Nao Hime
Shizuru Fujino looked at Nao in amusement, then burst into a fit of giggles. "Oh, I WISH I had seen that!" she chuckled over Nao's misadventures the two nights before.
"Sure, yuck it up," Nao shook her head, though she could see the humour. IT had gotten pretty ridiculous, chasing after the old man and tracking his randy activities.
"Sorry," Shizuru managed to stifle her giggles. "Why tell me though?" she asked.
Nao sighed as she drank some tea. Why HAD she come to see Shizuru about this? They weren't friends exactly, though they did get along. But they both knew Natsuki, and Nao considered the other woman a friend. Sort of.
"I think Natsuki is pretty disappointed by what I found out," Nao admitted, "I mean, she kind of built him up in her head as some big villain."
"And instead he ended up as a simple philanderer," Shizuru noted as she sipped her tea.
"Exactly," Nao agreed. She put her cup down, "I wouldn't want to suggest anything, but possibly Natsuki could use some company."
"Ah," a slow smile appeared on Shizuru's face.
"Just don't go too far," Nao added dryly.
"Why, I never," Shizuru drawled mockingly.
"I suspect there are a LOT of women who'd call you a liar for saying that, considering your rep," Nao teased.
"Right back at you," Shizuru noted dryly. "I have in fact read the transcript of Haruka's interview with Akane about you, her and a formerly innocent bathroom sink," she added, rather enjoying seeing Nao fight a blush
Nao smirked. IN fact she was pretty sure Akane had embellished the story a lot, but who knew? Besides, this might restore her bad girl reputation a bit. "No comment," she said, using her tea cup to hide her smile.
Shizuru looked amused at her lack of answers, but didn't press. "Is Haruka still chasing after you?" she asked, then paused. "Not that way, thankfully."
"Thank goodness," Nao rolled her eyes at THAT frightening mental image. Dating Haruka probably involved whips and chains. "Yeah, she's at least not actively targeting me anymore." She frowned, "I hope it's not because Yukino used her influence, or anything."
Shizuru hid a smile. If Nao was oblivious to anything, it was the high regard she was held by those in the know, so to speak. Her rescuing Haruka from a kidnapping, for example, had generated quite a bit of campus fame.
Shizuru didn't SAY any of that, of course. "I don't think any undue influence was used," she said instead.
Nao grunted then carefully put her cup down. It looked expensive. "Anyway, thanks for having me over," she said, getting up.
Shizuru got up and walked her to the door of her dorm room. "It's a pleasure," Shizuru said, "besides, it encourages the rumour we're having a torrid love affair."
"That's STILL going around?" Nao asked plaintively. To explain a somewhat secret meeting between her and Shizuru, they had mock made out in front of Nao's roommate.
Shizuru laughed, "Appears so. I think your friend Aoi is just charmed by the idea." She didn't mention encouraging the rumour for her own amusement, of course.
"Gah," Nao made a face as she stomped out.
Shizuru hummed to herself cheerfully as she changed clothes, considering going over to see Natsuki later. She wanted to give the girl a bit of space to process what she had learned about her father, but not too long. Otherwise, Natsuki might start brooding.
The door chime made Shizuru stop in surprise. She had no other planned guests. She walked over and opened the door with a polite, "Who is it?"
The young woman nearly glared up at Shizuru as she suddenly demanded, "Is it true you are seeing Nao?"
As a mildly stunned Shizuru stood there all she could think was, 'My, Yukino does look cute when she's angry.'
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Nao stopping in at her dorm first, glad that she had no classes this afternoon. Aoi wasn't there, annoyingly, which probably meant she was off snogging her gossip queen girlfriend, Chie. Too bad, she was hopping she could talk her into dropping the damn rumour
She swiftly changed clothes, then headed into Fuka. By bus, officially, which would have astonished Haruka. But sometimes, you actually did need to obey the rules. She headed to the nursing home, a really kind of picturesque institution at the edge of the city.
