Disclaimer:
Not mine! This is a translation of a Chinese ShizNat fic from yamibo. For author details, please refer to the bottom of this page. Thanks.
Summary:
ShizNat. Post MyHime with some surprises.
Note: I've taken the liberty to include remarks to clarify certain scenes for those who are confused or would like details. (Please ignore if your imagination managed to fill in the gap because these remarks are just my own deductions and might not reflect the author's original intent) These sections are marked with (-#-); refer to the bottom of the chapter for details.
When Natsuki meets Shizuru
Chapter 11 - Fitting In : Part 1
Authored by submerged
Translated by glowie
"Stop it, Shizuru!"
"Natsuki?"
"You... you heard everything?"
"Natsu...ki..."
"Huh?! No!!"
-x-x-x-x- Fujino's POV -x-x-x-x-
Alarmed, my eyes shot open as I sprang up from bed. Drenched in cold sweat, my hair; already matted in an ungodly mess, stuck stubbornly unto my face while my nightdress clung uncomfortably like second skin. I was slightly calmed when I took in the familiar surroundings but that was short lived when I failed to find the comforting presence that had made it my safe harbor in the first place.
It took me awhile to gather enough of my wits to fully extract myself from the dreaded past. I worked on my breathing next, slowly reigning it back into submission while I allowed the events of the last few days to sink back in and settle themselves in my mind.
When was the last time I had that dream again? Try as I might I could never get rid of it. Like a vengeful viper, it lurks patiently within the deep recesses of my mind, awaiting the best time to strike; it seems to have a knack of knowing when she's not around.
Sometimes I can't help but wonder; maybe I'm the one living in a dream? Maybe this is just a dream that I've conjured up; cocooning myself in, refusing to acknowledge the real truth? And once awake, I'll find myself despised and alone in the cold and cruel reality... still very much trapped within the midst of the carnage that is the carnival?
Shaking my head violently, I force myself out of that revolting thought. What is wrong with me?! Am I that helpless without her presence? Now is not the time for this!
I scanned the room again and concluded that 'Natsuki' wasn't around. As my gaze swept across the clock, I was slightly surprised to find that it's already well past 10 in the morning. I guess I really was tired, the events for the past few days obviously having its effect on me.
I wonder where Natsuki had gone to. My imagination ran wild with images of how flustered she must have looked when she woke up beside me. A tickling sensation rose from stomach and a chuckled escape my mouth. She is such a fun to tease.
The moment I stepped out of the room, I was drawn to noises coming from the kitchen. To describe my expression as surprised was an understatement for the unimaginable scene which greeted my very eyes. 'Natsuki? Preparing breakfast?!'
"Ah... Shizuru, you're awake. I didn't wake you since you seemed to be sleeping well. The past few days must have been hard on you." Natsuki's low but clear voice pulled me out of my reverie. If there was still any ounce of sleep left in me earlier, I'm totally wide awake now. Being totally awake and alert aside, I'm still left speechless at what I saw before me.
"Natsuki, you're..."
"Oh! Since you've been taking care of me for the past few days, I figure it's only proper that I cook for you as a show of my appreciation."
"It'll be ready in a minute, why don't you take a bath first?"
"Oh... Ok." With unsure steps that is unbecoming of my upbringing, I left the kitchen slightly worried at the disturbing scene.
I made my way into the living room once I'm done with the washing up. Arranged neatly on the dining table was what I guess - lunch. They were simple dishes but I could tell that she had poured her heart into preparing each and every one of them. They do look "normal" and dare I say it... decent? But I can't stop myself from questioning their "edibility" or whether they were actually safe for consumption. Understandingly, I argued with myself; I hesitated.
"Erm... What's the matter? Come, let's eat." Natsuki sat down and urged me to do the same. "I'm not very good at this but I'm sure they're not that bad."
"Huh!? Natsuki have tasted it?"
"Of course, why?"
"That's too dangerous Natsuki! Next time, make sure you let others test it out first." I look squarely into her emerald orbs to make sure she understood that I'm serious about it.
"Are you feeling alright? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?" I reached out and felt her forehead. Wanting to be sure that she wasn't feeling any ill-effects from the food.
