Pointless, stupid, silly one-shots are born by sick and bored minds like mine. After continued exposure to stupidity, this is what happens to a person. Anyway, this little story might seem absurd, but once it wormed its way inside of my head it decided to stay there and bug me. Don't like nonsensical humour? Don't read.
This thing is also a form of apology to those following my other story. There's a perfectly good reason why I haven't updated! There is! Couple up a very busy author with a very busy beta, make so that their schedule never coincides and this is what you get. I haven't abandoned TNT, though, and I swear that I won't. It's almost finished, as a matter of fact. *smug smile*
But back to this story; the characters may be OOC for humour purposes. The setting is in the HiME-verse... somewhat (not counting a few inconsistencies). Please excuse any and all typos and other types of mistakes, since this document has been checked only by yours truly. Hope you find it in yourselves to enjoy this read.
Disclaimer: Sunrise owns ALL my favorite shows, including Mai-HiME!
"She went and left…"
"She really did, didn't she…?"
Mikoto's stomach pitifully rumbled, followed by Natsuki's defeated sigh. They were staring lifelessly at the ceiling, both of them sprawled on their messy dorm room's floor. A few flies were circling around and the maddening cicadas could also be heard, but the two girls were deaf and blind about everything else besides their current predicament.
"Natsuki…" Mikoto whined and slowly turned her hallow-cheeked face towards the elder, fixing her bulging golden eyes on her. "You're older. Can't you do something about this?"
"Mikoto," rasped the sickly pale teenager, "you know I can't. I'm not made to deal with disasters of this scale. And even if I could, we don't have any supplies."
"Then, can't we ask the people from the neighbouring dorms for help?" Mikoto feebly offered, but her suggestion was denied.
"We can't. Everybody's already left for classes." Natsuki pointed out the cruel truth. "We overslept."
"Natsuki…" The middle-schooler tried again. "What about the President? Why don't you call her?"
"That's a definite no-no, Mikoto!" The proud Ice Princess declared with finality, even though she could hardly gather the strength to speak. "That woman won't let me hear the end of it, if I ever ask for help about something like this!"
Mikoto only sniffed with a pleading gleam in her eyes.
"Even if it's an emergency, a samurai would die before asking for help!" Natsuki announced with bitter determination.
"Natsuki, you're not a samurai." Mikoto meekly protested, too week to argue with her roommate.
The younger girl was overwhelmed by the burning look those emeralds immediately sent her way.
"Nevertheless you are, Mikoto! You are an excellent samurai!" Natsuki exclaimed and amazingly braced her energies in order to get up in a sitting position. She stared ahead into space with newfound resolve. "We have to find a way to get through this crisis!"
"Yes!" The little samurai was deeply inspired by the blazing light of hope that Natsuki was emitting. However, her fighting spirit faltered as soon as she laid her exhausted eyes upon the white slip of paper lying on the floor.
"But even if you say that…" Mikoto trailed off.
Natsuki followed her comrade's gaze and after remembering the content of the note, she hung her head. The accursed slip of paper read in a neat hand-writing:
Takumi just called and said he was stuck at the airport. I need to go and get him. I already phoned our homeroom teacher and explained the circumstances, so there should be no problems for me to be absent today. I feel very guilty about asking you two to do this alone, but can you prepare Takumi's 'Welcome Home' party, while I'm gone? Be sure to invite all our friends. We'll make sure to reach campus tonight. I'm counting on you two.
See you later
Mai
P.S. And for God's sake, Natsuki, clean that grease spot on our carpet. You promised me a week ago!'
P.P.S. Natsuki, I'm sorry, but I borrowed your wallet, since I still haven't received my pay check. I think you won't need it today, since you won't be going out.
"She left us with no food!"
Natsuki stared at the ground as she dragged one leg in front the other in a desperate struggle to walk and get to the…
"Natsuki, where are we going?" The unusually flat voice of her younger companion asked. "Hey, Natsuki? Hey! Where…?"
"Shut up!" Natsuki snapped at Mikoto, who seemed unfazed by the outburst.
"You shouted 'let's go', but where are we going? Are we going to find some food this way?" The whining continued.
"The hell if I know, stupid brat! You've the instincts of a wild animal!" The starving rebellious youth spun around and pointed an accusing finger at her companion. "Think, Mikoto! If you were in the wilderness, what would you do?"
