Chapter 9: Well, Damn it.
Comin' to you live from Maui, Hawaii! Woo. It's nice here. Supa nice.
Enjoy…?
"Ara, so you found Natsuki then, Tomoe?" Shizuru's Kyoto-ben floated from the door Tomoe and Natsuki had first came through to get into the garage.
Tomoe stopped dead in her tracks. Blood was still pouring down her nose as she locked eyes with Natsuki. Fierce emeralds met her stormy gray eyes…but only for a second before Natsuki looked passed her to a beautiful Kyoto goddess. Natsuki's ferocity disappeared and was replaced with relief. A grateful smile appeared on her lips as she eyed her savior. Her really, really good looking savior.
Tomoe decided to ignore Shizuru. She snarled and charged like a bull, then leapt toward the biker. Natsuki blinked as Tomoe flew through the air towards her, and so she simply took a step to the left. Her eyes followed Tomoe's flying form as the crazy girl flew passed Natsuki and crashed into a tall, metal rack full of motorcycle parts and tools. Tomoe lay motionless under the rack. No one much cared.
Nao, who had shown up from behind Shizuru, blinked. "Did Tomoe really just fly into--?"
Natsuki nodded as she eyed Tomoe's motionless body. "Yup, she did."
Nao paused, her eyebrows furrowing. "I thought so." That was a little anti-climatic. No fight scene? No vengeful Kyoto woman vs psycho green haired girl smack down? "Why did I bother coming here…?" Nao mumbled as she stepped passed Shizuru into the garage and folded her arms over her chest.
Forest green eyes glanced over at Nao and then instinctively found Shizuru's. Her eyes were beautiful. "Shizuru," Natsuki greeted with a smile. I knew you'd come.
Crimson eyes sparkled with delight as the Kyoto champion stepped into the room and strode toward Natsuki. Instantly her arms wrapped around the younger girl and tugged her into a tight embrace. "Natsuki," Shizuru cooed into the girl's ear, "are you hurt?" Shizuru held Natsuki at arm's length and looked her up and down. While Natsuki's hair was a little messier than usual and her clothes looked like they had been on the floor, Natsuki generally looked healthy.
Natsuki shook her head but held up her bound wrists. "No, I'm fine. But would you mind cutting these things off?" She nodded to the ropes.
Shizuru frowned at the ties holding Natsuki's wrists together, but complied with the request and went to go get the strange metal clipper things Tomoe had used to cut the ankle bindings off before. "There," Shizuru said with a satisfied smile when the wrist bindings fell to the floor after a quick snip (and Natsuki's repetitive warnings to Shizuru to 'be damn careful with those things!').
Natsuki rubbed at her newly freed wrists. The skin was slightly tender where the ropes had grinded against her flesh. She winced and blinked in surprise when Shizuru took one of her hands and opened it. Shizuru brought her lips to Natsuki's open palm and kissed the middle of it. The older girl pulled back, her crimson eyes twinkling with mischief as they examined Natsuki for the expected entertaining facial expression.
As predicted, Natsuki turned scarlet and averted her gaze. The tingly sensation moving up her arm was rather uncomfortable. Or was it comfortable? Natsuki wasn't sure, since she'd never felt anything like it before. Natsuki felt her slightly shaking hand released from Shizuru's slender fingers and looked up to see what stopped her. "Shizur—?"
"Natsuki!" Shizuru yelled as she tugged the shorter girl and flung her onto the floor by her collar.
"Oof!" Natsuki groaned when she thudded onto the garage floor. When she looked up, a sledge hammer sliced through the air right above her. Shizuru managed to jump back in time, and had Natsuki not been on the ground she would have probably had more crushed bones than ever before. That would've hurt. A lot. Thank God for Kyoto-woman reflexes.
The sledge hammer was heavy, and tugged Tomoe's body weight with it when it flew to the left. Tomoe nearly toppled to the ground, except Nao caught her from behind and grabbed the psycho's hands. She dug her nails into Tomoe's skin, causing Tomoe to release her grip on the handle of the hammer and let out a howl. The two struggled against each other.
Shizuru helped Natsuki up and watched as Nao shoved a delirious Tomoe onto the ground. Nao sat on Tomoe's upper back and made herself comfortable as she crossed her legs Indian style. She grinned happily down at a struggling Tomoe. "If you can get up I'll let you kick Natsuki's ass," Nao said down to her, knowing well that Tomoe didn't have a chance at getting up.
Her only response was a growl.
Shizuru sighed. "Tomoe, don't you think you've gone too far this time?" She elegantly strode to stand in front of Tomoe. Tomoe's eyes slowly lifted upwards, gray clashing with intense wine-red eyes.
"I love you," Tomoe said seriously.
Shizuru's eyebrow twitched only slightly before she plastered her creepy, yet pleasant smile on. "You don't, nor do I love you," Shizuru tried, her voice sounded firm and powerful, as if she were trying to hypnotize Tomoe so that she drilled that message into her brain.
