Chapter 4: Initiation
Sorry for not updating for a while! The story continues...
Recap: Natsuki's father was murdered by Alyssa Searrs, so she agreed to join Garderobe in order to seek revenge. After Natsuki's unconventional Garderobe trial, the seemingly deadly Second Meister, Shizuru, somehow agrees to become her Onee-sama. They have clashed several times already...What is there to come?
Natsuki's training as a novice began immediately after she recovered from the little sparring match she had with Shizuru. Although quite thrilled on the inside, she grudgingly accepted Shizuru as her Onee-sama and her official initiation would take place in a few days time. Meanwhile, Natsuki attended the classes that current novices were taking. At Garderobe, classes were held on a perpetual basis where new students would come and simply follow whatever is being taught at the time. On her first day, she sat in a classroom listening to the lecture and felt completely unsatisfied with this type of "training." This is just like high school all over again! But instead we're focusing on human anatomy and psychology! However, she held in her opinions in hope that the next day would be better.
To her dismay, her second day was not better. The novices were given written assignments and tests based off of the lecture from the previous day. This is when gossip and rumors began about the rebellious new novice that seemed to never touch her papers during the whole class period.
Natsuki, of course, heard these whispers being passed around but remained laid back in her seat with her arms folded and her eyes closed. Class was ten hours long and Natsuki seemed to keep that position the whole time, to her fellow novices' dismay and confusion. The next few days consisted of the same routine, a lecture then a couple of assignments and tests and Natsuki's seemingly never-moving figure.
"What, does she think she's better than all of us that she can't take these tests?"
"No, she just doesn't know anything!"
"What was Shizuru-oneesama thinking, choosing a girl like that?"
Meanwhile, Natsuki and Shizuru's relationship did not develop much over the past few days mainly because Shizuru was rarely ever in her office or room when Natsuki returned from her novice classes. Plus, whenever Shizuru was present, she always seemed to be extremely busy so the farthest their conversations had gone was a simple, "How was your day?" and "Fine."
This distance somewhat irked Natsuki. I thought she was going to be the one to train me, not these stupid classes. Instead of speaking up about it, she held back, seeing the constant tired look in the Second Meister's eyes and giving the classes a little more time before judging them too quickly.
On the fifth day of "training," instead of the constant lecture-assignment-test routine they had going on, they would each be taking what Natsuki was told to be a monthly diagnostic exam designed to test what level each novice was at through a sparring match.
Of course, this brought Natsuki out of her "slumber." Finally, something that may be more interesting than that high-school-like crap. The class walked over to an expanse room that looked like a very high-tech gym, equipped with computers at every angle that could record each sparring match and calculate the level of each novice.
"Okay novices, line up!" The flame-red haired trainer called Midori, instructed. "Novice Mikoto and Novice Erstin, step forward."
Natsuki watched carefully as two small girls that looked much younger than herself, one with spikey black hair tied in braids and the other with short blonde hair, stepped forward.
"I am Novice Erstin Ho and I have been in Garderobe for 4 months, level 3," the blonde one announced.
"I am Novice Mikoto Minagi and I have been in Garderobe for 3 months, also level 3," the black-haired one spoke back.
Midori put her hand in between the two girls, "Bow….Fight!"
Mikoto and Erstin immediately sprang into action, beginning the bouts of sparring matches of the day. Natsuki watched each match closely, learning the moves of other novices, observing the tactics that were executed. So this is what level 3 to level 5 novices can do… Natsuki observed that all of the novices that fought so far were between these ranges. That's right, I read the handbook. You can move up a level if the computers that analyze your match calculate that you are ready to move up. Novices can go up to level 10. Once they reach that, they may take the Third Class qualifying exam, yada yada ya.
"Novice Tomoe and Novice Natsuki, please step forward!" Midori ordered after several matches had already taken place.
Natsuki obeyed and took a step forward, only to be confused by the frantic murmuring that arose from the others.
"Isn't this kind of unfair?"
"The newbie with Tomoe? How unlucky for her since these matches are chosen randomly."
"This oughta be quick. Tomoe's onee-sama is also the Fifth Meister, Chie-oneesama."