Mikoto was thoughtful for a moment before she logically responded.
"I would kill a boar. Its meat's tasty."
"Where on this campus are we going to find a boar?" Natsuki screeched in exasperation. She slumped to her knees and rested her palms on the heated by the sun stone tiles on one of the academy's lanes. "Everybody's in class, no one can help us!"
Mikoto kneeled in front of her starving friend and patted her reassuringly on the head.
"There, there, Natsuki. We can always check the trash cans."
Natsuki lifted her dull eyes to look at Mikoto in reproach.
"Are you patronising me? Huh? What's with this tone, stupid brat? And why are you even suggesting we fall so low? Do I look like a stray animal to you? Do I?" Natsuki's angry tirade was interrupted by a shy cough and both girls turned towards the source.
Another girl was standing in front of them, her expression nervous and her eyes darting between the ground and their crouching forms. She was wearing Fuuka High School's uniform and was undeniably pretty, even though she was plane – her eyes were dark brown and her lank chestnut hair was framing her doll face. What attracted Natsuki and Mikoto's attention, however, was the thing she was carrying on her back, causing her to hunch a bit forward; it was a lunchbox the sizes of a small dog house.
"Excuse me." She began quietly, fidgeting a bit under the fixed stares. "I heard you arguing and I was wondering…" The girl trailed off and nervously winced, as if expecting to be hurt.
What's with this ridiculous bento box? Natsuki incredulously asked herself. Wait. Never mind that. This girl just might be…
"I was wondering if you would like to share my food with me?" She quickly spoke and the two roommates stared in shocked silence.
Our saviour!
"You're… a really good… person." Natsuki said between bites of onigiri. "Sharing your food… with strangers… like us."
Mikoto only vigorously nodded, while stuffing her face with as much of the rice balls as she could. The three of them were seated at a bench under the thick shadow of a maple tree. The unknown girl only smiled as she delicately chewed her own share of onigiri, the enormous lunch box beside her.
"It's really nothing." She smiled and watched as Natsuki finished her meal. "I went and made a bit too much, anyway."
There's a limit to overdoing things, Miss! The Ice Princess twitched at the remark, but chose not to comment out loud. She still felt kind of hungry, even if she had obliterated a total of six big rice balls, but was too ashamed to say anything.
"Ah, I'm first-year Kuga Natsuki, by the way." She awkwardly introduced herself and then pointed her thumb at her engrossed in the food companion. "And this is Minagi Mikoto, a third year in middle school."
"Nice to meet you, Mikoto-chan, Natsuki-chan." The girl politely replied and also politely ignored Natsuki's disapproval of the added 'chan' to her name. "My name is Kitarai Hanako. I'm a second-year in high school."
Natsuki nodded and they fell silent once again, only Mikoto's munching and the cicadas filling the background.
Even when this girl is so sweet, why is the atmosphere so damn heavy? Natsuki sneaked a glance at her friend. Useless. I can't count on her right now. Why does the task of conversation fall on my unsociable shoulders?
"Speaking of school," the freshman clumsily began, "why aren't you attending classes? We were late, but you don't seem like a person who would oversleep."
Hanako looked at the ground, smiling sadly.
"I have something to do no matter what." She admitted a bit ashamed. "I have to find my note-book, since there's something very important to me inside it."
"Note-book?" Natsuki asked in a disbelieving tone. "What note-book? Does it kill people when you write their names in it?"
"No, it's just a note-book." Hanako plainly answered and then sharply turned her head towards Natsuki. "Natsuki-chan. Can you help me find it?"
"Eh?" Was Natsuki's ingenious inquiry that followed the request. Hanako kept looking at her with her pleading innocent eyes.
This is bad… I feel indebted to this girl now. Natsuki turned towards her friend in desperate search of aid. Mikoto! Help me out here!
Mikoto was absent-mindedly licking the tips of her fingers and didn't even register the alarm in her roommate's rigid posture.
She's out of the question! Completely useless!
"Find your note-book, you say…" Natsuki nervously rubbed the back of her head. "Do you even know where you lost it?"
Hanako shook her head miserably, looking quite upset with the reluctance she had met.
"I can enlist all the places where I usually go to, but I don't know where I've lost it."
"That's a problem…" Natsuki knit her brows in thought, however Hanako took that as a sign that the first-year was angry with her.
"Please, Natsuki-chan! That note-book holds something very precious to me! I'm begging you, please, help me!"
