#oftenlywrites

- rumi's sword(s) — rumi's first sain-geom is symmetrical and double-sided; perfect and elegant and beautiful. yet, it's such a slim and lightweight sword. she wields it just like she would with a boomerang, if that makes sense (see the bath house fight scene where zoey and mira were backed by an army of water demons).

rumi often wields her sain-geom with one hand, slashing away like a perfectly choreographed dance during battle. what i noticed, however, is that her sain-geom doesn't have that much of a range; in comparison to mira's gok-do, which offers a lot more acrobatic space to slash multiple demons at once, or zoey's shin-kal that reaches far and deadly precise.

the sain-geom rumi wields at HUNTR/X's final battle with gwi-ma, however, was so much larger–it was single blade with two sharpened and raised peaks. it's resembles more like a broadsword. it's not symmetrical; it's rather crude and definitely heavier; rumi wielded it with both hands as she slashed down gwi-ma.

i wholeheartedly believe that sword, not only symbolizes her demonic heritage's acceptance, but also that it was forged from both the honmoon AND jinu's freed soul. rumi finally accepts that she isn't all perfect–she's got jagged edges and a dark side; but, that's what makes her stronger and beautiful.

to make a strong sword, after all, is a balance of pure steel and the impurities folded into it. a harmony of the light and the dark.

(i wholeheartedly believe jinu's freed soul lives as rumi's sain-geom–he's that stubborn and sassy buddy you just can't get rid off)

((rumi bickers with jinu oftenly; jinu being an exhausted 400 year old man (now a sain-geom entity), while rumi being an oblivious ass half of the time))

- rumi...is NOT good at reading the room — speaking of obliviousness, rumi is genuinely shit at reading zoey's and/or mira's cues that they like her.

let's be real; rumi most likely had a secluded childhood, pre-HUNTR/X. i'd like to believe she was homeschooled by celine, and if not, she went to a really, REALLY, private school (she's a nepo baby with generational wealth to her name, c'mon now). she doesn't really interact with a lot of kids her age back then; celine always reminds her to study hard at school. ace your classes. go straight home to train; whether it's demon hunting, or to be an idol.

rumi isn't exactly uncaring, nor she is cold; she just hadn't had a lot of socializing experiences. so, in the simplest words: she's hopeless. it wasn't until celine brought first mira–then zoey–into building HUNTR/X around her, that rumi finally learned how to socialize and bond with her Hunter sisters slash bandmates.

rumi was always polite and kind towards her younger members; but, she's rigid and distanced. she tries to be as friendly as she could manage, but never expose much of herself. rumi never took offense to mira's bluntness, nor getting vexed by zoey's endless trails of rambling. the other girls, in return, had always respected rumi's tall walls; until those walls eventually crumbled post idol awards incident.

when they finally talked things out and rebuilt their relationship upon a foundation of trust and transparency (a mirror of how they rebuilt the honmoon), mira and zoey are slowly adjusting to rumi's renewed self. they were hopeless. the more comfortable rumi gets with exposing more of her skin, the frequency of mira and zoey malfunctions at their HUNTR/X penthouse exponentially increased.

rumi had always loved wearing crop tops, but never one with exposed shoulders, arms, or collarbones. rumi's pajama pants had also gotten much, much shorter, her light bluish patterns decorated the exposed skin like a carefully painted minhwa. mira, bless her soul, was often caught staring at rumi's toned stomach or her thighs; with a shade of red on her face matching her hair. rumi could only raise an eyebrow questioningly at their usually direct and blunt main dancer whenever mira started to stammer and gape like a fish.

zoey is a little less hopeless than mira is; not that it's saying much. the maknae fronts a bolder charade when she admires rumi's endearingly beautiful patterns, always putting on her widest grins that matches the sparks in her eyes as she offhandedly tells rumi how pretty their leader look in that off-shoulder cropped tee. rumi would chuckle at their maknae's cheesy compliments, but mira would have a shit-eating smirk at zoey because good god, zoey's grins are so dopey and lovestruck.

(whenever rumi is asleep first while mira and zoey are still at their couch, they would banter about how hopeless each other are)

((rumi on the other side only thinks about how weirdly spacey mira has been lately, and how much cheesier zoey is))

- rumi is eeriely soundless — rumi may be verbally loud (she's the main vocalist now, let's be real), but by god, is she physically soundless.

both mira and zoey had always known rumi has a very light footstep and always snuck up on demons weightlessly, but they never really accounted her soundless movements to her being half demon. yes, Hunters are typically quiet and sneaky when it comes to fighting; zoey is acrobatic in fights, whereas mira is fluid like water. but, rumi? dead silent.

remember when she snuck up on jinu on their first meet on that roof? her steps are so light as she lands; not a single human being–not even Hunters–have that light of a step. and then, rumi did jump scared the hell out of jinu on their second meet, and jinu was a whole ass demon, for god's sake.

the girls actually gets jump scared often by rumi, back when HUNTR/X were trainees and rookies. zoey used to mention how rumi vanished into thin air after they were done with their vocal takes, only to seemingly reappear into the studio behind her. rumi would frown, puzzled by zoey's surprised squeals, because she remembered telling zoey she was going to the toilet earlier.

rumi once walked into the kitchen to find mira cooking jjajjangmyeon for their dinner one night, singing to the music playing from her phone. she peeked behind mira and casually said, "that looks good, mira." and mira jumped out of her skin, ultimately surprising rumi as well. mira's face was pale, and she had a hand on her chest as she leans back at the stove's countertop, while rumi struggled with every inch of her to not laugh because mira started cursing and yelling, "someone ought to put a damn bell on you!"

now that mira and zoey are aware of her half demon nature, rumi likes to be a little shit and abuse her abilities to scare the girls. post horror movie marathon? rumi would soundlessly teleport from one room to another to stand in the dark corner and scare either mira or zoey walking into the room.

mira and zoey, without fail, would scream, "don't randomly teleport to a dark corner like that!!" and rumi would cackle maniacally as she teleports the fuck out of responsibility.

(zoey would whine, "this isn't how i expect rumi to give me heart palpitations!" and mira would groan, "i agree. i'm buying an ankle bell for her tomorrow.")

- rumi's demon eyes glows and reflect light — whenever rumi's demonic eyes flicker subconsciously, it glows a bright golden brownish orange; especially under the sunlight. rumi's eyes flicker when she draws her sword from the honmoon, the shine of the honmoon's energy reflecting on her eyes. mira and zoey finds her glowing eyes hauntingly beautiful and without fail, would pause momentarily, as if stunned.

however, the girls still finds her eyes unnerving at night. not in the bad way, of course, just slightly off-putting.

rumi had finally learned how to use her demon eyes to navigate the dark, night-vision style. she easily gets used to heading to the kitchen in the dead of the night for some water or snacks without ever turning on the lights, because she didn't want to deal with the sudden light changes hurting her hypersensitive eyes.

mira, on one unfortunate night, sleepily went to the kitchen to grab a glass of cold barley tea from the fridge. the hairs on her neck raised in shivers as she senses someone else's presence in the dark kitchen, but she brushes it off. it wasn't until a pair of glowing orbs faces her dead on that she screamed and scrambles to turn on the lights.

let there be light, and behold; a frantically heaving mira on one corner, and a freshly blinded rumi crouching on the other. rumi was groaning as she slowly and painfully readjust herself to the sudden blinding light. mira scrambles in panic towards rumi, shielding her in her shadow, checking in on her. rumi gave her a weak thumbs up once she finally readjusted to her human eyes.

zoey walks in on both of them crouching after hearing the commotion three doors down in her room, puzzled by the scene.

"what happened?" zoey asks.

"mira flash-banged me." rumi weakly replies, sending a soft glare at the pink-haired girl.

to her credit, mira did look guilty. "...sorry, rumi. i'll buy you yangnyeom chicken tomorrow, okay?"

rumi pouts. "tonight."

"i-" mira stammers, glancing at zoey, who doesn't look impressed, siding with pouty rumi. mira groans, defeated. "fine, i'll order it."

- rumi is a big eater — everyone in HUNTR/X knows that demon hunting is an exhausting job, after every mission warrants the girls a hefty portion of food to replenish their energy. that, doubled with their pop star daytime job? it shouldn't be a surprise the girls consume two weeks worth of food in three days.

rumi, however, ate so much more in comparison to mira and zoey combined ever since HUNTR/X's debut years ago. i headcanon that rumi is a bigger savoury tooth than a sweet tooth; having kimchi jjigae AND gamja-tang as her two wintertime comfort foods. her favourite summertime dishes are kimchimari-guksu (cold noodles with kimchi broth) and gulmuchim (fresh oyster seasoned in kimchi style marinade). whenever they tour during summer, bobby would ensure that the girls have their comfort dishes post-shows (in which he had to prepare rumi's gulmuchim days ahead because it's a little hard to come by).

neither girls ever accounted rumi's large appetite being another one of her demon-related traits; rumi used to brush mira's and zoey's puzzled looks towards her portions of food by saying she has an accelerated metabolism.

(which isn't entirely wrong; her demon half burns her energy reserves like gasoline back in the '50s)

mira challenged rumi to ramyeon eating competition to see if she could defeat their purple-haired leader's indomitable record of ten XL cups down in one sitting. mira finally came close to eight and a half cup before tapping out, while rumi chuckling as she easily slurps her eleventh cup, setting yet another new record.

rumi's large appetite baffles and awed jinu when he once appeared out of her sword without her summoning, finding rumi wolfing down her second large bowl of takeout jjampong on her bed. rumi was mid-slurping when he materialized out of thin air, cheeks full of noodles and broth, nearly choking at his sudden appearance.

jinu eyed the other bowl at the foot of her bed. "you eat a lot." he then snickers, amused. "even for a demon's standard."

finally out of her stupor, red-faced rumi yelled, "i'm a Hunter and a k-pop star, for god's sake! demon hunting alone is already exhausting!"

- rumi's voice(s) — pre-idol awards incident, all of them always thought rumi's Hunter's voice is just that hauntingly beautiful and powerful. her ranges and breath control had always been so strong and stable that her voice has such a distinct timbre to it.

it wasn't until one moment a week before their debut that rumi accidentally unleashed her demon echo; an enthralling siren-like whistle note while recording her vocal take. the honmoon quakes in a soft magenta glow that it's rumbles reached celine. the HUNTR/X girls initially assumed it was another demon breach, in which it was; a few demons slipping out and they immediately went to neutralize.

celine summoned her instantly afterwards, pointing out to her that the honmoon reacted to her demon echo. frantically, rumi backtracks to how could she had been so stupid to accidentally let it out, and celine had harshly reprimanded her to never ever let that happen again. keep the demon in check. never let the girls know of her shameful half.

unbeknownst to either of them, rumi's demon echo had always seeps into her voice, blending seamlessly with her Hunter voice. even when she speaks, rumi's voice lulls people into pseudo-trance. the only other people mostly unaffected by her voice are mira, zoey, and celine (then again, rumi doesn't really talk much with celine).

post-idol awards incident, mira and zoey began to notice the slight demon echo under rumi's normal voice, and how much it rumbles in their ears down to their chests. zoey mentioned how much rumi's new demon echo laced vocals suited darker tone songs like Takedown, and joked that if rumi had been the one singing Your Idol instead of the Saja Boys, she would've gladly followed rumi to the underworld.

mira had the most appalled expression upon hearing zoey's thinly veiled confession; it was a little crass that she was worried rumi would take offense or hurt at it. rumi's eyes did widen and her jaw dropped slightly at zoey's joke, and mira was about to jump into reprimanding zoey, who'd already started realizing how insensitive she might've sounded. but out of her expectations, rumi instead blushed and laughed; full blown and head thrown back.

and again, out of both of their expectations, rumi smirks and teases with her demon echo, "if you wanted me to sing you dark lullabies to fulfill your demon fantasy, zoey, you should've just said so."

this time, zoey was the one who blushed ten shades darker than mira's hair. mira on the other edge of the couch wasn't faring well either, facepalming to hide her undeniably hot cheeks because what the fuck why is her demon echo THAT damn attractive why is rumi this fucking attractive why am i so turned on WHAT WHO SAID THAT

- rumi's patterns, pt.2 — as we know, rumi's patterns glow differently after she accepts her demon half and released her shame; she glows a bluish crystalline glow as opposed of demonic purple. rumi's patterns definitely glows together with her demon eyes, and it echoes her emotions.

mira and zoey always find rumi's smile blinding and bright before, but now that her patterns are out for them to see? rumi seems to glow instead, like a firefly in summer nights. like the brightest star in an otherwise dark night sky, and it twists a tug in their hearts in the best way possible.

rumi glows a bright goldish shine when she's happy or elated at the girls, flickers a darker hue of blood-red when she's angered, and recently (for some reasons the girls not yet known) a bright pink hue. the girls might not pinpoint what rumi was feeling yet, but rumi did. she glows bright pink when she's jealous, for some reason. she doesn't even know why she was jealous; they were recalling about how the Saja Boys were all kind of flirty with mira and zoey at the joint fan signing event, and rumi started glowing pink.

