A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry this update took so long. For some reason, I really struggled with this chapter. I think I'm getting a case of writer's block :( It didn't help that I had to go overseas, spend time with loved ones over Christmas and New Year, get back to work... you know, just boring life.
Hope to get more action in for the next chapter. Meanwhile, enjoy and do remember to leave a review.
Takeda stood stoically silent in the polished office. He was never one to argue, especially when he knew that this one was on him. He had lost her, his Hime. Anger stewed inside of him for his own failure. He was practically screaming with excitement when he saw her again. He hadn't dreamt that it was possible, he had thought she was dead. But there she was standing, all grown up and beautiful as always. And she was so *close*! So close that he could imagine her scent, imagine that maybe, just maybe, she would turn and smile at him. Like she used to, so long ago. The guileless smile that lit up her features like an angel. That smile that was reserved just for him when he had done something special for her. But all he got now was a confused and scared gaze.
She didn't even recognize me!
However, his own simmering dissatisfaction could not hold a candle to the cold fury that was palpable from the man before him. Takeda could feel the tiny hairs on his forearms prickling up in alarm. A crumpled piece of laminated paper hit his cheek without warning and bounced carelessly to the floor. He kept his gaze down, and saw that it was the map Natsuki had left behind. He didn't have time to react before he a well-aimed stapler collided painfully with his jaw. This was followed by a myriad of other stationery from the mahogany desk. The last one, a particularly vengeful metal ruler, left a rather nasty gash across his cheekbones. Warm liquid oozed out from the wound, trickling down his cheek to stain his white shirt. He clenched his teeth, stubbornly refusing to react to the onslaught of physical abuse from his employer. He had always been well acquainted with the dark nature and sudden violent outbursts from the seemingly calm man before him.
"You lost her." His employer repeated his earlier remark with finality, this time without the incredulous tone behind it. The man wiped the sweat off his brow and smoothed back his hair, as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't just lost his composure.
"I'm very sorry." Takeda kept his head bowed. "I was… delayed."
"And all you got for your troubles, is this worthless piece of shit." The man continued to drone, in his deceptively serene tone.
"Yes sir. She wrote '19th, Garderobe, Windbloom' on it."
"And you know what it means?"
"It could be an address, or code – –"
"I said, do you know what it means?"
"I-I think, I mean… No, sir."
His employer got up slowly from his desk and rounded it. Icy fingers tipping Takeda's chin up so that he was looking right into his eyes, he enunciated slowly through clenched teeth, "You don't know shit, Takeda. You screwed up."
Takeda flinched involuntarily when the man abruptly released his grip and gave an exaggerated sigh. He pulled a white handkerchief from his coat pocket and started to dab at Takeda's wound gently, almost like a lover's caress. Takeda held his breath at this contradictory behavior.
"How long have I known you, Takeda? From a boy with nothing. I took you in. My family took you in."
"Yes sir, yes you did. And I'm very grateful for that."
"Grateful doesn't put food on your table, Takeda. Grateful is just lofty talk from incapable fools." The handkerchief was now applying an uncomfortable pressure on his wound.
"I will get you what you want, sir." Takeda reached up to take the handkerchief from him.
"Good." his employer answered, suddenly stepping back and clapping his shoulder. "I know I can always depend on you, Takeda."
Takeda took this as his dismissal, and made his way to the door. As his hand rested on the handle, his employer added, "Oh, and before I forget, Takeda…"
"Yes, sir."
"In the event that you failed again…"
Takeda's brows furrowed.
"Bury her."
It was getting dark outside when Shizuru turned the key to her apartment door and stepped in. The dark haired girl behind her swept in silently as well, marching into her abode like a dejected zombie. Natalia hadn't spoken at all during their short walk, her sullen expression failed to divulge what she was thinking about. She stood by the windows and wrapped her arms around herself, jumping slightly as the door clicked shut.
Shizuru continued to watch the girl as she unwound her red scarf and hung it up on the coat hanger. She then shrugged off her grey coat and did the same.
"I-um…" Natalia began, then stopped herself. She looked down awkwardly at the floor as if she did not know how to place herself.
"I'm going to make some tea." Shizuru announced, as she padded into the adjoining kitchen of her studio apartment. "Make yourself at home. The bathroom's in the bedroom, if you need to wash up."
"T-thank you. Um, I need to make a few phone calls. If you don't mind."
"Go ahead," Shizuru replied as she filled a kettle and placed it on the electric stove. "You should take off your coat. Put your bag down. You look like you're ready to bolt at any moment's notice."
