Angels and Office Workers 

By Xinthos
​Rated: M

​As a socially inept pariah and the unluckiest half-demon in Hell, Setsuna can't help but feel her mission to befriend Konoka Konoe is doomed to fail. Everyone has their run-in with fortune sooner or later, however, and she soon finds that her assignment may be going a little /too/ well... Cosmic warfare, magic powers, and accidental romance included. [KonoSetsu]. [AU].

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10
​

Chapter 8: I Am NOT a Lesbian!
​(NSFW Chapter!)
​

---

There are hands.


Lots of hands on her body, and maybe arms attached to those hands, and maybe people attached to those. She's not sure; it's only a vague sense of touch, of being prodded and poked, but she's certain that there are hands.

It's dark too, but maybe her eyes are closed? Setsuna can't tell, but it seems like it, because it's dark but she knows there's light, like when you squeeze your eyes shut and look up to the sun and you can see orange. Except the shine here is white and hot behind her eyelids, and no matter what she does, she can't seem to move. But she can still feel.

Someone says something, and someone else says something back, but she can't make out what. There's the clink of metal on metal, some movement that she can sense, and then –

And then what?

I've been here before. Or is it that I'm here now?

The question echoes like she'd spoken out loud in some cavernous place, but no one answers, so she figures it must've been in her head.

There's a noise that she hadn't heard at first: beep… beep… beep…

Setsuna can feel the rubber glove-covered hand and something cold and sharp and metal, and she knows where she is now and the panic sets in, consuming and terrifying.

Not again not again not again please not again –

She tries to make noise, to say anything to keep this from happening, but nothing comes out. Setsuna can feel her fingers twitch and she hopes beyond hope that's enough of a sign for someone, anyone to notice that she's not asleep, that she can still feel, that I'll give anything just please don't let them do this to me again –

The noise gets faster now: beepbeepbeepbeepbeep –

There are more gloved hands and more sharp instruments and Setsuna braces herself because she's been here before, and if she'd had more control of her body she thinks she might be crying by now because this is going to be one of the worst things that's ever happened to her – she knows because she's been through it already –

But then there's a hand on her hand, entwined with her twitching fingers. It's not gloved, and it's warm, and she clings to that sensation like a life line.

The other people disappear miraculously, and the cold metal tools go with them. There's only that hand and that warm feeling – no pain, and Setsuna wants to say so many thank-yous, if only she could speak. She settles for remembering to do it later, for squeezing the hand back and hoping whoever's it is knows that they just saved her soul, that if she'd had to go through that again there's no way she would've allowed herself to live another day.

But there is the hand. And so she does.

XXX

Setsuna opens her eyes slowly and shuts them again immediately. There's an obnoxious, buzzing, fluorescent light above her head that makes her already bad headache even worse. Turning her head to the side takes a great deal of effort, but she does it anyway, and this time when she opens her eyes she sees her own arm. Her gaze travels down to her hand, then to the hand in her hand, than up the arm to Konoka's worried expression.

"You're awake," Konoka breathes a sigh of relief. She makes a move to go get a nurse, but Setsuna's grip tightens, so she sits back down again.

Setsuna wants to speak, but there's something covering her face. She lifts her left hand to take it off only to knock herself in the head with the purple cast covering her wrist and half her palm. She stares at it a moment, then manages to get her fingers under the oxygen mask, lifting it off her face.

"Where am I?" She wheezes out, and Konoka nods her head to a glass of water and Setsuna finally lets her go to grab it.

"You're at Saiwai Hospital," Konoka replies, watching her friend gulp down the drink. "You've been asleep for two days."

"You brought me to a hospital."

It's a statement, not a question, and even though it hadn't come out with any amount of annoyance attached to it, Konoka remembers Setsuna once told her she hates hospitals.

"I had to," she says gently, hoping Setsuna won't be angry with her. "You were in pretty bad shape."

'Pretty bad shape' is a pretty big understatement considering the condition Setsuna had been left in after the altercation with Shiro. Konoka had been fairly out of it by the point they'd arrived, but she can still remember them rattling off the list of injuries: dislocated shoulder, shattered wrist, two broken fingers, bruised collarbone, muscle damage to the hamstring from a deep laceration, various puncture wounds from debris…

And Konoka? Not a scratch. She wishes there were a stronger word for 'guilty.' That may have sufficed at first, but after the doctors had just barely caught the internal bleeding in time – damage from a high fall, they'd said – and Setsuna had almost died, that word doesn't quite cut it anymore.

"I see," Setsuna nods, setting the glass of water back down and glancing out the door of her hospital room. She sees a few people walking by in scrubs and white coats, most in an obvious rush, others calmly, some carrying trays of food and still more pushing wheeled stretchers down the hallway. Behind the various nurses and doctors she can see a few policemen standing idly in the hallway, talking quietly amongst themselves. Konoka follows her gaze to the uniformed officers.

"Yeah," she sighs, "I already told them what happened, but after I contacted my dad –"

"What did you tell him?"

Konoka hesitates, surprised at the urgency in her friend's voice. "I… told him what happened. That I got kidnapped and you came in and saved my life. Believe me," she laughs, "The officer's had a hard time believing you and Shiro caused half a house to collapse. It's pretty unbelievable, thinking about it."

"Yeah…" Setsuna trails off, thinking. She doesn't know much of anything about Shiro, but she's seen strength like that pretty frequently in other demons. Her own ability to rip that door off the cell and punch someone bigger than her through a wall, though, is the unbelievable part. That happened with the lock at the museum, too…

"Well, anyway," Konoka continues, a little awkward from Setsuna's strange responses, "My dad insisted on flying all the way over here, even though I told him we're fine now. He'll probably want to talk to you, but don't worry about it. His opinion of you seems to have changed after what happened."

I wonder about that, Setsuna thinks, but doesn't give voice to her worry. Instead she sits up slowly and flexes her muscles one by one, starting from her toes upward. When she gets to her shoulders the pain makes her wince, and Konoka stands up worriedly.

"They said they can't put a cast on a shoulder injury, but that you shouldn't move it too much or it could get worse."

"It's not so bad." She starts to take a deep breath but stops halfway, painful pressure in her chest preventing her from finishing the action. Okay, that's pretty bad.

A knock on the doorframe stops her experimenting early, and they both look up to see Eishun standing just outside the room.

"She's awake," Konoka says with a smile, and he returns it tiredly and steps inside.

"That's good news. How are you feeling, Setsuna?"

"Okay," she shrugs, but stops halfway because of her injured shoulder. Konoka winces in sympathy and leans over worriedly, anxious about not being able to do anything to help.

"Should I get a nurse?" She asks, shifting from foot to foot.

Eishun looks back and forth between the two. "Why don't you go tell them she's awake? I'd like to speak to Setsuna anyway, if you don't mind."

Konoka glances at Setsuna, then at her father, but agrees. When she's at the door she gives him a look and pokes him in the chest authoritatively. "Don't be mean," she warns, and he manages to keep a serious expression on his face when he nods. As soon as she's out of the room though, he can't help but smile.

"I swear," He laughs lightly, "She should've been a doctor or something. She cares so much for everyone."

"Seems that way," Setsuna agrees, but watches him warily. He notices her hesitation and sighs, scratching the back of his head nervously. After a tense moment he sits down in the chair Konoka had been occupying, and the two stare at each other silently for a minute.

"I guess Konoka told you about our conversation on the phone."

Setsuna nods.

"Right, well…" He trails off, looking around the room awkwardly. "You… she says you saved her life."

"I guess so."

"She told me what happened," He continues uneasily. "About that… that man, and why he kidnapped her. She told me about the two story fall, and the cell door, and punching him through a wall..."

Setsuna stays silent, waiting for him to continue and knowing what's coming next.

"Humans can't do things like that," He finishes quietly.

"No," She agrees, "They can't."

Eishun's grip on the arms of the chair tightens, and when he speaks again his voice is noticeably more terse than before. "What exactly are you saying?"

"I mean what I said, I guess."

His jaw clenches and unclenches, and his stare is harsh. Despite what Konoka said, it's obvious that he still doesn't trust her, let alone like her. After a minute of strained silence he relaxes a little, but Setsuna can still see the accusation in his eyes.

"Are you going to hurt her?" He asks, finally acknowledging the elephant in the room, albeit indirectly.

