Our Hands Together

Part 1

“Well, why don’t we live together?”

Hanna coughed and spat out the water in her mouth. “A-ahem, my apologies. Do you mind repeating yourself?”

“Aw…” Sherry pouted a little while thinking about if it was possible to salvage her now soggy bread. “I just think living together would be the smart thing to do, don’t you?”

“And how could you possibly jump to that conclusion?!” Hanna almost yelled before remembering that the two of them were in a public space. Calming herself down, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I just said it would be expensive to go to that fashion school I was looking at! What leaps of logic did you have to make to get to the point where we should live together?”

Smugly, Sherry chuckled and smiled. This damn idiot woman Hanna thought to herself. Ignoring Hanna’s scowl, Sherry began to explain her reasoning. “It’s easy Hanna! What’s one of the most expensive parts of going to school in another city?”

“I’m not sure where you’re going with this…”

“Rent! Rent is easily 30-40% of your expenses alone! Plus, food too!”

“Like I said, where are you going with this?!”

“But,” Sherry continued as if Hanna didn’t interrupt her, “what’s the easiest way to reduce those costs?” She looked dramatically at Hanna.

“…Just say what you’re thinking!”

“Living together with someone!” Sherry gave her a thumbs up. “Then we can both save on rent, food, and even time with finding a chore rotation!”

It was a brilliant idea, or at least that was the impression Sherry was giving off. Hanna didn’t know where to begin with retorting. But she supposed she’d start with the most basic one.

“A-and why do you think I would want to live with you?”

“Because I’m cute, loveable, praiseworthy, amazing, and a genius!”

Hanna sighed. “Even still, I highly doubt I’d be able to afford even half the rent in Tokyo! We’d have to find a two bedroom apartment, have a guarantor, and- wait, this isn’t even taking into account the fact that you’d be going to Tokyo! Why would you want to go to Tokyo?!”

“There’s a university with a program that specializes in forensics!”

Hanna didn’t realize that Sherry had already figured out what she was going to do next. Of course, it’s not that Hanna didn’t have an idea on what she wanted to do but it was another thing entirely to commit to it. Though, she thought to herself, maybe that was one of the differences between herself and others like Sherry. Hanna struggled to make ends meet by herself, working part time and trying to save to go to school. Going to school for something that might not even pan out? And the amount of money she’d have to spend just to try it?

“-na!”

Sherry’s voice shocked Hanna out of her thoughts. “S-sorry, what did you say?”

“Geez,” Sherry pouted, “you should listen when others talk to you!”

“Not like you’re one to talk!”

“Ehehe~ well, anyways I was saying that I think it’s the perfect solution!”

“B-but, I don’t even know if I’ll be accepted! I haven’t even applied and-”

“You will.” Sherry reached over and grabbed Hanna’s hands. “I know you will be!”

Hanna’s cheeks turned pink. “Just where do you get that confidence from?”

“There’s no one who knows you better than me! You will be, trust me!”

The reality of the situation in front of Hanna was just starting to sink in. Her knees trembled and her hand shook as she slowly raised it to the door. No! This will not do! Hanna had to present herself as a nice girl whom Sherry’s parents will be entrusting her with for the next… well however long! She took a deep breath and steadied herself and pushed the doorbell.

Thump, thump, thump. The door slammed open and an energetic Sherry burst out the door and wrapped her arms around Hanna. “Hanna!”

“Gack!”

Hanna struggled to breathe with Sherry’s arms wrapped tightly around her. “Can’t… breathe… you… gorilla woman!” She tapped Sherry on the head repeatedly with her waning strength and she eventually let go.

“Eh~ But I was just happy to see you!”

“Why does that mean you get to crush me to death?!”

“Um…” Hanna heard an unfamiliar voice. Standing at the doorway was an adult woman, presumably Sherry’s adoptive mom. “Would the two of you like to come in?”

Sherry hugging Hanna so tightly temporarily made Hanna’s mind blank and she forgot what she was supposed to be doing. Hastily, Hanna straightened out her dress and bowed deeply to Sherry’s mom.

“I-it’s nice to meet you! My name is Hanna Tono and I am here to discuss the possibility of living together with your daughter Sherry in a shared apartment for the next few years or so!”

Sherry’s mom giggled. “Come in, it’s nice to meet you Hanna. We can talk more inside.”

“O-of course!” Hanna followed after the two of them. “A-also I made these, hopefully they are to your liking!” She took a tin of cookies out of her bag.

“Oh my! You really shouldn’t have!” Sherry’s mom graciously accepted the tin.

“Yum! I love your cookies Hanna!”

“They’re not for you!” Hanna almost instinctively retorted but choked her words down with a cough. After taking off her shoes, the three of them entered the kitchen where Sherry’s mom put the tin of cookies neatly away.

Nervously, Hanna sat down at the dining room table where there were already some other snacks. Should she have gone with store bought after all? But that would put a further strain on her already dwindling savings…

Sherry’s mom busied herself in the kitchen and called out to the two of them. “Just make yourself at home! Let me make some tea and we can have your cookies with them!”

“Okay~!” Sherry replied for the two of them. She sat next to Hanna and began happily humming.

How could this girl be so relaxed? They were about to ask her mom if it would be alright for two barely adult women to live with each other, one whom could barely afford their current living situation and make ends meet too! The thoughts started swirling around Hanna’s head as Sherry’s mom set down some tea.

“Sorry Hanna if it’s not up to your tastes, this is the best I can do unfortunately.” She gave a weak smile to accompany her self deprecating jab.

“N-not at all!” Hanna took a sip. It tasted like tea alright, Hanna wasn’t actually too picky about food or drink. “This tastes amazing, thank you! I apologize for not offering to help before.”

“Oh my, thank goodness! Sherry told me you were a girl with, oh how did she put it again? ‘Refined and noble tastes’?”

“Sherry…!!” Hanna turned around in her seat at Sherry who was innocently sipping away at her tea. “What kind of person did you tell your mom I was?!”

“B-but Hanna! You always act so dignified and-”

The two of them started bickering. Sherry’s mom giggled politely causing Hanna to realize what they were doing.

“Ack! I-I’m sorry Miss Tachibana! I didn’t mean to be rude to your daughter!”

“No, no!” Sherry’s mom reassured her. “I can tell the two of you care about each other a lot.”

Hanna didn’t understand how she could know that but she was still embarrassed all the same. “N-not particularly…!”

“Geez Hanna,” Sherry said through a mouthful of Hanna’s cookies before swallowing, “you should be more honest! I know you care about me!”

“I! Do! Not!”

As their bickering resumed, Sherry’s mom was honestly grateful to Hanna. For the time that she and her husband had been taking care of Sherry, she always felt like Sherry was holding back in some way. But ever since coming back to them, they felt that Sherry had changed. And she was sure that a lot of it was thanks to this girl next to her right now. There was a glow in her eyes whenever she talked about Hanna that they hadn’t seen before.

“I think it’s a great idea under one condition.”

Hanna and Sherry turned to face Sherry’s mom.

“Promise me you’ll help each other out when you need it, okay?”

“Naturally, of course!” “I will!”

Hanna took a deep breath. Her chest thumped with anticipation, her suitcase eagerly awaiting a moment of rest. It had been a long day and Hanna was finally at her destination. Yet instead of the sense of ease that she should be getting, she was feeling restless.

Opening the door and stepping in would be opening the next chapter in her life. If you asked her three years ago if she thought she’d be here, well, she would’ve told you that honestly she didn’t even expect to get off that island. But it was a miracle how much could change with time.

That’s right, Hanna told herself, this is what she wanted. Once more, she took a deep breath, and put her hand on the doorknob. Twisting it, she opened the door, and took a step forward.

It was actually her first time here since she had trusted (hopefully without regret) that Sherry would pick a good apartment. The location and the price was good, which was more than what Hanna could ask for.

“Hanna~!” Sherry rushed down the hallway and jumped to hug Hanna. “You made it!”

“Mrmrgmrgm!”

Released from Sherry’s grasp, Hanna was finally able to breathe. “Gah! You have got to stop doing that!”

“Ehehe… Sorry I was just so excited to see you!”

Hanna however couldn’t let herself be honest. “H-hmph! This is a mutually beneficial agreement! I am simply just too worried to let you live alone so it only makes sense for me to live with you!”

Ignoring Hanna’s comments, Sherry easily picked up the suitcase that Hanna had brought with her and moved it inside. Despite losing her “magic”, it didn’t seem like Sherry was much weaker at all. If anything, that just went to show how strong she really was in general.

The apartment wasn’t exactly spacious, but Hanna supposed that there was only so much that they would be able to reasonably afford in Tokyo. It was already a large step up from her previous four-and-a-half tatami mat apartment. The floors were made of hardwood, the stove was more modern, and there were multiple doors-

Huh. That was strange, Hanna thought. There was the bathroom, that made sense. There was the laundry, that also made sense. But then there was only one more door. Did that door lead to the two bedrooms? Weird design, but maybe that was normal for Tokyo.

Inside Sherry was busy… what was she doing? Hanna noticed an assortment of pans and pots all over the place, onions that were brutalized, potatoes that looked like they were-

“I’m just about to start cooking dinner!” Sherry happily announced.

“Do you mean destroying?!” Hanna rushed over to the kitchen. “My goodness, what have you done to these poor ingredients!”

It looked like Sherry had given up on using the knife and- Hanna quickly grabbed Sherry’s hands. “You cut yourself!”