Natsuki, (who didn't really care about Shizuru trying to convince Tomoe since she knew it would do nothing) glanced at her Ducati and smiled. "Oh, baby, you're alright…"
Shizuru looked towards Natsuki. "Of course I'm al—ara, ara…" Shizuru watched as Natsuki hugged the Ducati like it was…well…her Ducati. She pouted slightly. Me vs the Ducati…Shizuru entertained the thought of Natsuki having to choose between one. In Shizuru's mind she saw Natsuki pick the Ducati…and then gesture for Shizuru to get on as well. She smiled contently at the thought.
"Shizuru?"
Shizuru jolted out of her thoughts. She smiled politely and tilted her head ever so slightly. "Yes, my Natsuki?"
Natsuki coughed nervously and muttered, "Thanks…" Emeralds looked off to the side, avoiding the older girl's amused gaze.
A slender brow lifted in the ebony haired girl's direction. "For what?" She asked ever so sweetly. Natsuki is so adorable it's unnatural...
Natsuki made a vague hand gesture. "You know," she grumbled, "the knocking me to the ground thing so I didn't get sledge hammered?"
Nao beat Shizuru to a reply. "This is all very cute and sweet…makes me want to barf and stuff," the redhead said as she folded her arms. "But you two only have ten minutes to make it back to the race in time." The demon made an annoyed face and tapped her watch twice. A brow lifted expectantly in Natsuki's direction.
Shizuru and Natsuki both looked at each other in panic. "Quick!" Natsuki yelled as she found her helmet on the ground and put it on. "We can still make it," she assured as she moved to get onto her bike.
Shizuru had her bike out front and paused as she waited for the garage door to open fully. "Natsuki, your arm," Shizuru said as she looked back at Natsuki, the memory of the girl's injured arm coming back to her.
Natsuki moved it slightly and winced…luckily Shizuru couldn't see it from under her visor. "Feels fine," Natsuki lied. She felt slightly bad for lying to Shizuru, but she didn't want to make yet another date for the rematch. It was just annoying and she wanted to get it over with. Please don't know I'm lying, please don't know I'm lying… Natsuki mentally chanted as her eyes willed Shizuru to believe her.
Shizuru paused and gave Natsuki a searching look before nodding and exiting the garage. Something told her Natsuki was lying…but Natsuki wouldn't lie to her right? Not now, not when they were…friends. She got on her bike and turned it on. Nao, who was busy tying Tomoe up, waved at them to go on when they gave her a 'hurry up' look.
Natsuki nodded to Shizuru, who nodded back, and they sped off down the road.
The two pulled the bikes up at the starting line just in time. Shizuru and Natsuki both tried to calm their racing hearts. They weren't sure if it was because riding together was so exhilarating, or because they were both slightly panicky that they had missed the race. That wouldn't have been good, not at all.
"Where the hell have you been, Natsuki?" Mai asked as she came out of Natsuki's tent and stood in front of her friend, arms akimbo.
Natsuki pointed to Shizuru. "She has stalkers," she said simply. Mai lifted a brow in her direction. Natsuki sighed. "Stalkers that don't like me," she added to clarify.
Mai's eyes looked thoughtful for a second before she turned to Shizuru and asked, "Tomoe?"
Both the racers nodded.
Mai groaned and slapped her forehead. "I knew the girl was nuts, but kidnapping you?" Mai shook her head then walked so that she was standing slightly in front of the two racers. "Where is Nao?" she asked Shizuru.
The Kyoto woman smiled from under her helmet. "She's cleaning up the mess."
Mai pouted. "That means I have to read the rules?" She wasn't quite as good as Nao was at riling up a crowd, and she feared that if she tried to imitate Nao's charm she might get booed.
"Just get to it, Mai," Natsuki barked. "I've been locked in my room all day, tied up might I add. I need to ride." And she had no doubt this race would be one of the most beautiful she'd ever had. She was much too uptight and needed to unwind. She wasn't going to hold back no matter what she was feeling for the competition.
Mai glared at Natsuki. "Okay, bossy, geez." Mai cleared her throat and eyed the crowd that had gathered around them. "As you all know, this is our reigning champion of Fuuka and representing the Kuga Squad…Kuga Natsuki!" Half the crowd broke into hoots and cheers.
Natsuki tuned the rest out and glanced at Shizuru, who caught the head movement in her peripheral vision and also turned her head to face Natsuki.
"Yes?" Shizuru asked, her head tilting slightly.
Natsuki flipped up her visor, revealing dazzling emeralds. "Why…" she began, but stopped when she heard what Mai was saying. Her eyes shifted to Mai instead of Shizuru.
"The third rule is no falling for the competition—" Mai began.
Natsuki cleared her throat loudly, causing Mai to look at her and cut what she was saying short. "Uh," Natsuki started, "as the current Fuuka underground motorcycle racing champion, I now declare that rule invalid."
Shizuru blinked.
Mai blinked.
Hell, everyone blinked.
Natsuki flipped her visor back down and broke into a blush. "Er, let's get on with it then…" She mumbled. The dark haired beauty really didn't want to keep such a dumb rule around when she was so obviously breaking it. Who came up with such a dumb rule anyways? It certainly wasn't during her reign as Fuuka champion. Nao's then? Well she didn't do a good job of not breaking it either if her kissing me was any clue.