She swatted my hand away and looked at me incredulously; obviously offended by my reactions, "Dangerous? Test it out?"
The confusion which littered her clueless face only serves to push her cuteness up another notch and I was rendered immobile; losing myself momentarily within her peerless beauty. "Ara, it's nothing, for a moment there, I forgot you're not 'Natsuki'. Hohoho.."
"In that case, itadakimasu." I chirped innocently and began to test out Natsuki's cooking skills immediately in a bid to divert her questioning eyes regarding the matter. (-1-)
Under her expectant gaze, I proceeded to try out each of those dishes.
"How was it? It's been awhile. After being made Gakuenchou, I've never step foot into the kitchen or anything remotely similar to it and rightly so since household management is my weakest subject.
"Although visually they're far from perfect they certainly didn't disappoint where taste is concerned. In fact, they're surprisingly good. On top of that..."
"On top of what?"
"How should I put it... they seemed to be made with me in mind. Each of the dishes was prepared just the way I like them!"
She seemed taken aback by my comment and without a moment's notice, her face turned bright red. She quickly turned her head to the side to hide her obvious embarrassment before adding, "Act... actually, I was preparing them according to Shizuru's taste seeing that you two are so alike. No matter what, I'm glad you like them."
"Ara, Natsuki... you seemed to know Shizuru's 'taste' pretty well." I smiled happily, it never fails to warm my heart whenever I get to see the gentler side of Natsuki.
"Oh! It's not that I know them very well, it just so happens I heard her mentioning it to someone about it."
Oh... and she remembered? Maybe Natsuki-chan hasn't realized just how important is 'Shizuru' to her life yet.
"Natsuki, why don't we go around for a bit? We can take the opportunity to restock our supplies as well."
"Oh! Ok but didn't you say there's going to be a test for Natsuki-chan soon? Shouldn't I be doing some revision to catch up?" Natsuki was looking through some text books on the bookshelf while expressing her concern.
"Ara, it couldn't be helped besides, there's still time. By the way, those books are mine. Natsuki's are on the other side." I said as I pointed to a pile of books on the other side of the bookshelf.
"Huh?! But these seemed... untouched!"
Indeed, all of Natsuki's books lies neatly stacked-up on her side of the bookshelf and have been in that position since the beginning of the semester.
"Well... Natsuki never brings her textbook to her classes. Basically, she uses Mai's instead seeing that they go to different classes. She feels it's more efficient this way since it saves her from having to tug them along to school every day."
"What?! What then when come time for tests? She won't be able to find any decent notes or even references on these unmarked books!" She seemed genuinely upset; she's probably never met such an irresponsible student before let alone someone who looked just like her.
"She gets by using my old notes; so far... they seemed to be working well for her."
"Alright, let's go. Before we start, its best we get you familiarize yourself with the surrounding areas first." Without waiting for her response, I took her hand and dragged her out of the apartment.
Our first stop is none other than Fuka Academy since Natsuki's going to be spending most of her time outside of our home here. I took my time, explaining in detail the layout and various important location and landmark within the vicinity to ensure she has a good grasp of area.
"Not bad! Although the build-up area is almost comparable to Garderobe, the number of students attending this academy far exceeded ours by a few times!"
"That reminds me, I heard Natsuki mentioned about her being a Gakuenchou but I can't for the life of me; figure out why anyone would want to assasinate a Gakuenchou."
"That's because Garderobe is the only place in Earl which has the technology and means to produce Otomes. This places the academy in a very delicate position among the various nations." She explained and proceeded to give me a summary on the technological and political setting of their world.
"Ara, so the Gakuenchou plays an important role in ensuring the balance between the nations! Natsuki must be very outstanding to be given such a critical task."
"Errm... it was nothing... really." She stuttered awkwardly while scratching her nose to hide her embarrassment. How cute!
In the midst of our chat, my feet had unconsciously led us to into the Fuka Gardens.
"Wow... it's beautiful!" I heard her exclaimed.
"This is the place where Natsuki and I first met." I explained. A warm and content smile found its way onto my face while I re-played the events of our first meeting in my head with practiced ease.
