It was dark. With no light in sight, Shizuru just kept walking down the seemingly endless area. The girl had tried to stop before, but everytime she tried, the ground felt like it was about to swallow her up. In fear of being ingested into the unknown, she trudged on, not daring to stop. With it being pitch black, Shizuru couldn't have seen the large lump that made her trip and land in a puddle of water.

Surprisingly, the fall hadn't harmed her. The ground was unexpectedly cushy, like it was made of padding; the same kind that you would find in a childrens' play area.

Suddenly, a light switched on. The girl's eyes, with no previous warning of the approaching light, took sereval moments to adjust to their new exposure. Once they did, she took a moment to take in her surroundings. She found the reason for the cushy padding was because, in fact, she was at a playground, it was vaguely familiar, like she had seen it a long time ago.

Usually, people associate playgrounds with happiness and childhood. But strangely, the aura of the playground was dark and gloomy, it was like being in a zombie movie or a horror of some sort. A cold chill shot up Shizuru's spine as if to warn her of the dreary sight awaiting her vision.

It was only when an eery giggle filled the air, did Shizuru, whom was still on the ground, snapped her head towards the sudden obstruction of peace and quiet. Her eyes focused on a little girl, but it wasn't just any little girl; it was Shizuru as a child. A gasp escaped the tea-lover's lungs as she set her gaze upon her. She noticed that the girl's eyes weren't on her, they were pointed towards the ground. Following the little girl's gaze, Shizuru screamed at the disturbing sight.

It was a young Reito, lying in a large puddle of blood, obviously in pain. It hadn't occurred to her that the puddle of 'water' she had tripped in, was actually the little boy's crimson life-nectar until she completely registered what she was seeing. It was as if they couldn't see her, like she was just watching as a ghost over the living.

"Shiz…Whu..Why..?" The young boy choked out, struggling just to speak.

The young Shizuru just giggled, apparently not bothered by the sight of the dieing boy. "It's because we're bestfriend's, right?"

Shizuru's eyes snapped opened, the dream still vivid in her mind. She laid there in fear for several minutes, trying to process her thoughts, separating the dream from real-life. Sometimes, she would wake up and not be able to tell her dreams apart from her everyday life. She remembered this happening quite often during the HiME Carnival. She would dream things about Natsuki, and at the time, she thought they had actually happened.

Even now, Shizuru couldn't remember which ones were actually dreams. She already figured that the ones where Natsuki held her and told her things such as, "You're perfect for me," and, "I love you." Were no more than fantasy, things her mind conjured up to fool her into thinking she could be happy.

Finally noticing the sweat that drenched her body, Shizuru instinctively pulled the covers off of her and, without thinking, opened her bedroom door to make her way to the bathroom. Then she remembered her intruder, she stopped short before re-tracing her steps and shutting the door behind her. The girl put her ear up against the door as she had done the previous day to listen for signs of life. Surprisingly, there was nothing to be heard. The tea-drinker was in slight disbelief so she listened closer, now listening for even the quietest of breathing.

After a short bit of hearing nothing but the echo of her empty apartment, Shizuru decided it was safe to go out. She looked about her house to assure herself that the red-head had gone. Upon seeing all the rooms of her small apartment empty once again, she stalked into the living room only to see the appalling mess that the red-headed devil had left behind.

The pillows from her couch were thrown carelessly on the floor, an unfolded blanket laid lifelessly half on the couch and half on the floor, everything from her coffee table drawers had been emptied onto the table and food and empty cans rested all over the floor. Shizuru sneered at the mess, wondering how one girl could make such a mess in just one night. In any case, Shizuru doubted she could enjoy a peaceful shower knowing her living room was in such a untidy state, so she got to cleaning.

The girl worked like she was in a trance and, to some extent, she was. Her mind played that dream over and over again. For some reason, her younger counterpart's smiling face was stained inside her mind. What could've provoked such a dream? That questioned plagued her. Sure, considering yesterday's events, she could understand why Reito was dieing, but why was her child self so un-perturbed by the sight? Something was completely off about the dream and she couldn't tell what it was.

