Author: Glad to see so many people enjoyed the first chapter, as to one review asking if there will be any action, there will be, but in future near chapters. Thank you to those who reviewed, as to those who are a little confused about Shizuru and Natsuki being alien races, don't let it bother you to much as they're still the same characters. Nothing else to say but thanks to my beta-readers 'hounoNOtenshi' and 'Damn unique' for editing this chapter, Enjoy!

-02-

-Protection-

A small beeping sound echoed around the pitch black room as the small red light flashed green. Followed by a click, a door opened letting in the ray of light that slowly grew in size as the door opened up. The light revealed a tall cobalt haired woman with an unpleased look upon her face as she reached her hand over behind the wall, blindly searching for the light switch. The lights suddenly came on, blinding Natsuki temporarily before she took a step inside her apartment.

Stupid witness protection job.

Natsuki's enraged jaded eyes glanced at the chestnut haired girl over her shoulder. Shizuru was silently standing behind her with a small luggage bag in her hands and her scarlet drenched eyes narrowed at the floor, carefully avoiding her gaze.

Go easy on her Kuga. She's just lost her parents. The last thing she needs at this time of night is you to be angry at her.

Not wanting to further debate her own thoughts, Natsuki stepped aside, issuing the saddened chestnut girl to come in.

Shizuru stared up for a second, taking the hint as she walked inside, passing the blunette, her eyes never left the ground. Hearing the sound of the door closing behind her, she remained still as she heard Natsuki walking away. Unsure as to what to do, she stood her ground whilst waiting for the cobalt haired woman to speak.

"At least take your shoes off if you're just going to stand there." Caught off by the sudden harsh tone coming at her, Shizuru lowered her bag to the floor before crouching down to untie her shoelaces.

Talk about obedient. Although, I don't need to use such a harsh tone.

"Here." Natsuki's breath hitched, as she approached the honey brunette girl. She felt drawn into Shizuru's deep scarlet eyes, finding herself getting lost within Shizuru's gaze. Natsuki snapped out of the sudden trance and reached down for Shizuru's bag. "I'll take you to your room." Slinging the small luggage over her shoulder, Natsuki led the girl away towards the hallway.

Shizuru silently followed behind, keeping at least a meter distance between her and Natsuki. Shizuru's eyes slowly travelled down the blunette's body. Her eyes lingered longer at the long cobalt fluffy tail hanging down, slowly rocking in rhythm to Natsuki's footsteps. A small smile formed on her lips as Shizuru giggled quietly that didn't go unnoticed by the certain woman in front of her.

"What's so funny?" Cocking her head around, Natsuki eyed the girl with a fierce glare as Shizuru recomposed herself to her previous state. "Here it is." Opening the door, Natsuki walked inside before turning to Shizuru issuing for the girl to come in.

Shizuru timidly walked inside only to for her eyes to wander around the room anxiously. The walls were coloured in a light sea blue, bringing a calm and collected aura on her mind. Shizuru would've loved this room if it hadn't been for the pile of discarded clothing carelessly tossed around the room, as well as a few beer cans and pieces of trash. Some old cups of instant ramen were lying on the wooden floor, along with a pair of jeans and a few black and white shirts. To Shizuru, it was what she would call a bachelor's apartment. She was used to a clean environment and she immediately felt the urge to clean up the mess. But she had the feeling that the distant police-officer wouldn't like her to play housewife and so she tried to politely smile the dirt away.

"If you're that fussy, I'll get this cleaned up. You can have my room here." Natsuki could see the surprised look dwelling under Shizuru's mask, before taking a further gaze at her room.

It is kind of a pigsty isn't it?

"Ara, then where will Officer Kuga sleep?" Shizuru asked, staring at Natsuki with playful scarlet eyes. "Is she suggesting that I sleep with her, such hastiness." covering her hand over her cheek,Shizuru hid away her smile as one eye looked over at the blunette, watching her reaction.

"B-baka! Like I'll ever sleep with you!" Natsuki shouted in protest, feeling her tail flying up in aggression.

"Is Kuga-san saying that because she thinks I'm ugly? Does she really hate me that much?" Bringing her other hand up to her face, Shizuru began to sob fiercely, turning her back to Natsuki.

Oh crap, she's crying again! Quick, calm her down or something!

"T-that's not true, you're not ugly. You're beautiful, could you please stop crying?" Natsuki panicked into a frenzy, making a quick attempt to calm the chestnut haired girl.

"Fufu, Kuga-san is quite the charmer." Unveiling her hands revealed a devious smile that played along her lips as Shizuru eyed Natsuki, capturing her gaze once more in a trance.

Fuck, what is up with this girl? Wait, how come I couldn't detect her fake sobs from real ones? Damnit, my ears must be playing up.

