Hello everyone! Guess who's decided it was finally time to update this story? Yes, it is I!
I'm really sorry for the long wait. You see, I've been trying to fix my laptop, but with my hectic summer practices and the constant nagging from my younger brothers, I haven't found the time.
It also didn't help that school began months ago. Now I'm swamped with school work, morning practices at five, and volunteering. It's a real miracle that I can still stand. -sigh. Oh well. That is life I guess.
On to a completely different subject- 29 reviews? Wow, you guys are just awesome. I'm seriously stupefied. But what review stood out from the rest, is from my dear reviewer twenty-six whitewave. Thanks for your kind words. People like twenty-six whitewave, who always have something to say, makes me feel appreciated and all fuzzy inside. It's a good feeling that can definitely change your day.
On any normal occasion, I would answer all your reviews, but I am most certain that you all are looking forward to chapter 3, correct? So I have decided to answer those reviews later, if I can find the time. Again sorry.
Now that's all out of th way, I would like to present chapter three of When You Least Expect It! Enjoy! Oh and sorry for it being a bit different from the rest of my other chapters. It's been a while since I've done this and I have to get the story's flow into my mindset.
Disclaimer: I don't own Mai HiME.
Darkness.
That's all she could see. Pure and utter darkness. But she was used to it. It happened so often that the purpose of being stuck into a windowless room with no light was no longer effective. It no longer caused her fear and loneliness as it had in the past.
Natsuki huddled in one of the dark corners of the room shivering in the cold. Although the dark no longer bothered her, the temperature made up for it. The dark haired man made sure to put the house temperature down a few degrees just so she could suffer. Natsuki may act like a cold child, but she loved the sun more than anything. The warm, sunny feeling on her skin was what she craved in times like these. And at the moment, her thoughts of the sun were the only thing keeping her sane in this dark room.
The door's lock gave off a loud clank as the door was swung wide. A tall man with dark brown hair and coal like eyes came in with the dim yellow hallway light behind him. Natsuki hated the way that the man presented himself. He was big and scary (the hallway light highlighted that) and it always made her feel like she was about to confront the devil himself. And with his cold black eyes starring emotionlessly at her, Natsuki believed he is the devil. Standing in front of the cowering child, the man began to speak in a cold tone. "Tsk, how pathetic. Do you understand what you did wrong, child?"
This was always the way the two interacted. Cold and detached. The man would always call her child or girl and never her name. And Natsuki did the same in fear that his other title would upset him. With a hoarse voice, she answered, "Yes sir."
The man just continued to stare at the shivering child by his feet. "I don't think you do. Yesterday, you decided to stay out of the house way past your curfew. You know how I feel about that yet you still disobey. To and from school, that was the rule. Explain yourself."
Natsuki's teeth chattered as she replied, "Sir, there was a cat in the park tree. The little boy couldn't get it down so I climbed the tree and brought the cat down."
the "A cat? Honestly?" The dark eyed man gave off a humorless laugh. One filled with sarcasm and a tinge of sadism. He didn't believe her and Natsuki knew that.
The young girl gulped and closed her eyes as she felt the man pull her up and push her out of the room. Through an endless maze of hallways, the man pushed her into her room. Natsuki stared at him with a supprised look, the opposite of her normal blank attitude towards the figure. The cold eyed man stood in the doorway as his booming voice echoed in Natsuki's room. "I'll drop it today, but if it happens again, don't expect such mercy." And with such force, he slammed the door with his words ringing in Natsuki's ears.
Natsuki picked herself off the ground and took a deep breath. He was about to hurt her, but suddenly changed his mind? Something was wrong. He had never done something like that before. His punishments for her so called "crimes" were always executed mercilessly. Whether what she did was big or small, there were always consequences.
The four year old groaned as she dropped on her bed. Her stomach spoke volumes as she stared at her ceiling. She knew she should've eaten the sandwich that a classmate had offered her. The man never fed her when she did something bad. Now, her stomach was going to keep grumbling all throughout the night.
Emerald eyes dimmed as she was about to slip from conscious, her mind still occupied with her earlier thoughts. His atitude was different from normal.. and it scared her. After all, Nageo Kruger never failed to punish her. And her 'father' was never the type to stray from his destructive path.
