A/N: Hello everyone! Before you begin to read this story I would kindly like to point out that I know that the characters are OOC. I would also like to point out that I know that I'm not finished with "Of Impulse and Fey", but I will get back to it. I had this little story out in the back of my mind and I thought I'd get it out in the open. I hope you enjoy it. There is also going to be a reference key at the bottom of the chapter in case anything is unclear. Without further ado, on to Word Play.
Word Play
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It had started out as a little game between Haruka and Shiruzu, trying to see who could make the new girl talk most. The new cobalt blue haired transfer student entered their school about half way into the year. It was most unusual to transfer to this school, more so midway into the semester, because this was Otome High School the most sought after high school in the Hokkaido region, scratch that, in the whole country. Top students all over Nippon fight tooth and nail to get in to this mainly all girl school. It is most difficult for the school to accept transfers this late and more difficult for those transfers to keep up with the onslaught of material. Miraculously enough, Natsuki Kuga did just fine.
Natsuki entered as a freshman student, and with the implemented rule within the school, two juniors were assist her and mentor her in her every need. The rule was designed for the newer students to feel comfortable, but it did not seem that that was the case for Natsuki. It became blatantly clear that she was fiercely protective of her privacy. Most of Haruka's and Shizuru's conversations with her were replied monosyllabically, and the frequent situation they found themselves in, looking for her, were to give any indication.
"Taku, where did she go this time?" Whined the boisterous blond while climbing over a huge rock. "I hate it when she does this." Muttered the blond again searching for any sign of the young recluse among the trees. "Yes, while it is a bit much, you must admit that it is fun. It also gives us an excuse to miss chem," said a smiling Shizuru. She was particularly interested in the freshman. She was pretty, and tough, but the ruby-eyed girl knew that something soft lay securely hidden underneath. If she didn't know any better, she would say that the transfer liked sneaking around and waiting for the pair of them to find her. "Gawd, if I have to go through another retarded lecture about stoichiometry again you're going to have to bury me after I shoot myself in the head." Shizuru nodded and hummed good-naturedly in response.
Otome H.S required the upperclassmen to have one visit with their Subbie per day. Each meeting was recorded on their wrist unit when they synchronized. Synchronization could only occur when the U.P's and the Subbies were at least 7 feet in proximity for 7 minutes. No one could tell you why the District Board favored the number seven, they just did.
Sure, each wrist unit had a tracking device for the U.P's and their Subbies to locate one another on the huge campus, but the freshman fiddled with the damn thing. Quickly on her first few days on campus, the Kuga girl manipulated her wrist unit to skew her Navi and she would hide in the shadows of the Forestry Dome. It didn't take Shizuru and Haruka long to find that the Kuga girl favored F.D. Before she screwed with her Navi it alerted the friends that Natsuki's wrist unit had been registered at the dome. Unfortunately for them, just before their Navi's could send them exact coordinates the program reset and only registered their locations. From then on, Shizuru and Haruka would hunt for the transfer student in the Forestry Dome. It had been 5 weeks since the transfer found a home in the dome, and 5 weeks of looking for the pretty thing every single day.
Even if Haruka didn't admit it, she was having fun. Prior to the new student, the big mouthed blond began to complain about the boredom and monotony of it all. Of course she had gotten in trouble with Kikukawa Yukino, her longtime companion, once in a while but it was never enough for the energetic junior. Needless to say anything phys. ed. was her favorite. Actually, that was how the two friends met. During their sophomore year, the P.E teachers hosted their Annual Spring Sparring Challenge. This was the time where the teachers choose their top students to go against one another, and the winner receives ¥50,000 to split between the teacher and student. Suzushiro Haruka and Fujino Shizuru had the championship match. All the students and teachers were still talking about their 3-hour long bout. Both strong-willed and competitive ladies, they fought each other brutally, a battle not only of wills and pure strength, but of strategic competition. The contest ended in a draw and the splitting of the pot was between them rather than their superiors, but no one left angry, and that was the start of their beautiful friendly rivalry.
"I think I've got her. My Navi just beeped." Shizuru called out to Haruka. "She must be around her somewhere…" She whispered to herself.
The more sophisticated junior had a feeling that Natsuki could manage to wipe her Navi completely, but chose not to. Whether because the girl had developed a thrill for the chase or because she didn't want any other them to get in trouble was beyond her. Her Navi rang out four more times before it went silent. "Damn it. Haruka she's on the move again!"
"I'm on it!"
Moving quicker now, the pair began to circle around the potential perimeter of the emerald- eyed student. Punching in the radius on their wrist units, an orange cage of light scanned for the vital signs of the Kuga girl. No dice. "Shit." Haruka said with a lot less heat than it called for. Oh, she was having fun alright. Haruka couldn't wait to get her hands on that scrawny neck. "I think I've got an idea." Shizuru dialed a few numbers and symbols to hack into her wrist unit and emitted an EMP pulse. "Great going dummy-head, we'll never find her now!" Haruka seethed. Shizuru simply smiled again, the plan clearly going right over the busty- blond's head. "Haruka-chan, we've got approximately 3 minutes before we're back on grid. That will give us enough time to play the old-fashioned way."
Haruka gave an "O" face. Now she got it. "Time to give this girl a proper spanking," Haruka said with a face-splitting grin.
…
"Start working out from this set perimeter. You take the floor and I'll take the trees. She's bound to be somewhere close. Haruka we need to move fast." Shizuru whispered hurriedly, and then gave an absolutely feral smirk. "Are you up for the challenge?" As Haruka turned to retort, Shizuru had boosted herself into the trees. "Hey, no fair!" Haruka growled in annoyance but let her temper tantrum live a short life. She was just going to have to find the transfer before her opponent did.
