Just as Rein had predicted, Nanoha couldn't avoid Fate forever. Not when she had to get them both back up to speed to re-enter the world of TSAB's corporate storms. Mindful of what Fate had told her before about Hayate leaving the decision to allow her access to her work only with the blonde's approval, the executive carefully made her way up the flight of stairs to the woman's room.
This was ridiculous. This was stupid. She wielded absolute dominion over her department. Why would she need a spanking new AVP's permission to get started on work? 'Because Hayate wants to give you an excuse to see her, and you're just going along with it.'
"I'm so fucking weak…"
Rein had escorted her up, remaining a step behind in case. If she heard her client's words, she made no mention of it. She also knew better than to offer a hand, knowing the executive would deem that as an insult. Ginga had answered the light knock, raised brows revealing her surprise to see the auburn-haired woman seeking Fate out in the early afternoon, or any time of the day for that matter.
It was the seventh day since Nanoha had been discharged and getting around was gradually becoming easier for the woman. She was still in a sling, but the shinai was proving to be an adequate aid. Stairs were still a painful challenge, so Nanoha drew on her reserves to hide the strain. "Ginga-san, Fate-san," Nanoha greeted, "May I speak with Fate-san for a moment, please?"
Fate was by her luggage, folding fresh laundry. Just as surprised as Ginga, she nodded. The lavender-haired bodyguard stepped out, dipping her head to her boss in greeting and sliding the shoji door closed behind her. The sound of footsteps informed them that the guards had moved a distance away to afford them some privacy.
Shinai tapping softly on the tatami, Nanoha entered further into the room. Fate had slid over the floor to tuck her knees under the kotatsu's futon covers. "Please, have a seat," she invited, amazed at how smooth Nanoha's gait had gotten in a mere week. Certainly, her movements were slowly deliberate, but her steps displayed little hesitation.
Fist tightening around the hilt of her bamboo sword, Nanoha used it to carefully lower herself down to sit at the heated table as well. Fate kicked herself for assuming simple things like sitting down on the floor would be just as easy for the still-convalescing woman. "S-Sorry, I forgot…"
Nanoha gave the blonde a tight smile, "No," her alto was only a little strained, "I'm glad I look well enough for you to forget." Clearing her throat, she laid her walking aid down beside her. Slipping her hand into the side opening of her yukata, she drew out her writing pad. On it was clipped the pen Fate had given her.
"I thought I would use my exercises to draft out TSAB's organisational structure for you…" Sliding the pad towards Fate, she nodded to the blonde to open it.
Fate swallowed, caught off-guard when Nanoha dug into her garments. Her fingers felt the warmth of the writing pad. Nanoha's warmth. Unclipping the pen to return it to Nanoha, the executive smiled and accepted it from the person who had gifted it to her.
Fate flipped the writing pad open. Lines of very rough Katakana writing populated the first few pages, followed by other forms of japanese writing. Alphabets and numbers followed, the characters growing more refined the more pages Fate turned. The blonde was impressed though she knew Nanoha wasn't doing this to show off. This was simply the woman's work ethic in visual form.
Finally reaching the last used page, Fate clapped a hand over her mouth, failing to stem the giggles bubbling out of her. At the top were the words, TSAB's Organisational Structure - Singapore Offices. The reason Fate was giggling were the rough but very adorable sketches of various roles in the diagram.
A raccoon-like creature was at the top of the diagram, sporting the name Yagami Hayate. The head of Human Resources was represented by a frowning eagle - Signum Wolkenritter. Marketing's head was a banana peel with a smarmy smile, and for some reason, the AVP of Marketing was represented by a pair of mismatched socks and a bag of tea. The head of Finance was a formal, dark purple kimono, the name attached being Tsukimura Suzuka. Beneath her was a puffed up pufferfish, the AVP of Finance, Alisa Bunnings. The pufferfish was drawn kissing the kimono with a corresponding 'Chu~' written next to the sketches.
The Operations branches were more detailed. Nanoha was there as a grouchy cat with one paw in a sling. Under her, Fate appeared as a Labrador puppy in reading glasses and below them both, a red panda up on their hind legs stood with the name Vita Wolkenritter, Nanoha's executive assistant. So this was the 'Vita' who would approve!
On the same level as Vita, a branch stretched out to the side, detailing two operations managers, Teana Lanster and Nakajima Subaru. Teana was represented by a frowning mandarin orange with twin tails tied up with ribbons. Subaru appeared to be a smiling rodent-like creature, sniffing at the mandarin orange that was Teana. Little floating hearts were drawn between the orange and the rodent.
