#maimomo

Mai and Momo settled into the central row of the auction house, nestled beyond the low light's outer edge. Mai crossed her legs at the ankle. In the dark, she indulged in the sleekness of her pencil skirt and the warmth of Momo at her side.

Alongside the collection of legitimate paintings, Momo had submitted a single forgery. She told the same story as always: she recovered the canvas from obscurity during her travels. This time, it was in the style of Shima Seien.

None of their buyers had raised an alarm, but Mai figured it was only a matter of time. As much as she treasured this new life of globetrotting, she'd lived on less. It would all catch up to them, the assets would be seized, and they'd be on the run again. While Mai saw no point despairing over the inevitable, it was Momo she worried about.

To the untrained eye, Momo was the picture of professionalism. Head held high, blouse ironed. It was only in the tightness of her mouth that Mai saw the discomfort.

Mai pressed her shoulder against Momo's. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the tightness melt away and chuckled to herself. So easy to please.

At this auction house, art was sold in reverse chronological order. As such, the final painting was Momo's untitled masterpiece. The auctioneer's assistant placed the frame on the wall under an amber spotlight.

Bids erupted among the crowd. The number climbed to a dizzying height. As a woman's voice pierced the noise like a sword strike, Mai felt a different thrill along her spine.

“Two billion yen.”

In a place specializing in obscurity, it wasn't uncommon to sense other sorcerers. Anything from rare alcohol to strange artifacts could be repurposed for jujutsu. Fortunately for them, the clan preferred to steal instead of bid.

Even so, Mai knew better than to turn around. That ice storm of cursed energy was legend enough. It brought Mai back to a time when her entire life was in the corner of a room, quietly listening to the men argue. A woman had dispatched two of their assassins and signed their corpses with her cursed energy.

Mai had been curious what sort of woman would be so audacious, but had never dreamed of meeting her. And yet, here Mai was, about to help defraud her.

If nothing else, Mai could slip in a layout of the Zen'in compound to sweeten the deal.

To Mai's utter joy, no one countered the woman's bid.

A wave of anticipation crested in Mai's heart. When the pair chose a private room in which to complete the sale, she turned to Momo with a twinkle in her eye.

“Have you ever heard of Mei Mei? That's who bought the last piece.”

Momo shook her head. “Never. Should I be worried?”

Yes and no. Mai took a moment to rephrase, not wanting to alarm Momo. A sly smile lifted the corners of her lips.

“She's the enemy of our enemy. I'll do the talking this time.”

Panic and curiosity warred on Momo's face, but she buried them under a placid expression. Mai was glad to see Momo following her lead—even if it was only on the surface.

The door opened once more, and in stepped Mei Mei. She brought an aroma of jasmine with her, a subtle delight to the senses. The perfectly-tailored jacket cinched at the waist with a gleaming, platinum belt buckle. As she approached the table, a crimson reflection bled out from under her stilettos. She surveyed the room, her gaze every bit as sharp as her cursed energy.

Mai smiled, gracious in the face of effortless intimidation. “Good evening. My name is Nishimiya Mai, assistant to the representative. May I have your name?”

“You can call me Mei Mei. It's a pleasure to meet you both.”

Over the course of her life, Mai had known only two other people who'd defied the clan and lived through the night. How exciting to finally meet a third.

As Mei Mei took her seat, Mai set the painting's briefcase atop the table and opened it for the woman's inspection.

“Is all to your liking so far?”

“Very much so. Up close, it's exactly as I thought.”

“I'm glad to hear that.” Mai locked the briefcase. “We sourced it from a hostel in Manchuria.”

Mei Mei cracked a smile. “Is that what you call your studio?”

Momo's next inhale caught in her throat.

Mai stepped into the silence before it grew to an unmanageable degree. “As I'm sure you're aware, Shima-san lived in Manchuria for a time.”

Mei Mei leaned into the chair's leather back. “I'm aware. I've been buying art for a long time, which is how I know this is something special.”

