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"How long are you two going to act like this?"
An idle complaint punctures the silence of a Trinity balcony. The disgruntled speaker sits at a fanciful table atop an equally elegant chair. Her companions look up, startled by the terse dissatisfaction. One of them begins to respond.
"Haha, Seia, what are you talking about? Isn't this just like before, all of us sitting around and having fun?"
"Mika, you aren't going to fool anyone." The fox retorts. "Your eyes are bloodshot and your handkerchief is damp. There's no skip in your step anymore. Most of all, you're too quiet. It's obvious. Will you ever get over her?"
Mika's strained grin collapses. "How can I? I've lost so much already, and this just twists the knife in my self-inflicted wound. There's no happy ending for me, not like you, who's love came from a dream."
"Leave Kuzu out of this." She snarls.
"I agree, let us not involve others in our personal lives." The most externally elegant of the trio speaks up. "Especially someone so intimate with one of us."
"Oh, like you have room to talk, Nagi." The self-described princess interjects. "You're not doing better than I am."
"Whatever do you mean?" She grips her teacup tighter.
"Mika is correct. Your behavior as just as erratic. You have been late often recently, and sometimes outright missing meetings. Not to mention you let your tea get cold."
"Perhaps I prefer this variety cooled." Nagisa struggles to evade.
"This is your favorite comfort blend, and I have seen you drink nothing but ever since that day. Am I wrong?"
"...I can never hide anything from you." Her stoic facade breaks into despair.
Seia lets the words sink in for a moment and refocuses herself. One must strike while the iron is hot.
"If you two long for companionship so much, why not consider other options. Mika, surely even a hopeless romantic like yourself has learned our stories are far from a fairy tale. Instead, consider imitating another genre of fiction. Perhaps, a coming of age romance with none other than a childhood friend?"
Mika bolts upright at the suggestion as Nagisa chokes on her tea.
"You can't be serious! Do you really think-"
"I do. The two of you have been inseparable for as long as I can remember. Through the best," Seia looks up at her halo. "and the worst. Even then, you still tried to keep her from befalling the worst of what could have been. For all the hate and spite you claimed towards her, how much was truly there?"
Mika sits back down, old wounds reopened, though less deep than before. Seia turns to address Nagisa as well.
"And you, you both share your history, of course. It took so much to pull you apart, and still, it never was enough to keep it that way. The harshest betrayal of what you value most, trust, did not stop you from risking yourself for her sake. That betrayal, as well, was only enabled by how you so deeply trusted her that it was unthinkable to suspect her. Something not even your subject of obsession can have claimed back then."
Nagisa stays quiet, thinking about how to retort to the truth. Finding no response, she tries a reliable tactic of politics: deflecting to a new subject.
"I see, but the prospect still does not appeal to me. Her behavior is far too barbaric and tempermental to consider the idea. The number of complaints regarding her have been a steady stream of excess stress."
"Barbaric!?" Mika rages.
"Yes, barbaric! Using violence to solve your ego issues is below even the other academies!" Nagisa fumes back.
"MY ego!? Of all the things I felt it was never about myself!"
"Then why did you send those students to the hospital over?!"
"YOU!"
Silence breaks out amidst the fires of anger. Seconds pass until Seia stands up.
"Perhaps I should take my leave." Mika and Nagisa get up and start to follow, but are stopped by Seia glacing back. "I should take MY leave."
Another moment passes before Mika breaks the silence.
"Did you never read the complaints?"
"I did not. I know how troubled you are nowadays, and my response would always be to smooth things over while keeping it away from you. Hence, the details did not matter, so they were skipped. I am regretting that now."
"Well, it was like I said. I could take it about myself. I've done a lot of things wrong, so I deserve it all. But you, they said such nasty things about you. Horrid rumors and disgusting gossip. I couldn't let them punish you for my own mistakes."
"Then let them talk. I have thick skin. You've suffered enough for those mistakes, let me bear the weight if my own."
Mika's eyes begine to water and a small smile appears. "...Okay."
Another awkward moment passes, until finally Mika addressess the elephant in the room.
"Do you... think we can start over? No more lies or decit, stop hiding ourselves from each other? To have something better than before?"
"I can't start over."
Mika's heart sinks.
"Our memories are too precious to me."
And soars.
"We can't ignore all that we've been through. It has made us who we are, for better or worse. But, perhaps, we can still try something new."
Mika's tears burst free, and even Nagisa can feel her own well up.
"Really? Do you mean it?"
"I do."
Mika jumps forward, drawing Nagisa into a deep, passionate kiss. Years of conflict and strife melt away, melted down into a new bond stronger than ever before.
Silently, behind the corner, their eavesdropper begines her long-delayed departure, breathing a sigh of long-sought relief.
-
In a time and a place beyond knowledge, a pair of foxes begin their daily routine. The pink-haired one offers a pipe, which the yellow-haired one declines.
"I'm good now, love."
A grin appears on the offerer.
"See? What did I tell you. Just took a little push is all."
"Yeah, yeah, you were right, doesn't take a prophet to see that coming."
"And you know what that means right?"
Seia blushes. "I know the rules."
Kuzunoha giggles. "That's good. Now sit on down, that lap pillow isn't going to make itself you know."