Chapter 6
As the bell rang, I gathered my things and went to the door of the classroom. I wonder what sort of questions Natsuki would have for me. I wonder why she hates Reito-kun... Either way, if I'm going to answer her questions than I'm sure she'll be more than willing to answer a few of mine. Walking out of the building, I saw Natsuki sitting on the arm rail over the steps to the school, "Natsuki-chan!" I called, jogging down the steps to her.
Natsuki waved at me and quickly said goodbye to a blonde girl she was talking to. I knew the girl was on the archery team, but I didn't know much else about her. She did give me a very wary look though. "Talk to you later, Miya-san." Natsuki said, falling into step beside me and leaving the girl behind.
"Another fan of yours?" I asked once we were out of hearing distance of the girl.
Natsuki chuckled, "What makes you say that?"
I looked up thoughtfully for a moment before smirking at the girl, "I dunno, because she glared death at me once I said your name." I said.
The bluenette shrugged, "I'll tell her to play nice." she said, looking at me with a grin, "Though I agree with her, we make a good couple."
I couldn't help but giggle at the girl, "I'm sure." I agreed, leading her out of the school gates towards my house. We walked in silence for a bit until we got away from the other students that were leaving campus. Once we were a good ways away, I smiled at the bluenette, "So then, what questions for me do you have?" I asked.
"Why won't anyone tell Shizuru that Reito's cheating on her?"
"You don't beat around the bush."
"I hate bush."
"Gu-" I snapped my mouth together and blushed a bit while Natsuki only laughed at my response. She looked up at me with a playful face, "What? He was a terrible leader." she said simply, shrugging and looking forward again, "Okay, I had my fun. How about we start out with something easier. You grew up with 'Zuru, right?" I nodded, "Okay, then, tell me what she's like. Her personality I mean."
"Formal." I said at once. I remembered Shizuru playing in the garden behind the mansion of a house she grew up in. "Not always. She used to play with me and Mikoto, before she was formally introduced to Reito. We would run around the yard in the garden, by the fountain and all over the flowers. Mikoto used to chase the butterflies in spring, bouncing after them like a cat. One of them landed on Shizuru's head, once."
Natsuki was still looking forward, smiling happily, "I bet she loved that."
"She started crying actually." I said, smiling a bit at the memory and even more at the surprised look on Natsuki's face, "She saw it land on her forehead and fell to her knees with tears rolling down her face. She was sobbing, but I was scared to get it. Mikoto jumped over and picked it up, trapping it between her hands. She gave it to me." I said with a bright smile. Wait a minute, what am I doing? "I'm sorry, you wanted me to answer questions, not ramble about her childhood."
The bluenette shook her head and kept on smiling, "Don't worry, Mai, I like hearing these stories. Plus, it's your childhood, too. The stories can probably help me get a better idea of her personality rather than someone else just trying to sum it up."
"True." I muttered, trying to think of a story or a memory where I had learned something about Shizuru as well, "Well, since my mother was a maid, I was allowed in the house if Shizuru ever didn't want to play outside. Mikoto wasn't though; she had a knack for knocking things over. We were playing hide and seek in the rooms downstairs. She was hiding in the kitchen and I was looking through all the cabinets. I heard her rustling under the sink so when I opened the door, I screamed to scare her...
"She screamed bloody murder and jumped, and hit her head in a pipe. She started crying again. I couldn't help much, but when a maid come in Shizuru started clutching the girls leg and started asking for her mommy. The maid shook her off and left..." I said, remembering the angry look on the maids face and the way she got away from Shizuru.
Natsuki had a deep frown on her face, "What happened? Was she okay?" she asked.
I nodded and smiled a bit at the memory, "I ran around the house and found my mom. She came into the kitchen and sat on the floor with us. She held Shizuru like she would me, or my brother, and sang her to sleep. She used to suck her thumb," I said, hearing Natsuki laugh a bit beside me, "My mother put Shizuru in bed and told me to go keep Mikoto company."
"Keep going." Natsuki said simply, a content look on her face.
I smiled and went on, "I remember Mikoto telling Shizuru about a stray cat that she'd found one day. The cat had scratched her, and she was showing us the red marks on her arm. Mikoto was fond of cats, but Shizuru said that she wanted a dog. She told us how she'd seen a movie on TV about these 8 dogs that pulled a sled through the snow. They were huskies most likely, but she just kept calling them the fluffy wolves. She loved those dogs, but her dad wouldn't let her get one because he didn't want the puppy to have to go through potty training in the house.
