The Past and Future
Chapter 14
HEY MUTT!
With that in mind the Ice HIME rushed forward into battle.
Pushing off from the ground with her right foot, she disappears from the sights of almost all of the spectators, excluding the experienced HIME Midori and let's not forget the 'innocent' bystander who was pissed off because she thought there wouldn't be a fight but regained her pervious temper when she noticed with or with elements, there would be a fight.
And a fight was what that bystander was going to get to see, because from the looks of it, the Ice HIME was certainly more than serious.
As quickly as she had disappeared, she reappeared right behind the number two pearl. Landing on her left foot, she twisted her body and Haruka, who was familiar enough with fighting to at least see the kick a second before it hit her, didn't even have enough time to react.
The blonde's body flew straight right into a building that was close to the practice grounds, causing the walls, upon impact, to shatter like fragile glass and buried the girl's body beneath its rubbles. The smoke, an aftereffect of the crash, affected the vision of all those there, making them question the wellbeing of the loudmouth.
Many of the Pearls watching the fight couldn't help but gasps at the situation, amazed at how frighteningly fast the second best of their class was defeated, and not to mention with only one kick at that. Luckily, no one was in the building that the number two pearl crashed into or they was be scared out of their minds, though that did not stop all those who heard the crash from freaking out, thinking that they were being attacked and rushed outside to see what happened.
What those who just arrived found was simply wow. There wasn't one word that they could have used to describe it.
What they saw was a raven hair girl standing in the middle of the field, the wind blowing her hair, causing it to cover up most of her face, giving it a mysterious edge to it. She just stood there, looking up to the sky, and if anyone had exceptionally good vision and was able to see her eyes, they would be able to tell that those emerald orbs were unfocused and in a sense portrayed her years, gleaming with sorrow and regret.
Her stance betrayed not even the slightest weakness nor strength she had, it was just neutral, not giving off any signs or the raven hair girl's intensions as to what she was going to do next. In fact, some would say that that stance was ideal for any fighter since its unpredictable nature gave the user the element of surprise, but the current user of this stance did not look so much as happy or even content. Her body was well in balance, and her hands were hanging down by her sides. As the wind died down, her raven mane fell back into its original place giving all who were there full view of the girl's face, cold without the slightest indication of emotions.
Not only did those who just arrived see the girl but they also saw the entire pearl class, those who were ranked fairly high in Garderobe, silent after a few gasps, wide eyed, and expression filled with a mix of horror and anticipation of what was going to happen next.
The teacher of the class, also know was the Justified Judging Jasper, was registered with a look of pure shock, clearly not expecting the turn of events that just had happened.
For many, they did not know what to be more surprised of. Whether it be the now silent class of pearls, who were known for their talkative nature, the meister who was known for almost never being serious with anything, now being seriously in shock, or the raven hair girl who was standing in the middle of the field with the number one pearl far to her left, another girl diagonally behind her, and a pile of broken bricks to her right apparently caused by the recently heard crash.
Some of the new arrivals, being teachers, inferred that the raven haired girl was an attacker and was ready to retaliate, that is until someone snapped everyone out of their trance and spoke.
"Ara, now that was certainly a flamboyant start for a pairs battle, wasn't it, Kruger-san? All of a sudden taking out Haruka like that, what am I to do?"
After blinking a few times and allowing herself time to regain her composure, the number one pearl spoke then chuckled at the end of her statement, as if to lighten the tense atmosphere that was forming around the group.
And quite frankly, it worked too, to the surprise of many.
Everyone snapped out of their own stupefied dazed state, regaining their composure. The pearls began whispering about and the once serious meister returned to her normal self, well if you call her idiotic and half drunk state her normal self, then yes, she returned to being her normal self, though on the inside she was analyzing the irregular behavior of the Ice HIME.
Coming to the conclusion that something was clearly off, the self proclaimed defender of justice takes in what her top student just said and thought it would be in everyone's best interest to stop the match in the most unsuspicious way as possible.
"Well, since Haruka-chan is out, it might be a little unfair for Shizuru-chan to take on both Mai-chan and Nat-chan. Hmmmm……"
The teacher paused acting as if she really did need some time to think of a solution for the problem, but her greatest mistake was one concerning the issue of time. The red head plainly just came up with a solution too fast, though everyone was too preoccupied with the battle scene before them to notice her diminutive blunder.