"I saved her life, didn't I?"

"That wasn't a no."

Setsuna once again finds herself stuck between not wanting to lie and not being able to tell the truth. She settles for silence this time.

"I just…" Eishun sighs again, running a hand through his hair tiredly. "What is it that you want?"

"What?"

"What do you want?" He asks again, thinking she hadn't heard.

Setsuna had heard him, though; the question had just caught her off guard. No one had ever asked her that before, and frankly, she doesn't know how to answer.

"You mean if I could have anything?"

"I suppose…" Eishun raises an eyebrow, wondering if she's leading him into a bribe.

Setsuna doesn't want money, though; she doesn't know what she'd do with it. She doesn't particularly want power, either, although it would be nice if people would stop trying to maim her all the time… Yes, that sounds pretty close to something she'd want, but where would that leave her? If she wasn't getting beaten, she'd likely be ignored completely. Neither option sounds particularly pleasant.

What do I want…?

"I guess, if I could have anything, I'd want to be happy." Not that she really knows what that means, exactly, but she's heard it enough from other people, and it seems as close as she's going to get to an answer.

Eishun opens his mouth to respond but stops himself, obviously surprised. He leans back in his chair, staring at her quizzically. That is hardly the answer he'd been expecting, and certainly not among the top five he'd received from other demons he'd asked.

His stare makes Setsuna think that maybe her answer hadn't been good enough, so she continues slowly, trying to find the right words.

"And, I guess – if I could have anything," she clarifies again, making it obvious that these wishes are made with the notion that they're impossible, "I'd want Konoka to be happy, too."

"Is that really all you want?" Eishun asks skeptically, finding that rather hard to believe.

Setsuna takes another moment to think about it. She's never wanted anything before, really, except maybe to stop being in pain. Other than that she'd mostly just done things that other people wanted, and that suited her just fine. But now that she'd said it out loud, the idea seems real to her.

"Yeah," She says, more sure now, "That's really what I want."

They continue to look at each other, and Eishun leans forward in his chair, searching her face for something. Whatever he was looking for, however, he doesn't find in her guileless expression.

She's being serious, he thinks with no small amount of awe, leaning back in his chair and relaxing his gaze. He doesn't trust her, but at the same time, why would she have saved Konoka's life if she was here to cause harm? It doesn't exactly fit in with his picture of otherworldly creatures, and he knows there's something he's missing. Still, with the situation being what it is, and with Setsuna nearly dying to save his daughter's life…

I suppose it could've been orchestrated, he thinks, tapping his fingers on the chair. Shiro was undoubtedly a demon as well, and it seems more likely that the whole thing was a set-up to earn his trust. But Setsuna had actually been seriously injured; Konoka had told him her heart had stopped for a full thirty seconds. If it were a ploy, Shiro had taken it awfully far, and he himself had been killed. Moreover, Eishun can't think of a reason why they'd need his trust. If they were after Konoka, that would've been the perfect time to take her life, and if they were after Eishun, then it would've made more sense to see Shiro's plan through.

None of it adds up to Setsuna being evil.

"I'm glad to hear that," Eishun says finally, then goes to stand. "In that case, I'll probably head back to the US in a day or so. As far as the police go, I've dealt with the legal issues, but you'll still have to give a statement."

"What happened to Shiro?"

"You killed him."

"Ah. I see."

Eishun, who is at the door by now, turns to look at Setsuna one last time. He struggles with his words for a moment, then finally he smiles at her. "Thank you," He says genuinely, "For saving my daughter's life. If what you said is true, I trust you'll look after her. And if not," He pauses, a clear warning in his tone, "I'll know."

Setsuna nods in understanding and he leaves the room, stopping to talk with the police in the hallway.

Her line of sight is broken by Konoka stepping in to let her know they can leave whenever she feels up to it. Before they go, Setsuna gives her statement to the police, but they don't seem too interested in the details; Eishun hadn't been kidding when he said he'd taken care of it.

The receptionist gives Setsuna an odd look when they go to leave. By all means, she should hardly be up for moving, but at her insistence, the woman checks them out anyway and tells Setsuna her limitations – no exercise or strenuous activity, don't get the cast wet, etcetera – and the first thing they do is stop and get sushi on the way home.

"The doctors said rest and relax," Konoka explains. "And that's exactly what you're going to do."

She means it, too. The next few days Setsuna does nothing but sit in bed and eat delicious food, sleep, and play video games. Konoka doesn't even let her get up to turn the TV on; she insists on doing it herself, even going so far as to feed the other girl when both her hands are occupied with the PS3 controller.

Not that Konoka minds, of course. Setsuna risked her life to save her and got hurt in the process; in Konoka's opinion, this is the least she can do to thank her for it.

Besides, she's always had a strong nurturing side; it makes her happy to take care of her friend. And if that means sleeping in the same bed and cuddling all night, well, that's all part of her penance and her duty as a friend, right? It's not like she particularly enjoys it – not more than anyone cuddling anyone else would, of course, and that's not to say that she doesn't not like it or anything… I'm thinking too hard about this, Konoka laughs off her strange thoughts, but while it's pretty easy to chalk up her actions to feeling guilty, the feelings are harder to excuse. But she still tries.

Like, for example, when they're sitting in bed together and she's watching Setsuna play through Bayonetta, and her friend mentions she's hungry, just because Konoka wants nothing more in life than to get up and cook something doesn't necessarily mean anything. Just because she feels like, at that moment, she'd do battle with a giant spider or something equally as terrifying to ease her friend's discomfort, definitely doesn't mean that she's – that I – that I'm –

It doesn't mean anything.

No, certainly not. And those feelings she'd had when Setsuna had caught her from a two story fall? Perfectly reasonable. Who wouldn't get butterflies for someone who'd just saved their life? And if she'd been focusing on how attractive Setsuna was in that moment, or how if she'd been a man – if she'd been a man, which she isn't – it would've been the perfect romantic moment for a movie-like kiss, Konoka can chalk all that up to her endocrine system playing tricks on her.

No matter if the thoughts hadn't completely gone away – probably a side effect or something. If she still notices how attractive Setsuna is and watches her out of the corner of her eye, or if they're lying in bed together and she sometimes has the urge to just lean over and –

Nope. I'm thinking too hard again.

Really, it's silly to think that she might be having any kind of legitimate romantic feelings towards Setsuna – an insult, almost, because they only exist because Setsuna had saved her life. They're not real feelings, they just stem from her gratefulness and her guilt. So as they sit together now, playing video games, Konoka resolves to not let her strange thoughts get the better of her.

"Are you alright?" Setsuna asks, noticing Konoka's pensive look.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just restless I think. How are you feeling?"

Setsuna shifts a little in the bed before answering, testing her strength. "My back's kind of sore, but other than that I'm okay."

Konoka pauses a moment, weighing her resolution against her desire to help Setsuna. People do this for each other all the time, she reminds herself.

"Let me massage it for you. It might help."

Setsuna smiles gratefully, and Konoka's stomach definitely doesn't flip in response. That would just be weird.

Setsuna pauses her game and moves onto her stomach, grateful for Konoka's offer. I've been lying down too much, she thinks, flexing the muscles in her back and feeling the knots all along her spine. Konoka sits on Setsuna's butt and starts at her lower back before moving upward, careful to avoid the other girl's injured shoulder.

See? Konoka rolls her eyes at her previous thoughts. It's fine.

She works out some of the knots and moves higher, putting pressure in circular motions at the base of Setsuna's neck. It's totally fine, she thinks again, but her fingers press against a particularly sore muscle and Setsuna lets out a little noise of pleasure, unaware of its effects on Konoka, who gulps down her sudden nervousness.

She presses again and Setsuna sighs with pleasure, mumbling a "that feels amazing."

"Th- that's good," Konoka replies, trying to sound less anxious than she actually is. I need a cold shower, she thinks, feeling her temperature rise a little with each of Setsuna's noises. Or maybe a bath. I haven't taken one of those in a long time… I can get some nice soap and take a hot bubble bath, and maybe have some music and just calm down for a little while.