"whoa, what is going on, rumi?" mira was the first to notice, eyeing rumi up and down with concern.

"huh?" rumi responded with barely any eloquency.

zoey then points at her, blubbering like a fish. "y-you're... pink...?"

rumi looks down on her limbs, and indeed she was glowing pink. "huh." was all she could manage, piecing the puzzles in her mind.

mira and zoey starts playing a game every time rumi start to glow a different colour that they haven't catalogued yet, guessing what emotions she might be feeling judging from the colour.

- rumi would be the one to hold back mira's temper — back when it was still the both of them, rumi would be the one stopping mira from going on a massacre. someone could be looking at them the wrong way, and mira's fingers would clamp shut to a fist. rumi would notice early on, sensing the violent shift in mira's mood, and she would grab on her arm to drag them away from wherever she was. the one time rumi left mira unsupervised to get them boba, she came back to find mira having a stand off with a guy twice her size, and she was just another second from swinging a fist at him. rumi had to grab her by her torso and grapple a thrashing and screaming mira away from the man. mira only calmed down after rumi shoved her double boba pearls milk tea to her mouth (quite literally), and told rumi that the guy was spewing homophobic nonsense at them both—assuming they were a couple out on a date. rumi tried to brush off the blush creeping up her face at the suggestion that they might be a couple. the older girl gently reminded mira to not go around swinging at those kinds of people, and that they are not worth her time. mira begrudgingly nodded; not that she's mad at rumi, she's more mad that she can't kick a homophobic dick's ass.

- mira is the softest towards younger fans — even from the first show of their debut, mira is noticed to be much more engaging with HUNTR/X's younger audiences. not that it's saying mira doesn't engage much with fans in the older teens to mid twenties brackets, it's more so that her body language visibly softens, her eyes sparkles, and her smile the sweetest when she interacts with the younger fans. rumi knows that smile, is the exact same smile mira gave so fondly towards zoey. (what rumi doesn't know: mira smiles as fondly as she does towards her when rumi isn't looking). back then, mira used to smuggle freebies (nothing much—something like stickers, signed photocards, or little plushies) to hand out to those fans, which stirred a bit of controversy in the fandom. toxic fans used to call out on her "favoritism" and "unfair treatment", which she paid no mind to it, only addressing it officially after management reprimanded her.

- rumi is in charge of public damage control — as the leader of HUNTR/X, rumi is usually the one who steps in first to take corrective actions whenever a controversy swept their reputation (after bobby and PR does their work of course). she was the first to step up to the internet to defend mira's "favoritism" case; carefully yet sternly reminding their fans that not everyone, especially the younger fans, can easily afford their merch. she brought up a small true story from one of their fan sign events—a twelve year old fan girl who had her day made by mira handing her a free plushy she'd been saving up for, how the fan couldn't get it for herself because she chose to give her savings to her mother. rumi isn't afraid to put a little bit of true stories to their "clarifications", knowing it'll resonate with genuine fans.

- zoey is HUNTR/X's designated social media rep — not that zoey was appointed by management to be the girls' social media face; it's more so that she's the most online member (her screen time is almost ungodly, both rumi and mira wonders how could she even juggle their packed schedules with doom scrolling). their fans always look forward to zoey's tweets, tiktoks, or SNS posts; knowing they'll be able to catch glimpses of HUNTR/X's lives. zoey's posts would often feature herself, her with either of her unnies, or candid snaps of rumi and/or mira. zoey started doing these random livestreams every other week or so, talking about music, movies, and a bunch of other topics. rumi or mira would occasionally make an appearance for a couple of minutes. those livestreams would transform to game night streams, where zoey plays video games in their game room's PC at night and live streams it on twitch. sometimes, she invited her friends from back in california to join in, other times she asks rumi and/or mira to join as her co-op game guest stars. the fans loved zoey's game night streams, tuning in to watch her play and interact with her at the chat box.

- rumi and mira enjoys hanging out doing nothing — there are days where rumi and mira are home alone while zoey's away doing solo projects or brand photoshoots, spending their free days just lounging around at their couch, in rumi's room, in mira's room, or playing separate games at their gaming room. rumi, now that she's much more comfortable with being closer with her girls, developed a habit of laying lazily on mira's stomach or lap while they're busy doing their own things. rumi does it most often when they're in mira's room, whilst mira is reading and rumi watching youtube series. mira, on the other hand, prefers sprawling her legs across rumi's lap. especially during colder days, rumi provides mira with that comfortable body heat (a perk of being a natural walking furnace) that mira likes to siphon. they could be staying still at the same position for hours, enjoying each others' presence in silence without speaking much. zoey likes to attribute that to them being natural introverts, once teasing that they are the pinnacle of asian parents: in love with each other, but couldn't explicitly express it to each other.

- rumi is a big plant girlie, mira and zoey likes to gift her new plants— the jungle of plant collection on rumi's balcony started small; just a few pots of decorative flowers and a single pot of monstera. over the years, rumi started adding more to her collection, one to three pots at a time. mira and zoey also started gifting her new plants, which rumi initially didn't know how to not swoon on the spot. unsurprisingly, zoey likes to give her plants which reminds her of rumi, or plants that are currently trending in her socials. rumi didn't expect that mira would gift her flowering plants; she expected the pink-haired girl would give her plants with minimal maintenance. imagine rumi's surprise the one day mira came home with a pot of kadupul flower, sheepishly telling her that she had to fight a woman at the plant nursery for this last plant. mira shyly admitted that she saw the flowers online and thought about how much rumi would've wanted to have one. rumi was blushing wildly as she held onto the plant, smiling so sweetly at mira and thanking her for the thoughtful gift. it wasn't until later that rumi told mira they might need a greenhouse to hold the plant, since kadupuls can't really survive in cold climates, and mira smacks herself because how could she forget to consult with the experts about this.

(one time mira bought rumi a large pot of ornamental apricot tree because rumi loves apricots; to all their surprise, the tree starting bearing fruits in the makeshift greenhouse come springtime)

- zoey loves rumi's home cooked dishes so much — the HUNTR/X girls may not cook very often, but when they do have free times in between their release schedules, they would hole in at home all day and take turns cooking. cooking duty is often tossed between rumi and mira, with zoey occasionally whipping up classic american dishes (zoey prides herself in her cheeseburgers) every other day. rumi takes cooking duty most of the time, making comfort korean dishes, ranging from stews to soups to stir-fry meals. zoey is madly in love with rumi's kimchi-jjigae, dwaeji-gukbap (mira's getting mild war flashbacks every time rumi made it), and most especially: kimchi-bokkeumbap, with a sunny side up egg on top. rumi always serves the classic fried rice with a large pile of laver, and her own spin to the recipe is she adds either diced spam, or pan-seared samgyeopsal. rumi made sure mira's eggs are over easy, and zoey gets a lot of the crispy samgyeopsal pieces. rumi would also kiss the top of their heads every time they finish their meals; her way of thanking them for appreciating her dishes. mira and zoey, of course, never failed to melt after rumi kissed their heads.

- zoey one time slips up and called jinu 'oppa' — the girls are now aware that jinu's freed soul has passed on to the after life realm, and that he can be summoned to the physical world via rumi's saingeom every once in a while. mira was really suspicious of him at the first few times he was summoned, distrusting of his intentions. only after rumi reassured her that jinu is here to check in on derpy and sussy, that mira relaxed her guard down. just slightly. zoey was a little less hostile towards him, albeit still wary, but as the welcoming girl that zoey is, she warms up to his presence easier. she likes to banter with him, calling out of his centuries old age. jinu often bites back with the same gremlin energy as zoey, and rumi often wonders if they are siblings separated by time. zoey, now grown comfortable with jinu's energy and presence, had slowly viewed him as the older brother she never had before. inevitably, there was the one time rumi and zoey were hanging out with jinu, derpy, and sussy in rumi's room, and in the midst of the scheduled zoey-jinu banter, the maknae of HUNTR/X accidentally slipped out, "that's not how twitter works, jinu-oppa!". the silence that falls afterwards were loud; zoey slowly realizing she slipped up, rumi's eyes widening in confusion, and jinu suddenly bawling his eyes out. it's almost comical, actually. zoey was flustered out of her mind, backtracking on her words in panic, whilst jinu embarrassedly wipes his tears away.

(jinu eventually confessed that he'd always seen his little sister eunwoo in zoey, and was honored when zoey also admitted out loud that jinu is like the older brother she'd never had—they both ugly cried, while rumi sighed at their antics)

- rumi doesn't eat breakfasts, and it stresses mira and zoey — rumi may be a big eater (if not the biggest out of the three of them), but she doesn't seem to like to have breakfasts. to her, a single loaf of bread or a banana with peanut butter or a cup of americano makes for a good breakfast. it used to annoy mira, and concerns zoey, that their leader would be skipping breakfasts like it's nothing. they actually believed for a long time that rumi had an eating disorder, until rumi eventually told her she isn't used to eating breakfasts because her stomach hurts if she eats a lot early in the morning, so she prefers eating small portions, if nothing at all until brunch or lunch time to eat a full meal. nowadays, the girls are already used to rumi's breakfast-less habit, but they still made sure rumi would eat a little bit of something. zoey would often offer a few spoonfuls of her chopped fruit and honey cornflakes mix, ultimately making rumi blush every time zoey feeds her while listening to her morning rambles. mira automatically serves up a smaller portion of whatever choice of breakfast (usually porridge or overnight oats) for rumi, and her heart would stutter abnormally as they enjoy their quiet morning routine.

- rumi loves head scratches, mira enjoys back rubs, and zoey is a massive cuddlebug — rumi has a little habit that the girls find absolutely adorable: she walks up to either of mira's or zoey's laps, plops herself face down, and asks for them to run their fingers in her hair. she'd sigh in contempt as she feels their fingers puts just enough pressure against her scalp, almost purring like a cat. mira absolutely loves back rubs from both of her girls; rumi's hands seem to always find the knots in her muscles, and zoey's rubs are so relaxing after a hectic day. zoey demands cuddles from both of her unnies every day, "or else i would die of cuddle starvation!" is what she'd say. she'd always cuddle in rumi-sandwich arrangement, but rumi and mira agreed on one thing: zoey-sandwich cuddles are the best cuddles. partly because it flusters zoey a lot (being sandwiched between two hot and beautiful women does that).

- rumi and mira: big hands. zoey: tiny hands. — rumi's hands are considerably the widest out of the three of them, slightly calloused from overworking herself in the past. mira's hands are longer, with slender fingers and stockier palms. zoey has the tiniest hands in comparison to rumi's and mira's, often engulfed in theirs when they hold her hands. rumi's fingers are a little stiffer compared to her girls, and are actually prone to getting injured. mira's slender fingers make for a great tutting dance moves, something she's proud of herself. zoey, being a big gamer girl, prides herself for having the speed to finish fast-paced OSU! on her phone. fans had always pointed out that rumi's and mira's hands are the pinnacles of "lesbian fingers"—which made mira cackle a lot when she first saw those posts, while rumi wants to strangle mira for saying her "fingering skills aren't just for the guitars".

zoey still gets skittish whenever rumi took the attacks to protect her, apologizing to their leader for being unaware of her openings. rumi never gets angry at her, but she would teach zoey to be less reckless and give her tips on how to guard herself better. rumi also taught mira and zoey a battle move she developed, aptly nicknamed 'shield-blade' maneuver; where if one of them charges, the other two shifts to defense to fight back to back.

it went well for their future hunts; until rumi had gone to a solo hunt one night after a few stray demons caused ruckus downtown. it annoys rumi that a few demons who weren't banished when they resealed the honmoon are interrupting the HUNTR/X girls' weekly scheduled game night. she'd told her girls that she could handle the demons herself, and promised she'd be back in an hour.

rumi did handle the demons on her own, but she did not, in fact, return in an hour like she promised to the girls.

mira had known something did not go according to rumi's plan when her phone lights up with rumi's text notifications. she half lied to zoey, telling the maknae she'll be heading out to meet rumi and get some takeaways for game night, telling zoey to start playing first.

mira finds rumi at their go-to jjajjangmyeon joint, leaning her head against the rickety wall in the dark corner. she looked pale and in pain, but her eyes flutters open when mira approaches her. the look in rumi's eyes knows mira already knows shit did not go well. mira's theory was also supported from rumi's demonic features still visible, evidence of a nasty battle.

rumi spoke first before mira could say anything, wincing as she sat upright, "i got... i lost control briefly... the demons ambushed me."

"you're hurt?" mira asks directly, already knowing rumi is hiding serious wounds she hasn't seen yet.

