DISCLAIMER: MAI-HIME IS NOT MINE, NOT MINE, NOT MIIIIIINE.
FINAL CHAPTER: SIDE BY SIDE
Natsuki rubbed her gritty eyes as she fought back another yawn. It's been twenty-four hours but she'll still up and almost running out of juice. A consistent beeping sound can be heard next to her as she continued to watch Shizuru serenely sleeping in a hospital bed. Relief settled in her chest as her own steady heartbeat matched Shizuru's heart rate as it rose and fell at the monitor connected to the CIA agent. As she grasped Shizuru's soft hand, a familiar bolt of bliss ran through her arms as it slowly spread throughout her chest and belly, weakening her in a good way.
A soft snore escaped Shizuru's mouth and it made Natsuki smile—the elegant Shizuru, snorted in an unladylike manner. Hilarious. A grin split Natsuki's face and eventually turned into giggles. Damn, she's losing it. Natsuki thought to herself but she can't stop giggling, her girlfriend was safe. Shizuru's fucking safe. Giggles eventually turned into a sob and Natsuki found herself crying, she cupped her mouth as she tried to stop herself from bawling. She almost lost her and just the thought of Shizuru dying made her nauseous. Heartbroken. Dead inside.
"Hey…" A hand ruffled her hair as she bit her lips. Her mother stayed with her as they rushed the CIA agent in the hospital. She took control of the situation as soon as they arrived at the hospital and she was grateful that she was with her mother.
"She's going to be alright, kid," Kazahana was overjoyed when the doctor declared her out of danger. Even though she didn't know the woman personally, she knew that Shizuru's good for her adopted daughter.
"I know…it's just that…" She cleared her throat as emotion rose. "I don't know what to do if something happened to her… I don't even know if I can live with that…knowing that she's…" Natsuki swallowed hard as terror rose from her chest.
"She's okay. Stop beating yourself for something inevitable," Kazahana chided her daughter softly.
Natsuki nodded weakly. Her emerald gaze returned to the woman sleeping in front of them—her gaze eagerly ran from Shizuru's slightly disheveled hair to her bandaged shoulder down to her waist as if convincing herself one last time that she's okay. Pulling herself away from despair, Natsuki palmed her face and she took a deep breath. Work. She needed to tie loose end—that means she needed to deal with Fumi.
Anger surged through her chest blossoming into a full blown rage. Grinding her teeth, Natsuki rubbed her face and stood up. "How's Fumi?"
Kazahana regarded her with a calculating look. "She's okay. The doctors patched her wound and as of this morning and they already transferred her into our custody for questioning."
Good. She needed answers and Natsuki will get them whether Fumi wants it or not. "Will you stay with her, mom?"
"Will you be able to interrogate Fumi without killing her?" Her mother countered back. Natsuki didn't flinch—In fact, she was expecting her mothers' doubt.
"I'll try," Natsuki smirked at her mothers' exasperated sigh. "Nao will be there, so I don't think you need to worry too much."
"That's what worried me most…" Natsuki chuckled at her. "I'll stay with Fujino, go kick some butt," Kazahana took the chair and sat beside Shizuru. Natsuki shot another glance to Shizuru and before deciding against it, the FBI agent walked towards Shizuru's bed and she gently kissed her on the forehead. Her lips lingered at Shizuru's closed eyes and she whispered her love for the sleeping figure. When Natsuki straightened, she saw her mother looking away but she could see her soft smile.
"I'll be back, please don't leave her mom…" Kazahana waved at her and she got out of Shizuru's private room. Time to deal with Fumi, she told herself.
After attending to her wounds, Fumi was quickly boxed inside the FBI's custody. Nao made sure that she didn't shoot the woman to death because she wanted payback. For everything that she did to Kanzaki, to Shizuru, to those kids, and even to Nagi. She's going to make sure that they'll know the truth after they interrogate the bitch.
She continued to sip her coffee as she waited for her sister to arrive. She watched the stone-cold Fumi at the two-way mirror as she remained still as if she was sure that she could handle the interrogation. It irked her to see how confident the bitch was and just thinking of it left a bad taste in her mouth—Nao glanced behind her as the door opened.
