Authors Note: Okay, chapter 4. Powers will be making this an appearance ^_^...
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
She stood outside her dorm room hesitantly, her brow furrowing slightly. Sighing, she gave a silent prayer that Mai and Mikoto would be out. She opened the door, but when it closed the it gave a loud; resounding click. Natsuki almost cursed as she was immediately pounced on by a demanding, suspicious Mai. Goddamn, just my luck.
"Kuliino Natsuki, you are going to tell me everything right this-" Mai cut her screeching off when she caught sight of the other girl. "Is that a-a hickey!" she exclaimed instead, rushing forward and pulling down the collar of Natsuki's sweatshirt.
Natsuki's eyes widened in panic for a spit second and her hand shot up to her neck. "Hickey? What hickey? There's no hickey." she tried to play it off as nonchalantly as possible. Too her chagrin, Mai didn't fall for it for it. Good one genius, saying hickey over and over again will really convince her. Baka!
"The one the size of fucking Fuuka on the left side of your neck!" Mai yelled, wrenching the cobalt-haired girls hand away from her neck; while jabbing the large, bright red mark with her pointer finger. Natsuki felt a blush rush to her cheeks. Wide, burning emerald eyes narrowed in a glare at the redhead, as she pushed Mai away and out of her general proximity.
"You're lying," Natsuki growled; trying not to let a desperate expression take over her features. This really wasn't what she needed. The princess could just imagine how Mai would react to the truth of how the hickey came to be.
"I'm not lying," Mai shook her head, grasping Natsuki by the wrist and forcefully dragging her towards the bathroom. Natsuki, even though she was almost hysterical inwardly, cracked a smile when they passed Mikoto in the kitchen; stuffing her face.
"See!" Mai said triumphantly, pointing at Natsuki's reflection in the mirror. Looking a little too smug for Natsuki's liking. The princess frowned as she saw Mai's claims to be true and berated Shizuru in her mind. Great, now Mai's going to be on my back about who gave me it. I can just imagine how the truth would go down. Arigato Shizuru!
"Now," Mai wiggled her eyebrows at her cold, standoffish new friend/roommate. "Care to confess yet? The evidence is sound."
"I-I..." Natsuki bit her lip, another blush rising to her cheeks as she realized the hopelessness of the situation. She met her own burning emerald eyes in the mirror and sighed as though defeated, "It's embarrassing," she improvised, sort of, "I-um, well..."
"Spit it out," Mai encouraged her impatiently; almost bouncing on her heels in excitement.
"Well, this morning my hair was really crazy and even washing it didn't help. So I ended up using my straightener to try and rid it of its unruliness, lets just say I'm really, really horrible at straightening my hair. As usually I never have to." Natsuki finally answered, she was almost concerned with how easily the lie rolled off her tongue. Her hair was never unmanageable. Naturally straight as board, she inherited the genetic trait from her mother.
Natsuki disrupted her train of thought by biting her lip. The pain made her focus on the present and not the tragic memories of her past. The princess slid; moved her emerald gaze from her reflection to Mai.
"Oh," Mai looked disappointed that it wasn't something more interesting, "All right then."
"Yeah," Natsuki shrugged uncomfortably, trying not to let her hand move to where the mark was. She was going to kill Shizuru tomorrow. Thoughts of how she could punish the student president suddenly began to filter through her mind and Natsuki soon found herself staring blankly at her reflection, dreamy look on her face as her thoughts became increasingly lewd.
"Natsuki?" Mai waved a hand in front of the vacant looking girls face, getting no reaction, "Kuliino? Hey! Natsuki!" she called more concerned as the time passed without any answer. With a shaky sigh, Mai bit her lip and raised her hand, before delivering a sharp slap to the other girls left cheek.
"Oi!" Natsuki shouted, successfully dragged from her thoughts and now seething with annoyance as she cradled her abused cheek, "What was that for?" she snarled, glowering fiercely. However, a furious blush ruined her attempt at intimidation.
"You had this..." Mai got a thoughtful look on her face, "... Dazed look on you're face, and you wouldn't answer when I tried to get your attention." Mai finished flippantly, acting as thought her slapping Natsuki for such a meager reason was normal.
