DISCLAIMER: Sadly, we don't own Mai HiME. Sunrise does. We do own Kuga Hyotaru, though!!!
The story's 'background' is revealed in this chapter: just some basic stuff. Don't expect us to update it that often, though… Will be, indeed, updated if the reviews are inspiring.
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"Could you just put her to sleep already? My ears are going to burst…" A blonde, tall man mumbled while lying down on a queen-sized bed, with his pillow covering his head, annoyance clearly visible. A baby's cry was heard, and he felt a cold, icy glare ripping through his being.
"Mou, Hyo-kun, that's a terrible thing to say! Can't you see she's just a little scared?" A woman said, her voice sounding so sweet that the man instantly forgot his annoyance. He placed the pillow to the side, and popped one eye open, glancing at the blonde child. She was, indeed, scared. But, of what?
"To answer your question, she's scared of the dark." The woman read the blonde's mind. He groaned.
"Is there anything I can do…? Or do I have to spend a night in blank right before returning to active duty?" He whined like a child, with a small smile on his face. The woman gently rocked the baby's crib from side to side, in an attempt to put her to sleep. She then placed a finger in her lips from her free hand, glaring at the guy once again,
"Shush, Hyo-kun! If you do want to sleep, stop complaining!" She begged, as the blonde little girl started to get sleepy, since she stopped crying.
"Alright, alright…" He got up slowly, and dragged himself next to his wife. He merely watched as his little angel fell asleep, finally, and kissed his wife's cheek. "Thank you." She smiled, tucking a strand of midnight blue hair behind her ear.
"You're welcome, dear. Now, we shouldn't talk too much, or she'll wake again…" He nodded, and both made their way to the bed, where they shared a good-night kiss and fell asleep rather quickly as well… Although, it didn't last much, as they woke up to the sound of glass breaking.
"Did you hear that?" He asked, almost instantly getting up. The woman sighed, getting up as well, and opening a drawer with a gun inside.
"Go get Naki-chan. I'll protect Alyssa-chan. Hurry." The man rushed to the bedroom's door, but stopped, and returned to his wife, placing a light kiss on her lips.
"It must be nothing, but, whatever happens, I love you, Saeko." The woman, now introduced as Saeko, nodded.
"I love you too." This was his cue to leave, and he rushed to his older daughter's room. He heard some footsteps in the mansion's stairs, but his mind was too busy finding a way through the dark corridors. When he reached her room, however, she was nowhere to be found.
"What the…?" Suddenly, he heard a sound that seemed like a gunshot, from his own room. "Dammit…" He cursed, and he back-tracked, only to find the door wide opened, little Alyssa sleeping, and the room empty. Some blood droplets were on the ground, and headed out of the room, and downstairs. He practically ignored the gun lying down on the floor, and slowly climbed down the stairs, completely unarmed. He spotted his wife being carried by a man completely dressed in black, with a mask as well, pointing a gun at her head. Hyotaru grabbed whatever was near him, which was, luckily enough, a knife. He stealthily sneaked behind the man, and was aiming for his throat…
"Eh, I wouldn't do that…" An unfamiliar accent made itself heard, presumably from the man. He slightly turned his head to Hyotaru, revealing his scarlet eyes, "I have no problem in shooting her. And we both know you don't want it to happen, right?" The proof was on Saeko's hand: it was bleeding heavily, from the previous gunshot. Probably to get the gun out of her hands. Hyotaru didn't pull the knife away, however.
"What're ya gonna do to her?!" He demanded.
"That's… for me to know. Leave us alone, and she might come back unscathed… Well, as unscathed as she is at the moment. Now, if you excuse us…" The man retreated, and Saeko threw Hyotaru a comforting glace, which worked after he saw a fast shadow running past them and outside the house. The intruder didn't notice it, however, with the feeling his goal was close to be accomplished. "Let's go." He pushed Saeko forward, and outside the house. He placed her in the front seat of his car, while he took the driving seat. "Directions." He demanded, while starting the car.
"Why do you want p-"
"Now." He placed one hand on the steering wheel, and the other was pointing a gun at the woman's head. Hyotaru merely watched from the front of his house as the car disappeared in the distance. He then raced inside again, quickly climbing up the stairs to his room, and took his cellphone out of his uniform jacket, hastily punching in some numbers. He was unusually fast picked up.
