Disclaimer: Maria-sama ga Miteru belongs to Konno Oyuki, Nagasawa Satoru, Shuueisha, and Geneon Entertainment, and Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death belongs to Guacamole Pictures. They are being used for non-profit purposes, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Notes: This story will contain mentions of BL (yaoi/slash) and yuri (femmeslash).

Chapter 1

"A what shortage?" Yuuki couldn't believe his ears.

"A lily shortage," the officer repeated patiently, as though he often got this reaction. Come to think of it, he probably did.

"A lily shortage," Yuuki repeated dumbly.

"I can assure you, Fukuzawa-kun, that the situation is indeed dire. This is a national emergency."

"But-"

"I'm afraid I can't disclose the nature of our use of the plant, but I can tell you that it is crucial to the continued survival of this country."

"Y- yes, sir." Yuuki was still rather puzzled, and a bit incredulous, but he was willing to take his superior officer at his word. He had been trained to follow orders, not to question them or ask for explanations. It was one of the first lessons taught to cadets at the Hanadera Military Academy.

"I'll go on to the next point then."

"Yes, sir."

"Did you know that Japan has only one source of lilies, the so-called Lily Garden located in the mountains of the Chuugoku region?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very good, son. Now then, what do you know about the area?"

"Nothing really, sir. I'm sorry."

"That's all right. I'll explain to you now. There is a tribe of natives that inhabit the Lily Garden. They used to keep to themselves and allow lilies to be harvested from the outer regions, but in recent months they've become more hostile, and are no longer allowing outsiders into the area at all. We can't use direct military force on them unless no reasonable alternative exists, because there is legislation protecting tribes of their sort. All diplomatic missions to date have been unsuccessful.

"Everything else we know about them is hearsay, because the people who see them don't come out alive, with the exception of the adult women, and they... well..." He trailed off, tugging nervously at his collar, then straightened and looked Yuuki straight in the eyes. "I'll level with you, son-- they say the Lillian Tribe is a group of cannibalistic young women." He shuddered. "They hate men, and presumably only use them for procreation and..." He swallowed, looking ill, and continued, "sustenance."

At this point, Yuuki was half-expecting the other man to say, "Gotcha!" and burst out laughing. A hidden video camera would be revealed, and he'd be informed that it had all been an elaborate prank. Either that, or a test of some kind. Actually, that possibility was more likely. Seeing how the students reacted to unusual, even bizarre situations wasn't unheard of in the teaching curriculum. Well, this would be easy enough-- just go along with whatever the officer said, without showing too much shock, reacting as though nothing was out of the ordinary about the situation. Easy as pie.

"I see, sir," he said, keeping his face composed.

"You do?" The man looked rather surprised.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I'll just... go on then." Still looking as though he couldn't quite believe Yuuki's easy acceptance of the bombshell he'd just dropped, the officer continued his explanation. "Because of the nature of the rumors about the tribe, we sent in some of our top female operatives first, with instructions to observe the natives and possibly open up a dialogue." He paused then, his face a bit ashen, to take in a deep breath.

"They returned alive, but... damaged. Mentally. Most experienced an initial euphoria, followed by a deep depression. None were able to carry out their duties, or to tell us what they'd seen. And they all..." He paused again, swallowing what must have been rising bile, revulsion evident in his features. "They all developed a freakish fixation with teenage girls. Two were charged with sexual harassment, and one is currently in prison serving time for statutory rape." He shuddered.

"The last two tried to return to the Lily Garden, and didn't survive the attempt. We can only assume that the tribe refused to let them in a second time, and they perished either due to the elements, a lack of sustenance, or a sick sort of grief."

After a glance to be sure that Yuuki was still listening, he continued on. "After that, we sent a couple of our top male operatives in, to see if they could get the job done where the women failed."

Grief shadowed his eyes, briefly. "Bits of their remains were left outside the Lily Garden."

Yuuki bowed his head, giving an appropriate show of grief of his own.

After an appropriate period of respectful silence, the officer began to speak again. "Were the situation not as critical as it is, that would have been the end of it. We'd lost too many good people already, and the tribe's status as a native group protected them from recrimination-- the blame would have been put on us for interfering with their society.
But it was direly necessary that we resolve the situation, and so we took the only conceivable next step."

There was a funny feeling in the pit of Yuuki's stomach, a knot of dread that was slowly spiraling outwards, paralyzing him where he sat.

"We sent female students from this academy."

The words hung in the air between them, and then Yuuki knew, and he knew that the officer knew that he knew. They both sat in silence, neither able to look at the other for a few moments.

"My sister," he said finally, numbly, staring at the ugly gray of the table so that it blurred before his eyes and took on a new dimension. Yumi had left abruptly a few weeks ago, telling her family and friends that she was chosen to undertake special training. He'd known something was a bit off with her when she'd packed up her things and left that day, but he'd thought she was just nervous about the training. Now he realized they'd been lied to.

"She was one of the ones sent, yes. I'm sorry."

The officer waited, let Yuuki ask the inevitable question. He did, though the sudden tightness in his throat made it come out as more of a squeak. "What happened to them?"

