PunishmentDay: I
After class hours, Shizuru was left inside the Student Council room after their meeting, reading the new entries of stories. She mentally cursed Haruka for not giving a limitation of stories to be passed to them, hence the growing pile continues to grow. While Reito already bid his leave, stating that he has to check on his sister's training, Shizuru was again reading the new stories.
["Please kaichou, I am truly in love with you." But Shizuru shook her head and showed him a smile. "I can't. For I am in love with Kenji. He captured my heart just by his smile."] –Kenji 'KK' Kageyama
Shizuru cringed and placed the paper back inside the envelope. Another rejected entry. She placed the paper at the pile of rejected pile and she looked beside the said pile that should be the one containing the approved ones which is currently empty. It was the 8th time she read a story for the last hour on how she was in love with a guy. She had to stifle her laughter at the thought of people not knowing she was gay. She took another entry and began to read it.
[Shizuru sat on the desk of Reito and smiled at him seductively. She reached out to grab on the raven-haired man's collar and pulled him close to her. "You are such a naughty guy, Reito."] -Crystal Justice.
Shizuru practically shivered when she read another ShizRei fanfiction. It was the fifteenth time for the day that an entry was about her and Reito. "People does fnd me and Reito as a couple. He is handsome yes, but it is like sleeping with my brother." she giggled. "If I have a brother that is." Taking no interest in reading the story further, she placed it back in the envelope and placed it on the 'rejected' bin. Picking up another envelope among the pile, she then heard some soft knocks on the door.
"Hello? Anyone?" the husky voice of Natsuki interrupted Shizuru's work. Shizuru's heart leapt for a second before recomposing herself and letting the blunette in.
Natsuki walked inside the room, dressed in her school uniform, red headphones hanging around her neck and wearing her signature left arm warmers, with a bored look on her face. When she looked around and found only Shizuru alone in the room, her brows furrowed and she stood a few feet away from the brunette. "Sorry for being late, one of my teammates was yelling at me for not attending practice when she caught me going here." She looked at Shizuru who has towering brown envelopes on her side. "Working overtime?" she asks, wondering why the Student council president was still in the council room after school hours.
Shizuru merely pointed the stacks of brown envelope on her table. "Reading these entries. Haruka forgot to add a limitation on the entries and thus we are getting a minimum of two per breaktime." she sighed and massaged her temple. "Are you going to clean up now?"
"Yes. I'll make sure not to bother you." Natsuki said, putting her headphones and plugging it to her black Ipod touch. She picked up the broom by the corner of the room and started bopping her head while cleaning.
Shizuru was a bit disappointed at how Natsuki interacted with her. If it was the other students, other than Natsuki and her circle of friends that is, they were eager to chat with her. But as usual, Natsuki was different. She never took a second glance at her or even ogles at her. Natsuki was someone who piqued her interest and such interest is slowly crawling into a deep affection. A sigh escaped her lips and she picked up one of the envelopes while she can hear the music that Natsuki is listening to while cleaning. The woman didn't notice her headphone volume was high enough for someone else to hear.
In the first line of the paper, the words 'Read Me' were printed at the middle and followed by the story.
Read Me
[Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a princess who was taken by a fierce giant wolf. This princess is known to be the most beautiful of all the women in the kingdom and the dire situation had called upon brave souls to rescue her from the beast. One after another, princes of different neighboring kingdoms tried but failed to rescue the said princess. The wolf howled in victory as each attempt to take the beautiful princess failed.
The wolf with emerald eyes gleaming brightly, watches the princess inside the library it graciously presented to her, reading a book while drinking tea. "Are you enjoying what you are reading?" the wolf asked in a gruff tone. Unbeknown to everyone among the surrounding lands, the wolf could speak if it wishes to but it chose to act as a beast as the people had stomped to its forest, carrying an unsheathed sword in hand.
The princess, eyes that resembles the color of blood, looked at the wolf with a soft smile. "Yes I do. Your books are new to me, none from what my father's kingdom have." She looked down on a book that showed a picture of a female knight and a dragon, engaged in a battle , and a tower with a silhouette of a person by the window. "But dear wolf, when will you release me? Brave men have come but all cannot even give you much challenge." She asked.