“Just a little!”

“A little?!” Sherry’s hands were covered in tiny cuts, and there were even bandaids on some of what Hanna assumed were the bigger ones. “Seriously, what am I going to do with you… did you at least clean out the wounds?”

“I put a band-aid over them!”

“Argh! Come over here!”

Hanna pulled Sherry over to the sink and took off her hastily applied bandaids. Luckily the cuts seemed to have stopped bleeding, but Hanna still washed them with water and ignored Sherry’s “ow ow ow"s.

She went over to her suitcase and pulled out a first aid kit she kept on hand in case of emergencies and quickly wrapped Sherry’s hands up. “Now go sit over there and I’ll finish prepping dinner.”

“But-”

“No ‘but’s! Just sit!”

Sherry pouted but eventually listened and sat down at the dining room table while Hanna finished preparing the rest. Luckily for her, it seemed Sherry was trying to make curry so nothing really had to be cut perfectly. Cut the potatoes into smaller chunks, discard any piece too small… and thankfully Sherry didn’t touch the meat yet. Carefully, Hanna prepared the chicken and dumped everything into the curry pot. Simply just boil, add the curry roux, and she should be good.

While the pot boiled, Hanna checked to see if there was rice cooking at the same time which… of course there wasn’t.

“Sherry, is there rice?”

“Of course!” Sherry bounded over like a dog called by their owner. “Over here!” She opened a cupboard and pulled out a sack of rice. Hanna thanked Sherry and opened the sack of rice and grabbed an empty pot to start cooking the rice in.

“You’re not going to use the rice cooker?” Sherry asked innocently.

“Rice cooker…?” Hanna looked around. “Where?”

“This thing!” Sherry pointed at an appliance Hanna was unfamiliar with.

“O-oh, right, o-of course! I simply thought you didn’t have one, good on you for preparing one in advance.”

Hanna nervously opened the rice cooker. Surely this couldn’t be hard to operate. It was just to cook rice. She put the rice into the pot, filled it with water, closed it and… pressed a button. The machine beeped spooking Hanna a little bit but it looks like she had started it successfully. Letting out a sigh of relief, Hanna turned her attention to the curry pot, stirring every now and then to make sure nothing stuck to the bottom.

Now she just had to deal with the Sherry that was hovering behind her. “You can sit now.”

“Aw~ but it’s been so long I want to be next to you as long as possible!”

“You’ll be a few meters away!”

“That’s not the same!”

Sighing, Hanna gave up and let Sherry do her thing. At least she wasn’t hurting herself or making any more of a mess.

The curry was finished after not too long. Hanna let the curry simmer until the rice cooked as well, slapping away Sherry’s attempts at trying to sneak a bite in. The rice however…

“Huh?!” Hanna exclaimed in surprise. “Why’s it so wet?!”

Sherry looked over Hanna’s shoulder. “Maybe you put in too much water?”

Sighing, Hanna groaned. She should’ve stuck to what she knew. But before she could do anything, Sherry happily scooped some of the rice out into a bowl and layered curry over top and began eating right away even before sitting down.

“Mmm!!!” Her face lit up. “Itsh yummeh!”

This girl… Really anything would make her happy huh? Hanna let herself smile at the sight. She’d just have to remember for next time. She would prove that she was going to be helpful to Sherry!

Watching Sherry eat was interesting to say the least. Specifically with how much food ended up around her mouth rather than in it. It wasn’t a surprise though with how quickly she was shoveling it in. Hanna grumbled and helped Sherry wipe away some of the spilled curry but secretly she was happy to see Sherry eating her food and enjoying it so much. Not that she’d ever tell Sherry that directly. Of course it was only natural given how talented Hanna was!

With their meal finished, Hanna was worried about Sherry breaking the dishes so she took care of that too. Sherry hummed happily with a full stomach and realized there was something she could help with.

“Let me move your stuff to the bedroom then!”

“Hm, okay sure.” Hanna nodded her head. There was no reason to believe that Sherry could damage her suitcase in any way at least. She washed the dishes as she watched Sherry pick up her suitcase and move to the only door Hanna hasn’t seen opened yet. The curiosity over how the bedroom would split into two ate away at her and Hanna watched as Sherry opened the door revealing-

“H-h-hold on a minute!”

Hanna rushed over, hands still dripping with water. Sherry, a bit surprised, stumbled further into the room. Desperately, Hanna looked around for something to prove her suspicions wrong. Ah! Another door! Hanna rushed over and opened it to reveal… a closet. M-maybe there was something else!

“Hanna, what are you doing?” Sherry inquired. “Are you looking for something?”

“Yes idiot! The other bedroom!”

“What other bedroom?”

“The other bedroom in the two bedroom apartment!”

Sherry cocked her head and looked at Hanna. “But this is a one bedroom apartment? Also your hands are still wet, do you want me to get you a towel?””

“…What?” Hanna slowly turned to face Sherry. “Can you repeat what you just said again?”

“Your hands are still wet, do you want me to get you a towel?”

“The part before that!”

“This is a one bedroom apartment?”

“And what exactly do you mean this is a one bedroom apartment! There’s two of us!” Hanna looked at Sherry.

“And the bed’s big enough for both of us!”

“…”

“Hanna?”

“Hold on, I am contemplating what the best way to kill you is.”

“Aw Hanna, you might not get executed but you’ll be arrested!”

“I don’t care!” Hanna sighed. “Wait, aren’t your parents our guarantors? What made them say ok?!”

“They said it was a great idea since we were so close!”

“Wha-!” Hanna blushed. “What do you mean we’re close!”

“Geez Hanna,” Sherry laughed with that damn smile of hers, “I know you like me! I’m a detective after all!”

“I do not!!” She didn’t think it was possible for her cheeks to turn any redder but it felt like her cheeks were about to melt. “Ah whatever, I don’t care!” Hanna left the room and returned to washing her dishes. She’d worry about the sleeping arrangements another time.

Unfortunately, Hanna could not think of another solution. At least one that was good. Despite Hanna’s attempts to try to sleep on the couch in their living room, Sherry insisted that if anyone was going to sleep there she would. And that was also not a satisfiable answer to Hanna.

That’s how the two of them ended up sleeping in the same bed every night. Hanna was nervous at first and even embarrassed, but that quickly dissipated as she realized that Sherry’s sleeping posture was poor. Worse than poor even. Countless times throughout the night she would find herself wrapped up in Sherry’s arms. Her embarrassment quickly turned into annoyance, at least at first.

Initially she complained and woke Sherry up to readjust. But eventually Hanna gave up and… not that she would think it felt nice but maybe it wasn’t so bad to have an extra source of heat every night, especially if it was Sherry. Living together and eating together reminded her of the better times in that jail, even if there were a lot of bitter and sad memories too.

It had been a few months since they had both started attending university and honestly, Hanna was still getting used to the feel of things in the city. She wasn’t used to there being so many people and all the different transportation lines. Though Hanna still chose to walk as much as she could to save money.

Unfortunately despite leaving matters of rent to Sherry and her parents (and Hanna swears she will pay them back!), her tuition meant she still had to be very cautious with her spending. She would have to get a part time job soon, find some way to balance it with the house chores, as well as make sure she doesn’t fall behind on her studies. The weight of everything almost made her dizzy but Hanna was determined to not let it get to her. She would NOT be a burden to Sherry, not after everything she’s done for her, and everything she’s put Sherry through.

Putting her shoes on, Hanna made her way to the doorway. “I am heading out now.”

“Have a fun day at school!” Sherry called out to her.

Their schedules being different meant they left at different times. It was pretty common for Hanna to leave earlier and get back earlier too, which was perfect since it gave her time to buy groceries if needed, prep dinner, and take care of any household chores. It was tiring sure, but it was something Hanna needed to do.

Classes were hard, but not too hard that Hanna couldn’t keep up at least. It was interesting to study about something she had developed as a skill out of necessity. People praised her for needlework which Hanna tried to play it off coolly, though her classmates could easily tell she was quite happy.

“Hanna, is there something wrong? Your paper is still blank.”

Her instructor had stopped by her desk. Their assignment was to design an outfit, something that Hanna was struggling with. When it came to making the outfit, Hanna considered herself quite skilled. But when it came to designing one well… She racked her brain for ideas but none were coming.

“My apologies professor, I have just been considering what sort of outfit I would want to design and I cannot seem to come up with anything.”

“Ah yes, it’s quite hard to think of new ideas isn’t it?” He chuckled a little. “Let me give you a bit of advice that always helped me. Whenever I want to think of a new outfit or new design, it helps to first think about who you want to wear your clothes. What kind of colors would suit them? What sorts of fabric would they like? What patterns would look good on them? When you start answering those questions, you’ll find a design will naturally come to you. So Hanna, do you have anyone that comes to mind?”

Her roommate came to mind causing her to blush slightly. “N-no one!”

“Hm, I’m not so sure if that’s true.” He laughed again. “Well, with whoever you’re thinking of, I’m sure you’ll be able to come up with a wonderful outfit for them.”