When Natsuki looked up, sure enough, this girl named Tomoe, with a short light green fringe and odd hairstyle exuded a confidence more than that of any other novice. Well what do we have here? Natsuki thought in intrigue.
"I am Novice Tomoe Marguerite and I have been in Garderobe for 1 year, level 9."
Natsuki's eyebrows rose in surprise. Finally something interesting happens in this place. "The name's Natsuki. I've been in here for 5 days so I don't really have a level."
At hearing this, Midori stepped in with a worried look on her face, "Novice Natsuki, I allow you to be paired with someone else. Facing a stronger opponent is indeed encouraged, but I'm afraid this will be too unfair of a fight."
At this, Natsuki didn't even bat an eye, "There's no need for that. I will face Novice Tomoe."
The crowd's murmurs grew louder with numerous exclamations of "She's crazy!" reaching the dark-haired beauty's ears. Tch…you guys have no idea. Natsuki thought.
The trainer gave a small pause before answering, "Very well." Midori then put her hand in between the two, "Bow…Fight!"
"What's this, a suicide attempt?" Tomoe's snide voice echoed through the gym as she took her fighting stance, "Whatever it is, go ahead. I'll let you make the first move," she stated degradingly.
Natsuki also took her fighting stance and appeared unperturbed by Tomoe's demeaning tone, "There will also be no need for that."
The green haired girl paused for one moment. Her stance appears quite practiced. But there's no need to worry since her stats from the trial were so low. "Oh really? Well then let's just see about that. I'm going to wipe that false confidence off of your face." Tomoe lunged for a swift punch, confident that she would hit her mark. But she was shocked to find that she had lunged for air after the new novice easily side-stepped her attack. "Tch, lucky dodge for you."
You wish. Natsuki regained her fighting stance, taking a deep calming breath in. Moving in closer to Tomoe, she threw a punch and missed after the level 9 novice dodged it easily, earning several snickers from the crowd. Little did they know, Natsuki was simply analyzing her opponent's abilities before making any rash actions.
"Oh what are you going to do now, fight? Are you sure you don't want your Second Meister onee-sama to do it for you? You must have done something to get Shizuru onee-sama to take you as her imouto, right?"
The dark-haired beauty made several more attacks that she fully expected Tomoe to dodge, which she did, but she was getting more and more irritated by her opponent's provocations. That's when Tomoe took her turn to attack, landing a hard right hook to Natsuki's cheek. Natsuki immediately stepped back and took a defensive stance. With a grin on her face, Tomoe closed the distance between the two and threw a fast series of attacks Natsuki's way. Natsuki could have dodged these attacks easily but instead blocked them to gauge the other girl's strength and speed. So this is what a level 9 can do? Puh-lease.
Of course, no one could hear Natsuki's interior monologue and from an outsider's perspective, Tomoe appeared to have the upper hand and the newbie was only able to keep up by blocking every attack. However, everyone was already amazed that the new girl could even keep up with Tomoe, the seasoned novice.
In the throes of her offensive bout, Tomoe's arrogance was boosted when she noticed that her opponent appeared to resort to defensive moves in order to keep up. "Yeah that's right, know your place and cower before me! You just want everyone to pity you too, huh? 'Ooh I went against a level 9 novice and got all beat up, wah!'"
Focus, Natsuki, focus. She's just trying to get you to lose your temper. Don't let her get to you! Natsuki's inner voice was having a very hard time holding in her anger when she knew she could just beat the crap out of the infuriating girl in front of her.
"I heard about your past. You should know, what they're saying about you is right! Garderobe must have accepted you out of pity because your daddy was killed!" Tomoe laughed, "Heh, I bet your daddy died so easily because he was too weak to defend himself, just like his daughter!"
"Tomoe stop and just get on with the fight." Midori cut in, knowing the girl had gone too far.
But it was too late. Tomoe had nicked the wrong nerve. Natsuki's fury was unleashed and in a flash she made it her goal to beat Tomoe for all she was worth. A surprised Tomoe attempted to fight back and should be given credit for being able to block some of Natsuki's flurry of punches and kicks. But Natsuki's agility and power were too great for the level 9 novice and she was soon taking many of Natsuki's attacks, unable to retaliate. After feeling satisfied with using Tomoe as a punching bag, Natsuki kneed her opponent in the gut and knocked her on the floor where she was able to pin the infuriating girl with her weight.
