Chapter Text
The first time was a complete accident.
Coincidentally, as though it were a warning for difficult times to come, it was also their first kiss.
"Ow," was all Inori needed to hear to know she fucked up.
Pulling away, she cringed as she looked all over Hikaru's face. "Sorry, I am so sorr—" in a rush, Inori also tried to bow while they were extremely close, causing their foreheads to hit each other. "shoot!"
Hikaru, maybe unable to muster a sound that'd carry over the pain of two different hits, simply stepped away while holding her forehead with her hands, and then, after making sure she was a good distance away from Inori, bowed in an almost ninety-degree angle—although that looked more like a way to hold in the pain than anything else.
"It's fine," she said, still holding her position (which led Inori to think that maybe it wasn't, actually), but then she tilted her head up so her eyes would meet Inori's "are you okay?"
"Am I—you just took two hits! Are you okay??" She came closer, helping Hikaru get back into a straight position. Now, with their faces close again and without the throbbing pain in the way, she managed to notice a terrifying detail: "You're bleeding!"
"Oh..." Hikaru licked her lips, tasting the iron "Wow, that was more extreme than I thought it would be. More importantly— did I make you uncomfortable? Is that why you bit me?"
Seeing Hikaru's eyes so filled with worry made Inori feel the churning nervousness (and now embarrassment) that led them to this situation in their first place.
Like most drama between athletes, it started at training camp. As always, Hikaru tried at every chance she got to talk with Inori, and, as always, Inori pretended not to notice as her ever-helpful colleagues dragged Hikaru away to go do something else.
Look. Inori would like to think that she has grown ever since that mortifying training camp years ago, when she bawled her eyes out in front of everyone at the sight of Hikaru, unable to deal with the reminder of her first loss to her. She learned, she grew, and now she's above such childish acts (while the sun is still out, at least).
Now, she avoided Hikaru for a much more mature and sensible reason.
The reason? That didn't really matter right now.
Point is: her day was going great, and as Hikaru-free as it could get. She really felt like she was making progress, and Coach Tsukasa was also very happy with her development (although in recent years he adopted this annoying habit of being more mysterious about his thoughts. Even so, he still mostly failed at hiding his excitement towards a smooth-sailing training plan).
That is, until the time she had to perform her program.
Usually, there was an unspoken rule about not reacting too much when a colleague is practicing to their music, positive or negatively. Unless, of course, they manage to do something revolutionary they weren't able to before, most students and coaches just focused on their own stuff, trying not to get in anyone else's way.
However, even though everyone was trying to be as discreet as possible, no one could really hide the way their faces twisted in sympathy when Inori failed a good ninety percent of her jumps during her turn.
Used to saving face, she smiled it all off, cracking a few well-timed jokes about how she'd need a good strawberry ice cream to get her head back into place. Coach Tsukasa even promised to get her some by tomorrow, so she had that to look forward to.
After a few hours, everyone finished their practices, and — after some small talk — Inori could finally go somewhere alone to weep her misery away. The sun had set a while ago, so crying in frustration was fair game for all she cared.
She didn't get it— she was landing those jumps perfectly when the music was off. Was the song she chose for the program cursed? Did it need to be changed? But she liked it so much, she didn't want to. Feeling a connection to the music she chose to dance to was a quintessential part of figure skating. She couldn't give that up because whatever combo she tried to jump to it seemed to be scorned by heaven itself.
No.
If the situation looked grim, all she had to do was change it. Simple as that.
Motivated by her newfound enlightenment — sometimes she thinks she developed that ability to pick herself back up quickly from coach Tsukasa's constant reassurements — Inori got up to go train her jumps again, although she would have to do them on ground, since the ice rink had closed at its designated time for maintenance work.
However, as though enraged by her audacity to bounce back from adversity, heaven put another immediate block on her road.
Hikaru.
Who was, for some reason, holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Wha— what the heck?" Inori sputtered, intelligently.
"Hey." Was all Hikaru replied with, smiling in that off-putting way that made it seem like her eyes shined in the dark.
"Uh…hey… what… are you doing here? At this hour?"
"I had to wait until everyone else was busy with their own stuff so I could finally talk to you," She explained, wiping sweat off her forehead. Why was she sweating? It wasn't that hot, right? "not to mention, it took me a while to get these. Training camps tend to be quite isolated, after all."
