Disclaimer: Sunrise owns Mai-HiME. I am not Sunrise. You make the conclusion.
--
It was a perfect day for sunbathing, it really was. Even Yuuki Nao had trouble denying that, and as all of her acquaintances would readily admit, Nao could complain about almost anything. But she had reasons to be content - the HiME Carnival nightmare was getting ever blurrier in her memory with the passing of time. And not only that but the final exams were behind her and she had finally made it into high school. Not that she cared much about school but her mother was happy that, quote: "Nao-chan hadn't degenerated completely while her poor mother was in comma". Sometimes having a university professor for a mother was overwhelming indeed... the woman even had already prepared a minutely detailed plan for Nao's assault of the exams at Toudai three years later! Never mind that her daughter had no clue what her professional field of choice might be! Or that she took her final exams with less than flattering marks. Yuuki Shizuka couldn't be stopped by such trifles. She had proclaimed that under her guidance Nao should be able to take each and every exam possible with perfect marks.
Still, simply having a mother or someone around her had changed Nao a lot. No longer the jailbait delinquent she did her best to fit in among her classmates. Maybe she could even smooth things over with some of the former HiMEs during this adventurous holiday...
"Nao! Aren't you listening to me, young lady?!"
"I was contemplating the strategy for the Toudai exams, Mom". Two could play that game. Nao couldn't help but smile. Such verbal sparring was easily her biggest source of pleasure since her mother's miraculous revival. "How to cheat on them, to be precise. Do you have any helpful ideas about that, Mom?"
It was the damned heat, Nao later reflected. Her teasing was woefully inadequate and her mother pressed her advantage in a ruthless fashion that seemed to run in the family.
"Young lady, we have been through that many times. If you dare cheat, I will make the nightmares about that bitch Shizuru seem like a fond memory! I wish she were here by the way, I would like to teach her a thing or two she shall never forget."
"Mom, now it's you who sounds like a broken record. You were about to tell me something and apparently I was not listening . What was it?"
"Oh, right, sorry for even mentioning that name. I was just wondering whether you don't happen to feel a bit embarrassed about having me with you on this holiday. Everyone else has invited someone their own age, it seems. I am sure there are tons of boys who would love to come on a holiday with you even in Iceland, let alone in a luxurious, yet isolate, resort in the South Pacific. Or girls. You never tell your mother about your love life.
"When I was your age, I told my mother everything. Well, except when me and Kyoko got a hold of some compromising pictures of that bitch Mizuki and blackmailed her into being our sexy maid for a fortnight. Wait, that was back in university, right? Let's just say that as you know I loved your father very much but still there are some things that women just do better."
Nao's mood was really turning sour. She'd be damned if she allowed her mother to brag about her love conquests without some boasts of her own. And her parent knew all too well that Nao was not fond of boys, yet this didn't stop her from dropping hints about expected grandchildren! As if she would have any time to raise a child in the next thirty years without throwing half of her mother's ideas for her future career out of the window. Wait, she wasn't going to follow the path her mother had chosen for her, right? If so, maybe she could actually find a nice enough guy and...
"Mama! I don't want to listen to your fantastic tales! How many times do I have to repeat that I was a bit too busy with my vengeance and then trying to survive to be able to give much attention to my love life? And the fact that I hated all of humanity - well, at least all of mankind did not help. Tokiha Mai used to worship me, though. You have seen Tokiha, right? I loved having her make me a delicious breakfast which I ate from her naked body. Mai's breasts with honey is truly a breakfast for champions."
'Score! Nao inwardly smiled when she saw her mother struggling to decide how much of what she had heard was truth. Of course this didn't stop her from replying.
"Is that so? Nao-chan, you really should invite her to breakfast someday then. I think her chest offers enough space for two people. Is Tokiha-san in need of a private tutor by any chance?"
Nao was trying to come up with her next biting remark but was also relieved that this conversation was successfully steered off its former course and set on a humorous trajectory. She admitted to herself that there was someone she was vaguely interested in. The good news was this someone was certainly interested in her, all right. But in a rather odd and at least for now, very much unromantic way. Oh well, all in good time. She just needed to explore her own feelings patiently before doing something stupid. Still, her new green swimsuit was so nice that it would have been pity if no one could appreciate it...
"Nao! There you were! Mai and the rest were driving me crazy, so I thought that I might as well come and quarrel with you...come on, put on your top, I am not one of those pedos you ripped off."