The busty blond and tan haired females had trained in the same summer camp, how they didn't meet each other then was a mystery. The summer camp was more like drill training intended to teach the campers how to navigate offline. With the age depending more on digital innovations rather than the human's intuition, a group of Defaulters set up a program where the younger generations could learn how to become survival experts like them. Rule number one was to find a way out of technology. "9 times out of 10," said one of their Pack Leaders, "you will need to either find or hide from someone who is dependent on their tech. Ultimately, this will give you the upper hand." Being sure that Natsuki was highly skilled only in using technology to her advantage, Shizuru knew that she got her.
Shizuru knew that Natsuki was vulnerable without her tech.
Staying as light on her feet as possible, the tan haired junior leaped agilely from limb to limb, doing her best not to rattle the leaves. The Forestry Dome was massive, to say the least, so Natsuki couldn't have gone that far that fast. On the next limb, Shizuru noticed that this limb had a particularly worn in appearance. She knelt down to feel it and immediately felt that it was smooth, but more importantly was that it was still warm. She crouched down into the shadows and scanned the space. As she stayed still, patiently waiting for her prey to make move, there had been some rustling in the bushes below. Slowly wiggling out of the spikey shrubbery was a cautious Natsuki.
Slinking down the tree like a cat, Shizuru waited until the Kuga girl stood to her full height. "Found you," she said in a singsong voice with a faint chuckle and a finger pressed to her lips. Natsuki whirled around startled. Her emerald eyes flashed with several emotions. Shizuru mentally sighed, was she ever going to get over Kuga's radiance? Haruka bustled over not but a few seconds later. "Of course you would find her first." Haruka exclaimed, rolling her eyes all the while. Shizuru smiled uncertainly at Natsuki who was too busy looking at Haruka confused.
Shizuru had told Haruka of her attraction toward Natsuki in the earlier weeks of searching for the introvert. Her response was somewhere along the lines of "good luck with that".
All at once, their wrist units went back online and promptly started synchronizing. Mentally prepared, Shizuru took it upon herself to kick off the game. "So, Natsuki, how has your day gone?"
"Fine."
Haruka and Shizuru locked eyes knowingly, it had begun, and Haruka was up next.
"Are you having any trouble with your classes?"
"No."
"Natsuki, you do know that you can talk to us, right?" Shizuru asked softly.
"Yes."
The juniors shuffled awkwardly on their feet. Natsuki had stared off into the distance in neither of their directions, answering in cool clipped tones. It drove the friends mad, but for different reasons. Haruka wanted to know what the freshman's problem was; answering to her U.P's this way. It wasn't as if they were bullying her, they were only fulfilling their duties as they were supposed to. If the blond had it her way, she would have said "sayonara sucker" and left her to her space. Shizuru on the other hand was a different story. She wanted to help the newbie, get close to her. She always felt that Natsuki was just shy and slow to trust for whatever reason. She didn't mind these little treasure hunts as long as she was close to her.
Looking back down at her wrist unit, Shizuru noticed that they had 4 minutes left to chitchat. Well then, let's make it count. She thought.
"Why do you like it in here?" Asked the ruby-eyed girl curiously.
Natsuki glanced at her warily before answering, "It's quiet."
Haruka simply gaped. The transfer actually spoke more than one word, and if you took the time to analyze what she said you could count it as three words. Shizuru is better as this that I thought. I will not lose!
"Don't you get cold in here though? It is much cooler here than outside." Haruka asked casually.
"No."
Shizuru fought hard to contain the laughter threatening to come out of her as Haruka's veins bulged out. "What is it that you do while you're waiting for us?" Natsuki swiveled her head sharply in Shizuru's direction, eyes hard. Just as the juniors thought that Shizuru's question probed too far, Natsuki looked down and blushed slightly. "I read." She murmured as if she were caught doing something shameful. Haruka merely shook her head "no" when Shizuru looked at her questioningly. She had forfeited her turn. "May I know what you're reading?"
Almost unwillingly, Natsuki produced a book from the inside of her bright orange coat. It was an elegant looking book of a brown-red color with golden lettering. "Oh I love this book!" Shizuru cried. "You're reading it in English as well." Natsuki watched her guardedly as she handed the junior the book for closer inspection. "A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has always been one of my favorites."
Their wrist units notified the group that their mandatory meeting had now been met and that they were free to do as they pleased. Haruka said her swift good-bye as Shizuru handed the book back to its current reader. "I'm surprised that you found it." Shizuru commented as she started to turn back for the entrance of the Forestry Dome. "I thought I hid it quite well."
"You did." The transfer replied boldly.
The taller female spun back around to face the freshman student in amazement. Natsuki had a hard time speaking to them in general, but she had no trouble leaving with a brisk adiós. "I see, well, I do hope that you enjoy it." The tan headed junior beamed, both elated with the cobalt haired beauty's choice of literature and her additional time to speak to the young student. After biding her farewell, Shizuru went back to taking her leave. "Wait," the freshman called out when the junior had gone a few paces. Natsuki gathered up her things and rushed toward Shizuru hastily. "Could…" She started then hefted her backpack sit properly on her shoulder. "Could you teach me that trick with the EMP?"
Shizuru giggled behind her hand and nodded in affirmation.
A/N: And that's a wrap! I may or may not make this into a two-shot if your reviews request for it. (I'm still leaning on having it as a two-shot.) I hope you enjoyed it. ~SCH~
Reference Key
Wrist Unit: A multi- functioning gadget that is similar to a watch. For those of you who are familiar with "Spy Kids", it's something like that, but it can also tell time.
Navi: An application featured on the wrist unit to locate other students and personnel on campus.
Defaulters: An organization that feels that everyone should "default" back to nature. (Basically people who abhor technology of any kind.)
Pack Leader: A fully trained Defaulter who helps oversee the camp and the young campers.