Despite fatigue, Natsuki looks…relieved and Nao can't help but smile. "I take that she's alright?"
Natsuki nodded to her and walked towards her. Natsuki gently took her mug from her hands and she sipped a little before making a face. "How can you ruin a perfectly good coffee with tons of sugar and cream, yuck."
"Right now, it's my perfect coffee so butt off," Nao playfully shoved her sister and she almost laughed out loud when Natsuki's eyes bugged out when her coffee sloshed out of her mug—almost making it spilled at her.
"Damn it, stop messing around!" Natsuki growled at her and she yelped when she was scalded by the hot coffee. Nao just grinned at her flustered sister, mission accomplished—she made Natsuki loosened up a little.
"Look what you've done, tsk, I'm still going back to the hospital after this," Natsuki pushed back her mug to Nao as she tried to pat away the stains from her shirt but seeing that it was too late, Natsuki released a sigh.
"Oh, come on, like Shizuru cares about that," Nao said. "Is she conscious yet?"
Natsuki shook her head at her, she absentmindedly looked inside the interrogation room and she gestured at Fumi. "So how are we going to do this?"
"I think you deserved to be the bad cop here," Suggesting to use the old time way to interrogate suspects, Nao grinned at her sister. Natsuki rolled her head from side to side and she felt the familiar surged of adrenaline pumped through her veins.
"Is she begging for a lawyer yet?"
"Nah, I'd vote for overconfidence. Look at her stone-cold bitch face, I feel like she's mocking us. Like daring us to take her on," Nao shook her head.
"Brilliant, she's going down."
"I think the bitch thought that we are the ones who are going down," Nao watched her sister as she rolled her sleeves as if gearing for a fight.
"Better prove her wrong, my dear sister," And they off. Natsuki pushed open the door and Fumi's lips thinned when she saw who entered the room. Fumi's body straightened at her chair, frigid and ready for them. It took a lot of self-control to stop herself from snapping the neck of the bitch. Natsuki bit her tongue and she drew out the chair from under the table and straddled it.
"Engage recorder," Natsuki said in a formal voice. "Interview with the suspect Fumi Himeno, regarding charges of murder in the first case of Nagi Homura, accessory to kidnapping and attempted white slavery of Chiriko Masato, Yuriko Suzumi, Asami Juno, Grace Himura and Hime Takagi. Additional charges of kidnapping of Mai Tokiha attempted murder of Reito Kanzaki and CIA Agent Shizuru Fujino. Interview conducted by Special Agent Natsuki Kuga. Also present, Special Agent Nao Yuuki. Ms. Fumi has been informed of her rights, right?"
"Yes." Fumi's eyes hardened at her question.
"She received the Revised Miranda warning upon her arrest and based on her answer she understands her rights and obligations as contained in it. You waived your rights for a lawyer, isn't that right Miss Fumi?" Fumi's jaw tightened but she nodded at her.
"Please answer with yes or no. It is necessary to hear your answer for review purposes." Natsuki said.
"I told you—" Natsuki slapped her hand on the table and Fuji almost jumped in her seat, clearly spooked at her.
"Yes, or No, did you waived your rights for a lawyer?" Natsuki said in a controlled voice.
"Yes. You are making a big mistake Kuga," Fumi said in a deadpanned expression.
"Oh? You shot Kanzaki and Fujino, mind you, a CIA agent. You took Mai Tokiha as a hostage and opened fire at me with the intent of killing me, so that's assault to an officer. So how about you tell me where did we make a big mistake?" Natsuki goaded at her.
"How about I tell you that Shizuru assaulted me when she saw me at Reito's house?" Fumi's eyes shined with unshed tears. So this is how they're going to play it? Natsuki raised her right eyebrow at her.
Nao coughed behind them and she walked towards Fumi and took the chair beside her to sit. She took Fumi's shaking hand to hers. "Are you sure? Did you see her? It's dark in Kanzaki's house."
Natsuki remained stoic but her inside was boiling with anger as she watched Fumi sniffled and wiped tears lingering around her eyes. "I am sure, I was just worried for Reito when I saw them with Kuga left last night. I just wanted to see if he's okay."