"Their status is currently unknown; they have yet to return. Our hypothesis is that they have been taken in by the tribe."

Yuuki heard the unspoken, 'because no remains have been found.' He wondered if that was really their strongest hypothesis or if it was being told to him because it was the only optimistic one. He decided this wasn't a good time to think about that, though no time was, really.

"So you see, son, there's only one peaceful option left. It's a gamble, but we feel it has the potential to succeed where none of the others did. It's a bit of a Trojan Horse, see. A way to outsmart them."

"A Trojan Horse... sir?" Yuuki's mouth had suddenly gone dry, and a sort of terror was creeping over him. He had a very bad feeling about this.

The man must have been trying to look sympathetic, but he came off looking a bit constipated instead. "A young male operative. In..." He cleared his throat, looking away, and Yuuki saw a hint of hysterical mirth in his eyes. "Camouflage."

"Camouflage?" Yuuki squeaked. Oh, no. Oh god, no. It couldn't... it couldn't be.

"Yes." The officer studied the tabletop as though it were a fascinating new piece of equipment he was evaluating, carefully not looking at Yuuki. "He would be undercover... as a young woman."

Holy Buddha on a stick. Feeling lightheaded, Yuuki had to fight the urge to burst out in hysterical laughter. He was now quite sure that this wasn't any sort of joke or test. Nobody could be that sick, that demented.

Still trying to act as though nothing out of the ordinary was occurring, the officer opened his briefcase and carefully extracted a few papers.

"You've been chosen because of your exemplary record, and your personal connection with the situation."

Well, that at least made sense. If things went pear-shaped in there, Yumi might be able to help him out. If, he amended, tears pricking at the back of his eyes, she was still alive.

"If you choose to accept this mission, you'll be... prepared-"

Oh god. He didn't even want to think about that part.

"then we'll transport you to the area, where we'll liaise with a local guide who will conduct you to the Lily Garden, though you'll be on your own once you're there. Your mission is to ascertain the status of the lost operatives, learn what you can about their situation and about the tribe itself, and then get the hell out of there with your skin intact. You will not be responsible for convincing the operatives to return, conducting a diplomatic dialogue with the tribe, or anything of the sort. This is an surveillance mission only. Do you understand me, son?"

Yuuki couldn't manage to move his tongue anymore, so he just nodded. As always, the unspoken was as clear as though it had been said outright-- If it came down to it, he was to put his own safety above Yumi's, to leave her there to whatever fate was in store for her while he escaped. Though he understood the reasoning behind the order, it still didn't sit right with him, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to comply with it. Following orders was all well and good, but when push came to shove, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to choose his principles, his government, his country over his sister.

Though Yumi was technically the older one, it usually didn't feel that way, both because of the closeness in their ages (he'd been conceived right after Yumi's birth, and born prematurely) and their individual personalities and maturity levels. Yumi was klutzy, forgetful, and could be a bit of an airhead once in a while. Yuuki had become the dependable, reliable one by default, and had gotten used to watching over Yumi over the years. It would go against every instinct he had to abandon her.

The officer was staring at him now, looking as though he was very aware of what was going through Yuuki's head. "If you can't handle this mission," he said, catching Yuuki's eyes with his own and holding them there, "you need to tell me now, so that another can be sent in your place. We need our operative to be one hundred percent loyal, one hundred percent committed. You cannot hesitate. Do. You. Understand?"

The intensity of the words had charged the room with a tense atmosphere, making Yuuki feel even more on edge. But he already knew what his answer would be; He needed to go on this mission, needed to find out what had become of Yumi.

"Yes, sir," he replied immediately. Unhesitating, unwavering, with all the seriousness and sincerity he could inject into those two words. Would it be enough?

"All right," the man said, some of the tension leaving his shoulders, and Yuuki let out his held breath in a near-silent whoosh. Thank goodness.

"You'll be briefed with more in-depth information when you're transported to the Chuugoku region. For now, you will pack a bag and report back here at 1400 hours. All provisions, clothes, and toiletries will be provided to you, so you shouldn't need to bring much. We'll take care of providing a cover story to your parents, so you won't need to worry about that. In fact, it would be best if you didn't inform them at all of your impending departure."

Yuuki nodded. "Where should I report, sir?"

"There will be a vehicle waiting for you outside. We'll be keeping an eye out for you, so you won't need to worry about finding us."

"Yes, sir."

"That should be all you need to know for now. I'll see you again at 1400 hours."

The man put the papers back in the briefcase and stood.

"Yes, sir," Yuuki said belatedly, and saluted.

With a final nod, the man turned and left.

Yuuki sat there in a dumb state of shock for a few minutes, not really able to think about anything. Then he shook his head, snapping out of it, and took a look at his watch.

Shit. The digital display clearly read 12:56. He had less than four minutes to get to the bus stop if he wanted to be home and back again by two o'clock.

Shit, shit, shit. He took off running, hoping no teachers were around to see him tearing through the halls.

The bus was a couple minutes late, thank God, and he managed to make it on, though there were a few dicey moments before it appeared when he was sure he'd missed it.

As the temporary relief faded, he became conscious once more of the situation currently hanging over his head. Oh, he was in real deep shit this time.