Hi this is the first time I trying to write a small story. My first attempt. I had just watched Mai Hime and Mai Otome few weeks ago. And to tell the truth, I think I had fallen in love with it. Especially with Shizuru. I do not own Mai Hime or Mai Otome no matter how hard I wished. This is just my very first attempt at writing a story. If the feedback is good then I will try to carry on writing. Btw I am from Singapore and to my understanding I know there is Mai Otome Zwei, and Sifr animes right? Anyone knows where to get them? And also any books on the characters in this two anime like Natsuki Prelude and so on. If anyone knows where to get all these in Singapore, please tell me k? Thanks.
Chapter One – Shizuru face danger
Feeling the wind breeze through the chestnut strands, sending a shiver down the spine, and the sudden coolness made Shizuru brought her hands to hug herself. Walking down the street alone, and into the dark alley, she thought to herself. "Ara ara how quiet the street is now tat it is 4am in the morning. How I wish Natsuki is here strolling with me."
But as much as she wished, Natsuki was nowhere near her now. Shizuru is now in the Artai where the Slave was last spotted. And it had taken the lives of 200 innocent civilians and injured the 3 Trias so badly that they were still in a coma after one week. As a meister otome and the third column of Garderobe, she had been sent here to investigate and get rid of the Slave at the request of the Council. Help had been offered for some other otomes to assist her but she rejected all of them. Not that she was proud and snobbish. But she did not want to get anymore otomes injured unnecessarily. The situation in all the countries were already as tense and all countries were trying so hard to restore themselves to before Nagi messed up the whole world.
This back alley used to be bustering with life and activities but now not a single soul was here due to the attack one week ago. Haruka had fought with the guards that were holding her down and earlier in their secret meeting; President Yukino had given Shizuru the promise of not giving Haruka permission to materialize her robe so that Haruka could not join Shizuru in the search. Although Haruka was always seen fighting with Shizuru at everything since they were Corals and roommates, they had a sense of strong bond for each other friendship. Though they never made this point known, they had always been there for each other through their fair share of happiness and difficulties. Though they never once told each other what was going on in the mind but they seem to have a psychic on what's going on inside each other's heads.
Thinking back at what happened earlier in her secret meeting with President Yukino, Shizuru chuckled to herself. Instead of the usual walking through the main door of the President's office, Shizuru pulled a black cloak over her usual light purple Meister Otome dress, lurk around the grounds, carefully to avoid the super duper tight security and then finally jumped up into the third storey wide open window to the President office noiselessly. She crept up behind the President and then with a swift motion, caught Yukino left wrist and spunned her round then with her right hand hold her waist that resembled a tango position with the President almost parallel to the ground.
Caught off guard and by the sudden swift motion and super awkward position, the President was dumbfound. Her eyes opened widely and before she could react, the attacker brought her face so closed that if a centimeter more, their lips would have been in contact. "Oh my god, who is this person who snuck into my office without an uproar outside and where, is Haruka? Am I going to be kiss by this person? Haruka come save me please because the only one that I wanted to kiss is you... Tons of thoughts went through Yukino's mind. She closed her eyes so tightly suddenly at the thought that her kiss is going to be stolen by this intruder...
But at this close, a sweet smell and a familiar scent floated to Yukino's nose as their faces and lips were almost touching. Yukino yanked open her eyes and gasped out weakly, "Shizuru, what are you thinking of? I am not Natsuki you know." The intruder pulled away her face and pulled the president back to a standing position before letting out a chuckle and removing the hood of her cloak. "Ara ara the President is quite smart as usual. How did you figure out that it is me? I tried to put our faces so close that you are unable to see my face. Hehe."
"I smelled your beautiful scent and the fragrance of the tea with your face this close to mine and thought to myself, the only one who is able to crept into my office without creating an uproar outside and the ability to spun me around unaware and hold me in that gorgeous position that no one had even done to me is only you Shizuru." Yukino smiled to herself at her at her brilliant guess.
