Disclaimer : I do not own the characters of Mai Hime or Mai Otome. Sunrise does and they're awesome!

Author's rants

Heyoo fanfiction readers! Author here!

This is my third fan fiction story and first multi-chapter fic. Meaning, I'm still a noob here. So please don't kill me if I screw up somewhere.

My story is already done so the chapters will be uploaded consecutively and fairly quick. That is ... if I can figure out how to do this multi-chapter thing right on the fanfiction website .

There are a few things I would like to bring to your attention before you start reading. About the story - Please do take note that although my story is finished, it is still a work in progress that needs to be polished. Even though I worked hard on this, I still think the story is too rough and needs a lot more work so your comments, questions, suggestions and even flames will be appreciated. I will save your critiques and comments for future references. My friends and I have proof read and edited this sucker many times but if you still notice mistakes in my writing such as verb tense errors or name spellings errors etc, then I apologize in advance for it.

Another thing is- this is my first attempt at comedy. Personally, I find comedy to be the hardest to write. This was a challenge/exercise for me so if there is anything I can improve on, please let me know ( If I fail so bad at comedy, please don't hesitate to let me know about that too.) All in all, I hope you will enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

To conclude - If I've managed to get a smile out of you by the time you finish reading this story then I'll gladly pat myself on the back. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Best regards!

BPython

PS : Here's a definition for you cited from the Dictionary website. Malapropism - an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.


Smells like Teen Angst!

Three months after the Hime Carnival -

One Weekend – Evening - Natsuki's apartment

It was a typical evening at Natsuki's apartment. She was playing a video game while waiting for Shizuru to finish cooking dinner.

"Natsuki, it's time for dinner!" Shizuru announced as she walked out of the kitchen with two steaming bowls of ramen.

"Gimme a sec," Natsuki said, not taking her eyes off the TV. She was mashing down the buttons on her Xbox360 controller at a furious pace.

Shizuru smiled wearily. "Ara, Natsuki should pause the game. Our dinner is going to get cold."

"Just give me a second Shizuru! This is an important part of the game!" Natsuki snapped. She was playing a hack and slash game and this was the final boss battle. Natsuki had been attempting to kill this boss for over a week now. He was incredibly hard. Every time Natsuki would get close to killing him, he would pulverize her somehow. But this time, it was different. By some stroke of luck, she was beating him. His health was very low, the lowest that Natsuki had ever seen. This time, she might just beat him!

Suddenly, Natsuki's vision was blocked by a pair of legs.

"Natsuki, dinner is getting cold. Come now, you can play this game later," Shizuru said with hands resting on her hips.

"NO! SHIZURU! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Natsuki screamed but it was too late. Shizuru only blocked her vision for a few seconds but that was all it took for the game boss to get to her. Two punches from him and her character was down.

"NOOOO!" Natsuki shouted with her hands outstretched to the television screen as the texts 'GAME OVER' appeared on it.

Shizuru raised a brow at the display. "It's just a video game, Natsuki. You don't have to be so dramatic about it."

Still sore from her loss, Natsuki took offense. "Hey! Do you know how many hours I spent trying to kill that freaking boss? I WAS SO DAMN CLOSE! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU, I MIGHT HAVE BEATEN HIM!"

Shizuru rubbed the bridge of her nose. She looked unusually annoyed. "There's no need for you to yell at me like that. Good grief, you are acting like a child!" she said.

Shizuru's denouncing tone made Natsuki bristle with irritation. She started to shout. "I'M NOT A CHILD AND I'LL YELL IF I WANT TO! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN!"

The older girl released an exasperated sigh. "Ara, my fault? I only tried to get you to eat dinner at dinner time. That's what adults do, Natsuki. Adults don't play video games all evening. You're clearly acting like a spoiled child. Just look at what you're doing now. What do you plan to gain by yelling at me this way?" she asked. Her hardened red eyes glared back at Natsuki's defiant green ones.

"Rewind the time," Natsuki said stubbornly.

"That's absurd."

