"Chaos is the score upon which reality is written."
Disclaimer: Yes it's all mine...all miiiinnneee...mwuhahah...okay, I lied. Sunrise owns at least Mai HiME and its characters.
Chapter 7: Mission
The sun hadn't fully risen when a loud banging forced its way into the dreamless slumber of a certain emerald-eyed girl. The dark curtains did its best to block the first rays of sunlight from illuminating the rather dark room. Only one of two beds in the apartment, that also had a small kitchen and a bathroom, was filled with life. The other one had been empty when Natsuki came back this night. But she had to admit that it was rather pleasant to have no regard for her annoying red-headed roommate. She turned around with a moan and tried to open her tired eyes. Blinking at the alarm-clock, she wasn't sure if she was still asleep but if not, someone would be dead within the next seconds.
Argh! Whoever this idiot may be, I'll kill him for sure!
The raven-haired girl shot up from her bed, thereby throwing her pillow against the wall. She opened the door with so much enthusiasm that she almost smacked it into her own face.
"Good morning grumpy-head." Nao greeted her while letting her eyes wander up and down the barely dressed girl in front of her. Only wearing a pair of short blue pants and a white shirt, Natsuki felt slightly uneasy.
"Grrr…" came the animally response.
"What are you a dog now? Cause then it would be very more pleasant to have you whip your tail and bark happily when I come to visit you." Nao couldn't resist mocking the already pissed ice-princess.
"Shut up!" Natsuki growled while brushing back a strand of silky hair to reveal her ever so serious but beautiful face.
Nao sighed.
"Really Natsuki, I know you're not a morning person but it wouldn't hurt to be at least a bit friendlier."
"That's who I am. Deal with it."
"Oh, I know that. I can't remember to have ever seen your smiling face." The pink-haired girl said while giving her a concerned look.
"Because there is no such thing…" Natsuki mumbled.
Nao made a serious face herself now and Natsuki hurried to keep the conversation going before Nao could go into the smiling-topic any deeper.
"What are you here for anyways so early in the morning?" She turned her head to look at the alarm-clock again. "I only slept for three hours or so."
"Same here, but we have to go to the director before class starts to get the approval for the rooming-issue."
"Huh? I thought you would take care of that." Natsuki said surprised.
"Yeah, yeah I know. But it'll probably be a lot easier if you come with me." Nao pouted.
"Alright…I'll be there in a few. Just let me get dressed first." Finally the black-haired girl gave in and Nao smiled contently, while leaning against the doorframe. But before she could drift into a relaxed state, emerald eyes shot daggers at her again.
"Huh?" The pink-haired girl voiced startled.
Natsuki's cheeks became slightly red while she tightly held on to a pair of black jeans that she had taken out of the closet a second ago.
"Needtochangeleave" she mumbled barely auditable.
Nao didn't know why but the sight of her older friend was so adorable that she could have squealed. But she knew she would be dead right away and so she took in a deep breath and calmed her voiced before speaking.
"Listen, you will be rooming with me starting today. So, you better get used to getting dressed in front of me because I am not going to leave the room every time you have to change your clothes."
Natsuki looked at her like a scolded kid. Without responding she turned around and slowly started to lift her shirt.
Nao was following the action with her eyes and to her surprise she was unable to look away. Her face became strangely hot when she took in the sight of the pale skin and the perfectly shaped body. Black strands were scattering across the bare back of the older girl after the white shirt hit the floor. Not even the dark bruises and scratches seemed to be out of place. It looked like the most perfect painting in the world to the pink-haired girl. When she let her eyes wander along the ribcage, she unintentionally gulped by noticing the curves of the upper-body of her friend. The silence and the slowly breakthrough of sunlight through the curtains underlined the odd scenario. Little particles of dust were glistening in front of the almost naked form of her friend, making the moment even more surreal.
When Natsuki finally was ready and turned around, she still had a light pink color on her face.
"Okay, we can go." The raven-haired girl said shyly while facing the bottom. Only when she didn't get any response at all, she lifted her head a bit. Her friend was still leaning against the doorframe but her vision had become a bit dull.
"Oi, what's wrong?" Natsuki eventually said.
"Mh?" Nao felt like being woken up from a dream and Natsuki eyed her younger friend with suspicion. The pink-haired girl's mind slowly started to work again and the realization of the strange situation made her cheeks flush.
"Ugh, I…Let's go." She turned around, cursing herself about her weird behaviour.
Now what the hell was that? Looking at your childhood friend like a little pervert. It's not the first time that I see a girl undress. I even survived the sight of Mai's huge…Okay, let's not go into this serious woman and her perfect body.
The campus was still empty, only the sound of singing birds accompanied their silent walk to the residence of the director. There was not one cloud in sight, when the sun slowly climbed up the sky.
"Do you really think the director will welcome us at this time?" Natsuki asked full of doubt.
"Yes. I know it sounds strange but the director was the one who freed me from the Orphanage and takes care of all the fees."
Natsuki gave her a surprised look that practically screamed 'why'.
"I don't know why either…at least not yet. But Mikoto and Mai also get this kind of support." She made a short pause. "By the way, I already asked both of them about this. It's okay with them."
