DISCLAIMER: I don't own Mai HiME or Christmas.
A/N: I know, I know... What's the point of an xmas story in February? Hahaha as out of place as it is, please read and enjoy it!
An ensuing argument on Nao's end (contained to strained and harsh whispering thanks to a worried engineer who kept shushing her and glancing at the door) brought about the current situation of the ever-proud Natsuki on her knees before the bewildered and infuriated supervisor who was trying to leave the room.
"Natsuki you idiot! Let... Me... Go!"
Nao growled out each syllable in tune with each time she tried to take a step forward, although the tight grip of the engineer's hands around her knee was making it almost impossible to move more than a few metres.
"No! Please, Nao! Please don't dob me in for this one! I swear I'll, uh, polish your boots every morning! I'll even PAY you in exchange for your secrecy!"
Nao, who was midway through attempting another step towards the door, stopped suddenly at these words and used her free leg to boot Natsuki backwards onto her rear.
"Whoah whoah, perhaps I can take a bribe, Kuga..."
Natsuki sighed shakily at these words as she sat up and rubbed her head, caught between feeling immensely relieved that Nao was co-operating and feeling immense fear at the impish glint in her supervisor's eyes, leaving her to wonder about just how much Nao would want out of the deal. Knowing Nao, the possibilities alone were enough to terrify Natsuki.
Although I guess anything Nao could put me through would be ten times better than what Suzushiro would do to me if she found out I'd brought home a human...
Biting back a small tremor at the thought of the blonde destructive force cutting off her ears or something equally savage, Natsuki climbed to her feet and plastered on an expression that tried to hide her shakiness from the redhead standing across from her.
"Ok, Nao. How much would you take in order to keep this quiet for me-" Natsuki began, before suddenly realising something and frowning.
"Hey wait, you're supposed to be my friend! How come I have to pay you to keep a secret for me?!"
Nao brought one hand up to her chin and smirked behind it.
"Kuga, I'm flattered and blah blah blah about the whole 'me being your friend' thing, but let's be realistic here. Anyone finds out that you've got this here without permission, and it's me as well as you that gets in trouble. There's no bloody way I'd risk MY neck on the guillotine for you unless there was some kind of compensation for it... monetary and otherwise."
Ah, those were the words Natsuki was dreading. Thinning her lips into a tight line to try and hold back her insults at Nao's less-than-friendly statement, Natsuki eyed the other girl warily.
"What do you want then?"
"I don't know... Just how much is she worth to you?"
Natsuki glanced over into the stationary sleigh where Shizuru still remained, watching the interaction between the two elves with what appeared to be polite interest but underneath was rapt fascination. Drawing her eyes away from the girl in the lavender nightdress, Natsuki once again turned attention towards Nao.
"She's worth nothing to me... but my job is," Here she paused and briefly scanned the room; all her mechanical tools adorning the walls and the little broken oil can from earlier still perched on the counter where she'd tossed it. She sighed.
"... my job is all I've got, really."
"Excellent!"
Nao grinned, clapping her hands together before leaning back against the wall and resting them behind her head.
"60 percent of your paycheck each week."
"WHAT?!"
"Until this time next year."
"NO WAY IN HELL!"
Natsuki stopped short of punching Nao and instead stomped off to the desk and banged it loudly with her fist, trying to appear threatening.
"Nao, you can't have that much! That's way too much for me to afford!"
Nao closed her eyes dismissively and smirked lazily.
"Hey if this was a real life gangster mob deal I'd be demanding six million and your left hand, you know."
"But it's NOT a real life gangster deal! You're just being a cow!"
Nao sighed and pushed herself off the wall, stalking over to her desk chair and slumping herself down in it. Natsuki remained looming across it, hands gripping onto either side of the table and pissed glare activated to full force. The supervisor brushed an imaginary piece of lint from the shoulder of her uniform before stretching back in her seat and resting her legs on the desktop.
"Yep, 60 percent of your wage and from now on you're to call me Yuuki-sama."
"Get stuffed!"
"Then get fired."
"GAH!" Natsuki threw her hands up into the air and turned away from her insufferable supervisor who was also one of her few friends, kicking over a can of paint - Which thankfully had it's lid on - and storming over towards the person that got her into this mess in the first place. Well, aside from herself of course.