"Do you yield?" Natsuki's husky voice was low and dangerous. Be lucky I'm following the handbook, bitch. "Always allow your opponent to yield" for a fair match, my ass.
Tomoe simply spat on her, "To the likes of you, the kind that feeds off of Shizuru-oneesama's kindness?" she growled, "never."
This drove Natsuki mad, bringing her blood to dangerous temperatures. She began smashing Tomoe's face in until blood soaked her fists and then paused. "I'm asking you again, do you yield?" her voice was low and raspy, emphasizing her deathly tone.
"N-No," came the weak reply.
"What's this, a suicide attempt?" Natsuki replied in a high-pitched voice, mocking Tomoe's earlier words. With that, the dark-haired beauty got up off of Tomoe and walked away from the match. "I deem my opponent unable to continue."
Natsuki was prepared to leave it at that, but in desperation, Tomoe gathered her last ounces of strength and charged towards the dark-haired beauty. Showing no mercy, Natsuki swiped her leg up, hitting Tomoe's chin and used two fingers to jab them with all her strength to a pressure point on Tomoe's neck. At first, the green-haired girl appeared to be frozen in place, but soon a little blood leaked out of her mouth and she slumped to the floor. Frightened gasps rung out while Natsuki walked back to her place in line as if nothing out of the ordinary had traversed.
"Novice Natsuki! You are to report to my office immediately!" Midori commanded with a stern and disappointed tone while tending to Tomoe, "Class is dismissed!"
After a stern scolding and the promise to make a proper apology to Tomoe, Midori made Natsuki sit in an empty, locked training room to reflect on her actions while she went to get her onee-sama.
It had been a good thirty minutes since Natsuki was first locked in the room and she couldn't help but be annoyed at how much this resembled detention or a trip to the principal's office in high school.
"Novice Natsuki, will you please explain to me why you would go so far in a diagnostic match?"
"First Class Midori, I did not mean to harm Tomoe and with all due respect, I did allow her to yield several times."
As if she didn't hear Natsuki's surprisingly formal words, the trainer continued, "I will not allow my students to believe your actions are tolerable in my class, do you understand?"
Back in the isolated room, Natsuki was sitting in a seat without a desk and stared at the wall without really seeing it. For the record, I did follow the handbook. She stared down at her hands, which she washed after the match. Blood. Blood soaked these hands. Suddenly, her father's unmoving figure and growing pool of blood flashed before her eyes, along with the menacing eyes of Alyssa Searrs. Natsuki closed her eyes and shuddered in fear, unable to get those images out of her head.
"Natsuki?" An elegant voice broke Natsuki away from her troubling thoughts. She looked up to see Shizuru standing at the door with a stern look in her eye, although she could have sworn she saw a flash of worry. "Come." Her voice was ice cold and it made Natsuki gulp in her mind.
They walked back to their quarters in silence; Natsuki obediently followed Shizuru and wondered what she would do once they reached a more private environment.
Shizuru took her seat in her office and clasped her hands above her desk with her eyes closed, as if in deep thought. Natsuki waited patiently, feeling smaller and smaller by the second and more ashamed of her actions like a 5-year-old who got caught punching one of her classmates before Shizuru finally spoke.
"Natsuki, will you please explain to me why I had to pick you up from your trainer's office because I was told you severely injured the Fifth Meister's imouto?" Her blood-red eyes pierced through frightened emeralds, unwavering in her gaze and armoring it to kill. Her tone was deathly low, so dangerous it would stupor most people into submission.
Natsuki gulped before answering in a steady voice, "Hey, I followed the rules in the handbook and it was as fair of a match as it could have been under my given circumstances."
"Fair? You call beating a fellow novice up until she was paralyzed to the point where she will be needing physical therapy, fair?"
"I allowed her to yield several times. I—"
"You what? You thought it would be fun to be the delinquent again? I've been hearing things, Natsuki, like you haven't been doing your work in your training classes or taking your tests. Do you think this is all a game?!" Shizuru's usually calm voice had started to crack under her furious and disappointed tone.
Natsuki was utterly confused, "Delinquent? Not taking my tests? Where did you hear such a thing?"
