Final Destiny
By: Heartattach
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor garner any profit, from this fan based writing. All the characters mentioned belong to their respective owners such as Bandi.
Authors Note: This will be a ten chapter fiction with up-dates on Fridays and Tuesdays. It is an effort to try and tie in the HiME Mikoto from Mai HiME to the cat goddess Mikoto of Mai Otome. I rather liked the idea, and seeing as in Otome they call her the last remaining true Hime I thought this was plausible. Please review with comments or ideas.
The Carnival, as it had come to be known, had ended almost five years ago. To this day the young maidens who laid everything they had on the line waited in anticipation. The ominous warnings of the Obsidian Lord left a bitter taste in their mouths, yet nothing happened. Five long years they waited. Five long years they gradually learned how to move on in life.
Five terribly long years and hope that nothing would happen cemented.
Mai had graduated from Fuuka and now attended Fuuka University with her kind-of-boy-friend Tate. She lived with Akira and Takumi in a small apartment near the school, but also closer to the city where Mai worked as chef.
Natsuki, after a lot of hard work and late nights, graduated with Mai and also attend Fuuka University. She now lived with her long time girlfriend Shizuru, and was gearing towards a career in pediatric psychology, a choice motivated by her deeply distraught childhood. Natsuki worked part-time for a motor shop down in town, fixing up bikes and cars.
Of course Shizuru went on to become the president of Fuuka University and was busy preparing for her graduation that loomed overhead.
Yukino and Haruka lived together in the dorms, involved in a very timid and shy relationship unless they were in private quarters. Haruka continued with her job as Executive Director while Yukino, with a lot of encouragement from Haruka, became the Vice President and was running for President at the moment.
The only two student HiME that did not take the Fuuka route were Mikoto and Nao. Mikoto, who took up kendo after the Carnival, was offered a full ride scholarship to Tokyo University to join their first class kendo team. Nao on the other hand decided to go to Tokyo University because of the fact that it had the best Criminal Justice program Japan had to offer.
While Nao had grown slightly taller, maxing out at 5'4" Mikoto had not grown an inch. Much to envy of Midori, Mikoto managed to keep her childish innocence and youth. Though at the age of nineteen people tended to treat her as if she was still a little girl in secondary school. Mikoto would shrug it off most of the time, keeping her cheery disposition, but in truth it frustrated her that no one would take like the grown adult she was.
Mikoto walked in the modest dorm that she shared with Nao and plopped down tired and sweaty from morning kendo practice.
"Food will be up a minute cat-girl," Nao called out from the kitchen where she was finishing up the toast.
"So hungry..." Mikoto whined, deflating on the table.
The smell of food preceded Nao as she brought the try piled high with French toast and a large bowl of fresh fruits. Their diet was mainly in part because of the Kendo team captain, who put all of his students on healthy diets to keep them in the best shape possible.
"Thanks Nao!" Mikoto said as she rabidly tore in the food, shoving as much of the tasty bread down her throat as possible.
"Just remember that it is your turn to do the shopping," Nao said sitting down as well, eating at a much slower and safer pace.
Mikoto nodded happily and continued to eat. With her stomach partially sated she turned to Nao and spoke, "So how is Hideki? You got home pretty late last night."
Nao scoffed, "He wouldn't shut up. I ended up sneaking out on him while he was in the bathroom. I took the bus home."
"Oh," Mikoto said nodding in understanding. She scratched her side were her sole reminder of the Carnival lay as a long pink scar.
It seemed that Nao had as much luck with men as Mikoto had with growing; none at all.
"Anyways," Nao said leaning away from the shaggy haired girl, "I think someone really needs to take a bath before we go to school," she picked up the empty dishes, "Make it quick! If I am late again it will be your head,"
"Yes Nao," Mikoto said in a singsong voice before scurrying off to the bathroom. Sure she did not really enjoy showers, but they were quick because of her short, slightly shaggier hair. She also had to agree that she smelled a bit more powerfully than usual.
Nao smirked as she placed the bowl in the sink. It was about the end of high school that she finally did not have to manhandle the feral girl into the bath. Still it took a very long time to get her to agree to bath willingly.