Now that Hikaru mentioned it, Inori realized the absurdity of her carrying such a large bouquet when she very clearly had not arrived with one when she first got to the camp. Trying to gather her bearings, Inori asked the next most logical question:
"Where did you even get that?"
"Closest flower shop I could find. The owner was very nice— she even had me sit down so I could drink some water."
It's no wonder why she was so nice. If Hikaru walked half as much as Inori suspected she would have to to reach a flower shop in this area, the owner probably thought she was going to collapse any second.
"What are they even for??" Inori sputtered at last, as though holding back the question had been making her lose her mental faculties.
"They're for you, of course."
"…But why? Nothing warranted this."
Hikaru stepped closer, and even though there was still some considerable distance, Inori felt her pulse quicken. Looking uncharacteristically sheepish, Hikaru stared at some fixed point beyond Inori's shoulder while she said: "Well, it was your birthday a while ago. I can't really see you as often as I'd like to and I wouldn't be satisfied with just a message, so I decided to do something a little extra when I finally got to see you."
Birthday? Inori thought, flabbergasted. That was months ago. Also, I didn't even say or do anything for Hikaru's birthday.
She felt her throat tighten.
"I… thank you. That's incredibly thoughtful of you." She mumbled, taking the bouquet with no resistance when Hikaru handed it to her. However, as soon as she held them, she noticed something was off. "…Why are there so many flowers, though? A lot of different ones, too."
"That's simple." Hikaru nodded with an air of pride, "I didn't know which one was your favorite, so I picked one of every flower I set my eyes on. At least as many as my wallet allowed."
Inori felt her mouth dry. She also felt this sting behind her still swollen eyes, but she decided to ignore it entirely. It's true that she was free to cry by now, but she thinks she had done enough of that in front of Hikaru at this point of their lives.
"You're crazy," Was the only reasonable response Inori could come up with. "you are certifiably insane."
"Rioh tells me that a lot too, for some reason." Hikaru replied with a furrowed brow. "I think that was the most rational thing to do, though? What if I picked a bouquet of flowers you didn't like?"
Of course. Inori thought, exasperated What if?
"I don't really want to hear Rioh's name right now," She said, unable to hold her laughter, "thank you again, Hikaru. This is… wow."
When Inori stopped laughing, she noticed Hikaru had gone weirdly quiet.
She just stood there, staring at her. Sensing the uneasiness she usually felt around Hikaru coming back, she started fidgeting.
"I'm glad you like it." Hikaru whispered, with that tinge of pain Inori seldom heard slithering at the bottom of her voice "I think every flower suit you perfectly— You look beautiful."
As soon as the words were said, the bouquet was dropped.
Steps in quick succession were taken towards Hikaru.
Truth is, Inori had never kissed anyone before. She didn't know what she was doing, or why she had done it— she just felt like she had to, or she would lose something she couldn't get back.
She didn't know about Hikaru, but given how everyone in the skating community and outside seemed to fawn at the very air she breathes, it wouldn't surprise her to find out Hikaru had plenty of experience kissing by now— in fact, she'd think of it as only natural; Hikaru is gorgeous, and had been ahead of Inori in every aspect of their lives, since they met each other and long before then. How can Inori, clumsy and panicky as she is, ever hope to match up to all the previous experiences Hikaru is sure to have had?
It's that disparaging thought, along with a foreign ache she felt in her chest when she touched lips with Hikaru, that led her to freak out and do the only thing her adrenaline-fueled brain could think to do in such a dire situation: neutralize the threat.
And now, here they were.
"It's— okay, first off, you didn't make me uncomfortable in any bad way, please don't think that." Inori explained, eyes downward and voice reduced to mumbling "It's just… just…"
Noticing her unwillingness to explain, Hikaru let out an awkward laugh; it sounded off coming from her.
"To be honest, this uh… this was my first kiss." She admitted, averting her gaze when the confession finally got Inori to look back at her. "I'm sorry if it was… that bad. I'm sure you must've had much better experiences." She smiled wryly.
Before thinking of a reply, Inori couldn't help but notice Hikaru's bottom lip started bleeding again.
Finally digesting her words, however, Inori snapped out of her daze with the shock of a whiplash "It— this was your first kiss?!"
