She was 10 years old when she met her so called soul mate. Her father invited over some friends from the military for dinner. He and four of his comrades came home one night after a very long absence and were warmly welcomed by her mother as she sat on the top of the stairs watching them come in and greet her. There she spotted one young woman with long dark blue hair and deep green eyes and was instantly captivated by this young woman that she instantly admired from afar.
Akito Viola was a leader of the special ops division that consisted of only a handful of men and women. They do special missions for the government which usually consists of infiltrating facilities to hunting down specific persons. Of course no one knows about this outside the group. For other people they were just normal military men and women serving the country.
They settled themselves in the dining room around the spacious table where the food was already set and steaming. They were currently sharing some jokes here and there about the people in the base and shared a good laugh as well.
"Let's save the laughter for later, we don't want the food waiting," Akito said looking left and right gesturing that they dig in. He then looked over his wife who was busy with the drinks in the kitchen. "Honey, let's eat, and where's Shizuru?"
"She's upstairs, I'll go get her," she then placed two pitchers of iced tea over the table before excusing herself to get their daughter.
"You've got a lovely wife there, Akito, she's really a dear, but of course my Miko is the same," a man with dark brown hair shaved up to fit military standards commented and raised his glass to him as a point. His name was Kaito Armitage, Akito's second in command. But they were more like brothers than comrades and neither of them acts like one is superior to the other. Though a little rivalry is never gone with these two.
"Thanks," Akito smiled in appreciation and raised his glass to him. Everybody then raised their glass and took a drink to that. And on cue his wife entered the kitchen with a little girl in tow who had her mother's light brown curls and her father's bright red eyes. He stood up and introduced them properly with his comrades. "This is my wife, Kiyo, and my daughter Shizuru and these are my comrades."
"You already know Kaito," and the man nodded in their direction.
"This is Hirohito Kisune," the man who looked around his late twenties with black hair and black eyes raised his hand up in recognition.
"She is Asuka Nirvana," The woman in about her thirties with short orange hair and dark blue eyes smiled at them and waived at Shizuru who cowered behind her mother. "And last but not the least, the newest and youngest member of our group, Natsuki Kruger," the young woman smiled at them and Shizuru couldn't help but give a small smile back.
After the introductions they settled themselves and ate a hearty dinner which was delicious not to anybody's surprise.
…
It was a month after that when Shizuru saw Natsuki again. The place where Natsuki stayed at was being demolished as the apartment building was sold to someone who wanted it to be a high rise condominium and forced her to move out. Akito took her in since she had no more family to go to until she could find another place.
"Thank you for having me," She bowed down in front of them. "Sorry for the trouble."
"It's alright dear," Kiyo told her. "We're glad to have you. Shizuru here even likes you."
"Hey there kiddo," Natsuki kneeled down to Shizuru's height to smile at her. Shizuru meekly smiled back at her.
Shizuru was a shy child considering that she's living a sheltered life. They lived in a peaceful neighborhood far away from the chaos. They had a sizable two-storey home with a perfectly good backyard where she plays most of the time. She has few friends from school, whom sometimes visits her especially when her uncle Kaito comes and he usually brings along with his daughter Haruka and another friend of theirs, Yukino.
Natsuki had become her friend instantly and they played a lot during the time that she lived with them. Due to work she was mostly off during the week but was there during the weekends. And everytime she would help out in the house or playing with Shizuru. During her stay, Shizuru continued to admire the young woman and even developed a school girl crush with her. Of course this was known by her parents and they just played along, thinking that it was just plain admiration.
"How old are you Natsuki?" Shizuru asked the young woman one day when they were out in the backyard lounging under a tree. Natsuki made some sandwiches for them and they went out for a makeshift picnic in the backyard. Her parents were out today and they asked Natsuki to look after her for the whole day. Of course Natsuki was too happy to help since she knew that Akito hardly had time for his wife these past few weeks. Natsuki urged her superior to take his wife out and eventually convinced him to do so. So here she was with Shizuru waiting for her answer.
"Eighteen," was her curt answer but was soon followed by a question. "Why'd you ask?"
