"It's just up ahead this way." Homura led the rest of the Crimson Squad through a clearing in the forest. As fun as their times together had been, they could never allow themselves to forget that for the time being, they were outlaws, renegades. If caught by any forces allied with Hebijo, they would all be put to death. Living a life on the run required constant movement, being as untraceable as possible. This was particularly difficult on Homura, who was trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with Asuka, but she couldn't give her an address or have a cell phone. Apparently, she was working on some type of ninjutsu that could supposedly find a way to circumvent this issue, but it sounds too good to be true. Nevertheless, Homura always found a way to make time for the team and find good hideouts for them to relocate too. That was why the whole team respected her and accepted her as a leader.

"This seems really out of the way, Homura-chan." Haruka observed. "Should make it a good hideout."

"Here it is!" She gestured towards a large rock. "It may look like just a point in the background, but I happened to realize that this rock formation is actually hollow compared to the rest of the mountain. This boulder may look big, but it's actually very light." To demonstrate, she easily pushed the boulder aside. The other Crimson Squad members followed her inside. "The tricky part is not making it looks suspicious, we have to somehow find a way to but the boulder back into place from the inside.

"I can program drills into my robot that will allow him to bore into the boulder, then we can make kind of a makeshift handle inside the boulder" offered Haruka.

Homura's face lit up. "Haruka, that's genius! Do you need any supplies for that?"

Haruka shook her head. "Just time."

"I can give you two full days tops."

"Don't underestimate me, dear leader. I'll have it done in one and a half."

"Very well. 36 hours. Although, to be honest, there's one more hang-up with this hideout. There are only 4 crevices that we can use as "rooms". One has a running stream inside with fresh water, so we can use that one to bathe and wash our clothes and dishes, and the other three will have to be our bedrooms. There's five of us, but we have to split three bedrooms. How do you guys want to do it? Some of us are just going to have to share."

"You've done so much work for us already," said Mirai. "You should get a room all to yourself."

"Besides," added Haruka. "We know you'll want to have your own room when Asuka comes to visit.

Homura blushed, then shook it off and tried to restore her "badass leader mode".

"Thank you" she replied. "I'll take you up on your offer and take one of the rooms for myself. The rest of you will have to be roommates."

"I will be Hikage-chan's roommate!" Yomi suddenly blurted out.

Yomi had been hiding a secret: she was in love with Hikage. She had realized it after a few months of being on the run. Hikage's lack of emotions had always troubled Yomi to the point of curiosity. That curiosity turned into a burning desire to help her comrade and eventually into romantic feelings. Sharing a room with Hikage would be the perfect opportunity to become more intimately acquainted with the green-haired girl.

"Any objections?" Homura asked just to confirm.

"Nope," Hikage responded.

As expected.

"So then, by process of elimination, Mirai will share with Haruka."

"Nya!?" Mirai perked up, worry quite evident in her voice. "Th-that's okay. I'll sleep in that room you found with the stream."

"Are you sure?" Homura raised an eyebrow. "The water flowing in is pretty loud."

"I just realized I want… privacy."

Haruka laughed. "Oh, Mirai-chan, you don't need to worry about that. I don't mind you masturbating when I'm in the room. In fact, I'd be happy to watch."

The girls went to their rooms to get them set up. Yomi and Hikage accomplished this very quickly. One thing they had in common was the fact that both of them carried very few personal belongings. In Hikage's case, it was disinterest. There were few objects that carried sentimental value to her because she didn't really understand sentimental value. Although Homura explained it to her once and it sort of sounded like the reason she carried Hinata's knife, but she wasn't completely sure. On the other hand, Yomi had few personal belongings on principle.

"Well, good night." Hikage yawned, dragged her sleeping mat to one side of the cave, and set it down.

"Oh." Yomi sighed. "Are you sure you want it all the way over there?"

"What do you mean?"

"I thought we might put ours closer together."

"Why?"

She had to scramble to come with a fake reason. "W-well, you know I like to cook and sew. I could use all this space to do that."