"Oh my gods, Nanoha-san, this is incredible! How long did it take you to do this?" Eyes shining, the blonde eyed the other woman. Fate's musical giggles were everything the executive had hoped for. Quietly absorbing the beautiful blonde's delight, Nanoha decided that all the sweat and aches were worth the effort. "Few days." Blue eyes dropping bashfully, Nanoha added, "The words were easier. I could only draw this morning." The hand in her sling flexed, her shoulder wound was still throbbing a little.
Graceful fingers traced the grumpy kitty in a sling, a smile still playing over the blonde's pink lips, "May I keep this?"
"Up to you," the executive feigned disinterest, secretly pleased that Fate seemed to like it. The blonde studied Nanoha out of the corner of wine-red eyes, deducing the strong and silent woman was actually happy she asked, judging by the way her free hand fiddled with the pen Fate had gifted her. She gave an indulgent, inward sigh at this Rubix Cube of a woman. "Thank you," Fate placed a hand over that fiddling one, "I know it took a lot of effort for you to do this."
"Don't thank me too soon," Nanoha mentally syphoned away the tingles running up her right arm from the blonde's touch, grateful the long sleeves of her yukata covered any gooseflesh she had. "I wanted to ask if you thought I was well enough for us to get started with your training." One of the many reasons the Japanese woman had struggled and forced her way closer to fine was so that the blonde would give her that pass she needed so they could use their work laptops again.
"I don't know…" A faint twinkle appeared in Fate's eye, "You were a little out of breath when you got here."
Nanoha blinked, "How did you…"
Soprano lightly teasing, Fate leaned closer, index finger outstretched to touch the littlest crease between Nanoha's auburn brows, "You get a little line here," that finger slid down to gently poke the muscle in the executive's jaw, "You clench your jaw," finally, she tapped the tip of that perfect nose, "And your nostrils flare a little while you catch your breath." Triumphantly, she settled back on her heels, feeling rather proud of her observational skills.
Nanoha stared in complete bewilderment at the smug blonde. Her heart was hammering, threatening to leap right out of her rib cage from just those light touches and it took immense effort not to grip her pen until it broke. "It was just…" She coughed against the heavy husk of her voice, "Just the stairs is all." Willing away the warmth that threatened to turn her pink, Nanoha scrubbed at her face. Fate was studying her that closely?
"Just ask R-Rein to get me next time you wish to talk." Fate hated how she stumbled over the bodyguard's name, recalling how that woman had called the executive Nanoha-chan and all the discomforting feelings that had engendered.
"That would be taking the easy way out." Nanoha's chin firmed in what Fate was secretly calling her Stubborn Mule Look. Except there was no mule on earth that looked this captivating.
Of course her boss would not be the sort to cheat like that. Why was she not surprised? "To your point, if it's just for an hour or two a day, I can allow that." Her eyes crinkled at the indignant look the woman sent her way. She was feeling bold today, baiting the leopard the way she was. The knowledge that Nanoha had worked that hard on the organisational chart for Fate was giving the blonde all kinds of chutzpah.
"Damn that kuso tanuki," Nanoha finally muttered, azure eyes analysing the blonde with begrudging respect.
Fate perked, "Tanuki? Is that what this is?" She tapped the sketch representing Yagami Hayate.
"Yep. She's a trickster who's too smart for anyone's good." A small but fond smile tugged at Nanoha's lips, prompting Fate to wonder what history the two women shared.
"She was most distraught when I first spoke with her," Fate noted softly, eyes studying the executive. This was the most time Fate had had to spend with Nanoha in, to her, a long time, and she wasn't going to waste the opportunity to absorb all the tiny nuances the woman had no idea she gave off.
"I'm simply a terrible friend to have," Nanoha stated with conviction. Before Fate could dispute what was obviously untrue, she gestured at the laptop on the side table, "Shall we?"
Fate knew the woman's claims were not up for discussion so she bided her time for when she could push back on that ridiculous notion. Everything she had witnessed thus far had clearly shown that the woman placed everyone else above herself to a fault. Did her old self have to contend with a boss who was supremely confident in everything but the regard others had for her? Hmm.
Silently, she went to get her laptop, noting it appeared brand new. She'd kept it charged in anticipation of the day when her boss would be well enough, so she was a tad confused when she opened it and nothing happened.