"yeah." rumi nods, not finding the need to lie to mira. she then stood as normally as possible when the restaurant staff hands her a large takeaway bag, even bowing her thanks. when they were finally out of the joint, rumi's armour crumbled with a pained groan. she stumbled to mira, who already caught her.

that's when mira saw the large claw marks on rumi's side, the wound visible from the rips of her hoodie and patches of blood seeps around the fabric. the scratches on rumi's face were roughly wiped, causing the dried blood caking all over her patterned skin. mira knows these wounds will have to be dressed and stitched back at their penthouse, and whether rumi liked it or not, zoey's going to patch her up.

"c'mon, let's head back." mira latches rumi's arm around her shoulder, half carrying her weight so she doesn't limp as much. when they did eventually got to their elevator, mira says, "zoey's going to freak the fuck out, y'know?"

"i know." rumi chuckles somberly, but winced when the action disagreed with her injuries. she then guiltily whispers, "i'm sorry."

the elevator door slides open, and rumi dreads seeing her maknae's shocked and worried face on the other side. mira guides rumi to her bathroom to let her clean up what she can while she fetches zoey. rumi took a deep breath in, hearing zoey's thundering steps approaching her room, and eventually her door bangs open to produce a panicked zoey.

"rumi!!" zoey gasps in horror once she finds rumi's injured state at the bathroom. her eyes starts to water when rumi tries to smile at her, "jesus christ... rumi..."

mira nudge zoey to help rumi clean herself up so zoey can stitch up rumi's wounds. zoey wipes her face, silently and meticulously dresses the large claw marks on the purple-haired girl's side and dabs the cuts and scratches on rumi's face.

once rumi's cleaned up, mira helps rumi move to her bed so zoey can stitch her wounds. rumi winced every now and then whenever she has to readjust her position, feeling the wound burning into her flesh. zoey was mostly quiet, her brows stitched to a never ending frown.

zoey finally speaks to rumi when she was about to stitch her up: "i'm gonna patch you up now, okay? we're out of numbing gels, so if it hurts too much, let me know."

rumi nods, silently eyeing mira on the foot of her bed, who shoots her a look of uncertainty. zoey works gently, yet quickly. it made rumi wonder how it must've been for zoey to stitch rumi up for the first time ever; since rumi had always refused either girls' help and patched herself up on her own.

the final sound of scissors snipping up the stitches brings rumi back to the room, with zoey quietly saying, "there. i'll clean up the rest."

just as zoey was about to leave to grab other ointments, rumi grabs her maknae's hand. "zoey, wait."

"yeah?" when rumi didn't continue, zoey scoffs. it surprised both rumi and mira; the sound so unfamiliar and painful and impatient and certainly not zoey-like. "rumi, i still have to put ointments on the-"

"i'm sorry." rumi blurts out, cutting zoey off. the patterns on her skin glows a dull yellowish colour, something both mira and zoey hadn't seen before.

"what are you apologizing for, rumi?" zoey deflects instantly, suddenly sensing rumi's attempt to crack at her dam.

"for making you worry so much. for being reckless and getting hurt. for not reaching out to you first because i never wanted you to see me like this." rumi lets her mouth run free, and her patterns looks more dim although it was still glowing it's unfamiliar hue. zoey breaks when rumi confesses, "because i didn't want to break your heart seeing me like this. but, i did. and no apologies can ever– oof!"

zoey cuts her off this time, rushing to engulf rumi in a teary eyed hug. it caught both rumi and mira by surprise, with rumi shooting mira another confused look. mira was wordless and frozen on her spot, shrugging unsurely at rumi, while zoey sobs into rumi's shoulder.

"...zo?" rumi tries, patting her maknae's back. "hey, what's wr–?"

"don't you ever go off on your own like that again!" zoey screamed; raw and unfiltered and... agonized. her face is red and wet with tears all over; rumi doesn't dare to guess if it's from anger alone, or something else. zoey hiccups into her sleeve when another stream of tears let loose, " y-you... you could've... you could've died. a-a-and... and i would've..."

mira had moved from where she was sitting to gently peel zoey off of rumi (who is most definitely still in pain), sitting their maknae on her lap and lets zoey cry on her shoulders instead. mira pats zoey's back like she would with a distressed younger sibling, sitting at the edge of rumi's bed, shushing her by singing soft comforting tunes in korean.

zoey's cries eventually subsides to sniffles, and rumi pats her head as she promises zoey and mira to be more careful and would rely on them more often; especially towards zoey.

the girls eventually camps the night in rumi's room. mira brought in their gaming console to set it up on rumi's desk, whilst zoey took the jjajjangmyeon takeout for them to eat. zoey commented that the noodles tasted so much better than usual, and rumi off-handedly jokes it's probably because she got it as a peace offering. mira was the one who flicked rumi's earlobe, whilst zoey choked at the out of pocket joke. they eventually dozed off after a few rounds of cozy games, sleeping in a zoey-sandwich arrangement.

(it's usually a rumi-sandwich arrangement, but they don't want rumi to move too much because of her injuries)

- zoey is clingy, but rumi had grown clingier — zoey had always been an affectionate and touchy person since she was a child. she'd never been too shy to latch onto people she's most comfortable with; and that does not exclude her unnies, always needing at least a small physical touch with both rumi and mira on the daily.

zoey was initially too skittish to be touchy and affectionate with rumi, since her purple-haired leader had been rather been distanced and rigid with letting her dongsaengs be touchy with her. but, over the years, zoey had been melting rumi's shell; one affectionate and gentle touches at a time. and although rumi can only ever reciprocate in the smallest gestures, zoey still loves it when she does.

after what happened at the idol awards, rumi is determined to return years of zoey's affection.

rumi had sleepily walked out of her room on one lazy sunday morning (it was eleven thirty, but in rumi's day-off book it still counts as morning), yawning every now and then. she finds mira lounging at their couch, reading one of her books while letting the tv run a random sunday reality shows. rumi sleepily greets mira in midst of yawning, which earns her an acknowledging hum in return.

as if it's the most natural thing ever, rumi made a beeline towards where mira is sat, and kisses her forehead tenderly. she completely misses her pink-haired dongsaeng's flushed and sputtering state, making her way to the kitchen. rumi finds zoey sat on the kitchen island's stool, munching on a cup of what rumi guesses as cereals, with her back facing towards her.

rumi unceremoniously drapes her arms all over zoey's shoulders to press herself against her maknae's back. she buries her still sleep-laced face into zoey's nape, finding a comfortable warmth. her chest rumbles softly, akin to a cat's purr, as she melts into zoey.

"oh, jeez!" zoey had slightly flinched at the sudden weight of rumi's body on her back. "someone really should put a bell on you, rumi."

rumi hummed, and mutters, "mornin', zo."

zoey lets out a small laugh at rumi's drowsiness, finding it too adorable for her poor heart on an otherwise uneventful sunday. "good morning, rumi. slept okay?"

rumi peels off of zoey to stretch, and the maknae almost whined at the loss of her hug. it was immediately replaced with unashamed staring at rumi's stomach exposed as her shirt rides up in her stretch, and zoey had to tear her eyes away to stop ogling her leader.

"yeah, 's okay." rumi rubs her eyes lazily. zoey swears that was the most endearing sight of rumi she's ever seen in her whole life. "can we come back to bed for cuddles? we don't have any schedules for today, right?"

"i- huh?" zoey's brain halts like an interrupted record player, short-circuiting at rumi's request. is she mishearing rumi? did she hallucinate what rumi just said? she repeated rumi's question, "you wanna cuddle?"

rumi doesn't respond verbally, nodding. her patterns had flickered goldish under the sunlight shining in from multiple angles of their penthouse windows. she then tilts her head to the side, rustling her unbraided hair. rumi dejectedly asks, "you... don't want to?"

zoey was instantly snapped out of her confusion, shaking her head and hands in mild panic. "no, no, no! i do! i-i was just... surprised. let me clean this up first, okay?"

"o-oh... okay." rumi steps aside to let zoey put her dirty dishes in their sink, still slightly puzzled and disheartened at zoey's pause. is she being too forward? maybe she interrupted zoey's bubble? did zoey not want to cuddle her? oh, crap, what if she's forced to?

rumi was one step away from succumbing to the voices in her head, so close to telling zoey that it's okay if she doesn't want to spend some time with her. the words were already at the tip of her tongue, but zoey stops her with her solar-powered megawatt grin. her maknae tugs her arm, as if pulling her away from the clouds of negative thoughts brewing in her mind.

they eventually nestles back in rumi's bed (which is worth mentioning that it was already neatly made) ((zoey wonders if rumi had made it while she was still barely awake)), with zoey body slamming rumi into the soft and spacious mattress. rumi couldn't help but laugh, despite having most of the air in her lungs expelled from being under zoey.

rumi had her leg tangled in between zoey's as she faces her bubbly maknae, who is currently telling her of new lyrics for their comeback and where she got inspired from. she chuckles when zoey mentions that they should draw more inspiration from underrated korean savoury snacks.

"i don't know how you want me to sing about cheese hotteok, zo." rumi says with a giggle, running a thumb on zoey's puffed up cheek. "plus, i don't really see how hotteok can bring our fans together."

zoey huffs, reaching to pinch rumi's exposed thigh (that she certainly did not look at for longer than humanly appropriate), earning another round of melodious laugh from her oldest unnie. "gah, if boy groups can sing about a can of soda and momentarily land on top of the charts, why can't we sing about cheese hotteok? which, hey, it doesn't really make sense on my american brain how you can say 'soda' and 'pop' on the same sentence. it's the same thing!"

rumi snuggles closer, kissing the tip of zoey's nose amusedly. "i think it's more of a wordplay than anything, zo."

zoey blinks multiple time, digesting that rumi's lips were just on her nose, and wow it sure is making her stomach feel so funny. she scrunches her nose (and rumi felt her heart beat irregularly for a moment, but zoey doesn't need to know that), sheepishly saying, "you've gotten so much cheesier, rumi."

a ghost of a smirk dances on rumi's lips, and oh... why is it so attractive? rumi then cheekily teases zoey, "oh, i'm getting cheesier? says the one who's been gushing over my patterns every time i wear cropped tanks."

zoey sputters, face flushed in red that could match mira's hair. "i- you- wh-? y-you... you noticed that?!"

"zo, come on." rumi shoots her a look. "i'm not that blind, you know?"

"i-" zoey was about to argue, but rumi did have a point. "...true."

"you two are not that slick, if you should know it." rumi chuckles at the mess in front of her that is zoey. "but, i think you're both so cute when you turn to a mess. especially you, zo. so, i'm not really complaining." rumi winks at her, as if to drive her point home.

and there zoey was; insides all messed up with the way rumi had suddenly gained the room in her favour. zoey suddenly feels like her whole existence is in the cusp of rumi's hands, and it doesn't scare her at all that she wants rumi to hold her heart in her fingers.

unable to process anything, zoey's shaky hand covers rumi's still smirking lips instead. "okay, shut up, please. you're really not helping."

"helping with what, zo?" rumi kinks a brow at her, and zoey knows there's a shit-eating smirk underneath her hand. it also doesn't help that rumi's patterns starts glowing a hue of royal blue; another colour zoey hasn't mentally catalogued yet.

"rumi..." zoey drawls, pouting at her purple-haired leader. "i came here for hugs and cuddles, not to be roasted for shamelessly eye-fucking you!"

rumi laughs against zoey's palm, certainly taken aback by zoey's crass confession. she kisses zoey's hand, a final teasing. "sorry, i just can't help myself."

rumi eventually goes back to cuddling a sulky zoey, pulling her closer to her embrace. she dozes off about twenty minutes in, leaving a still awake zoey in a puddle of erratic heartbeats and melted insides, because fucking hell, rumi sure is fucking her up in the best ways possible. is this how mira feels whenever she rambles about how their purple-haired unnie is driving her insane?

mira eventually joined their cuddle fest an hour later, snuggling behind rumi unapologetically; like it's the most natural thing ever.

- rumi (and eventually mira) knows zoey's korean name — although zoey had always introduced herself as 'zoey' to everyone, rumi one time overheard zoey's grandparents calling their granddaughter 'jihee' over the phone. ever since then, rumi couldn't help but think about how aptly zoey's parents named their daughter.

rumi slipped up once when zoey wouldn't stop flustering her by continuously calling rumi 'unnie' the whole day. so, when zoey purposefully calls her rumi-unnie again to ask what's for dinner, rumi casually replies, "jjajjangmyeon sounds good, jihee-ah."

zoey's cheeky smirk disappears, rumi finds it amusing that her mouth drops simultaneous with the rising red on her cheeks that reaches to the tips of her ears and her neck. mira turns to rumi like she'd grown a second head, and rumi struggled internally to not smirk.

"jihee?" mira questions, definitely out of the loop.

"how did you...?" zoey stutters, face still flushed.

rumi shrugs. "zoey choi, choi jihee. i think it suits her, doesn't it?"

"how did you even know zoey's korean name, rumi?" mira laughs amusedly at zoey's still gaping mouth and reddened face.

"wait," zoey chimes, gaining a little bit of her tongue's control, "you were there when my grandparents called me? y-you... you heard it?!"