The fact that Natsuki did not deny her claims only fueled Shizuru on further, "It's not hard for news to travel around Garderobe, especially when I hear my imouto being mentioned several times throughout the days. So you refuse to do the written work but when the time comes for physical training, you are unable to control yourself, show off that you are better than everyone else and severely injure someone to prove it? I took you to be my imouto because I thought there was something in you that I've never seen in anyone else before. And what do you do with that opportunity? This!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Natsuki yelled, full of fury, unable to keep her choice of words within a respectable level to fully express her emotions, "I have no idea where you are getting these false accusations from, but it is nowhere in hell true," she walked up to Shizuru's desk, slammed her hands down and bent low so that they were literally seeing eye to eye. "First of all, I was under the impression that YOU would be the one training me, so I don't see your end of our agreement being met. And as I've already said, I allowed Tomoe to yield several times to which she refused. I walked away when I knew she was unable to fight even when she did NOT yield and yet she still tried to attack me with my back turned. I simply reacted on instinct and self-defense. Yes, my defense and retaliation may have been a bit severe but hey, that's what you get when you blatantly insult my father's death to purposely provoke me!" With this, Natsuki began to walk away, leaving Shizuru speechless due to the confusion and the fact that she couldn't decide whether to be angry at Natsuki's rudeness or stunned at her courage to stand up to her.
Natsuki turned around one more time and strode back to Shizuru, who still was not speaking, "And as for the 'not doing my work' rumor you've been hearing…"
-SLAM!-
Natsuki slapped a paper down on Shizuru's desk, "make sure your sources are accurate before accusing me of something. Good day, Onee-sama." The last word was spoken with such contempt that Shizuru's mouth ended up hanging slightly open, stunned at the events that occurred.
When Shizuru was alone in her office, now silent after Natsuki left to her room and slammed the door on the way in, she picked up the small piece of paper that her imouto left and her eyes widened slightly. The document was a record of everything that Natsuki had done so far in her training classes. For every assignment and every test, Natsuki received 100%. On the bottom, the results of the diagnostic exam read: Novice Level 10, Qualified to take the Third Class Qualifying Exam.
For the rest of the evening, Natsuki remained locked up in her room, fuming at Shizuru's false accusations. I thought she was on "my side" when I joined this dump. I thought SHE would be the one who was different from all the other onee-samas. Looks like I'm on my own… She heard Shizuru leaving her office before she dozed off for the night. I wonder what she's up to…
The next morning, Natsuki woke up at her usual bright and early time to attend classes at 6 am. She strode into the classroom confidently, as if nothing had happened the day before. Of course, the usual whispers surrounded her every time she walked in, but the dark-haired beauty was used to it by now so she simply brushed it off. She was about to take her seat when…
"Novice Natsuki, what are you doing?" Midori's sharp voice made Natsuki halt her movements and look up in confusion.
"Uh, I'm taking my seat First Class Midori." The poor girl had no idea what she did wrong now.
"Second Meister Shizuru has officially withdrawn you from Novice classes starting today. Your presence is no longer required here Novice Natsuki and I would appreciate it if you left so that we may resume class activities."
Loud murmurs erupted immediately after hearing these words.
"I see Shizuru-oneesama's trying to tame her imouto."
"Tame? She hasn't been initiated yet so I say she doesn't want her to be her imouto anymore!"
That last sentence perked Natsuki's ears. She may not want me to be her imouto anymore? She's cancelling our agreement? The thought enraged Natsuki, but she did not let this emotion reach the contours of her face. "Ok…whatever," she mumbled with a passive tone. With that, Natsuki swiftly walked out of the room with only one destination in mind.
During her few days in Garderobe, Natsuki had stumbled upon an unlocked training room, equipped with training weapons and opponents made from holographic technology that no one seemed to use. After classes she would usually go there to work out and train herself before heading back to her room. Right now, she needed some form of release to steady her emotions that had been in turmoil since the day before. The minute she burst through the door to her special room, she grabbed the gun she had been using the last time she trained, set the computers to a 5-hour training session and hit the "options" button before beginning. Usually, she allowed the computer to gauge what level out of 20 was appropriate for her, which turned out to be between 10 and 12. Without a second thought, she hit "level 20" and readied her gun for the intense workout heading her way.