Shizuru's eyes widened as she was roughly pulled to her feet by her forearm and none-to-gently guided out of the vehicle.
"Ara! Natsuki is being a bit careless, no?"
Natsuki just grit her teeth and continued leading her captive towards the door, pausing only to mutter a begrudging acceptance of the deal terms to a grinning Nao before exiting the room and slamming the door behind her.
Now out in the hallway, Natsuki considered letting go of her tight grip on Shizuru's wrist before deciding that she didn't trust the human well enough and instead continued leading her through countless winding and twisting corridors.
"Ah, perhaps Natsuki could be just a little gentler with myself...?"
Broken out of her worried thoughts on being seen by someone (even though it was very late at night) Natsuki turned to spare Shizuru a glance and, upon seeing the wincing pain flash through Shizuru's eyes, promptly released her death grip on the law student's now-bruising wrist.
"Oh, sorry!"
Snatching the human's hand up and pulling it forward for a closer look, Natsuki carefully inspected the damage to the dainty wrist before a soft giggling made her raise her eyes to meet the amused ruby pair fixed on her.
"W-what?" Natsuki blinked, feeling her ears burn as she was scrutinised by that face that she just knew was about to churn out some kind of teasing remark.
"Oh, nothing." Shizuru said breezily, gently pulling her hand back before causing Natsuki to tense up as she reached out again and lightly cupped the elf's cheek.
"It is just that Natsuki had such a cute concerned face on and I couldn't help myself."
Scowling at the other girl's amusement, Natsuki pushed the soft hand away from her face (although instantly missed the warm touch) and turned around with a snort.
"Shizuru, there's no time for mucking around. I have to get you out of here before you're - Crap!"
Shizuru shot Natsuki a dirty look.
"Ah, excuse me? Before I'm what?"
"Huh? Argh, not you! I mean 'crap, there's someone coming'!"
Shizuru glanced around quizzically, hearing no sign of any approaching people. She only had time to barely glimpse the end of the hallway however before she was lifted like a sack of potatoes and thrown over Natsuki's shoulder.
"Ara! What on earth are you doing?!"
"Shut up! We have to go, now!"
And without giving a disheveled Shizuru chance to say much else, Natsuki had bolted off down the pristine hallway and threw herself into the nearest janitor's closet she could find.
Kicking the door shut with her foot, Natsuki hissed slightly at the pain in her shoulder as Shizuru wriggled herself backwards and lowered herself onto her feet, standing directly before Natsuki in the cramped dark space. Natsuki's breath was coming in short pants due to her mini exertion, the girl temporarily ignoring her tawny-haired companion in favour of leaning towards the door and listening intently.
Shizuru herself chose to stand still and enjoy the feel of Natsuki's soft body pressed against her front due to the lack of space, and her warm breath caressing the side of Shizuru's chin.
"Araa~"
Natsuki frowned at the breathy whisper Shizuru let out, unaware of the other girl's bliss and irritated that Shizuru was making noise when there was someone outside.
"Shh," Natsuki cautioned, trying to reach up a finger to her lips but blushing and quickly dropping her arm when she found that they were so close together she could only raise her arm as far as until it brushed against the underside of Shizuru's chest and was unable to go further.
Shizuru, although feeling rather warm and buzzed, soon understood Natsuki's nervousness when the heard the tapping of footsteps along the hallway.
How did she hear those before when I couldn't? Ah, must be those ears of hers...
Both of them standing dead still until whoever it was outside had passed, Natsuki breathed a sigh of relief and tried to lean past Shizuru and closer to the door as she listened for any sign of more people. Cursing under her breath as her foot accidentally brushed against an empty bucket with a muted clatter, Natsuki tried to precariously edge her way around the soft body in front of her and get towards the door.
It was dark, cramped, she was twisted in an awkward position around Shizuru and something was pressing into her thigh, but Natsuki tried to ignore her surroundings and focused on the outside.
If anyone sees me with Shizuru, I might as well be shot dead on the spot... Oh, how the hell am I gonna get her back to my room?! I should've disguised her or something before we left the garage...
Teetering even closer to the flimsy wooden door on tiptoes, Natsuki ignored whatever it was that was digging into her thigh until Shizuru turned her head ever so slightly and breathed directly into Natsuki's sensitive ear.