She honestly thought that I'll believe this BS? Nao thought, and she softened her face. "But Reito's with Shizuru, Did it occur to you that he'll be all right? He's with her girlfriend after all."
Fumi's eyes shone with fury. "He's just using him, she's a liar, and she's a CIA agent. That must be it! She must be jealous and threatened at my presence, and she used her position to kill me but luckily I was able to defend myself from her."
Reito was the sore spot, Natsuki watched her sister as she played her part. Nao was playing her like a piano and Fumi thought that she's manipulating her sister and running the show. Natsuki smirked internally and she continued to watch her sister played the dumb bitch.
"So tell me how it happened. Tell me all, Nagi's dead; our superiors are demanding us for someone who would take the blame." Nao said and both of her hands cupped Fumi's hand at the table.
Completely forgotten Natsuki, Fumi turned towards her sister. "I was waiting for him o-outside his house. I knocked first but there was no answer. It was too dark, maybe they didn't saw me. I was waiting for him when Shizuru opened fire at me—I was stunned so I ran inside the house." Breaking and entering, she'll add that to the pile of Fumi's case, Natsuki said to herself.
"How did you open the house?"
"I-I have my own keys. Reito gave it to me in a case of emergency. I tried to hide but Shizuru kept shooting blindly."
"She continued shooting you even though Reito and Mai were with her? Even though it's dark?" Nao questioned her quickly. Fumi's gaze faltered.
"I'm not sure if Reito's with her, maybe she was holding him as a hostage. So when I found a chance, I took her gun and shot her. Then I took Mai to stop Shizuru from shooting me. I had to defend myself!"
"How did you know that Mai was the one you took? You told me it was dark." Nao didn't stop asking and for the first time, Natsuki saw Fumi fumbled for coherent explanations.
Fumi wiped her chin as she broke into a cold sweat. "I saw her w-walking with S-Shizuru, yes, yes, now I'm sure that they were in this together. They must be planning to kill me from the start."
"Why did you shoot Reito? I thought Shizuru took her as a hostage?" Fumi's eyes darted as she groped for an explanation.
"N-N-No! it was an accident! Shizuru was using him as a shield—,"
"So you saw all of this in the dark? You saw Shizuru holding Reito against his will? You saw Mai and you took her as a hostage for leverage? But you said that you're not sure if Reito was with them?"
Natsuki watched as Fumi's throat worked up to keep her voice steady. "Yes. No! There was a little light, yes. Moonlight. I saw him, beside Mai, I'm not s-sure when did Shizuru take Reito but she was walking beside him first before she started shooting at me."
"So Reito was walking with Mai and Shizuru, not a care in this world while Shizuru was shooting you blindly? Is that it? Reito pretty much cared for you huh?"
At the mentioned of his name, Fumi snarled at her. "He cared for me! Both of those bitches didn't give him a chance to be with me!"
"Oh? So Reito followed Nagi's orders and he let Nagi blackmail him into safe keeping the kids to keep us off Nagi's track. Reito pretended to be Shizuru's boyfriend to keep you happy? To be with you?" Nao said incredulously. "I thought he did it all for Mai Tokiha."
With that, Fumi snapped and she pounded her fist on the table. "No! Nagi blackmailed him! Mai Tokiha has got nothing to do with this! Reito cared for me! Me! Only me!" That does it. Natsuki decided to kill Fumi's illusion once and for all.
"So you killed Nagi because he's blackmailing Reito? Or because he's going to rat you out?" Fumi's head quickly snapped to look at her sudden intrusion and Natsuki almost grinned at her obvious panic.
"I didn't kill him, S-S-Shizuru must have killed—" Natsuki bolted out of her chair and she leaned closely towards the trembling Fumi.
"I'd say bullshit. You shouldn't have said that you took Shizuru's gun when all along you brought yours in the scene. You shouldn't have said that the three of them was walking like a retarded in the dark while one of them was shooting your ass." Her emerald ruthlessly narrowed at Fumi's panic-stricken face. "So tell me, why did you shoot the fuck out of me? If you're going to imply that I'm into Reito, I'll be pretty offended because surprised, I'm a freaking lesbian!"