Her mind immediately flashes to the enticing idea of her sitting in a big hot tub with nice smelling lavender scented soap, and some relaxing music playing in the background. She imagines her own muscles unknotting in the hot water, and she'd just lean her head against the edge of the tub and this coiling knot in her stomach would definitely go away, and Setsuna would just slide her hand right up her thigh to help ease the tension –

"Are you getting tired?" Setsuna turns her head to face Konoka. "You slowed down a lot. You can stop if you want."

"Yeah, uh, my hands are cramping. Maybe we should get you a professional massage or something," Konoka laughs uneasily, trying to shove the images of a wet, naked Setsuna out of her mind. It doesn't help that the girl flips over underneath her and sits up so they can be face to face, putting Konoka in a rather provocative position straddling Setsuna's waist.

"That's okay, I actually feel a lot better now."

"Oh, that's… that's good."

Setsuna leans forward a bit, peering at Konoka's face. The proximity has the brunette freezing up, and she can feel her heart rate go climbing.

"What are you thinking about?" Setsuna asks innocently, curious about Konoka's strange expression.

"Um, n- nothing really, just that I'd les- like to, uh, take a, um, a bath."

"A bath?"

"Yeah!" Konoka says a little too loudly, glad for the opportunity to turn the conversation. "Maybe we should go to a hot spring or something, since we're in Japan and all. I hear hot water can really help relax your muscles."

Setsuna doesn't respond at first, still trying to figure out the look on Konoka's face. She looks… nervous. Not being able to come up with a reason why that might be, Setsuna decides to let it go for now.

"I didn't know that," she says finally, giving up on her inspection. "Maybe we should try it."

"I completely agree."

Konoka takes that opportunity to remove herself from her unsettlingly comfortable position straddling Setsuna's pelvis. Her phone is sitting on the TV stand, and she can't help but notice when she reaches out to take it her hands are shaking just a little bit. Dutifully ignoring that, she rings Ayaka without letting herself think about it.

"Hello?" Ayaka's voice answers almost immediately, although she sounds a bit frayed, which is unusual for someone who's normally so composed.

"Hey! Are you busy?"

"No – or, well, not really." There's a sigh and the noise of some papers shuffling. "A couple of our finance guys messed up the accounts receivable; it turns out we didn't make nearly as much this quarter as we thought."

Konoka winces in sympathy. Accounting errors are always a pain in the ass. And a crap ton of paperwork and apologies to your stockholders. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's alright, really. It's not like we took a loss or anything, but my CFO is having a heart attack about it and refuses to let me rest until it's fixed. He's so persistent I swear I'm hearing my ringtone even when my phone is off."

"Huh, well, actually, Setsuna and I were thinking about taking a day to go to a hot spring –"

"Yes, please." Ayaka's response is quick and uncharacteristically informal. "How does this afternoon sound? I know a great place, and I'll bring Asuna and we can have a girl's day. Even she's being bugged about this nonsense, and she can't even count past one hundred."

There is a very angry, very audible "HEY!" in the background, and Konoka can't help but giggle at that.

"That sounds awesome. See you guys around two?"

There are some squabbling noises, and Konoka holds the phone away from her to save her hearing. After a few seconds Asuna's voice comes through the receiver –

"I am totally capable of counting past one hundred –"

Then Ayaka, much more composed and obviously amused, "See you then!"

The little beep lets Konoka know the call was ended, and she shakes her head at her friends' shenanigans.

"They're coming around two," Konoka turns to Setsuna, feeling much more relaxed now, but she remembers the wrist cast and frowns. "Do you think it'll be okay to get your cast wet for just one day?"

"I think so."

Setsuna doesn't mention that her wrist has healed by now anyway.

XXX

Ayaka and Asuna had shown up at two-thirty with a newspaper in hand and more expressions of disbelief than Konoka knew existed.

"What the hell!" Was the first of many, as Asuna had ripped the paper open to the middle section and pointed violently at a headline that neither Konoka or Setsuna could read.

"What?" They'd asked simultaneously, and Ayaka had burst in at that point sounding equally as outraged.

"Attempted Murder of Visiting CEO: One Dead, One Hospitalized,'" She reads out loud, then glances away from the newspaper to give the two girls a look. It seems like she's about to say something, but Asuna beats her to the punch.

"You know, I totally get not wanting to tell your friends every detail about your lives – bad dates, sure, whatever. Embarrassing stories? Yeah, okay, I get it. Attempted murder? That's something you tell people about!" Asuna's volume increases with each sentence until she's shouting, and if the limo driver wasn't so well paid, he'd probably look far more pissed off at the noise.

Setsuna picks up the paper and stares at the unfamiliar lettering. Giving up, she puts it down and shrugs. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Wasn't that big of a –"

"How can you possibly say that some lunatic trying to –"

At Setsuna's vacant expression both women stop and turn to Konoka who, of the two, obviously has a way firmer grip on the relative importance of life events. The brunette holds up her hands in surrender at the two unforgiving stares.

"I'm sorry guys, but I had a lot to think about. It only happened less than a week ago, and Setsuna and I were pretty busy dealing with the aftermath. She was unconscious for two days, and the guy ended up dying, so –"

"Woah woah woah, start from the beginning," Asuna interrupts her. Konoka spends the car ride going over every second in excruciating detail, with Setsuna filling in some of the gaps (in highly understated detail) since Konoka hadn't actually witnessed everything.

The limo pulls up to the hot spring, which is actually more like a spa, but as Konoka finishes the story the two listeners sit stunned in the car for another minute.

"Holy shit," Asuna mumbles, then finishes with a grin, "Setsuna, you kicked the shit out of that guy!"

"Asuna!" Ayaka reprimands, "He's dead. It's probably hard enough to deal with something like that without you rubbing it in."

Of course, any moral strings attached to Shiro's death hadn't even occurred to Setsuna, so she wisely chooses to stay quiet about it.

"Bastard had it coming!" Asuna exclaims. "Did you hear what he was going to do to Konoka? A freakin' hacksaw?"

Understandably, Konoka shudders a bit at the thought, and Ayaka smiles reassuringly at her. "Well, I'm glad everyone's alright for the most part." She finally opens the door and the others follows suit. "I think you're going to need to go over those details with me one more time, Konoka; it really is unbelievable."

"Yeah, actually, there's something I wanted to ask you anyway," Konoka replies, her voice turning into a mumble. Ayaka raises an eyebrow at her, but wisely chooses to wait until they're alone to ask.

Asuna glances back and forth between the two then crosses her arms and huffs. "I see we aren't invited to this party," she says, mostly just to bother Ayaka. "Setsuna and I will go do our own thing then."

Ayaka rolls her eyes, not falling for the bait this time. "Meet in the main spring in an hour?"

"Fine."

Asuna drags Setsuna off in another direction as soon as they're inside the building – a large, well-lit place with fruit-filled water coolers by the reception desk and bamboo furniture.

Setsuna takes one look around then turns to Asuna hopelessly. "What is it we're supposed to be doing?"

"When I come here with Ayaka she usually does the whole mud bath and facial thing, but it's pretty nasty if you ask me. How about we go chill out in the locker room instead?"

Setsuna shrugs and follows her to a plush "locker room," which is really more like a lounge, complete with fluffy couches, free hot tea, and a sauna. They plop down in two arm chairs and Asuna kicks her feet up, giving Setsuna a long stare before speaking.

"That was quite an adventure you had," Asuna starts. Setsuna look around pointedly, and the redhead waves off her concern. "We can talk here, the worst that happens is people think we're crazy."

Setsuna nods and waits for Asuna to continue.

"So what happened?" The redhead asks after an extended silence.

Setsuna shrugs. "I told you all of it in the car."

Asuna gives her a look, and Setsuna isn't used to seeing such a serious expression on her friend's face. The tone of this conversation isn't like any they'd had before; they'd always spoken as friends, or rivals at worst, but this almost feels like a debriefing.

Or an accusation. Setsuna tries not to show her nervousness.

"You ripped a metal door apart."

"Yes…"

"You punched some guy through a wall."

"Right…"

Asuna raises an eyebrow. "You wanna tell me how?"

Even if she wanted to, Setsuna wouldn't be able since she doesn't even know how she did it.

Asuna sighs. "I haven't seen any angels capable of doing something like that on Earth since… well, me."

More silence. Setsuna shifts awkwardly in her seat.

"…So," Asuna continues, obviously perturbed, "Is that some kind of Shinmeryuu thing?"