-x-x-x-x- End of Fujino's POV -x-x-x-x-
-x-x-x-x- Normal(?) POV -x-x-x-x- (glowie: I promise! No more spamming of green or red orbs!!)
"Ah... Ahh... Ahh..." A duck-like quack broke through tranquility of the scenery causing both girls to turn around towards the source of disturbance. Standing before them is a guy whose face is as red as a toasted tomato. "Ku... Kuga-san, good... good day!" He finally managed to fumble pathetically. Not wanting to give up just yet, he continued in his attempt to strike a conversation with the raven-haired beauty, "I hea... heard that you were hospitalized. Are... are you okay now?"
"Oh! Thanks for the concern. Err... do I know you?" Natsuki, not remembering the face from any of her previous encounters be it not from her short stay in this world nor her own figured it was harmless to enquire of the identity of the person who had shown concern for her well-being.
Contrary to Natsuki's intention, her response seemed to have dealt a devastating blow to the aforementioned guy. For up until this moment, even though Takeda knew his name wouldn't be in Natsuki's favorite person list nor did he minded Natsuki's preference to greet him with fists rather than words, it had never came to this. The utter blotting out of his existence is something not even his unlimited "passion of youth" could prepare him for.
"Ara, Takeda-san, what a coincidence. Here to enjoy the scenery? Why, we're just about to leave. Have a nice day!" The usually patient Shizuru hastily greeted and bade farewell to one de-spirited, defeated and ghostly pale Takeda.
Once they were a safe distance away Shizuru, out of curiosity asked, "Natsuki has never met someone like him in your world?"
"Never. Not all the parallel universes are alike. Each of us is a separate existence living in a different world with different past and experiences. Needless to say, I'm extremely lucky to be able to meet up with 'Shizuru' again over here.
"Ara! Lucky indeed, I'm glad that 'Shizuru and Natsuki' can still be found together even in different worlds."
"Yep!" A red-faced Natsuki nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with Shizuru's comment.
"Errm... where should we go next?" She quickly continued, eager to switch topic lest she be teased for her animated response.
"I think it's about time we head back home. We wouldn't want to tire Natsuki too much." With that, she reached out to hold Natsuki's hand gently, guiding them towards the school gate.
When the bell signaling the last class for the day rang, students started amassing in the school vicinity; each wanting to go home from another uneventful day at school. Catching two beautiful girls of peerless beauty, walking hand in hand within the school compound inevitably drew glances of every kind.
"Look! It's Shizuru-onee-sama!" one of the girls who managed to find her voice first declared with excitement. At that instant, all eyes were focused solely unto the two.
"Shizuru-onee-sama", what began as a unified choir soon broke out into a chaos of hysterical shrieks when waves of deprived fans started crashing towards their direction.
The fact that Shizuru had long since graduated from the school doesn't seemed to have any negative impact on her popularity. One could even argue that her absence only fueled her legendary feats to a whole new level. New comers who had readily embrace the greatness that is Shizuru kaichou-sama through faith alone now fought alongside veterans to witness their goddess up close and personal.
"Shizuru-onee-sama, we miss you so much!" Cries of veterans and fresh recruits alike filled the courtyard. Upon closer inspection, the crowd seemed to be made up purely by girls whereas the guys stood a safe distance away; probably worried that their drooling looks would drew more than death threats from the dangerous swarms that are eager to reach their queen and worship her in person.
Needless to say the situation was chaotic with headcounts nearing 200 and still growing as new recruits were being netted by the spectacle alone. By the time a dumbstruck and disheveled Natsuki noticed anything, she was already edged well out of the "circle of influence". Beads of cold sweat broke out on the side of head as she watched speechlessly; amazed at the proceedings.
Though she wasn't new to the scenes of "Shizuru" being swamped by fans, the numbers she's witnessing (not to mention the level of abandonment being displayed) now far outnumbered the meticulously picked and well disciplined students of Garderobe. The fact that Garderobe students tend to scuttle and obediently make way for their headmistress doesn't help ease the culture shock she's experiencing at the moment.
