makes her way over to the bathroom. It’s just as neat as tidy as the rest of Mirei’s apartment, with only necessities on the counter. It’s much different from Mamori’s, and she feels a tiny twinge of embarrassment as she recalls all the hair accessories and makeup heaped on her counter. How could she have let Mirei see that mess before, she’s the older one and needs to set a better example!
The shower does help her wake up, and something about the scent of Mirei’s shampoo makes her giggle. It’s a fresh clean scent, not like the fruity shampoos that Mamori uses. She towel dries her hair, not wanting to disrupt the tidy state of Mirei’s bathroom to search for a hairdryer. She pulls the sweater on, and shakes her head to free her hair from it. It’s a little big on her, or rather, that’s an understatement. The sweater is long enough to entirely cover her shorts, nearly giving the appearance that she’s wearing nothing else. The sleeves have enough excess fabric that even the tips of her fingers can’t be seen. She rolls them up, and the sleeves bunch at her elbows, and immediately unfold again. She gives it a few more tries before giving up, and leaves the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
The front door clicks open right then, and Mirei steps inside. A plastic grocery bag hangs in the crook of her elbow, and she removes her boots, carefully placing them on a rack. She looks up and her face tints slightly pink upon seeing Mamori, “Ah, good morning. I went to buy breakfast.”
Mamori smiles, though she doesn’t pick up on her junior’s flustered reaction, “Good morning! I borrowed your shower, is that okay?”
Mirei only nods, and avoids looking at Mamori. She makes her way over to the small kitchen, and begins to empty the contents of the grocery bag onto the counter.
The older girl bounces on her toes, and follows in after her. She puts a finger to her chin, “Oh, I borrowed these too..” she grabs at the sweater’s hem, and giggles, “it’s almost like a dress!”
Mirei nods her head again, and takes out a mixing bowl from an overhead cupboard. She expertly cracks eggs against the counter, and drops them into it, careful to not get any pieces of eggshell in the bowl. She reaches for a drawer, and takes out a whisk.
Mamori peeks past Mirei, one arm resting on the taller girl’s back as she leans forward. While Mamori considers her own cooking skills to be decent enough, the way that Mirei moves is precise and feels professional. Her cheek rubs against Mirei’s arm as she looks up at her, “What are you making?”
Mirei only nods her head, not really paying attention to the older girl. Mamori puffs her cheeks, unhappy with the response. She pokes Mirei’s waist, causing her to jolt in surprise, a small squeak leaving her mouth.
“m-Mamori-san!! What was that for?” She looks down at her, before quickly looking back to the mixing bowl again.
Mamori crosses her arms across her chest, and leans against the counter, “Mirei should pay attention when I talk!”
Mirei smiles, “Yes, yes...what were you asking?”
At this point Mamori has begun to notice that Mirei seems to be avoiding looking at her, though she has no idea why. This, coupled with how the younger girl seems to be a little fidgety piques Mamori’s curiosity. She’ll get to the bottom of this, definitely! … but maybe after breakfast, she’s feeling really hungry right now.
“I was asking, what are you making for breakfast?”
At this, Mirei finally looks over at Mamori, a slightly confused look in her eyes, “Didn’t Mamori-san specifically ask for french toast last night?”
“Ehh…” Mamori cups both sides of her face, and tries to recall it, “I don’t remember..”
Mirei sighs in an exaggerated manner, “Jeez, after you were so insistent about it! You had me pinky swear to make it for breakfast.”
Mamori tilts her head to the side, but much of last night after arriving at Mirei’s place is a blur. “Nope, I don’t remember!”
Without any warning, she gives the younger girl an almost tackling hug from behind. She giggles, “Thank you, Mirei! You’re the best!”
She doesn’t let go, though, instead burying her face into Mirei’s back. For now, she isn’t especially obstructing Mirei’s movement, so she lets her be. Though it does pose a slightly different problem to the younger girl, Mirei hopes the sound of her heart pounding isn’t too loud, and tries to focus on the task at hand to calm herself.
