"We've just been training," Natalia said too quickly. "For the entrance exams."
"Mmhmm." Kimiko's fingers slid down to Natalia's cheeks, then along her jawline. "Close your eyes, dear."
Natalia obeyed, feeling oddly vulnerable with her eyes closed while Kimiko's cool fingers traced her features. The older woman's touch was gentle but sure, the way she imagined a real mother's would be.
"You know," Kimiko said, her tone conversational, "when I first married Luka, I worried so much about you accepting me. You were so... protective of your father. I thought you might never see me as anything but an intruder."
Natalia opened one eye. "I was a brat."
Kimiko laughed, a musical sound. "You were a teenager who didn't want to share her dad. Perfectly understandable." Her fingers moved to Natalia's neck, and Natalia felt them pause over a sensitive spot just below her ear. "Oh my. What's this? Looks like you had a run-in with a particularly passionate mosquito."
