Thank you very much for the reviews and story alerts. I love getting reviews, some of you are hilarious!

It's been rather hectic for a while, but I had time to finish this chapter since I was snowed in again. I guess snowy days are my muse. I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes; I uploaded this as soon as I was done with the last word.

By the way, I hope you all realize that time passes between some scenes. I hardly think I need to write about Natsuki going home on her motorcycle after work every single day, getting a ticket for speeding, cooking up some instant noodles for dinner, hopping into the shower, etc. etc...

Disclaimer: I have very few possessions. Mai Hime is not one of them.

Previously on Sucker Punch:

"Ara, ara, it seems our Zuru is all grown up." Natsuki stiffened on hearing the voice that was still familiar, despite the years. "Who's the hottie draped all over you, and how much did you pay her?"

Natsuki held her breath and glanced to the side, nearly cursing at what she saw. Oh yeah, now she remembered. She was supposed to be avoiding the devil incarnate, otherwise known as Shiori Fujino, who was currently standing before her with that familiar sneer. Oh, joy.

Natsuki buried her face in Shizuru's neck. There was low chance of it working, but she though that maybe the childish mentality of 'if I can't see her, she can't see me!' would work.

It didn't work. "Aww, is she shy? Don't worry, I don't bite…much." Shiori crooned.

"Shiori." Shizuru sounded irritated. "Why are you here? You never visit."

"I would've visited a lot earlier if I knew you had a hottie like that on your arm." Shiori glanced slyly at Natsuki, who was still hiding.

Natsuki was distracted by Shizuru's perfume and the smoothness of her skin. Ooh, soft. Shizuru's skin felt like silk and marshmallows put together or something. Natsuki wondered how much softer it would feel against her tongue.

Shizuru inhaled sharply when Natsuki took an experimental lick. "Natsuki…"

Natsuki grinned against Shizuru's shoulder. Yep, definitely softer.

"You know, I don't know if I feel comfortable seeing my baby sister getting some, especially when I'm not." Shiori's voice intruded on the moment. Shizuru chuckled when she felt Natsuki scowl.

Natsuki still refused to look up. Shiori's eyebrows rose in surprised and irritation. "Well, 'Zuru, your puppy doesn't seem to have a lot of tricks."

Shizuru whispered into Natsuki's ear, "Play nice."

"Only if I get a reward." Natsuki peeked up into amused crimson eyes.

"Hello? I'm still here," Shiori snapped.

"Too bad," Natsuki muttered. She sighed. Well, time to face the music. Natsuki steeled herself before turning her head to meet Shiori's eyes for the first time since high school.

Natsuki glared at her former tormentor, but was surprised when Shiori didn't reciprocate. Instead, Shiori gave her an intrigued look.

Natsuki blinked when Shiori bit her lip coyly. Was the girl actually checking her out?

"Wow, 'Zuru, so introduce me to Ms. Tall, Dark, and Hot over here." Shiori looked at her through lowered lashes.

Natsuki's jaw dropped. Did—did Shiori not recognize her? This was monu-fucking-mental! This meant—this meant the plan could go on. Natsuki frowned at the thought.

"Natsuki, this is my sister Shiori. Shiori, this is my girlfriend, Natsuki K—"

"Just Natsuki," Natsuki interrupted. Shiori might not recognize her face, but she would definitely recognize her full name.

"Well, Natsuki, I don't mean any offense, but isn't Shizuru a bit too young for you? I would think she's rather inexperienced. I know some more mature women who'd be thrilled to take 'Zuru's place."

Natsuki frowned. "I'll pass."

Shiori cocked an eyebrow and tsked. "You haven't even given me a chance!" At Natsuki's glare and Shizuru's unamused look, she clarified, "To introduce you to these women, of course."

"I have Shizuru."

"But—"

"Enough, Shiori." Shizuru snapped. Natsuki's eyebrows rose. Was it the wrong time to think that Angry Shizuru was kinda sexy?

