A/N: Ok, so I'm trying to write again. This story might be a little messy so I apologize. I decided to write again because… I have finals. That's right. When I'm busy and super stressed, I try to do everything I can that ISN'T studying. Well, it's not finals right now, but instead of writing a million papers in English, half a million in Japanese and preparing for presentations and studying, I decided to stay up until 2 in the morning writing. So here you go. It's probably shit so I apologize.

It's been almost two years since the carnival and Shizuru has not spoken to Natsuki since her graduation. It was really hard at first, but after the first year, she slowly started to miss her less and less. It went from thinking about her all day and crying herself to sleep, to just thinking about her at night, to thinking about her every other day, to once a week. She knows that she'll never forget her, but now, she only thinks Natsuki when something will remind her of her or when she's really lonely.

Like in her high school days before she met Natsuki, Shizuru kept her distance from other people and never established close relationships with anyone. She had a few friends but tried her best not to get too close to anyone again. It wasn't that she didn't trust anyone anymore; it's just that she didn't want her heart to be broken again. She refused to fall in love ever again. After the carnival, Shizuru wanted to rid herself of her old life. She severed all ties to all the HiME and tried her best to forget about the whole ordeal. Deciding that moving back to Kyoto would be the easiest way to do this, she started attending Kyodai.

Shizuru tried her best to keep a low profile. She didn't have any reason to be in the student council anymore so she steered clear of that, but with her good looks and her top marks, it was hard not to gain attention. One friend got fairly close to her though. Chihiro was quiet and stoic, but it was her who approached Shizuru. They had a traditional Japanese literature class together and Chihiro was not doing so well. Of course Shizuru was the top of the class so Chihiro shyly approached her.

That was freshman year, and they've been close friends since. Right after getting into college, Shizuru didn't want to talk to anyone, especially someone that reminded her of Natsuki. Honestly, Chihiro wouldn't have bothered with her if she was getting passing marks, but because of this, their friendship was built. Chihiro then became someone that Shizuru could trust with anything if she ever needed someone to help her, but she would never talk about the past. Chihiro never asked, but she did indeed wondered why she never talked about any high school memories.

Shizuru lived by herself in an apartment around 15 minutes away from school, but even though Shizuru tutored Chihiro many times, not once was it at Shizuru's place. Shizuru never invited Chihiro and she was certainly not going to invite herself, but because of that, she felt that they had some kind of distance between them and that Shizuru wouldn't open herself truly to her.

Slowly but surely, Chihiro was enchanted by Shizuru. She admired the way she carried herself, with such grace, elegance and beauty in everything that she did. They never talked about life, love, or even friendship for that matter, so she couldn't tell how Shizuru felt about her or their relationship, or her past relationship with anyone. This mysterious side of her appealed to Chihiro more and she started to get really curious what was going on behind those mysterious eyes. Those crimson eyes that always looked so distance and lonely, those eyes that seemed to look through her, not at her, those eyes that she gradually fell in love with.

The two of them usually came to school about an hour before classes actually started. They usually finished up homework, read, or just sat around and talked. Today was no different, but today was pouring and the two sat in the lounge for wondering why it was so empty. After going to first period and waiting for a half an hour, they realized that school was cancelled due to the oncoming storm. Deciding to leave, before it got worse, Chihiro gave Shizuru a ride home because she would not let her walk home in the pouring rain.

"It's fine" Shizuru protested, "really, it's not far at all."

"There is no way I'm letting you walk home! Are you crazy?"

"Excuse me?" Shizuru responded, slightly offended.

She couldn't say any more as she was dragged to the car by her arm. They had to run after exiting the building to avoid getting drenched. After getting to the car safely, they took a quick breather and put their seatbelts on. It was a quiet drive and a long one. They carefully maneuvered through traffic and the rain safely making it to the garage of the apartment.

"Thank you," Shizuru finally spoke up.

"No problem. It's nothing really. For all the times that you've helped me with everything, I could at least drive you home. I wish I could do more." Chihiro admitted.

