Tenshi opened her locker and pulled out her afterschool clothes - today a plain black T-shirt, blue jeans, and a lightweight black jacket (as it had been uncharacteristically cold this May).
"Well, I just-"
"Oh!" Neko whirled around, blushing furiously, and covering her eyes, as she realized that Tenshi was planning to change while she talked.
"Nani?! Oh!" Tenshi's aquamarine eyes widened, and she blushed as well. "I-, ano, I mean, well, we change in front of other girls all the time." She blushed harder.
"Demo� I'm not dating any of them," Neko said quietly.
"No," Tenshi agreed sheepishly. She figured she must have been on autopilot - not even considering the fact that she was about to change in front of her girlfriend. *Baka* she scolded herself. "Oh! But that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Dating, I mean." Tenshi quickly finished changing so that she could look Neko in the eyes.
"Okay, I'm done!" She turned Neko around and took her hands, uncovering her eyes. "See, nothing to fear."
Neko smiled in relief. "You're wearing boy's clothes again," she scolded, teasingly, as she reached over and pushed some of Tenshi's bangs out of her face into a slightly more feminine style. The bangs ignored her and fell back into their original setting, making her look more boyish again. Tenshi, like her okaa-san Haruka, could look like a guy when she wanted to, but Neko thought she looked great in feminine clothing as well. Of course, Neko thought she would look great in anything, so she actually didn't mind what Tenshi wore. Which was good, since Tenshi was just as likely to wear clothes meant for either gender.
Tenshi let Neko's criticism go. She looked into Neko's deep violet eyes.
"Koneko-chan, I want to go on a date with you."
"Oh, is that all. But we've already-"
"Iie, I want to take you somewhere. Just the two of us. No yoma, no generals, and for goodness sake, no parents. A nice. Normal. Date."
"Did you have someplace in mind?" Neko asked softly.
"It's a surprise. Will you come?"
"Absolutely," Neko breathed. As if there was any doubt. Actually, Neko was quite touched. Technically, this was the first time Tenshi had actually asked her out. The first time she had avoided it altogether, and last time, she had joked her way into it.
Tenshi relaxed. "Okay then, great!" She let out a deep breath. She hadn't realized how nervous she had been. Granted, she and Neko had been spending lots of time with each other and were relatively comfortable together, but they had really only been on two actual dates, neither of which were actually what they were supposed to be. The first date had been interrupted by Jian-wa attacking them, and the second had taken a quick detour and then turned into another battle. So actually, it wasn't all that surprising that she was still anxious about dating her. "Good, then, I'll wait for you outside."
"Now?"
"Hai. I don't want to let anything else happen to keep us from going. I mean, I know we stopped Tanzanite yesterday, but there's usually a random yoma hanging around after the 'big bad' gets stopped anyway. I just don't want to risk it." She shooed Neko towards the door between the locker rooms. "So hurry up and get dressed," she said excitedly. "I'll be outside."
Neko ducked through the door. "Okay, see you."
Tenshi smiled as she put on her jacket and walked outside, oblivious to the terrifying experience she was about to have.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko took a quick look into the mirror in her locker. "Great, I look just perfect for a date," she told her reflection sarcastically.
She took down her dark green hair and ran a brush through it. Unlike Tenshi, whose short blond hair was fairly easy to take care of, Neko's long hair could be a pain, especially after pole vault and soccer. After a few minutes, she checked out her reflection again. Better, but some of her hair was hanging in her face. She dug through her locker for some barrettes. Finding a couple, she pinned up the stubborn hair that refused to stay out of her eyes. "I think that's as good as it gets," she informed her reflection.
She grinned. It was kinda like talking to Mi-chan. But not quite. For one thing, Mi-chan would never wear her hair down with barrettes. Plus, her reflection wasn't about to tease her about spending so much time on her hair before a date, like Mi-chan would have.
Neko closed her locker, shutting away her reflection. *Just because Mi-chan has dating down to a fine science, doesn't mean I do.* She put on her backpack, ready to go.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As Neko walked out the locker room door, she was met by what appeared to be a pleasant sight. Mi-chan and Tenshi were talking together a little ways off. Neko was glad that they could get along.
Or not. "Hi, Tenshi-kun! Hi, Mi-chan!" she called to them, but stopped as a strong wave of anger hit her - not hers, but Mi-chan's. Something Tenshi had done had seriously enraged Mi-chan. Her animosity towards Tenshi was quite clear.
Neko's eyes widened in fear. Mi-chan had always considered herself the protector of the family. She had protected Neko from bullies when they were younger and had done the same for Kimahou and Chibi, their younger sister and brother. If Mi-chan thought that Tenshi had done anything to wrong Neko�.
