Choice

A part of me wonders if anyone would still pay attention to this story, given that I last updated… what, over two months ago again?

Anyway, sorry about all that. I hope you can forgive me, and I hope that the conclusion I satisfying enough for you all.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Mai?"

She rolled her eyes over to look at her ward and master. "Leave me alone, Mikoto." She mumbled tiredly.

The Goddess folded her arms. "No."

Mai simply stared at her with a stupid expression on her face.

"Mai, you've changed. These past few days-" The Cat Goddess shook her head. "No, these past few weeks you've barely smiled at all."

"What are you talking about?" Of course Mai had smiled – some days the amount of effort needed to keep the smile on her face had been nothing short of exhausting. "I smile a lot of them time!"

"No, I meant smiling for real." Mikoto folded her arms. "You think I can't tell the difference?"

Heaving a huge sigh, Mai sat up from her mattress. "Okay, fine, so maybe I've been a bit down in the dumps lately. I can't control my emotions, Mikoto. And if you're not happy with me pretending to be upbeat around you, I'll drop the act, but I can't make myself really be happy by snapping my fingers."

"Then why aren't you telling me about what's making you grumpy?"

Mai paused for a moment and turned away. "You wouldn't understand." She mumbled softly.

"Wouldn't understand? I'm the Cat Goddess-"

"Who hasn't had any human contact aside from me for the past century." Mai shot back.

"Not true! There was that Yuuichi guy who-" Mikoto paused, and suddenly Mai had a terrible gnawing sensation coming from deep within her belly.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Flinch when I said 'Yuuichi'."

"I didn't!"

"Yes you did." The frown on her ward's face hardened. "Is this about him? It is, isn't it? Did he do something to you?" Before Mai could react Mikoto had already stood and turned towards the doorway. "I'm going to find him and-"

"NO! Stop it, Mikoto!" Mai shot out of the bed, seizing Goddess' arm just below the shoulder. Mikoto tensed and for a moment Mai thought she was going to wrench her arm free, something that would have badly injured the Otome's hand, but apparently Mikoto thought better of it.

"Why not?" She questioned shortly.

"He hasn't done anything to me, okay?' Mai turned away. "This is just… it's something I did to myself."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"I… I know." Mai shook her head.

The Cat Goddess folded her arms as silence fell upon the room. After several long seconds she let out a dissatisfied 'hmph' and stalked out of the room, leaving Mai alone.

It took the orange haired Otome a long time to get to sleep that night.

Two days later, Mai was walking down the road to the noodle stand in the wee hours of the morning. As was customary for her at this point, she barely noticed the path ahead of her – she knew it so well she could practically walk it blindfolded.

As she rounded the corner, her eyebrows raised in a mild gesture of surprise.

"Natsuki?"

Her friend looked up from the stool she had settled herself on. "Yes, it's me." She nodded. "What, you couldn't tell? The lighting here [i]is[/i] pretty bad at this time of the day, isn't it…"

"No, no, that's not – I mean – what are you doing here?" even as she spoke she had already unlocked the door to her stand and she stepped inside.

"Welll… honestly speaking," Natsuki leaned herself against the doorway. "Mikoto came looking for me. She asked me to talk to you."

Mai closed her eyes and sighed. "Well, what about?"

"That's the thing. Mikoto doesn't know. Says you won't tell her." Natsuki continued speaking as Mai busied herself with the day's preparations. "She… uh, enlisted my aid to figure out what was wrong."

Mai paused, one hand lightly grasping a ladle. "It's Yuuichi." She said shortly.

Natsuki remained silent, obviously seeking further clarification.

"He found out. That I'm an Otome." Mai shook her head and turned back to her preparations. "And ever since he did I haven't seen him at all."

"You did tell me he didn't seem to fond of us Otomes…"

Mai sighed. "I don't know what to do, Natsuki. But I think… I think it's for the best if we just dropped the matter from now on."

"Why?" Natsuki's frown deepened. "You're not acting like the Mai I know. Back when you were still in Garderobe you'd just face each of your problems head on."