"So, she slept in your room." Natsuki asked somehow disinterested.
"Yes, when I got back, Mikoto and Mai were sound asleep and when my alert went off in the morning they were already up, preparing breakfast."
"But that means they must have noticed that we were gone during the night."
"Seems so. But they didn't ask any questions." It sounded very nonchalantly but Natsuki could see that her younger friend looked a bit worried. Before she could get into it, Nao suddenly stopped.
"Over there." She pointed at the huge white building in front of them. Only now, Natsuki slowly started to realize her surroundings. She had mostly been starring at her feet during the walk to avoid the bright sunlight flashing her still tired eyes. She felt like being caught in another world right now. The house looked like a villa from the early American South and the Campus seemed far away. The whole building looked more like a presidential residence than like an office for a school director.
"Ne Nao, this guy must be a bit creepy. Living all by himself in such a huge house and giving away his money to random children." Natsuki said her typical mistrusting manner.
Nao chuckled under Natsuki's words before enlightening her.
"He is a she and she has a nurse who takes care of her."
"She? Nurse? Huh?" Question marks were decorating the raven-haired girls face but before Nao could explain anything, a calm and steady voice reached their ears.
"Welcome Nao-san. You brought a friend today."
"Good morning, Mashiro-sama, this is…"
"Kuga Natsuki. I already know." The voice tossed in.
The thought of the incident yesterday in her first class suddenly stroke Natsuki's thoughts.
Oh shit. Of course, she would know after my fulminate first impression on campus. She will never approve of our request.
Natsuki's head shot up in panic, trying to explain the situation from yesterday but as soon as she took in the sight of the owner of the voice her jaw dropped.
"Ummm…Wheelchair…Child…" she said in disbelief. Nao got to her stunned friend and closed her mouth with a slap on her chin.
"You're being rude." She mumbled only for Natsuki to hear.
"My body is weak but one of the advantages of my illness is that I look fairly younger than I really am." The little girl with violet coloured hair said mystically.
"Ermm, sorry. I didn't mean to offend." Natsuki mumbled.
"You haven't." She smiled warmly. "You two are up quite early."
"Yes, actually we have a request." Nao tossed in before Natsuki could voice any more dumb comments.
"You two want to room together. I though so and I already arranged everything."
Now both of them stared at her with puzzled eyes.
"You two seem surprised. I figured that much since you've been good friends for such a long time. You better hurry to get your things packed Nao-san. Or you'll have to wait with the moving until after class. I bet Mai-san already has her things stored in your room."
"How…" Nao stumbled.
"I am the director. I have to be aware of everything concerning this school and its students." She was still calmly smiling at the girls.
"You're tea is ready Mashiro-sama." An even more childlike-voice came from the direction of the house. Natsuki spotted a woman in a maid outfit with light pink hair and figured that it must be the so called "nurse".
"Thanks, Fumi-san. I'll be there right away." And with that the spooky girl was gone.
When the girls where on their way back, none of them was talking for awhile. Both were wrapped up in her own thoughts. It was Nao who broke the silence first.
"Who pays for your fees?" she asked out of the blue.
Natsuki stopped dead in her tracks as if the question had slapped her.
"I…I have no idea." She said clueless. "I actually never thought about this. Maybe the state."
"Or maybe the director…" Nao claimed, still deep in thoughts. "Natsuki!"
"Yes!" she responded quite shocked about the commanding tone of her younger friend.
"We have a mission!" The pink-haired girl triumphantly raised her fist.
"Mission?" Natsuki just looked at her as if Nao was a complete idiot.
Nao got closer and whispered into her hear. "Yes, we need to find out more about this. Don't you think it's suspicious that she already knew about the both us of being old friends?"
Natsuki deliberated a bit but came to the conclusion that Nao was right. Something was strange about that kid-director.
Just before they were about to enter the dorms, a female voice called out for Nao.
"Yuuki-san, don't be late on your first class. You know you have to hand in that essay today."
Sweat drops were instantly building up on Nao's forehead.
"Shit!" She silently cursed to herself before turning around and smiling her brightest smile. "Ahem…Midori …You know about that, I didn't…"
"Nao, I told you not to call me Midori in public. I am still one of your teachers."
"Sure, sure. Sorry, about that." She paused. "But about that essay…" Nao stuttered onwards.
"You should not lose focus due to your…nightly activities." By voicing the last words, she gave Natsuki a 'I-know-it-all-glance' that let her take a step back in fear.
When Midori turned around, Nao let out a sigh of relief.
"What the hell was that?" Natsuki asked.
"That was Midori, my and probably your history teacher too."
"Teacher? Really now, what kind of school is this?"
"Hmm, who knows? I've never been to any other school before."
"Mh, me neither." They were both looking at each other with puzzled eyes before the heard a loud noises coming from the second floor.
"Mikoto stop it! Let's wait for Natsuki and Nao before you start moving this…woohaaa!" A loud bang could be heard, followed by an odd silence. The voice was obviously Mai's and the two green-eyed girls didn't hesitate for a second and ran up the stairs.
A/N: Next Chapter: Natsuki and Shizuru...Encounter