Disclaimer: I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or Steel Angel Kurumi
Chapter 1:
Seventeen year old Natsuki Kuga looked excitedly out the window as the large car pulled up to her new home.
"Garderobe Estates." She read aloud.
"That's right little lady, welcome to Garderobe Estates, your brand new home." Greeted the enthusiastic chauffeur.
"Thank-you." Natsuki mumbled, as the driver opened the car door for her.
Natsuki gazed up at the tall woman before her. The woman seemed to be in great shape for her age. Natsuki guessed her to be in her early to late forties. Glasses adorned her face, and she had dark charcoal hair, with two grey streaks aligning the sides of her head. Although Natsuki hadn't had much contact with the world outside of the orphanage, there was something about this woman that she instantly trusted.
"The name's Chie, Chie Hallard. This is my good friend and your new maid, Aoi Senoh." The woman greeted, pointing to the girl who had joined them on the curb.
Natsuki looked the brunette up and down. She couldn't have been much older than Natsuki herself. Early twenties maybe?
Aoi bowed and Chie continued to speak.
"Aoi and I have been living and serving the master of this house for quite some time now. In fact, we both knew your great aunt Natsuki Kruger when she was still alive."
Natsuki nodded her head at the mention of her great aunt. Her aunt had been a very intelligent woman who had worked for the SEARRS Corporation. Her specialty was robotics and she had helped create weapons for the army, known only at the time as Otome. Not much was known about the Otome project, except that it had been shut down in 1983, after the assassination of SEARRS Corp. President Yukino Chrysant.
If Natsuki had not been so mesmerized by the large mansion behind her, and the five star treatment she was receiving, she may have picked up on the fact that there was no way that Aoi would be old enough to have served her great aunt.
Chie winked at Aoi, and motioned to Natsuki's bags.
"If there is anything you need young master Kuga, we are at your service."
Natsuki cleared her throat and thought for a moment before speaking.
"This is all very nice, too nice in fact." She said, pinching her arm.
Chie and Aoi both laughed at her gesture.
"Are you sure I'm the only living relative of Natsuki Kruger at this time?"
"We are ABSOLUTELY sure." Chie assured her, taking her arm. "Aoi, when you're done with Natsuki's things, could you get our new master a drink?"
Aoi nodded silently, never breaking Chie's gaze.
"Excellent! Kuga-san, welcome to your new home."
Natsuki smiled, following Chie up the driveway. She still couldn't believe that she was a descendant of the great Natsuki Kruger. Saeko Kuga, Natsuki's mother had died when she was only three years old. Having no other known relatives at the time, Natsuki had been forced to live in an orphanage until she was sixteen. This last year had been full of struggles, but she had managed to crash at her best friend Mai's dorm when she could.
Now everything had changed with a simple letter. The letter claimed that with the proper verification of DNA, that she was indeed related to Professor Kruger.
"Natsuki? Are you coming?" Chie asked, waiting by the door.
Natsuki nodded, smiling up at the older woman. Well this was definitely a reversal of fortune.
Why not enjoy it?
"Welcome home!" Chie shouted once again.
With one quick glance back towards her old life, she followed Chie into her brand new home.
"It's good to be home."
...
Chie peered down the hallway, watching as Natsuki entered her new bedroom. She smiled to herself and quickly took out her mobile phone. Dialing a familiar number, she spoke into the receiver.
"It's me. She's here."
"Hello you. Are you sure she is the one?" the voice on the other end asked.
"There is no one else left, so as long as you're sure that Viola is here, then she has to be the one."
"Kruger loved her creations. We recovered Armitage already, so there's no doubt in my mind that Viola is out there as well. I'm guessing close to home."
"I understand."
"If Viola is activated, contact me immediately."
"Yes ma'am."
Chie hung up the phone and then straightened her shirt. She wasn't sure about her boss' plan, but she was sure of one particular thing.
What Alyssa Searrs wanted, Alyssa Searrs attained.
...
Supper had been wonderful, and after they had finished eating, Natsuki had excused herself to go to her bedroom. Once there the blue haired girl had found herself unable to rest, and so she had decided to explore the many halls, wings, and rooms of her newly acquired mansion.
Chie had been quite forthcoming with information about her great aunt, and had even mentioned something about an underground laboratory that Professor Kruger had used in the seventies and early eighties.
Natsuki wasn't really into science at all. As a matter of fact, she really wasn't much for school in general. Natsuki attended Fuuka Academy, the school that the orphanage had sent her to in her first year of junior high. She was quick to blame her circumstance and lack of earlier education for her near failing grades. But as long as she scraped by, Natsuki felt as though she was doing the best she could.
