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1. Exiled from the Sanctuary
"Shutia, I need you off the ship for about an hour. I'm doing precision calibration on the life support system and I need to concentrate."
Ledea's voice was calm and left no room for argument.
Something inside Shutia quietly collapsed.
*(She's sending me away. Did I do something? Was it the recording of her sleeping face — did I leave it running too long? Or did she find the folder labeled 'Sis Kawaii Outfit Concepts — Shutia Selections Only' in the back of the closet?)*
The spiral accelerated at terrifying speed.
But Shutia did not say no.
She would never say no.
Because the most terrifying thing in the known universe — worse than the cold of deep space, worse than hull breach, worse than anything — was the thought of Ledea frowning at her. A small frown. Just a *"hey"* and a look of mild disapproval.
That alone would be enough to end her.
"...Understood, sis. One hour. I'll be a good girl and wait."
She descended the boarding ramp and made her way into the station's shopping concourse, hands in her pockets.
"...Not enough of sis's scent," she murmured, to no one. "I want to breathe her carbon dioxide..."
The people she passed stared. She was, by any measure, extraordinarily beautiful. She didn't notice. It had never been relevant information.
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2. An Unexpected (?) Encounter
"Oh! Shutia! What are the odds!"
She looked up.
Sati — ponytail bouncing, work-free smile, the specific brightness of someone who had the day off and intended to use it — was waving from across the concourse.
"Hello, Sati. What a coincidence."
The mask went up instantly. Capable, composed, pleasant. The version of herself she wore for everyone who wasn't Ledea.
Internally, the usual response began to stir — *(she touched sis's shoulder, she gets too close, she exists in sis's world without my permission)* — but today, for some reason, it didn't quite catch.
"I've got the whole day off! I was just about to try that new burger place — do you want to come? If you're free?"
Sati's eyes were bright with genuine interest. Uncomplicated. Like she actually just wanted company, and the company she wanted happened to be Shutia.
To Shutia, other people were generally background. Furniture that occasionally spoke.
But something about this particular piece of furniture was hard to dismiss.
"...I'd love to."
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3. Fast Food and a Strange New Feeling
"The fries here are seriously incredible — oh, Shutia, you've got sauce on your cheek. Here—"
Sati was already holding out a napkin, laughing.
Shutia took it. And sat with the oddness of the moment.
*(This is wrong. This girl is the enemy. She touched sis. She gets to exist in spaces I don't control.)*
But the framing kept slipping.
She'd spent years learning to read people — long before the current life, long before she'd found her way back to Ledea. Observe, categorize, respond correctly. It was second nature now, useful and automatic.
She turned that habit on Sati.
The more she watched, the harder it became to maintain the proper response. The ponytail moved when Sati talked. Her expressions changed fast and honestly, no filter between feeling and face. She was, Shutia realized with some surprise, objectively very easy to like.
*(The most beautiful person in the universe is sis. That's cosmological fact. Immovable.*
*...But Sati's ponytail does this little bounce when she laughs. Just a small bounce.*
*It might be slightly worth touching.)*
"Sati." Shutia set down her drink. "Would you let me pat your head sometime? Just us."
"Wha — yes! Obviously! Whenever you want!"
Sati went red immediately, delighted in the uncomplicated way of someone who had no idea what to do with the offer and didn't care.
Shutia watched her and felt something settle, quiet and almost warm.
*(Sis is the universe. Sati is... maybe the best thing on this particular station.)*
Her terminal buzzed.
A message from Ledea: *You can come back now.*
"I have to go. Sis is calling."
She left Sati with a perfect smile and was through the door before the sentence had fully landed.
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4. Thorough, Gentle, Not Letting Go
Ledea was on the couch when Shutia got back — horizontal, eyes closed, the careful posture of someone who had been working hard and run out of reserves.
"Welcome back, sis." Shutia crossed the room without hesitation and knelt beside her. "Even half-asleep on a couch, you're the most beautiful thing in the universe."
She took Ledea's arm and began working at it gently — thumbs finding the tension, unhurried.
"...Mm. That's good, Shutia. I think I was more tired than I realized."
Ledea didn't open her eyes. She just... accepted it. The way she always did, eventually.
Right hand on the arm. Left hand moving slowly through silver hair.
"You've been pushing yourself. Okay — decision made. Two hours. I'm doing a full, thorough, complete job."
Something warm and intent lit in Shutia's eyes.
"...Two hours is quite a lot, Shutia..."
Ledea's protest was quiet, half-formed, already fading.
Shutia smiled and kept going.
Two hours.
Enough time to overwrite everything — the afternoon, the burger place, the small warm feeling that had no business existing. To press her own presence back into every layer, scent and warmth and careful hands, until there was no space left for anything else.
The minimum necessary. Not a minute less.