Chapter 47 How I feel

As Tatsurou and Naoki were making their way to the first public Esper school in district 4's old town, something was about to happen in Tatsurou's apartment...

"Finally, I got all the laundry ironed!" Shirayuki, that was wearing her usual shrine maiden clothes, said as she ironed the last piece of clothing, that was one of Tatsurou's hoodie's.

"I wonder...why does Tatsurou like, hoodie's so much?" Shirayuki asked herself as she looked at the hoodie after folding it.

"But I also wonder...why did Marie bring so many of these, nun habits?" Shirayuki asked herself again, as she looked at the ironed and folded nun habits that belonged to Marie.

"She brought one, for each day of the week and 4 spares...why would she need 11 of these?" Shirayuki asked herself with a curious and confused tone, as she placed Tatsurou's hoodie on the folded laundry basket close to the ironing board and picked up one of Marie's nun habits.

"How do you even put, this one?" Shirayuki asked as she moved the habit around as if she was analyzing it, but she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the apartment door opening.

"I'm home!" Marie said as she took off her shoes and made her way to the living room.

"Hi, Shirayuki! I'm back!" Marie said as she entered the living room.

"Welcome back Marie, how..." As Shirayuki was about to ask Marie how her day went, she was interrupted again.

"Heh?! Shirayuki! Didn't I say that next time, it was me who was going to iron the laundry!" Marie said as she got close to Shirayuki.

"Don't worry about it, Marie and we have talked about it already, we'll take turns every week..." Shirayuki said as she smiled a bit.

"I know that...but until we start doing that, I feel bad seeing you do this on top of cooking and everything else, so please let me start to be the one responsible for the laundry like we agreed on..." Marie said as she sighed a bit.

"It's like I said, I don't mind and we all share our shores here, so it's not a problem!" Shirayuki said as she lifted her index finger and remembered the way she, Tatsurou, and later Marie shared the shores around the house.

Shirayuki cooked, Tatsurou took out the trash and Marie was going to be the one responsible for doing the laundry as of now, as for the other shores like setting the table, cleaning it afterward, doing the dishes, cleaning the house and so on, was something that they all helped and did together.

"I swear, your not easy to convince when it comes to things like this..." Marie said as she sighed again.

"For now, I'll go change into something more comfortable..." Marie said as she pulled on the top of her sailor fuku a bit.

"Then I will go prepare, some tea for us..." As Shirayuki said this Marie got angry and pouted a bit.

"No way! You go sit on the couch and wait while I get changed, I'm going to make us that tea!" Marie said as she pointed at Shirayuki.

"But Marie, I already made the tea, I just have to pour it on some cups..." Shirayuki said as she turned to Marie that interrupted her.

"Then I'll go and pour it into the cups, you just take a seat and rest a bit, while I get changed!" Marie said as she pointed at Shirayuki again, as she left for their room to change.

"But..." As Shirayuki was about to come with another excuse she was interrupted again.

"No buts! You already did a lot, so let me do this at least..." Marie said as she smiled and looked at Shirayuki.

"Ok..." Shirayuki said as she took a seat on the couch and saw Marie making her way to their room...

A bit later, as soon as Marie finished getting changed, she went straight to the kitchen to get the tea for her and Shirayuki.

"Here it is!" Marie that was now wearing a light blue sleeveless dress and her aqua blue hair tied into a low ponytail that rested on her shoulder, said as she got close to the couch and gave one of the cups to Shirayuki.

"Thanks..." Shirayuki said as she grabbed her cup.

"Your welcome!" Marie said as she took a seat next to Shirayuki and began drinking her tea.

"Wait Marie, where's Tatsurou?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone as she was about to drink her tea.

"Well, Tatsurou had to go with that Naoki girl investigate again, but this time she came during lunchtime and Tatsurou couldn't eat his lunch..." Marie said with an angry tone, as she stooped drinking her tea and sighed.

"Really?!" Shirayuki asked with a surprised tone and expression.

"Really...I swear I have to go and give that girl a piece of my mind! You don't do this kind of thing!" Marie said in an angry tone again, as she took a sip from her tea.

"I have to agree with that...but did Tatsurou say when he is coming home?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone as she glanced at Marie.

"Hmm...he didn't say at what time he would be back exactly, but he said that probably around the same time as yesterday..." Marie said as she stooped drinking her tea.

"I see..." Shirayuki said as she looked at her cup.

"Wait, right now...this is the opportunity I have been waiting for...I'm alone with Marie and we can finally talk with no interruptions..." Shirayuki thought as she looked briefly at Marie.