Shizuru couldn't contain the wide smile that broke out on her face. Too bad she was hiding it under a helmet. Ara, ara, Natsuki does not like that rule anymore, mm? I wonder what changed her mind… Shizuru pretended to wonder, as if she really didn't know. Her heart was soaring. There was no way she was going to lose this race.
Mai looked like a fish out of water before she snapped out of it and shook her head as if to clear the confusion away. "U-Um…" she stammered. "Where was I…?" Natsuki soooo wants the student council president!
"Ara, ara, I've forgotten to make a wager," Shizuru said in her faux surprised Kyoto-ben.
Natsuki groaned. Her body felt like electricity. She was pumped. She wanted to get on the damn road and beat this heart stealing demon from Kyoto. Goddess, I mean. "Shizuru, can't we just race?" Natsuki asked…okay, whined. She was so damn impatient to get on the road.
Shizuru lifted a slender brow, though Natsuki couldn't see it. "Natsuki is so impatient…"
A fed up growl escaped from under the helmet. "Fine, what do you want?"
A slender finger tapped the bottom of a purple helmet. "Well, Natsuki knows what I want."
Natsuki swallowed.
"So what does Natsuki want?" Shizuru smiled ever so sweetly. She had no idea why she was smiling since she was technically wearing an actual 'mask' and no one could see her face. If they could see her face, they'd see sparkling wine-red eyes staring mischievously at their desire.
The crowd went silent as they waited to hear Natsuki's response.
"This will never work," Natsuki said after a minute, her husky voice so quiet, only those closest to her could hear it. "Because if I got what I wanted…or if you got what you wanted…we'd both be technically getting the same thing." Natsuki realized that if she wanted Shizuru, and Shizuru wanted her, no matter who won…well, they'd both win. Win-win. So what was the point of a wager? Besides, loving Shizuru might be her downfall but maybe it wasn't that bad of a way to go.
Shizuru's heart did a few hundred laps around the track. "Natsuki…"
"You guys are still here?!" Nao asked as she sped up on her blood red bike. "What the hell is—?" She noticed Mai's expression, which resembled the way she'd look when she saw a litter of kittens or something else entirely adorable. "Oh, someone said something gross didn't they?" Nao asked someone next to her. She only got a dirty look in response, causing her to huff and fold her arms.
Shizuru smiled. There was no point to make a wager after all since they both wanted the same thing indeed. Or well, at least that's what she hoped Natsuki meant. "Shall we race?" Shizuru asked happily. Her face turned to stare straight ahead.
Natsuki did the same. "We shall," she replied.
"I'm not taking it easy on you," Shizuru whispered. "I hope you'll understand."
Natsuki snorted. "I'd be insulted if you 'took it easy' on me," she said in her husky voice.
Shizuru nodded once and revved the engine. She waited for Mai to give the GO signal. A thought hit her. "Oh, and Natsuki?"
Natsuki, getting frustrated at all the distractions, glanced in Shizuru's direction. "Huh?"
"You don't take it easy on me either…"
Natsuki, yet again, snorted. "As if," she scoffed as she turned to face forward again. "You're the competition," she added, "I intend to beat you."
"Good." This would truly be no fun if either let the other win. Besides, this was what they both met each other for in the first place anyways.
"Is everyone ready?" Mai asked as she stood between the two racers. Nao didn't mind much that Mai had taken her job. She was too busy filing her nails.
The two racers nodded.
"On your mark," the two riders narrowed their eyes, "Get set…," their gloved fingers tightened around the throttle, "GO!" Mai yelled, though it was followed by a girlish squeal when the two racers zoomed by her. She held her skirt down and blushed something fierce.
Natsuki, as usual, was in the lead again. Take that, Fujino. Natsuki was not going to think of Shizuru as anything other than: Fujino, Kyoto champion. She didn't want anything to deter her from her main mission.
Shizuru, like the first race, was not far behind. She was pacing herself, taking her time in slowly inching up behind Natsuki's dark blue Ducati. I've got you now…
They turned the first curve, the one that had previously injured Natsuki's arm thanks to Tomoe. Natsuki was not worried this time. After the incident she had welcomed Chie to the Kuga Squad and told her to ride the track once before each race to make sure no traps had been placed anywhere. She hadn't seen Chie, but she knew Chie would've found her if she had come across anything important.
Natsuki was still in the lead. Oh this was great. This was heaven. Natsuki closed her eyes for a split second longer than was needed to blink, mostly because she liked the thrilling feeling of driving with her eyes closed. If closing them for an extra second longer than a blink counted or not she wasn't sure, but she wasn't crazy enough to try closing them for longer than that. Besides, she really wanted to win this race.
Shizuru was taking her time, as usual. Most of her races she always started off in second. She'd then slowly but surely pass her competition until she was way ahead of them. This race was no different. The closer she got, the more she found nervous emeralds glancing back at her in the side mirrors.
No, Kuga, focus! Don't look at her! Look at the road.
The yellow stripes in the road were going by so fast that it looked like the two lanes were separated by one continuous yellow line. Natsuki loved going fast. Speeding was the only word in her dictionary right now.
