Not the Same Without You

by Windrises

Shizuru goes on vacation, but Natsuki misses her a lot during that time.

Notes: Mai-Hime is an anime that was done by the studio Sunrise and is based on a manga of the same name.

Natsuki Kuga woke up and got ready for her date with Shizuru Fujino. After spending an hour getting ready she went to the living room and said, "I have a date with Shizuru today so I'll be gone for most of the day."

Natsuki's mom replied, "I hope that you have a great time." She smelt Natsuki's hair and said, "You finally started using a fancy kind of shampoo."

Natsuki's dad whined, "Those bottles cost too much. Why do you have to get that expensive garbage?"

Natsuki's mom said, "Natsuki has made herself more presentable in recent months to impress Shizuru."

Natsuki blushed and said, "That's not true. I didn't start brushing my hair carefully, using nicer shampoo, and put on fancy makeup just to impress Shizuru."

Natsuki's mom asked, "Then why did you do that stuff?"

Natsuki angrily blushed and said, "It seems like you caught me."

Natsuki's mom said, "It's sweet that you've found the love of your life."

Natsuki replied, "I do love her, but it's nothing too serious. I better get going."

Natsuki's mom said, "Goodbye."

Natsuki's dad said, "Stop wasting money on shampoo and makeup."

Natsuki's mom replied, "Come on. You can't put a price on romance."

Natsuki's dad responded, "Well the stores have a price on all that stuff."

Natsuki met up with Shizuru at a small tea shop. Natsuki was wearing a black dress and Shizuru was wearing a green dress. Natsuki said, "You look beautiful today."

Shizuru smiled and replied, "Thank you sweetheart. You smell very nice today."

Natsuki said, "I started using a new shampoo."

Shizuru replied, "How cute of you to make yourself smell better than ever before for me."

Natsuki blushed and stubbornly said, "I didn't do it to impress you."

One of the customers said, "You smell like expired garden gnomes." Natsuki angrily stared at the customer. The customer stole a dozen muffins and walked out.

Shizuru looked a little sad while saying, "I'm afraid I have news that's not great for us."

Natsuki held Shizuru's hand and said, "Don't worry. If it's anything serious just know that I'll always save you."

Shizuru replied, "You're sweet, but it's not that serious. I have a vacation next week. The plane ticket was a gift from a friend so I have to go."

Natsuki said, "That doesn't sound like a problem at all. I'm happy for you."

Shizuru replied, "But we won't see each other for a week."

Natsuki said, "It's okay. We can call each other every night. We're totally going to be okay."

Shizuru replied, "I'll be a little lonely without you and I know you'll be devastated without me."

Natsuki angrily blushed and said, "I'll be okay."

The next week Natsuki gave Shizuru a ride to the airport. Natsuki said, "I'm sure that you'll have a great week."

Shizuru replied, "I wish that I had another ticket so you could come with me. Can I sneak you into my suitcase?"

Natsuki lightly giggled and said, "No."

Shizuru replied, "I guess I have to kiss you goodbye and head off to the plane." Shizuru kissed Natsuki for a long moment.

After the kiss was over Natsuki asked, "Do you have to be so cute?"

Shizuru smiled and said, "I'm afraid I caught a case of lovesickness and it's forced me to act cute around you."

Natsuki said, "You better get on the plane. I love you."

Shizuru screamed, "I love you more than anyone or anything!"

Natsuki nervously asked, "Do you to scream that while we're at an airport filled with people?"

Shizuru said, "I never get tired of telling people how much I love you." Natsuki heard lots of people awing while others snickered.

A random guy said, "That's such a silly thing to say in public."

The guy's friend replied, "I wish I had known that would of happened so I could of posted it on YouTube. Tons of people would enjoy making fun of that." Natsuki left the airport while blushing like crazy.

The next day Natsuki spent most of the day relaxing. She mostly read old magazines, comic books, and re-watched some stuff that she's seen before. Natsuki got a call from Shizuru. Natsuki asked, "How's your vacation so far?"

Shizuru answered, "It's really nice. There's lots of kind people and fun activities. They have the nicest selection of balloons that I've ever seen. I know that I sound silly right now, but I'm totally going to buy you a balloon."

Natsuki jokingly said, "Good luck on your big balloon adventure."

Shizuru asked, "How are you?"

Natsuki answered, "Um, I'm okay. I had a nice, relaxing day."

Shizuru said, "If you miss me feel free to say so."

Natsuki replied, "I only missed you a little." Natsuki was a good person, but she had a problem when it came to being honest with her feelings. Thankfully Natsuki didn't hide how she really felt well so Shizuru usually caught on to how Natsuki truly felt. She knew that Natsuki already missed her and she missed her a lot too.

Shizuru said, "If I have to leave the vacation early for you I'd happily do that."

Natsuki replied, "Don't do that. I want you to have a wonderful vacation. Forget about me and have as much fun as you can." After Natsuki ended her phone call with Shizuru she went to sleep two hours earlier than she usually did.

