Author's Note: Credit where credit is due... the scene of Natsuki and Nao playing cards together was inspired by CrazedChakra101. More notes at the end. Enjoy!

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Natsuki unlocked the door to the apartment with her key, opening it with a flourish. "Sorry about the mess... I've been up to my ears in studying for the last week."

Nao leaned against the door frame with a bored expression, watching as Natsuki hurriedly collected mostly empty Chinese take out boxes and threw them in the garbage. "Up to your ears indeed."

There was a resigned sigh from Natsuki, before she motioned for Nao to come in. "Sorry for the mess."

"Eh... I'm not really one to judge." The redhead smiled as she sat down at the kitchen table, pulling a worn deck of cards out of her purse. She kicked off her geta sandals, letting them spin and clatter along the floor. "Gods, it feels good to get those things off. I think I have blisters on the soles of my feet."

Natsuki eyed the cards. "Not in the mood for movies?"

"The last couple have been sort of a flop." She loosened her yukata before she began to shuffle the cards, arching the soft surfaces to bend them back into shape, and cycling between the two actions expertly.

The raven haired girl sighed dramatically. "You just don't have any refined tastes. Just because they don't have fancy special effects..."

"Or any acting talent..."

Natsuki didn't bother to dispute that point. "Oh well. I don't mind cards." They had played a few times in the past, but Nao always won, no matter what game they played. It was quite frustrating, really.

"The usual, then? Five card stud?" Nao eyed her with the gaze of a hardened card player.

"Sure thing. But I'm not betting money this time. I'm sick of losing it all."

The younger girl pouted. "It's no fun if we don't bet."

"Loser pays for our next lunch together?"

Nao rolled her eyes. "You always pay for that anyway."

"I know... that's why I'm putting it on the line." Natsuki smiled smugly. "Or you afraid I'm going to beat you?"

"There's a first time for everything." Nao fired back with a wink.

"You're on then." Natsuki motioned for the younger girl to deal.

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Nao lifted the corner of her cards up, then left them back flat on the table. Natsuki held hers upright, unprofessionally, and glared at Nao. The raven haired girl pushed forward two more of the single yen coins they were using as chips before turning back and pouring herself a drink. Nao had convinced her to take out the bottle of whiskey, despite Natsuki's weak protests that it 'didn't go very well last time'. Still, they had both managed to keep their drinking within moderation this time.

Nao recalled her cards through the warm buzz of the alcohol. She had two pairs, which was probably better than anything her opponent could make, but Natsuki was looking frustrated. The older girl's pile of one yen coins was running fairly low, and Nao wanted to draw the game out anyway. She was having too much fun to end it now. "Too rich for my blood." Nao sighed morosely. "I fold."

Natsuki eyed her for a moment, then happily gathered her winnings.

-----

They had been playing for nearly two hours, but it had been quite enjoyable. Still, Nao considered, it was time to start drawing the game to a close. She had nearly all the chips once again, despite a strong comeback attempt by Natsuki, and she had a potential flush. "All in." she monotoned, shoving her appreciable stack of coins into the center of the table. They toppled over, with sliding into Natsuki's shot glass, making a series of plops and soft metallic clinks against the bottom of the whiskey filled glass.

Natsuki kept a cool expression as she slid her more modest pile in. She pursed her lips, considering. "If I win, I'll only get part of the pot, and we'll basically be back to where we started. Would you consider letting me make up the difference with an alternate wager?"

"Only if I get to choose what it is."

"I was thinking something like... I'll do your homework for a day, or maybe..."

"I get to kiss you." Nao decided without hesitation.

Natsuki chewed on her lip, then shrugged. "Fine." Her voice bespoke confidence as she tossed an unwanted card towards Nao. "I'll take one."

Nao spun a single card across the table to her, and threw away one of her own before replacing it. She glanced at the card, then flashed a wicked smile at the older girl. "What do you have?"

"Oh... not much... just..." Natsuki slammed the cards down. "Three queens." She raised an eyebrow . "It will be nice to have you pay for once, if only for the experience."

