Strawberry Panic! 1. Grey Skies Ahead

**Words from the author: **Yeah, this is my first fanfic that I've posted on here (believe me, I've written a lot of them that didn't make the cut) so just sit back and read it through. As stated in the summary, this takes place three years after the familiar fourth year crowd has graduated (5 years since the anime left off) and everyone has distanced themselves it seems, or at least that's how I thought of it. Thought of this story while staring out the window at the snow falling while driving on the highway up to Oregon. There might be some OOC from Nagisa but you have to remember how much time has past, and what she's been through which will be revealed later in the story, so stick around till I finish this completely. It's gonna be short: probably no more than 5 chapters if even that, so it should go pretty quickly. Anyway, please enjoy and put a review in case I missed something!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Strawberry Panic or any of the characters mention, because if I did, I would have listened to the voters that read it when it was still in the magazine and made Tamao and Nagisa a couple. =3

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The soft snow fell in spirals all over the city as winter had begun in Japan. People crowded the sidewalks and shops, doing some Christmas shopping before everything was bought while automobiles were at a stop and go pace all along the roads. A bus filled with passengers was no exception to this, and continued its daily route of letting people off and on throughout the city. Sitting at a window seat near the back of the bus was a young woman of twenty, staring vacantly out the glass as she watched the urban society scroll by leisurely. Her long blue hair fell down her back, as the days of tying it up were long past, and her amethyst eyes had a blank look to them as she watched the swirling snowflakes drift onto the city's streets. Suzumi Tamao, having graduated from St. Miator Academy for Girls was now a part time writer working and living on her own at her apartment, which happened to be her next destination at that moment.

She continued to blankly stare out the window, not really seeing or caring what passed by when something suddenly caught her eye: something, or rather someone she hadn't expected to see ever again. She quickly sat up and pulled on the rope above her, signaling the driver to stop and let her off the bus. Descending the stairs to the ground, she hurried back to where she thought she saw a quick flash of familiar red hair.

"So it was you…" she murmured as she stopped in front of a woman the same age, sitting upon a suitcase on the sidewalk with a downward stare. The reddish vermilion hair of Aoi Nagisa was dusted with powdery snow as was her jacket that looked as though it was only draped over her shoulders. Her normally bright and cheerful auburn eyes had an empty and distant look to them, and her somber expression was in high contrast to her normal personality. Her shoulders shivered from the cold slightly, causing the loose snow to fall to the ground, making Tamao wonder how long she had been sitting there.

"Nagisa-chan?" She spoke hesitantly as the other girl started at the sound of her name. Jerking her head upward, Nagisa's face was a mix of surprise and confusion as she saw Tamao looking down at her from where she sat on the sidewalk. Tamao was slightly unsure how to act as she looked down at her friend from her school days whom she hadn't seen since graduation, and was uncertain what she should say in the current situation, except for the obvious that popped into her mind at that moment. "What are you doing out here?" She walked over and brushed the snow off of Nagisa who began to stand up but brought her hand to her forehead as she was suddenly overcome by dizziness. "Hey, are you okay?" Tamao asked worryingly as she noticed the gesture.

"Yeah I'm fine, Tamao-chan. I've just been sitting down for too long and stood up too quickly," Nagisa replied in a shaky voice, trying her best to put on a smile for her friend. Tamao, however, wasn't fooled by the façade and made sure that Nagisa knew it.

"Nagisa, I may not have seen you in three years, but I can still tell when you're lying," she lectured the red head and grabbed the abandoned suitcase which still sat on the ground. "Come on, I'll take you back to my place to warm up." Suitcase in one hand and Nagisa's arm in the other, she hailed a taxi to take them back to her apartment. After putting the suitcase in the trunk, Tamao ushered Nagisa into the cab and sat next to her, closing the door behind her.

"Where to, Miss?" the driver asked, turning to Tamao while slinging an arm in the window gap separating the back seats from the front.

"699 Tsukimi Way, please," she answered quickly glancing at Nagisa in her peripheral vision. The red head didn't look very well, which made Tamao worry if she got a fever from sitting out in the cold. The car lurched forward as the driver stepped on the accelerator and pulled into the main road for the traffic-filled drive. Tamao draped an arm over Nagisa's shoulders and pulled her closer, trying to keep her warm. "I'll make you some tea when we get to my house, okay Nagisa?"

"Yeah. Thank you Tamao-chan…" she mumbled as she rested her head against Tamao's shoulder, drifting off into a light sleep from exhaustion. Tamao sighed slightly with a troubled frown on her face, and stroked the other girl's hair softly as she laid back in the seat, continuing her staring out the window.

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**A/N:** So that's the beginning of my story and I've hope that you're still around reading this. Otherwise, this was a complete waste of time and I'm sorry for taking up space on the ever expanding Internet. The next chapter should be up in maybe a week if I haven't died from playing Guitar Hero too much. Oh, and if you reviewed, then that would be much appreciated =D


	2. Memories and Hardships

**A/N:** So I finally finished chapter 2 and I'm so sorry to those that have read my first chapter! I know I had all that time to work on it but I had no inspiration and was lazy and now school has started again. Funny though how I typed this up only now when school has started, but I'm going to say that the two are unrelated in every if any way. Whatever! just hope you enjoy the second chapter and maybe if you write a review I might continue it... JK I will anyway.

**Disclaimer: **So yeah I don't own Strawberry Panic and what I said in my first disclaimer still stands.

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**Chapter 2: Memories and Hardships  
**

The sound of a lock clicking rang out through the empty apartment followed closely by the creak of the front door being swung open. Tamao was struggling with a moaning Nagisa, half-carrying, half-dragging the girl across the threshold of the doorway and to the couch that sat in the middle of her apartment's sitting room. Setting her down in a laying position, Tamao then shrugged off her heavy slate grey overcoat and hung it along with Nagisa's on the coat rack at the entrance way. She then proceeded to the kitchen, calling over her shoulder to Nagisa to "try to relax while the tea is getting ready."

After lying there for a few moments, Nagisa slowly sat up until she was in a sitting position there on the leather couch looking like she was in a daze, as if she was still trying to comprehend how she had gotten there. Blinking a few times to clear her head, she slowly began to study her surroundings of her old friend's home. It was fairly nice for a one-person apartment, if not a little simple. The eggshell colored walls were bare of any pictures or even nail holes, but Nagisa didn't really see Tamao as one for visual art. Directly in front of the couch she was on was a good sized TV hooked up to a simple stereo system. The window off to her left had its blinds open, letting in the cold grey light of the winter day which fell across the off-white carpet that covered the living room floor. There was a comfortable looking chair next to the window, which also had a lamp near it when natural light was not available. Nothing caught her attention more, however, than the massive amounts of books that filled the place. A small bookshelf off in a corner was the only thing that was actually organized, whereas everywhere else books were just piled up in large stacks, categorized by genre and author. Nagisa knew that Tamao liked to read, but she thought that this might be pushing it.

"Yeah, sorry about the mess," Tamao voice drifted in from the kitchen. "I've been meaning to install some shelves or get more bookcases but I've never found the time or money."

"You might be short on cash because you buy so many books," Nagisa mumbled a little louder than she had thought, as she heard Tamao laugh lightly in the next room. The blue-haired woman entered the room with two cups of tea in hand: steam still wavering above the liquid.

"Well, if I didn't buy any books, then why would I need the shelves in the first place?" she answered smiling, handing one of the saucers to Nagisa which she gratefully accepted with a small "thank you" as she sat down next to the red head. "So," she started hesitantly, foreseeing this to be a particularly uncomfortable conversation as she composed herself into a more serious state. "What exactly are you doing walking around town while lugging a suitcase?" Her amethyst eyes seemed to radiate concern for her friend as they bore into Nagisa's auburn ones.

Lowering her cup from her lips, Nagisa's eyes turned downward as she found a sudden interest in the pattern on her saucer. "Well… a lot has been happening recently and I'm just kind of drifting at the moment if you know what I mean," she answered vaguely: eyes still not meeting Tamao's.

"Aren't you staying with Shizuma though?" It seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as Nagisa's head seemed to sink lower making her eyes disappear behind her bangs. She remained motionless, but her voice gave away what she was feeling when she heard that certain name.

"Shizuma and I… um, I was but… well, it's kind of complicated," she rambled in a low voice, unable to think straight as the pain in her heart began to throb again. Her mind seemed to want to say something, but her mouth was uncooperative with what her brain was thinking.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tamao asked hesitantly, her body turned towards Nagisa to show that she had her full attention.

"Hn," was her short reply to the question along with a slight shake of her head. She wasn't sure if she was ready to even think about it again, let alone talk about it. "Can I tell you later? I need some time to think." Tamao gave her a small reassuring smile as she agreed.

"Of course, Nagisa-chan. I understand if you can't talk about it yet." She brought her arm around Nagisa's shoulders and gave her a small hug of understanding, and stood up while picking up Nagisa's empty tea cup to take to the kitchen. "Take a nap while you're at it. It'll help you sort it out and you look pretty beat as it is."

"Oh Tamao-chan, can I stay here for the night?" Nagisa's voice called back with a hint of uncertainty. The question caught her off guard, and Tamao stood there silently for a moment as if contemplating her answer. Slowly, though, she turned around with her trademark small smile on her face as she faced her best friend.

"Not a problem Nagisa. You can stay as long as you'd like. Now take a nap, and I'll wake you when I start dinner." She watched as the red head gave a small sigh with a smile and laid her head against the pillow that sat on the couch. She was soon fast asleep, her face seemingly relaxed compared to her earlier distraught as she inhaled and exhaled slowly. Tamao walked over to her sleeping figure and bent down to brush away some strands of her vermilion hair out of her face, giving her cheek a light kiss before extinguishing the lights of the room.