Seeing an out, Setsuna bolts for it. "It – was chi. Like magic, but easier to harness on Earth."

A moment of silence, and then, "Oh, right, I forgot about that." Asuna grins in embarrassment, and Setsuna silently thanks the forces of the universe. "Can all you Shinmeryuu people do stuff like that though?"

"No. I mean…" Setsuna takes a deep breath and holds it for a second. She's tired of lying, and also not very good at it. "To be honest," she lets the air out of her lungs in one rush, "I didn't know I could do it either. I just kind of panicked."

Asuna smiles and leans forward, slapping Setsuna on the shoulder, "Hey, don't worry about it. I didn't mean to grill you like that," she laughs. "I was just surprised is all."

"That's alright." Setsuna smiles back, and the moment having passed, Asuna quickly launches into the real interesting questions.

"So, now that Konoka and Ayaka aren't here, tell me what really happened."

XXX

In another part of the spa, the two aforementioned humans sit side-by-side. Two Japanese women are sitting in chairs by their feet performing what Ayaka had called a "much needed pedicure," despite the fact that every inch of her was pretty much immaculate to begin with.

Ayaka had similarly been curious about the details of Konoka's story, although in a much less business-like way, and so Konoka goes through her second retelling of the events. When she's finished, the blonde shakes her head in disbelief, staring at her companion incredulously.

"It's hard to believe all that really happened."

"Tell me about it," Konoka agrees, thinking back on what has undoubtedly become her craziest life story to date. "I mean, the things I saw were completely out of this world."

"I don't think there's a better way to describe someone being punched through a house," Ayaka mumbles, still not sure if she can believe that detail. I mean, at least the door can be explained by some rusty parts – maybe – but the amount of force it would take to hit someone that hard?

She shakes her head again, trying to imagine it. "Setsuna must have been in one hell of an adrenaline rush."

"Yeah…" Konoka trails off, memories of her friend catching her from the two story fall echoing in her head. She can remember the wall caving in, and then there was a brief second or two of free-falling, and then…

She's glad for the face mask they're wearing because she can't avoid the blush as the images flash through her mind: Setsuna's proclamation before the fight, her torn up, blood-stained clothes when she'd caught her, the sheer exhaustion in her eyes, their foreheads pressed together, and her voice – 'Good… stay that way…'

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Konoka jumps, startled out of her reverie by Ayaka's voice. The woman at her feet glances up briefly before going back to her work.

"Well, actually, I… don't know…"

Ayaka, who had been lying with her head back and her eyes closed, turns to look at Konoka. "You don't know what you want to talk about?"

"I mean – I don't know how to start," the brunette corrects herself. "It's kind of a weird topic."

The blonde rolls her eyes in good-humor at that. "Believe me, you can talk to me about anything. I once had a serious argument with Asuna over which one of us would make a better wizard."

"Why does that not surprise me," Konoka giggles at the strangely appropriate imagery. Feeling a little more relaxed, she continues, albeit still hesitantly. "I guess I'll just, um, be blunt then. Have you ever…" Konoka swallows nervously, glancing at the two women giving them their pedicure. I'm pretty sure they don't speak English… "Have you ever had thoughts about another woman?" She finishes abruptly, the sentence coming out so fast it takes a moment to register with Ayaka.

When it does though, the line of thought is obvious. "Is this about Setsuna?"

"K- kind of, I mean, well, yeah." Konoka averts her gaze, too embarrassed to look Ayaka in the face.

Ayaka takes a moment to process that. "I've thought about it briefly," she finally says, and Konoka works up the courage to make eye-contact. "But, to be blunt, I find the male anatomy far more interesting. What exactly brings this up, by the way? I mean, I figured it was Setsuna you were thinking about, but –"

"It was –" Konoka interrupts, but then pauses, trying to put her words together. "After she rescued me – well, no, I guess it kind of started in the middle of it… but when she caught me from the roof, it was like – I don't know," she sighs again, then changes her strategy. "Do you ever think about what the perfect boyfriend would be like?"

"Sure," Ayaka says easily, "All the time."

"I think most people probably do," Konoka continues slowly, "But I never have, really. I just know the people I've been with weren't it; and when Setsuna and I were lying there in the grass – I don't know," she says again, frustration evident in her tone. "There was this moment where I just thought that's it."

"What's it?"

"Setsuna."

Ayaka thinks on that a moment then leans her head back again. "Well," she says after the pause, "Maybe she is."

"But – but wouldn't that be – I mean, I'm not a…" The last word can't seem to make it out of her mouth and Konoka leaves it at that.

"Asuna's simplistic mind may have rubbed off on me too much, but maybe you're thinking too hard about it."

"You think so?"

"Maybe," Ayaka says again, lifting her shoulders in a dainty shrug. "If Setsuna seems right to you, then would her sex really matter? Unless, of course, you're not physically attracted to her."

"I – wouldn't say that," Konoka half-mumbles, not quite ready to reveal her rather explicit fantasy from earlier in the day.

"So what's the problem?"

Konoka considers that. I guess there isn't one, except that maybe she wouldn't be interested. I mean, I don't even know if I'm interested. I'm probably getting ahead of myself… but if that were the only problem – oh.

She cringes at the thought of one more, one very important problem.

Ayaka glances sideways at Konoka and notices her extremely alarmed expression. "Are you alright?"

"I think my dad would murder me," Konoka admits, biting her lip nervously.

"Religious?"

"No," the brunette shakes her head, "But he doesn't really… he's not too fond of Setsuna. And he's also pretty hell-bent on marrying me off and continuing the family tree."

"It's not like that would be impossible."

"Yeah…"

Ayaka smiles at her companion, and despite the green guck spread on her face, it's still surprisingly effective. "You don't have to worry about that yet anyway, and the thoughts might just go away on their own. In my opinion, you should just wait and see how everything goes. And," she adds, maybe a bit grudgingly, "You could always talk to Asuna about it as well. She gives inexplicably good advice sometimes."

Konoka laughs good-naturedly at her tone. "Thanks," she says, "I'll do that."

XXX

Despite her desire to talk to Asuna, the idea of getting her alone seems pretty unlikely at the moment. After their facials, the two women head to the locker room connecting to the main spring. Ayaka promptly begins undressing, and Konoka pointedly looks away, weighing her discomfort against normal customs here.

"Do I have to be naked?" She finally asks after Ayaka has wrapped herself in a towel.

"You don't have to be, if you happened to bring a swimsuit or something, but despite how the outside might look, this isn't really a touristy place," she gestures around at the other, mostly Japanese women in the locker room. "It's the norm here, so no one will take a second glance at you. Besides, you could always keep the towel on."

"You're right," Konoka tries to laugh off her uneasiness. She relents and strips down, wrapping a towel around herself before following Ayaka to the spring.

"Oh wow," she mumbles, looking around once they're outside.

The spring is a massive open air bath. The steam hides a lot of the details, but she can feel the tiles underneath her feet, and through the fog she can tell there (thankfully) aren't that many people here.

"Showers are over here. We should rinse off before getting in," Ayaka says, heading off to the far side of the baths with Konoka in tow.

They get under the rather chilly stream of water and Konoka glances next to her. Sure enough, the few people that are here are all nude, but nobody seems to care. Japan is an interesting place, she thinks, more used to the American thought process of "nudity is bad."

Turning to the spring, she tries to spot Asuna and Setsuna. She and Ayaka had been late getting there, their pampering haven taken a bit longer than expected, but she doesn't spot them. After another minute, when she's thoroughly cold, they both head over to the springs and slide into the hot water.

Konoka takes a deep breath and lets herself relax, keeping her towel wrapped snugly around herself. She clenches her toes and stretches her legs in the water, letting the heat soothe her muscles. Another minute goes by and she sighs with pleasure, resting her head back against the lip of the pool.

"Feels amazing, doesn't it?" Ayaka asks from beside her.

"S'incredible…" Konoka mumbles in reply. Remembering their absent friends, she lifts her head up and opens her eyes to look around again. "Where do you think the others are?"

"Right here, duh!"

Konoka nearly jumps out of the water at the sound of Asuna's voice from directly behind her. After the initial surprise she does a one-eighty and smiles at the sight of her towel-clad friend.

"What took you guys?"