"to be fair, zo, you were putting the call on loudspeakers." rumi chuckles, as if proving a point. she then thinks of something that worried her and asks, "do you not like it? your korean name?"

"um, n-no... it's not, uh... it's not that i don't like it..." zoey stutters, shying away from rumi's and mira's gazes. her fingers fidgets in her hoodie's pocket. "i-i just haven't heard anyone else call me that in years. i mean, everyone calls me 'zoey', y'know?"

rumi and mira eyes each other briefly, whilst zoey rocks backwards and forth uneasily. okay, one: rumi calling her by her birth name isn't supposed to be that attractive to her ears, and two: should she really feel this giddy hearing her name slip out of her oh-so-charming leader's lips? the same lips zoey wants to kiss?

mira casually suggests to rumi, though without missing the trademark teasing edge to her tone, "maybe we should start calling our maknae by her birth name. it'd sound much more exclusive and intimate, right, rumi?"

zoey glares at mira, not missing how that teasing tone is directed at her instead of rumi. mira cheekily winks at zoey in return, behind rumi's back. rumi, of course, missed mira's shit-eating smirk and zoey's incessant flustered state.

to both of their surprise, rumi was on board with mira's idea. "i think we should," rumi then unexpectedly slips into her demon echo as she smugly says to zoey, "right, jihee-ah?"

after that night (which ends with zoey screaming into her pillows because she was so hot and bothered by rumi calling her birth name with her demon echo), rumi and mira likes to go back and forth switching from using 'zoey' and 'jihee', depending on how much of a tease they're feeling.

it's been mostly dominated by rumi who uses zoey's birth name more frequently; mira just likes to shout 'ya, jihee-ah!' whenever zoey annoys (goodheartedly) the pink-haired girl. zoey hears rumi call her 'jihee-ah' at least three times a week; and no matter how often it had been, zoey still goes putty whenever rumi does that in her ridiculously attractive voice.

(the one time rumi teasingly moans her name when they were drinking on a random wednesday night, zoey ends up in rumi's bed touching herself silently whilst rumi was deep asleep and unaware of it)

- zoey taught rumi and mira how to skate — zoey skates a lot when she was still in the states, almost inseparable from her worn out board. she would skate after school to the park, learn tricks from other skaters who are nice enough to teach her tow kickflip without tripping on her board, and skate back home like it's the most natural thing to do.

the skating scene isn't as big in korea as it was in the states, so zoey finds comfort in being able to go to the skateparks and retaining her anonimity (though she still dresses herself down to avoid recognition). sometimes, she misses her middle school friends who skated a lot with her.

so, on one free monday afternoon, zoey drags rumi and mira to the skatepark so they both can skate with her. she even already bought two customized boards for rumi and mira. rumi's is purplish with derpy's (the gigantic mystical blue tiger they adopted) face, whilst mira's was dark pink with sussy's (the six-eyed magpie with the tiny hat) iconic three pairs of eyes judging everyone.

"zo, i can't skate for shit." mira complains when they got to the skatepark, hoping to get out of situations where wheels or blades are attached to her feet.

"i know," zoey grins at mira. "that's why i'm teaching you, duh. i'll start slow, i promise."

"it's worth mentioning that i also can't skate, zoey." rumi chimes in, looking at her board unsurely.

zoey deadpans her, as if questioning her statement. "rumi, be serious. you can ice skate. skateboarding is not that different!"

rumi was about to argue back, but zoey was already dragging her towards the ramps excitedly. zoey first taught rumi and mira how to balance themselves on the boards as they glide, which rumi was wobbling a lot, whilst mira countlessly kicks the board instead.

after rumi and mira gets a hang of it (mira took longer time holding zoey's guiding hands), zoey asks them if they want to try gliding from the half-pipe ramps. she was confident that they both can now try upping their levels.

mira instantly declines when zoey points at the ramp. "absolutely not. i'm gonna break my legs."

zoey whines. "mira... it's not that high up!"

"when i can glide without slipping on my heels, i might try. but, for now, i'm totally cool where i am." mira then offers rumi instead, pushing her towards zoey. "go with rumi, she's doing much better."

"do i even get a say in this?" rumi deflates.

"nope!"

"no."

rumi groaned at her dongsaengs' unified response. "fine, alright. but, if i break my bones, you're making me doenjang-jjigae for a month. both of you."

"done." mira agrees, skating away with a peace sign.

zoey laughs when rumi tails behind her, grumbling to herself that sounds a lot like 'i don't like how easy it was for mira to agree to that', not missing rumi's patterns flickering along with it.

"it's really not that scary, rumi." zoey persuades her, grinning ear to ear. under the warm late afternoon sun, zoey's freckles seems to have grown more prominent on her sunkissed skin.

rumi really can't say no to zoey, can she? not especially when zoey is this adorable; wide grins that turns her eyes to crescent moons, sunkissed freckles dusting her cheeks and nose, and latching onto rumi's side like there's no tomorrow. so, there rumi is, atop of the half-pipe ramp with her board under her right foot.

it really isn't that high, but rumi's knees felt weak anyways.

sensing rumi's hesitance, zoey offers to show her how it's done first. "just let your body loose, rumi. the gravity will do most of the work, so really, just let yourself fall!"

rumi felt like that was a double entendre, which doesn't really help.

but, zoey had already glided down on her board with her default cheesy grin. even making a show of kickflipping her board, as if rumi needed to be even more impressed by the youngest girl. she snickers amusedly at zoey when she flashed her a peace sign.

just let yourself fall, rumi says to herself with a deep inhale.

rumi steps her left foot forward on the board, and leans her body forward, copying how zoey did it. she falls forward and glides down the ramp, and for a split second, rumi felt like she was freefalling. the moment was shattered when rumi realized she couldn't stop herself. zoey was waving at her erratically, shouting at her to brake.

too late, rumi thinks, as she crashes into zoey and mira (who somehow had materialized beside the maknae). rumi likens herself to a bowling ball crashing into two pins, tumbling atop both of her dongsaengs unceremoniously. it was a mess of piling bodies and tangled limbs; rumi was sure she caught a glimpse of her board sliding away from the mess.

it was zoey who voiced out first: "ow ow ow.... ugh, mira... you're squashing my arm."

"yup. sorry zo, i've got a whole rumi sized legs on top of me." mira groaned out, struggling to sit up with rumi's legs on her stomach.

rumi can't help but laugh; her face was hovering on top both of her girls and her body positioned awkwardly in between their limbs and torsos. it was such a comical sight, if rumi dares to even guess from a different perspective. from this angle, though, mira and zoey looked... unbelievably endearing. zoey was pouting, and rumi swore she could count her freckles. mira on the other side, must've noticed the closeness of their faces, cheeks flushing and breaths uneven.

rumi peels back from her girls, moving rather awkwardly to avoid stepping on either's limbs. apologetically, she says, "sorry about that. i couldn't stop."

"well," zoey starts as she dusts herself, and couldn't really help herself but laugh at the ridiculous moment, "at least we made good cushions for you, rumi."

mira, though seemingly unimpressed, chuckles as well. "i didn't even sign up to have a rumi-meteorite crashing into me. but, it's okay."

rumi was about to say something smart, but zoey beats her to it with her god-awful pun, "don't you mean... a rumeteorite? ha! get it?"

mira groans at the horrible joke whilst zoey laughs victoriously for annoying mira with her quick-witted cheesy pun. rumi really can't help but laugh at the wholeness of this moment. she wished she had a digicam recording this so she can watch it again.

they continued skating for another two hours, coming back home with new scratches and rips on their clothes, but also moments that warrant a bunch of laughs which echoes through the night.

it feels apt that rumi had fallen and crashed so hard into them, knowing that mira and zoey would be there to catch her fall.

- zoey likes to steal rumi's and mira's food — zoey has a particular eating habit that rumi and mira had gotten used to over the years. the maknae likes to steal bits of her unnies' food, especially if they all order different dishes when eating out. zoey is always curious of rumi's and mira's picks when it comes to eating, but she doesn't want to commit to finishing that dish, because she wants her own dish.

rumi's pattern is always the same; she orders something bold when they try new places and if she likes that dish, she would order the same thing for the next few times they go there until she wants to try other dishes. mira, being the more adventurous between the three of them, always orders something new every time they go to new places or revisit their go-to places.

zoey, without fail, would always take a few pieces of rumi's and/or mira's food to try. even if it happens to be their favourite's, their maknae will still reach out her hand or chopsticks to steal a piece. zoey just knows that her unnies never really meant their 'no, zoey, you have your own' or 'hands off my food, zo', because rumi and mira would sigh and let zoey take their food eventually.

mira has an automated response whenever zoey's grabby hands starts to approach her plate or bowl; she peel it away and raise it up higher where zoey can't reach, smirking teasingly when zoey pouts. she gives the food back when zoey pulls her kicked-puppy eyes.

rumi had adapted easily to zoey being a gremlin with her food by naturally separating a section for her dongsaeng to take. if she's feeling extra cheesy, rumi would pick a piece of her food with her utensils and handfeed it to zoey before she starts eating. zoey would automatically eats it without thinking (because she's the type of person who takes things if they were given during phone calls and would get confused why they're holding those things afterwards).

that had lead zoey down multiple times of eating things she didn't like before, but grown to like because rumi fed it to her one time.

like the one time when rumi fed a distracted zoey a spoonful of pidan congee out of her own curiosity to see if zoey would like the cured jelly-like egg. as rumi expected, zoey's eyes remained glued to the screen of her phone while her mouth opens expectantly. rumi held her breath for two seconds as zoey chews and swallows. she could see the moment zoey's brain registered what she just ate earlier.

zoey's brows furrowed confusedly as she turns to rumi. "what are you eating, rumi?" she then peeks at rumi's bowl, eyes widening. "you're eating pidan congee?!"

rumi nods, holding an amused laugh in. "yup."

"why'd you feed me that?!" zoey whines loudly as she squirms, now fully registering she had just eaten something she'd always avoided.

"i was just curious if you'd end up liking it." rumi cheekily grins, satisfied with the results of her mini-experiment. "since you'll eat anything i feed you while you're distracted, i figured it'll be easier than to making you try it consciously and end up with you gagging."

zoey gasps, almost too dramatic and borderline unironic. "you dare to take advantage of my inability to multitask? woe! woe befalls uponeth me by mine own comrade!"

rumi rolls her eyes. "dramatic as usual. it's just an egg, zo."

zoey pouts, huffing one of her cheeks at rumi. "yeah, but i still can't believe you did that."

"you can kiss me if you liked it." rumi deadpans zoey, not really thinking much what she said.

running with impulses, zoey leapt to kiss rumi's cheek, catching the purple-haired girl by total surprise. zoey is still pouty, and her face had turned so red. rumi's eyes widened, the feeling of zoey's lips still lingers on her skin like a tattoo kiss. her mind short-circuits after running so fast, finding barely any eloquence on her tongue. if rumi wasn't holding her bowl, she might've already followed her impulse to grab zoey's cheeks and chase her lips.

"there's your answer...." zoey mutters shyly, not meeting rumi's gaze. "but i'm still not eating it voluntarily."

rumi shrugs her trance off, scooping a spoonful of her congee. "so, if i tell you to finish this bowl for a kiss, would you?"

zoey chokes on her breath. her eyes flicker up and down between rumi's eyes and her bowl, as if mentally debating. it surprises rumi that zoey ends up snatching her bowl of congee, devouring it like she hasn't eaten the whole day- wait a damn minute, zoey paused halfway finishing the bowl.

"are you making me eat this because i haven't eaten at all?" zoey asks suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at rumi.

rumi looked annoyingly amused, a ghost of a smirk threatening to bloom from the corner of her lips. she merely shrugged, taking back the bowl from zoey's hands as she swipes her thumb on zoey's congee smeared lips. rumi sucks her thumb clean, a toothy smirk now evident on her face.

"that's my girl. good job for finishing most of this." rumi kisses zoey's nose, leaving a now frozen-still zoey with a triumphant wink.

zoey doesn't know this, but when rumi's back in the kitchen to meet mira, she proudly says to her pink-haired dongsaeng, "zoey finished most of the pidan congee, by the way."

"you best not be fucking with me, rumi." mira puts down her phone in disbelief.

"see for yourself." rumi shows mira the bowl she's bringing as evidence. mira curses upon seeing the mostly clean bowl. "what's next on our list?"

"i think its, uh... hang on–" mira checks the note on her phone, grimacing as she reads, "yukhoe? zoey doesn't like yukhoe?"

rumi shrugs. "so she'd told me before. same rule apply? first to get her to like it tops?"

"you're so on, rumi."

