The Materialization War

By

DrummondType2

Chapter 1: Consolidation

Natsuki was sitting at home, nursing her daughter, Sachiko. She was watching the news, and was less than pleased with what she was seeing.

"I'm afraid that other labs, working with far less ethical techniques have made some rather notable breakthroughs with materialization," Saeko informed her daughter, "The result is what you see before you."

What Natsuki saw was video footage of strange, insect like creatures of metal and flesh attacking an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia.

"Do we know which country is responsible?" Natsuki asked.

Saeko shook her head, "They didn't sign their work, and there are far too many parties that would profit from this who were doing research in this area. And your little display last week, though necessary to save Shizuru, was unfortunately, a warning bell to everyone working on Materialization that they need to up their game."

"You managed to get Mai to manifest Kagutsuchi, once," Natsuki pointed out.

"And only once. None of my subsequent work with Shizuru ever got her to be able to manifest her Child, Kiyohime, again. And then she got pregnant and had to bow out. And she never resumed once she started breastfeeding Naomi," Saeko sighed, "And I wasn't going to press the issue with her, because I saw how fond of her you were. And the who incident with Naomi caused me to pity her, something I never thought I'd be able to do.

"I've actually become fond of her," Saeko sighed.

Natsuki gave her mother a gentle smile, "Well, I'm not going to complain about that. But…is it possible that you weren't able to get Kiyohime to manifest because of either a block on your part? Or Shizuru's?

"I mean, after all, you were at First District the night she paid them a visit. You'd seen Kiyohime in action. And, Shizuru associates Kiyohime with a time in her life that she doesn't much care to remember."

Natsuki noted that Sachiko wasn't feeding any longer, and seemed to be drifting off to sleep. She had learned how to balance her gently while buttoning up her blouse again.

"Listen, I know you and Shizuru aren't exactly the best of friends, but I think that you should talk to her."

"I'm assuming you mean for more than just asking her not to be so openly flirtatious with you in my sight?" Saeko smirked.

Natsuki blushed, "Yeah."

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Saeko had arrived at her lab, well-funded by the Searrs Foundation, headed by her ex-husband Genichiro Kuga and her daughter by test-tube, Alyssa Searrs.

She was examining satellite images of the creatures that had attacked the oil refinery, code named Slaves, when she heard a knock at the door. She looked up to see Shizuru Fujino standing in her doorway.

Saeko removed her glasses, "I'm going to hazard a guess that Natsuki sent you."

"If you're busy…"

"No, come in. I think this talk is long overdue."

Shizuru couldn't help but notice the striking similarities between Saeko and Natsuki. Truly, Natsuki was her mother's daughter. But there were differences to be sure. Shizuru had seen photos of Saeko from before the accident that had left her permanently wheelchair bound, and she had a slight pudge to her that Natsuki, with her athletic bent, did not have. Even after giving birth to two daughters, Natsuki liked to maintain her "Fighting Trim". Also, there was a hardness to Saeko's eyes. Natsuki could certainly give a Death Glare that would give most people pause, and cause them to retreat. But Saeko's eyes were always studying, evaluating, analyzing.

"Natsuki suggested that my previous failures at getting you to manifest Kiyohime were the result of a mental block on the part of one or both of us," Saeko sighed, "And I have to admit that I've been thinking of the experiments you and I did together as scientist and test subject. But in the years that have folllowed, I've come to see how important you are to Natsuki, and so, I consider you important to me as well. And if there is a mental issue to this process, I guess I need to ask…would you care to talk about it? The reasons why you might not want to summon your Child again?"

Shizuru closed the door and sat down, "How much do you know about my past?"

Saeko scoffed, "Surprisingly little. Shizuru Fujino, age 27. Romantic partner of Natsuki Kuga. Graduate of Fuuka University. Top of your class. Former HiME. Daughter of Hiroyoshi and Kagami Fujino. Mother, by extraordinary means, of Saiyuri Kuga, Sachiko Kuga, and Naomi Fujino. You know, the girls share mothers. Wouldn't it make them feel more sisterly if they all have the same family name?"

Shizuru frowned, "You know, I hadn't thought of that. I wonder if I should legally change my family name, too. It's something Natsuki and I can discuss, certainly."