The uninvited guest gave her usual chuckle and bowed respectfully to the President as Yukino lowered herself into the comfort of her armchair behind the table smiling at Shizuru. "So what brings our lovely charming lady here who always send them into dizzy spells whenever they got caught in the way of your gaze and smiles, dressed up like a thief snuck into my office and give me a so wonderful position just now that almost make me wished tat it was Haruka with me in her arms in that position at this hour of the night. Don't tell me that you have a crush on me suddenly cos everyone knows who your heart belongs to."
Noticing that her sentence sent a blush up from the neck to the ears of the Charming Amethyst Meister Otome, Yukino was not able to sniffle her laughter any longer. This made Shizuru blushed even more and the two of them broke into small fits of giggles at each other red faces. They tried so hard to keep their laughter down and after a few minutes, they regained their composures and settled down ready for business.
"I believed that Natsuki had called you earlier to inform you about me going to deal with the Slave alone right two hours ago." Yukino nodded and wait for Shizuru to carry on. "I'm actually here to ask a favor from you." The chestnut changed her tone slightly and Yukino knew things were getting more serious. "I want you to refuse Haruka when she asked for your permission to materialize her robe to help me out."
This sentence sent the president mouth gaping and held her breath for a few seconds. Silence inside the office suddenly make the creaking of the frogs outside seems so loud. Yukino opened her mouth to protest, only to be interrupted by Shizuru who carried on, "I know this is hard and I do not have much confidence that if I am able to take down the Slave myself, and I know Haruka well enough that she will not allow me to go on this mission alone one. But Yukino, because of the inadequate information on the slave, cos our Trias have yet to awaken, I cannot risk the life of anymore people that are close to me. Natsuki wanted to come with me but I make her stay in Garderobe with the idea that the Slave might have move and she needs to be there to protect the academy as the Gakuencho. And of course before I move out, she made me promise her that I will be back regardless of what happened. I am uncertain about the probabilities of the outcome should I come face to face with the Slave. But I need to ensure that the other otomes are taking care of the world and their responsibilities. And someone strong like Haruka should be able to revenge me and kill the Slave should I fail in my mission. If she goes with me now, and place herself in the same dangerous situation..." Shizuru's voice trailed off slowly and Yukino understood her point.
Pushing up her specs slightly, the short hair President gave a small sign and a slight nod to Shizuru. Just when she was going to say something, the outroar outside her office made her stop. Shizuru and Yukino could hear that ever stomping Haruka outside trying to barge through the guards to Yukino's office. "Thanks. Help me take care of Natsuki and Haruka should something bad happens to me. They are my closest family even though not blood related." Shizuru mumbled before she leapt out of the window.
Haruka barged through the door and saw the smiling President looking at her. "It's okay. You both can leave now" Yukino said to the guards and with slight bows, the guards took their leave and closed the doors quietly. Haruka slapped down her two hands on the table and looked at Yukino with her big sincere eyes and opened her mouth. Yukino was shocked cos she expected an outburst from that ever so loud mouth but instead all that came was a soft plead. "Let me go with Shizuru please. Materialize my robe please Yukino..." Haruka was so desperate now after hearing the news that Shizuru was going to face that SLAVE alone. She wanted nothing to happen to the best friend that she had looked up to ever since they were corals. She wanted to be there together with Shizuru in case that Slave was too much for Shizuru to handle.
"No." The bespectacled President said softly yet firmly.
"WHY NO!! WHY DID YOU REFUSE MY REQUEST? I...I..." The sentence was hung there because tears came rolling down Haruka's cheeks. She was not someone who would cry and yet she fell so hopeless now. Without Yukino's approval and kiss on her gem, there's no way she can go and help Shizuru without her robe as she had received report on the damages that the Slave had done one week ago. She clenched her fists tightly, biting her lips, she hissed out another soft please.
Yukino Chrisant looked calmly at her meister and shooked her head again. Though she may look calm but her hearts was almost torn when she saw the tears streaming down Haruka face. She remembered and understood Shizuru's meaning so all that she could do was just as promised. Yukino turned her head away, stood up and walked towards the open window. Staring at the full moon, she said to Haruka, "At a time like this, much as I would like to materialize you, but I will not. I hope you will understand my intentions and it's also a request from ..." she did not manage to finish her sentence as she heard the door slammed open with a crying Haruka running out. Yukino finally let her own tears that welled up for so long in her eyes down. She turned towards the windows cos she did not want Haruka to see them. She knew that turning down Haruka's proposal and plea had hurt the latter so much till even her heart ached. As the tears came down nonstop, Yukino looked up to the moon again and pray in her heart. Please be safe Shizuru.
