Again, apologies for the long update time. I'm supposed to be studying for exams and hoping to get into grad school, so that's going to take time away. (Well, that and some more personal issues vis a vis confidence, but that's a different matter.) However, chapters 21 and 22 (and maybe 23, depending on how I organize this) should come in quicker since I've already envisioned from the start what the ending's going to be.
Martial Horror: Don't overthink this. :)
rainee-chan: If it is a game, Natsuki running around with a gun sort of ups the stakes, doesn't it?
EM Praetorian: God, I hope your faith is well-placed.
Litome and emtz95: Thanks.
Kaede Shinomori: Well, I guess their relationship is one that could go either way, you know what I mean?
Momoko: This "fourth option" is becoming quite the popular one, isn't it?
AC195: Let's see if I can pull this right, then.
Olivia: Yes, you are quite consistent in your theory. I have to give you that. Though, I don't know what that says about judging hypotheses based on evidence.
Once again, My-HiME is property of Sunrise.
7/2/09
Nao suddenly raced across the room to the fireplace. "Empty your pockets," Nao demanded, swiping the nearby poker and pointing it at Shizuru's face before she could react.
"Nao-chan, I assure you-"
"Now." Nao moved closer to Shizuru, causing her to raise her hands in the air. There was no other choice for her but to acquiesce to Nao's demand. Slowly, she went through her pockets one by one, turning them inside out and placing the contents onto the table next to the chessboard, where only three pawns stood. The contents of Shizuru's pockets amounted to just a spare button and a handkerchief. "I have nothing to hide, Nao-chan," she concluded. Nao looked unmoved, so Shizuru took a gamble. "If it would ease your mind, I would be willing to prove that I am not concealing anything underneath what I am wearing."
"…Fine. No sudden movements." A fleeting thought of flirtation did pass through Shizuru's mind as she began to unbutton her blouse, but one look at Nao's eyes of dead seriousness told her that that would be a rather unwise decision, especially if Natsuki had decided to walk on by at that moment. With only the slight rustling of clothes covering the silence of the mansion, Shizuru soon stood with her red blouse worn loosely on her like a jacket and her skirt in her hand. Her hips shifted from one side to the other, an almost instinctive reaction for Shizuru that drew none at all from Nao. "Nothing hidden. Is Nao-chan satisfied?"
Nao circled around Shizuru, getting a look at all angles. "Yeah, I'm happy. Put your clothes back on." Shizuru proceeded to do so as Nao walked back to the fireplace and returned the poker back to its place. "Pretty ordinary stuff you got on," she quipped.
"Why do you say that?"
"Someone like you, I figured you'd go for black lace or silk. Something high-end, you know?"
"I see." Shizuru finished buttoning up her blouse. "And what, may I ask, has brought about this sudden interest in my choice of lingerie? I had been assuming that Nao-chan wanted to see that I am not concealing anything."
"What, it's wrong to try to be social?"
"Well, no, but it does not seem like a topic that Nao-chan would ordinarily discuss with another person."
"Hey, the past couple days haven't exactly been a walk in the park for me," she retorted. "A little credit for trying would be appreciated, thank you."
"Oh, no, no, no," Shizuru said quickly. "Please know that it is a good thing that you have been more approachable with everyone, including me. I just wished it could have come under more…no, less stressful circumstances."
"Don't we all." Nao punctuated the end of the sentence with a sigh.
A moment passed before Shizuru spoke up. "Nao-chan…it is a relief for me to have earned your trust. However…trust is not a one-way street."
"What, you want me to strip too?" Nao looked at her questioningly, folding her arms. "I do have some standards."
"Then how am I supposed to trust you?" Shizuru's question was one more of inquisition than accusation.
"Um, you can count on my word?" Nao offered, though about two seconds her suspicion that it wouldn't work came to pass. "Alright, fine, would a pat down be sufficient?" Nao glanced down at her outfit, consisting of a pair of jean shorts and a random tank top she grabbed out of her suitcase that morning. "Not like I can hide much in here."