Hanna missed her opportunity to deny that idea as he left to check up on other students. Sherry? Sherry of all people?! She was sure that Sherry wouldn’t have come to mind if she mixed up her wardrobe more! That stupid blue haired idiot was always wearing the same simple outfit of a t-shirt and jeans! Her outfit on the island actually looked quite nice… but Hanna thought Sherry could look great in other outfits too. Maybe something more traditional… But of course, keeping her hat. Her little bird accessory would also look cute if it was on the front of her outfit too. Oh and of course, Sherry would look great with a cape with how much she runs. The image of her running with a flowing cape made Hanna smile. And if she’s going to be a detective she’d probably need something easy to move in while keeping her warm since she’ll be outside all the time. But she should stand out from other detectives too! So long pants, a nice sleek sort of suit jacket with buttons down the middle made out of nice breathable materials and-

Hanna had lost track of time and eventually her professor had come back and smiled. “Ah, see? I knew you had someone in mind.”

“N-not in particular!”

“Ah, so your imaginary model just happens to have gold eyes, blue hair, and-”

“Thank you for your instruction!” Hanna gathered her materials in a hurry. “I will see you tomorrow!”

She quickly left the classroom after shoving her sketches in her bag. H-hmph, it just happened that Sherry would look good in the outfit she was designing. She would never make clothes for that idiot who just throws the first thing she finds on in the morning!

But, Hanna couldn’t deny that it WOULD be nice if Sherry were to wear these clothes. Naturally, they’d look good on her. Not that they were made exactly for her, but it just happened this outfit that Hanna was designing would work on her. Yes, that’s exactly it!

The cold wind outside made Hanna shiver slightly. The temperatures were starting to get cooler and winter was rapidly approaching. It would be good if Sherry realized it herself and wore thicker clothes too. Hanna sighed. Maybe it was a good thing idiots couldn’t catch colds.

Though in addition to the cold winds, the days started ending sooner too. By the time Hanna started heading home for the day, the sun was setting. Hanna wasn’t looking forward to the snow either. It brought back bad memories for her.

Once she finished picking up the groceries she contemplated whether or not she should take the train back. Hm… No, that would be unnecessary she thought to herself. The walk wasn’t that long or far, and the groceries weren’t that heavy either. She began the trek back.

Yet something felt off. A shiver went down her spine not from the cold but from her own instincts. In a flash she was reminded of the paranoia she felt three years ago. Was someone watching her?

She turned around. Nobody was there, just the dimly lit street that she was walking through. But could there be someone in the shadows?

Hanna shook her head. She was just being crazy. Paranoid. As if to prove it, Hanna turned around and walked back to her apartment. That feeling must be her imagination, maybe this street just reminded her of some of those long hallways back on that island.

And she got home without incident. Of course! Hanna sighed thinking about how silly she was. Who would want to follow a girl like her home anyways?

Part 2

“I… think it’s best if you go home for the day Sherry. You also shouldn’t come back tomorrow either.”

Sherry looked at her manager who had a displeased look on his face. “Ahaha… You got it boss!” She said with a smile. Taking off her apron, she handed it to her confused co-worker, or well, ex-coworker now. She left and put the restaurant behind her.

That made it how many jobs now? The third by Sherry’s recollection. First was the convenience store, then the grocery store, and now this restaurant. It turned out that even though she was “human”, it was still hard for her to understand what that really meant.

Throughout high school it’s not like she was shunned or anything. Though there were definitely times where her classmates looked at her weird. Was she supposed to hesitate more about answering their questions about the witch trials she went through? Maybe talking about the murder she had done was a bit much but it didn’t actually happen so…

All in all, Sherry didn’t really make any close friends in high school. Not unless you included Hanna and the others. They still talked and Sherry loved hanging out with them, especially Hanna! Living together was like a dream come true.

“I’m home!” Sherry announced her presence as she stepped through the door of their shared apartment.

“Sherry?” Hanna poked her head around the corner. “I thought you were working today?”

“I got fired!” Sherry said with a smile. “At least that means my evenings are more free!”

“Again? What did you do this time?”

“I told a customer which items on the menu I thought tasted bad!”

“…” Hanna sighed knowing that was just like Sherry to be honest about what she thought was good or bad. Great for the customer, not so great for the owners she imagined. “Well, come in. I prepared stew which I hope you will do the courtesy of telling me it tastes good.”

“Your cooking is always delicious Hanna!”

Sherry’s fast reply made Hanna’s ears turn red. “Just come in and eat already!”

“Okay~!” Sherry hopped into the washroom to wash her hands before joining Hanna at the dinner table.

Initially Hanna was opposed to Sherry getting a part time job. However, Hanna realized it would’ve been unfair to tell Sherry no when she herself was planning on getting a part time job later to help out with household expenses and paying back rent.

It was just a shame that no part time job was really looking for a Sherry. While yes, her parents were covering the rent for now, it didn’t sit right with Sherry to just sit back while Hanna insisted on eventually working and trying to cover her share. Sherry wished that she was able to be as useful as Hanna.

Hanna was able to cook, clean, do laundry, go grocery shopping, take care of the mail, and all these other things by herself. Sherry could… help Hanna lift heavy things. It’s just that being so accustomed with magical strength and having it taken away made things still awkward for Sherry to do. Her parents took care of her when she came back and now Hanna’s taking care of her when she moved out.

As Sherry ate, her thoughts began to wander more. She tried to really understand why Hanna was taking on so many burdens. But she struggled to come up with an answer. It must be hard to do all those chores, and definitely not fun either. Then a lightbulb clicked on in Sherry’s head.

Of course, it was because Sherry was useless at all those things.

If Sherry cleaned, Hanna would just have to clean again and probably whatever additional mess that Sherry creates from knocking things over. If Sherry cooked, Hanna would have to cook again using more of their ingredients. If Sherry-

“Sherry? Are you done eating?” Hanna asked.

Sherry looked down and realized her bowl was empty. “Yep! Delicious as always!”

“Hmph, naturally!” Hanna replied, looking pleased with herself. She took the dishes and headed to the sink.

“Hey, why don’t I help with cleaning?” Sherry asked.

“And have you drop them and break our precious plates? It’s fine Sherry, I can clean.”

“…Right! Yeah, that would be annoying!”

Sherry smiled but it didn’t feel like a real smile. Hanna’s reply hurt Sherry slightly, but she wasn’t exactly sure why. It made logical sense after all. Instead of getting in the way it would be better for Sherry to not interfere. She took her school bag and instead decided to get to work on her school assignments.

A few hours later and Hanna yawning meant that it was likely time for them to sleep. Hanna told Sherry that she didn’t need to sleep at the same time she did but Sherry didn’t mind doing so.

“Good night Hanna!”

“Good night, Sherry.”

Sherry reached over and turned off the bedside lamp and closed her eyes.

A few moments later, she opened them again. But she wasn’t in their bedroom. Blinking, Sherry tried looking around. It was a familiar sight because it was the Gnome cabin.

“Hanna!” Sherry called out to the familiar girl wearing a green dress. She walked over and reached out to tap her on the shoulder.

However she found her hands on Hanna’s throat instead.

“No!” Sherry yelled. She desperately tried pulling away but she couldn’t. Instead her hands began to close, crushing Hanna’s throat. Hanna’s face contorted with pain as she tried to claw at Sherry’s hands. Why, why was she doing this?! Sherry would never want to do this!

Except you did. A voice told her. You killed Hanna just like this before.

Stop it! But Sherry couldn’t. And Hanna eventually went limp, falling lifeless to the ground. Sherry looked at her blood soaked hands. The hands that were weapons. The hands that took Hanna away from her. The hands that could only destroy.

Sherry eyes opened. She was panting, out of breath, and sweating. She tried to get out of bed but realized that she was holding on to something. What was she- Sherry immediately released her hug on Hanna and moved her hands back to her side. The imagery of Hanna’s body was still fresh in her mind.

“Mrm… Sherry?” Hanna rolled over, rubbing her eyes. “Is something wrong?”

Hearing Hanna’s voice brought waves of relief over Sherry. She reached out to touch Hanna but stopped herself. “N-nothing! Just had a weird dream that’s all.”

“mm…” Hanna murmured, clearly still very much not awake. “Then let’s go back to sleep…” She wrapped her arms around Sherry and pulled her in closer.

“!!” Sherry wanted to return the gesture but couldn’t. The images were too fresh in her mind. For the next few hours, Sherry shut her eyes tight and kept her arms next to her body, determined to not hurt anyone with them ever again.

The next morning was an awkward morning in their apartment. Hanna’s cheeks flushed a new shade of red when she woke up hugging Sherry. She hurriedly got out of bed and got dressed, all without realizing that Sherry had been awake for the last few hours unable to sleep.

“T-time to get up Sherry!”

“Mm.” Sherry listened and got up after Hanna. The two of them began getting ready for the day.

As Hanna cooked breakfast, Sherry found herself looking at Hanna’s hands. She then looked at her own. It was incredible how different they were, despite both being human hands.

On one set of hands was the power to create wonderful meals, beautiful clothes, do household chores, and more that Sherry probably had no idea about.

The other set of hands could only…

Sherry closed her hands, digging her nails into her palm.

“Alright, let’s eat.” Hanna put some toast and eggs in front of Sherry, their go-to quick cheap breakfast meal. Sherry ate, though this time she was taking extra care to not make a mess like she normally did.

After they finished, Hanna washed the plates as usual and began to get ready to leave. “I am heading out now.”

“Mm. Take care.”

Silence followed by a flurry of footsteps. Hanna had rushed back into the kitchen to Sherry’s surprise. Before Sherry could ask what was going on, Hanna put her forehead against Sherry’s head.

“Are you okay? Did something happen?”