"General Kuga speaking. I have a request."
"G-General Kuga?! At this time of the n-"
"Shut up and listen. I need you to track down a car. The license plate is…"
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"Get out." The mysterious man ordered as they reached a warehouse in the middle of nowhere. She had no choice: she got out of the car, with her hands up. He then motioned her to go to the warehouse, which she did, he following her. After a while, when no steps were heard nearby, the car's trunk opened, and a girl came out of it. She was ridiculously similar to Saeko, as if a tween version of her. She sneaked to the warehouse, in order to see what that man wanted from her.
"Here it is: Project DURAN." Saeko introduced the man to an awfully large container.
"Weird name for an anti-matter bomb." He vaguely commented. She shrugged, trying to break her own tension.
"It was the name of our dog." He scowled at the irrelevant information.
"Geez, I just commented, didn't ask for your life story…" She rolled her eyes, and the man reached up for his pants' pocket, taking out a cellphone. He made a quick phone call.
"Yes. Yes, it's me… It's done, it's where we thought it would be…. I see…. Mmhmm… Consider it done." He placed the phone in his pocket once the call ended. He then noticed something: Saeko was not there anymore. He felt a rapid air movement, turned around and saw a crowbar being swung right at his face. He grabbed it and pushed it to him, Saeko coming along with it. She then felt the cold gun on her head. "Nothing personal. Just following orders."
Natsuki couldn't move as she watched her mother fall limp on the ground, after taking a gunshot to the head.
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Natsuki shot up in her bed. 'That dream again…?' She placed her hand in her forehead, quickly noticing it was drenched. Glancing at the clock, she concluded there was little probability of falling asleep again at 5 AM. 'Might as well go downstairs…' She got up her bed, and looked around the dark room. Spotting the door, she dragged herself towards it, and downstairs. Reaching the kitchen, she started to make a sandwich.
"Tomatoes, salad, meat… Where's my mayo?!" She demanded as her eyes rushed through the fridge, not finding anything.
"That'd be my fault." A voice echoed behind her, which made her jump in fright. The girl turned to it.
"DAAAAD!" She whined. "Don't give me a heart attack!!!" The man scratched a small scar he had in his cheek, giving her a goofy grin.
"Eh, gomen, Naki-chan." He lightly apologized, while watching his daughter, mildly amused. She shrugged, and proceeded to make the sandwich, although without mayo. "What're ya doing up so early?" He casually asked, while serving her daughter a glass of fresh orange juice.
"Guess." Her mood wasn't so 'happy', of sorts, anymore. She half-heartedly took a bite out of the sandwich.
"The dream." The man sighed, he himself drinking a cup of orange juice.
"You never told me if you caught the man or not." Natsuki took another bite out of the sandwich, while starting another dreadful conversation.
"We didn't. The license plate was fake." He watched Natsuki looking down, sighing as she did. "There's a reason for me to not let you be a scientist like your mother. It's way too dangerous." She was still looking down "Y'know, you think about it too much. Just drop it, it was too many years ago."
"How the hell am I supposed to even drop it?!" Her eyes shot up, and she glared at his father, while taking a sip of her orange juice.
"Eh, Natsuki has PMS? Or, maybe needs to get laid?" His daughter choked on the juice, spitting half of it, with a massive blush on her face.
"DAAAAAD!" She whined once again.
"Could you two just SHUT UP?! It's 5 AM, for God's sake!" A voice made itself heard from upstairs.
"Gomen, Alyssa-chan!" His father shouted back to her. "Go get some sleep. Tomorrow'll be a long day." He got up, and gently patted Natsuki's back. "See ya in a few hours, kid."
"Don't call me that…" She rolled her eyes, and was left alone, staring to empty space. Soon enough though, her sleepiness started to catch up to her, and she made her way to her bedroom, sincerely hoping to not dream about her mother's death, which was about 10 years ago, again.
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Here ya go. Nothing of important written, and the story will only continue to be updated if it gets good reviews. One of our main goals is to make Hyotaru a goofy character. Hope we succeeded.
Don't forget to review!!!