Pouting angrily towards the girl, Natsuki left the room, finding a certain chestnut haired girl following her.

How did this happen?

-Previous day-

"Why the fuck am I taking care of her?" Slamming her fists onto the table before her, Natsuki glared with furious jaded eyes towards the slightly frightened Kaiji sitting in his chair.

"Settle down Kuga. I'm very sorry about the sudden request, but right now we're short on men with the recent crime outbreak on the west side of town. As it stands, you're the only one available." Despite his efforts of trying to calm the infuriated blunette, Kaiji found himself caught in a hell-raising glare from Natsuki that sent shivers down the very hairs of his body.

Available? What, am I the only cop left in this stupid city?

"Why me though? Can't you send those guys out there?" Natsuki asked, pointing out towards the window, specifically the various officers staring at her due to the commotion she was causing.

"They're already assigned to protect the streets on this side of town. Also, it was not my request that you were assigned to this task." Pulling out a handkerchief from his jacket, Kaiji wiped away the drops of sweat coming from his head as he sighed heavily.

"Who? Who was it then?" Slamming her fists once more onto the table, Natsuki glared at Kaiji with enraged jaded eyes as she waited for his answer.

So help me, I'll wring their guts out through their neck...

"It was the victim's daughter herself." Seeing Natsuki ease up a bit, Kaiji took the opportunity to breathe easy without worrying about Natsuki going into a sudden outrage once again. "She specifically asked that you look after her. She said you 'influenced' her."

Natsuki was about to protest when the sudden image from earlier of a certain honey brunette girl capturing her in a ki— came across her mind, bringing a small blush to her cheeks.

I'm not even going to go there!

Gritting her teeth hard, Natsuki withdrew her hands to her sides as she turned away. "Fine! But this better not take too long."

"It will only be for a couple of days. If you're still unhappy then, I can assign the task to someone else by then hopefully." Kaiji could see a bit of happiness from the corner of Natsuki's jaded eye at hearing him mention the last part. "We'll leave her here for the night. Tomorrow afternoon you can come and pick her up."

Natsuki reached out towards the door before stopping. "Whatever," Natsuki muttered and with that she walked out from the office, slamming the door behind her.

-0-0-

"The bathroom is at the end of the hallway to your right." Leading Shizuru out of her room, Natsuki toured the young girl around the apartment, although there wasn't much to show. "The living room is there as you've already seen, the kitchen is over here and the laundry is back down the hallway there"

Shizuru just remained silent as she nodded her head to Natsuki pointing out the necessaries. A small growl came from her stomach, breaking her silence. This effectively brought a small blush on her cheeks.

"Guess you're hungry, I'll fix something up for you." Walking over towards the kitchen, Natsuki opened the fridge door before searching around.

Shizuru watched anxiously, not for the food but rather the strange behaviour of Natsuki. She watched as the blunette's ears and tail fell down as though they were disappointed. A small smile crept along Shizuru's lips at the sight of Natsuki moving towards the cupboards next with her ears perking up in excitement, only to lower once more.

"Is everything alright, Kuga-san?" Shizuru addressed politely.

Natsuki slowly turned her head around as rivers of tears were streaming down her face. "N-no Mayo," Natsuki bawled in sadness as she sat there on the ground like a lost puppy.

"Um...?" Shizuru stood there, feeling a little lost and confused about the situation before flinching slightly by the blunette's sudden change of mood.

"Looks like I need help." Flipping her phone out, Natsuki was quick on her feet as she dialed a few numbers before waiting for a reply. "Hey, it's me. I was wondering if you could pick up some supplies for me."

Shizuru watched the conversation play out, particularly the different facial expressions constantly changing on Natsuki's face. Finally, the call had ended before she saw the blunette's deep jaded eyes staring down at her.

Why is she staring at me like that?

"What?" The sudden comment brought Shizuru back to reality in which Natsuki carefully traced the young chestnut girl's body up and down. Natsuki noticed that Shizuru was still wearing the school uniform she was wearing yesterday, indicating that the crimson-eyed girl didn't get the chance to change clothes or have a shower. "Why don't you take a shower while I'll get my room cleaned up?"

"Thanks, Kuga-san." Shizuru bowed her head before trailing off down the hallway.

Sighing heavily, Natsuki eased up a bit as she followed Shizuru, stopping by a nearby cupboard for a towel. Standing outside her room, Natsuki waited as Shizuru came out with a change of clothes in her hands.

"Here." Natsuki said as she handed the towel. She watched as the young girl smiled warmly to her before stepping into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

What is up with her personality? It keeps on changing, must be a Kiyo-clan thing

Her thoughts were distracted by the pigsty situation her room was in. Much to her displeasure of changing the appearance of her room, she set about to cleaning the mess. Fifteen minutes had passed as Natsuki finished cleaning her room. Well rather, she just chucked all garbage into the bin and hid any dirty clothes in her closet. "I'll finish you later," Natsuki said, referring to the pile of dirty clothes. The blunette turned her gaze to the bathroom just noticing now that she couldn't hear anything.

