Nathan5th: Yup, it's her father :)
chum-sa: Ah yes, why she was away, really it would be about a year and eight months but anyways: the first year was her last year of high school, so she stayed in the dorms, and from her graduation for a year she was off in some unknown place living on her own because she was umm... Being angsty basically, she didn't really want to go home during that time.
Thanks to Nathan5th, elfspirit7, lindred, chum-sa, and all the other great people who kept up with reading this. I present to you the end of this arc, but nowhere near the end of the fic itself!
Chapter 8: "Unexpected"
Natsuki fell back on the floor as the man before her continued to scream his head off in a panic. She scrambled to her knees while managing to hold onto the towel but stared ahead in shock as he ran away yelling. The man then jumped behind a woman, who was behaving abnormally calm for the situation.
"Oh my God! Kaede-chan! There's a rapist in the house! What do we do!" he continued his frantic behaviour.
...What? Was all Natuski could think.
The woman took a few steps forward and waved at the girl on the floor with a bright smile.
"Hello there! Are you lost?"
The man jumped up and shook his wife by the shoulders.
"Kaede-chan! What are you doing!? That's now how you get rid of a rapist! You have to hit him over the head with a shovel!"
"I'm a girl!" Natsuki yelled as she got to her feet, attempting to break up this fiasco.
Unfortunately it appeared to go unheard as her girlfriend's father continued running around the driveway in disarray while her mother stood there quietly, still waving for some reason.
...Shizuru where the hell are you right now?!
--Mini-flashback, a few minutes earlier--
While Natsuki was occupied in the shower, Shizuru was preparing dinner for both of them, humming peacefully as she took food from the pantry. She looked briefly at the clock and grinned.
Natsuki should be finished soon, maybe if I bring her clothes to her some "unfortunate" incident could happen...
Her mind started to wander.
Yes... something involving after-shower Natsuki... steam making a constant blush... a dropped towel...
It wandered further.
With glasses... and puppy ears...
Having been deeply enthralled by this fantasy, Shizuru was only knocked out of her reverie by Natsuki's exclamation of being a girl; though from that point onward she could hear the man's yelling. Eyes widening in surprise, she dashed out of the kitchen and towards the living room where she saw what she feared she heard.
Natsuki turned upon hearing the footsteps and hid behind the older girl due to her lack of clothing.
"Shizuru! What's going on?"
Said girl was frozen in place with her arms stretched wide in a protective manner.
"I'm sorry Natsuki; I was busy daydreaming about peeking at you in the shower."
The blunette blushed hard and held back from smacking her girlfriend over the head.
"Baka! Don't daydream about that! More importantly, please tell them who I am!"
Before she could, Shizuru's father came running back to the doorway, eyes streaming with panicked tears.
"NO! The rapist took Shi-chan hostage! What are we gonna do! What are we gonna do! Don't worry I'll save you!"
"Ne Hiro-chan, doesn't that person look too pretty to be a rapist?" she smiled, "Hello pretty rapist!"
The man turned back to his wife then back at the two girls. He paused to think about it, but as usual reached the wrong conclusion.
"No! Shi-chan's been tricked by the rapist's beauty and joined forces with her and now they've come to take over our house!"
"I'M NOT A RAPIST DAMN IT!" yelled Natsuki from behind her girlfriend's shoulder while pouting. And why would a rapist want to take over a house?
"Right," confirmed Shizuru as she took a few steps towards her parents and cleared her throat, "We're here on a small vacation because I thought you said you would be gone longer."
The man covered his face with his hands to feign hurt, quite similar to how the girl did.
"You didn't want to see us Shi-chan?"
She sighed while Natsuki watched silently.
So that's where she gets it...
"It's not that I didn't want to see you," Shizuru said softly as she hugged her father, noticing him peek through his fingers, "It was just unexpected and possibly the worst timed moment for you to show up."
The blunette nodded.
Yes... and I'm still in a towel...
"Um..." she started with raising her hand, but was cut off.
"So she's with you?" the man's watery rusty eyes looked into his daughter's.
"Yes," she took an authoritative position, "Now apologize to her for causing such a scene while I go make sure mother doesn't get lost," she looked over her father's shoulder at the older brunette who started to wander away while following a butterfly.