An angry flush covered Fumi's face as her mouth opened but no sounds came out of it. Natsuki laughed at her and shook her head. "What? No more twisted lies? Well, now it's time for the truth." And she nodded to her grinning sister. Nao rose and she stepped away from the red-faced Fumi. Nao took a bunch of documents from her cargo pants and threw the first one at the table.
"For the record, you lied about taking Agent Shizuru's gun. We found the gun you used and the only fingerprints we found was yours. We tested your hands using paraffin test and you are positive for gunpowder residue."
"Outrageous! You have no evidence against me! I know what you are trying to do! You're desperately throwing everything at me! It won't work you bitch!"
"Oh? I'm sorry to ruin your party but it will work and it'll stick in your sorry ass that you'll get a lifetime imprisonment for it." Nao dropped a bag in front of them and she took a notebook, a small plastic full of pictures, a thick bundle of cash, a key and a piece of note.
Natsuki took the plastic full of pictures and dumped the contents on the table. Satisfaction hummed to her system when she saw Fumi paled at it. "Familiar?" Natsuki took one of the pictures and turned it towards Fumi. "They look cute together huh?"
A strangled sound escaped from Fumi's throat. "How did you...?"
"We found your safe house and we found these lovely treasures." Natsuki took another picture and she smirked at Fumi's fuming face. "You've got it hard for Reito. See?" Fumi tried to snatch the picture but Natsuki pulled it away from her. "We've got pictures of Mai and your fingerprints are on it. The camera you used. One loose knot tied."
Natsuki took the bundle of cash and they key. "Nagi's fingerprints were found in this cash. I can't fucking believe that you're stupid enough to keep this around."
"Total idiot," Nao agreed at her while Fumi continued to stare at the pile of evidence in front of her.
"This key? Your fingerprints are on it and we fucking found your badass motorcycle. The same motorcycle you used when you killed Nagi. Our laboratory finished analyzing the tire tracks and it matched at the scene in the warehouse." Natsuki took the note.
"Do you remember this?" She asked the dumbfounded woman. "You just can't resist huh?" At Fumi's questioning gaze, Natsuki turned the note in front of Fumi and blood drained from her face. "This was the first threatening note that Shizuru planted at Reito's house. As a stalker, as an obsessed woman, you just can't fight your jealousy, that you had to see if someone, besides you, has the same feelings for Reito and you fucking left your fingerprints on it." Natsuki chuckled at Fumi's astonished face.
"B-But I wiped it. I made sure that—,"
"Take note, for the record, that the suspect admitted that she wiped her fingerprints from this note," Natsuki said while Nao chuckled at Fumi's clammy face.
"Now, where are we? Yes, you wiped it? Sorry but Nao here analyzed it three times because she saw a tiny smudge of fingerprints in this part," Natsuki pointed at the right part of the note. "Clever huh?" Finally, the last remaining piece of evidence—the sledgehammer that will bring down Fumi's head onto their hands. The notebook.
"This contains the names of your customers, payroll, operating expense, incomes, and delivery schedules. Wrapped in a neat little ribbon for us to open—" Natsuki barely glanced at Fumi when she snarled at them.
"That is not mine! I don't have a notebook, you're letting me take the fall—,"
"Who says it's yours?" At the dangerous glint of Natsuki's emerald eyes, Fumi shrunk into her seat. "This notebook belongs to none other than your right-hand man, Nagi Homura. This contains all the information about your organization. It's structure, the names of the members and even the account numbers for every remittance of the organization's income."
"You don't know what you're dealing with, Kuga," Fumi's voice was angry but if you listen closely, you could hear a slight tremor vibrating in it. Fear.
"Oh, please. I know who you are." Natsuki walked behind Fumi's rigid back and she leaned at her ear. "You are nothing but a gutless coward who kidnaps helpless children, a fucking murderer who killed people because you're afraid being jailed and mostly, you are nothing compare to Mai Tokiha," Fumi's body shook violently and Natsuki took a step back. A little more push and Fumi's control will tumble down to their feet.