Uncharacteristically Shery stammered out a reply. “N-no?”

“Liar. Something is up with you… You ate slower and cleaner than before, and you have been acting lethargic all morning. Plus…” Hanna looked to the side and said in a quiet whisper. “…you weren’t hugging me this morning.”

“Huh?”

“A-anyways!” Sherry found herself being pushed by Hanna towards their bedroom. “You must rest! Do not even think about getting out of bed today!”

“But-”

“No ‘but’s!” Hanna pulled the blankets over Sherry. “Sleep, and when I get back I will see how you are feeling. If anything happens, please call my cellphone. I will prepare something for you to eat while I am gone.”

She whisked herself away to the kitchen leaving Sherry alone in their room. What had happened in the past few minutes was slowly catching up to her. The familiar ceiling looked a little more distant than usual. Sounds of Hanna’s cooking bled through the door while Sherry just laid back in bed.

Hanna was right, she did feel weird. It must’ve been that dream last night but it was just a dream right? Why did she feel so bothered by it?

Because it wasn’t just a dream, a small little voice said. You did that.

Sherry began sweating again. That’s not true, she wanted to say. Hanna was alive and well! That’s right, Hanna was-

“Sherry?” Hanna’s voice pulled her out of her subconscious thoughts. “I left some rice porridge in the fridge. Please eat it when you are feeling hungry. I will bring some medicine back on the way from school, just… just rest okay?”

She turned away to walk away. Sherry reached out to grab her sleeve, not wanting Hanna to leave her alone. But she stopped herself, the disturbing images from her nightmare resurfacing. Instead she let her hand dangle as Hanna walked away and closed the door behind her.

On the other side of the door, a worried and flustered Hanna quickly ran through the possibilities in her head. Was Sherry just sick? She didn’t feel sick… but she certainly acted sick. Did it have something to do with something that happened last night? Was Hanna hugging her annoying? Even though she hugs her every other night? But why wasn’t she hugging her this morning?

Gah! The annoyance of not having a clear answer was bothering her. And the worst part was she knew exactly why it was bothering her.

The memories of being left alone resurfaced briefly. What if Sherry was getting tired of her? What if Sherry was going to throw her away just like-

Hanna clapped herself on her cheeks. No! Sherry wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t! She promised! And even if she was thinking that, then Hanna would just redouble her efforts to prove how useful she could be. She gathered her things and left.

Click. The door locking was the last sound to echo throughout the apartment before it fell into silence. Sherry grabbed her phone and sent a message to a classmate explaining her absence and if they could provide her with notes for the day. Her tiredness was catching up with her but Sherry was scared to sleep. She didn’t want to see that dream again.

Her heart was in disarray. It was the first time Sherry felt all these… feelings. In a way, it was nice because it reminded her of when Hiro told her that she was a human. Yet, a nagging voice in her head told her that it didn’t excuse what she did. Regardless of whether Hanna asked for it or not, Sherry was the one who ultimately killed her. She had given up on choosing another path for her. She had given up on saving her.

Yes. She hated herself. But was hatred enough alone to prove that she was human?

“Hey, watch it!”

Someone called after Hanna but she didn’t get a good look at who. She mumbled a word of apology and continued walking briskly. Should she take the train? Would it be faster? What if there was a delay?

Idiot, idiot, idiot! Hanna cursed at herself. The train would be faster. It was the city. There shouldn’t be delays, right? She rushed over to the train station, medicine in her bag and purchased a ticket. The train had just arrived and Hanna pushed her way through a flood of commuters and managed to board before it left.

The day had passed by in a blur. She barely remembered the discussions in class today, let alone what her teacher had said regarding her progress on her work. Hanna kept worrying about Sherry. Maybe she was just sick… That’s what Hanna told herself as she clutched the cold medicine in her bag. She hoped she was sick. Ugh! No! That’s not right, Hanna didn’t wish Sherry was sick. She really hoped she was fine.

But if she was, then what was that expression this morning? Sherry, the always energetic idiot acting all lethargic? If only that damn woman was just more straightforward about how she was feeling like she normally was! Then she wouldn’t be so worried about this!

Fine, that settles it! Hanna thought to herself as she got off at her train stop. She would just ask Sherry what was going on with her and she won’t take silence for an answer. Hanna could have no delicacy too sometimes!

With determination Hanna opened the front door of their apartment.

Inside she saw Sherry who was half naked and carrying what appeared to be a bundle of wet clothes.

“W-w-w-what is going on here?!”

“Hanna!” Sherry turned with a bright smile on her face. “You’re back!”

“Put your clothes on idiot!” Hanna rushed inside and closed the door behind her. “You’re going to catch a cold if you didn’t have one already!”

Trying to ignore the fact that Sherry was just in her underwear, Hanna helped Sherry move her clothes to the washing machine, then hurriedly shoved Sherry into some of her clothes. After all that was over, Hanna took a deep breath and looked at Sherry.

“Would you now like to explain to me what had happened?”

“Well, I was eating right?”

“Mhm.”

“And then there were dirty dishes left right?”

“Right.”

“So I decided to wash them, but the water splashed out of the bowl all over me!”

“…Of course it did.” Hanna sighed. However, something still felt off. Hanna looked at Sherry.

“Hanna…?” Sherry chuckled a little from how closely Hanna was looking at her.

“You’re still not feeling well are you?” Hanna reached out to Sherry but Sherry backed away.

“I’m fine! Perfectly fine! Look, see?” Sherry lifted a chair in each hand. “All better now!”

But it didn’t convince Hanna who looked… a little hurt. “Oh. I see.” She looked at the dishes that Sherry had washed and put back, and then headed to their bedroom.

“Hanna? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just like how apparently nothing is wrong with you.” Hanna replied. Her tone was cold. “I am quite tired today, I will sleep early.”

She closed the bedroom door behind her, not giving Sherry the opportunity to say anything. Or well, tried to.

Something told Sherry that if she let that door close, their relationship would change for the worse. Sherry stuck her foot in the door and opened it. Hanna turned around. The tears trailing down Hanna’s cheeks caused Sherry’s heart to twist in pain.

“Hanna…?”

“…What.”

Hanna turned her face to the side. Sherry reached out but stopped herself again. The two stood in silence.

Why? Why was Hanna so upset? She was barely beginning to understand her own feelings but understanding someone else’s was a difficult hurdle. But she wanted to know. No, she needed to know. Just… What would she do if Hanna hated her? What if she hated how useless Sherry was?

“Why are you crying you big idiot…” Hanna sniffled.

“Huh…?” Mirroring Hanna, tears began welling up in Sherry’s eyes. “I’m crying…?”

Hanna wiped away the tears falling down Sherry’s cheek. “Yes, you stupid no-delicacy-having woman. Now, could you please tell me what’s wrong?”

Would telling her make Hanna think of her as even more useless, or hate her more? Sherry looked at Hanna. Even if that were true… it would be better to risk that then to see Hanna like this. She nodded and together the two of them made their way to the living room sofa.

They sat down side by side. Sherry took a deep breath and just decided to bluntly ask.

“Hanna, am I useless?”

The question surprised Hanna. “What? No, of course you’re not.”

“Even though I can’t help around the house at all? I can’t clean, I can’t cook, I can’t do laundry, I can’t-”

“That’s- what are you saying?” Hanna interrupted Sherry.

“I’m just a burden to you.” Sherry looked at Hanna. “If it wasn’t for the fact that my parents were paying for rent, you wouldn’t live with me would you?”

As Sherry continued to speak she began to realize the source of her worries. More than Hanna hating her, what Sherry was truly scared of was Hanna leaving her. Hanna had become an irreplaceable existence in her life.

With tears pouring out of her eyes, Sherry made her wish be known. “Please don’t leave me.”

In response, Hanna threw her arms around Sherry. “That’s my line you idiot…!!”

Sherry found herself caught off guard by Hanna’s sudden hug. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… I didn’t want you to think I was dead weight… that’s why I was trying so hard to be helpful and clean and cook and everything.” Hanna weakly muttered. “I never once thought you were useless Sherry. Truly. I just… I didn’t want you to throw me away.”

Hanna stayed hugging Sherry. “When you acted so cold to me this morning I thought that you were getting tired of me. I thought if I kept being useful you wouldn’t have a reason to get rid of me. So I tried so, so, so, hard to be helpful.”

“That’s why,” Hanna said, looking up at Sherry. “that’s my line Sherry. Please don’t leave me. I promise to repay all the rent eventually so-”

Sherry shook her head. “The money isn’t important to me Hanna, you are.”

“But your parents-”

“We’ll pay them back together? Ok?”

“…Okay.”

Silence found its way between them again, but this time it was a comforting kind. Hanna paying no mind to what they looked like from the outside and kept hugging Sherry, feeling her heartbeat pulsing against her own. There was just one thing left bothering her, something she was embarrassed to talk about, but at this point there was no point in not asking.

“Can I ask one more thing Sherry?”

Sherry nodded.

“Why…” Hanna blushed. “Why weren’t you hugging me last night like usual?”

And more than that, Hanna knew Sherry wasn’t hugging her now. She could tell Sherry was avoiding touching her but she didn’t know why.

The question struck Sherry like a bullet. Once again the images from her nightmare flashed through her mind. She wanted to dismiss them but she couldn’t.

“Because…” Sherry began. “Last night I had a nightmare.”