"So you just thought it a good idea to hit me?" the princess demanded angrily, blush finally receding.
"Yup," Mai nodded, angelic look on her face.
Natsuki sighed out a growl, shaking her head she shook her head before heading to the kitchen, calling over her shoulder: "Well, just for that, your cooking dinner again tonight."
"Yay!" Mikoto squealed, her mouth still full of food.
"Urgh.." Mai grumbled, before grabbing Natsuki's wrist and turning her to face her again. Natsuki gave her an irritated look, piquing an eyebrow impatiently. "Hey, wait..." her eyes moved to something below the princesses ear, "What's that other mark there? And wow, what a pretty piercing... where'd you get it?"
Natsuki's face darkened and she pulled her wrist from Mai's grasp before pulling her hair to cover the odd marking. "A scar. And the stud was a gift from my mother," she answered sharply, giving Mai a look; daring her to push her with questions. Mai noticed the frosty scowl she was receiving and decided to let the matter drop.
Though, Mai realized, she had a mark in a similar spot and an earring almost exactly the same; except a different color - given to her years ago by some family friend. She shrugged it off as a coincidence. She'd never really knew why she had such an odd mark, it was like a flame. She mentally berated herself. Why is she bothering with these thoughts about an insignificant birthmark. It was probably just some anomaly.
It was Saturday, just before noon, that Natsuki found herself going for a ride on her Ducati. Shizuru was needed for a meeting with the principle about something, and Mai was busy with that Tate boy she always gushes about. The princess found herself alone, and bored out of her mind.
The bike ignited with a roar, unknowingly; a grin twitched at Natsuki's lips as she kicked up the stand, twisting the throttle back and revving the beast more. The Ducati vibrated from underneath the princess. Scanning to area around her, Natsuki smoothly put the bike into first gear.
Pulling out of the abandoned shed she had the Ducati hidden in, Natsuki speed down Fuka Academy's narrow roads. She roared past the front gardens, where various students were milling about, studying or catching up with friends during the weekend.
The princess smirked under her helmet as people started pointing, awed expressions on their faces. Along with one, really really, angry one. Obviously news had leaked about her being the the possessor of the motorcycle; Natsuki was sure the blonde receptionist had been running her mouth to the Fuka students.
"Isn't that the new girl, Kuga Natsuki?" A slightly younger, aqua-blue haired first year student; Wang Nina breathed as her intense amber eyes fixed on Natsuki as she and her bike flew past. The dark-haired girls usually blank; expressionless face turning to one of admiration. Nina's blonde friend, Erstin looked on noticeably jealous.
"Pathetic," The teal-haired girl; Marguerite Tomoe that had ran into Natsuki on the other girls second day sneered, looking unimpressed. Dark amethyst eyes followed Natsuki's retreating form with stormy disdain.
"It's definitely a chick, that riding suit doesn't leave much to the imagination. Do you think it's actually the new chick?..." A third year boy nudged his friend, Takeda Masashi; who was also in the same grade.
"Dude I think so... shit that's hot." the green-haired boy, Takeda replied, dazed. Eyes never leaving the mysterious biker girl.
"Stop that debutante!" Haruka screamed, arms flailing in the air as she chased after the bike. A blushing; embarrassed Yukino running after her and trying to get her to stop.
"Delinquent, Haruka-chan..."
"That's what I said! And don't call me -chan!"
Just to piss off the other girl more, Natsuki pulled in the clutch, revved the bike and released. The front end of the bike shot into the hair, and she continued to twist the throttle back, doing a wheelie past all the astonished on lookers and screeching out of Fuka's gates. Flipping an enraged Haruka off as she did so.
"ARRGH! Natsuuuuuuki!" The blonde howled furiously, stomping her feet on the tarmac just inside the gates. Yukino's face was positively on fire now.
"Hell yeah, that's the best video I've gotten in ages! Woo Natsuki-san!" Chie cheered, grinning her phone in hand. Aoi, who was standing beside her, merely rolled her eyes at the dark-haired girl with an affectionate smile.
Once she hit normal roads, Natsuki let her bike accelerate to it's full potential. She took corners, leaning as far as she could go. Basking in the feeling of the wind rushing past her. She felt free.
