In case no one noticed, Shizuku totally trains with the guards in my headcanon, because how else is one supposed to get that skilled when 90% of their day is spent running a school? This is another super old one I dug out of my google drive.

"Think it's been long enough?"

"It was long enough three hours ago, for the boss."

"Ha! I think we can keep this up longer, but we'll need to come up with compensation once the main event is finished."

"...What, what are you thinking of, exactly?"

"There's training to plan."

"NO!"

"But I have something better in mind."

"Oh thank god."

"Alert the replacements to bring her with them. She'll make things far more interesting.."

"Um. Aren't the others all out on circuit?"

"Oh, I'm sure she's just about finished."

Shizuku stumbled over to her locker, muscles burning with exhaustion and the world blurring at the edges. She could hear some of the other women doing the same, the clatter of things (and people) falling or being dropped in the process echoing in the locker room. The circuit "run" was always among the more difficult exercises, but today had been one of her best runs. She hadn't been knocked out at all, and she could mostly feel all of her limbs, even if they trembled with the effort to hold her up. She was thrilled.

Or she would be, if she could think beyond the pain. All she wanted to do now was shower and sleep. Or maybe crawl into the spa and sleep there. That didn't sound like a bad idea. If she used the one here in the guard's hall she wouldn't have to worry about drowning, so long as the others had enough energy to bother trying to save her.

"Oi, Miyamoto. You alive there?"

She blinked, the words processing slowly through the haze of weariness and pain. Two female guards (obviously, as no man dared attempt to cross the threshold into the women's locker room after what happened to the last male who attempted it a decade or so ago) were wincing as they examined her condition. They must not have been on the circuit run, as they were not only in uniform, but completely unharmed and clean. They were also fidgeting in a manner reminiscent to the way most students did when standing before her with bad news.

"Halfway, huh? Sorry girl, but you're being summoned." She froze and stared at them in alarm. Summoned? By Her? Now? They both smiled apologetically at her, as if that was enough to ensure forgiveness for their latest offense against humanity.

Then their smiles turned borderline gleeful, and she felt her heart sink. Who says you shouldn't shoot the messenger? She had a feeling destroying them would be the only way to survive.

Her sluggish brain took too long to come to this conclusion, however. There was no time to even yell as she was grabbed by the arms and whisked away, watched by the dull eyes of her fellow women. One saluted her in goodbye.

"Shower first, for sure."

"We've got the clothes, right?"

"En route with the car."

"Don't you worry kiddo. We'll handle everything."

"I can shower by myself!"

"Get Uryuu for a patch up job too."

"No, no, WAIT!"

"Quick, fix her hair!"

"Ouch! That hurt!"

"Not there. Put it on this side!"

"Get her shirt on! And where did that skirt go? Oh, this is a nice bra."

"STOP! I CAN DRESS MYSELF!"

"No struggling!"

"We don't have time for this!"

"There, done!"

"Good, we're here. Hurry up! Out out out!"

"Where. Are. We?!"

"A restaurant."

"WHY?!"

"No time to talk. We need to get everyone in position."

"What's going on?"

"Here we are! Keep her happy and distracted!"

Shizuku didn't have time to protest (and she had more than enough to say there) before she was unceremoniously thrown into a private room and the door was slammed behind her. Immediately taking advantage of the sudden silence, she put together her limited observations and came to several conclusions.

One. This was one of the restaurants the Amachi family frequently used for business meetings.

Two. This was obviously a guard exercise, if the number of guards floating around was any indication.

Three. Hitsugi, alone, was sitting at the table.

Four. Hitsugi looked very bored.

The other girl was startled for all of ten seconds (nine point five seconds longer than normal, with a reaction three times stronger than normal. Conclusion: she was doomed.) before she relaxed again. "My my. You look flustered, Shizuku. You must have been in quite the rush." The calmly amused tone of voice was at odds with the curiosity and sheer joy in her eyes. The smirk on her lips could only mean bad things if she was too excited to hide it.

Swallowing, she took the time to straighten herself up while pointedly ignoring the curious gaze being directed at her. Dealing with Hitsugi when she was this agitated would require all of her mental fortitude, and having a proper appearance was one of the small but effective ways to help her keep her nerve. The clothes she had been so thoughtfully provided and forcefully dressed in (after the two women had finished...helping her bathe) were a simple but elegant skirt and blazer outfit, complete with designer flats and a beautiful hairpin that had been jabbed into her skull twice before the women were satisfied with her hair.

"Err. No, not at all." She hadn't been in a rush; the other guards had. She had just wanted to relax in the spa. Maybe she would make use of it after she was done with...whatever she needed to do here. The private one this time, to avoid more kidnappings and ensure that she would be left alone. Then she could crawl back to the mansion, where Ichihara-san would fuss over her and make her a delicious milkshake.

"I wonder. Were you that desperate to see me?" Hitsugi smiled widely, and she fought the urge to bolt back outside the door. The guards would probably try and toss her right back in, but she could take them. Maybe. Once she was certain that she could walk. The mere thought of running had a distressing effect on her legs.

"I wasn't!"

"...I see now, the depth of your affection." Looking away from her and sighing, Hitsugi adopted a depressed aura.