Natalia nodded mutely, obediently removing her coat and belongings, and placing them on the couch with shaking hands. Just then, her expression became alarmed, and she frenziedly searched her coat pockets, before pulling out a piece of folded paper.
"Did you lose something?" Shizuru asked, as she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway to the kitchen.
"No, not really. It's probably nothing, just a map." Natalia answered, as she checked the contents of the paper, before slipping it into her bag.
Shizuru shrugged, trying to put her friend at ease. When Natalia had knocked into her at the entrance of the subway station, she instinctively knew that her friend was in trouble. Her emerald green eyes betrayed the look of a trapped animal, being hunted and with nowhere to run. Shizuru was not one to stand aside and ignore that silent plea in her eyes. Even though she was insanely curious about what troubles her junior could have gotten herself in, she didn't want to pry.
Natalia took out her cell phone. With a brief, nervous glance at Shizuru, she started dialing.
"I'll just be in my bedroom." Shizuru offered, as she pushed herself from her leaning position and strode into her room, giving Natalia some privacy. She sat on the bed and rolled up her sleeves, checking the bruise on her arm that Natalia had inadvertently given her when they had collided.
"… that's not the point!" She heard Natalia hissing in Japanese. It was strange and familiar at once, to hear the language being spoken by someone other than her mother. She wondered if Natalia knew that she understood the words.
"Why did you even bring them here, put them in danger?" There was a moment's silence as Natalia listened to whoever was on the other side of the line. Shizuru stood and positioned herself close to the door, so that she could keep the dark haired girl within her line of sight. The younger girl was now pacing in front of the windows, fingers running agitatedly through her tresses. Her unstable emotions were particularly apparent to Shizuru, who observed that her aura was flickering like a green flame. Burning with bright intensity, then dulling to a dark viridian, before flaring up once more.
"How is she now?" she was asking, with a slightly calmer tone.
"Taser? ! Why didn't you bring her to a hospital ? !" she all but hollered as she smashed her fist into the wall in frustration. Shizuru cringed. "BAKA Nao!"
Shizuru couldn't help but smile at this outburst. The Natalia she knew would never lose control of her emotions in front of others. But in such rare moments, Shizuru saw a precious side to her. A passionate and caring side that told her she would always put the well-being of her loved ones before her.
Oh my, the ice princess has a warm heart, she made a mental note of it.
"I don't know who it was, kaa-san. He had a scar on his face. No, I don't remember him." Natalia continued. "Yes, I'm safe for now. Crashing at a friend's place. Yeah, the message didn't make sense at all, I will text you later. I… I just can't deal with it right now."
Shizuru watched with concern as Natalia cursed and flipped her phone shut, hurling it into the couch with her pent up frustration. She withdrew into the shadows and went back to sitting on the bed, waiting patiently. It took a while before the dark haired girl hesitantly approached her room.
"Why are you sitting here in the dark?" She asked quietly, as she flipped on her room light.
Shizuru smiled at her, noting the faint blush that blossomed mysteriously on the girl every time she did so. "Believe it or not, I don't really need the light to see. Thought I might wait for you to finish your conversation. Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah, well." Natalia rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "I'm sorry Shizuru. I can't really explain the lot of it. Let's just say that Murphy's law was an understatement."
Shizuru went up to the girl and took her hands. "Hey, Natalia." She said softly, urging the girl to look up at her. "I'm not going to pry if you don't want to say anything, alright? I'm just glad that you're okay."
"Um… Thank you. Shizuru." Natalia mumbled, unused to such attention and concern.
Shizuru. The name rolled pleasantly and gently off the tongue of this young girl. All her friends would have just called her Shiz. But Natalia always insisted on calling her full name, like it's some form of decorum.
"Call me Shiz." She tested.
The girl shook her head. "Shi – Zu – Ru." Again, the melodic, soft tones that was strangely quite addictive.
"Na – Ta – Lia." She teased. Tapping her chin thoughtfully, she asked, "Nat-chan. Do people in Tokyo call you that?"
The petite girl seemed to be slightly taken aback by the intimate moniker. She laughed. "Sometimes, I forget that you're half Japanese, Shizuru. Yes, yes, they do. Especially Mai." She sighed.
"You're worried about your friends." Shizuru astutely concluded, when she observed Natalia's wistful expression.
Natalia nodded, dropping her hands from her grasp. "I don't want them to get hurt because of me. They don't understand that I can never live with that."