Shiori's mocking smile turned icy. "Why 'Zuru, have I touched on a sore spot? Then I hope you'll forgive me. I was just testing your girlfriend's resolve; you know, being a concerned older sibling who's watching out for her baby sister."

Shizuru's expression was unreadable. "That's never brought you back home before. What's the occasion?"

"Just to inform Mama and Papa that I will no longer be a Fujino." Shiori held out her left hand, showing off an elegant diamond ring.

Shizuru and Natsuki stared at the ring with widened eyes, albeit for different reasons.

Natsuki wondered who was masochistic enough to put up with Shiori. Shizuru, on the other hand, seemed amused. "Ara, I hope that my dear sister realizes that Reito probably got one of his mistresses to pick out the ring. He probably told her it was for her, too."

Shiori's eyes narrowed. "What our relationship is like is none of your business."

Shizuru shrugged. "Just being a concerned younger sibling who's watching out for her older sister."

Natsuki blanched. "Reito?" Please not Kanzaki, please not Kanzaki, please not Kanzaki—

"That would be me," a deep voice interrupted. Natsuki tensed as the second most hated person in her life appeared behind Shiori.

"Reito! It's been a while, hasn't it? The last time I saw you, it was backstage during my mother's last show; you were helping one of the models change outfits." Shizuru smiled charmingly.

Reito gave her a stiff smile. "You must've mistaken someone else for me. Really, Shizuru, how could you not recognize me when we're going to be family?"

"So I've heard."

Reito turned to Natsuki and offered a smooth smile. "I don't believe we've met. Reito Kanzaki."

"Natsuki," Natsuki quickly bit out. It was just her luck that Shiori and Reito would still be involved with each other. At least he didn't recognize her either.

"You look familiar." Reito studied her face intently. "Have we met before?"

"I wouldn't remember, honestly," Natsuki said flippantly.

Reito narrowed his eyes at Natsuki's tone, but a blonde blur suddenly attached itself to his arm.

"Reito!" Crystal Fujino patted the handsome man's face fondly. "I'm so glad you're here. Have a drink, you're as tense as always." She thrust a glass of champagne into Reito's hand.

Shiori rolled her eyes at her mother. "Try not to get my fiancé drunk, Mama. He can get too friendly when intoxicated."

"Fiancé?" Crystal blinked at Shiori's hand. "That's fantastic! And such a lovely ring, too. I'll be designing the dress, of course. Isn't this exciting, 'Zuru?" She turned to her youngest daughter expectantly.

"Of course. They're perfect for each other." Shizuru smiled sweetly.

Natsuki smirked at the hidden barb in Shizuru's words.

Crystal's voice faded away as Shizuru took Natsuki's hand and led her away from the group.

Natsuki followed obligingly as Shizuru led her up two flights of stairs and through a glass door. Natsuki was surprised to see that Shizuru had led her to the roof, which had a few artfully arranged lounge chairs surrounded by a beautiful garden.

"You have a lounge on your roof?"

"It was Mama's idea. Papa can never say no to her."

"Hmm." Natsuki sat on the loveseat and made herself comfortable. "Not bad."

She chuckled when Shizuru took her hair down from the bun it was in and shook it out before lying down with her head in Natsuki's lap. Natsuki lightly ran her fingers through honey-brown hair. "Your parents are nice. They don't care that I'm a teaching assistant at Fuuka?"

"They don't know," Shizuru mischievously corrected. "And it's going to stay that way."

Natsuki's hand stilled. "They wouldn't approve? They seemed fine with me being older than you."

Shizuru shifted her head. Natsuki got the hint and began trailing her fingers through Shizuru's hair again. "Oh no, they'd love it so much that they probably wouldn't stop talking about it. Mama would gush about how romantic a clandestine relationship is and Papa would reminisce about how he had beautiful older women were after him, too, when he was a student."

Natsuki stifled her laugh. "Interesting. I would have expected a different reaction, honestly."