She retreated down the short hallway to her small office and flicked the switch on the wall, causing a lamp on the desk to alight. She quickly booted up the laptop that sat upon the wooden desk and promptly sat down in the comfortable chair as she waited for it to load. When the welcome screen met her eyes, she logged on and slid on a pair of headphones. She had developed a fascination for American music ever since a friend had introduced it to her and got her the American-made Zune for her birthday. Selecting "play all" on an artist and making sure it was on shuffle, she laid back against the chair as the rock music began to flow through her ears: her mind going back to when she was still in school and all of the trials and errors she went through then…

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**A/N:** yes I know I was mean to leave it off like that but what comes next comes in the 3rd chapter so just wait a little longer! The next chapter will consist of some flashbacks that will be italisized as a heads up and also maybe we can get an explanation out of Nagisa-chan finally, huh? Oh! and if you reviewed that would be awesome :D


	3. Last Night

**Author's note:** So it took me FOREVER to write this and it's nothing but one long flashback, but I can say that I'm proud that I got through it and it's even the longest chapter yet! And the intro and outro of the song is Last Night by Motion City Soundtrack which is what I've been listening to since before school started again. Take a guess as to what I was listening to when I started writing this. Anyway, long chapter with a lot of sadness in it, so brace yourselves or don't because I don't know who reads these things except for the people who comment. (Who are awesome, by the way.) Whatever, just read it through and comment if you find a problem with wording, grammar, flow, or just want to give me a comment for no reason. Oh yeah, and if it's italisized and in hyphens, then it's lyrics but if it's just italisized, then it's a flashback.

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, don't own Strawberry Panic because if I did, Tamao would have totally beaten down Shizuma and I would just laaauuugh...

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**Chapter 3: Last Night…**

_-I'm still frustrated from last night_

_Things happened in half time_

_I'm sick of the bends._

_My panic research was no help_

_I sink into myself_

_Afraid of the fall that never ends_

_I wait but I'm too tired to play pretend_

_I suffocate until the end.-_

The soft song was peaceful to Tamao as she sat there relaxed, listening to the English lyrics of one of her favorite songs on that particular album. She admitted that it was a little dreary and at some points downright depressing, but she found that a lot of times those emotions helped her get through her writing: especially when a deadline is approaching.

Now, however, there was no impending doom on the horizon for another month, and she was almost done with the last chapter as it is. After seeing the wrath of her editor, she learned that it was a bad idea to shrug off a deadline and made sure that it didn't happen again. Now she was simply listening to the song because in some ways, the emotions of the lyrics eventually led back to her own thoughts of that one night so long ago.

_The dorm room was silent like usual, and the curtains of the single window were shut, keeping out the early darkness of winter. A sixteen year-old Tamao was sitting at her desk like normal: the only sound in the room her quiet and steady breathing and the scratching of the pencil she was using. She had grown accustomed to the silence that seemed to always cloak her like a veil. It was to the point where she barely heard much else: even when around others in class or just around in general. _

_She wasn't, despite others' thoughts when they see her, spacing out completely, but rather constantly thinking about anything and everything she thought needed to be pondered. Recently, however, no matter how much she tried to prevent it her thoughts seemed to always stray back to her roommate, Nagisa. Despite Tamao's request for Nagisa to have her own room in fear of the awkwardness that would follow, Nagisa made sure that they remained roommates during their fifth year. _

_Thinking about Nagisa was just what Tamao was doing as she moved her pencil across the once-blank paper in an attempt to finish her creative writing paper in time. It just so happened that when she reached the climax of her story, her thoughts became a reality as the familiar red head burst through the door._

_"Hi, Tamao-chan!" Nagisa greeted enthusiastically as she made her way across the room to her best friend. Tamao sighed silently to herself as she set her pencil down and turned to face Nagisa with her usual friendly smile._

_"Hello, Nagisa-chan. Did you have a good time with Shizuma today?" She had dropped the "-sama" from her name for awhile now, as she saw no point in adding it nowadays. _

_"Yeah, I had a blast. We went to see a movie first and then she treated me to an early dinner at this fancy restaurant. I'm completely stuffed after the filet mignon with chocolate mousse for dessert, but it was a little difficult to use a fork and knife. Needless, I won't be having dinner though, so just go to dinner without me," she concluded soundly. _

_"Actually, I wasn't planning on going to dinner tonight," Tamao began uncertainly. "I'm not feeling very hungry right now." She plastered I nervous smile on her face, which thankfully Nagisa took without much indifference. _

_"If you're not hungry, I guess that's okay, but you haven't been eating much lately. Are you feeling okay?" Nagisa asked the blue-haired girl with a worried expression on her face. This wasn't a question Tamao looked forward to as she let her eyes drop down to her knees._

_"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered after a short pause, but it was long enough for even Nagisa to notice. She sat down on the edge of her bed and bade Tamao to do the same, which she reluctantly complied. An awkward air was beginning to rise between the two, and both of the girls could feel the tension in the atmosphere rising. _

_"Is there something on your mind? You haven't been acting like you normally do," Nagisa stated as she looked into Tamao's eyes, trying to get her to do the same. Tamao, however, just continued to stare at her knees, not having the nerve to look Nagisa in the face. "Does it bother you that I'm always with Shizuma?" This question took Tamao completely by surprised, as she looked up suddenly with a look of shock mixed with confusion. Even Nagisa didn't really know why she had asked the question, but she tried to keep a straight face as she waited for Tamao's answer. _

_"If you took out the 'always' then that would be it exactly," Tamao wanted to say, but made sure she kept her mouth shut. Instead, she answered with a foolproof and completely ambiguous phrase and hoped that the conversation would end with it. It didn't. "I guess I have been a bit lonely lately, but it doesn't matter so much that you need to stop seeing her any more than you do now." She smiled and waved her hand as if to scattered the conversation out into the air. Nagisa saw right through it however, and continued to barrage Tamao with words that she thought were innocent, whereas everyone of them pierced Tamao's heart like an arrow. _

_"Tamao-chan, you're my best friend, and if you wanted I would make time to spend with you. We never hang out together as it is, and I'm afraid of us drifting apart any further. Whatever happened to the enthusiastic Tamao-chan that I met last year?"_

_"She changed," Tamao mumbled barely loud enough for Nagisa to hear._

_"What?"_

_"She changed," the blue-haired girl repeated, "when she experienced emotions that she had never felt before: pain, jealousy, regret, and love…" The last word was almost inaudible, but the silent room allowed Nagisa to hear it quite clearly. _

_"Tamao-chan?"_

_"I never thought that it would turn out like this, but I guess I should have acted sooner." Tears started to well up in Tamao's eyes as she continued to mumble more to herself than Nagisa. "If I had just told you sooner… things might have turned out differently…" She lifted her eyes to look into Nagisa's, tears cutting their way down her cheeks now. "Because the truth is that I love you, Nagisa."_

_The room seemed to become even quieter, as if both of its occupants were holding their breath. Nagisa's eyes seemed to have widened to twice their normal size as she looked in disbelief at Tamao who was now crying openly, not daring to look at the red head. That's when Nagisa did something that Tamao wasn't expecting. Tamao suddenly found herself in Nagisa's arms, her eyes opened in surprise but soon her emotions took over again and she continued to cry into Nagisa's shoulder. They stayed like that for some time, and slowly Tamao found herself drifting off to sleep, but not caring as she felt exhausted from the built up emotions suddenly pouring themselves out of her body. The last thing she remembered in consciousness was a single tear not from her, but Nagisa hitting her on the forehead and a small voice saying "I'm sorry…"_

_Tamao suddenly came to her senses with the sun shining through the open window of the dorm room. She glanced around the room feverishly, but she didn't find what, or more correctly who she was looking for. What she did find, however, made her blood freeze in her veins as she looked at the well-made bed across the room. Nagisa's half of the room was spotless, without any kind of trace of inhabitance left on the right side of the room. Tamao could feel her eyes starting to well up, but she didn't have a tear left to cry so she just sat there breathless as recognition caused her to face the painful truth of what had happened. _

_Nagisa had moved out of their room for good. _

-…_She whispers something in my ear, _

_the message is unclear,_

_She motions outside._

_I trail her closely from behind_

_She tries hard not to cry_

_She shakes underneath the pouring rain_

"_I can't compete with all your damn ideas._

_This isn't working out for you or me._

_The truth is I'm too tired to play pretend._

_This is goodbye, this is the end."-_

The song ended with the guitar playing until it was suddenly cut off, and Tamao finally opened her eyes as the next song began to play. "It's been so long since then, but it still feels like yesterday," she mumbled to herself as she leaned forward to open the document which held the beginnings of her last chapter. Sighing slightly to herself as she placed her fingers on the keyboard, she began typing rather brokenly as her mind still was trapped in the memory of that painful night.

The last night that they had shared together.

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**A/N:** So there's the 3rd chapter, and I told you it was long! But yeah, I know I didn't explain what happened between Nagisa and Shizuma but I will in the next chapter! (maybe. not fully sure yet) So just stick around a little longer and I'll have it up in a week or two. or three. or whenever my school schedule permits it but that doesn't matter to me that much. AND REVIEW PLEASE if you feel like giving me some feedback.


	4. Chapter 4a: Remembrance

So, first of all, I'm gonna say sorry for the overly long hiatus that I took, but I really was on a creative rundown, and I couldn't even draw anything let alone write. To tell you the truth, I actually wrote most of chapter 4 some time ago, but I could never finish it so I just said "Hey! Why don't I just divide it into two parts!" (hence the chap. 4a thing) Anyhoo, I'm just glad that I'm able to post something again, and I hope that you enjoy this half chapter as well. The thing has a lot of looking into the past, but from a present point of view, and I'm really glad that I was able to incorporate something from the anime into it as well. Whatever, just hope that you enjoy my new chapter!

**Disclaimer: **In case you didn't get it from the first three chapters, I don't own Strawberry Panic!.

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**Chapter 4(a): Remembrance  
**

Tamao paused in her typing as she looked at the clock reading 4:45 on the computer screen. She usually liked to eat early, so she saved her progress and unplugged from her music, made sure to turn off her laptop and flicked off the light before exiting the room. She made her way out into the living room again, and planned to wake up Nagisa who was still sleeping peacefully on the couch, but noticed her suitcase still standing by the door, forgotten in her rush to get Nagisa situated. Wanting to give Nagisa any extra time to relax, Tamao quickly picked up the travel case and brought into the small guest bedroom down the hall.