Shizuru slowly inched up behind Natsuki. She could tell her girl was skilled. It had taken her much longer to get this close to her than it would have had she been racing anyone else. Ah, well, she did enjoy a good challenge.
She won't pass me, she can't pass me, there's no way in HELL she's going to pass me. Natsuki chanted in her head, her eyes no longer looking in her side mirrors due to paranoia. Instead she focused yet again on the road in front of her.
A jolt of pain shot up her arm as she rounded the next turn. The motorcycle slipped slightly as she tried to regain balance. She felt her still sore arm begin to tear again as she fought to keep the motorcycle on track with all her strength and skill. Eventually her Ducati was controlled, and the only reason Shizuru hadn't taken this opportunity to pass Natsuki was because she was worried at the other biker's sudden loss of control.
Ara, ara, what's wrong with Natsuki? Shizuru wondered, her crimson lifting off the road to see if she could catch a glimpse of the emeralds through the girl's visor. She couldn't, yet she could tell from Natsuki's tense, rather than relaxed, posture that the girl hadn't meant to do…whatever had just happened. Could it be her arm…? Shizuru frowned. If Natsuki's arm was hurting…well, not only would this race be unfair but she didn't want Natsuki to further hurt herself. Why was this girl so stubborn?
Natsuki tried to get her breathing under control. Okay, she had almost lost control of her Ducati and could've fucked her arm up for good this time. Shit, she inwardly cursed. Maybe she should've held off the race until her arm had fully healed. It hurts…ow, ow, ow, gotta focus!…But mother fuckin' OW…
She wondered why Shizuru hadn't taken the clear opening to pass her. She could've sworn they agreed not to take it easy on the other? Maybe she was worried… Natsuki thought. Still, Natsuki would've….no…I would've known Shizuru was better than that and would have made sure she was okay instead of passing her. That must've been what Shizuru did.
Shizuru's eyes switched off between the road and Natsuki. Natsuki seemed to be okay now, though she seemed to mostly be steering with one arm, the other merely holding on loosely to the other handle. It is her arm. Ara, we should've waited before we—
The two racers sped by a car hidden off the side of the road. The man in the vehicle was wearing a police uniform. When a blur of dark blue and purple sped by, he spilled his Dunkin' Donuts coffee all over his lap and cursed. MOTHER EFFIN' SONUVA BITC—
The sound of a siren and the screeching of tires on asphalt caused both emeralds and crimson to glance quickly in their mirrors.
Natsuki scoffed. Cops? Please. Like they could catch her! She began weaving in and out of cars. Apparently they had hit some traffic. So late? Oh well, not a problem. She came so close to a red minivan she was sure the driver shit herself. Heh, maybe I shouldn't pull the tricky stuff until my arm stops throbbing.
Shizuru lifted an elegant brow as she watched the navy blue Ducati in front of her begin weaving dangerously in and out of the few cars on the road. Her eyes followed Natsuki as the girl stopped her weaving and actually slowed down, her fingers uncurling from the handlebar as if she was in pain.
Shizuru frowned then glanced to the mirror again and saw the cop car just behind them. Ara…should I stop? We could both easily lose him…and yet… Images of spending a night alone with Natsuki ran through her mind. Sure, it would be in a police station…behind bars…but that wasn't really what was important now was it? Besides, Natsuki's arm was clearly in pain. She wasn't ready to race was she? It couldn't be safe. Shizuru began loosening her hold on the throttle.
Ara…I am foolish.
Natsuki, smug as a toddler who got away with stealing cookies, happily glanced into her mirror again to see just how far behind she had left Shizuru and the police. She blinked and forgot where she was for a second, causing her bike to swerve violently before she righted it again. This, of course, caused new jolts of pain to shoot up her arm and her vision to flash white briefly. "DAMMIT!" She hissed. When she was confident she was safe on the road again, she glanced into the mirror. Shizuru was falling more and more behind, the policeman getting closer and closer to the Kyoto-woman. What is she doing?!
Eventually the purple bike pulled over to the side. The policeman stopped his car right behind hers and sat in the car, typing in the license plate of the helmeted purple biker.
Natsuki growled, did a U-turn, and went back. Going to kill her. Don't care if she's pretty. Going to kill…pretty…red eyes…sexy figure…beautiful lips…
The navy Ducati swerved as its driver went into la-la land.
Natsuki quickly tried to get her mind back on track as she stopped next to Shizuru's bike and merely glared through the visor at the older girl. I MEAN KILL. VERY MAD. GOING TO WIPE THAT SMUG SMILE OFF HER PRETTY FACE. "Shizuru!" Natsuki hissed as she got off her bike and walked over to the older woman. She could practically see Shizuru's eyes swirling with amusement, a brow lifted as if to say 'yes, my dearest Na-tsu-ki?'
Natsuki blushed at her dumb thoughts and pulled off her helmet, wincing slightly as her arm felt like it was on fire from the slight stretch, her ebony hair cascading over her face and down her back. "Why did you—" a sputtering noise came from the policeman's car. Natsuki and Shizuru glanced over and saw the policeman spilling coffee all over himself, though this time instead of cursing he merely continued staring at the raven beauty.
Natsuki blinked once before turning back to an even more amused Shizuru. "Take off your helmet, Fujino," she demanded.