The wolf moved towards the rug that is a feet away from the chair that the princess sat on and laid down on it. A lazy grin etched up on its muzzle as it raised its head up a bit to face the princess. "They are not worthy if they cannot even wound me, princess. If those men cannot do such a small, non-trivial task, then they do not deserve you at all."
The princess placed the book down by the side table and slowly sat beside the huge wolf. She let her hand glide at the furry back of the wolf, brushing the silk strands of its fur. "But they are all princes that came from wealthy family. It is given that they are no match for you but would it not be fair to give them a small advantage?"
But the wolf snorted. "If they cannot even scratch me then they cannot be with you." The wolf closed its eyes and let out a low snort. "Remember princess, wealth is not power nor power is equivalent to wealth. You are here because I saw how you are surrounded by suitors that seek only for beauty or fame. You deserve better. Someone who can see past your infuriating teases and pathetic façade." The wolf's ears twitch a bit when the princess scratched it.
"Then who do you think deserve me dear wolf? Who is the prince that deserves my affection and can see what you are seeing?" The princess asked.
The wolf merely grunted. "Who knows?"
The red-eyed princess leaned down to the warm body of the wolf and snuggled close to its furred body. She felt herself being under the spell of drowsiness and the warm fur added the comfortable feeling into it. With sleep clouding her mind, she nuzzled closer to the neck of the wolf. "I wish that whoever would come, will be as gentle yet strong as you. That whoever will be destined for me, will see what you can see." She mumbled as she slowly drifted to sleep.
The wolf looked back to the sleeping figure of the princess and sighed heavily. "Only time will tell princess." The wolf looked back to the side table where the book about a knight and a dragon was placed. "But who knows princess. Humans cannot comprehend what their beliefs do not understand."
By the side of the fire-lit room, a clock grimly chimed. The clock indicated the hour of a new day; the fire-lit room illuminated the shadows of the beings inside. As the light slowly dimmed down, the shadow of the once was a beast and a woman now illuminated the shadow of a tall figure with long hair, carrying another person in its arms.
Before the fire completely died down, a woman with forest-green colored eyes walked out of the room with the princess snuggled within her arms.
"Sometimes, a princess does not need a prince. Sometimes, the princess needs the beast to protect her and give her the love she needs."]
– Zertet K.
Shizuru tilted her head and look at the piece of paper. It ended there. Nothing following it or even printed at the back that says on what happens after it. She looked inside the envelope if there was a leftover paper but there was nothing. "Strange…"
"Excuse me?" Natsuki's voice interrupted Shizuru.
Red eyes look up to curious emeralds that were looking back at her. She noticed that Natsuki was no longer holding a broom and has both of her hands inside her jacket pockets, headphones hanging on her neck and music still playing. "Ara?"
"You were talking. Since we are the only ones here, I thought you were talking to me." Natsuki told her.
"Oh. I was just surprised that this story-" Shizuru pointed the paper in her hand. "Somehow ended in a strange manner. It's not complete? I think." She said, wondering if the story indeed ended there or
Natsuki nodded her head. "Oh-kay? I don't really care about writing a story for that fund thing." she stated in a bored manner.
Shizuru flashed a small smile at Natsuki and questioned if her club submitted an entry.
But Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Who knows? Fund-wise, we are good. But that Suzushiro used live bait so maybe? We have players who are like zombies to you and that Kanzaki." She informed the brunette. She took out her phone and checked for any messages and popoaused a bit to read the message left for her. "Nao..." she whispered and sighed heavily. "Since I'm done Fujino-san, can I go now?" She pointed at the door.
A disappointed smile replaced Shizuru's emotion for a quick millisecond but went back into a facade smile. "Mmmh. Sure, please do be careful." Shizuru told Natsuki and sighed a bit. Reading the stories was taking a lot from her mental health, pushing herself into a mental stress, add up the fact Natsuki was there.
"Aren't you leaving? It's already late y'know." Natsuki asked, eyeing Shizuru curiously.
Shizuru shook her head and showed Natsuki another smile. "I am fine Kuga-han. You can now go." She then had an idea to see Natsuki's cute blush. "Unless Kuga-han plans on doing something to me since we are all alone." She told her, winking at the blunette which caused her to blush and frown at her.
Turning around to hide her blush, Natsuki strides towards the door. "Gah! Whatever! Three more days!" she shouted, leaving Shizuru to her reading.