"Ara, I wasn't one to think that Natsuki could be so bold..."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Well, it seems that she is trying to push her hips into my hand, is all..."
With a girly shriek Natsuki flung herself backwards, taking a bucket, a broom, and an old rusty coat rail holding janitor's uniforms clattering to the ground with her. Blinking from her place on the dusty floor, Natsuki irritably pushed the broom off of herself and tried to clamber to her feet, eventually giving in and reaching out for the helping hand Shizuru was offering her, the cheeky human trying unsuccessfully to stifle her laughter.
"You could've told me that was your hand on my leg!"
"Ara, my hand was doing no ill until Natsuki tried to squirm further into it..."
"I WAS NOT! I thought it was like a, a broomstick or something!"
"Maah, Natsuki is one of the kinky ones...?"
"I am no- NO! No I am not!"
Natsuki was about to further try and protect her dignity but the sound of muffled voices caused both girls to simultaneously fall silent and stare and each other in alarm.
Crap!
Tate Yuuichi, walking along with one of his buddies Kazuya, stopped short in front of the door as his pricked ears picked up some odd sounds from inside it.
"Eh? Tate-kun? What's the matter?"
"Um, nothing... Well, it sounds like there's someone in there..."
Natsuki felt like her feet had been nailed into the floor with panic as she used every ounce of willpower to make her limbs move.
Argh, curse you limbs! DO SOMETHING, BRAIN!
And as the squeaky doorknob was rattled and turned, Natsuki bent down and quickly scooped up one of the green janitor's caps, slamming it down on Shizuru's head with enough force to nearly break the poor girl's neck in the process.
Tate gave a sharp tug and yanked the door open, revealing a flustered engineer pressed flat against a scantily-clad woman adorned in a green cap.
All parties stared stunned at each other for a few moments before Tate cleared his throat and pitched the question that both he and his male friend were eager to know.
"Er, Kuga-san... why are you holed up in a janitor's closet with a stripper?"
"A WHAT?!"
Natsuki flinched at the ear-splitting yell that erupted from the usually soft-spoken girl and it took her by surprise to hear such an angry tone. This weird human is capable of yelling? Wow, even when I broke into house she never yelled.
Grimacing, Natsuki shot forward and clamped her hands over Shizuru's mouth, preventing her from blowing their cover as she took in a deep breath and inwardly braced herself for the blow to her reputation that she was about to endure.
"Well, I uh... met her at one of the clubs, and was... getting acquainted with her before you two interrupted our privacy."
Natsuki ground the words out weakly, wanting to snatch them back and pretend she had not said them at all when she saw the matching idiotic grins break out onto the boy's faces.
"Oh, sorry Kuga-san. We'll leave you guys to it then."
"Yeah, wouldn't want to interrupt the beautiful act of two chicks expressing their love!"
Natsuki fought down the urge to sucker-punch the smirk right off of Tate's face as he spoke the last comment with a bubbling excitement that told Natsuki he was just dying to race home and tell Mai about what he had seen. It was then that Natsuki realised she could use the stupidity of the men to her advantage.
"Hey dumbasses, it's not too comfy in here at all. Can you guys escort us back to my place for me? Shizu.. uhh..." Natsuki briefly hesitated telling them Shizuru's name, but figured that as long as they didn't see her ears and thought she was an elf it was ok for them to know so.
"... Shizuru would be in big trouble if her boss found out that she ditched her shift to be with me, so if one of you guys pretend she's your girlfriend we'll be able to make it back to my room no worries."
Kazuya, whose inner romantic was ignited at the thought of helping two forbidden lovers be together, nodded valiantly alongside Tate, who nodded merely because his hormones were telling him that walking two young girls back to a room where they'd make love to each other was sweeeeet.
Still a little sore about the stripper remark, though inwardly not blaming the men when she looked down at her current state of (un)dress, Shizuru peeled Natsuki's hands from her mouth and bowed politely to the two elves who were going to help her.
"Gokigenyou. I am Fujino Shizuru, a..." she glanced at Natsuki, shooting her a discreet yet pleading look, as the bluenette stuttered a bit and stepped forward placing a hand onto Shizuru's shoulder.
" -Assembler, usually. Although like I said, at night she works for one of the clubs downtown."
Kazuya brightened as he smiled sunnily at Shizuru.