"Well, that's between you two, but for Naomi's sake, I would want her to feel like she belonged. That's me speaking as her grandmother, not as Dr. Kuga, by the way."

"I understand. So, Natsuki never told you about my grandmother, the late Saori Tatsunoko?"

"She didn't," Saeko said, "Natsuki is reticent to discuss anything she considers your private business with me. I suppose that's my fault. I…haven't exactly been the warmest person to you."

"I think we both know that I've earned a fair amount of suspicion from you," Shizuru smiled without humor, and then told her the history of her life with Saori Tatsunoko, her late grandmother. And of the revelations she'd had about her mother, Kagami.

"I see. You know, there's still some debate about whether or not such things are genetic," Saeko said, "Not really my field of study, and I doubt it would make any difference to your home life with Natsuki. But it does inform me about your mentality. Describe your relationship with Kiyohime to me."

"Kiyohime…well, as you know, a Child bonded to a HiME based on her state of mind and being," Shizuru sighed, "And Kiyohime definitely represented the way I felt about myself at the time. She was, in every sense, a terrifying monster. As was I, or so I felt at the time. Kiyohime was a hydra with six serpentine heads. She was a creature of many minds. Her size was based on my love for Natsuki. But as you know, I felt it was a twisted, wicked love, and there were certainly no shortage of people around me who shared that belief. I'm sure you have felt that way, too."

"I won't deny that I was very upset when I heard that you'd assaulted Natsuki in her sleep. I've learned since then that that wasn't what happened, but at the time, I thought very harshly of you."

Shizuru smiled, "And you know that when I believed that Natsuki felt that way…I was broken. I lashed out at everything I saw as a threat to her. And, here's something I've never admitted to anyone…when I had her captive in the coils of my Element, I had become the very thing I'd feared I was. I only wanted to possess her, regardless of what she wanted. I was, to be honest, utterly insane."

Shizuru wiped at her eyes, "And then…Natsuki reached into the depth of my madness and yanked me firmly back to the shores of sanity with a single, simple kiss. Then there were her gentle, kind words. And then, darkness. And when Mashiro Kazahana brought us back…I felt the full weight of my sins, and I pleaded with her to forgive me. I thought I would spend all of eternity trying to earn her forgiveness. And only a few seconds later, she put her hand on my shoulder, smiled at me, and said, 'It's alright Shizuru. Don't cry.' And in that instant, she absolved me of my crimes against her, both real, and the ones I felt guilty of without having actually done them."

Saeko frowned, then noticed that tears were streaming down Shizuru's face.

"My daughter would be incredibly cross with me if she heard that I'd upset you," Saeko offered her a tissue, "Well, I can understand how you felt like you'd crossed more lines than you actually had, hearing about your upbringing. And if Natsuki has forgiven you for what you'd done, I can hardly go against her wishes. Besides, I've seen how she cares for you, and I've seen how you go out of your way to be sweet and kind to her. Whatever you were that night you destroyed First District, you're not that person now. Though, I'm going to be honest, that night is going to plague my nightmares until the day I die."

"Mine as well," Shizuru smiled at Saeko. The two of them met eyes, and then both of them started laughing.

"But the thing I'm afraid of isn't the woman in front of me," Saeko reached out and squeezed Shizuru's hand, "Still, I do fear that our failures to summon Kiyohime were based largely on your fears of what you were when you had her at your command. You see her, and yourself when you're controlling her, as a venomous creature that hurts the people you love. But that isn't the Shizuru Fujino I've come to know."

"So, are you saying that you'd like to try again?"

"Well, we've seen that the enemies are still interested in you girls. And we need a way for you to protect yourselves. Powerful as Natsuki has become with that circuit stone that those two troublesome creatures provided her, she can't be everywhere at once or responsible for everyone. We need a more effective deterrent to those who would harm the HiME. And you were the only willing test subject I had. Mai Tate has a tendency to shoot daggers with her eyes when she sees me, though she does try to be civil, at least."

Shizuru frowned in thought, "I agree. We need a way to protect not only the former HiME, but also the children of the HiME. I'll agree to be your test subject, again."

"Then let's get started," Saeko nodded.