She was so deep in thought that she failed to see Chie sneak up behind her. Chie reached out and grabbed Natsuki's shoulder tightly.
"Gah!" Natsuki screamed.
"Aaaah!" Chie screamed back.
"Chie-san? Sorry you just surprised me."
"And you in turn surprised me." Chie laughed, catching her breath.
Natsuki looked at her watch. It was later than she had thought. "What are you doing up at this hour?"
"I should be asking you the same question young lady." Chie said sternly.
"I couldn't sleep, to tell you the truth." Natsuki replied, looking away.
"Well that's perfectly normal. I'm sure this will all take some getting used to."
"Yeah." Natsuki mumbled.
Chie looked at the young girl once more and her heart went out to her. She had read all the paperwork that the orphanage had sent on Natsuki and couldn't help but feel sorry for the miserable conditions Natsuki had to endure up until this point.
Chie pondered what Alyssa had told her, as well as what Natsuki Kruger had instructed her many years ago. She then made a decision to play this out as honestly as she could.
"Kuga-san, can I tell you something?" Chie asked.
"Sure." The young girl said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well first let me ask you something. Do you know what it was that your great aunt invented?"
"Not really. I read somewhere it had to do with military weapons?" Natsuki asked.
"Sort of. Have you ever heard of the term "Nanomachine"?
"Huh?"
"Nanomachine. It's a complex system that Professor Kruger helped create during her time at SEARRS.
"What did it do?" Natsuki asked, following Chie towards the stairwell at the end of the corridor.
"Well the nanomachines were used to give regular humans some very interesting abilities."
"Like what?" Natsuki asked, suddenly interested.
"Well, everyone that participated in the Otome project could fly." Chie said, grinning.
"Really?" Natsuki asked, eyes wide. "Like superman?"
"Yes, like that, but well there were no superMEN, in fact, only women were allowed to participate in the project, because strangely enough the nanomachines rejected the "Y" chromosome.
"So women actually WANTED to participate in this thing? Weren't they afraid? I always see men participating in these scientific experiments and movies about superhumans."
"Yes well you are a member of generation X, the generation that watches too much T.V." Chie joked.
Natsuki nodded in reply. It was true after all.
"So where did these women come from?" she asked.
"Well most of them were patients at the SEARRS hospital. In the beginning, those that were asked to participate were either dying, or suffering from a life threatening illness."
"Seriously?" Natsuki asked in awe.
"The nanomachines had the power to heal, once they were installed. Professor Kruger was quite proud of her first two prototypes, Armitage and Viola.
"My great aunt was truly talented wasn't she?" Natsuki said, stopping behind Chie as they neared a dusty door.
"Professor Kruger was a true innovator. I admired her very much. I was lucky to have been able to work with her, even if I was just her personal attendant. In fact, I was about your age when I first began working here." Chie said, feeling rather reminiscent.
"I can't imagine working in a fast food restaurant, let alone an important place like SEARRS." Natsuki said.
Chie laughed. "Yes but times were different back then, which leads me to the here and now. Natsuki, your great aunt had a gift, a gift that was meant to be shared with the world, but due to unfortunate circumstances, that was not what happened."
"You mean the assassination of Yukino Chrysant?" Natsuki asked, remembering the story well.
"That is correct. After the death of the President, Kruger was never the same. She continued to live with Viola, her Otome for a short time, before she disappeared for good."
Chie then pushed hard against the old door, giving it a nudge with her shoulder. The door creaked, pushing back on its hinges, before quietly opening up.
"Shall we?"
Natsuki shook her head and followed Chie into the darkened room.
"This was Professor Kruger's office at one time."
Natsuki took a moment to let her eyes adjust to the light. As she looked around her eyes then widened. The entire room was full of newspaper clippings. Natsuki glanced at the bunch on the wall in front of her, and realized that they were all about prior current events, ranging from the nineteen sixties, to the nineteen eighties.
"Look at this." Chie said, holding up a piece of newspaper that she had found on the desk.
Natsuki scanned the page and read out loud. "December 1st, 1983. Yukino Chrysant, President of SEARRS Corp. Assassinated! Armitage goes berserk!"
"Armitage? Wasn't she one of my aunt's prototypes?"
