Disclaimer: I do not own Mai Hime.
Thank you very much for kind reviews. They encouraged me greatly.
Here is more of the story, because tilhe wishes so and I simply can't refuse so great ShizNat artist. Mind please that it is my first second chapter ever.
Grass widow - a woman whose husband is temporarily away, say on business.
Ever After
Warning: Fluff
Chapter 2
Warning: Nao
"Morons," Natsuki stated into the air. She and Shizuru were spending the late evening in their living room. The younger woman was sitting comfortably on the couch reading the morning's paper to catch up with the news, while across the room Shizuru worked on her laptop.
"Don't they see that this proposed route just feeds into other high traffic areas?" Natsuki snorted.
"You should have more faith in government officials, Natsuki. They've probably hired reliable consultants," Shizuru answered, her eyes never leaving the screen.
"Consulted, my ass. What do people spending their lives behind desks know about road traffic? I use this shortcut all the time and it's damn crowded already."
"So that's why it bothers you so much." Shizuru laughed, then raised her head in sudden realization. "Ara, I almost forgot. It seems I have to go on a business trip next week."
Natsuki raised her head from the newspaper and glanced at her love. "Business trip? I thought you didn't like that kind of thing."
Shizuru sighed. "I have to take care of this particular case personally. It's too important." She titled her head and smiled at Natsuki. "But you could go with me."
Natsuki frowned. "Where?"
"Europe. We've never been to Europe," Shizuru lured.
"For how long?"
"About two weeks I believe."
Natsuki's frown deepened as she sank into thinking mode.
"I can't," she professed with a pout. Seeing Shizuru's questioning look, she started to explain vaguely. "The project I'm working on is in the final stage. My presence is indispensable now."
"Ara, I forgot you are the big boss now." Shizuru smiled and then made a pitiful face. "So my poor person will be all alone and unprotected in this faraway hostile land."
"No," Natsuki narrowed her eyes, "you won't make me feel guilty. You'll swallow any villains in your way in the blink of an eye. Besides, the trip is your idea, so I'm the victim here."
"I'll make it up to you." Shizuru stood up, lazily stretched and joined Natsuki on the couch.
"How about a set of sexy Italian lingerie as a souvenir?" she asked in a seductive voice, throwing her arms around the younger woman.
---
"Idiots. Can you believe that…" Natsuki trailed off. There was nobody to talk to, she realized.
She was spending late evening at her apartment, reading today's newspapers as she usually did. Shizuru had already been gone for a few days and with each day Natsuki felt more and more lost.
Never before had she realized that she needed Shizuru's very presence to function properly in the everyday boring routine of their stabilized life. Never before had she imagined that she could be so lovesick. They hadn't been separated for so long in the last three, no, four years, she remembered.
Days were no problem. Their respective schedules rarely let them see each other after breakfast until dinner.
Well, the first night wasn't bad either. From time to time one of them had to go away somewhere, leaving them separated for a night or two, so she had learned to survive a few lonely nights. Or so she had thought.
The morning after the second night she woke up clutching Shizuru's pillow.
The following morning she woke up on the floor beside the bed, clutching Shizuru's pillow.
On the fourth night she fidgeted in the bed endlessly, vainly trying to find a cozy position, falling into a restless sleep around dawn. She was late for work. The same thing happened the next night.
On the sixth sleepless night she decided she couldn't take it anymore. She hesitantly picked up the phone and dialed the number. For a long time nobody answered. When she was about to give up, the familiar voice spoke.
"Natsuki? Is something wrong?" Shizuru's soft voice was baffled and slightly alarmed. But to hear those well known melodic sounds was enough to calm Natsuki's restless mind and ease her stiff body.
"No. Everything's alright," she answered grumpily, suddenly feeling very sleepy.
There was a short pause before Shizuru spoke again. "What time is it there, Natsuki?"
Natsuki glanced at the alarm clock lying on the sheets. "About two a.m."
"What an unusual time to call." Shizuru's voice sounded amused. In the background there was the buzz of loud and cheerful conversations. What time was it in distant Europe? Early evening probably.
"I just… couldn't sleep. Wanted to hear your voice," Natsuki grumbled, just once letting herself show weakness.
"My afternoon call wasn't enough? How sweet. My cougar cub can't sleep without me. I'm flattered. Should I sing you a lullaby?"
"It's not funny Shizuru. Bye." Natsuki hung up, suddenly irritated by the teasing. Before she could make any move, the phone rang.