Shizuru watched the fleeting form of Shizuru and she finally wore down her mask. Since yesterday, she had been reading fifty stories. All have been analyzed but rejected. However, the work of the person named 'Zertet' piqued her curiosity.
Deciding to look into the data of Zertet, she opened up her laptop and searched for the name in the school database. After hitting enter and waiting for .5 seconds, the search engine did not return any result. "A-ara?" she was surprised.
The next day, lunch hour, Shizuru decided to have her lunch at a fan-free environment. Naming the garden at the back of the school. From the start of the day, her table was filled by envelopes containing entries from different clubmembers. Then there are those fans of hers that flock around her, asking her different questions or asking if she already picked a story.
Carrying her purple themed bento, Shizuru walked along the cobbled pathway to the garden at her peaceful pace. It took her a good ten minutes in reaching the secluded area and when she got there, she heard a few arguing voices from the said spot.
"Dammit Nao! Give it back!" Natsuki's voice echoed throughout the area.
"Ha! As if!" a teasing tone from another woman sounded from the said area.
There was a sound of grass being crunched and a few curses after the shouting. Shizuru decided to peak at the place she planned on having her lunch and when she did, she saw something that broke her heart. The red-haired teammate of Natsuki was lying on the grass while Natsuki sat atop of her stomach and from her view; their faces were so close to each other. There were a few whispers from the two women that Shizuru couldn't hear but their faces never pulled apart. Deciding to walk away, she unluckily stepped on a twig which the two women heard.
"Come out before I launch a ball at you!" Natsuki voiced out in a threatening tone.
Shizuru sucked up a lungful of oxygen and decided to face the blunette. With her usual smiling façade, she stepped away from her spot and was now visible to the two HiME Rangers soccer players. "If you must hurt me, may I have a final kiss from you?" Shizuru teased, earning her a blush from Natsuki and a snicker from the redhead. "Greetings Kuga-han." She greeted in her 'must-please-my-fans' tone of voice.
Natsuki was speechless at how she was greeted by a tease from the student council president. With her face blushing madly and the redhead starting to irritate her from all her snickers, she glared at Shizuru which miserably failed. The redhead snickered when she noticed the said action and mentally commends the brunette council member for not fearing the Kuga-death-glare. "Looks like somebody's immune to your glare mutt. Wow, just wow." She showed a cheshire grin at Natsuki and winked at Shizuru. "Nao, Nao Yuuki-Kuga. A pleasure to finally meet the famous Shizuru Fujino. Well, meet-meet that is. You don't know how much your popularity precedes you even in the locker room of the HiME Rangers." Nao said, introducing herself in a way that Shizuru was not ready to hear.
"NAO! She doesn't need to know about your last name!" Natsuki shouted, clamping her hand over the redhead's mouth. It was visible from Nao's brows that she was having fun in what she said since the said slender line of eyebrows was raised up in amusement.
The brunette heard how the woman named Nao said her name with such familiarity and Natsuki not denying anything. Being the mistress of façade, she once again faked her expression by a smile. "Ara? My, I never knew Kuga-han likes it fast. Fufufu. It's nice to meet you Yuuki-han." She teased, making the blunette blush. Seeing how the two are close and Nao practically looping in Natsuki's last name to hers, is too much for her emotions to handle. She raised her wrist and looked down on her gold-plated watch; she faked a surprised expression when she noticed the time. "Oh! I must be going now. Rei-kun had said he wanted to eat with me during lunch." She looked back to the two women with matching green eyes. "I must bid my leave no Yuuki-han, Kuga-han. Please don't forget the afterhours' agenda Kuga-han." She bowed her head a bit and left the two in a hurry, hiding her pained look from them. 'I never knew…'
"What? No, you-ah! Fujino-san! Ahh! Stupid Spider!" Natsuki's voice sounded throughout the garden but Shizuru did not take the chance to stop and listen to the blunette.
A/N: So third day! I think.. Really I have lost count since my head's been all about work. So how's the first entry so far? As I have said in the Mai Hime group in FB, "'remember your fairy tales". The fairy tale reference here is fairly easy, can you guess? :) So Next chapter will me on the 10th so tune in for that ok? :) Each chapter will contain one mini fic that my coffee-work-nosleep induced mind could think of. As I said to my girlfriend, I have a twisted mind XD soo til' then, give me your reviews, criticism, rants, whatever :P Me ish waitin!