"Oooh, an assembler? My girlfriend Akane-chan is one too, she works down in the wooden toys division. Have you met her? Or, to be more polite, which division is it that you work in?"
Shizuru tried to hide her nervousness behind a faltering smile as she tipped her head to the side.
"Ara, I don't believe I have met her. I work in the, uh... steel, division?"
Natsuki openly slapped herself in the face with her palm at Shizuru's stupid answer. There is no such thing as a steel division!
Still smiling politely at the two confused boys, Shizuru was startled to feel Natsuki wrap her arm around her waist and pull her flush against her side.
"Guys, don't listen to her. She's drunk. She get's all smart-alecky when she's had a bit to drink... she actually works up on fifth, in Dolls."
"Oooh, ok then. I was wondering what you meant, Shizuru-san! But Dolls must be a fun division for a nice girl like you, right?"
While Kazuya continued cheerily chatting to an uncomfortable Shizuru, Tate shot a smug grin at Natsuki.
"Taking advantage of the drunk? Just wait until I tell Mai..."
"Tate, I can kick your ass and you know it. Shut up."
Eventually the four of them reached Natsuki's door, a plain white feature with a gold "78" on it that looked identical to the ones dotting down the long hall each sporting their own consecutive number. Pulling her keys out of her pocket, Natsuki fiddled with the numerous trinkets hanging from her keychain as Shizuru bid goodbye to the boys.
"It was nice meeting you, Shizuru-san! I hope we meet again, and maybe I can introduce you to Akane-chan."
"Bye bye girls. Have fun! Don't forget to use protection!"
Natsuki spun around and growled at the hastily-retreating laughing blonde, Kazuya trotting along behind him as the pair disappeared around the corner.
Shizuru stepped up beside Natsuki and hummed to herself as the disgruntled engineer found the correct key and managed to get the door open.
"Ara, they were nice boys weren't they?"
Natsuki just grumbled to herself as she switched the lights on, both of them stepping into the empty apartment.
"Tch, speak for yourself. That idiot Tate is dating my friend Mai, so I get more than the recommended dose of him throughout the day."
Kicking off her shoes, Natsuki looked up and was amused to see Shizuru following suit and gracefully removing her slippers.
It's a wonder she hasn't cracked and gone from crazy from all this yet... Maybe she wasn't lying when she said she was truly glad she'd been brought here.
Natsuki stood up and stretched a bit, rolling her neck to the side as she regarded her new roommate.
"I've never had a house guest before. Am I supposed to offer you some kind of food?"
Shizuru laughed merrily, a musical sound, and declined the blunt offer politely.
"No thank you, I had dinner with a suitor earlier this night. Ara, it is strange to think that only a few hours ago I was eating dinner with a potential marriage candidate before going home and settling in for a normal, uneventful night..."
Although Shizuru was simply musing aloud, Natsuki couldn't help the little stab of guilt that lanced at her heart. Yeah, it was normal and uneventful before I showed up and wrecked things for you...
Looking over at Natsuki, Shizuru caught sight of the girl's forlorn and guilty expression and smiled softly at her.
"Really, Natsuki, it's ok. As long as you promise I don't get hurt, I don't think I can really argue with a chance to meet real live elves at Santa's real live workshop, no? I used to dream of it as a child."
Here, the demure girl laughed rather shyly and averted her eyes from Natsuki's. The elf chuckled also.
"You dreamed about us? Heh, I always dream about what it's like to live in a place that's warm and sunny, where I can freely ride about on a motorbike and see the ocean. You can't do any of those things here - too much ice."
The two girls shared a tiny smile.
"I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, no?"
"Hey, we don't even have grass here."
Shizuru couldn't contain the little burst of laughter that broke through her calm expression and caused her double over slightly, laughing all the while. Natsuki herself raised one hand and pressed the back of it firmly against her lips, not wanting to show herself so openly in front of the human. She was, after all, technically a stranger.
"Oh, Natsuki, you're funny. I'm very glad I was kidnapped by someone as gorgeous and funny as you, and not some brutish male or something."
Natsuki winced and shot Shizuru a weak smile.
"Well, to be honest, I don't think anyone else would be stupid enough to fly out in the middle of a snowstorm anyway, so you wouldn't have been kidnapped at all if it wasn't for my stupid ideas."