Calloused fingers reached over and cupped her chin, shifting her face so that the scanning lens on the station was right in front of one of her eyes. A blinking red light switched to green and the boot-up music for the system played as the screen came to life. "Retina scan," Nanoha explained, releasing her tingling chin. "I-I see," Fate mumbled.
"No, it sees," Nanoha quipped, eliciting a little laugh from the blonde. She had missed the woman's sense of humour a lot more than she realised.
Motioning Fate to sit by her with the laptop so she could see without hurting her still aching torso, Nanoha directed the woman to begin digging through her email outbox from the start of her time in TSAB. From her sling, Nanoha dug out her reading glasses, absently cleaning them one handed while Fate went through her emails.
"This many for TWO months?"
"Mmmhmm," the executive slipped on her glasses, brows drawn while she scanned what Fate was scrolling through.
"And only what you forwarded to me?"
"Mmmhmm."
"Gods, no wonder you needed an AVP."
Nanoha was close enough that the blonde could hear the softly exhaled breath, "I do need you."
Warmed by the easy admission from her boss, Fate felt her resolve to catch herself back up to speed grow.
When it came to diversification, the organisation seemed to follow the mantra as if it were a religion, with businesses covering things as varied as aviation, cosmetics, fertiliser and natural gas explorations.
She could see how every outgoing email had Nanoha copied into them, and the private replies from the woman in highlighted blue, clearly detailing what Fate had done correctly, incorrectly, or advice on what she could have done better. The executive was exceedingly thorough and spared no effort in detailing the reasons behind her responses in her private correspondences with old Fate. Not once had she ever lost her temper at a mistake the blonde made, even if the mistake could have been costly for the company.
There were points when Nanoha was critical of Fate, and reading the response hurt even now. Yet, the blonde noted that they were never directed in a way to make it a personal attack, and suggestions for how to improve always followed, along with praise for some other part of her work she had accomplished.
It felt odd to re-read the correspondences she had sent to the Fate of before, and to see how every single one had been marked as Very Important by the blonde. Almost like an invasion of privacy. 'Whose privacy, though?' Nanoha wanted to look away. Fate's questions pertaining to each email prevented her from doing so, unfortunately.
In two hours, they had only gone through about twenty emails, but the questions were getting more in-depth and insightful, the woman's natural brilliance coming through easily, even without the benefit of her time in Testarossa Inc.'s Operations department.
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Fate wondered if she had been a workaholic in TSAB, if this was the working environment her old self was used to. Looking sternly gorgeous in her glasses, Nanoha's steady presence at her elbow was intoxicating, almost as much as the faint scent of spicy cinnamon and vanilla that the woman's warmth gave off.
The low burr of her alto sent electric pulses up and down Fate's body, driving the AVP to distraction. The blonde felt blanketed in all things Nanoha, no matter that the executive was being painfully professional and always keeping a fair distance from Fate, only leaning closer at times when things got a little hard to read.
With an intense need to impress the woman, or at least, not let her down, Fate struggled to stay focused on the task at hand, until her own eyes began to hurt a little. Noting that the executive was blinking a fair bit herself, Fate called for a break, knowing Nanoha would only keep going if allowed to.
Tugging off her glasses, Nanoha closed her eyes and rubbed tiredly at them with her unencumbered hand. "Been a while since I've had to wear these." She was amazed to see that it was almost past four in the afternoon.
"I'll get us some tea," Fate stood up smoothly from her seiza position.
"You don't have to," Nanoha yawned behind her hand. She had started her day at her usual 5AM and could feel the need for a nap creeping up on her sorry arse. Today had been the start of light weights being added to her daily regimen and she was a lot more tired than usual as a result.
Fate didn't bother to argue, only sliding open the shoji doors to admit herself and closing it again after her. Another lesson she had learned was to simply not entertain her boss when the woman was trying to be considerate. It was as if she was deathly allergic to imposing on others.
Smiling at Kanae obaa-san, Fate requested of the nice housekeeper a lacquered tray and instructions about where the tea-time snacks were kept, including a question about which Nanoha would prefer.
"Nanoha Ojou-chan? Mochiron, mochi desu~" Miss Nanoha? Of course, (her favourite would be) mochi. Fate smiled, glad she was able to converse in simple japanese with the woman.
"Then, may I please have some to bring up to her, Rein-san and Ginga-san?" The grey-haired lady squinted a broad smile and puttered around to get the tray stocked with the Takamachi scion's favourites. Springy, soft-skinned snacks with various fillings began populating the large, black and red lacquered tray. Fate was preparing some matcha tea, filling four cups with the earthy, rich green beverage.
