hidekins's writing blog

The duties of the Outrider division of the Knights of Favonius were as varied as they were plentiful, but Amber bore every single one of them as its sole remaining member. When she came of age, Acting Grand Master Jean had been kind enough to re-establish the branch for her. Amber knew that, under the grand scheme of things, the Outrider division was only part of the Ordo Favonius, but that only motivated her even more to work hard and return it to its former glory. One day, her grandpa would come back to Mondstadt, and see how the division he had once started still kept on serving all of those in the region, be it its citizens or any travelers who happened to be around.

Had it been a few months ago, Amber had truly felt that might never happen, that she would not ever see him again. But after what just had happened? Dvalin, the ever guardian of Mondstadt, had turned on them; she had met a mysterious traveler and his floating companion in what had been a routinely scouting mission; and had found out that Venti, that drunk of a bard that never seemed to have a fill for liquor, was Lord Barbatos? Anything could happen next, and Amber felt as invigorated as ever to keep up her duties for the Outriders.

It was now a little over a week after the whole Dvalin ordeal had finished. Aether had said goodbye, and left for Liyue to continue on his journey. Amber would have loved to have gone with him (perhaps Liyue held a clue or two about the whereabouts of his grandpa), but she still had her duties to fulfill as an Outrider.

Patrolling Mondstadt at night beyond its city walls was one of those many duties. One always had to be on the lookout for Hilirchurl encampments; if they were too close to the city or too large, they would have to be dealt with. Abyss Mages were also a threat, as they were both dangerous and intelligent, the latter trait something that Hillichurls lacked (Amber swears there have been multiple times where a Hillichurls had slept or played with a butterfly while the rest of its encampment was being dealt with, so they either are not smart, or they simply never cared). Or Reckless Pallad needed saving. Again.

All of these were important reasons to go out patrolling, but really the one that Amber cared most about (not to say she did not care for the safety of Mondstadt and its citizens) was the fact that, as a night patrol, there was no real rush to her task. After a day of sprinting and gliding everywhere, where time was of the essence, nothing beat a walk on Starfell Lake or Starsnatch Cliff with the cool, accompanied by the night breeze and the light of the moon. Lamp grass, her favorite flower, also shone only during nighttime, which was an added bonus.

Of course, she was still on duty, so despite enjoying her night strolls, Amber always kept an eye out for danger and her bow ready to be drawn. Tonight was no different, as she walked up one of the many cliffs of Stormbearer Point. She always made a point of walking up to the highest points of them, as they served as great vantage points for the surrounding area (including the reflected moonlight on the ocean horizon!). Once she made it to the end of the cliffside, Amber held her bangs from blowing into her face from the strong breeze and peered to her surroundings.

A fireplace on one of the openings just beneath the cliffside but got her attention. Normally, people camping out in Mondstadt was not uncommon, but it took a strong body and the will of an adventurer to do it in such a far away place and with such rough terrain such as Stormbearer Point. Amber could barely make out the silhouette of a sleeping figure near the fire, but something else glowed near it... 

Amber knew that only one thing glowed and made a perfect sphere. Whoever was sleeping out there was slowly being crept up by an Abyss Mage! Taking note of how the wind blew her hair, Amber took out her Baron Bunny, looked down and closed one eye, taking aim. As she threw the Baron down, she pulled down her goggles, took a few steps back, jumped off the cliff with a leap, and opened her glider. As she slowly fell down, Amber thanked the Archons that the Abyss Mage had been the icy kind. If the glow of its shield had been orange, her only option would have been to pick up the sleeping person and run for it.

Baron Bunny was the first one to land, immediately catching the Abyss Mage’s attention. The Abyss Mage pulled out its Leyline branch wand, and with a twirl and a swing, summoned forth icicles which Baron Bunny took like a champ. After the fourth one, Baron had enough and lit itself into an explosion, taking the Abyss Mage aback and damaging its shield. Now that she had glided down to a safe altitude, Amber put away her glider and lept down with a rain of arrows. The arrows simply bounced off of the Mage’s shield, but in its confusion, Amber took the chance to focus her vision at its highest intensity and with a Fiery Rain, both destroyed the weakened shield and the Abyss Mage alongside with it once its protection were no more.

Amber let out a sigh of relief, thankful that her attack had hit just the right spots to wipe the Abyss Mage in a single volley. The crackling of the fire left by her attack helped Amber’s heart soothe down from the rush of adrenaline her body had just been pumped with, but it quickly skyrocketed again when she heard movement behind her. In a swift motion, Amber lept away, turned around and drew an arrow, only to find a blonde girl in an intricate white getup, with her hands held up in a resigning manner.

“Um, hello?” she quizzically called out with a clear look of confusion on her face.

“Don’t you know it’s dangerous out here? There are monsters everywhere, so away from the city!” Amber put down her bow.

“And also cute girls with fire Visions and trigger-happy bow and arrows.”

The sudden compliment caught Amber off guard. “D-Don’t…!” Amber cleared her throat, she could not be tripping on her words when she had to perform her duties as an Outrider. “Don’t you know I just saved you? You had an Abyss Mage creeping up on you as you slept!”

The stranger looked even more confused until she glanced at the patch of grass behind Amber on fire. “That explains that, then,” she said as she pointed at the blazes. “By the way, your boot is going to catch on fire.”

“Huh?” Amber looked behind her, and in the jump she had instinctively made just now, her foot had landed inside the fire. In the heat of the moment, she barely noticed the heat (the fire resistance provided by her Vision had not helped either), but now fully aware of it, Amber quickly jumped away from the fire and patted her boot down, making sure it had not been set ablaze.

“A-Anyways…!” There she went, tripping on her words again. “It’s dangerous out here! You should come with me to Mondstadt.”

“And… you are…?”

“Oh!” How could she forget, again?! She had completely forgotten to introduce herself in front of Aether about a month ago, and now she was doing it once more. “I am Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius!” Amber straightened her back and did the Favonius salute, fist to her chest.

“Nice to meet you, Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius,” The stranger repeated, putting her hand on her chest too.

“May the Anemo God protect you, stranger.” Well, Amber was planning to do the protection, but it was part of the Knight’s code to say that line.

“Please, call me…” The girl paused for a moment, before nodding to herself. “Ying.”

“Alright… Ying.” Amber was not too convinced with her name, but Ying looked suspicious right from her getup. “You’re not of Mondstadt, are you, Ying? Explain yourself.”

“So inquisitive… is that how things work in this region?” Ying wondered out loud, but before Amber had the chance to answer, she continued. “I’m just a traveler, out to see the worlds. I had heard of a Dragon being sighted in Mondstadt, so I arrived not too long ago to witness it.”

Dvalin? Certainly it had to be Dvalin, very few dragons lived in the modern day. Perhaps news of the Dvalin attacks on Mondstadt had spread across Teyvat, but not of its stop. “Where do you hail from, Ying?”