Shizuru chuckled softly a little more before gazing warmly at Natsuki through lowered lashes, the engineer feeling her body temperature kicking up a few notches at the sultry look.
"Well then, I'm very glad for Natsuki's stupid ideas."
Clearing her throat, Natsuki shifted on her foot and briskly stalked off towards a small door adjacent to the living area that Shizuru was standing in.
"Uhh, I'm going to go and have a shower... stay inside, and you can watch T.V if you want."
Shizuru nodded compliantly and approached the small wooden box while Natsuki disappeared into the bathroom. Shizuru studied the unique piece of technology with a keen fascination - It looked like it was made of wood and brass, the pale gold metal framing had tarnished and the odd buttons and dials on the front panel below the screen had no indication as to what they did.
Shizuru did the human thing. She poked, pushed and prodded at each button until something happened.
... Except, well, nothing happened.
Curiously tilting her head, Shizuru searched the top of the box for some kind of On/Off switch, running her hand along a tiny slot on the top before the banging of a door startled her out of her search and made her spin on her heel and face the elf who was now wearing just a white undershirt and her green trousers as she rummaged through a bag on her counter.
"Ngh, sorry, I forgot you'd be needing this.."
Plucking something from within the bag, Natsuki tossed the shiny object towards a surprised Shizuru who managed to catch it in two hands and hold it up to the light, inspecting it.
"You need to put it in the slot on the top there, to turn it on." natsuki called out, pointing at the T.V before once again entering the bathroom and closing the door behind her.
"Ah, I see."
Shizuru quizzically pushed the small coin into the slot and watched as the small machine buzzed to life and displayed a low-quality image of some sort of game show. Stepping backwards and sitting down on the small sofa, Shizuru observed the happenings on the screen before she recognised the show as being a rerun of a quiz show that she sometimes watched while she ate dinner alone in her home after work.
When 20 minutes of quizzes had passed, and the remaining contestant was up to the deathmatch round for a chance to win half a million, did the small door creak open again and Shizuru's wine-coloured eyes were immediately drawn away from the television and followed the towel-clad girl across the room. With Natsuki's hair pinned up and bundled on top of her head, her pointy ears were clearly visible for Shizuru to take a good look at as she watched Natsuki's walk towards a far room.
However, she decided to forgo the ear inspection for the view of Natsuki's behind moving through the cotton with each stride the girl took. After the elf had turned into yet another room, which Shizuru assumed was the bedroom, the human girl returned her focus to the show playing out on the screen in front of her and continued to do so until it ended (The contestant winning out after all) and Natsuki rejoined her on the small couch, now dressed in a set of pale green pyjamas.
Turning her head, Shizuru met Natsuki's gaze as the elf absently reached up and ran a hand through her long, dark locks. After a few moments of silence, Shizuru decided to speak up and dispel some of the awkwardness between them.
"Thank you for letting me stay here, Natsuki."
"What..? Look, no worries, but aren't you mad at me for.... Y'know, kidnapping you and all?"
Shizuru laughed and shook her head.
"No, in fact, I've been wondering how to pay Natsuki back for letting me stay here. Perhaps I could be Natsuki's maid?"
Natsuki actually stopped and contemplated this. Having a maid would be pretty handy...
However, it was clear when the perverted smile crossed Shizuru's face that she was about to revert into "Teasing Mode."
"Yes, I could wear one of those ridiculously short french maid outfits and the heels...."
"No! Stop mucking around, Shizuru."
"Or perhaps I could provide full body massages for Natsuki after a long day at work..."
"I told you to stop saying things like that!"
Shizuru paused, smirking at Natsuki's reactions, before letting out a victorious sound.
"Oh! I can perform sexual favours for Natsuki as payment for letting me live here!"
Natsuki facepalmed before throwing her arms up into the air.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, STOP BEING SARCASTIC!"
"Ara, I wasn't joking that time~"
Slumping forward and resting her arms on her knees, Natsuki buried her face into her arms and groaned. She was right - putting up with Shizuru was an extremely difficult task for someone with as little patience as her.
Sitting up and scratching the bridge of her nose, Natsuki glanced at the television and then at the clock.
"Look, it's getting late now. I have to get up early tomorrow..."
Here, she paused to take in Shizuru's fidgety countenance. Shizuru was awaiting the rest of her sentence with a question lingering on the tip of her tongue and in her eyes and Natsuki immediately knew what she wanted to ask.