"Ugh…" Natsuki was a bit taken aback by the desperate request, but her sense of duty beat her distrust and she nodded. "Okay."
"Really?" Hanako asked disbelievingly. "Then," she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and shoved it in Natsuki's hands, "take this list of places I usually go to. I've marked the ones I've checked."
The biker-girl took it and put it in her own blazer's pocket.
"I, Kuga Natsuki, will return this very important item! Don't worry, Hanakuso(1)!" Natsuki jumped to her feet and held her clenched fist in front of her chest, her eyes flaring with passion. The second-year stared back at her, her mouth slightly agape in awe. "You saved me and now I'll help you."
I have nothing better to do, anyway.
"It's Hanako…" Natsuki's new acquaintance quietly corrected in a whisper.
"Let's go find that text-book, or note-book, or whatever-book, Mikoto." Natsuki grabbed her roommate and dragged her to her feet. Mikoto, rice still on her cheeks, smiled broadly at the thunderstruck second-year.
"Yup, yup!" She vigorously nodded before she ran off after Natsuki, who was already walking off towards their first destination. "You stay here and wait for us, Kusohana(2)!"
"It's Hanako…" The girl sat on the bench and watched Natsuki and Mikoto's retreating backs.
"Let's see…" Natsuki looked once again at the list and the place where she had ended up at. Mikoto stood dumbfounded beside her, not quite sure what they were supposed to find here.
"Natsuki." The middle-schooler began, her expression giving out her confusion. "What are Miyu and the executive committee doing?"
"What executive committee?" Natsuki's eye twitched at the sight. "I only see a stupid android and two idiots with helmets on their heads. I'm pretty sure that such people shouldn't be in the executive committee!"
The two roommates were standing inside the school's largest sports hall, observing how Suzushiro Haruka was pointing towards a cardboard target with a stick figure with the school uniform painted on it and was explaining robustly something to the bored-looking Miyu Greer. Kikukawa Yukino was delicately trying to make her presence unnoticeable and had pulled the helmet over her eyes.
"Aim and fire, it's as simple as that!" Haruka waved her hands. "If we're able to reduce the delinquents' numbers this way, a new era will dawn upon Fuuka Academy! And I will finally prove that that despicable woman's lenient ways are inelastic!"
"Ineffective, Haruka-chan." Yukino corrected, but was ignored.
"Now, Greer-san! Shoot that target!" Haruka roared the order and Miyu emotionlessly complied. Her arm turned into a machine-gun and she started emptying rounds into the poor cardboard. When the shooting stopped and the dust cleared there was nothing left on the place where the target had been.
"Excellent!" Haruka exclaimed.
"Excellent my ass!" Natsuki disapprovingly shouted as she stood behind the head of the executive committee. Said head spun around in surprise and regarded the newcomer with unhidden superiority. "Are you planning on using this on students, Suzushiro?"
"Kuga! And that delinquent-to-be Minagi Mikoto!" The enforcer of the rules turned her scrutinizing stare at Mikoto, who innocently blinked. "I see. You heard that I would cause a revolution with the aid of Greer-san and came to be the first witnesses. Futile, I say. No matter how much you want to prevent this, you won't succeed! We'll crush all rebellion!"
"Revolution? Rebellion? What's gotten into your head, idiot?" Natsuki pointed her finger towards Miyu, while she continued yelling at the blonde executive. "Does she look like she has teleported from an upcoming age in order to destroy a future rebel leader? Do you want to kill off half of the students on campus?"
"Nonsense! I won't kill anybody!" Haruka indignantly protested. "This project is still in the works!"
"And by the end of it I'm sure that Miyu will be shooting laser beams at little fluffy animals. Schwarzenegger would never approve of this!" The Ice Princess narrowed her eyes, but decided that she hadn't come to this place to argue. "Anyway, I'm looking for something. Maybe you can prove to be useful."
"What are you looking for, Kuga-san?" Yukino shyly entered the so-called conversation, while Miyu silently observed.
"A note-book." Mikoto piped in. She was beginning to feel left out. Natsuki confirmed.
"It belongs to this… uh… Kitanai(3) Hanakuso… No, that's not it… "
The freshman tried to remember, but every time she started she got the name completely wrong.
"We haven't seen a note-book. However, could the girl be Kitarai Hanako-san?" Yukino suggested and both Natsuki and Mikoto ah-ed in recognition.