“Very far away. Further away from what you can see on the horizon.” Ying turned to face the ocean, and the way the moon illuminated her golden hair made her look ethereal, like she came from another world.

“Sounds like a very long trip to come here to Mondstadt.”

“Hmm. Yeah, I guess it took a while. I’ve been traveling for so long that the journeys don’t matter too much, only what’s in the end.” For a moment, Amber could see a hint of sadness in Ying’s eyes.

Now it felt so much harder to tell her that Dvalin had kept to itself in Stormterror’s Lair for weeks now, and that Dvalin only made itself present on rare occasions.

“And what are you doing out here, Miss Outrider for the Knights of Favonius?”

“Amber is just fine. I was simply on a nightly patrol, keeping an eye out for danger and monsters, and saving people from said dangers, like I just did with you! Now, come. We should get you into the city, it’s not safe out here.”

“I think you cleared out all the monsters around her already, Amber. And besides, the Fatui are in the city, no? I… don’t like them.” Ying sighed and sat down near the fireplace. “I’m safer out here than I’ll be in there with them.”

“Well...” Amber knew very well how much more dangerous the Fatui were when compared to some lowly hillichurls or a few Abyss Mages, and the way Ying spoke made Amber feel like she had some reasons to dislike them, just like Collei. “I won’t force you to come, if you really feel that way.”

“Thanks.” Ying offered Amber a smile, one that the Outrider could not take her eyes off of. “And besides, if I ever need to be rescued, the Outrider for the Knights of Favonius will come to the rescue, right?”

Never had Amber felt embarrassed by her own title, but these past few months had been a lot of first times for her. “J-Just be careful out here, okay? I need to get back to my patrols.”

“Right, I’ll keep an eye out, Amber. May the Anemo God protect you too.”

With a salute, Amber bid farewell to the stranger she had just met, and made haste to get back to her patrol route. With her short skirmish with the Abyss Mage long over, why had the adrenaline rush not gone away? If Amber did not know any better, she would say her heart was about to fly out of her chest.

__________________________________________________________

“Did I really call myself Ying... Cute girls will be the end of me…” Ying said to herself as she rubbed the temples of her head. Standing up, she walked up to the burnt grass left by Amber and picked up the Leyline branch the Abyss Mage had left in its demise.

“I wanted to travel alone here, but someone just had to insist they had to come along…” Ying shook her head and pocketed the Leyline branch.

“Aether has made some very cute friends, hasn’t he?”

“Amber! Now!”

“I’ve got it!”

Amber tightened her grip on her bow, knelt down, and, focusing her Vision on the arrow she aimed to the starry sky, she let the string of her bow loose, letting a rain of fiery arrows upon the Fatui Cryo Cicin Mage.

As the Cryo Mage and its Cicin were pelted by Fiery Rain, Lumine jumped and, with a twirl, summoned a compact tornado. Aiming for the Mage, her attack absorbed the fire from the arrows and turned into blazing winds, sucking in the Fatui and its creatures and making short work of them.

“These Fatui are everywhere!” Amber remarked and only let herself relax once a few moments had passed. Too many times had suddenly more enemies appeared right after defeating one of them. “Right, Lumine? … Lumine?”

Amber turned to the Traveler and gasped when she saw her on her knees, covering herself and trembling nonstop.

“Lumine!” The Outrider ran to her side and just as quickly removed her jacket and placed it over Lumine’s shoulders. Amber quickly searched her pockets and failed to find any remaining Heatshield Potions. She then searched through Lumine’s belongings, but could not find any either. “What happened to your potions?!”

“I-I gave you… my last a-a while ago…” Lumine struggled to even speak, but even so managed to let out a weak chuckle.

It took Amber a moment to process what Lumine had told her. “You didn’t have to…!” No, now was not the time to argue about these things. Amber had to get Lumine to a fire or a brazier quickly, or otherwise… Otherwise…

Amber shook her head, pushing away any “if”s. She had to think. Amber stood up and quickly looked around. If it were any place other than Dragonspine, she could simply set ablaze some foliage for warmth, but the seemingly eternal snow storm made it impossible to light anything on fire. Only a torch or some dry firewood that was hidden from the harsh weather would be able to be set ablaze-

Then it hit her. Amber remembered a small abandoned encampment, hidden away in a cave, its entrance small enough to protect anyone from the subzero winds of the dreaded mountain. Amber made haste and took one of Lumine’s arms and put it over her shoulders, and in one swift motion, Amber had put her arms behind Lumine’s back and underneath her legs and lifted her off of the ground. It was only then that Amber noticed how cold Lumine was and how much she was trembling, only made more obvious when Lumine closed her arms a little and got closer to Amber, seeking for her body warmth out of instinct.

The Outrider of the Knights of Favonius had not failed in her duties of protecting others and did not plan to change that tonight.

________________________________________________________

Amber put Lumine down on the old cloth set up by an adventurer from who knows how long ago. Closing her eyes, she focused her Vision on the palm of her hand until it became engulfed in fire. The fire jumped to the old but dry firewood, starting a small campfire. Taking out her Baron Bunny, Amber placed it near the cave entrance.

“Keep watch,” Amber commanded, and the plush doll saluted in response and turned around to keep a vigilant eye outside.

The Outrider placed her hand on Lumine’s arm. It was still cold, but she was not trembling anymore. Only then did Amber allow herself to let out a sigh of relief. She leaned against the side of the cave and slowly sat down next to Lumine.

Sharing her body warmth would help her recover faster, Amber thought.

Suddenly the exhaustion of combat, hiking, and weathering the harsh temperatures of Dragonspine piled on her. Leaning on Lumine and resting her head on her shoulder, Amber found it more difficult to keep her eyes open.

Some rest would not be so bad right now, she told herself.

Baron Bunny is keeping watch, anyways.

________________________________________________________

“Hmm…” Amber began to wake up as she felt something move against her. The fireplace cracks and warmth had lulled her tired body to falling asleep. Amber stretched out her arms and let out a groan, but when she tried to get up, something held her down. Or someone.

Amber looked back to see a sleeping Lumine, who in her slumber had moved and spooned the Outrider. Amber smiled and simply sat back down, relaxing in her hold.

“Hnng…” Lumine cuddled closer to Amber and let out a sigh. “You’re so warm, Amber.”

“Well, I wasn’t the one who almost froze to death!”

There was no witty response or remark. Lumine simply tightened her hold and pressed the side of her head against Amber’s back.

“I’m sorry. And… thank you.”

In the name of Barbatos. Amber knew she was not the strongest knight in the Order, nor of Mondstat, but how could she feel so weak to this girl? It was unfair.

“But really, it was that Fatuus’s fault,” Lumine mumbled.