Suddenly, her sensitive ears picked up the sound of her front door being opened and the rustle of bags and papers. She stopped mid-clean up and before she could retreat back into her room, the intruder came waltzing into the living room holding a couple bags and a small stack of papers.

"Oh hey, look, Sleeping Beauty's up. Did your prince come and kiss you?" The newcomer remarked as a cheshire grin formed on her lips.

Shizuru looked up silently, already guessing who the voice belonged to. The girl responded by glaring at the intruder and picking herself up to leave the room.

Once the un-welcome visitor realized she wasn't going to get a verbal replied, she spoke once again, "What? No welcome? No, 'Hey Nao, thanks for doing my shopping and getting my homework?'"

Shizuru continued walking back towards her bedroom, abandoning the idea of a peaceful shower. This time, Nao didn't let her walk away, the red-head grabbed the girl by the wrist and turned her around. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" She yelled, hoping to get a response.

Shizuru didn't look Nao in the eye, she stared at the ground angrily as if it had somehow insulted her. Nao eyed the despondent girl irately, waiting for a reply. When one didn't come, the infuriated red-head tried again, "Are you gonna say something?!"

The tea-drinker brought her gaze up from the floor and glared at Nao, still silent, she tried to rip her wrist out of Nao's grasp, but her efforts fell in vain when Nao gripped tighter and jerked her back. "Listen, Fujino, I'm tryin' to help you out here, the least you could do is say something!" The red-head shouted, becoming irritated by the older woman's behaviour.

A tense silence filled their lungs. Neither woman broke their glare, neither said anything.

"I never asked for your help." The tea-lover declared, her voice just above a whisper.

Nao's lips almost formed into a smile, satisfaction splashed through her body. She had gotten a reply, granted it wasn't the one she wanted, but it was an accomplishment in it's own.

"Yeah, whatever." The red-head said, still not letting her wrist go. "I have your school work, get it done tonight and I'll bring it by to your professers in the morning."

The girl's confusion showed up clearly on her face, an event that could only occur when she dropped her mask. "Why?" Shizuru asked quietly.

"Why-- Do you wanna fail college?" Nao asked, thoroughly confused herself.

"Not that, I've done nothing but ignore you and tell you to go away. And yet you're still here…why?" As the words left her mouth, the tea-drinker averted her gaze back to the floor.

Nao was silent for the longest moment. If Shizuru had looked up during that instant, she would've witnessed Nao's thinking face. This face was just a simple combination of the red-head's furrowed eyebrows and her jaw clenched tight.

"Because…" Nao answered, breaking the silence.

"Because why?" Shizuru whispered, still not returning her gaze to the red-head.

Why? Not even Nao knew, she just felt compelled to be with the girl in her time of need. Of course, telling her that would sound awkward, so she decided against it. "I'm Nao, I don't need a reason." Was her arrogant response. "Now go get washed, you smell like sweat." The red-head ordered as she attempted to push the tawny blonde into the bathroom.

"I'm Shizuru and I say you need a reason." The girl replied, stopping herself from being thrown about by the red-head.

Nao's mouth twisted into a frown, why was this girl so stubborn? "I don't need a reason to need to wanna help someone." She insisted.

Shizuru turned away from the red-head and faced the bathroom door. "Yes you do, human beings are greedy, evil, deceitful creatures, Nao, surely you havesome kind of ulterior motive."

Nao was completely silent, the cause of the silence was shock. She couldn't believe Shizuru actually thought this way. Of course Nao knew that Shizuru had some dark thoughts, but she had always seen the tea-drinker as someone who trusted people easily. Her ears couldn't believe the woman's words, such distrust surely couldn't be living inside of this woman.

As if taking Nao's silence as a response, Shizuru turned around to face the silent girl and spoke again. "So what's your motive? Do you want money? Information? Or perhaps you'd like to get into my pants--"

A loud slap echoed throughout the small apartment. Nao just couldn't believe what she was hearing anymore, she had reached her boiling point. Without warning, she grabbed Shizuru by the shoulders and got in her face.