"Kiraina Hata-san(4)? Who's that?" Haruka asked her friend with a perplexed expression.
"Kitarai Hanako, that's the girl! Do you know her?" Natsuki excitedly asked.
"We had classes together, but…"
"What classes, Yukino?" Mikoto eagerly jumped up and down.
"Well, art. But what I'm trying to say that she's…"
"Cool! She might've forgotten the note-book at that classroom. Let's go find it, Mikoto." Natsuki urged and began making her way to the exit, but was stopped.
"Wait!" Haruka shouted and Natsuki and Mikoto turned around to look at the fuming executive. "Are you two skipping classes?"
"Aren't you three skipping, too?" The Ice Princess lifted her brows, effectively making the enforcer even angrier than before.
"I've authorisation to use this hall for research purposes during school time when there are no students practicing here." Haruka glowered at them.
What kind of moron gave her permission?
"So you're skipping classes." Mikoto blatantly – however with no ill intentions – pointed out.
"Greer-san!" Haruka screeched.
"Yes?" Miyu spoke for the first time. The two roommates tensed.
"Fire!"
"Whaa, that was a close one." Natsuki concluded, while panting, both of her hands placed on her knees.
"Miyu can be very scary." Mikoto agreed, also slightly out of breath.
Only after reaching the opposite part of the school's facilities did the two of them allow themselves to slow down and eventually stop. They were leaning on a car, parked under the window of the art room where Ishigami Wataru held his classes.
"Yeah. Anyway, we should wait till recess and then we can check the classroom." Natsuki said, looking up at the window. She turned towards Mikoto to tell her something, which was immediately forgotten when she saw that the younger girl was pressing her face against the car's window.
"What… are you doing?" Natsuki asked in utter puzzlement. "This is Ishigami's car, you know. If he sees you…"
"Hey, Natsuki. Isn't that Kusohana's name?" Mikoto pointed at something on the passenger's seat.
"Let me see." Natsuki rudely pushed Mikoto out of the way and squinted in order to read the label of the note-book lying on the seat. "You're right, it does say 'Kitarai Hanako'. What's it doing in there?"
"What are you two doing here?" Ishigami Wataru's voice made both Natsuki and Mikoto jump up in surprise. They hurriedly turned around and were faced with the art teacher's unsettling stare. "Are you skipping?"
"Why does everybody think we're skipping?" Natsuki tried to throw dust in Ishigami's eyes with her hurt question, however he remained unyielding.
"You are."
Is it the damned glasses? The glasses are protecting him, aren't they?
"Because I was just supposed to have a class with Minagi-san here. She was absent, though." He drawled out, but Mikoto was unimpressed by his remark.
"Sensei, why is Kusohana's note-book inside your car?" She asked, straight to the point. That made Ishigami visibly uncomfortable.
He recognized the name? However: good one, Mikoto! Natsuki inwardly grinned.
"Yeah, sensei. What's something like that doing inside your car?" She pressed the issue and mentally cheered when the man flinched.
"Ki-Kitarai-san forgot her note-book in my class and I intended to give it back to her! Honestly, I was!" He defended himself in front of the smirking Natsuki and the ignorant Mikoto.
"Actually, we were looking for that thing." Natsuki informed her teacher with well-hidden amusement. "Could you give it to us?"
"And why would I?" Ishigami asked with in his authoritative voice and pushed up his glasses.
"Because we really like sister Yukariko and talk to her very often when something bothers us." The rebellious biker-girl explained in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.
Seeing that he was fighting a losing battle, Ishigami backed down in defeat and gave the girls what they wanted.
"You know, this girl…" He began, but was interrupted by Natsuki's uplifted hand.
"Not a word, sensei." She and Mikoto turned around and headed towards where they had left Hanako. "And we haven't seen one another today, either! Right, sensei?"
The art teacher only scrunched his brows in disapproval and muttered an 'alright' from under his nose.
"She's not here. Natsuki, where did she go?" Mikoto stared at the empty bench where they had parted with Hanako earlier.
"Dunno." Natsuki shrugged and looked around. "Maybe she went off somewhere?"
"Why don't we look in the note-book for a clue?" The middle-schooler offered and reached for the plane blue note-book. Natsuki quickly jerked it out of Mikoto's reach.