"That was different." Mai countered tersely as she set another pan down. "Things were… things were simpler back then. More straightforward. You had a goal, and you just didn't stop until you hit it."

"What makes you think it's not the same now?"

"What? I like Yuuichi, but he doesn't like Otomes, which I am, and even if he accepts me I'll have to give up being an Otome to be with him, which I'm not entirely sure about, and even if we let that slide there's still Mikoto to consider and I don't know what she'd say about all this." She fell silent, taking several deep breaths to calm herself down.

After a slight pause, Natsuki spoke up again just as Mai was beginning to think her friend might not have anything else to add. "And have you talked to them about this?"

"You know the answer. Why are you asking me?"

"Have you talked to them about this?"

Mai sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, I haven't. Satisfied?"

"No, because that's precisely the step you should be taking if you want any hope of unravelling this whole mess." Natsuki sighed and blew a strand of hair out from her eyes. "And I think you know it, too."

Mai didn't respond for a long while. Then she closed her eyes. "I guess you're right." She finally admitted grudgingly. But it's still not going to be easy...

One problem was, of course, finding Yuuichi again after the incident. He hadn't shown up since that day, something which Mai couldn't particularly fault him for. However, it still left her high and dry.

A part of her was still mostly concerned with what exactly she was supposed to say to him. "Yeah, so I was always an Otome, I just never got the opportunity to bring it up," didn't sound like it was going to cut it.

And then there was Mikoto. She wasn't sure if the Goddess would know how to respond to the situation at hand – after all she had barely stopped her from leaving to go find and beat up Yuuichi the other day.

Well, at least she knew where Mikoto was, and could talk to her about it… As Mai stepped back through the doorway of her home, she called out to her ward.

"Mikoto?"

After a moment, she poked her head around the doorway to the kitchen. "Mm?" She mumbled.

Mai winced at the iciness in Mikoto's tone. The Cat Goddess was obviously still sour about what happened the other night. She paused. "Mikoto… can we talk?"

"Oh, now you want to talk." She snorted. "What about dinner?"

Right. She reined in the urge to sigh and went into the kitchen after her. I guess it'll a bit of pacifying before we can talk…

(X)

Later, after the two of them had finished their food, Mikoto nodded. "Okay. What's been bothering you?"

Mai hung her head. "Mikoto… I… you remember Yuuichi, right?"

"Yeah. This is what it's about, huh?" Mikoto nodded. "You said he didn't do anything to you earlier."

"Yes, that's true." She looked to the ground. "It's more like… I did it to myself. About him."

Mikoto cocked her head to one side. "I don't get it."

"… Mikoto… do you know what it means to be in love?"

The Goddess glanced down at her empty plate. "That's when two people really like each other, right? When they want to live with each other and spend all their time with each other, right?"

Mai nodded. "Correct."

Mikoto frowned. "But what does that-" Her face scrunched up. "No." She shook her head once. "Mai, you're not in love, are you?"

The Otome hung her head. "I wasn't sure about it before, but… yeah, I think so."

"With the Yuuichi guy?'

She hesitated. "Yeah."

Mikoto perked up. 'Wow! That's great, isn't it?"

"Eh?" Mai blinked, "You… you're okay with it?"

Mikoto beamed. "Sure! Why wouldn't I be? It's why you're so mopey these days, right?" She nodded once. "Mai, if it makes you happy, then I'm happy too."

"…Mikoto, if I… that may mean I get to spend less time with you, you know."

"Of course I know!" Mikoto stuck her tongue out. "I'm not stupid. But you'll still be living here, right? I'll still be able to see you everyday." Mikoto grinned. "And if Yuuichi does anything to make you cry I can beat him up for you."

Mai chuckled nervously at that, but inside she felt as if a great weight had lifted from her heart.

Well, not completely… she would still need to face Yuuichi himself. As she cleared the plates and bowls away, she silently wondered what she was supposed to say to him.

The sun rose bright two days later as Mai made her daily pilgrimage down to her noodle stand. As she walked past rows of other people silently setting up their own stands, she wondered about why she was still hesitating.