Confused by the sudden outburst, Hikaru tilted her head. It almost made her second-guess herself on whether this truly was her first kiss. "Yeah…?"
"But that's impossible!" Inori half-shouted.
"I— is it??" Now Hikaru really was second-guessing herself.
"I mean!" Inori bumped her fist against Hikaru. "You're just so… you know! Everyone seems to always like you. The genius athlete or whatever— popular all around. I-I really thought you'd be used to this kind of experience. Heck, I figured you'd have kissed about a dozen of people before"
"A dozen?? How did your mind even go there?" Hikaru asked, bewildered. Then, as though just realizing what Inori said, she cracked a smile, laughing. "Also, I could say the same thing about you, you know. Everyone loves you, and you make it all look so effortless. Well, minus the dozen part. I don't think my heart could take competing against that many people."
Stepping even closer, Hikaru reached her hand towards Inori's face, caressing her thumb on her cheek with such care Inori couldn't help but blush. What did she even mean when she said 'compete' , anyway?
"Uh, no, you—you definitely couldn't say that," She muttered, trying to hide her face in a way that, to anyone looking from outside, would just look like she's nuzzling into Hikaru's hand "this was my first kiss too."
Putting two and two together, Hikaru asked at last: "Did you bite me because you were nervous? About your first kiss?"
Inori froze. Well, this was embarrassing— to be caught so early on. But, looking at the bright side, Hikaru was only half right; yes, she was nervous about her first kiss, but Hikaru didn't need to know most of that nervousness actually stemmed from the fact it was Hikaru, of all people, that she was kissing.
Small blessings.
"No," She denied anyway, "that's stupid."
"Oh?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow, "Then, pray tell, why is my lip bleeding right now?"
"I just felt like it." She continued with the lie. She had to go down with this ship now.
"I see." Hikaru replied, something analytical in her tone. "So I fell for a sadist."
"Looks like it." Inori nodded, dead serious.
They stood in silence for a few seconds. After what seemed like minutes, Inori fully realized what Hikaru said.
"Wait, you what?!" She pulled away, as if electrified.
"I what?!" Hikaru asked, equally alarmed.
"You said y-you… fell…for…" She couldn't finish. It was too dreadful.
"Oh. I mean. I thought that was obvious. You know, given what just happened and all." Hikaru came closer again, daring to wrap her hands around Inori's waist "I was hoping the same applied to you…?"
Did it? Did Inori like Hikaru? Sure, she kissed her, but that didn't necessarily mean she liked liked her. The type of like that implies on going on dates, making cheesy confessions, staying up late on the phone, talking about things that are probably not gonna be skate-related in the slightest? Like, hi, how was class today? I miss you. I tried landing a triple Lutz today and I'm pretty sure I chipped a tooth— some things never change. I wish I could be with you right now. Earlier today I saw this advertising for a werewolf movie and I had this thought that you would probably portray a wolf much better than whoever that actor was. I wish you weren't so far away. I lo—
Too much. That was too much. She couldn't do this right now.
"I—I need time to think about this." She concluded, refusing to look into Hikaru's eyes, but still feeling compelled to wrap her arms around her shoulders.
Surely that impulse meant nothing.
After… everything, they decided to take a walk around the camp before heading back to their rooms. Hikaru took Inori's hand easily, and Inori tried to play off their intertwining fingers as a brand-new form of thumb fight— one that involved all fingers. Hikaru just let her do as she pleased, not minding as her hand was thrown around like fruit in a mixer. Eventually, Inori declared that Hikaru had lost terribly, and they settled on just holding hands normally. The bouquet stayed firmly on Inori's other hand, even if all that shaking almost made her drop it a few times.
"You know," Inori began, trying to sound nonchalant, "I was planning to practice a bit more when you found me— but now that's all out of the window. A more suspicious person would think of your appearance as a planned-out obstruction."
"Yep. You caught me." Hikaru nodded, squeezing Inori's hand tighter "I should be more careful if I want to sabotage my one and only rival's practice time without being found out."
They laughed, inching closer to each other.
After a few minutes of walking in silence, Inori's gaze wandered to the bouquet, and something about it seemed to make her mind drift off. Hikaru immediately noticed, but decided to wait for a bit before catching her attention again. When she realized Inori wasn't coming back anytime soon, she asked at last, with an anxious tilt to her voice.