It might remind Hanna of something she didn’t want to remember. But Sherry owed it to her to tell her everything. More than wanting Hanna to not hate her, she wanted Hanna to never be sad again.

“In that nightmare I thought about when I… when I killed you.”

The tears resumed flowing and Sherry rubbed them away. “It made me realize how your hands and my hands are so different besides us both being human. Your hands create while my hands… they only destroy.”

“I’m so scared Hanna. Scared that if I were to touch you that I would destroy the thing that I value the most in the world.”

Slowly Hanna released her hug around Sherry. Instead, she grabbed the hands that Sherry had hated so much. “I asked you to kill me, remember? So that I wouldn’t become a witch.”

Sherry shook her head. “Killing you was abandoning you. If I was smarter or quicker maybe it never needed to have gotten to that point in the first place.”

Hearing what Sherry said reminded Hanna what a cruel thing it was to ask that of her. She was the one who made that request causing Sherry to go through all this pain. Did Hanna even deserve to be by Sherry after that?

Maybe not. But seeing Sherry before her like this, Hanna didn’t care about what was right or what was wrong. She wanted Sherry to be happy. And… she wanted Sherry by her side too.

Hanna held Sherry’s hands tighter. Sherry didn’t grab back, too scared of her own strength despite losing her magical abilities. Hanna raised their hands up so that they were at eye level.

“You’re wrong Sherry. You didn’t abandon me. You came to me. Not just once, but twice. You did what no one else could. You stopped me from being a witch, and let me die a human. You didn’t kill me Sherry. You saved me.”

“But-”

“Ah enough already!” Hanna forced Sherry’s hands to grab her face. “Do you see me in pain? Do you see me hating you?”

Hanna’s tears had dried up, instead her cheeks were tinged red. Her eyes didn’t show any hatred, even Sherry could recognize that. Just a desire to be accepted.

Sherry felt the warmth of Hanna’s cheeks. She didn’t realize it but she had missed holding Hanna like this. Lightly, she squeezed. And watching Hanna smile, it overrode the image of Hanna suffering from her nightmare. She moved her hands down from Hanna’s face and wrapped them around her back and pulled her in.

The hug was tight but Hanna welcomed it. Better to be held too tight then not at all, she thought to herself.

“I apologize Sherry for making you think that you were useless. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I just wanted… I just wanted you to need me too.”

Sherry laughed weakly. “Of course I need you Hanna. You’re my best friend.”

The sentiment of course made Hanna happy. But for some reason, Hanna felt that being called just Sherry’s best friend wasn’t enough for her. That realization made Hanna confused. She should be happy that Sherry needs her! That’s what she wanted to hear… right?

Regardless though, their misunderstanding was cleared up. Hanna sighed internally. If she was just more honest from the start… Then again she supposed it went both ways.

Continuing their streak of honesty, Sherry decided to make her unusual request. “Then, do you mind if I help with the cooking and cleaning?”

Hanna realized this stemmed from her wanting to do everything herself. Idiot, of course Sherry would feel the way she did like this. Hanna nodded. “Only if you promise not to cut yourself.”

“…”

“Sherry?”

“…I can promise to try!”

“Do better than try!”

The two laughed while hugging each other. This is what they had missed. The adrenaline of the situation wearing off, Hanna started to get more embarrassed that the two of them were in a tight hug. Part of her wanted to let go but the overwhelming majority of her didn’t.

“Well, while we’re on the topic of getting everything off our chest, is there anything else bothering you Hanna?”

“…Nothing.”

“Eh~ You thought of something, you definitely did!”

“N-no I did not!”

“You’re going to lie to me after everything we just said to each other…?”

“Ah geez, fine! I… I want you to…” Hanna mumbled the last part so that Sherry didn’t hear.

“What did you say?” Sherry leaned in closer.

“I want you to hug me tonight when we sleep!”

Sherry blinked. “I thought you didn’t like it?”

“I never said that! Argh!” Hanna looked away. “This is why I didn’t want to say anything!”

“I promise.”

“P-promise what?”

“I promise that I’ll hug you every night! Don’t worry Hanna, I’ll make sure you never sleep alone again!”

This girl…!!!! Hanna tried to retort but couldn’t. She could never tell how serious Sherry was being, but regardless of hyperbole or not, Sherry’s promise truly did make her happy.

“Now come on!” Sherry smugly smiled. “Anything else? Leave it to me, future ace detective!”

Hanna thought she had already embarrassed herself enough. She had a feeling though that Sherry wouldn’t give up until Hanna told her at least one more thing she could help with. Racking her brain, she eventually thought of one thing that Sherry might be able to help with though truthfully she hoped she was wrong.

“Well…”

This was an incredibly stupid idea. Why was she doing this?

“Come in Hanna, over!” The sound of Sherry’s voice in Hanna’s ear made her sigh. At least someone was having fun.

“Yes Sherry, I hear you.”

“…”

“Over.”

The cold winter wind made holding a phone also incredibly annoying. At least the walk shouldn’t be too long. Hanna thought Sherry would say something along the lines of “oh it’s your imagination” or “we should call the police!”, something other than “I’ll follow you and keep an eye out instead!”

After all, Hanna was convinced it was just her imagination still. She didn’t know where Sherry was watching from but she assumed that with her detective brain of hers, she was smart enough to figure something out.

It was all in her head. At least Hanna hoped so. The worst case scenario was that there really was a stalker and Sherry got hurt. Suddenly Hanna’s anxiety spiked.

She talked on her phone. “Hey Sherry, I think we should call it off. Like I said, it was simply my imagination and there would not be a reason for someone to follow me of all girls. Over.”

“That’s not true Hanna! You’re extremely cute so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if someone was stalking you! Over!”

“Wha- What are you saying!”

“…”

“Argh, over!”

“…”

“Sherry? Hello?”

Silence from the other end worried Hanna. What was she doing? The sound of footsteps crunching through snow caused Hanna to sigh.

“I thought you were supposed to watch from-”

However, standing behind her was not Sherry. It was a man taller than her, someone she had maybe seen on campus once or twice.

“-…hello?” She asked, the nervousness in her voice showing.

The man stared at her and then reached out with his hand. Hanna tried to scream but her voice failed to come out. But a familiar voice helped put her at ease.

“That’s far enough!”

He turned around to see Sherry standing there. Hanna blinked but realized that if this was a stalker then he was likely dangerous too. “Sherry, run!”

“You got it Hanna!” And she did. Just towards them instead.

The man grunted and tried to reach out for Sherry but was too slow. Sherry deftly slipped under his arms and grabbed him by the waist much to his surprise.

“Sherry…” Sherry lifted the man upwards, causing him to yell. “Suplex!” And suplexed him straight into the snow.

Hanna’s jaw dropped. The man stopped moving, knocked unconscious from Sherry’s perfectly executed wrestling move.

“Haha! How was that!” Sherry smugly laughed. “Every detective needs a signature finisher!”

“You are not a superhero!” Hanna retorted. “…But you have my thanks, Sherry.”

“Of course! More importantly though,” Sherry marched to Hanna with an upset expression. “Why didn’t you tell me you were being followed sooner!”

“B-because I didn’t think I was actually being followed!”

Sherry’s expression softened. “Next time, please let me know. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if I wasn’t here…”

There was nothing for Hanna to retort to. Hanna downplayed her own feelings because what? She didn’t want to burden Sherry?

“I am sorry Sherry.” Hanna looked down dejectedly. “I didn’t want to burden you with this.”

“This isn’t a burden! Trust me, okay?”

Hearing that Hanna, realized what she had been doing this entire time. She let out a deep sigh. “God, I’ve been such an idiot.”

“Hanna?”

“Nothing, just realized how stupid I’ve been.”

This entire time Hanna realized that she just hadn’t trusted Sherry to… well like her. If she had any modicum of trust, she never would’ve thought that Sherry would leave her. Hanna sighed again. After all they’ve been through, she didn’t trust Sherry? Sherry who had tried so hard to keep their promise, and saved her so many times?

“Gah!” Hanna yelled. “Stupid! Idiot! Dumbass!”

“H-hey I thought I’d hear some praise at least-”

“Not you! Me! Well, you’re a bit dumb too but thank you regardless! Whatever, let’s just call the police and get this asshole in jail!”

Sherry was stunned by Hanna’s sudden change in attitude but she listened regardless. They called the police and they thankfully accepted the explanation that the stalker had slipped on snow or ice. Explaining Sherry’s Suplex was going to be too much work. After that was taken care of, Hanna and Sherry made their way back to their apartment.

With the situation resolved, Hanna almost collapsed in the hallway. Sherry quickly caught her. “Hanna! Are you okay?”

“Yes… Just… Tired. Hey wha-”

Sherry lifted her up in a princess carry and despite Hanna’s protests moved her to the bed. “Rest!”

“I’m not tired though-”

“Rest!!” Sherry insisted.

Hanna sighed and relaxed herself. The events of the evening were tiring. She looked at Sherry who was relieved that Hanna was listening to her. Unable to help herself, Hanna giggled.

“Eh? What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just… how silly I’ve been.” Hanna smiled warmly at Sherry.

The sight caused Sherry’s heart to skip a beat. It hurt, but… in a different way. She didn’t feel the same despair she did before. Instead it actually made her excited.

Yawning, Hanna sat upright and began taking off her clothes to get ready to sleep. “I am tired… Maybe I’ll sleep early tonight.” She looked at Sherry with a bit of expectation in her eyes. “Er…”

Sherry’s detective intuition came in handy at times like this. “I think I’ll sleep too!” She said while getting ready to sleep as well.