"Ara... it's been awhile." Shizuru's sweet melodious response only serves to excite the crowd further. "However, please do quiet down. It wouldn't be nice to disturb the other students now would it?" The earlier racket died at that very instant; if a pin would drop to the ground now...
'Dang! she's good...' Natsuki whistle appreciatively; amazed at Shizuru's crowd-control prowess. 'Man... she's Shizuru alright. On second thought, strike that... she's MORE Shizuru than Shizuru.'
"Hey! Isn't that Kuga?!" Amongst the crowd someone seemed to have taken notice of the still dazed Natsuki. "Haven't seen her for awhile, she looked different somehow... something's missing..."
'Different?' Detecting a good part of the unhealthy attention now being drawn her way, the Gakuenchou with her brows kneaded and head cocking to the side, blinked cluelessly - scanning the crowd with caution; hoping to garner a clue or two on what's so 'different' about her.
Little is known by our raven-haired beauty, her earlier 'display' had personified 'utter-CUTEness' and had sent countless hearts popping out of mesmerized eyes all over the place.
Excited murmurings filled the airwaves again as the students struggled hard to find words to describe their heart stopping discovery.
"She's definitely different! She's... she's..."
"So... cute!!" They finally squealed in unison.
Before our Gakuenchou managed to grasp the situation at hand she was mobbed by the newly converted captives.
Truth be told, despite her aloofness and cold exterior, Natsuki has always been a popular figure around the school. In vigorously keeping up with the numbers of death glares and cold shoulders, she had managed to keep interested fans in line by staying well out of her way. This strategy has worked pretty well except for a selected few; Takeda being one of them.
A Natsuki without her icy-aloofness or deadly glares is like a dethorned rose, ripe for the taking and her totally unguarded look and clueless puppy eyes are just pleading them to take her home.
"Kuga-san, these are some cookies I've made, please have some."
"Kuga-san, may I know when is your birthday?"
"Kuga-san..."
"Kuga-san..."
Wishing she was swamped by treacherous Slaves instead of a bunch of unarmed, most likely fragile but definitely crazed girls, our Gakuenchou could only watched helplessly as she was pushed, pulled, tugged and felt?! by the eager horde. (-2-)
"Ara, if you all continue this, I'll be put into a difficult spot." Shizuru's voice wasn't loud but its authoritative steel-cold aura made everyone suck in their breaths and froze. Her voice and tone both sounded normal but lingering beyond was an undeniable threat. Unspoken but spine-chilling and fatally-final all the same.
As if all of them understood the unvoiced command the crowd parted obediently like the Red Sea, allowing Shizuru to amble gracefully towards a still gapping Natsuki. Encircling her arms tightly around the awestruck woman's she pulled her along as they made for the gate.
Not forgetting to reward the fans for their amenability, she turned around and flashed them her trademark smile before stepping through the school gates with Natsuki close in tow.
"Wow... what was that?! A change of roles? Isn't Kuga the one with the icy death-glare and Shizuru-onne-sama the one being dragged away?" someone commented on the unusual turn of events.
"Indeed! But this is cool too! How I love a strong Shizuru-onee-sama, could it be..."
Everyone had hearts in their eyes as they gaze dreamily at the pair; running amok in their minds various romantic scenes involving their two goddesses.
"Shizuru!" Finally finding her voice an exasperated Natsuki, annoyed that she had been unceremoniously dragged along hurriedly without any explanation by the ex-Kaichou, glared displeasingly towards the perpetrator.
"Natsuki's cute doggy-look is for my eyes only!" Emerald orbs blinked in confusion, their owner unable to make sense out of Shizuru's sudden bold declaration.
"Huh?"
"Sigh... I think some special training is in order." Ignoring the Gakuenchou's questioning eyes, she told herself aloud.
"Special training? Oh yes! The tests!" The ever-responsible Gakuenchou exclaimed matter-of-factly.
"No!" Visibly perturbed that the raven-haired beauty was still oblivious to the problem at hand, Shizuru turned to face the muddle-head hoping to make her see the gravity of her earlier mistake.
"I meant a special training for Natsuki's expression. Natsuki's cute and innocent look should never to shown to others." she continued before pouting like a child and swiftly turning her head to the side to show just how upset she was at the idea of sharing her fiercely guarded secret with the outside world.
