Love You Today, Tomorrow, & Always
12
"So beautiful..."
Turning towards the soft voice, Natsuki spotted a woman standing in the center of the darkened room.
"So small..."
Natsuki walked towards her and stopped just behind a woman whose long streaks of dark hair mirrored her own.
"Mom?"
Saeko turned, her bright emerald eyes now a sick and twisted black, carrying in her arms a baby wrapped in a crimson blanket.
Attempting to lift her arms to reach for the child, Natsuki panicked when she felt them stuck to her sides. Her entire body was frozen as she watched her mother turn and walk away with the child in her arms.
Natsuki could feel her mouth opening to scream, but all she heard was silence. Her legs fell under her, causing her to hit the ground with a painless thud as she continued to mutely scream into the darkness that swallowed her mother and the child slowly.
"Please..."
Eyes snapping open, Natsuki sat up on the bed, momentarily disoriented as beads of sweat adorned her face. The faint light from the moon illuminated the bedroom slightly and Natsuki could see, and feel, Shizuru's sleeping form next to her. Natsuki's heart was thundering against her ribcage and she wondered if it would wake Shizuru up.
Lightly removing Shizuru's arm from her waist where it was resting, Natsuki left the bed and walked as quietly as she could to the bathroom. Shizuru's bedroom was spacious enough that anyone in the bathroom would not disturb those in bed. Natsuki quickly closed the door and after turning the light on, proceeded to splash cold water in her face.
After drying her face off, Natsuki returned to Shizuru's side a bit calmer. She tried not to think about her nightmare, about the vivid image of her mother's dead eyes and the way she took her child away.
She laid her palm on her stomach which would begin to show in the next few weeks. With the pregnancies not being too long, babies needed the space to grow fast. The thought of how fat she would look made her frown.
"What has caused that frown on my beloved?" Shizuru asked, her voice heavy with sleep. "I'm going to look fat." Natsuki stated plainly, not wanting to bother Shizuru with her nightmare. She was sure it was because of her anxiety over returning to school the next day.
Smiling, Shizuru pulled Natsuki closer to her body, spooning her as she whispered in her ear, "You will still be the most beautiful girl in the world."
Natsuki snorted, "Yea right."
Shizuru quickly fell back to sleep whilst holding Natsuki, who was soon taken over by sleep as well.
The drive to the school was longer than any Shizuru remembered. She was nervous, and if she were honest, a tad curious as to how school life would be now that everyone knew about Natsuki's pregnancy.
Due to the controversy over their marriage, it soon made national headlines that the daughter of the prestigious Viola family had married the daughter of the Kruger heiress amidst an unplanned pregnancy and family turmoil. Although Shizuru was not sure how the media found everything out about their marriage, she was very surprised at how much power the Viola name actually held in Windbloom.
Natsuki glanced at her but Shizuru quickly placed her worries away, needing to remain strong and confident for Natsuki who would have the most difficult time with her new role. "Don't worry my love, everything will be fine."
Offering a halfhearted smile, Natsuki merely nodded.
A few silent minutes later, Fuuka Academy appeared down the road, its tall buildings looming dangerously in the horizon. Shizuru gave Natsuki's knee a reassuring squeeze as she drove up to the parking lot.
As soon as the vehicle stopped, all heads seemed to turn instantly towards the pair.
"Shit." Natsuki felt her face began to flush with embarrassment as all the students who were making their way into the academy began to whisper upon seeing Shizuru's vehicle. Shizuru took a deep breath before turning to Natsuki, "We knew things would be hard the first few days. We just need to tough it out and they will forget about the whole thing in a few days."
Before Natsuki had a chance to say anything, there was a sharp tap on the passenger's window before the door flung open and Nao pulled Natsuki into a hug.
"What the hell are you doing, spider?" Natsuki asked as she was literally manhandled out of the vehicle. Nao pushed her back with a soft shove, "Never do that again! You had us worried, you stupid mutt!"
Again, Natsuki had no time to reply before the rest of the gang joined in welcoming her and Shizuru back to the school.
Thanks to their welcoming party, the rest of the students refrained from going anywhere near the couple. Whenever anyone seemed to get close to either, a well-placed glare sent them on their way.
Having several minutes to spare before classes actually began, the group headed towards an open table. Shizuru walked beside Natsuki but as they began to sit around, she leaned in and gave Natsuki a quick kiss, "I have a quick meeting with Miss Maria. I will see you in class."
Natsuki nodded and the group watched as Shizuru walked away. "So mutt," Nao began, knowing the girls were dying to ask their friend a few questions. Chie, Aoi, and Nina waited silently as Nao continued, "will you enlighten us with what happened?"
"I think you guys know." Natsuki stated simply, but when Nao's eyes narrowed at her, she released a defeated sigh, "Well what do you want to know?"