The voice belonged to a girl, slightly older than Nao. Tall, dark and bishoujo as Nao liked to describe her, Natsuki Kuga really was a sight to behold. Alas, her swimsuit was more modest than the one which she had used to hitchhike when she had to get back to Suzushiro's estate... that story was stuff of legends. Midori-sensei even had some photos which she was all too happy happy to show to anyone whenever she happened to be drunk.
Anyway, Nao put on the top piece with deliberate slowness while Natsuki was not even bothering much of putting a facade of lack of interest. What was going with her? Few months she would have blushed almost as profusely as Kikukawa whenever someone happened to merely mention that weirdo Suzushiro's name.
Not that Nao had any problem with hot girls checking her out...even in front of her mother. Natsuki had been really persistent recently - she probably was right on money when she had said back then that her and Nao were very similar. With some normality restored to their lives, they could really allow themselves to have some fun again.
"Hey, it's my knight in shining armour, the beautiful and cryptic favourite of all stalkers and panty thieves, Miss Kuga Natsuki! So tell me, who made you run away like a little girl this time, Natsuki? And say hello to Mama. I know you only have eyes for me but this is quite disrespectful. If I were you I wouldn't go study in Fuuka University, mother's memory is impeccable when it comes to getting her revenge."
Bulls eye! This time Natsuki did blush a little, turned to Mama and made a totally needless bow, followed by a mumbled speech in the most respectful language forms possible. Nao wondered how a girl who was leering at her seconds ago could do something so stupid. Her barely repressed laughter must have shown on her face since Natsuki started exercising her considerable frowning skills at her.
"For crying out loud Natsuki, relax. Don't you remember how the fifth time you visited our house, Mama actually described the wedding she had already planned for us and was shocked to learn even though she had spent years in coma same sex marriages were still illegal in Japan? Of course, she was even more shocked when you almost burst into flames upon hearing the very idea that you and I might be perceived as an item...and shocked once again when you tried to beat me up for planting such ideas into her head?" - by now Mama was trying her hardest to be a refined lady and not laugh, with very little success.
Flashes of angers were evident in Natsuki's face but a friendly smile from Nao managed to calm her down quickly. Soon after the Carnival, Nao reflected, her friend (yes, she had friends now, whoever saw that coming?), Natsuki had tried to fill the gap in her life left after clearing her issues she had with her mother...and with that witch with a Kyoto accent. She was away now...breathe...think of something else...Yes. Natsuki. Else. Natsuki was odd. Very odd. She had chosen to forgive all the bad blood between her and Nao and everything pointed out that she actually felt responsible for the younger girl whose life she had saved. Did people like that actually exist in the real world, Nao wondered for an umpteenth time? She counted herself extremely lucky to know such a person.
Not only that but Natsuki had also formed a weird bond with Nao's mother. All formal and blushing around her but they somehow understood each other. Natsuki had promptly been coerced into getting private history lessons from Nao's mother despite her protests that she couldn't care less whether Queen Elisabeth had ruled over England or Zanzibar or in the 16th or 12th century, AD or BC. Yuuki Shizuka was, of course, not to be deterred by that reluctance and enthralled her audience of two (namely Nao and Miss Kuga) with some saucy anecdotes about the Virgin's Queen alleged total lack of celibacy and conspiracy theories about Shakespeare's actual identity. Nao smiled inwardly recalling how she had started calling Natsuki the Virgin Queen for a while.
The voice of said Queen put her out of her reverie:
"Shut up, Nao. I escaped from the others for a very similar reason, I'd rather not listen to more soap operish talk about who wants to have whom for whatever long period of time. Except if it's for one night, so I came to you."
"I am really flattered you think me so devoid of romantic notions, Natsuki, I really am. Do you want to go for a swim? You can explain to me what those idiots were doing to frustrate you so while we arrange that one night you mentioned. I forgot to take my Dominatrix outfit and handcuffs but I am sure Midori-sensei will be able to help."
Natsuki did not even flinch, by now they were both used to such constant verbal jabs. She winked at Nao, said goodbye to Nao's mother and headed for the sea. For the umpteenth time Nao wondered how an island so perfect could be owned by Fuuka Academy and why whoever was supplying the money for First District's operations had not come to ask Fumi some tough questions. Or at least why the Tax Bureau had not come to sniff around. She came to the conclusion that either First District was so secret that anyone who knew about it was killed when The Big Ugly Snakewoman had murdered everyone present in their headquarters or Mashiro's reset has done more than resurrect everybody.