Asuna shrugs. "We were just talking. Setsuna had to use the bathroom; she should be out in a second." The redhead is already wet from the showers, and she dips her feet into the spring before sliding in, repeating Konoka's sigh of pleasure at the feel of the water. The three of them sit side-by-side in the small inlet they'd claimed for themselves.

Konoka, however, is suddenly finding it harder to relax. She readjusts her towel several times and crosses her legs, then uncrosses them, then crosses them again. She also can't seem to close her eyes anymore, and periodically glances behind her every minute or so.

"You alright?" Asuna asks, cracking an eye open at having felt all the fidgeting next to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she reassures, but the nervous behavior doesn't stop.

Konoka wills herself to calm down. It's totally fine. She takes a deep breath. You're sitting next to two naked women in towels right this second and nothing is weird; just because Setsuna will be here in a minute doesn't mean that this has to be awkward –

"Hey."

All three women turn around, and then promptly turn away. Asuna, the least affected by the sight behind them, turns around again and gives Setsuna a "what the fuck are you doing" look.

The facial expression not having much of an effect, she goes for the verbal approach.

"What the fuck."

"What?" Setsuna asks, looking at the three of them then down at herself. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You're buck-ass naked, for one thing," Asuna needlessly points out, jabbing a finger into Setsuna's bare calf in accusation. "Didn't you bring a towel?"

"Isn't this a bath? I thought people were naked for baths," Setsuna replies, then seeing the towels around her friends, continues in a worried tone, "Am I bothering you guys?"

Asuna looks away from her nude friend to raise an eyebrow at the other two women. Ayaka shrugs, turning to face Setsuna. Her eyes stay carefully trained on the girl's face.

"Not at all; I'm glad to see you're really getting into the culture!" The blonde reassures politely. "And it's not like any of us haven't seen a naked woman before." At that she gently elbows the furiously blushing Konoka in the ribs.

"R- right, it's, uh, fine," Konoka responds in kind, but still can't work up the courage to turn around.

She soon realizes she doesn't have to anyway. After a moment of pause and a mumbled, "If you guys are sure," from Setsuna, she feels the water next to her rising as her naked friend slides into the pool beside her.

Konoka barely manages to withhold a squeak of surprise. She looks pointedly at the water, at a random point in space, then finally at Ayaka to her left. What am I supposed to do?! She mentally screams for help at Ayaka, who sees the panic on her friend's face and gives a subtle shrug, being unable to do much else.

Setsuna leans backs and crosses her ankles, getting comfortable in the water. She reaches back to massage her sore shoulder, and Konoka hears the little splashes of water but can't bring herself to look. After a few minutes Setsuna turns to her, and Konoka is finally forced to make eye contact with the girl. She hopes the steam is thick enough to hide the redness of her face.

"You were right," Setsuna's tone relays her pleasure, which does nothing to reduce Konoka's discomfort. "This is really helping my muscles."

For the sake of consistency Setsuna keeps her cast-covered left wrist out of the water, and it hangs off the ledge behind Konoka.

"That's good," the brunette responds, trying to keep her tone even. When Setsuna's fingers brush her shoulder, however, all semblance of cool, calm, and collected quickly disappear. She shoots out of the water and onto her feet, garnering an incredulous look from Asuna.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing," Konoka laughs nervously. What the hell is wrong with me?! "I just – wanted to stretch." She goes about pretending to do just that, but predictably, her plan backfires.

"Are your muscles sore too?" Setsuna asks, standing up as well. "Or are you sick? Your face is really red."

Konoka mumbles something quietly and looks to Ayaka for help.

"It's probably from the bath," the blonde interjects, receiving a quiet thank you from Konoka. "Maybe you should go cool off in the shower, Konoka."

Asuna, ever helpful, winks at the uncomfortable brunette. "Or maybe all the naked women are getting to you, huh?" She asks jokingly, snickering loudly and obviously finding herself quite amusing.

There is a brief moment of panic on Konoka's face before she forces herself to laugh too, although it comes out far too loud and far too forced.

"Hah! Yeah, as if. That's – definitely got nothing to do with it." Konoka clears her throat. "I'm going to go shower anyway. The heat and all…" She goes to walk way, having effectively excused herself, but is stopped by Setsuna's voice.

"I'll come with you," Setsuna says, stepping fully out of the water to follow her friend.

"No!"

Setsuna takes a step back at the sudden outburst, and she looks at Konoka, waiting for an explanation. After a few seconds of Konoka stumbling over her words, Setsuna's confused expression begins to fall into hurt, and the brunette cringes at her own tactlessness.

"I just want you to enjoy yourself, that's all," she smiles at Setsuna, who, now reassured, smiles back.

"That's alright. I'll enjoy myself as long as we're spending time together."

Konoka searches Setsuna's expression for any sign of meaning behind those words, but like the first proclamation, her expression is completely devoid of any subtler connotations. How can anyone be that obliviously charming? Does she even know what she's saying?!

Setsuna doesn't, of course, and just stands there smiling in complete bewilderment to Konoka's sudden lack of responsiveness.

"Right. Okay then," Konoka finally says, having officially run out of excuses.

Before disappearing into the steam she throws a desperate look over her shoulder at Ayaka, who gives her another apologetic shrug. When they're out of sight, the blonde promptly turns to Asuna and jabs her mercilessly in the ribs.

"Hey! What was that for?" Asuna shouts, rubbing her side indignantly.

"You're such a moron sometimes."

"What did I do?!"

Ignorant to their friend's sudden argument, the two shower-bound women make it to the taps, where Konoka promptly turns the water on and sits herself down on one of the short wooden stools provided.

Sitting under the relatively cold spray and watching the water swirl away down the drain, she can feel her senses coming back to her slowly. Way to overreact, she chides herself. You're just two friends going to a hot spring in Japan together. Nothing weird.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Setsuna asks again.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Konoka keeps her eyes trained on the tiled wall in front of her. There's a dispenser of hair product sitting on a little indent in the wall, and she busies herself reading the long list of organic ingredients. If I don't look, I'll be fine, she thinks resolutely.

"Are you still sore?"

"Kind of," she responds distractedly, keeping up the ruse.

"Here, let me…"

Before Konoka can ask, the words quickly get garbled into an incoherent mess at the feeling of Setsuna's hands on her wet back. Her fingers knead gently into Konoka's shoulders, copying the movements from the massage she'd gotten earlier.

"Wh- what are you doing?" Konoka manages to ask. She balls her hands into fists around the hem of her towel until her knuckles turn white.

"Returning the favor."

Right. Of course.

She tries to bring herself to relax under Setsuna's ministrations – the massage does feel really good, after all, but it's difficult. Konoka takes a deep, steadying breath, and tries to direct her thoughts away from the situation.

There's nothing weird about this, she tries to tell herself again. It's just Setsuna, your friend, giving you a massage. Just like you did for her this morning, when you were imaging the two of you making out in a bathtub, and her hand sliding up your leg –

"Oh, did that hurt?" Setsuna asks, referring to Konoka's sudden squeak.

"No, you're fine."

"Okay…" Setsuna continues the massage, a bit gentler this time, and Konoka takes another breath.

Okay, so you had a little fantasy this morning. Who doesn't fantasize about their friends sometimes? She doesn't give herself enough time to answer that question realistically. Everything's totally fine. Just think non-sexual thoughts. Like – like puppies! Yeah, puppies. And, uh, kittens, and other small, innocent animals. Good, she thinks, feeling herself relax a little bit. As long as you don't think about Setsuna everything's going to be fine. Just don't think about her naked body right behind you, or her fingers touching your wet, bare skin, or her offering to wash your nude body with her bare hands –

"What are you thinking about?"

Konoka nearly jumps out of her skin at the innocent question. "Washing! I mean, nothing. Nothing."

"Washing?" Setsuna asks, confused. "Washing what?"

"Absolutely nothing. Nobody's washing anything," Konoka says firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Then why'd you say it?"

"Because – because I'm not washing my hair. Currently. But, uh, I probably should."

"Oh," Setsuna nods, accepting the obviously fabricated explanation. "Well, there's soap right there. Let me grab it for you."

She then proceeds to lean over Konoka's back to grab the soap, pressing the front half of her wet, slippery, completely naked body against her friend's back.