Shizuru shook her head and stepped forward to engulf the younger girl in a comforting hug. The younger girl stiffened immediately in her arms, before slowly relaxing. Shizuru smiled and raised her hand to stroke the girl's silky smooth mane.
"Silly girl. They probably feel the same way about you too. Not wanting you to get hurt, so they want to help. With whatever it is that you're doing."
Natalia let out a snort of disbelief into her shoulders. The two of them stayed like this for a moment longer.
"So how come your friends can call you Nat-chan, but you can't just call me Shiz?" Shizuru returned to the same topic, causing Natalia to burst out laughing again.
"You're impossible!" She protested, as she lifted her head and fixed Shizuru with her crystal green eyes.
"I'm Shiz." She continued to tease.
"Shi – Zu –Ru. You have a beautiful name in Japanese, stop ruining it."
"Alright, Na – Ta – Lia. Are you going to stay here for the night?"
Natalia looked at her watch. It was indeed, getting late. Even the traffic noise from the streets had wound down.
"I don't think I should." She began. "Should probably head ba–"
"Is Natalia an axe murderer?" Shizuru asked abruptly.
"W-Wha -? !" Natalia spluttered at the random question.
"Did Natalia kill her best friend?" Shizuru continued nonchalantly. "Tortured any stray puppies lately?"
"No! Of course not, baka!" Natalia gasped incredulously.
"Then I don't see a problem with you staying over at my place, Na – Ta – Lia." Shizuru grinned and shrugged as if she won the argument with her sheer logic.
Natalia deliberated the offer, chewing her lower lip indecisively.
"Stay." Shizuru commanded, as a master would to her puppy, part of her teasing nature finding much glee in getting Natalia to relent. "Na – Ta – Lia." She added.
Natalia fixed her with an annoyed, baleful glare.
"It's Natsuki, alright?" She declared, tipping the tables and causing Shizuru to look confused instead. "I knew something was weird when you keep calling me Natalia, Natalia," the dark haired girl muttered under her breath.
"Natsuki," she repeated, a proud smirk crossing her features. "My Japanese name. My friends and family call me by that."
"Oh." Shizuru managed, aware of the unspoken transition in their relationship. She was slowly being let into Natalia's, no, Natsuki's inner sanctum. An invisible barrier had been crossed, by something as minor as allowing herself to be called by a different name.
"Thank you for the offer then." Natsuki resolved, as she walked back to the living room to pick up her bag. "It is getting late. I hope it's not too much trouble if it's just for one night."
"So you're staying?" Shizuru called out. Unable to help herself, she added laughingly, "Na – Tsu – Ki?"
"Oh, would you cut that out!" Natsuki snapped uncharacteristically from the living room.
The next morning, as the beginnings of daylight started to seep through the curtains, Shizuru was already sitting up in bed. She hadn't managed to sleep much, so she thought she might as well start her day earlier.
After she had washed up, and changed into comfortable jeans and a knitted top, she padded quietly into the living room to see Natsuki sleeping soundly on her living room couch. The younger girl had insisted on sleeping in the living room the previous night, despite Shizuru's cheeky offer of sharing her double bed. She was now curled up into a ball under the spare blanket, her expression peaceful and serene in her slumber. Shizuru smiled and scooted closer, stooping down to tuck away the stray hair that had fallen across Natsuki's cheeks. She was about to get up again, when she noticed the white cell phone lying on the coffee table next to the couch. Her expressions thoughtful, she retrieved her own phone from her jeans pocket and began typing.
Dearest Duran,
It is morning in New York. A fresh day has begun, but today feels different. It feels like I will be going away on an adventure soon. But with her, I realize that there's nowhere I'd rather be right now. Just like you do, she fills my days with more colours than I ever thought possible. I'm often tricked into thinking that you're by my side. Or perhaps, you really are, all this while.
- Kiyohime
She hesitated for a moment longer, before her thumb tapped on the button to send.
She didn't have to wait long.
The phone on the coffee table vibrated.
And the screen displayed the message she had just sent.
And suddenly all the doubts in her mind were erased. All the puzzle pieces finally fell into place, and she heaved a sigh of release, that her answer had been right before her all along.
She had always suspected. Her instincts told her not to give up hope, even when Natsuki had refused to admit that they knew each other from before. It was the way the expressive green eyes avoided her stares. Her silent deliberations before answering her questions. Since that day at the cafeteria, she hadn't stopped writing to Duran, waiting for the reply that had eventually come.