The man nodded at the request and walked up to Natsuki before taking the most formal bow on his knees. The girl blinked.
What in the...
"Kannin na! I am Fujino Hiroshi. I did not mean to scare you, Shi-chan's guest."
The blunette was shocked by his behaviour. This man was such an extremist. If anything she thought she should be the one to bow for having intruded, albeit accidently, on this man's home.
"It's uhh... It's alright and I'm Natsuki. Kuga Natsuki. Umm do you mind if I get chan-"
"Please use our home as you wish Kuga-sama!"
"Err... Just Natsuki is fine... but really, I'm still not dres-"
"Please call me Hiro-chan then! It is only fair if you wish to be called Natsuki!"
"Father... you're overdoing it again," came Shizuru's saviour-like voice to Natsuki's ears as she led her mother into the house, "Natsuki, this is my mother. Mother, this is Natsuki, I wrote about her remember?"
"Ah yes!" the cheery woman replied as she walked up to the still towel-clad girl and bowed, though not nearly as much as her husband had done, "Call me Kaede-chan."
Natsuki bowed as well, ending the whole ordeal with an awkward silence as the four looked around, realizing that there was still something off.
"...Can I put clothes on now?"
"Yes good idea Natsuki let's go upstairs while they bring in their luggage."
--0--
Shizuru faced away from Natsuki while she changed.
"I'm so sorry... I honestly didn't know they would be coming back so soon... and that certainly isn't how I wanted you to meet them," her voice filled with worry, worry that Natsuki would be angry with her, "I promised you something calm and then-"
She was cut off by a pair of arms wrapping around her.
"Hey it's okay. I'm not mad at you at all," Natsuki turned the other girl around to face her, "Yes I was surprised of course... and didn't really want to meet your parents while not fully dressed, but no one's at fault here."
"But I-"
"No buts!" she bent up and kissed her quickly on the nose, "I don't want to leave because of this either. Now come on, let's eat."
The younger girl reluctantly pulled away and headed for the door.
"Natsuki..."
--0--
Natsuki sat at the table across from Shizuru's mother while the other two were preparing dinner. The silence was broken when the woman spoke, though it was safe to say it had indeed made the situation even more awkward.
"I'm sorry, but who are you again?"
The blunette blinked.
"Err... I'm Natsuki."
"You're cute!"
"U-uh... Thanks?" she stuttered out while blushing.
"Mother, please don't tease Natsuki," Shizuru placed two plates of food in front of them while her father did the same on the other side of the table.
"I wasn't teasing her, just complimenting."
Natsuki nudged the girl in the shoulder.
"Jealous someone other than you would be teasing me?"
"Of course not," Shizuru replied calmly as she took a bite of the food, "Unless you happen to take that kind of an interest in my mother I wouldn't be jealous."
The girl blushed again, accidently biting down too hard on her chopsticks from the words, "Ow!"
"Careful," she whispered.
"So you two wanted to have a little getaway before school started again and wanted to come here?" Hiroshi asked.
"Yes. We spend so much time in the city I suggested coming here before we ran out of time."
"Ah well that's nice of you," her mother replied, "You two can stay as long as you like. It's been such a long time since we've seen you."
Shizuru stared down.
"Yes... I'm sorry... Things at school got very busy."
Natsuki looked over with a worried expression. It looked as though the other girl was on the edge of some deep abyss. She wouldn't let her break.
"Right! Shizuru graduated at the top of her class! Of course she was busy!" the blunette cheered with a smile, wrapping an arm around her neck.
"Really! That's great Shi-chan!" Hiroshi and Kaede chimed in unison.
The girl's rusty eyes glistened upon hearing her parents' reaction and her expression turned around completely into happiness. She was very thankful Natsuki stepped in when she did.
--0--
After a light hearted rest of the meal, in which Natsuki and Hiroshi managed to relax in their respective ways, and Kaede happened to stay focused long enough to make conversation, the two girls prepared themselves for the night.
"Something about your genes," mused the younger girl as she walked ahead into the dark bedroom, remembering how uncharacteristic it was of her to open up to Shizuru when they had met, "Things went along better than I thought they would- Eh?"
