Hey everyone!! Sorry that the last update took a long time, but I have chapter 4 here!! This one is much longer then the last update, I felt that I owed you guys at least that much. However, the update after this one will take a while. I have a ton of midterms/tests/quizzes/projects/reports that are due within the next few weeks so my life will be hectic. So I wanted to make sure that I get this chapter out to you guys ASAP.
This chapter shows all of the himes when they are just starting on their adventure. They all notice the same thing and need to figure out how to fix that problem... Like I said, every hime is shown in this chapter, so if you don't see your favorite at first, they're probably just toward the end of the chapter. (I can tell you right now that Akane is right in the beginning and Shiho is at the very end. Don't go skipping through the chapter to find you favorites, though! You might be lost later on in the story!)
Sorry for my long rampage, on with the chapter!!
I do not own Mai-Hime.
Chapter 4:
Akane Higurashi had been the first to depart from the prison-like area. The moment that the gentle lady had understood everything that Nagi had said, she spoke with the group and then dashed out of the room.
She needs to make it to Kazuya on time.
Miss Higurashi reached into her pocket, pulling out her iPhone. "Good thing I have a map on this thing!" she said to herself. Looking up her location, Akane started to calculate how far she must travel.
Akane felt her jaw fall open when her device failed to recognize the area.
"Okay," Midori stated loudly. "Youko, I'm coming for you, baby!" the hyper red head hollered to the sky, seemingly. Eager to start her journey, Midori started marching through the field of tall grass, bringing her knees to the height of her hip with each and every step.
The young woman continued her aimless hike for three hours before she stopped and realized that she forgot one key thing.
She had no idea where in the world she was.
Midori halted. Then, out of nowhere, she roared in rage "GAHHHH-KAH-TE-NOOO!!!"
A machine-like creature came charging toward her after her loud noises of gibberish. Staring up at the creature, Midori asked flatly, "Who're you, strange-lookin' dude?" The creature pawed the ground beneath its hoof in response.
The girl's hand reached up to her head, scratching it in puzzlement. "Are you my child?" she asked the thing before her. No reply came. Midori thought to herself for a few minutes. "If you are my child… what did I do to bring you out?"
"A child is called forth when you call its' name… or in a time of desperate need," said a voice behind the in-thought Midori.
"What's my child's name then? I stated no names," Midori replied, turning her body around to find Nagi floating in the air.
Nagi shook his head lightly then crossed his legs. "You most certainly did call your child forth… unknowingly though."
Midori frowned. "Is my Child named Youko, then?"
"No, silly!" Nagi laughed playfully, swatting his hand about. "When you were screaming in anger at nobody, you called your Child forth!"
"So my Child's name is a bunch of gibberish? I don't even know what I said!"
Nagi shrugged. "Just, replay it in your mind." This statement was followed by the pale man's frightening grin. "The life of your precious doctor may rely on it." With that, the strange man disappeared.
"Hey, wait… what?!" Midori called out to the albino man. "GAHHH-KAH-TE-NOOOO!!! HE DISAPPEARED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!"
With that, the Child stood at attention, ready to receive instructions from it's master.
( Author's Note: In case you didn't catch it, Midori was unknowingly screaming "Gakutenou" every time she yelled out in aggravation.)
"Come now, Natsuki, you can't ignore me forever," came the thick accented voice of Shizuru. She and Natsuki have been hanging around the dungeon area for a little around an hour now, and Natsuki had gone mute.
Miss Fujino sighed. The Kyoto girl knew that, by logic, Natsuki had to be her dearest person, and though she found the girl enticing, it would be difficult to get to know the quiet girl if she refused to speak to her.
The honey-haired woman made her way over to where Natsuki sat pondering. Sitting down beside the icy girl, she attempted conversation once more. "Let's start with the basics, Natsuki. What is your full name?"
Natsuki answered shortly, only giving in because she knew that Shizuru would stop at nothing to get her to talk. "Natsuki Kuga."
"Ara, Kuga-san, where are you from?"
"Here."
"Where is 'here', Natsuki Kuga?" Shizuru asked, giggling slightly.