In any case, Nao at least felt she had deserved at least a vacation in paradise for saving the world. The island was like a dream come true. White sandy beaches, beautiful emerald jungle filled with cute monkeys and other small animals and a very odd lack of huge poisonous centipedes and other disgusting arthropods typical for non-photoshopped jungles. To top it off, it was raining only by night, so Nao was really leaning to the decision that magic was indeed involved in it all. Either that or one of them had been a shipwrecked sailor in a previous life and this paradise was universe's way of making amends.
Thinking of beautiful landscapes and divine intervention...funnily enough she couldn't even concentrate on enjoying them for something just as exquisite was at the centre of her attention on route to the water - Natsuki's butt. No wonder the PE teacher had a tacit agreement with Natsuki and always forgot to write down her name in the record of absent students - for when she did come it was very troublesome to control the hormones of horde of admirers - male and female. Last time Natsuki had gone to swim in the school pool, her underwear was stolen once again - but this time the guilty party was promptly found by Natsuki herself and she (oh, yes, it was a girl!) was "convinced" to make amends by increasing the famous lingerie collection with the best offered in the latest Victoria's Secret catalogue. Despite Nao's skills of dealing with this very problem - which was not helped in the least by her pathological distrust of men, she felt the familiar feeling of admiration for Natsuki surface once more. After all Natsuki had saved her life and later on burned all bridges with Fujino, instead of making up and forgetting. Even better she somehow did not end up hating Nao despite the Carnival events. Quite amazing indeed. Plus she was quite simply great to hang around with.
"Hey Natsuki, we will be staying on this island for quite a time, you know. So please tell me, you have put also a thong in your luggage , it is a crime against humanity to hide your body like that. I bet even Yukariko's swimsuit is less prudish. I have seen your lingerie collection, it is so exquisitely daring, so you must be playing some cunning game. Is that your plan of driving me crazy, Takeda-style?"
By that time they had entered the sea and were going for the deeper areas for a swim. Natsuki turned to Nao, smiled seductively, giggled a bit, arched her back presenting her breasts, "accidentally" started fumbling with one of the hooks of her top piece and theatrically averting her eyes said in a sultry voice:
"Of course I have a thong, darling. I have everything prepared for our steamy holiday. You can be the Princess and I can be the lady in waiting. I can be the policewoman and you can be the beautiful suspect. I can be the idol, you can be the shy fan. I can be Suzushiro and you can be Kikukawa - sorry not the other way around - you, my dear are too underdeveloped in the breast department to pull a Suzushiro well and we know you are a silent submissive angel like her sidekick. I love you so much, Nao-chan!"
Nao was already laughing out loud even before Natsuki had finished her little speech. Natsuki's comedy talents, encouraged by Nao's constant teasing seemed to have really developed lately. She started thinking of even kinkier scenarios in order to rise to the challenge but then noticed Natsuki actually blushing before abruptly turning her back to the younger girl. What the hell was going on? It was well known that the Virgin Queen was prone to reddening of her adorable cheeks (ah, the unforgettable karaoke HiME party...) but was she that good of an actress? What if she was telling the truth? 'Mama will be so excited, I hope she still has those wedding plans'- Nao's train of thought had apparently skipped quite a few of the stations along its way and went straight to the final destination. No, no. It couldn't be the truth. Probably just her eyes playing tricks with her. Or maybe Natsuki had trained candidly for a future career in the Japanese porn industry and had mastered fake orgasms...no, fake blushing! Blushing!
Best of all, if it all somehow turned out to be true - Nao was going to be more than fine with it. But if her sempai wanted something more than jokes and probably an actual steamy, passionate one-night stand, she was going to have to spell out her intentions clearly without jokes. So it was going to be fun in both cases!
Deciding that, Nao suddenly tackled Natsuki and then, after a bit splashing each other with water like kids, she yelled:
"Let's race towards that reef! Whoever loses will have to do whatever the winner tells her for the rest of the day. Except have sex with her but we already know you are my devoted would be sex slave anyway, so this is a moot point. Go!"
--
A/N: First and foremost, this story will be focused on NaoNat (that is to say the romantic affair between Nao and Natsuki). There might be other pairings mentioned with more or less detail later on, I am yet to decide about that, but I want to state loudly and clearly from the start that Shizuru will NOT appear in this fanfic at any point and when mentioned will be mostly cursed by Nao.
Second, I know that Natsuki seems a bit out of character in this chapter. Next one will be from her point of view and with something of an explanation will be given (unless I forget to do it). And, it's a lighthearted humorous fic, so I assumed some liberties are to be tolerated. ;)
And last but certainly not least, thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, there will be more chapters, hopefully in the not too distant future.