A/N:

LOL! You guys make my day! I know I sound like a broken record, but thanx to everyone who continues to read and review.

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Disclaimer:

I don't own diddly.

Chapter 4:

Yukino began to shiver. Her mind was trying to process the events that had occurred only moments ago. Forgotten was her own problem, as she was now only concerned for the young girl in front of her. Yukino sighed deeply.

Why Nao? Why do you always gets yourself into trouble? You are a smart girl. I know you know better. So why? Why put yourself in that position?

Yukino's thoughts continued swirling about her head in a disorderly fashion. She was suddenly startled, as a soft moan escaped Nao's lips, and she turned over in her sleep. Yukino looked around and grabbed a chair from Aoi's desk. She then positioned it against the wall by Nao's bed, watching the younger girl sleep.

Yukino wasn't sure exactly how far the two men had gotten with Nao, and although she didn't want to admit it, she was afraid to find out. She contemplated leaving and pretending that none of it had happened She shivered again, reliving the past nights events once more, then shaking her head.

"No, nobody deserves to wake up alone after that." Yukino resolved out loud.

Nao once again shifted in her sleep, turning back to face Yukino. The girl looked unsettled. She continued to toss, turn and mutter things incoherently, while Yukino could only look on, entranced. Yukino forgot that she hadn't had much sleep the past night, and before she knew it, her head was resting on the back of the chair, and she too was fast asleep.

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Haruka felt as though she was losing her mind. She surveyed the dorm room once more, frustrated to not find what it was she sought. Where was Yukino? Was it all a dream? Haruka's mind raced.She began to rationalize the events of the night prior. Then she began to laugh. Loud maniacal laughter. She was feeling like her old self again.

"Of course Yukino is not a boy! That would just be silly. It was all a bad dream." Haruka happily shouted to herself.

It all makes sense, especially after my date with Touya yesterday. Hahahaha Yukino? A boy? Oh I can't wait to find her and tell her all about it.

Haruka was slowly beginning to believe the things she was saying and thinking even though not everything made sense to her. She continued to rationalize the craziness.

I must have slept walked into Yukino's bed last night. Yes of course that's what happened. My dream was so vivid that I jumped across the room, thinking Yukino, in my dream was an attacker. That's how I ended up here.

Haruka sighed happily. She was content with her explanation of things. One question still remained though. Where was Yukino?

The blond dressed quickly and hurried out of her dorm room. She was on a mission. A mission to find her best friend and figure out the truth once and for all. Once she found Yukino, a female Yukino, then she could rest knowing it was all in her head. Until then, she continued to quiet the small voice in her mind, telling her it may have not been a dream at all.

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Nao groggily opened her eyes and wondered what time it was. She tried to sit up in her bed, but was immediately overwhelmed by pain. Everything hurt. What had happened to her? She looked down at her arms and her eyes widened as things became a little clearer. She began to remember last night. She had been drinking, dancing and having a good time. Then what? She had asked two guys for a ride home. After that? Her mind was flooded with images of her assault, and then of the young man who saved her.

"Yukito..." she said suddenly, without thinking.

She delicately turned her head to the side, glancing down to notice the various bruises and scratches that adorned her neck and chest. Then she saw him. He was sitting in a chair right by her bed, sleeping soundly.

Nao looked the boy up and down again, wondering why he had stayed.

Never mind why he stayed. Who is he? Why did he help you?

Nao was not willing to believe that ANYONE would help her, unless they wanted something. But what could he want? Nao decided to find out. She reached over slowly and shook his arm. Nothing. She shook it some more. Again nothing. Letting her impatience get the better of her, Nao then pinched Yukino's arm hard.

"AHHHHHH" yelled Yukino, hitting her head on the wall.

Before she even had time to realize what hit her, she found herself face to face with an angry Nao.

"What do you want?" Nao scowled, looking Yukino straight in the eye.

Yukino looked at the seething Nao. A big grin broke out on her face. Nao seemed to be her normal self again.

"Yuuki-san how are you feeling? Are you okay?" Yukino asked, throwing her arms around the startled girl.

"Ack!" yelped Nao, as the stranger hugged her. She winced in pain.

"Oh sorry, I forgot. I mean, I wasn't thinking." Yukino apologized, realizing that Nao's body was bruised and battered, and that hug probably wasn't a good idea.