“Is that so?”

Mei Mei's smile took on a hard edge, like a pack animal that had found its fellows. “Yes. The only thing more valuable than a masterpiece is the artist who can make flawless reproductions. To that end, I'd like to propose a deal.”

Mai reached over to hold Momo's knee down to keep it from bouncing. “Go on.”

“The money's yours, regardless. Art takes skill, doubly true of forgery. In exchange, I would like the artist to join a venture of mine. We'll cut the head off the snake known as that damned clan, and I'll provide a proper front for these dealings.”

Mai's grin broke free of its professional confines. She turned to Momo, who looked to be trying her hardest to reconcile that they'd been caught and didn't immediately face blackmail.

Mai stood and motioned for Momo to join her outside. “Do you mind if we deliberate?”

“Not at all.” Assurance underscored Mei Mei's voice, as though agreement was inevitable.

For the first time, such an assumption didn't rob Mai of anything. This wasn't a demand for mindless compliance, but an alliance.

Once the door shut behind them, Momo let out a shuddering breath. “Mai…what the hell is going on?”

Mai laughed, light and disbelieving. “I think we've been invited to a show I've been dying to see.”

“Please take this seriously.”

“Oh, but I am.” Mai shook her head, willing the giddiness away. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I think we should accept.”

Momo crossed her arms. “Why? If we're getting the money anyway, why take on a suicide mission?”

“Because she's taken down some of our fiercest clan members on her own, and she wants our help.” As Momo's arms dropped to her sides, taken aback by such a feat, Mai continued. “Momo, eveyone could finally be rid of them. Not just us. I still dream of the estate on fire, only to wake up and know that nothing's changed.”

Rage rippled under Mai's skin, an ocean dammed by gritted teeth. Over two decades of hatred was stored in her body, and it would not be denied its due.

Momo stepped closer, ever ready to stare into the depths of Mai's heart. “How do you want to play this?”

“I want us to go with her. She's already done the impossible once. Why not twice? Why not with us at her side?” She cradled Momo's hand in hers, then ran her thumb over the silver band. “They'll never see us coming.”

Momo sighed.

It would be so easy to read the look in her eyes as resignation. Not too long ago, Mai would have. Now, she knew it as faith. Faith she'd earned by understanding the world in which they lived—its traps and exploits, the limits of surveillance, and digging foxholes under an empire.

“Alright,” Momo said.

Mai could feel the expansion of her heart in real time. With her other hand, she cupped Momo's cheek. Through these points of contact flowed unending trust, the only emotion strong enough to quell the waters within.

They rejoined Mei Mei at the table, hands clasped between them.

“We accept,” Mai said.

“‘We?’” Mei Mei asked, a touch of humor trailing the end.

As for why, Mai figured it was how quickly they'd abandoned the “assistant” cover.