She heaved it onto the bed and was about to turn towards the door when she noticed a piece of something red sticking out of the side of the suitcase. Whether it was concern for ruining whatever it was, or curiosity getting the better of her she didn't know, but carefully she undid the latches and lifted the lid to reveal well-sorted clothes on the inside. Immediately she looked for what the fabric was, but almost stepped back in surprise as to what she saw. Sitting there on top of a folded pair of jeans was a red ribbon coiled lazily around itself, with the very tip of it hanging over the edge of the suitcase. Delicately she picked the ribbon up and examined it closely, feeling the smooth silk against her warm skin as she ran it through her fingers. Images started to flash in her mind: her giving it to Nagisa when she left her behind when she visited her family in her fourth year, having it returned to her the following autumn by Nagisa who claimed she had lost it, tying it in Nagisa's hair on the day of the Etoile election, and finally pulling it out of her hair when she pushed Nagisa into Shizuma's arms after Shizuma's confession. Everything after that seemed hazy, and she vaguely remembered having it clasped in her hand as she made her way back to her dorm room after the new Etoiles were elected.

Had Nagisa picked it up from the floor when she came back that night? And why had she held onto it for so long? Questions swirled around in Tamao's mind like leaves in a gale as she stared at the red strand of silk she held in her hands. Tears started to well up in her eyes, but she didn't know exactly what was causing them; unable to describe the emotion that held her in a vice at that moment. Was it sorrow? Pity? Relief? Hope?

Was it love?

Love. That was one emotion she hadn't felt in a long time. After graduating, Nagisa seemed to have disappeared from Japan, which could be truthful if Shizuma had decided to take her away to a foreign country for a vacation. Whether something like this happened or not, Tamao never saw nor heard from Nagisa, as if she didn't exist to her anymore.

In reality, she noticed that everyone from their school days started to drift apart. The younger students stayed in school while the graduates went off to college, and one by one Tamao lost touch with everyone she had considered a friend while at Astraea Hill. At first she hardly noticed it, as she started making new friends while in college and her job normally kept her busy, but now as she looked back, Tamao noticed that Nagisa was the first familiar face she had seen for more than a year now. Needless to say, it was quite a shock for her to meet the one she had fallen in love with from so long ago, the one whom she thought she wouldn't see again, while sitting on a bus driving around downtown. It was almost a reaction for her to feel the need to meet her again, to see the one who she thought she had given up on, only to find her looking around for a place to stay, the look of reject in her unnaturally solemn eyes.

It only took a glance, and Tamao realized that she hadn't given up. She never had.

Because she loved her, and she always will.

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**A/N:** Well, that was short, but what do you expect from a chapter cut in half? That's all for now, but eventually maybe I'll come around to writing the rest of it soon. R&R if you found something wrong or you just want to give me feedback. Which reminds me, I have decided that I really don't know how I'm going to have Nagisa leave Shizuma, and I'm kinda stuck in that department. I was planning to go with the whole "Shizuma can't get over Kaori" thing, but I think that some of you readers might not like that so I've decided to do something a bit more daring. I'm requesting that you as the reader give me an idea in your reviews as to what happens between the two would-be lovers. I'm open to just about everything, as I'm pretty desperate, but if you can think of anything, just drop me a review (yes I'm making you click on that dreadful green button) and I'll see what I can do. And who knows? Maybe I'll actually finish this story before school lets out for summer?

Peace: ZIIIX


	5. Chapter 4b: Retelling

**A/N: ***presses control+s and sets down hands staring at monitor* I... I did it... I COMPLETED CHAPTER 4!! XD w00t! You might think that I'm over exaggerating but I really felt this way when I finally finished this chapter. It took SO long to actually transition from the beginning to Nagisa's retelling, so I'm extremely glad that it's finally finished! Longest chapter that I've done yet, and will pump up my word count by over 2,500 (which in reality isn't that much, but hey, humor me). For you, my following readers, you might want to go back and read 4a in case you need a refresher. Otherwise, enjoy (and review)!

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Coming back to reality, Tamao slowly shook her head to get rid of any stray thoughts that still echoed inside her mind. Taking a glance at the clock radio that sat on the bedside table, she was surprised to see it reading 5:10. Had she really been standing there for that long? Sighing, she placed the ribbon that still hung limply from her hands back into the suitcase, but made sure to not let it dangle out, closed the top and latched it before walking out of the silent grey room. Both were respectively an adjective and colour that were both common in her current residence, except maybe her office. Maybe she should changed that sometime, she thought, but now was not time to do so, as there were more important things to worry about, like the one that lay on her couch at that moment. She quietly made her way from the hallway to the living room couch, and knelt down close to Nagisa's sleeping figure. Nostalgia hit her like a wave as she started to poke Nagisa's cheek while saying her name, accenting each syllable.

"Na-gi-sa-chan. Time-to-wake-up." Closed eyes started to open, and suddenly Nagisa found herself staring into Tamao's smiling face that was centimeters from her own. Taking it nonchalantly, she slowly sat up to a sitting position and stretched her arms to rid herself of the dull ache of sleeping.

"Is dinner ready yet, Tamao-chan?" she asked groggily as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"Not very good at listening, are you Nagisa-chan?" Tamao laughed as she stood up and held out a hand to help Nagisa. "I told you that I'd wake you when I _started_ dinner, not when I finished it. Come on, you can earn your keep by helping me make it."

"I don't know, Tamao-chan. I'm not exactly the greatest at cooking," Nagisa said as she grabbed the outstretched hand and reluctantly followed Tamao to the kitchen.

"That's okay; I'll be there if you need any help. All you have to do is wash and peel vegetables anyway," Tamao replied as they walked into the kitchen. She flicked a switch and the room was illuminated with a soft yellow light that turned the usually tan linoleum into an oak colour. The cupboards and cabinets were of the same colour, and only the walls showed a resemblance to the rest of the apartment with its cold, off-white coat of paint.

Besides her office, the kitchen was the only room where Tamao felt like she belonged; as if this was her element and nothing could beat her at it. Collecting the said vegetables from the refrigerator, she gave them to Nagisa along with a paring knife and guided her over to the sink for her to begin. Turning to her other tasks of preparing dinner, she glanced at Nagisa occasionally to watch her progress with what first seemed to be a simple task.

After a short while, however, it seemed like living the easy life in the care of Shizuma had taken its toll, and Nagisa made simple mistakes with peeling, such as cutting off too much or accidently severely shortening the vegetable from a over-pressured cut. Gradually, though, she began to get better at it, until she was done with the last carrot looking close to perfect. She had at least managed to succeed in not having to bandage her fingers from a stray graze of steel. She stood back and eyed her work proudly; glad she was able to remember how to do something even if it took a few tries. "The vegetables are done," she called over to Tamao who had just placed the top over a rice cooker.

"Good. Now we can steam them and cook the chicken while we wait for the rice to finish." She took the bowl of freshly peeled vegetables and dumped them in a two-chambered pot on the stove. She was glad that she accidentally bought too many vegetables, as it seemed like the right amount for two people. She filled the lower chamber with water, and after turning on the stove took the already cut chicken and dumped it into a pan on the stove.

Nagisa watched Tamao quietly with marvel as she moved through the kitchen quickly, chopping an onion to go with the chicken, adding the right spices with everything, all in the while making sure that nothing else was going wrong. The way she did things seemed graceful to Nagisa in a way, and she couldn't help but smile at the carelessness on Tamao's face as she moved around the room with ease. Even after all this time alone, she still has all the composure she used to. _Or maybe it's because of me… _Nagisa thought to herself as she watched her friend finish making dinner.

By the time everything was ready, the rice cooker beeped to single it was done, and the two sat around the small dining room table. Tamao had to scavenge around her apartment to find another chair for Nagisa, but her search bore fruit and now they were sitting around the maple tabletop, enjoying the small meal in the soft yellow glow of light.

"Wow, Tamao-chan. You're still as good of a cook as ever and maybe even better now," Nagisa complimented as she finished her plate. The dinner had progressed in a respective and comfortable silence, and now they started the task of clearing the table and putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

"Well I do have to cook for myself always. It can get expensive if I eat out constantly," Tamao replied, surprised by the sudden compliment.

"Even so, you should be proud of the talents you have," the red head praised as she put the last of the dishes into the dishwasher and retreated back into the living room. Tamao looked quizzically at her retreating form, a mild frown on her face at the way her friend was acting.

_She seems to be talking rather a lot, and with her natural jovial attitude. Is she just making small talk to avoid talking about her and Shizuma?_ Still pondering her friend's unnaturally natural mood, Tamao followed Nagisa to find her sitting on the couch with a content smile upon her features. "Seems like that nap did you some good," the writer said as she sat down next to Nagisa, making sure she wasn't sitting to close in case she was invading her personal space. Nagisa, however, noticed the small gesture and glanced questioningly at Tamao.

"What are you sitting over there for? Usually you sit right next to me." Her observation surprised Tamao, making her have a slightly astonished look on her face at how perceptive Nagisa could be of such small things.

"I, uh, guess that I just wanted to give you space in case you needed it," she replied rather shakily, half because of the shock and half because she was trying to hide her embarrassment.

"I think space is about the last thing I need right now," Nagisa sighed as scooted closer to Tamao and rested her head on the blue haired girl's shoulder. Tamao on the other hand knew that if she wasn't blushing before, she definitely was now and hoped that Nagisa wouldn't look up at her at that moment. "And thank you again for letting me stay here. I really am glad that you'd do something for someone who didn't even call after being gone for so long."

"I figured you had your reasons." Tamao started to relax now, and shifted her weight slightly to get more comfortable. "After all, I haven't called anyone in awhile to see what they're up to, and I don't think saying it's because I've got work or school is going to work."

"Even so, you'd think that I would have had the sense to call you after Shizuma had… had…" Her voiced seemed to choke up as if she had trouble just saying that name, and tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

Alarmed, Tamao quickly tried to comfort the girl, wrapping her arm around her and stroking her long red hair; speaking in her ear in a hushed but soothing voice. "Shh, it's okay, you don't have to talk if you don't want to."

"No, I need to say it so I can put it behind me," the red-head said after recovering somewhat. Taking a deep breath, she composed herself for the retelling of her story. "Besides, it's probably best that you're the first one for me to tell because I trust you completely Tamao-chan." The last part left Tamao feeling a blissful warmth in her, but she just smiled and nodded at Nagisa, signaling her that she was ready to listen. Closing her eyes, Nagisa sat there quietly for a few moments, but then opened her eyes again and broke into her story.