Shizuru smirked, but complied and shook out her beautiful locks of brown. More sputtering was heard from the policeman. This time he got dagger-eyes from Natsuki and was promptly ignored by the Kyoto-goddess, whose eyes were already fixated on the Ducati-driving girl. "Kannin na, Natsuki…" Shizuru said with a slight tilt of her head, her eyes absolutely clear of any real guilt or apology. "I did not want him to catch us…"
Natsuki narrowed her eyes and then gestured to her bike. "That's why we have these. We use them. To drive away." She frowned and corrected herself, "Speed away." The shorter girl tucked the good arm's fist into her hip and waited for an explanation. When all she got was an amused look she growled, "Shizuru! This isn't funny! We've been putting this race off for—"
"And your arm, Natsuki?" Shizuru asked in her calm, yet somewhat creepy Kyoto-ben. Natsuki swallowed and averted her gaze. Shizuru nodded. "Exactly. You told me your arm was fine yet you nearly lost control out there—"
"My bike—!"
Shizuru shook her head. "No, your arm. I told you I don't want to race you until it's fair. It's not fair if you are injured." The red-eyed woman watched as a guilty shadow took over Natsuki's face. "We will make time for a rematch…" Shizuru said, her tone becoming soft. "But I don't want to risk you getting hurt again…"
Emeralds lifted to meet with rubies, which instantly trapped her gaze. "Sh-Shizuru…"
"Excuse me, ladies," the police officer's gruff voice came from the direction of the police car. They both slightly glanced at him, their looks dismissive. The police officer almost felt like he was in high school again, and the bullied 14 year old in him told him to run before the hot mean girls made fun of him in front of the whole cafeteria. "I-I-I'm…" he struggled to get his stutter under control. He hasn't stuttered for years now! "I'm…Officer—"
"Nakamura," Natsuki finished for him in her bored tone. When he gave her a bewildered look she merely rolled her eyes, leaned over, and flicked his name tag. "It says it on the tag right above your moob."
Officer Nakamura had never heard of the term 'moob' so he decided not to ask. "Uh, alright then."
Natsuki smirked at the man's apparent lack of vocab. "You can Google it when you go home," she said sweetly with a smile that made Shizuru giggle.
Nakamura instantly tagged the beautiful raven haired girl as the devil incarnate and then switched his confused gaze over to Shizuru, this one must be the angel. "Ms. Shizuru Fujino and Ms. Natsuki Kuga." His gaze flickered between the two. "You're both under arrest." He had typed both their license plates into his police cruiser's computer. Their names had come up and both were under suspicion (especially the Kuga one) of being involved in the underground racing ring they were trying to bring down.
Natsuki and Shizuru blinked in surprise. "Come again?" Natsuki asked as Nakamura reached for his handcuffs and moved towards Shizuru first. Natsuki put herself between the cop and Shizuru. "I said come again, jackass?"
Nakamura frowned and reached for his pistol. "Please don't resist arre—"
"Ara, ara, she won't. Kannin na, Officer Nakamura," Shizuru said as she easily took hold of Natsuki's shoulder and gently shoved the girl behind her. Shizuru smiled ever so sweetly. "Can I ask why we are being arrested?" Can we not just get a speeding ticket?
The man, who resembled a bear in, hair, muscle, and overall dopiness in all, frowned at her. "You're asking me why the two girls running the illegal underground racing are going to the station? Not to mention your speeding…and your friend's trying to escape before you got caught."
Shizuru's eyes narrowed. "I let myself get caught. If I hadn't wanted you to catch me I wouldn't have let you," she declared.
Nakamura rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure. Turn around." He gestured with his meaty hands for her to twirl. Shizuru's eyes flashed dangerously but she refused. Instead she held her arms out in front of her.
Natsuki growled but decided to point out, "You can't prove we're running anything…and…" she averted her gaze cutely, "I'm pretty sure there's only one person running that thing." And that would be me, not Shizuru.
The man merely huffed as he drew Shizuru's arms rather violently forward and then cuffed them together.
Natsuki's face laced with intense anger but she decided it was no use. Not only did the guy have their names, but he had already typed it into the system, meaning if she kicked his ass and left him somewhere the police station would still know who he had tried to arrest.
Nakamura placed a calm and slightly annoyed looking Shizuru in the back of the car before turning to face Natsuki. They both glared at each other, knowing that had the man been 20 years younger and not a cop, Natsuki would've given him an ass whooping he'd never forget. "Well," Natsuki asked with maliciousness dripping from her tone, "Are you going to arrest me, Officer Bakamura?" She smiled devilishly then, something she picked up from Nao.
It got the wanted effect. Officer Nakamura's eyebrow twitched and his hands clenched into fists as he stomped over to the girl. From inside his Police cruiser, Shizuru watched with a deep frown and intense concern.
Ara, ara, Natsuki always has to be the trouble maker… Then again, they wouldn't be in the spot had Shizuru continued racing…but she didn't want to risk Natsuki getting hurt because of her arm. This whole situation could've been avoided had Natsuki not lied about her arm.
