Chapter 6

"Wake up, Natsu-kun…" Shizuku's voice whispers in my ear.

Opening my eyes I see that I'm in Shizuku's bed, my girlfriend lying next to me in a nightgown. I can feel my boxers on my waist, and I groggily sit up, rubbing my eyes.

"Morning Shizu-chan." I smile at her.

The two of us get up and shower, this time I manage to shower separately from her. I shower second, allowing Shizuku to go first. When I emerge from the bathroom I find her room empty, and I quickly dress. Getting into a school uniform I walk down stairs to hear the sounds of cooking from the kitchen. Looking into the kitchen I see her moving around in her school uniform, cooking breakfast. A delicious smell wafts from the kitchen, and I can't help but smile at the smell of whatever tasty food Shizuku is cooking.

"That smells good Shizu-chan." I comment, and she smiles at the compliment.

"Don't forget your special envelope before we leave." She reminds me, and I nod once.

Flashback

"I just don't know what to do Shizu-chan." I finish explaining my situation to Shizuku.

After coming home from the dress try outs Shizuku and I ate dinner. After that Shizuku asked about my day and why I would resort to transforming.

"It sounds like you're up a proverbial creek."

"Yeah, I have no idea what to do to try and fix things. It seems like no matter what I do things just seem to happen regardless of what I want."

"Well, you're having problems because of my groupies, and your friend has turned on you. I think I have an idea as to how we can take care of your problem and even make a little money if you play your cards right."

"What are you talking about Shizu-chan?" I ask curiously, and Shizuku smiles that 'evil mastermind' smile.

Present

Both Shizuku and I have since eaten breakfast and are now on our way to school together. In my bag I have a plain white envelope along with my school books. We walk with her arms wrapped around my left arm, her head resting lovingly on my shoulder.

"You really think this plan of yours is going to work?" I ask hesitantly.

Shizuku nods confidently.

"Of course it will work. I'll speak to the leader of my fan club and tell them to leave you alone or I'll use my position to make their lives miserable. You can use the contents of that envelope to make friends with Higashida and it'll also help get my groupies off of you."

"If you think so…"

"Just remember what I told you Natsu-kun, you have to act exactly as I told you and say the things I told you to say. If you don't then its possible Higashida will question where you got some of those pictures, and we can't have that."

"I know Shizu-chan. I'll do my best."

"Good. There's one other thing I want to do that should help with your problems."

"What's that Shizu-chan?"

"You'll see." She says cryptically.

The two of us continue our walk together, and when we finally arrive at the girl's entrance Shizuku doesn't dislodge her arms from mine.

"Shizuku…?" I ask curiously, and she smiles as she walks with me past the girl's entrance and to the guy's entrance.

By now a small crowd of students has gathered in the courtyard and near the entrance. Some students hang out in the morning, taking the time to chat with friends or just enjoy some free time before the school day begins.

With Shizuku with me a small group of onlookers forms who aren't used to seeing a girl near the gate at this time in the morning. She looks up at me wearing that mastermind smile, and her arms move from my arm, wrapping around my neck.

"Shizu-"

She kisses me then, cutting me off I hear a gasp of surprise come from every male student looking on. I quickly return the kiss, the two of us French kissing in front of the other students, our tongues wiggling and coiling around one another. After 10 seconds we pull apart, and I glance around to see astonishment and jealously on the faces of practically every male around me.

"Shizu-chan, what was that for?" I ask keeping my voice low, and Shizuku's smile only seems to get wider.

"It's proof that you're my boyfriend." She says with a possessive voice. "And if anyone hassles you about it again I'll personally make their lives miserable."

Her statement doesn't go unnoticed, and it's then that it clicks.

She's doing this to try and get her groupies to back off. Hopefully it works…

"You remember what to do?" Shizuku asks in a low voice, and I nod once.

"I remember Shizu-chan." I affirm for her, keeping my voice low.

"Good." She says with that smile, giving me another kiss before she steps back, putting her hands behind her back. "I'll see you at lunch, OK?"

"Yep!"

With that Shizuku walks away, and I head into school, my mind already thinking about what's left for me to do before the first bell even rings.

Stepping into home room I find my target sitting at his desk. Suppressing a smile I reach into my bag, withdrawing the envelope from my bag. Opening the envelope I take hold of the contents, slipping the empty envelope back into my bag I set my bag down on my desk on the way to his desk. I flip through the photos, making sure they're what they're supposed to do.

