Immediately after opening the door to Natsuki's apartment, Mai saw a flash of light then darkness and crumpled to the floor.
"Woah! How the hell did you get that, Mai?" Chie exclaimed.
Mai glared at Natsuki with the eye that didn't need an ice pack to reduce swelling.
"Kuga-san! Mai's a girl! You can't treat her like Takeda-kun!" scolded Aoi, with her hand on Mai's shoulder appearing alarmed.
"It was an ACCIDENT!" Natsuki complained, her face turning red.
Chie's brow arched, "How do you accidentally give someone a black eye?"
"You throw your cell phone, and have friends who don't knock" Natsuki moaned miserably, letting her head drop onto the table.
"Is there something wrong with your phone?" Aoi took a seat next to Mai, and Chie dropped down by Natsuki.
"It exists"
"Oh, come on, what's wrong with it?" Chie asked.
"Yea, explain what I'm suffering for" Mai said with a grin.
"Nothing's wrong with it, I was just mad"
"You're mad all the time, though. Why throw the cell phone this time?"
Natsuki lifted her head up slightly to make sure they could see her displeasure.
"Yea like that!" said Chie.
"You... " Natsuki grumbled, exasperated. "agh! It's just Shizuru."
"Fujino-san?" the three other girls said in unison.
"Yea..."
"She's in London right, at University?...did something happen?" Aoi leaned forward.
"I don't know!" Natsuki shouted.
The girls stared.
"She won't say anything. She just keeps asking about how I'm doing, and when I ask about her all she says is 'I'm fine.' "
"Well, Fujino-san never really seemed talkative in general..." the girls' eyes turned upward, trying to remember instances of conversation with the former student council president.
"True, I can't even remember a conversation that didn't involve school." Chie allowed.
"You're the one who was closest to her besides Kanzaki-senpai, if something was wrong I'm sure she would talk to you about it..." added Mai.
"I bet she's just busy getting new people to fight over applying her sun-tan lotion!" Aoi giggled.
Natsuki's lips pursed, her eyes narrowed. Anxiety stabbed through her stomach and chest. It hadn't occurred to her that Shizuru could be busy in that way. Images of other girls touching and clamoring over Shizuru darted through her memory. Her jaw was starting to hurt from clenching. These feelings were confusing. She hated feeling confused.
Chie watched Natsuki's breaths become more shallow with interest, wishing she had her camera with her. She cut off Aoi with a hand gesture before the girl could say more. "Does Shizuru-chan usually talk to you about things?"
Natsuki blinked, "sometimes...kind of, I mean...I think so..." Her stomach dropped as she considered the question. Somehow she knew with certainty that she was closer to Shizuru than anyone- that she knew more about Shizuru than anyone, but also realized that what she knew was miserably inadequate. Shizuru had managed to prove ever clever at ferreting out her secrets, but everything she knew about Shizuru was gained through circumstance. It hurt. "I think, maybe I'm really selfish..."
The three other girls stared at the swaying body of their friend slumping down onto the table again, marveling sadly at her tempestuous facial expressions.
"We can tell how much you care about her Natsuki, she probably can too" Aoi spoke softly. The other two girls nodded in agreement.
"I guess that's good... but the problem is still the same, though. I do care, but I can't seem to get her to open up to me..."
"It's not like you were Miss Congeniality either though Natsuki, and you opened up...what did Shizuru do to get you to talk?"
"I didn't talk a lot to her either though. If I'm honest about it, I mostly just used her. She did favors for me. I mean, I liked her …. but she was just there. Kind, and there. I felt safe, and we became friends without my paying attention. But I can't be "there" for her now, I'm here!... Damn it!" Natsuki punched the table.
"Careful, we don't need any more black eyes" .Aoi admonished.
"Sorry."
"You talked to Mai, what did she do to get you to talk and become friends?"
"Pissed me off...wouldn't leave me alone."
"Hey! I think I'm paying for it over here, too!" Mai half grinned, half glared. Natsuki rolled her eyes.
"Well, why don't you do that..?." Chie asked.
"What?"
"Go see her, you have the money, and it's not like you care so much about academics that you'd mind missing another day or three."
"Oh yes! Go surprise her!" Aoi interjected enthusiastically
"And piss her off." Chie smiled.
"Yes! And piss her...huh?" Aoi's smile turned to confusion.
"Go and see her, and if you need to, push a few buttons, I'm sure you must know some. If she doesn't want to burden you, make it so that's not what she's worried about. If she's mad at you, she might spit out what's wrong. It works on Aoi too sometimes." Aoi squinted and began to raise her hand "Hey, what happened to non-violence?" Chie snickered, preparing to block the attack.
"Yea...maybe" Natsuki murmured apprehensively.
Remembering the HiME festival, Mai leaned forward and gave Natsuki a meaningful look "Just don't make her too angry."