"I believe it was about two, maybe at max three weeks ago that it happened. I was coming home from hanging around in town with some friends, but it turned out that I had to leave early, due to me forgetting something at home; I can't remember what it was now. What I _do_ remember is when I got home, it was really quiet, which is unusual because usually Shizuma greets me the second I walk through the door.

"I passed it off as her just sleeping at the moment, so I went through the house up to our bedroom thinking I would find her passed out on the sheets, but I found something that I would have never thought I'd see."

"What was that…?" Tamao interrupted, slightly hesitant at finding out what Nagisa's discovery was. Nagisa however shook her head as if to clear her thoughts before she spoke again.

"I found Shizuma on the bed, but not in the way I thought I would. She was lying… on top of another woman." The red-head suddenly spoke bluntly without emotion; her fingers tensed where they were on her knee. The news would have floored Tamao if she was standing, and even though she was sitting she couldn't help but recoil and look dazed as her brain tried to process the words that Nagisa had spoken.

"What?" was her short reply as her brief mental analysis came up blank. She stared shocked at the girl sitting next to her still unable to believe what she was hearing.

"I actually should have seen it coming, but what little evidence I had wasn't decisive enough," Nagisa continued, ignoring Tamao's question as she barged straight ahead through her story trying to not stop incase her will failed her. "I put it off as a mistake or the like, but was too naïve to notice the obvious affair that was happening right under my nose." Her knuckles started to turn white as her grip intensified on her knee. "At first I was in shock; hoping that what I was seeing was a nightmare and I would wake up at any minute, but as the seconds ticked by and Shizuma suddenly noticed my presence, my would-be bad dream turned into a cold reality." She stopped for a moment, glancing up briefly and saying, "it's almost poetic, really.

"Anyway, after stumbling upon the scene of the crime, I turned heel and ran out of the house before Shizuma could even get a word in. I can't remember how long it was until I finally stopped, but I know that by the time I did, I was a few miles away from the house. Unable to go any farther, I collapsed on my knees and… I just started crying, not caring who saw me. I don't even remember where I was, but I know that I didn't want to go back that night, so I spent it at a cheap hotel because luckily I still had my wallet and keys.

"The next morning, I backtracked to the house but kept my distance, making sure that no one was home before getting in. I guess Shizuma must have been out looking for me, but since I had no idea what time she would be back, I acted quickly and packed most of my belongings and left a note saying that I was leaving, and there was nothing she could do about it."

"Even after what she did, leaving without speaking to her personally is a little harsh," Tamao cut in again, trying to fight back the tears in her eyes.

"Well, at that moment I didn't really care about what she felt, I admit. I at least was grateful that we hadn't married yet so we didn't have to go through divorce papers and the like." Nagisa crossed her arms and looked away from Tamao towards the window: an indignant expression on her face.

"You never married?" Tamao asked, slightly surprised considering what the two ex-lovers had been through.

"We kept putting it off for one reason or another," was the red-head's reply as she let out a sigh. Tamao had to admit, she wasn't expecting Nagisa to be so blunt considering what she just had experienced. If she was in her position, Tamao thought she would be crying right now, but Nagisa was dry-eyed since the beginning.

_She certainly has grown up from the girl I knew her as, but I sense that somewhere deep inside her is the same old Nagisa,_ she thought as she watched and recalled the way her friend had acted the entire time they had met again. _After all, a leopard can't change its spots._ She smiled inwardly at the old proverb when a connection in her brain clicked and she suddenly realized something that she should have mentioned earlier. "Wait, you said this happened two to three weeks ago? Does that mean you've been wandering around homeless for all this time?!"

"Er, yeah I guess," was Nagisa's hesitant reply. Whether her uncertain answer was because of Tamao's reaction or her not trying to make a big deal of it, Tamao didn't know but she didn't think to highly of it at the moment, as her friend had indeed been wandering the streets. "I actually lived a few cities away from here. I just happened to keep catching bus and train until I got here, which fate I guess let me meet you again." She turned her eyes towards Tamao, a coy smile on her face. Tamao suddenly thought back to the red ribbon that still lay in Nagisa's suitcase, but thought better of it than to bring it up lest she would have to admit that she went through Nagisa's belongings.

"Well, either way I'm freaking tired right now," Nagisa said suddenly, leaning against Tamao's shoulder again while closing her eyes. "Taking naps in the middle of the day always did that to me. I find it annoying though: how can you get tired after sleeping?"

"Well it could be because you're exhausted emotionally rather than physically," Tamao pointed out. "After all, you just relived that whole experience in such a short time so most of your energy is bound to be extinguished." She positioned herself so that Nagisa's head lay against her chest rather than her shoulder; her back resting against the armrest of the couch.

"Hm. This feels nice…" the red-head mumbled with a blissful expression, shifting slightly to find the most comfortable position. Out of some diehard habit, Tamao started stroking Nagisa's vermilion hair while embracing her with her other arm, fingers caressing the thick lustrous locks that adorned Nagisa's head. Not much time passed until Tamao heard the sound of Nagisa's steady breathing, signalizing she was asleep. The warmth of Nagisa's body along with the day's events whirling in her head started taking its toll on her though, and she slowly closed her eyes to the comforting darkness of sleep with one last thought passing through her mind.

What will tomorrow bring next?

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**A/N:** What will it bring indeed? Actually, I've no idea whatsoever what will happen next. I'm working on that though, and I can asure that there will be drama SOMEWHERE down the line, like a confrontation with Shizuma or something. (damn let that one slip). Anyway! hope you enjoyed my latest work, and though I don't normally do this, but gomen nasai about the really long wait for it. (I meant I usually don't use Japanese)

Afterthought:

Tamao: Well you finally finished this chapter, but when will a standing relationship form with me and Nagisa-chan?

ZIIIX: Well, I'm trying to take the advise of a reader and not rush it, so maybe in two chapters' time?

Tamao: The way you write, that won't be til next year!

Nagisa: She's right, you know. It takes forever for you to even think of an idea. Aren't you supposedly thinking nonstop all the time?

Shizuma: *in the background* and why am I the antagonist in the story!?

ZIIIX: I don't know! I needed a reason for you and Nagisa to break up and MelissaW gave me the idea! I think it worked quite well, actually, so thanks to MelissaW by the way!

Tamao: *sighs* Well our "writer" here does not own Strawberry Panic for those who were wondering where the disclaimer was. and maybe leave a review, nyeh?

Nagisa: You're starting to pick up ZIIIX's speech habits.

Tamao: Am I? Oh well, let's blow this coffee convention.

Nagisa: ... case in point.


	6. Dawn's Light

**A/N: **Well I finally got back into writing, and finished this chapter in two days. Pretty amazing, right? I think so anyway, but then again that might mean that the quality goes down a bit, and it also means that I got no homework done this weekend. I really can be stupid sometimes. Anyway read and enjoy.

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**Chapter 5: Dawn's Light  
**

Soft morning light began to creep across the off-white carpet as the sun slowly started its journey in the sky that day. The pure light shone through the open curtains which were still drawn aside from the previous day, giving the blank white colours of the room a holy aura. The couch was bathed in the morning glow as a figure stirred upon it, her eyelids fluttering open slightly from the brightness of the room. Squinting her eyes shut, she attempted to sit up and stretch her stiff limbs from the dull ache of sleep only to find that she couldn't due to something lying on top of her. She snapped her eyes open to find another girl cradled in her arms, her shoulders rising softly as she breathed deeply in sleep.

_What's going on here…?_ was the only thing that would register in her brain; her mind still in a fog from waking up. Suddenly everything from the night before came flooding back as her brain started working again, and memories clicked on in her mind. She relaxed, and sank back farther in the arm of the couch as she enjoyed the serenity and intimacy of the moment. Soon she felt the girl start to stir in her arms, and was greeted by the sight of auburn-red eyes staring into her own amethyst ones. A smile started to spread across her face as she stared into those captivating orbs that shone with emotion even this early in the morning.

"Good morning, Nagisa-chan," she said simply as she gave the girl's shoulders a soft squeeze. "Did you sleep alright?"

Nagisa smiled back with a slight blush gracing her features and laid her head down again into her embracer's shoulder. "Best night's sleep I've had in awhile, Tamao-chan," she mumbled softly; her mind still in the process of waking up. "How about you?"

"I'd say about the same," Tamao replied as her smile broadened hearing her friend's response. "Haven't really slept that peacefully since I don't know when." They stayed in that position, comfortable with each other's company knowing that both didn't want the moment to end. Nagisa's eyes opened again however with a troubled expression, as if contemplating something.

"Well, as much as I don't want this to end, we have to get up sometime," she sighed as she slowly sat up and got off of Tamao, both she and the latter stretching their cramped limbs. "Is it okay if I shower first?" she asked, turning to Tamao with raised eyebrows.

A bit put out that the moment came to an end, Tamao came back to reality at the question and smiled slightly. "Sure thing. Let me get you a towel and washcloth." She led Nagisa to a closet where she handed her the afore mentioned towels, and soon Tamao was lying on her bed with her legs dangling over the edge; the sound of the shower coming in slightly from the master bathroom.

_Is she really going to stay here? Or will she just leave after a few days? Knowing her, she might leave… she doesn't like imposing even when she isn't. _Thoughts about Nagisa's current position kept coming into Tamao's mind as she listened to the water running through the pipes, giving that familiar rushing sound as it exited through the showerhead. _I hope I can convince her otherwise, but she can be stubborn somewhat… _she didn't notice that the water had stopped running until her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening. Tamao jerked her head up and could feel her cheeks and ears grow hot as Nagisa stepped through the doorway.

"I'm done, Tamao-chan. Shower's yours now," she said absentmindedly as she walked farther into the room, a white towel wrapped around her shapely figure while she dried her hair with a smaller towel.