(rumi and mira had been scheming bets on who gets to get zoey to like the foods she claimed she "doesn't like" for weeks, so far it's been mira getting pinned down by a triumphantly cocky rumi for the past six nights straight in rumi's bedroom)

((mira's been itching to reverse the table))

- zoey surprisingly makes banging burgers — being raised in california for almost two decades of her life, zoey is used to grabbing in-n-out or shake shack (when she feels self-indulging) or even five guys (only to fulfil her guilty pleasure cravings). cheeseburgers and saucy cheese-fries used to be her teenage body's fuel with the fact that she gets them at least three times a week.

zoey's favourite go-to burger back then ironically came from a local food truck close to her school. something about their cheeseburgers hits so damn right in her soul after a gruelling school day.

after moving to korea, zoey had a hard time finding a cheeseburger place that could replicate what she had back in the states. classic american cheeseburgers went from weekly staples to yearly luxury reserved only for when they go out for their u.s. leg world tour.

imagine zoey's heartbreak when she discovered that her favourite cheeseburger food truck had closed shop because the owner, a kind-hearted big man in his late thirties from philadelphia, had passed away a year after zoey moved to korea. zoey actually wailed when she got back to HUNTR/X's hotel, which of course confused the hell out of rumi and mira.

(zoey wanted to get her unnies to try those insanely greasy and oniony cheeseburgers)

nowadays, after zoey's first heartbreak ever, she makes her own cheeseburgers at their penthouse for rumi and mira (and herself, duh). she tries her best to replicate how that burger-uncle made it; from the spongy sesame seeds buns, to the 60-40 fat to lean burger patty, the steam-caramelized onions, and of course, the iconic triple combo of american, cheddar, and pepper-jack sliced cheeses.

(where and how did zoey get her hands on good quality pepper-jack cheeses, remains a mystery)

somehow, zoey had dished out a piece of memory from her youth overseas to HUNTR/X's dinner table every other friday night. the first time rumi and mira had those burgers, they had been so enamored by how damn good it was. it was just like how zoey promised; greasy and fulfiling to their souls.

mira actually moaned when she had the first bite. "jesus, zoey. what the hell did you put in this?"

zoey grinned happily as she flips another patty on the gridle. "just a bunch of onions and my own spice mix, with a hell lot of californian love, of course."

rumi had to wipe a tear from the edge of her eyes. "yeah, i can totally understand now why you were so heartbroken when we went for our second american tour. this absolutely fucks."

"oh, you know it's that good when rumi curse." mira teases easily, and rumi really can't even be mad at her because holy fuck, these burgers are so good.

"aw, y'all are too sweet." zoey plates her own burger and sits across of her unnies, laughing as she watches rumi and mira experiencing the seventh level of heaven.

rumi, probably still in food-ecstasy, off-handedly comments, "if this burger is a person, i would fuck them every day just from how good they are."

zoey chokes on her fries. "rumi!"

mira snorts, struggling to keep herself together. regaining her composure, mira smirks as she says, "wow, rumi. you'd fuck the burgers, but not the cook? that's a little unfair, isn't it?"

rumi blinks, eyeing zoey. she then grins ear to ear, saying, "oh, right. don't worry, zo. i would be happy to fuck you senseless too for making these." before resuming her burger like it's a divine meal.

"WHAT!"

mira snickers at zoey's response; absolutely all of her flabbers had been gasted by rumi's comment. it's worth mentioning that rumi seems to be too lost in her own cheeseburgers-induced bliss, that she completely misses zoey having a stroke right now.

rumi reached her hand towards the glimmering strings of the honmoon, summoning her saingeom in her palm. the blade flickers it's energy brightly as she points the sharp edges at an open space, then focusing her energy to the sword. her patterns glow in sync with the blade, before it finally produced a thick cloud of smoke at the area she aimed it at. the thick smoke swirls in a whirlpool-like motion, before it eventually materialized to a humanoid shape rumi had grown familiar with. derpy purrs excitedly, fur visibly shaking.

"where are my children?" jinu's voice slowly grows audible as he steps away from the cloud, a trail of smoke clinging onto him.

rumi rolls her eyes. "you do realize animals, no matter mystical or not, doesn't count as children, right?"

"says the cat lady."

"excuse me?"

jinu shoots rumi a deadpan. "you heard me."

rumi felt a vein in her forehead twitch. "okay, you've only been summoned in less than twenty seconds, and you're already getting on my nerves." she aims her saingeom back at jinu. "your visiting rights are revoked as of now."

"what are you now, my probational officer?" jinu jokes dryly, only to raise his hand in surrender when rumi merely quirk her brow, and her sword began to charge energy. "jeez, okay, okay. i'll shut up. let me see my emotional support animals, now."

"hm. thought so." rumi smirks proudly, lowering her sword away. she looks at derpy, who is already looking at her expectantly, and nodded with a smile. "go on, buddy."

derpy visibly grinned, pouncing onto jinu's unexpecting frame. and although jinu is materialized as a spirit in the human realm, derpy and sussy, as they are beings from the spirit realm as well, were able to physically interact with jinu. which, of course, caused jinu to be squashed by this gargantuan blue-coated tiger. rumi actually laughed when jinu let out an audible 'oof' when derpy's paws landed on him.

"hey, big buddy... i missed you too..." jinu strained, patting on derpy's torso, "...but you're squeezing my lungs out..."

"he missed you." rumi teased with a shit-eating smirk.

derpy only nuzzled his head further into jinu's, suffocating him.

"help... me...!" jinu glared at rumi. when rumi didn't budge, he groaned, "...please."

rumi nods, satisfied. she dangles a bell, catching the tiger's attention, in which he finally steps away from jinu's torso, preventing him from getting flattened by a giant spirit tiger. jinu took a deep intake of breath, refilling his empty lungs back with air. he mutters something under his breath, and rumi assumed its one of the lingos back from his time because she didn't understand.

"welcome back, old man." rumi quips teasingly, watching jinu dusts himself from derpy's shed furs.

jinu side-eyes her in disgust (rumi knows it's fake). "you're cruel."

rumi rolls her eyes again. "dramatic."

"loser."

"you're old."

"and you're oblivious."

"you're going back to the sword."

jinu clicks his tongue, defeated. "...truce."

rumi hums, leaving the banter fall to a comfortable silence for a few beats, before chuckling in amusement. jinu merely cracked a smile, a genuine one, before scooting back to rub derpy's jaw. rumi then asks jinu about his family in the spirit realm; how his mother is doing, and has his sister looked forward to his bipa playing again. they fall into an easy conversation, peppered with another light-hearted banter.

"so," jinu starts suddenly, rubbing derpy's belly, "how did my children become HUNTR/X's official mascots?" as he raised his brow interrogatingly.

"why are you asking like it's a bad thing?" rumi retorted, mildly annoyed at the accusatory look of his face. "they appear in our livestreams often, and the fans adored them. zoey wore a hoodie with derpy's face on it one time during live. next thing we know, management told us they want to launch derpy and sussy as our official merch and mascots."

"if you'd told me a century ago my spirit tiger and magpie became globally adored mascots, i would ask you, 'why?'..."

"well," rumi laughs at jinu's expression, "they are adorable."

jinu looks at the upside down tiger, and the six-eyed magpie, clear adoration displayed in his eyes. "that, i can agree with."

rumi hums comfortably, softly rubbing sussy's body with her finger. "they're awfully great at providing comfort. i can see why you loved derpy and sussy."

"yeah." jinu smiles fondly. "i was in a deep and dark place back then, even for a demon's standard. the shame and the guilt gwi-ma whispered in my ears were too much for me. i considered running into a Hunter who would kill me instead, so that at least, i would disappear from all realms. but then, i stumbled upon this one." he ruffles derpy's belly again, earning a pleased purr. "this magical, and honestly, funky looking, blue tiger. who seemed to have a gift at comforting ailing souls, demons included."

emphatically, rumi placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "i'm glad derpy found you when you needed it the most."

"sussy came along a bit later on, in a much less wholesome way. there's something mischievous about this bird." jinu says as he teasingly pokes sussy, earning a judgmental side-eyes. "they're oddly attracted to gat hats, and is always up to a bunch of tomfoolery."

"oh, my god." rumi laughs loudly at the imagery of sussy pulling antics with or towards derpy. she then half confessed, "to be honest, i can't help but see mira in sussy. like, they're uncannily similar."

jinu quirks a brow, looking back and forth between rumi and sussy. he then snorts loudly. "okay, yeah. the resemblance is there."

"right? zoey kept saying that they have the same side-eye and sarcastic vibes." rumi wipes a stray tear from the corner of her eye from laughing her stomach out.

"i'm guessing derpy is similar to zoey, then."

"watch yourself, old man. that can be interpreted horribly."

"i'm saying derpy is adorable!" jinu said defensively.

rumi quirks a perfect brow. "so, you're implying zoey is adorable."

jinu stammers, confused. "...is she not?"

"is there something you're not telling me about my girl, jinu?" rumi says seriously, struggling to not let her smile break her charade. it's a little hard to maintain when jinu's face morphs slowly from shock to appalled to fear.

"oh, god, no! no, not like that, rumi!!" jinu frantically says, flailing his hands in front of him, face oddly flushed.

rumi couldn't keep it in anymore, bursting into a cackle. "god, you should've seen the look on your stupid face."

"i hate you."

"no, you don't."

"i'm taking derpy and sussy back with me." jinu threatens.

rumi challenges back, "bold of you to assume they'll choose you."

jinu opens his mouth to argue, only to remember something and shut his mouth again. he groaned, "damn you."

sussy twitters happily, as if winning a bet. rumi winks at the magpie, and humorously, sussy throws their half smirk at her.

"does zoey remind you of your little sister?" rumi asks softly, out of pure curiosity.

jinu paused for a few beats, recalling something from the back of his mind. "honestly? quite. it's a bit unnerving, sometimes."

"how so?"

"eunwoo has this... perpetual child-like wonder in how she sees the world. people and the world has this rose-tinted glass in her eyes, and she rarely ever assumes the worst in people right off the bat." jinu explains fondly. his smile widens as he continues, "she's also really clever and witty; always having such an out-of-the-box ideas that i honestly can't say no to most of the time."

"that's exactly how i feel with zoey, honestly."

jinu snorts. "you're such a sappy unnie for zoey."

"that's rich coming from a doting oppa like you." rumi sticks her tongue out childishly.

"...i'd never want to hear you call me 'oppa' ever again."

"yeah, no." rumi shivers in disgust. "you're way too old, anyways."

jinu points at her, unamused. "listen here, youngin'."

"no, thank you."

rumi and jinu banters some more, before holding another deep hearted conversation for another hour. rumi ate a cup of ramyeon whilst jinu plays with derpy (since he can't eat physical food). jinu teased about rumi's long standing obliviousness with her girls' crushes from a few months ago, and rumi's cheeks flushed as she flips him off in annoyance.

rumi's saingeom blinks in it's pinkish hue, and both of them turns towards it. jinu stood from the carpeted floor, giving derpy one last rub, and sussy a gentle tap on their beak, as he says, "time to go back, buddy. i'll catch up to you two another time."

rumi, smiling slightly bittersweet, aims her sword at jinu. "ready?"

jinu winks cheekily, though his smile was genuine. "don't miss me too much, doofus."

"you'll miss me more, old man."

rumi's sword began channeling the honmoon's energy, as the same thick cloud of white smoke engulfs jinu's spirit body. "see you 'round."

"say hi to your mother and sister for me." rumi says, just before releasing the energy.

"always." jinu bows, his body growing more opaque, and disappears when the smoke dispersed in the air.

rumi inhales deeply, her patterns' glow dimming as she returned her saingeom back to the honmoon. from a distance, her heightened hearing picks up the front door opening, and in comes her girls' loud voices screaming for her name. she smiles fondly at the sleeping tiger on her bedroom floor.

- mai, on the other hand, loves herself a nice serving of whiskey highball. she's a sucker for suntory whiskey, especially for highballs with yuzu syrup. mai prefers making drinks herself (she is guilty of stashing at least two bottles of whiskey in her dorm room; not that anyone else should know). her favourite food to accompany her drinks? deep fried wings and negima yakitori, with a bowl of steaming white rice. mai is strangely good at butchering chicken pieces (although her sister is more apt with blades, maki is known to be a disastrous cook), so she often makes yakitori for the girls in kyoto high.

- (miwa once caught her drinking late at night in the communal dining hall, so mai had to bribe her with both of the torikawa she'd made earlier)

- there was one time when maki impulsively travelled to kyoto during summer break that she accidentally ran into mai in one of a tiny izakaya specializing in yakitori, drinking by herself. the shop was kind of empty, safe for the zenin twins and three other customers. maki debated whether she should stay or find another place to eat, but her stomach had decided that it must be fed now. begrudgingly, she takes a spot in the corner, away from mai at the bar.

- maki orders a large bowl of rice along with some sides, karaage included, of course. from the corner of her eye, maki caught mai's little scoff when she asks for a can of sapporo. ticked, she asks for another can rather loudly. maki could almost envision mai's twitched brows at her loudness, smirking in satisfaction. she pours her first can to the pint glass, taking the first cold sip with a satisfied sigh.