“Taking over the Goth Grand Hotel wasn’t enough for those guys! Now they’re all over Dragonspine too! They are so annoying.”

“Hmmm,” Lumine simply hummed in agreement. Dragonspine had been the most inhospitable place in Teyvat so far, but this little cave was the most comfortable she had been in a while. Lumine pressed her face on Amber and cuddled her.

“Are you still cold?”

“Hmm, not really.” Both warmths from the fire and the Outrider made her feel quite comfortable.

“But your nose is cold,” Amber remarked, and turned around to face Lumine. Amber took off her gloves and touched both of Lumine’s ears.

“Your hands are warm.”

“No, you’re still cold,” Amber repeated herself. Lumine unwrapped her arms off of Amber and instead took hold of her hands, intertwining her fingers with hers,

“I don’t feel cold,” Lumine whispered but leaned closer to Amber.

“Maybe the Geo Hypostasis hit you too hard in your head when I wasn’t keeping an eye on you in Liyue.”

Amber laughed at her own joke, but quickly grew silent when Lumine leaned closer and pressed her lips on her own.

“Well, is my nose still cold?”

“Why the sudden interest in cooking?”

416 had taken the whole morning mustering up her pride to go to the behind the base’s mess hall and ask the T-Doll in charge of a good amount of the cooking, HK G36, for guidance on the less tactical and more homely skills of cooking. 416 clenched the hem of her skirt and diverted her eyes. She figured that asking the fellow German riflewoman would have less inquisitive results than asking head cook Springfield, but now she found herself fighting with her own pride to answer a simple question.

“I’m sure she has her own reasons to cook, so why don’t you just teach her?” Springfield alleviated the tension and patted 416 in the shoulder. “Besides, it’s soon going to be that day, isn’t it? The day of chocolate gifting.”

416 felt her gut drop, having been found out by Springfield. She knew that asking so soon to Valentine’s would be too obvious, but with the constant missions and M16’s nosiness, she had had no option but to put it off until now.

“Well, the chores of the day have been taken care of already, so I see no harm in teaching you if Springfield says so.” 416 let out her tension through a sigh before she was handed an apron by Springfield.

“Maybe after you’re done, you can make something for us as payment,” the American T-Doll suggested as she hung her apron and waved the two good bye.

“So, who’s it for?” G36 asked bluntly as she began to take out several bowls and cooking utensils.

“Does it matter?” 416 asked as she took off her beret and tied the apron around herself.

“... No, I suppose not. So, what is it that you want to make?” Once she had most of the necessary equipment, G36 turned around to see that the key ingredient had been laid out on the counter next to 416.

“Liquor?” G36 asked as she inspected the bottle of Jack Daniels. “This will require tempered chocolate, a difficult process for beginners. Are you ready for such a challenge?”

416 humphed, as if such question was necessary. “I’m IOP’s finest, chocolate won’t present any problems.”

__________________________________________________________

Chocolate had presented much more problems than M16’s drinking during expeditions. Despite G36’s precise instructions, the whole “chocolate tempering” had proven to be so much more difficult than what 416 had expected. The supposedly simple process of heating, cooling and heating the chocolate had gone through so much trial and error that it went through three whole batches of ingredients (three whole batches too many, as 416 could feel the knives that G36’s eyes were stabbing in her back). This whole cooking experience could have taken only a few minutes instead of the two or three hours that it took if 416 had asked her fellow German T-Doll to do it for her, but 416 had been determined to make this herself, for that drunken woman she called a squadmate.

Despite the trials and tribulations of handling precise temperatures for a stupid liquor filled dessert, 416 felt an immense pride swell up inside her once she had finished the set of chocolates. Nothing had beaten her will and chocolate was not about to break that undefeated streak.

G36 wanted to feel impressed for the results of only a couple of hours of cooking experience on 416’s side, but the only thing she felt impressed by was the rare sight of a smile and blush on her face.

___________________________________________________________

“Hmm… where’s 416…? I can’t walk another step...” G11 struggled to keep up with her squadmates through the thick snowfield and failed to spot the one who would carry her through such ordeals.

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen her ever since Angela told us to retreat from the incoming S. F. ringleaders,” UMP9 recalled as she looked around her surroundings.

“Hmm, that woman will turn up soon, don’t worry about her. That means you have to pull your own weight, G11,” UMP45 said with a sly smile only spared a single second before resuming her stride.

“Eeeh, can’t we take a break and wait for her?” G11 whined as she did her best to use her rifle as a walking cane.

“If you can’t walk anymore, 45 and I will gladly drag you through the cold snow! Right, 45?” UMP9 asked cheerfully, and G11 only whined again when their leader agreed with 9’s suggestion.

“Sorry if I held you up.” 416’s voice came from behind them, as she caught up to the rest of her squad.

“Talk of the devil, there she is,” 45 greeted her missing teammate with a coy smile.

“Glad to see you in a single piece! Angela seemed really desperate to get us out of there, we thought some S. F. bigshot had blown you to smithereens!” 9’s slightly warmer welcome did little to change 416’s stoic expression.

“416! Where were you?! Carry me…” G11’s pleas finally worked on someone when 416 took her arm, but instead of being picked up, she started to get dragged across the snow. UMP9 clapped her hands and moved to take G11’s other arm and help 416 drag their teammate. “45, help meee!”

45 stared at G11 for a brief moment and chuckled. “Didn’t you say you couldn’t walk another step? Be glad your caretaker is here!” 

“Eeeh…”

“So, was your delivery successful, courier 416?” 45 asked with a knowing smile that only irritated the grenadier.

“Of course, I have never failed an assignment,” 416 said nonchalantly as she kept moving forward, with a whimpering G11 right behind her.

__________________________________________________________

Walking up a small hill, M16A1 overviewed the S. F. forces entrusted to her by Mastermind trek through the snow towards their new objective. Frankly, her units were having more difficulties moving through the terrain than she hoped for, but such clumsiness had already been taken into consideration for her ETA.

Giving the snowfield one last check, she began to walk down the hill she was in before her foot hit something that wasn’t snow.

“-ore installation complete, combat module installation complete. Personality module installation complete.”

“And she’s awake. I.O.P.’s finest Tactical Doll yet.”

“... Tactical Doll?”

“Yes, T-Doll, for short. Your combat and independent thinking modules are the finest we’ve created.”

“The finest ones…”

“You’re the best of the best. HK416, that’s your name. Remember it well.”

________________________________________________________________

“The Military’s already really happy with you and you haven’t even left the testing phase. New records for all of them, including the new combat simulations and with remarkable accuracy too. Congratulations.”

“Nothing less would’ve been expected from the best.”

“Yes, you’re truly the best, HK416. In fact, you’ll be transferred to Sector 03 tomorrow. They’ve already assigned you a Commander. Make a good impression.”

