Chapter 1
The clouds above threatened to spill it's contents upon the scurrying people below. A fierce wind teased the bursting clouds, taunting them to move about as freely as it did. Even approaching thunder begged for the clouds to loose it's load upon the world far below them. Despite this, the determined clouds held on.
A motorcyclist directly beneath the struggling clouds was blissfully unaware of the threat looming above her. After all, the weather wouldn't change her mission one bit, and so she adamantly refused to acknowledge such secular concerns until completion of her current expedition. Besides, her destination was quickly coming into view.
A quick turn to her left took her down the alley behind the old, rundown movie theater. Trash littered the alleyway unattended, no one bothering to pay heed to such a mundane task. Besides, those who used the stretch of concrete rarely bothered with their own personal grooming.
The roaring of the motorcycle's engine faded into the quiet night air as the young woman reached a little known side entrance to the building. Climbing off the well cared for machinery, the woman took out a chain and lock too thick to snap with the normal tools used by thieves. Removing the dark helmet from her head, she brought a hand through hair exuding a brilliant midnight blue hue. With that done, she carried her helmet under one arm as she approached the door.
"Password?" The deep, scratchy voice heard through the small slit in the door was more of a statement than a question, but the motorcycle rider knew the proper response.
Her voice was low and somewhat husky as she replied, "Five hells of night." She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable at using the idiotic password, but since it wasn't up to her to decide such matters, she let the frustration go.
Loud metallic clinking was followed by a briskly opened door, the man behind it just as boring as she always found him. A large, ugly scar running from one ear down his neck beyond the covering of a black muscle shirt was the only physical aspect to separate him from all the other meat heads used to keep peace around the place. Well, that and the fact that he was the only one able to walk about safely without a weapon.
"Evenin' miss," was all he said as the girl walked past him with a nod of acknowledgment. She couldn't help but sigh at the amount of people she found in the club on this particular night. The more thugs about, the less likely she would be able to glean new information. On the other hand, her usual correspondent normally obtained just enough information to get her by.
She made her way to the bar, determined not to be stopped before she had a chance to talk to her correspondent. It was easy enough to maneuver around the drunken idiots, especially when she spotted her empty stool waiting for her. It had taken several nights of pointless fights to establish her dominance over the particular corner, but soon her efforts paid off. No one she didn't want there dared to step on her domain.
The bartender was wise enough to have her usual waiting for her, which she thanked him for with a slight upraising of her lips. The action seemed to leave more of an impression of a slight, knowing smirk, but the point was made. With that done, she took a small sip from the drink, a pleasant sensation coursing throughout her body. It seemed to be just the release her body had been waiting for all day because she immediately felt her muscles relax noticeably.
A tan, over sized envelope was slide in front of her. "Anything new?" She asked the man she knew to be sitting in the seat next to her. After all, they had been through this routine often enough to have no need wasting words on small talk.
It was with a heavy sigh the man said, "Look, Natsuki, I understand your determination in this, but don't you-" He was cut off by a dark glare, his companion not caring to hear anything outside of the information she wanted. So he gave up and instead continued with, "The usual, nothing particularly interesting. My sources were especially fervent in their efforts to prove themselves trustworthy after last month's incident, but nothing has come up. I'm sorry."
Natsuki released the air she didn't realize she had been holding. Another dead end. "Thank you, Sakomizu. Same time next Friday." The reply came out colder than she had meant it to, but she was too frustrated to contain herself. She grabbed the envelope abruptly and left the bar.
"Goodbye miss," the doorman's reply followed Natsuki's hurried exit, her mind barely registering the words before the door was closed behind her. Outside once again, it appeared the clouds had finely relented because a fierce down pouring of rain was ready to to soak the leather clad woman completely.
Starring into the sky with it's moisture hitting her face, Natsuki took pleasure in the way the weather could display her emotions so easily. Whenever her heart ached, the heavens sent a gift of recognition, allowing the whole world to participate in her foul mood. 'Mother, is it you sending me the rain? Only you could know my pain. . .' her thoughts drifted off when she realized a new comer was intruding on her private moment.
Her helmet was roughly pulled onto her head after she gave the leering man one of her most vicious glares. She waited until the disgusting man entered the building before she unzipped her biker suit enough to sneak her newly acquired envelope between the heat of her body and the protection of the leather.
As expected, her bike was exactly the way she had left: leaning on it's kick stand with all it's dark beauty. The lock and chains were quickly removed and stored away for later use before Natsuki climbed onto her precious vehicle.
She took her time winding down the empty roads, her thoughts distracting her from any recognizable course. It had been three years since she had first began her work at what many consider a "shady" investigation center. Of course, the off hand tactics used to acquire the necessary information were right up her alley. In fact, her precision with a gun had earned her enough of a reputation where she was assigned the most difficult of the tasks. Therefore, she usually received the highest income out of all the employees.