Meanwhile back at Garderobe, Natsuki was not feeling good at all. A heavy feeling kept churning inside her stomach. She wanted to go together with Shizuru but her love just would not allow. Shizuru made her stay here on the account that she was the Gakuencho of Garderobe, the most important person here and she had to take care of everyone here. Though Shizuru had given her a promise to return before she left, sealed with a kiss, Natsuki could not help but worry and pray hard for her return. Seeing there's nothing she could do now, she went back to her test and decide to call Youko.
"How are the Trias doing?" Natsuki asked. "Not good. They have yet to wake up and all that Shiho was mumbling on and off was maki maki. Their conditions are stable now probably due to the nano machines inside them but I still worry for the head concussions they had been in due to their fight that day, which is probably the reason why they were still in coma." Youko gave a small sign at the end of the phone. Natsuki whispered thanks and hung up the phone. She looked at the photo frame near her phone and then dialed another number. "Yes?" came a sleepy voice. "I need you to come to my office now" came Natsuki's reply.
Shizuru did not leave Yukino's grounds actually after she leapt out of the windows gracefully. Instead she hide carefully at the nearest tree and was looking at both Yukino and Haruka's conversation. Even though she knew that Haruka was worried sick for her, she still could not avoid her usual teasing way to Haruka. Ara Ara I will love to see Haruka's face if I go back into the office. But there was not much time to waste anymore. When she saw Haruka stomp out of the office and a sobbing Yukino by the windows, she mumbled a soft thank you and crept back the way she came from.
She reached her destination after around 30 minutes of flying at full speed on her Meister Robe. She stopped her robe and then proceed to scout the whole area. The alley was long and dark. Debris were everywhere. Even though the army had cleared up, they left the destructions there and just transport away all the casualties and corpse. It certainly looked like an earthquake zone. Shizuru thought to herself. Scouting the area carefully and absorbing as much info as she could see, with her sharp ears trying to pick up any noises, the whole area seemed dead except for the scuttling around of some cockroaches and mice. She continued making her way deeper into the alley carefully not to trip over anything.
She came to a point and stopped. Bent down and pick up something on the floor. Holding it up against the full moon, she dust off the dirt on the thing. Shiho will be glad to get her maki maki doll back when I go back. Shizuru smiled to herself. She carefully kept the voodoo doll and turned around to look at the surroundings. This must be where the fight broke out that night. There were signs of fighting everywhere. The holes at the walls behind, the burnt marks left on the grounds and so on. Shizuru was peering underneath another pile of rumble when her sharp ears caught a small sound. Instinctly she turned round so swiftly but she was not seeing what she expected of the Slave.
Instead there stood small boy. With blond hair and blue eyes, he looked about 5 years old. He was hugging to his toy panda so tightly in his chest and he looked at Shizuru. A soft voice came out of his mouth and he said, "Have you seen my twin onii-chan here? I am looking for him because I lost him." Shizuru thought to herself. How come anyone is still here? Some more this small boy alone here searching for his twin older brother. Something's not right here. Never mind, I shall play along and see what he wants.
"I just reached here and I did not see anyone but you here. Are you alright boy? Where are your parents? How come they let you wander around alone here?" Shizuru asked the boy. His large innocent blue eyes stared up at Shizuru and said, "I do not know." And suddenly grew limp and his legs gave way as well as the eyes became a dull colour. Shizuru rushed over to his side and she managed to catch hold of the boy before he reached the ground. She was about to take a close look at him and suddenly, something wrapped themselves around her so tightly that she dropped the boy. Looking down, she saw wired like tentacles entangled around her tying her hands to her body so tightly that she could not budge an inch at all.
The boy now stood up and grinned at Shizuru. "You are one innocent lady. Onii chan come come. I caught her already." Another small figure stepped out from the shadows and went to stand with the boy. The newcomer was also clutching an identical toy panda and dressed in exactly the same attire. The two of them now have a smudge grin on their faces and under the moonlight, they look so cute like innocent boys but yet they were not. The tentacles that was tied up to Shizuru was extended from behind the older twin body.