“Yes,” Mai confirmed. “Momo is the artist you want, but I'm coming with her.” She leveled a look at Mei Mei. “That's final.”

~~~

After initiation, not a second of their training went to waste.

Under Yuki's tutelage, Mai learned to efficiently gather her cursed energy. They began with meditation, granting Mai a profound awareness of where her body stored and embedded energy. For Construction, she drew from where it pooled naturally, averting the strain on her organs.

With practice, a couple short daggers a day were no problem.

It had taken Mai the better part of a week to make her trusty six-shooter, forming each piece in secret. The day she created one in an hour was momentous.

The gun was perfectly weighted, and smooth where one would expect a serial number. Mei Mei's grin rivaled the glint of the metal handle.

If Mai had shown this to any of the clan members, she'd have been turned into a factory. All she would have is the memory of sunlight as they pushed her body to new limits, determined to see how far she could go on fumes.

Instead, Mei Mei took them all out for a night on the town and presented Mai a velvet gift box. There would be more guns—just as there were more forgeries—but the first one belonged to Mai alone. She could do with it as she pleased, such as turn it into a cursed tool or simply admire it.

When she elected to keep it mundane, so as not to draw the clan's attention, Yuki volunteered for something absurd.

Yuki slammed her beer glass on the table and cackled, a frenzied edge to her voice. “I'd love to be your first moving target.”

Mai blinked once, twice, stunned by both Yuki's offer and her eagerness. She turned to Momo, whose shared confusion confirmed that Mai hadn't misheard.

“You want me to shoot you?”

“If you can. I won't go easy on you.”

True to her word, the following sessions almost made Mai wish they could go back to meditation.

Of course, Mai wasn't the only one being put through her paces. After a long day of getting close but never grazing her mentor, Mai went to the dance studio.

The air was alive with cursed energy. It arced over Mai's skin as though she stood amid a lightning storm. Utahime led Momo in a ritualistic dance to control her new Wind Daggers. Mai watched, entranced, as Momo matched the steps, formed the gestures, and evened her breath.

It's one thing to revel in her own power. It's another to see her lover embody it for herself. Momo's body was molding into a dancer's form, dense yet graceful.

The Wind Daggers moved in concert with her limbs, whizzing around the pair as they sped up. Loose strands of hair frizzed away from Mai's bob toward the whirlpool of energy. Mai constructed an alloyed dagger of her own, uniform in size to the ones in play, and let its handle be pulled from her fingers.

Momo drew it into her dance, the lines of concentration on her face giving way to a grin. Mai couldn't tell if each flourish was strictly necessary or a show for her in particular.

The moment the routine concluded, Mai clapped politely. She gave a bottle of water to Utahime before she left and one to Momo when she joined her on the floor.

After all this time, Mai still found it strange and wondrous how being next to someone had become as vital to her as her own breath. Of course, the answer was devastatingly simple. Momo wasn't any “someone.” She was the beloved Mai had never believed existed.

Although Momo didn't move, Mai felt her start to pull away. Her body had lost some of its trademark softness, and she was due for another reminder that's not where her worth is stored.

She laid Momo on the ground, guiding her in cooldown stretches. Mai rested her thumbs along lightly-defined muscles, grip sure and loving. As she held one position, Mai reached down and turned her head toward one of the mirrored walls.

Momo's eyes flitted about her form, too uncomfortable to find a place to settle. So, Mai decided for her.

She'd taken a liking to the sculpted look of Momo's calves. With the single act of kissing this part of Momo's body, Mai received two gifts: a gasp, and a rush of red across her lover's face.

Again, easy to please.

Slowly, with the aid of the stretches and Mai letting no inch of her go unappreciated, she felt Momo return to her body.

In her past life, Mai often severed the link between feeling and expression. Untempered pride overflowed from her, Momo relaxed further into her touch, and Mai saw yet again that the link had been worth the restoration.

Maybe love is taking turns pulling one another into new worlds. Walking with them on the other side, seeing them through the nadir, and tearing down any enclosure too small for their transformation.

