Author's Note: Poll results for last two chapters:

Shizuru - 30

Nao - 4

Midori - 3

Mai - 3

More than one person - 1

Other - 1

Haruka - 0

Rather dense chapter here, with lots of background. I promise we'll get to the "date" next chapter. ;)

X-X-X

Title: The Crimson Maiden

Rating: M

Chapter 5: What May Come in Dreams

X-X-X

I think I might have inadvertently gained a fanclub today. I blame it all on Shizuru, of course. She was the one who put that cherry – no, scratch that, sakura – blossom in my hair, so it's entirely her fault when I forgot all about it and went off to class with it still in there. She was doing everything she could to distract me after that point as well; it's no wonder I forgot about it until I saw myself in the bathroom mirror.

My first thought there was something along the lines of, "Awww! That's so cute!" My second thought was, "Wait, did I just call myself cute? What kind of narcissist am I?" My third thought was, "Wait, is that why so many girls were cooing at me today? Maybe it wasn't just my imagination." At this point I had to grab the blossom out of my hair lest I go insane. My final thought on the blossom was, "Phew, at least I didn't damage it there. Shizuru might like it if I wear it for our date tomorrow."

At this point I charged out of the bathroom and shoved the sakura blossom into the drawer in my bedside table, safely out of my sight and grasp. I couldn't trust myself not to crush it in my hand when my thoughts got to Shizuru. I was already blushing like hell.

November 14, 1406

"Oi, Shiho! You in there?" Mai called as she banged on her classmate's door. She'd learned from hard experience that the girl could be a heavy sleeper, with a very erratic schedule on top of that. More than once she'd ended up giving up on their meetings, figuring that Shiho wasn't in, only to find out that she just hadn't banged on the door hard enough to wake her up. She wouldn't let that happen today, though. She was going to keep this up until she got a response, even delivering vocal notes to Shiho if necessary, common courtesy be damned.

Fortunately for Shiho, it didn't come to that. She opened her door just as Mai was about to start banging again and glared up at the girl. "You don't have to yell, you know." She backed up from the door and gestured Mai in. She was already in her channeler's robes, which meant that she was either awake and getting prepared for their meeting, or she'd fallen asleep during a trance earlier that day.

Shiho tended to be a bit on the strange side, even among students who specialized in channeling. She was one of the few students who'd gotten a room to herself during her Coral year, mostly because she drove her roommates crazy with incessant spinning of her focuses in the middle of the night. Shiho was absolutely convinced that the world ran on a spiral, and the more she turned, the more in tune she'd get. It was just fortunate for other students at Garderobe that her attempts to drain their spiralness for her own benefit never showed any success.

But if you looked past her incessant spiraling in her spare time, Shiho was arguably the most talented channeler in Garderobe. That was why Mai wasn't trying to kill herself over the fact that she'd volunteered to help with her required practice now that she knew what Shiho could be like. Eccentric or not, the girl got results. Most of the time, at least.

"I need to talk with S today," Mai said. "Her advice just got Natsuki mad at me, and I felt horrible doing it. It was like she had me pouring salt on an open wound. I need to know what's up."

Shiho nodded as she started setting up candlesticks in a circle in the middle of her room. "That's strange," she said. "Spirits aren't supposed to make mistakes like that. Are you sure you didn't handle it wrong? Or maybe did you get S mad at you, so she wanted to lie?"

"There wasn't much to get wrong," Mai said. She flicked her fingers to conjure a small flame in them and started lighting up the candles around the ritual circle. "All she said was, 'Press Natsuki about using a Child other than Duran.' I did that, and only succeeded in making her mad at me. I don't know if S might be lying, though. You heard everything we talked about; she didn't sound mad at all, did she?"

"Guess not," Shiho said with a grunt. She bent down to start sketching out her ritual circle on the floor with a conjured piece of chalk. "Want me to throw up a circle of truth? If we catch her in a lie this time, I can maki-maki her spirit back to whatever plane she comes from, with a few added twists for good measure."