"Hey Higashida." I say in greeting, waving to him with the photos in hand.

"Hey Natsuru…" He says in a beaten, lifeless tone with his head on his desk.

He must be dejected over Shizuku crushing his hopes…

"Come on man, cheer up! I've got something here that I think will do the trick."

Selecting the top photo, I flash it in front of his eyes. He looks at the photo, a picture of Shizuku in a racy set of red lingerie striking a seductive pose with her arms over her head and her chest out, and his eyes practically pop out of his head in surprise. I quickly pull the photo back, and he blinks, sitting up ramrod straight.

"Natsuru!" He says with sudden life in his voice and eyes. "What was that? Where did you get it!?"

"I took some pictures last night." I tell him matter of factly. "There are even some nice pictures in here of the female Natsuru."

"What!?" He blurts out, his hand snatching out to grasp the pictures.

I quickly pull the pictures away from him, smiling slyly.

"You want them?" I ask in a knowing tone.

"Of course!"

"Then I'll cut you a deal." I say with a grin. "If I give you these, you're gonna sell them aren't you?"

His eyes narrow warily.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Give me 40% of the profits from the sale of these photos, and I'll supply you with new ones. I find out you're shafting me then the supply cuts off, deal?"

"I'll give you 25%." He counters.

"Negotiating?" I ask curiously, reaching into my back pocket I withdraw a common cigarette lighter. "I wasn't negotiating."

I light the lighter, holding the open flame beneath the photos. Higashida's eyes go wide in terror as I dangle the photos precariously close to the lit flame.

"I'll give you 30%!" He continues to try and negotiate.

"I'm still not negotiating." I repeat, lowering the photos ever so slightly.

Higashida's eyes get wider, locked onto the photos hanging ever so closer to the flame.

"You wouldn't!" He tries to deny.

I lower the photos some more, one of the corners singeing ever so slightly.

"40% or I burn them."

He watches as the corners of the pictures burn, and I gently sway the lighter back and forth, threatening to catch the photos on fire.

"OK!" He breaks, agreeing to my terms. "I'll give you 40% of my profits."

Cutting the lighter off, I smile in victory.

"See?" I begin sarcastically, handing him the photos. "That wasn't that hard, was it?"

He greedily takes the pictures, flipping through them and drooling over each passing photo.

"Oh my god… These pictures are hot…where did you get them!?"

I smile sadistically.

"That's for me to know, and you to wonder." I slip the lighter back into my pant's pocket.

"My god! The female Natsuru is so sexy!" He compliments.

I snap my fingers in front of his face, getting his attention.

"Every Friday, we'll meet right after school and you'll give me my share of the profits for the week."

"Yeah sure."

"Remember. I get my share of the profits or the supply of photos stops." I remind him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

With that I walk away, taking my seat with a triumphant grin.

Everything's going just like Shizuku said. With the income from Higashida selling the photos I'll be able to pay her for the food I eat and the drink I drink. Plus, with the extra money I'll be able to take Shizuku out on dates and buy her presents.

With the events of that morning, I can't help but smile as students slowly begin to file into the classroom. 15 minutes later the bell rings and my homeroom teacher comes in, taking attendance by the seating arrangement. Once attendance is taken the homeroom teacher eyes all of us.

"There's a special announcement this morning, so homeroom will be extended by 5 minutes." He announces to the class.

This must be the announcement of the Turnabout Dance coming up...

The PA beeps, and a woman's voice comes over the speaker near the ceiling.

"This is Nishino Masumi of the Newspaper Club!" A familiar energetic voice comes over the speaker. "I'm here to announce that in 1 month, on May 17th the school will be having a Turnabout Dance! In this format the girls will ask their dates to attend rather then vice versa, so put on your best charm all you guys out there!"

A murmur of surprise runs through the class, and I shake my head slowly.

What do you expect? Not everyone had the opportunity to learn about this yesterday. I just feel bad for most of the guys here. From what I've seen the majority of the female student body are lesbians…

Several hours later the bell rings for lunch, and I get up. Still smiling from the events of the morning I stride to the door, ready to make my way to the Student Council President's office as I exit the classroom. Walking toward the elevator that leads to the Student Council President's office I turn a corner and see Mikoto standing there, dressed in her school uniform.

"Mikoto!?" I blurt in surprise.

She blushes in surprise, and its then that I notice that her hair is longer, not as long as Sakura-san's or Shizuku's but still longer than normal, down to her mid back.

