DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything but the plot/story. All other entities (HiME, Otome or otherwise) belong to their respective owners.
- This story is AU/OOC.
- Rated T for dialog and all that other fun stuff.
- Words in italics and with an apostrophe represent thoughts
- Words that are bolded indicate yelling
- Words that are bolded, in italics AND with an apostrophe… well, the voices in my head tend to get loud when I do something stupid, so there's that.
- This story is un-beta'd; therefore, I own all errors, both spelling and grammatical. O_o, I own something else besides the story/plot. Woot!
Yukino Kikukawa opened the classroom door with a tinge of excitement. She knew full well that this was one of THE most sought after elective courses Fuuka University offered. No matter what major you had; no matter what year you were, every student (and that meant EVERY single student) wanted to be in Midori Sugiura's class, Music Appreciation. 'It's nothing short of a small miracle that we were all able to take the class together this year.' Yukino grinned at that thought. They had all tried applying for this same course last year, and none of them had succeeded.
Admittedly, the professor, Sugiura-sensei, was an odd duck in her own right (also being one of the tenured professors for English Literature), but she really did have a sort of gift or whatnot when it came to teaching. Especially with THIS class. Everyone who had ever taken the course always left feeling… a little bit different; a little bit stronger, maybe; a little bit happier, likely; and a little bit more complete in some unfathomable and mysterious way. Frankly, no one was able to explain it. When they tried, it always fell flat and sounded like random words strung together senselessly, and it never really explained what happened to the students. The overall gist was that you somehow "evolved" after Sugiura-sensei's class.
Yukino looked at the seating arrangement and raised her eyebrows in surprise. The classroom was setup rather like a Greek or Roman amphitheater with separate levels or steps, and the desks were configured for two people instead of either single desk seating or the more common bar-like continuous surfaces running across the entire row with a single split up the middle.
'Well, this is a problem.' Yukino sighed inwardly. 'If Haruka and I sit together at one desk, where will Shizuru sit? This class is definitely going to be at full capacity, along with a few students petitioning to join, but...' Yukino's thoughts trailed off as she sighed again and started walking toward the back of the classroom.
Knowing her good friend and girlfriend as well as she did, Yukino quickly calculated that the last row would probably be in everyone's best interest. She knew that Shizuru would feel more comfortable being a bit more in charge of her environment. 'How on earth does Shizuru continue to put up with all that attention? I'll never understand. It's intrusive enough just being along the periphery. And honestly, it will be easier for me to rein in… well… help Haruka if things get… out of control.'
Meanwhile, Natsuki Kuga looked around coldly as more students started to file into the classroom. 'Damn it, Chie! I swear. I'm going to kick your scrawny ass. Where the hell are you? You sit next to me for not even five seconds, and then you bounce off flirting with the first girl you see. If Aoi finds out, she's going to…' Before Natsuki could finish her thought, a decidedly female voice interrupted her.
"Excuse me? Is anyone sitting with you?"
Lowering the mechanical pencil she was holding like a dart, Natsuki turned her head ever so slowly from the piercing glare she was using to hunt for Chie's skull to see who actually had the nerve to speak to her.
Yukino immediately flinched and reflexively pulled back at the look that seemed to flash freeze her in place. Feeling an instant, icy, invisible barrier emanate from the young (and now very scary) woman she had just spoken to.
"I… I'm sorry if I disturbed you", Yukino started in a timid and hushed voice, lowering her eyes quickly so she wouldn't have to spend one moment longer being lasered by those very intense and very stony eyes.
Waiting a few precious moments to check her emotions (mostly fear) and confirm she still had all her limbs (yes, still have four), she quickly forced a breath through her lungs. She surprised even herself as she hesitantly continued to speak, "It's just that… that my friend and girlfriend will be arriving shortly, and I've n-ne… never seen a room configured like this before. And, well, I mean, with desk sharing like this. And, my name is Yukino Kikukawa. And, it's nice to meet you." she quickly inhaled another breath and held it. Waiting for a reply while being terrified of the response at the same time.
Having finally turned all the way around to face the direction of the offending noise, Natsuki saw a smallish sized female who looked like she was about to jump out of her skin from fright.
Natsuki tried not to smirk at the petrified look the poor girl had. 'Okay Natsuki, you knew this class was going to be crowded. Chie did say it was popular, but whatever. Speaking of which. Damn, Chie! Where the hell have you gone now? I really don't want to sit with someone I don't know. I should just get up and leave. Why do I need to take this class anyway? I'm a freaking Computer Science major! Couldn't I just have taken something else? Hell, anything else that didn't have a lot of students. But, nooo! Chie forces me to select this class and now look what happens. I really am going to choke the life out of her when I find her.'