Konoka had allowed her towel to slip down for the sake of the massage, but she now regrets that fervently. She can feel every inch of Setsuna against her in excruciating detail, which does nothing but conjure up some very graphic images of the nude body she'd, thus far, been keeping away from her line of sight.

Not being able to do much of anything except sit there in pure, unadulterated agony, she says nothing when Setsuna squirts the soap onto her hand and proceeds to lather Konoka's hair.

The brunette almost cries with relief, however, when Asuna plops down on the stool next to her.

"Hey," she offers, raising an eyebrow at the strange scene. "You guys have been gone for a while. Ayaka and I are getting out. Speaking of which…" Asuna turns to the approaching blonde and grins cheekily. "How come you never do that for me?" She nods her head in the direction of the hair-washing.

"Because in order for me to even have the opportunity, you'd actually have to bathe once in a while," Ayaka retorts, not even humoring the other girl.

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm completely hygienic."

"Except when you're rolling around in that filth-pit you call an apartment, maybe."

"Well maybe it'd be cleaner if I wasn't always forced to do your menial labor! Then I'd actually have time to clean it."

Ayaka merely rolls her eyes at that before turning to Konoka. "So, I was thinking," she starts, giving the brunette a pointed look, "That maybe you should check out that new mall in the neighboring ward. I hear it's pretty spectacular, and I was going to send Asuna there anyway to pick up some things for me –"

"See! Always with the labor –"

"What do you think?" Ayaka finishes, ignoring Asuna's outburst.

"I think that sounds great."

"Good." The blonde turns to Setsuna, who has relinquished Konoka's hair so she can wash out the soap. "Setsuna, my driver and I can drop you off at the hotel. I bet you could use some rest anyway, right?"

The swordsman feels perfectly fine, actually, but figures that maybe a normal human with a slew of injuries might need to rest more. Besides, I should probably call Mana… I forgot to do that after the whole kidnapping incident.

Agreeing to the plan, and with everyone showered and, thankfully for Konoka, fully clothed, the women part ways.

XXX

The mall is, as Ayaka had described it, spectacular.

It's a huge two story building with white tiled floors, over one hundred and fifty stores, too much air-conditioning, and massive TV screens hanging from the ceiling, each one flipping through a variety of loud and colorful advertisements. They'd both had to stand wide-eyed in the entrance for a solid minute before walking in, passing dozens of shops selling all kinds of products. About half the names and item descriptions are dually written in English, and they both giggle over some of the poor translations before reaching the food court.

"So," Asuna starts once they're seated, a large plate of yakisoba sitting in front of her, "What are you planning to do about this Setsuna stuff?"

Konoka stirs her coconut bubble tea listlessly. "I guess Ayaka filled you in, huh?"

"More or less," she shrugs, shoving a forkful of noodles in her mouth.

"I'm not really sure what to do about it," Konoka admits with some hesitation. "I don't even know if any feelings I have are real, or if they're just because she saved my life, or what."

Asuna tries to say something through her mouthful of food and, realizing she probably sounds like she's not speaking English, swallows the noodles and tries again. "Would they be less real if they are because she saved your life?"

"Well, yeah. Or… they would be, right?"

The redhead shrugs noncommittally. "Maybe you should just wait it out and see."

"That doesn't seem to be doing much. I mean, every time we're close to each other it's like… you know, butterflies and stuff," Konoka finishes lamely, averting her eyes in embarrassment.

Asuna leans forward, examining the other girl and humming in thought. "Are you always this shy?"

Konoka sighs again. "No, not really. I'm just having a hard time with this because, well, we…"

"Because you're both women," Asuna finishes the thought.

"I mean, yeah, I guess."

Something occurs to Asuna, and she squints in concentration, trying to remember all her previous conversations with the swordsman. "Is Setsuna even into women?"

"I have no idea. I was hoping you'd know."

She takes another second to think about that, somehow swallowing half her plate of food in the downtime. "To be honest, that girl doesn't seem to be into much of anything."

"Yeah," Konoka agrees, taking a sip of her drink. "I noticed that."

They sit in thoughtful silence for a moment more. So much for Setsuna having trouble with Konoka, Asuna thinks wryly. It's not like Setsuna is unpleasant or anything, and thinking back on her bold declaration at the hot springs today, she can kind of see how someone might find her charming. But still, the girl's a walking social nightmare.

Asuna mentally catalogues Setsuna's positive traits: apparently loyal, for one thing. She's a good fighter, she's honest, although maybe a bit too much… and I guess by most standards she's pretty damn attractive –

Wait.

"Hey, Konoka."

The brunette looks up, snapped out of her own thoughts. "Yeah?"

"You think about Setsuna a lot lately, right?"

"Right..."

"About, you know, being with her and stuff, right?"

"Right…" Konoka answers a bit more warily this time.

"Sexually?"

Thoughts of her past fantasies surface quickly, and the brunette stutters over her reply, although the blush is enough of an admission in itself.

Asuna leans forward again, glancing around surreptitiously. "Have you considered the fact that maybe you're just really, really horny?"

"Asuna!"

"What!" She holds her hands up defensively.

"You can't be serious."

"But I am! When was the last time you got laid?"

Konoka has to think a little too hard about that. When was it? College? No, it can't have been that long ago…

"Uh."
Asuna rolls her eyes at the non-answer. "What about the last time you masturbated?"

"Are you -?!"

"Just answer."

Once again, she has to think pretty hard about that too. It must've been… a year ago?

"I just – I haven't been in the mood, that's all," Konoka responds, equally as defensive as Asuna had been a moment ago.

"Well, maybe that's why this has all come up."

"Do you really think that could be it?"

"Why not?" Asuna jabs a finger in her direction, "What if you're just so deprived that –"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Konoka cuts her off, glancing around nervously. "So what should I do?"

Answers seem to be coming easier to Asuna than her companion, and the redhead smiles and gets up to throw away her empty Styrofoam plate.

"Come with me," she says, leading Konoka to the nearest mall directory. She stares at it for a minute, running her finger down the list of store names until she spots the one she's looking for. With an "ah hah!" she stalks off towards the escalator.

Konoka follows obediently, although a bit nervous about what her friend has in store for them. She soon finds out she had a reason to be.

They're standing outside what could be an ordinary clothes shop, if one wasn't really paying attention. Upon closer inspection to the mannequins, however, one would realize their outfits took a step past the world of fashion and right into the world of Sasha Grey.

"Are you serious?" Konoka asks, staring at the store's translated, bright purple sign reading Night Dreams.

"How many times am I going to have to say yes to that question today? Relax already," Asuna chides, grabbing Konoka by the wrist and leading her into the store. "You said yourself you haven't been in the mood lately, and this is the perfect place to remedy that."

Looking around at the variety of pornographic paraphernalia – penis-shaped cake pans, boxed up sex dolls, and grossly realistic looking dildos – Konoka is understandably disbelieving.

They walk to the counter and she examines the vibrators inside the glass case while Asuna flips through a catalogue. Her eyes catch some of the phrases on the pages – twelve settings! Six speeds! Ultra-power!

Oh God…

It's not like she finds anything wrong with the idea, but having grown up rather sheltered, she'd never frequented a place like this before. Sex and the like, in her mind, had always been something for two people to experience together. Her rare forays into the world of self-pleasure had been brief and far-between. And she certainly hadn't entertained the thought of buying herself sex toys before, although Asuna seems pretty hell-bent on the idea at this point.

"I guess you wouldn't know what you like, huh?" Asuna mumbles, making faces at some of the crude descriptions. To be honest, she's never done this either, but she doesn't feel it's necessary to tell Konoka that.

"Nope."

"What about this one?" She points to one in the case, and Konoka cringes.

"I don't know if I want one that… realistic looking." I don't know if I want one at all, actually.

"What about that one?"

Konoka peers through the glass, tilting her head at the small, curved object. It's small enough that she could wrap her whole fist around it.

"Isn't that too small?"

"Well you're not really supposed to… uh. It's for external use," Asuna finishes, deciding it's safer to quote the description than go into detail.

One of the salesman approaches them at this point and Konoka points to the one in the case, more eager to get out of the store than to actually buy the damn thing. Knowing she won't get out of it that easily, however, and with the small thought that maybe Asuna is right, she slides her credit card anyway.