Shizuru counted with her hands not answering Natsuki's question right away. She held up both hands after counting to let Natsuki see."Seven, you're seven years older than me."
"You're good at math, I'll tell you that," Natsuki bemused using one hand to gently push the girls' hands down acknowledging the fact. "What's with our age?"
"I want to marry Natsuki!" The declamation caught her by surprise. "And my teacher said that age doesn't matter."
"Hey, ain't you a little bit young to be saying that?" Natsuki asked the young girl. "Where's all this coming from?"
"Well my teacher told us that we were getting a new teacher starting next week since she's going to get married, and we saw her with her fi-, uhm, fiance-"
"Fiancé."
"Yes, and we all thought that he was waaaay older than she is," Shizuru continued. "But she said when you're in love, there are no boundaries, there's just love."
"Tell you what," Natsuki spoke up after a while, smiling at Shizuru, clearly amused with the young girl. Shizuru looked at her with curious eyes waiting for her to continue on. "When you get older, you ask that question again and I'll answer you."
"Is that a promise?" Shizuru asked.
"That's a promise," Natsuki held out her pinky in front of Shizuru. The young girl beamed at her and held out her pinky as well and wrapped it around the young woman's pinky sealing the promise.
…
Ten years has passed since then and now Shizuru, now twenty-one, was the eye of most men and even a few women. Suitors approached her left and right and she politely declined them all. Over the years she still pined for the same person whom she grew really close with over the years. Natsuki Kruger was now known among the military and rose up in ranks due to her service. The woman still served under her father but she heard that she was a shared resource by other departments as well.
After almost a year of temporarily living with them, the woman got a house of her own just beside theirs and moved out. But still, she constantly paid them a visit whenever she's around especially Shizuru whom she grew fond of. She was basically like family; the Viola's certainly treated her as one.
Since the promise made over ten years ago, Shizuru's infatuation with the recently promoted major never ceased. Though she rarely voices it out, actions clearly speak louder than words as she never fails to treat the other woman in a special way. Her emotions showed that she really pined for the other woman. It shows especially thru her eyes. Even her parents noticed it and if at first they thought that it was just a phase, now it bothered them that it was really true after all.
Natsuki was a different story though. She treated Shizuru like a younger sister more than anything. She knew of the other girl's affection towards her but it did not stop her from being close to her and not treating her differently. She maybe a bit over protective of her but was constantly there to aid her in times of trouble. Lately, the same couldn't be said the same for her. Ever since Shizuru hit puberty she couldn't help but linger a few more seconds when she looked at the beauty who was once the cute girl she babysat. And the accent that the now young woman developed being an exchange student for two months in Cardair, a neighboring state of theirs, made her more alluring. Something was changing in her and one way or another it involved Shizuru.
"Ara, Natsuki, what brings you here," Shizuru asked surprised to see the woman standing by her car still wearing her uniform and outside her school. "Has Natsuki finally realized her feelings for me and is now trying to court me?"
"A-ah," Natsuki was caught off guard and a blush formed on her face. Teasing was also one of the uncanny habits that Shizuru developed over at Cardair. She pretended to cough to hide her embarrassment before speaking up. "Uncle Ito asked me to fetch you, he said that we're eating out tonight."
"Have you any clue why," Shizuru asked eyeing the woman. It was not every day that she saw Natsuki in her military uniform. Even at the age of 28 the woman still looked young and hot.
"No," Natsuki shook her head. "But come on let's go and find out why."
They boarded up Natsuki's car and left for the restaurant.
Later that night they found out that Akito has just gotten promoted to General. Now, he would have more time with his family rather than the field as the promotion involved more desk work than field work. He was really happy with the news as nowadays with the war coming to a resolve for peace he can finally spend more time with his wife and daughter whom he rarely spent time with. They had a wonderful dinner that night and they went home with smiles. This news couldn't be better.
…
"Ne, Natsuki," Shizuru spoke up catching the attention of Natsuki. They were currently in Shizuru's backyard once more like ten years ago except there was no picnic. They were just sitting there relaxing underneath the tree. "Do you remember the promise we made here ten years ago?"