"First," Chie leaned across the table, "How is it being married to the one and only Shizuru Viola?" Nao rolled her eyes and shoved Chie back into her seat, "You're an idiot." Chie shrugged, "I'm just asking. I mean-"
Takeda walked up to their table, effectively interrupting them. Nao's body went rigid upon seeing the boy as her eyes darted around him looking for Yuuichi and when she didn't see him, she felt herself relax. After the incident with him, she had only seen him in the academy's hallways briefly and he had not approached her again.
"Welcome back, Natsuki-san." Takeda ignored the rest of the girls, his gaze fixed on Natsuki. "Thanks..." Natsuki replied, unsure of why he had approached her. After she had rejected his advances numerous of times, he had finally laid off his pursue of her when she began dating Shizuru. She figured he at least had enough decency to do that.
Ever since that, their interactions had been very limited so his sudden appearance confused her. Takeda offered what appeared to be a genuine smile, "I just wanted to congratulate you and wish for both you and Shizuru-san the best."
The bell signaling the start of class went off and with a small bow, Takeda went on his way.
"Well, that was awkward." Nao stated as they began to grab their bags and make their way to class. Nao grabbed Natsuki's book bag from beside her, "Let me carry that for you, wouldn't want you to hurt yourself doing any heavy lifting."
"Screw off, spider." Natsuki retorted as she snatched her bag back. "Hey now, the baby can hear you." Chie mused from beside Aoi, who laughed. Natsuki flipped her off as they made their way into class, secretly thankful for her friend's lighthearted teasing. They knew it was a hard situation for Natsuki, and she was glad that they were there for her.
Upon entering the classroom, Natsuki quickly spotted Shizuru in her seat and realized that she looked almost pale. "Is something the matter, Shizuru?" Natsuki asked as she walked to Shizuru's desk.
Shizuru smiled, her facade quickly changing, "Everything is alright, why do you ask?" Natsuki studied Shizuru's face, "You just looked upset." Shizuru grabbed her hand, "All is well. Go have a seat before the teacher gets here, my Natsuki."
Although she had a feeling that Shizuru was hiding something, Natsuki gave up for the moment and proceeded to her own seat.
"Aoi, you should give Natsuki your notes so she can get back on track." Nao said as she extended her hand out to the brunette. "Why don't you give her your own notes, Nao?" Chie asked as she watched her girlfriend dig into her book bag.
Pretty soon, Midori walked in and class began.
The following hours were for the most part uneventful with the student body knowing to keep their distance away from Natsuki, even more so than usual.
Once lunch time rolled around, Natsuki sat with her Nao and Chie whilst Shizuru attended a short meeting that Haruka insisted she had to attend, citing the numerous meetings she had already missed and making it impossible for Shizuru to spend lunch with Natsuki as she had planned.
At the student council room, Shizuru took a sip from her tea as she listened to Reito's report for the past days she and Haruka had been gone. It seemed like such a long time since it all had started with Natsuki's sudden disappearance but in reality it hadn't been that long. Yet, with her return to school there were many things she needed to take care of.
With the year coming to an end within months, there was plenty of work that would keep Shizuru occupied as she carried on her duties as president. She worried that it would overwhelm her and take up too much of her time.
"Here is the list of vendors you must contact for the festival, Shizuru-san." Shizuru opened the file that Reito had sent to her laptop and sighed as she scrolled down the long list. The festival coming up was the biggest of the year and the number of vendors they needed to sponsor the event was large.
Haruka smirked, "That's one task that you cannot delegate." Shizuru frowned, knowing Haruka spoke the truth. As much as she enjoyed giving all the work to Haruka to do, contacting the vendors was something she had to do herself. Most of the vendors would be offended if the academy sent anyone but the president to ask for their sponsorship.
After the meeting, Shizuru made her way to her fire mastery class and was intercepted by Mai.
"Mai-san." Shizuru eyed the girl carefully, not forgetting that the last time they had come face-to-face, Mai had tried to fight her.
Mai bowed apologetically, "I want to apologize for my behavior when all of this started." Shizuru was taken aback by the sudden apology. Mai continued, "I realize I was very hard with you and I'm sorry about the way I acted."
Shizuru placed her hand lightly on Mai's shoulder as she straightened, "You were only looking out for Natsuki, and I see that now. It makes me happy to know that Natsuki has you looking out for her."
Taking Shizuru once again by surprise, Mai hugged her suddenly, "Thank you, Shizuru. I'm happy that you're family now." Shizuru hugged Mai back and felt grateful for Mai's support.
The rest of the school day went by uneventfully and the couple soon returned home.
After dinner, Natsuki waited by the entrance as Aika gave her goodbyes to Shizuru's parents. Shizuru hugged Aika, "Thank you for everything, Aika-san."