"My parents aren't like other parents."

"I can see that."

"Kenjiro and Crystal Fujino are good people, but they're not very good parents."

"What makes you say that?"

Shizuru lightly frowned and opened half-lidded eyes when Natsuki stopped her movements. "Stop stopping. It feels good."

Natsuki smiled and pecked Shizuru on the lips. "Sorry. You were saying?"

"When I was 9, I told Papa I wanted to be an assassin when I grew up." Shizuru smiled and poked Natsuki's stomach. "I can feel Natsuki laughing, you know."

"Sorry. Please don't kill me."

"I was nine. Anyways, the next day Papa signed me up for archery, mixed martial arts, and multiple language lessons to help me become the perfect assassin."

"So that's where the Muay Thai came from."

"What?"

"When I 'kidnapped' you," Natsuki air-quoted, "I thought you were going to kick my ass."

Shizuru laughed. "I may have kept up with the lessons, even after when I realized I could never become an assassin."

"What, your mother said you couldn't be an assassin?" Natsuki joked.

Shizuru sighed. "No, my teacher did. I think when Mama and Papa first decided to have children, they didn't anticipate the length of time it takes to raise them. If you haven't noticed by now, they love parties. To them, life is a never-ending party, and children are the guests who will never leave. Having children was just a game, and when it got boring, they stopped. That's why there's only the two of us, Shiori and me."

"Well, if having children is a game, then you're the grand prize." Natsuki smiled at Shizuru.

"Ara, I never realized what a smooth talker Natsuki was."

"Only for you."

Shizuru smiled up at Natsuki. "I'm touched. Theoretically, though, wouldn't Shiori also be a prize?" She laughed at Natsuki's grimace. "I know my sister isn't the easiest person to get along with."

"Understatement of the century," Natsuki muttered.

Shizuru didn't hear Natsuki's comment. "Shiori's always been like that. It takes a lot of practice, but you learn to ignore it."

"Ah, that's why you're so laidback; I always wondered how you can remain so calm despite the gallons of caffeinated tea. Mystery solved."

Shizuru scoffed. "It's no mystery that tea is soothing."

"Do you even realize how bad caffeine is for your body?" Natsuki grumbled.

Shizuru hooked her finger in the collar of Natsuki's shirt and dragged her down for a kiss. "So tell me what's good for my body, Dr. Kuga," she teased.

Natsuki gave her a lopsided grin. She much preferred this to the party happening downstairs.

Natsuki let out a sigh as she walked through Fuuka's empty hallways. Classes were over for the day, and the only students still left were those in sports, clubs….and detention.

Overseeing the students in detention wasn't normally part of her job description, but Yohko had done her a favor and Natsuki agreed to take her place for detention duty today. Hopefully it wouldn't make her late for video-game night with Nao tonight.

Natsuki entered the classroom and sat behind the desk. The students stared at her in shock.

"Ms. Kuga? You do detention duty?" A boy asked hopefully.

"Don't get used to it. It's just a favor for Dr. Sagisawa."

The students who were planning to get more detentions so they could get closer to Fuuka's hottest teacher wilted in despair.

Natsuki raised her eyebrows at two girls giggling in the corner. "Oi, you know the rules. No talking."

The girls quieted and Natsuki tilted her chair back on its two back legs. She stared up at the ceiling and suppressed a sigh. 45 minutes of watching teenagers do absolutely nothing. Fabulous.

Natsuki heard the door open, but didn't bother to see who it was. Probably a student late for detention. "You're late," she called out in a bored voice.

"Ara, I apologize. I didn't know where detention took place."

Natsuki let the chair fall to all four legs and winced at the loud crash. "Shizuru?"

Natsuki and the students all gaped at Shizuru. Shizuru smiled serenely. "Yes?"

"Shizuru, you have detention?" Someone asked, unwittingly voicing out Natsuki's own question. There was a flurry of activity as everyone took out their phones, no doubt to text everyone they knew of the earth-shattering event.