"What is wrong with you!? I can't believe you just said that! I don't know who or where you picked up that little bit about human beings from, but that's completely idiotic! I can't believe you're that stupid! Wh--" Nao stopped short as she saw Shizuru's pained face. She looked so hurt, just standing there holding her burning cheek with watery eyes.

The tea-drinker's inner spoiled child came out as she roughly pushed the red-head away and yelled at her, "What do you know?! Why can't you just leave me alone?! Why can't you stop being just like her!" Shizuru ran into the bathroom and slammed the door after this statement.

Once inside the bathroom, Shizuru slumped against the wall and sat pressing her knees against her chest, her face buried into her knees and her hands collapsed over her head. In short, she looked like a giant heap of a bed-headed princess. Tears threatened to fall but she blinked them back as she reminded herself of the promise.

Meanwhile, Nao was left stunned outside the door. Her? Who? Who's her? The red-head stalked into the living room and sat down on the couch to process her thoughts. Who was Shizuru referring to? She said that Nao had been acting like 'her'. Could she've been talking about Natsuki Kuga? At the thought, Nao's face twisted in digust; she wanted nothing to do with Kuga, let alone act like her.

The sudded sound of the shower turning on made Nao jump. At the indication, Nao let out a relieved breath, not because Shizuru would smell more bear-able, but because that ment she wasn't crying her eyes out in there. Nao really wouldn't be able to stand her self if she knew she was the single cause of the girl's sobs.

At the thought of Shizuru, Nao hopped off the couch and padded into the kitchen to un-packed the food items she would need from the shopping bags she had brought in earlier. The girl would obviously be getting hungry soon. This morning when Nao went out to do errands, she took almost an hour in the grocery store debating with herself on what food items to buy. She really had no idea what the tea-drinker fancied. After almost pulling all her hair out in frustration, the red-head just settled for the good old American dish of canned spaghetti. Granted it wasn't the fanciest dish out there, but Naofigured it'd be the easiest. After popping two bowls in the microwave, Nao took a seat on the counter so she wouldn't have to stand the whole three minutes the food would take to cook.

Just as the microwave's timer reached the thirty second mark, the obnoxiously ear-piercing ring of the phone caught Nao's attention. She didn't waste time in springing herself off the counter and picking up the phone as to silence it's annoying caw.

"Fujino residence, what?" Nao answered rudely.

"Hello? Shizuru?" The voice on the other end sounded like the owner was tired and had just awoken, but Nao insantly recognized the voice as Natsuki Kuga.

"This is Nao. What the fuck are you calling for?" She replied, anger evident in her voice.

"Nao! Why do you keep answering Shizuru's home phone?!" Natsuki yelled

"Why do you keep calling?" Nao responded, not dropping the rage and annoyance in her voice that was just building up with each passing second.

Natsuki let out a small groan, "Because I need to talk to Shizuru!" Her voice was just as annoyed.

Nao's lips curled into a frown. Did this girl get knocked on the head or something? Ya tell her 'no' and she just calls again with the same plea. "You're not--" Nao started but wasn't able to finish.

Natsuki cut her off,"Fucking shut-up up, Nao! Where's Shizuru?!"

Nao shouted back at her, "None of your damn business!"

"I don't have time for your shit, Nao. This is important! Put Shizuru on the phone!"

"What could be so important?" Nao challenged her with these words.

Natsuki's end went silent. "I need some help…" Her voice came out quiet and timidly.

"Oh? So you only call when you need something, huh?" The red-head asked cynically.

"That's not it…I just…I really have no one else to turn to…." Natsuki replied in a docile tone.

"So what? She's your last choice?" She inquired scornfully.

"No! Damn it Nao, I don't have time to argue with you! Just put Shizuru on the phone!" The blunette yelled through the phone.

"No time, Kuga? Why, we have all day." Nao answered, her voice full of arrogance. It was apparent to Natsuki that the girl was simply stalling or just being an ass.

"I only have a certain amount of time to use the phone, Nao, put her on." Obviously Natsuki was getting desperate seeing as she started to use a normal speaking voice. She had officially put away her intimidating anger for someone it would work on.

"What? Are you using a payphone? Where are you?!"

