Chapter 25: Strength

"You are not stupid, Viola Searrs. You of all people should understand you will achieve nothing by taking Tomoe-sama hostage." Miya said, bitterness brimming in her voice. "We are pawns, expendable, our lives worth nothing to the Organization. The higher-ups will not bend to your demands."

Viola couldn't help but let out an amused laugh. "Taking her hostage? What makes you think I am taking anyone hostage?" She asked, with a cruel smirk spread across her face and a touch of madness swirling inside her vicious crimson eyes. "I am only going to slowly torture her to death in front of your eyes. How would you like to see that?"

The edges of her Robe came alive, each strand of those snake-like purple stripes wrapping themselves around Tomoe's body, choking the life out of her. "Interesting. Maybe her eyes will pop out if I squeeze her hard enough. That should be fun to watch."

"You monster!"

"For the ones I love, I would gladly fall to the deepest level of Hell," the Kyoto-born said with a serene smile that sent chills down her enemies' spines. "Now let's see... Which part of her body should I cut off first?"

Valkyrie Unit retreated.

They didn't retreat on their own accord, Viola forced them to. Using Tomoe both as a shield and a bait, Viola took full advantage of the situation and easily defeated all her opponents. There was no honour in her victory - honour was over-rated. She saw a weakness in her enemies, and she exploited it. It was as simple as that.

She shattered their GEMs. She didn't kill them, she was going to, but Kruger stopped her.

The few ambulances sent out by Fuuka Hospital could only take the critically injured ones. Erstin had lost a lot of blood and needed immediate medical attention. Nina's broken ribs had pierced her lungs and caused severe internal bleeding; Arika had to give her mouth-to-mouth to keep the girl breathing. Both Mai and Natsuki were unconscious from head trauma, and needed further examination as soon as possible. Mikoto, Haruka, Nao, and Midori were not as badly hurt but still in a lot of pain, so they also went on the ambulance ride.

The other walking wounded who couldn't fit into those ambulances followed them in Haruka's car. Although Chie didn't have a driver's license, she drove like an experienced race car driver. One couldn't help but wonder how much time and money the glasses-wearing girl had wasted on arcade racing games.

The HiME Rangers had suffered heavy casualties, fortunately so far no one was dead yet. Miyu the android was not so fortunate.

Miyu was supposed to be fighting the three Slaves outside the building according to Chie and Aoi. However, when Kruger went out to help the android after blasting the Slave in the office, she could find neither Miyu nor the Slaves. It seemed they had simply vanished.

Alyssa was devastated. It took both Chie and Aoi to keep the child under control.

Ever since that snowy day she and the gentle being first met, they had never been separated. Miyu might have been artificially created, but so was Alyssa. The child had never once doubted that the android had a soul, one that was so tender, so pure, so innocent, that no human could possibly possess one like it. Untainted.

Miyu should have been the one to be dubbed 'Angel'. Not her.

Reito was leaving the hospital when he noticed the commotion in the lobby. At first he thought there was a serious traffic accident due to the typhoon, but then he realized something was terribly wrong when he recognized some of the patients being wheeled into the Emergency Room.

"Mikoto! Mai-san! Even Suzushiro-san... What is going on..." Then he noticed the tall chestnut-haired girl closely following a wheeled stretcher. "Fujino-san... WHAT?!" Correction, girls. There were two of them. Reito's handsome face twisted comically into a combination of worry and shock. He'd always known Shizuru was an only child, but now there they were, two identical Shizuru(s) standing right in front of his eyes.

Neither one paid him any attention. Reito's brows tied into a knot when he saw the next person being sent into the Emergency Room. It was Kuga Natsuki, the former kaichou's best friend. He couldn't tell which one of those Shizurus' was the Shizuru he knew. He could only vaguely recognize that the one wearing lilac dress looked worried, and the other one wearing white blouse looked hauntingly empty.

"Don't fuss over me. Go treat the others," another raven-haired girl growled at the nurses before she carelessly wiped away the half-dried blood caked on her forehead. Reito couldn't help but stare like an idiot. There are not only two Fujinos, there are two Kugas as well.