Hikage looked back. "I don't know much about either of those things, but I've seen you do it, and I don't think you need that much space. Aren't things better this way? Suppose someone tracks us down and attacks us inside the cave. If we are sleeping next to each other, it's easier to surround us. If we're further apart, they have to spread out more which means the two of us will have an easier time picking them apart separately, and we won't have to deal with the fact that we're outnumbered."

A logical argument. Damn.

As weeks went by, Yomi started to regret choosing Hikage as her roommate. The plan had backfired on her. It actually made her feelings harder to deal with when Hikage was always nearby. Basically, she had come to the conclusion that confessing was out of the question. Normal people might come to a similar thought, but only to mask their own fear of being rejected. Commonly, one might wonder about ruining an already established friendship. This was not the reason Yomi felt her feelings need to go unstated. Hikage didn't even know what love was, so even if she did feel it, how would she possibly know? With Hikage being unaware of all the social conventions of dating, Yomi realized it would be relatively simple to trick her into somewhat romantic or even lewd activities. She only realized this as a possibility though and did not have any intentions of taking advantage of Hikage's unique "condition".

"Yomi!"

The blonde snapped back to reality. Judging by the volume at which Hikage had said her name just now, she had probably been calling her repeatedly. The girl was certainly not known to raise her voice. She must have been completely out of it.

"Are you alright?"

"C-certainly! Why would I not be alright!?"

"Well, these past few days you've seemed really spacey, even compared to me. Actually, now that I think about it, you've been spacey ever since we moved to this cave.

Yomi had to come with a lie of something being wrong. Something believable. Something that would actually upset her that much.

"You see, the forest around this area is completely unsuitable for growing bean sprouts."

"You told me you had bean sprout growing kits that would allow you to grow them anywhere, and that you can buy them at the supermarket. It's a bit out of our way but we still make shopping trips. You can definitely still have your sprouts. What's actually wrong?"

Hikage had become uncharacteristically perceptive as of late.

"It's private."

"I'm sorry, I don't really understand. We live together. We've risked our lives for each other. What could be so private that-"

"I love you!"

She had lost her sense of self-control. The words slipped out. She grasped desperately at her mouth, but the words had already been said. They could not be taken back.

"Excuse me? You love me?"

"You probably don't even know what that means," said Yomi with a pang of sadness trailing off in her voice.

"Well, I've heard of it. Just because I don't have emotions doesn't mean I live under a rock."

"Um… Hikage-chan, we actually do live under a rock. That's what means to live in a cave."

"I guess that's true. Still, I'm not completely in the dark on the concept of love."

"Then do you understand? What's it's like to want to be completely devoted to someone and have them do the same for you? What it's like to want someone to hold you in the arms and give you warmth and comfort?"

"No."

"I thought not. That's what I was sad about. Normally, when people have those feelings, they reach a point where they can confess and have the other person either accept them or reject them. If the other person accepts their feelings, then they can begin a relationship. Getting rejected can be hard, but at least it offers closure. Since you don't have emotions, it's like being caught in a void where neither is truly possible."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"What do you mean."

Hikage put her hand on Yomi's shoulder. "I may not understand what love means, but I want to. I'm starting to get these emotions, you know? Happy, sad, angry, all because I'm seeing them. If you say you love me, then maybe you're the one who was supposed to teach me what love is."

"What are you saying?"

"I want to understand what love is, Yomi. Teach me what love is. Show me what people in love do."

"W-well, people who are in love hold hands."

"Like this?" Hikage grabs Yomi's hand without hesitation. It's cold, but not actually unpleasant.

"Y-y-yeah."

"Why are you stammering?"

"Are you sure you're okay with me? Like, what if you discover what love is, and don't love me?"

"If I don't love you, how will I discover what it is?"

Hikage had a point there.

"I just don't want to take advantage of you."

"You're not taking advantage of me. I want this. Show me what else people who are in love do."

"I guess, that they k-k-kiss each other."

"So kiss me, Yomi."