After a particularly long ride, Natsuki noticed she was getting slightly low on fuel. With a disappointed sigh, the princess started heading back to the school. Once she got there, she noticed it was nearly 4:00pm. Which meant Shizuru would well and truly be done with her meeting with the principle.
Feeling significantly lighter, Natsuki pulled her Ducati into the schools gates. When she was passing the front gardens, she caught sight of Shizuru sitting on a bench, sipping something out of a cup. Deciding she was to impatient to put her bike back properly and change, Natsuki cut through the lawns, weaved through hedges, until she skidded to a stop right in front of the student president. Who looked bewildered at the motorcycle in front of her.
Kicking down the stand and cutting the engine, Natsuki then pulled her helmet off slowly' purely to tease the older girl. Once her helmet was off, Natsuki shook her long, cobalt hair out, unknowingly stretching seductively as she did so. Shizuru sat gaping at the scene, tea cup frozen a few inches from her face. Bleeding crimson eyes were wide with astonishment, and glazed with a sizable amount of lust.
"Ara..."
"Like what you see, Shiz-u-ru?" Natsuki grinned at her, still sitting on her bike. Their eyes met, and Natsuki tried not to smirk at the look Shizuru was giving her. Feeling empowered, Natsuki got off the bike and closed the distance between them. Glancing around briefly to make sure no one was in viewing, or listening distance, the princess then grabbed to motionless cup out of Shizuru's frozen hands, placing it on the bench space beside her.
And before Shizuru could so much as blink, Natsuki straddled her. Grinning goofily all the while, still slightly high from her ride. The princess felt unusually bold; as her hands made their way around Shizuru' shoulders, tangling in the fine hairs at the back of her neck. Eliciting a purr from the popular Kaichou.
"Ara, yes..." Shizuru whimpered out; her careful, perfect composure dissipating beneath Natsuki's fingertips, "I definitely like what I see..." suddenly the brunette blinked, before clearing her throat and composing herself. Natsuki swallowed when she caught the glint of mischief in Shizuru's crimson irises.
"Natsuki is being rather forward today," the Kaichou drawled with a grin, quirking an eyebrow teasingly as her eyes went to rest on Natsuki's slender waist. "Did my little wolf miss me?"
Natsuki's spur of confidence left her, and blood began to rush to her cheeks. "What! No, I mean...Wolf? " she blurted out in a rush.
Shizuru put a faux-hurt look, fooling Natsuki flawlessly, "Did Natsuki not miss me?" she whimpered in a pathetic tone, "Am I that horrible to be around?" she pretended to cry by covering her face with her hands a making her shoulders tremble. Natsuki's mind immediately went into overdrive. Did I hurt her? Please... no...
"Hey-wait, no! No you're great! Perfect!" Natsuki panicked, eyes going wide as she tried to desperately fix the disastrous situation. Shizuru on the other hand was trying to hide her smile and force down the giggles trying to burst forth.
"Truthfully?" Shizuru moved her hands away from her face and put on a practiced 'hopeful' look. Natsuki fell for it hook, line and sinker.
"Yes," the princess nodded vehemently, "A hundred percent!"
Shizuru clenched her teeth together tightly as she looked away. Her lips were twitching madly; body trembling with contained laughter, begging to be released. Natsuki; however, thought she was about to burst into tears again.
"Hey," she flailed around for a few moments, trying to think of a way to correct things without screwing up further. "Please don't cry!" she finally shouted, grabbing Shizuru's face and turning it to face her. Only when she saw the brunettes twitching lips did she catch on. Shizuru the promptly fell into a fit of laughter.
"You're laughing!" she gaped for a moment; before a pout covered her features, eyes glinting widely like a small, sad puppy. "You were teasing the whole time. Gah, I hate being so gullible." Natsuki growled, her brow furrowing and her bottom lips poking out further; while to her dismay another blush made its way to her cheeks. All this however, didn't stop her from being mesmerized by Shizuru's tinkling laugh.
"Natsuki is too cute," Shizuru panted, when the giggles finally subsided. She gratefully downed large gulp fulls of air; feeling deprived and slightly lightheaded.
"You alright?" Natsuki gave her a slightly concerned look, her hand moving to cup Shizuru's reddened cheek, rubbing gently. "You're flushed."