Hanna lit up. “R-right! We’ve both had a long day!”

Together they began the process of getting ready for bed. While Sherry wasn’t actually that tired she had a feeling that it was better to rest up after debuting her soon-to-be signature finisher. They brushed their teeth together and they were ready for bed.

Pulling the blanket up, Hanna entered first followed by Sherry. Once again, Sherry reached over and turned off the bedside lamp submersing the two of them into darkness.

Sherry closed her eyes, scared of what she would see. But Hanna coughed, causing Sherry to open her eyes.

“Hanna?”

Hanna wasn’t facing Sherry so she couldn’t see her face. But Hanna coughed again, leaning back into Sherry a bit.

“Are you feeling okay? Are you sick?”

“N-no!” Hanna denied the accusation. “I was just wondering if… if…”

“If…?”

God why couldn’t Sherry take a hint when Hanna wanted her to? Hanna nudged into Sherry’s warm body once more with her back.

Oh, idiot Sherry! “Ah, I can’t believe I almost forgot!” Sherry quickly wrapped her arms around Hanna and pulled her in tightly, the warmth radiating throughout her body.

“…Idiot.”

“Hey!” Sherry pouted. “You could’ve just reminded me!”

“And why would I do that when you were the one who promised?”

“Because it clearly seemed like you wanted to too- Ow!”

Hanna used her head as a tool to quiet a certain blue haired woman with no sense of decorum. “Hmph! Let us sleep, we’re both tired!”

“Okay~” Sherry smiled. She had a feeling that Hanna would work better than any dream catcher.

Part 3

Hanna’s instructor was inspecting her work in progress. Gulping, Hanna nervously fidgeted with her hands.

“Quite outstanding Miss Tono.” He looked up at her with a smile. “I can see a lot of care went into this outfit.”

“Thank you!” Hanna beamed at the compliment. She had put a lot of work into the outfit and was happy to hear her efforts be recognized.

She picked up her outfit and brought it back to her storage locker. It was almost finished, there were just a few finishing touches Hanna wanted to make. All she needed was for Sherry to put it on so she could make some adjustments where needed so that it would fit better and- er well, it’s not that Sherry had to be the one to wear it, she was just the person she knew best who would fit the outfit she had made.

Her mind tended to drift to Sherry more than usual lately. Perhaps it was just working on her assignment all the time that caused this to happen. She let out a sigh. Of all the people to be stuck thinking about… she supposed she could do worse than Sherry.

A conversation between her classmates caught her attention though. “Oh my god, you should just confess already!” One of the girls excitedly whispered in a not-so-quiet voice to the other.

“B-but what if he doesn’t like me back?”

“Oh please girl, he totally does! Come on! I’ll help you pick out an outfit!”

The two exited the building giggling to themselves. Hanna smiled and shook her head. Oh youth and their tales of love. Hanna was currently too busy worrying about this or that to think about love. Especially given recent events. She shuddered.

But if… if Hanna were to think about a potential suitor, she thought back to those stories she read as a child. A princess must of course have a prince! He would be dashing, strong, smart, and most importantly, caring. He would place her as his number one, always willing to help her when she needed.

For some reason though, the normal prince figure she thought of didn’t excite her the same way it used to when she was younger. Strange, Hanna thought. Her heart used to flutter when she thought of being picked up by a handsome prince on a horse.

Well, no matter. That was just proof that she was too busy with school and assignments to worry about it. Plus, her “prince” was just a figment of her imagination. There wasn’t anyone in real life that could make her heart flutter the same way!

At that moment though someone did come to mind. Hanna shook her head. No, they didn’t count. Obviously they wouldn’t count! A prince? Her? Ridiculous. She had no delicacy, no noble air, nothing that would make her like a prince.

Yet Hanna’s dumb heart kept fluttering all the same. Her cheeks flushed and for that brief, split second where she thought about Sherry saving her the other day, Hanna almost admitted that Sherry was her prin-

Almost! Hanna didn’t admit it! She slapped her cheeks and shook her head. To admit it would be like saying that Sherry was her ideal partner. A person she could eat with everyday. A person she could live with forever. A person she could always talk to. A person she could fall in love with…

“Um, are you alright miss?” A station attendant asked her politely. Hanna didn’t even realize she had made it all the way to the station. “You seem rather flushed, would you like to sit down?”

Hanna shook her head. “N-no I’ll be fine thank you!” She fumbled with her purse for a bit before finding her IC card and going on her way. Luckily the trains weren’t crowded and she was able to find herself a seat.

She buried her face in her purse trying to come to terms with her recent revelation. Could it really be true? Was she in love with that idiot of all people? That stupid muscle brained gorilla woman?

“Hanna? Hannaaaaaa~”

Her mind had wondered so far that she was even beginning to hear Sherry’s voice. And even seeing her. Wait…

“Sherry?!” Hanna practically yelled. She covered her mouth after everyone else on the train car looked at her. “What are you doing here?!” She hissed quietly at Sherry.

“Classes ended early for me today and I saw you on the train so I ran to catch the same one!” Sherry beamed as she sat down next to Hanna. She hummed, overjoyed to run into Hanna on her way back home.

And truthfully, Hanna was as well. It really reassured her to be next to Sherry, Hanna realized.

Damn it. There was no point denying it anymore. She looked at Sherry’s side profile. Hanna was in love with Sherry.

The revelation was a double edged sword. The time they had spent together was so much more… exciting. Hanna found herself taking joys at all the silly things that Sherry did, even if they sometimes did frustrate her. Her smile seemed that much more radiant and her laughter seemed to resonate through her. It was incredible what love could do to someone.

Of course, another problem was controlling herself to not look like a fool all the time. She had to bite her cheek, her tongue, clench her fists, and a variety of other things to try and hide her blush or smile that threatened to emerge from the depths of her heart.

But the hardest part? Trying to not think of Sherry all the time. Especially when she was working on her assignment.

Not that it wasn’t coming along nicely, if anything it was coming together great. The more and more she worked on it, the more and more she could really envision Sherry wearing it. How dashing she would look in it… She could imagine the different poses that Sherry could make and Hanna had to stop herself from getting lost in her delusions so she could actually work on the outfit.

Soon would come the time to hand in her assignment, but then after that it would be hers to do with as she wished. Would… Would Sherry wear this for her? Hanna blushed lightly at the thought. Of course Sherry would, right? After all, Hanna had worked so hard on it and she did a good job on it too! Naturally of course.

There was an ulterior motive though underneath that. Perhaps along with the gift Hanna could use that as an opportunity to… to confess her feelings too. As much as she tried to deny it, and as embarrassing as it was to admit, this outfit contained a lot of her l-… love for Sherry too.

And of course given how cute and talented Hanna was, Sherry should consider herself lucky that someone like Hanna l-loved Sherry so much! Thinking about what they would do after Hanna confessed caused Hanna to blush further. She shook her head and instead tried to distract herself by looking around the classroom.

“…”

Strangely, the corner of the classroom was quieter than normal. Hanna was surprised since that was the corner of the classroom where normally there would be at least some poorly whispered conversation. She realized though that it wasn’t that there wasn’t any conversation, it was just more subdued. Hanna couldn’t help but strain her ears.

“-it’s alright, there’s plenty of better guys out there anyways!”

A quiet whimper. Trying to be discreet, Hanna spared a glance towards the corner. One of the girls was patting the other girl on the shoulder. She was clearly upset.

“…I really thought he liked me. But he told me that he was just being nice and he didn’t think of me as special…”

Pain shot through Hanna’s heart. Her hands stopped moving. Yes, Hanna was in love with Sherry. But was Sherry in love with her?

Was Hanna special to Sherry the same way Sherry was special to her? If Ema had asked Sherry would Sherry have done the same for her as she did for Hanna? Was she only close to Sherry because Hanna reached out to her? The thoughts swirled around Hanna’s head as she slowly packed away her work for the day.

Sherry sat down at the cafe with her order of coffee and twiddled her thumbs. She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts. By any means, Sherry was not an expert on human emotions. However, even Sherry could tell something was up with Hanna. The way she nervously fidgeted around her, the way she avoided looking Sherry directly in the eye, the way even at night she felt hotter than usual.

And for some reason this situation felt like Sherry wasn’t supposed to ask Hanna why she was acting the way she did. It felt like something that Sherry should figure out for herself. Well, she would if she could. That’s why she had to settle on the next best thing instead.

“There you are!” A girl wearing a pair of cat headphones sat down in front of Sherry, exasperated. She waved over at the other girl Sherry had invited for advice.

“Coco, you need to slow down, an old fella like me isn’t as fast as you think geez…”

Coco rolled her eyes. “Whatever, just sit down already! Hey~” She leaned back and waved a waitress over. “Let’s see…” She looked at the menu. “Let me get an order of the cafe au lait, with whipped cream, and add some cinnamon to it thanksies~”

Next to her, a blonde girl dressed in a pretty one piece dress sat down. Her hair was a bit of a mess, probably from having to keep up with Coco. She looked at the menu. “Just a black coffee, thank you.” She smiled politely at the waitress. Miria then grabbed the glass of water the waitress had put down and slammed it back.

“So?” Coco said while checking her phone. “What’d you call us out for?”

Seeing that it was time to get to business, Sherry put on her game face. “It’s about Hanna!”