"Why don't we stop for now, and leave the rest for later? I'm sure Haruka-chan would be furious if we continued without her like this. So what do you say?"
Midori directed her question to the all the combatants on the field, nonetheless, she had actually meant to direct the hidden question of whether or not the raven hair girl was willing to stop, despite the fact that she did not seem like herself when attacking the loudmouth so harshly.
The first one to reply to her request was Mai, who dematerialized and walked back slowly to the noncombat section of the field, while discreetly eyeing the other two remainders on the field.
The next to show a reaction to what their teacher had said was none other than the number one pearl, Shizuru Viola. She considered dematerializing the way that the orange hair coral did, but she felt that something was off with the way the meister stopped the spar from processing and the irregularity in her behavior.
Usually, even if the corals were winning in a pair's battle when up against pearls and happen to take them out on a stroke of luck, the battle would have continued. Especially when it was two recently made corals going face to face with the top two pearls, in fact had it been anyone else, they would have been insulted by such a comment, surely the number one pearl could take on two complete beginners.
However, Shizuru Viola wasn't just anyone and was cautious enough to see the changes in her savior's sudden behavior before the raven hair girl practically disappeared and reappeared the next second, taking the number two pearl down in record time. Her cautiousness, lead to her decision to turn to properly face savior, now underclassmen, and assert the situation. And had that been any other time, it would have resulted as an advantage to her, or maybe it was a good choice even now, but just not in the wording choices.
"Ara, shall we continue this battle Kruger-san? Or do you wish to spar a bit more?"
Well, if the Ice HIME was slightly disturbed by her memories before, enough to make her act in such a violent way toward the blonde pearl, now she was thrown in and forced to walk down memory lane. Losing herself to her past, she could no longer clearly make anything out, only able to stiffen, her body sent into shock, her breathing ceased. Excruciatingly slowly she was being consumed by her abrupt and unwelcomed remembrance of the day she had shut away for the sake of her sanity.
Those words echoed in her mind, eating away at her consciousness.
"Ara, shall we continue this battle now Natsuki-Hime? Or do you wish to surrender? I'm sure that no matter what you choose, we'll have lots more fun!!"
Gripping tightly at her guns, the raven hair girl tore her eyes away from the sight in front of her, her knuckles turning white from the strain she caused them. Her teeth were grinned together and blood streamed down her lips, her voice lanced with anger and immense sorrow, she spoke.
"I won't surrender to the likes of you! She… She would have wanted me to… Not like this… Not for her… So even if I have to die, I'll bring you with me!!"
"That's too bad! I'm sure she would have loved to play with you a bit more and make you scream out in pain!!"
Not long after a reply was given, the sounds of a naginata slashing through the wind was heard and dodged by the Ice HIME by falling backwards to avoid the cut that would have been made by the naginata if it were to make contact with its target.
Though no one did anything, the raven hair girl, still in the middle of the field, stumbles backwards frantically, not bothering answering the number one pearl's question.
Out of worry for her savior, the chestnut hair girl walks toward the Ice Princess and reaches out to steady the supposedly younger girl with her left hand.
And almost at once, Natsuki swats away the offered hand and jumped back to manage some distance between the two. The moment those emerald eyes landed on the pearl's weapon, they were ignited by rage and burned like the flames of hell, due to the fact that the weapon's length caused it to resemble a naginata.
Already consumed by her feelings, the ones caused by the sudden piece of memory she recalled, the raven hair girl lashed out attacking the Shizuru in front of her, her movements corresponding those in her mind.
It took the pearl by surprise but due to the fact that each and every attack from the 'younger' girl was being clouded by a sense of hesitation, the speed and power was significantly reduced and the path of attack was easily seen, and thus the pearl was able to parry them.
The main word was parry, and since it was only parry without being able to counter the continuous oncoming attacks with those of her own, the number one pearl was certainly at a disadvantage. That fact, though, was not seen by most of the many spectators watching them, due to the graceful pearl masking up her exhaustion skillfully, excluding, once again, the 'innocent' bystander who was innocently sitting on a nearby tree branch and the teacher of the pearls' class.