'... I'm not sure what I'm going to do with you yet. Since Tate and Kazuya saw you and believed you were an elf I think it would be ok for you to occasionally make appearances in public, but soon people will start asking questions..."
Shizuru cut her off with a tinkle of laughter.
"Natsuki was thinking of this the entire while in the shower?"
"W-well, it's only natural for me to figure out what to do in this situation -"
"And it was such a long shower too! Mah, if Natsuki were living in my neighbourhood, the Water corp. would be onto her so quickly..."
"Oi! It's my water and I pay for it! So back off!"
Shizuru, now grinning at Natsuki's cutely defiant and defensive expression, watched curiously as the indignant girl's scowl gradually faded into a meek blush as she realised that Shizuru was only stirring her up again. Shaking her head exasperatedly, Natsuki stood up and massaged her temples. The stressful events of today were catching up to her finally.
"Look, I'm going to bed now. I want you to stay here, do not leave this room because not only am I at risk for bringing you here, but they're not gonna exactly welcome you, an intruder, with fireworks and confetti either, got it?"
Natsuki inwardly felt a tiny surge of satisfaction as Shizuru's confident smirk faltered just a little at the ominous words. Walking over to a storage cupboard in the wall, Natsuki pulled out a thin throw rug and a spare pillow that she tossed towards her house guest.
"You sleep here for tonight. You can watch T.V, each coin gives you an hour and there's more in my bag over there. But don't use too many - I now owe a hell of a lot to Nao and can't just go throwing money around anymore."
She grumbled the last words childishly with a scowl, which caused Shizuru to smile, before turning and walking back towards the bedroom. She casually threw a wave over her shoulder as she walked without turning back.
"Night."
"Good night, my Natsuki."
"Yours...?"
And the rest of Natsuki's sentence wasn't heard by Shizuru as the bedroom door closed and the law student was left alone in the living area, perched on a sofa in front of a tiny, ancient television and now watching some kind of black and white horror movie.
Ara, let's see what tomorrow brings, shall we...?
The next morning came by and Natsuki was brushing her hair in front of a large mirror in the kitchen. Shizuru was still sitting on the same sofa she had woken up on, clutching a steaming white mug in her hands and sipping at it gingerly. She had been horrified to learn that Natsuki did not drink tea, although for her sake the elf had managed to salvage a few stale teabags from the back of her cupboard and had promised Shizuru that she would buy some more after work today.
Shizuru was immensely relieved - she had no idea how Natsuki could stomach that disgusting coffee brew, and was not about to join her in it.
In fact, she'd found that nearly all of Natsuki's eating habits were peculiar - The young woman even decorating her morning toast with a squirt of mayonnaise and some crushed potato chips while Shizuru herself daintily spread a thin layer of jam across the bread.
Poor girl, living on her own like this must make her so clueless about normal routines...
As she tied her long hair back and prepared to leave for work, Natsuki stopped short in front of the door and threw Shizuru another cautionary glance.
"You're not to leave this room until I get back, understand?"
"Ara, Natsuki speaks as though it were a four year old she's leaving behind."
Rolling her eyes at the girl's attempt to get a rise out of her, Natsuki sighed and made eye contact with the ever-smirking girl.
"Look, you'll stay in here and wait for me to get home from work, okay?"
"Araa~ would Natsuki like me to keep the bed warm and be ready and waiting for her when she gets home from a hard day at work, hmm?"
"H-hey! None of that... that weird sexual stuff!"
"Ara, that's no fun."
With a grumble, Natsuki pulled open the door and exited, shutting it behind her and leaving Shizuru sitting in a silent, empty apartment.
Gazing around the room, Shizuru observed the odd items of clothing littering the carpet and numerous bowls and cups sitting on all kinds of surfaces around the room.
Natsuki isn't a very tidy person... Well, I might as well make myself useful...
And, rising to her feet and collecting her tea mug along with her, Shizuru walked off to start the dishes and proceeded to slowly clean up Natsuki's apartment.
A few hours later, the place now spick and span, Shizuru sat back down on (her) sofa and leaned back into the plush padding, sighing as she felt her muscles relaxing. I could really do with some tea right now...
