Chapter Text
It was with the strength of the entire Arataki Gang standing behind her that Shinobu was able to hold her head up high as Yanfei’s ship docked. She could see the signature pink hair and smiled when Yanfei started to wave energetically. Shinobu raised her hand to wave a little in return, and that set the gang off. From somewhere, Itto pulled out a banner with a messily painted ‘WELCOME YANFEI-SENpai,” the initial confidence of the first half of the banner taking up almost all the room available, and that final ‘pai’ was written in tiny, squished text in a vertical line at the end. They waved the banner and whooped, waving at Yanfei and calling her name. Shinobu groaned.
When Yanfei walked up a few minutes later, though, she was still giggling and smiling broadly. Itto and her hugged, and she was quickly introduced to everyone. Shinobu felt a little blindsided by how bright and beautiful she was, and she was light-headed from a rapid beating of her heart at being reunited. She thanked the Archons for the safety of her mask to hide her heated cheeks and her awkward smile as she stepped up to greet Yanfei.
“It’s good to see you again, senpai,” she said with a quick bow. “I hope we didn’t cause you too much trouble with….all that.” She gestured vaguely in the direction of the entire gang. Yanfei shook her head, then took a half-step forward, as though to embrace Shinobu as she had Itto, but then she seemed to stop. The smile never wavered, however, and she giggled brightly.
“Thank you so much! I really didn’t expect such a big welcome party, but it’s nice to meet you all!”
“Yanfei-senpai, how long are you going to be staying?” Genta asked, as Akira stood behind him tongue-tied and shyly hiding behind Genta’s arm.
“It looks like it’ll be at least a couple of weeks.” She placed her hands on her hips, a determination developing on her brow. “I plan to spend a lot of it studying documents, unfortunately, and conducting some interviews. I’m not even sure where exactly to start, if I’m honest…”
“Have no fear, my Savior!” Itto declared, clapping her on the shoulder. “While you’re here, the great Arataki Gang has your back! Anything you need, we’re here to help.”
“Phew, that’s such a relief, Itto. Also, there’s no need to keep calling me Savior, it’s kind of embarrassing…” She scratched the back of her neck and gave him a weak smile. “Just ‘Yanfei’ is perfectly fine.”
Itto gave a shrug, noncommittal. Shinobu made a mental note to discuss with him later and explain that calling her such in public was only going to make Yanfei uncomfortable and cause problems. But at the moment, they were all moving as a single, messy unit and sweeping Yanfei off towards Hanamizaka. Along the way, the boys were pointing out the cherry trees, the fields, shrines, friendly foxes, and more. There was hardly time for Shinobu to even speak with Yanfei directly, so she trailed a little behind them and let the boys lead the way. She would rein them in once they were near their first stop - food. Then, they would hopefully back off and let Yanfei have more breathing room. As it was at that moment, Yanfei was asking lots of questions, excitedly pointing out things that were foreign and unfamiliar to her. She looked happy, and healthy, and not too stressed, so Shinobu kept quiet for the time being and enjoyed the sound of her voice.
“Here we are! Welcome to Kiminami’s!” Itto declared, spreading his arms out and gesturing toward the little outdoor bar restaurant.
Yanfei looked up at the sign, then sniffed the air appreciatively. “Wow, it smells amazing! Is this where you guys normally eat?”
“Yeah, we come here several times a week,” Itto stated with pride, stretching his arms. “You gotta try their rice cake soup! And they have this new pizza dish thing, it’s kinda fabulouso.”
“And the dango! You have to try the dango!” added Akira with excitement.
“Oh, there’s so many options!” Yanfei turned and met eyes with Shinobu. “What do you recommend, kouhai?”
Shinobu flushed, looking at the ground quietly. “Uh, I’m not sure… what kind of food do you feel like? Something vegetarian or meat, or…?”
The half-adepti’s eyes sparkled, and she leaned over and took Shinobu’s arm in hers, gently pulling her over toward the stools. “Hmm… Surprise me! What’s something unique to Inazuma that I should try?”
“Uh…” Shinobu felt like her air was only coming in half as much as it usually did, and without seeing anything around her she sat down at the stool next to Yanfei. “Maybe the More-and-More? I think it’s pretty unique to Inazuma, and you can customize it with different ingredients, so you can pick one that suits what you’re in the mood for.”
