#akairo

      She rifled through the packets of tea in the cupboard and even eyeballed the coffee machine Midorikawa kept pristine off in the corner. Tea or coffee—neither appealed to Makino at the moment, but she found a stray hot chocolate mixed in with the teabags. Huh. Out of season for it, but it wasn't expired…yeah. She could do with some hot cocoa right about now.

      Makino filled a mug with water and stuck it in the microwave, but she turned around and stared out at the rest of the office while she waited for the water to heat. Her eyes flicked first to Shigemoto's inner office door, but that was closed, like most days—not odd, especially after his revelation to them in Kyoto. From his door, Makino followed Midorikawa's tall form to where their office manager brought extra cords for their pair of engineers sitting on the small sofas across from each other. Nikoyama thanked him and Yamimori ducked his bleached blond head in gratitude. Sitting at their desks nearby, Koshigaya scolded Yamimori for being bashful, and Sakuragi couldn't help giggling. Even Akasaka, at the next desk over, tried to stifle her own laughter.

      This sight—it felt so strange, Makino thought with a frown as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Yes, they'd secured their new engineer. And, yes, Shigemoto had encouraged them all to take this breather after returning from Kyoto; after all, what should've been a calm company retreat had turned out to be one hell of a dangerous job. They all deserved a few more quiet days…

      The microwave beeped at her, so Makino tore her eyes from her friends to grab her mug and dump the mix in. As she stirred, her frown deepened.

      "Something wrong?"

      Makino jolted. Thankfully, she had a good grip on the mug, so its contents sloshed but didn't spill when Akasaka spooked her. The redhead glanced at her bespectacled partner to her left. "Ah, Akasaka-san… Did you need something?"

      The other woman watched her make her drink. "Not necessarily. But you've been wearing a—let's say, a strong frown, since we returned." She glanced at their friends. "Which seems at odds with everyone else's behavior. Don't you think we have plenty to celebrate, Makino-san?"

      This perceptive side of her—it was one way in which they were similar and got along, but Makino now understood that there were definitely times she didn't want to be read like a book… Especially if Akasaka paid enough attention and didn't skip lines or pages, then she'd read it all.

      That Makino's head wasn't here but still back in Kyoto.

      Back in Kyoto, where everything was still going wrong.

      Where Yamimori was working hard but was beside himself, inside that weird barrier at the shrine, with an injured Makino and a collapsed Tonomori and…and a barely conscious Akasaka, as well…

      Makino pulled herself from those vivid memories and chewed on her bottom lip, glancing at Akasaka a second time to remind herself that, no, her partner was alive and well and that they had made it out of there. She and Akasaka had gone into that hell together, and they'd come out of it together.

      That was another thing they had in common, all these things done together. Trading in their old companies to join Magilumiere at the same time… Makino liked that, despite being the new faces here, Akasaka was a seasoned magical girl same as her. And they always got right down to business out in the field. They'd even worked on that twinning transformation for their Magilumiere forms!

      Akasaka cocked her head Makino's way, curious, but Makino offered her half a smile while she tried to focus on the positive things—on things, as Akasaka would point out, she might celebrate. Yeah, she wanted to focus on positive things, to focus on how comfortable her transition from Apda to Magilumiere had been, switching from working on her own to not only having real-time support and a team but a partner who worked so well with her on every job…

      …except her thoughts circled back to their last job, in Kyoto, to the challenge of that unknown Kaii, to the sight of Akasaka falling beside her—

      Makino couldn't recall the last time her heart had jumped into her throat like that.

      Akasaka raised her eyebrows as if in question.

      The redhead licked her lips and pursed them, giving Akasaka another glance, longer this time but for good reason. It struck her, too, as strange, that Akasaka seemed completely fine now, even if she hadn't been hit as hard as Tonomori…but if Akasaka and Makino were on the same wavelength, then didn't the Kyoto incident linger with her, too? Or was Makino the odd one out, for being hung up on it?

      Akasaka pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Is it your foot?"

      Makino blinked, her mug halfway to her mouth. "Eh? My foot?"

      "The one you hurt in Kyoto." Akasaka glanced at their feet as they leaned against the counter together. But then her eyes were back on Makino's, blue–black meeting brown. "I know you said you were feeling better, but, if not, tell me, Makino-san."

      Ah. So perhaps Kyoto didn't worry her, but Makino's well-being did… Makino's chest ached a bit at the notion, and the ache became a painful throb the longer Akasaka stared, eventually giving Makino a curious little smile. Oh, she was looking for a response. "…no. no, my foot's fine. Are you, um." Might as well go for it: "Are you all right, after Kyoto?"

      Akasaka's small smile widened and—was it just Makino, or was it blinding? Ahh, Akasaka seemed so bright to her with that big smile that crinkled her eyes…! "I am," Akasaka replied. "I feel bad that you had to do any fighting on your own, but I know I'm safe with you around. I'm glad we're partners, Makino-san." She nodded when she finished, emphasizing her words.

      But those same words were not only reassuring for Makino… She set her mug down and dragged a hand over her face, which felt as warm as her hot cocoa and she would bet money was bright red to boot. Honestly…!

      Why on Earth had she wasted time whining about boyfriends-this and boyfriends-that to poor Sakuragi when Makino now had someone like Akasaka Iroha right in front of her?!

      "…'Akane,'" she murmured from behind her hand.

      "Hmm?"

      Makino summoned her wits and courage and dropped her hand to face Akasaka once more. "It's 'Akane.' I think we've been through enough to be on friendlier terms."

      Akasaka blinked, once, then twice—urgh, so cute!—but she smiled again, and her eyes crinkled once more. "I think you're right. Akane-san."

      Makino swallowed a lump in her throat. Ahhh, she really made the right decision to join Magilumiere…! And maybe…maybe her lingering worries about Kyoto were silly after all…

      But then Akasaka pushed off from the counter, making to return to her desk.

      "Iroha-san," Makino blurted.

      "Yes?" Akasaka turned back towards her, her bob slightly swaying around her jawline but always her ears never peeking through.

      Makino froze with her attention back on her. "Oh. I, uh. I just wanted to try it out."

      Akasaka reached for her nearer hand and gave it a squeeze…even though there was no need, without them transforming. "You'll have all the time in the world for that, Akane-san."

      Makino fought back and failed to hide her stupid little smile at that, and she let Akasaka return to her tasks first. After all, Makino had hot chocolate to finish…but she didn't really need it anymore.

      Akasaka's promises, better than cocoa, were the perfect remedy to soothe Makino's stress headache.

:3c Well, first thoughts: I think the last time I had to add this many names to Word's dictionary, it was when I started writing for Haikyuu!! XD ANYWAY. I do think my top OTP in Magilumi is Akairo—Akane/Iroha. They just. HOW THEY DEBUTED. WUT. And they've been practically canon research gfs ever since. I cannot. Canon or not, shipping or not, I adore both Akane and Iroha and esp love drawing Akane, *lol* (tho I find her hair challenging—I think Hitomi's the easiest for me to draw??), and I rly do love any and all screen time they get, esp in recent chaps. *as of writing this oneshot, mew is caught up to ch77/reading along with the simulpub & is awash in feels atm, pls handle w/care* So yeah. I have loose plans for another Akairo, plus some art, so pls come chat with me on FFN/AO3/tumblr/pillowfort~ I just knew I had to write a they-use-their-given-names-as-a-sign-of-closeness story after the Kyoto arc… *eyes*

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!