"No can do, Mikoto." Natsuki explained in a teaching tone. "Hanakuso said that it contains something important to her, which means that it's personal. We can't go around sticking our noses in other people's business."
"But Natsuki!" The little samurai pouted. "We have to find Kusohana! She has food with her!"
"That's your reason?" Natsuki snapped.
"But I'm still hungry!"
"No means no!"
Mikoto scoffed and jumped towards the hand in which Natsuki was holding the note-book, however the Ice Princess didn't intend to go down without a fight. She stubbornly kept the item away from Mikoto's little clawing hands and was doing a remarkably good job for a while. Then suddenly a white envelope flew out from between the note-book's pages and before Natsuki could react, it was already in Mikoto's hands. The feline-like girl studied it carefully.
"It has a name on it, Natsuki." Mikoto stated and handed it to the older girl, who took it away swiftly. When she read the name on the envelope, she froze with her mouth agape.
"What's wrong? Do you who that is?"
"You've got to be kidding me." Natsuki mumbled, still unable to believe that the letter inside the envelope was addressed to that person.
Natsuki knocked on the door and without waiting for a reply slid it open, letting herself and Mikoto inside the spacious student council room. There was only one girl inside, sitting behind a desk and sipping green tea with a satisfied smile. She lifted her bright ruby eyes and her expression lit the entire room.
"Ara, Natsuki, Mikoto-han!" Shizuru exclaimed as she put her cup down. "Coming for a visit? Please, take a seat."
"We won't be staying for long, so no tha…" Natsuki began, but stopped when she saw that Mikoto had already made herself comfortable on top of on one of the desks. "Okay…"
"President, where's brother?" Mikoto asked, while dangling her feet from the desk's edge.
"Reito-han went looking for Suzushiro-han and Kikukawa-han, since I need to talk to them." Shizuru explained. "Earlier Suzushiro-han asked me about permission to do some kind of research and I gave it to her. But I didn't pay attention to what she was saying, so I don't know where she went."
"Don't go admitting it like that!" Natsuki yelped. "Do you even know what that troublesome executive's doing right now?"
"No, as I said – I wasn't listening when she asked. But since she never causes that much trouble, I decided to let her go and do whatever she wants if it makes her happy."
"You're treating her like a kid, Shizuru…"
"When she wants something, she behaves like one." Shizuru defended with a pout. "If I give her the toys she wants, she's happy and listens to me."
"Her toys are dangerous, you know! They shoot at people!" Natsuki frantically waved her arms. "You're a terrible mother! How can you let a moronic kid play with a killer-robot?"
"Is she going to be hurt?" Shizuru asked, but her inquiry held no concern.
"Oi, don't you dare seem so happy! Wipe that hopeful expression off your face, idiot!" Natsuki demanded. After all those years of friendship and other more complicated interrelations, she was still shocked at some of the things Shizuru did or said. The student council president sighed and turned her head to look outside the window.
Why does she seem discontent? Why does it make me feel bad? Don't make such a dejected face! Natsuki plopped herself next to Mikoto. She decided to speak on the matter of why they were here, bu the moment she opened her mouth, Mikoto went ahead of her.
"President, we're looking for Takeda. Where is he?" She asked and Natsuki's world crumbled to tiny pieces in an instant.
Oooi! What are you doing, Mikoto? The freshman slowly turned her head in fits and starts towards the younger girl. I was planning to do this more delicately!
When Natsuki dared to direct her frightened gaze at Shizuru, she was surprised to see that her dear friend looked relatively sane. Sure, her eyes were more widely opened than usual and her lips were slightly parted, but otherwise, she looked normal. Then she suddenly stood up and bowed her head.
"Please, excuse me for a bit." She said in a formal tone, went straight to a door at the back of the room and disappeared behind it.
Natsuki expected to hear screams, sounds of breaking glass, explosion from atomic bombs and whatnot, but did not anticipate for what followed. Shizuru emerged from behind the door clad in a pure white kimono, a long and a short katana strapped to her hips. She sat in seiza in the middle of the room, ritually pulled out the long katana and held it in front of her in a horizontal position.
"Mikoto-han." She addressed the unblinking middle-schooler. "As a samurai, would you cleanly remove my head after I cut my stomach?" (5)
"Hold on just a…" Natsuki began in a high-pitched voice and made a step forward.
"I understand." Mikoto nodded and in a matter of seconds accepted the blade and stood at Shizuru's side, the sword lifted above her head.