"Heh, no, that's not necessary," Mai said. She snapped her fingers to extinguish the flame between them. "I'm sure S wasn't lying. She seems to really like Natsuki. She always seems to be a bit more cheerful when we talk about her. Maybe she's a relative or something."

"Could be, I guess," Shiho said. "The spirits willing to talk and help out are usually ones that are interested in what's going on around you. Though for all I know she could be a relative of a parallel Natsuki in some other plane. Or hell, she could be a parallel Natsuki herself, and the S is just to throw us off. Now can we do this, already? I need to get some breakfast soon."

Mai almost reminded Shiho that it was 4 pm., but she caught herself. It wasn't worth the trouble. She hit the light switch on the nearby wall so that the room was illuminated solely by the candles they'd set up. "Alright, I'm ready when you are," Mai said, crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall, across from Shiho.

Shiho nodded as she stood in the center of the ritual circle. She fished around in her robes for a minute, eventually pulling out her flute. Shiho pointed her flute straight upwards as she started muttering an incantation. The ritual circle she'd drawn out on the floor dissolved into the air, the chalk metamorphosing into solid light around her feet. As Shiho switched to a different spell, the flames of the candles around her flared up, spewing out smoke which soon enveloped the room. The smoke caught the light from both the circle and the candles, holding it and keeping it from dissipating. Images of both Mai and Shiho danced around the room, captured and reflected by the magically-infused smoke.

When the atmosphere was just right, Shiho brought her flute down to her mouth and began to play out a haunting melody. As she played, the reflections in the smoke began to take on more otherworldly shapes, until they barely resembled Mai and Shiho at all. They were twisted, inhuman. Mai spotted what looked like a few Childs among them, and just a few humanoid shapes. Eventually, one of the humanoid shapes took on greater detail. It grew in front of Shiho, filling in the smoke with a flesh-colored haze.

Twin lights appeared on the head of the figure, and the features of a face began to take form. Shimmering strands grew from its head, giving the impression of hair. The figure was still a far cry from looking human, but at least it wasn't disconcerting to look at at this point. It could be imagined to be how you might see a person through heavily blurred vision – assuming you accepted the lack of clothes, the glowing hair, and the golden sparks for eyes.

A ghost of a smile appeared on the figure's face. "Hello, Mai," it said. The voice resonated throughout the room, as if the wisps of smoke were echoing it around. It was still noticeably feminine, even if it was highly distorted.

"Hello, S," Mai said. "How are things in the aft... er, in your plane?" She had to stop herself from saying "afterlife." She'd gotten a stern lecture about that last time she'd used that reference. According to S, the dead were typically reincarnated some time in the future, with their spirits jumping ahead to the moment of their rebirth. The plane she existed on was for spirits who had a strong tie to life and wanted to hang on a bit longer, along with spirits created by other means – ideas powerful enough that they gained form in that plane, such as most gods people worshiped, or archetypes of personality which merged with the spirits of animals to become Childs. The most confusing part was that those spirits weren't even tied to the worlds they were native to, though S didn't elaborate too much on what other worlds she might know about.

Humans, as they were, were always slow to change, so even these revelations that came from spirits channeled in Garderobe did little to sway their religions and culture. It was still early yet, scarcely a decade since the first student had managed to speak with one of these spirits, and so the world was still in a bit of disbelief. Many, like Mai, hadn't even heard of this until she got to Garderobe herself. Perhaps she could change things when she got back to Zipang.

"Always interesting," S said, with a hint of a grin on her face. "Though the details would be far too difficult to translate into words. Tell me though, what would you like to discuss today?"

"Natsuki again," Mai said. She'd been anticipating a reaction from S at the sound of Natsuki's name, and she wasn't disappointed. In addition to the smile that split across her face, her physical features also noticeably changed. Her eyes, which had previously been golden sparks within her face, had switched to an emerald glow, and her hair had similarly turned from golden to black with just a hint of a blue glow about it. When Mai had first seen this display, she'd thought it was S mimicking Natsuki for some reason, but perhaps if she was a relative, this was in fact closer to her own previous appearance.

"Natsuki..." S said with a light purr. "How is she doing?"