The others had lined up and taken the rest of the stools, eagerly starting their orders to the owner, a cacophony of voices and rumbling stomachs. But Shinobu was finally able to sit near her senpai, and their side of the table was quieter and more intimate as they leaned in and talked over the menu together. After selecting some toppings, they ended up somehow both ordering a More-and-More each, with one vegetarian and one meat-laden with extra sauces, and Yanfei had declared they were sharing them both. Shinobu met the eyes of the owner - Kiminami Anna - and nodded her head, and a moment later Shinobu’s hand was shakily grasping a glass of beer. She had come here on her own often enough in the past for Anna and her to have an understanding of the times when Shinobu needed silence and alcohol to relax after a particularly stressful or busy day dealing with the boys, and she was grateful in that moment beyond words for the liquid courage. She pulled her mask off her face just enough to get at a sip here or there, and avoided eye contact as much as possible.
As they waited, Yanfei watched her expectantly, and Shinobu shuffled in her seat. “So, is there anything in particular you wanted to do while you’re here?”
The gentle look on Yanfei’s face remained steadfast even as she shook her head no. “I’m fine with pretty much anything. I actually crossed paths with the Traveler recently, and they mentioned you.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, and I realized that even though we’d met up several times before, I didn’t know very much about you. I was a bit surprised at some of the things I heard from them.”
Shinobu straightened suddenly. “W-what did they say?”
In lieu of a response Yanfei only smiled, then sipped at her drink. Shinobu remembered how the Traveler had met her older sister Miyuki at the Grand Narukami Shrine, and even learned of Shinobu’s past. The Traveler hadn’t told all of that to Yanfei, right? They hadn’t leaked out that she had once worked as a Shrine Maiden, had they? Her palms were sweaty, and she nearly dropped her glass.
“You seem nervous,” stated Yanfei. “I hope I’m not the cause… I know it’s asking a lot of you to have you act as my sort of tour guide.”
“No, not at all! I think I’m just tired.” Shinobu gave a weak little chuckle, scratching at the back of her neck. “It’s really no imposition at all, so don’t worry. Anyways, where are you staying?”
Yanfei’s smile waivered for the first time, and then she began to fiddle with the condensation around the bottom of her glass. “I’m not sure… Is there a place nearby that’s a decent price?”
Shinobu blinked, surprised at the lack of planning from her hard-working senpai. “You don’t have a place to stay yet?”
She shook her head.
This was the moment they thought would come, and the boys had been undeterred by any warnings that Yanfei would probably already have a place to stay - the assumption from them had been that Yanfei would of course stay at the Gang’s place. But Shinobu dreaded to ask, and here was the perfect opportunity.
“Um…well, if you wanted to save some money,” Shinobu began. Her eyes were focused on her fingertips fixedly. “The Gang and I are cool with you coming to stay at our place. It’s very shabby and there’s not a lot of space, and the boys are often loud, so–”
Yanfei’s eyes sparkled, “I would love that! Uh, as long as it isn’t a problem…”
Shinobu smiled, and sighed in what she supposed was relief. “I insist. Unfortunately it’s quite small so you’d have to use my room..”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly put you out like that…” She waved her hands in front of her face and shook her head, a frown developing. “It’s okay, I’ll just find a room somewhere–”
“No, it’s really fine, I promise.” She spoke now with more confidence, seeing how Yanfei had been so excited at the proposal. “The boys and I have already cleaned up, stocked up on snacks, so you might as well save yourself the trouble and stay with us. Besides,” she took in a breath, mentally steadying herself. “It would make us all happy to have you.”
A happy noise escaped Yanfei, clapping her hands, “In that case, I’ll be in your care, truly! Ooh, yay! It’s been so long since I was able to stay at a friend’s house like this! Is that immature of me?”
Shinobu’s mouth quirked crookedly to the side, amused. “If that makes you immature then we both are, because I don’t think I’ve ever had friends come stay over when I was a kid.”
“Really? That’s too bad, sleepovers are the best!”
Their food arrived, and Yanfei let out a squeal of delight at the smells and sights. The pancake-shaped dish was still letting off a thin wisp of steam, its brown-black sauce and mayonnaise drizzled all across the surface in a gloriously excessive way, the bits of vegetables and meat mixed into the cooked dough looking moist. A smell of bonito flakes mixed with the sweetnesses of the sauces and the savory ingredients. A simple street-food, but always a solid choice as far as Shinobu was concerned.
With her chopsticks Yanfei cut one of them into a crooked half, telling Shinobu, “I cut, you choose.”
Shinobu inspected the torn edges, then took the slightly smaller half and moved it onto her plate before splitting the other one smoothly. “I cut, you choose,” she mimicked with a smile.