The other end went silent again.

"Hello?" Nao drawled.

"…In America…" The girl replied quietly, almost shamefully.

"America?!" Nao screamed, "What are you in America for?!"

The line dropped into silence for the third time. "I'm in jail…" Natsuki admitted shamefully.

This time it was Nao's end that hushed into silence. "You're…in America…in jail…?" She repeated, trying to process this shock.

"Rub it in, why don't ya…" Clear annoyance played in her voice.

"And you were gonna ask Fujino to bail you out?" Nao accused, hostility back full force.

"No…no I wasn't even going to tell her, I'm getting out soon anyway. I was going to ask her to wire me money for a flight back…"

"Look…Fujino's been going through some stuff right now, I don't think--"

"Ah, Nao, what was that? I have to hang up, my time's up, I'll call you back tomorrow!" The click that replaced Natsuki's voice was enough indication for Nao to tell that the girl had hung up..

The red-head placed the phone back onto the receiver and sighed. Her hand made it's way up to her temples and lightly rubbed in circles. America? Really? She couldnt've made things easy and be in jail somewhere local. Nooo, she had to get into trouble all the way across the ocean. What could've landed the girl in jail anyway? What'd she do? Steal some mayonnaise? Nao chuckled at the thought.

"Who were you on the phone with?" Shizuru's voice chimed.

Nao whipped her whole body around to find Shizuruwearing nothing but her bathrobe, which gave Nao the impression that she had just gotten out of the shower.

"No one, just a telemarketer." She said evenly, lieing through her teeth.

Shizuru didn't make any indication that she had seen through the lie, "Is that so?" Her usual playful voice was no where to be found.

"Mmm, yeah." Nao made a movetowards the kitchen where the forgotten spaghetti still rested in the microwave that had long past finished it's job. "C'mon, I made some lunch."

Shizuru's bare feet stayed rooted to the ground where she was standing. Nao stopped when she realized the woman wasn't going to follow. "Whattaya doin'? Aren't you hungry?" She asked.

"No…I have no appetite." Shizuru answered quietly. The girl turned around and made her way to leave.

Nao shadowed behind her, "Well how about a drink?"

"I'm not thirsty…" Shizuru told her, still walking.

"Wanna play a board game?" Nao persisted.

"I don't own such things." Shizuru's voice remained unchanged.

"Why don't we go…umm…organize your closet…?" Nao tried, running out of things to keep the girl from returning to her room.

"It's organized enough." Shizuru spoke, getting closer and closer to her bedroom with every step.

"Will you show me how to prepare tea?" Nao asked, hoping that the tea bit would perk the distant girl's attention.

It did nothing of the sort. "Maybe some other time."

Finally, they reached Shizuru's bedroom door. As Shizuru opened it, Nao tried one last time. "Will you show me where you keep your…nail clippers?"

Shizuru still remained with her back to the red-head. "It's in the bathroom." That was the last she heard before the door slammed in her face.

It baffled her, it really did. Why did the red-head just insist on staying here in an attempt to take care of her? She must be after something…She couldn't just be here for her. No one wanted to stay with her unless they were getting something out of it. And Natsuki just proved this point to the tea-drinker even more. Once the blunette no longer needed her laptop, the girl became more and more distant until, eventually, was now no where to be found. So then in that case, Reito must've also had some kind of secretobjective as well…Shizuru shook her head. Reito wouldn't do that, he wasn't that kind of person.

Seeing as she was stuck in the private confines of her room, Shizuru had nothing more to do than lay in bed and think.

Thoughts and images floated through her mind, an overflow of mental water washed her brain of it's motor skills. At the moment, she felt as if she forgot how to move, how to talk, how to breath. So the girl just laid there, breath hitched in her throat, remembering memories of the past that seemed so long ago. Most of her reminiscences were about the blissful times she had spent with her recently deceased friend. Her mind didn't linger long though, in thinking of the boy, her thoughts un-obediently flashed to the fateful moment that ended Reito's life.