Dearest Kiyohime,
Forgive me. I am ashamed to admit that I have diligently read all your messages, but had replied to none. At first I couldn't, and then I felt that I shouldn't. It was a selfish conclusion that I came to. Certain things in my life happened so rapidly, that I needed to exercise some form of control to claim it back. It was with that weak excuse, that I sought to distance myself from you. You and I live in such different worlds. What could possibly be the outcome of this futile, fragile state that we in?
Since we last spoke, I had gotten into an accident and almost died. For a period of time, I kept wondering what my purpose was in life, why I didn't just cease to exist that day. I honestly wanted to go away; sometimes the pain of living is scarier than the certainty in death.
Did I tell you before? There are voids in my memory that I cannot fill. The doctors told me that it didn't matter, that life had to go on anyway. The past did not matter. The present and the future did. But then I realized that I was just deceiving myself. I couldn't just go away or move on, being half the person that I am. I find that annoyingly unsatisfying.
And then, a part of me thought that maybe, just maybe, I am alive so that I might stand before you some day.
It is just wishful thinking of course. I have my life to live, and you have yours. Even so, and I risk my pride in saying this here, I feel such a strong affinity towards you that I can't seem to let go.
If our paths do cross someday, do you think you can recognize me with your heart and your soul? I am confident that I would.
I will continue to write to you, this I can promise as much. I am truly sorry for the long absence.
- Duran
Just like that, all had been forgiven, and they had continued their sporadic correspondences. All those times when Shizuru wrote to Duran, she had pictured Natsuki in her heart.
She shook her head. Sometimes, she wondered if she had gone crazy. Her unjustified obsession was so deeply entrenched. It was as if she cried out with loneliness inside, with nobody to fill the emptiness. But she had already been so blessed with so many people who cherished her. Yet, she felt that she hadn't truly loved anything or anyone, other than her art. Her art was her only passion, the only thing that could move her.
Like a withered tree struck by lightning, she felt hollow and dying inside. Someone who could not be moved and who could not lose herself in emotions. Not with Reito, or Em, or Midori. They could not see past the mask that she wore around them.
But Natsuki, Natsuki… what was it about her that makes Shizuru want to tear down the walls and just be herself around her?
Natsuki stirred in her sleep when the phone vibrated. Stirred from her inner musings, Shizuru cautiously got up and backed away to the kitchen to pour some water. The younger girl slowly kicked her way out of the blankets and emerged, bleary-eyed and with mussed up hair. Shizuru hid a smile behind her cup as she watched Natsuki stretch and yawn like a cat. Catching Shizuru observing her, the younger girl turned an interesting shade of pink.
"G-good morning, Shizuru. You're up early."
"Good morning, Natsuki. Natsuki slept well?"
The girl nodded, sweeping the length of her mane from her face, down one side of her shoulders.
"I should think so," Shizuru continued blithely, "Natsuki was drooling."
To this, the dark haired girl immediately clapped her hands to her mouth, emerald eyes widening in mortification. Shizuru's laughter finally bubbled from her, filling the usually empty house with her the tinkling sounds of her amusement.
"Shizuru!" Natsuki complained, when she realized the red-eyed girl was only teasing her.
Shizuru saluted her in apology. "You're just too easy to tease."
Natsuki puffed out her cheeks and continued to mutter darkly under her breath while Shizuru got busy making breakfast. "Do you need to be somewhere today?" She asked.
Her junior nodded her head while reaching over for her phone. Shizuru eyed her reactions intently as she read the message on her phone in a stupor, her face heating up like a red balloon.
"Uhhhhh…" Her emerald eyes lifted blankly to the garnet ones. "Did you just ask me something, Ki—I mean, Shizuru?"
Shizuru smirked at the younger girl's momentary falter. Serves you right for hiding from me for so long, Natsuki.
"I said, do you need to be somewhere today. Something's wrong?"
Natsuki shook her head vigorously, while pressing several buttons furiously on her phone. "N-no, I mean. Nothing's wrong, but I do need to go see my mum."
"Good," Shizuru smiled as she placed a plate of sandwiches on the table. "I'm going with you then."
Natsuki's head snapped up. "You're what? !"
"I'm not going to ask you what happened last night, Natsuki. But I'm not letting you out of my sight until I'm convinced you're not in some kind of trouble." Shizuru crossed her arms confidently and planted herself before the dark-haired teen. "Like it or not, you're stuck with me."
