Beep. "Ami, dearest, I won't be able to come home tonight. It's a pretty bad wreck, don't bother checking the news. Anyhow, if the supermodel's staying over she can make a dish out of the beef I bought. Take care, alright?" The young genius stared intensely at the answering machine, then had an uneven smile form on her face. "Even mother has become accustomed to having Makoto in the house." She breathed in deeply while drying her hair, all the while focusing her attention on the contraption which brought the lightning goddess into her world. "Welp, you're finally done." Ami commented aloud as she walked towards the machine. She ran her fingers over the cold metal plating, the soft plastic control panel, the woody levers, and the once-soot covered monitor. "Though your purpose is yet to be accomplished." Ami closed her eyes for a moment then sighed, seating herself on the wooden stool in front of the invention. Her blue eyes wandered aimlessly on machine's entirety as her hands began playing with the screwdriver they have stumbled upon. Ami slouched down to her lap, resting both her arms on her knees, while the pale and bony fingers kept on twirling in between them the small tool. Her blue hair, still wet from the bath, was clinging to both her face and neck and was down to wearing one of her oversized baby-blue shirts, with only the barest essential underneath. The genius' mind touched on several subjects at the time, but they mostly either centered or ended up involving Makoto. For what seemed like hours, Ami remained in her trance, simply staring at the machine and idly toying around with the metal instrument. Until the sound of gentle knocking upon the bedroom door peeled Ami away from her reverie. She stood up from her seat and began towards the door but still kept her hands busy with the screwdriver. "Mother, I thought you were staying for the..." "Uhm, it's me, Ami-chan." The pale girl became even paler and her feet became nailed to the floor. "M-Mako-chan?" she stammered, puzzlement ringing from her voice. Considering Makoto was Makoto and she was supposed to be on a date with Shizuo, coupled with Ami's outburst the earlier night, the puny girl was left in haze as to why the goddess was presently outside her room. "Yeah, it's me." the goddess replied in an uneasy tone. "May I come in?" Ami's blank expression fell down on her face as she spun around and started heading for her bed. "Sure, please come in." she finally called out when she had seated herself on edge of the bed. The door slowly creaked its way open and Makoto came into Ami's view. The usually confident flare in Makoto was extinguished at the moment and was replaced by nervousness, which was made apparent with the goddess' fumbling feet and awkward smile. "Erm...hey." Makoto finally sputtered out together with a little wave of her hand. "Hi." immediately came Ami's monotone reply. The screwdriver went on with its rhythmic twirl within Ami's fingers as a long period of silence passed between the two young women. The puny genius' attention wrapped around the tool so much that she was seemingly unaware of the goddess' prescence. Makoto's eyebrows gradually became knitted with annoyance while observing the other girl's behavior. "May I have a seat?" the goddess inquired with strained patience. Ami made a vague gesture to the wooden stool, but still she was preoccupied with the screwdriver. "Please do so." Makoto walked briskly toward the offered seat then dragged it over closer to the other girl's bed. The impatient goddess set the stool down in front of Ami with more than the necessary amount of effort and noise. Ami made a minute cringe as she felt Makoto sit herself directly in front of her. "Why does she have to be so conflictual..." Ami lamented in her mind. The goddess' close proximity made it hard for the smaller woman to keep her attention on the screwdriver. "Ami-chan, do you mind listening to me for a moment?" came Makoto's demanding voice into the puny genius' ears. The twirl of the screwdriver became slower. "I'm listening." The goddess trembled as one of her hands closed into a tight fist on her lap. "...You're right. Kato's a prick." Makoto sighed. "I should have listened to you earlier." Ami's hands froze, the dull sound of the screwdriver falling on the floor echoed throughout the room. The genius' line of vision finally met up with the goddess'. An apologetic smile appeared on Makoto's face. "So, uhm...sorry?" The smaller girl could only shake her head and let out a nervous giggle. "Heh. What can I say..." "I hope it's not 'I told you so'." The goddess snickered then reached out behind her back. "Erm, here's something to show how sorry I am." Ami found herself staring on a rectangular bundle wrapped in brightly colored paper, the latter she immediately recognized to be the wrapping paper from her favorite book store. "Goodness, Mako-chan, is this what I think it is?" The goddess nodded vigorously. "Yep, I've seen how you ogle at that book ever since I got here." "Oh, Mako-chan, you shouldn't have..." Ami had already discarded her earlier feeling of contempt for the lightning goddess and tore through package excitedly. She had spent a sizeable amount of her savings for Makoto's conveyance and had run out of funds to purchase herself of the latest hardbound copy of "Human Genetics Rediscovered". The taller woman seemed immensely pleased that the genius liked her gift. "I earned some spare cash from the extra cooking I did during the weekends. I hope you like it." "Err, yes...really, Mako-chan. You shouldn't have." Ami's fingers trembled around the book and her voice was drained of the excitement. Within her hands was a hardbound copy of "Mary Poppins". She made a mental note to discuss with the store manager the well-needed greater degree of distance between the natural science books and the children's story books. "Think nothing of it, Ami-chan." Makoto beamed proudly at the other girl. "It's the least I can do for you." Another wave of uncomfortable silence swept across the room. "Uhm...the machine's done!" Ami announced out of the blue then abruptly stood from the bed. She carefully set "Mary Poppins" on her desk then stepped over to her machine, which suddenly emitted an imposing aura, to the young genius, at least. "Oh." the goddess' voice dropped. "Is it?" Her hands gripped on the sides of the stool and her sight focused on her feet. "Of course, could you expect less from this genius girl?" Ami then let out raucious cackle, which fell short of her usual zealousness and mania. She kept her back turned from Makoto as she thumbed through the controls. "We're ready