Natsuki knew that too but she didn't feel like being reasonable right now. Shizuru wasn't reasonable enough to wait a few seconds and not block her view of the television. So why should Natsuki be reasonable? 'What's her deal anyways?' Natsuki mused. Usually, the older girl would let Natsuki play her video game however long she wanted and when she wanted without complaint. 'ARRGH! Shizuru's being so irritating right now!'

"REWIND TO THE POINT BEFORE YOU BLOCKED THE TV! THAT'S WHAT I WANT!" Natsuki bellowed.

"You're such an annoying brat," Shizuru spat.

Natsuki was a bit taken aback by the venom in Shizuru's voice but she quickly recovered. "W-WHATEVER!" she hollered. Natsuki didn't stand down from their glaring contest. "I DON'T LIKE YOU RIGHT NOW!"

The older girl glowered at her for but said nothing more. After a brief moment, Shizuru broke their eye contact and turned around briskly. Natsuki wondered what her friend was planning to do. She got her answer when she saw Shizuru gather her book bag. Then without a goodbye, the older girl stormed out the front door and left.

Later on, Natsuki would be astonished by the fact that her best friend had walked out on her for the first time. If Natsuki didn't let her anger get to her, then she would notice that Shizuru didn't try to pacify her with charming words. They fought before but Shizuru usually pretended to cry and that would immediately make Natsuki feel bad. It always effectively ended their fights. If Natsuki took one moment to notice that, then she would see that Shizuru was not acting like herself.

But for now, Natsuki couldn't be bothered to think about it. She stomped into her bedroom and slammed the door shut. Right now, she'd rather just sulk and be angry about the fact that Shizuru had thwarted her chances of beating the final boss of the video game.


Weekday – Evening - Natsuki's Apartment

Natsuki had just got back from school. She dropped her book bag on the floor and looked around her apartment. Normally, she would get comfortable on the couch and turn the Xbox360 on but not today. She didn't feel like doing anything lately, not even playing video games. She dragged herself to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of potato chips before plopping down on her couch.

It had been a week since she last talked to Shizuru. Ever since that fight ...

But everything was going well in Natsuki's life. She didn't need to have Shizuru around all the time. She could take care of herself. Natsuki had been alone most of her life anyways and she got by just fine.

'Yeah, I'm gonna be just fine,' she thought.

Natsuki rested her gaze on her front door. She wondered if Shizuru was going to walk through it any time soon? Shizuru hadn't given her back her apartment key so it was a possibility.

Natsuki sighed in frustration. The older girl hadn't called or tried to talk to her. Shizuru had stopped hanging out with her altogether at school. Their friends hadn't noticed anything yet because Shizuru was typically busy with the Student Council business and Natsuki usually hung out with Mai and the others.

Natsuki sighed again. 'I wonder what Shizuru is doing right now? Does she miss me too?'

Startled by her own thoughts, Natsuki got up abruptly from the couch. "Now hold on a minute! Who says I miss her!" she protested aloud. 'I certainly do not miss Shizuru!'she thought. She tried to reason out her actions. "M-maybe I just don't like the fact that we're fighting … I-I mean, she is my best friend after all," Natsuki said to the empty apartment as if it was arguing with her.

She put away her potato chips and laid down on the couch with an irate groan. "I don't miss her at all," she mumbled. Natsuki fixed her gaze on the front door once more and stayed that way until she finally fell asleep.


Weekday – Lunch time - Fuuka Gakuen greens

It had been two weeks since Shizuru and Natsuki last talked to each other.

Mai and Natsuki were currently eating lunch together on the green. Their other friends had yet to arrive.

"Hey, Natsuki," Mai started. "I don't meant to pry but I guess I am prying ... ... Why doesn't Kaichou-sama come to lunch with you anymore?"

Natsuki found it hard to swallow her food just from hearing Shizuru's name. She hadn't spoken to Shizuru in two weeks. She had not told anyone about the fight between them because it only concerned her and Shizuru. It was really no one else's business. "She's busy," Natsuki replied curtly. In truth, she had no idea how Shizuru was doing. She hadn't gone around the Student Council Room and Shizuru hadn't visited her apartment during the evenings.

Natsuki's anger was long gone. It was now totally replaced by something else. 'I miss her,'Natsuki thought longingly. She missed her best friend. She missed having Shizuru around. She missed Shizuru's teasing. She missed eating Shizuru's cooking.