The Kyoto-woman winced as Nakamura growled something she couldn't hear and grabbed Natsuki, bending her over the hood of the car and slamming the handcuffs on behind her back. Her emeralds glared at the car as he made sure he locked the handcuffs right before he roughly grabbed her by the back of her rider suit and dragged her towards the back seat. The door opened and Natsuki was practically thrown across the seat, her head landing on Shizuru's lap.
Natsuki opened her eyes and found herself looking up into slightly annoyed, yet mostly worried, crimson. Natsuki gave her a sheepish grin. "I really couldn't help it…" She had complained about their bikes being left alone while they went to the police station. Nakamura hadn't seemed to care much about her precious baby so she asked him why his giant ass didn't offer to take the motorcycle's home since something that big should have a mind of its own by now. This, obviously, led to her being thrown rather ungracefully onto Shizuru.
Shizuru sighed and moved her handcuffed hands to gently push some raven locks out of Natsuki's eyes. "I know, dearest Natsuki, I know…" She was certainly glad she hadn't been handcuffed from behind like Natsuki.
Natsuki began an attempt at sitting up before Shizuru gently shoved her back down. The trouble maker lifted a brow in Shizuru's direction when the back of her head hit Shizuru's lap again. "Shizuru?"
Shizuru smiled. "Natsuki can stay there."
Natsuki shrugged and got comfortable. Lying down in the back of a police cruiser wasn't so bad when your head was resting on Shizuru's lap. "Okay," she said, a light pink tinge coming to her cheeks.
Officer Nakamura, now royally pissed off due to Natsuki's quick wit and rude behavior, glared at the two girls in his rearview mirror. "Don't get too cozy back there," he warned.
"How is Natsuki's arm?" Shizuru asked curiously after ten minutes of silence. They were still in the car, and Natsuki felt rather tired. It reminded her of behind rocked back and forth in a cradle almost. Strange, but had the same effect nonetheless.
Natsuki grumbled something and turned her head, though still on Shizuru's lap, away from Shizuru's questioning gaze. "It's fine," she said louder this time.
"I do not believe you," Shizuru said quietly, her cuffed hands moving to Natsuki's shoulder before gently moving downwards to the tips of the girl's fingers. Natsuki shivered slightly but stayed silent. "You should have told me," the Kyoto-woman whispered softly.
"It was fine, alright?" Natsuki muttered, slight annoyance in her tone. She felt bad almost immediately afterwards, her words had sounded much harsher than she had meant them to. She turned her head back around and offered Shizuru a small smile. "I didn't want to worry you…and I have…an image to uphold. Weakness is not my forte."
"Natsuki is not weak because her arm is in pain," Shizuru said with a slight frown. She moved her hands back to the top of Natsuki's arm again before trailing down it gently yet again, mostly just to see if she can get another shiver from the younger girl. "That doesn't make you weak."
Natsuki shivered slightly again, then frowned as if to hide that fact. "Still, people expect something of the racing champion so…I can't turn down a race or a rematch. Besides," she snuggled closer to Shizuru (though she completely avoided the older woman's amused gaze as she did so) and huffed, "I told you it really wasn't that bad. I thought I could race you and win with it."
"You could've raced me and gotten hurt—"
"Why did you kiss Tomoe?" Natsuki blurted out suddenly. Her eyes widened at what she just said. WHY DID I ASK HER THAT?!
Shizuru blinked. "Why did I…?"
The car came to an abrupt stop, causing Shizuru and Natsuki to slide forward. Natsuki fell off the leather seats, Shizuru on top of her.
"We're heeere," Nakamura practically sang as he turned the engine off and opened his car door. He slammed it so hard, the whole car shook. Natsuki couldn't understand why a cop working on a Saturday would ever be this happy.
Natsuki blinked up at slightly confused crimson, and then howled as Shizuru tried getting off of her friend without hurting her. "Kannin na, Natsuki!" Shizuru whispered as she struggled to get in a position where she could push off her cuffed hands.
"I said not to get too cozy!" Nakamura grumbled as the car door behind Shizuru opened.
Emeralds glared at him from under the brunette and yelled, "Well if you maybe knew how to drive!"
Once they were inside the police station Natsuki's arm began to throb. She whimpered slightly. Whether the whimpering was due to the pain or due to the fact that her arm was beginning to feel like she had just reinjured it wasn't clear. Shizuru offered Natsuki a concerned look but stayed quiet. Her mind was wondering where on Earth Natsuki had heard a thing like that. Sure. Shizuru had kissed Tomoe. But didn't Natsuki know about her past seduction tricks? Or wait…. Ara, ara, I kissed Tomoe AFTER winning as well…which was completely unnecessary yet I did it all the same. Tomoe probably told Natsuki…
"Shizuru…" Natsuki said through gritted teeth. "Ask them for…some pain killers or something…?"
Shizuru instantly nodded, all too happy that Natsuki wasn't afraid to ask her to do something. "Of course," she glided over to the woman behind the desk who was talking to another police officer. Not Nakamura. "Good day," Shizuru said politely, her bewitching smile in place, "you wouldn't happen to have any medication for my friend? She has an injury and—"
"I got you guys the good cell," Nakamura said as he approached them, a keychain swinging around his finger as he smiled at them. "You'll be here for two days unless someone bails you out earlier."