The door shut and she felt a thump against her back. Turning, she saw Shizuru's head leaning tiredly against it. Natsuki turned to face her and pet the side of her hair, a solemn smile forming on her face.
"... They don't know do they?"
The head shook no slowly.
"Thank you... for saving me..."
"I'll always save you," she whispered, but when her fingers felt Shizuru's body begin to tremble, Natsuki pulled her closer before lowering them to sit on the floor, "Hey... It's okay... It's over now, remember that."
"I know," the girl replied as if there was a stone in her throat, "But I can never forget it."
"None of us can forget," the blunette paused for a moment, debating if what she was about to say was right or not, "...I wouldn't want to either."
Crimson pools of tears looked up into emerald ones.
"Why? Don't you wish it could all disappear?"
Natsuki shook her head.
"Something so beautiful bloomed from it... I only have one regret from then," she looked down with a smile, "You know what it is?"
Shizuru looked into her eyes helplessly. Helpless as to figure out what this girl meant.
One regret? Only one regret? How can she make that kind of face when talking about the Festival?
Before she knew it, Natsuki wrapped her arms around the shaking body and lifted her into an embrace, whispering into Shizuru's ear.
"That it took us to die for me to realize how much I loved you... Makes me feel so stupid," scarlet eyes flickered open in surprise, remaining that way while her lips were captured.
Slowly, Shizuru melted into the hold and closed her eyes; slowing the tears to a stop. Upon breaking away for breath, Natsuki kept her same happy expression, using her thumb to wipe dry her love's moistened cheeks. With their bodies pressed so close, the younger girl began to sense the slowing heart beats of the other in her own chest.
"Good, you've calmed down," the blunette used the wrap she hand to pull them both down on the futon, "Feeling better now?"
"Thank you Natsuki," she reached up to gently play with a lock of navy hair, "Really, I do feel much better."
The blunette grinned with pride over her accomplishment; only for a second before she was distracted. Shizuru had leant her head up and kissed beneath the girl's chin then down to her neck.
"You seem more affectionate than usual... not that I mind."
"It still is Natsuki's birthday after all."
Said girl smirked and leaned her head back, exposing more soft skin. Crimson eyes seemed to glow with a hint of lustful intent as Shizuru bared her fangs and took a light bite, eliciting a gasp from the girl entwined with her. When Natsuki's inhale reached its peak she held it tightly for a brief moment before letting the air escape in a shiver.
What is this? I can't stop... can't stop wanting...
She gripped tighter.
No... not wanting... needing...
The older girl had kept one hand on the side of Natsuki's face, but due to the unexpectedly good reaction she was receiving, it slid down to the collar of her robe. It hovered for a moment, massaging the blunette's shoulder, her wrist slowly pushing the fabric aside.
Emerald eyes shot open. Keeping them closed was too hard to control with such a flood of emotions filling her. Natsuki's head swayed around as if in a drunken haze softly against her pillow as she was moved further onto her back by way of Shizuru pushing lightly against the joint in her hold.
Fortunately, the girl's "reason", or rather insecurity had floated away, and she slid her arm up and out of the robe's sleeve; quickly bringing her hand into the sandy tresses of the other's head while using her abdominal muscles to raise her torso slightly. Gently, Natsuki pressed against the back of Shizuru's neck, causing her to turn upwards on reflex. When their eyes met the blunette was shocked into place by the sheer amount of love radiating from those scarlet pools.
Without further hesitation, Natsuki leaned up drastically fast, cupped Shizuru's face with both hands and kissed her so passionately she sword she would have fainted... that is, if it weren't for the amount of life being brought in through the touch as opposed to being drained.
The blunette carefully pulled them back down, breaking away only to catch a breath.
"I love you so much," Natsuki whispered at the top of her lungs.
"No more than I love you," came the hoarse reply, as if Shizuru had barely managed to fit the phrase in prior to her loss of breath... or maybe it only seemed that way having been followed by a gasp before taking control of the girl's lips again.
Just then, a stream of light shone across the floor, growing with the milliseconds as the door opened.