“My mission results will do that for me. Now, recalibrate the shooting dummies once more.”

“So, you’re the new recruit! What’s your name? I’m 1911!”

Despite having an excited blonde T-Doll bouncing in front of her, 416 only looked at the corridor’s walls. The National Security Agency’s headquarters were much different from the ones in I.O.P. despite both being closely related. These were more… lived on. Somehow the same gray steel walls seemed cozier and warmer.

“Where’s the commander? I have an inquiry regarding my role in this base.”

“The commander? The commander should-”

“You don’t need to consult the commander. You’re with me, rookie.” A deep voice, a far cry from the squeaky 1911 in front of her, rang from one of the nearby doors. 416 turned to see a brunette woman with a few blonde bangs and most of her hair tied in a single braid.

“M16-nee san! You’re home early!” 1911 ran to her side to greet her.

“Yeah, Persica had me come back when she found out she was coming in.”

“And you are…?” 416 raised an eyebrow. Despite being a comrade, she could not help but to keep her guard up.

“I’m just another T-Doll like you-”

“She’s 16Lab’s Elite Tactical Doll, M16A1! She’s the best marksman in the Sector,” 1911 happily introduced M16 for her.

“... Thanks, 1911.” M16’s sarcasm flew right over the blonde’s head, as the smaller T-Doll simply nodded with great enthusiasm.

“Tell me how Sector 09 was! How were the T-Dolls over there? Was the Commander handsome? Or was she pretty-”

“Hey hey, I promise I’ll tell you all of that later,” M16 put a finger on top of 1911’s lips and smiled. “I’ve gotta walk the rookie over there and have a chat with her.” 1911 simply nodded, her eyes still sparkling with excitement. “... in private.”

“Oh, okay! But you better keep that promise!” A simple nod satisfied the handgun T-Doll and with an enthusiastic wave she left the other two before disappearing around a corner.

“Phew. Some T-Dolls have way too much energy.”

“You’re supposed to be an Elite T-Doll? I fail to see how,” 416 deadpanned as she looked M16 up and down. Her appearance was messy all over, simply wearing a tank top, one of her socks was not pulled up properly and her rifle was haphazardly slung over her back. 416 secured her grip on her own rifle without thinking about it.

“Oh, loosen up, rookie. We’re home.” M16 flashed a charming smile and walked up to 416, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close.

“Don’t. Touch me,” 416 hissed. “And don’t call me rookie.”

“Have you been in any combat missions?”

“I’ve ran through countless combat simulations which cover any kind of-”

“Then I’ll keep calling you rookie, rookie. Now, come on, let me show you around.” M16 let go and began to walk at a brisk pace. 416 knew voicing a complaint would do nothing for her, at least not until she knew her way around this base, so she silently complied.

“Here’s the mess hall, and here’s a tip for the mess hall: stay outta the way of the shotgun T-Dolls. It becomes a warzone when they arrive.”

“Hey,” 416 called out and stopped walking. Once M16 turned around, 416 gave her another glare. “Why did you say that I’m with you?”

“What, can’t I be hospitable to a rookie?” M16 shrugged nonchalantly. The fact that her cold gaze did nothing irritated 416 even more.

“You’re my new partner, HK416. Persica had me come back from 16Lab to meet you.”

“You could’ve said that from the start and we could have avoided this confrontation,” 416 huffed and started to walk again.

“You call that a confrontation?” M16 raised an eyebrow and chuckled. She had to wonder what she calls combat if this was a confrontation.

“So, where are you taking me now? Have we not seen everything already?” 416 had already started to memorize the layout of the base, or at least whatever was important. The briefing room, the range, the commander’s office and the simulation chambers.

“Our dorm, obviously. You don’t plan to sleep in the mess hall, do you?”

“Our dorm? We’re sharing living quarters?”

“Of course we are, rookie. We’re partners,” M16 looked back and smiled a smile that made 416 think twice about raising her objection. “Be thankful we don’t have to sleep in one of the spare dormitories.”

“Spare dormitories?”

“Yeah, they’re for 10 T-Dolls and they all sleep in a room that shouldn’t fit 10 people and have bunk beds that are too uncomfortable for humans.”

“Sounds like I.O.P.,” 416 said with a faint chuckle.

“See? You should do that more often,” M16 suggested

“Do what?”

“Smile.”

“Please, don’t make me gag.” 416 shook her head and crossed her arms.

M16 rolled her eyes and smiled. "Keep that up and you won't be making many friends here." 

"I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to complete the missions I'm assigned to," 416 huffed.

M16 sighed and shook her head, she hadn't met such a stubborn T-Doll as 416 before, but at least she could not say that this would not be interesting. 

________________________________________________________________

“Hey, get up.”

M16 groaned loudly when the lights of the dorm lit up and she quickly put an arm over her eyes to block them.

“Ugh… what time is it…” M16 mumbled.

“It’s 500 hours.”

“It’s too early, go back to bed.”

“Nonsense. It’s the ideal timeframe to start activities. Now get up and take me to the shooting range.”

“I already showed you yesterday where... “ Yawn… “... Where it was.”

“... Take me there. I forgot.”

M16 was silent for a moment before slowly removing her arm and letting her eyes adjust to the brightness of the room and taking a good look at 416. She was standing right next to her bed. The glare of the lights above her made it difficult to see but… was she blushing? The moment M16 stifled her laughter, 416 turned around.

“Fine fine, I’ll take you there, rookie. Let me get changed and then you show me what you can do.” M16 sat up and raised both of her arms in the air, stretching them and letting out a groan. When she looked back at 416, her face was beet red and she quickly left the dorm.

Oh, right. She should not sleep topless now that she had a roommate.

________________________________________________________________

“... and once you finish inputting the amount of training targets, press this button to deploy them. This other button button resets them, and press this one to finish.”

“Were the incessant yawning necessary for the explanation?” 416 asked as she deployed a single target.

“No one in this base is green enough to wake up at 5 in the morning to practice their shooting,” M16 said and let out the longest yawn yet.

“And you’re the Elite of this place? Incredible…” 416 mumbled as she checked on her rifle one last time before turning off its safety and taking her stance. Taking a deep breathe, she took aim of her gun and-

“Oh, and don’t be stupid enough to use that grenade launcher here. That’s what the simulation room is for.”

416 let out her breathe. Taking it in again, she pressed the stock of her rifle against her shoulder and-

“You have your rifle on full auto, so watch out for the recoil, rookie.”

Closing her eyes and doing her best to ignore the nuisance distracting her, 416 repositioned herself and aimed once again before-

“It’s still in full auto, are you-”

“Could you shut up for a moment? I can’t concentrate!” 416 lashed out, shooting a glare at M16. She was doing a poor job of hiding the fact that the lack of guilt in M16’s expression was only pissing her off more.