Neither girls noticed the angry, betrayed eyes hiding among the bushes, watching their interactions as they continued to gaze at each other silently. A few minutes passed, and the day began to cool, the sun; its rays were fading, as it became lower in the sky. So they started making their way inside. Just when Natsuki was about to say goodbye, however; Shizuru surprised her by requesting something.
"Natsuki?"
"Yeah?" she grunted back, looking over at the older girl.
"Can," Shizuru bit her lip, "...Can I talk to you tomorrow? In the woods. There's something I really need to show you."
Natsuki looked at her strangely for a moment before shrugging, "Sure, why not?" she furrowed her brows slightly in thought as Shizuru smiled brightly at her and gave a short, content peck on the lips before trotting off in the direction of her own dorm. The woods? Natsuki pondered, how odd.
The sun wasn't even peaking over the horizon when Natsuki found herself getting pulled through the woods by an eager, energized Shizuru. The princess had a grumpy; bleary eyed expression on her face, which Shizuru seemed to find extra cute; for some reason or another, that Natsuki couldn't even pretend to understand.
"Ahck," Natsuki spat disgustedly as she got a mouthful of cobwebs, "Goddamn spiders and their stupid webs," she grumbled unhappily under her breath, "Sun's not even up yet. So why am I up? Doesn't make sense, no...sense..." she mumbled, half-incoherent with sleepiness. Shizuru had to contain her amusement at her companion's expressions.
So cute, the Kyoto-born girl cooed in her head, like a disgruntled little puppy. Oh my Natsuki would make such a cute puppy! Images of a little blue puppy, with floppy ears and a tail flashed through Shizuru's mind, and she found it hard not to start giggling on the spot.
About two minutes later, the two girls were walking onto what seemed like a mini heaven. It was a gorgeous clearing; or meadow? Surrounded by large, dense trees, littered with pretty, exotic looking wildflowers; the princess could just imagine how beautiful the place would look when bathed underneath the sun. Natsuki wasn't a sentimental person, but even she found this something of a treasure.
"How did you find this?" she whispered softly, something akin to awe touching her expression.
Natsuki saw Shizuru give a relaxed sigh, before the princess was enveloped in slender, protective arms. Natsuki's back was pressed tightly against Shizuru's front. "A while back I was out wondering trying to find somewhere to just be myself. I usually come here with my tea and just sit; listening to the peaceful sounds of the surrounding thicket. Lovely isn't it?"
"Its..." the princess bit her lip, not wanting to sound sappy; well sappy in her opinion anyway, "It's alright I guess," she gave a forced nonchalant shrug, not fooling Shizuru for a split second.
"Ara, ara..." Shizuru whispered playfully into Natsuki's ear, "Is that the scent of a lie I'm catching?" the Kyoto beauty tightened her hold and placed soft butterfly kisses on Natsuki's neck, where her hair wasn't covering it.
"O..oi.." Natsuki half-gasped; half-chided, her eyes falling closed as Shizuru's lips teased her neck. The princess tried to keep her thoughts coherent. It didn't work well; seeing as she was still half-asleep and Shizuru's mere presence was intoxicating. A hand slipped underneath the hem her shirt, gently caressing the skin of her hipbones.
"What was that, my Natsuki?" Natsuki felt Shizuru's smirk against her skin, and fought not to blush. Emerald eyes stared hazily into the surrounding forest. "I didn't quiet understand your words...?" Shizuru continued to tease.
"Er-mmm," Natsuki moaned; eyes rolling as Shizuru's hands pulled her hips back towards her body, crushing them against each other further. "It's-sss," she hissed as a hand made its way higher on her stomach; briefly tickling her. "Pretty?" she finally forced out.
"Merely pretty?" Shizuru's hot breathing caressed her ear as the lobe was taken between some sparkling; white teeth. Natsuki gave a demented head movement that was half nod, half head shake.
"Beautiful?" she tried to appease, biting her lip hard now as tender hands roamed her sensitive body; and lips made a wet path on the column of her neck. Abruptly, she pulled away from her lover, flustered.
"Enough," she tried to growl, though it came out huskily; an almost sultry sound. Clearing her throat, Natsuki regained her composure and reorganized her muddled; dizzy thoughts, while shaking her head.
