A lot less time with Natsuki than I wanted! Actually, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but It's been so long since I updated, that I wanted to give you guys something. Also, I'll be busy again for a while, so unless my desire to see how I can make ShizNat dance around each other some more overtakes my desire to take care of responsibilities, I won't get to update as soon as I'd like. Although hopefully, it won't be as long as this time.
I keep wanting to push the story too far ahead, I think. I have some scenes I want to do, but I think if I jump right into them the story will be moving too fast. So writing these parts is like work. D: I'm excited for the things that are going to happen after this. Anyway, I'm rambling. Happy holidays.
Enjoy!
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Shizuru stared at the witch for several long moments, the redhead in question extremely tense and looking ready to bolt—not that doing so would do her any good. The British woman was giving her all to keep her anger in check, but eventually lost that battle and crossed the distance between them in less than a second, lifting Mai by the throat.
"Do you have any idea what you have done?" she snarled, teeth bared and eyes narrowed. She was furious. It was likely that these events were the reason for the powerful Russian's masters moving toward and through her territory. She looked weak, and unable to hold onto her own area. She doubted these 'Masters' wanted to take her territory from her, rather that they were interested in the fact that she was not doing anything about the murders—or even perhaps had noticed that they themselves could not sense where and when they were occurring now that they were near enough that they should have been able to do so. She was in a very large amount of trouble if they thought that she herself was responsible for these murders. She would be executed.
"Sh…Shiz…" the Tokiha witch attempted to choke out, hands wrapping around the brunette's wrist and tightening convulsively. The older woman sneered at the fear and surprise in those clear, blue eyes.
"Had you forgotten what I am?" she asked. "It may be that I am a pretty and well-mannered monster, but the adjectives do not define the noun in this case, and it would have been wise for you to remember that." She said coldly, and tightened her grip. She wondered at the narrowing of the Tokiha witch's eyes a moment before a sharp, burning pain hit the underside of her wrist and she dropped the girl with a hiss.
"I…" the witch started in between gasping breaths, holding her throat. "I…didn't forget." She coughed violently, and Shizuru snarled at the burnt flesh on her wrist and looked at Mai, who was currently brandishing a silver dagger that the British woman had not noticed before. The witch could have buried it into her throat, but she had only pressed the metal to her wrist—a warning. She glared at the offending object for a few more moments before taking a deep, unnecessary breath and letting it out.
"I lost my temper." She said as her rage disappeared and was replaced by a new feeling. Was it shame? She only vaguely remembered the sensation; most likely she had last experienced it while alive.
"I…gathered that." Mai muttered, still rubbing at her throat. The brunette had caused no lasting damage, and was sure that the witch would be fine in a few minutes.
"I…" she began to lie, and then thought better of it. "I would like to apologize for losing my temper, but I am not sorry for hurting you and I think that it is important for you to know that, as you seem to be thinking of me as if I were…like you." She said, and the redhead stared at her in shock for a few moments before some unknown realization hit her and she nodded.
"I understand—although I'm not sure exactly what panicked you like that about what I told you. It's the first time I've seen you act…well, like you're what you are. You're right, I wasn't thinking about what you are, because you seem so human…but I couldn't forget. I was raised to kill your kind on sight, you know—and effectively." She elaborated with a frown, and sat herself back in the chair she had previously occupied. Shizuru was continuously amazed by this girl. Was she determined to put herself into situations that had a high chance of killing her? She didn't seem to be dim by any stretch of the imagination, yet she insisted on behaving as if the British woman was just another human—even if she carried a silver dagger and kept the fact that Shizuru might decide to kill her at any moment in the back of her mind. Or maybe she was treating her like she was another witch, she thought with dry humor and a small smile. "Now something's funny?" Mai said in surprise, and Shizuru let out a surprised burst of laughter.
"This is all so ridiculous. You still sit right back down as if I did not just attempt to kill you." She explained, and Mai shrugged.
"I'm not sure there's anything else I can do, actually." The brunette thought about that reply for a moment. The witch had been armed with silver, she reminded herself, so perhaps she was not taking as cavalier an approach to this situation as she had originally thought. "I mean, I did kind of expect you to be angry, I just didn't know you'd be THAT angry."
"Are you afraid?" she asked the redhead, who let out a weak laugh.
"I'm terrified. Does that make you feel better?"
"I think that it does." She said honestly and with a graceful shrug, opting to begin explanation. "There are two Masters moving into nearby territories who are likely very old, and now that you tell me what I have been missing, I have an idea that this is why." She explained, and proceeded to outline her reasoning for that. It was not common for those older than a century to move much once they have settled, and the fact that they had done just that had spoken of something important happening nearby. Perhaps something that could be worrisome to her kind, at any rate. Maybe the Elders had ordered them to check into the matter? No matter what the reason, all of this was unsettling, and Shizuru no longer felt safe in her own city.
On the positive side, she was now sure that Mai would not be attacking her as she slept and Nao, as far as she was aware, did not know where she lived. (If any of the Elders wanted to kill her, it did not matter where she slept.) After everything she had learned of the girl, she would know better than to eliminate the only source of information (and protection, even) from these new Masters. That would be suicidal. If she were to be believed, she could not fight openly without attracting the Council's attention—and she seemed to want to avoid that attention at all costs. Shizuru supposed that was an intelligent idea, as she remembered the Council being very unforgiving about disobedience, and Mai and Mikoto would be punished (read tortured) severely if they were caught.
