Chapter 5.
A/N: So, the last chapter revealed the source quote for the story's title. Now, as to what it means…well, keep reading.
"Hey, Yukariko," Mai called over to her, "How's your family?"
Yukariko gave her a smile, "Well, my little Hoshi is demonstrating that he very much pays attention to everything that Wataru and I say. Particularly embarrassing for Wataru, as he denies ever uttering the words that our son now repeats."
Mai laughed, "Typical."
"And your brother?" Yukariko asked.
"We haven't heard from him since he ran off and eloped with some girl he met at high school," Mai sighed.
"Hey, Tokiha, get the lead out," Nao called, "Have you forgotten what day it is?"
"I haven't forgotten," Mai smiled, "I bet she'll be surprised."
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"Na~tsu~ki," Shizuru knelt onto Natsuki's bed, leaning over, whispering softly, "It's just about sunset, Natsuki."
She reached over to stroke Natsuki's hair, brushing her swanlike neck. She felt something under her hand, and frowned. She saw a faint difference in the flesh in the dim light, two tiny circles, about two inches apart. Shizuru reached over to inspect them, and that proved to be a singular mistake. She realized what the marks were just as Natsuki's eyes snapped open. She reared up, emerald eyes flashing, mouth open in a terrified, terrifying scream, her canine teeth growing into two inch long fangs. She shoved violently, and Shizuru felt Natsuki's vampiric strength for the first time as she was flung across the room. She hit the far wall with her back, which knocked the wind out of her. Natsuki was wailing, and she curled up in a ball.
Shizuru gasped for air, and rose to her feet, cursing herself as she stood.
"Damn it, Shizuru, that was a stupid thing to do!" she tried to sooth the ache in her back as she moved to the bed, "Ara, how will I screw up today? I know. I'll go and poke at the scars of an old injury and see if I can't trigger a bout of PTSD, shall I? Lets. Idiot, Shizuru."
She strode over to Natsuki, and put her hands around her, "Natsuki! Natsuki, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Please."
Natsuki was still curled up in the fetal position, shivering.
"Natsuki, it's not that night. You're in a bed, safe."
Natsuki looked up at her, eyes wide and terrified.
Shizuru sighed, "Natsuki, I know something that might help, but I have to beg your forgiveness in advance…"
She put her hands on Natsuki's cheeks, and leaned forward, touching her lips to Natsuki's. There was a warm, electric tingling sensation, and she felt all the tension leave Natsuki's body.
"Oh…Oh, God, Shizuru! Shizuru, did I hurt you?" Natsuki was breathing hard, and she was crying.
Shizuru embraced her, "It seems, my darling Natsuki, that I was the one who hurt you. Forgive me. I was trying to gently wake you, and I…I didn't realize. I'm sorry."
They embraced, holding each other as closely as possible.
"I wasn't thinking, Natsuki," Shizuru cried into the other woman's shoulder, "I'm so, so sorry. Forgive me."
Natsuki shook her head, "You just wanted to wake me in a cute way, Shizuru. You wanted to treat me to a taste of romance. It's not your fault that you didn't know my triggers."
Natsuki stood up, and she pulled down the collar of her shirt, "You came across these. These were from Takeda. Those are his fang marks," She rolled up her sleeve on her right arm, "In the bicep here, that's Akiyama. The extensor? That was Hashida. I killed him in a bar last month. The other arm is Kushida and Sanza. They're on my to-do list. Just south of my pectoral muscles, those scars are courtesy of Jubai and Moritani. The one just left of my belly button was Yamamoto. I took him down a month later. Motorcycle, katana, quick pass. Left inner thigh was Roku. Left calf was Kurusawa. An agent named Mai Tokiha got both of them that very night. Right thigh was Sagano. Right calf was Ooyama. I got Ooyama in April. No one has seen or heard from Sagano since that night."
Shizuru looked horrified, "Natsuki…to carry that around with you…I'm sorry."