to operate at your signal, Mako-chan." "Ami." The lack of honorific to her name and seriousness in Makoto's voice made the puny genius stop dead on her tracks. Ami peered over her shoulder, doing a fair job in maintaining the emotional neutrality of her voice. "Yes, Mako-chan?" Makoto's green eyes locked with Ami's blue pair. "Did you mean what you said to me last night?" Ami hopped over and sat herself on the smooth edge of the machine, facing over to Makoto's direction. "You really have a knack for being straightforward, you know." the young genius chided. "I don't have as wide a vocabulary as you so I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Makoto retorted. "And please don't give me any of your mind games this time. I want a straight answer." A splash of red spread over Ami's cheeks as she shuffled uneasily on her seat. It was best to have this done and over with, she thought, before she sent the goddess back on her way. The uncaring, nonchalant and maniacal aura which served as Ami's defense mechanism descended upon her features. "Yes." she answered quite simply. "And you still want to send me back?" Makoto visibly tensed on her seat. "Even with Kato out of the picture?" "Yes." Ami answered the goddess with a slight nod. Makoto shook her head in confusion."Why?" The smaller girl grinned at her companion. "Why not?" "I said no mind games, Ami." Makoto snapped as she rose from her seat. "Let me ask you something then, Mako-chan." Ami spoke in rhythmical tone, clasping her hands together in between her knees. "Does having Kato-san out of the picture change anything between us?" Makoto was just about to open her mouth when the puny girl began speaking again. "Pardon me, I have to qualify that. Are you less of a divinity and I more of a mortal now that you realize how much of a scumbag Kato-san is?" The goddess stood speechless, realizing the point Ami was driving at. Makoto sighed heavily as she shook her head once more. "I thought so. And since you wanted a straightforward answer, I might as well give you an exhaustive one as well." Ami smiled curtly then tilted her head down, drumming her fingers on the machine's metal surface. "Yes, I love you but as much as I want to have you stay with me, I can't. It would be selfish for me to ask you for that." The young woman covered her mouth with a hand, stifling a coarse cough. "And assuming arguendo that you do want to stay here on the faintest chance that you also love me, it would just make it harder for the both of us to say our goodbyes when the time comes." "Ami-chan..." Makoto was left in haze, unable to muster any immediate contention to the genius' answer. Ami tilted her head back up, her uncaring façade was now marred by flushed cheeks and eyes moistened by tears. "Ergo. It's better to have it end right now." At that the young genius hopped off the machine then gave the lightning goddess her brightest smile. "So, shall we rectify this mistake and send you back on your way?" Makoto stood still for a long while, completely quiet. She kept eyes focused on her feet, and her hands, curled into fists on her sides, were visibly trembling. "Mako-chan?" Ami asked, her bright smile reduced into a tiny uneasy one. "There's nothing to be sad about. Even if you're only here for a short while, it was all worth it." "...no." Makoto muttered. "Pardon me?" "I said no, I'm not going anywhere, Ami." As quick as her element, Makoto moved forward and Ami immediately found the goddess' imposing presence before her. "Did you even bother listening to at least a single word I said, Mako- chan?" the smaller girl sputtered at Makoto's face, having all of her safeguards snap. "You can't stay here! You can't stay with ME!" The goddess sighed as she gently tapped on the smaller girl's forehead. "Ami, I know you're a very smart girl. Heck, you're probably the smartest being I've ever met, divine or mortal. You even almost convinced me that it IS best that I don't stay here." Makoto then began wiping Ami's tears away with her hand. "Despite that, please, don't treat me like I'm one of your experiments which you can so easily figure out. I have my own mind, and what I decide to do I will do because it is of my own free will." The goddess then started wagging a finger in front of Ami's face. "You might think it is selfish for you to want me to stay here longer, but it isn't it also selfish for you to decide for me what to do?" Ami blinked several times, causing more tears to fall. She was not used to the entire emotional barrage she was receiving at the moment. "What...what are you saying?" "Duh, and here I thought you're smart." The goddess scoffed mockingly, then leaned down and gently kissed the smaller girl's cheek. "I love you too. And because of that, I'm staying here." Ami just stared at the lightning goddess, who looked more radiant than ever before in her eyes. However, she still could not fathom the declaration the goddess just made. "...are you serious?" "Yep." The taller woman nodded her head, discreetly slipping her arms around the other woman's waist. "I'm not exactly into mind games like you are." The young genius hiccupped, barely containing the joy brimming from within her. All that she could do was rest her head against the goddess' chest and marvel at the fortunate turn of events. Of course, whether Ami would admit it or not, the joy and comfort of being facefirst against Makoto's ample assets. Still, possessing that restrictive overly scientific mind of hers, Ami had one more thing to clarify. "...nothing else?" Makoto was struck out from her thoughts. Thoughts that would run along about taking advantage of the situation that the elder Mizuno would not be around the mansion for the rest of the night. "Uhm, 'nothing else' what?" "The last time you said that you wanted to stay here it was because of Kato-san and it would only be for a little while." Ami looked up to the goddess with an inquiring look on her face. "Now you again say that you want to stay. Is there anything else you would want to add?" Makoto unsuccessfully contained a giggle. "Psh, you and your one-track evil genius mind." She inhaled sharply, looking intently at Ami. "Very well then. I'm staying here, because of you, and you might as well get rid of that machine of yours since it has lost its purpose." "And what else, greatest specimen?" Ami was decidedly bolder at that moment, rising up on her toes and inched closer to the goddess' lips. Makoto caught on, gently holding Ami's face by the chin and pulled her closer. "For as long as you're here, I'll stay here." A breathe away from Ami, Makoto concluded her statement. "With you."