Nobara's maul clanged against her armor as she willed her body to run faster, feet pounding against the ground.

"How did we lose her?" She yelled to Mai. She and Momo were beside Nobara, following the demon's trail, the telltale smoke that only they could see rising softly.

“Must have been when our backs were turned,” Mai grunted. “I was going to switch shifts with Maki when the demon burst through the back wall, and she ran out yelling that the demon took Tsumiki.”

The phantom edges of the demon’s smoke grew as they sprinted through the streets of the town, trying to catch up to Maki, who had run off ahead of them. As they neared the outskirts of the village, the smell picked up, an acrid scent that burned their noses and throats. Momo picked up speed on her broom, flying past Nobara and Mai, the two women flagging slightly from the hard run. “I’m going to catch up to Maki! She’ll need backup if the rumors we heard were true,” she said, words growing fainter as she flew off towards Maki.

“Remind me why we don’t have one of those?” Nobara panted.

Mai rolled her eyes at the question, her answer coming practiced and quick, “Because you’re too busy smashing things to learn how to fly a broom, and I can’t use cursed energy for long periods of time. Besides, where would you even keep a broom? You barely have room on your back for your maul.”

Nobara smirked and then shifted back to focus on their pursuit. Mai’s answer lacked any of the bite it used to have. They had stopped actually fighting with each other years ago, but the act was still fulfilling. The women were quiet save for their panting, the demon’s path leading them outside the walls of the town and into the surrounding forest. Little moonlight filtered through the trees, but cursed energy’s trail was clear as day and growing stronger. They were nearing their mark.

Nobara and Mai caught up to Maki and Momo inside a small clearing in the trees. Maki stood near the center, glaive drawn, eyes darting around the tree cover, as Nobara pulled her maul from her back and slid into a practiced stance beside her. Mai held back on entering the clearing as Momo rushed over to meet her partner, filling her in on what they knew while Maki did the same for Nobara.

“It’s still holding on to Tsumiki. Momo thinks we’re near its lair, but it doesn’t want to lead us directly there. It can disappear into the shadows. I would have stopped it in the village if I had known, but none of the townspeople told us it could do that.” As Maki spoke, a cloud covered the moon, bathing the clearing in black. The demon’s smell grew even stronger, burning Nobara’s throat as she gripped the maul’s handle tightly. Maki whipped her head to look behind Nobara. “Behind you!” she yelled to Nobara, rushing forward to block the attack.

Nobara spun around just in time to see a blur emerge from the shadows in front of them before it barreled into them. She brought her maul up just in time to guard against the worst of the charge, the demon rushing between them and bowling them to the ground before melting back into the gloom.

Nobara heard an anxious cry from Mai and Momo and replied, “We’re fine! Just got knocked over!” Nobara spat as she stood back up, “so how do we beat a curse that can hide like that, huh?”

Maki readied herself again, “The burning smell was strongest just before it appeared and disappeared, it must use a lot of cursed energy to melt into the shadows.” 

Nobara grinned, “You’re always so smart, Maki, you know that? So we just need to strike as soon as it leaves the shadow to attack us.”

Maki yelled to the other two, “It uses a lot of cursed energy when it reappears, strike right as soon as you feel it!”

Mai and Momo nodded, Mai’s bow pulled taut as Momo cast a spell on the arrowhead. The point lit with a blue flame, eager to hit its target. The air grew tense as they waited, reaching out with their cursed energy to sense the creature. The phantom smell grew thicker around them, its acrid taste in their mouths and noses. All four darted their heads to a shadow near Maki and Nobara, Maki already racing to slash downwards with her glaive as the curse materialized from the shadow. Maki’s blade caught it square in the shoulder as an arrow hit its left flank, the spell burning bright across its side before it extinguished.

Nobara rushed to swing her maul into its other shoulder, but the curse wrenched backwards, pulling Maki and her glaive with it. The creature did not retreat into the shadows as expected, choosing instead to glare at them angrily. Maki pulled her glaive from its shoulder and swung again, but it swiped a wide arc, forcing her to step back. It was a large wolf-like beast, but its limbs were far too long for a wolf, spikes protruding out at the elbows and knees. Its matted fur hid jagged claws on its front paws, and beneath the far too many eyes on its face was Tsumiki still held between its teeth. 

