DISCLAIMER: Still not me. But I promise to pay more attention during the credits.
SUMMARY: Mini-sequel for Snow White Queen. Mao comes to Saya's room, bearing homemade breakfast goodies. Run, run, before it's too late!
PAIRINGS: Canon! Saya/Kai, Mao/Kai and left to your squinting abilities, Saya/Hagi and Mao/Okamura. I really need to find someone for Kai...
WORDCOUNT: 1162
FEEDBACK: Please?

GIRL TALK
by Leni

The next morning, when Mao came in with a breakfast tray, she took an extra moment to look at the sleeping girl before calling her name loudly and starting their daily ritual. "Good morning, people!" Curtains were opened, burned bits of toast were scraped away, and extra spoonfuls of sugar were surreptitiously added to the coffee. Saya really hoped that Mao wasn't expecting her to drink that second cup. "Good morning," a male voice answered courteously as the girl passed by him. Saya glared at her Chevalier. Hagi was wearing the expression that passed for amusement in this lifetime, and, worse of all, he had a perfectly sensible reason to refuse Mao's culinary attentions.

"Hey, girl. Nice dreams last night, huh?"

Saya looked up from where she was struggling to peel her over-cooked boiled egg. "Huh?" Maybe she should ask Mao for omelets, somehow the girl was better making those. What'd she said? Nice dreams? "I guess..." There hadn't been any nightmares, at least.

"Well, I can tell you," Mao said decisively as she snatched the extra cup from the tray and plopped unceremoniously onto the chair at Saya's bedside. "You either had a hell of a good dream, or you're suddenly practicing the goofiest smile ever in your sleep." Mao raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"I'm not!" Saya turned to Hagi for help. He shrugged noncommittally, which in presence of a third person meant he didn't want to oppose her. Saya frowned and attacked her egg again, "I can't remember anything in particular," she said vaguely.

Mao looked at her over the rim of her cup. "Really?"

Saya wanted to hide from that twinkle in her friend's eyes. In the time they'd lived together, Saya was starting to understand why she and Okamura had such a successful partnership despite their constant rows: sheer obstinacy. So incredibly stubborn, the both of them, that obviously working with anyone else in such close quarters would only inflict severe damage on that unsuspecting else. Not that Saya would ever tell that to Mao. Like Lulu last night, Saya would always think twice before bothering the other girl.

"Nothing in particular, you say?" She took a sip and nodded to herself. Saya had the sinking feeling that the problem with Mao's coffee was that she liked it that strong. "I say, there's some girl-talk to share, Saya." Mao then directed a completely unsubtle look at Hagi. When he seemed to hesitate, she tilted her head and asked in exasperation, "Well?"

Saya shrugged almost imperceptibly, and after a quick bow, Hagi left her alone with an answer-hunting Mao and her version on 'girl-talk'. Coward. "That wasn't necessary, Mao," she said as she spread a thick layer of jelly onto her toast.

Mao shrugged. "Can't have boys in a girl-girl conversation, Saya."

"And Hagi is a boy?" She couldn't help but giggle at the notion. Mao's great-grandparents still hadn't been born when Hagi had outgrown the 'boy' stage.

"Figure of speech," Mao defended. "And you still aren't answering me."

"Don't you have more important matters to attend than whether I was smiling or not?"

"Breakfast is ready," she ticked off each item from an imaginary list. "Lewis is cleaning the kitchen and our brilliant reporter has finally remembered he spent three quarters of the gas tank going through every library in New York." Saya put her hand over her mouth to hide a smile. Mao caught it, of course. "Yeah, so I went with him. But I was merely going along for the drive. I swear, I was going stir-crazy in here!" Still amused, Saya silently agreed with the brunette. "Which means that no, I've got nothing more important than to grill you to my will."

Saya sighed. Incredibly stubborn didn't start to cover Mao's behavior. What little experience she had about this kind of conversations had been so long ago; sweet Kaori back in Okinawa, always with a bit of gossip to share, and, Saya remembered with a little pang, Min at the boarding school, whose fondest daydream was to have a boyfriend of her own. For a long time, Saya had been perfectly aware that she wouldn't see those girls again. Now, though, she missed them dearly.

"Saya, you can tell me. Really." When Saya still didn't answer, Mao put both hands around her coffee cup and braced herself. "Is it Kai?"

Saya stopped mid-bite. So surprised it took several seconds until she put her toast back on the plate. "Kai?" Was Mao serious? Saya looked at her. Yes, she was serious. "No, of course not. No." She shook her head, as if her denial needed any more emphasis. Mao gave her a half-smirk. Saya could almost see the words crossing her mind: The lady protests too much. The favorite among Joel's books or not, one thing was the same through the decades; Saya didn't much enjoy Shakespeare. "Mao..." Mao was the one who loved Kai, Mao, who'd stolen from her father and taken up with an unknown man just to find out Kai's whereabouts. Mao who'd clung tightly to her boyfriend in Paris and refused to leave his side. What could Mao mean, asking her that? "Kai?" she repeated again, still surprised Mao could seriously consider that. Oh, if only Hagi had been here to hear this. He'd see the humor of the situation, after the shock had faded away, of course.

And just like that, Saya remembered.

"What?" Mao asked, a little impatient, upon seeing a sudden change in Saya's expression. Saya blinked, and whatever it'd been, it was buried again under Saya's usual façade.

"I just..." It seemed so silly now. She couldn't even remember the whole conversation, or anything much after Lewis had been teaching Lulu how to play poker. But that last thought, she remembered. "I'd just come up with something that'd finally shock Hagi."

Mao chuckled. "Must be something."

Saya shrugged. She couldn't remember what it'd been exactly, only that it'd seemed like a good idea at the time. "Must be," she said contently as she took her grape jelly toast again, and this time bit happily into it. "What?" she asked after she'd swallowed. Mao still hadn't returned to her usual self.

"You sure that's it?"

This time Saya frowned, half convinced to step in and go in depth into whatever was bothering Mao. But she really had no idea how to go about it and, on second thought, Kai probably wouldn't appreciate her meddling with his ex girlfriend's feelings. Even back in Okinawa, he hadn't taken well when she teased him, always saying it wasn't her business. "Yep," she answered, adding a smile that would hopefully convince Mao that she meant it, "Pretty sure."

Absently, Mao passed her finger along the rim of her cup, apparently not caring that her coffee had gone cold. "If you say so." She locked eyes with Saya for a moment, and smiled wryly at the honesty in them. Poor Kai. "That's too bad."

The End
09/07/08

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