“Thank you!” Yanfei took her half and then began digging in. Shinobu took a long moment to recharge her focus, staring at her senpai with fondness. Then, she slowly lowered her mask to rest it in a fold beneath her chin, lifting up her plate and scooping in a considerable bite of the piping-hot More-and-More. The crunch of the cabbage matched perfectly with the slight gooeyness of the inner batter, and she let out a little sound of appreciation as she chewed. She was still chewing when she noticed that Yanfei had stilled at her side, and when she glanced over, Yanfei was staring at her open-mouthed. Confused, Shinobu assumed she had stupidly gotten sauce smeared on her cheek, and automatically wiped at her mouth and cheek with a small napkin and attempted to swallow down the food quickly.
“Shinobu…” Yanfei said, her eyes wide. “I just realized that this is the first time I’ve seen you without your mask on.”
Every hair on Shinobu’s body stood on end, and her face heated up. “Uh….yeah, I guess so? Is that weird?”
Yanfei’s eyes sparkled, a strange movement to her mouth as it quirked, like she was fighting a laugh. “I was just surprised. Your face is really cute, kouhai .”
How was she supposed to respond to that? She knew her cheeks were on fire in that moment, and then Yanfei did release a series of giggles, scrunching her nose at Shinobu’s expression. WIthout the armor of her mask, how was she supposed to keep her composure? The very reason for the mask had been to be taken more seriously, and while she had not been as strict about it as she had been when she first starting wearing it, it had still felt like an integral part of her. Shinobu coughed awkwardly, one hand brushing her bangs out of her face as she sent Yanfei back a wobbly smile.
“Really pudgy, more like,” she said, a lame attempt at making light of her own self-consciousness. Shinobu turned to return to her plate, but then felt a warm, soft thing against a spot just below the apple of her left cheek. She froze in place, letting Yanfei gently touch her cheek with one hand. After a suspended moment of silence, Yanfei then pinched the cheek between a couple of her fingers playfully.
“Not pudgy at all! They just look so soft, and turns out that they are. Such cute cheeks for my kouhai! It’s a shame you hide them all the time.”
Her heart thudded in her chest, and all she could think was she touched my cheek, she touched my cheek, she touched my cheek… on repeat. After a moment, she managed to look helplessly at Itto across the table, and found him watching her with a shit-eating grin. He shot her two finger-guns, looking as proud of her as he could be.
Shinobu felt like she could melt from nervous happiness.
~~~
After they had all piled into the cramped space of the gang’s headquarters, they had spent a loud and relaxed evening just talking. The boys all immediately honed in on showing off Mr. Buddy the turtle, loudly trying to encourage the poor thing to show off for their guest. Shinobu sat on the arm of one of the chairs, safe again behind her mask as she smiled down at how excited they all were over a turtle. Yanfei was so indulgent to the boys’ whims and half-finished conversations, giggling when they interrupted each other so animatedly. She must have been overwhelmed by their attentions to her, but she hadn’t complained yet, and Shinobu knew they would be calmer once Yanfei had been there a couple of days. For some reason as she watched them, what she saw was a pack of puppies all yapping at a new human friend, and the image made her chuckle to herself.
Itto was among the loudest most of the time, but even he clearly showed a respect for Yanfei that made Shinobu’s heart warm. As goofy as the energetic threads of words that spewed from his mouth was, Itto was by default very sweet and caring about anyone he considered taken under his wing, and Yanfei was now one of those treasured ones that he was prepared to invest himself in 200%. She was family, and that was that.
Yanfei looked up over the heads of the overexcited pups, and sent Shinobu a smile that was tinged with fatigue. It was a signal that Shinobu picked up on, getting up onto her feet and clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention.
“Alright, boys, let’s let senpai be and get her settled in. She’s journeyed a long way and must be tired by now. So say goodnight.”
“Aww..” Akira bemoaned, but then all of them chimed in with “Goodnight, Yanfei-senpai!” and “Sweet dreams!” to Yanfei at slightly different times, overlapping like ocean waves in a rush to the shore. Yanfei smiled and bid them all goodnight, promising to see them in the morning. Shinobu led the way toward her sanctuary, using her key to unlock it as Yanfei let out a weary sigh and whispered her thanks. After heading inside, Shinobu closed the door behind them, hanging up her key on its hook near the doorframe.
When she turned around, Yanfei was ever-so-slowly stepping around the small room, a strange smile on her face as she seemed to be drinking in everything. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and she leaned down to inspect the titles of books lined up neatly along one of the several bookshelves.