Glancing up at the clock, Shizuru felt a twinge of despair when she saw that it was only 2pm. Ara, Natsuki will not be back until dinnertime, which means no tea until then...
Sitting there, lying against the back of the sofa, Shizuru's thoughts wandered towards making a quick trip out of the apartment, finding the canteen, and buying herself a secret box of tea leaves...
As she imagined this scenario, Shizuru's gaze wandered over to rest on the bag of Natsuki's that was still sat upon the counter. Catching herself, Shizuru gasped and shook her head to clear her betraying thoughts.
No! I can't! Natsuki explicitly told me not to leave the apartment!
And so she just sat there for another fifteen minutes, watching the clock tick away merrily and swallowing down the moisture that gathered in her mouth. She imagined it was tea.
I really need some tea...
For yet another half hour, Shizuru debated with her inner self over right and wrong before her withdrawal symptoms got the better of her and prompted her to walk into Natsuki's closet, change into a green uniform, pull last night's green cap firmly over her ears and pick up Natsuki's shoulder bag as she left the apartment, taking one of Natsuki's spare keys with her.
"Right.... Now where is the canteen?"
Shizuru, shrugging and deciding that she had well over five hours to wander around and find it before Natsuki got home, set off in a random direction and went onwards to tour the factory.
By three pm, Natsuki's stomach was growling. Feeling that she had done an adequate job in polishing the sleigh, Natsuki tossed the rag onto her nearby workbench and stood up, stretching all the cricks out of her spine and glancing at Nao.
"Can I go on break, Nao?"
The redhead in question, sitting at her desk flipping through a magazine, pointedly ignored her.
".... Nao?"
".........."
Sighing angrily, Natsuki felt her eyebrow twitch as she swallowed back a curse.
"Ughn... Yuuki-sama?"
Glancing up cheerily, Nao grinned brightly at Natsuki.
"Sure, go ahead Kuga."
Taking great delight in Natsuki's humiliation, Nao's jade eyes followed Natsuki as she stormed out of the garage and slammed the door behind her. Oh, teasing Natsuki really was too fun for her. The girl was easier to piss off than a short-tempered bulldog.
Readjusting her magazine, Nao looked back down at it but her thoughts remained elsewhere and she paid no real attention to the article.
Natsuki better do something about that woman soon, before we're both in a whole world of trouble.
Natsuki herself was walking to her usual vending machine when she bumped into Kazuya.
"Ah, Kuga-san! How coincidental, I usually barely see you and now it's twice in two days!"
Natsuki, who had a hard time conversing with others, forced herself to contribute to the conversation for the sake of manners.
"Er, yes, true. I heard one of the reindeer is sick, is that why you're up here in the main building?"
"Yeah, Suzushiro-san is requesting a full inspection and diagnosis from me - She wants to make sure poor Rudolph is well and truly sick before giving him this Christmas eve off."
Natsuki hmm'ed in agreement.
"Sounds like something Suzushiro would do, not waste a single cent unless it was totally necessary. Being part of the vetinary team must suck right now."
"It is difficult," Kazuya laughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and tucking his clipboard under his arm. Then, remembering something, he opened his eyes and smiled at Natsuki.
"So how did your night with Shizuru-san go? She seemed kind of out of it this morning... She really must've drank a lot last night, hahaha!"
Natsuki inwardly groaned, remembering that she had used to excuse of hooking up with Shizuru in order to make a cover for them in case they were spotted on their way back to her dorm. Blood suddenly running cold, Natsuki felt her heart thud as Kazuya's words fully sunk in.
She seemed out of it.... this morning?
"Oh and come to think of it, Kuga-san, you said she was part of the Doll division but she was wearing the full suit and green cap so I asked her if she was actually a gardener and, get this, she didn't even know where she was meant to be! It seemed she had just recently transferred from the courtyard duties into the main building and she -"
Lunging forward, Natsuki grabbed hold of the fabric at Kazuya's shoulders as she stared at him wide-eyed.
"WHERE IS SHE?!"
"W-what?"
The bewildered man just blinked as Natsuki demanded once again her partner's whereabouts.
"Where is Shizuru?! Where did you see her?!"
"U-uhh I showed her where the greenhouse was and then -"
"The greenhouse?! CRAP!"
And with that, Natsuki released her hold on the terrified boy and bolted off down the hall, leaving a confused and shaken veterinarian in her wake.