Trying to glance away and hoping she wasn't caught staring, Tamao stuttered thanks as she made her way into the master bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she sighed heavily in relief and began undressing. She turned on the faucet upon stepping in the enclosed shower stall and let the warm water wash over her body, giving immediate comfort to her tired body. _I know that I want her to stay, but is it because I want to be a good friend or something else? Am I really trying to take advantage of the limbo that she's in right now? What kind of friend does that? Why can't I just be honest with her for once? _Tamao suddenly heard another part of her conscience speak. _Because last time you did that, things didn't work out too well, remember? Now's your chance to be with her: the chance that you passed up so many times._ Frowning, she pushed those thoughts away and tried to focus on something else as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. _Why is it that I only ask myself questions with bad answers?_

Sighing to herself, she switched off the faucet and wrung her hair of the extra water. She stepped out of the glass stall and grabbed a towel of the bathroom counter to begin drying herself. Wrapping the soft material around her slender frame, she opened the door slightly and peeked into her room, making sure that Nagisa wasn't there. Finding the coast clear, she exited the humid room and stepped onto the carpeted floor of the simple room. Her bedroom carried the same design as the rest of her flat: blank eggshell-white walls with a beige trim and of course books piled everywhere, though not as much so as in the living room. Her bed sat with its headboard against the wall in the center of the room, taking up most of the little floor space. On either side of the bed were two nightstands, and above a design-conscious lamp for reading attached to the wall. Tamao padded across the room until she came to her dresser which stood in the far corner opposite from the bed; its dark stain finish in stark contrast to the rest of the room's colours. She began to dress, picking a simple outfit out for the day for a more casual look.

Once dressed in a dark cobalt long-sleeve and jeans, she began making her way out to the living room where she expected Nagisa to be. Much to her surprise, however, when she entered the room she found it empty of human occupation. _Where'd she run off to?_ Tamao started exploring around a bit and backtracked down the hallway, looking into the rooms that branched off from it. Finally she came to the guest bedroom and found Nagisa standing next to the bed, her back to the door and her suitcase open in front of her. She seemed caught in a trance just standing there, not moving and looking down at something. Finally Tamao made her presence known as she broke the suppressing silence.

"What're you doing, Nagisa-chan?" Jumping from Tamao's voice, Nagisa quickly slammed the lid of the case shut after dropping something into it, and whipped around.

"Don't scare me like that Tamao-chan! You're gonna give me a heart attack," she pouted, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and surprise.

"Heheh, sorry," she apologized with a small laughed. _I wonder what she was doing though…_ She dropped the thought however, not wanting to pry into what her friend was thinking and instead changed the subject. "I was thinking we should go out for breakfast. Sound good to you?"

"Sounds great, but I thought you said it was expensive to eat out?" Nagisa answered, glad that Tamao had switched topics.

"I only said it's expensive if you _only_ eat out. And besides, it's a bit more convenient than cooking, right?" Tamao replied matter-of-factly while ushering Nagisa out of the room.

"I guess…" Nagisa trailed off as she fiddled with the hem of her venetian red sweater that seemed to intensify the redness of her hair.

_She looks so much better out of uniform_ Tamao thought as stole glances from her peripheral vision. "I know a café that's a short walk from here," she said as they made their way through the front door; Tamao closing and locking it behind them. "They serve delicious breakfasts and have an amazing dessert menu as well." Nagisa's ears perked up at the word "dessert."

"Sounds like a good place to me!" she said excitedly as they descended the stairs to ground level. Stepping down onto the sidewalk, they began walking to the café, enjoying the warm morning sun. After about five to ten minutes of walking, they arrived at a small homey building with large windows in the front. Walking inside and taking a seat in one of the booths, they gave their orders to the waitress: Tamao having a simple Belgium waffle and Nagisa going a bit farther with three different kinds of crêpes, each with a different topping and filling.

"Still have a sweet tooth, I see," Tamao commented once Nagisa finished her order. "Guess I picked the right place then."

"I think I'd have to be a completely different person if I suddenly didn't like sweets," Nagisa replied jovially, slightly surprising Tamao with her acknowledgement of her own eating habit. "So, Tamao-chan. It might not have been all that great, but I told you what I've been up to last night so now I want to hear what you've been doing since Astraea."

"Eh?" was all Tamao could say from the random topic starter, but it was true that she hadn't told Nagisa anything about her life, so why not start now? "Well, I'm currently a part-time author trying to finish a book while juggling college work at the same time. That pretty much sums up my life for the last two years."

"You're writing your own book? That's amazing Tamao-chan! You get to actually do what you love for a living," Nagisa said, congratulating Tamao on her good fortune. "You should be proud that your talent was recognized."

"Maybe, but you have to remember that it's hard work to be a writer, especially when you have so many other things you need to do," Tamao replied a bit skeptically. "I mainly get to write only when I don't have class which, this year, isn't very often."

"What kind of classes do you take?"

"Mainly the standards that you need, a couple of miscellaneous courses that I need and a creative writing for some relaxation. That's about it," Tamao answered rather mechanically.

"Hm. Speaking of college, I need to hand in an application soon," Nagisa said absentmindedly, making a mental note of it. This caused Tamao to look up in surprise.

"You aren't going to college, Nagisa?"

"Oh, I've been going to the JC near here to get a few course in, but I've been thinking I need to start trying to actually get a degree in something, but I just don't know what." Nagisa rested her head in her palm, her other hand messing with her fork that lay on the table. "What college do you go to anyway?"

"Tokyo University," Tamao answered with indifference. Now it was Nagisa's turn to look surprised.

"Wait, you got accepted into The University of Tokyo?" she asked in shock, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Nagisa, we went to the prestigious St. Miator, remember? That, along with my grades, was enough to get my name on the list to take the entrance exam," was the blunette's answer like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh. I didn't think of it that way." Nagisa was quiet for a minute, until she spoke up again. "I wonder if I can get into Tokyo U…"

"I bet you could be if tried hard enough," Tamao said encouragingly, her voice taking a more positive tone. "You did well in school as I remember, and you only really had trouble in French which was only a requirement for Astraea. Don't really need to know it here in the real world. English would be much more practical."

"Ugh, now that's a class I didn't enjoy. English has all those little rules that constantly break themselves. Not an efficient language in my opinion."

"That's for sure," Tamao laughed at her friend's antics. They continued chatting until their food came, which required the waitress to use a serving tray to hold all of the plates. "Sure you can eat all of that?" Tamao asked after the waitress had left to serve new customers.

"Easily," Nagisa confidently replied as she picked up her knife and fork and went at her food with gusto. Tamao on the other hand decided she didn't have either the stamina or appetite that Nagisa had, and just enjoyed her waffle at a normal pace while she watched her friend demolish the first crêpe and move onto her second. How she managed to keep her body like that with those eating habits escaped Tamao, but she knew that that's just who Nagisa was: the girl she loved since high school.

_I wonder if she was starving last night with how little I fed her, _Tamao thought as she continued to watch in fascination. Suddenly she noticed Nagisa asking her a question. "What'd you say?"

"I said, 'did you want to try a bite?' Spacing out again Tamao?" she asked smiling playfully. Pulling herself together, Tamao hastily reply yes. "Say 'ah' then." Nagisa held out her fork with a bit of crêpe with strawberry sauce on it out for Tamao. Embarrassed slightly, Tamao stared at the given food, contemplating whether to just grab the fork herself or not. Finally she figured that she might as well just eat the thing and get it over with, so she quickly did as she was told and was, much to her embarrassment, fed by Nagisa.

Nagisa, on the other hand, was enjoying it to its full extent, and watched as Tamao battled with herself on what to do. "So what do you think?" she asked after Tamao had swallowed, still smiling to herself.

"Well it's definitely something that'd you like," she answered immediately. "I can't believe you can eat so much of something so sweet. But nonetheless it is very good. Glad we came here for breakfast?"

"Yep! We should come back here sometime." She began her final crêpe following that, and soon they were both done and looking at the bill. "Ah! I forgot my wallet at your apartment!" said a distressed Nagisa after fishing through her pockets.

"Don't worry, I was going to pay for both of us anyway," Tamao reassured Nagisa as she began counting off the correct amount of yen from her own wallet.

"Are you sure? I can pay you back," Nagisa asked not wanting her friend to have to pay for her large meal."

"Trust me, it's fine. You don't have to worry about it, Nagisa-chan." She paid the money as if settling the matter, and soon they were walking home again back to Tamao's apartment with higher spirits and full stomachs.

"Nagisa-chan, are you… thinking of finding place of your own?" The question came up when the two women were about halfway there, and Tamao's unsure pause in her question seemed to have an effect on Nagisa.

"Huh? W-well I was thinking of doing that yeah. I don't want to trouble you with staying at your flat for who knows how long." She seemed to have trouble getting the words out, like she was saying things that she didn't want to believe.

"Nagisa." Tamao stopped walking suddenly, causing Nagisa to turn around and look at her; the serious tone in the blunette's voice catching her attention. "Nagisa, you can stay with me if you want. You won't be imposing and I get more money than you'd think from being an author." She took the red head's hands in her own, looking straight into Nagisa's eyes. "In fact, would you please stay with me? I would love to have you stay, knowing that I'm doing something helpful for you." The amount of emotion that was in her words shocked Nagisa, and as she looked into Tamao's amethyst eyes she realized that she really did want to stay with Tamao no matter what.

"Tamao…" Nagisa began as she wrapped her arms around her friend. "Yes, please let me stay with you. You've always been there for me when I need you most, so I hope you don't mind it once more." She felt arms pull over close, embracing her tightly as they stood there bathed in the late morning light. Finally they broke apart, but both of them could feel something about what just happened, like they only let go of each other physically.

With a soft sigh, Tamao turned back to keep walking, signaling Nagisa to follow. "Come on, we should get home." Nagisa nodded in agreement, and walked in pace with Tamao again. Hesitantly, she moved her hand towards Tamao's and entwined her fingers with her own. Though she was surprised by the intimate action, Tamao kept a straight face, and gave Nagisa's hand a small squeeze in response to the gesture.

After what seemed like too short of a time, they arrived back at the apartment; now both of their homes. After making their way up the steps and to the front door, Tamao unlocked the door, and led Nagisa into the flat. "So what do you want to do for the remainder of the day?" she asked as they walked towards the living room.

"I don't know, what is there to do around here?" Nagisa questioned, unknowing to the surrounding area. Unfortunately, she did not see a particularly thick and heavy book that lay on the floor. Tamao was about to answer when she heard Nagisa give a small scream and whirled around to see what happened.