“Hah? What about that princess?”

“She’s been acting strange lately!”

Not sparing any details, Sherry went in-depth on her and Hanna’s recent living arrangements and Hanna’s change in behavior. Perhaps a bit too in-depth.

“And lately when we’ve been sleeping toget-”

Miria panickily interrupted Sherry. “S-Sherry do you think this is something you should be telling us?!”

“Hm? Why not?” Sherry asked innocently.

“Oh my god, did you call us to brag about your love life or something?” Coco sipped at her drink. “God, why don’t you two just get a room- oh wait you already did LOL” and laughed at her own joke.

“Um… Erm…” Miria scratched at her cheek. “Well, I could be wrong, but this just sounds like the sort of thing that Hanna wouldn’t want to share with others you know? Since you two are…”

“We are…?”

“Dating?”

Sherry blinked. And then laughed. “No, no, we’re not dating!”

“Haaah?!” Coco practically leapt out of her chair. “You’re not dating?!”

Why was she so surprised? Even Miria looked surprised to hear this.

“Oh my god.” Readjusting her headphones, Coco sat back down in her chair. “This is crazy.”

“N-now now Coco,” Miria tried to calm down a frustrated Coco. “Everyone moves at their own pace!”

Sherry wasn’t following still. “Why would we be dating?”

“Because Hanna’s so clearly in love with you, you idiot!” Coco wanted to bang her head into the table. How could this so called “detective” be so clueless? “Everyone thought the two of you have been dating ever since we got back!”

“E-everyone?!” Sherry looked at Miria.

“Well… yeah… especially since you two said you were going to live together haha…” Miria chuckled. “I mean… you are in love with Hanna right? You’ve practically said as much remember?”

Sherry… loves Hanna? Well, sure, Sherry loved being with Hanna. That was a given! Sherry loved spending time with her, seeing her different expressions, eating her delicious food, talking with her, and so much more. But was that the same as love in the dating sense?

“Hello? Earth to Sherry?” Coco waved her hand in front of Sherry. It was unusual for this girl to be so quiet.

At the moment Sherry was too busy trying to understand her own feelings. Funnily enough though the conversation did lead her to understand Hanna’s feelings more than her own. It would add up if Hanna was in love with her.

The thought simultaneously excited her but also made her nervous. What did it mean to be in love with someone? Was Hanna really in love with her or was she mistaking Hanna’s feelings for something else? Sherry closed her eyes to try and figure it out.

“I can’t even with this girl right now. I’m leaving. Cover my bill would you? Thanks~” Coco got up sighing and made her way out of the cafe while ignoring Miria’s attempts to stop her.

Miria returned her focus to Sherry. “Um, Sherry…?”

Sherry opened her eyes and looked at Miria. “How do I know if I’m in love with Hanna?”

It wasn’t a question that Miria could answer lightly. What didn’t help was that it was an area that Miria wasn’t even familiar with herself. But she still wanted to do what was best for her good friend. For that, there was only one thing she could really tell Sherry.

“That’s something I can’t answer for you Sherry.” Miria smiled. “Love can mean so many different things to different people and I couldn’t tell you what it means for you, the same way you can’t tell what it means for me.”

Sherry pouted. “Hey, that’s a cop out answer!” It was like when Sherry had wanted to check the answer for a mystery book only to find out that the answer was ‘up to reader interpretation’. “That’s not fair!”

Yet despite Sherry’s complaints, Miria knew that this was the right thing to say. “Why don’t you go home and think about it some more? And maybe talk with Hanna about it too?”

That simple sentence… actually made a lot of sense. Sherry clapped her cheeks. Perhaps Hanna’s strange behavior was rubbing off on her because this wasn’t like Sherry. She would get to the bottom of the mystery of ‘Is Sherry Tachibana in love with Hanna Tono?’!

“Grr, I still think that was a cheap trick, but you’re right! I’ll go talk to Hanna right away!” Sherry slapped down her portion of the bill and left the cafe, leaving Miria behind.

She smiled and sipped at her coffee. Oh, youth, she thought to herself.

“I’m home.” Hanna said as she stepped through the doorway to their apartment. She was surprised to find the lights on, she remembered Sherry mentioning that she was heading out today. Was she back already? “Sherry?”

“In here!” Sherry’s voice carried over from the kitchen. Hanna made her way over unsure what to expect.

Greeting her was the sight of Sherry sitting at their dining table. Her chair was already pulled out so Hanna put down her bags and sat down. “Would you care to explain what this is about?”

The thoughts she had earlier in the day were still whirling about. It was hard to face Sherry directly so she made do by pretending to be very interested in the dining room table.

Of course Sherry wasn’t interested in beating around the bush. She took a deep breath and introduced the topic of discussion for the night.

“I think I might be in love with you Hanna!”

Hanna leapt out of her chair. “Huh?! W–w-what are you saying?!”

Sherry smiled triumphantly. It felt good to get that off her chest. “Well, I had a talk with Coco and Miria earlier today-”

“You… you talked about something like that to Coco and Miria?!”

“-and after I came home I thought about my feelings and I think I’m in love with you!”

“…” Hanna simply sat down in stunned silence.

“Hanna…?” Sherry hadn’t expected this response. To be honest she had expected to Hanna to blush furiously or… well anything other than just not saying anything. Did Sherry go about this the wrong way?

But Hanna hadn’t responded that way because she was too busy thinking about something else. Shouldn’t someone be ecstatic that the target of their affection reciprocated their feelings? Sherry just said she was in love with her! That should be great right? Hanna looked up at Sherry.

“…What does it mean for you to be in love?”

The question escaped Hanna’s mouth before she could stop it. She looked up at Sherry who didn’t seem to understand what Hanna was asking.

“Um, I love being with you…? And you make me happy! And-”

“Couldn’t you the same about Coco? Miria? Ema?”

“Huh?” Sherry was confused, what did those three have to do with anything?

Before Hanna could stop herself, Hanna continued. “Is your love the same as mine Sherry?”

She turned and left the apartment leaving a speechless Sherry alone.

Miria’s words flashed through Sherry’s mind again. Love didn’t mean the same to everyone. Sherry thought that meant even if she didn’t fully understand Hanna’s feelings it would be ok. But she couldn’t have been more wrong. Hanna’s crying visage pained her. Again, Sherry made Hanna cry.

But there was another part to what Miria said. It was up to Sherry alone to decide what it meant to be in love with someone. No one, not even the target of her potential feelings Hanna, could decide what that meant. Determined, Sherry opened the door and began to chase down a runaway suspect.

Of course though Hanna had already made her escape. Looking left and right, there was no trace. That wouldn’t stop Sherry though. She may not know if what she’s feeling is the same as Hanna, but she was sure that nobody knew Hanna better than she did.

The cold wind helped calm Hanna down. What a damned idiot she was. Running away like that? God, Hanna wished she wasn’t such an emotional mess.

She knew that Sherry was just trying her best. How much courage and think- actually, it probably didn’t take her much at all. Hanna gave a weak chuckle. Knowing Sherry, the possibility of being in love came up and she decided to just confront it right away.

Of course, that didn’t change Hanna’s fear though. She remembered the conversation she overheard in class. Sherry might have thought she was in love with Hanna, but if she wasn’t really…

Hanna imagined Sherry’s awkward smile as she would explain to Hanna that she must have been mistaken and wasn’t in love with Hanna the same way Hanna was in love with her. Her heart twisted in agony.

So why go through that pain? Why not just… stop it before it had a chance to happen? Hanna tried to convince herself that this was the right thing to do.

“Guess this means I won’t be able to sleep with Sherry at night anymore…”

“Eh~ But you were the one who made me promise!”

A voice startled Hanna. “S-Sherry?!” She jumped up and turned around, startled to see Sherry standing behind where she was sitting. “W-what are you doing here?!”

“Looking for you!” Sherry puffed up her chest with pride. “I’m not a detective in training for nothing after all!”

Sweat dripped from Sherry’s forehead and her hair was a mess. She had rushed out of the apartment in a hurry.

“Well,” Hanna sighed, “you found me. Let’s go home. My apologies for running like that I…” What should she say? “I’m fine now.” Hanna weakly smiled.

“No.” Sherry pouted. “We’re not leaving until we get to the bottom of this!”

“Bottom of what?”

“Bottom of the fact that I might be in love with you!”

Again with this? Hanna had hoped Sherry would drop the topic. “It’s fine already! Let’s just-”

“It’s not fine!” Sherry was… Angry? Hanna had of course seen Sherry upset before but… Angry?

She walked up to Hanna. “I know that I’m not an expert when it comes to feelings. I know that’s true when it comes to my own feelings.” Sherry looked Hanna in her eyes, her voice quiet now. “But… That doesn’t mean you can define my feelings for me either.”

“At the same time though, you’re right. I don’t know if what I feel is the same as what you feel. And I can’t define your feelings for you either.” Sherry grabbed Hanna’s hands. “So, tell me. What exactly do you feel for me? I want to know.”

Hanna envied how Sherry could just so straightforwardly ask like that. Well, at this point after she ran out on her, Hanna owed at least this much to Sherry.

“I…” She also began to realize this was the first time she was confessing her feelings properly. Her heartrate accelerated and her throat was dry. She took a deep breath. “I’m in love with you Sherry.”

