Disclaimer and Author's Note: I arrived too late in the game to take any credit for Mai-HiME. Chances are if I did have creative control, the show wouldn't be anywhere near as popular as it is...but there'd be a lot more 'shipping.
Speaking of 'shipping, we're now on to week two of this vignette-based theoretical "love story" between Mai Tokiha and Natsuki Kuga. This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but it's still tangentially related to the other seven.
Day 8 - Lockdown
Theme #13 - Excessive Chain
That's the last time I leave my bike in the school parking lot, Natsuki thought to herself.
She nearly lost her only motorcycle last night. The light-duty chain that held it was almost defeated by a cunning bandit with a hacksaw. Scratch marks were visible in several different spots, but none were deep enough to fully break through. Natsuki determined that it was too risky to leave it alone like that, so she wrapped a heavier chain around it near the bike rack. "That should do it," she said after kissing one of the chain links.
A few short moments afterward, Mai came walking down the bike path, waving to her brother and begging him to hurry up. Takumi lagged a few meters behind his sister, pausing at a nearby lamp post to catch his breath. "Come on, Takumi!" she called out.
"Slow down, sis," he said between breaths. "You move too fast for me."
"Hey, wasn't it your idea to come outside and enjoy the weather today? I figured it would be more interesting if we sped things up a little."
Takumi picked himself up and joined Mai and Natsuki near the bike rack. "Yeah, but did we have to run all the way around the track, too?"
"It's been a while since we've had a good jog. I tried to move slowly so that you could keep up. You really should do a bit of walking every now and then to stay in shape."
Takumi inspected Natsuki's black motorcycle, marveling at how it made the normal bicycles look puny by its mere presence. "That's a cool bike you have there," he said. "Where'd you get it, anyway?"
"A friend gave it to me as a present for my sixteenth birthday," said Natsuki. "He even taught me how to ride it. Ever since I got this, it's become my most prized possession."
"Really?" Mai teased. "Do you value it so much that you'd risk getting suspended for leaving it outside the designated parking area?"
Natsuki scoffed at Mai's suggestion. "This is a very expensive vehicle. I have to keep a close eye on it, or else somebody could come in the night and take it away. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to understand that."
Mai picked up the chain and played with it a bit. "You're awfully protective of this thing, aren't you, Natsuki? I don't think a thief would go to the trouble of cutting through this many links just to get to your bike."
"Taking extra precautions are necessary sometimes."
Mai went over to the blue bicycle on the far end of the bike rack and unfastened its lock with a small key. "Don't you think it would be easier on you if you used a regular bike?" she asked.
"Probably...but my motorcycle gets me where I need to go in a hurry," said Natsuki. "You just can't ride a regular bicycle on a highway. Traffic is vicious, and the cars will knock you right over."
"I do it because I dig the exercise," said Mai, adjusting the seat of her bike to a comfortable level. "If I need to travel someplace far away, there's always the trolley or the bus."
"Hey, Natsuki," said Takumi. "Do you think you could let me ride on that motorcycle of yours one day?"
Natsuki stared at Takumi for a few seconds. She had already let his sister ride with her on one trip, but he wasn't quite as physically fit as Mai, so he would likely have trouble hanging on at high speeds. "Maybe," she said. "You'll have to ask your sister."
Takumi hugged Mai from behind and stared at her with his eyes wide open. "Come on, sis! Please?"
"I don't know why you'd want to do something like that, but...be my guest," said Mai. "Just remember to hang on tightly at all times, okay?"
"Of course I will, Mai. I'm not that crazy."
Mai and Takumi came together for a quick hug, and then returned down the bike path from which they came. "I'll race you back to the dorm!"
"Oh, sure, you ride the bicycle while poor little Takumi goes back on foot and gets left in the dust, huh? Not this time!"
Takumi pushed Mai out of the way and sat on the bike himself, using his newfound stamina to pedal as fast as he could down the bike path. Mai chased after her younger brother, admonishing him as she tried to keep pace.
Natsuki looked on with mild amusement as the two siblings faded into the distance. Look at those two, she thought. They're both so happy and carefree. That must be what it's like to have a close familial connection. They bicker and fight sometimes, but she still stays by his side. She must really love him... It's been a while since I've been able to experience something like that. I wonder...would she be willing to share some of that warmth with...me? Maybe it's time I stopped fooling around and tell her how I really feel.
She looked down at the chains binding her motorcycle and tried to remove them by hand. The weight of the chains coupled with the number of coils around the bike rack made it hard for her to get her vehicle free. "Guess I overdid it a little bit," she said to herself.