Natsuki woke up from her position as she jumped from her seat. She should've known. It had always been clockwork with those dreams, but it had completely slipped her mind when Shizuru came for her. How the hell did she forget? Those nightmares have been plaguing her for years, and she was always prepared, but when it came around this year, she had not done anything to lessen the pain... (1)
Running a tired hand into her slightly messy mane, Natsuki finally realized that this was not her room. She was about to freak out when she remembered. Yoshi-oji. Arriving at the hospital. Relaxing back into her spot on the couch, the emerald eyed woman eyed the room that contained the old man and her best friend.
She remembered that she and Shizuru had arrived yesterday. That the nurse at the front desk didn't allow her in until Shizuru said that she was with her. She remembered reaching the front door of Yoshi-oji's room. That she had grabbed Shizuru's hand as the two walked in. A bright smile and tired eyes greeted the two women as both hugged the man. They catched up for a bit then fell asleep from exhaustion.
"Nat-kun, still daydreaming, eh?" said a tired voice from the only occupant on a bed. Yoshi-oji was a very light sleeper so when Natsuki suddenly woke up with a cry as she jumped from the couch, he opened his eyes.
"Yoshi-oji, I'm not a 'kun'!" Natsuki suddenly replied without thinking. It wasn't until the moment after that she had realized what she had said. By then, Shizuru had woken up and was currently laughing at her with Yoshi-oji.
Natsuki blushed and pouted which caused more hysteric laughter from both the Violas. "Mou, would you guys quit laughing already? It wasn't even that funny!"
Shizuru wiped the small tears coming out at the edge of her eyes. "Ara, gomen. I couldn't help it. Natsuki's just so funny."
Yoshi-oji just continued to laugh, but had begun to calm down. "Ha, I needed that. Thanks, Nat-kun."
Before the same reply was almost said, Natsuki covered her mouth, causing another laughing session for Natsuki and Yoshi-oji.
This time, Natsuki just rollled her eyes and waited fromt the two to calm down again. It took a few minutes, but eventually, the Violas had stopped laughing.
Now, Yoshi-oji was never the type to get right down to business, he preffered to push it off until the right moment, but what he had to say was very important. Especially to the two women in front of him. "Alright, alright. Everyone calm down."
"Says the one who was the last one laughing!" Natsuki replied throwing her hands in the air. Shizuru just giggled at her action and moved from her couch to Natsuki's so her father could talk to them without having to move to face the two opposite women.
"Shhhhhh, calm down, Nat-kun. What I'm about to say is the reason why I had Shizuru fetch you. Don't you want to hear what I have to say?"
Natsuki nodded as her professional/ serious face appeared. Yoshi-oji now had the younger woman's full attention. The old man smiled slightly.
Facing his daughter, Hideyoshi kindly smiled. "Shizuru dear, I need to speak with Natsuki first. Would you get me something to eat? The food here is absolutely atrocious and their tea tastes a lot like dirt!"
Shizuru stared at him questionally, but stood to leave. "Very well, oto-san. I'll be back in a few minutes." And with that, Shizuru exited the room, grabbing her purse and jacket from the couch she had previously slept in.
After watching his daughter shut the hospital door, Hideyoshi shifted his attention to Natsuki. "Alright, now that she's gone, let's talk. Natsuki, you know I don't have long to live. I've held on all these years, but I know this one is the one. The one that's going to take me. And because of that, I have prepared a will with my lawyer, Karui Kanzaki."
Natsuki nodded. "But what does that have to do with me? I haven't seen you since I was seven. That was nearly twelve years ago."
Yoshi-oji chuckled. "Nat-kun, half the will pertains to you and Shizuru!"
Emerald eyes looked at him with confusion. "Eh?"
The old man nodded with a smile. "You were- actually, you are Shizuru's best friend."
"Back then, Yoshi-oji! I haven't seen her since you guys left!"
Hideyoshi just laughed. "You were Shizuru's closest friend and that didn't change when we moved. She made friends, sure, but you were the only one she was the most comfortable with. Anybody she tried to click with just didn't fit with her like she did with you. And in a way, she didn't care and neither did I. Because we both knew it was you who would fill in the gap in her heart."
Natsuki stared at him as those words circulated within her mind. In a way, it was the same for her. She tried to make friends, and suceed, but there wasn't a single one who she felt complete with. Mai, her high school roommate, almost did, but it felt off, like the orange haired woman wasn't the best friend for her.
"I..I get what you mean, but I still don't see how this all ties to me."
Yoshi-oji just took a deep breath. "Let me be direct. I wanted you both to know what I put on the will before the lawyer tells everybody else. And one of the concepts of the will is my heir/heiress. Now, the heiress of my company will be Shizuru so you don't have to worry about that. But, my wealth and status goes to both of you."