Hm, is she out of the shower yet or...?

Tiptoeing across the floor, Natsuki carefully approached the bathroom. Reaching her hand out towards the doorknob, she slowly began to turn it. Keeping her movements slow and stealthy, Natsuki slowly opened the door, peeking one jaded eye through the crack. Much to her relief, she saw Shizuru standing by at the clouded mirror from the steam of the shower. Natsuki's gaze trailed down the towel wrapped around Shizuru's body as well as the large patch of lavender coloured scales spread across her back.

Wait a minute, scales?

Staring in closer, Natsuki's eyes had a hard time in confirming if they were indeed scales or just her imagination. Unfortunately, her little action didn't go unnoticed by the young girl.

"Ara, I never took Kuga-san to be the peeping tom type," Called out an alluring voice. The chestnut haired girl stared at Natsuki through the small clear patch on the mirror's reflection.

Shit! Quick Kuga, think!

Natsuki was totally caught off guard. She panicked for a moment before opening the door further. "G-gomen nasai, I was checking to make sure you were okay." Natsuki continuously bowed her head to the Kiyo-clan girl for forgiveness.

"Its okay, did Natsuki see something she liked?" Taking a quick moment to play with the blunette, Shizuru smiled in mischief. She watched in delight as the blush slowly crept on Natsuki's cheeks.

"Baka!" Slamming the door as she moved away, Natsuki stormed off, ignoring the bright red glow on her face.

You try to apologize, and she makes fun of you.

Her storming led her towards the living room as she sat herself down on the couch, letting out a sigh of relief.

It's not even been a day and already she's exhausted me.

An image flashed across her mind of the patch of lavender coloured scales on Shizuru's back. Pondering at this, Natsuki recalled Kaiji mentioning the girl was part human, part reptile.

Part snake to be precise. Would that mean those scales were snake skin or something? Why am I even thinking about stuff like this?

"Is Kuga-san alright?"

"I'm fine." Fixing her head back where it should be, Natsuki looked over at Shizuru to find the girl wearing a short-sleeved black shirt that was covered with a white unbuttoned vest and a pair of dark navy blue jeans. Taking a moment to compare, Natsuki found herself still dressed in her biker suit from yesterday, well a different pair.

Damn, she has more fashion sense than me.

The knock at the door brought both pairs of eyes cautiously towards the door. Natsuki turned to Shizuru while she issued the girl to move away as she slowly approached the door. Pressing her back against the wall, Natsuki's ear rested against it as she tuned into the sounds coming from the other side. A loud growl echoed through Natsuki's head as Natsuki's left eye twitched.

"You just had to bring the pet, didn't you?" Opening the door, Natsuki was met with a familiar busty saffron haired woman accompanied by the cat like girl Mikoto, happily purring at her side.

"Mikoto insisted on coming at the mention of food." Mai laughed sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. Picking up the grocery bags, Mai followed Natsuki inside with Mikoto not too far away, clinging onto her back.

Mikoto's nose twitched slightly as she turned her gaze towards the couch. Jumping off Mai's back, the girl let out a loud hiss as her long black haired tail shot up. "Who's there?"

"Um..." Slowly ascending from behind the couch, Shizuru nervously lifted her hands up as she stared down towards the young jet-black haired girl.

"Relax Mikoto, she's a... friend." Natsuki paused shortly, feeling a slight disturbance in her stomach at saying the last word. "It's okay; she's my friend, although the cat may cough up hairballs at you." Natsuki commented. Grabbing Shizuru's gaze, Natsuki pointed out the two women before issuing for Shizuru to come out from behind the couch.

"It's nice to meet you both, I'm Fujino Shizuru." Quickly changing her personality, Shizuru bowed her head respectfully towards Mai and Mikoto, earning a questionable look from Natsuki.

What the heck? One second she's scared, the next she's all lady-like. This girl is nuts.

"Huh, I didn't know Natsuki had a friend. I'm Tokiha Mai, and this is Mikoto." Meeting Shizuru's eyes with a pair of warm amethyst ones, Mai brought the girl's gaze upon the young jet blacked haired girl, standing protectively at her side.

"Oh wow, I've never seen a real Neko Neko before." Shizuru smiled in joy as she rushed over to Mikoto with an overly excited look upon her face. Shizuru watched as the young girl hesitated at her before she began scratching Mikoto behind the ear. Shizuru squealed in joy at the sight of Mikoto happily rubbing her head in time with Shizuru's hand, which Shizuru found adorable.

"'She's certainly an... interesting character, that girl." Approaching Natsuki from her side, Mai brought the gaze of a pair of jaded-colored eyes glaring at her fiercely.