Yomi hesitated, but she noticed that Hikage had her lips outstretched. She was ready and willing. She had dreamed of this moment many times, wished for it, and it was right here in front of her. To hell with her reservations! Seize the moment! She crashed her lips into Hikage's, relishing in the soft contact of her lips. As the kiss continued, Yomi wrapped her arms around the green-haired girl and attempted to push her tongue into her mouth. Hikage allowed her to do so, letting Yomi probe her mouth. Much to Yomi's surprise, Hikage then pushed Yomi's tongue back into her own mouth, taking her own explorative initiative. In response, Yomi's hands reached to the greenette's larger-than-average bust and gave them a squeeze. Assuming it was standard protocol, Hikage followed suit to Yomi's breasts.

Finally, Yomi broke the kiss and helped Hikage out of her shirt and bra.

"I love your tattoos." Yomi complimented as she ran her fingers along the strange designs. "They are very sexy." Continuing, she placed her tongue on Hikage's nipple and circled around it until she could feel them getting hard, then she closed her mouth around one of them and suckled it, fondling the other simultaneously. She felt Hikage's hand reach for the zipper of her tracksuit and unzip it. After removing her bra (which was really just the swimsuit that Yomi referred to as "serviceable underwear"), she gave Yomi's boobs repeated squeeze and caresses as Yomi continued to suck on Hikage's.

Yomi detached herself from Hikage's nipple and planted several kisses across her stomach as she descended downwards. Getting on her knees, she pulled Hikage's pants down and saw the wet spot on her underwear.

"May I? She asked, just to be certain as she put her hands on Hikage's panties.

Hikage nodded, and Yomi pulled off the last remaining piece of Hikage's clothing, revealing Hikage's womanhood. She took a moment to stare at it in awe before she spread it open with two fingers and inserted her tongue the green-haired girl, who finally let out a loud moan in response.

Hikage tasted divine, perhaps better than bean sprouts. Yomi almost seemed to devolve into a primal state with the way she desperately tongued Hikage. The snake-like girl's moans inspired her and motivated her to want to give her the utmost pleasure she could offer with her body.

"Yomi," Hikage said. "I feel kind of strange."

"You're probably about to come," Yomi explained. "Don't be scared. I wouldn't do anything that would hurt you." With Hikage reassured, Yomi resumed her meal. Within moments, Hikage, did indeed, blast her juices into Yomi's mouth. Attempting to get them all in was harder than she anticipated, and some ended up on her face.

Suddenly, Yomi felt herself get pushed back onto her sleeping mat by Hikage, who promptly crawled above her and began to suck the blonde's nipples.

"Am I doing good?" she asked. "I want it to feel as good for you as it did for me."

Yomi smiled and rubbed the back of Hikage's head. "You're doing just fine."

While the sucking and licking of Yomi's breasts continued, Yomi reached down to remove the bottom half of her tracksuit. Hikage then moved downwards and removed Yomi's "panties".

"Here I go," Hikage warned as she dove to the treasure between Yomi's legs. Yomi should have suspected this, but Hikage truly had a way with her tongue. Each lick sent coursing waves of ecstasy throughout her entire body. All she could do was squirm and moan in pleasure. She instinctively grabbed Hikage's head, pushing it down to get Hikage's magic further inside her. Within only a handful of minutes, her climax burst forth into her new lover's mouth. Unlike Yomi however, when HIkage pulled her head back up, there was none on her face.

"So, do you feel any different?" asked Yomi.

"I don't think I completely understand." Hikage began her explanation. "But… I have this urge to spend more time with you."

Yomi's face lit up and she embraced Hikage in a bear hug. "I want to spend more time with you too!"

The Next Day

"So, you two are dating?" Homura asked. "Is that what's happening."

"Well, I think you two are wonderfully adorable together." Haruka cooed. "And if you need ideas for kinky things to try, I can give a few suggestions."

"Hikage said she wants to understand what love is," explained Yomi. "She believes that I'm the one who's supposed to show her somehow." She took Hikage's hand in hers, pulled it up to her mouth and kissed the back of it. "And I promise that I will."