Midori, worried about both the Ice HIME and her best student who happens to look exactly like one of her ex-comrades, was about a hair's width away from preventing the fight from continuing. But as the raven hair girl threw her first kick at her beloved's lookalike after slapping her hand away, the self proclaimed seventeen years old could not sense anything behind each attack thrown. It was all so empty, as if the Ice HIME wasn't even fighting the girl in front of her, as a result the battle was left to be, even so the red head was on alert, just in case.
The fight was drawn out and to the people watching it, it seemed like an eternity before either one of the otomes in training were going to give in, but while thinking that in their minds, the spectators' eyes were glued to the action. However, in spite of the stamina displayed by both girls, it was exhausting mentally and physically for both and the one with more experience stood out.
Given the fact that Natsuki's body was on auto while fighting, she instantly closed in on the opening Shizuru left when she swung her weapon a tad too high. Thrusting her hand in a blade like manner toward the neck of the chestnut hair girl, she was ready for the kill and was mere feet away when images of various shades of blood flashed before her, accompanying them were corpses of those she knew and cared for.
Are you going to spill even more blood?
A voice questioned the raven hair girl, being forth hesitation to further slow down her body and bring her mind and consciousness back to her, causing her to leave the opponent enough time to recover from their mistake and notice her own wide opening.
Before she knew it, Natsuki was flat on her face and on the ground, feeling all of a sudden tired and weary from the sense of emptiness in her heart. The feeling of uneasiness and sense of something being off, brought forth by the fragments of memories she recalled, made her just want to close her eyes and make everything disappear or to just sleep a peaceful slumber for all eternity. But then, she remembered, she remembered the reason why she was still struggling and living, it was all for her, it was all for…
"Shizuru…"
Still, it all so draining, so just this once, only this once, would she allow herself rest, she closed her eyes and drifted off to the required rest.
Just this once…
Never again…
Not until I find her…
"Hey! Not so… I am injured…"
Slowly opening her eyes, Natsuki's vision darkens as she suddenly sits up, improving second by second, soon her sight was well enough for her to guess at her current location, from what she could tell, she assumed that she was on a bed and most likely in the infirmary.
"Stop whining… Hold still… It'll hurt…"
The raven hair girl sighed, releasing a deep breath she didn't even know she was holding, and abruptly, it hit her, the question of why she was even in the infirmary in the first place. Shifting her position she that she could lean on the metal rails on the back of the bed and maintain a sitting posture, she closed her eyes and tried to recall what had happened to result in her being here.
"Now Haruka-chan… It's not that bad…"
Out of the blue, without any warning, the vivid images hit her like a ton of bricks square in the face, her breath hitched and though she wasn't sure as to what she should make of the memory fragments she had regained, confusion was evident. She tried to make sense of what she knew but it was no use, the harder she tried to remember, it more her head hurt. Her eyebrows scrunched up in frustration and the pounding headache she had invited a frown onto her lips, making it worst, loud parts conversations came and went as it willed.
"Not bad?! You…!!! I"LL…!!!"
That was the last straw, talking she could deal with but screaming was out of the question, who do they think they are? Kuga Natsuki, here, was trying to think, and to interrupt her was a death wish.
The said girl was going to prove that and give them a piece of her mind, as she stood up and yanked the thin white curtain that separated her and her target away.
"WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?!?!?! I'M TRYING TO THINK HERE DAMN IT!!!"
Finally, silent fell and peace and quiet graced the room that was until one of the pervious talkers ruined it again.
"KUGA I'LL GIVE YOU A PIECE OF MY MIND!!! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME?!?!"
The blonde rushed forward to grab at the Ice Princess but was held back by the nurse and her teacher.
"Now, Haruka-chan, I'm sure Nat-chan has her reasons…"
"Yes, I'm sure she does, Haruka so sit down and let me bandage your wounds before you open it up again."
Blinking a few times, Natsuki finally remembers what happened during the time her memories were affecting her. Guilt knotted up in the pits of her stomach when she realized what she did to the Suzushiro look alike.
Although she has a loud mouth like Suzushiro but I guess even she didn't deserve that… I should apologize to-
"Uh… look about that I'm…"
Wait! Did she just call me Kuga?
"Hey, wait, did you just call me Kuga?!"
Natsuki exclaimed, clearly shocked, if she remembered correctly, she was suppose to be Natsuki Kruger here.