It was sunny out, the perfect day to go out and spend a nice day at the park or just take a stroll somewhere. Reito saw this as an oppurtunity to cheer up his recently depressed friend. And who better to bring along on this little adventure than the ever engergetic Mikoto. It pretty much guaranteed that there'd be no gloomy or depressing conversations.

The trio was just coming back from a lovely afternoon at the park and were about to top it off with some ice cream. As they were crossing the intersection to get back, it happened.

The cargo truck drove along the road, oblivious to the fact that it's back door's lock was slowly opening every time he hit a bump. Everything after that seemed to happened in slow-motion. As he sped by, he had hit his final bump and the lock could take no more; it flipped open and gravity ripped out the various appliances and furniture. The girls were right in the line of fire of a couch, preparing for a heavy blow, Shizuru grabbed onto Mikoto and made an attempt to protect the little girl from most of the blow. Before the flying furniture could crush them, Reito heroically pushed the girl's out of the line of it's fire and back-stepped before it could squash him either.

When Shizuru looked up from the side-walk, she could almost see what was going to happen next and her hand flew over Mikoto's eyes instantly. Although Reito had escape death from the couch, he had failed to notice the refrigerator soaring towards him. She tried to find her voice to scream, but nothing came out. When Reito had finally taken notice of the flying kitchen appliance headed in his direction, it was already too late; his fate was sealed. He silently accepted this and quickly whipped his head at Shizuru and threw her a sad smile before the fridge hit it's target.

Suddenly, her bedroom door snapped open, knocked Shizuru out of the nightmare-ish memory and woke up her motor skills.

"You've got a call." Nao told her, holding out the cordless phone.

Shizuru gently and silently took the phone into her own hands. "Hello?" She answered quietly.

"Hello, I'm with the Fuuka Morgue, I believe a friend of yours, Reito Kanazaki, has recently passed on?" It was a proffesional voice on the line.

"Yes…That's correct." Shizuru's voice had no pretense of a confident woman, it sounded like a timid young child.

"Would you happen to have any contact information for his parents or any other family member?"

Shizuru was silent for a short moment. What should she tell them? Mikoto wouldn't know how to deal with all this and Reito had long lost contact with his foster family. She would just have to make do. "I apologize, I do not. Any business concerning his death, please just contact me." What else could she do?

"How exactly are you connected to the victim?"

'We're best friends. Don't worry, you can totally trust me.' That sounds just so believable. The girl could do nothing but lie. "He was my fiance."

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss. As you wish, I'll contact you with anything concerning this case. Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome, have a nice day." And with that, the call was over.

Nao scoffed, "You're such a liar."

"How would Nao know if I was making up lie?" Shizuru inquired, her voice holding a hint of amusement.

"Tch, really? You're like the biggest lesbian I've ever met, there's no way you'd be engaged to a guy." Nao answered indifferently.

"Hmm…" No matter how alike they acted, Nao wasn't as fun to tease as Natsuki was. "If you have no other business, Nao, I'd like to be left alone." The amusement in her voice was once again absent.

Nao didn't seem to like this idea, "I still have some business in here…."

"Oh?" Shizuru spoke.

"Yeah, umm…" Nao hesitated and her eyes bounced around the room.

"Stalling is impolite, please finish your business and leave." Shizuru told her as she set the cordless phone down onto her end table.

Nao looked as if she just experienced a huge epiphany. "I wanna know about your family."

Shizuru winced. Was she stalling or could she be interested for some reason? In any case, there's no way she'd just gab on about her family to the red-head. "There's nothing to know."

"Yeah there is, like, what are your brothers' names, do you have any pets…things like that." Nao answered as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Shizuru found it odd that Nao was interested in her family all of a sudden. Why was this girl so interested in talking to her? "I--" Shizuru cut herself off as a thought clicked into her mind. "How did you know I had siblings?" She interrogated.

Nao seemed to jump at this accusation and her eyes nervously looked everywhere except at her. "I…uh…Well I was bored, see…and uh…"

Shizuru's gaze hardened as she already knew where this was going, "And Nao decided it was alright to go through my personal belongings." She finished.

"I…yeah…" Nao answered as she looked away in guilt.

Shizuru shook her head in disappointment, "I don't enjoy invasions of privacy, Nao."