"You brought me out here to show me something, didn't you? I don't know why you did it at the ass-crack of dawn though..." she grumbled the last sentence, receiving an amused gaze from Shizuru - who looked as perfect and put together as ever, excluding the blush on her cheeks; crawling down her elegant neck.
"I guess I should show you then," Shizuru sighed, her bleeding crimson eyes looking slightly troubled suddenly. Natsuki felt a pang in her chest and wanted to immediately take the expression away. But she held her ground and awaited what was to happen next.
"Please do not hate me for this, my Natsuki..."
"The latest Senshi-HiME has arrived." A deep male voice spoke, his identity shrouded in shadows; concealed; veiled and hidden.
"Good. Is the princess aware of her powers?" A soft, childish voice asked; it was terribly deceiving, because in reality the owner of this voice was aged beyond her years.
"Uh, I'm not sure. I think so." the male voice stuttered out; nervous in the female child's presence, for reason's unknown to him.
The girls voice turned chilling as she hissed: "You think?"
"Uh, well, yes... She had a Gem in her ear that looked like the Silver Ice Crystal. She tries to keep it hidden. It was hard to catch a glimpse of it, but I'm quite sure."
A frustrated growl resounded through the room and a shiver shot up the males spine, "It seems she does then, well just have to go on assumptions," the female's voice said; with a tint of annoyance. "What about Miss. Tokiha? Is she aware yet?"
"No," the male responded, his voice more confident. "She's getting suspicious though. What with all the odd occurrences her presence has been causing since she arrived last year. It wont be long before she figures it out. Or she's told by another Senshi-HiME. Actually, I'm surprised Miss. Managi hasn't shed some light on the subject."
"The feral girl?" The female snorted, "No, no, she's much too concerned with food and sleep to be worried about anything remotely important. Terribly naive. But she's the best fighter out of them all, except for maybe Kuga. Daddy Kuga seems to have taken heed to his late wife's advice and started training her in hand-to-hand combat and weapon skills since she was small. He's distanced himself well, looks like he doesn't want to die in case she ends up loosing a battle."
The female sighed heavily, before continuing. "Fujino is also quite good with her Element, I've seen her practicing in the forest. Kikukawa and Tokiha are who I'm most concerned about. Miss Yuuki, has got heightened instincts and reflexes, along with a hell of a lot of self-preservation. Suzurisho... she could do with some fine tuning, too brash, but undoubtley courageous. Wang is as determined and focused as ever, but is too mechanical with her fighting style. Yumemiya is as ungraceful and clueless as Wang is determined, and Marguerite is getting out of control with her obsession for Fujino."
"Hmm..." The male hummed, "Miss Kuga and Miss Fujino are getting close. Very close. I would even go so far to say they are each others most important person already. It seems love is in the air. Ironic really, seeing as their families are at war."
"Interesting," The child's voice mused. "Insignificant though, really. They will have more pressing matters to deal with soon. A family feud will seem like nothing. Maybe I should bring Midori in soon. It might make them open their eyes. God knows, they are going to need all the help they can get. Midori is really going to have her work cut out for her with this bunch."
"Yes," the male agreed, "Or we could send something, a Slave maybe? Or even an Orphan? Maybe a stressful situation will force them to come to terms with their abilities. But it might be too risky, seeing as Tokiha isn't wearing her Gem. Then again, she could just summon her Element and Child."
"No," the female disagreed, "It would complicate things, and the girls would all become distrustful of one another because of the secrets they have been harboring. They need to work it out for themselves. And they will all naturally gravitate to the own kind. Everything will be revealed soon enough. Midori should really be brought it, if not just to guide them into working everything out."
"What about getting the princess to realize the real cause of her mothers death? It would give her more drive if she knew the truth, at least." the man questioned.
"A few well placed clues, and numbers should get her in the loop."
"Sounds practical, Mashiro-sama."
"Thank you, Kanzii-san. You may leave."
End Note: There's chapter 4. Mixing up HiME and Otome a little haha. Not that creative, but eh, I feel lazy. Check out my formspring if you have an Questions - http: /www. formspring. me/SwiftKatana
-Senshi - warrior.
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