"I'm sorry, Natsuki. Don't be mad. I want to say that I miss you too. It's just that right now I can't talk for very long. I'm at dinner. A business one." Shizuru's voice was sincerely apologetic.
"I forgive you," Natsuki said in an offended tone, but feeling slightly guilty.
"I love you, too," Shizuru sang across the line, laughter in her voice. Natsuki felt a fond and familiar pang of irritation. Despite that, the corners of her lips twitched.
"Now be nice and go to sleep. I want you to be well-rested when I get back," Shizuru purred playfully.
Natsuki felt a sudden blush rising to her cheeks. "Yes, mom. And I love you." She laughed and disconnected.
The ritual of night calls repeated on the seventh and eighth night of their separation. But on the ninth Natsuki didn't call. She was too drunk.
---
Natsuki didn't plan to be drunk. She even didn't plan to be near any alcohol. But Midori, her annoying work companion, had different plans for her.
The blue-haired woman didn't suspect anything when the most honored scientist in the Searrs Foundation accosted her during the lunch she was consuming in the comforting loneliness of her lab. (Even fearless Alyssa, who had been following Natsuki like a shadow lately, had retreated, sensing the dark cloud whirling around her sempai.)
"Hi, rebel!" Midori greeted in her carefree manner from the doors. The older woman really had the guts to go on speaking to Natsuki when it was obvious that the lone wolf was in a very bad mood and didn't want any company.
Natsuki tried to ignore Midori's presence, but failed miserably when the other ruffled her hair. The young woman jerked her head away with anger, but before she could act out her murderous thoughts, Midori said in an excited voice, "I need your help, girl."
"I'm busy." Natsuki tried to sound nonchalant.
"But not tonight."
"Also tonight."
"Oh," Midori was very amused, "what can make the grass widow busy at night, I wonder."
With her trademark glare Natsuki debated which way of torturing Midori would be the most effective, but the warrior of justice, again obviously unimpressed, didn't let her come to any conclusions.
"I've analyzed the results of your tests and have a few ideas to discuss with you," she said in an almost serious tone.
"Go ahead." Suddenly Natsuki became all ears.
"This isn't the right time or place. I need to be relaxed. Let's go out somewhere tonight."
Natsuki sighed at Midori's lame attempt to force her to join her. "Pass. Find someone else to drive you back home."
Midori smirked evilly. "Well, maybe Fujino-san will be more interested in listening to my brilliant suggestions."
"Don't you dare." Natsuki jumped up, her sight burning a hole into Midori's head.
"Wow, you really didn't tell her a thing." Midori faked surprise.
"I'm waiting for the right moment," Natsuki grumbled.
Midori smirked. "Chicken."
"I'm not. I don't want to screw it up," Natsuki stated with a trace of desperation in her voice.
"Ok. So let's make a deal. I'll let you peacefully wait for this 'right moment,' if you keep me company tonight."
Natsuki nodded slowly, angry at herself that she was tricked so easily. "Deal. Where to?"
"CKM. It should be enjoyable for you too."
"I thought you didn't like bikers." CKM was a club for motorcyclists, Natsuki's favorite.
"C'mon, they have the cheapest beer in the city." Midori grinned.
Natsuki thought Midori was really desperate for a drinking buddy if she was asking her to go along. She didn't mind joining her this time—it was a way to kill some time.
She never found out that this sudden rise of Midori's interest in her person was caused by a phone call from a certain worried chestnut-haired businesswoman to the boss of the science department of the Searrs Foundation.
---
A long row of pretty bikes was standing in the parking lot. Many of them were familiar to Natsuki since she and Shizuru were regular customers at CKM. Midori had to drag her inside, or otherwise she would have spent the whole night inspecting the new babies she had noticed.
It was packed inside, like every Friday night, so they slowly made their way through the crowd, looking for some free space.
"Hey, pretties, over here!" Suddenly a familiar voice caught their attention. Natsuki froze in her tracks, eyes widening in horror.
"Nao," she groaned almost inaudibly.
As the years had passed by, the ex-HiMEs had dispersed to live in all parts of the world, their chosen paths loosening the bonds they had had during the Carnival. Most of them had gone separate ways and were only kept track of by Searrs. But life was strange sometimes and had a tendency to cross the paths of those who would be happy never seeing each other for the rest of their lives: Kuga Natsuki and Yuuki Nao.
They attended the same school, moved to Tokyo about the same time, lived in the same area and visited the same places. Their accidental encounters became more regular when one of Natsuki's good biker acquaintances became Nao's long-term (for Nao's standards) boyfriend.
With Shizuru around and no alcohol involved their interactions were usually quite proper, almost friendly.