"Aw man..." Nao pouted. "All I have is all these mismatched low cards." She spread hers out on the table with a dejected expression.

Natsuki's smirk faded slowly into a weary glare. "That's a flush of spades."

"Oh really?" Nao drawled. "I guess I win then."

The raven haired girl drew herself up from the table tiredly. "I know. You don't have to rub it in, Nao."

Nao stood as well, positioning herself directly in front of Natsuki. "So... about the payment of your alternate wager... I was thinking that..." Natsuki cut her off by darting forward and pecking her on the lips. Nao was so startled she didn't even have time to react, other than to glare afterwards. "That doesn't count."

"Hoh? Why not?"

"Because... I didn't enjoy it enough."

"Tough luck." Natsuki said with a grin, enjoying her petty revenge. "It seems to fulfill all of the conditions to me."

"... fine." Nao rubbed her hands together, and sat down on the couch. Natsuki followed her with an absent expression, and Nao leaned on her shoulder as they sat together. "Do you mind if I sleep on your couch, Natsuki?"

The older girl turned to look at Nao, but only ended up rubbing her chin against Nao's thick red curls. "Maybe I'm worried about what will happen to me while I sleep." she offered with a lopsided smile.

"Aww..." Nao pouted without a hint of sincerity. "I thought you said you trusted me."

Natsuki struggled before lapsing into a short silence. Both of them were so bad at talking about their emotions, so apparently Nao had decided it was her task to rip them from Natsuki, grudgingly or otherwise. It was unsettling to talk about, and she hated the sensation of vulnerability, but the alternative was to slowly orbit each other and never truly communicate. She had once lost Shizuru that way, and she didn't want that to happen again. "I try, Nao, I do. But you make it really hard sometimes. We get along fine when we're busy parrying each other's verbal jabs, but even now, you're very withdrawn." Nao's playful air had dissipated, and she shrugged passively. Taking that for acceptance of the criticism, Natsuki plowed forward before she could begin to withdraw herself. "So... for example. Tell me something about yourself I don't know."

She leaned flat against the back of the couch with a sidelong shrug, but appeared to be taking the question seriously. After a moment, she turned with a deadpan expression. "I cheat when we play cards."

"I said tell me something I don't know." Natsuki deadpanned back.

Nao nearly choked. "Wait, you knew?" She folded her arms, disgruntled. "How?"

"Well, no one is that lucky. Plus, whenever I start to get angry and frustrated, all of a sudden I start winning again. But when we bet about us smacking lips, all of a sudden luck turns back in your favor." Natsuki nodded knowingly.

The smug grin returned. "Oh? Then which sleeve do I keep the cards in?"

Natsuki took a calculated guess. "Left."

Nao waggled her finger, and drew three kings, a queen and an ace from behind her back, where they had been tucked into the bow of her obi. "So, you didn't catch me the act then. Good to know."

"Che... close enough. It was a trick question anyway..." Natsuki muttered.

"So... if you knew I was cheating, and yet you made the bet about kissing anyway..." Nao grinned wickedly, and hopped up. She quickly rearranged the folds of the yukata around her legs, kneeling over Natsuki and straddling her. "Then that means you didn't mind losing too much." She raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't it?"

Natsuki shuffled uncomfortably beneath her, but didn't make any move to get her off. "I had a pretty good hand, and I thought..."

"Ah... but cheating isn't only about changing my own cards. Its about knowing what's happening in the game, and making sure I always win. You must have known that."

"... it's not that simple." Natsuki muttered.

But Nao didn't bother to respond. She was leaning in, drawing their lips closer together.

"No... Nao, wait." They hung in the air, suspended, after Nao's uncharacteristic compliance. Their heads were no more than inches apart, and Natsuki could smell Nao's shampoo... a sweet strawberry aroma.

"Yeeees?" Nao said breathily, her voice teasing.

Natsuki struggled to collect her thoughts. "What is it that you want from me?"