The registry at Windbloom castle would have noted where Yuuichi stayed, she should be able to find him easily enough, but something in her still held her back.

She swallowed. "Today," She promised herself. "First thing after work, I'll-"

She came to her stand and found Yuuichi leaning against it, subconsciously massaging the scar on his arm. He gave a noticeable start as she came into his line of view.

"Mai." He said softly.

There was a pregnant pause. And then she nodded. "Yuuichi."

He sighed and glanced down at the ground. "Haven't seen you in a while, huh."

Mai turned away and stepped towards her stand. "I had a lot to think about."

Both of them were being reserved. On guard. Well, this is awkward, Mai thought unhappily. The only way they were going to be able to get past this was by facing the problem. Swallowing, past a throat that seemed far too dry, she turned and opened her mouth to speak.

Somewhat to her surprise, Yuuichi beat her to the punch. "I… uh, Mai, I need to tell you something, I need to get it off my chest first."

She paused. "All right…"

He clenched his fists. "Mai, I… I'm sorry if I've hurt you."

Mai blinked. "Hurt me? What do you mean?"

"All that stuff I said about the Otomes. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." He ran one hand through his messy hair. "In fact, that was why I stayed away… I wasn't sure if you would want to see me again."

Wow. And here she had been worried about herself driving him away. "I guess… I should apologize too. For not telling you I was one of them. An Otome, I mean."

He nodded thoughtfully. "I… guess that makes us even, huh."

"Yeah," She nodded. But no, there was something… he was still holding back.

"Yuuichi?" She questioned softly. "Is there something else?"

"Wh – er, no. No, there isn't." Such a transparent lie was rather surprising, and she frowned.

"Yuuichi." She repeated, more firmly.

He glanced away. "No, seriously, don't bother. It'll just save the both of us pain."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "All right, then I have something to tell you, okay?" She hesitated, wondering if she could really go through with it, and then she shook herself mentally. She'd already made her decision, after all. All that was left was to communicate it.

"Yuuichi… I like you."

There was complete silence. Mai swallowed and pushed on.

"I don't know how or why this started. All I know is that I like… I like being with you. I like seeing you smile. I like talking to you. I like just hanging out, being in your presence." She glanced down. "I like you… even enough… to give up being an Otome. Even enough to give up my power."

There. She'd lain herself completely bare before Yuuichi, and the only question would be how he would respond.

After a long moment, he chuckled, a low uncertain sound in the predawn gloom. "Wow," he finally said. "I… uh, talk about serendipity."

Huh?

"Mai… I like you as well." He glanced away. "But I couldn't ask you to give up your Otomehood for my sake. I wasn't going to make that demand of you. But now…"

A bubbly, joyful sensation could be felt deep within her chest. Did he mean…?

With a cry of joy she launched herself at him, arms wrapping around him tightly, and for the first time in nearly two months she felt perfectly contented.

"And all's well that ends well." Natsuki commented wryly as she took a long swallow from her drink. "Told you it was simple when you got down to it."

"So when's the wedding?" Shizuru asked, a smile on her face.

"Come off it," Mai grinned back. "We're not even officially engaged yet."

"Anyway!" Natsuki clapped her hands. "I think we've wasted quite enough of your time. You have a date with him tonight, don't you?"

"Yeah, I'm bringing him to the top of Crescent Peak, and then we'll be having a picnic there."

"Crescent Peak?" Shizuru raised an eyebrow. "How will you-?'

"My nanomachines aren't gone yet, you know." Mai grinned. "It won't take me five minutes to get there."

"Hm. But sooner or later…"

Mai nodded slowly. "All the more reason to cherish it while it's still there, don't you think?" With a cheery wave goodbye, she was gone.

Natsuki swirled the amber liquid in her glass a bit longer. "I love happy endings." She said. "Don't you?"

"I do indeed." Shizuru looked at the direction Mai was heading off to. "I do indeed."

Story End

Ironically this ending feels rushed despite taking so long…

Oh well, please review. Thanks.