So Shizuru went ahead and patted Nao's body up and down quickly; no items were found. "There, you happy?"
"It will suffice."
"OK, then, so…now what?" Nao asked after a moment.
"Perhaps it would be a good idea to look for Natsuki or Munakata-san."
"Well, why not? Not like there's a whole lot of other options." She took a quick four steps and walked into the main hallway. "Up or down?"
The pair spent the next ten minutes (counting by Shizuru's watch) conducting yet another search of the mansion, looking for people dead or alive (hoping for the latter). Up the main stairs, through the bedrooms, down the side stairs, and on through the ground level of the house they went, to no avail. The potential that they were perhaps the last two people alive on the island (the ultimate failure of the erstwhile bonds that had brought all seventeen of them together) certainly placed a very heavy damper on anything resembling socialization, but to Shizuru's surprise Nao made attempts while they were on the search. It was clear to her that this was outside Nao's comfort zone, evidenced by the long stretches of pauses that fell between lines, and certainly Nao's ability to trust still hadn't even earned the adjective "fledgling" (she didn't fail to notice how Nao always positioned herself so that she could always see her), but Shizuru was nothing if not observant. Even if this prodding in the dark was to be for naught by tomorrow, Shizuru felt compelled to at least humor her.
"Huh. I never knew that, Nao-chan. I suppose I should be aware the next time I get such a chat invitation."
Besides, it was actually rather interesting to peek into how the other side lived.
"Yeah, well, the more you know and all that."
Of course, that only partly alleviated the unease that would fall on them when the conversing did stop. And there was something that was bothering Shizuru, something that she wanted to ask Nao about. She kept telling herself that now wasn't a good time (which, admittedly, was a fairly compulsive argument), but with the endgame fast approaching, Shizuru saw that there wasn't much time left, and it would be a "speak now or forever hold your peace" situation before long.
"Say, Nao-chan?" she said finally as the two reached the bottom of the staircase and began to walk through the hallway to the basement stairs.
"What's with the 'chan' suffix?"
Shizuru hesitated. "I, um…"
"Never mind. You were saying?"
"Oh, yes. I have been meaning to ask, Nao-chan…" She turned around to face Nao, though she continued to walk towards the basement stairs. "How do you feel…about Natsuki?"
The abruptness of the question took Nao by surprise, and she needed a moment to come up with a response. "Why do you want to know?"
"I think you are smart enough to know the answer to that question, Nao-chan."
"What the hell are you…" Nao aborted her attempt to contest what Shizuru was insinuating, and looked away from what she imagined was a smirk on her face. The truth of the matter had won out over her usual kneejerk deny-everything-twice-over reaction. It was too much. She stopped walking, which made Shizuru stop after taking one step down the stairs. For a few moments Nao was silent, trying to find the right words. "God, how do I put this…uh…I…"
"Is it like mine, Nao-chan?"
"Not really, no…" Well, maybe more than she cared to admit. Even if she wasn't as psycho as she was, Nao did do a rather rash action on the beach with Natsuki.
"Mai and Tate-san's?"
"I'm not a wuss." Liar.
"Higurashi-san's?"
"Gag."
"I presume not like Mikoto-chan's love of…everyone?"
"Enough, Shizuru. You don't have to rub it in." Both of them were a bit surprised at Nao's choice of addressing her. Nao was about to tell her off for making a game out of it, but when she looked up at her face she saw Shizuru never thought of it that way. Nao had thought Shizuru was confident in her belief that Natsuki would choose her, but the look of concern on her face was not fake. Maybe she was, but perhaps that was not her highest concern. A thought that perhaps Shizuru actually cared for her feelings sped through her mind, a thought she chased away quickly. "It's different, OK? It's…you wouldn't understand, all right?"
"Do you honestly think so, Nao-chan?" Shizuru replied. "Are you feelings so complex and unique that no one else has ever experienced them?" There was no hint of conceit in her voice, only of inquiry.
