A/N: Greetings! Happy first day of September and my condolences to all those who are going to start again with school or university. Since I'm part of the latter and it's going to be one hell of a autumn semestre, I don't know how often I'll be able to update. I had grandiouse plans for finishing this fic in the summer and just upload chapters... well, that didn't work out according to plan... *tehé*

Thank you for the reviews and follows! I'll be selfish and send out a special thanks to 'D' for the comment, which managed to make me giddy for the rest of the day I read it in. Actually, no, scratch that. I feel giddy after all reviews. Now, I'll have to apologize for this chapter - it's not as thrilling as the last one and I had some trouble with it. (Alert: Not beta'd.)

Also, also, I'm sorry if Jump Drive seems left of cannon, even though it's labeled as 'Post-Carnival'. But as the characters grow older and wiser, I felt the need to make the whole piece darker than the original Mai-HiME... thus the presence of plot lines like the decisions Natsuki made, their consequences, the not-so-happily-ever-after lives of the other HiME, etc. For EliteSky; don't worry, one can only find redemtion if one seeks it, but I'm sure gonna make the search a bitch.

This is all for now, I think. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-HiME/Otome.


The relentless search for any people or means of transport to the other island turned out with no success whatsoever. That was the reason Shizuru woke up before dawn the next day and set out to continue with trying and fulfilling the task. However, after two uneventful hours, due to hunger and frustration, she finally decided to call it off for now and return to the others. Hearing their excited voices from afar she sped up her pace, curious as to what had caused the heated conversation. To her relief, her team mates weren't fighting this time.

"Could you let me in on the situation?" Shizuru approached with a smile. Maybe they had some news on how things were progressing on Natsuki and Midori's end.

Mai turned beaming at her.

"Shizuru-san! We were so stupid!"

Tomoe coughed behind her fist, but her action went ignored by most of the present.

"I don't see why you need to be so happy about it, Mai-san," Shizuru commented with an innocent expression. Mai waved her hands frantically.

"No, no. Listen!" She didn't seem affected by the lack of enthusiasm the newly arrived woman was displaying. "I think I found a way to get to Hokkaido without having to leave the Orion behind."

"Oh?" Now she had Shizuru's interest.

"See, we considered only a ferry as a means of transportation," Mai started excitedly. "While there is another way!"

"I don't necessarily disagree. Though the ferry was the only realistic way to transport something as big as the Orion."

"Well, now we won't need to transport it, we'll just ride it to Hokkaido."

"How?" Shizuru cocked her head to the side. "We certainly can't fly it there."

A triumphant grin bloomed on Mai's face.


Touya lake was as majestic as the travel companies presented it. The moon and stars reflected on the clear surface, creating the illusion that the visitors were on the edge of a portal leading to outer space. The lake was ten kilometres in diameter and was surrounded by small residences, a town on one end, and hotels and lodging houses on the other. Natsuki quietly sat cross-legged on the front lid of the patrol car and was tinkering with her sniper's scope.

"You've adjusted it a dozen times already," Midori turned to look at her. She was standing a bit ahead of her, a battle-ready labrys in hand. Natsuki didn't bother to respond, which provoked an irritated sigh.

They had stopped a good distance away from the more populated part of the circular road that enclosed Touya lake. And having completed this step of their plan successfully, they still couldn't figure out how to proceed. It would have been easier if there were Orphans to kill, Natsuki thought, as she slipped off the car and strapped the rifle to her back. As it had turned a mere two hours ago, they were also pitched against humans.

"Great hero of justice, do you have any ideas as to our next move?"

"I think that winging it would be best," Midori gave her expert opinion and Natsuki shrugged. It wasn't as if she got any better ideas.

"Should we look for them or make them look for us?"

"I don't know. In agent Wang's last report she wrote that Nao-chan has gone to the island in the middle of the lake," at seeing the inquisitive look she got from Natsuki, she went on. "There was no indication she would do that. For the past few months Nao-chan has lived in Sapporo and was keeping out of trouble."

"And there we have our irregularity," Natsuki motioned for Midori to follow her. They left the car in the bushes and skidded down to the lake's shore.

"What do you mean?" Midori asked as they continued along the dark waters. "Wang didn't seem to observe anything suspicious during the time she spent on her tail."

"That's why Searrs manage to screw up even a well thought-up plan," Natsuki strode with big steps, pebbles and frozen sand crunching under her boots. "They tend to overlook the human factor."