- mai unexpectedly joins maki at her table, slamming her half finished glass of highball on the table. maki barely reacts, munching on her food nonchalantly. when mai spoke, it was oddly slurred, "what are you doing here?", and that's when maki realized her younger sister's flushed face. which is odd—maki had never seen mai gotten this drunk before. the older zenin twin shrugs mai's question, "to eat, obviously.". mai was not impressed, evident from the further dip of her brows.

- they don't say anything much while maki continues to eat and drink—mai had taken the liberty to order another glass of highball, with an extra shot of whiskey. only after maki finished eating, did she ask mai, "what are you getting drunk for? it's only tuesday." maki snickers and adds, "did some loser boy break your heart?". mai shoots her a bitter glare, which doesn't really faze maki at all; only further amusing her. mai clumsily replies, "i don't see… how that's 'yer business. nee-san.". maki internally cringes, because, ouch. that last part kind of stings.

- by midnight, maki vaguely remembers how she ends up taking mai back to her hotel room; the hassle of debating with a drunk mai, carrying the stumbling younger twin back to her place (because mai whines and whines about not wanting to go back to the school's dorm), and eventually reaching maki's hotel. even tucking mai in was a pain in maki's ass; her being uncooperative and an extra little shit was not in the older zenin twin's list. maki had to force mai to drink water before she passed out cold. "mai, you little– hey! don't bite my fingers, you brat." maki flicks mai's chin when the younger girl deliberately tries to bite her pinky. she grunted in annoyance, though she still tilts mai's head as she pours water. "drink slowly. if you choke and die, i won't resuscitate you."

- mai was tucked in maki's bed, dozing away in deep sleep with her back facing maki. maki lazily leans on the sofabed across the bed, nursing a can of beer and a perpetual headache. her creased brows had barely relaxed as she pinches the bridge of her nose. running into mai is certainly out of her itinerary; especially not after years of avoiding each other like the plague. maki exhales deeply, wondering what kind of joke the universe is pulling at them. one of her eyes peeled open when mai rustles in her sleep, turning to face maki. the older zenin's face relaxes, though her heart still weighs heavy.

- maki ends up falling asleep on the sofabed in an awkward, shrimp-like position. mai awoke just before dawn breaks, realizing she's dressed in one of maki's ridiculously oversized tee. the clothes she wore earlier were neatly folded on the bedside desk, along with her phone connected to the charger. when she checked her device, it had a few texts from miwa and momo. momo's most recent text said, 'thank you for taking care of mai-chan, maki-chan. i'll come pick her up in the morning'. mai glances at maki, muttering, "i hate owing you, you know...".

- (maki woke up in a surprised jolt, just before lunch. she was in her bed, she realizes, and she was alone. maki briefly wonders if she hallucinated everything that happened the night before. but when she checks her phone, there was a text from mai's line—the same line that hadn't reached her in years. the text contains a media attachment; a selfie of mai flipping her off, with momo, and–wait a minute, is that her limited edition t-shirt?!)

- maki used to talk with a distinct kansai dialect (being raised in the zenin compound, one will be bound to develop the dialect from exposure alone), but she purposefully lose it when she moved to tokyo. after leaving the clan, she does her best to discard whatever zenin identity left to her, safe for her surname. she sometimes slips up and cursed someone out loud with the dialect when she's pissed.

- mai also loses her kansai dialect by the time she enrolls to kyoto jujutsu high, but would often talk to miwa and momo with the dialect. the girls finds her speech pattern endearing, though mai kind of opposes it. she sometimes would speak in the dialect on purpose to confuse todo and kokichi. mai's dialect slips up without her control whenever she gets too drunk, but that's on the rarer side.

- (the students in kyoto high puts it as a benchmark; once mai starts speaking in kansai dialect, that's when they wrap up the drinks and take her to bed)

- mai sometimes felt a little jealous that maki and megumi gets along well; she felt a little lonely knowing that her older sister is closer to their distant cousin better that she does with her.

- maki, whenever she lets herself sit with her daydreams and feelings, thinks about how fun it would've been to hang out with mai and megumi together. a part of her wants megumi to get to know his other distant cousin, and perhaps get along with mai as well as he does with her.

- (funnily enough, there was the one time when maki and megumi hung out together at a batting cage, that megumi asks maki about mai. he asks what was it like to have a younger sibling, and what it was about the older zenin twin that mai hates so much. maki wasn't sure how to answer both of the questions; so when maki doesn't say anything, she was glad that megumi doesn't press further)

- maki's favourite flowers are: wisteria, tsubaki (specifically yellow tsubaki), and sakurasou (japanese primroses). but, whenever someone asks what are her favourite flowers, she usually says, "i don't really like flowers.", or "i prefer trees. why? well, i just think trees are cool? hey, i'm not weird for liking trees, dammit!".

- mai's favourite flowers are: suisen (daffodils), wisteria (she loves wisteria-scented things), osmanthus, blooming cactus, and kadupul (queen of the night). she keeps a couple of blooming cacti and regular cacti in her dorm room, finding them really adorable and fun to maintain.

- (mai is jealous that the tokyo high has a really beautiful wisteria tree in one of it's gardens. maki jokingly asked her one time, if mai wanted to steal the whole tree to bring back to kyoto high. mai was seriously considering maki's idea. maki was not impressed)

- maki secretly took up smoking (blame shoko) as a way to de-stress. shoko gave maki her first cigarette pack one day, after finding a sleepless maki pacing around the school's gates. maki initially didn't enjoy the taste of cigarettes, coughing and huffing the first time she smoked. shoko finds it amusing, half expecting the older zenin twin to stop right there. maki doesn't smoke often, though. a single pack she gets from shoko could last for two months.

- (there was a time, though, maki was horribly stressed out from her family issues that she ran through a pack of cigarettes in just two weeks. shoko was both surprised and concerned when maki asks for another pack after she just gave it three weeks before, knowing maki is not a heavy smoker)

- mai caught maki smoking one time when she travelled to tokyo for a takada fan-meet event (courtesy to todo's extra tickets) at maki's go to izakaya. maki was too engrossed in digesting some kind of letters (mai never did figure out what those letters are), a few cans of sapporo lined up on her table, a half empty glass of beer, and a freshly lit cigarette lodged between her slender fingers. she didn't even realize mai's presence at all, until eventually mai makes herself a comfortable across of maki. the older zenin twin nearly jumps out of her skin when mai says, "i didn't know you took up smoking, maki.", bumping her knees under the table. mai snickers at maki's reaction, while maki rubs her knees and hisses through her teeth, "what the hell?! why are you here? at my table, of all places!". mai rolls her eyes. "what? you don't like seeing me? you prefer keeping the pretense that your sister's non-existent?".

- maki scoffs, taking a deep drag of her cigarette. "stop projecting your delusions on me, brat." she then nods at her younger sister, questioning, "so, what brought you to tokyo? harassing nobara again?". mai's brows dipped, a telltale sign maki managed to press on her buttons. "no. i had business to do here. which is not of your concerns." mai flatly replies, not fully disclosing her reasons. maki doesn't pry about it, but she does ask, "but why this izakaya, specifically?" out of curiosity. mai easily replies, "todo-senpai told me this place has good karaage. he said itadori-kun recommended it.".

- at the mention of todo, maki raised a brow. "todo? you came here with him?". mai realized her slip up, and just as she was about to retract her statement, maki snickers and points out, "you came for the takada fan-meet event, ain't 'ya?". mai cursed internally; she'd forgotten maki is a sharp one. the younger zenin twin keeps her head up high. "so? what of it? i was just bored, and i wanna do something fun. i'm just hitch-hiking todo-senpai's agenda for free.". maki hums, mai wasn't certain to make of her reaction. maki shrugs, though mai could see the glint of mischief in her eyes as she says, "alright. if you say so."

- when they wrapped up from the izakaya, maki hesitantly asks mai to walk with her. which mai initally refused, saying that she's not interested. maki groans in annoyance, demanding mai to at least let her know where she's staying. mai tells maki that she's staying at a hotel not too far from akihabara. so, that's how they end up taking the metro together and walking to mai's hotel. maki stops them at an empty parking lot, taking out a cigarette from her pack. she offers the pack at mai, "want one?" while a cigarette lodges in between her teeth. mai asks instead, "don't tell me you came all the way here just to make me smoke, maki.". maki rolls her eyes, withdrawing the cigarette pack to light the one between her lips. "if 'ya don't want to, just say it. and, no. i'm not that petty, you little shit."

- mai crosses her arms, oddly defensive. "what do you want, maki?" she asks quietly, without sarcasm nor malice, despite her stance. it's odd, mai thinks to herself. maki huffs her smoke away. "how have you been, mai?" the older zenin twin asks, her voice strangely soothing in mai's ears. it feels out of place. familiar, but new at the same time. it makes mai even more guarded. "i'm… fine?" mai hesitates. she missed maki's flash of hurt. "i'm surviving sorcery, if that's what you're wondering.". maki hums; mai assumes it's out of satisfaction. maki then says softly, "i'm glad. you're getting stronger." she smiles, in a manner mai reads as proud.

- mai's heart churns uncomfortably. she hisses, "what are you doing, maki? you never cared about me, all these years. now, you're suddenly checking up on me?" mai scoffs biterly. "don't joke with me. you don't get to play sister after years of ignoring me! now, i'm asking you again: what do you want?". maki flinches at mai's abrupt hostility, instinctively taking a defensive stance out of drilled habit. she tries diplomatically, "mai, i... i don't want anything. i'm just–". mai cuts her off with a deep snarl, "just what, maki? just drowned in guilt? just trying to make yourself better by checking up on me? after all these years?!"

- maki snaps, biting back with equal force; like a wounded animal baring it's canines, "i'm just worried about you! god, i'm sorry that i haven't been good to you for the past few years!! i just–" maki's words choked her breathing, gurgling deep in her throat like bitter bile, forcing her to look down at her shoes. when she looks up at mai again, her usually stern gaze broke into the same hurt mai wears. "i just missed you, mai. i... i really do. i'm so sorry for bringing you into this mess. i'm so sorry i broke my promise to you. i'm so sorry i left you."

- silence hangs heavy in the air between them; the sound of crisp autumn wind at night breezes past them. maki's cigarette long died, it's burnt filter dropped beside her shoe. neither of them spoke, eyes avoiding each other. mai couldn't form any response—how could she, after maki had shot her confession dead center? mai's knees felt weak—so weak, that they gave out on her. maki was swift to catch mai from collapsing to the ground. "mai? mai... mai! hey, hold yourself together, mai! mai? hey, mai! wake up! mai!" maki frantically holds mai, tapping the younger zenin twin's cheek to keep her eyelids from shutting completely. mai's head feels fuzzy and her vision grows darker. the last thing she remembers seeing before her consciousness fades was maki's lips. they're mouthing her name.

- mai wakes up slowly, staring into the ceiling of... some room? she blinked slowly, accustoming her blurry eyes to her surroundings. she turns around to find familiarity, and slowly registering that she's back in her hotel room. her eyes dart towards the window side loveseat, where maki is currently sleeping, her head thrown back and snoring lightly with mouth ajar. the older zenin twin hasn't even taken off her hoodie yet, contrasting to mai who's already in her nightgown. mai frowns, perplexed. where's her bra...?

- maki jolts awake with a disgruntled groan, almost like her consciousness was yanked back into her flesh. her glasses were crooked awkwardly when she turns to look at mai. barely coherent, she slurs, "oh, 'yer 'wake. 'hat's good... that's good..." as she stretches her aching neck. mai feels somewhat endeared upon seeing maki's disheveled state—ponytail loose, hoodie wrinkled, and bleary-eyed. mai then asks, in an almost flustered manner, "uh, did you...undress me?" as her eyes flickers back and forth from maki and a particularly interesting patch on the carpeted floor. maki tilts her head briefly, before snorting in amusement at mai's fluster. she lets a lopsided smirk bloom, "what, you're shy about it, mai? cute." maki pokes at mai's buttons. it earns her a blush and yelp, "you didn't have to take off my bra, too! idiot!"

- maki clicks her tongue. "i didn't grope you, you little shit. you were drenched in cold sweat, if i didn't change your clothes, you'll wind up with a fever." and as if to prove her point, maki approaches mai and sits on the edge of the bed, pressing the back of her hand under mai's bangs to feel her temperature. mai's lips tremble in a flustered panic, while maki seemed blissfully unaware. maki clicks her tongue again, pointing out to mai, "ah, see? you're already getting feverish. goodness, you're just like when we were kids, ain't ya?". mai swats maki's hand away before her head gets too stirred up again. "stop it, idiot. i'm not a kid anymore. i'll be fine." she tries to scoff at maki, but somehow it ends up sounding like a whine instead. maki rolls her eyes, unimpressed at all. she flicks at mai's nose; not too hard for it to bruise, just enough for the younger zenin twin to listen. "you best lay down before you faint on me again. d'ya know how hard it is to debate with 'ya when 'yer half awake? it's like 'm talking to a brattier version of 'ya!".