"Bad," Mai said simply. S's eyes flared red briefly at this news, but they quickly went back to green. "I followed your advice and pressed her about Duran, but it just got her angry at me and caused her to blow up. I felt horrible doing it as well."

S was silent for a moment, her expression frozen in place. For nearly a minute, there was no sign from her, only the soft sounds of Shiho's flute playing in the background. Eventually, S seemed to focus again. "Natsuki seems quite happy now. It seems your words led her to happiness after all."

"Is that so?" Mai said with a glare at the spirit in front of her. "Even if you're right, I still don't like it. It's too manipulative. It doesn't feel right to manipulate my friends, especially when I'm hurting her like that."

Another moment of silence from S. "I understand," she said. "But if it's any consolation, it does seem she's quite happy right now, at least as far as I can tell. Perhaps it would be best if you confessed to her what you were doing."

Mai furrowed her brow at the spirit. "Is this more of your spiritual prophesies? I've had enough, thanks, even if this sounds more reasonable."

"No, not this time," S said with a soft smile. "Just friendly advice. You may take it as you wish."

"Hmph. Alright then," Mai said.

"Is there anything else you would like to talk about today?" S said. Her eyes and hair faded back to their normal golden color. "I believe we still have a few more minutes to fulfill Shiho's practice requirements, if my sense of time is working today."

"Alright," Mai said. She spent a moment thinking about what to ask, but given the events of the day the proper question was obvious. "Can you tell me who the Crimson Maiden is? That is, the student who masquerades as the Crimson Maiden in her duels with other students. Do you know about her?"

"Yes," S said. "I know of her, but I can't say who she is unfortunately. I have to respect her privacy."

"Privacy!" Mai spat. "She's been harassing Natsuki. She doesn't deserve the luxury of privacy if it enables her to act like that."

"Natsuki..." S's eyes flared red again for a moment, and her expression seemed to freeze in place once more. Mai waited as the spirit was off searching for information, however she did that. She was soon back, and her eyes softened back to their earlier gold color. "I'm sorry... It looks like someone has protected that information. I can't see through her spell."

"Just great," Mai grumbled. "Not too surprising I guess. No reason she should make this easy on us."

"Perhaps though..." S said, and she was off again. She was gone for a good few minutes this time, and Mai was considering telling Shiho that they could give up for the day when S finally got back. "Yes, I can still help you. Her spell only shields her identity and present actions. If you wish, I could tell you a story about her past. With a little effort, I was able to learn the story of her origins as the Crimson Maiden, though everything since then is blocked off to me."

"You can?" Mai said. "And you aren't worried about her privacy?"

S's eyes flashed green again. "I still can't give you her name, you know. But if she's hurt Natsuki, then I will do all I can to help."

X-X-X

You can do this, Yukino, she told herself as she stood in the hallway, trying to get her courage up before she knocked on her friend's door. You can be strong on your own. You got respect from everyone today just on your own knowledge, without any help from Haruka, didn't you? You're good enough for her. You just need to let her know you feel about her that way, and she can decide if she feels the same way.

What's the worst that could happen? Haruka's a good friend. She values loyalty over almost everything else. Even if she can't return your feelings, she'll do everything she can to help maintain your friendship with her. Maybe even support you in getting over her. So worst case, you're back to where you started, but with the ability to maybe find someone else someday. Best case? Well that's obvious...

Yukino's cheeks started to warm up slightly as she considered actually being in a relationship with Haruka. She could handle it now, she knew. A burst of courage hit her, and she reached her hand up to knock on Haruka's door before it faded. Alright, now just say it. Get the words out, then make your intentions clear when she asks. It's just important that you get it out, so there's no going back.

"Ah, Yukino!" Haruka said as she opened up the door, a grin on her face. She's in a good mood, perfect. "What's up?"

"Hi, Haruka," Yukino said. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pushed forwards. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out for a dinn- Eeyah!"

A flash of brown and red slammed into Yukino, roughly shoving her aside. "Make way! Sorry sorry! Deadline! Professssoooorrrr! Waaaaiiiit uuuuup!"

Yukino stood stunned, only belatedly realizing that she'd nearly fallen over and was now only being held up by Haruka. I was so close! It's not fair!