"I see where you're getting," Midori laughed. "Searrs should've known better that if Nao-chan was laying low, something suspicious is going on."

"Yeah," Natsuki nodded. "She was always secretive, but never the type to steer clear of trouble. Maybe she's searching for something here?"

"Could be. In fact, I don't see any other reason for her coming."

"Anything special about that island?" Natsuki turned to look at the middle of the lake.

"Actually, it's a group of four islands. Otherwise, no," Midori shook her head and also glanced at it. "There's only a forest museum on the biggest island... I can't imagine why Nao-chan would want to go there."

"Maybe she became an activist for a better, greener Earth?"

Their laughter carried over the still lake and into the chilly night.


To say that Mai wasn't secretly proud of her providence would be a blatant lie. Of course, she did feel silly she hadn't thought of this earlier. As in, before Natsuki and Midori had sailed off in a boat which looked like it would sink if one as much as winked at it. And they all had wasted so much time. Her fists clenched in her lap. In this race against the Orphans they couldn't afford such mistakes; they tended to cost lives.

"The darkness makes me feel on edge," Youko's voice prodded her to look up. The medic was gripping the steering wheel tightly, her attention fully focused on the few metres of visibility that lay ahead of the Orion.

"Going through the Seikan Tunnel didn't even cross my mind," Haruka commented from beside Mai. A humming of agreement was heard from behind them, coming from Shizuru.

The Seikan Tunnel was an over fifty-kilometre underwater railway, running one-hundred-and-forty metres below the seabed beneath a strait, which connected the two big islands. Getting into the tunnel had been a hell of a ride and Mai was very glad that the Orion was suited for almost any terrain. Though navigating through the dark also proved to be very tricky and all of the passengers made sure to keep as silent as possible in order to help Youko concentrate. The doctor was having a bad time as it was, with the tunnel being pitch-black and provisioned only for express trains and small maintenance carts. One twitch and the SUV could become more of a baggage than a means of transport.

"Do you think there are people in the two stations along the tunnel?" Mai hesitantly asked.

"We haven't seen a single person for days, why would there be people here?" Tomoe's annoyed reply came.

Nevertheless, her words were certainly true. The stations they had went along were also as deserted as the ones they had passed through on the sea-side road. This raised more questions than could be answered in the current circumstances. Mai didn't know what to expect. All those people couldn't have just evaporated in thin air.

"Well, for one I hope there are none," Haruka darkly commented. "If there were, that would mean we will have a train in our way, thus no way to continue."

Youko let out a soft laugh.

"Good thing those two aren't with us. If something like that would to occur, they would have wanted to blow the problem into bits."

Mai couldn't help but smile at the thought of the missing duo's antics.

They passed the first emergency underwater station. There weren't any signs of people, or trouble. Nobody insisted on stopping and searching.


"Are we really going to steal a boat?" Natsuki grumbled.

"I didn't think you'd have any objections after you decided to take that patrol car."

"It's not that! We'll be spotted from miles away."

"Well, we can't steal a submarine," Midori kicked a pebble into the water and sighed. "Can't you freeze the surface, so we can cross?"

"If I could do something that convenient, your mouth would be a block of ice."

Clearly pretending she hadn't heard that last remark, Midori turned her head towards the cluster of lights no more than a kilometre away.

"Keeping things discreet sure can be a problem. Would have been so easy to just go there, grab a boat and head for the island," she pulled out her data pad as if expecting the solution to just pop out on the screen.

"Are comms still blocked?" Natsuki asked, just to keep the conversation going. She didn't receive a reply. "Midori?"

"My battery died."

Natsuki rubbed her eyes, feeling that nothing she said now would make the situation better. She slumped on the ground and lifted her eyes towards the starry sky with an exasperated sigh.

"This whole episode has been such a no-brainer," she told nobody in particular. Midori patted her on the shoulder with an encouraging smile.

"Come on, if we give up now, who will get Nao-chan?" Her expression fell a bit. "Besides, we obtained valuable information and while it came as a shock, it can prove useful in the long run."

"It's like we're trying to complete an edgeless black puzzle. We keep finding pieces, but we neither know where to put them, nor if we'll solve it any time soon."

There was a rustle coming from behind them. They swiftly pulled out their weapons – Midori had her labrys pointed towards the sound's origin, her posture lowered, while Natsuki was crouching and had her twin guns drawn in the ready.

"What, I heard my name and I thought that I would check this out." The duo's eyes went wide. "Turned out to be just you two idiots."