"See? Problem solved," Asuna declares, grinning as they head out of the store. "Now just find a way to get Setsuna out of the hotel room, and there you go. Then you'll know whether it's real or just… not real," she amends.

"I guess so. And Asuna?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks," Konoka smiles genuinely at her friend. Even though this idea still seems just a little bogus to her, she's glad to have someone willing to go through all the trouble.

Now I just have to think of a way to be alone for a little while…

XXX

They'd gone straight back to the hotel after the hot spring, but during the short car ride, Ayaka had asked Setsuna a series of very strange questions. They'd mostly been about Konoka, but not in the usual, friendly, "how are you guys doing" kind of way.

Setsuna hadn't known how to answer most of them, and it didn't help that she also had no idea where they'd stemmed from.

After the twenty minute journey, during which Setsuna had unwittingly deflected all answers regarding her "feelings towards Konoka," whatever that means, she'd been relieved to enter the hotel room alone. Part of her had worried that Ayaka would come in with her if only to continue her little interview, but that thankfully hadn't been the case.

She turns on the air conditioner, still hot from the bath, and flops down on her bed.

Why was she asking me all those questions?

It's unusual for anyone to ask Setsuna anything about her feelings (besides Konoka, maybe), and beyond that, the inquiry had extended to things she'd had no basis to answer. She lays there for a long time, contemplating what it means to be "into women," or "romantically interested."

I know what those things mean in theory, but how could I know the answer? And why was she asking?

With absolutely no experience, things like that are hard to contemplate. Besides, what does it matter if I find Konoka sexually appealing? She doesn't know if she does because she's never thought about it, and she wouldn't know even if she did because she doesn't know what it feels like, and even if that were true she still wouldn't know what to do about it.

Frowning at her lack of answers, she glances at her pactio cards on the bedside table. Sitting up, she turns the one she'd made with Mana over in her hands, thinking now would be a good time to make the "call," since she's alone.

Taking the time to first get up and change into her pajamas, she sits on the edge of the bed and puts the card to her forehead.

Mana?

I see you're alive. Thanks for letting me know.

She's being sarcastic of course, referring to the very long period during which she hadn't heard anything from Setsuna. This all goes completely over the swordsman's head though.

No problem.

So what happened? Is Konoka alive?

Yes, she's alive, but it's a long story.

Well you caught me at a good time. Go ahead.

Setsuna proceeds to recount the events of her latest adventure, sparing Mana many of the unnecessary details. About five minutes into it, she begins to pace, picking up her clothes off the floor in the process. After another five minutes she's officially finished the story, including a recount of her two day hibernation in the hospital and her little run-in with Eishun. She tries and fails to fold one of her shirts with one hand while waiting for Mana's reply.

I guess it's good that Eishun thinks you're on his side, she finally says. Although you'll very likely be watched from now on.

I expected as much.

Another pause, and then:

How are things going with Konoka?

Good, I think, Setsuna replies hesitantly. It's not like Mana to ask frivolous questions, so she knows the other woman must be getting at something.

You almost died saving her life.

Setsuna licks her lips nervously.

Yes.

That would have effectively ended any chance we had at taking her soul.

Maybe, Setsuna admits.

But you did it anyway.

Yes.

You do realize your job is to kill her, don't you?

I wasn't ready yet.

Back in the U.S., Mana shakes her head at that reply, having lived long enough to know where this is headed.

It's going to be hard, and you'll never be ready.

Setsuna tries to decipher the meaning of that and comes up short.

What do you mean?

Nothing that you would understand yet. There's a moment of silence during which Setsuna can only assume Mana is putting her words together. Just don't get more involved with this girl than necessary.

Involved like how?

Mana rubs her temple, warding off the headache spurred by her co-workers utter ignorance.

Don't get too close to her, alright? Don't go spilling some version of your life story to her –

Setsuna cringes.

And don't go snuggling in bed with her like in some kind of poorly disguised lesbian chick flick –

Another cringe.

And I don't know if this will be an issue with you, but whatever you do, don't let yourself get attracted to her.

Setsuna sighs in relief at that one.

I won't.

Good. Is there anything else I should know about?

Nothing I can –

"Shit," Setsuna mumbles out loud, hearing the little electronic beep signaling someone entering the room. She'd already been putting her poorly folded clothes into the closet, and in her panic at being potentially discovered, she stumbles into it and closes the door behind her just as Konoka walks into the room.

Setsuna?

She nearly jumps in surprise, but realizes quickly that she still has the card pressed to her forehead.

Sorry, Konoka came back so I jumped into the closet.

…Why?

So she wouldn't know I was talking to you.

And how the hell would she have known that? All she would've seen is you standing there with a weird self-photograph pressed to your forehead.

Thinking about it, Setsuna realizes Mana is probably right.

Should I get out of the closet?

And tell her what? That you were playing hide and seek with yourself?

Do you think she'd believe that?

Mana clenches her fists in frustration, wondering for the nth time how this girl hasn't died yet.

Just stay in the closet until she leaves again, you idiot. Let me know if anything important happens.

With that, communication is effectively cut off. Setsuna tucks the card into the pocket of a pair of her cargo shorts lying in the closet, making sure to button it closed. With nothing to do but wait, she stares into the room from between the slats of the closet door.

Konoka is currently standing in front of the mirror, staring quietly at herself. After a minute or so she blushes quite profusely and mutters something to herself. Going for her phone, she dials a number on it, and Setsuna watches her own phone buzz on top of her bed.

"She left her phone here?" Konoka muses out loud. After a moment of pondering she walks to the door and hesitates for a moment, hand lifted and resting on the bolt. "Now's as good a time as ever, I guess…"

She bolts the door closed. Why would she do that? Setsuna wonders from her place in the closet. The vague notion that she probably shouldn't be spying on her friend occurs to her, but she shrugs it off. It's not like I'm doing it with bad intentions...

Konoka flops down on her own bed, just as Setsuna had done earlier, but face down. Her arm hangs over the edge and a black bag dangles from her wrist. For a moment she lies still, and Setsuna considers the possibility that her roommate might just fall asleep, in which case she'd have to wait until morning to get out of the closet.

Thankfully Konoka sits up again, rather suddenly too, and stares at the bag. With a look of determination she empties it onto her mattress, opening up the small box inside and pulling out – something.

Setsuna squints from her place in the closet. What is that?

Konoka proceeds to put batteries in it, and Setsuna wonders if maybe it's a game.

Guess not, she thinks, watching Konoka lie back down on the bed. She unzips her jeans and yanks them off her ankles, throwing them carelessly to the floor. The pants are shortly followed by her bra, which she pulls out from the sleeve of her shirt.

Now in nothing but her underwear and a t-shirt, she turns the vibrator on, touching it curiously with her other hand.

I'm alone and not even doing anything yet, and this is still super embarrassing, Konoka thinks, getting on her feet to first turn the air-conditioner off, then the lights. There, that should help.

Setsuna blinks rapidly to adjust her vision to the darkness. She has better than average eyesight by far, so it doesn't take long for things to become clear again. When they do, she peers through the spaces in the door again, now thoroughly curious as to what Konoka is doing.

At the moment she's sitting on the edge of her own mattress, but her eyes are trained on Setsuna's bed. She bites her lip and glances around nervously.

"Maybe it'll help," she says to herself with a sigh. She crosses over to Setsuna's bed and lies down in it, not bothering to get under the covers. Konoka hesitates again, throws another nervous look at the bolted door, then finally pulls off the rest of her clothing.

Setsuna watches her friend strip, and once again that vague feeling of I probably shouldn't be watching this crosses her mind, but curiosity wins out in the end. Still, a strange nervousness coils in her gut, and she has to avert her eyes for a moment to make the feeling go away. Looking back, however, the feeling immediately returns.

That's weird, she notes, but thinks nothing of it.

She watches Konoka take a deep breath and close her eyes. Setsuna's current view of the girl is in profile, and her right leg is bent, so she can't see many details of her friend's body. Still, the noise of the vibrator is revived, and Setsuna watches Konoka's left hand hesitantly disappear between her thighs. The brunette jumps at the new sensation, then, forcing herself to relax, leaves the vibrator there. After a minute or two her other hand comes up to her breast, and she squeezes her eyes shut and bites her lip, her body undulating against the hand between her legs.