"The day that she was supposed to formally be introduced to Reito-san was the first day I saw her do a 180. We were playing outside in the garden, throwing a balloon between us and trying to keep it from touching the ground. When Reito and his father pulled up in their car, Fujino came out and stood by the front door. It was like seeing the life fall from her eyes. She let the balloon fall right in front of her, turned and started walking away from us. She looked like a gracious woman when she was 7, even though we'd been running through the garden that morning. I remember Reito picking a leaf out of her hair and she just smiled and laughed. If I'd done the same to her she would've tackled me."
Natsuki faked a gasp, "Shizuru Fujino... with a... wild side?!" she asked, looking utterly shocked.
I pushed her shoulder lightly and laughed with her, "Shut up, we were kids."
She smiled and kept on walking, "So she's actually a pretty fun person, she's just a professional cunt to impress her father?" she asked. She didn't give me time to retort before she kept on talking, "Let me rephrase. To impress her father, she'd rather act like someone that she isn't."
That sounded much better. "Yes," I answered, frowning a bit, "My mother always used to remind me and Mikoto to never forget who we are inside. I think Shizuru may have forgotten that lately. We're in our last year of school at the academy now, and she's going to try to get into a nice university. She's going to try to prove to her father that she can run the family business."
The look on Natsuki's face turned sour then. I wasn't sure what was going through her mind, but it looked like she was contemplating something dark. Finally she spoke up, "Who'd ever want anything to do with that business..." she muttered.
Her words were dark, but I smiled besides the fact, "My mother never liked Fujino-sama either."
"Tell me about your mom." Natsuki said, looking at me with a small smile, "If it's not too strange to say, you actually kind of remind me of my mom. It makes yours sound like an angel." she said.
"It's not too weird." I said, returning her smile, "My mom was amazing. She's in America with my brother now, but when she was with me she was always nice, always loving and always accepting. Mikoto even ran to my mother when we were kids and said that she and I were getting married," I said, stopping to laugh for a moment, "and my mom just hugged us both and wished us a happy future."
"She does sound pretty amazing." Natsuki muttered, "You said something about a brother, too. How old is he?" she asked. I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out. Come on, Mai, it's a simple enough question. Just answer it without making it such a big deal. But Natsuki was already watching me, looking at the discomfort on my face, "This has to do with lunch, doesn't it?" she asked quickly.
I sighed and nodded, feeling my throat constrict. I didn't want to cry again though, so I looked forward and swallowed my emotions so that I could begin my tale, "My brother is a few years younger than me. He has health problems, and a weak heart. My mother worked as a maid to save up money to send to him and my father in America. But my brothers condition was growing worse, and we didn't have enough money for the surgery that he needed." I said as strongly as I could, but I felt my voice cracking in my throat.
Natsuki didn't say a word, but she reached out and took hold of my hand and squeezed it.
I gulped again and continued, "My mother tried to get the money fast. She.. stole from the Fujino's. She was caught by mister Fujino. I don't know exactly what happened, but one night she told me that everything was fine, and the next she was arrested. Afterward, she couldn't get a job anywhere as a maid anymore. She moved to America to try and help my father raise the money." I said, clenching my throat and batting my eyelashes as fast as I could, "They raised the money though. My brother got the surgery last month."
Natsuki stopped walking. I stopped a bit ahead of her and raised my brows at her. She shook her head and let my hand go and reached up, wiping the tears that I felt flowing down my face, "I hope you don't mind if I try to make you my best friend, Mai." she muttered, a stubborn look on her face.
I grinned and shook my head, trying to clear my nose and my throat, "You're a pretty handy friend for a shitty afternoon." I said, smiling. I knew I probably looked like an idiot, but I didn't care. Of all the things that I'd heard about Natsuki from around school, I didn't think she'd prove to be so supportive. Hell, Haruka had us all convinced she was a delinquent and would flee at the first sight of something she couldn't handle.
The bluenette scoffed at me, "You should hang out with me on a good afternoon, then."
I wiped off my cheek and grinned at her, "I might just take you up on that."
"Might." she scoffed again. At first she looked offended, but then I couldn't take her seriously anymore. She was too nice to actually be mad. I started giggling at her again, and then she was laughing with me too. When we were done she looked at me seriously, "And Reito gave you shit for that…" she muttered, looking at the ground angrily.