"Huh?"
"Fujino-sama..." Suddenly, a heart-wrenching howling cry resounded behind them. Before the two of them could react, a white blur had suddenly materialized in front of them!
The blur eventually revealed itself to be human, a female in her early twenties to be exact. In fact, one could even consider her a beauty among her species.
"Ara! Sumi-chan! What's the matter?"
"Fujino-sama, when are you coming back to office? The files are piling up in your absence! On top of that, the vice-president has been giving us a hard time on the new initiative. Without you, we wouldn't be able to hold the fort any longer!" pleas of the desperate woman poured out incessantly as fine dark-blonde brows kneaded in concentration as Shizuru took in the news.
"Uncle? I wonder what he is up to now..."
"Sumi-chan, I'll be back in a few days. In the meantime, email me the documents and a detailed report on the recent happenings. Don't worry yourself on Uncle's side of things. I'll have a good talk with him once I'm back." A dangerous flicker flashed across her crimson orbs as she said this.
"Ye... Yes! President!" Sumire nodded eagerly in approval; relieved beyond words that she didn't let her team down and managed to get their leader back to champion their cause.
"In that case, I'll take my leave for now." As fast as she had first appeared, she was gone in a white blur. Just as she was turning around the corner however, she stopped abruptly and shouted, "Shizuru-sama, make sure you come back as soon as possible!" before disappearing entirely from their sight.
"She's such an energetic secretary isn't she?"
"Shizuru, you're running a company?"
"Oh! It's just something I've inherited from my parents." Shizuru commented casually as if she's talking about the weather.
"It's getting late and we've yet to get the things we wanted, we best hurry!" Shizuru urged the raven-haired beauty cutting off whatever questions Natsuki was going to ask regarding the earlier encounter.
- to be continued -
Notes:
Whew! Finally! Man... I was soooo stuck with this chapter. I struggled through this as I kept having difficulty figuring how to improve my writings but have zero idea how.
The advice I got? There's no shortcut, you need to read more. -cry-
I literally rushed through the latter part as I couldn't take this torture for another month. I apologize if it's still very rough around the edges. As usual, I really appreciate it if you could provide feedback/suggestion as I hope to improve my English through these exercises.
On that note, I think I tend to write really silly things once I'm back to normal POV as I love telling silly jokes and fooling around. To help me improve, please tell me if:
A. Argh! Stop the silliness. You're spoiling the whole thing. Just keep to the point.
B. It's bareable but do try to tone it down a bit. You can be really long-winded sometimes.
C. I'm alright with it; it's just your grammar that is driving me nuts. :P
D. No comments. You wouldn't want them, my honest feedback would break you.
I would LOVE to be able to say that I have some reward for you if you could help me out but alas... I'm cheap. -grins-
UPDATE#1
Thanks for the corrections koalarap! I totally used the wrong words. -blush-
I wanted to thank Leebot too. I think that exactly is the problem I had. I guess I can only overcome this by writing more then. :)
As for people with concerns similiar with ssjx7squall ... rest assured that your worries are DEFINITELY 110 unfounded. So sleep tight ok?
Remarks:
1. itadakimasu - a polite saying before one enjoys their meal. (being thankful for the food)
2. Slaves - monsters that the Otomes have to face. You can think of them as Orphans in the Mai-Hime world.
The author for this piece is submerged. She doesn't have an english nick and is ok with me directly translating her chinese nick. She doesn't have a blog so I'll just add the link for the article here. As usual, reconstructing links in ff net is not easy... so good luck?
http /www yamibo com/viewthread.php?tid(equals)26453&page(equals)1
Since I have people asking about the correctness of the link above (it's correct if you manage to translate my instructions properly... ok, I admit they are vague and cryptic), I'll try to explain. Basically there are a lot of COMMONLY used symbols which are not allowed in ff net... please don't ask me why. The EQUALSIGN is one of them. So to reconstruct the link provided, you'll need to replace '(equals)' with the actual EQUALSIGN. Also, you'll need to remove the extra spaces and put in the missing DOTS. Not much of a user-friendly instructions I know but documentation is not my forte. :P