Epilogue

The sounds of the festival were loud and boisterous, and the smells more than enticing given how Rin had opted for an early lunch that day to build up an appetite. For what felt like the hundredth time in less than half an hour, Rin lowered her eyes to her phone to check the time.

She's late... Did Maki-chan back out? Maybe she thinks this is too much of a commoner activity for her? Maybe she can't stand the crowds?

Maybe she decided she didn't want to be Rin's girlfriend?..

Left alone at the park entrance, Rin felt herself overwhelmed by her thoughts once more, her unease only growing as the seconds ticked past. It didn't help that she had already been a nervous wreck for most of the afternoon, since it was her first date with Maki. It had taken her forever to get her bed hair to settle down (she patted at it yet again just to make sure it was still behaving), and the only reason she had even managed to get out of the house on time was the fact that she only owned one yukata that still fit her. Not much room for choice in that sort of situation.

She pulled on her yellow yukata discreetly, trying to tighten it since it seemed to have come slightly loose during her hurried, stumbling walk here. Does Rin look okay?.. All these girly things never did fit Rin...

"Rin?"

The orange-haired girl whipped around, her eyes raising slowly to take in the figure that stood before her.

Dressed impeccably in a dark-blue yukata embossed with prints of red and orange flowers alongside white leaves, the girl in front of her exuded a mature, grown-up feel that Rin knew she herself could never hope to achieve. Instead of her usual hairstyle, Maki's hair was done up in a tight bun at the back of her head, a style reminiscent of how elder Japanese ladies tended to do their hair for festivals. Yet, the little detail of how it was braided before doing it in a bun let it retain some of the youthful charm the high-school girl naturally possessed.

Rin's eyes then took in the face of the girl just standing in front of her (her girlfriend, she reminded herself), and found herself gulping subconsciously. Suddenly, the yukata that had been too loose suddenly seemed too tight on her around her neck. The pale purple eyeliner, glittering lip gloss and faintest hint of blush were the finishing touches on the perfect work of art that was Maki.

It was also the final blow to Rin's sanity.

"Rin? What's wro-" The heiress's question was cut off mid-sentence when the other girl practically pounced upon her, drawing her into a long, searching kiss. Yes. This was what she needed, the only thing that could help Rin calm down after all the emotional upheaval she had been put through so far today. Her arms tightened around Maki, needing to bring her warmth as close as possible.

Their tongues dancing with each other, Rin was startled when Maki pulled away gently but firmly after only a few seconds, stepping backwards. "No- not here, Rin. Sorry, I'm just... not ready for this."

"Ah... it's okay. Sorry, Rin didn't think about-" Looking around, Rin was relieved when she found no one looking at them, the crowd some distance away being busy with the festival.

"Don't take it the wrong way, okay Rin?" Maki stepped back closer, wrapping her arms around the cat-like girl who only sunk back into the warm embrace. "I really love you. It's just, I'm not ready to go public with this just yet. Especially not with my family name... Though Mama approves of you, the public perception is just different. But I promise you that it'll change someday. No matter what I have to do, even if I've to change the laws of this city myself."

"Maki-chan..."

"Wait for me, okay, Rin?"

"Mm."

Was there really such a future available for them? One where they wouldn't have to avoid the public eye, where their relationship would be accepted by everyone around them? Rin didn't know. Things such as politics and social issues were beyond her just for the moment. But what she did know, was that she could trust in Maki's love for her.

And that was enough for her any day.

"Alright. Let's go enjoy the festival then."

"Let's go nya!"

"Maki-chan Maki-chan, this candied apple is really great! You should try it!"

"Wha- why should I have to-"

"But it's really sweet and crunchy! Here!" Not willing to take no for an answer, the orange-haired girl practically shoved the apple in her girlfriend's face, with a whole chunk already missing from Rin's voracious appetite.

"Rin, you already bit into this part."

"Hmm? What's wrong with that?"

"No- nothing!" Maki reached forward and took a much more delicate bite off the apple, the sweet caramel mixing with the sharp tart taste of the apple on her taste-buds. "Huh. It really is quite delicious."

"Right? Here Maki-chan, you can have the rest!"

"But you were the one who bought it..."

"It's okay, Maki-chan! Rin has to save space for more kinds of food after all! Come on, next up is the takoyaki!"

"Ah, wait up, Rin!"

...

"Ah, Rin missed again..." Setting down the air rifle in disappointment, Rin pouted as she stared morosely at the calico cat plushie high up on the shelves. It wasn't particularly large or anything, but something about its design and fur pattern simply appealed to her.

"You have to be more patient, Rin. Line up your shots properly before you fire."

"Rin does that! It's just that the aim is always off..."

"You need to control the jerk by pulling the trigger slowly. And do it while holding your breath after breathing out."

"Eh... that's complicated..."

With a sigh, Maki pulled out a hundred yen coin and slid it across the counter to the stall-owner, who only grinned toothily at the young heiress. "You know the rules missy, five targets with six bullets."

Maki rolled her eyes. From careful assessment of Rin's shots earlier, she had already figured out the slight skew towards the left- it just wasn't something she could verbally point out to Rin in front of the stall-owner. And well, with Rin's jumpy trigger finger, it wasn't like she was going to hit anything anyway. Taking in a deep breath, she took careful aim at her first target, with her mind already processing the next four that seemed most likely to fall easily.

The sounds of the festival faded away, the distant taiko drums becoming even softer than the pounding of her own heartbeat.

Five shots rang out in steady procession.