"What the hell do you understand?" Natsuki flew herself at Mikoto, but stopped dead in her tracks when the finely shaped blade flashed right in front of her face, its sharp tip pointed at her nose. She gulped and eyed her roommate, who was now in full samurai-mode. "Shizuru, calm down. I just wanted to find him to give him a letter, that's all."
Shizuru shut her eyes and a painful expression washed over her features.
"A love letter. I see." She lifted her sorrowful gaze and bore it into Natsuki's, while pulling the short katana out of its sheath. "Good bye, Natsuki."
"Wait! You've got it all wrong!" Natsuki desperately tried to correct her mistake. "It's not from me! It's not from me, I tell you!"
Shizuru's movements froze. "Really?"
"Yes, goddammit! I'm simply delivering it!" Yelled the ex-ice HiME, currently at the verge of hysterics. "So put that katana down and listen to me, you idiotic woman!"
"Ah, I see now." Shizuru sipped from her tea, now dressed once again in her normal attire. "So you want to deliver this letter in that girl's stead, since you can't find her?"
Natsuki and Mikoto vigorously nodded.
"That's right, President. So don't do such scary stuff anymore." Mikoto said in a pleading tone before her head was smacked by Natsuki's raging fist.
"You offered help, stupid brat!"
"But Natsuki said that I was a true samurai." Mikoto lifted her tearful eyes at her older friend, while holding her head with both hands. "And as a samurai…"
"Okay! Forget what I said. This instant!" Natsuki commanded, hands on her hips. She turned towards Shizuru and spoke in a more calm matter. "So if you know where Takeda is, could you tell us? That would be of great help."
"No, I'm sorry." Shizuru shook her head. "But maybe if you tell me the girl's name, I would be able to help you find her."
"We already looked all over the place for Kusohana." Mikoto declared in an offended tone, as if hurt by Shizuru supposing that they had done a poor job.
"Excuse me?" The President asked bewildered.
"The girl's name is Kitanai Hanakuso." Natsuki declared in a self-sure tone. A pregnant pause followed.
"Could you repeat that?" Shizuru broke the silence with her incredulous inquiry.
"Kitanai Hanakuso."
"No, I'm pretty sure that no sane person would name their child like that. May I take a look at the note-book?"
"No." Mikoto firmly denied. "Natsuki said it was personal."
"Here you go." The Ice Princess handed Shizuru the blue note-book. Mikoto looked like she was slapped across the face.
"Natsuki! You said…"
"I know."
"But…"
"Shut up."
After looking at the cover Shizuru looked visibly relieved that there indeed wasn't a person who went by that name. Her relief was soon replaced by puzzlement.
"Natsuki, this girl…"
A huge lump was stuck inside Natsuki's throat. A thick black shadow had fallen over her eyes and her jaw was tight as she stood together with Shizuru in front of a big gravestone with the name of 'Kitarai Hanako' engraved on it. A raven flew over their heads and headed for the forest behind the graveyards. Natsuki couldn't see Mikoto's face, as her roommate was kneeling in front of the gravestone, her back turned to them.
"When…?" Natsuki croaked, unable to get more words out of her throat.
"A few days ago." Shizuru explained in a mournful tone. "As far as I know it was an accident with a drunk driver. She didn't live at the dorms and she was making her way to school when…"
The Ice Princess gulped.
What the hell?
"Mikoto?" She addressed the younger girl, from which she could hear suspicious munching noises. "What are you doing?"
Mikoto turned around with a quizzical expression, holding a half-eaten meat bun in her hands and chewing with a satisfied gleam in her eyes. Natsuki went rigid.
"Mikoto-chan, don't eat that." She said in a strained sing-song voice.
"Why? I'm hungry." Mikoto asked, displeased that her meal was being interrupted.
Doesn't she know what an 'offering to the dead' means?
"You'll get cursed, moron!" Natsuki screeched and frantically started looking around in expectance for some natural disaster to befall them.
"Ara!" Shizuru exclaimed and Natsuki hopefully turned towards her in search for support. "There's also a vacuum flask! I wonder if there's tea…"
"You addict, don't even think about it..." A defeated sigh was the only reaction Natsuki could muster at the moment.
No wonder the onigiri she gave us were tasteless and didn't feed us. She sadly thought. Now that I know, I feel hungrier than before…
"Hey…" Suddenly something struck her. "If she's dead, how come we could see her? I mean, we're no espers or whatever."