Shizuru and Natsuki exchanged glances, both wondering who the other had in mind to bail them out. Shizuru was actually counting on Tomoe. Tomoe had money and, hey, Shizuru felt like Tomoe owed her big time. Might as well make the girl useful (if she was awake by now anyways). Natsuki was considering Nao…but she wasn't sure whether she wanted Nao to know she was in jail or not.
The metal cell doors slid closed behind them. Natsuki groaned as she looked around. A disgusting toilet sat in one corner. I think I can hold it for two days. I have a bladder of steel when it comes to disgusting bathrooms. There were two beds on each opposite side. Shizuru wished they weren't connected to the walls so that she could push them together and maybe make one big girls both looked around for any other kind of furniture. Nope. Nothing.
"You can't be serious…" Natsuki murmured after a minute. She instantly turned around when she heard Nakamura laughing. "Hey, you!" She growled as she banged on the metal with her good arm. "GET BACK HERE! I want my damn phone call!" There was no way she was staying here for two days!
Shizuru watched as her cellmate's emeralds followed a disappearing figure down the hall. Shizuru sighed and sat down upon one of the beds. Natsuki turned around and stomped over to her own bed. She plopped down onto it and then sprawled over the piece of furniture like she had slept on it numerous times before.
"You look quite comfortable," Shizuru commented, mostly due to lack of anything else to say.
A huff. "It doesn't hurt as much anymore so," Natsuki shrugged and glared up at the chipping paint on the ceiling, "whatever."
The two fell silent. Shizuru shifted uncomfortably on the bed. She refused to lie down on it, who knows what kind of vagrant has been there before? It absolutely appalled her that Natsuki didn't seem to give a damn. "Na-tsu-ki…" Shizuru cooed, her soothing Kyoto-ben drifting over to the silent racer.
Natsuki tilted her head slightly to glance at the beautiful woman. "Yeah?"
Shizuru smirked and lifted ever so gracefully from her perch to glide over to Natsuki's side. She then sat on the edge of Natsuki's bed and merely continued smirking at Natsuki's lifted eyebrow.
"It worries me when you look at me like that," Natsuki said as she swallowed, her heart beginning to pick up speed at Shizuru's predatory gleam.
"Ara…does it?" Shizuru moved so that she trapped Natsuki's body under hers. Her arms were on either side of Natsuki's shoulders and her knees gently rubbed against the outsides of Natsuki's knees. She lowered her head towards Natsuki's, "Kannin na then…" she whispered, "Na-tsu-ki…"
Natsuki's heart stopped beating, her face turned bright red, and her eyes widened when Shizuru's lips met hers. They were kissing in a jail cell? Really? How unromantic can you get?!
Okay, but this really isn't all that bad… Natsuki thought dreamily as her lips moved with Shizuru's, her eyes finally closing to enjoy the moment. She let out an involuntary moan, and wrapped her arms around Shizuru's waist, tugging the brunette's body against hers.
"Shizuru…" Natsuki whispered in her husky voice with half-lidded, dazed eyes when Shizuru pulled back enough so that she could press light kisses to Natsuki's jaw line and then neck. Natsuki was barely aware of what was going on outside of what Shizuru was doing to her. Shit, how did someone have such an effect on her? It was damned embarrassing and slightly horrifying…yet exciting at the same time.
The photo Tomoe had shown her of Shizuru and her kissing flashed in her mind. "W-Wait a second," Natsuki said suddenly as she remembered it. Shizuru lifted off the younger girl and watched her with a slight frown.
"What is it?" Shizuru asked curiously, her eyes searching Natsuki's face for any signs of her going too far too fast. If that was the case, she'd be damned surprised. She really hadn't gotten that far…
"You never…" Natsuki took a second to get her breathing under control, "you never explained Tomoe…Tomoe's kiss…" Natsuki averted her gaze from Shizuru's intense one.
"Ah…" Shizuru whispered. How to explain this? She really couldn't. "It was just a kiss," Shizuru said with a carefree tone. "It didn't mean any—"
"But this does?" Natsuki asked, her eyes lifting to meet Shizuru's dead on. "Your kiss with her meant nothing but this kiss means something?" Natsuki wiggled under Shizuru's body, causing the older girl to sit up on her knees and watch Natsuki sadly. "How do I…know? I mean you're so…" good at acting. And I think I'm in love with you or something but how do I know Goddammit? Wait, were we just kissing?
"I care for Natsuki…deeply…" Shizuru tried. "I know my emotions haven't seemed honest…and truthfully you are the only person I have ever been so honest about with them…" Shizuru moved off Natsuki's bed and walked slowly back to her own. "I know you know I care for you, and I also know you're afraid." Of me hurting you? She sat down on the edge of her bed and backed up so her back rested against the cell wall. "But I can promise you that I am not faking anything with you." Shizuru's crimson flashed in the dark. "All my feelings for you are genuine."