This particular mission she had been given was especially high paying, but possibly the hardest she had yet to face. A man had come into the run-down shop looking as if he owned the place. His story was an easy one to follow. His company was being threatened by the mysterious contents of his boss's will. Apparently, it held the distribution of the overall business's command, but before the will could be read, it had been stolen the very night the boss died. Now, he wanted the recovery of will before the end of the year, which happened to be a mere four months away. Of course, it was obvious to Natsuki that this man expected something for himself out of the will, but as long as he paid as much as he had offered on the table, she didn't give a rat's ass.
What should have been an easy recovery had turned into a month's effort of dead ends. Another month had followed with the only new information being the mysterious member's of the deceased boss's family. Call it intuition if you will, but Natsuki was sure the discovery of their identity would give her the break she needed. However, the information seemed to be lost because none of her sources were able to get any proper leads. It had all turned into a disastrous headache, one in which was increasing as her time decreased. Seven weeks left.
As quickly as the thoughts came, Natsuki vanished them to focus on the new road she found herself on. It was still in the shady parts of downtown, which she previously had felt she was very familiar with, but as she looked around her, she came to the conclusion that this section was utterly new to her. Dark buildings loomed above her, the only light source coming from the occasional working street lamp, all of which had acquired a flicker.
If Natsuki hadn't slowed down so much to observe her surroundings, she would have missed the singular figure. She spotted the figure in front of a building full of red lights, casting an eery glow on the mysterious person. As she neared, Natsuki soon came to realize the figure was a shivering woman with a much too large raincoat draped across her shoulders.
A sudden feeling of compassion came over the usually distant biker. Coming to a stop in front of the lone woman, Natsuki looked around. She could see some cars parked at random along the road, but all seemed empty. Then she looked at the building she was stopped in front of, but the only lights on were those mysterious red lights on the top level.
With this in mind, she came to one conclusion. "Are you waiting for someone?" Her question came out a little muffled due to her helmet, but it wasn't to the point where one couldn't understand what was being said.
"Ara, ara, what an unusual way to put it," the other woman replied, her face still hard to make out with the shadows clinging to her. The musical, carefree tone of her voice took Natsuki aback slightly. She hadn't expected such composure from someone carelessly standing around in the rain. She had almost been certain the other woman would be very distraught.
"Er, look, do you want a ride or not?" Natsuki asked, always the type to get straight to the point. She hadn't meant for the question to sound so, well, gruff. She just hoped the woman wouldn't make her wait much longer before her sudden streak of compassion wore off.
Although Natsuki couldn't see it, she could almost feel the upraised eyebrow. "You're new to this, aren't you?" There was a pause, as if she expected a reply of some sort. When, she received none, she continued. "Where do you propose to take me?"
The question once again surprised the Natsuki. 'What's up with woman?' she thought to herself before saying out loud, "Home, of course." It seemed the most obvious answer, unless the woman was hoping to be dropped off somewhere else.
"Ara, ara, you are very straight forward, aren't you?" the woman said, an unmistakable tease in her voice. She paused, as if contemplating, then said, "Ok, whisk me away."
Finally, a reply that didn't send Natsuki into a fit of confusion. From a compartment in the back of her bike, she pulled out another helmet she carried around in case of an emergency. She handed the black, simple helmet to the woman, stiffening when she felt gentle hands slide down her sides to be clasped in front of her stomach.
They stayed in that position for some time, Natsuki waiting for the other woman to supply some much needed information. When nothing came, she decided to take the initiative. "So, ah, where do you live?"
Musical laughter floated above the rain to caress Natsuki's ears. "Why, here, of course," the woman's reply came from behind, causing Natsuki to frown. What the hell was that suppose to mean? Then something seemed to click in her head: she's probably homeless. That was why the woman hadn't cared that she was getting soaked in the rain! And why her coat was too big for her. It even explained the ridiculous responses she had been getting.
A fierce swelling of pity rose in her heart, nearly making her choke. It was then she decided that she was going to help this woman, even if it was only to provide shelter for one night. Yes, it's true that she had never done anything so rash before in her life, but something was different this time. She was different this time.
As Natsuki took off from the side of the street, she yelled over the roar of the engine and the screaming of the winds, "Hey, what's your name?"
A small pause before a soft answer was returned just behind her covered ear, "Shizuru." 'Shizuru...' Natsuki repeated the name in her head, making sure to place it to memory. With a nod to let Shizuru know that she had heard and understood, Natsuki pushed the bike faster.
A/N: Alright, so this is my first shot at shiz/nats fanfiction. Let me know what you think, even if it's just a quick review to tell me it was "good" or "sucked". Depending on my reviews, I'll continue posting this story : ) Thanks for reading!