"What are you thinking about?" Maybe Inori was having second thoughts on the bouquet, after all. Maybe she should've given her something else that wouldn't be so imposing.
Breaking out of her reverie, Inori looked at Hikaru with an easy smile on her face, taking her by surprise— by no means was this particular smile unusual, Hikaru just wasn't used to having it directed at her. Now that she thinks back on it, it has been years since Inori last looked at her with such an expression. She can't remember any moment like that after Inori's first loss to her.
Her chest felt tighter, and if Inori noticed the way Hikaru's eyes faltered for a moment, she didn't comment on it.
"It's… it's just funny, you know?" Inori whispered, a nostalgic look in her eyes. "When I competed at my first West Japan meet, I had actually forgotten my skates on the subway— it was terrible. I still remember the way my vision went blurry from how nervous I was."
Hikaru hummed. Not really knowing what to say, she squeezed Inori's hand.
"Thankfully, though, my mom quickly found out the baggage was given to a station's lost and found— the catch, however, was that the place it was turned in was ten whole stops away. Ten. I really thought I'd have to give up then."
"But you didn't, right? There's no way you would've."
The certainty with which Hikaru said so almost made Inori stop. She knew, of course, how much faith the taller girl had in her. Still, she always needed a second or two to gather her bearings every time she saw it firsthand.
"You give me too much credit." Inori laughed weakly, shaking her head. "If that happened nowadays, you might've been right. Back then, however, I wasn't… as sure of myself as I am today. Or, rather, I don't think I felt as free to give my all for skating as I do now. I was paralyzed with fear, almost."
Inori took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
"But then, when I thought it was all over, Coach Tsukasa spoke up, saying he'd go get my skates. It was ten whole stops away, and yet he insisted on running because he thought a taxi wouldn't make it on time." She then took her gaze off the flowers, staring straight into Hikaru's eyes. "The reason I'm bringing this up is because… you, walking a ridiculous amount just to get these flowers reminded me of that. I'm very happy you did, of course, even though you… really didn't have to." Then, her eyes twinkled, and she let out a laugh, "But I guess that makes me appreciate it even more. Thank you."
And there it was again. That smile, which was so blinding and rare, it almost made Hikaru forget about the biggest problem with Inori's story.
Almost.
Ten stops, huh?
She'd have to look up later how many kilometers that made, and if she hadn't walked more to get the bouquet, she would simply have to make up for it at another occasion.
"You don't need to thank me." Hikaru smiled back. Then, her expression stiffened. "Also, that was… very nice of your coach." she tried to play off as nonchalant, but it was blatant how mechanical she sounded. "I'm glad he was there for you then."
Not understanding why Hikaru sounded so weird, Inori simply tilted her head in question. Realizing she wasn't gonna get an answer, however, she decided to brush it off and nodded in agreement
"Yeah!" She smiled once more, making Hikaru's heart do a funny thing. "Coach Tsukasa is the best!"
Hikaru's eye twitched.
The second time was, admittedly, all Inori's fault. However, if provoked, she would argue it was Hikaru's. She was pissed, after all.
In her defense, she had everything going for her in this competition. She finally managed to land all her combos with an almost zero percentage of failure, even after humiliating herself multiple times in the training camp leading up to it. She even noticed how her colleagues were awed with her preciseness, since she only refined them to near-perfection after the camp was over.
In summary, this was all building up to be a tear-shedding story of overcoming difficulties and starting brand-new chapters in the story of her life. She's sure her sister would've loved to hear about it, too.
Just for Hikaru to go and defeat her anyway.
Again, Inori would like to think she has grown from past experiences. She views herself as someone who knows how to be a good sport and not a sore loser, even when she's defeated by the one person who makes her want to risk it all.
But, if she wanted to leave as fast as possible after the awards ceremony was over, avoiding everything and everyone like the plague, that's not anyone's business but her own.
However, the keyword here is want. She wanted to bolt, but she couldn't.
Why?
It was simply one of the many prices Inori had to pay for being someone true to her word.
After she and Hikaru started having this… whatever it was between them, Hikaru made Inori promise something.
"From now on, whenever one of us wins a competition, the loser has to give a congratulatory kiss to the winner."
Obviously, because Inori considers herself to be fully in control of her psyche, her first instinct was to say Absolutely not. Since Hikaru had a higher win ratio — for now —, Inori would be the one to embarrass herself more often than not.