Natsuki snapped out of her shock. "Hey, put those away before I confiscate them." A second later, she cursed her own words; now she couldn't text Shizuru to see what was up.

Natsuki silently willed for detention to end so she could talk to her girlfriend. She looked at the clock and nearly groaned aloud. 44 minutes left.

-000-000-

Natsuki stood up immediately once detention was finally over. She grinned at seeing Shizuru remain by the door, unlike her fellow students, who had rushed out as soon as possible.

"Well, it seems the previously incorruptible Shizuru Fujino has turned into quite the rule-breaker, hasn't she?"

"Ara, I believe the phrase is 'rules are made to be broken.' Besides, it was fun seeing everyone's reaction. Perhaps I should get detention more often and not just on the days when Natsuki is in charge."

Natsuki stared at her. "Please don't tell me you got detention just to see me."

"And why would Natsuki come to that conclusion?" Shizuru's smile gave her away.

Natsuki groaned. "You did! You're insane, woman!"

"I also know Natsuki only has detention duty because she agreed to take Dr. Sagisawa's place if the experiment involving live mice for the next class was cancelled."

"Yeah, so? Everyone hates mice," Natsuki said defensively.

"No, Natsuki said mice are cute," Shizuru said in mild disgust. "But Natsuki knows I hate mice. Don't tell me you took over detention duty just so I wouldn't have to deal with the experiment."

Natsuki coughed. Damn Yohko's big mouth. "No," she lied.

"Liar." Shizuru pressed a kiss on Natsuki's mouth.

"You love it."

"Maybe."

Natsuki smiled. "Need a ride home?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

"What are you doing tonight?" Natsuki asked as she handed Shizuru her spare helmet.

"I have to babysit. Why?"

Natsuki lightly frowned. "Nao's coming over for our monthly video-game night tonight. I wanted you to come."

Shizuru smiled apologetically. "I wish I could, but I'm babysitting for an important potential business partner for Reito's father's company. If I canceled, Reito and Shiori would never forgive me."

Natsuki heaved a dramatic sigh. "Alright. If you knew what you were missing out on, though, you'd beg for an invitation, Fujino."

Shizuru's eyes sparkled. "Au contraire, Kuga; you would be begging me to come."

"I'd love to make you come." The words flew out before Natsuki could stop them. She couldn't help the faint blush that stained her cheeks. "Ah—come hang out with us, I mean."

Shizuru laughed. "I'm sure that's exactly what Natsuki meant."

"Shut up." Natsuki revved her bike and took off, inwardly smiling at Shizuru's sound of shock and the way the honey-brunette's arms tightened around her waist.

"Go, go, go!" Nao urged her character on the screen as she mashed random buttons together on her controller.

Natsuki scowled fiercely at the scoreboard; she was losing rather badly. "Will you stop using the same move over and over? That's cheating!"

"No, Kuga, that's called you being a sore loser," Nao shot back.

Natsuki threw her controller down in disgust as her character died. "Whatever. You want something to drink?"

"No thanks. I'm already drunk…on victory." Nao raised her arms in triumph.

Natsuki "accidentally" smacked Nao on her way to the kitchen. "Sorry about that." She tuned out Nao's rant and pulled out a can of soda from the fridge, pausing when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

Natsuki took it out. "Hello?"

"Natsuki?"

"Hey, Shizuru. Aren't you babysitting?" Natsuki popped open the tab on her soda and took a sip. Ugh, Mai bought diet again; probably in a futile attempt to make Natsuki eat healthier.

"I was, but something urgent came up concerning the school's sponsors, and I'm needed since I'm the president. Can Natsuki do me a huge favor?"

"What is it?"

"Can Natsuki babysit for me for a few hours?"

Natsuki spit out her soda. "Wait, like an actual child? Absolutely not!"

"Please, Natsuki?" Shizuru sounded pleading. "Alyssa is very well-mannered for a five year-old, and it'll only be for an hour, two at most."