"Nagis-" her words were cut off as she found her lips pressed against Nagisa's who had fallen forward. The world seemed to have stopped at that moment, and both of them were stunned for a moment as to what just happened. Tamao was the first to recover as she broke off the accidental kiss with her cheeks blushing heavily. "Are you all right, Nagisa?"

Nagisa's cheeks were just as red as Tamao's as she hastily tried to answer. "I'm sorry! I didn't watch where I was stepping and tripped over…" her apology trailed away as she got more flustered. "I'm sorry for that!" she finally managed to get out as she bowed her head.

"It's alright, I'm just glad you're fine," Tamao said trying to cheer up Nagisa acting like it was nothing at all. "It was an accident: nothing more."

"Yeah, an accident…" Nagisa repeated sounding a little put out, her cheeks still flushed as were Tamao's. It awkwardness of the moment was suffocating, as both of the rooms occupants stood there not knowing what to say or do.

"Uh, what was your question again?" Tamao asked, trying to steer the topic back to something more comfortable.

"Question?" Nagisa said quizzically, having forgotten what she had asked in the first place.

"Never mind," Tamao said, brushing aside the matter; her thoughts elsewhere. _Did that really just happen? Should I really have broken away so quickly? It didn't seem like she was going to anytime soon. Am I being too hopefully and looking too much into this?_ Again, questions littered her mind that was now on a mode between overdrive and broken. _How many awkward moments does that make today? And it's not even noon! Is her living with me really going to work out, or will we just be too embarrassed to speak to each other after a week?_

_

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_

**Again:** This thing hasn't been edited except for the minimum of MS word so there might have been errors. If so could you tell me? Doesn't have to be a complex flow chart of corrections, just a general idea. And I didn't like the ending for this chapter, as I was really getting down to the wire and couldn't think of anything better. Sue me. As for the intimate moment during the walk home, I feel like that could have been better written, but when you're writing off the top of your head, you learn to roll with it. Review or whatever, tell me how much it sucked if you think so. Don't hold back.

**Omake**

Tamao: _Finally_ something happens.

ZIIIX:_ *is celebrating after finishing the chapter_

Nagisa: I don't think ZIIIX heard you. Don't waste your breath though. I think this was a pretty good chapter though, despite what our author thinks.

Tamao: As no self-esteem, that one.

ZIIIX: I have self-esteem. I just know when I could have done better is all. Anyway, the party's over so I'm off to bed. Got school tomorrow and all.

Tamao: Yeah you go do that. _*watches ZIIIX leave the room. _So, now what?

Nagisa: Dunno, there's no script in an omake, so we can do whatever I guess...

Tamao: Hm. That's sounds pretty good to me _*wraps her arms around Nagisa_

Nagisa: I say we find a room and...

ZIIIX: keep this PG people! I still haven't changed the rating! *_startles both Tamao and Nagisa_

Tamao: Damn, well ZIIIX doesn't own SP! as you probably had guessed by now.

Nagisa: But _I_ own Tamao-chan and that's not going to change anytime soon. *_hugs Tamao_

ZIIIX: well, until someone writes another SxN fic anyway. Way too many of those...*_collapses and passes out spontaniously_

**Edit: I didn't even see that my chapter name was after that freaking Twilight book for God's sake! I changed it back immediately once TamaoxNagisa4EVER pointed it out. Thanks for that, as I probably would have been scarred from that.**


	7. Meetings and Greetings

Well I finally got chapter 6 done. Took long enough right? Most of the thing is character development really, if even that, and the only thing plot moving is at the very end. Half of it was pre-written while the other was thought of right then and there mostly. Well the actual words anyway, I knew what I wanted to do with the chapter once I began writing the rough draft.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Meetings and Greetings**

The sound of brakes releasing filled the air of the station, and soon the train began to slowly move forward, steadily accelerating as it left the platform. Though the startup was designed to be smooth, the sudden movement still caused some of the passengers to jerk from the momentum.

_THUD_

"Oww…"

"Are you okay, Nagisa-chan?"

The red head in question nodded slowly as she grabbed the outstretched hand offered to her. "This is why you need to hold on when the train begins moving," Tamao sighed as she pulled Nagisa up off the floor of the cabin.

"I didn't think it'd start that quickly. It's been awhile since I last rode on the rails," the red head replied as she dusted herself off and grabbed firmly onto the provided handle above her. "Where are we going again?"

"Honestly Nagisa…" Tamao began, shaking her head in disbelief. "I told you that we were just going into town for some shopping, remember?"

"Oh, right." A sheepish smile spread across Nagisa's face as she bashfully scratched her head. Her blush faded quickly as they stood there in a comfortable silence, swaying to and fro with the movement of the train as it cut a path across the city. The sun was by this time will into the sky, and shone brightly through the large windows of the train car. The car itself was littered with people, but a strange silence hung over the air, only broken by the sudden clack of the rails or the murmur of a passenger.

Noticing this, Nagisa leaned over to whisper in Tamao's ear, unwilling to break what seemed like an unnatural silence. "Is it always this quiet on these things?"

"Only at this time of day, really. That's why I wanted to come now, since there wouldn't be very many people riding," Tamao replied, mimicking Nagisa's level of volume.

"'Wouldn't be very many'?" Nagisa repeated skeptically, blinking in confusion and looking around the cabin. They had been forced to stand due to every seat being taken, and there were still many people standing as it was. "I'd hate to see it when it's 'full.'"

"It's not fun, I can tell you that," Tamao laughed humourlessly. "Hopefully with a little timing we can avoid the rush coming back as well, so make me pay attention to the time every now and then."

"All right…" was Nagisa's unsure answer, as she hoped that Tamao was joking but had a feeling she wasn't.

The rest of the ride passed uneventfully, and finally after some train-hopping, they arrived at the heart of the city.

"I'm glad you know where to go, because I would be completely lost on those things," Nagisa sighed as they stepped out of the station and into the sunlight. "And if I somehow made it here, there's no way I could find my way home," she remarked after looking at their surroundings. Cars clogged the streets just about everywhere there were roadways, and people bustled to and from places scattered throughout the streets. Tall oppressing buildings ran up and down as far as the eye could see, giving a closed in and slightly claustrophobic feeling, and the sidewalks were covered in dirty black slush from yesterday's snow.

Nagisa felt a tug on her sleeve, and looked over at Tamao who was beckoning her to follow. "Then it's a good thing that you _do_ have me, because who knows what would happen to you if you did get lost." Though she was smiling, there seemed to be the faintest traces of a warning in her voice, and Nagisa made sure to make note of it as she followed her friend. "I know of a decent place with good prices, so let's head there first," the bluenette called over her shoulder, grabbing Nagisa's arm as they weaved through a crowd of people.

Being in close proximity to strangers never made Nagisa comfortable, and that combined with the smog from cars and the amount of general noise began to make her head spin.

_I hope we get there soon, wherever 'there' is, _Nagisa thought to herself as she tried to focus on Tamao in front of her to calm the slight feeling of nausea overcoming her.

Just as she finished her thought she felt Tamao take a sudden turn with a call of "here we are," and found herself in a much less crowded clothing store.

A soft music floated through the air of the store as Tamao and Nagisa made their way through the racks and walls of clothes, stopping here or there if something struck their fancy.

"How does this look?" Tamao asked, turning to Nagisa while holding a dark green overcoat in front of her. "I've been meaning to get a new coat for awhile now."

"The coat itself is fine, but could you pick a worse colour?" Nagisa asked with a slight laugh.

"She's right. Green is definitely not your colour," a voice said from behind Tamao, making her jump slightly and turn around.

"Ayame-chan!" Quickly putting the coat back, Tamao threw her arms around a tall woman who had stepped out from behind the rack.

"I thought that was you, Tamao-chan," the girl called Ayame said as she returned the embrace.

"What are you doing here, Ayame-chan?" Tamao asked, releasing Ayame.

"Got a job here just this week. Commute's a bitch, but it's an income so I'll stick with it," the taller girl smiled, fiddling with her jet black hair that ran down her back. "You haven't introduced me yet Tamao-chan. Your manners are slacking," she commented while looking over Tamao's shoulder at Nagisa.

"Oh right! Ayame, this is Aoi Nagisa. She's an old friend from my high school days," Tamao explained, then turned to Nagisa. "This is Hanakawa Ayame. I met her at Tokyo U last year."

"Pleased to meet you Hanakawa-san. Call me Nagisa," the red head said, bowing politely.

"Pleasure to meet you as well, Nagisa-san, and just call me Ayame. The last name's a bit of a mouthful," the black-haired woman replied, returning the bow. "Speaking of jobs," she started as she straightened up again, "how's that book coming Tamao-chan? Surely you must be close to finishing. Don't want your editor on your case again." She laughed lightly, a rather contrasting sweet-sounding giggle compared to her slighter deeper-than-average voice.

"Oh it's getting there," Tamao replied, laughing as well. "I'm on the last chapter and then it's only the epilogue and maybe an author's note until I'm done."

"Just be careful on those conclusions though. They can make or break a story, so don't rush it," Ayame advised before standing up straighter. "So, see anything you like?" she questioned, turning professional suddenly.

"Do you have this in another colour, say navy or grey?" Tamao asked, pulling out the sleeve of the coat from before.

"'Fraid not, but I'll see if we can get a delivery for you," the coworker responded, shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh, thank you. What about you, Nagisa-chan?" the blue-haired woman asked, turning to her friend in question.

"Not really. Nothing stood out to me," she answered a bit hesitantly.

"Well we get a new shipment in next week, so come by again if you have the time," the black-haired woman said, smiling in a business-like manner before relaxing back to her usual self.

"Will do. Bye Ayame-chan," Tamao said, waving farewell as she guided Nagisa out of the store.

"See you around. Nice meeting you, Nagisa-san," Ayame said, returning the wave.

"You too, Ayame-san." By the time she turned her head to face her, Nagisa found herself once again outside of the store and onto the busy streets still packed with people and cars.

"Come on, Nagisa-chan. The longer we stand, the harder it is to get through the crowds," Tamao said as she once again began to guide Nagisa through the streets.

After a bit of walking, they got to a small park's entrance where Tamao stopped and turned to Nagisa; a worried look on her face.