"Please take care of my Natsuki." Aika said as Shizuru released her. Shizuru nodded before turning to Natsuki, "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to the port, Natsuki?"
"We'll be fine," Natsuki grabbed her grandmother's suitcase, "I'll be right back. Don't worry."
Seeing the worried look on her daughter's face as the two women left, Sumika walked up to her side and gave her a gentle hug, "You can't be with her all the time, Shizuru. You can't be getting worried every time she is out of your sight."
"I know…" Shizuru sighed, "I'll be in my room if you need me. I have plenty of work for the council to keep me occupied while Natsuki returns."
"Shizuru," Katashi interrupted, "I need to speak with you." Shizuru turned to her father and watched as her parents shared a knowing look before Sumika excused herself from the den.
"Is there something wrong, father?" Shizuru asked as she took a seat across from Katashi.
Katashi took a deep breath, "Shizuru, I know you have a lot going on right now, with Natsuki, the baby, and school. But there is something that we must speak about."
Shizuru remained silent as her father continued.
"As happy as I am about my grandchild, we both agree that this hinders your plans of going to college, correct?" Katashi asked.
"I realize that it won't be easy but I will find a job to support my family and get an education as well," Shizuru explained nervously, not really sure how she would accomplish it but trying to sound reassuring for her father, "I don't expect any more help from you or mom. You have helped us enough as it is and I am thankful for that."
Katashi smiled, "You needn't thank us, Shizuru. You are our daughter and our job is to help you succeed through life and get through the obstacles that life puts in your way." Katashi continued, "Your mother and I have decided that being as how the circumstances have changed, we must adapt and with that said, we have decided that you will start working with the company as soon as you graduate. You will take courses to help you learn the business along the way and by the time I need to step down, you will be more than ready to take over the company."
Shizuru was speechless. She knew her parents were very supportive of her and Natsuki but she never imagine they would allow her to join the company right away.
"We know that it will be hard for you as it is and we realize that the leadership skills you already have need only be refined and that will only come with time." Katashi smiled, "Besides, what better place to learn about the company you will be running than at the company itself?"
Shizuru made her way across the small space separating her and Katashi and hugged him tightly, "Thank you father, you have no idea what this means to me."
Watching from the doorway unbeknownst to Shizuru, Sumika smiled as Katashi hugged Shizuru, "Your mother and I also think that for now since you two are still in school, it will be better for you to stay here at home. But as soon as you graduate and the baby is born, we will see about getting you two your own home."
Shizuru felt an immense weight lift from her shoulders knowing that her parents were there for her.
"If you need anything at all, do not hesitate to call me. I will come back to see you soon, Natsuki." Aika kissed Natsuki's cheek and hugged her tightly before she boarded the royal boat that would take her back to Kruger.
Natsuki waved good bye and watched as the boat disappeared in the horizon. The port was brightly illuminated but when Natsuki returned to the parking lot, she felt an uneasy feeling overcome her. She hurried to her car and drove away as fast as she could.
The soft music calmed Natsuki as she kept looking at her rear mirror without seeing anyone follow her. After a few minutes, she relaxed and wonder if it had been anything at all.
Darkness enveloped the road as she drove towards the mansion when a vehicle seemed to appear out of nowhere behind Natsuki. Glancing at the dashboard to see her speed, she noticed she was driving slightly above the speed limit, however the vehicle appeared to close in and remain within inches of her.
Natsuki accelerated and began to panic when she realized they did also. She couldn't see the vehicle at all in the darkness, just the bright lights but before anything else could happen, she saw the mansion's gates up ahead. She quickly turned back to her rearview mirror and found absolute darkness, the vehicle nowhere within sight.
The gates opened for Natsuki as she drove up and she stayed in her vehicle for a few moments, scared to leave the car. She looked around and she found nothing.
'I'm sure that car was following me… Someone was following me…'
Natsuki took a deep breath and left the car. As she walked up to the mansion, she looked behind her once again, making her mind to keep what had happened from Shizuru.
'She has enough on her plate as it is, I don't need to be worrying her any more. Besides, it was probably some idiot who thinks it's funny to drive stupidly and try to scare drivers.'
With her mind set, Natsuki entered the mansion and was greeted by a maid who told her Shizuru was already in the bedroom.
Natsuki made her way upstairs and couldn't help but smile when she found Shizuru fast asleep on her desk. She made her way silently towards her and shook her lightly, "Shizuru, I'm home."
Shizuru tried to awaken, "Natsu…ki…I have…something…" Natsuki grinned as she grabbed Shizuru by her waist and pulled her towards the bed carefully. Shizuru tried to help Natsuki by walking herself to the bed but as soon as she hit the bed, she curled up and fell asleep.
After getting ready for bed, Natsuki joined Shizuru. It took her a few minutes to fall asleep but she soon allowed sleep to overtake her.