"Well I know now, can't go back and change the past." Shizuru let out a bitter chuckle, the red-head regained her wit quickly.

Shizuru got quiet for a moment as she reflected on her past. "That's right, isn't it? The past is permanent, you make one mistake and there's nothing you can do to fix it…."

Self-pity consumed her as these words traveled out of her mind and conveyed themselves through her mouth. The tea-drinker sullenly and leisurely pulled the covers up just enough so that she could slip into the warm embrace of her bed.

As she got settled, Nao broke her silence, "But the future is there so you can learn from those mistakes and keep yourself from making them again."

Shizuru made herself comfortable against the pillows and offered Nao a ghost of a smile, "I suppose that's accurate."

The atmosphere was now less tense and actually felt like a sprinkle of relaxation instead. Shizuru was now getting used to her house guest. She felt as if she could loosen her mask around Nao at the moment, she felt as if no judgement would be thrown at her by the red-head if she erased her mask completely. The tea-drinker sunk into the pillows and shut her eyes in disregard of the red-head still on the edge of her bed.

The silence soothed her and sleep was starting to overcome her senses. Right as she almost became dead to the world, she felt the other side of her bed become occupied. Instantly, the tawny-blonde adjusted her head to see the red-headed intruder making herself comfy under the covers.

"Nao..?"

The red-head laid down and turned her back to the crimson-eyed girl. "Shut-up, the couch hurts my back. Besides, you'll get nightmares if you sleep alone."

A small smile lit up Shizuru's face at Nao's actions, it reminded her of…No…this is Nao, not Natsuki. At this thought, Shizuru's expression became solemn. They were alike, yes, but they were both also completely different. She couldn't keep thinking of them in association, she needed to look at them as two different people and stop comparing them to each other.

The tea-drinker had a problem with that, and she knew it. She would compare two people and decide whether or not she liked them from this deliberation instead of seeing them as a their own person. Before Natsuki came along, she compared everyone and anyone who wanted to be her friend to Reito as he was her ideal friend. Then came in Natsuki, after meeting the blunette, the tawny blonde compared all her 'fangirls' to the mayo-addict and to this day, none of them really measured up. And now she was trying to do the same thing to Nao…that simply wouldn't do.

'She doesn't deserve that and you know it. She's Nao, she's her own person.' The girl thought.

Lost in her self-scolding, she absent-mindedly snuggled close to Nao's back and dozed off. And that was it, she was out like a light. The world was dead to her and vice-versa, her sleep was so deep that she didn't hear Nao calling to her no more than ten minutes later.

"Fujino…"

No answer.

"Hey…Fujino."

Silence was her reply once again.

"Fujino!"

The girl must've realized that she wasn't going to get a reply as she let out a frustrated groan. Nevertheless, she tried one last time.

"Fujino…I have to pee!"

Taciturnity greeted her once more. She did her best to get herself in fetal position in an attempt to hold back her urge to use the restroom but only managed to get about half-way there seeing as Shizuru seemed to be holding her in a death-grip.

'I think this is worse than the couch…' Was her last thought before she joined Shizuru in dream land.


An update?! Holy-moly! Guess who's gonna show up in the next chapter!....No! It's not Lady GaGa! (this time...)

Anywho, I've already started the next chapter, which is certainly something rare seeing as I usually randomly start the next chapter a couple weeks after I posted the last chapter because I do have a life I need to attend to lol. But it was late at night and I was pumped to start the next chapter. I also finished a picture that I've been neglecting, I finally colored it, go look at it, its like a cover art for this fic http://nuthinnice872 . deviantart . com/art/Lost-in-the-Dark-153262347

Remember, my friendly readers: Reviews let me know what I am doing right and doing wrong and feed my attention loving ego. So leave them!

Oh yes, by the way, this is infact a ShizNatNao, but the end pairing is not final, it really depends on how many readers are into which ever pairing. Or I could surprise you all and just kill them all off by ravinous kitchen appliances lol. In any case, reviews help me decide in the content for the next chapter and help me imagine the ending (Which is ever changing in my mind.)