"Thanks Shirou!" The tanuki girl said it often but, prior to meeting Michiru, people rarely thanked him. He'd been a constant and necessary part of Anima City since it's conception, and beastmen - from Flip to the police to, and especially, the Mayor - knew and respected him.
But no one looked at him in awe the way that Michiru did. It unnerved him and left him feeling awkward and exposed. She looked at him now, not with awe but with genuine friendliness and relief, like he was welcome company.
"Is that why you came up here? To tell me about the helicopters?" She yawned, inadvertently winking at him as she stretched one clawed hand in the air after the other.
"It is," he said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye while continuing to face forward, back leaning on the rail, hands shoved deep within the pockets of his trench coat.
"Hm..." Michiru mused to herself. "I'm not quite ready to go to sleep... would you like to play a game of checkers, Shirou? If you're not busy, that is..." she questioned the grumpy-looking man with tousled hair.
Shirou had been wondering what else he wanted to say to Michiru before she invited him to play checkers. For some reason, he had sought out her company tonight, using the news of the helicopters as an excuse to see her, even though he could have waited until morning. It was nearly midnight when he'd first stepped out onto the rooftop.
At her invitation, he paused, suddenly aware of how late it was, how crisp the night air smelled, and how every light in the city seemed concentrated in Michiru's eyes; those glittering pools pulled him in as she waited for his answer.
"Sure..." he breathed softly, hiding his face behind his trenchcoat collar as he realized he was staring and broke eye contact.
Michiru cocked an eyebrow at the stiff wolf beastman but shrugged it off with a bright smile and turned to run toward her room. "Ok, come on, then!"
Shirou followed her into the quieter ambience of her room and sat soundlessly on the sofa beside her desk as she began to pull books and boxes from underneath her bed, eventually retrieving the game board and pieces.
The two beastmen situated themselves on the floor after deciding there wasn't room to play the board game elsewhere. With the checkers board in hand, pieces scattered on the floor between them, Michiru sat across from Shirou and her eyes took on a familiar competitive gleam. She smiled at him evilly. Shirou sighed.
"You first, Shirou, since it's my board," commanded Michiru, looking determinedly at the pre-game set-up in front of her, after having arranged it and assigned colors. Shirou's mouth turned up in a smug smirk."You're too kind," he said, darkly, and made his move. 10 moves later, Michiru realized she WAS too kind.
"UGH! Damn you! Old fart!" She spat, as he took another of her pieces, the smug look lingering on Shirou's countenance as he regarded her.
"Too bad the gorilla-cheetah-tanuki can't use her transformative abilities on her brain," he teased, with a smile to soften the insult. Her face was red immediately and she puffed out her cheeks in indignation, making her face look comically adorable. His smile widened, "What are you going to do about it?" he taunted.
"Ooooh! You!" She squealed in anger and glared down at the board during her turn, the piece she chose to move aggressively colliding with the board as she made a frustrated attempt to best him.
Unfortunately for the young tanuki, he'd been playing checkers for a while. Within 40 moves, the game was finished, the victor closing his eyes with a grin plastered across his pastey complexion while the loser sputtered, eyes twitching in fury.
"HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!? That's, like, the fastest game I've ever played!" Michiru wailed. "I didn't realize you were a checkers MASTER..."
"You didn't ask," was the curt reply.
"It's just because you're SO OLD! It's not fair! Old man!" She yelled, half-teasing.
He gasped, a little hurt, "Are you mocking me?!"
"I mean, if I had one thousand years to learn checkers, I guess I'd be kick-ass at it too..." she grumbled, feeling a little guilty at his expression.
"Would you stop with that?!" he growled in annoyance, looking away while collecting his game pieces.
Michiru felt bad. She did tease him about his age a lot. Honestly, it was incomprehensible how old he was. To her, it was just a number, especially since Shirou didn't look or act it. "If he did, it would be a lot less funny..." she thought, then suddenly snorted out loud at a mental image of a comically mummified Shirou with his normal, stoney expression. The real Shirou glared at her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll try not to joke about your age anymore!" She reassured him frantically. "In fact...!" she crawled underneath her desk to retrieve a small, wrapped box adorned with a bow and a sticker that said 'SHIROU'.
He saw her grab the little gift and his eyes widened in shock. He felt a very faint warmth creeping across his face, from his ears to his nose, thankfully hidden beneath mussed locks. "Um." He grunted, awkwardly.
Ignorant of Shirou's internal struggle, Michiru fished the box out and presented it to him with a wide smile, eyes curved into crescents.
"When Nazuna and I went to the mainland for the winter festival, I saw this and got it for you but forgot to give it to you when we got back. Since you won, I suppose it can be your prize?" she offered, cheerfully.
His pale eyes darted between her too-big smile to the little present before he plucked it gingerly out of her hand, glancing back at her suspiciously.
"Why? What is it?" He grumbled, attempting to regain his composure.
"Just open it," she urged, dusting herself off and sitting on the couch behind her.
Shirou got up and sat next to her, eyeing her as he tugged at the wrapping paper.
Opening the box after tossing the wrinkled paper and bow aside, he chuckled as he looked down at the small present, curled in on itself, the metal jingling as he picked it up.
It was a new black leather collar, similar to his previous one which was lost in the battle with Alan. This one, however, had gossamer thread stitched in creative patterns embellishing its surface, and the silver buckle was artistically crafted.
After Alan's defeat, Shirou had invested in a bunch of black turtle necks but he'd been complaining, apparently loudly, about feeling constricted by them. It was better to not have his scar out with the recent turn of events, he'd decided. He was moved by Michiru's gift and felt a little dizzy.
"That's really thoughtful of you Michiru. Thank you. I'll wear it starting tomorrow." He couldn't help the growing smile splitting across his face. He suddenly thought of Kuro, who was asleep on his perch inside Shirou's study, and with whom Shirou had shared many thoughts, many secrets. He wished to share a few more, stealing another glance at the tanuki whose bright, doe eyes sparkled at him before she quickly looked away, a blush settling heavily upon her tiny snout.
She dove down from the sofa and began to hastily arrange the checkers pieces, setting up for a second game. 'The turtlenecks have to go,' she explained, internally.