"I'll like that cat plushie, please." Nonchalant. Calm. Collected. Ever the capable heiress, even in the midst of a children's game at a summer festival.

At least, until a very different cat draped itself over her shoulders. "Maki-chan, that was amazing nya! How did you do it? Why are you so good with a gun?"

"That's... let's not talk about that. And get off me, Rin!"

"Not until you tell Rin!"

"Ahhh mou!"

...

"Tch, it broke again..."

"Eheh, even with your skill at air-rifle, you're not very good at goldfish-catching, Maki-chan."

"It's not my fault the paper is so thin! It's already almost breaking the moment it touches the water!"

"There's a technique to it! Here, let Rin try!"

"Hmph. It's not like you would have much success with it either. This game is just rigged."

"Here you go Maki-chan!"

Maki stared blankly at the bright orange goldfish swimming about within the confines of the plastic packet, with a slightly swollen forehead where it stored its fats. "What."

"Catching fish is a cat's job nya! What should we name it hmm... Ah Rin knows, we'll call it Poi-poi!"

"What, no, what kind of name is that even?!"

"It's decided! Take care of Poi-poi okay Maki-chan?"

"I absolutely refuse! I'm naming it something else!" Maki rebutted, only to have her words fall on deaf ears- or rather, ears that were no longer there. The hyperactive girl had already moved on in search of the next stall to entertain her, waving excitedly back at Maki.

With a sigh, Maki raised the packet to her eyes, deftly tying it up while looking at the fish within.

Try as she might, she couldn't quite wipe the smile off her face.

"Hurry, Maki-chan, it's starting!"

It was already late in the night, and almost time for the finale to begin. Most of the locals had already drifted away from the festival, towards the riverbank and other spots where they would be able to get a much better view of the fireworks about to be fired. Ten minutes earlier, Maki had already tried to get them moving towards a good spot, and might have succeeded if it wasn't for a certain girl being distracted by every other thing.

And who had the audacity to ask her to hurry despite it being entirely her fault. Maki shook her head half in annoyance and half in bemusement, knowing that moments like these were definitely waiting for her at every turn in their relationship.

Not that she would have wanted it any other way.

Stumbling along from their linked hands, the redhead exerted all her concentration on keeping her feet underneath her instead of tripping over herself in the wooden clogs she was wearing, as well as trying not to shake the packet of water hanging from her other hand too much. "Hold up, Rin! I can't run in these!"

"You're too slo-" Rin's voice trailed off as she stumbled to a hurried stop, almost having Maki run right into her back. Having finally caught up, the heiress raised her eyes to see just what had Rin gaping like her pet goldfish, only to be paralysed by the same sight. Two very familiar girls stood right in front of them, dressed in pure white and blue yukatas that matched them perfectly.

As topaz eyes met sky-blue orbs, and amethyst eyes met cinnamon ones, that moment in time seemed to hang forever. Each pair's clutched hands weren't lost on the other pair, and neither was the closeness of each other's bodies.

A shrill whistling sounded in the air with the first firework being launched, almost like a siren warning of an impending storm.

"Eli-chan?.."

"Rin?"

"Umi?"

"Maki?"

The first firework detonated in the air, an explosion of dazzling light as the rocket burst into a flower of fire that was unfortunately missed by the four young women stunned beneath them.

"Ehehe... Rin guesses there's a lot of explanation to be done, huh?"

Fin.

Author's Note: It took me less than three months this time, that's lesser than ten months, right? ;w; Again yeah, things took longer than I expected they would. Settling into yet more new roles and responsibilities in university (I'm a frigging President of a 500+ member club omg how are these people crazy enough to pick me-), and I'm starting my third year so my life's getting very intense now. That's a minus to my writing speed.

Then there's the fact that I've jumped to the RWBY fandom lately. Though I will continue doing LL! work (updating all the latest news and still endlessly translating material), RWBY has captured my heart in quite a different way, and I spend a fair bit of time reading their fanfic now. That is a plus to my writing speed, despite what you might think. In fact, one of the reasons that my writing speed dropped to zero was precisely because I stopped reading fanfic. Reading actually helps a lot in writing because it keeps your words fresh when you learn new expressions so you don't feel like you're endlessly repeating yourself. Even though I still do- oops.

So anyway, RinMaki, huh. First off, this story is dedicated to Pia aka starryskyrin, or onguard7 on Twitter. Pia was the first person to expose me to the possibility of a RinMaki ship. A lot of times, the only reason I ever felt like I had to finish this story was to not let her down. So thank you for all the reviews along all my stories, for always being supportive, and for just being there, I suppose. You were one of the first few LLiver friends I had, and kept me writing far longer than I would have without you.

Maki might have seemed OOC at many points throughout this story. This was the only way I could get the plot to advance. I needed one of them to do the pushing, and I preferred Rin to be the more insecure girl because that's how I wanted to portray her. We get enough of Maki being chased in NicoMaki fics, so I really wanted Maki to do the chasing for once. So, plot advanced by usage of the overarching plot which instantly justifies a lot of OOCs (within reason that is)- I'm such a cheater on this one orz. If you don't know what the overarching plot is, you should read my other stories.

I almost didn't want to finish this story because I had the idea for this epilogue since the start. I knew it was going to lead directly into the next one. And I can't commit to that right now, not with my increasing workload.

EDIT: In the end, I guess it was more important to finish this one. It's likely the next one will never get written due to my commitments on the LL! Wikia as well as translating all new content, I'm really sorry about that.

If you liked this story, please leave a review to let me know, especially places where I could improve too. Your support is appreciated.

Until next time.