“And do you think you enemy will? Come on, rookie. Don’t let me distract you this badly. I’m just talking, what will you do when bullets are flying your way, your cover is being blown bit by bit, and you know that grenades will eventually start to be thrown to flush you out?” M16 got a step closer with each point, until she was right next to 416. “What will you do then?”

416’s glare never left but she did take a half step when the other got right next to her. Groaning, she pushed M16 back, took position in a fraction of the time she had taken before and immediately started shooting at the target.

“You’re missing half of your shots! If you’re the best of I.O.P., then T-Doll standards are the lowest they’ve ever been! Fire in bursts, don’t hold down the trigger! Fully exhale and then shoot!”

“If you’re so Elite, why don’t you show me how it’s done!” 416 had enough of M16’s lecturing, lowering her gun and slamming the console to deploy a second target. M16 stared at her for a couple of moments before smiling and swinging her rifle from her back to the arm.

“If you insist, rookie, I’ll show you how to shoot like a professional.”

416 crossed her arms and watched as M16 walked to the booth next to hers. M16 released the safety of her rifle, steadied her breathing as she took aim and started to fire in bursts. She only stopped when the rifle clicked once the magazine was out of bullets; taking a step back, she smiled at 416. Not a single bullet had been off target.

“Now, will you take my advice, rookie?”

She hated to admit it, but M16 had done everything she just had not to prove that she was an Elite. Back at I.O.P., the only distraction she had during training were the eyes of researchers through cameras and viewing windows, and now simple bickering was driving her crazy. 

“... fine. I’ll take it… into consideration.” 

“Well, that’s a good start, at least. Now, first of all change your firing mode to single-fire, you’ll accomplish nothing with fully automatic. And for your stance…”

It took 416 what seemed forever for her to readjust her stance, her weapon and even her breathing before she could start pulling the trigger of her rifle, and another eternity to go through a single magazine. Once M16 seemed satisfied with her corrections, she remained mostly silent as she watched 416’s accuracy improve progressively.

“See? You’re hitting most of your shots now. It might take you a few hours, even days, to get used to this new stance but-”

The sound of multiple quick gunshots silenced M16, realizing that 416 had switched to burst-fire. “I’ve already adapted to it.” 416 had paused only to speak, and immediately resumed shooting. She went through most of her magazines before stopping, taking a step back and appreciating her new shooting pattern.

“Nice shooting, rookie.” M16 whistled, getting next to her partner and patting her on the shoulder.

“Thanks. Yours was impressive as well,” 416 reciprocated.

“Well, we’ve been here for almost three hours, and I think it’s time we get some well deserved breakfast. How does that sound?”

“That sounds… good. Yes, let’s go.”

________________________________________________________________

“Hey, rookie.”

416 let the recoil of her last shot settle down completely but didn’t stop aiming at the training target. “What?”

“We have our first assignment,” M16 waved a booklet with a large red stamp on it reading ‘CONFIDENTIAL’. The document was enough to get the German riflewoman her attention as she finally put down her weapon. 416 was glad that her wait had not been another day longer before she got her first mission.

“And what is it?”

“It’s confidential.” M16’s joke was only met with a greatly unamused expression from 416. “We’re going into enemy territory. Scout ahead for the main echelons before they move in.”

“Details on the opposition?” 416 inquired as she closed the distance between them to take a closer look at the mission document, which M16 relinquished.

“Small military T-Doll presence. We shouldn’t run into any problems,” M16 explained and began to go through the details of the assignment as 416 read the document. “We’ll be dropping off at 2100 hours here, 15 klicks from the enemy position so our LZ isn’t compromised,” she explained and pointed at the map attached with the briefing. “We’ll walk our way in, check the perimeter and find a vantage point to overview the rest of the territory.”

“Extraction?”

“Same place as the LZ, at 0400 hours.”

“Tonight?”

M16 raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Of course it’s tonight. Nervous?”

“For a recon mission? Don’t be ridiculous. I simply asked to see if you knew,” 416 humphed and hoisted her rifle over her shoulder. “Let’s go get ready,” 416 added before walking out of the shooting range.

“... it’s only 11am.” M16’s voice fell to deaf ears and she sighed dejectedly. Well, might as well get it out of the way now.

________________________________________________________________

“Shouldn’t we have brought suppressors?” 416 asked as she looked at her rifle as they made their way through the forest. Her assault rifle had been equipped with a holographic sight and a laser module, while M16’s only has the latter attachment.

“HQ doesn’t expect us to engage the enemy. Hopefully we don’t. And besides, I’d rather have the laser than a suppressor,” M16 said as she tapped on the only attachment on her gun.

“Why does your gun only have space for a single attachment anyway-”

M16 stopped right in her tracks and signaled an open hand to 416, who promptly stopped talking and stopped walking.

“We’re here,” M16 mumbled as she pulled on the strap of her rifle to move it from her back to her hands. “I’ll take position. Remember, don’t engage the enemy.”

416 nodded and followed M16 as she approached the enemy position, a large village that had been abandoned upon the start of the Third World War. An enemy faction had started to move its T-Doll forces in, most likely to establish a forward command node.

“Keep your eyes peeled, rookie,” M16 whispered as she lead them to one of the buildings on the edge of town. 416 wished she could drop the stupid nickname during their mission, but she knew better than to banter in the middle of enemy territory. They could already see squadrons of T-Dolls walking down a street in the distance. That single squad easily outnumbered them 1 to 10, looking like four fully Dummy Linked military T-Dolls.

As they moved through the alleyways between the forlorn houses, they had spotted a couple of squadrons walking down the streets of the village. Their numbers were not too impressive, it seemed that they were also scouting the place. The lack of variety of guns between squadrons only proved that theory more, as all the discernable T-Dolls were all carrying weapons no larger than sub-machine guns.

“Well, it doesn’t look like they’re doing much right now…” M16 mumbled as she peeked at an enemy echelon down the street.

“We’ve almost covered the entire perimeter of the village. We should report to HQ,” 416 suggested as she kept overwatch on her partner’s 6.

“No, we still need to get to a vantage point and see the rest of this place. They might have something else in the center of town,” M16 said as she began to look around. “Look, we can go in there,” she suggested, pointing at a five story building not too far from their position. An apartment building at one point in the past, 416 presumed. The German riflewoman nodded in agreement and, taking one last peek at the squadron she had been spying on, M16 led the way to the building.

The entrance of the building was in a sorry state, the once sliding glass doors were no more than a frame with broken glass beneath it. The dilapidated building could have been comfortable living quarters for entire families, but in its disrepair, 416 could not even imagine that vermin would find it suitable. Nature had been very unkind throughout the years, with most of the floors and walls covered in dried out moss. Every appliance had a thick layer of dust and all the wood in the furniture was rotting. Once they made sure the first floor was clear, they headed to the next floor. The stairs were thankfully made of concrete, so the flooring should not creak nor give in to their weight.