The next morning Natsuki woke up late and went to the living while still in her Tamayura pajamas. Natsuki's mom said, "Hi. Your dad and I are going to go to a grocery store that's given us a lot of coupon ads. What are you going to do?"

Natsuki said, "I'm going to go to the movies today."

Natsuki's mom replied, "Good for you. What's the movie called?"

Natsuki said, "I don't know. I heard the film reviewers make fun of it so it sounds like a good time."

Natsuki's mom asked, "You're not going to the movies in your pajamas, are you?"

Natsuki said, "Of course I'll wear regular clothes, but I don't feel like showering or brushing my hair today."

Natsuki's mom asked, "Is Shizuru not being around taking away your motivation to try harder?"

Natsuki stubbornly said, "No. I'm just having an off day."

Natsuki's mom replied, "No offense, but you seemed to be having an off day yesterday."

Natsuki said, "Maybe I'll have a new kind of energy tomorrow."

The next day Natsuki woke up at noon. She went to the kitchen and got a glass of milk. She said, "Good morning Mom and Dad."

Natsuki's dad asked, "Do you have to drink milk? It's too expensive."

Natsuki's mom asked, "Do you want breakfast or lunch?"

Natsuki answered, "Neither. I'm just going to chill out."

An hour later Natsuki's mom peeked through Natsuki's door to check up on her. Natsuki was laying on her bed and was staring at a picture of Shizuru while looking depressed. Natsuki's mom walked in and said, "Please try to do something fun. I can't stand seeing you this sad."

Natsuki sighed and said, "Okay."

A few hours later Natsuki's mom checked up on Natsuki. She heard familiar sounding voices so she opened Natsuki's room and asked, "What are you watching?"

Natsuki answered, "Captain Logan's commentaries on the Batman films."

Natsuki's mom replied, "But you watched all thirty seven of those a month ago when Shizuru was sick last month."

Natsuki said, "Fair point. I'll watch his commentaries on the Marvel films instead."

Shizuru replied, "But you don't even care about Marvel."

Natsuki said, "True, but Logan and Eric's Spider-Man 2 commentary cracked me up. Eric's passionate hatred of it is comedy gold."

Natsuki's mom replied, "That was pretty funny, but it's clear that you're not the same without Shizuru."

Natsuki said, "I'm doing okay without her."

Natsuki's mom replied, "I'm sorry, but you don't lie very well."

Natsuki looked down at the ground and said, "I admit that I miss Shizuru. Some many of the changes that I've made recently were for her. Without her by my side I guess I don't feel like challenging myself to improve myself. Watching one of Captain Logan's commentaries a day is great, but I've watched four today."

Natsuki's mom went to the living room and called Natsuki. She said, "I hate to bother you, but Natsuki isn't doing well without you."

Shizuru replied, "I predicated this would happen which is why I told a little lie."

Natsuki's mom asked, "What do you mean?"

Shizuru answered, "I told her that my vacation is seven days, but it's only five days. Hearing that I'm coming back two days earlier than she expected might lift up her happiness."

Natsuki's mom went to Natsuki's room and told her about Shizuru coming two days earlier than expected. Natsuki jumped out of bed and smiled. She said, "Two days of dearly missing the love of my life have been cancelled." Natsuki did a happy dance in the hallway. She blushed with embarrassment when she remembered that her mom could see her. Natsuki's mom smiled at her. Natsuki smiled back while saying, "I'm in love with Shizuru and I'm not embarrassed of it anymore."

Two days later Shizuru arrived back at the airport. Natsuki ran up to her and kissed her. Natsuki said, "I was wrong. A week without you is okay, but so much less happier and fun."

Shizuru replied, "Don't worry my love. We're going to be spending nearly every week together."

Natsuki got the courage to say, "I love you more than anyone or anything!" Shizuru had a big smile on her face.

A random guy walked by and said, "What a humiliating thing to scream in public."

Natsuki said, "I don't care what people like you think. Right now I feel like the happiest woman in the world."

The guy rolled his eyes and said, "I hear corny things like that in bad romance films all the time."

Shizuru signaled to the guy to leave. Shizuru said, "I had a good vacation, but it was one of the most lonely weeks I'm my life because I wasn't with you." She kissed Natsuki.

Natsuki said, "I've made enough of a fool out of myself for the week. Wanna go on a date now?"

Shizuru said, "I better say yes since you haven't had a shower since the day you dropped me off at the airport."

Natsuki asked, "How could you tell?"

Shizuru said, "I noticed you didn't have the fancy shampoo smell. Also your hair looks really messy."

Natsuki said, "I'm sorry. You're the one who's makes me want to do stuff like that so without you I got lazy."

Shizuru giggled and asked, "How many of Captain Logan's Batman commentaries did you re-watch this week?"

Natsuki looked a little embarrassed while saying, "All thirty seven of them."

Shizuru asked, "How about we watch something a little fresher next time?"

Natsuki said, "Okay."

Shizuru replied, "I'm glad to know that I make a positive difference in your life. You've made my life happier than it's ever been." Natsuki and Shizuru held hands as they headed towards a future of happiness.