The lights immediately dimmed and a dark and gloomy holographic terrain appeared before her. Natsuki found herself to be in a dense rainforest, darkly shadowed by the night sky with only small rays of glowing, bluish light peeking through the leaves from the moon's illumination. She could barely see her hand in front of her face, but nevertheless, she waited calmly for the computer to count her down and begin.
"5…4…3…2…1…Level 20 commencing now." The soothing tone of the electronic female voice echoed through Natsuki's ears. Let's do this.
Before her emerald eyes could detect anything, she felt a sharp pain to her hand that began to spread throughout her whole arm.
"Level 20: You were captured and have been injected with an unknown poison. You managed to escape but could not find the antidote…begin." The computer voice chimed.
So level 20 gives me a little scenario, huh? Cool, but damn this hurts. The virtual poison eventually spread throughout her entire body, bringing a searing pain to her very being. Gunfire began to rain down on the novice, but despite her handicap, she sprang into action and knocked down all the holograms that began to attack her. She soon got into a rhythm that prevented her from succumbing to the pain and she became an unstoppable beast that seemed to be able to go on for hours.
"77 minutes have passed, Hits: 0, Misses: 307." The electronic voice returned to Natsuki's ears after some time.
Zero hits. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like in her trial, every time she hit a hologram with her bullet, it disappeared. However, because she her hits were never fatal, they were each considered a miss.
"Once 80 minutes have passed, the poison is now affecting your heart and brain functions." The computer announced.
"What the—? Aargh!" Sure enough, Natsuki's chest burned like no other and she could barely think straight anymore. Despite this new development, the holograms began to appear at a faster rate. Damn, you gotta be kidding me. Natsuki thought. With a boost of confidence, she felt able to maintain her speed and accuracy, which she did, but the poison was starting to finally affect her performance.
"Hits: 3, Misses: 258."
Damn it! Don't stop now, Natsuki! Despite this mental fight to avoid fatal hits, the midnight-haired beauty was unable to keep up with the poison, now making her movements more sluggish.
"Hits: 12, Misses: 279."
Hearing the number of hits increase as time went on affected her sanity in addition to the poison's effects. Flashes of blood, dead bodies and the words "death" and "murder" appeared before her eyes, rendering her eventually unable to move. She stood with her gun still pointed to shoot, but she was no longer able to fire. "Please…stop…" she whispered desperately. Twelve hits. I've hit twelve people. I've KILLED twelve people. I TOOK THE LIVES OF TWELVE HUMAN BEINGS!
Suddenly, the holograms disappeared and the training room returned to its original pure white state.
"Natsuki?" A lilting voice made Natsuki's neck turn to face its source.
"You again," Natsuki's voice was somewhat relieved and she was able to put her gun down and tried to appear unaffected by her brush with a possible breakdown, "How'd you know I was here?"
Shizuru had turned off the simulation and walked into the room with an expression on her face that Natsuki could not recognize. Was it anger? Worry? Amusement? She didn't know.
"Ara, you don't give me much credit, Natsuki. I am your Onee-sama so I try to make it my responsibility to know where you are at most times." Her dulcet tones rang softly through Natsuki's ears, immediately soothing her.
Natsuki paused for a second before asking, "Well now that you found me, what do you want now?" her tone was cautious, as if ready to defend herself from a second barrage of accusations.
Shizuru noticed this, causing a bit of hurt to shine through her eyes. She took a few steps closer to her imouto, "I actually wanted to apologize and ask for Natsuki's forgiveness. Everything I said yesterday was due to a misunderstanding on my part."
"You're telling me."
The Second Meister smiled sadly, it almost broke Natsuki's heart for being the reason why such an expression was on her face. This calm, quiet and vulnerable looking side of Shizuru was a first for Natsuki, for she was always used to the poised and authoritative Second Meister.
"It's seems like I'm still new to the whole onee-sama thing. I just didn't want to seem like an irresponsible onee-sama who lets her imouto do as she pleases without discipline, but I guess that wasn't necessary. In fact, you have surpassed my expectations. I saw your report card."
Natsuki blushed a bit, "I-it was nothing."
"May I ask, why does Natsuki think those kinds of rumors spread? Believe me when I thought my sources were reliable enough with the information coming from respected staff members." Her tone still remained gentle, almost singing-like.