But Natsuki clearly remembered that their last meeting in CKM had ended in a catfight that had involved most of the customers and gotten them literally thrown out of the club. Only Shizuru's intervention had saved them from being forever banned from the premises.
Natsuki wasn't in the best of moods, so upon seeing a drunken smirk plastered on Nao's face, she turned on her heels.
"I'm leaving," she said to Midori in a tone that brooked no resistance.
"Are you telling me that you are afraid of little Nao here?" With an unpleasant grin Midori put her arm around the younger woman's shoulders.
Natsuki's eyes sparkled with anger. "No."
"So come on and be nice." Midori dragged her to the table, happily whispering toherself, "And now my green-eyed squad is almost complete."
The moment they sat down, a Spanish-looking, green-eyed man sitting quietly beside Nao, got up.
"Your orders, ladies?" he asked, trying to be a gentleman.
"Beer," Midori sighed happily.
Before Natsuki could say anything, Nao interrupted. "Milk for this weakling."
"Vodka," Natsuki barked immediately.
Midori whistled, obviously amused, but the young man looked at Natsuki with a worried expression.
Nao laughed. "Kuga wants to show off. I accept your challenge." She turned to the man. "Javier, darling, double the order."
Concern on the man's face deepened. "I don't think you should drink any more…" he tried to resist.
"Problems with your pet?" Natsuki smirked.
"You heard me, darling." Dangerous tones could be heard in Nao's voice. Defeated, Javier waved for the waiter.
The drinks were delivered and the silent contest of mad drinking began. Being both lightweights, it was a short-lived contest, but around the third shot Nao decided to speak.
"By the way, where is your master? Did you run away from her?" She smiled innocently at her old friend.
"Behave, Nao. Shizuru is away and we're trying our best to cheer up the lonely Natsuki." Emptying another beer with one gulp, Midori wagged her finger jokingly.
"Ha! So she finally got bored of you. That psycho should have dumped you much sooner." The redhead snickered.
Natsuki slammed her glass down. "Shut up! She is not psycho!"
"Hey, she tried to kill me!" Nao's face twitched.
"And you tried to kill me!" the cobalt-haired woman shouted with anger.
"Help!" Midori mouthed to Javier, who watched this exchange of opinions with a terrified face.
The man grabbed Natsuki's shoulder, preventing her from any further actions. "Hey, Kuga, I tuned my chopper, you have to see it!" he said much too loudly, trying to catch the young woman's attention.
"What?!" Distracted, Natsuki violently turned her head towards him.
"C'mon," he forced her to stand up and dragged her from the seat, "you will love it!"
"Wait!" Nao jumped up, ready to stop them, but a bear-hug from Midori kept her in place.
"Let's drink, Nao-chan." Midori almost poured the beer into Nao's mouth.
Before Natsuki could react, she found herself outside the building.
The fresh air cleared her head and calmed her. After a few deep breaths, the mad spinning of the world was replaced by only a slight swaying.
"Thanks." She elbowed Javier. "You saved me from big trouble."
"After your last show I prepared myself." The young man shrugged. "You two and liquor make an explosive mixture. But you both just don't get it."
"Sorry." Natsuki scratched her head with perplexity.
"And what was this killing talk about?" He watched her attentively.
Natsuki began to feel uneasy. "Uh, when we drink together, we always want to kill each other, so nothing to worry about." She smiled sheepishly. "But you wanted to show me your tuned chopper." She tried to change the topic.
"To tell the truth, my chopper hasn't changed since last time you saw it," the young man's cheeks suddenly became flushed, "but I'd like to ask you for a favor."
Natsuki raised her brows. "Sure, pal, whatever you want."
"Actually, I need your help." He looked down, embarrassed. "I need your advice on what kind of engagement ring I should buy for Nao."
"What?!" Suddenly Natsuki felt absolutely sober.
"You are her friend and the only girl I dare to ask."
Natsuki looked at Javier with disbelief. The guy appeared very desperate.
"I know nothing about jewelry. Never bought any. And where did you get the impression that me and Nao are friends?" She chose her words carefully.
"You know her the best. You know what she likes. I'm sure you know what kind of ring will be suitable for her." You are my last hope, his expression said.
Natsuki sighed. This seemed like a lost cause.
"Just get her something expensive-looking," she said with resignation.
"I was right, you do know her well. So, will you help me choose the best ring? Come on, you owe me one." Javier was excited.
"Ok, I can try," Natsuki surrendered.
"So it's settled, we'll go tomorrow morning." The man smiled triumphantly.