She lays one slice of toast onto a frying pan, and the sound of sizzling fills the air.
Mamori rubs her face against Mirei’s back, and giggles softly. Mirei smells like her shampoo, clean and fresh, but past that, there’s a faint sweet scent. Like vanilla and cinnamon, warm, tender, and comfortable. The older girl smiles to herself, “Mirei really is the best, you’re tall, and pretty, and cool, and your cooking is so good…”
Mirei’s face turns a bright pink, and she says nothing in response to Mamori. She flips a slice of french toast over, and lays another down onto the frying pan. Mamori hums as she thinks about something, snuggling against Mirei’s back, “That’s it! Mirei should just become my wife!”
The younger girl finally reacts, jerking backward. She pushes Mamori’s arms off her waist, “Th-that’s enough, stop teasing me, Mamori-san!”
Mamori looks up at her and blinks, before laughing. She reaches out and pinches Mirei’s cheeks, “Hehe, but Mirei’s so cute, I can’t help it! And it wouldn’t be that bad...”
“No way,” Mirei huffs, and slides the metal spatula under the french toast, and places the slice onto a plate. She sets another slice in its place on the frying pan, “Mamori-san, can you go set the table?”
The older girl nods, and reaches on her tiptoes to grab cups out of an overhead cabinet. She places those at the table, then opens the fridge to find a jug of orange juice.
Plates, forks, napkins, everything is in it’s place. While Mamori’s never stayed the night at Mirei’s place, she knows her way around well enough from the times she’s visited before, sometimes for dinner after work.
Mamori takes a seat at the table, and Mirei sets down the french toast in front of her. It looks beautiful, Mamori thinks, heaped with strawberries and whipped cream, and drizzled with maple syrup.
“Thanks, Mirei!”
The younger girl nods her head, then takes the seat across from her.
Mamori wants to immediately dig in, but it feels like a waste, especially with how cute the presentation is. She pulls her phone out, and snaps a picture.
Mirei laughs at this, and Mamori looks up, “What’s so funny?”
“Well, Mamori-san taking a picture of that is…” Mirei thinks for a second, “it’s a very Mamori-san like thing, that’s all.”
“What does that mean?” Mamori snaps another picture, “It’s so cute, I almost don’t want to eat it.”
Mirei laughs softly again, and then takes a bite of french toast. Mamori raises up her camera, and takes a picture.
Mirei swallows down the bite quickly, “Mamori-san!”
“That’s because Mirei is really cute too!” She giggles, but puts her phone back away. She raises a bite of french toast to her mouth, and after swallowing it, exclaims, “Mirei, you’re a genius!”
Mirei looks confused at this, Mamori’s words seem to have gotten a little lost in between her thoughts to her mouth.
“I mean! This is delicious, you could totally be a pro!” Mamori laughs, and Mirei shakes her head.
“No way, it’s not that good.” She smiles even so, “You won’t get anything by praising me this much, you know?”
Mamori fakes a pout, “I’m not trying to get anything! I’m just being honest, silly Mirei.”
The rest of breakfast continues like this, with smiles and laughter, light-hearted banter.
“It’s okay, I’ll clean up!” Mamori says, stacking Mirei’s plate on top of her own, “You made breakfast, and let me stay over, so let me do this much. Alright?”
Mirei looks like she wants to protest, but Mamori pushes her with her free hand, “Shoo, shoo, go sit down and relax.”
The movement causes one of the forks to slip off the plates and fall to the floor. Mirei goes to reach for it, but Mamori stops her, “I said I’ll do it!”
Mamori sets the plates back down, and bends over to pick up the fork. After righting herself, she turns to Mirei, who’s still standing there. She’s covered her eyes with her hands though, and Oh , is that what this is about?
Mamori giggles and Mirei removes her hands, “You’re so funny, Mirei!”
She lifts the sweater’s hem up, and Mirei’s face turns a brighter red, “Mamo--”
“Look, I have my shorts on.” Mamori can’t stop laughing, it’s really just too easy to tease Mirei. Despite her mature appearance, she’s surprisingly innocent.