Nobara and Maki stared down the demon in front of them, inching closer as they checked over Tsumiki’s still form in its jaws. She was unconscious, blood dripped down her arm from where the demon had punctured it with its fangs, but she was alive. Maki dashed forward, her hand grazing Tsumiki’s hand to grab her, but the demon melted back into the shadows and reappeared at the edge of the clearing. It spat Tsumiki into a crumpled heap on the ground and crouched over her before letting out an ear splitting howl.

Maki yelled, “Mai! Momo! Nobara and I will keep it distracted. Grab Tsumiki and get her out of here!”

The beast charged again, its shape blurring as it rushed Maki and Nobara a second time before dropping into shadow at their feet. The demon emerged behind them and swiped its claws across Nobara’s back, new scars scratched into her breastplate before the claws caught in the join between shoulder and arm, digging into the muscle there. Nobara cried out and whirled around, swinging her hammer wildly at the demon, but she hit smoke as it faded back into the darkness. 

“Maki, I can’t take another hit like that or I’ll drop my hammer,” Nobara grunted painfully, “how do we beat this thing?” 

Maki’s eyes darted around the battlefield, landing briefly on the retreating figures of Mai and Momo carrying Tsumiki away from danger, before she looked to Nobara. She looked away, back to the shadows around them, searching for the one that carried a demon. “I’ll be bait,” Maki said grimly. She dropped her glaive and drew her sword, as she waited for an opening.

“What the hell are you saying, Maki?” Nobara couldn’t risk a look at her, and she shifted her feet to cover Maki’s back. “You want to get hit by this thing? All that’s going to do is get you killed, and it will disappear before I kill it back.”

“Not if I can pin it down with my blade. It should have disappeared when I slashed it earlier, but it couldn’t. I’m guessing that it can’t use the shadows if it’s held back by something on our side,” Maki said. 

Nobara gawked at her, the risk be damned. “You’re guessing that will work?! We can hold out until Mai and Momo take care of Tsumiki and come back!”

“We don’t know how long that will be! Mai’s going to stay with Momo and Tsumiki until she’s healed, and you know that Momo will be too drained to fight.” They tensed, feeling the cursed energy gather around them, their senses filled with its bitterness. “Besides,” Maki muttered, too quiet for Nobara to hear, “I don’t want you to die, either.”

A flash to their right as the beast shifted to this world again, claws already swinging to rip them apart. Maki matched the demon’s speed as her blade deflected the claws down towards her leg instead of her heart. She struck true, stabbing the beast in its chest, her face dangerously close to its teeth, as the strike into her leg made its pain known. Maki held on through the pain, pushing her sword further into its chest, but the beast snapped at her shoulder, puncturing the armor.

Maki felt the blow as Nobara slammed into the demon’s side with her maul, its claws and teeth ripped away from her leg and shoulder. Her hands slipped from her sword’s hilt as she fell forward, and she watched Nobara fight the beast alone.

Nobara howled as she struck at the beast again, leading it away from the fallen woman. Maki was right. Of course she was, she thought, fury aiding her attacks. The curse hadn’t shifted back yet, and Nobara caught the glint of a sword blade still buried in its chest. But now she’s defenseless, and I bet that thing is going to pull out the sword and finish her off before I can reach her.

The beast seemed to read her thoughts, and it reached to pull the blade out of its chest, thick smoke pouring from the wound. “No you don’t!” Nobara yelled, and she knocked its paw away with her maul, smashing its arm. The demon retaliated with a blow to Nobara’s side, the strike hard enough to dent her armor.

The beast pulled back, trying to get space between them. Nobara pressed forward with another big swing of her maul, but her swing was too wide, and the curse ducked to the side, charging away from Nobara to the only other target in the clearing. 

Shit, Maki. Nobara raced forward, desperation giving her speed. She slammed her body and maul into the demon just before it reached Maki, the collision throwing them skidding across the ground. Nobara managed to recover first, and she raced to the creature.