"Well, I can't blame Reito. Just looking at Mai I could tell that she's a keeper, hmmm…" Both agents hummed with pleasure as if taunting Fumi. "With that body of hers—"
"Enough! Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" Fumi shouted—her face twisted in an ugly expression which Natsuki watched gleefully.
"Can't stand the truth? Reito loved Mai enough to let himself be used by Nagi," She watched Fumi's color rise again. Natsuki laughed out loud at Fumi's seething face and she boldly pushed away from the table between her and Fumi. She folded her arms and she threw a smirked at Fumi.
"You used your position in the organization to kidnapped Mai—to keep off her away from your way. Little Fumi thought that Reito dear will all forget slutty Mai once she was out of his life but to your fury and frustration, Reito let himself be a puppet for Nagi. So instead—,"
"Shut up!" Fumi was gripping her hands together and her lips were almost purple with anger but Natsuki continued.
"You tried to seduce Reito with your fake nauseating sweetness, telling him that you'll always be by his side when all along you wanted him so bad. So bad, that you have to kidnap Mai but to your despair, he didn't want you at all." Fumi was panting with fury, and it more made her want to hammer the bitch brutally.
"I even pushed you into Reito when you offered help but he rejected the whole idea. He didn't even—," Fumi suddenly stood up, making her chair fell backward and she tried to lunge at Natsuki but she was faster—Natsuki quickly jumped back and she took a fighting stance.
"Give me your best shot you bitch," Natsuki tauntingly invited the trembling Fumi. "I'll add assaulting an officer to your growing pile of case."
"I will kill you once I settle this stupid case of yours," She was panting and she balled her hands into a fist. "I'll kill you first then I'll kill that stupid whore then Shizuru,"
"You like to kill huh? It gives you a thrill, the power to hurt someone. I bet you don't get enough release every time you're acting like a miss-goody-two-shoes."
"I should have killed that whore!" Fumi shouted, echoing around the interrogation room. "I should have ordered to kill her! But that stupid Nagi insisted at the organization that Mai will be a good use if she's alive! And look what fucking happened?!"
"So you tried to make Reito fall in love with you?"
"He's been in love with me all along! Those bitches didn't give him a chance to show it to me! I wanted to show him that I'll love him more than she's capable. He's just blinded by Mai, by Shizuru! You got to understand me Kuga! You know how it feels when the person you love doesn't return the same feelings for you!" Tears started to cascade at Fumi's contorted face and her voice rose into a pathetic octave.
A slight pity ran through her emerald eyes but she stomped it down. This woman killed, exploited and kidnapped a lot of people for her own selfish twisted sense of egoistic needs. Fumi doesn't deserve mercy, but the victims deserved justice. "Yes, I know how you felt but that doesn't give me the license to kidnap and murder anyone including innocent people. Get that good for nothing woman back into one of our cell, Agent Nao. End of interview." Natsuki threw the crying woman one last look before going out of the interrogation room.
It felt like a thunderous click when Natsuki closed the door and she sagged at it. It drained her to interrogate Fumi but she needed Fumi to confess. Despite the overwhelming evidence, her confession will slam dunk the case straight to winning it. A familiar voice called her and she thought that she was just imagining it but when her mother called her—Natsuki's blue locks of tresses flew as she quickly looked behind her.
"You took her down, hard." Still weak but very much alive, Shizuru smiled at her. A bolt of pleasure ran through her spine and her breath automatically staggered at Shizuru's familiar angelic smile.
"How…?" Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and worry. "You should be in the hospital, resting." Natsuki moved towards in front of the sitting woman. Natsuki kneeled at her and she squeezed Shizuru's thigh.
Natsuki noticed how the woman panted slightly and it made her worry. "I'll go back there," Shizuru reached out to brush blue locks of hair out of her face. "I just wanted to see the great FBI Agent Natsuki in action."
Her throat constricted with emotion and she swallowed back the sudden bile of worry that surfaced. "If I'm so great, I should have prevented it… I should have come sooner to save you."