Natsuki, who was looking intently at the dirt ground as she drew pictures with her fingers replied, "The land of Fuka."
"Do you have any relatives, Natsuki?"
Natsuki finally averted her stare from the ground and glared into Shizuru's crimson eyes angrily. "My mother is dead. My dog is dead. I don't know what happened to my father. I have no siblings"
Shizuru looked hurt, though she knew that she had asked Natsuki a rather personal question. "Gomen, Kuga-san." Natsuki merely nodded in response. "Do you wish to talk about it?" Natsuki shook her head no.
Silence fell between the two girls for a couple of minutes. The silence was tense and awkward.
Shizuru finally broke it with a cheery voice, as if no discomfort had happened at all. "How about hobbies? What do you enjoy doing?"
"I like motorcycles," was the blunette's simple reply.
"Ara, that spikes my interest, Natsuki. Do you yourself own one?"
The girl nodded. "A Ducati."
"Perhaps you could show me one day."
"I don't plan to see anymore of you after this crap is done with."
Shizuru felt a sting in her heat at that statement, but shook it off and continued to grin at Natsuki. "Natsuki, we are each other's dearest person. It's not like we'll be close just for this scenario and then continue life as if we don't even know the other. No, Natsuki-chan, we'll be together forever. It was stated in that poem."
Kuga sighed, defeated. "You're beautiful and all, but you kind of scare me."
Miss Fujino's face lit up with giddiness at Natsuki's last comment. "Ara, Natsuki finds me beautiful?" she questioned, in a teasing voice.
"Shi-Shizuru!"
Fumi exited the dungeon with Sister Yukariko, since they were both headed to the same location- Fuka academy, the center of all of the HiME chaos.
"So," Fumi smiled pleasantly toward the nun to her right, as they walked across the green, grassy fields. "You're dearest person is Ishigami-sensei?"
Yukariko nodded. "Hai," she said, a light smile on her face. "Even though it is against God's wishes." The nun turned her gaze to her moving feet. After being silent for a few moments, the conversation resumed. "And, you're dearest person is the Director?"
The pink haired maid nodded. "Yes. Mashiro-sama."
"Did you know about all of this earlier, then?" the black-clad woman questioned of the pink-clad one.
"Yes, Miss Mashiro had confided in me just before I arrived here. She did not tell me all of the details, though. For example, I do not know what my child's name is."
The Sister stopped in her tracks and placed a hand over her mouth as she gasped. "I don't know what or who my child is, either! What shall we do if something is to happen?"
Fumi walked back over to the now panicked nun. Rubbing Yukariko's back comfortingly, the maid said "Please don't fret, Sister. We are not far from the academy, we can ask Director Mashiro once we arrive there."
Sister Yukariko only nodded, "I'm suppose to give guidance," she thought to herself. "Please, God, please don't be angered."
Nao had stalked right out of the dungeon the second that everyone had stopped blocking the doorway to prevent her from leaving. They had all said something along the lines of "There needs to be some organization!" Screw organization, screw teamwork. This "carnival" or whatever the hell Nagi called it only concerns yourself and your dearest person. The other HiMEs don't need to get involved in another HiME's situation.
So, Nao ventured off into the fields alone.
Before she had left, though, fire-head Midori had managed to shout out to her "Nao-chan, where are you headed?"
Nao had scoffed and replied "Kyoto," before she had quickly left all of the other's behind in her dust.
So, in short, Nao's plan is to travel, alone, to Kyoto hospital and make it in time to her mother. Yes, her dearest person is her mother. No boyfriend or forbidden lover like in Romeo and Juliet or anything like that. Nao never wasted her time getting to know a man, they're all trash anyway, so why bother?
"Fuka. What kind of a name is Fuka? Sounds like it was named by some German guy who was trying to curse."
"Nao-san!" came a voice from behind Nao. Miss Yukki turned around to find the source of the voice. She was quite surprised to see one of the HiMEs running up to her.
Nao glared at the brunette who was now beside her. "Who're you, again?" she questioned.