Returning with her spoils, Fate served the tea and snacks to the two quietly conversing bodyguards who were chilling by the second floor window. Sliding the door open to her room, Fate paused to see the auburn-haired woman sprawled half-under the kotatsu's futon. Evidently, she had lain down to rest her eyes for a bit and dozed off.
Quietly carrying her tray in, she closed her door and shook out a blanket to cover what portion of the executive that wasn't under the futon. The weather had turned colder as the season drew closer to mid-autumn and Fate knew the lower temperatures were likely causing Nanoha more aches than she would let on.
Sitting by the woman's head, Fate decided to catch up on news on her laptop while enjoying her tea. If her eyes dropped down to admire the enthralling harmony of the sleeping woman's features, well, at least no one would see.
----------------------------------------
Nanoha had woken from her doze with quite some chagrin. She'd only meant to rest her abused body for a little while, but the cosy warmth of the kotatsu had been too much for her tired self to resist. It was just as well, the dark flickers at the edges of her mind told her she was just about to fall into another unproductive dream about unpleasant things. Sleep-fogged, Nanoha's eyes traced the ancient ceiling of her clan home before finding eyes of the richest wine red staring down at her, that familiar face immediately commanding her focus.
Fate had been nibbling on a pink mochi, her first experimental bite rewarding her with a burst of flavour from the large strawberry within. The slightest change in breathing had alerted her to Nanoha's impending return to wakefulness and again her eyes dropped down to the woman. She observed Nanoha's intriguingly swift transition from slumber to full awareness once more, youthful innocence tensing to watchful sharpness in a blink of those deep azure pools.
How old was Nanoha? Momoko and Shiro were a spritely and active couple, neither sporting more than a few grey strands in their dark hair. The Japanese woman herself seemed to teeter between her twenties to forties just from how she behaved. Being of a completely different race from Nanoha, the blonde was hard-pressed to make an educated guess about the age of her boss.
"Penny," the executive asked without thinking. Nanoha should've been startled by the other woman's regard. On the contrary, it simply felt comfortable, reminding her of the time Fate had watched over her while she napped on the plane. The cynical part of her reminded herself not to get used to it. Avariciously, she absorbed that comfort Fate didn't even know she was giving Nanoha, until the contemplative air of the woman prompted Nanoha to ask after the blonde's thoughts.
Fate felt her vision yaw and curve, her half-eaten mochi falling from suddenly numb fingers. Pulled by an unseen force, she slid across the tatami to lean directly over the face invading her mind's eye, layered beneath another. Their expressions were similar, a mild mix of indulgence and curiosity, eyes fathomless and masking more. She saw a hand that looked like hers, cleaning away traces of blood from the corner of those Cupid's bow lips, and her own matched her memory's movements in the present.
Nanoha wanted to pull away, but she had nowhere to go, laid out on the floor as she was. Fate's crimson gaze appeared to be miles away, no matter that the blonde had encroached upon all of her senses. The curtain of her long, golden tresses fell about them as she leaned over, encompassing the two in a hushed intimacy that sent shivers down Nanoha's spine.
The strawberry-scented pad of her thumb was brushing at the corner of Nanoha's mouth, and the executive nervously licked her lips, tongue inadvertently tasting the sweet pad of Fate's digit.
"Does it hurt?" Fate whispered, replaying a long past scene in her head. Immediately, the words slammed into Nanoha and she knew just when the blonde was. Searchingly, she stared up at the woman, so close she could see the faint flecks of gold in her wine-red eyes. "Drop in the ocean…" She murmured back, lips shifting to almost be kissing the thumb brushing over them now. 'Is this new Fate, or old?' She asked herself, fearful of the answer.
"Ugh…" The blinding pain had returned. Head dropping, the blonde sought refuge in the thing closest to her, face buried into the warm crook of Nanoha's neck as her body curled into a defensive posture. Catching that grimace of pain just before the blonde collapsed, the Japanese woman instinctively wrapped her good arm around the slim form, hand rubbing soothingly over Fate's back.
It didn't matter if it was old or new Fate. All that mattered was the woman was hurting and it was Nanoha's fault. Holding Fate tightly, face a grim mask, Nanoha realised these episodes were happening when Fate was around her and no one else. Her decision to drastically cut the time they spent together had been the correct one all along. She could feel a dampness wetting the collar of her yukata and wished she could indulge, too.