"Good morning, Miss Yuuki," one of the receptionists beamed. Most of the girls who worked there knew her by now.
"Anything come up?" Nao asked as she nodded to the nurse politely, standing there by the receptionist desk holding a bouquet of flowers.
"She's resting comfortably," the receptionist told her, "she was bathed today and was given her usual physical therapy."
"Thanks," Nao nodded as she headed down the hall.
As she went one of the other nurses, a new girl, went up to the receptionist. "That's Nao Yuuki, right Mari?" she asked curiously. "I hear she comes in all the time."
"Every few days, like clockwork," the other nurse agreed. "Poor thing." Mari added, "you know about her mom' case, Akko?"
"A bit," Akko nodded as she recited, "Coma victim, still shows brain function so she's being kept on life support."
"Yeah," Mari agreed, "there;s still hope, but the longer she goes without waking the worse the odds are of her awakening."
"And Nao just keeps coming in to see her," Akko sighed. "It's so rare, sadly. Most people just dump family here and disappear."
"She's a good girl," Mari agreed, likely totally unaware of Nao's actual reputation.
Nao entered her mother's room, seeing her sleeping seemingly peacefully on the bed, IV's connected to her arm. It always struck her as... odd, seeing such a peaceful, serene look on the woman's face. Especially considering what happened.
The flowers in the vase had wilted a bit, so Nao dumped them in the garbage. She carefully placed the new bunch of flowers she had bought into the vase, adding just enough water to keep them fresh. She set the vase up on a table beside the bed, near enough that she might smell them.
As was her custom Nao sat in a chair beside her mom and told her about her week. Well, most of her week. She left out the bits about rolling over rapists and her tailing Mr. Kuga. She didn't think her mom needed to know about all that.
"... then Yukino and I ran off. It was SO funny seeing the look on that jerk who had been hitting on her, especially since we stuck him with the bill," Nao related cheerfully.
Nao paused as she squeezed her mother's hand. "I talked more about Yukino than I thought," she mused, "sorry. You haven't even met her after all." Nao smiled, "I think you'd like her, though. She's a nice girl, and I... like her very much."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Yukino looked at Shizuru as she demanded, "Is it true you are seeing Nao?"
Shizuru looked surprised, but recovered fairly quickly. "Yukino, what a unexpected surprise," she said smoothly, "please, come in."
She moved away from the doorway before Yukino could protest, so she followed Shizuru inside. Yukino was really regretting the impulse that drove her to come see Shizuru. It was just... she knew, intellectuality, that Shizuru probably wasn't seeing Nao. Or at least she could find no evidence of it. But that damn rumour kept going around... and finally she just got frustrated.
"It down," Shizuru waved, "I'll make some tea."
"I don't think...," Yukino started.
Shizuru gave her a look, "Sit. Down." As Yukino did she continued, "Tea is very important, dear girl. At the very least it can be a comfort in difficult situations."
"Ah," Yukino answered meekly. She occasionally forgot that Shizuru gained control of the student council based on her abilities and popularity.
In a few moments Shizuru returned with two cups, sitting down across from Yukino. :Here," she offered one, "you could use it I think."
Yukino took the cup and sipped a bit, noting it was quite well made. "What do you mean?" she asked defensively.
"You know as well as I do that I'm not seeing Nao," Shizuru told her calmly, then sipped at her own tea. "Not that I wouldn't be charmed to be asked, as Nao is quite attractive, but..."
Yukino relaxed a bit, then sighed. "Don't joke about that in front of Haruka," she noted, "she already thinks the worst of you."
"Who said I'm joking?" Shizuru winked. Somewhat more seriously she continued, "Sorry, but Nao really isn't my type."
"Thank you," Yukino answered.
"So," Shizuru calmly continued, "when will you tell Nao how you feel about her?"
THAT made Yukino choke on her tea...
To be continued...
Notes: Set up the rumour about them dating a while back, thought it'd be fun if it bit them in the ass, kinda. The nurses are named after Girlfriends manga characters. Don't read anything into it.