"I'm guessing that it's because of your HiME powers." Shizuru offered an explanation, while being seated on the ground next to Mikoto and serenely sipping green tea from the vacuum flask's cup. "Even if the Star was destroyed, I can imagine that there were some side-effects."
"To your brain." Natsuki narrowed her eyes at her long-time friend. "I'm telling you, put that down!"
"Maybe some very strong emotion is keeping her from moving on." Mikoto gave her insight, having completely demolished all the meat buns left in front of the gravestone. "We were all driven by strong emotions back then, so maybe we're in some way connected to Kusohana."
"That…" Began Natsuki with a thoughtful expression.
"Actually makes some sense." Continued Shizuru, while nodding in approval. "Most likely that letter contains a confession and if it's delivered…"
"She will be able to move on!" Natsuki finished, with a grin on her face. Shizuru happily sighed.
"It's so romantic that we're complementing each other's thoughts." She dreamily commented and Natsuki face-palmed.
"Hey, is Takeda here?" Mikoto barged in the Kendo dojo, followed closely by Natsuki and Shizuru. A few club members stared in awe, wondering what those three would want with their captain. The blushing Takeda staggered forward from behind a group of his underclassmen and stiffly bowed in greeting.
"President Fujino, Minagi-san," he lifted his eyes and smiled goofily at Natsuki, "Kuga-san."
Natsuki flinched and in her haste to get this over with as quickly as possible, she pulled the envelope out of her pocket. Forgetting that, after all, they were surrounded by people she shoved it in Takeda's arms with a scoff. A few gasps were heard and the Kendo club's captain looked like he would have a heart-attack.
"Kuga… san…" He stumbled for words. "Could this… be…?"
"Don't be mistaken, Takeda-han." Shizuru cut in with a bone-marrow freezing politeness. "We're doing a favour and are delivering this on behalf of Harawatanai Tako-han (6)."
"Who?" Masashi didn't seem to recognize the name.
"Just open the envelope!" Natsuki irately demanded. Scared by her impatience, Takeda complied. His eyes quickly scanned over the letter, while the three girls held their breath in anticipation.
"That was very responsible of her." Takeda said after finishing reading, manly tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. "I knew I could count on her! Even when she's gone, she continues helping people. Commendable!"
What? What did it say? Is that how you react to a love confession? Natsuki mentally pulled at her hair. She sneaked a glance at the other two, who seemed equally confused. Well, Shizuru was very good at hiding it, at least.
"Takeda-han…" She began. "Pardon my rudeness, but what was the content of the letter?"
"Kitarai-san was the club's manager. She handled the finances and other things I couldn't do by myself." Masashi dutifully explained. "This is last month's report and some tips regarding the club's financial support."
What the heeell?
"There's no helping it, so I'm gonna open it. Right? This is our last resort!" Natsuki gripped the note-book and lifted it on her eye-level. "Nobody will blame me. It's not like I'm invading her personal space, okay?
"Natsuki won't be able to see through the covers, no matter how hard she tries." Shizuru pointed out when Natsuki only stared fixedly, without taking any action. A light breeze rustled the leafs of the maple tree under which they had last seen Hanako.
The Ice Princess scoffed and opened the covers with a swift motion. Shizuru peeked over her shoulder and Mikoto jumped up and down in order to see what was written inside. After quickly going through all the pages, Natsuki shut it with visible frustration.
"There are only recipes inside here!" She flung the note-book at the ground and was about to start jumping on top of it when she heard her name being called out.
"Natsuki-chan! Mikoto-chan!" Hanako ran towards them, still carrying her huge bento box on her back. She halted in front of the group; Shizuru regarded her with interest, Mikoto smiled and waved at her, while Natsuki jumped backwards and pretended to act nonchalantly, scared that she would be caught red-handed in her attempts to destroy the source of her suffering.
"Oh, look!" She pointed at the covered in dust note-book lying on the ground. "My, isn't that your note-book, Hanakuso?"
"It's Hanako. Indeed it is!" Hanako exclaimed happily and bent forward to pick it up. She dusted it off and clenched it, pressing it tightly to her chest. "Now all my recipes are safe! Thank you!"
She bowed deeply and almost toppled over because of the load on her back.