The couple froze in place upon hearing the clack of wood hitting wood. Of course what else would follow after a father catching his child in the act but a screech of panicked terror? Natsuki sat up swiftly; though at least she was careful enough not to hurt Shizuru in the process.
"We weren't doing anything!" she shouted with the worst blush she ever had... as if it were convincing with red marks all over her.
Her denial was cut short when the man's scream stopped and he fell to the ground with a thud.
"Holy crap! Is he okay!?" Natsuki held her head while turning from the fallen body to Shizuru and back.
"It's fine," said the latter as she stood and fixed her robe, "He tends to faint if he gets too surprised, but it's nothing serious. Just wait for me a moment while I bring him back to his room," she lifted the man with an arm across her shoulders and brought him away.
Natsuki was left alone with her thoughts for a moment. It was as if she blacked out and was sprung awake again.
...And it was just getting good too...
A heat rose to her cheeks.
Bah! What am I thinking? Baka-hentai!
She tried to shake her head clear but to no avail. It didn't help that when she leaned her head down to rest she caught sight of her arm and open chest. The girl's shyness hit her like a tremendous wave, and she swiftly placed her clothing back on, even tighter than before then fell onto the futon. She pulled the blanket up to cover her entire head and took a deep breath; her eyes refused to open.
I don't think I ever knew how much this and that could drain you... No! I have to stay awake! Shizuru will come back soon! And then... then...
And a soft snore filled the silence. Shizuru stepped back inside lightly, closing the door behind her, and took her place next to the blunette again. She gently pulled back the covers from the girl's head so she wouldn't become overheated; smiling at her love's sleeping face. Her slender fingers moved aside some strands of midnight hair from Natsuki's forehead, creating a space for one last kiss of the night.
--0--
The next morning was covered in an uncomfortable silence as the four ate breakfast. Shizuru was drinking her tea in an attempt to make things appear normal, Natsuki was ruining that effort by fidgeting uncontrollably, Hiroshi eyed them suspiciously... and Kaede was oblivious as usual. Placing her now empty cup back on to the table, Shizuru cleared her throat.
"To be fair, I did tell you about Natsuki in the letters, and said I would only bring her here if she accepted my feelings."
"Oh! You're that Natsuki!" the girl's mother spoke as if it was all fitting together now, and not yesterday.
"Yes..."
"The one that you would talk about for pages and pages and draw little sketches of and write your initials inside hearts and-"
"That's enough mother!" both girls were blushing furiously as what appeared to be the body of Shizuru's letters home had really been about was revealed.
"So..." Hiroshi tapped his fingers on the table while observing Natsuki, "What do you..."
Oh no... the "what do you want with her?" interrogation.
"...See in her?" he finished.
The girl blinked.
"What?"
"What do you see in her?" he tried to be serious but his natural expression made it difficult, "If you see true things in her and that's what you love, then you'll be suitable."
"Uhh... I see..." she looked down and smiled, "I see someone perfect by virtue of her imperfections... Someone who can give me a reason to wake up to life... no... She is the reason I wake up."
Shizuru stared, mouth slightly agape as Natsuki spoke so fluidly.
"A girl whose outer radiance is only outmatched by her heart's... A girl willing to give up her own life for mine," she chuckled a bit and looked up with a toothy smile, "So I have to protect her! Since I can't live without her... and because most of all, I see something that I used to have no hope in become what I treasure the most... I see a future."
The man's eyes started to swell with tears and quickly turned into all out bawling as he jumped across the table to embrace the blunette in a fierce hug.
"Beautifully said Natsuki-chan!"
The girl was thrown to the floor, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling while patting his back slowly in embarrassment.
Without a word Hiroshi was pulled off of the girl by Shizuru who eagerly took his place. They remained holding onto each other, but moved into a more comfortable sitting position. Their usual way where the older girl's limbs would envelop the younger and she'd place her chin atop her head.
Hiroshi dried his eyes and cleared his throat, thought still sniffling a bit.
"Natsuki-chan is perfect!"
Said girl was never good at handling compliments, and had taken to keeping her face red and hanging onto the arms around her.
"I think so too!" Shizuru replied, happy as could be.
The two parents smiled at the pair before them that could be so easily lost in each other.