"I'm...I'm a bit nervous...but I have to do this, I have to set things right and ask her and if everything is how I imagined, then I'll make that proposal..." Shirayuki thought again as she took a deep breath and looked at her reflex in the cup of tea.

"M-Marie, can I ask you something?" Shirayuki said as she placed her cup on the table and looked at Marie.

"Huh? Sure, go ahead!" Marie said as she took another sip from her tea.

"Marie, d-do you love...Tatsurou?" Shirayuki asked as she blushed from ear to ear and Marie choked on her tea as she heard this question.

"W-What's with this sudden question, Shirayuki?" Marie asked with an embarrassed tone as she looked at Shirayuki.

"Marie! Whatever you say next, I want you to be honest with me and tell me the truth..." Shirayuki said with a serious tone, as she blushed and waited for Marie's response.

"Well, there's no use in lying, and I'm not trying to hide it either...so yes, I do l-love him..." Marie said after a brief silence, as she sighed and blushed.

"I honestly kind of knew it, but I wanted to hear it from your mouth..." Shirayuki said as she sighed a bit.

"I'm sorry, Shirayuki...I made a bit fun of you when we met and said that you were too obvious...but now look at me, I'm even more painfully obvious than you..." Marie said as she sighed and placed her cup on the table, next to Shirayuki's.

"I was unsure of what to think, because it felt as if you were just messing with me, to be honest..." Shirayuki said as she blushed a bit.

"So, does this mean that your mission of observing Tatsurou, is a lie?" Shirayuki asked a bit curious as she looked at Marie.

"It's real...but I only accepted because I wanted to see Tatsurou again and I also wanted to be with him..." Marie said as she fidgeted and blushed.

"I see..." Shirayuki said scratched her cheek a bit.

"I'm so, so, sorry Shirayuki! I know that you've known Tatsurou for longer than I do, I know that you like him, and yet I tried to take him away from you..." Marie said in an apologetic tone as she turned and lowered her head to Shirayuki, surprising her a bit.

"It might have not looked like it...but deep down, I felt really bad for doing all those things to Tatsurou right in front of you...especially when I knew how you feel about him...especially when you were always so nice to me..." Marie said with an honest tone as she now looked at Shirayuki while she held her hands.

"I'm sorry for everything I have been doing, I'm really sorry, I...I will step aside, Shirayuki, and let you be with him..." As Marie said this she was interrupted by Shirayuki.

"No, Marie! That's not what this is about and I don't want you to do that!" Shirayuki said as she looked at Marie, that was now looking at her a bit confused.

"Wait, what do you mean, Shirayuki?" Marie asked a bit confused.

"Marie...I never told you about my clan did I?" Shirayuki asked as she looked at Marie.

"No, you haven't..." Marie said she kept holding Shirayuki's hands.

"You see, my clan is one of the strongest Shinto practitioners in all of Japan, known for a vast amount of spells and techniques that many would give their lives to have, or even kill..." Shirayuki said as she made a small stop.

"My mother...she was the 59th head maiden of our clan, Izanami Ayaka was her name...she was strong, beloved, and respected by everyone in our clan...but me on the other hand...I was just a nuisance for everyone..." Shirayuki said as she lowered her head.

"A nuisance?" Marie asked with a surprised tone.

"My mother, since she was the head maiden, she was always busy with work...so I had to be taken care of by the other maidens...but they were either scared of coming close to me, or they just stayed away from me and treated me like a nuisance...and if ever got out of the temple the same thing happened with people that I had never seen before..." Shirayuki said as she looked a bit down.

"Thanks to that, I ended up having to learn everything for myself, I always had to play alone, in a word I was friendless..." Shirayuki said as she kept looking down.

"Shirayuki...why didn't you tell your mother, about this? She could have done something to help..." Marie asked still with a surprised tone that also had a faint hint of worry.

"I didn't want her to worry, when she was already so busy and I didn't want to give her more trouble with my own problems...but not everything was bad, despite being busy, whenever my mother had spare time, whenever my mother got home, she always talked to me, she played with me...she treated me, the way nobody else did..." Shirayuki said as she lifted her head and looked at Marie.

"Even if things were like that, I was happy, as long as I had my mother, I was happy...but nothing lasts forever..." Shirayuki said as she held Marie's hands tighter.

"A month and a half ago, a woman attacked our temple, she was after the powers I inherited from my mother...I was told to leave and come to Takamagahara where I would be safe...while my mother stayed behind to deal with her, but..." As Shirayuki said this she began to tear up and Marie didn't even need to hear the rest to know what happened.