"Nao-chan!" Midori lowered the labrys, shock written all over her face. Nao crossed her hands in front of her chest and lifted a brow while pursing her lips.

"Obviously," she dead-panned. "Why are you so surprised? Weren't you supposed to have come looking for me?"

"I- We did," the archaeologist took a step forward, her head lifted towards the place Nao was standing. "But we thought you were on that island..."

"I came back over three days ago," Nao regarded them with boredom. "Why would I still be there?"

A heavy silence fell over the three. Midori turned towards Natsuki with a disappointed look, shaking her head.

"Stop acting as if it's my fault!" Natsuki bristled up and straightened to full height. "I've got enough on my plate as it is!"

"But, Nacchan, I can't think of everything..."

"You're asking for it," Natsuki grit out, while glaring daggers at the older woman. In order to avoid a bloody confrontation, she snapped towards the red-headed spectator. "And what are you doing out here?"

"'Here' in Hokkaido, or 'here' outside of town?" Nao drawled out.

"Both."

"The first one is a bit long, can it wait till later?"

"We don't have time," Natsuki holstered her guns. "But alright. Now answer the second."

Nao frowned a bit.

"The townspeople started acting kinda crazy, so I got away as soon as I sensed something was wrong." She pulled her jacket's fluffy hood closer around her neck as a gust of wind went by. "The little spy didn't make it out, I guess."

"You knew Wang was following you?"

Nao let out a mocking snort and swiped her hand as if she was chasing away a fly. "Please, who do you think you're talking to? I've spent the last five years sneaking around. I know when somebody's tailing me."

"What do you mean she didn't make it?" Midori seemed more concerned about the agent's well-being than the fact that she had been compromised.

"Well, if she hasn't followed me, then something has happened to her," Nao spoke matter-of-factly. "I can only guess it's because those guys started acting-up."

"In what way?"

"Are we having an interrogation here?"

"Answer the damn question!" Natsuki took a step forward. Nao could barely hide her smirk.

"You don't look like an angry puppy any more when you're trying to intimidate. Congrats, Kuga," Nao continued to taunt. Natsuki didn't budge, making her pout a bit. "Ah, but you're even less fun than before. I guess it's one thing for the other."

"Nao-chan. We don't have time," Midori pleaded. Nao's expression switched to serious after she saw the urgency in the other two HiME's eyes.

"I can't really pin-point anything strange, but all the folks in the lodging house I was staying suddenly went quiet. Don't get me wrong, I'm not that talkative and I don't mind the silence, however that was downright creepy," she paused to think for a moment in recollection. "When I left to go to buy myself dinner I felt like everybody's eyes were on me. The owner of the udon shop kept staring at me, without saying anything even after I ordered. Not waiting for it to get worse, I left the town on foot. Well, actually I stole a bicycle. Faster."

"I think we can make a business out of this after the whole mess is over," Midori looked like she was really considering the idea. Nao tilted her head.

"Wha-?"

"Ignore her," Natsuki climbed up to where the red-headed troublemaker was standing. "You deserve some answers as well."

"Glad we're of the same mind here," Nao looked up to her. "What's going on, Kuga?"

"Let's talk on the way back to town," Natsuki walked up to the road. "Come on."

"The town?" Nao asked incredulously. "But I just got away from that place a few hours ago."

"Searrs want their set of a HiME and an agent for the deal to work," Midori grabbed Nao by the arm and dragged her after Natsuki.

"I knew the girl was Searrs, but... Hey, what's with the weapons?"

"You just noticed them?"

"I was too blinded by the light of your stupidity," Nao was quick to answer. "And why are you wearing the same uniforms?"

"As I said, we'll explain on the way."


Despite all the possibilities that their journey through the tunnel could have ended disastrously, it turned out well in the end. Somewhat. Sure, they had experienced some trouble in manoeuvring the Orion out of the railway and into the tunnel the personnel used for maintenance purposes. It was so narrow that the SUV barely fit through it. What awaited on the other side, however, did manage to startle them.

There were a couple of workers who stared at the vehicle wide-eyed. Mai was glad the windows were one-way and didn't allow for their faces to be seen. The workers were so shell shocked that Youko managed to take advantage of the situation and get the Orion out of there in a record time without big accidents. Well, while bursting through a few barriers and activating a number of alarms.