"I think it's because I finish my work so quickly in class. The others take the whole ten hours to finish, but I only take a few minutes because I already know all the information. Honestly, it's all baby stuff to me."
"Baby stuff? Well, I guess that explains why Natsuki is a level 10 novice already and I'm pretty sure I walked in on Natsuki's training with level 20, am I right?"
Crimson eyes met emeralds that became bashful at the praise she was being given, "Shizuru, do you not want to be my onee-sama anymore?" Natsuki asked apprehensively.
The use of her first name took Shizuru aback, "Why would Natsuki think so?"
"Because you pulled me out of my novice classes."
"Silly Natsuki. I pulled you out because you should be ready to take the Third Class Qualifying Exam. You no longer need those classes."
Natsuki laughed lightly at the consequences of their lack of communication with each other, "I guess I also need to work on being a better imouto who trusts her onee-sama. So what's going to happen now?"
Knowing now that she needed to communicate more with her imouto, she explained, "Although Natsuki may have thought I was ignoring her for the past few days, I have actually been very busy filling out the paperwork and finishing the necessary tasks required for Natsuki to be properly initiated as my imouto. Now, since you no longer need novice classes, I have decided that instead of making you take Third Class classes I will personally train you. How does that sound?"
"That s-sounds good, really good. Thank you, Onee-sama." Shizuru smiled warmly which Natsuki couldn't help but return with a full blush on her face at the embarrassing words she just uttered.
"Ara, my imouto is a lot cuter than I thought," Shizuru announced with a teasing smile, earning an even more reddened Natsuki like never before. Ara, this feeling…I've never felt so at ease, like I'm able to show my unguarded self to this girl. The Second Meister reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out something shiny and silver.
"What's that?" The younger girl questioned.
"Oh, a little gift for Natsuki," Shizuru answered while taking a step closer to her imouto, relieved that she did not take a step back out of discomfort or fear. "I will train you and I promise you will eventually be able to face Alyssa Searrs if you wish. But promise me this, Natsuki. Promise that from now on, you will refer to me as your onee-sama not only by words, but by heart, meaning that I hope that you will one day be able to trust and respect me with your life, as will do the same," the Second Meister lifted her hand to brush some of Natsuki's midnight hair from her face, "I know these words may sound too cliché to ring true right now, but there will come a time when I hope you will understand."
Natsuki was left a little speechless. How can I not believe you when your eyes tell me everything? but she did not wish to say this out loud and settled for the simple response of "I promise."
With that, Shizuru clipped that silver object into Natsuki's hair, "This will be the symbol of our bond. All onee-samas are allowed to choose one item to give to their imouto for the initiation."
The younger girl touched the pin that was now in her hair, "A thunderbolt? Wait, this is the initiation?" she asked incredulously due to its simplicity.
"Yes," the older girl chuckled, "now this proves that Natsuki is mine."
Shizuru's possessive tone once again caused Natsuki's cheeks to redden, still not used to the constant teasing she had been receiving these past few minutes from what she at first thought was a cold-hearted assassin. "B-baka…you don't have to say it like that."
She felt a gentle warmth envelope her, soothing her soul that had been empty since her arrival.
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the support I've been getting for this fanfic! Please continue to give me constructive feedback as it is greatly appreciated! And of course, thank you for your patience and I hope you all stay tuned in for the next update!
Just for a reference for readers:
Garderobe Rankings from Lowest to Highest
Novice: Levels 1-10 (10 is the highest)
Exam for next Class: Pass Third Class Qualifying Exam
Third Class: Levels 1-10
Exam: Pass Second Class Qualifying Exam + 100 hours of mission work
Second Class: Levels 1-10
Exam: Pass First Class Qualifying Exam + 300 hours of mission work
First Class: Levels 1-10
then through their own qualifying exams: Captain, Lieutenant, Commander
Exam: None. Must defeat current Meister or apply/audition for an open Meister position
Meister: 1-5 (only 5 individuals hold this position at one time) 1st Meister is highest
Current Meisters: 1st-Anh Lu, 2nd-Shizuru Viola, 3rd-Juliet Nao, 4th-Haruka Armitage, 5th-Chie Hallard