The nurse, who was also the red headed teacher's most important person, and the blonde looked at her strangely, then looks of apprehension crossed their faces.
A forced smile was put on the nurse's face as she turned to her partner.
"Mi-Do-Ri, did you not tell them???"
The person she was addressing visibly paled and panicked.
"ummm…. Now Yohko…. It's not what you think!!! I… I was about to but… BUT!!!"
"But???" A calm but somewhat stressed out question, posed by the nurse sent the self proclaimed seventeen years old HIME straight into begging mode, pleading for her life.
"I'm sorry!! I was going to tell them after the fight, I swear!!!"
The nurse sighed and looked away from the red head and to the confused faces of the two girls.
"Midori, you don't have to act like that, you know. It's not like I was going to do anything that bad to you. And so that you don't confuse them anymore, I'll explain it to them. Natsuki, you are aware of the fact that that if a HIME is alive then their most important person most likely is too right?"
"Yeah, since there's a bond between the HIME's most important person and the Childs."
"Well, the rest should be self explanatory if I told you that Yukino survived, correct? And as for you, Haruka, just in case Yukino didn't tell you, after that, Natsuki disappeared without a trace, but no one ever said she was dead. In fact, the Natsuki in front of you is Kuga Natsuki, the same one you used to catch for ditching classes, so understand?"
Giving an annoyed huff as her reply to the nurse, the blonde glared at the raven hair girl.
"Well I sort of fingered (figured) that out when she kicked and drew (threw) me into the solid brick building! Seriously, Kuga, what were you thinking?! Did you want to snow (show) off or something, going all out like that!! If it was anyone else they would have lied (died)!!!"
Guilt was written all over the Ice Princess's face, but it was soon replaced with relief and a gentle but small smile.
"So there are others who survived until now huh? Look, Haruka, despite the fact that we used to fight sometimes in the past and what it may have looked like today, I would have never attack a friend consciously, at least not willingly. Today… today there's just been something throwing me off, so I'm sorry."
All trace of anger vanished from the loudmouth's face as shock and surprise formed on it. She did a double take and looked at the raven hair girl, then at the two others in the room with them, then looked back and forth a few more times, blinking hard.
"Did, did she just apologize to me?"
Shaking her head the nurse nodded, while grinning from ear to ear the red head did the same.
And as for Natsuki, she at first couldn't understand why it was such a shock to the blonde but then it hit her and she frowned, a little offended off at the fact that they thought she was stubborn enough to not say sorry when she was wrong.
"Hey, it not that much of a surprise you know!"
Though the current number two pearl knew that she was being rude, she couldn't help it.
"But, be floor (before) you NEVER said sorry, to ANYONE unless bubuzeke FORCED you to!!!"
At the mention of her beloved, the light, almost happy, atmosphere around the raven hair girl seemed to darken for a second before she clearly forced herself to chuckle and laugh it off with an empty hollow laugh.
"Time pasted, and for better or worse, Haruka, things happen and people change, its life after all. So, how has Yukino been? Where is she by the way? I haven't seen her since I got here."
"Yukino's studying at a different school, though at first she did come with me here to be an OTOME but she said she wanted to try something else out after a wild (awhile). But we do keep in contract (contact) and she sometimes visits."
"I see."
Although she tried to be lighthearted about it, there was no doubt that the atmosphere remained as tense as before, even the defender of justice couldn't bring up the subject of what had happened and discuss it easily. What happened during that time was hard for all the HIMEs and their important person, for some less hard than others but none of them escaped the memories from that time, the inflicted scars from that time that would never heal. They, Midori, Yohko, and Haruka, could only image what the Ice HIME has been though, being one of the three who actually went to the final battle and returned alone.
Every single occupant in the room wanted end the awkwardness around them, but not a single one of them could bring themselves to say anything, though they all had questions that needed to be answered.
In the end, all at once, Natsuki, Haruka, Midori, and Yohko, spoke at the same time but stopped once each respective girl realized that the others were trying to speak. And so, all fell into silence once more, but this time, the impending stillness did not befall them due to the fact that the door to the infirmary received a knock and slowly opened up, revealing the number one pearl.
"Ara, what a pleasant surprise, both Kruger-san and Haruka-san are conscious!"
Reverting back to her usual loudmouth self, the blonde made a 'humph' sound and retorted.