"At least sit still and let me take a look at that cut on your head." Viola easily made Kruger sit back down on a lounge chair by pressing lightly on her shoulder. "It could be serious. If anything happens to you, I..." She shuddered as she stole a quick glance in the direction of the Emergency Room.

Kruger saw where Viola was looking at and instantly understood what the girl was fearing for. She took Viola's hand into her own and gave it a firm squeeze. "I'm fine, really. I am not helpless like her. Don't forget, we Otome are a lot stronger than normal people. This kind of injury is nothing to worry about. " Kruger was referring to her look-alike.

"We are anything but normal, Kruger-san." Shizuru suddenly spoke up. She was here in the lobby because she'd been given stern warnings by hospital staff before being kicked out of the over-crowded Emergency Room. "We need to talk."

"Onii-chan!" Shiho let out a choked sob before she pounced on the sandy-haired young man. Tate grunted in pain as Shiho's dead weight dropped right on top of his aching body. "Onii-chan, onii-chan... Where did you go? Shiho was so scared. There was a storm, and then there were monsters with sharp things..."

Tate couldn't make sense of Shiho's babbling, but at least he understood the girl was deeply traumatized by whatever had happened during his absence. Guilt stabbed him like a red hot blade - this was the second time he had failed to protect her. "Sorry, Shiho. It's my fault. I promised you I would always protect you, didn't I..." He tightly embraced the trembling girl and vowed with all his heart. "You don't have to be scared now. I'm here, I'll keep my promise, I'll protect you. A fragile girl like you shouldn't experience those hardships. I will be strong for your sake."

Something was not right. A slight frown appeared between her brows. She was a little confused. Fragile girl like me? Onii-chan will be strong for my sake? That just sounds so very wrong. Shiho couldn't help but recall the full-arm slap Nao had given her earlier.

"Do something useful and help us fight or get out of the way!"

With the exception of Suzushiro Haruka, everyone else who had risked their lives fighting the monster fell into the category of 'fragile girl'. However, Shiho couldn't think of anyone braver than the HiME Rangers. Like Shiho, none of the HiMEs had retained any of their HiME powers when they'd faced the monster. They were shaking in fear and screaming in agony as they fought, but they fought nonetheless. I was shaking and screaming too, but I was hiding in the corner feeling sorry for myself.

Why do I always seem to be the one getting in other people's way? Shiho pushed herself off her dear onii-chan and scrutinized his strong features with great concentration. Tate's promises used to mean so much to her, but now they sounded strangely hollow. Why do I always need other people to be strong for me?

Why am I so useless?

She got up from Tate's bed and walked toward the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see how the others are doing. They all got hurt. Mai-san too."

Tate bolted straight up upon hearing the news. "What? Tokiha was hurt? How bad was it? Is she ok now?"

Shiho nodded. "Yeah, she was hurt pretty badly, she was unconscious when the ambulance brought her in. You should visit her later. But I think she'll be all right, she's strong. They're all strong."

I am the only one who is disgustingly weak.

"Must. Have. Painkiller." Nao's face twisted into a grimace. The throbbing pain in her broken left arm was driving her crazy. No one was tending to her because the hospital was currently short on staff. Nao's injuries, though painful, was not lethal enough to be on the top of priority list. She had been sitting in the hallway cursing for the half hour she'd been there.

A Nao in pain was a bitchy Nao.

She'd never liked hospitals in the first place. In her mind, a hospital was a place where liars conned people's hard-earned money with false hopes. Doctors and modern medicine never fixed her mama. Those bastards in white couldn't even repair her left eye.

"Lazy ass pigs..." Nao curled her right hand into a tight fist and slammed it into the wall. "Just give me something for the fucking pain!"

"Calm down, will you? What good would it do if you go and break your other hand?" Midori was sitting across from the redhead, wincing as she spoke. Her dislocated shoulder had swelled up quite a bit and started to turn a lovely colour of pale greenish purple. "Be grateful, kiddo. It's a miracle you still have enough stamina to throw a tantrum after what we went through." The history teacher closed her eyes and leaned back into the chair, careful not to put any pressure on her shoulder. "It could easily be us lying on the operation table right now."