Why had she hugged the girl anyways? Yukino didn't have time to think about that as she took Nao's hand. Nao was looking at her strangely, still not sure what to make of the situation.The boy in front of her seemed harmless, yet after last night she knew she needed to be more careful of the company she kept.

Yukino, who had just woken up and obviously had her mind on other things, had once again forgotten she was in the body of a guy. She wanted to make sure Nao was all right, but she knew the girl wouldn't allow her to take her to the hospital. Nao hated hospitals.

"Listen Yuuki-san" she started, pulling the blanket off the younger girl's body to take a better look. "These look really bad, I think you need to get them check-" she stopped and looked up as Nao slapped her hand away.

"Don't touch me." she whispered, pulling the covers up to her neck. She turned her back to Yukino, as she felt the tears well up in her eyes. "Just leave me alone."

Yukino was at a loss for words. She wanted badly to help Nao and yet she didn't know how. She knew she couldn't leave her in her current state.

"No Yuuki-san I won't leave you alone." Yukino stated.

Nao turned to face Yukino once again, and this time Yukino clearly saw the hurt in her eyes. Nao stared Yukino down and then motioned for her to come closer. Yukino got up and stood over Nao, her face inches away from the redhead. Nao, not wasting a minute, grabbed Yukino's hands and placed them on her chest. Yukino's eyes widened as the defiant girl then reached up, wrapping her arms around Yukino's head and bringing her down for a crude kiss.

Nao kissed Yukino hard, sending Yukino's entire body and mind into a sense of disarray. Nao then roughly pulled away.

"There! Is that what you want?" she sneered, pushing Yukino hard.

"N-no.." Yukino didn't have time to squeak out a sentence before Nao continued to rant.

"Isn't it? Isn't that what everyone wants from me? My body?" she screamed angrily.

Yukino quickly rushed to Nao's side, forgetting everything and gently taking the girl into her arms. Nao, surprised by the sudden display of affection, contemplated pushing Yukino away, but for some reason couldn't. Instead her body heaved and she began to sob heavily into the stranger's shirt. Yukino continued to hold Nao, lightly stroking her forehead, as she listened to the girl's soft crying.

"Why—why do you care?" Nao finally managed to find her words.

Yukino thought for a moment. Trying to find the best way to answer Nao's question.

"Because I can." she said simply, continuing to hug the redhead tightly to her.

Yukino could feel Nao begin to take deeper breaths, and the crying soon stopped. She let go of the girl and the two pairs of eyes met once more.

"I think I should try and get up now." Nao said meekly.

"Actually, there's something I need to tell you, and I think you should stay where you are." Yukino replied, seriously.

Yukino had gone back and forth on whether or not to bring up her own little problem. The fact of the matter was that it was not a little problem at all. It was a life changing MASSIVE problem, and it was partially Nao's fault that she was in this mess. Well at least that's what she was going to tell herself anyways.

Nao looked puzzled, but motioned for Yukino to continue. Yukino sighed and took a deep breath.

Here goes nothing and everything all at once...

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Haruka looked around and grumbled slightly to herself. She was at the mall. What was she doing there? Why had she agreed to this? One word plain and simple. Ambush. She had rushed out of her room, so focused on finding Yukino, that she hadn't noticed the entourage of people in the hallway. Not bothering to watch where she was going, because the dorms were practically empty, Haruka had literally run right into Mai, Reito and Touya.

Touya had flashed a smile and then in front of everyone had invited Haruka to the mall with the rest of them. Haruka had initially declined, stating how busy she was, but after some time was coaxed/forced by Mai. Mai had great powers of persuasion and knew how to use them. The busty orange haired girl only had to mention that they MIGHT be meeting up with Shizuru and Natsuki at the mall, and that the group might get rowdy, and they needed someone like Haruka to keep everyone in line. Of course Haruka couldn't say no when Mai put it that way. After all, they needed her!

Haruka looked at the clock in the food court. It was mid afternoon and still no Yukino sightings. She looked around the table at the happy faces in front of her. They had met up with Akane, Kazuya, Mikoto, Tate and Shiho, but there was still no sign of Shizuru.

Baka! Why am I thinking about that bubuzuke woman at a time like this?

Haruka willed all thoughts of Shizuru out of her mind. She turned her attention to the conversation that was happening around her.

"Hey Mai, what are you doing tomorrow?" asked Tate, nonchalantly.