Once they reached the fifth floor after going through each level, M16 headed to an apartment that faced the center of town. Both T-Dolls stepped out onto the balcony that covered the entire level of the building, M16 took out a pair of binoculars to inspect the rest of town.

“See anything?” 416 asked as she tried to discern anything out of the ordinary. The veil of darkness did little to help, she could only see as far as the next street from the apartment building.

“Seems like they’re gathering at a park near the center of town,” M16 mumbled before handing the binoculars to her partner. 416 spotted the park in the distance, about 10 blocks away from them. There were several T-Dolls in the process of clearing out a large space of the park, presumably to establish a landing zone.

“Take cover,” M16 whispered and hid behind one of the many pillars on the balcony, 416 following suite. “Listen.”

416 put away the binoculars and kept quiet. For a moment, she could only hear the beat of her core, but soon she heard footsteps and talking. That was… too close to be on the ground. A squadron of T-Dolls must have gone into one of the neighboring building’s roofs. The radio chatter was close too, so it must be the one in front of them. From the little chatter she could hear, 416 discerned that they must be doing the same as them, getting a higher view of the village.

“We need to move,” 416 said and was move out before M16 stopped her.

“No, we need to report to HQ,” she said as she began to rummage her pack for her radio.

“We’ll move out and then report to HQ,” 416 made an addendum and tried move again, only to be stopped once more.

“No, we won’t reach HQ. We need to do it from here, we have the best signal from here.”

“Fine! But do it quickly, and then we’ll heading out of here.”

“I know, I know,” M16 hushed her partner. “Where’s this damn radio…” the American T-Doll cursed as she kept rummaging through her belongings. 416 grew suspicious when she started hearing a foreign sound in her partner’s bag. A sound that nothing in their mission equipment should be able to make. It sounds like a-

“Found it!” M16 silently cheered herself and pulled out the radio from her pack. The moment she did so, a glass bottle flew out of her pack and fell to the balcony floor, making loud clinking noises as she did.

Both M16 and 416 stared at the bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey on the floor in disbelief before gunfire started to pin them down.

“Why did you bring that to the mission?!” 416 asked at the top of her lungs as she pressed her back on the pillar she had hiding behind.

“Tch…” M16 cursed under her breath as she tried to take a look at their attackers. Curse their luck, it was two echelons shooting at them from the roof of the building in front of them.

“Why did you bring alcohol? Are you stupid?!”

“It was supposed to be after our recon, okay?! To pass the time while we waited for extraction!” M16 justified her contraband and tried to reach for the bottle but a bullet whizzed right in front of her hand as she reached out.

“I have no idea why I actually let you convince me that you were some sort of Elite T-Doll!”

M16 tried to reach out once more for the bottle but right as she was about to get it, a stray bullet hit it right in the middle, sending glass flying in every direction and spilling the hard liquor on the dirty balcony floor.

“Fuck it! Return fire, rookie!” M16 yelled out as she started to fire back at the T-Dolls on the opposing building.

416 took the opening her partner made with her suppressive fire to take aim. She had to hit dead center of their formation to take out every single T-Doll in that roof. Once she had it lined up, 416 pulled on the frontmost trigger of her gun, shooting a single grenade from its launcher. The explosive curved down and hit the enemy position, leaving a huge explosion and then a smoke screen following it.

All enemy fire ceased and once the smoke cleared out, none of the T-Dolls remained standing.

“Nice shot, rookie.” M16 whistled before checking on her bullet count.

“So much is obvious, isn’t-”

416 was cut short as a loud siren began to ring across the entire village. 416 pulled out the binoculars once again and looked at the park in the distance.

“Their entire force is moving out of the park. Towards us.”

“Shit,” M16 cursed as she snagged the binoculars from 416’s hands to confirm it. Military T-Dolls were no joke, they came equipped with the absolute best modern technology could give them. They only stood a chance against the T-Dolls on the other roof because they had the high ground and were perfectly bunched up for 416’s anti-personnel grenade. “We need to get out of here,” M16 put away the binoculars and turned on the radio.

“HQ, we need evac ASAP. We had to engage the enemy… what? Ugh, okay. Fine. We’ll be there.” M16 put away the radio and let out a loud groan.

“What? What did HQ say?” 416 frowned, it could only be bad news.

“We won’t get evac in town. We gotta head back to our landing zone. Now, let’s get out of here before they come in swarming this building,” M16 cracked her neck from side to side and made haste to take point once more.

As they ran down the stairs, M16 stopped right as they reached the second floor. The sound of glass being stepped on crunched through the walls of the building. M16 produced a flashbang from her belt and showed it to 416 before pulling out its pin and throwing it down the stairs. Once a light flashed, both of them ran down the rest of the stairs and opened fire on an entire echelon of stunned T-Dolls.

M16 cursed when her gun clicked with a jammed bullet case and several enemies still stood in the lobby of the apartment. She could reload her gun but she would only manage to take down one or two more before she got gunned down, and she did not have the time to run through them either. Reloading her gun was the better option of the two, but before she could pull out her empty magazine, the remaining enemies were blown to smithereens by another grenade. 

M16 felt a single pat on her shoulder and she turned to see 416 expending the empty case from the grenade launcher and sliding a fresh explosive into it.

“Come on, let’s keep moving,” the German riflewoman said and took point this time. M16 nodded and followed her partner’s lead.

________________________________________________________________

The two riflewomen found no remaining opposition as they made their way out of enemy territory. It seemed that all the units in their proximity had gathered in the first floor of the apartment building and the rest of them were too far away from them to catch up. They made it without a hitch to their evac point, where a helicopter was already waiting for them for extraction.

“Wasn’t that exciting?” M16 bumped 416 in her shoulder as they boarded the helicopter.

“What happened to ‘no engaging the enemy’?” 416 raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

“Aww, c’mon! We came out alive, we did the recon we were asked to, and it would’ve made for a boring story if we didn’t shoot a bullet or two.” M16 sat across 416 and cheered with a big smile, one that was hard to not be infected by.

“I… guess it was exhilarating,” 416 mumbled and smiled a little.

“That’s great to hear, 416.” M16’s smile turned into a more calming and reassuring one.

“What happened to the rookie name?”

“Well, you finished your first mission. I’d say that’s enough to graduate you from rookie school. You even cleared out two entire squads of military T-Dolls!” M16 cheered again, this time patting her in the lap. “Let’s celebrate once we get home, alright?”

416 smiled again and nodded, brushing her hair behind her ear.

She also saved her ass back there with those grenades. M16 had to remind herself that she was not alone anymore.

“Hey, uh… let me handle the report, alright?”

“So you can leave out your little contraband alcohol? I don’t think so.”

She was not alone anymore, for better or for worse.