Instead, she called out for the bodyguards and with their help, Fate was carried and tucked into her bed, once more shifted to a recovery position. Rein retrieved Nanoha's shinai, allowing the executive to get herself back up to her feet. "Another attack?" Rein asked her client who nodded. The woman's expression seemed carved from a cliff as she studied the distressed look on Fate's face, the woman unable to escape the ghosts that haunted her.
"Ginga-san, please remain with her at all times." Taking only her pen with her, Nanoha made her arduous way back down, "Rein, please help clear the tray. I'll ask Kanae obaa-san to make her some rice porridge."
It was past time to rip off that band-aid.
----------------------------------------
It was Sunday and Kanae obaa-san had the day off. Momoko decided today would be gyoza day, and had roped in Miyuki and Fate to help make them while Shiro and Kyoya focused on cleaning the family dojo. Nanoha had apparently been deemed well enough and roped in by her father to help with the less strenuous cleaning tasks, and so she was over in the dojo with the men.
Fate hadn't seen Nanoha in two days. Not since the last time she had blacked out from memories revisiting her. The blonde wished the snippets were more substantial if she had to endure that much pain to regain them. All she could recall were fleeting images and sounds where she knew she'd been present, but that was it. She had woken in her own bed around dinner time that day with Ginga keeping watch over her and a covered bowl of freshly made porridge waiting for her. The lavender-haired bodyguard had explained that the meal had been prepared under the orders of her boss, something easy on the tummy to digest. That little bit of consideration warmed Fate, though it didn't last for long.
Since then, her afternoon 'work training' with her boss had been conducted remotely over their laptops, the executive using a shared screen application to walk Fate through more of their job scope. The woman seemed stronger each day, though the shadows under her eyes never faded, and Fate wondered if she was getting much rest at all. What was clear was that Nanoha didn't want to spend time in the blonde's presence and the quiet hurt was eating constantly at Fate.
Momoko was at her wit's end with her idiot youngest child. Na-chan obviously cared intensely for this lovely gaijin and the feelings appeared to be mutual, memory loss or otherwise. And still, her child was doing everything in her power to avoid the woman who was currently living under the same roof as her. She would have been impressed with how resourceful her girl was being if it wasn't so frustrating to watch.
Fate had been politely quiet while she observed the Takamachi women demonstrating the technique to fill and pinch closed the gyoza skins Momoko had prepared the night before. Miyuki had exchanged silent looks with her mother and Momoko knew her elder daughter could also see how the blonde only lit up when she was around or on the subject of the Takamachi scion.
"It's too bad Na-chan can't help, she's so deft with her hands." Miyuki folded the edges of the gyoza she was wrapping in slow motion for Fate to see. Predictably, the blonde's ears seemed to perk, "Did she cook a lot in the past?"
"Oh, yes. Always helping, from here to here." Momoko gestured to the little cuts in the nearby door frame, indicating the height Nanoha had been when she began and stopped being around. From where she sat, Fate could see the Kanji 五 and 十七 written next to the lowest and highest marks. Five to seventeen. The blonde tried to imagine Nanoha as a wee little child and felt a smile tugging at her lips despite her dark mood.
"She must have been very cute."
"Hai! Like ningyou." Momoko looked to Miyuki to translate. "She looked like a doll." Momoko nodded, "I bring to Shibuya for shopping, eto…" Not having the words, she shot her elder daughter a few sentences in japanese. Translating, Miyuki said, "Mom was out shopping and an ad agency scouted Na-chan when she was six. She starred in a few advertising campaigns until school activities took up too much of her time."
Fate smiled and was unsurprised at the little anecdote Momoko had shared, though her expression fell again as she thought about how little the woman wanted to be in the same room as herself. Feeling a lump growing in her throat, Fate blinked, the hands she was watching blurring in her vision, "I think she finds me a bother."
Again, the older Takamachi women exchanged looks. "It is opposite, Feito-chan." Momoko tried to find the english words to explain, looking to Miyuki for help once more. "When Na-chan feels she's being a bother, she… does whatever it takes to not be one," Miyuki explained to the despondent blonde.
Sighing, Miyuki laid the completed gyoza aside and started on a new one. "Kaa-chan and Tou-chan have each other. Kyo-chan and I are seven and six years older than her. She was always running about on her own, finding her own things to do so she wouldn't get in the way. We never said she was a bother…"
"She feel she is," Momoko nodded sadly, pointing to her heart, "Inside." Miyuki nudged her glasses back up with the back of her hand, it having slid down her face whilst her hands were occupied. "Rein-san she can bother, because she was contracted. Anyone else… She's already paid Kyo-chan and me for our work with her." This was a first for Momoko to have heard of and the matriarch appeared highly upset.
