STARLIGHT | krmy ✓

16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN —
INVESTIGATION.

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MAYA SIGHS INWARDLY as she clicks the door shut behind her, having just dealt with Kaoruko's relentless...energy. It was amazing how that woman managed to drain every last bit of life in her in a mere ten minutes.

"Clocking out?"

Fumi's leaning against the wall, arms crossed, the same stern look she always wore playing at the corner of her lips. She was already in casual wear, and she raises a brow to prompt Maya to answer.

"Yes," Maya replies.

Fumi shakes her head, pushing herself back up onto her feet. "Come on, get your stuff."

Maya frowns. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Yumeōji."

A groan. "Kuro is waiting for you outside. You'd do best to not keep her."

Maya regains a little of her energy at the mention of Claudine, which Fumi doesn't miss. The officer shakes her head once more, deciding to not call her out on it, lest she suffer the repercussions the next day.

At least it was enough to get Maya moving, though it doesn't quite wipe the professional, strict air that the captain seemed to continuously carry around with her. Honestly, it was hard to figure her out, though they had been working together for ages.

"How's living with Kuro?" She asks, watching as Maya unbuttons her uniform and shrugs neatly out of it. "She can be a bit of a...bother."

Fumi didn't actually mean it, though she knew how demanding Claudine was; she merely might be a tad too interested in seeing Maya's reaction. There was that one time Claudine had gotten ridiculously mad after Yachiyo had rearranged the entire kitchen — they had fought about it for days.

"Oh," Maya hangs her uniform up and pulls her shirt out of the locker. "You know?"

Fumi follows her movements carefully. "Yes. So? How's it like?"

"Yumeōji." Maya says lowly, shutting her locker and grabs her bag from the bench. Fumi meets her gaze, and tries not to clam up when Maya's cool lilac eyes look back at her. "Good night."

Okay, she was avoiding it. Fumi sighs inwardly, and follows Maya meekly out of the locker room into the main building. She should have expected the captain to remain as stoic as ever. She wouldn't get the captain to crack like this.

Maya doesn't say a word as Fumi follows her out into the night, tucking her hand into her jeans pocket and looking around for any sign of Claudine. Sure enough, the actress was waiting, surprisingly-patiently, by the entrance, her eyes on her phone as she typed away.

A small smile escapes Maya, and she edges closer to Claudine, almost sneakily, forgetting that Fumi was there with them.

"Saijō-san," Maya says slowly, mischief in her tone. Claudine snaps her head up from her phone, and annoyance immediately crosses her expression. Fumi spectates at the side, an amused look on her face. Now this was something a little closer to what Maya had been expecting.

"What took you so long?" Claudine storms over to Maya, whose smile danced lightly along her lips. "I've been standing here in the cold for the past fifteen minutes, quel soulagement."

She mutters that last part under her breath as she draw closer to Maya, trying to waver her own anger by (very roughly) smothering the creases along Maya's shirt.

"Sure is nice being ignored," Fumi remarks saltily, and Claudine rolls her eyes at the officer, finally redirecting her attention. Maya lets out a slightly-undignified snort.