"She's under my protection. Her parents were killed recently." Natsuki whispered to Mai, earning a shocked and saddened look from Mai. Both eyes turned to the cheerful Shizuru petting the playful Mikoto. "She hides it well but I can tell she's crying on the inside."

"That's impressive Natsuki." Complimenting the blunette, Mai found Natsuki staring at her with questionable jaded eyes. "You already know Fujino-san so well and you just met her, how cute."

"Baka! I do not!" Giving Mai a death glare, Natsuki turned her back towards the saffron haired girl as she headed for the kitchen. "I only just met her yesterday."

"How old is she?" Mai trailed after Natsuki with eager amethyst eyes.

"Eighteen, I think." Natsuki replied, a little puzzled as to why Mai asked her that in the first place.

"Huh, you're twenty-one, so that's a three year difference. Not too bad," Mai pondered as she tapped her cheek before nodding happily to collusion.

"Three year what? What are you doing Mai?" Unsure as to what Mai was going on about, Natsuki could only fear the worst.

"Don't worry." Laughing sheepishly, hoping to throw off the blunette's suspicions, Mai found Natsuki's glaring as a 'no' sign to her attempt. "Well, shall I get to work on dinner?" The small grumble coming from Natsuki's stomach brought a smile to Mai's lips as she proceeded to cook.

Half an hour later or an eternity to Mikoto, dinner was ready. Smiling proudly of her work, Mai reached for the ladle before banging it repeatedly on a nearby saucepan. "Dinner's ready."

"Yay, Mai's food!" Mikoto leaped happily off the couch as she charged to the table before happily taking a seat.

"Settle down Mikoto, the food's not going-"

That scent...

Natsuki's eyes widened as her ears flickered ever so slightly to the sound of footsteps coming from the rooftop high above her. "Mai, watch over Shizuru." Pushing herself from her seat, Natsuki was quick on her feet as she rushed to the door grabbing her pistol as she ran.

I'm not going to let this happen...

Her legs began to move wilder and fiercer than normal as she charged down the empty hallways in a breeze. Taking the stairs, Natsuki legs kicked her around the walls of the stairs. She leapt side to side, elevating herself towards the top. Reaching the top, Natsuki kicked open the door as she barrel-rolled across the rooftop before drawing her pistol out from her holder.

I've got you now...

"You're not getting away this time." Aiming blindly into the darkness of the night, Natsuki's eyes narrowed fiercely as her ears began to twitch to the sound of the footsteps getting closer.

"Nyah... how is my favorite officer?" Purred the voice from above, running her tongue along the lines of her fingers.

Tracing the voice, Natsuki spun around as she aimed her gun high above the door. As the cloud dispersed away from the moon, a gentle light shined through the veil of darkness as the figure became clearer to Natsuki's eyes.

A woman looking to be in her early twenties sat with her legs hanging off the building, kicking lightly against the door Natsuki had burst out from. Her hair was shortly cut but was drenched in a flaming colour as her lime green jeweled eyes pierced the darkness. A wicked smile perched along her lips as the woman's animal-like ears wavered up in delight. A small flame-haired tailed coiled around the woman's waist before loosened its grip, dancing ever so gracefully in the air. "Long time no see, Na-tsu-ki."

"Nao..." Natsuki muttered under her breath, as she glared fiercely towards the woman.

-Meanwhile...-

"Yes?"

"Primary target is nowhere to be found. Permission to pursue?" Came the hollowed, mechanized voice on the other end of the phone.

"No need to rush, for now I have a task for you. I wish for you to acquire a little something for me." A small grin grew along the figure's lips as they sat alone in the shroud of darkness.

"Understood. What is it that you need?"

"I want you to..."

TBC...

Mini Omake:

Natsuki: Yuuki Nao

Nao: Nyah (licks her paw)

Natsuki: (For some reason I have the strangest urge to bark at her and chase her)

Nao: Nyah

Natsuki: (Barks fiercely)

Nao: (hisses)

Shizuru: Ara? (Comes out armed with a broom) Shoo, get out of here (waves it repeatedly at Nao)

Nao: (Flees)

Natsuki: (wags tail)

End of Omake

Author: Okay, so the last part of the Omake was indeed inspired of a picture so I can't take credit for that.

I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news for the readers of 'Oneechan'. After consideration for the story, I have to go back and rewrite the whole thing. Reason being is right I'm struggling with the next chapter, due to the story's OOCness not to mention lack of progression. Do not worry too much as I'll be keeping the same storyline, but some of the characters will be changed in terms of roles. I apologize once more to the readers, and I hope they can forgive me.

That aside, I'm looking forward to continuing this story as I plan to make it my best one yet. Thank you for reading and be sure to leave a review; I'm open to what you have to say!