“So this is your room…” she said, sounding satisfied.
Shinobu shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. It’s not much, but it’s one of the few places I can get away from the boys. They’re not allowed in here, ever.”
Looking up from the books, Yanfei arched an eyebrow at her friend. “Not even Itto?”
“ Least of all Itto,” she said, half-jokingly. “He wouldn’t mean to, but he’d definitely end up knocking half my stuff over, plus the roof is too low for him in most of the house, so his horns would scape up the ceiling.” She pointed upwards, directly Yanfei to see the hand-painted sky depicted on the surface above them. The breadth of the painted sky went from pinks to purples, then blues and blackness in a sweeping wave, pure-white stars seeming to twinkle in the darkest corner. Yanfei’s mouth dropped a little agape, and she shot Shinobu a look.
“Did you paint that?”
Shinobu stared at her feet, kicking a little at a string on her rug that had become loosened. “Uh, yeah. I took an art course a couple years back. I’m no professional, by any means, but sometimes if we’re not getting any jobs in the winter I can sell a couple of commissioned paintings for some side mora.” She looked back up at the ceiling. “It’s the sky in Inazuma just as the sun sets. I just think the colors are really pretty, and I had to cover up a weird yellow spot in the ceiling anyways, so I thought I might as well.” She shrugged.
“Shinobu, you’re really a woman of many talents, aren’t you?” she smiled. “It looks amazing . What else can you do?”
Scratching at the back of her head, Shinobu just shrugged again. “This and that, I guess. But I’ve never really been able to settle on one particular thing I want to be good at, so that could be considered a character flaw I suppose…”
Yanfei shook her head in an adamant negative. “Not at all! The world needs people like you in it, you know. I’ve pretty much always known I wanted to be a lawyer, so while I do think I’m pretty good at it, you could also argue that my single-mindedness is a bad thing compared to you being so well-rounded.”
“No, don’t say stuff like that,” Shinobu protested. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad.”
“Then you shouldn’t either,” she said. Her smile lightened the topic considerably, as well as her words when she said, “So we shouldn’t debate anymore about it. Both ways are good, just for different kinds of people, right? So no more downing on yourself for what works for you.”
A tight vice clenched around Shinobu’s heart, and she clasped her hand tightly as it rested against her chest. “Y-yeah, you’re right…”
“Of course I am!” she laughed. “Now, where should I put my things?”
“Oh, uh, anywhere should be fine. Those drawers I emptied out in case you needed to put things away. Obviously the bed is yours. There are towels and linens in the hallway closet if you need them, and unfortunately our only bath is out in the backyard, in that shed out there. I usually bathe after the boys go to bed, to make sure they don’t accidentally walk in on me, but there’s also a piece of wood you can drop across the door to lock it from the inside. Just be careful to lay it down off of the lock shelf, because we’ve had issues with it falling accidentally and locking us out of the bath, which is kind of annoying…”
“Wait,” Yanfei interrupted. Her head tilted to the side as she leaned in and looked cutely up at Shinobu. “You’re not sleeping in here with me?”
This caused Shinobu pause. “Uh, no? I assumed you’d want your privacy.”
“Then where are you sleeping?”
“I figured I would use the couch and kick one of the boys to the floor, actually.”
Yanfei shook her head wildly from side to side, grabbing Shinobu’s wrist. “Nonsense! It’s a sleepover, right? So we can just share the bed! There’s no need for you to sleep on the couch!”
Where the woman held her wrist, Shinobu felt her skin tingle in delight. “I-It’s fine, I’m used to things like this…”
“I insist! If you don’t share the bed with me, I’ll go out right now and…and find an inn, or sleep in a tree if I have to!” The pout of the pink, lower lip distracted Shinobu for a moment, but she managed to shake her head and focus.
“That’s crazy, you can’t…” A sigh escaped Shinobu. Truth be told, she was too exhausted to do the back and forth anymore that night, so she just slumped her shoulders and nodded. “Alright, we’ll share it, but if it’s uncomfortable at any point, just let me know, the boys won’t mind me stealing the couch once in awhile.”
“It’s a deal,” Yanfei agreed, taking off her angled red hat and hanging it up on one of the hooks on the far wall. “Now, let’s get ready for bed, because I’m exhausted .”
Shinobu chuckled, removing her gloves and setting them on her desk. “Sorry, the guys can be a lot. But they seemed to really like you.”