"I don't know why?" asked Mai.

"Well I was hoping we could go to the movies or something..." Tate stopped in mid-sentence, putting his hands in his pockets.

"ONII-CHAN!" yelled Shiho. "You promised to take me to the movies this week."

"It's not polite to ask a woman out when she's on another date." Reito whispered slyly to Tate.

Tate ignored Shiho's whining and glared at Reito.

"Well how can I ever ask her out if you're always in the picture." he growled.

Kazuya put himself between the two, letting them simmer.

Haruka looked from one boy to the other. It looked like she wasn't the only one with problems. She then looked at Mai, who seemed slightly annoyed and embarrassed at her two admirers' constant bickering.

Seems poor Mai is in the middle of a love triangle.

"You can both stop now cause MAI IS MINE!" yelled Mikoto, finishing her ramen and joining the conversation.

Or maybe a love square?

Mai tried to maintain some order, as Tate, Reito and Mikoto continued to argue over whose possession she was. She sighed deeply and looked at Haruka, who shot her a sympathetic glance.

Mai grinned and winked at Haruka, making a hand gesture to Touya. Haruka's eyes widened.

Gah! Does she think there's something going on between us?

At that moment Haruka turned to eye Touya. She hadn't been paying much attention to him and now she saw that his hand was resting on her leg. She looked up at him and he smiled sweetly back at her. With her attention now his, Touya put his other hand over Haruka's stroking it lightly.

Oh help he's touching me again! Any other girl would be thrilled. He's perfect really. He's so perfect, it's sickening...

"Hey guys look it's Shizuru and Natsuki." Mai pointed, waving to the couple who had just walked into the food court.

"Yaaay ShizNat is here!" Mikoto exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"Shiz--Nat? Haruka repeated and burst out laughing.

Shizuru and Natsuki were making their way to the table of friends when Natsuki got wind of what they were saying.

"What's a ShizNat?" she asked the group.

Everyone looked at each other, and then at the two girls who had just walked up. Then the entire table erupted into laughter.

Shizuru caught on right away and begin to laugh as well at the bewildered expression on Natsuki's face.

"Ara, I do think they are referring to us, my Natsuki." she purred, softly.

"WHAT?" yelled Natsuki, becoming more and more aggravated by the minute.

Natsuki's aggravation just made everyone laugh harder until finally Akane explained.

"Shizuru is Shiz. You're Nat. Together that makes--" Akane stopped, waiting for everyone else to join in.

"SHIZNAT!" chorused the group at the table, minus Natsuki.

Natsuki went red and began yelling at the group. "So you're telling me that you people are too lazy to say our names separately and so you've CONJOINED them?" she continued to rant.

"Yeah, that about sums it up." replied Tate.

"Relax Kuga-san, it's not so bad really." added Reito.

"Yeah it sounds like a great name for a band." Touya said, giving his opinion.

"It sounds like poop." Natsuki declared, unintentionally sending the table into a fit of giggles once more.

Shizuru, who was still laughing to herself, sat down beside Haruka. She noticed the blond girl's body immediately stiffen, as their arms brushed against each other. Shizuru looked at the Reito clone sitting beside Haruka, noticing where exactly his hands were. Shizuru immediately recognized that this was not the same man Haruka had in her bedroom the night before. She then leaned down close to Haruka to whisper into her ear.

"Ara, Suzushiro-san has many admirers." she said, her breath warm on Haruka's face.

Haruka shivered, not used to being this close to the former Kaichou. Then she glared at the other woman as she spoke.

"What? You don't believe anyone EXCEPT yourself could have admirers?" Haruka asked, squeezing Touya's hand tighter, just to drive the point home.

"Gomen Suzushiro-san. I meant no disrespect." Shizuru apologized, enjoying the rise from the other woman.

Haruka just glared.

You just wait and see. I'm going to slap that arrogant smile off your face one of these days Fujino.

Natsuki was still on a ShizNat induced rant, and had forgotten all about what she had seen in Haruka's room the other night.

"So you're telling me that when Kazuya and Akane go on dates, I can call them Kazane? Or Akazuya? What about Mai and Reito? Can I can call them Maito?" Natsuki asked, trying to prove that this was extremely stupid.

"No way MAIkoto forever." yelled the cat girl loudly.

