[She pads quietly out of the kitchen, regarding her guest with a careful blankness that belies a sudden lump in her throat at the pain scrawled across Utena's face. It hides the way her chest constricts, the renewed stab of burning at the corners of her eyes.
Mami sets the tray carefully down on the table in a smooth, practiced movement, hardly making a sound and sitting in the same motion. She's silent, watching Utena, and there's a part of Mami that wants to just curl up and cry when she reaches out to touch the other girl's shoulder in a way meant to comfort. Her voice is soft, gentle, helplessly kind.]
What's wrong, Utena-san?
[Redundant as the question is, Mami can't not ask it. She could no more ignore Utena's unhappiness, in this moment, that she could choose to stop breathing.]
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Mami sets the tray carefully down on the table in a smooth, practiced movement, hardly making a sound and sitting in the same motion. She's silent, watching Utena, and there's a part of Mami that wants to just curl up and cry when she reaches out to touch the other girl's shoulder in a way meant to comfort. Her voice is soft, gentle, helplessly kind.]
What's wrong, Utena-san?
[Redundant as the question is, Mami can't not ask it. She could no more ignore Utena's unhappiness, in this moment, that she could choose to stop breathing.]