"...My what?" She would have been more alarmed, but she'd witnessed this particular drama many times before. Hitsugi was just playing around with her. She was sure of it.

"I have yearned for your presence these last few hours, and yet you did not care to spare me a single moment's thought." The other girl sighed again, even more depressingly.

She twitched. "That, that's not what I meant!"

"Has everything between us been a lie? An act? A game?" Hitsugi looked over at her, heartbroken.

She cracked. "No! I was thinking of you! Really!" she said frantically.

"Truly?" The completely overdone look of hope wasn't helping her feel any less guilty about the words most of her mind knew were being twisted. Unfortunately, that part of her wasn't in control of her mouth; instead it was cursing her weakness and ranting about how she fell for it every time and still didn't learn.

"Of course! I always do!"

Hitsugi stood and walked over to her slowly. "Always?"

Shizuku tensed more with every step. "I. Yes. Of course."

"And my presence? Do you always desire that as well?"

"Y, yes." Oh, how she hated when Hitsugi came this close to her. It made breathing far more difficult than was safe.

"Well then, I must ask what I have done to deserve this gift."

She blinked and stared at her partner, who had stopped close enough to her to make her heart jump. "Gift?" It took her some time to remember that she had just been bathed, dressed, and kidnapped by the guards, and that she had been tasked to keep her friend distracted for an unspecified amount of time, for an undisclosed reason. All in all, she felt more like a sacrifice than a gift.

"While your mere presence is always a gift, your current manner of dress is an unexpected, but very welcome, surprise." Hitsugi circled around her, then tugged on her skirt, pulling it down a few centimeters. Shizuku failed to hold the naturally following "eep" in. "I do hope you take to heart that I have no objections in the least to your donning a dress. Or a shorter skirt. A much shorter skirt."

Shizuku choked and tried to keep her face from turning too red. "This is short enough!" She inched back toward the door, even as she noted some barely audible noises coming from the hallway.

She tried not to vow revenge on whatever guard was laughing at her misfortune.

The moment of hostility was quickly forgotten when Hitsugi closed the space between them once again, and she realized with sudden fear that her back was against the wall.

'Close. Too close. She is way too close!' She cursed the effect Hitsugi had on her. She couldn't think, or even move. The worst part was, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to.

Thunk

Her fractured instincts, still in training mode, instantly recognized the sounds.

Thunk

Bodies. Falling bodies, to be more accurate.

Oh. She understood now. She was meant to keep Hitsugi happy, and Hitsugi was used to keep her distracted. Her kidnappers were probably in the middle of their shift change, which was the perfect time to ambush them.

She couldn't bring herself to feel sympathetic.

"Um, Hitsugi-san? How long have you been here?" Half of her instincts were shouting at her to go on the offensive, and the other half were urging her to drag her partner out of the building, but it was important to determine exactly how long the guards would last.

"Hmm? Approximately four hours."

She gave them three minutes before the "bad guys" reached the room. Five, if the last set of guards were still hanging around. "If you would, please follow us and stay close to your escorts at all times until we have safely arrived back at the mansion." she recited dully.

She made to exit the room when she remembered that Hitsugi was less than an inch away from her, and any movement at all would have them touching far more than she was sure she could handle. She met Hitsugi's intense gaze. "Could you, ah..."

A single eyebrow raised, and she thought for a second that the unvoiced request would be denied. To her relief, her friend just sighed and pouted at the lost opportunity. "Of course."

The guard in the hallway nodded to them as they came out, and quickly briefed them on the evac. plans as they hurried to the back. The guy looked as though he was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. He tried to rush ahead several times before catching himself and slowing back down, looking behind them with fear the entire time.

Shizuku wrote it off as a side effect of his fear until he looked back for the fifth time and tripped. She had just enough distance to not tackle Hitsugi as she halted, and just enough time to pull her out of the way of being shot. The rubber bullet ricocheted down the hall.

That was the only warning they had, before the captain was upon them. In that split second, she knew that even though she was tired, sore, and on the verge of collapsing, she would fight. She would lose, but winning was not the point. Only the safety of her ward mattered. She didn't expect any mercy from the captain.

And she didn't receive any, either.

Ichihara-san, whose first name had been lost to time, hummed thoughtfully as she placed down the young Amachi's dinner plate. "Is Shizuku-san not joining us tonight? I have not seen her since yesterday."

Hitsugi struggled not to laugh, remembering the state she had left her partner in several hours ago. "No, no. I believe she is still...recovering from yesterday's training."

"I see. Perhaps I shall make her some soup later. The poor dear. She pushes herself too hard." The maid tuttered as she made her way back to the kitchen, intent on making something easy to eat and nutritious for the no doubt starving girl.

The teenage dean was left to eat by herself, though she did not mind this in the least. Oh no, there was nothing that could spoil her mood after the events of the day before. The four hours she had spent in boredom was but a small price to pay for what had come after.

After all, what was a few hours of waiting compared to the sight of Shizuku fighting in a skirt?

"Ichihara-san, would you mind ensuring that Shizuku is not suffocating herself with her pillow?"

"Eh?!"