- mai flushes again, her brows twitch in a particular manner (maki hasn't seen such expression on mai's face in a while). her eyes shift downwards, and her lips curl to a childish pout. "that's...not my fault." mai whines quietly, and for the briefest moment, maki thought they were seven again—just two kids who'd been swept up in a mess they had to clean up. maki's eyes softens, her hand instinctively reach to mai's head to pat it tenderly. mai flinches—not out of fear—and maki sighs slowly. "i know. i'm not blaming you. i'm just glad you're okay.".

- mai doesn't quite remember how did she end up leaning on maki's chest and listening to the older zenin twin's strong and steady heartbeats, but against her better judgement, she admits this was nice. it brings her back to their childhood; whenever mai feels tiny under the rest of zenin clan members' scrutiny, she felt safest in maki's embrace. maybe, just for tonight, the world lets her be that same little girl who seeks solace in her older sister's arms. and perhaps, just for tonight, maki is here—right where mai needs her most.

- "hey, mai." maki calls softly, a lilt of mirth in her tone. mai hums in response, slightly sleepy. "if i have a cent for every time you'd passed out on me, and i have to carry you back to a hotel room..." maki drawls coyly, and mai groans in annoyance, traces of sleep vanished instantly. "oh, my god. shut up!" mai shoves maki's shoulders, which garners a rumble of laugh deep from maki's chest. mai grits her teeth as she hisses, "god, i hate you so much." at maki, which maki merely hums at. maki then quietly responds, "yeah, yeah. love 'ya too, brat."

- the next time mai went to tokyo (only a month after she last went), maki's phone screen lights up with a text from her younger sister. maki's lips curled to a small smile, which was noticed by nobara and megumi. maki's brown haired underclassman asks curiously, "oh, who's that, maki-san?" trying to peep at maki's phone screen. megumi lightly smacks nobara's head for intruding maki's privacy. "hey. don't intrude.". nobara snarks at megumi for hitting her head, while maki simply shake her head at her underclassmen's acts. she pockets her phone, before answering nobara's question earlier, "mai is coming to town. her train arrives in an hour. i think?" which made nobara pale, and megumi alert. nobara shrieks dramatically, "the evil witch is coming?! maki-san, shouldn't we prepare? shit, let's go back and grab our weapons!".

- nobara's head was smacked the second time that day, this time by maki, who was unimpressed by her comments. "calm your ass, nobara. mai's just visiting me for a few days. she has a small break." maki explains simply, taking a small sip from her canned coffee. nobara was about to spew some more hysterics, but megumi had already clasped his hand on her lips, effectively shutting her up. this time, megumi asks, "is she on jujutsu business?". maki shook her head, replying him, "nah. pure vacation. i have plans with her tomorrow, but i was thinking of inviting her to dinner with us later. megumi, you okay with that?". megumi was slightly taken aback, about to answer maki, but yells in annoyance when nobara bit on his hand. whilst the spiky-haired boy cuss at nobara, the brown haired girl grabs at maki's sleeve, "why'd you think of that?! what if she poisons your dinner?!". megumi, now recovered from the pain, yanks at nobara's back collar, effectively strangling her. "hey! it's maki-san's business, dumbass! if you're not up for it, she's not forcing you to come with. and, don't you ever bite me again, kugisaki.".

- after nobara and megumi quits their bantering (by maki's not-so diplomatic approach of smacking them both in the head with her fists), the three of them comes to the station to pick mai up. maki instantly spots mai coming down from the platform, waving her slender arms at her younger sister. maki snorts when she finally registers mai's clothes; a black modern qipao style blouse—sleeveless as usual, a pair of flowy loose trousers, and a kind of silken outer that's neatly folded on her arm. maki felt a little self conscious of her own clothes; dressed in a simple fitted black cropped-top, an oversized open zip black jacket with gray hood, and baggy gray sweats. she brushed off the thought, stepping ahead of her juniors to greet mai.

- mai beams, something maki hadn't gotten used to seeing again, and teasingly says, "aw. you really came to pick me up? that's unusually sweet of you, maki.". maki rolls her eyes, good-naturedly of course, before pulling the younger zenin twin into a harmless headlock. "you're such an ungrateful little shit, 'ya know that? 'least you could say is thanks. or, even better: 'thank you for picking me up, onee-chan'." maki grunts as she grinds her fist on mai's head, purposefully messing her hair. slightly. mai shoves her sister to get away from maki's headlock, flipping her middle finger at maki. "god, i hate you so much. idiot!"

- maki waves her off, leading her towards an apprehensive nobara and stoic megumi by the exit. mai was surprised to find that maki didn't come alone; instead with her two first-years. "oh? megumi-kun, how have you been? good?" mai asks in that teasing tone to press on the fushiguro boy, earning maki's exaggerated eye roll. megumi, slightly flustered, avoided mai's eyes and curtly replies, "i'm well, zenin-senpai. thanks for asking. how are you?". mai pouts and whines, "i told you not to call me that, megumi-kun. mai is enough.". nobara is obviously disturbed by mai's incessant flirty-teasing tone, maki picks up from the vein threatening to pop on her forehead.

- mai then turns to nobara after purposefully ignoring the brown haired first-year, flashing a smirk that is borderline evil. "ah, kugisaki-chan is here, too? have you been good to maki?" mai teases, tilting the now furious brown haired girl's chin with the tip of her finger. "i've been the best to maki-san, zenin-senpai." nobara replies in a dangerous tone, laced with poisonous sweetness. maki sighs in exasperation, deciding that she best steps in between the hot-headed troublemakers before they pull out a fight in the station. "alright, that's enough you two. let's head out to eat. i'm hungry."

- maki took them all to her usual izakaya—mai felt a little nostalgic at the scene of the quaint shop. wafts of warm, grease-ridden air greets them at the door, warming their chilly skin. maki yells orders at the cheery oyaji behind the counter, and led them to a small booth for four. mai sits in the inside beside maki, whilst megumi is sat across of maki. which leaves nobara to sit right across mai, who is not very much pleased by the seating order. mai teasingly shoots nobara a flirtatious wink, just to vex the short-tempered first-year. maki pinches mai's cheek, "cut it out already, dumbass. i'll not be held responsible if nobara's nails ends up stabbing you." she reprimands flatly. mai pouts as she tends to the reddened cheek, but didn't press further. nobara grins triumphantly, only to be broken with maki's stern glare, "you too, nobara. behave. i can't help you if mai's revolver fires at your ass.".

- their dinner goes on rather peacefully—in a sense that neither nobara or mai tries to kill each other. mai managed to hold a decent conversation with megumi without pressing on his buttons too much—they even talked about the newest fps game that was just released last week—to maki's surprise. megumi agrees to invite mai to the game's mini chat server he plays with yuji and todo, informing the younger zenin twin that their next game session is tomorrow night. at that, mai turns to maki, who tilts her head at her younger sister. "are we still up for tomorrow arcade night? if we are, i might have to miss the game night, megumi-kun.". maki hums, checking her phone for a second. her brows furrowed in annoyance, whilst mai, nobara, and megumi wonders what causes maki's face to contort as such. maki groans loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "damn it. i just got news that the arcade's closed for some kind of renovation." maki turns to mai, apologetic. "sorry, mai. guess arcade's cancelled tomorrow. that okay?".

- mai blinks, unfamiliar by maki's reaffirming things with her. "oh. uh. yeah, of course. hey, megumi-kun?" mai turns to megumi, who was caught slightly off-guard. "can your server accept one more player? if it's possible, could you add maki, too?" the younger zenin twin asks genuinely, surprising maki, megumi, and nobara equally. megumi regains his composure and replies, "sure, if maki-san wants to. i'll let itadori and todo-senpai know you're both joining.". maki grins, flashing her thumb up at megumi. "thanks a lot, megumi!".

- maki excused herself to go out of the izakaya for a quick smoke break, not wanting her underclassmen and mai to be in the same space as her cigarette smoke. she chuckles to herself, slowly realizing she's growing more and more like shoko with her smoking habit. the cool late autumn air feels refreshing on her skin, blending with the smoke in her lungs. the izakaya's door slides open to produce megumi on his phone. he hasn't noticed maki yet, so maki steps further away from the door. megumi ends the call, and turns to where maki is standing behind a decorative pine tree, catching her red-handed. megumi tilts his head, puzzled. "maki-san. what are you doing there?" he steps closer to maki. maki panics, holding her hand out to distance her and megumi. "h-hey! back off, megumi! i don't want you near my smoke!". megumi laughs, shaking his head. "maki-san, i really don't give a shit about cigarette smoke. ah. pardon for my language.".

- maki clicks her tongue, slightly embarrassed at the minor commotion she caused herself. "damn you and your hard-headed ass." the older zenin twin tosses her dead cigarette away, stepping forward from behind the tree. "who did 'ya call, megumi?" maki asks, curious. megumi crosses his hands on his chest, leaning back on the wooden wall of the izakaya. "itadori. i was letting him know i'm opening the server to you and mai-san." he replies coolly. "hm. effective as always, ain't 'ya?" maki coos teasingly, poking his side with her elbow. megumi withdraws from maki's jabs, slightly vexed. he then quietly says, "i have a question, by the way." which maki hums to let him continue. "the arcade didn't actually close, did it?" megumi shoots straight to the point, and maki chuckles. perceptive as always. "nah, it's still open. i just want mai to spend time with other people than me. i wanted her to get along with you, yuji, and maybe nobara, too. though the last one's a bit of a long shot, ain't it?" maki chuckles as she answers truthfully. she then realizes something that was off, and asks megumi, "by the way... are you okay leaving those two alone? i'm kind of worried they're starting a war...". megumi's face drains of color about the same time as maki does, so they both barge back inside before a bloodbath happens.

- only to find mai and nobara... fangirling over a new girl rock band? mai's blushing as she daydreams about the band's drummer, whilst nobara is swooning over the rhythm guitarist's latest solo improv riff. megumi looks at maki with a raised brow, which maki returns with a shrug; as clueless as he is. maki decides it's better to return to their seats rather than standing around like a bunch of fools. just as she sat down, maki was instantly cornered by a pair of overly enthusiastic mai and nobara. mai straight up demands maki to buy her tickets to the band's next show in osaka, while nobara bats her lashes and pleads if maki can find tickets with half price discount. the older zenin twin sweats unsurely, darting her glance at megumi for some kind of help. uselessly, megumi shrugs and mouths 'good luck' at her. maki groans, flicking both mai's and nobara's foreheads hard enough to send them back to their seats as maki yells, "alright, alright!! i'll get 'ya both the damn tickets!".

- the zenin twins parts with megumi and nobara, as the two first-years heads back to the school's compound. maki stays with mai to walk her back to her hotel not too far from the izakaya. maki carries mai's simple baggage; a black leather duffle bag for her three days trip. maki was a little puzzled at the drastic simplicity; for as long as she's known mai, the younger zenin travels with at least one medium sized luggage. maki did point it out at mai earlier, and all mai said was, "it's a short trip to tokyo. i don't think i should be bringing my whole closet, maki.". once they made it to mai's hotel (maki wonders, did mai burn through her allowances for these trips?), maki helps her younger sister set up her room. it's a nice quaint room—minimalistic styled and colored in earthen tones. maki sets down mai's bag on the dresser as mai tossed herself onto the bed, exhaling loudly as she sank in the soft-as-cloud mattress. maki rolled her eyes, but doesn't say anything.

- "well, it's late, i better head back now. you should get some rest, mai." maki tells mai as she wears her shoes again, about to head out. mai drawls from the bed, sitting up in confusion. "you're not staying?" mai asks, half expecting. maki shook her head. "nah, i got some shit to clear with gojo-sensei tomorrow. i'll meet you here in the afternoon so we can go to an internet cafe to play with yuji and megumi." the older zenin twin pats mai's head gently, softly smiling. mai pouts childishly—adorably reminiscent to when she was much younger. "okay. can you..." mai trails off in hesitation, cheeks lightly tinted. maki catches on what mai failed to say out loud, nodding at her, "i'll stay over tomorrow after we play with yuji and megumi.".

- the next day, mai was lounging the day at the hotel she stays in as she waits for maki to arrive. after lunch, she finds herself swimming a few laps at the indoor pool. the last text from maki was in the morning, letting mai know she'll be off from satoru's evaluation training in the afternoon, and that mai should get something to eat for lunch first. mai wasn't expecting maki to arrive until much later in the afternoon, so it surprised her a little when she saw maki sitting comfortably by the side of the pool. "i didn't think you'd be here this early." mai says to maki, leaning forward on the edge lining, arms folded on top of the wet tiles. maki shrugs. "finished that blindfolded fool's evals quick. wasn't that difficult." the older zenin twin replies easily, like whatever it is that satoru made her do was just a simple task. hm, maybe it was, mai thinks. "how did you know i was here, though?" mai asks the next most rational thing, because, surely she didn't tell maki that she went swimming. "well, you didn't reply to my text earlier. and, this hotel has a pool. knowing you, the options are either swimming, or you forgot to charge your phone. my intuition says the first one.".