"You miss who?" Mai asked.

"Huh?" Natsuki's head snapped up and her eyes met Mai's mischievous ones.

"You said 'I miss her.' Now spill it Natsuki! Who is 'her'? Although I have a good guess, I want to hear you say it!" Mai quipped.

'Shoot!' Natsuki hadn't realized that she had said it out loud.

"KYAAA! FUJINO-SAMA!"

Their conversation was interrupted by loud girlish squeals.

'Shizuru?' Natsuki's eyes desperately searched for the cause of the squealing. Then she saw her …

Shizuru was walking across the green. She had her hands clasped behind her back and appeared to be enjoying a leisurely walk. Her obnoxious fan club trailed close behind.

'I want to go to her.', 'I want to call her over.', 'I want her to look this way.' So many thoughts were running through Natsuki's mind. But ultimately, what she wanted right now was to have Shizuru back beside her.

Natsuki was about to open her mouth when somebody else called out to Shizuru. "Yo! Bubuzuke!"

She recognized the voice. It belonged to Haruka. Natsuki's eyes searched for the blonde and found her standing near the school building which was right across from where Natsuki and Mai sat. She saw Shizuru acknowledge the blonde's call with a small wave. Her emerald eyes followed Shizuru as the older girl walked up to Haruka. The two girls talked for a while before heading into the school building together.

Natsuki had to restrain herself for pouting. Shizuru didn't even notice her.

"Alright, what the heck was that?" Mai exclaimed. "I think hell just froze over because Kaichou-sama is ignoring you and you're swooning!"

Natsuki blushed profusely at her friend's words. "I-I wasn't swooning!"

"Uh-huh and I hate Karaoke. Come on Natsuki, it's clear as day. Something is wrong between you two! Now spill!" Mai said.

"There's nothing wrong!"

"I don't believe you," Mai insisted.

"I said there's nothing wrong so just drop it, okay?" Natsuki grumbled.

Mai didn't look too pleased but she was always the understanding friend. She dropped the issue and they moved on to talk about something else.


That weekend – Morning - Fuuka Mall

The fight was now spanning over two weeks, almost crossing into three.

Natsuki was at the Fuuka Mall on a weekend morning. If Mai saw this, she would think hell had really frozen over.

Natsuki got up early today but it wasn't by choice. She had been tossing and turning all night. When she saw the first ray of daylight enter her bedroom, she simply gave up on the idea of sleeping. This was not the first time this had happened. She had been losing sleep nearly on a daily basis ever since that fight with Shizuru.

Natsuki couldn't seem stop thinking about the older girl. Shizuru was the cause of her sleepless nights. Even if Natsuki did manage to fall asleep, she would dream about her best friend. In her dreams, they would be hanging out together just like told times. But Natsuki would wake up and she'd feel disappointed all over again because it was merely a dream.

'This is stupid,' Natsuki thought. Everything was reminding her of Shizuru these days. Even when she was showering, Natsuki would remember the times when Shizuru burst in unannounced just for laughs. The memory of it still annoyed her but it also brought a small smile to her lips. Shizuru could be downright silly sometimes.

Natsuki rubbed her tired eyes. 'I need to stop thinking about her. I need to stop being like this,' she told herself. She was determined to take her mind off Shizuru today. Hence why she was at the Fuuka Mall. Natsuki was going to shop and have a good time with no Shizuru to hamper her.

Yet, as Natsuki went about her little shopping trip, she began to see that she was not getting the results she hoped for.

Natsuki went to the stores that she and Shizuru frequented together. It only made her more aware of her best friend's absence. She tried to distract herself by looking at clothing and accessories but her mind kept going back to Shizuru. 'Does this look good on me? Would Shizuru think so too?', 'I bet this top would look good on Shizuru. ', 'This is definitely Shizuru's style.' It made her feel even worse.

"What's wrong with me?" Natsuki murmured as she walked out of a shoe store. She really needed to do something to cheer herself up. Then an idea came to her. "Ah! I got it!" she chirped. She made a beeline for the food-court.