Natsuki shook her head, "It's not anything you have to be sorry about, Shizuru. And…for the record, I kind of liked how you brought me back to myself. I'm…uh…I'm sorry if I scared you. The fangs can be…alarming."
"I won't deny that," Shizuru smiled, "But if Natsuki needs me to, I can help calm her some more."
Natsuki noticed for the first time since the conversation had begun that Shizuru was wearing a glimmering white sundress with spaghetti straps, a low cleavage line, and a hemline that stopped mid-thigh.
"I…think I could stand to calm a little," Natsuki found herself grinning.
They twined their arms around each others' backs and shoulders, leaning forward to kiss. Their lips just managed to touch when the door flew open.
"Surprise!" Nao and Mai burst in, then halted. They were wearing party hats and carrying gift bags. Their expressions, Natsuki reflected later, were priceless.
Nao grinned, "Oh, are we interrupting something?"
"Yes," Shizuru shot her a sharp look, "Very much so. But what's all this?"
"It's…Kuga's birthday," Mai managed after a moment.
"Ara, I am aware. That's why I made plans to take her out to dinner," Shizuru raised an eyebrow, trying to shoo away the intruders without coming off as rude. However, if her message was being received at all, it wasn't being heeded.
Natsuki looked a bit confused, then looked over at her watch on the night stand, "Oh, crap! It is August 15th!"
"Yes," Nao smirked, "And you're twenty now, so by the laws of Japan, let's go get you hammered. Then we can drop you and your girlfriend off to finish her dinner plans. Or was she planning on eating out?"
Shizuru didn't know whether to agree to Nao's plan or to shove her out the door for the double entendre. Natsuki, however, spoke next.
"Vampire, remember? I can't get hammered."
"Fine. Mai, Fujino, and I will get hammered. And then you and Fujino can have your fun. Mai and I will just watch."
"I think I'm going to have to be the designated driver," Natsuki sighed, smiling despite herself, "Let me snag a shower and then we can go out for dinner."
"Ara, Natsuki will find a lovely blue dress for herself in the wash room," Shizuru smiled sweetly, "And I look forward to seeing you in it."
"If her pheromones are any indicator," Nao sniffed the air, "She's also eager to see you out of it."
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"If Kuga isn't located within the next forty-eight hours," Tomoe looked out at the hordes of Virals that crowded her mansion, "I will save the SCA the trouble and slaughter every last one of you myself. Damned freeloaders."
"What's your mad-on for her, anyway?" One viral made the mistake of asking.
Tomoe turned into a stream of mist, and was at his side in an instant, her claws punching through ribs and gripping his heart, squeezing, "Kuga deprived me of my prey a year ago. I was going to finally finish off the last of the Yuuki clan of those damned dogs. And then Kuga got her out. She had to pay. And she hasn't finished paying, yet. Somehow, you prats messed the whole thing up and let her turn into one of us.
"And that? That was a real problem. Because when she was human, she was a nuisance, and nothing more. But now? When she has our powers? She's killed more of our kind in the last year than the rest of the SCA do in a single year combined. So get it clear, right now, that I want her in my hands in the next two days, or you will all be very, very sorry!"
"I'd reconsider if I were you," A taunting voice called from a balcony.
"Nagi," Tomoe hissed the name.
"I don't care what Kuga does to Virals like your little flunkies, Marguerite," Nagi materialized at the top of the stairs, "Virals are a problem for us just as much as they are for humans. She's my piece on the board, and if you attempt to remove her…"
Nagi's eyes shone red, and Tomoe cringed a bit.
"Fine. You all hear that? Count Nagi Artai has said we're not to kill Kuga. But I still want her to lead me to Suguira. That's not against the rules."
"I suppose it's not," Nagi yawned, "But remember, Tomoe, that while you may be a good hundred years old and resistant to many things…"
He moved faster than any eye could follow, and had a dagger to her throat, "I'm two millennia old. You're nothing but a rag doll to me. And I actually like Kuga. More than I like you. Break my toys at your own peril."
She swallowed, "Yes, Count Nagi."