"Wh-what happened to your hair?" I ask curiously.

She looks away taking some of the strands in hand she wraps the strands around her finger nervously.

"Do you like it Natsuru?" She asks shyly, still wrapping her hair loosely around her finger.

My mouth drops open in surprise.

"Did you do that for me?" I whisper, and she smiles happily.

"I just wanted to change something about myself, so I decided I'd try this." She explains for me. "Do you like it?" She asks again.

Looking at her, the longer hair does make her look more feminine, and as she stands there I can't help but think that the change in hair style does suit her, at least in my opinion.

"It's different, but whether or not I like it doesn't matter. You should do what you like and whatever makes you feel beautiful." I encourage her.

"I thought that my old hair style made me look like a lesbian, so I decided to change. Even with these my hair will still grow, and eventually I'll take the extensions out and wear my natural hair like this."

I smile at her in encouragement.

"If you wanna wear your hair like that, more power to you."

"Thank you Natsuru. It means a lot to me that you're so supportive."

"Unfortunately I have to go." I tell her, waving as I start to walk past her. "I've got lunch plans with Shizuku."

Mikoto grabs onto my left arm, smiling up at me.

"Come on Natsuru, have lunch with me! Madam President's busy anyway!"

She's busy?

"What're you talking about Mikoto?" I ask curiously.

"The Student Council is having a meeting about the upcoming Turnabout Dance."

"She didn't mention anything about it this morning."

"Because she didn't know about it until she got here today."

"How do you know about it Mikoto?"

"I'm in the same class as her." She says with a smile.

"So, then you bought her a dress for the dance?"

She shakes her head no.

"I didn't buy her a dress, but everyone else in the class did. They all wanted to see what she looks like in an evening dress."

"OK…I guess since she's busy I'll eat lunch with you. I don't have anything to eat though."

"That's perfectly fine!" She quickly assuages me. "I've got enough food for both of us!"

At that I wearily follow Mikoto as she leads me to the cafeteria.

I just hope Shizuku doesn't get mad at me for eating lunch with my childhood friend…

Not long after that I'm sitting on the roof of the school with Mikoto. Since the school has two separate cafeterias, one for boys and another for girls, there are very few places Mikoto and I can eat together, save for Shizuku's office and roof. Taking a seat near the concrete shed like protrusion that is the door to the roof, Mikoto and I sit with our backs to the concrete, perpendicular to the door with her sitting on my left with me closer to the door. Mikoto reaches into her bag, withdrawing a large bento box and a thermos, along with 2 plastic cups.

"You brought all of this!?" I ask incredulously.

"Yep." She says with a smile. "I knew that today Madam President was going to be busy during lunch so I cooked all of this. I hope you like it."

I narrow my eyes suspiciously.

"How could you know there was going to be a meeting when not even Shizuku knew?"

"It was a last minute thing held by the council. A friend of mine is on the council and she told me about it."

"And why would she tell you about this meeting?"

"No reason. She just thought I might like to know."

"I guess…" I hesitantly agree. "I didn't know you were a cook Mikoto." I change the subject.

At least I didn't know you cooked anything other than curry…

"Don't worry; I made lots of the best food ever!" She adamantly declares, and I feel a tendril of knowing dread.

Oh god, don't tell me…

Mikoto opens the lunch box, revealing the entire single compartment bento is filled with curry!

"I should've known…" I mutter, shaking my head in disgust at myself for suspecting that I might be eating something different just because Mikoto now has long hair.

"Something wrong Natsuru?" She asks, and I quickly blink out of the stupor.

"No, I'm good." I tell her.

She sets out the cups, pouring some hot tea from the thermos and giving me one before she hands me a pair of chopsticks. Setting the cup down I accept the chop sticks, opening my mouth to ask how we're going to eat the shared lunch when Mikoto slides right up next to me, the outsides of our thighs pressing against each other.

"Mikoto…?" I ask curiously when she sets the bento down on both of our thighs.

"Now we can share the bento." She says with a smile, and I open my mouth to say something, but I quickly close it. "Is something the matter Natsuru?" Mikoto asks in concern.

Since Mikoto isn't doing anything flirtatious, I quickly smile at her.

"Nope, just wanted to say thanks again for sharing your food with me."

"Don't mention it. We've been friends since we were kids after all."