"Yeah," Natsuki answered looking up to the sky. She never thought that the woman beside her was serious about that all along. Back then she thought about it and would just flat out decline the proposition but things changed, more so recently. If Shizuru brought this up maybe a few years ago then she would flat out decline the woman and have her find someone new, someone better, someone her age, and who is a man. But over the course of their friendship and the constant care of Shizuru, she fell for the beauty beside her. She didn't know when. Maybe it started a few years ago, when Shizuru turned eighteen, when first she noticed her as a woman and not that little girl she used to play with. And now, she was aware that she really had feelings for the woman beside her.
Shizuru could only look as Natsuki was deep in thought. A dozen of thoughts came to her mind as to what the woman was thinking.
"Can you do me a favor?" Natsuki asked after a long silence.
"Sure what is it?"
"Can you kiss me?"
Shizuru stopped at the question. Clearly surprised at the unexpected favor, but of course she would not let the opportunity pass and she nodded in acceptance. "Alright."
Natsuki then faced her and both took a deep breath before leaning towards each other. Natsuki then raised her hand to cup Shizuru's cheek and guide her towards her. They took it slow looking in each other's eyes and each can clearly see the emotion that was held in them. Their eyelids fluttered close an inch before their lips met. The first thought that came to Shizuru's mind was that Natsuki's lips felt so soft. They parted after a few seconds the feeling still lingering in their lips. The hand on Shizuru's cheek left and her cheek never felt so cold. They stared at each other for a few seconds before sitting back properly as earlier.
"I love you," the declaration came from Shizuru. "I always have."
"I know," was the only answer that came from Natsuki. "Thank you, Shizuru."
"Why?"
"For loving me," She answered. "I'm not going to lie and tell you that I don't feel the same, because I do."
Shizuru looked hopeful at those words but something told her that she wasn't finished yet.
"But you're still too young, you've still got a whole life ahead of you," she continued. "Now you're saying that, but maybe your feelings would still change."
"I've waited for this for years!" Shizuru started to exclaim. "I'm sure about what I feel."
"Then if you really are, I'm sure a few more months of waiting won't change your mind," Natsuki smiled at her and Shizuru could only sit in silence and accept defeat.
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking enjoying each other's company until they were called by Kiyo to come in for dinner.
…
Shizuru didn't see or hear from Natsuki after that day. Her father told her that Natsuki was called to base and had to go immediately since it was urgent. When Shizuru asked why, her father couldn't give an answer. Apparently it was another department who employed the services of Natsuki and the mission file was classified. The only thing they knew is that she was sent to Artai. And that did not sound good to any of them. For days she waited any news about Natsuki and she heard none. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Still, Shizuru received no news. The once lively ruby eyes dulled over time as she anxiously waited for her dear soldier to return.
Shizuru felt that the days seemed longer now that Natsuki was away. Every day was a struggle and her life fell into monotony. Her parents and friends constantly worried about her despite the facade that she had learned to put up just so that she wouldn't look so weak and desperate as she was inside. But the facade could not even mask her despair when things took a turn for the worst.
"Shizuru," Akito Viola called upon his daughter one night. Shizuru was in her study going over some papers of the company she worked at. She had become an assistant manager of a nationwide carrier company in their land. This kept her busy everyday due to the shipments coming in and out of their country. There was no wonder why she chose this profession. The company was the only one that accepts and delivers packages and parcels from Artai. Looking up she greeted her father with a smile and ushered him to come in.
Akito took his steps cautiously and looked around his daughter's study. The place was neat save for the desk which was stacked with papers. He barely visited Shizuru during this time of hour and this was the first time he came to her home. Natsuki's home - he corrected. Shizuru took the liberty of occupying Natsuki's house a month after the soldier's absence. Before, she cleaned the place up every other day hoping for Natsuki's return. Now, after a year, she had transferred most of her stuff and started living in the place Natsuki bought just beside their own. It was the most logical thing she had thought that time, that when Natsuki gets back, her home wouldn't be abandoned and lonely.