As soon as they were on a normal road, they needed to recover from the initial shock that there were people on this side. People who were behaving as if nothing was wrong and who most certainly hadn't expected the almost invisible SUV jumping into the traffic from out of the blue.

"What the hell?" Haruka gripped the seat's edge, as did all of them. Of course they hadn't thought of wearing seatbelts.

Mai was sure that her face had gone from a healthy tan to stark-white in seconds, as had Youko's the moment they drove into the traffic with a speed far over the regulations. There weren't as many vehicles on the road as in Kyoto, but it was still a herculean task not to cause a car-crash. Tires screeched and drivers angrily honked at the unusual new vehicle.

If it had been somebody else at the wheel they would have been crushed in mere milliseconds. With Youko, however, they managed to get away fairly unscathed. They hurried to activate their navigation system and set off to Natsuki and Midori's location.

"This is bad," Haruka scowled at the trembling with grey static display. "With comms blocked, so is the GPS system... Do we have any old-fashioned maps?"

Mai expertly moved herself to the front seat and started rummaging through the small compartments around and under her. Finally, she pulled out a detailed map of the country. She stretched it out and showed their driver the destination. Youko nodded.

"Now all we need to do is head there," she mumbled, her eyes quickly returning to the road. "I know this sounds bad, but the presence of people startled me."

"This goes for everyone of us, Sagisawa-sensei," Mai looked in the rear-view mirror.

"Expecting company?" Tomoe asked from the back.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the police were sent after us. Those people seem like they have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world," lilac eyes observed the every-day background they were passing through. There were a few houses on the both sides of the road and people busily scurrying along with their own tasks.

"Step on it, doctor," Tomoe turned to look at the traffic behind them, as if preparing for a confrontation any moment now. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"Shouldn't we collect information first?" Haruka asked, even though her tone betrayed that she also wanted this place behind her back as soon as possible.

"Usually, I would favour the idea, but considering our flashy entrance, I think it's for the best we don't linger here any longer," Shizuru leaned back in her seat and looked out the window on her side. "If all of Hokkaido is like this, I'm sure we'll have other chances to gather intelligence."

As no words of objection followed, they were soon out of the more populated part of the town and on their way to Lake Touya.


"Okay, so let me get this straight," Nao crouched behind a truck and turned to look at Natsuki and Midori, who were just next to her. "There are more like the Obsidian Lord, they live between the space of an infinite number of worlds and control the whole life-cycle. The Orphans are their tools, but they haven't wiped all of us yet, because they are probably searching for something.

"And there are Orphans, but there's no Hime star and no super powers? On top of that, you've teamed-up with Searrs and are now on a wild race to recruit the rest of the HiME in order to prevent the invasion, even though you don't know how, while our Childs are gone. And to put the cherry on top of this shit-pie, it seems that those Obsidians can control people's minds. How do you expect for this to work, when there's the possibility that the world you want to save will turn against you?"

Midori turned to Natsuki with a mildly worried expression. "She summed it up pretty well. When put this way, I'd say we have no chance of success."

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "If we stop and look at it like that, we'll never get anywhere. And despite the odds, we've already gotten safely out of Fuuka and recruited Shizuru, Suzushiro and Marguerite from the war-zone in Kyoto."

"Whoa, whoa," Nao looked taken aback. "Will your cheerleader squad be able take on more crazy? I'd say it's already at its capacity."

Natsuki regarded her dryly. "It's not my squad – it's yours as well, as of this moment."

"And HiME experience has proved that the more crazy, the better," Midori received two burning glares. "I mean that putting passion in the battle is a good thing."

They heard voices approaching their hiding place in the parking lot outside of the hot spring hotel. Nao nudged Midori urgently.

"You've all got some new gadgets, right?" She stretched her hand in expectation. "Give!"

As if she had completely forgotten, Midori smiled bashfully and fished out Nao's weapons from the bag. They gleamed in the light of the rising sun. At first they appeared like spiked gloves, but the moment Nao put them on, steel strings enveloped her hands and long sharp nails sprang out of the fingertips. The proud owner admired her new weapon with a smirk and moved her fingers, testing the steely glove. Next she clicked around her lower arm a pair of arm plates, the purpose of which was still unknown to the three HiME.

"Heavy, but it'll do," Nao poked at the truck with a sharp nail, startling even herself when a gaping hole in the metal trailer was left.

"You'll need to be more careful with those," Midori whispered, weary of the approaching footsteps.