New type of slave they must have invented. Those Swartz must have been through a lot to be able to modify them till they are so human like and there was no sense of bloodlust at all if they were to hide it. Shizuru thought to herself and then she asked, "Ara ara you cute little boys, what do you want with me? Tying me up like this I cannot play hide and seek with you all." She chuckled to them. "And also you boys are quite smart to be able to get me tied up from behind cos usually it is me who takes people from behind."
The twins turned to each other and smiled. The two of them held up their toy pandas and squeezed. A puff of smoke came out and Shizuru held her breath so that she did not inhale the smoke in case they were dangerous or poisonous. When the smoke cleared, the two boys had disappeared. In their place were two hideous looking creatures with tentacles, 3 legs and a sharp scorpion tail each waving menacingly in the air. Their eyes were red and glaring fiercely at Shizuru. Tongues were wagging out and saliva were dripping. At the places where the saliva dropped to the ground, a hiss could be heard as the ground burnt a hole at contact. This explained the burnt marks on the floor. Shizuru looked up to them with her same calm expression and said. "Oh... so it was you boys who did such terrible things to my students and caused hurt and killed so many innocent citizens. So what you both want to do with me now that I cannot move at all?"
The Slaves advanced closer and closer to Shizuru, expecting her to break up in the sweat but they had underestimated the Charming Amethyst Otome who was also the third pillar of Garderobe. Waving their tentacles at her, they said in perfect timing, "We want your body." Just when they were about to reach Shizuru, "Materialize" the slave who had Shizuru in captive lost a couple of his tentacles as Shizuru materialized her robe and was standing around 1 meter away from them. Holding her element Naginata, she looked ever so gorgeous in the moonlight. And some broken tentacles were lying on the floor. Expecting some anger from the Slave, nothing came. Shizuru looked at the cuts that she had inflicted on the Slave. This time her eyes opened wider in astonishment. The tentacles were regenerating at a super high speed. And seconds later, they were back to normal.
"Now we shall stop teasing our Charming Amethyst Lady out here already." Smith voice bloomed out from the Slave on the right. Smith, Schwartz was behind all this. "Smith, long time no hear from you already. So you came back with these two new toys that you invented? I must admit I'm quite impressive with the regeneration functions that they have. So I supposed that no matter where I cut them, they will be able to grow them back in no time right? Oh my. This was quite a sticky situation now.
"Yes my lady you are correct in your part and also these new slaves are now way much faster and smarter than the older versions one. And they are equipped with infra ray and transmittal waves that can cause severe injuries should they come into contact with you. They are practically invincible now. Hahaha..." Smith voice was heard again. Thoughts were racing profusely inside the Amethyst's head. Still keeping her cool, she had analyzed the whole situation and in her current robe, there was no way for her to defeat even one slave due to their regenerative powers not to mention that there were two of them now. Running away was not an alternative for her too cause her back was now stuck to the wall with the two monsters advancing towards her. She was snapped out of her thoughts as a sharp excruciating pain struck into her right side and the next moment she was hanging in the air. Looking to her right she saw herself pierced by one of the Slave who had his tail buried and extended from below ground quietly and pierced into her.
Swaying her Naginata with a swift flick of her arms, she chopped away the tail and dropped down to the ground. Pain was overbearing and blood was losing fast. The broken tail was still stuck in her body but she had no time to pull it out. I need to get away fast then think of some tactics before my body fails me now. Glancing around fugitively, she saw a route that she could escape to, only if her body holds up. She switched into fly mode and flew up into the air. The Slaves aimed beams of rays at her but she managed to dodge them. Clutching her naginata in her left hand and the right hand was trying to hold together to prevent blood from flowing out of the wound and hoping the pain would go off. But it did not help at all. Her robe stopped when she was a safe distance away and she could feel herself falling. Her eyes were closing and she was expecting to drop to the ground but it never came. Her strength was failing and she was sipping into unconsciousness anytime.
She felt strong arms embraced her before she land, opening her eyes a little to see who it was, she gave a small smile and whispered, "Thanks Nao." And Shizuru slipped into the darkness.