"What the hell is wrong with that girl!?" Haruka demanded into the hallway, getting only a few shrugs from various students who had similarly been trampled. "Are you alright, Yukino?" she asked as she looked down to the girl in her arms.

"Um..." Yukino said. Physically, she was fine. But her courage had been ruined, and to make things worse she was now caught awkwardly by Haruka's arms in way that she really wished could have been romantic. "I... I think." Giving Haruka a thankful pat on the shoulder, she maneuvered herself back to her feet and out of Haruka's arms.

"Are you sure?" Haruka said, eying Yukino up and down. "You look pretty shaken. I can take you to the nurse if you'd like."

"No... no," Yukino said. "I'm fine, really. Just a bit stunned, no injuries." She looked up at her friend and gave the strongest smile she could, shoving down all her worries for the time being.

"Alright then," Haruka said. "But still! Let me treat you to dinner. It's the least I can do for you after that. Besides, it was what you came here to ask, right? If I wanted to go out a grab some dinner with you?"

"Yeah, Haruka..." Yukino said, forcing a smile. A dinner date I was hoping... but I'll take it.

"Yukino!" Yukino turned her head to find Akane jogging down the hallway towards her and Haruka. When she reached them, she placed a hand against the wall as she tried to catch her breath. "Did you see... Midori... come by here?"

"Midori!" Haruka said. "I should have known it was her! That dilettante came barreling down this hallway and nearly trampled right over Yukino!"

"Delinquent, Haruka," Yukino corrected her friend.

"That's what I said!" Haruka protested. "But you!" She turned back to Akane. "What was that dilettante doing like that? And how are you involved with her? You'd better be straight with me or I'll have the full force of the disciplinary committee come down on the both of you!"

Yukino could tell from Akane's expression that she was fighting the urge to sigh and roll her eyes at Haruka. It was a common reaction among people who weren't used to her. At least she wasn't getting too put off, as happened to some of the newer students who got on the wrong side of Haruka. She'd had to step in to help cool Haruka down in a couple of those cases, which she actually didn't mind so much, given how adorably her friend reacted.

"I'm really sorry about that, Haruka," Akane said, with a small bow. She'd had experience with Haruka before, it looked like. "I told her I could help her out with her archeology project, and she went running off to tell the professor that she'd finally found a student to help her out. Apparently the deadline is today – she'd given up before I approached her, and then she just went wild. Again, I'm really sorry, especially to Yukino."

"Oh..." Apologizing, particularly for others' actions, always tended to throw Haruka off. She was much better at confrontations. "Well, you should know better than to get involved with that type! She's too reckless, and she has no respect for hard work! If her parents weren't threatening to pull her funds if she flunked, she'd just spend every night drinking instead of doing her work, which she practically does anyways."

"You're right, I'm sorry, Haruka," Akane said with another bow. "My advisor just told me that I needed to get involved with a history project if I wanted to get a minor in Scholarship. At this late stage, Midori's was the only project that still had an opening." Akane's eyes shot to Yukino briefly as she said this, with the unspoken message that that wasn't the only reason she'd gotten involved with Midori.

"Well, that's what you get for putting things off till the last minute," Haruka said. "Now you'd better go and make sure your partner hasn't hurt anyone else in her stampede. I'll see about getting the Disciplinary Committee to come down on her for this. You just try to keep her under control as best as you can."

"Okay," Akane said with a nod. "I'll do that. Thank you, Haruka. See you later, Yukino."

"Now!" Haruka said as Akane ran off, a grin spreading on her face. "I believe I promised you dinner, Yukino."

"Yeah..." Yukino smiled. "Thanks, Haruka."

X-X-X

Natsuki shivered as a cool breeze blew across her bare flesh. Her Robe had been reduced to mere scraps now, which barely served the function of undergarments. The Crimson Maiden eyed her hungrily, standing barely an inch away from her now. Natsuki shivered under her gaze, and she tried to bring her arms around to cover her body, sparing herself some dignity, but some force she couldn't see was keeping them pinned to her sides.