“They’re really sweet, honestly. It’s a bit overwhelming at times, but still…” she smiled. “I can see they love you a lot, too. You’re like their den mother or something.” The smile flickered into something else, and she held up her hands in apology. “Oh, except for Itto, of course!”
Considering this for a moment as she took down her hair from it’s ponytail, Shinobu gave a nod. “Yeah, I guess I’m a bit of a mother-type figure to some of them. With Itto, it’s more like he’s a brother to me than anything else, even though I have to get after them all quite often. I never really thought about it.”
Yanfei paused, her fingers toying with the strap of her bag. “Itto’s like a brother?”
“Yeah, I think that’s the most accurate,” she chuckled. “An obnoxious brother.” Shyly, she took off her mask and set it next to her gloves, thankful when Yanfei didn’t say anything to make a big deal out of it. She turned her back and removed her jacket and draped it off to one side. She was just about the tug at the bottom hem of her crop top to pull it off when she froze in place, realizing how candidly she had been about to undress in front of what was (in essence) her crush. She glanced over, and Yanfei was holding a pillow in her hands, mouth buried it in as if trying to muffle herself from saying something. With a mischievous expression, Yanfei lifted her face and laughed merrily before throwing the pillow at Shinobu in wordless challenge.
“Hey!” Shinobu gasped uncertainly, catching the pillow and tossing it roughly back at her friend.
A brief sparring match ensued, and with every ‘thwop’ of her own pillow against Yanfei’s shoulder another bout of laughter burst from the half-adeptus - a lovely, musical sound that made Shinobu’s heart soar. Yanfei allowed herself to be gently knocked back onto the mattress, her long hair draped haphazardly across the bedding. Her laughter trickled off into brief hiccups of amusement, and her eyes sparkled up at Shinobu. She was beautiful, she was smart, and she was so soft . Their eyes locked, emerald catching hold of amethyst and suspending them both in time. It stopped Shinobu’s breathing, and for the sake of her livelihood, she couldn’t handle it anymore. So Shinobu threw her pillow Yanfei’s face in finalizing triumph before grabbing her nightshirt and rushing to the door.
“I’ll…. I’ll be back in a moment,” she muttered with no air in her lungs. She escaped into the small toilet, which was just a commode and sink in a closet-sized space with a rusted mirror. Shinobu looked at her own reflection, seeing how flushed her cheeks were, how mussed her hair had gotten from being smacked with the pillow, and noticed how wide and scared her eyes looked as they stared back at her. Taking deliberate breaths to calm her and reduce the light-headedness, Shinobu splashed her face with cold water and quickly changed her clothes. When she was done, she stood there for a long moment longer, trying to steel herself.
She was Kuki Shinobu, deputy of the Arataki Gang, she was an independent woman who didn’t need anything outside of the gang, and did not depend on people, or crave their approval. But here she was, losing face and constantly stumbling over herself in front of a girl who just wanted to be her friend. That was all. Why couldn’t she act normal, like Itto said?
Her hands trembled where they clung to the sides of the sink, and she forced a few more deep breaths. She lifted her head, determined to keep her cool better. When she went back down the hall to her room and poked her head in, Yanfei was sitting cross-legged on the bed, a book open in her lap with her back to the door. Even across the room she could tell it was one of her novels she had borrowed from Sara a few weeks ago, and Yanfei looked completely engulfed in its pages.
I like her so much. I can’t help it.
“Hey,” Shinobu murmured, and she raised her head and gave a soft smile. She had already gotten dressed into her nightclothes, a tank top and bright green shorts. Without the big sleeves of her top and her enormous law book she usually carried everywhere, Yanfei looked strangely small.
“Sweet, I need to use the bathroom, too.” She quickly moved past Shinobu and shut the door behind her. Shakily, Shinobu crawled under the covers and faced the wall, closing her eyes tight and willing herself to sleep (or at least to appear so) before Yanfei came back to the room.
But wide awake she was when the door opened again, and the only light in the room was suddenly gone. A groan of the mattress and a tilt as another’s weight dropped next to her. Yanfei’s bare feet were a little cold when they brushed against Shinobu’s shin, but the rest of her seemed to emanate a gentle heat as she shifted into a comfortable position under the shared blanket.
“Goodnight, Shinobu,” came Yanfei’s quiet whisper into the dark, surprising her. After a long moment, she gathered up her thoughts and managed a reply.
“Goodnight, senpai,” she whispered back, hoping that this wasn’t all just a very vivid dream, and that she would still be next to her when she woke up.