"Yes. Kruger and Chrysant worked side by side on the project. I believe your aunt considered Chrysant to be her better half in many ways. The two had been best friends ever since college. Professor Kruger had given Armitage to Chrysant as a gift. The otome was a token of their friendship, and a means of protection against the threat of enemies."
"So if Armitage was supposed to protect the President then what happened?"
Chie shook her head. "Nobody really knows, but Armitage blamed herself. Overcome with rage, she ignored the orders of Kruger and SEARRS and took matters into her own hands. Eventually she was tracked by the army and taken down."
"De-activated?"
"I suppose that would be the nice way of putting it. This once again brings me to you."
"Me?"
"Yes you. I like you Natsuki, so I am going to be honest with you. Professor Kruger left me with strict instructions when she left. She wanted me to find the one person that could re-activate the Otome, in particular, Viola."
"Viola?"
Chie then handed Natsuki another document from Kruger's desk. This one was a photo. Natsuki gently blew the dust from the frame, and peered down at the smiling faces of the two women in the picture. One was very obviously her aunt. She looked so much like Natsuki, that if she had been alive today, they could have been mother and daughter. The other was a honey haired woman, wearing what looked like a light purple robe. What truly stood out in the picture were the woman's dark crimson eyes. In fact, Natsuki felt like the woman in the picture was staring right at her!
"This is Viola? She is stunning." Natsuki murmured, still mesmerized by the picture.
"She's here." Chie whispered.
"What?" Natsuki jumped, looking behind her. "Where?"
Chie shrugged her shoulders. "That's why you're here. We need you to resurrect her."
"What are you talking about?" Natsuki asked, suddenly feeling apprehensive.
"Kruger told me before she left, that she had a vision. In that vision I was old, and she was young. She then told me she realized it wasn't her in the vision, but a relative, a descendant if you will. She told me that the person in her vision would be the one to re-activate Viola and possibly the entire Otome program. I believe that you are the one in her vision Kuga-san."
"Me? Yeah right. What the heck can I do? I'm not smart at all! You must have the wrong person, I'm sorry to have disappointed you." Natsuki said hastily, turning to leave.
She knew it had been too good to be true. This wasn't for her at all. It was for the one in Kruger's vision, and there was no way that she could be that person.
"Wait. You can't leave yet." Chie pleaded, grabbing her arm.
"What do you want from me? How will I know where to find this Viola person? It's not like in the movies when you just magically happen to hit the right brick in a wall and poof, you suddenly find the secret hidden door." Natsuki yelled, smashing her fist against the wall to prove her point.
"See in the movies, the ground would start to shake and boo-"
Natsuki was stopped mid-sentence as suddenly the ground began to shake, and a cloud of dusty smoke appeared, before a noise was heard from up above.
"Oh Kami..."
Both Chie and Natsuki turned their heads, as suddenly a purple clad body fell from the roof, landing directly on top of Natsuki.
"Natsuki!" Chie cried out, coughing amidst the dust.
Natsuki's eyes widened as she felt herself fall backwards, hitting her head on the hard floor. Seconds later she felt something soft press against her lips, before realizing that there was a human body lying on top of her.
Before Natsuki could react at all, she seemingly found herself staring straight into the very haunting red eyes from the picture on Kruger's desk.
Viola!
Natsuki put her hand to her lips, as the woman on top of her finally stood up. Second later, Chie was also standing beside her; a look of complete shock adorned her face.
"Natsuki, are you okay?" Chie asked, visibly concerned.
"Ara, Natsuki?" Viola asked, before looking down at Natsuki.
"Huh?" Natsuki asked, still reeling from the head shot and the kiss.
"Kawaii! My master is Kawaii!" Viola said suddenly, clasping her hands together.
"Master?"
But before Natsuki could react, Viola had jumped on top of her, engulfing her in an enormous hug. Chie looked on as poor Natsuki tried to wriggle away from her current captor.
"Help! Chie help!" Natsuki cried out.
"Fufufufu." Viola laughed, hugging Natsuki closer.
"Gah!"
Chie just shook her head, laughing at the display in front of her. Secret brick in the wall? Really Kruger? Really?
Viola was definitely back in full form.
What did this mean for poor Kuga-san?
To be continued...
Next Chapter: Uh oh Viola wants to eat, sleep and bathe with Natsuki! Can Natsuki handle all the attention? Someone accidentally activates the volatile Armitage! Can anyone control this Otome? Find out next time!
Thanx everyone for reading and reviewing. This chapter was just to ease everyone into the story; next chapter will be more fun and filled with Viola/Kuga interaction!
Take care everyone
ShotgunNeko