Natsuki supposed that the whole design was centred around reinforcing the piercing force of the weapon and thus it was needed for Nao's fingers to be protected by the steel strings in order not to break during impact with an Orphan's hard scales. It was apparent that Searrs had put a lot of effort and thought in their equipment. She didn't believe that either the weapons or the Orion had been prepared overnight, and she doubted that Midori truly believed it either. However, it was necessary to deceive themselves even a little bit so that they could accept they were working with their enemy. They would look for the truth later.

Nao peeked from behind the truck and Natsuki adjusted the grip on her small firearms.

"Time to try these out," Nao extended her hand towards the approaching man. A buzzing was heard from the arm plates and in an instant red glowing wires shot out from them in a straight line at the victim.

Natsuki could only see Nao grinning victoriously and heard a startled yelp, soon muffled. With a jerk of her arm Nao made the wires retract back in the arm plates, as she dragged her pray behind the truck. The man looked up at the barrels of the guns and the blade of the labrys with wide eyes, his whole body up to his nose wrapped in a glowing red cocoon. He didn't even struggle.

"I'll let you talk," Nao knelt next to his head. "But if you shout or alert others in any way," she traced her finger down his temple to his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood, "I'll rip your throat out. Are we clear?"

He couldn't nod, but the answer was clear in his eyes. Nao's lips pulled up in a self-satisfied smile. "Good."

The man gasped for breath as the wires loosened up against his mouth, but didn't call for help.

"There's a Chinese girl in this town. Where is she?" Nao didn't waste time in starting the interrogation. "She goes by the name of Wang Nina."

"I don't know her," his voice trembled. "I just work here as janitor, please..."

"This is strange," Natsuki mumbled. "That guy in the police station didn't seem scared or intimidated a bit. This one's showing genuine fear."

"I'm sure that's because you weren't convincing enough. And what if this one's just acting?" Nao's claw flicked a damp forelock on the man's forehead, making him whimper. Natsuki shook her head.

"No, he has no reason to. Those creatures aren't afraid of parading with their superiority," she lowered her guns. "If he were controlled, I would reckon we'd be swamped with other puppets already."

Nao retracted her weapon. "Makes sense. But we still need to find Nina."

"Nina?" Natsuki lifted a brow at the familiar way Nao addressed the agent.

"Yeah," a shrug. "Till now I didn't know her name, but I got attached to my stalker. Why shouldn't I be comfortable to call China-girl by her name?"

Midori grinned, her labrys still pointed at the frightened man's sweating face. She turned towards him.

"You heard them, we still need to find that girl. I can guess she's the only Chinese seen around lately, you must know where she's staying at," she paused. "Where were you last night?"

The man swallowed and scowled as if trying to recall a missing memory.

"I don't remember," he confessed, looking aside.

"What's the last you remember?"

"I-," he shuddered. "Before waking up a few minutes ago, I remember that... I was cold. A big black nothing, really. Please, believe me."

They watched him for a few seconds without saying anything. The sound of an engine in the distance reminded them that the people were starting another day. Soon the three wouldn't have a lot of places to hide and they needed to find Nina as quickly as possible.

"What do we do with him?" Natsuki finally asked and stood up. She took a cautious look around the car-park. "We can't just let him go. And no, Nao, we can't kill him."

The younger girl clicked with her tongue.

"It'll be suspicious if he just disappeared," Midori closed her eyes in thought. An idea was shining in them when she opened them. "Let's lock him up in this truck."

Natsuki shrugged. "A bit rough, but it'll do."

"How is that not suspicious?" Nao's comment slid past unnoiticed.

They pulled out a couple of bandages from Midori's backpack and tied the man's mouth, arms and legs.


"I feel like a pervert hiding in these bushes," Nao grumbled, which made Natsuki throw her a side-long glance.

"Well, prepare for a long, perverted journey, because the hiding won't be over any time soon," she peeked over her shoulder and through the thick naked branches. "How do we find China-girl?"

"She's either already been caught and killed, or has escaped," Midori thought out-loud. "Personally, I'm hoping for the latter."

"Can't say the same," Natsuki grumbled barely audibly.

They heard a roar from not too far from their location. It was clear as day it wasn't produced by something of their world. The three sighed.

"Here's hoping for too much." Midori swatted away at a branch when standing up.

"Let's go save her."

"What if it's not her that's been attacked."

"Doesn't matter. If she's alive, she'll come as soon as she hears us fight."

"As will everyone out to get us."

"They already know we're here."