“I won’t let you hurt her!” Nobara roared. She reared her maul up to strike the final blow. The blur of claws coming towards her were too fast to dodge as Nobara swung at the curse.

Nobara brought the maul down hard on the beast’s head with a sickening crunch as its skull collapsed under the maul’s face. Its body froze before slowly turning to ash, the pieces gently floating in the air. Maki saw Nobara’s back slump forward as the maul tipped down to the ground, no longer held up by the demon’s crushed head as it faded away. Her own sword slid from its chest and clattered to the ground beside the maul.

Something’s wrong. Maki picked herself up from the ground, hissing when her new wounds screamed in protest and began limping over to Nobara. She called out to her, “Nobara?”

Nobara’s hands slipped from the maul’s handle as she fell heavily to her knees, and Maki saw the final piece of the demon’s body before it faded away. The wicked claws of its right arm were lodged in Nobara’s cheek. As the claws disintegrated, the bits of flesh stuck to them fell to the ground, the biggest piece looking almost spherical if it hadn’t been shredded. 

An anguished yell tore itself from deep within Maki, “Nobara!” She hobbled over, her own injuries forgotten as Nobara crashed to the ground, blood staining the ground underneath her. Maki fell to her knees beside her and turned the woman to see the extent of her injuries. The left side of Nobara’s face was covered in blood, long gouges scored deep in her flesh from jaw to brow. Her eye was torn to pieces, the socket a mangled pulp. Maki’s fingers shook as she tore a strip of her undershirt and pulled Nobara’s head to her lap. She had to stop the bleeding, or Nobara would die. 

Maki barely felt the hand on her shoulder as Mai and Momo rushed over from treating Tsumiki, Maki’s scream spurring them into action. 

“Shit,” Mai gasped while Momo let out a choked noise from the back of her throat. The few parts of Nobara’s face that weren’t covered in blood were turning pale.

Maki’s vision had shrunk to the unconscious woman beneath her, her mind a singular focus to save Nobara. She pressed the torn fabric against the wound, the material clenched in her fist already soaked through with blood. Maki jerked back to reality as Momo laid a hand on top of her own and gently moved the stained fabric from Nobara’s face to inspect the wound. 

Momo breathed sharply at the sight, but she steeled herself, readying her cursed energy, “Maki, Mai, I’m going to need your help with this. Hold onto me and Nobara.” Momo closed her eyes and pushed their combined cursed energy into Nobara, sealing the torn flesh. Maki felt a throbbing pain in her head as the loss of cursed energy took its toll, but when she opened her eyes, the bleeding had stopped. Nobara was still pale, but she was breathing, alive. 

Momo slumped forward, the strain of healing back to back knocking the breath out of her, but Mai caught her and kept her upright. “Looks like a hell of a fight, Maki,” she remarked. “But you both pushed your luck too far this time, and Nobara’s going to remember this battle for the rest of her life.”

Maki grimaced as she laid Nobara down gently to wrap her own wounds, “How’s Tsumiki? We should go to her once Momo’s ready.”

Mai shifted Momo in her arms, and she listened to her breathing steady. She glanced sidelong at Maki, who had shifted away from them, covering the bite marks on her shoulder. “Maki, I know you took a stupid risk again, and it may have worked out again, but this isn’t just another scar and battle story to tell the village kids. Nobara lost her ey-” 

Maki hissed as she pulled the bandage too tight. She whirled towards Mai, her eyes pleading, “I know, Mai! I know. I can’t face this yet though, not without Nobara. I have to ask for her forgiveness first, she deserves that much from me.” She turned back to start wrapping her leg.

Mai quieted after that, and the four women waited for sunrise.

–

Nobara woke to the sounds of bird song and soft breathing. She kept her eyes closed and squirmed further into the blankets, relishing in the feeling of a warm bed. I need to get Maki to take a break one day, we need a vacation after that last fight. Wait, last fight? Nobara sat up with a start, hand darting up to touch the mass of bandages covering her left eye. Her vision blurred until it landed on Maki who was sitting beside her bed and snoring softly. Maki’s head had fallen forward to rest on the bed, her hand still loosely gripping Nobara’s other hand. 