The girl adjusted the glasses on her face. "Yu-Yukino Kikugawa," she stuttered. "You're headed to Kyoto, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you mind if I travel with you? I'm headed in the same direction."
Nao turned her back on Yukino. "I travel by myself. I don't need company; I don't want it. I fly solo."
Yukino sighed. "Gomen, Nao-san. But I won't be traveling with you the entire time. I'm not aiming for Kyoto, I need to get one town over from there."
"Why can't you voyage on your own?" Nao snapped.
"I-I've never… I'm not the best hiker, Nao-san. If I were to travel lonesome, I'd most likely cause damage to myself in some way."
Nao scowled, weighing out the pros and cons of Yukino tagging along. "Fine," the red head finally concluded. "But don't be too helpless."
Yukino adjusted the glasses on her face. "Arigato gozaimasu, Nao-san."
"Yeah, whatever," Nao muttered as she continued to walk.
Shiho had been the last one to depart from the dungeon area. This is all just too overwhelming for her, she's only 13 years old for Pete's sake! How can anyone expect a frail girl like her to venture out on her own and save onii-chan's life in just a day?
Plus, the fact that Shiho is completely lost doesn't exactly benefit her. "Fuka," she muttered as she dragged her feet along. "Where is Fuka? Where is my town? …Where is onii-chan?" Miss Munakata continued to wander aimlessly for a while before she finally came to a stop by a tall tree. Exhausted, the pink-haired girl sat down and leaned her back against the strong bark.
Shiho brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them closely to herself. "Where am I?" she whispered silently before she hung her head down on top of her kneecaps and started to cry silently.
"Too late," Shiho eventually heard from elsewhere in the fields after she slowed down her tears. "I already sped the clock up on Miss Okuzaki's timer," the voice said again.
"That voice… it's Nagi!" Shiho concluded. "And, Miss Okuzaki… that's the loner one, right? What're they doing here?"
"You three are in the hills of eastern Japan. More specifically, Fuka… didn't I mention this earlier?" Nagi's voice penetrated through the area again.
"I've never even heard of Fuka!" The eavesdropping girl only assumed that to be Akira Okuzaki.
"It's about 400 miles north of Tokyo," Nagi stated blandly.
"Tokyo, they're headed for Tokyo? That's where onii-chan is!" Shiho cheered in her head. "I can ask Akira-san if I can accompany her on her way to Tokyo! I'll surely make it there on time that way!" The conversation rolled on as Shiho congratulated herself for thinking up this new plan.
Then, a fact was pointed out that stole Shiho away from her happy thoughts. "How are we going to get there in time by foot?" she heard Akira's deep voice question.
"I…" was the only response that Shiho heard.
After a few minutes, Nagi started to point out the obvious. "What a dilemma," he said, sarcastically. "If only if you acquired some type of machine or a robot…."
Silence followed.
"Your children! I'm talking about your children! Use them!"
"Right…" Shiho thought to herself. "How do we do that, genius?"
"You'll find it when you need it," Nagi stated slyly.
After Nagi disappeared, Shiho decided to make herself visible to the other himes. "Matte (wait)!" she called out, running to the other travelers.
Mai, Mikoto, and Akira all turned around when they heard Shiho's sudden calls. "That girl…" Akira started to say.
Mai tilted her head to the side. "Shiho-chan?" she questioned.
"Look, Mai, another hime!" Mikoto exclaimed up to Mai. The cat-like girl then looked back toward Shiho, who was almost caught up to the trio by now. "Shiho-chan!" she shouted. "Do you know how to summon your child?"
Shiho continued to run up to the other three himes. "Nope," she answered once she caught her breath again. Then, she stood upright and asked, "Can I travel with you guys?"
Mai and Akira looked at each other, again trying to make a decision telepathically.
"Sure," Mikoto answered. Shiho's face gleamed while Akira and Mai glared silently at the black-haired cat.
I hope you all liked it!! Commenting is always welcomed!!
Oh, and if you would like, I created a Mai-Hime personality quiz here: .com/quizzes/16045312/which-mai-hime-chracter-are-you-most-like
If you would like to check it out, I would appreciate it. It's fun too!