Setsuna watches in wide-eyed fascination. The images click together in her head, and she remembers a familiar scene from her own brief experience with the dark side of the internet. The image of a woman masturbating on a desk flashes through her mind, along with Mana's reprimand that those kinds of activities are performed in private.

So I really shouldn't be watching this, Setsuna recognizes, but can't seem to tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her.

The video she'd watched hadn't interested her nearly as much. Why would I find this physically stimulating? She'd thought after retreating to her room that day, watching the video passively. She'd even tried simulating the experience, and while it hadn't been unpleasant, it didn't seem worth the time.

Watching Konoka do it, however, is entirely different.

For one thing it's not a video on a screen, for another it's not a random stranger, and lastly, Setsuna has actually had real-life, physical contact with that body. She can vividly recall the awesomeness of cuddling with the other girl, of having that warm, soft, comforting, point-to-point proximity.

I wonder what it would be like to lie with her while she's doing that, Setsuna's mind wonders, perhaps a bit traitorously. The butterflies in her stomach intensify at the (remarkably tame) fantasy, and she finds herself having to wipe her sweaty palms on the thighs of her pajama pants.

Why does she want to do this all of a sudden anyway? Setsuna asks herself distractedly, still keeping her eyes trained on the scene in front of her. And why on my bed?

Konoka had a very good reason for picking Setsuna's bed, however, although Setsuna had no way of knowing that she was the answer to both those questions.

For her part, Konoka had been hesitant to do something so invasive on her friend's mattress at first, but somehow she couldn't imagine Setsuna caring, and not to mention, she figured it might help get this over with faster.

Maybe I shouldn't have though, Konoka thinks. After all, I'm supposed to be doing this to get over her, so to speak…

After another moment's consideration, and the acknowledgement that her own bed suddenly seems very far away, she settles for directing her fantasies away from her oblivious roommate.

Right. Just because I'm on her bed doesn't mean I have to think about her, or how the pillows smell like her, or what it would be like if she were here –

Konoka bites the side of her tongue to snap herself out of that thought process.

Bad, bad me. Think about men, damnit. Penises. Right.

She actually manages to keep that up for about two minutes, recounting her previous sexual experiences in her head and adding a few made-up details where the reality had been less pleasant.

See? This is fine, she tells herself, feeling her breathing pick up. She has no issues with the male anatomy, but as her fantasies spiral around that idea, one unwanted thought sneaks its way through the haze of sexual imagery in her brain.

What if Setsuna had a –

Konoka's whimper, born out of both a surge in arousal and a surge in frustration at her own thoughts, surprises both girls.

From her place in the closet Setsuna feels her heart jump into her throat at the sound, and once again the differences between this experience and the one with her laptop become abundantly clear.

Okay, Konoka thinks, and tries to steer her thoughts elsewhere. Still, she feels her own body shudder at the idea of Setsuna leaning over her like when she'd caught her from the roof, except, you know, naked, and inside me, and with one hand fisted in my hair, and –

Her quiet moan sounds deafeningly loud to Setsuna, who is finding it increasingly hard to sit still in her pile of clothes.

Wait, no, Konoka pulls the vibrator away from her for a second and takes a shaky breath, trying to steady herself. Setsuna does not have a penis, or else I'm sure someone would have pointed that out today in the hot springs. A picture of Setsuna naked in the bath, although she hadn't actually seen it clearly, conjures itself in her mind, and despite that she's entirely female, the intense arousal and the pulsing need from between Konoka's legs doesn't disappear.

God damnit, Konoka sighs, realizing that Setsuna is going to make an appearance in this event one way or another, with or without her consciously deciding that. Screw it, she finally thinks, putting the vibrator back.

It's become increasingly clear in the past five minutes that whether Setsuna's body is hard and chiseled or soft and yielding, or whether she's shorter or taller than Konoka, or that despite what Setsuna has (or doesn't have) below the waistband, I still want her to be here.

The admission is freeing, and finally giving into the thoughts, the fantasies come rushing: their bodies pressed together, Setsuna kissing her lips, her neck, trailing down her torso and running her tongue over her breasts, her hand finally slipping between her legs, her own body arching to meet Setsuna's fingers –

Setsuna watches Konoka arching her back and lifting her hips, and the swordsman's eyes follow the tongue that darts out to wet her lips, and she hears the increasingly shallow, ragged breathing, and whatever it was that had started off as nervousness quickly morphs into something else entirely. She doesn't know what to do about, or what she wants, and her lack of knowledge about her own needs makes her grind her teeth in frustration.

Weighing her sensibilities against what is quickly becoming an all-consuming need, Setsuna finally lets her hand slip underneath the waistband of her pants. While it hadn't done much for her the first time, now seems like as good a time as any to try again.

She doesn't know what she's looking for, exactly, but somehow it's easier this time with Konoka in front of her. The sensation is entirely different then than her first experience, and her body jerks at the intensity, nearly slamming her head into the door.

While she'd sought relief, the need only grows the more she touches herself, building up further and further past the point where Setsuna had been sure it was impossible to feel any better. There's a moment where the sensations do seem to plateau, and if she'd been alone she probably would've cursed in annoyance.

I don't get it, she thinks, clenching her teeth again to keep herself from making any noise. What's supposed to happen?

She doesn't know, but she knows that something's supposed to happen, or at least it'd better if she wants to come out of this closet with her sanity intact.

Setsuna blinks to refocus her vision and waits for a sign from Konoka – a trick to it, or a clue, or anything. After another minute, when all logical thought is about to disappear and the urge to burst out of the closet and just ask, damnit, is becoming overwhelming, she finally gets her sign. Or close enough, anyway.

Konoka appears to stop breathing altogether, and she arches her back and bites her lip to stifle her own moans, and Setsuna watches those lips with new, unexplainable interest, and then Konoka gives up after a second and Setsuna feels her own body responding to the noises, to the image of her friend shuddering and writhing on the bed –

"Holy –"

Setsuna now sees why Konoka had to try to keep quiet, and she collapses backwards on the pile of clothes and bites down on the cloth to keep herself from making any more noise than she already had.

She comes for the first time in her life, and intensified by the fact that she'd had absolutely no past sexual pleasures to balance it, the orgasm hits her like a punch in the gut. She curls in on herself and the world fades away as she lies there, unable to do anything but twitch and squeeze her eyes shut, thighs clenched around the hand between them.

When the feeling finally starts to recede, Setsuna has no idea how much time has passed. She tiredly opens her eyes and peers back outside the closet door again. Konoka is still lying there, panting hard but no longer writhing.

Setsuna stares openly, looking at Konoka's sweat-shined skin, the curves of her body, the pieces of hair sticking to her face, and feels like she's seeing her friend for the first time.

The knowledge that she won't ever look at her the same way again strikes her hard, and Setsuna finally matches up the feelings with the words. This is what Ayaka had meant, and this is what Mana had warned her about, and that same warning makes infinitely more sense now, because stripping the world of this girl suddenly seems like one huge mistake

If she'd been a bit more knowledgeable, Setsuna probably would have recognized that the hormones swimming around the room and in her body might have something to do with it. But, without that information, her feelings are untempered by conscious effort and all she can think is:

…Shit.

Konoka sits up finally, moving to her own bed and replacing her clothes before tucking the vibrator under her mattress. She goes to the mirror and looks at herself, struggling with her own profound conclusions, and then finally smiles at her reflection.

"That answers that question," she giggles, knowing the implications are probably nothing to laugh at, but not finding it in herself to care at the moment. She brushes her hair and goes to turn on the A/C, standing in front of the fan for a moment before grabbing her phone, unbolting the door, and exiting the room.

Setsuna stays in the closet until she's sure Konoka is out of ear-shot, then opens the door and stumbles out, falling onto her bed.

She knows she should be thinking about more important things than how the mattress now smells like Konoka, or how she may never be able to use her legs properly again, but the serious thoughts are so much harder to deal with.

Still, duty-oriented as always, a mental picture of Mana and Evangeline's disapproving looks make her wince.

"It's going to be fine," she reassures herself out loud. "I'm sure it's possible to make yourself un-attracted to someone, right…?"

​I'm going to have to, she thinks with no small amount of determination, but despite her conviction, the doubt in the back of her brain is undeniable.

​​Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10​​