“So they were right!” Sherry nodded. Hanna tried to ignore what that statement meant. However, Sherry had more to add. “But, I want to- no, need to know. What does that mean? What does being in love mean for you Hanna?”

Gah! Curse the lack of delicacy in this woman! Hanna wanted so desperately to avoid answering the question but she wanted to help Sherry understand her own feelings too.

“It means…” How should Hanna phrase this? She… She didn’t really think too hard about this before. There was a lot she could say about why she was in love with Sherry, but explaining what it meant to actually be in love with her wasn’t as easy.

Maybe she was too harsh on Sherry earlier. Now that she was actually trying to put it in words, she didn’t appreciate how hard it was to actually explain what being in love meant. Should she borrow words from the romance novels she read? No. That wasn’t right. These were HER feelings. That meant it needed to be in her words.

“It means… I want you to be happy Sherry. I want you to smile, have fun, laugh, and so much more. I don’t want to see you in pain.”

There was more but… Hanna didn’t need to go that far right?

Sherry nodded her head. “But… Wouldn’t you want to do that with everyone else too? Like Ema?”

“N-no it’s different!” Hanna insisted.

“How?”

…It was fair, but brutal, for Sherry to ask. Hanna supposed she set herself up for this.

“Because you’re my number one Sherry. And I want to be your number one too. More than Ema, more than Coco, more than Miria, I want you to put me above them. I want to be with you Sherry. Spending the good times, the bad times, as much as we possibly can, I want it to be with you. Being in love with you means I want to make you happy with me, laugh with me, and so much more. When you’re in pain, I want to be there with you. When I’m in pain, I want you to be there with me.”

It was a selfish thing to wish for but it was true. Hanna wanted to be special to Sherry. But more than just the regular kind of special. She… She wanted to be Sherry’s princess. After all, Sherry was already her prince.

Looking at Sherry, Hanna saw her think long and hard about what Hanna had just said. She gulped nervously. How would Sherry respond to her feelings? Would she say ‘Ah, I guess I’m not in love after all?’ Or… Could Hanna dare hope?

“So,” Hanna couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “What do you feel about me?”

Sherry looked at Hanna. Her hand was on her chin as she pondered what Hanna told her. “Hm… I guess my feelings are different.”

Hanna’s heart sank. Of course. It was the expected outcome. And it wasn’t Sherry’s fault either. It was just Hanna’s selfish desires.

“But,” Sherry continued, “only a little.”

Sherry grabbed Hanna and pulled her closer so that they could feel each other’s breaths on their faces.

“I… I can’t honestly say my feelings are exactly the same as yours. Yet, hearing what you said though, there’s at least one part that I know for sure Hanna.” Sherry smiled. “You’re already my number one. And I want to be your number one too.”

In the time that it took Sherry to find Hanna, she realized that she knew the answer all along. Her answer might might not be the exact same as Hanna’s but that didn’t matter. Hanna talks about how much Sherry had saved her. The opposite was equally true. Hanna had saved Sherry too.

Was she selfish and quick to anger? Yes. Did she have a foul mouth and insult Sherry often? Also yes.

But for all her complaints and grumblings, Sherry knew that Hanna always had everyone’s best interests truly at heart. After all, who else would listen to Sherry’s random requests and selfish desires? Her attempts at hiding it only made her that much more cuter.

Hanna was a girl who held on to her humanity no matter what. She stuck true to her ideals and convictions. And as someone who had so easily discarded her own humanity… Sherry admired that about Hanna. No, Sherry loved that about her.

Sherry couldn’t stand to see Hanna in pain. She promised to never leave Hanna alone. And this detective would keep that promise no matter what.

Sherry continued to look Hanna in the eyes. “So regardless of what anyone tells me, even you. I know that I’m in love with you. Even if my ’love’ is slightly different than yours, I still love you Hanna. So much that it hurts.”

There was no other name Sherry could give this feeling. Just saying it out loud like that and seeing that Hanna truly understood what Sherry meant was better than figuring out any mystery she’d ever been given.

The moon was beautiful tonight. The silvery rays gave an almost angelic halo around Sherry that Hanna thought it was unfair how beautiful this stupid idiot woman could look. She was positively radiant and Hanna’s heart swelled when Sherry confessed.

Hanna smiled and looked Sherry in the eyes. “I am sorry that I doubted your feelings Sherry.”

Sherry shook her head. “It’s not your fault, even I doubted my own feelings for a bit.”

The two of them stayed like that, looking each other in the eyes, for a few seconds longer until Sherry’s expression changed. “Um,” she began to ask, “so we’re lovers now right?”

Hanna giggled. “Yes, you stupid idiot. Despite not understanding the proper decorum around professing love, you still managed to confess and I… I accept your confession!” Hanna nodded. “Yes, you said you love me, and I love you back. So that makes us lovers.”

Sherry laughed as she watched Hanna try to hide her embarrassment but her red cheeks gave her away. Another desire welled up within her.

“There’s something else I feel that I want to confirm with you Hanna.”

“W-what?” Hanna was still busy trying to calm herself down.

“Is another part of being in love wanting to kiss you?”

“Wha-!”

Sherry looked Hanna in the eyes with a dead serious expression. “I really, really want to kiss you Hanna! Do you feel the same way about me?”

“I- Why don’t you use your detective intuition to figure that out?” Hanna looked to the side.

But that wasn’t a good enough answer. Sherry needed to hear it from Hanna. “Do you?”

She squirmed under the intense gaze from Sherry’s golden eyes. “…Ah, I give up! Yes! Yes, I want to hug you! I want to kiss your stupid face! I even want to-”

She never finished as Sherry already heard all she needed to hear.

Somehow Hanna was more nervous than when she was handing this outfit in for grading. Maybe it was because she knew that her instructor was already pleased with her work or maybe it was because she knew that at the end of the day the grade was just a number. But this? This was something much more important than any number.

“H-how is it?” Hanna nervously knocked on their bedroom door. “Does it fit?”

“Hold on!” Sherry called out. “I’m still trying to figure this one part out!”

Figure this part out? What was there to figure out?! Hanna started sweating. Was the outfit harder to put on that she had imagined? Or was it-

The door opened. Sherry stood in the doorway donning Hanna’s creation.

It was one thing to imagine Sherry wearing something Hanna had designed. It was another thing entirely to see her actually wear it.

The navy blue cloak draped behind Sherry. Her suit jacket wrapped perfectly around her, a beautiful blend of both a prince’s outfit as well as a detective’s vest. Adorning the suit pocket was Sherry’s bird, normally seen on her hat, now stitched on with a lighter shade of blue. Her pants were sleek and the length was perfect. And of course, Hanna made sure to design a hat for the outfit as well. It was similar to the hat she wore on the island, just a tad more formal.

To summarize, it was an outfit befitting of not just any old detective, but Hanna’s prince as well. It looked better than Hanna could have possibly imagined.

Triumphantly, Hanna smiled smugly and nodded her head. “Hmph! When you dress up nicely you look rather dashing!” It was a true statement, she just left out the part that Sherry looked dashing regardless of what she wore.

Sherry bashfully smiled, cheeks tinged a bit red. “Haha… Well it’s all thanks to your hard work!”

“Naturally!”

“And how much you love me!”

“Of cour- wait that has nothing to do with it!”

“So you’re not denying it?”

“Wha- I- You…!”

Balled up fists collided with Sherry’s arm as Hanna thumped away at it, much to Sherry’s amusement.

“Well, why don’t we do a more public test?” Sherry asked Hanna.

Confused by what she meant, Hanna looked at Sherry quizzically. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean,” Sherry bent down and scooped up Hanna into a princess carry, “it’s time to debut your outfit to the public!”

“P-put me down this instant!” Hanna yelped, but had to hold onto Sherry’s neck for balance. “Surely, you cannot be serious!”

“I am serious! And my name’s Sherry, not Shirley!”

It seemed that Hanna’s prince wouldn’t carry her off on a brilliant white horse, but rather on a pair of two legs instead.

Afterword

I remember seeing the challenge post for this and thought that instead of doing the one fic a day thing, I’d try this instead and I’m glad I did! I had a lot of fun writing this, and truth be told I actually had finished a rough draft of this quite early. I spent a bit of time polishing it up here and there but the rest of the months was more focused on doing the monthly challenges and/or whatever other whims I was entertaining.

But regardless, I had fun! It’s been a while since I finished Manosaba in Japanese, and I’m actually looking forward to the English release as well. I confess one fear I have is that I’ll read it in English and go “uh oh, I didn’t understand that aspect well” but I hope that I managed to capture what I gleamed from their relationship in the VN here regardless! I love these two so much and have been spending the better part of this year collecting various goods or consuming the dozens of fan art of these two (finally, a ship I love that gets art on the regular) daily.

In regards to the actual fic itself, I tried to capture a lot of the elements that made the two so special to me. Of course, I love their fun dynamic, but I especially loved how they almost foil each other with regards to their “perception” of themselves. Sherry, who doesn’t look at herself like a human compared to Hanna, who has such a strong conviction that she was willing to die before becoming a witch. Combine that with Sherry being with her to the very end… it’s peak!

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this. Truth be told most of the post-canon fics I’ve written for these two are in my mind part of the same “continuity”, and I have one other one that I plan on posting at a different time. I hope you’ll enjoy that one too!

…and also sorry I couldn’t help but slip in that joke at the end. Sherry’s just such a good name to fit with it you know? I reference that joke probably dozens of time a year if not more.