________________________________________________________________

“Honoka! Can you get those boxes out to the backstage?! We need them there!”

“On it! Can anyone help me with these?!”

“Lily White’s on stage, and Hanayo and Kotori are busy with our outfits! Find someone else!”

Honoka stared at the stack of plastic bins filled to the brim with props needed for Bibi’s turn on the stage. The tower of boxes was intimidating, but she would not let her friends down. Filled with a newfound determination, she leaned down, took a deep breath, and lifted the box from its sides. The box was heavy, but just the thought of all those loyal fans out there experiencing the best μ's could give out was worth the strain on her arms. The box sure was heavy though, and there were at least five more of them. Some extra hands would sure be-

“Ara, Honoka-chan. Do you need help with that?”

Honoka stopped and looked back. She had passed Anju, who was drinking from her water bottle and refreshing herself before her next song. How could she have forgotten?! The sole reason Honoka was so pumped for this live was because they would be sharing the stage with A-RISE! They would even end it with a mashup that Maki and Anju had managed to come up with, despite the different tones the two school idol groups went for.

“Y-Yes! I’d be in your debt!” Honoka nodded quickly. “There are more of these boxes right outside our changing room.”

“Okay, Honoka-chan! I’ll think of something you could do later, now I’ll get Tsubasa and Erena to help.”

___________________________________________________________

“You set us up for this?” Erena was always willing to lend a hand for live prep, but the sheer amount of boxes baffled her. μ's had three times their members, yet they could only spare one? And for some reason, Honoka’s “five or so boxes” had at least doubled in quantity.

“We need to make this live a success. Especially this one!”

“Anju’s right. We shouldn’t leave a bad impression on these girls now that we’re working together,” Tsubasa agreed and went in for the first box. Holding it tight from its sides, she pulled up. The other two simply stared in both amusement and surprise when their leader could only muster a grunt and not make the box move a single inch.

By the third attempt, Anju and Erena bursted out laughing, much to Tsubasa’s embarrassment.

“What’s wrong, Tsubasa-chan? Is the plastic tupperware too much for you?” Anju did her best to fight back her laughter to throw a jab at her friend.

“Come on, don’t be mean to her. You know her petite build can only lift so much.” The cool facade Erena always put on was now long gone as she laughed hard.

“Well, I don’t see you two trying!” Tsubasa protested and stepped aside to let the other two try to lift them.

“Don’t be so upset, dear. We’re just teasing you.” Anju’s apology lost most of its credit when she patted Tsubasa’s head. Letting out a deep breath to calm herself, Anju leaned down, took hold of the box, and… grunted as she tried to pick up the box.

“Ha. Ha.”  Tsubasa mocked Anju as she tried and tried in vain to pick up the box.

“Let me give it a try,” Erena spoke up and went for another box. Securing her grip, Erena pulled up, and after letting out a strained voice she managed to pick it up. “This is… kinda heavy.”

“And you said you saw Honoka-san running with these?” Tsubasa found it hard to believe. Taking one of the sides of the box Anju was trying to lift, both girls pulled up at the same time and managed to lift it.

“Yes, she was-”

“Coming through!” Honoka came running and quickly and effortlessly picked up another of the plastic boxes. Once lifted, she was jogging in place and smiled to the trio. “Thanks a bunch! I really owe you guys!” With her quick thanks out of the way, Honoka sped through the halls of the backstage once again.

“Uh, wow,” was the only thing that Erena could say as she just saw Honoka run as if she was carrying nothing.

“Y-Yeah, uh, ‘wow’ sure is a word I’d use,” Tsubasa stuttered as she kept looking at Honoka in the distance. Had her arms always been that toned?

Anju smiled mischievously as she saw Tsubasa’s face get progressively redder and sweatier, and it was not because of the heavy box they were holding.

____________________________________________________

“So, buff arms?” Anju inquired.

“Shut up,” Tsubasa mumbled as she looked away and tried to cover her face. She cursed that they had to sit down and wait for μ's to finish their next few songs as they were up next.

“Hey, Tsubasa,” Erena called out and pointed at the screen. “You know this song?”

“Yeah, it’s Wild Stars, what of it-?” The moment Tsubasa looked up at the screen in their waiting room broadcasting the stage, Honoka was the focus of the camera as she was pulling one of her arms back and clearly showing her well defined bicep. 

Tsubasa wanted to scream.

________________________________________________________

“That was a great performance, congratulations.” Tsubasa extended her hand for a handshake but was taken aback when Honoka instead went in for a hug. It took her a moment, but Tsubasa embraced her back.

“You guys were amazing too! And your new song was so good! Nico wouldn’t stop talking about it, too.” Honoka let go but held on to Tsubasa’s hands as the excitable school idol bounced up and down.

“I’m glad you liked it. I mean, that you guys liked it.”

“Hey, Honoka-chan.” Anju tapped on Honoka’s shoulder. “Remember you said you’d do something in return for helping with those boxes~?”

“Wait, you did?” That was the first time Tsubasa heard of this. As far as she knew, they were only helping to make sure things ran smoothly.

“Oh, yeah! I did do that! What do you want me to do?”

“Pick her up. Like a princess,” Anju requested with a coy smile.

“Wait, what-”

“I can do that!” 

Before Tsubasa could react, Honoka put an arm behind her back and one behind her knees and in one swift movement lifted Tsubasa, who could only let out a yelp. The petite brunette held on to Honoka as if her life depended on it, inadvertently placing the palm of her hand right on Honoka’s arm. Suddenly, Tsubasa became much more aware of all of the bodily contact she was having with Honoka, and her face lit up with a bright red blush. She wanted to cover it, but the best she could do was press her face on Honoka’s shoulder, which only embarrassed her more.

“Everything okay?” Honoka asked, worrying about how stiff Tsubasa suddenly got. “Do you not like getting picked up?”

“Oh no, she’s loving it,” Erena chimed in and joined Anju’s shit-eating-smirks club.

______________________________________________________

A/N: All errors are completely mine as I couldn’t rely on my proofreaders this time around.

“They were talking about us,” Umi pointed out as they made their way to the music room.

“It’s so obvious! They’re totally into each other!”

“Honoka, don’t be ridiculous…”

“Look at the way they look at each other! And how they’re talking! They’re so focused in each other, it’s love!”

“What are you guys blabbering about?” Nico asked as she twirled on the office chair set up in front of the clubroom’s computer. Honoka and Eli had backed up to her and started quietly gossiping to each other. Well, as quiet as one could get with Honoka.

“C’mon, Nico-chan. It’s so obvious! You’re with me on this one, right?” Honoka asked and pointed at Umi and Maki who were sitting on the other side of the clubroom quietly talking with each other.

“Honoka says that Umi and Maki are in love with each other,” Eli explained and rolled her eyes.