"Stubborn pig." Fate's eyes widened in shock to hear the good-natured matriarch call her child a pig. Realising the blonde's confusion, Miyuki grinned, "Na-chan was born in the year of the pig, that's all. Zodiac animals. I'm a snake, Kyo-chan is a dragon. Which year was Feito-san born in?"
Fate relaxed as she realised her boss' mother was not really calling her child an actual pig. "Nineteen ninety-five…"
Momoko blinked and to Miyuki, asked in japanese, "Isn't that the same? They're both twenty-eight?" Miyuki nodded and to Fate, said, "Then you are twenty-eight this year, you're both pigs."
"We're still pigs though." Fate went paler than her already pale complexion and swayed where she sat, alarming both Japanese women who were with her.
"Feito-san! Are you all right?" Miyuki had dropped what she had been folding to move behind the blonde, using her body to keep the swaying woman upright.
It hurt less this time, and the blonde could feel her right palm tingling. "I… I think I was told this before…" Miyuki peered at her mother over the rim of her glasses. There could be only one other person in Fate's life who would bring up something so obscure.
"Sou~..." Momoko murmured noncommittally. She had washed her hands to grab a washcloth to rinse in cold water. Folding it, she placed it over Fate's forehead to help centre the woman back to the present, something the blonde softly thanked her for. Ginga had come in from her post just outside the kitchens when raised voices calling for her client rang out.
"Is she all right?" The bodyguard asked, frowning. Hearing the question, hand keeping the cloth to her forehead, Fate nodded. "Just… another memory."
"Perhaps you should lie down?" Ginga suggested, but the blonde refused with a shake of her head. "No, I'm fine. Miyuki-san and Momoko-san were a great help." Propping her forehead into the hand holding the cool cloth, Fate threw the Takamachi women a questioning look, "Why did Nanoha-san leave here? Everyone seems to love her…" The blonde felt she had to ask before she lost her nerve. It made no sense to her. She left because of her family, but this one was so different from her own.
She saw all three Japanese women glance at each other, Ginga's eyes dropping as she quickly left the room since Fate was deemed to be fine.
An uncomfortable silence ensued, then Miyuki hesitantly cleared her throat, "She um… lost some things that were important to her." Neither woman would look in the direction Ginga had left by. "And there were some problems with the clan elders. She felt she was a bother, so she left."
"Stupid old farts," Momoko muttered tartly, shocking even her own daughter with her language, "I'm glad most of them dead."
"Kaa-chan! Someone might hear!"
"Let them. I hope they roll over in graves. Na-chan should kiss girl in clan shrine just to rub in." Momoko had lost a decade with her baby and was in no mood to placate old-fashioned sensibilities. "Shi-chan is clan head now, nothing they can do. I should arrange omiai for her, is time for Na-chan to settle down with nice girl." Miyuki rolled her eyes at her mother's feisty mood, one of the many things Nanoha had inherited from her mother in spades.
"Sorry, Feito-san, clan politics. Na-chan was… is the best at the Arts, as was father before her. But his succession to head of the clan was put into question because he did not raise her 'properly'."
Crimson eyes glanced from one Takamachi to the other. "Because she… she's…" Fate was unable to finish her sentence. The thought of Momoko-san arranging matchmaking meetings with other women for her boss was throwing the blonde for a loop.
"She's lesbian, yes," Miyuki confirmed with no little amusement. Honestly, the blonde truly was adorable when she blushed. No wonder her baby sis was smitten. Too bad she was smart in everything but the ways of the heart.
"Anyway, back to what you said, no, Feito-san, you are not a bother. Like Kaa-chan mentioned, it's the opposite. She doesn't want to bother you."
Fate lowered the cloth, hands resting on her lap while nervous fingers plucked at a stray thread on it. "But I don't think of her as a bother…"
"Pigheaded girl always think what she want to think," Momoko grumbled, stirring irritably at the fragrant minced pork gyoza filling. "You'd better check yours and Tou-chan's accounts. I bet she paid for room and board, too," Miyuki pointed the spoon she was using to scoop up some filling onto the thin gyoza skin in her hand at her mother, voice amused.
"I will spank her," Momoko threatened darkly.
"Kaa-san, she's still injured."
"Yes, then she cannot outrun me."
Neither woman noticed the even deeper blush Fate was sporting at the mention of spankings.