Mirei’s embarrassed now, and turns around, “Mamori-san’s being awful, so I’m leaving. You can finish cleaning up by yourself then.”
Mamori laughs again, and takes the dirty plates to the kitchen sink. She puts away any leftovers, and places the juice back in the fridge. After washing her hands, she dries them on the kitchen towel. She places her hands on her hips, and surveys the kitchen and adjacent dining area one last time. Nope, nothing left to do.
Mamori takes a seat at the sofa, and hands Mirei a cup of tea. Mirei scoots over and moves a throw pillow out of the way to create space. Mamori chooses to sit right next to Mirei instead, even resting her head against her shoulder.
It’s comfortable like this, and Mamori smiles to herself. She should probably head home soon, but she’s suddenly feeling a little lethargic, sleepy even. And she doubts Mirei would mind if she stays just a while longer. She closes her eyes, and takes a sip of the tea. It tastes like berries and vanilla, nice and sweet.
Mirei actually does mind, just a little bit. Of course, she wants Mamori to stay longer, but it feels like the strength of her heart is getting tested. It doesn’t help that Mamori seems to have no sense of physical boundary between the two of them, and her teasing especially doesn’t help. If she didn’t know better, she’d think that Mamori was doing this on purpose. But Mamori doesn’t know, right? That Mirei likes her, that is.
Mamori breaks the silence after a while, and starts chattering about some show she used to watch as a child, and did Mirei ever watch it? Mirei laughs softly, she’s never heard of it, but of course Mamori would have watched such offbeat shows in her childhood.
They talk like this, and Mamori finishes her tea. She reaches over Mirei to play it on the table, and then stops. On her knees like this, her face is level with the younger girls, and somehow that makes her giggle.
“Mamori-san?” Mirei asks, feeling a little concerned at the sudden proximity.
“We’re the same height now,” Mamori laughs. And then, without really thinking about it, kisses Mirei’s cheek.
Mirei’s eyes go wide, and then she pushes Mamori away, “Mamori-san! I told you not to tease me like that!”
Mamori’s still smiling, “Why not?”
“B-because…” Mirei can’t find a convincing excuse, and falls into a flustered silence.
Mamori stops smiling, and leans closer, almost fascinated with the blush that decorates Mirei’s cheeks. Something about that, and the way her eyelashes flutter nervously, the way that Mirei won’t meet her eyes is...really cute. Mamori usually doesn’t think things over, so she nearly blurts it out, “Do you...like me?”
Mirei’s mouth opens into a small gasp, before she closes it again. She doesn’t deny it though.
Mamori decides not to think about it again, and leans closer still. Her breath ghosts over Mirei’s skin, and then her lips brush against hers. It barely counts as a kiss, their lips only touch for a short instant, but a giddy, warm feeling spreads through out Mamori’s body, and a taste of vanilla lingers on her lips.
“I think...I think I like you, too.” Mamori whispers, she feels like it’s something she shouldn’t say too loudly.
“You think?” Mirei says, “Mamori-san, if you’re still trying to tease me, it’s really not funny.”
“That’s so rude! I’m being serious, I like you.” She brings their lips together again, but she’s smiling too much and it can hardly count as a kiss again, “I just realized it, but I’ve probably liked you ever since we first met.”
Mirei can accept this, even if it’s a little unbelievable. She finally smiles, and squeezes Mamori into a hug. The tumble down, until they’re both lying on the sofa, and Mirei doesn’t let go.
Mamori peeks over at Mirei’s face, and something about her smiling face both soothes and excites her heart. It’s not very often that she gets to see Mirei smile so openly, and she thinks that she’d really like to see it more. She promises it to herself, to make sure that Mirei smiles as much as possible. But right now, there’s something else she wants to do.
“Mirei, can I kiss you again?”
“But Mamori-san,” Mirei laughs, “You’re a bad kisser.”
“Geez, you’re being so cheeky today,” Mamori’s about to say something else, but Mirei’s lips are suddenly against her own, and now she’s got absolutely nothing to complain about.