"Nagisa, is everything okay? When I was talking to Ayame-chan you seemed out of it. It was subtle so I don't think she noticed, but you weren't exactly action like you normally do when meeting new people."

"Don't worry, it's nothing," Nagisa reassured, waving off the question.

"Are you sure? Nothing you need to talk about?"

"Tamao, I'm fine. You always worried too much."

"Okay, if you're sure about it," Tamao sighed, hesitant to give in so soon. "Just remember that I'm always here to listen if there is something."

"Thank you," Nagisa smiled sincerely, feeling a sudden warmth spread through her chest.

"Don't mention it," Tamao replied, smiling as well as she took Nagisa's hand. "Now on to our next stop. There's a store I've been meaning to go to…"

* * *

A bell chimed as the door opened to a large music store; racks and walls filled with CDs and DVDs of every genre. Even though she was amazed by the amount of selection there was, Nagisa was still unsure as to why they were there.

"I didn't know you were into music much," she commented to Tamao as she looked at her dubiously.

"Half of that is because I wasn't really exposed to it back in Miator, since it was forbidden to have laptops or MP3 players there. Didn't stop some people though…" She trailed off with that sentence as she stood there for a second thing about something." "Well anyway, I only _really_ got into it later in our sixth year and in college. I never really got a chance to listen to music I like until then, as nothing my sisters played ever impressed me."

"Sisters?" Nagisa repeated, blinking in surprise.

"Yeah, I have two older sisters. I never told you that?" Tamao asked, trying to remember if she ever did or not.

"No, I don't believe you did," the red head replied. _Just how much do I not know about her?_

Wait a minute… Is that who I think it is?" Nagisa snapped out of her thoughts as she followed Tamao's gaze. Over by the listening section was a girl about Tamao's height, who seemed to be air-guitaring to whatever she was listening to. Randomly she would switch between guitar and drums while nodding her head to the beat, causing her long golden-brown hair to sway with her.

Tamao made her way through the shelves and discount piles of CDs until she stood next to the woman and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to stop drumming in mid-beat and look over with a look of slight annoyance which turned into surprise.

"I knew it was you," the writer exclaimed as the brunette lifted the headphones off one ear and lowered the volume.

"Tamao-chan! Good to see you. And… Aoi-san…" Her tone went from jovial to wary as she saw Nagisa catch up with Tamao, who gained a look of surprise on her face upon hearing her name.

"Do I know you?" she asked unsurely from both the woman knowing her name and her tone upon saying it.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't remember me," the woman said with a humourless smile. "Not exactly the most noticeable at a school like Miator."

"Oh that's right," Tamao said quickly, stepping in to fill the awkward air of the meeting. "Nagisa-chan, this is Sarutobi Rei. She used to go to Miator with us. I got to know her in our sixth year, and she's the one who got me into music."

"Well met, Aoi-san," Rei greeted with a nod of her head before deepening the bow.

"Uh, pleased to meet you as well," Nagisa replied as she mirrored her actions unsteadily. "Just call me Nagisa though."

"In that case, just call me Rei. Surname's only there for legal purposes," she responded with a genuine smile. "So what brings you around these parts? Wouldn't expect to see you in this city."

"I'm staying with Tamao-chan at the moment. Actually I'm hoping to find a job so I can at least pay rent and maybe figure out a way to get into college." While she was talking, Nagisa couldn't help but notice that Rei's mouth would form words randomly and her fingers would move sporadically. It was then that she realized that she was singing with the song as well as playing the guitar part, which made her wonder if she was even listening at all.

"Really…" was all Rei said, though she seemed to be interesting in only part of what Nagisa had said. "Well that's good. Seems like things have taken a turn for the better for you."

_What does she mean by that?_ Nagisa wondered, still trying to figure out if Rei had even heard a word she said.

"So what are you listening to anyway?" Tamao questioned, wondering if it might be anything she would like.

"Oh, I haven't shown you them yet, but it's Green Day. Just listening to their new album on here so I can save battery life," the musician replied, jerking a thumb to the machine.

"'Green Day'?" Tamao repeated, the foreign words holding a slight accent on her tongue. "What genre are they?"

"They're known to be rock and alternative, so I wouldn't be surprised if you enjoyed them. I'll put an album or two on your Zune sometime and you can tell me what you think."

"Thank you. I'm always on the lookout for new bands. So are you looking for something in particular here?"

"Just checking to see if they have anything by the Pillows that I don't. One of the few bands from here in Japan that I listen to. You know how I hate to torrent stuff."

"Isn't that only because the security on your laptop sucks?"

"Not my fault I have a crappy hand-me-down."

Their banter continued for a few minutes that seemed like hours to Nagisa as she stood there and watched the two friends change topics to what their favourite song of an album was. It was then that she remembered what Tamao had said about checking the time periodically, so she prompted to cut into the conversation to remind her.

"Er, Tamao-chan…"

"Yes? And the Legend of Chin is an underrated album. There's a lot of good songs off of it that nobody pays attention to." Completing her thought, Tamao turned her attention to the unsure Nagisa standing beside her.

"Most definitely. I find it hard to pick only one favourite," Rei answered to Tamao though with a glance at Nagisa to see what she was going to say.

"I'm sure, but weren't you supposed to be checking the time?" Becoming slightly annoyed, Nagisa couldn't help but keep the sarcasm from entering her voice as she raised an eyebrow at Tamao.

"Ah! Sorry, I forgot," Tamao apologised as she glanced down at her watch. "Oh God, I'm glad you reminded me," she exclaimed as her eyes widened visibly. "We need to get going if we want to pick up groceries for tonight's dinner." She turned back to Rei and reached into her bag for something. "We need to leave, so I'll just give this to you now…" Finding the needed object, she pulled out her Zune and handed it to the brunette who pocketed the MP3 player. "Just put whatever you think I'd like on it, but you don't need to rush it back to me. I still have my computer to listen to if needed be," she said with a laugh, thinking along the lines of music helping her to write.

"Right. I'll put on anything else that you might like as well," she agreed as she moved to put the headphones back on properly. "I'll see you around most likely. Take care Nagisa-san."

"You to," Nagisa called back as she and Tamao exited the store with haste.

"We need to take the Underground to get to the store, so we need to go this way," Tamao said as they stepped out onto the sidewalk, her arm pointing towards a vague direction. Though she wondered what she had meant by Underground, Nagisa nodded in response as the two made their way towards the chosen direction.

They soon arrived at some sort of station with the word UNDERGROUND through a red circle on a sign out front along with the name of the surrounding area. Entering the building, Tamao pulled out her wallet and bought two day passes for them from a ticket booth in the wall.

"Take this and don't lose it," Tamao warned as she handed the ticket to Nagisa. "That's the only way you can get out again."

"Alright." Nagisa looked at the pink ticket before following Tamao who slid her own into a slot of an automated gate which opened to let her pass as she grabbed the ticket that popped out again. Nagisa followed suit as to not be left behind, and after they both were through, they descended flights of stairs until they arrived on the boarding platform of a subway train.

"Let's see… we need to get off here, by the looks of it," Tamao muttered as she looked at a station map on the wall, jabbing a finger at one of the stops. She looked up at an electronic sign hanging above them, saying "and the train should be here in two minutes. Good enough."

"Underground, station, ticket, duh," Nagisa laughed to herself at not knowing what the Underground was at first. "Do you ride this often?" she asked, turning to Tamao.

"I ride it sometimes, but not as often as the normal trains," she replied as she looked down the tunnel to the left. Soon a large train came rushing past, decelerating to a standstill to let passengers off and on. They hastily got on to Tamao's provocation, and shortly the doors closed shut and the train sped off to its next stop.

* * *

"Come, come. There's no time to lose," Tamao called to Nagisa as they rushed up the stairs and emerged above ground again.

"It sure got cloudy fast," Nagisa remarked as she looked at the sky which had become covered in clouds.

"Weather around here changes fast, so you learn to get used to it after awhile," Tamao replied as she grasped Nagisa's hand in her own and began walking quickly. "Which means we also need to beat the rain that's most likely going to be coming soon," she commented as she gazed up as well and looked at the grey clouds that had formed.

A short walk later found them in a large super market that seemed slightly out of place with all of the tall and narrow buildings in the surrounding area. Entering the building, Tamao quickly made a beeline for the produce section with Nagisa in her wake, and soon she was going through different melons and fruits, checking which were suitable.

"I'm thinking we should have a fruit salad tonight. Sound good to you Nagisa-chan?"

"Yes, that sounds really good right now," the red head replied, feeling her mouth water at the thought of the food.

"And maybe some stir fry following that, just to mix things up. Something cool and refreshing followed by something spicy seems like an interesting combination."

"You sound like you've never tried it," Nagisa said, sounding a bit worried.

"I guess you could say I haven't, but you never know until you try, right?" Tamao smiled as she picked up a cantaloupe and put it into the basket Nagisa was carrying and went to find some beef to use for the stir fry. Upon finding it though, she was just about to reach for a package when a hand came down and picked up that particular one. Looking up with a slight glare, Tamao's face quickly changed to a surprised look at seeing Takemura Chihaya standing there depositing the said package into her basket.

"Chihaya-chan!" the bluenette exclaimed as she embraced her old friend who returned the gesture.

"Tamao-chan, it's good to see you again," Chihaya said as she stepped back to get a better look at the writer.

"It's been ages since we last saw you," Tamao remarked as she smiled brightly. _I've certainly seen a lot of familiar faces today._

"'We'?" the brunette questioned while raising an eyebrow in confusion. She looked over Tamao's shoulder to see who she was talking about and saw Nagisa come up behind her. "Nagisa-chan! What are you doing here?"

"Kind of a vague question to answer, Chihaya-chan," Nagisa replied as she hugged her with one arm whilst the other held the basket. "But I guess one answer could be that I'm staying with Tamao."

"Really? What about Shizuma?" the brunette asked, genuinely surprised.

"Uh, well," Nagisa stuttered, trying to find the right words. "Um, she's pretty much out of the picture now," she finally got out, after struggling with thoughts in her head.

"Oh really? I wouldn't have guessed," Chihaya commented, unsure of how to react as she gave a sidelong glance at Tamao who mouthed "long story" in return.