I blinked and bit the inside of my cheek, "I don't entirely blame him. His father's the police chief, of course he's not going to let go of a theft."
"Doesn't make it okay." Natsuki said, looking up at me and smiling. I could only nod blindly. Her eyes were bright again, bright and flowing. It looked like there was a wall of wildfire burning a bright green behind her eyes. I wonder what she's planning.
"Oi, Kuga, what're you doing outside my apartment?"
I blinked and looked behind me. Walking down the side walk was someone from our school. He was fairly tall, with spiked orange hair on the top of his head. At least someone at our school had managed not to look completely ridiculous in our orange blazer, even if he was wearing an over sized green jacket over it. The boy stopped in front of us and grinned at me, a slight blush on his face, "Well hi, I'm Tate Yuuichi." he said, sticking out his hand.
Smiling, I shook his hand and nodded, "I'm Mai Tokiha." I said, looking at him. Though his head was tilted a bit too low for him to be... "Pervert!" I yelled, snatching my hand back and punching the boy upside the head.
He crouched down and started rubbing the back of his head, muttering "ow ow ow" under his breath. Soon enough he was back on his feet, glaring at me, "What the hell was that for?!"
"You were staring at my chest!" I yelled, glaring right back at him.
"Well what do you expect." he yelled again, jabbing a finger at my chest.
I felt my eye twitch in anger, "Pervert!" I yelled again, taking a hold of my bag and hitting his head with it.
Within seconds he was crouched down again, rubbing his head furiously. This time he stayed down there though, glaring at me from his place on the ground. Though, before either of us could start yelling again, Natsuki put a foot on Tate's shoulder. We both looked at her for a moment before she pushed her foot forward, making the boy fall back and roll onto the back of his neck. While he was recovering, Natsuki grabbed my hand again and started leading me away, "Come on, lets get you inside before he can see your apartment number." she said.
"Hey!" Tate yelled out in protest, but we kept on walking.
Just around the corner was my apartment building (which I apparently shared with Tate). Me and Natsuki raced up the stairs, shouting at each other to get away from the pervert below. We arrived at my apartment both out of breath and red in the face, but it was fun. I usually only ran like this with Mikoto, but sometimes the small girl made me feel a little ridiculous.
As I unlocked my door, I looked back at Natsuki and smiled, "I have a question of my own for you."
"Shoot." she responded with a grin.
"Are you and Nao-san dating?" I asked as I opened my door.
She raised her brows at me, "No, but if you're inviting me inside I'm sorry to say but I'm not interested." she said, looking into my apartment.
I felt my face heat up as I shook my head wildly, "Nooooo no, No. Not what I meant in the least bit."
"Oh, then why ask if I was single?"
I smiled at her and leaned against the door frame, "So that she wouldn't get mad if I tried to make you my best friend as well." I said. She returned my smile eagerly. "Any last minute questions?"
She looked around for a moment, "What's 'Zuru's favorite food?"
"Ice cream." I said, grinning a bit, "Reito took her for frozen yogurt one night and said it was healthier. All Shizuru had to say was that she liked it and he was convinced it was her favorite. Takes her no place else now. But trust me, she likes the real stuff. Real ice cream with real toppings where you pay by the cup size, not its weight. Also... Reito is well mannered as well, but he can be intimidating. That's why we can't tell Shizuru."
Natsuki nodded and backed away from the door, "Note taken! Thanks for all the info Mai. Lunch tomorrow?"
"Hell yes."
I watched her go before I closed the door. Thankfully my room was on the side of the building, so I had windows where my neighbor didn't. I went to them and opened the windows, trying to let some light into the dusky room. Why not? I made an awesome new friend today. Looking out the window, I saw something peculiar though. Natsuki was on the sidewalk where we were, talking with Tate (who had donned some new sunglasses). It looked like they were talking seriously. I bet she's telling him not to be a pervert. That thought made me laugh for a bit before I continued with my windows.
OMAKE
Me: ...Merp? Merp.
Tate: ...merp?
Nao: Merp.
Tate: Wait, what?
Natsuki: merp merp merp
Shizuru: Ara, merp.
Tate: The fuck are you saying?
Me: -smacks him- Merp!
Tate: ...merp
Me: -smirks- Thanks for reading, guys. This one is shorter yes but blaaaah. Just. So much happening. So much. Can't focus.