"For the first time...I felt really alone...I had no one to rely on...and my mother wasn't here to protect me...I felt abandoned and I believed that no one would help, someone like me..." Shirayuki said as she tried her hardest to not cry.

"But then...I don't know if it was chance, luck, or fate...I met Tatsurou..." Shirayuki said as a smile appeared on her face.

"He was so nice...he helped me without being asked to, he gave me food even if I didn't have anything to pay with...but what made me happiest the most, was that even after knowing who I was...he didn't change once the way he treated me...he always treated me the same...in a way, he treated me just like my mother did..." Shirayuki said as she smiled again.

"He then did everything he could, to protect me...he risked his own life to save me and in the end, he even gave me a place to live and to belong to..." Shirayuki said as she smiled again.

"What I'm trying to say is, that for the first time, in my 14 years of life, I got my first friend...but also...my first love..." Shirayuki said as she looked a bit down.

"Shirayuki...after hearing all of this, I just can't chase after Tatsurou anymore...that's why I'm saying that I will step aside...you deserve this more than I do..." As Marie said this she was interrupted by Shirayuki again.

"I haven't finished yet...Marie..." Shirayuki said as she looked at Marie.

"I was happy...that I could be with Tatsurou and that I met people that were just like him, that treated me the same way he did, I was really happy...but then a very cute nun came along that at first looked like she was trouble, but soon enough revealed herself to be a very nice and kind person..." Shirayuki said as she looked at Marie and smiled, something that made her blush.

"I know...that I didn't give you the best of first impressions, and I'm sorry for everything I did and said when we met..." Marie said in an embarrassed tone, as she looked a bit away.

"You don't have to...because after everything was said and done you made up with Tatsurou...and we all became friends in the end..." Shirayuki said as she smiled again.

"I know that my first impression didn't show it...but I was really happy that you started to live here with us...I was happy to have another friend, my second friend ever, here with me and Tatsurou..." Shirayuki said as her ahoge wiggled around a bit.

"Marie...both you and Tatsurou, are the only friends I have and in a way, I consider you two to be the only family I have...and I just can't bring myself to tell Tatsurou how I feel and be with him, knowing that you want to be with him too and hearing you say that you'll step aside for me, is not what I want you to do..." Shirayuki said as she looked down, then back at Marie.

"With all of this in mind, I'm trying to say that I'm ok...with sharing Tatsurou with you, Marie..." Shirayuki said with an honest tone, as she looked at Marie.

"S-Shirayuki..." Marie could only say Shirayuki's name as she looked at her for a bit, in silence.

"I-I know...it's a weird and dumb proposal...but just like I said, your my friend and I want you to be happy too..." Shirayuki said as she turned her back to Marie as she blushed.

"Shirayuki...I don't think that your proposal is weird and dumb...it's unexpected, yes, but most of all, I think that it is a very beautiful one..." Marie said in a calm and soft tone, as she wrapped her arms around Shirayuki's waist and gave her a hug from behind.

"Your ready to share the person you love...not many would do that...I'm happy that your willing to do that, for someone like me, I'm really happy, so I accept your proposal!" Marie said as she placed her cheek against Shirayuki's as she kept hugging her, and sure enough, despite Shirayuki's best efforts, she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face.

"Marie...Marie..." Shirayuki could only say Marie's name as she kept crying.

"Come on Shirayuki...don't cry..." Marie said as she kept her arms around Shirayuki.

"No...I'm just so happy...I'm so happy that you were honest with me and that you accepted this proposal of mine...I never expected this...thank you, Marie..." Shirayuki said as she cleaned her tears with her sleeves.

"I should be the one thanking you...Shirayuki..." Marie said as she once again placed her cheek close to Shirayuki's as she too began to cry...

After a while of crying and hugging, Shirayuki and Marie were now sitting next to each other again.

"Are you really ok with this, Marie?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone as she looked at Marie.

"I already said, that I'm ok with it...but I will warn you now...I tend to get jealous pretty easily..." Marie said as she winked and smiled a bit.

"I kind of noticed that..." Shirayuki said as she smiled back.

"R-Really? You noticed?" Marie asked a bit embarrassed.

"Well you tend to take me away from Tatsurou, whenever he's too close to me..." Shirayuki said as she laughed a bit and remembered a bit how Marie took her away from Tatsurou whenever they were being too close.