"Well anyway, where's Mizushima-san? I'd assume you'd still be in contact with each other," Tamao laughed with an ever so slight subtext in her words.

"Oh, she's back at our apartment, probably sleeping right now. You know how she is," Chihaya said, picking up Tamao's hidden meaning but keeping a level head about it.

"Some things never change, do they?" Tamao laughed as she remembered Mizushima Noriko's sleeping habits. The purple-haired girl could probably sleep through an earthquake without turning over.

"So what have you been up to Chihaya-chan? Still an amazing cook?" Nagisa asked, switching the basket to her other hand to rest the other.

"You praise me too much Nagisa-chan. But as for what I've been doing, it's just the usually really. College kinda rules over everything at this point," she laughed lightly.

"You make college sound so appealing," Nagisa said with a sigh, wondering what she was getting herself into.

Looking down at her watch again, Tamao looked up again after noticing how late it was getting. "We'd love to stay and catch up with you, but we need to hurry and get home before the rush arrives," she said, beginning to sound anxious again.

"No worries, it's understandable," Chihaya assured, and reached into her bag to pull out a stub of paper and a pen. "Here's our numbers if you want to call me or Noriko-chan sometime." She scribbled down the contact information and handed it over to Tamao who accepted it with a nod.

"Thank you, and I'll give you mine too," she said as she did the same for Chihaya. "Sorry we couldn't stay longer," she apologised as she handed over her own number. "Give us a call sometime."

"Of course. Good seeing you again," Chihaya smiled as Tamao grabbed another package of beef and put it into Nagisa's basket.

"You too, Chihaya-chan. Say hi to Mizushima-san for us."

"Will do." Turning back to wave good-bye, Tamao and Nagisa made their way to the checkout, and after paying, exited the store only to find that the clouds had indeed brought in rain.

"I can see you weren't kidding about the rain part," Nagisa muttered as she looked at the downpour that fell in torrents, the wind whipping it around like curtains.

"Weather is so interesting around here," Tamao mumbled to herself more than Nagisa as she dug out a compact umbrella from her bag. "It's not very big, so you'll have to squeeze in," she remarked as she extended and opened it.

"I'm sure I can cope with that," Nagisa said smiling with the faintest traces of a blush on her cheeks. Making sure the bags were also under the umbrella, she stepped closer to Tamao as the two stepped out into the rainy weather, large drops beating a tattoo on the fabric above them.

After a few minutes, Nagisa noticed that it was getting progressively harder to keep pace with Tamao, who kept increasing her speed as she walked with her eyes forward completely. "Are we running late or something?" she finally asked the bluenette when she was practically jogging to keep up.

"I bit, yes, but if we hurry to the nearest station, we should be able to have a not-too-crowded ride home," Tamao replied while glancing down at her watch again. Finally the station came into view just as a distinctive rumble of thunder rolled across the city.

"Is the weather always like this?" Nagisa called out in a smaller voice behind Tamao, looking up at the sky uneasily.

"Um, it's not common, but we do get thunderstorms every once in awhile," Tamao replied as they stepped into the station and took out their tickets from their first ride over. She quickly collapsed the umbrella and moved towards gates that were similar to those at the Underground station with Nagisa following suit. Another boom of thunder rolled over head, causing Nagisa to jump slightly at the sudden noise that could be heard clearly even over the crowd at the station.

"Come on, let's hurry," Tamao said as the two raced to the boarding platform and jumped onto the train. The doors shut just behind them as they quickly grabbed onto any free handle or bar before it started moving, as the train was even more occupied by passengers than it was that morning. A swift jerk followed by the feeling of acceleration signaled the train's movement and they left the station for a cramped ride home.

* * *

If it was even possible, it seemed to be raining even harder as they got off the train and headed for their flat. Their shoes were soaked through by the time they stepped through the door, and Tamao just left the umbrella open by the door to dry while Nagisa brought the bags of groceries to the kitchen.

"Is it okay if I don't start dinner until later? I need to relax a bit." Tamao's voice entered the kitchen from the living room as she sat down on the couch looking exhausted.

"Yeah it's fine. I'm with you on the relaxing part," Nagisa sighed as she entered the room and plopped down next to Tamao, resting her head against the writer's shoulder. "Rushing around in the rain is surprisingly tiring."

"Yes, but at least we're back and safe inside now," Tamao said, leaning her own head against Nagisa's and closing her eyes. Suddenly a flash of lightning followed a bit too closely by a clap of thunder rang through the apartment, making the lights flicker a few times. The noise had caused both of them to jump, but Tamao's reaction was a bit less than that of Nagisa's, who had buried her face in the former's shoulder.

"Are you scared of thunder Nagisa?" Tamao asked the quivering figure clutching onto her shirt as she tried to twist her body to pull the red head closer.

"A little…" Nagisa's voice was muffled a bit by the fabric. "That one sounded really close though." She seemed to calm down after feeling Tamao's arms around her, but suddenly jumped again when she felt something vibrate in her pocket. Jerking her head up, she fished out her cell phone and looked at the screen. "Oh, I have a text from…" she flipped open the cell to see who it was from, "… Shizuma." She glanced at Tamao, a worried expression on her face, hesitant to open the text.

"…well you might as well see what it says," Tamao sighed, slightly annoyed from the interruption. _Even when she's not here, she still ruins the moment._

Nagisa nodded slowly as she pressed the center button to open the text and read it to herself, her eyes widening after finishing the message.

"So what does she say?" Tamao asked, her brow furrowed slightly at the thought of the silver-haired vixen trying to contact Nagisa after what she had done. Nagisa turned the screen towards her, allowing her to read the short text.

Nagisa, I would like to meet you

tomorrow around noon near the

large fountain. There's something

I need to talk to you about.

The location meant nothing to Tamao, but the fact that Shizuma was even trying to get in contact with Nagisa again was enough to make her hold back a low growl from her throat. "So where is this 'large fountain' which she speaks of?" she asked, a frown forming on her face.

"It's back in the town where we lived. I'm sure it's not far from here really if I managed to get here by wandering," Nagisa said as she pictured the questioned fountain in her mind's eye. "You're not seriously considering that I should go, are you?" she asked, unsure of what Tamao was thinking.

"I'm not sure really. It might be good to talk to her face to face considering you just left her house without saying anything, but at the same time there are plusses for just ignoring her as she might get the message." Closing the phone and removing it from Nagisa's hand, she placed it on the coffee table in front of couch and wrapped her arms around Nagisa again. "But now shouldn't be the time to worry about it," she murmured as she pulled the red head closer. "We can deal with it tomorrow morning…" Her warm breath tickled Nagisa's ear as the latter felt her body temperature rise. Old hormones suddenly became active as she became aware of how long it had been since she had any intimate contact with another person, and strong primeval urges barraged her sense of conscious.

"I suppose we could wait… until tomorrow," she murmured as she leaned closer to Tamao, her deep red eyes glazing over as she stared into the amethyst ones of the bluenette. The red head began to bring her face closer to Tamao's, slowly closing her eyes as the gap between them diminished. For the briefest of moments, their lips were millimeters apart until Nagisa closed the gap, pressing her lips against Tamao's whose face was now as red as Nagisa's hair.

During that morning's 'accident,' Nagisa had been too surprised to notice the feeling, but now she could feel the softness of Tamao's lips against hers, the way her body pressed against the writers, and the soft moans that escaped from Tamao's throat as she deepened the kiss, pushing Tamao down onto her back. She could feel the sexual tension build up inside her, but just as she felt like she couldn't hold back any longer, a brilliant flash of lightning followed immediately by the loudest roll of thunder yet tore across the sky above the flat, causing Nagisa's eyes to snap open as she jumped backwards on the couch. The lights flickered intensely and went out, the fuse completely fried from the electrical discharge of the lightning.

Slowly Tamao began to raise her head off of the couch, breathing heavily with her face still red. _Always something…_ she thought to herself as she looked at Nagisa who stared back at her, breathing just as heavily. The heat in the air slowly began to die as the hormonal levels of the two began to decrease again, and soon the fog in Tamao's mind began to clear as she straightened herself up. _But an interesting turn of events to say the least…_

"Um, I think I should start dinner now," Tamao started hesitantly, not really sure of what to say after what had just occurred. "I go check the fuse box after we eat, so I'll find some candles first."

"Er, y-yeah. Okay," Nagisa stuttered, just as unsurely as Tamao. She avoided the bluenette's gaze, unable to look her in the eye out of embarrassment and slight anxiety. She felt the couch cushion move as Tamao stood up and left in search of where some candles might be, and found herself alone in the living room, kneeling on the couch with her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

_Why did I do that? Gah, what could she be thinking about me now? I know she used to love me in the past, but does she still after I broke her heart so many times? _A sudden pain of guilt ran through Nagisa's heart as she remembered back to her fifth year at that one particularly difficult night. _Is it even alright for me to love her, after all that I did? Wait, did I just- do I love Tamao?_

_

* * *

_Oh, and the ending I had thought of previously is now completely different. I just noticed a contradiction so I changed the part to getting a text from Shizuma to get ready for the next chapter, and then suddenly the thing takes a sharp left to the two almost having sex. My thoughts were pretty much like "WTF just happened here?" when I realised what I was writing. How strange ideas can become when writing off the top of your head.

**Omake:**

Tamao: Yes! _Finally_ something happens

ZIIIX: I'm just glad that it's over. That last part was hard to write. Surprised me there, Nagisa-chan

Nagisa: Oh really. If the stupid thunder wasn't there, you might of had to bump up the rating to M

ZIIIX: *sweatdrops* and I'm kind of glad that I didn't have to. If it was this hard to write only _this_ then I don't even want to think of writing past that.

Tamao: Well I would hope you do in this story at some point or another.

ZIIIX: Well that's for the future. I'm just glad it's done now. Probably will go sleep now. Too late to play Rock Band.

Nagisa: They need to make one of those games that includes a keyboard. I could at least do that.

ZIIIX: That would be fun, except that there can only be four people at one time: guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. Adding keyboard would get confusing.

Nagisa: Maybe

Tamao: Well whatever. You can do whatever, but I think I'll go to bed. I'm pretty tired as well.

ZIIIX: Then let's all do that. Night.

Nagisa: Not much of an omake, really...


End file.