Natsuki sat up and watched Shizuru carefully from across the room. She felt slightly guilty but that annoying nagging part of her mind constantly told her she was falling for something. Something Tomoe had fallen for obviously, since they both seemed to think Shizuru cared for them. Would Shizuru turn to her one day and say 'I never felt anything for you, it was an act' in that cold voice she could make sometimes? Natsuki shuddered at the thought, though she knew part of her fear was unwarranted and ridiculous. Shizuru liked her…right? And she liked Shizuru…as dangerous right now as that may be.
"I…" Natsuki frowned at her inability to articulate what she wanted to say.
Shizuru shook her head. "I understand, Natsuki…I will wait for you for as long as it takes," she said quietly, her eyes swirling with sadness and regret.
"Ah…" Natsuki mentally kicked herself, beat herself, and then hung herself. "Sh-Shizuru I…I'm afraid of…falling…in love with…you." Though I think it's too late for me. Natsuki quickly averted her gaze and felt her cheeks burn up under Shizuru's surprised gaze.
Shizuru smiled. "I have already fallen in love with Natsuki." She said it like it was the most obvious, natural thing in the world. It blew Natsuki's mind. How was Shizuru so sure? They haven't known each other that long. It just wasn't possible to be in love that soon!
Emeralds shyly peeked at Shizuru. Her cheeks were tinged with pink. "That's…"
"Hey!" Nakamura clanged a police baton against the cell bars, causing both the girls to jump from the surprise.
"What?" Natsuki hissed, her emeralds flashing dangerously in the darkness of the cell.
Nakamura swallowed, feeling like he had just interrupted something important. Oooh well. "You girls get one phone call each," he said in a voice that was supposed to sound powerful but really just sounded pathetic.
Natsuki and Shizuru both stood up and waited for Nakamura to open the cell doors.
Natsuki glanced nervously at a calm looking Shizuru and a grumpy looking Nakamura as she waited for Nao to pick up the phone. She hoped she had gotten the number right. With cell phones these days, well, who memorized people's numbers? And it's not like she had her cell phone. During races it was just her, leather, and her bike. She assumed the same went for Shizuru since Shizuru didn't seem to have a cell phone on her either.
"Hello? Is this Doctor Rose?" Someone (that was definitely not Nao) asked.
Natsuki blinked, "Uh…" God damn wrong number…
"This is Nabatame," the person on the other side continued, "I hurt my arm and I think I need a sling or drugs or someth—"
"You hurt your arm?" Natsuki asked, not realizing she was talking to someone she didn't know anymore, "Me too!" Natsuki had found someone that felt her pain!
"Really?" A pause. "Wait…who is this?" The person on the other line seemed to realize she wasn't talking to 'Doctor Rose.'
"Nats—oh, I definitely have the wrong number." Natsuki hung up and glanced at Nakamura, "Do I get one more call since I kind of forgot—" Nao's damn number.
"Nope," Nakamura said with a smug smile. He thumb-pointed behind him. "You lost your chance. Hopefully your friend here has a brain." Shizuru smiled slightly at that, her dark eyes twinkling with amusement at Natsuki's expression.
Natsuki glared. "You want to go, jackass?"
Nakamura lifted a slightly graying brow. "You really want to play that game, girlie?"
"Ara…I get my call now, correct?" Shizuru asked in her soft Kyoto-ben, a dangerous weapon when it came to diffusing tension. It worked almost instantly.
Nakamura and Natsuki instantly stopped glaring at each other to look at a pleasantly smiling Shizuru. Nakamura spoke first. "Yes, miss. Phone's all yours." He gave her a small smile and a slight nod. Natsuki rolled her eyes.
Shizuru glided over to the phone and dialed a number. "Mm…hello?" Shizuru said into the phone when someone picked up. Natsuki listened to the conversation. She was unable to hear the other person's voice but Shizuru's tone was light, happy, and yet demanding all at the same time.
Who was she talking to? And then…
"Ara, ara, I think you owe me…" gave it away.
Natsuki blinked, growled, and walked away, leaving a confused Shizuru staring after her.
Haha random place to cut it off I know. I cut it off here because…well…this chapter was getting too long for NFFTC and I couldn't find a good place to cut it off. Plus the next part I think would work better in the next chapter.
Anyways. Hawaii rocks (kinda). I wrote most of this during the one night we spent in LA. Now that this is done I'll start the next chapter of Monster… I have daily updates on the status of the chapters in my profile so check on those to see where I am in the process of both fics.
This fic is coming to a close I think. Next chapter should be the actual rematch (and no they don't start all over from the starting line and stuff, don't worry…I want to get that over with too). The police station thing just happened in my head so I went with it.
Oh…and the ending will be explained next chapter (angry Natsuki, not Nabatame lol that was sort of an inside joke). In fact, any questions you have? Next chapter. Adios.
-Shayp
P.S
Thanks to Andrea (as usual) since she beta'd this chapter (yay for the first chapter of NFFTC to be beta'd!)
Oh and I can't believe I almost forgot this (bad Shayp bad!):
http://me-doty-77. deviantart. com/art/The-Competition-127979624 (remove spaces)
Thanks to Medoty77 who did awesome fanart :D I mean, look how awesome that is! The bike looks mad cool and…Shizuru in leather? Yes please! Check out the rest of her art work it's also very nice! Thanks again! (This link will also be available in my profile)