"No, it's fine," Shizuru added while digging through her purse looking for her keys, "it's raining hard, would you like to come upstairs and wait for it to calm down a little before heading home?"

This was the first time that Shizuru ever invited anyone to her apartment, but she would feel bad if she sent one of her only friends to go face the cold, hard rain. Chihiro knew there was a reason Shizuru kept people at a distance, but didn't quiet know why. She kindly refused, not wanted to interfere in her personal space, but still Shizuru insisted.

After going to the seventh floor, Shizuru asked her to wait outside while she cleaned up a bit. Within five minutes, she let her in and started brewing a hot cup of tea. It was silent as the rain pour heavily outside. The apartment was quite homey, but it wasn't too small to feel uncomfortable. There was a TV with a loveseat in front of it; in the next room (where they are presently seated) there was a dinning table for four even though it was almost never used. The kitchen was separated by an island that had two seats located under it and it held all the appliances a kitchen needs.

"Please, make yourself at home" Shizuru said after starting the tea. "I'll be right back," she politely excused herself. She left the room to grab a few towels to dry off their hair.

Chihiro looked around some more and spotted the picture that she gave Shizuru a while back resting on the shelf next to the TV. It seemed to be the only one out on display and Chihiro took great pride in it. It was a picture of the two of them that they took when they went to go visit one of the local temples last summer. Shizuru stood there in a yukata with a small graceful smile on her face while one Chihiro's arms were draped over her shoulders holding out the peace sign.

Shizuru returned shortly handing her the towel and offered her a brush. Chihiro kindly accepted it and started walking around the house. "This is my living room and kitchen as you can see." Shizuru started giving her a short tour. "Here's the bathroom" opening the door and then closing it, "and this is my bedroom" opening to door the to bedroom.

Just as that happened, the teakettle went off signaling teatime. Shizuru walked back to the kitchen and started pouring the tea while Chihiro stepped into her bedroom. It was well kept; it had a dresser, a closet, and two large desks in the corner. One of the desks held her computer and some books while the other a lamp and it seemed like it was used as her workspace. There was also a small dresser next to her queen-sized bed that hand a small lamp and a reading book on top. Just as Chihiro was about to step out, something caught her eye. It was another picture frame, but this one was face down. She slowly walked up to it, curiosity getting the better of her, and she flipped it over.

After the tea was poured into two cups, Shizuru walked over to her bedroom where she left her guest. Quietly she stood at the door looking in where Chihiro was putting the picture back down.

"What are you doing?" Shizuru questioned but not upset. After a short pause she continued, "The tea is ready."

Like a child being caught doing something naughty, Chihiro quickly dropped the picture back on to the dresser and turned to face Shizuru. "Uh, sorry. Ok, uh, thanks" She stuttered out while walked towards the door.

Wondering why Chihiro was so flustered, Shizuru craned her neck to see what she was looking at. Then Chihiro realized that she was caught. "Sorry! I was just so curious, I couldn't help myself."

Shizuru sighed, "It's ok, it's just a picture." This was one of the things that Shizuru did not want Chihiro to see. She didn't want to bring up the past and didn't want to answer questions. That's why before letting her into her house, she made sure it was face down.

Taking the opportunity she questioned further. "Who is that?"

"It's a picture of me and one of my high school friends. I haven't talked to her in years though."

The picture was of Shizuru and Natsuki, the year before the carnival. Back when they were both just regular high school girls. Shizuru's true, honest smile adorned on her face while Natsuki's side was towards the camera. It looked as if she was trying to get away, but was stopped by Shizuru's arms holding her in a tight hug.

"What happened?" Chihiro trailed off, "You seemed so happy."

"Nothing, just after high school, everyone just fades out I guess." Shizuru calmly lied. She didn't want to talk about it and Chihiro really didn't have to know.

A/N: The end. JOUDAN! Haha (J/k in Japanese). I'm tired and so I think I'll stop here. I promise Natsuki will come up soon. Or so I hope. It depends. Oh well. Read and review. Tell me how much this sucks and how much you hate it! Thanks. Ok. Byebye.