This line of thought made her wonder again what order could be so important to disregard that they would defy the Council. Missions for witches generally involved finding a group of her kind and executing them. Perhaps Mai's interaction with the British woman was a clue. Was she in sympathy with her kind? That, she knew, would come with an especially heavy punishment. In fact, it was the most serious offense a witch could commit next to betraying or killing one of their own.
"You look like you're thinking about something serious. Care to share?" the redhead asserted when Shizuru was silent for a time.
"As it so happens, I do not." She answered, and offered a tentative smile. "Not about that particular line of thought, at any rate. Perhaps at another time. I have actually promised to meet Natsuki tonight, and have little time for chatting. What I do need from you right now is what you know about these murders and why you have been shielding them from me." Mai grinned as the British woman said Natsuki's name and she quirked a brow. "What?"
"Your whole face comes alive when you say her name. It's so…" she searched for a word. "Beautiful, I guess. And it's even weirder to watch after what happened a minute ago." Shizuru chose not to comment, hoping the girl would let it pass, and she did after a moment. "Well, first of all, um…I wasn't actually shielding anything from you on purpose except for Mikoto, myself, and Nao." She began, and Shizuru wondered at the slight hesitation before she had said the other redhead's name, but said nothing.
"It's just that Nao kind of lives on the other side of town, and I can't just shield specific people…I have to shield the entire area between us as well." This gave the British woman pause. The redhead had said that she was 'sort of' a prodigy, but this was ridiculous. The entire city? The notion that she could create a 'dead zone' for the senses of both witches and her own kind that covered that much area was mind-numbing. "Yeah…I know. It's surprising to all the other witches too when I tell them the first time. I told you I was important to the Council." She said with a sigh. "Things are about to become really difficult for all of us. I'm sorry, again."
"If the Elders have noticed that this city nullifies our 'sixth' senses, as it were, then it might not be long before the Council hears of it as well and comes for you. I will assume that the extent of your abilities is a well-guarded secret that the Elders do not know, and thus cannot communicate quickly enough what is happening here for the Council to realize you are here. It will not be so for long, though…" she thought aloud, and as she watched Mai's face fall further at each word, offered, "Perhaps you and your girls should leave town?"
"I can't." she replied without a thought. "At least not yet. I'd need an excuse for…" she stopped, looking up at Shizuru with alarm in her eyes. "I just can't right now." The British woman narrowed her eyes at the redhead. What was the girl keeping from her when she already knew so much? It must be important, after all that the girl had offered freely in knowledge.
"Very well then." She finally said, seeing that Mai would not be forthcoming with any more on the subject…yet. "Can you tell me what you know of these murders?" she repeated, and Mai gave a nod.
"I'll hurry so that you can go and see Natsuki." She said with a knowing grin, and Shizuru looked away, admirably not showing her embarrassment. "You're getting better at hiding those reactions." She remarked offhandedly, earning a glare, and immediately began a detailed (or as detailed as she could be given what she knew) explanation.
An hour later, Shizuru found herself approaching Natsuki's apartment building. Glancing upwards at the window she knew was the bluenette's, she noted that there were no lights on. She assumed that the younger girl must be out, because it was already nine p.m. and it was unlikely that the self-proclaimed night owl was sleeping at such an hour. Deciding that her assumption was solid, she sat on a bench near the entrance to the building.
A few moments after sitting, she heard a vehicle roaring up around the corner, and saw a motorbike slide round the bend with a squeal and it stopped right in front of the bench she was seated at. A familiar, intoxicating scent reached the British woman and found herself unable to move or speak. Natsuki was dressed in a very form-fitting leather bodysuit. Shizuru watched, in a stupor, as the bluenette pulled off her helmet and shook her luxurious hair free. She swung her leg over to the other side of the bike and dismounted, moving toward the woman frozen on the bench; all that leather creaking deliciously as she did so.
"Shizuru." She said with a small smile, and the woman in question found that she had stood and taken a step toward the voice unconsciously. The brunette wanted to hear that name pass the girl's lips again, wanted to hear that voice cry out in—she cut herself off, sinking teeth into her tongue to ground her thoughts. This, at least, was not an unfamiliar emotion. She remembered this (although she had to admit that she had never felt it this strongly before). It was lust, and it felt like it should have a capital "L". "Shizuru?" she asked again at the British woman's silence, granting her earlier wish unintentionally. Finally, wine-colored eyes met concerned emeralds.
"N…" she began, and had to lick her lips—her mouth was suddenly dry. "Natsuki. It is good to see you." She attempted to recover. It was embarrassing that Shizuru continued to lose control of herself around the younger girl—even Arturius had praised her control and composure, saying that it took most of their kind centuries to perfect the mask that hid what they really thought, and that some never perfected the ability to feign human emotion at all. She had been able to since her birth, because she had done it well while alive. She did not think that Arturius' praise was something to be proud of, and determined that it was a skill she should be glad to have taken from her by this girl.
"Really? That's all you've got?" she smiled widely at the brunette, "No eloquent speech about how you have waited a fortnight to see me again, and—" she stopped at the wide-eyed look Shizuru was giving her. She blushed. "Sorry. I've just been feeling…different, lately." The British woman watched her for another moment, regarding her strangely.
"It has not yet been a fortnight, although I must admit that it seemed much longer." She finally said theatrically, the smile in her eyes alerting the bluenette.
"You're right, it did." She said without missing a beat, smiling at the older woman. The woman in question was still taken aback by Natsuki's current lack of embarrassment, and wasn't able to form a quick enough reply. "So, would you like to go for a ride?" she suddenly said, and Shizuru's eyes shot back to hers. "Well?" she asked impatiently as the British woman just stared at her. Finally, she directed her gaze to the Ducati at the curb behind the bluenette.
"…..On that?"