"Get Shiori to watch her!"

"I need someone to take care of Alyssa, not torture her. You know I wouldn't ask unless I absolutely had to. And it's Natsuki's fault I missed today's Student Council meeting."

"I didn't ask you to get detention."

"I'll buy Natsuki her favorite burger."

Natsuki sighed. "Burger King Whopper, extra mayonnaise?"

"One heart attack in a wrapper, coming right up."

"Hey, do you want me to take the kid or not?"

"You're the best girlfriend ever."

"Yeah, yeah. When do you think you'll get here?"

"I'm actually outside right now." Shizuru sounded sheepish.

"What?" Natsuki shook her head in disbelief. "What if I were doing something really important?"

"I hardly think video games constitute as something important."

"Maybe not to you. Come on up." Natsuki hung up and looked at Nao. "We're going to have company."

"Tell me it's Baby Fujino so I can change into something appropriate." Nao wiggled her eyebrows.

"If by something appropriate you mean a straitjacket, then yes. But I said I'd watch some 5 year-old for her."

"Wow, they just keep getting younger and younger. Don't you think this cradle-snatching is getting out of hand?"

"You're disgusting."

"I'm just telling it like it is. And Shizuru might be your girlfriend now, but she won't be after she sees how sloppy you look. Go brush your hair, it looks like a jungle."

Natsuki scowled and left the room. A knock on the door sounded. "Get the door, will you?"

Nao bounded over to the door and flung it open. She smirked at Shizuru. "Hey there, are you my latest booty call?"

Shizuru scoffed jokingly. "You couldn't handle me if you tried."

"Ouch." Nao exaggerated. She noticed a small blonde girl with sky-blue eyes peeking at her from behind Shizuru's back. "Cute kid. Is she yours?"

Shizuru looked puzzled. "I'm seventeen."

Nao snickered. "When you get the chance, ask Natsuki how she was born."

"Ask me what?" Natsuki interrupted from behind.

"Nothing." Nao motioned to the small girl. "Look, Kuga, isn't she cute? We should get one of those to brighten up your apartment."

Natsuki kneeled down and smiled at the girl. "Hi, I'm Natsuki. What's your name?"

"Alyssa Searrs." The girl smiled shyly. "Your eyes look like Daddy's."

"The color of toxic waste?" Nao interjected.

"No, dark green." Alyssa frowned lightly at Nao. "They're pretty."

"I agree." Shizuru smiled at her kneeling girlfriend.

Nao sighed dramatically. "Out of the mouths of babes."

"What time are you coming back?" Natsuki asked Shizuru as Nao led Alyssa inside.

"Hopefully in a couple hours. Alyssa's an angel, so it should be fine," Shizuru assured.

"Yeah, well, once she hangs around Nao long enough, she won't be an angel anymore."

"Let's hope two hours isn't long enough then." Shizuru waved at Alyssa and left.

Natsuki reluctantly closed the door and turned around. Alyssa was quietly perched on the couch, watching Nao restart the game.

Nao accidentally knocked over Natsuki's can of soda. "Shit!"

Natsuki immediately clamped her hands over Alyssa's ears and glared at Nao. "Hey, watch your fucking language!"

"Sorry. Let's get this game started already."

They'd only been playing for thirty seconds when Alyssa announced, "I'm bored."

Natsuki and Nao exchanged bewildered looks. How the hell do you entertain a small child?

I wrote the detention scene when I myself was in detention, haha. Silly teachers, thinking they could punish me by forcing me to sit in silence for an hour. Don't they know I have countless things to think about, such as what to write next for Sucker Punch?

I'm glad people think I'm funny, cause I don't think I am in real life. Since most of you love Nao, I try to give her the best lines…I'm afraid this chapter was mostly ShizNat interaction, but Nao managed to sneak into the end (that darned scene-stealer.)

And Shiori and Reito have finally shown up! (Dun-dun-dun.) Did ya expect them to not recognize Natsuki?

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