Natsuki soon bought herself a greasy burger and french fries. She paid for the food and took her tray from the server. She smirked, immediately reminded of how Shizuru hated greasy food. 'Gah! I'm thinking about her again!' She shook the thought off and grabbed herself some mayo packs. She took a seat at an empty table and started to sop her burger with mayo. After she was done, Natsuki sat back and looked over her masterpiece. The burger looked absolutely scrumptious. It was dripping with mayo. Natsuki grinned. Shizuru would gag if she ever saw it.

"GAH!" It happened again. Shizuru invaded her thoughts once again. "This is hopeless," Natsuki muttered. She rested her chin on her palms and let loose a sigh. No matter what she did, Shizuru would always find a way to sneak into her head. It was getting worse with each passing day and she didn't know how to stop it.

Natsuki released another deep sigh. She stared at the empty chair across from her. Whenever she ate here, Shizuru was always with her. She always took the seat across from Natsuki. They would talk and eat together. 'Together ...'The word echoed longingly inside her head.

Natsuki glanced down at her food. She grimaced and pushed the tray away.

Suddenly, she didn't feel so hungry anymore.


Weekday – Lunch time - Fuuka Gakuen Hallway.

It had been three weeks since that fight.

Nao, Chie, Mai, Natsuki and Aoi were talking in the hallway.

"Exams are in two weeks. Is everyone prepared?" Chie chirped.

Nao groaned. "It'll be a miracle if I pass," she said.

"No worries, Nao-kun," Chie said. "I'll be tutoring you after all. Just do your best and I'm sure you will pass!"

"I haven't studied at all. I was planning on pulling all-nighters next week," Mai said with a sheepish smile.

"Ah, you should take it easy, Mai-kun. I've looked over the exam material. It doesn't look hard. I'm quite confident that we'll all do well," Chie said.

Aoi slapped Chie's arm in a playful manner. "The last time we took it easy, everyone ended up with barely passing grades while you got the perfect score!" she complained.

Mai shot a mock glared at Chie. "Aoi-san is right. Not all of us are brainiacs like you, Chie-san."

"You think too highly of me, Mai-kun," Chie joked with a cheeky smile. All her friends knew that she excelled at school work. "But in all seriousness, the exam material really is not that hard."

Chie's words did little for Mai's qualm. "But everyone is already studying for the exam. I hope I'm not starting too late," she said, looking around uneasily. The hallway was usually crowded with loitering students but today, it was deserted. The students were either in their classrooms studying, eating or doing both.

"It'll be all right, Mai-kun," Chie persisted. "The study load is small and the material is easy but I can help you out if you'd like. After all, I'm tutoring Aoi and Nao-kun too so we might as well have a study group."

Mai hummed her approval. "I might take you up on that offer. Natsuki could join too! What do you think, Natsuki?" Mai turned to her friend. Natsuki had her arms crossed and her gaze resting on the ground. It was clear to see that her mind was elsewhere.

"Hey, Natsuki?" Mai nudged her friend's arm and that broke the latter out of her thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, sure." She gave a mildly bewildered answer. Mai frowned, seeing how distracted Natsuki looked.

"Yo, mutt. You alright?" Nao asked. Mai wasn't the only one who noticed Natsuki's disheveled state. She had dark rings under her hollow eyes. Adding to her tired appearance was her withdrawn state. Everything about Natsuki screamed that she was burdened by something. Although Natsuki herself was unaware of her transparency, all her friends could tell that something was wrong.

"No, nothing's wrong," Natsuki replied quietly. Everyone discreetly raised their brows and passed a look between one other. Natsuki didn't bite Nao's head off for calling her 'mutt.' Even Nao looked astounded.

Now, everyone was worried. Nao was about to voice her concern again when loud squeals penetrated through the hallway.

"FUJINO-SAMA!"

Natsuki's eyes immediately traveled to the source of the excitement.

Shizuru was coming down the corridor, surrounded by a sea of fan girls. The older girl released a silvery chuckle, followed by a playful plea. "Ladies, please. I really need to be at the tea house," she said. She had her signature dashing smile plastered on her face.

"But I want your button, Fujino-sama!" one of the girls squealed.