Natsuki glared at the Maiden. She wasn't surrendering, even if she was defeated in battle. The Maiden could take her body if she wished, but she would never get the satisfaction of taking Natsuki's spirit. She didn't really seem to care though. From the look in her eyes, she had some special kink for Natsuki, possibly even because of her resistance. It didn't matter though. She couldn't win over Natsuki like this.

Natsuki still wished she'd won, but hopefully she could still win a moral victory by resisting the Maiden's charms for the next two hours. It shouldn't be hard. There was nothing Natsuki found arousing about the current situation. The Maiden certainly tried, though, taking things slowly, as Natsuki might have appreciated, were the circumstances different. She approached Natsuki slowly and started tracing her fingers over Natsuki's body with feather-light caresses.

The Maiden stopped when her body was mere inches from Natsuki's, and she caught her captive's eyes. She tilted her head to the side and leaned in, bringing her lips closer and closer to Natsuki's. Natsuki glared back at the Maiden and spitefully curled her lips inside her mouth. Even if she couldn't stop the Maiden from kissing her, she was giving nothing in return.

The Maiden's eyes shot open wide and she let out a strangled gasp. She collapsed in front of Natsuki, revealing a bloodied katana behind her. Tracing up the blade with her eyes, Natsuki came upon the sight of her savior, who somehow looked every bit as sweet as she had when they'd first met, despite the sword in her hands.

"Please do not worry, Natsuki," Shizuru said, smiling serenely. The sword vanished from her hands, along with the fallen Maiden. "I'm here to help you now."

Natsuki took a moment to get over the shock and try to wrap her mind around what was happening. She was dreaming, it had to be. Well, at least this dream wasn't nearly as disturbing as the one where she'd gone along with the Maiden's desires. "Shizuru...?" she said. "Why are you here?" They only had one date, should she really be dreaming about Shizuru this soon?

Shizuru tilted her head to the side. "Natsuki needed me," she said. "So I'm here." Shizuru looked around the area a bit, at what appeared to be various scenes from Natsuki's memory playing out on the walls. "Ara... it seems to be quite nice here. I think I might have to stay around for a while, if Natsuki doesn't mind. I'll make sure to keep her dreams safe, and I'll be her for her if she needs to talk." Shizuru tilted her head again and gave a sweet smile. "Does that sound good?"

Natsuki stared at the image of Shizuru, blinking in confusion. "Um, what are you?"

"Ara, isn't it obvious?" Shizuru said with a wink. "I'm your dream Shizuru."

"...Oh."

Shizuru strolled slowly up to Natsuki. "I've been watching you for a while, but I didn't want to show up until you'd met the real Shizuru, so you wouldn't be too confused. I guess it might be best if you think of me as a visiting spirit. When you sleep, I can come here to help you out, but otherwise I'll be back with my own Natsuki in her world."

"Um..." Natsuki said. She tried to circle around everything this vision was saying to her in her mind, to make some better sense of it. Another Natsuki in another world? "Am I going crazy here?"

"Ara... I'm sorry, Natsuki. I'm probably just confusing you here. Just think of me as your spirit guide, okay?" With the way Shizuru gazed back at Natsuki so sweetly, with nothing but affection in her eyes, it was hard not to trust her. Natsuki gave a slow nod to the girl before her. Shizuru clapped her hands together gleefully at this. "Ara! Thank you, Natsuki. I'll be sure to do everything I can to help you unmask and defeat the Crimson Maiden. And if you see Mai, just let her know that S says 'hi'. You're quite lucky to have a friend like her, you know? You can trust her to help you out as well."

"Er... right," Natsuki said. "Thanks then... I guess."

Shizuru leaned forward to plant a kiss on Natsuki's cheek. Somehow, even though she was dreaming, Natsuki could still feel the kiss clear as day, along with the blush that formed on her cheeks in response to it. "Anything for Natsuki. Now, wakey-wakey, sleepyhead!"

X-X-X

Hey all, Mai here this time. I did some talking with spirits today, and was able to get us some more information on the Crimson Maiden. She apparently has some spell up to shield her identity and all current actions, but I was able to get information on what she was up to before assuming the identity of the Crimson Maiden. So, I present to you all: the story of the Crimson Maiden.