With that I dig in. Eating the curry I find that it tastes like…curry. The tea is good, and for a few minutes Mikoto and I eat in comfortable silence.

After about 5 minutes Mikoto is the one to speak.

"Can I ask you a question Natsuru?" She asks with a hint of embarrassment to her voice.

"Sure, go ahead Mikoto." I give her permission.

"Do you…do you think…I'm attractive…?" Mikoto asks, looking down at the area between her legs.

"You want to know if think you're attractive Mikoto?" I ask curiously, and she nods, ducking her head in embarrassment.

"I'd really like to know what you think…you're the only guy I know, so…"

"Well, opinions vary from person to person." I remind her. "Though, I like long hair on women, and you've got an attractive body so yeah, I guess I do think you're attractive." I say dispassionately.

She smiles appreciatively at the statement, and I think I see her blushing behind her now long locks.

"Th… thank you Natsuru…"

"Don't mention it." I say with a dismissive tone.

I start eating, making sure to eat only half I watch as Mikoto resumes eating shortly after I do. Watching her I see she never really looks directly at me, somehow always managing to keep her bangs in front of her eyes. I'm content to sit there and eat in silence, until once again Mikoto breaks the silence.

"Natsuru…you're going to the Turnabout Dance right?"

I blink in surprise at the subject, and I quickly glance around, checking to see if anyone is listening.

"No, I'm not going, but the female Seno Natsuru is going."

Recognition settles into her gaze.

"Oh…yeah…I suppose her class would've done the same thing as mine did for Madam President."

"Yeah. Her class bought her a bunch of dresses and made her try them all on yesterday when she showed up for afternoon classes."

Mikoto smiles knowingly.

"Madam President's groupies attacked you?" She asks in a low whisper.

I nod affirmatively.

"Yeah, they came after me like an angry mob. All they needed was a couple pitchforks and some torches and it would've been a scene out of a monster movie."

She giggles at the analogy.

"It isn't funny!" I insist seriously, soliciting even more laughter from my childhood friend. "I could've been killed! They wanted to skin me alive!"

Mikoto keeps laughing at my serious attitude.

"I know…" She manages between laughs. "I can just see you dressed in mad scientist clothes, running away from a mob of villagers after you made Frankenstein's monster…" She admits, more laughter coming from her.

"It wasn't a mob of villagers it was a mob of angry students ready to skin me alive! All because they think I've defiled their so called 'goddess!'" I remind her. "The worst part is that she and I haven't even done anything!"

Mikoto blinks in surprise.

"You two haven't had sex?" She asks curiously, and I nod my head repeatedly.

"Of course we haven't." I tell her matter of factly.

"Wow…" Mikoto mutters in astonishment. "I thought that with the way she was acting before you were in a relationship she would've thrown you into her bed, especially with the two of you living together."

"It isn't like things haven't gotten hot and heavy…" I begin, and Mikoto's face instantly sours. "But we've never had sex."

"So, Madam President's a big tease? She does all those things and when it comes time she puts on the brakes?"

I blink in surprise at the insinuating tone in her voice.

"No…I'm the one who said we should take it slow." I correct her. "I don't want her to wind up pregnant and have to choose whether or not to have a child, so I decided to at least wait until we both have protection."

Mikoto smiles, a hint of approval in her eyes.

"That's smart Natsuru. I'm glad to know you aren't a fool for your tool."

I shrug my shoulders.

"It isn't like I don't want her." I remind Mikoto. "She's sexy as hell and she knows how to press a man's buttons."

"Really?" Mikoto asks curiously. "What does she do?"

I look at my childhood friend with wariness in my eyes.

"Do you really want to know?"

Mikoto scowls at the question.

"Come on Natsuru, we're friends right? You can tell me about you and your girlfriend in the bedroom just this one time. I promise I won't tell Akane-chan and I won't ask again, so don't worry about a repeat of what happened earlier."

Breathing a sigh I make a decision.

"She wears really sexy lingerie, and knows how to act suggestively."

"So, she rubs up against you, she grinds her waist against yours, what does she do?" Mikoto presses.

"She…she does a lot, and you seem to know quite a bit, so you can imagine what those things are."

It's then that a sound drifts up from the stair well, the sound of the bell signaling that the lunch period is almost over.

"Well, we should get going. I don't want you to be late."

We quickly finish the bento, the two of us downing the warm tea before we stand up, grabbing our respective bags.

"See you later Mikoto, thanks for the food!"

"Don't mention it."