Shizuru stood up and went to greet her father properly hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. "Hi, father, it's been a while. How are you?"
"I'm fine, how about you? You seem pretty busy lately," he answered keeping the topic light.
"Everything's alright," she said, mostly to herself, before adding. "Holidays are coming so packages have been piling up and Miss Maria's passing more work to me."
"Is that so," Akito replied casually. His mind obviously elsewhere.
"So," Shizuru started feeling that something was amiss with her father's behavior so she decided to ask. "What brings you here, father?"
Akito catching on Shizuru's perceptiveness decided not to dwindle about his objective. Though he knows this would definitely break his daughter's heart. He pulled out a folder from his satchel and handed it to Shizuru. The words 'Confidential' glaring with its red color.
"I just received this today in my office, and sneaked it out to let you know," his voice strained with a hint of sadness. Being a general, he's used to these kinds of scenarios, but this was more personal for him and his family and couldn't help but give away his emotion. But he stood ground for he knew once his daughter sees its contents; she would need someone to hold on to.
Shizuru felt pounding in her ears the moment she saw those letters glaring at her. Her breathing started to become a bit labored as mild anxiety started to creep up her whole body. Shaky hands received the folder and she stared at those bright red letters in front of her. Slowly she opened the file and was greeted with a mission report.
'December 15, 20XX
Mission Otome
Status: Completed.
Summary: Mission was completed in 370 days. Underground rebels have been infiltrated and terminated. Only 5 out of 6 soldiers returned with minor injuries. There was 1 casualty. Leader was reported to have been KIA during explosion. No bodies have been recovered due to mass mutilation of body parts.'
Shizuru frowned, brows knotting with mixed emotions. She flipped the page over to the next and dropped the folder at what she saw.
'November 5, 20XX
Mission Otome
Team Leader: Maj. Natsuki Kruger -'
"N-no," Shizuru stuttered shocked about what she saw. Tears immediately formed in her eyes and one by one the drops fell down until it became a river of tears. She stood like a statue with mouth hanging open eyes staring at nothing in particular.
Akito fell weak upon seeing the state of his daughter. He felt something wet on his cheeks and didn't notice that he, too, started shedding tears. With a resolve he took a step towards his daughter and enveloped her in a hug. Shizuru's silent tears ended up with her sobbing and wailing loudly as she reciprocated the hug.
"Natsukii-" Shizuru repeated her name over and over. Akito could only hug her in despair; he knows that words could not reach Shizuru right now as she wallowed in her own thoughts. They stayed like that for more than an hour before Shizuru finally fainted from exhaustion. Akito then carried her to their house and placed her in her old bed. He knew that letting her wake up in Natsuki's bedroom would not be ideal and they would also need to check up on her.
As Akito closed the door behind him, he was greeted by his wife's worried face. He gestured towards there room, silently telling her that he'd tell her about it there.
A week after the news they held a funeral. They bought a tomb and placed it in the Viola's small memorial sanctuary at the cemetery. A small ceremony was held in Natsuki's honor and friends, family and a few colleagues joined in to commemorate the late Major who was promoted to Colonel for the heroic deed.
The weather seemed to be contrasting everyone's emotions as the warm rays of the sun shone upon their black clothed figures. But Shizuru couldn't help to think that the weather suited the event perfectly, for Natsuki was a summer child, as she was told by the woman herself many years ago.
Eventually the sun started to set and their numbers grew little until it was only Akito, Kiyo and Shizuru herself that were left saying their last goodbyes to Natsuki. Tears still flowed from Shizuru's eyes like a never ending river. They stayed until evening before Akito finally decided that they should go home and rest. Shizuru didn't want to at first but her body was already exhausted so she conceded and followed after her parents.
Coping up with the loss was hard but Shizuru had managed. For months she shed tears whenever anything that reminded her of Natsuki was mentioned. Though she could not leave the last few things Natsuki owned and bought her house instead. Her family helped her through a lot and her friends frequently dragged her to places, events and parties to keep her mind of things. She was grateful for they never once left her alone. And now after eight months she was moving on. She did not shed anymore tears nor did she show that she was still devastated. She finally learned how to control herself.