Taking a slow breath in and out to calm her now agitated nerves, Natsuki decided she was going to try her hardest to be at least semi-civil to this fellow student. It really wasn't this person's fault that Chie was off somewhere doing something that would probably piss off Aoi. And, before the term began, she had promised Mai that she would try to be "nicer" to other people. Try being the operative word. Natsuki scoffed at the thought. 'Yeah, me nicer. That's a crock. What was Mai thinking telling me that? What alternate universe would have ME being nice? Like that would ever happen.'
At the moment that Natsuki started to think of what would be a halfway polite response (which would more than likely still be somewhat rude to the everyday person, oh well), she heard what she thought sounded like squeals of excitement coming from the classroom entrance. Both she and 'What did this girl say her name was?' turned to see what the commotion was all about.
Natsuki had to press pause on every single thought process racing through her mind when she saw the reason for the disturbance; or rather, the person that was causing said disturbance. In all actuality, her brain suddenly just flat out blue screened (meaning it shut down and stopped functioning), as her eyes seemed to have a mind of their own and automatically locked onto matching crimson. 'Wait, are her eyes actually that color?' And those same eyes found hers and stared directly back with a hint of… 'Hmm, what is it? Intimidation? Taunting? Mischievous? Teasing? Do I really want to know?'
Turning with a touch of annoyance and amusement towards the predictable whirlwind of organized chaos, also known as Shizuru Fujino, Yukino could only shake her head with a slight smile at her good friend. It never ceased to amaze Yukino with how calm, collected, and ever so polite, Shizuru could be in that constant sea of attention; or rather it seemed like, yet again, her friend was a tasty morsel at a shark feeding frenzy.
Although Shizuru had to deal with this (meaning the throng of so-called fans that now hovered around her) all throughout high school and now again at college, it still wasn't anything she actually enjoyed. In fact, she barely tolerated it. More often than not, she did so to the point of exhaustion. However, Shizuru was raised in such a manner that no matter what, one had to be a certain way as to not shame the Fujino family name. Above all else, and disregarding her personal feelings, she could not do otherwise but be perfect to the outside world.
Smiling politely for others to see, but sighing dejectedly on the inside, Shizuru could only think that she would have to suffer yet another year of all of this. 'Why must they persist in fawning over me like this? Is it too much to ask for just a moment of reprieve?' Shizuru started to say her goodbyes and end conversations she wasn't exactly paying attention to and began to look for Yukino. As her eyes roamed the students already in the room of her first class, her gaze was forcibly halted, and she stiffened, both physically and mentally. 'Who on earth is Yukino talking with?'
Haruka Suzushiro noticed the ever so slight and barely noticeable shift in her best friend's body language. In fact, if she hadn't known Shizuru for as many years as she did, she would have missed the change. Haruka quickly located her girlfriend in the classroom and tried to usher her best friend inside. Her mouth creasing into a thin line, "Let's go, Shizuru. We don't want to keep Yukino waiting."
Shizuru, on the other hand, wasn't moving. Her eyes transfixed on the undeniably stunning girl (no, stunning woman) next to Yukino. A myriad of emotions blazed their way through Shizuru's mind and body as she stared at someone that had literally taken her breath away.
Finally getting some semblance of her senses back, Shizuru started to walk into the classroom with Haruka and headed to where Yukino was standing. Shizuru literally could not stop herself from continuing to stare at the dark haired stranger with those amazing, dark emerald eyes. This person captured not only Shizuru's gaze, but her fervent imagination as well. For the first time that Shizuru could ever remember, she was speechless.
In pure disbelief, Yukino quickly looked back and forth a few times from her good friend to the person that was sitting at her left. With her mouth slightly agape, she tilted her head toward her girlfriend, catching Haruka's line of sight, and began to mouth silently, asking her if something was wrong with their friend. Her girlfriend shook her head from side to side and motioned toward the desk that Yukino had saved.
"Shizuru? Is everything all right?" Yukino asked with a trace of worry in her voice.
Snapping out of the unbidden emerald fog that previously clouded her mind, Shizuru quickly glanced at her friend and smiled. She then hurriedly forced herself to try to adapt to these new, and entirely unfamiliar though strangely pleasant, feelings that now seemed to have infused her body with an unrestrained craving. "Kannin na, Yukino. Where are we sitting?"