"Natsuki…look at me," Despite the pain, Shizuru mustered enough force to steel her voice. Hurting dark emerald eyes shone as Shizuru's crimson eyes captured it. "It all comes with our job and we both know that we can't protect each other from it. This is not your fault but its Fumi's fault. It's my own shortcoming why I was wounded in the job. I should have paid more attention and I paid the price."
"But that doesn't mean I'll stop looking out for you…" It was whispered in her most husky voice. Almost inaudible, that made Shizuru blush. She smiled softly at Natsuki's tormented face and she traced Natsuki's creased eyebrows with her thumbs—gradually, making it soften beneath her touch.
"I love you…" Her fingers trembled and Shizuru's crimson eyes dilated as soon as Natsuki proclaimed her feelings. The FBI agent watched curiously watched how Shizuru's crimson pupil returned to its original size. Exquisite. Natsuki always thought that those crimson eyes were probably one of the most indiscernible things existing in this world but as she watched it shines with emotion—at that very moment, Natsuki felt powerful, like she could take anything in this world.
"I love you more…" And it amazed Natsuki how Shizuru's mouth creased into a soft loving smile. She still can't believe that Shizuru was smiling like that for her. Only for her.
"Okay, that settles it. You love each other, now can we go back to the hospital? You've got wounds to heal." Both women smile when the director of the FBI huffed at them, Shizuru nodded and Natsuki stood up to help her. Her arm encircled Shizuru's waist and she felt Shizuru's weight as she leaned at her.
The trio glanced when the door from the interrogation room opened and Natsuki inquiringly raised her right eyebrow to her sister. "I can't stand her when she's acting like nuts. God, she bawled and babbled like gushing waterfalls on our way to her cell. Goddammit, I think you broke her, Natsuki."
"That was the plan," Natsuki quietly mustered under her breath. She felt Shizuru's fingers tightened around her shoulder but she doesn't care how she sounded cold. Fumi inflicted a lot of pain, but when she hurt Shizuru, that was the last straw. When she saw Shizuru bleeding, it became a goal for her to bring her down. No matter how Natsuki will drag her into the gutter. Even if that was the last thing she'll do.
"Let's not talk about her anymore," The mother and two daughters looked at her questioningly. Sensing that whatever she'll say would probably have a great impact at the three—squaring her shoulder bravely, Shizuru gave them her most heartfelt smile and she felt the tension ebbed out of the room. "She's behind bars and all we can do is to pick up the pieces and move on from this."
"Yep," Natsuki's eyes misted at Shizuru's words and the meaning behind it. She was more than grateful that she can finally move forward with Shizuru by her side. "We will," Shizuru leaned at her and softly kissed the corner of her lips.
"Right-o!" Nao whooped happily behind them and she wrapped her arms at the mushy couple. "Come, on now! Off we go!"
Kazahana smiled at them, finally—her loner daughter would not be so lonely anymore now that she found her long lost mate.
After a year…
Hot breath was visible in front of her as she panted at the coldness of the snow. Natsuki loved the snow despite being name after summer. Just thinking of curling up in front of crackling logs with a cold bottle of beer in her hand while Shizuru snuggled beside her made her grin. The former FBI agent shivered when a gust of wind shattered her warm and fuzzy thoughts of home.
Home. True to her word, her mother suspended her from not following proper procedures in their last operation but Natsuki was more gladly to accept it. She was needed by recuperating Shizuru—and she was willing to take care of her girlfriend. It took Shizuru almost six months for her wound to fully heal and by that time, the two of them decided to start living together again.
Six months. Six months of living in bliss. Six months waking up seeing Shizuru first thing in the morning—sharing that first peaceful glimpse of morning light with her. All Natsuki could think was she was truly blessed that God gave her another chance to spend her remaining days with Shizuru.
Natsuki yelped when a sudden pain of cold stung her face and she tried to remain standing as the snow-blurred her sight but to her horror, Natsuki fell in her butt. A series of bark and laughter echoed around her as she wiped the fistful of snow off her face.
"Aw, your pout never gets old mutt," She groaned when her sisters' voice joined the chorus of laughter.