She was proud of Natsuki. She learned later on that the mission that the soldier led was the turning point of the war. The small sacrifice that the woman made turned her into a hero and Shizuru felt proud on loving her. This was one of the reasons that made moving on easier. Though the soldier still holds a very special place in her heart that no one else can ever replace.
"Shizuru-san?" A woman knocked on the door to her office before entering. "I've brought the latest reports."
"Ara, thank you, Marguerite-han," Shizuru acknowledged and pointed to the stack of papers to her right without looking up. "Please place them here and you may go."
"Alright," the woman silently followed the order not wanting to disturb Shizuru. On her way out her steps slowed and eventually came to a stop just before the door. "A-ano, Shizuru-san."
"Yes?" Shizuru inquired pausing from her work to look up to the green-haired woman at the door. Her name was Tomoe Marguerite. She was an intern at their small company and is currently a roving secretary for everyone's needs. Ever since the war has ended the company planned to open up more branches nationwide and they needed more help at the main office since more work was needed to be done in order for them to do so.
"W-well, the others are wondering if you are free tonight..." The question was left hanging in the air as Tomoe blushed evidently. Shizuru knew of this young woman - no teen's, she corrected herself and was reminded that Tomoe was just seventeen, blatant infatuation with her and never ceased even at her show of disinterest. She had to hand it to her. The teal-haired woman was vigilant. "They have planned a party later and everyone's invited. And they asked me to ask you if you could come."
Shizuru would have flatly said no and made up an excuse to go along with it and spend her time at home, continuing her work. She had considered it but stopped herself from saying no. It may be good for her to unwind after all the hard work she had been doing and it would also be helpful to connect with her co-workers once in a while. But still she decided against it. "I'm sorry, but I'm busy tonight. Maybe next time."
The sadness in Tomoe's face wasn't missed by Shizuru. The intern was surely disappointed with her answer and sullenly left her office. Shizuru shook her head and went back to reading the paper in front of her. After a reading the same line for the third time she sighed. She kind of saw herself in Tomoe, pining for Natsuki all those years ago. She remembered Natsuki's gentle smile, her caring nature, those blushes she loved to elicit from the older woman and the kiss that they shared before Natsuki left. Her heart clenched at the memory that still hurt. She hasn't really accepted the soldier's death up 'till now. Her mind keeps telling her that the older woman was already dead and that she should move on but something in her heart tugs at her mind telling her that Natsuki was alive somewhere.
Looking back at the papers in front of her, she decided to tidy up and call it a day. As she was sorting out the papers, her sight caught a news article brandishing the words 'New Head Office of HiME Shipping opens up at Artai'. She picked up the news article and decided to read its contents. Their company is expanding its operations to Artai and they were hiring new employees to run the branch. She experienced a strong gut feeling about the place. So without wasting another second, she picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Hello, its Shizuru, I was wondering where tonight's party was? Mhm. Alright, I'll be there."
Needless to say, two weeks after the party, Shizuru was finally relocated to Artai. She had been promoted as the Operations Manager over at the new head office. Her family and friends were reluctant to let her go but after a few words of persuasion she had convinced them that moving to a new place would help her move on. Also, she promised she would regularly visit whenever she can and they too had promised to visit her from time to time.
Six months into her new work she had already found new friends. Mai Tokiha, an owner of a local restaurant named Linden Baum, became her very first friend. Shizuru was initially looking for a good place to eat when she stumbled upon the restaurant. Finding the food great she frequented the place and made acquaintances with the owner. Mai, being all motherly-like found out that Shizuru was alone in the place and eventually became her friend. With Mai, she had been opened up to a circle of friends which consisted of Mikoto Minagi, and ever-so energetic woman who looked like a girl, Chie Hallard a charming woman who flirted with everywoman she met, and Aoi Senoh the shy and timid but possessive girlfriend of Chie.