Around a year ago, a student had an unreciprocated crush on one of her upperclassmen. I don't know the names of the two girls, but let's call the younger one "Coral" and the older one "Pearl," as I believe those were their years at the time. Anyways, Coral did all she could to get the attention of Pearl, but she could never manage to stand out from the crowd. She was just never good with romance, and none of her signals were picked up, as they weren't the sort of signals Pearl could have possibly identified.

Eventually, Coral gave up with being subtle about things and went for a more direct approach. She built up her courage and sent a message directly to Pearl, asking her for a date. Pearl wasn't interested in her, so she turned her down politely. She didn't want to make Coral feel too awkward, though, and she made an effort to treat her just as she always did.

But by this point, Coral was hopelessly infatuated, and this just frustrated her more. She was able to get Pearl alone, and she complained that she wasn't being given a fair chance. Pearl shouldn't just dismiss her before she'd gotten to know her better. She should try at least one date before making up her mind. Pearl just said that she didn't feel any real chemistry between them, and she didn't think that would change.

As a last-ditch attempt, Coral challenged Pearl to a duel. If Coral won, Pearl would indulge her in one date. If Pearl won, then Coral would let the whole matter drop, along with another forfeit that Pearl could decide. At this point, Pearl was more than willing to go along just so she could get Coral to let the matter drop, so she agreed. She didn't see any real chance of losing, as she had a year of experience on Coral, so it was a safe choice, and it would probably amount to less effort than dealing with more of Coral's advances.

When the day of the duel came, Pearl was in for a bit of a surprise. Coral had come wearing an incredibly sexy outfit – possibly enhanced with a minor glamour – and Pearl couldn't help but be a little effected by it. Pearl hadn't realized that Coral could be quite that attractive, so her libido was ignited by the sight.

Coral seized the moment. She taunted Pearl over her reaction. I imagine she said something like, "You want this, don't you? Well, you can have it." She approached Pearl and stroked her face. Her plan actually seemed to be working for once, and her courage was up to push through with it before Pearl could get ahold of herself. "But I want you too, you know. So let's raise the stakes. I win, then I get you. You win, then you get me."

Pearl's libido was still running on full, and the proposal had stoked a fire within her. She certainly had her kinks, and at that moment, the chance of fulfilling them with a sexy girl who was at her mercy sounded just too good to resist. And so she accepted. Of course, she ended up winning the duel, though Coral certainly put up a good fight. Not that Coral minded losing. Either way, she got what she wanted – getting to be with Pearl.

However, by this point Pearl's libido had cooled down, and she was more than a bit angry when she found out that Coral wasn't being entirely genuine when she set up the stakes so that she'd enjoy losing. In spite, she told Coral that she was done with her. She was choosing not to take her prize. Coral could go and make her perverted deals with someone else.

The fact that she was still rejected hit Coral hard. It finally got through to her that Pearl just wasn't interested in her that way, and she never would be. She was, however, more confident about herself. She was able to make Pearl react when she tried, so she could do that to other girls as well, hopefully with more luck in the end.

And that's about where the shielding spell sets in, so I can't say any more for sure. I'm not even sure which of the two ended up being the Maiden. If it was Pearl, then she probably got the idea from there that she could act out her fantasies on other girls if she proposed such a duel, and perhaps Coral's outfit gave her the idea to do it in disguise as the Crimson Maiden. On the other hand, if Coral became the Maiden, then she used her newfound courage to go out and get other girls, using a more refined version of the outfit she'd come up with to disguise herself.

Now, looking at our current suspects list... I'd be a bit cautious to rule anyone out from that, though Midori seems a bit less likely. The role of Pearl just doesn't seem like her, though it could still be either Shizuru or Haruka, from what we know of them. And Nao could still be Coral... I don't see her too much as the type to have an uncontrollable crush, though I guess love hits everyone sometime, and she does seem like she'd have trouble controlling it.

Well, hopefully this will help you all. Till next time, Mai out.

X-X-X

Author's Note: New poll up! Let your guesses for the Maiden be known.