"Tch, I can still arrest you for assaulting an officer." Natsuki glared at her laughing sister.
"Well, technically, you can't. You're not on duty anymore and you're a freaking teacher now huh?" Nao regarded her sister as Natsuki pushed herself up.
Natsuki patted away the clinging snow at her pants. "Where are they?" Her dog, Duran ran towards her and licked some of the clinging snow at her.
"Together? The last time I checked them was in the kitchen. They're cooking something for Christmas eve," Nao snorted. "I still can't believe how Shizuru's not a CIA agent, to begin with."
Natsuki nodded at her. After the case rolled into the court, they found out that the CIA agent was long retired from the service. Shizuru was only reinstated when the agency asked for her help in intelligence gathering prompting her to meet Reito while undercover. Nagi was making waves internationally for selling delicate secrets to neighboring countries making CIA act against him. It was unintentional when they discovered that Nagi was also the one who was kidnapping and selling the missing children from their country thus bringing the FBI into the loop.
"I always knew that she's into business," Natsuki grinned to her sister.
"And I can't believe you bagged a freaking rich and smoking hot chick. You don't even date around like me—," When Nao was about to launch a cringe-worthy story about herself, a sound of clearing throat caught their attention.
And there she was, standing on the porch of their rest house—her soft tawny hair shining beneath the halo of burning sunset. The same soft easy smile was plastered on her face and the familiar staggering of breath caught her full blast at her chest—delicious warmth spreading throughout her belly into her whole body.
As Natsuki's eyes captured Shizuru's burning crimson eyes, her whole attention was enamored as it crinkled with its intense feeling for her. Smack! For another minute, Natsuki coughed when snow was forcefully shoved into her face and Shizuru's gut-wrenching but in a good way laugh echoed at the valley.
"I'd really appreciate it, Nao if you'll stop attacking my girlfriend," Shizuru casually leaned into the railings. A soft gust of wind blew and her breath was caught in her throat and her heart when Natsuki's blue locks of hair swayed with it. Flakes of snow shone and fell out of those soft bolts of hair as Natsuki's shoulder laugh with her sister. Gorgeous. Forcing her desire to calm down, she contemplated how in the world did she survive for five years without Natsuki.
Their first time after five years was…sublime. Divine in every sense of the word. Familiar yet electrifying. Burning with a need to be infused with her lovers' soul—they spent their whole night making love. Memorizing every inch of Natsuki's body, etching its sensual responses into her heart and mind—Shizuru made her come in every way. Sensing her burning need to devour her, Natsuki did the same but with burning intensity that made Shizuru breathless.
"Shizuru?" A cold hand brushed her face as Shizuru opened her eyes and she nearly laughed out loud when she noticed Natsuki blushed. Shizuru nearly forgot how the woman can easily read her mind.
"Ara, I didn't even hear you. I must be dozing off," Shizuru winked at her.
"More like drooling at Natsuki," Nao brushed past them and she stomped her boots to shake the snow off it. "You're both disgusting, it's making my eyes hurt just by watching you two, yuck."
"Well, you have to live with it. She ain't going anywhere, you dumb." Natsuki kicked her sisters' butt as Nao walked inside their cottage.
Shizuru's heart fluttered at the implication of her girlfriends' words. Forever. Shizuru wrapped her arms at Natsuki's left arm. "You ain't going anywhere without me too, buddy."
Sparks flew when emerald eyes met her crimson eyes. Natsuki's eyes crinkled and she smiled contently. "Now let's get back into your thoughts a few minutes ago. Tell me what part of it were you thinking?"
Shizuru laughed out loud. They are in this together. As long as they live.
THE END
A/N: There you have it, guys. It's done. Technically, this chapter was finished a few weeks ago but I was putting it off because I'm sad to see it end. I know, I know, I'm sorry but some of Natsuki's pasts were the same with me and I was kinda projecting it from me.
I want to thank you guys for supporting, waiting for my slow updates and reading my noob fiction. I'll update CF next, maybe in January because of my busy schedule.
Thank you guys. Thank you. Till CF update, Ciao!
-Rebelionheart