"Never forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours."

Disclaimer: Sunrise owns Mai HiME.

Chapter 4: Bastard

"Ne Natsuki-chan, I want you to meet someone." A friendly female voice was approaching a little black-haired girl from behind. Tightly holding on to a white-furred dog that seemed to be fairly huge compared to the size of the fragile body of the child, she pretended not to listen. "Now now, I know quite well that you heard me. This isn't a nice way to greet your new friend." By hearing the word 'friend' the little head with the two pigtails slowly started to turn around. Big green-eyes were now angrily piercing the adult, who was still smiling friendly.

"I don't have friends!" came the raged respond followed by a pouting face. The harsh words made the pink-haired girl, who was holding onto the hand of the woman, shrug and hide herself behind the long legs of the adult.

"I bet Duran isn't happy to hear such things coming from your mouth." The older woman said, still trying to bring Natsuki out of her shell and to her delight the dog started barking.

She instantly hugged him even tighter. "I mean, I don't have any human friends. You are my best one of course, Duran." She mumbled barely audible for anyone outside of the now calmed dog. She buried her head into the soft fur, trying to avoid the gazes from the adult.

The shy girl, who had been hiding, slowly started to come forth when she saw that the other girl had started cuddling with the dog. The woman was looking down on her and smiled warmly.

"What about going over and saying 'hello' to your new roommate Natsuki and her loyal friend Duran? He might seem huge but he's a very nice dog. He's been in this Orphanage for quite some time now. Almost as long as Natsuki. Those two are very close as you can see." She turned her head to look at the serious little girl and her big hairy friend.

The shy pink-haired girl started to slowly walk over. Natsuki observed the reaction of Duran very thoroughly, but the dog didn't mind the new guest. And so she relaxed a bit.

"He... Hello..." A stuttering high voice came out. "My name is Nao... Yuuki Nao." She held out her hand to properly introduce herself, just like her mother had told her before... before she had died.

Natsuki just looked at her warily. "Kuga Natsuki" She said, without taking the offered hand.

"Very good, now that you two seem to get along so well... Natsuki-chan, would you be so nice and show your new roommate around." And of course the little girl gave the woman a death-glare right away. But she knew she had to follow the rules of the adults, otherwise they would take Duran away from her.

"Fine." She said, not hiding the unpleasant tone in her voice. She looked at the pink-haired girl and made a gesture to follow her, which Nao obeyed wordlessly.

"My... our room." She pointed at a wooden door before hurrying on. "Kitchen." Her tone was harsh and her voice fairly low for a child at her age. "Garden" The single words where always followed by a silence that seemed endless. And Nao was relieved every time they entered a new room. "Lavatory." She followed the taciturn girl like a lost puppy, her gaze focused on the floor. She nearly stumbled into her back as a consequence when the Natsuki suddenly stopped. She still didn't dare to speak a word and just looked at her with puzzled eyes. The taller girl was also looking at the floor now and pointed with her finger in the direction of a big room at the right of the hallway. The loud voices and laughter of children gushed out of it while they were standing behind the wall, not able to look inside the room. "Rumpus Room" she whispered, still pointing into the direction of the round.

"Won't we go in there?" Nao asked insecurely.

"I won't. But you can go ahead and say 'hello' to the other children." Suddenly, Natsuki's voice sounded almost vulnerable.

Just when Nao was about to walk around the corner into the room, a group of children came out, stopping dead in their tracks when they spotted Natsuki.

"Look, who's here." One boy said mischievously.

"Oh, the princess herself came to play with us." Another one added.

All three boys started to laugh when the words princess fell. Nao wasn't sure what to think of the situation but looking at the black-haired girl, she thought it must be something bad. "Haha, princess... I think we should stick to the old name." Another one said, still laughing. "Yes, yes. Ba... "

"NOOO!" The green-eyed child screamed with clenched fists. Everyone fell silent and all eyes were now pointed at her. Not able to bear the gazes any longer, she started to shake before turning around and running away. Nao was looking after her completely confused about the situation.

"Hey Pinky, are you new?" One boy asked and Nao turned her head and shot daggers with her eyes.

"Ugh, look. You pissed her off. She's just like Ms. Neverlaugh." The other one joked.