"I don't know, OK?!" Nao said, stomping towards Shizuru who backed down a couple of stairs in response. "I…" Nao looked away again, briefly this time. "You know how hard this is for me, right?"
Shizuru nodded. "Take your time."
Nao took a deep breath. "I guess…I do care. I mean, I don't know, it's not like I'd bring her flowers or anything like that on Valentine's Day."
"But there is something…different that wells from inside when you think about her," Shizuru offered.
"Wish there was a less sappy way to put it." Nao looked up again into Shizuru's face. "Well, in any case, we'll find out soon enough what she'll do." Nao took a few steps down the stairs, passing Shizuru en route.
"You are prepared for the consequences if she does not choose you?"
Nao stopped and turned around to look back at Shizuru. "What about you?"
"It would not be the first time. I know how to handle it."
"Oh, yay, that wasn't an ominous response," Nao muttered sarcastically, loud enough for Shizuru to hear. Nao turned and walked down the rest of the stairs while Shizuru remained near the top. "I guess that means a no," she thought as she slowly began to descend the stairs after Nao. Continually dodging the question was a sign of her not wanting to really find the answer to that question. Not a promising thing in Shizuru's eyes.
"What the hell?!" Shizuru looked up to see Nao's body disappear from view around the corner at the bottom of the staircase. "Nao-chan?" she called. "What is going on?" She quickly descended the rest of the stairs and stopped at the bottom to look around to see what was going on. Shizuru turned to her right to see Nao's figure rapidly approach her. A bottle of wine was grasped in Nao's hand by its neck, held in a position fairly high above her head. Shizuru was frightened by the mix of fear and anger that she saw on Nao's face. Then all of a sudden she froze, the bottle held a little higher than the top of her head, the dark emotions on Nao melting away into...surprise? Shizuru took a quick glance and saw a streak of blood on the carpet running from about the middle of the room to the bar, the feet of Shiho poking out from behind it. That would explain the initial anger, but why did she stop all of a sudden? (Not that she wasn't grateful that she wasn't about to become the next victim.)
"Don't move," Natsuki's voice ordered from behind. The sound of a gun cocking accompanied her order. She turned her head to see Natsuki with her pistol drawn, not ten feet from her. "Natsuki!" she exclaimed.
"Shut up, Shizuru, and put your hands in the air." Shizuru's joy was quickly killed when she saw just where exactly her pistol was point at, and she slowly complied. Nao let a smirk crawl on her face. Natsuki put an end to that tomfoolery quickly: "Put down the bottle," she ordered with the same seriousness as she had given Shizuru's instructions. Nao complied, slowly placing the bottle upright on the counter. Natsuki began approaching the two, who instinctively began backing away from her. Nao kept her distance from both Natsuki and Shizuru until she reached the back wall. The other two continued their shuffle until Shizuru also reached the wall and could back away no more. Natsuki remained about six to eight feet away from them.
"Where have you been?" Shizuru asked, trying to loosen the tense atmosphere.
"Trying to figure out which one of you two's doing all this shit."
"Or actually doing this shit," Nao replied, glancing at Shiho's body. Shizuru took a quick glance down at the body as well and saw what Nao was talking about: a bullet wound through her back, one that she couldn't see at her initial vantage point.
"You know, if it was me, I would have just offed both of you when I saw you two and not bother with this whole charade," Natsuki retorted.
"Yeah, but that would have been way too anticlimactic," Nao replied. "To have everything end so quickly after all this work? Uh-uh, that ain't going to cut it."
Natsuki smirked. "You make a good point."
"So have you determined which one of us is the one, Natsuki?" Shizuru asked.
"I have my theory," Natsuki replied, looking straight into Shizuru's eyes. "Nao, get out of the way," she added, flicking the barrel of the gun to the side. Natsuki's eyes, as well as the gun, remained pointed at Shizuru while Nao stepped away towards the pool table.
Yeah, it was a pretty short chapter. The last one(s) should put everything to rest (so to speak).
Reviews are most appreciated. It's what keeps me going.