With the dishes left out to dry Nao went to bedroom that held two single beds and pulled out a blue shirt with yellow stripes and a pair of baggy cream pants that hung off her hips. Mikoto stalked out of the shower, shaking her head wildly to dry her hair and then slipped into a bright orange shirt with a green slash across it and a pair of green shorts.
"Come on Mikoto, get into gear," Nao shouted standing at the door now sporting orange sunglasses.
"Coming!" Mikoto shouted grabbing her black jacket vest then dashing out the door with Nao in tow.
While Nao went to the main building for her classes in Criminal Justice Mikoto was off to the south side of Tokyo University where they held the biology and zoology lessons. Mikoto had decided to go for a degree in animal sciences.
Nao returned home earlier than Mikoto as always and started on her homework while Mikoto was at the dojo in the recreation center being run ragged by her supposedly evil captain.
"I am home," came the exhausted greeting from the entryway.
"I can see that," Nao said her normal sarcastic manner.
The sun had just finished setting as Mikoto wobbled over to the couch and flopped down.
"Eat your dinner, its in the fridge!" Nao called out from the bedroom where she was busy annotating her book.
"Yes mom..." Mikoto grumbled under her breath. She slinked over to the fridge and winced as she spotted her dinner; a massive salad with small chunks of fish.
"Yummy."
"Stop that, it is a bad nervous habit!" Nao commanded walking in to sit with her friend, slapping Mikoto's hands when saw she was scratching at the scar again. Mikoto looked at her sheepishly.
"So how was practice?" Nao asked leaning back in her chair.
"I ended up running laps the whole time again," Mikoto mumbled dejectedly.
"What did you do this time?" Nao asked, an eyebrow raised.
"I knocked someone out...but it was completely by accident! I just got so angry"
Nao sighed. "Was it the guy who keeps calling you girl and patting you on the head?"
Mikoto nodded looking at her salad. "He kept saying that little kids should not play with grown-ups. I was so sick of his taunting! So when we had a bout I attacked him normally except..." Mikoto's grip on her fork shook.
"A little too hard?" Nao guessed.
"I said I was sorry!" Mikoto insisted, stabbing at her salad. "I am just so sick of people thinking that because I look young I don't know anything!"
Nao nodded feeling slightly guilty. Even though she knew Mikoto for all these years she still saw the short haired women as a little girl a lot of the time.
"I am a grown-up just like the rest of them," Mikoto pouted pushing away her salad. "I am not hungry anymore," she stated before walking out of the kitchen.
Nao stood up admonish the girl but stopped. "I doubt telling her to eat her vegetables would improve her mood at all," she sighed.
It took nearly a whole year for anyone to really notice, but some of the HiME seemed to age oddly gracefully. Natsuki and Akira grew but did not show any signs of age, still sporting their young fresh look. The HiME along with help from Fumi all agreed that it could be a possible side effect of the Carnival and let the issue die down when the two began to look more like women then teenagers. The only one that seemed to remain the baby of the group was Mikoto, but with all the HiME in college, and Mikoto in still in high school no one really took notice.
Nao had started to worry when four years had past and her roommate could still fit into her middle school uniform just fine. Now it had been a little over five years, and there was still no sign of ageing on Mikoto.
"I am sick of getting told I am kid!" Mikoto shouted punching her pillow. "I am sick of people asking me if I am lost on the campus!" another punch, " I am sick of people under estimating me because of the fact that I still look young!"
She turned her golden eyes to her ceiling, "I am sick of not being taken seriously..."
Nao pressed her ear to the door, "Why can't you take me seriously...Mai." then the sound of quite sobs permeated the wood.
Nao pushed off of the door frame and quietly walked back into the living room. She sat down and picked up her cell phone and read the text on the screen. Texting back quickly she confirmed her date for Friday then looked at her messages and found one from Mai sent to all the HiME.
"Suuichi asked me to be his girlfriend! About time right? :)"
Nao groaned when she read this. Everyone knew how Mikoto felt about Mai except for the busty women herself. Poor Mikoto was probably crushed.
"This is going to be a long night," she vowed walking into the shared bedroom with a quart of ice cream and two spoons. A teary eyed Mikoto burrowed deeper into her bed now letting her sobs come out in large broken gasps.
"Damn it Mai," Nao whispered looking at her dearest friend. 'Why can't you accept that this girl loves you?' she thought to herself as she sat down and patted the feral girls back comfortingly.