"I want to keep a memento of you!" another one said.

'Button?' Natsuki eyes widened when Shizuru got closer. She was shocked by the state that the older girl was in. All the buttons on Shizuru's coat and shirt were gone. The older girl wore a white tank top underneath her uniform and that was the only thing keeping Shizuru's top front from being entirely exposed.

Although Shizuru's attire was untidy, she still looked absolutely stunning and her fan girls seemed to think so too. A few of them were hanging onto Shizuru's arms while the others walked close by. They were all eyeing their object of desire with undisguised yearning.

One girl reached up and touched Shizuru's neck. Natsuki frowned. 'What the hell is she doing?!' her inner voice screamed. If Shizuru was upset by it, she certainly didn't show it. She was wearing her ever-present jocund smile. Natsuki's frown deepened. Shizuru was usually nice to her fan girls but Natsuki didn't know that she let them be this touchy feely.

'Why is Shizuru letting her do that?!' It bothered Natsuki. She didn't know why it bothered her so much. Natsuki felt like there was a storm inside her heart.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" another fan girl protested, swatting the girl who was touching Shizuru's neck.

"What? I'm checking for a button," the other girl replied with a sassy smile.

"Ara," Shizuru smiled and reached up to cradle the invading hand on her neck. "Unfortunately, I do not have any buttons left on my uniform. Maybe another time."

All the fan girls started to squeal. "Fujino-sama touched her hand! I want Fujino-sama to touch my hand too!" one of them said. The fan girls were in heaven right now. They didn't even notice the Ice-Princess whom they were coming towards.

Saying that Natsuki was annoyed was an understatement. She was utterly livid. 'How dare they touch Shizuru that way!' Those girls were going crazy over Shizuru. 'Noooooo, Shizuru you idiot! Don't let them touch you like that!' Natsuki had to bite back the urge to yell.

"My my, Kaichou-sama sure is popular," Aoi said.

"That's Wondergirl for you," Nao chuckled. "Rumors has it, she sews new buttons on her uniform every evening just because of those crazy girls."

"Why do they take her buttons?" Natsuki asked. She was trying to make sense of this peculiar situation.

"Ah, I can explain that," Chie started. "You see, there's an unwritten tradition in high schools where a boy would give away his second button from the top of his uniform to a girl he loves. You can think of it as a love declaration I suppose."

"But!" Chie continued. "These girls have twisted that tradition into something else. They probably trick themselves into believing that those buttons are a piece of Kaichou-sama or more. Like her love. They probably think Kaichou-sama wouldn't give them a memento of herself if she doesn't love them."

"But they're taking things a little too far don't you think?" Aoi said with an uneasy chuckle.

Nao scoffed. "I'll say! Her buttons are being robbed not given!"

Her friends continued to converse but Natsuki couldn't hear it anymore.

It tugged her heart. 'Shizuru's love … so those buttons basically symbolizes Shizuru's love and she's just giving it to them?' Natsuki wondered. She could only watch as Shizuru and her fan girls passed her by. The older girl didn't acknowledge her presence. It was as if Natsuki didn't exist. Shizuru walked on while wearing her usual criminally charming smile. Natsuki wasn't sure if that smile was fake or real but she did know one thing. Shizuru's smile was dazzling but that dazzling smile wasn't meant for her. A smile was a distant dream when Shizuru wouldn't even spare her a glance.

Natsuki couldn't look anymore. She felt her eyes burn. She quickly turned on her heels and headed into the classroom. She heard her friends call out to her but Natsuki didn't stop. She couldn't deal with their questions while she was trying to hold back tears. She didn't want to cry in front of her friends and especially not in front of those fan girls. They would have a field day if they ever saw the Ice-Princess cry.

Natsuki breathed a sigh of relief when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period. Mai and the others took their respective seats in the classroom while Nao headed back to her own class. Natsuki was momentarily saved from the trouble of having to face her friends. They probably noticed her abnormal behavior by now. They would want to know what was going on and Natsuki wasn't sure if she was ready to tell them anything yet.

Class soon began. Concentrating on Midori's lecture was out of the question for Natsuki. So she decided to make use of the class time to calm herself and collect her thoughts. However, what she ended up doing was something entirely different.