"Don't you think I know that? I'm not fucking retarded. I'm just..." Vexed. Nao clamped her mouth shut and fixed her angry green eyes on the floor. I feel fucking useless. "I hate hospital."

A few minutes later, the sound of feet urgently stomping across the floor got their attention. Chie was dragging a middle aged balding man toward them. Both Nao and Midori couldn't help but raise their eyebrows at the sight.

"Yo, how are you two holding up? Sorry for the long wait, but look, I've found you a doctor." Chie said with a wide grin on her handsome face.

"Doctor? That one?" Nao narrowed her eyes and scanned the man skeptically. "Where did you find this quack?"

The man protested defiantly at Nao's remark. "I am certainly not a quack! I'll have you know that I am a highly qualified obstetrician and gynecologist..."

"You found me a vagina doctor?!" Nao snapped. She would have jumped if she hadn't twisted her ankle in the fight. "That's the best you can do?! A fucking vagina doctor?! Does my vagina look like it's having a problem to you?!" She yelled while gesturing at her own crotch.

"God, Nao. Would you please stop using that language? It really hurts my ears." Aoi complained. She was covering Alyssa's ears with her palms.

Nao frowned at her blushing roommate. "What, I can't say 'fuck'?"

"No, the other one." The faint blushes on Aoi's face darkened to a deeper shade of red.

"You mean 'vagina'? How is that a bad word? You do have one, don't you?" Nao said matter-of-factly.

"Nao, please!"

Nao smirked at Aoi before shooting amused side-ways glance at Chie. "Hmm... Apparently your fuck buddy here hasn't taught you enough. Still blushing at the word 'vagina'? How innocent."

"It's you who are too vulgar." Chie replied flatly. "This is the only doctor available in this hospital right now. Unless you want your broken arm left painfully untreated for another half an hour, I suggest you let the doctor fix you. Vagina doctor or not, he is a doctor."

"Would you two knock it off? Enough is enough!" Aoi was cringing with too much embarrassment. She decided she would kick the next person who said 'vigina'.

Midori could no longer hold herself back from joining in the bickering. "Well, at least she didn't get you a penis doctor. You might just find your arm enlarged afterward..."

"..."

"Put the nanomachines in me." Shizuru said to the two Otomes. They were talking in a secluded stairway near the end of the hall where no one could overhear their conversation.

Viola let out a soft sigh before speaking. "I know what you are thinking. Are you sure?"

"Yes. I am sure," Shizuru answered with steely resolve. "If there are no adverse effects, then put them in Natsuki."

Kruger had some doubts about Shizuru's request. "Hey, nanomachines might be all sorts of useful, especially when it comes to fast healing, but they don't work on everyone. I don't really know what the restrictions are, but I know some people react very badly to them."

If they work fine inside my twin sister's body, then they will work fine inside my body. If they work fine inside Natsukis clone's body, then they will certainly work fine inside Natsuki's body. Shizuru gave her twin a meaningful look, knowing Viola would understand her perfectly. "I'm willing to take the risk."

"You might be willing to take the risk, but can you be responsible for your friend's life if something goes wrong?" Kruger crossed her arms, a sullen expression on her face. She didn't like the idea one bit. What kind of idiot would willingly put those nasty things inside one's body without considering the consequences?

Searrs would come after them again, Shizuru was sure of it. They were as good as dead if they all stayed bedridden for months to come. Natsuki needed to get well, as soon as possible.

Besides, that was the second serious concussion she suffered in four days. She might not wake up...

Stop thinking about it.

"I will take full responsibility." Shizuru put her hand up and pressed it firmly against her heart. "If any harm should befall Natsuki because of this, then I will forfeit my life. I will not forgive anyone for hurting her. Not even myself."

TBC

Author's Notes:

1. Sorry about the immature human anatomy jokes. Please read and review.

2. Thank you, Hannah, for being my new beta.