"Of curse (course), it was just a little kick, why wouldn't I been KO (ok)?!?! We were juice (just) playing around right Kug-Kruger?!"
The raven hair girl's eyebrow rose as if asking 'huh?' but decided it would be best if she played along.
"Uh, yeah, and by the way it's ok, not KO, and course, not curse, seriously I can see why Yukino had to stick with you 24/7."
Sighing, the nurse realized that she had to back them up because they were acting suspicious as it is already and it wouldn't be good if they were founded out.
"Yes, it's true that the two of you are alright but it's probably due to the nano machines so don't get too cocky and try anything else out. Next time, it might not end up like today, right Midori?"
Then, it was the red head's turn and she looked absolutely ecstatic, so much that the Ice Princess, who was an expert at reading body language due to experience, could tell she was planning something.
"Uh Huh! So don't do it anymore ok Nat-chan, Haruka-chan? So Shizuru-chan what brings you here?"
"Why, I was going to check on Kruger-san since she did faint right after fighting me and Haruka-san of course, since she was defeated and was rushed here after the battle."
The top of the pearl class replied with a slight pause right before adding on the fact that she was also here for Haruka, however it did not last longer enough for anyone, other than herself, to notice.
"Aww!!! That's too bad!!! And here I bet Nat-chan though that you were here to pick her up for your date!! She must be so disappointed!! Ne, Nat-chan??"
The red head teased and elbows the Ice HIME not so discreetly and was immediately sent a death glare along with a scowl.
And as to the raven hair girl, she upon seeing that the self proclaimed seventeen years old's statement caught the nurse's interest and the blonde loudmouth's look that said 'I'm gonna get revenge for what you did', blushed, mumbling something about stupid and so called friends, and grabbed the chestnut haired girl hand, pulling her out and escaping before anymore teasing could be fit in.
As soon as they were out of sight, Natsuki stopped, turned around, and asked in a rough voice.
"So, where did you want to go?"
"Ara, there was no need to rush Kruger-san, we could have waited until you were better."
Giving the girl a chance to back out of their little date if she wanted, the pearl said.
"No, I'm fine. Let's just get it over with, the sooner the better."
Natsuki voiced her thoughts about how it'd be better to get the date over with so that the teasing might ease down, that and the fact that just being near Viola makes her feel like she was in heaven while being surrounded by the flames of hell type thing, though only in her mind. Unfortunately, it came out sounding like she didn't even want to be there, making Shizuru feel somewhat rejected and guilty for forcing the girl to do something she didn't want to do.
"In that case we should hurry, we wouldn't want them to wait now would we?"
"Them, wait? What do you mean by that?"
"Ara, it seems like I forgot to tell Kruger-san that the headmistress wanted me to run some errands for her and that I should go with another person, just in case something bad happens."
A look of disbelief could be seen on the face of the raven hair girl and although she was trying to keep up a cold demeanor, she could not help but instinctively try to poke fun at the pearl.
"Are you joking? You need me to go with you because it might be dangerous?! It might be dangerous for the crazy idiot that tries to attack you, but definitely not for you! Even a bendy straw would be a lethal weapon in your hands!"
The chestnut hair girl had the grace to blush and attempt to get back at her savior, flowing into a natural conversation not long after. Natsuki had not even noticed that she had long dropped her façade and acted as she would have in the old days as the two walked out of Garderobe and arrived at their destination.
The ice princess turned away from her concluding conversation with her companion, only to be met with what she would call the most horrendous sight she had ever seen.
Not even bothering to process anything else after seeing the huge red flashing sign that spelled out "VIXEN'S" which were enhanced by the pitch black background and white web-like trimmings, Natsuki cringed the moment she heard that thing call out to her.
"Hey, MUTT!!"
Author's Notes:
:D HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!! WOW!! And I can't believe I finally updated, I guess the fact that today is TWO big holidays forced me to LOL. Well either way, sorry for taking so long, I've just been insanely busy. On the other hand, to make up for taking so long, I'll try to do like a monthly update from now on, but no promises yet, and I'll give you a hint on the next chapter :) !!
Chapter 15: Familiar Faces
Yeah, just the title only :P but one more thing, I need some help one deciding on who the familiar faces will be so any suggestions as to who and what they might do will be appreciated!! Thanks for reading and REVIEW!!! (Please!!)