But then.
She thought of the instances where she wouldn't.
She could picture it all so clearly— gold medal around her neck, winning smile on her face, the thrilling aspect of getting to eat as many ice creams as she wanted, and, most of all: a defeated Hikaru coming to her with a disgruntled expression, knowing she now had the short end of the stick of the deal she came up with.
In all honesty, during all the times Hikaru had lost to Inori, she never seemed annoyed about any of it. She was always excited like she was the one who won, and congratulated Inori with a smile so bright, the shine of Inori's medal paled in comparison.
But surely. Surely being on the losing side of the plan she devised to rub her victory on Inori's face in the most overt way possible would get her to be miserable.
So, without thinking anymore about it, Inori promptly replied "You're on."
And voila. She lost. New chapters and all that.
She couldn't help but notice it was long past her usual sleeping hours and unusually cold for this time of the year. Yet here she was. Standing right outside the arena, waiting for Hikaru to show up, like some kind of deranged fan that should probably get a restraining order. Inori idly wondered how many of Hikaru's fans had actually gotten one.
At last, the long awaited sound of the main doors being opened were heard, and Inori met eyes with the one person she still had business with at such an ungodly hour.
She tried to not think about the way her heart fluttered with the wide smile Hikaru immediately gave her, and held her own as much as she could so it would stay at a normal person's level.
"Hi," Hikaru began, not being subtle about the way her steps quickened to meet Inori. "I'm sorry I made you wait for so long. Sometimes, it really feels like the older we get, the longer these interviews become." Then, she shuffled around for something in her pocket, and to Inori's surprise it was… a hand-warmer? "I also spent a bit of time looking for one of these, given how it's not really the season to be carrying them around. Here."
Inori took it, not really knowing what to say. She managed to mumble a weak thank you, feeling inadequate all of a sudden.
They stood there. Both knew what should happen next, but neither of them were feeling brave enough to take the first step.
After what Inori would claim to be the longest minute of her life, Hikaru finally said: "Have a good night."
And she just… started walking away?
Hold on.
This wasn't how this was supposed to go, right?
"Wait!" Inori called, and Hikaru froze like she had been caught in a crime scene, making Inori's brow furrow. "Why are you leaving?"
"It is incredibly late." Hikaru noted, her back still turned to Inori. This was getting weirder by the second.
"Very astute of you to notice," Inori said, dryly, "but don't we have, um… unfinished business to settle?"
"…Whatever could you mean?"
"Playing dumb doesn't fit you." Inori grumbled, "Also, why am I staring at your back? You must know talking to someone like this isn't very polite."
This finally got Hikaru out of her statue-like stance, but she only turned her head a little. To untrained eyes, it would seem like nothing had really changed, but to Inori's incredibly heightened senses (a skill she developed to handle being in the same environment as Hikaru), she immediately noticed a glaring detail.
The tip of Hikaru's ears were red.
She couldn't believe it.
was Hikaru blushing? Worse— was Hikaru embarrassed? She was capable of having those emotions all along?
Inori felt like she was experiencing a paradigm shift.
Okay. This was a new situation, so she should carefully consider how to approach it. Obviously, she should be gentle, and make sure she doesn't further Hikaru's embarrassment for showing vulnerability.
Oh, who was she kidding?
She had been waiting for a situation where she would have the upper hand against Hikaru for ages.
"Wow, can you believe it?" Inori snorted, and her voice had a certain lightness to it, "the Hikaru Kamisaki, blushing over an incoming kiss? Groundbreaking. Unbelievable. I'm starting to understand why they say you should never meet your idols."
To her surprise, Hikaru didn't say anything. She only brought her hands up to her face, hiding it from view. Inori didn't understand why, though. She couldn't see Hikaru's face anyway. The ears, guilty for exposing her, were still very much in view.
She tried to not think about how adorable that reaction was.
"Hey," she called, voice getting softer. Maybe she was starting to feel a little bad. "sorry, I'm just trying to break the ice." She wasn't. She was definitely just being revengeful, but Hikaru didn't need to know that. "Are you… alright?"
Hikaru finally turned to her, slowly lowering her hands.
"Yeah," she answered, and Inori couldn't help but notice this feeling of defeat radiating off Hikaru, who still had the gold medal around her neck. "Sorry, it's… I imagined what I'd say once we got here a lot, but actually being here is… so different. I don't know how I should do this."