“Honoka, don’t be stupid.” Finally, someone was on her side on this dumb discussion- “School idols can’t date each other in public.”

“Wait, that’s your reasoning?!”

“Well, duh. C’mon, even you know that!” Umi and Maki paused and looked over at the discussing trio when Nico used one too many decibels. Honoka and Eli quickly shushed her and the musical pair resumed their conversation.

“Nico-chan’s right! They must be doing it in secret.”

“D-Doing what in secret?!” Eli blushed, eyeing Maki and Umi. They wouldn’t, would they? Wait, why was she even thinking about that when it was so clear Honoka was wrong?

“Oh, well, you know. Couple stuff! Like holding hands and texting each other.” Texting each other. In secret.

Nico did her best to contain her laughter and had to take a deep breath before speaking. “Honoka, you’ve never dated anyone before, have you?”

“Well, as a school idol I can’t tell you.” Honoka’s stupid grin only made Nico want to punch her. “They’re always together! Speaking so secretively! I bet they’re planning out dates.”

“They’re discussing songs, Honoka.” Eli sighed, she could not believe Honoka was so much into the idea of them dating each other.

“Why are they being so secretive about it then, hmm? Yeah, I thought so!”

“Honoka, you know Umi is the one who never likes to talk about her works in progress. She’s too embarrassed to show them to anyone-”

“Then why does she show her to Maki-chan, hmm? Eli-chan, I know Umi-chan like the back of my hand. I know what she’s feeling and what she’s feeling is love for Maki-chan-”

“Honoka, didn’t Umi slap you that one time because you were so dumb that you couldn’t figure out what either of your childhood friends were thinking?” Nico pointed out before finally bursting out into laughter.

“Aw c’mon, Nico-chan! That was a low blow! And that was one time!”

The loud thud of a notebook hitting the table shut both Honoka and Nico up; Umi and Maki had gotten up and picked up their bags.

“We’re going to the music room to discuss μ's next song somewhere else in peace.” Maki’s squinting eyes pierced through Honoka and Nico and with a huff she turned and left the club room. Umi’s lack of any lectures or glares somehow made her even scarier than the redhead.

“See? Now you two drove them off,” Eli sighed and shook her head.

“Yeah, I know. But Honoka did a good job making it seem like we’re not dating,” Maki said, all too pleased.

“Y-You sounded awfully fond of that idea.” The words slipped before Umi realized what she had said.

Maki rolled her eyes and tightened her grip on Umi’s hand. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just glad we got the others off of our backs. And that we’re getting the music for ourselves again.”

“H-Hey, what’re you doing-?!”

“You sit down here…”

“And let us prepare dinner!”

Nico could only keep quiet out of sheer bafflement. Eli had just picked her up as if she was paper (granted, Eli always did make it seem like Nico was lighter than a feather when she carried her) and put her on the couch.

“We agreed to make sukiyaki though-”

“Yup, and Nicocchi gets to rest for a bit,” Nozomi added from the kitchen as she took the portable stove to the dining table.

“You’ve prepared basically everything on your own this whole year, like on Nozomi’s birthday, my birthday, my sister’s birthday, our anniversary, Christmas…” Eli listed as she looked for the TV remote and put it on the armrest of the couch. “So you can sit back and let us prepare this one. In return for this year.”

Nico never doubted the capabilities of her two girlfriends. Nozomi had several more years of experience of living on her own than Eli and Nico and Eli was always the most responsible of the two and she probably had lived a survivalist’s life back in Russia for years, even if she adamantly refused so (that’s what Russian spec ops like Eli wanted you to believe). But putting them together was a whole different thing. Somehow this duo managed to take two positives and turn them into negatives, specifically when it came to wanting to impress Nico. Nico had pretty much saved all of those three birthdays because her surprisingly incompetent girlfriends had managed to burn two cakes and almost set the apartment on fire and after those two incidents Alisa trusted no one but Nico to save her when Eli insisted on baking her a cake. Yeah, Nico was pretty amazing. She had to be if she wanted to survive in this apartment.

But those blue eyes filled with excitement and expectations tied a knot on Nico’s throat that would not let the “no” come out.

“Fine, but don’t screw it up,” Nico huffed and crossed her legs.

“We won’t disappoint you.”

Eli’s words echoed in Nico’s head as she took the remote and turned on the TV to watch the New Year’s special.

They wouldn’t disappoint Nico. They’ve never had. Not when they were school idols, not when they confessed to each other, not when they moved in together.

“Wait, is that water? You don’t put water in the mixture- Elicchi, stop!”

They wouldn’t disappoint Nico, Nico repeated in her head.

“Nozomi, I don’t think the eggs- the eggs go in separate bowls!”

They’ve never had, Nico repeated as her fingers fiddled with the remote,

“I told you to slice the meat, not chop it!”

Not when they were school idols, her teeth gritted as Nico turned up the TV’s volume.

“Did you use sake or the cooking sake?”

Not when they confessed to each other. Not when they moved-

“There’s a difference?”

Nico had enough. Eli and Nozomi had not disappointed her because, really, Nico already knew it was not going to go as planned. It never did with these two. Dropping the remote on the couch, Nico quickly got up and turned around.

“Alright, you two are useless without Nico-!”

Her voice failed to come out when Nico saw the perfectly set up sukiyaki hot pot on the table, ingredients simmering smoothly, bowls of rice and egg laid out alongside cups and a large shouchuu bottle.

“Got ya,” Nozomi teased with a wink.

“Thanks for taking care of us, Nico.”

Nico had to rub her forehead and groan. These two had to audacity to close the year by tricking her.

“U-Um… Nico?”

“Yeah?”

The image of the huge flower fields behind Nico as she turned around to look at her made speaking a bit more difficult than Umi would have wanted. “Could we hold hands?”

Nico simply looked at Umi, waiting for the moment when Umi would admit she finally grew a sense of humor and say she was joking but it never happened.

“No.”

“N-No?!” That certainly was not the answer Umi was expecting. “W-Why not?”

“Because, Umi, we’ve been dating for almost half a year now.” When Nico saw that Umi was not following her logic, she continued, “you shouldn’t be asking me these things by now.” How many times had they gone through this already?

“I-I don’t know how relationships work-”

“We’ve been dating for five months too. We’ve even kissed!” Granted, Umi had asked for those kisses too, but Nico had figured that at least her girlfriend would have gotten over holding hands. “You’ve also written so many love songs!”

“That does not make them any less embarrassing!” Umi protested and looked down, her cheeks flushing. “I-I just don’t want to mess it up,” Umi admitted as she squeezed the hem of her dress.

Umi felt her heart skip a beat when Nico held her hands and gently squeezing them. Looking up, Nico offered her a gentle smile before turning it into a cheerful grin. “You won’t.” Umi smiled back, she did not know how but Nico always managed to calm down her anxieties.

“So, could we hold hands?”