She also found out that Mai had a brother who was sick with Leukemia, and constantly needed to be confined for therapy. Every month, he stayed for about a week at the hospital to undergo his treatment. He was diagnosed just over a year ago and only had two more sessions of chemotherapy before his treatment is finished. Then he would undergo some tests to see if his condition improved and to know the next step for his treatment.
Usually Mai would take care of Takumi during his stay at the hospital or his girlfriend, Akira Okuzaki. However on one weekend of his second to the last treatment, his girlfriend had to go on a trip to An Nam for their family business and Mai was at a food conference over at Zipang. Shizuru took it upon herself to be a kind friend and volunteered to look after Takumi for one night.
"How are you feeling Takumi-kun?" Shizuru asked making sure that Takumi was comfortable on his bed. He was about to rest for the night after his scheduled chemotherapy early this afternoon.
"I'm fine Shizuru-san," the teen answered through the mask over his mouth. He was on reverse isolation due to his immune system being depressed by the medication he was on. "Thank you for taking care of me."
"It's nothing," Shizuru smiled at the teen. "I wasn't doing anything over the weekend anyway."
Before their conversation could continue a knock on the door interrupted them followed by a dark haired man wearing a white coat entered the room. Seeing Shizuru, he introduced himself. "Oh, good evening. I'm Reito Kanzaki, Takumi-kun's oncologist."
Shizuru shook the hand held out to her and introduced herself was well. "Shizuru Viola."
"How are you feeling Takumi-kun?" Reito asked generally and Takumi responded. He then asked a few more specific questions which Takumi answered each one of them. He wrote down down his findings on a chart he brought with him and was relatively pleased with all of his answers. "You go on ahead and rest now. You need to gain your strength so you can go home as soon as possible."
After making sure Takumi was okay he turned back to Shizuru who was observing him all the while.
"I haven't seen you before, Viola-san," he kept up a conversation while checking the IV lines. He looked at her briefly and gave her a smile. Shizuru's heart skipped a beat as it reminded her of the smile Natsuki used to give her. A small blush formed its way to her cheeks but went unnoticed due to the make-up she was wearing. "How are you related to Takumi-kun?"
"His sister, Mai, is my friend," Shizuru supplied. "She asked me to take care of him as she and Akira-han couldn't accompany him this weekend."
"Is that so," he acknowledged briefly while writing down notes on the chart he was writing down in earlier. "Oh by the way, were you from Cardair perhaps?"
"Ara, why do you say so?" Shizuru questioned.
"Your accent. It's familiar," the doctor answered stopping what he was doing at the moment and looked at her. "I was born there."
"Really?" Shizuru felt intrigued. "How come you don't have the same accent?"
"We migrated here when I was six, so I grew up here," he answered getting back to his chart and writing some more notes down.
"Well, I'm not from Cardair," the tawny haired woman supplied. "I was born and raised at Windbloom. But I was an exchange student for Cardair once, and staying there for a while, it kind of stuck to me."
"And I'm pretty sure it stuck with you perfectly, it suits you," Reito complimented finishing up his notes. He put back his pen on the pocket of his coat and fixed up the chart before holding out his hand to Shizuru once more. "It was nice meeting you Viola-san."
"You can call me Shizuru," she took his hand and shook it.
"Only if you call me Reito," he shook back.
A/N: And there's Part 1 of my two-shot series. I actually started this about a year ago? I kinda forgo and was only able to reach half way right now. The next chapter is in writing though it's gonna be a while before it gets uploaded since I may be changing perspectives then. But I already have the ending in mind so basically it's just how am I gonna write it out.
Also, I have another possibly two shot (or one shot) that's kinda lengthy which I started prior to this and that is going to take a while before I could publish it. As of this moment I think I have already 11-12 pages worth of content. And I'm having a bit of a difficulty putting Shiznat into that one as the movie I based it off is kinda hard to alter. Well not really but I don't know as of the moment where I would be able to insert Shiznat.
Anywho. I'm not abandoning my works! I'm also on the process of writing the chapters it's just that I may do a complete makeover as what I wrote kinda left me in a pit that I can't crawl out of. I'm ranting now so, I'm gonna say goodbye.
Hope you enjoyed this fic!