- maki waits for mai to shower and get dressed after the swim, lazing off on mai's unmade bed. it's funny that a lot of people assumes (and believes) maki's the messier one of the two—when the state of mai's room would easily dispute those beliefs. mai hasn't grown out of her habit of leaving clothes strewn around her room—a habit that used to get her into a lot of trouble with their mother. maki started taking the fault for her whenever mai forgets to clean up her clothes, by mixing her clothes into the mess, so when their mother caught the mess, maki's the one to get punished instead. maki huffs through her nose, deciding to tidy up mai's clothes (one of her underwear is strewn on top of the cabinet—maki wondered how the hell did it even get there).

- mai exits the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her torso, a trail of steam clinging behind her. she jumped when she saw maki standing right in front of her, shrieking, "what the hell?! god damn it, maki!! what are you doing?". maki ignores mai's shock, nodding to her finger—which is loosely dangling one of mai's underwear. the older zenin's face was flat, but there was a tinge of teasing in her tone as she asks mai, "did someone buy this for you?". mai's cheeks flushed deeply, in both embarrassment and annoyance. she yanks at the underwear and stomps right into maki—who is, annoyingly, smug. "stop snooping around my stuff!! dumbass!" mai hisses as she chucks the underwear into her duffle bag. maki presses on, "you didn't answer." toying with her younger sister. mai glares at maki, threatening to kill. it only amuses maki further. "i bought it myself! there, 'ya happy? jeez!". maki hums. "laces your thing, huh? i'll keep that in mind for your future boy. or, girl.". mai yanks at maki's collar, pulling the older zenin dangerously close. maki is barely fazed—this is probably the only time she's ever seen mai's buttons this pressed. she could take it as an achievement. when mai speaks, it's borderline a growl, "i'll put a damn bullet in your mouth before that happens.". maki smirks, "sounds like a promise to me." but she raises her hands in surrender, anyway. mai drops her collar, and the topic altogether.

- the twins meets up with megumi and yuji at the internet cafe down the block, greeted by an excited yuji waving at them. "maki-san! oh, and maki-san's sister, right?" yuji bows at mai, catching the younger zenin twin by surprise. yuji grins, charming as usual. "nice to meet you, zenin-senpai! hope you're excited to play with me and fushiguro.". mai flusters slightly, always a little awkward with new people. maki gives mai a little push, assuring her to be herself. mai gives a small bow in return, "nice to meet you too, itadori-kun.". yuji excitedly leads them to the internet cafe—and sure enough, the cafe is quite the scene. yuji managed to reserve a four people booth in one private room, one of the few rooms that are notoriously hard to book. at least, according to yuji's testimony. the room's setup is cool, maki had to admit. colorful CPUs, curved monitors—most likely 32 inches and 4k if maki dares to guess, gaming headphones with sophisticated mics built in, and ambient LED colored-lights to match the tone.

- mai was given her account by yuji, who is excitedly letting her know that he's already pre-built her avatar, but she's free to modify it to her tastes if she'd like. he helps her set up the account in the PC next to maki's. mai curiously asks him about the gameplay's mechanics, and cheekily hints if there are any cheats she could access. maki smiles softly; yuji is one of the rare people to bring out mai's true cheerful self, and it warms maki's heart. megumi nudges maki's side, turning to the spiky-haired boy who has a subtle smug on his face. maki kinks a brow at him. "what's with 'yer face?" maki asks. megumi shook his head. "nothing. let's set up your account." the fushiguro boy nods at maki's designated PC.

- after finishing their personal setups on their respective game's accounts—mai took the liberty to modify her pre-built avatar, whilst maki settled with default skin and features. megumi mutters under his breath how practical maki is, and pretends he doesn't see maki's deadly glare. yuji helps mai to adjust the chat's mic sensitivity and volume, so that it doesn't feedback their voices. the four of them logs in together to the same lobby in yuji's private server, greeted by todo's avatar and a booming, "welcome, my brother and gang!! let us conquer enemies and emerge victorious today!" in their ears. mai and megumi flinched, even maki had to yank off her earphones. yuji remains unfazed, as if used to such loudness from todo. maki mutes her mic to say, "...is he always this loud? it's not even five minutes yet, and my ears are already bleeding." to yuji and megumi. yuji looked apologetic as he replies, "yeah. that's why i always put his volume on lowest. he does make a good whistleblower in game, though.".

- maki gets used to the game's mechanics pretty easily—it was horror-themed survival fps game, quite similar to resident evil games, if maki had to deduce. there's a main storyline and a main quest they have to finish within seven days in-game. the game also offers a free-for-all lobby to combat other players, either in teams or individual fights. yuji offers to play team fight after they finish the first main quest, suggesting to team up with the person across each other for fun. mai squeals every now and then at jump scare scenes and the creepy build up, noticeably flinching beside maki. the older zenin twin handles the scares well, until she enters a particular room to retrieve clues. maki screamed when a creature with many holes and snake-like tendrils grabs at her avatar, firing her rifle almost aimlessly. mai jumps next to her, more scared by maki's screaming than the creepy situation in her game scene. "maki, what the hell?" mai squeaks at maki, hiding her character in a closet. maki's hand covers her eyes, shoulders rising and falling erratically. she lowers her hand over her mouth, breathlessly replying, "sorry. a creepy...thing jumped me earlier." she turns to megumi across of her to ask, "megumi, is there any ammo points in the fourth floor? i'm on my last mag, and it's almost out.". megumi searches his map quickly, before supplying, "there's one near the health ward. i'm closer to you, i can transfer a mag for you.". maki nods. "copy that.".

- the four of them managed to survive until day four—which took about three hours of playing. todo had logged off half an hour ago, leaving them to finish day four. maki threw her head back with a groan, pinching the bridge of her nose. her eyes are feeling the fatigue from staring at the monitor for hours straight, she's not used to this kind of lengthy gaming. yuji claps his hands. "we did good, guys! do we want a small snack break before 2v2 team combat?" he asks around to maki, mai, and megumi. mai stretches her arms, releasing the tension. "i don't mind jumping right in, itadori-kun. are you two okay?" mai turns to maki and megumi, in which the spiky-haired boy gives her a curt thumbs up. "i'm good. let's go for it." maki affirms, putting her glasses back on. yuji tells them to log off from his private server to join the public server to hop into a free-for-all lobby. yuji assigns mai as his teammate, and maki with megumi as the opposing team.

- "show me how good you are, megumi." maki says, mischievous glint in her eyes, which was returned with a confident, "after you, maki-san.". maki darts to her objective, chasing for either yuji or mai as she sprints to the first task. she makes her debut kill of yuji and mai's teammate, following with a long-range shootout. on top of her screen, a banner shows mai had just killed one of maki and megumi's teammate. yuji whoops, "yeah! nice job, zenin-senpai! oh, watch your six!". mai grins as she spins to shoot the enemy behind her, moving in closer to maki's territory. "i told you not to call me that, itadori-kun!". maki chuckles as yuji apologetically responds, "sorry! i meant, nice job mai-san.". megumi had killed another enemy, advancing his and maki's points further. surprisingly, maki encounters mai in her territory, who managed to deal noticeable damage to her health. mai coyly teases maki, "found you.".

- maki clicks her tongue as her avatar hid behind a crate, calculating her ammo and health kit. her bullets are only enough for one solid kill, and she doesn't have enough kit to heal and revive if mai manages to kill her. maki checks her inventory and weapon options—which there isn't much to choose from. she exhausted the ammo from her ar-15 earlier, and she's not very good with the AWP. her only options are her current ak-47 and a switch knife. maki juggles in her mind, flinching when mai showers the crate she's hiding behind with bullets again. in her headphones, mai's taunting voice crackles, "you're camping there forever, maki?". maki scoffs. "keep that up, and you'll die, you shit.". maki dashes from the crate, faster than mai anticipated, using sprints periodically to strike at mai using her knife. maki's strategic speed overwhelms mai, who managed to misfiring a couple of her bullets. maki receives minor damages from mai's bullets, but her health bar doesn't drop as drastically as mai's. mai cursed under her breath, "fucking hell, maki!". maki's avatar struck mai's with a combo move she built up earlier, knocking the younger zenin's health bar to near critical. maki swaps her weapon back to her ak-47, pointing it at mai's avatar. she leans back to throw mai a victorious grin. mai flips her middle finger at maki, and so maki lands the killing shot to mai's avatar.

- maki's screen lights up with a banner declaring she has killed mai, which leaves yuji as the final player. the older zenin smiles in satisfaction, about to use her health kit to heal her health bar, when her screen glows and a huge banner of "DEFEATED" in red. "what the hell?" maki frowns at her screen, reading the status box to notify her that... megumi had killed her? mai is hysterically laughing at the notification, which only aggravates maki's glare towards megumi. the spiky-haired boy is sweating profusely, avoiding maki's deadly eyes. "megumi." maki calls at megumi, a dark aura emitting strongly. megumi seems to have shrink further into his chair. "why the fuck did you kill me.". when megumi doesn't answer, maki stood to yank at the spiky-haired boy's slumped body. it's almost comical how megumi flap around like a dead fish under maki's grip. "answer me, idiot!! i had less than twenty percent health, three bullets left in my ak-47, and a near-death match with mai! just for you to kill me?! are you fucking serious?!". megumi weakly replies, "my bad... i wanted to transfer health kit to you, maki-san...". maki headbutts megumi's forehead. "then, why the fuck am i dead?!" she yells with gritted teeth. megumi admits, "...accidentally swapped it with my gun." which only fuels mai's laugh further. to spite maki, mai even adds, "thanks for the assist, megumi-kun!". yuji weakly reprimands the younger zenin, "mai-san... let's not sprinkle salt to fushiguro's wounds.". maki glares at both of them. "i'll bury him in salt for what he did to me!!".

- it was past midnight when they finished playing at the internet cafe, parting ways with yuji and megumi. mai had managed to exchange numbers with the two boys by the end of the night, which yuji tells her that if she ever wants to play with them again, she could just message the chat server or to yuji directly. unexpected to maki, mai gives megumi and yuji hugs before joining maki. maki smirks at a flustered megumi and dumbfounded yuji, waving at them as she walks mai back to her hotel. on their walk back, maki points, "i see you had fun, mai.". mai hums as she keeps her eyes at a distant point, her lips curled to small smile—the kind maki missed to see in years. mai then turns to maki and replies, "yeah. this...is the most fun i had in a while.".

- when they got back to mai's room, maki takes a quick hot shower to wash off the gaming sweat, whilst mai submerges her whole body in the still steaming ofuro, separated by an opaque curtain between them. "hey, maki?" maki hears mai calls just as she turns the tap off. "what?" shamelessly, maki swipes the curtain, jolting mai in the tub. maki isn't too sure if the flush on mai's cheeks are caused by the heat of the water, or something else, but she paid it no mind. mai had already threw her face away from maki. "h-hey! some privacy would be nice!" mai squeaks helplessly, waving at maki to shoo her away. "scoot." instead of leaving mai alone, maki steps into the other end of the tub, shoving mai's legs to make room for her. mai flinches, withdrawing her legs with a glare at maki. mai groans, defeated by maki's stubbornness. "god. i can't deal with you, sometimes." the younger zenin mutters. mai shoots her a smirk, which doesn't appease mai at all. "what did you wanna say, earlier?" maki nods at her younger sister. "oh, um... i just wanted to say thanks... for everything." when maki tilts her head in confusion, mai lowers her gaze to add, "i still don't quite trust you, maki. if i have to be honest. but, i do appreciate you for trying. i-i still don't understand why you had to leave; why you are so adamant in becoming clan head. we could've lived a normal life, doing chores.".

- maki hums. mai's tone wasn't hostile towards her, in fact she sounded so small. and vulnerable. probably the most vulnerable maki has ever seen her after all these years. maki opens her mouth, closing it again as she contemplates, before settling to unfold her truth: "i'm doing it all for you. this was all for you.". mai snaps her head to look at maki, whose eyes is the barest mai's ever seen. "i... thought this was the only way. i didn't think you'd be thrown into this mess. but, i still believed this is the only way i could carve a place in the zenin clan, where you belonged.". mai's lips trembled as she whispers, "maki... i...".

- "i want a place in the clan where you can and will be free to be who you are, mai." maki lastly adds. her gaze is soft, yet underneath, there's that unyielding determination that shines through; an unchanging feature of maki's that mai will always find. a tear falls, dripping into the bathtub water. mai wipes the tears in her eyes, smiling through her sniffles. "ah... you're still such a sap, maki. i can't believe you...at all.". maki doesn't say anything, flashing a small smile. all these years, she had been carrying a heavy weight of guilt of leaving mai behind and pain of never looking back at mai in her chest. to finally unveiling the truth mai deserved to hear, it's like that boulder has been lifted off. "maki?" mai softly calls, which maki hums in return. "thank you.". shaking her head with a smile, maki says, "anything for you, mai.".

- when they sleep that night, maki engulfs mai in her arms. mai slips into the calmest sleep she's ever had, burying her face into maki's neck.