--0--
The remaining two days of the weekend passed by rather quickly. With the relationship out in the open, it left for a lot more relaxation on the girls' part. It was now time for them to begin the trek back to Fuuka; it was a week before school started and they needed to make sure everything was in order.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Hiroshi asked in his overprotective manner as he watched the pair mounted the Ducati.
"Yes father we'll be fine. Natsuki's driven me places many times before."
"Okay then, if you're certain. Come back again sometime!" the two stood at the edge of the porch and waved.
"Definitely!" Natsuki called out with a smile before putting on her helmet. She had really warmed up quickly, getting used to the quirks of her girlfriend's parents. A part of her was a little relieved to see how close Shizuru was with them.
Learning about such an important part of her... That's the best birthday gift ever.
After a few final farewells, the girl revved her engine and took off down the pathway into the city.
--0--
The ride home was a lot faster than the one heading there. The two girls arrived back at Natsuki's apartment just before the sun set, both sighing in relief at being home. Even if it was only a few days away, it was nice to sleep in their own bed again; which is exactly what the blunette intended to do.
She led the way up the stairs and fumbled through her pockets for her keys.
"That really was fun!"
"I'm glad you thought so, though you can see why I don't really talk about my parents often."
"Nah I wish you would have told me about them sooner, they're pretty awesome too," she paused at the door, "I mean sure they're umm... how to put it...?"
"Deranged?" she offered.
"Haha I suppose, but anyways it was a nice surprise."
"Natsuki?"
"Hmm?"
"What you said before," Shizuru stopped herself, noticing the warmth rising in her face, "Did you mean all of it?"
Natsuki turned and blinked at this before smiling and hugging the older girl tightly.
"Of course I did... I just spoke my mind and that's what came out so it's all true."
"I love you," Shizuru said as she smiled and kissed the top of the girl's head.
"I love you too," came the reply as the blunette unlocked the door and took a step into her dwelling, "What the hell?"
The girl scanned her living room to find none other than Mai and her invitees sprawled across the floor and furniture.
"Geez, it's what? Six in the afternoon and they're asleep."
"Ara Natsuki I think I found the source of the problem," Shizuru called from the kitchen, having stepped over the others.
Natsuki did the same and made her way into the kitchen next to the other girl. She stared mouth agape at the insane amount of alcohol bottles stacked around a passed out Midori and Youko. The blunette groaned as she grabbed each by their ankles and dragged them out into the hallway. Once the two adults were dealt with, somehow still asleep, she went for the teens.
Whatever they were doing must have been really draining since even they were sleeping through being thrown into a pile outside the door.
Natsuki dusted off her hands and took a moment to admire her work.
"Really Natsuki... shouldn't we wake them up?"
The girl stood and contemplated this for a moment, ran back into the kitchen to check her fridge, then went back to the door.
"Hmm... Nope!" with that she closed the door, sure to lock it behind her, and turned to Shizuru, "What I really want to do is have a nice homecoming dinner with you before going to bed early."
And of course she could never refuse such a wonderful offer.
--0--
Omake
Notori: -Yawn- And so the first arc is concluded... I stayed up late for you guys!
Natsuki: You stayed up late turning me into a sap!
Notori: Face it... people love you that way. And really if you weren't sappy what kind of fluff fic would this be?
Natsuki: -grumbles-
Shizuru: I like romantic Natsuki too!
Natsuki: ...Fine. I'll be romantic.
Mai: Umm... are we still in the hallway?
Notori: Yes... because I couldn't think of a good exit for you. My bad.
Shizuru: By the way, what's with my parents?
Notori: Well... Of all the fics I read they were either normal, or rather evil in trying to get you marry random people. So I decided to make them weird but in a good way, who would have thought you had a hyperactive paranoid father and airheaded mother?
Natsuki: Yeah you should have kept us there for another chapter.
Notori: I would have except the ideas I came up with could be used later on and I find they'll fit better when new plot thingies come up.
Shizuru: Plot thingies?
Notori: Yes... Now I shall take my leave to sleep. You guys will get a bit of a rest in this universe and I'll work on the other two if I'm not doing schoolwork. -waves-