This felt wrong, somehow. Is it fair for such a silly promise to be revealing so many new sides of Hikaru, sides that Inori never thought existed? all directed towards her, too?
Enticed by how forbidden this all seemed, her heart skipped a beat. She didn't think she'd ever feel this excited about losing.
Inori stepped closer, grabbing one of Hikaru's hand that had just dropped to her side.
"It's okay." She whispered.
"Is it? Are you still cool with this?" Hikaru whispered back "I don't think I thought this through when I proposed it— I just wanted to, uh… make you-know-what happen again."
This whole secrecy act made the situation seem even more silly in Inori's head. It's almost the ass crack of dawn, no other living soul within proximity, and they're whispering like they're sharing secrets in a crowded room.
"Yes, of course," she giggled, "I wouldn't have said yes if I wasn't okay with it."
"Cool," Hikaru said awkwardly, "awesome."
That was so lame and un-Hikaru-like Inori decided to just end both of their tortures.
When their lips met, all of the years Inori spent beating around the bush when it came to Hikaru seemed pointless in hindsight.
Why, she thought to herself, pressing her lips harder, have I been fighting this?
When her hand brushed against Hikaru's medal on the way to wrap her arms around her shoulders, the reminder hit her like a ton of bricks.
Oh. Right.
That's why they were here, doing this in the first place.
Then, Inori felt like she was twelve all over again.
But how can you blame her? She had been a professional athlete for so long now— with so many medals to the point every wall of her room had at least one displayed.
And yet.
And yet.
Every time she won against Hikaru thus far felt like little more than lucky strikes.
Those wins were so sparse and the point difference was always so little, she couldn't help but think of them as a result of Hikaru's shortcomings, rather than Inori's own efforts. Even when that clearly wasn't the case to anyone else watching, once she got that notion stuck in her head, no one could get it out. She often heard from Coach Hitomi that she was very much like Coach Tsukasa during those times.
And it's with those bubbling, messy feelings, alongside the twisting tornado inside her head, that Inori bit Hikaru's lips with a little too much force for the second time.
"Ow," Hikaru yelped before pulling away. After checking for any signs of bleeding — that thankfully didn't seem to happen this time — she looked at Inori, exasperated. "…is this going to be what I have to expect every time we do this?"
"You can always stop winning." Inori replied, deadpan.
Hikaru then gave her a look, which Inori could very easily translate as so that's why you bit me this time?
"…Hmm. No, I don't think I will," Hikaru concluded, after pretending to think about it for a second. Then, she smiled in a rather annoying way, and Inori couldn't help but think she liked it better when Hikaru was making a fool of herself. "I'm a very adaptable person, after all. I'll grow used to this in no time."
"Are you sure?" Inori questioned, fighting off a grin. She was angry right now, after all— her body needed to keep up. Even if Hikaru's cheeky smile was admittedly calming the raging storm in her head. "I am contractually obligated kiss you, but there were never any clauses specifying what kind it'd have to be. If circumstances were better, and I had a, say, gold medal around my neck, I might feel more charitable and give you an okay kiss."
"Very tempting." Hikaru answered dryly. "But I stand by what I said— I'm adaptable. This is a non-issue."
That led Inori to successfully glare at her — forgetting altogether about the grin she was fighting —, but Hikaru still giggled.
Afterwards, the two simply stood there, holding each other while also quietly accepting their tryst had to end soon. For some reason, the thought only made Inori hold Hikaru tighter, who in return brushed some of the shorter girl's hair behind her ear.
"…Before you go, can I kiss you again?" She murmured, eyes fixated on the way some of Inori's hair strands stubbornly fell anyway, "Properly, this time. With no embarrassing lead-up or contractual obligations attached."
Inori opened her mouth, ready to say no, when she remembered skating season was as good as over. It was time to go back to Lux, work on a new program, develop new combos, polish old techniques, and while all that happened it'd be months and months before she gets the chance to see Hikaru again.
She pursed her lips.
"…Okay."
When Inori realized her heart still hadn't stopped racing, even though she had been home for hours, laying on bed and staring at the ceilling, she decided this situation couldn't be left as is.
She needed an intervention, and it needed to be staged soon.
She'd figure something out.