Disclaimer and Author's Note: After watching episodes 11 and 12, I wondered to myself...why can't anybody else ever see what it is that Sister Yukariko winds up poking with her arrows? Then I remembered...it's the CHILD. Of course! This is still partly being told from Natsuki and Mai's point of view, so unfortunately they don't get to see Yukariko fighting the Orphan in this chapter, although they do hear the cries. Summoning magic is weird like that, I guess.

So yeah...always a Mai-HiME fan, never a Mai-HiME writer. Them's the breaks.

Day 25 - Chasing a Shadow
Theme #17 - kHz (kilohertz)

Natsuki sat behind one of the trees near the central garden, crouched down as lowly as possible to reduce the chance of anyone seeing her. It wasn't her night to patrol, but she wanted an excuse to get out of her dorm and fiddle with the new walkie-talkie she borrowed from Yukino the previous night. She twisted a dial on the device and pressed the red button on the side and started talking. "Do you see anything out there?"

"The south side of the campus is clear," said the voice of Sister Yukariko.

Yukariko continued her investigation around the chapel area, but did not manage to spot anything out of the ordinary. She found Alyssa sitting on the steps of the chapel, clutching her knees and staring at the grass. "Alyssa?" she asked.

Alyssa plucked a handful of weeds from the ground and scattered them to the wind. A few stray blades of grass flew into her face, leaving a bad taste in her mouth and giving her a kiss she wanted to try hard to forget.

"Is there something wrong?" Yukariko asked again.

"I don't know if I'm cut out for this," replied the young singer.

"What do you mean?"

"The headmaster wanted me to assist you, but there really isn't much I can do. I mean, I'm not equipped to do any fighting. I don't even have a weapon."

"This does present a small dilemma. Don't you have someone to protect you? I would hate to see you get hurt or anything."

"Yes...but unfortunately, she's not here at the moment."

Yukariko picked up her bow and sat next to Alyssa, attempting to get the young girl to smile. "Don't worry. I'll do what I can to ensure your safety."

"Thanks, Sister," said Alyssa. "I'll try not to be a burden to you."

The two of them got up and cautiously searched around the chapel again, with Yukariko staying as close to Alyssa as possible. A sudden noise in the bushes startled the duo, but upon careful investigation, it was merely the wind picking up speed from the east. Yukariko took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves, but was broken out of her tranquility again by the sound of her walkie-talkie.

"What about the girl?"

"You mean Alyssa?" replied Yukariko. "She's with me."

"Good. Don't let her out of your sight."

Yukariko looked into Alyssa's eyes, wondering if such a young girl was capable of doing any harm. "I won't."

As Natsuki got up to examine the area around the girls' dorm, she nearly bumped into Mai, who was looking around in the dark without the aid of a flashlight.

"Mai!" said Natsuki. "Watch where you're going!"

Mai recoiled in shock when Natsuki shined a flashlight in her face. "Sorry about that," she said. "You went outside a little while ago and didn't come back for dinner. I got worried, so I came out here looking for you."

"I'll be back in once I've finished doing my work. Is there any food left over?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Mikoto ate all of it."

Mai pointed to the walkie-talkie in Natsuki's hand. "Say...what are you doing out here with that thing, anyway?"

"Surveillance," Natsuki replied.

"But it isn't even our turn tonight."

"It's been too quiet lately, and I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. You can never be too careful in a place like this."

"Come on, Natsuki...I think you're working yourself a little too hard tonight. Why don't you put that down for a little while and come back to the room? A nice hot meal will do you some good."

Natsuki was only given a few seconds to consider her roommate's advice before her walkie-talkie sounded again.

"Hello?" Yukariko's voice sounded calm, but there was a hint of anxiety behind it, almost impossible to pick up from the static.

"Sister Yukariko!" Natsuki shouted. "Where are you?"

"I'm still outside the chapel. One of those...monsters...got to Alyssa."

"They're even attacking little girls?" asked Mai. "That's just cruel."

"Stay right there," Natsuki said to Yukariko. "Help is on the way."

Natsuki drew one of her guns and prepared to run toward the chapel, beckoning Mai to come along with her. "We've got trouble. It looks like the Orphans are making their move again."

"Wait a minute!" Mai protested. "Are you really going to go after that thing?"

"She said that one of them attacked Alyssa out of nowhere. If it gets to Yukariko, someone else needs to be on hand to bring it down."

"And I guess that 'someone' has to be us, right?"

Mai readied her Element and got a running start before entering flight mode to avoid wearing out her legs. She flew alongside Natsuki down a beaten brick path until the two of them reached the church. They searched the area for Yukariko and Alyssa, examining bushes and trees to find the two women, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Damn!" Natsuki said in disgust. "We're too late."

"Do you think the monster got to Sister Yukariko, too?" asked Mai.

"I hope not. She has to be around here somewhere. Keep searching."

While the girls continued to look around, a guttural scream sounded somewhere nearby, but neither of them could place the source. Mai and Natsuki stood close together and readied their weapons, prepared for the beast to strike them at any time. Instead, they were treated to more invisible monster screaming and the sound of labored breathing. When it was all finished and the chaos had subsided, Yukariko came out stumbling from behind a tree. Her bow had disappeared, and she carried an unconscious Alyssa in her arms and a melancholy expression on her face. The young girl's clothes were ripped apart, exposing cuts and bruises on her legs and torso.

"I don't know how that thing found us," said Yukariko. "It came from behind one of the bushes and scratched Alyssa. We managed to wrestle it off before it could do any more damage, but I guess she must have passed out from the shock. I couldn't let it hurt either of us any further, so I just prayed and fired a few shots to scare it off."

Mai bent down over Alyssa's body and checked her vital signs. "Her pulse and breathing are still normal," she said, "but we should definitely take her to the infirmary and have her checked out."

"That would certainly be the best course of action."

As Yukariko picked Alyssa up again, the young girl opened up her eyes and lifted her head to see the nun and the other two girls surrounding her. "Oww...what happened?" she said weakly.

"You were attacked by one of those monsters," said Yukariko. "but it's gone now. We're going to get you some help. The nurse will take good care of you."

"Thank you. I'm sorry...Sister..."

Alyssa quietly went back to sleep, hoping to save what was left of her strength for her eventual visit to the nurse's office.

"Are you all right?" asked Natsuki.

"I think I'll be fine," said Yukariko. "Perhaps I should pay a visit to the nurse myself."

"We wanted to help out as soon as we heard the screaming, but we couldn't figure out where it was coming from."

"I appreciate your help, and I'm glad that you two managed to come when you did."

"Thanks," said Mai. "We wish we could have gotten here faster, though."

She had barely managed to dodge the kiss of death that night, but Yukariko continued to hold her head up as she walked toward the main building with Mai and Natsuki in tow. They were all glad that no one else had gotten seriously injured in the battle, but wondered what would have transpired if they had reached the site sooner...and who would break the news to Miyu.