"Where will we go?!" Natsuki looked at him suspiciously.
"Shopping. I'll pick you up from your place."
Natsuki felt her head throbbing. She made one last ditch effort to avoid the looming task. "Fine, but I'm driving your bike."
"No way. Only I drive my bike."
"So I'll stay home."
"Ok, you'll drive."
Natsuki felt the sudden urge for a big shot.
---
It was strange to sit on the bitch seat and entrust one's life to some mad rider who passed cars at crazy speeds. Natsuki's respect for Shizuru was rapidly rising this morning. The woman had been her passenger for years and had never complained about her driving habits. Natsuki knew that Javier was a careful driver, but every sharp turn made her feel uneasy. She liked to be in control. But having woken up with a fatal hangover she passed up on driving.
They had already visited a few jewelry stores, but none of them had offered anything that both she and Javier liked—plus they'd been mistaken for a couple in every one of them. None of this helped improve Natsuki's mood. Just when her patience was about to wear off, they reached the biggest and last store on their route.
Half an hour ago Natsuki had left Javier at the counter with a bunch of rings she suggested would be fitting. Feeling bored and waiting for the man to make a decision, she scanned the endless shelves of rings. Suddenly one caught her eye. It was a simple one, just a thin ring of white gold with a small diamond stone. Natsuki briefly thought that this one would fit Shizuru perfectly.
At that moment Javier called her over to show her his final choice. "What do you think?"
"Perfect." Natsuki sighed with relief and patted the man's shoulder. "Now let's go."
They went out into the bright street, the happy man and woman each lost in their own thoughts. The sun blinded Natsuki and she didn't notice in time a small kid running into her. She caught the boy out of reflex before he hit the ground. Realizing that he had been saved from the fall, the child laughed brightly. His mother approached with an apologetic smile and with thanks took her laughing son from Natsuki's arms. For the moment Natsuki watched them leaving, and then turned to Javier, who had walked away to the chopper without noticing her distraction. She made a decision.
"Javi, wait for me a minute," she called out to him, then turned back into the darkness of the store.
When Natsuki left the store with a small box safely hidden deep in her pocket, she noticed that Javier had company. He was surrounded by four unknown bikers, rather loudly admiring his bike and generally looking like trouble. Natsuki tried to ignore them, which was a challenge because they started to whistle at her as she approached.
"Hot chick," one of them complimented. "You have taste, man."
Natsuki gritted her teeth and pretended that she was deaf. But Javier decided to not let it go.
"Hey, more respect, moron," he blurted.
The warned man smirked and clapped Natsuki's butt as she passed by. Natsuki felt all her blood rushing to her head. She spun around and her fist hit the man's jaw.
--
Javier hissed.
"Stay still," Natsuki ordered impatiently, trying to dress his wounds with bandages from a first aid kit.
"But it hurts," he complained.
"Nobody asked you to interfere. I could manage myself." Before he could respond, Natsuki jabbed at a cut with antiseptic, cutting off any comments.
It had been years since she had been in a real street fight. But adrenaline had kicked in fast and she had attacked the taken-aback men with fury. Things had gone smoothly until Javier had decided to play the gentleman and joined in. From that moment, the bikers had concentrated their anger on him. Before the result of the fight was settled, some approaching policemen scared everybody away. Natsuki had debated if she should stay and talk to the cops, but she had decided that the whole trouble was not worth her time, so they had also departed.
She had gotten out of the skirmish almost unscratched, earning only a swollen hand, which had connected with somebody's teeth with too much force. Javier hadn't been so lucky. With a cut on one eyebrow ridge, a black eye and countless bruises, he looked rather miserable. Natsuki thought with amusement that he would have to wait a little to propose to Nao if he didn't want to scare her away.
The shopping trip had turned out to be quite entertaining, she concluded.
A/N Many thanks goes to Greywing for having endless patience with my Engrish. As you can see she is awesome :)
Notes to the first chapter:
Draft manager – I have no idea what it means :D. Searrs tend to give weird names to everything just to make impression of secret and mystery (Golden Millenium anyone?). But basically Natsuki got permission to execute one of her projects and was put in charge of it.
Reito – Kanzaki or Minagi? Although for the most of series he is known as Kanzaki, we learn at the end that his real name is Minagi and he is Mikoto's brother. Maybe I am over-interpreting things, but I see Minagi clan as a third party (next to FD and Searrs) involved in the HiME fiasco. They're most effective – they possessed the strongest HiME and OL himself. They would have won if not Mashiro. So I believe they're still powerful after the Carnival.