13.

On the Mend

"The x-rays show that the break has healed quite nicely, Kuga-san. I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised."

"Oh?" Natsuki lifted an eyebrow, looking at her doctor.

"There were many times when you completely and utterly ignored my medical advice when it comes to injuries," the doctor looked at her knowingly, "So, to find that you actually listened to me for a change, and allowed yourself to heal properly is quite refreshing."

"Well, I have friends and family who care about me, now," Natsuki admitted, "So I have a reason to take better care of myself."

"Whatever works."

"Great. Now, I can't wait to get out there and hit the road on my brand new motorcycle, courtesy of Soichiro Kurimoto's insurance!"

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"So, Natsuki got a clean bill of health?" Mai asked Shizuru.

"She did," Shizuru sighed, "And now she wants to tear around the road on her brand new motorcycle."

Mai gave Shizuru a gentle smile, "You're worried, aren't you?"

Shizuru sighed again, "Not so much worried, as anxious. It's been awhile."

"I'm sure she hasn't forgotten how in just six weeks," Mai prodded her gently, "It's probably just a matter of finding balance, again."

"Maybe. But if one doesn't keep up one's skills, can one get rusty?" Shizuru pondered.

"Oh, Natsuki will be fine. She'll jump in with her usual enthusiasm, and it'll be like she never took any time off."

"Ara, I do hope that Mai is right."

"You'll see. She'll handle those curves with her usual zeal, and, zoom, it'll be like she's flying."

Shizuru smiled, "Oh, yes, I think you might be right."

"You know what? If it helps set your mind at ease, why don't you help her with it. Maybe help her make sure everything's properly lubricated."

Shizuru blushed, "Mmmm. That does sound like an idea."

Mai suddenly blushed, "Wait, are we talking about the same thing?"

"Ara, I somewhat doubt it," Shizuru cuddled up next to Mai, "But I should properly thank you for your encouragement."

Mai gave her a sour look, "I'll tell your wife on you."

"Do you imagine she'd…punish me?" Shizuru smiled broadly.

"You're terrible, you know that?"

"I'd tend to agree," Haruka Suzushiro came up to them in the hall, "What are you doing, Fujino?"

"I was merely asking Mai for marital advice," Shizuru said with an air of perfect innocence.

"My marital advice to you is to stop flirting with people who aren't married to you," Haruka huffed.

"Is my dearest Haruka feeling left out?"

"If you think that's going to get a rise out of me, you can think again," Haruka grinned, "I've figured out your tricks, Fujino. There's a difference between how you flirt with girls you're not actually ablated too, and the way you flirt with Kuga."

"Shouldn't that be 'attracted'?" Mai asked.

"Ara, it's just not as adorable when Tokiha corrects Haruka as it was when Kikukawa did it," Shizuru pouted.

"You'll have to excuse her," Mai said to Haruka, "Apparently this is how she gets when she's frustrated…in that way."

Haruka frowned, "You know, Tokiha, I could have gone my entire life happily ignorant of that fact."

"In any case, Sayonara, ladies. I have a wife waiting for me at home," Shizuru waved.

Haruka sighed as Shizuru left, "Bubuzuke-onna, you're impossible."

"At least she's in good spirits?" Mai offered.

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That night, after Saiyuri was fed, put to bed, Shizuru surprised Natsuki by picking her up, Princess style, and carrying her off.

"Good night, Nao," Shizuru said, carrying off Natsuki.

"Kuga, blink twice if you need me to send help," Nao smirked.

"I think I have it covered," Natsuki shot back.

Deciding that she wasn't all that eager to hear any noises that might escape the bedroom, Nao beat a hasty retreat and left the house.

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Shizuru and Natsuki lay together, clad solely in a sheet.

"MMMMmmmmm," Natsuki purred, "So, have I gotten rusty?"

"I will let you know once I can breathe again," Shizuru sighed. She started to rise from the bed.

"Hey, where are you going? I kind of like just holding you for awhile when we're done."

Shizuru smiled, "I enjoy that, too. But I'm feeling a bit…ill, all of a sudden."

She calmly walked into the bathroom, and Natsuki heard a familiar, and unpleasant, sound.

"Shizuru, are you alright?"

"I think it's probably something I ate," Shizuru said.

Natsuki had a suddenly flashback, and her face was suddenly very alarmed, "Shizuru, were we intimate about nine weeks ago?"

"Ara, It is not like I keep…urp…records…of such things."

Natsuki rushed to her dresser and started pulling out clothes and putting them on, "I'm going to the convenience store. I'll be right back. Keep an eye on Saiyuri."

"What are you going out for?"

"Well, first I'm going to go get you a pregnancy test. And then, depending on the results, I may be calling up Mom to ask her 'what the hell?'!"

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"Look, Mom…No…Look, I'm looking at the pregnancy test right now…Yes, Mom, I know how to read a pregnancy test. No, I hear what you're saying. But it doesn't matter.

"Yes, I'll have her there first thing in the morning to run some tests."

"So, what did you mother say?" Shizuru was leaning against the wall by the toilet.

"She said they run tests regularly to make sure there are no surviving nanomachines, and am I absolutely certain that you've never been intimate with a man."

"And you said?"

"I reminded her that you didn't particularly lean that way."

Natsuki's phone rang again, and she picked it up, "Yes? What?! Oh, you can't be serious! Dead serious, huh? Right. Yeah, well if that's the case, Mom, it was a pretty big oversight. Right. Yes. First thing in the morning. Yes."

"No," Shizuru had an unamused smile on her face, "Let me take a guess. Your mother tested for her nanomachines, but she didn't think to check for Doctor West's?"

"That's the idea she just floated to me. Apparently, nanomachines can be passed just like an STD."

Shizuru giggled tiredly, "Natsuki gave me The Bots."

"It's not funny, Shizuru! Anyway, she thinks you got small amounts of the nanomachines that West injected me with. If her theory is right, they lingered in your system, until they mingled with the version she used. They constructed something new, and undetectable by her tests. So, she said it's entirely possible that you're now pregnant with MY child."

Shizuru buried her face in her hands, half laughing and half crying, "Well, at least I get to see what this was like for you, now."

"Are you going to be okay?" Natsuki asked, holding her.

"Well, it wouldn't be fair of me to ask you to do something I wasn't willing to do myself. I'm only half a semester away from graduating, anyway, so I should be done well before I come to term."

"I wonder how Saiyuri will feel about being a big sister."

"Hopefully better than I feel about my prospects of keeping down dinner," Shizuru smiled weakly.

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"Well," Saeko sighed, "That confirms it. Shizuru is pregnant. And she was host to West's nanomachines."

"Ara, do we have to worry that I transmitted them back to Natsuki? Is this a revolving door situation for us?"

"No. The blood transfusion that Natsuki received from her father has made her biological ecosystem hostile to all nanomachines. But you weren't so inoculated. And while you're pregnant, your value as a test subject is compromised. I promised that these tests would be done ethically, and so until you've delivered, I cannot continue these tests."

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Nao was wide-eyed, "Shizuru is!"

"Yep."

Nao groaned, holding her head, "You two are the weirdest couple…"

Natsuki sighed, "At least we're never dull?"