"Uh, no, it was nothing…" Natsuki sheepishly grinned and uncomfortably shifted her weight. "Say, Hanakuso…"
"It's Hanako."
"… why do you treasure those recipes so much?"
"I've always wanted to be able to prepare a meal that makes people smile." Hanako confessed, lowering her gaze. "But since nobody ever did praise me, I thought that the fault was in the recipes."
No, it was probably your cooking! How bad did it taste that nobody ever praised you?
"So I started collecting interesting recipes, hoping that if I prepare something new, people would smile for me. Then I lost my note-book before I could start trying." Tears welled up inside Hanako's eyes as she continued. "I only wanted to hear 'it's so delicious' once and be thanked for the meal."
"Don't get upset, Harawatanai-han." Shizuru stepped forward and smiled at the ghost.
What is she planning? Natsuki glanced at her with suspicion.
"It's Hanako. This has nothing to do with my name anymore." Sobbed out Hanako and wiped her tears with her uniform's sleeve.
"Natsuki and Mikoto-han told me that the meal you gave them was very delicious." Shizuru assured the crying girl and peeked at Natsuki in search for confirmation. Natsuki immediately understood what her friend was attempting to do.
"Yes, it was! That was one of the tastiest onigiri I've ever had!" She exclaimed and nudged the youngest of the group. "Right, Mikoto?"
"I didn't really taste anything." The little samurai's confession was followed by a smack over the head.
"What she meant to say was that it tasted so good that her senses exploded!" Natsuki tried to fix the awkward situation. Her effort seemed to have effect as Hanako beamed at them.
"Is that true?" She asked hopefully. All three friends nodded, two of which more vigorously than the third. "Ah, I'm so happy!"
Suddenly Hanako began to glow in a blinding white light, making Natsuki, Mikoto and Shizuru cover their eyes with their hands. They felt some kind of warmth emitting from the disappearing form of the girl and heard her barely audible words of gratitude. The light engulfed all of them before abruptly disappearing taking the warmth and Hanako with itself.
The three stood there in silence for a bit.
"She looked very content." Natsuki commented after a while. "Somehow, I'm glad we could help."
"But in the end, what was it that connected us to her?" Shizuru wondered out loud, but none of them had the answer.
"Who knows? And who cares anyway? It's all over." Natsuki shrugged.
"The day's almost over." Mikoto pointed out, a trace of fear in her voice. "Natsuki, the day's almost over."
"Yeah, I guess we missed out on school today." The Ice Princess agreed before turning towards the student council president. "Say, Shizuru, didn't you skip classes today, too?"
"Student council business." Shizuru tried to cover up, coughing into her fist.
"Natsuki! It's almost dinner-time!" Mikoto grabbed Natsuki's sleeve and began pulling urgently.
"Jeez, I'm hungry too! Stop pulling!" Natsuki snapped at her roommate. "We can't help it, since we have to wait for…"
Shizuru observed with curiosity how both Mikoto and Natsuki changed a few shades before their skin colour settled on ash-grey.
Mai tapped her foot nervously, while Takumi smiled uneasily beside his fuming sister's side. Both of them, along with Natsuki and Mikoto, were inside the still resembling a battle-field dorm room, an ominous silence hanging in the air.
If only Shizuru had come along, Mai wouldn't have become so mad! Natsuki stoically tried not to wince under those flame-shooting lilac eyes.
"And you expect me to believe this ridiculous tale? How lazy are you if you make up an excuse that is so stupid?" Mai bawled out and Mikoto hid behind Natsuki. "Do you take me for an idiot?"
"Calm down, Mai." Natsuki lifted her hands in front of herself. "I swear this is the truth! We can make a big party tomorrow and forget all about this?"
Mai darkly chuckled and her two roommates gulped. Also, it seemed that Takumi had disappeared in thin air.
"Forget? Oh, you can forget about me feeding you two for the next month!" The raging ex-fire HiME stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her back.
Mikoto's stomach growled like an infuriated lion.
"Natsuki, I'm hungry."
(1) Hanakuso (Jp.) - snot.
(2) Kusohana (Jp.) - stupid/shitty flower.
(3) Kitanai (Jp.) - dirty.
(4) Kiraina Hata (Jp.) - hated flag.
(5) When a person commits harakiri/seppuku they can have somebody cut their head off with a long katana. :3
(6) Harawatanai Tako (Jp.) - gutless octopus.