The younger girl's jade eyes glinted with mischief in the darkness. "Another kiss, perhaps? Maybe one that isn't so grudgingly given?"

Natsuki shook her head. "That's not what I mean. What is... this... to you." She gestured expansively, so Nao took her meaning for 'this' to be their relationship in general.

The yukata-clad girl pursed her lips, and her contemplating expression filled Natsuki's vision. "I don't know, Natsuki. It's not like I've ever done this before. I don't know what to expect or what will happen. But does any of that really even matter? I'm not good at saying this sort of thing but... I really had a great time tonight, something I can rarely say. And all I know is I want it to keep happening. And..."

After Nao trailed off, she began to lean in once more. The raven haired girl's anxiety prompted her to speak again, driven by fear. "Wait." Once again, Nao complied, but hung in place instead of moving back. "I... I can't promise you anything, Nao."

The redhead's voice was playful. "Silly Natsuki... I don't want promises. I want you."

Their lips connected, the gap closed before Natsuki's shocked brain could come up with another excuse. Before she could even process the physical contact, she had to work through the mental realization of Nao's words. Nao... wanted her. It seemed like such an obvious thing, but to hear it voiced was another matter entirely. All of the emotional baggage that she had been carrying with her from her mother's death, from middle school, the festival, her encounter with Shizuru... somehow, she realized it had been holding her back from seeing the simple truth in front of her. Nao's intentions were, for once, pure. Nao simply enjoyed being around her, and wanted her... and Natsuki felt the same way back. It was a set of selfish desires, yet they each turned and rejoined in a self-fulfilling circle. It was possible, Natsuki realized in a flash, to give without losing, and receive without taking, and for them to be happy together. It was such a simple thing, in hindsight, but she had been blind to it for all this time.

And as she came to this mental insight in a flash, she already found herself melting into Nao's embrace. The younger girl's hands gripped her hair, drawing her into the joining of their mouths. She responded tentatively, tilting her head and kissing back, feeling a heat rush through her from her cheeks, down her spine and into her toes. She ran her hands down Nao's back, and the yukata gave way slowly, unraveling until it hung loosely from Nao's shoulders. Their breasts pressed together as Nao intensified the kiss, pressing her tongue into Natsuki's mouth. The older girl retaliated, closing her teeth gently around Nao's upper lip, and was rewarded with an animalistic growl from Nao. They both pulled back for a moment and smiled, before they renewed their embrace.

Natsuki waited for something: fear, panic, despair... all of the emotions she had come to associate with intimacy. But instead, all that happened was they sunk deeper into each other's arms, and eventually, Natsuki stopped waiting, and surrendered into Nao's tender care.

Author's Note: That's all she wrote!

Well, that's actually not true at all. If it feels a little unfinished, that's because... it is. At the advice of my beta, I chopped a large section off the end of the story, and ended it with something that stayed within my 'T' rating. 'M' material, I'm told, will get you in trouble here.

Edit: Thank you very much to Gali, who had the kindness to offer me her bandwidth to host the removed scene. I've posted it in plain text at the address you'll find listed as my homepage on my profile. It's an inelegant solution, but it will suffice for now. Eventually I'll put up a web page with the full fic and an actual layout. But now all of you who were too embarrassed to private message me can click and find it.

Additionally, while this is the end of the story chronologically, there is one more chapter coming that I'll post up. It's two scenes that were supposed to be in chapter 10, but I ended up cutting them out due to wanting to get the main story moving. One is a badly needed scene of Shizuru and Natsuki talking during festival, getting some resolution after their big fight. The other explains why Kaori randomly canceled Nao's ride, and is a glimpse of her and Shizuru going for tea at a late night restaurant, and their interactions. Expect that up shortly (shortly by my standards anyway).

And finally, I've posted the opening chapter of the sequel to this work, The Ties That Bind Us. There are more details about what the new story is about when you get there. Hopefully you'll enjoy the new work as much as you enjoyed Shades of Gray. Thanks for your readership and support! I've had a blast writing it.