Natsuki scribbled furiously on the last page of her notebook. Using a name and a word, she was trying to come up with several sentences containing different combinations of the two.

Idiot Shizuru.

Shizuru's a big idiot.

Idiotic Shizuru.

Shizuru the idiot.

Natsuki read over her handiwork and growled. She resisted the urge to tear the page away and throw it out of the window plus along with it, the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Instead, Natsuki closed her eyes and massaged her temples. She needed to calm down. 'Why are you making me feel this way Shizuru?'

It made no difference when Natsuki opened her eyes again. She still felt restless, depressed and tired, all at the same time. She exhaled and grabbed her pencil once more. She put the lead against the paper and started to draw without thinking. She found herself drawing a heart. Then she put Shizuru's name inside the empty shape. Natsuki put her pencil away. She used her fingers to slowly trace the heart enclosing Shizuru's name. 'Is this really how feel about you?' she wondered wistfully. 'If I ask you for a button now, would you give it to me?'

Natsuki was jolted out of her thoughts when the notebook suddenly disappeared from under her hand.

"Kuga! Stop daydreaming in my class!" Midori chastised sharply. Natsuki took notice of the displeased teacher for the first time. She didn't know when Midori got to her desk. Natsuki opened her mouth to explain but nothing came out. She was too stupefied to come up with any excuse

"What in the world is so important that you-," Midori glanced down at the book and suddenly became speechless. Natsuki knew the young teacher could see her drawing. Her panic grew. She felt vulnerable. She couldn't take it if Midori were to make a public laugh show out of her right now.

Midori's eyes met Natsuki's dazed yet fretful ones. She smiled sympathetically and handed the book back to frightened girl. "Focus on the lesson," she reproached before heading back to the front of the class.

Relief washed over Natsuki but only until the book was snatched from her hands again. This time, the culprit was Mai. Natsuki wanted to wrestle the book back from the other girl but she didn't want to cause a commotion. Therefore, she resulted to her death glare which unfortunately, had no effect on her Mai.

Her nosy friend scanned the last page and frowned. Mai shot Natsuki a questioning glance. She then picked up her pencil and jotted something down in the notebook. Mai passed the book back to it's owner.

Natsuki surreptitiously examined what Mai had written. Below the drawing of Shizuru's name in a heart was a message from her friend. 'We'll talk after school,' it said.

Natsuki didn't have the will to be stubborn anymore. She met Mai's concerned eyes and nodded.


Same day – Evening - the road back to Natsuki's house

When school finally ended, Mai and Natsuki began walking back to Natsuki's apartment together.

They were both quiet. Natsuki wasn't in the mood for chit chat. In addition to being sleep deprived, she had a lot of things going through her mind.

Natsuki needed to talk to someone and she hoped that Mai would be able to give her some useful advice. What was happening between Shizuru and her was a problem and when solving a problem, two heads were always better than one. She and Mai were going to assess all the details of this problem and sort everything out like adults. 'Yep, that's what we're gonna do,' she reasoned. At least that's what Natsuki thought initially.

However, Natsuki's resolve was slowly weakening as she neared her apartment. She had gone through an emotional rollercoaster today and it was beginning to take a toll on her. When they got to her apartment door, Natsuki fumbled with her book bag for her keys. When she found them, she had a hard time unlocking the door because her hands shook too much. She was doing her best not to let her emotions take over but she was fighting a losing battle.

Thankfully, Mai took the keys from her trembling hands and unlocked the door for the both of them.

Mai yelped when Natsuki took that opportunity to abruptly push the two of them inside her apartment. She leaned back and slammed the door shut with her body. Then all strength seem to go out of Natsuki. Her legs gave out and she crumbled to the floor.

"NATSUKI!" Mai keeled down on the floor beside her. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm in big t-trouble," Natsuki stuttered, her breathing started to quicken.

"Why?"

Natsuki buried her face in her hands. "Oh Mai, I t-think I'm i-in love with S-Shizuru," she sobbed.

Then Natsuki did the one thing she had been wanting to do all day.

She cried her heart out.