The greenhouse, it turned out, was a single floor of the building dedicated to growing festive plants. Namely, mistletoe.
Shizuru wandered through the rows of greenery, wondering just how they managed to have the floor look and feel like actual grassy soil and the painted roof almost giving the illusion of being a sky at dusk. Smiling as she passed another gardener, who barely stopped to smile back, Shizuru felt an inner joy bubble up to the surface of her mind.
I can't believe that all of this is real! Everything happening to me right now isn't a dream! I'm at the North Pole!
Continuing her stroll, Shizuru was happy and content in the half-dark room and was nearly startled into jumping out of her skin when she felt someone harshly seize her arm.
"Ara - Natsuki?"
Smiling sheepishly at the girl who glared at her with all of hell's fury, breath coming out in ragged pants from her run halfway across the building to get here, and Shizuru for once was getting a little nervous.
"Oh, you see Natsuki, there was no tea and I just needed -"
"Don't. Don't you dare try to make excuses."
Natsuki's icy tone made Shizuru fall silent immediately. Her no-nonsense expression was rather unnerving for the tawny-haired girl too. Smiling weakly, Shizuru half-heartedly made an attempt to appease Natsuki.
"Ara, I missed Natsuki's beautiful face so much that I simply had to go looking for... her...?"
Oh, bad idea. Natsuki's eyes narrowed even more and her entire body tensed. Shizuru wondered if she was actually going to see frost developing on the arm that Natsuki still had a firm grip on. Yes, with one look Shizuru could tell that Natsuki was ready to explode.
"I can't believe that you're still...."
Her words were whispered, though which each passing they were increasing in volume and rapidly approaching a crescendo that Shizuru was sure was going to involve the elf screaming at her.
"... trying to joke at A TIME LIKE - Mmmpph?!"
Natsuki's eyes widened and she stumbled under the weight of Shizuru's body which had thrown itself at her. Feeling a warm, wet mouth encompassing her own, Natsuki panicked and pushed Shizuru backwards until their lips parted with an audible smack.
"WHAT THE F-?!?!"
And before she could get any words out, Shizuru had swooped in again and Natsuki found a persistent tongue eager to shut her up and the other girl's hands tightening around her back, pulling her closer.
Natsuki continued to struggle, feeling the strength in her limbs draining as it was replaced with a warm, buzzing feeling coursing throughout her system and she began to see little specks of light fill her vision from lack of oxygen. Pulling back, Shizuru sucked in a lungful of air as she grinned sheepishly and pointed to the roof.
"Ah, mistletoe, you see..."
Natsuki, still dazedly staring at the girl whose lips were coated with the wetness from their kiss and the elf's eyes unable to tear away from them, swallowed deeply and tried to force some common sense back into her hazy mind. Before she had a chance to get angry again, however, Shizuru had leant forward and whispered warm words into her ear.
"Perhaps it would be best if you continued scolding me back in your apartment, Natsuki... I fear you may blow our cover if you openly yell at me here in public.... People are watching, you know."
And as the human girl pulled back, Natsuki looked around to see that all of the nearby workers had stopped to watch the spectacle that had just taken place before them. Face erupting into a blazing red, Natsuki coughed and readjusted her grip on Shizuru's arm.
"Um, yeah, we should - ahem, you're right. Let's go, shall we?"
And an incredibly embarrassed sleigh engineer proceeded to drag off her companion who was waving and smiling at all the accidental observers who nervously waved back at the strange tawny-haired female that had just shaken up their boring little day.
Preview for next chapter:
"I am Kanzaki Reito, and I believe you may be the most beautiful elf I have ever laid eyes upon. Would you accompany me to dinner tonight, Miss...?"
"Fujino Shizuru. Ara, however I'm afraid I am already booked out for tonight."
"Oh, what a shame. Who is the lucky man, may I ask?"
"Well the lucky man is a lucky woman, and it is my girlfriend, Natsuki~"
"What?! Shizuru, I never agreed to this! I - er, I mean, I love you too sweetikins."
A/N: Chapter three, written two hours before I'm due to get up for work :)
So if you still want this fic continued even though it is no longer the holiday season, let me know otherwise I was planning to pick it up again next Christmas when everyone is back in the festive spirit. What do you guys think?