Once again everyone laughed, this time Natsuki joined in. Sighing, she decided to let it go. There had to be worse things in the world than being called ShizNat, although at the moment she couldn't think of any.

"I personally like Harukino." grinned Mai, looking at Haruka.

"What?" asked Haruka, wondering what exactly Mai was implying.

"Well you and Yukino are always attached at the hip, so instead of saying—Hey there's Haruka AND Yukino, I can make life easier for myself and just call you Harukino." Mai smiled.

Haruka looked at her as though she had grown three heads.

"Conjoining names is fun right Mai?" giggled Mikoto, who was now on Mai's lap.

"Onii-chan would you like to combine our names?" asked Shiho.

"No!" yelled Tate, a little too quickly, causing Shiho to turn away from the group and stomp off.

"Hey speaking of Yukino, where is your crazy haired friend?" asked Natsuki, suddenly remembering her break and enter into their dorm room.

Haruka tried to think, very aware of the many pairs of eyes intently waiting for her response. The whereabouts of her best friend had been plaguing her all day. The fact that nobody had seen the girl, made Haruka's earlier dream convictions, seem a little less likely. She had to say something though, as of course she should know where Yukino was. So she quickly concocted a lie.

"She went to visit with her parents for the weekend." Haruka lied.

"Oh that must be nice." replied Mai.

The others nodded their heads in agreement. Seeing that everyone had seemingly bought her lie, Haruka breathed a sigh of relief.

"So what shall we do now?" asked Natsuki, changing the subject.

"Two words." grinned Tate.

"MINI-GOLF!!" yelled Mikoto, running ahead, as the rest of the group got up to engage in everyone's not-so-favorite pastime.

Haruka's eyes lit up. She loved to do anything competetive. It had been a long day and whipping that bubuzuke woman and her puppy in a game of mini-golf was just the thing she needed to calm her nerves.

As Haruka became obsessed with beating the snot out of everyone in Mini-Golf, all thoughts of Yukino drifted out of her head.

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"WHAT?" cried Nao loudly, not believing a word of what was just said. "You expect me to believe that YOU are Kikukawa-san?"

"Well yeah, I was kind of hoping you would." Yukino said weakly.

Nao's mind was racing. Who did this guy think he was, telling her he was Yukino? Nao just could not believe it. It was preposterous. No, it was mind blowing. Better yet, it was IMPOSSIBLE. Well whatever this person was trying to pull, she had no intentions of falling for it. Still, stranger things had happened and so she decided to try one more round of interrogation with this guy.

"You expect me to believe that "Be The Man" actually turned you into a guy?" Nao asked for the umpteenth time.

"Yes I do." Yukino stated,her patience slowly dwindling. She could understand why Nao didn't believe her, as it was a pretty impossible story.

"Prove it!" the redhead yelled.

Yukino looked at Nao, perplexed. "How?" she asked.

"Tell me something that ONLY Yukino would know about me?" Nao grinned, figuring she had this guy right where she wanted him.

Ok so I know this CAN'T be Kikukawa-san. No freaking way! But then who is it? Did she send him to mess with me? That's not her style... Maybe he is a relative of hers? Brother? Cousin?

Nao began to see the slight resemblance of this guy to Yukino. They had very similar features, and gestures. She had spent enough time with Kikukawa and Suzushiro in detention, that she had watched their every move and had it embedded in her brain. She liked to watch. Watching was fun. Watching was how you learned.

Yukino cleared her throat. "Ok here it goes. Your name is Yuuki Nao and you just turned fifteen years old." Yukino started. "I know this because I was at your birthday party. Haruka, after being coerced by Midori, aka the Hime Sentai leader, drank all the blueberry schnapps and lurched all over Tate." Yukino continued, looking at Nao, trying to gage a reaction.

Nao thought for a moment and then crossed her arms over her chest. "Bah! That's all public knowledge, anyone could know that. You'll have to do better if you want me to believe this." she snorted.

"79/56/78" Yukino whispered.

"What?" asked Nao, completely thrown off.

"That's your measurements. B/W/H 79/56/78." Yukino repeated.

"H-how do you know that?" Nao demanded, feeling a tiny bit violated.

"As you said before, the Student Council is all knowing." Yukino smiled.

Nao thought for a moment. There was no way the guy could have guessed her measurements. There was also a slim chance that if Yukino had sent someone to pull her leg, she would have told him that information. Nao bit down on her lip hard. Could this really be Yukino?

