Chapter 23.

"Mai! You left without me!" Mikoto came running up, and saw Shizuru brandishing her crimson blade at Mai.

"Miroku!" Mikoto called, and her sword's familiar, comfortable weight was in her hands. She charged, dragging the blade's tip along the ground, sparks flying, shouting in animal fury.

Both of them were trained with a blade, but in vastly different ways. Mikoto was kinetic fury, a pint-sized powerhouse that attacked with abandon, unrelenting and tenacious. Shizuru, by comparison, had been trained from an early age to use only precise motions, to waste no energy, to rely not on force, but on lightning fast pinpoint accuracy. It was the same principle she applied to all aspects of her life, from governing the Student Council in a seemingly sleepy way, to quickly and effectively blocking Mikoto's initial strike.

"You're a bothersome creature," Shizuru smiled at the younger girl, "Is that the Minagi school of sword play, then?"

"Stop it, both of you!" Mai shouted, "This is going to get someone killed. We have to…"

"RRRaaauuuurrggghhhh," Mikoto charged again. Shizuru deflected again, seemingly effortlessly.

"The thing about using bladed weapons," Shizuru explained calmly to Mikoto, "Is that the person with the longest reach tends to have the advantage. You're very strong, I'll grant you that. But your strength counts for absolutely nothing if you can't reach your target."

By way of demonstration, Shizuru executed a few quick flicks of her blade, and it extended outward, encircling Mikoto, and then seizing her.

"I could end this all with a simple flick of my wrist," Shizuru met Mikoto's yellow eyes with her own blood red gaze, "So, I suggest you start behaving like a good little girl."

At that moment, Mai's cell phone rang. Everyone looked at her.

"Oh, go ahead and answer. I'm merely restraining the girl. I won't kill her unless she attacks me again."

Mai nodded, mouth dry, "Hello?"

Whatever was said on the other end, Mai's face was an expression of horror. Her phone fell from her grasp, clattering on the parking lot. Mai lost her footing and leaned against a nearby car for support.

"Takumi…" she whispered.

"Your kid brother?" Nao asked.

"He's dead," Mai managed, "He had a heart attack in the hospital, while they were preparing him for his trip to America. He's gone."

Mai slid off the car to her knees.

Mikoto found the deadly coils around her loosening.

"She needs you, right now," Shizuru said simply, her own eyes looking away, "So let us postpone our fight until some other time."

"Wait! Where are you going?" Mai called after her, though it was in a soft, almost broken voice.

"I don't know. Somewhere I can think."

Nao sighed, "Maybe I'll go find Kuga and apologize to her for what happened."

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"You're good as new," Nagi said, walking away, "Though I imagine it's going to be a bit before you've got enough strength to actually move yourself again."

Natsuki lay on the futon, covered in cold sweat and still reeling from the unparalleled agony she'd just experienced. Nerves, bone, and flesh had reorganized itself and repaired itself under the guidance of Nagi's power. But it had come at an extreme cost in terms of unbridled pain, and most of the energy in her body.

She could feel her feet again, There was no doubt about that. But now, they were bare and cold in the October air, and she didn't have the strength to move herself or cover them.

"Nagi…" She called.

"Oh, you don't have to thank me. Besides, you thanking me would just be too out of character for either of…"

"I need water," Natsuki managed through her parched throat.

"Fine…" Nagi whined, "Ugh, the things I do for Mashiro-chan."

There was the roar of a motorcycle engine, and Nao pulled up to the lonely house on Natsuki's Ducati. She was shaking like a leaf, trembling, and panting heavily.

"K-Kuga! How do you stand to ride this damned thing?!" She spotted Nagi and materialized her claws, "What are you doing to Kuga?"

"Fetching her a glass of water?" Nagi blinked.

"Get away from her," Nao hissed.

"I get that you want to keep her safe, but you'd best think twice before you challenge me, Nao," his voice was suddenly icy, and she shivered.

"Fine, whatever."

"But since you're here," Nagi nodded over at Yukino's now pale corpse lying on the walkway, "Can you do something about that? I don't think that's the sort of thing we want our cute little Natsuki to see when she gets up on her feet again."

"On her feet again?" Nao blinked.

"Nagi…fixed…spine…" Natsuki wheezed, "Water!"

"Yeah, the process really pulled all the materials from the rest of her body, so she's a bit weak, now," Nagi grinned, gently tipping a glass of water to Natsuki's lips.

"Oh, so you can fix her spine but not my eye?" Nao growled at him.

"Look, I'm just following a request from Mashiro. She said it wasn't fair to leave our sweet little Natsuki helpless during the Festival. And the Obsidian Prince really wouldn't like the spectacle of a crippled girl being murdered. He likes to see a fight of it."

"Heal her, too, Nagi," Natsuki took the glass of water from him and chugged the rest of it herself, "If you have the power, do it."

"And why should I?" Nagi shrugged, "It's not like you have any powers to threaten me with."

Natsuki pounced with surprising speed, putting Nagi in a headlock, "You may have all sorts of powers to call Orphans and vanish, but physically, you're pretty damned weak. So how badly I beat the crap out of you is entirely up to you."

"This is the thanks I get for healing you?" Nagi protested.

Natsuki smirked, "You said it yourself. Me thanking you would just be too weird. Now, restore Nao's eye."

"Fine, fine," Nagi was released from Natsuki's grip, "But only because it amuses me. Not because you told me to or anything."

"I'm afraid that it hurts like hell, Nao," Natsuki warned the redhead.

Nao braced herself, "Just like the rest of my damned life. Go ahead."

Natsuki, meanwhile, slid over to her motorcycle, and pulled a set of riding leathers out of one of her saddlebags. Then she pulled out a bag of beef jerky, wolfing it down with zeal. She lamented that she couldn't carry mayonnaise in her saddlebags. She rose to her feet, just in time to hear Nao's scream as Nagi set to work restoring her eye.

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"Mr. Ishigami, may I have a word?" Reito Kanzaki called over to the teacher.

"Well, please be quick. I promised to help Sister Yukariko, and…"

"Oh, I'll be quick," Reito promised, shutting the door to the classroom they were in, "Mostly I just wanted to chastise you for trying to cheat at the Festival."

"Wha…" before Ishigami could say anything more, he was struck roughly by the younger man, and then saw an unsheathed katana being pointed right at him.

"You've been breaking many rules for a member of District One, my dear Ishigami," and that's when Ishigami knew.

"Obsidian Prince…" he exhaled.

"In person. Now, my usual retainer is tending to another task. One I didn't actually authorize, but it's fine. I don't mind the HiME being in top form for this whole affair. If Mashiro thinks it's a kindness, I'll indulge her one last time.

"You, on the other hand, have been scheming against me."

"M'lord, I beg you…"

"Begging. Mmmm. I like that. I tell you what. I need you to deal with a little problem that my dear Mashiro has been working on, and if you're successful, I won't kill you myself."

"Anything, Master."

Reito nodded, "One of your fellow operatives will provide you with a gun. I want you to kill Midori Suguira and prevent her from reactivating that troublesome android that Searrs left us."