Nobara squeezed Maki’s hand back and watched her sleep, content. Her other hand dropped from her face, forgotten for the time being. It was rare to see Maki at peace, rare for any of them, really. This was an opportunity that Nobara didn’t want to miss, especially since Maki woke before her most days. The peace didn’t last for long, a ray of sunlight peeking through the open window danced across Maki’s face, and she shifted. Nobara beamed when Maki lifted her head up, “Hey sleepyhead, doesn’t this usually happen the other way around?”

Maki froze at the sound of her voice before turning to face her fully. Nobara didn’t expect to see tears in Maki’s eyes or the whisper of her name. She expected the fierce kiss from Maki least of all, Maki surging forward to cradle her tightly in her arms. They parted with a gasp, but Maki’s hands stayed on Nobara’s cheeks, her fingers smoothing the bandages beneath it. 

“I’m sorry, we should have waited for Momo and Mai,” Maki whispered in the space between them. 

“Woah, Maki hold on. We won, didn’t we?” Nobara reached out to hold Maki’s face, wiping a tear. “You know I hate it when you throw yourself into danger like that, but it worked like it always does, right?”

Maki stilled, eyes darting away to look at anything else but Nobara. “Yes, we won. We saved Tsumiki and killed the curse. This town won’t be hurt any longer by that demon,” she spoke slowly, jaw clenched.

Nobara watched her warily, “So then, what’s the problem? I mean, it looks like we got banged up, but that’s normal for us. Do you think I’ll have a cool scar once these bandages come off?” She tapped the left side of her head with her finger and continued, “Bet I’ll look even more like a badass when I see it-”

“Nobara, your eye. It’s gone,” Maki cut in. The tension swelled, the air almost hard to breathe as Maki and Nobara stared at each other. The only sound in the room came from Maki’s fingers rustling the bandages.

“Oh.” Nobara exhaled, “How? All I remember is fighting that thing and smashing its face in. Everything went dark after that, but I could see just fine before I went down.”

“It must have gotten you when you struck the final blow. It’s the only time you were close enough, but…” Maki trailed off, words too quiet for Nobara to hear.

Nobara bristled slightly, “Hey, hey, I know that look. That means you’re blaming yourself again. But, what, Maki?”

Maki sighed, “You… shouldn’t have been close enough to get hurt like that. I shouldn’t have used myself as bait for the curse and forced you to kill it. We could have held out for Mai and Momo to back us up. All of it.”

“Sounds like Mai got to you before I could,” Nobara chuckled ruefully, “And yeah, we could have waited for them before you started your death wish of a plan on a hunch, but we didn’t. We killed the curse, we saved Tsumiki, the town, and each other. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”

Maki pulled back, but her hand never left Nobara’s cheek, “And your eye? You can’t seriously be okay with this.”

Nobara shrugged, “Well considering the practice I’m getting right now seeing with one eye, I don’t think it will be that hard to get used to. Besides, we know the risks of fighting curses. An eye is pretty tame for what could happen.” Nobara’s face lit up, and she clapped her hands together, “Maki, guess what!”

“...What?” Maki asked hesitantly.

Nobara pointed to both of their faces and beamed, “We match now! Pretty romantic, right?”

Maki burst out laughing, Nobara following soon after. It took them several minutes to calm down, the absurdity of the situation getting to both of them. Maki finished chuckling and leaned forward to rest her forehead against Nobara’s, relishing in their shared warmth, “Yes, it’s super romantic, but we’re never doing this again. Clothes, hair, maybe a ring, but not another body part.”

Nobara gasped scandalously, “A ring? Do you have something you want to ask me, Maki? Let a girl get on her feet again before you knock her over.”

Maki opened her eyes to look at Nobara, “Not right now, but maybe someday. When we’re ready to hang up our weapons.”

Then I’m going to need a sick new eyepatch or else we’ll scare everyone away and never get any more work. We could have an early retirement if I don’t, and then you’ll have to marry me,” Nobara stuck her tongue out.

Maki smiled, “A tempting offer, but I think we both want to keep going for a little while longer, so let’s go shopping for that eyepatch. Mai and Momo want to see you too. You’ve been out for two days, and I think breakfast is starting soon.”

Nobara’s eye widened, “You’re telling me I haven’t eaten in two days? Lead the way, Maki!”