"Listen, Yuuki-san you don't have to believe me. I just thought you should know who you were kissing for next time." Yukino laughed and winked.

AAACK I kissed Kikukawa-san! Blech! Wait--it can't REALLY be her can it? I just can't believe this...this guy is really CUTE...and yet...it's Yukino...ugh...

"Anyways I am going back to that store to fix this mess." the dark haired girl stated, heading for the door.

Nao thought quickly. What if it was true? What IF? Nao struggled back and forth with believing what was set before her, or falling into a trap. Finally she shrugged her shoulders, deciding she would go with the flow and see where it took her. Then Nao had a thought. An interesting thought. Why not see how far she really could take this. A smile played upon her face as she looked at Yukino.

"Kikukawa-san?" Nao asked tentatively.

"Hai, Yuuki-san?" Yukino replied.

"Why would you want to change back?" Nao asked simply. "I mean isn't this what you've wanted?" she continued.

"What? Why would I want this?" Yukino asked, taken back by Nao's questioning.

"Because you could win the heart of your precious Haruka-chan!" Nao exclaimed, her eyes gleaming.

"Haruka-chan's love?" Yukino asked, slightly unsure.

"Yes! Haruka likes men right? Well the problem before was that you WEREN'T a guy. Now you are. So why would you want to change back. I'd say this is a blessing in disguise. Really you should be thanking me Kikukawa-san." Nao took a breath, glancing towards Yukino.

Yukino was deep in thought. As much as she hated to admit it, Nao had a good point. Why was she so anxious to change back? Isn't this what she wanted? A chance to be a normal guy who loved a normal girl?

Well that was a bad example...as neither Haruka or myself come close to being normal...

"Look it's obvious you can't do this by yourself, so let me help you. I can be your coach!" Nao exclaimed excitedly.

"Coach?" asked Yukino dryly.

"Yes, you definitely need coaching in the girl department." Nao replied, looking Yukino up and down. "I can help you truly go from Yukino to Yukito. First things first, although the Fuuka uniform is awesomely manly (gag)--you'll need some new threads" she continued.

Yukino was trying to take it all in. Was this fate? Was she supposed to be a guy now? She wished she could tell herself that she didn't want this. She wished she could say no thank you, I'm happy being who I am. But she couldn't!

"Why would you help me?" she asked Nao.

Nao sighed. "Well, you know, you saved me..." the redhead's voice was barely audible.

"Yeah well, it was nothing. Anyone would have done it." Yukino quickly said, trying not to blush.

"Not everyone..." Nao looked towards Yukino, words trailing off.

"Are you hungry?" asked Yukino, suddenly remembering that she nor the younger girl had eaten anything in awhile.

"Starved." replied Nao, watching Yukino walk to the fridge. "Don't bother it's bare." laughed Nao.

Yukino's tummy began to make unattractive sounds.

"I need food." she surmised.

"Great. We can pick something up on the way." Nao smiled happily and gingerly began to get up from the bed.

"Hey don't hurt yourself. Take it easy." Yukino said., running to her side and helping her to her feet.

Nao suddenly felt a little embarrassed at the fact she was still naked. A fact that only moments ago had not phased her. She pulled the blanket over her body, covering herself up as she headed into the bathroom to change.

"Where do you think were going anyways?" Yukino called out. "You're in no shape to go out!" she exclaimed.

"The mall of course." Nao shot back. "You need a new wardrobe, and I need some long sleeved shirts." the redhead replied, pointing at the bruises that adorned her arms.

"But you're in no shape to--"

"Please let's just go." Nao interrupted. "I need to get some fresh air anyways."

Nao was already half out the door, before she beckoned to Yukino. Yukino knew that although she may be able to win a battle against Nao, she could never win the war. Reluctantly she followed the younger girl outside and into the warm summer air. Yukino and Nao both looked at each other. Each silently questioning the other one, before making their way towards the mall.

What does fate have in store for the two girls? And what will happen when Yukino and Haruka cross paths at the mall!!

End Chapter 4

Phew! Another long one! This was a very hard chappie to write. Not much in the way of action, but hopefully some character development was achieved. LOL and of course I always try to throw in some humor to offset the seriousness a bit. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed.

Please read and send those reviews my way :)

Take care folks

ShotgunNeko