Chapter Text
5 days since Shibuya Incident
<<Maki's first time seeing Nobara>>
Maki takes in the sight of Nobara -- delicate, still. Neither of these words were how she would've described Nobara before. Even when Nobara slept, she was bursting with life; the way she'd pout her lips and scrunch her nose while dreaming, her iron grip on the blanket she's cocooned into, or the rhythmic melody of her snores. Nobara was always brimming with feeling and confidence, yet now she looks bereft of life. Nobara is still, deathly so, amidst the hum and beeps of the machines surrounding her.
Maki is intently, desperately listening for the sound of Nobara's breathing, but she can't hear anything besides the whir of machinery. She shuffles closer to Nobara. Maki starts to reach out; she yearns to grasp Nobara's hands and intertwine their fingers, to stroke her scarred cheek. She drops her hand and balls her fist instead. Nobara looks like she's just in a deep, dreamless sleep. Maki stares and wishes she could hear those customary snores she was so fond of. As she waits for Nobara to wake up, Maki seeks her out in a memory.
It's a night before a mission when neither she nor Nobara can sleep. She insists Nobara try but they've reached an impasse.
They're lying side by side facing each other. "Why should I sleep first, Maki? Maybe I want to make sure you don't get up while I'm asleep and spend half the night training." Nobara slots her leg between Maki's and clasps both hands behind Maki's neck then tugs their bodies closer so they're flushed.
Maki rests her hand on Nobara's hip and squeezes. She bumps her forehead against Nobara's, "As if I could break out of your grapple." Chuckling, she continues, "I have no plans of leaving you, not tonight and not ever. I'll always come back to you, even when you snore and I have a mission with Panda tomorrow morning."
"I do NOT snore.", Nobara gasps and tries to pull away, indignant.
"No need to feel embarrassed. I like when you snore."
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about because I don't snore." Nobara scowls as her hands stop embracing Maki's neck. She drags them towards the taller woman's shoulders and pushes so she can turn away and bury her face into the pillow they share.
Maki doesn't budge and notes the flush forming on the ginger's cheeks. She smiles and hugs Nobara closer -- waiting until Nobara stops fidgeting. Maki seeks out her gaze until they lock eyes, her mirthful, molten gold meeting blazing orange, then murmurs, "Mai used to wake up screaming about curses crushing her chest. She'd bury her face in my neck and I'd promise, ‘as long as my heart is beating and there's breath left in me, I will protect you.’"
Cupping Nobara's jaw and stroking a calloused thumb against her flawless cheek, Maki continues, "She'd listen to my heartbeat and breathing until it coaxed her back to sleep."
Maki feels the corner of her eyes prickle with unshed tears and squeezes them shut. Taking a moment to collect herself, she rasps a shaky breath. She's never been this vulnerable with anyone besides Mai before and look how she ruined that. Nevertheless, she steels herself and refocuses her attention back to Nobara, "I imagine Mai felt the same safety I feel when I listen to you sleeping: even when I'm at my most vulnerable, you are there and I'm reminded that I don't need to go through life alone. Because, Nobara, I have you…and your snores."
Maki, now reticent, searches Nobara's face for any hint of the feisty girl's reactions. She sweeps her gaze to Nobara's wide, glassy eyes then follows the slight part of her pink lips and her eyes dart back up at how Nobara knits her brows. Maki doesn't dodge the playful smack to her chest and she is ready when Nobara surges forward for a kiss.
They've done this dance before. Nobara, ever as confident and assertive, takes the lead pulling Maki and crushing their lips with urgency. Without missing a beat, Maki shifts on to her back while pulling Nobara on top in one fluid motion. She keeps her right leg slotted between Nobara's thighs; she lifts and bends her knee to give the shorter girl more leverage. Maki grips Nobara's hips like handles and firmly drags and grinds Nobara's core against her flexed quad eliciting a sharp gasp from the younger woman.
Maki is soaring; this is what being struck by lightning must feel like -- a jolt of electricity bursting in her chest, expanding until she's nothing but cinders. Maki burns for Nobara, for her affection and desire. The flames of revenge fueling her adolescence pale in comparison to the blaze Nobara has stoked within the months they've been together.
Taking advantage of Nobara's momentary daze, Maki breaks their kiss, leans forward to bite and nip a trail of faint marks from Nobara's jaw down her neck, and pays special attention to the pulse point alternating between suckling and grazing it with her teeth. Goosebumps bloom across Maki's skin as she feels Nobara's hot breath pant against her cheek and neck.
Nobara nuzzles her nose against Maki's earlobe and in a gruff tone teases, "You think you're getting lucky after accusing me of snoring?" Nobara makes a point of grinding herself onto Maki's thigh while streaking her fingers through silky green tresses. She bunches a fistful of it and tightens her grip until Maki arches her head back. She gives Maki a chaste kiss on the corner of her lip and promptly heaves herself off, settling back on her side to face a stunned Maki.
Maki is slow to focus as she reins in her desire. She turns on her side to regard sienna eyes sparkling with delight and mischief. Nobara is grinning, her teeth bared and cheeks flushed with triumph.
"Let this be a lesson, Maki," Nobara punctuates every word with a quick peck peppering Maki's forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin with light kisses. "Be grateful I'm such a forgiving person," Nobara finishes. They both break out in peels of laughter unable to keep the bit going.
"You're right about one thing," Maki agrees in earnest once they've settled. She peers down, waits until their eyes connect, and lays herself bare in a hushed whisper, "I am grateful. I'm grateful to have you in my life. I am grateful you chose me and that I get to be yours."
Nobara curls into Maki who pulls her into a warm embrace. Nobara's features soften, eyelids fluttering closed, but not before she says, "I'd choose you in every lifetime. I love you, Maki. Don't let go."
Maki is falling. She leapt headfirst into Nobara and now she's plummeting into despair as she waits for the woman she loves to wake up.
Maki gasps as if choked, "Nobara? Can you hear me? It's Maki."
No response. Nobara's silence is deafening.
"I'm not letting you go, so please come back to me."