"Looks like, I have to control myself a bit more...but to be honest I should be the one asking if you're ok with this...after all, it's a big step to take..." Marie said as she looked at Shirayuki.

"It's like I said, your my friend Marie and in a way, my only family, a bit like the older sister I never had but I always wanted, and I can't bring myself to be happy when I know that you would be sad...so I want us to do this...together!" Shirayuki said as she held Marie's hand.

"Shirayuki...your such a cutie! I'm so happy to have a friend...no, a little sister like you!" Marie said as she gave Shirayuki a thigh hug while she smiled.

"Thank you...Marie...thank you so much for doing this..." Shirayuki said as she gave a hug back to Marie, and this would be a position that they would be in for a while...

Meanwhile, back to District 4's old town, Tatsurou and Naoki walked side by side as they made their way to the first Esper school, with Tatsurou talking on the phone and Naoki inspecting her M1911...

"Yes, Yumeko...it's in the old town...first Esper school...at least 5, not including the "Magician hunter"...yes we will be careful...see you soon..." Tatsurou said to Yumeko that was on the other side of the phone call, that ended rather fast.

"Done, Yumeko and Munesuki-san, will try to get here as fast as they can..." Tatsurou said as he put his phone away and looked at Naoki.

"Good to know, so Kurokami, you're ready for this?" Naoki asked Tatsurou as she moved her gun around as if she was inspecting it.

"I'm ready, don't worry...by the way, what are you doing?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone, as he looked at Naoki.

"I'm just preparing myself, for whatever is coming towards us..." Naoki said as she cocked her gun.

"I never asked, but what type of magic is that?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone again.

"Well, it's a type of synergetic magic, that allows me to create firearms of any kind, I decided to call it Gunwelt...the only downside is that to create the weapons, I have to know everything about the weapon I want to make or touch the real thing...and then use a specific material to craft them..." Naoki said as she made her gun vanish as if it was a smoke cloud.

"Synergetic magic? That's pretty rare, a bit like Yumeko's ability..." Tatsurou said as rubbed his chin a bit.

"Speaking of which, I think you haven't told me yet, but how have you met Yumeko?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone.

"Me? Well, it was 6 years ago, when my older sister brought her over to our place, at first I didn't like her because I thought she was going to be like everyone else and make fun of me..." Naoki said as she made a small pause.

"But she treated me really nice, and then she began to tell me so many stories about her work with the Soteria, I was so captivated and impressed that I decided that I wanted to be just like her and show everyone that I could be just as cool and strong despite my height!" Naoki said as she smiled a bit.

"But then I did that scene in the hospital, quite unbecoming of someone that aspires to be like Kuroiwa-san..." Naoki said with a sad tone as she looked a bit down.

"Don't worry about it, like I said you had a good reason to act the way you did, and in a way, you sure act a lot like Yumeko to my surprise..." Tatsurou said as he smiled a bit.

"I do?" Naoki asked a bit surprised.

"Yes, you do in fact, Yumeko did something similar a few years ago, so even someone as cool and composed as her has that kind of bad moments, and in a way, those moments show who we really are and how much we care or worry in a way..." Tatsurou said as he looked at Naoki.

"I see..." Naoki said as she looked a bit away from Tatsurou and blushed.

"But, how about you, Kurokami? How did you meet, Kuroiwa-san?" Naoki asked with a curious tone as she looked at Tatsurou.

"Well, we have met 9 years ago when I..." As Tatsurou said this he stooped for a brief moment.

"I'm really sorry, Izumi-san...I know that you told me how you met Yumeko just now...but I'm not that comfortable talking about how I met her, I'm sorry..." Tatsurou said in an embarrassed tone, as he scratched the back of his head.

"Not comfortable? Did, something bad happen when you met?" Naoki asked a bit curious.

"You could say that...more or less..." Tatsurou said with a faint hint of sadness as he looked down and sighed a bit, something that didn't last long.

"Come on! Don't give me such a long face like that!" Naoki said as she punched Tatsurou's arm.

"You can tell me about it when you finally feel comfortable...but it's not like I'm interested in your private life or something like that!" Naoki said as she looked away from Tatsurou, that was patting the arm Naoki hit.

"Thank you for understanding...Izumi-san..." Tatsurou said with a happy tone as he smiled.

"You're always Izumi-san this...Izumi-san that...just call me Izumi!" Naoki said as she pointed at Tatsurou.

"Ok then, I'll do that..." As Tatsurou said this he stooped again, but not for too long.

"We're here, Izumi..." Tatsurou said as he looked at the front gate of the first-ever Esper school of District 4...