Nao couldn't stand those idiots any longer and followed Natsuki's example. When she stood in front of the room that was supposed to be her new home, she could hear light sobs coming from inside. She wasn't sure if she should knock or just enter the room. But when she was about to grab the door handle, she was stopped by a deep growling. The sobbing stopped right away. Figuring that it must be Duran, she entered nonetheless. The black-haired girl was lying on a bed at the right side of the room, facing the wall. Duran stopped growling when he spotted the light green eyes of Nao. Natsuki had cradled herself between the big white dog and the sheets and didn't say a word. Nao looked around and spotted the other bed on the opposite wall. Somebody had already placed her bag on it. She silently walked over and started to unpack her things. After she finished, the woman from before entered and told them that dinner was ready but Natsuki declined and so Nao also said that she wasn't hungry, which was obviously a lie. But she didn't dare to meet the other children alone. And just when it was time to go to bed, her tummy was growling so loud that even Duran gave her a surprised look. Natsuki still hadn't spoken a word since the encounter in the afternoon and so Nao finally tried to speak to her.

"Ne, Nat-chan... are you okay?"

"Don't call me that!" Natsuki snapped.

"Sorry..." And with that, the conversation was over.

In the middle of the night, Natsuki was woken up by a strange sound. When she was finally fully awake, she figured that her new roommate must be crying. She freed herself from the sleeping form of Duran and turned around.

"Oi, newbie. What's wrong?" she whispered.

The other girl felt caught and tried to repress the sobs, not very successful though. After a while she answered.

"I'm hungry... " Nao whispered back.

"Then why didn't you go downstairs for dinner." There was a long pause.

"Because... because I was afraid."

"Of what?"

"Facing all of them without you." The moonlight revealed that her cheeks became slightly red.

"Huh? Believe me you would have been better off without me." Natsuki said in surprise.

"No..." she bluntly said.

Natsuki didn't know what to respond and silence engulfed them again. Only the growling of the younger girl's stomach made them comfortable once more. Natsuki now slowly crawled out of her bed and walked over to the starving little creature.

"Come on." She said, standing in front of Nao's bed with arms akimbo and a determined look on her face. Nao rose to her feet and followed Natsuki to the door.

When Natsuki opened it, she peaked outside to check if the hall was clear. She winked at Duran to lead the way, which he immediately did. Nao was about to open her mouth to ask what they were doing, but Natsuki turned around and silenced her.

"Hush! Just follow me." She said, serious as ever. Nao was afraid of the dark and silent building and grabbed Natsuki's hand in a reflex. The girl shot around with the intention of screaming but when she saw the fearful expression on Nao's face, she didn't say anything at all and just dragged her along.

They tiptoed through the hallway, down the stairs into the kitchen. Duran acted like a guardian and sniffed around the corner with sharp ears to make sure there was no danger. Natsuki tried to reach the cupboard with the groceries but soon discovered that she was much too short. She looked around and found a chair. She bravely climbed on it and started to gather some cereals and milk. When she turned around to present her prey, she suddenly lost her balance and was about to fall down. But Nao reacted very fast and supported her weight. They were slightly shocked, even Duran whimpered a bit.

"Thank you." Natsuki mumbled before climbing down.

They sat on the big kitchen table and Nao was happily swinging her feet back and forth while munching.

"Thank you very much, Nat-chan. You saved my life."

Natsuki's head shot around to scold the younger one for using this name again but when she saw the bright smile on the other girl's face, she just nodded.

"Why were you running away earlier?" Nao asked curiously. But Natsuki just gave her an exasperated look and so the younger one went on. "I mean, they were obviously idiots but I bet you could take them on."

"I did before. But nothing good came out of it. They told the adults that I attacked them without a reason and I got scolded."

"Such cowards." Nao whispered. "Why are they picking on you anyway?"

"They make fun of me because they don't like my face. They say it's serious. And ever since they heard that I am in this Orphanage since I was a baby, they would call me a bastard because I don't know my parents."

When Nao looked into the solemn green eyes, she instantly knew that she would do her best to be a good friend for the serious and lonesome girl. She wanted to know more about the emptiness in her gaze, but she felt that right now wasn't the time to ask. And so they went back to bed after she had finished her meal. She knew she had plenty of time to get close to her new roommate. With a smile on her face and a full stomach she was able to fall asleep soon.

A/N: Flashback-timeOh my God, Chibi-Natsuki and Chibi-Nao. Soooooo cute. Tell me how you like the story so far. Reviews are greatly welcomed. Next Chapter: Shizuru...