Natsuki, once again, was confused. " W-what? Wait- this is too sudden. Are you telling me you divided your money between Shizuru and me? And when did you get a company?"
The old man sighed. Even after all these years, Natsuki was still the same. "The money is not divided between you and Shizuru. It's a joint account. Meaning, both of you have access to it. And don't you read the news or watch it? I founded a small company a few years ago after I saved enough money. The company grew larger as the years went by. Next thing I knew, Its a multi-million dollar company with its own private jet."
"Okay.. but don't Shizuru and I have to be m-married to get a joint account?"
"Not at all. It doesn't matter if you're married or not. Just as the person you're having a joint account with signs the application. But there's this little, you could say, arrangement that needs to happen before the two of you can access the money. Something that I know will benefit you and Shizuru emotionally and," Hideyoshi chuckled, "Physically."
Natsuki still wasn't getting it. "Get to the point, old man!"
"I want you and Shizuru to marry."
How's that for a chapter? Good? Bad? How did you all like the cliffhanger? Good, no?
The relationship between the three is, well, kind of easy to see here. Now, why Natsuki couldn't remember Shizuru and Yoshi-oji in the first chapter, even after the three of them shared such meaningful memories with each other, is going to be explained in chapter 5.
Please review! I love hearing from you all. Whether it's a simple "cool chapter" or "nice work", I do still appreciate everyone's thoughts/comments on my story.
Now I have one more thing to say - I'm just teasing you all. Hahaha, I'm not at all that sadistic. Here's the rest of the story.
Natsuki sat there, her jaw on the floor. Marriage? With Shizuru?
"M-m-marriage?! Old man, what were you thinking?! We can't just get married! That's only if we l-love each other!" 'Can I even consider loving another woman?' Natsuki thought in panic. 'The woman being my best friend also doesn't help!..' Natsuki suddenly put on a thoughtful expression. 'I mean, it's not like she's ugly or anything like that, she's beautiful, but... Wait, where did that come from? And why does my stomach feel all warm and fuzzy? Gaaahhh!'
"And I have no doubt that you both feel that way. (2) Shizuru has been by herself for too long and you are the best person to always stay by her side. Loyal, honest, proud, hardworking, and faithful. Those words defined you when you were younger. Nothing's changed. I can still see them in your eyes."
Natsuki stood from her seat. "That's not true! I'm not like my younger self."
Yoshi-oji smiled from the bed. "Nat-kun, no matter how old you are or everything that's happened, you are still you. You grew up with those morals as your guideline. Even today, they still affect your every decision. And I would be the happiest man alive, almost dead, if you were to marry my most precious person."
Natsuki didn't know how to feel. Her emotions felt like they were all over the place. She was angry at Yoshi-oji for putting something like this in his will, she was confused with how this situation was supposed work, but even after all of these things, somewhere deep in her heart, she felt happy. For some reason, the thought of her and Shizuru just seemed to fit... Natsuki sighed and threw all of her emotions on the subject somewhere that wouldn't bother her right now. She needed a clear head in order to make a rationalized answer. She needed to have an open mind. 'Loving another woman isn't wrong.. No one can help who they fall for... I don't know though. This is my best friend, even if we haven't seen each other. Is she even gay? Shizuru's so proper and well mannered. I'm rowdy and sometimes annoying. Wait, am I even good enough for her?' (3)
Taking a deep breath, Natsuki left her thoughts. "Yoshi-oji, I-I don't know what to say or feel. This was very sudden and I don't know how to react. For now, I'll... I'll think on it. Is there anything else that you need to tell me?"
Hideyoshi inwardly danced. He got Natsuki to think about marrying his daughter! That would mean that Natsuki wasn't against the idea of marrying a girl and therefore wasn't against the idea of marrying Shizuru! The dark haired woman might even feel something for his daughter! 'Of course she would!' he thought to himself with absolute. The way the two interacted when they were younger wasn't something that would last a short period of time, no, the way the two felt in their childhood was forever. Yoshi-oji felt content. This was his goal to get the two together. Just like he promised when the Violas left Natsuki.
The old man laughed as Natsuki stared at him. "No... that was the only thing I needed to tell you. Everything else is for my daughter."
Natsuki nodded. "Are you going to tell her about the marriage thing?"
"I will." Yoshi-oji answered.
Natsuki nodded again. "I see..."
"Nat-kun, I want the best for my daughter. And you're it."
Natsuki nodded once again. "It's just... she's my best friend. I don't think you're suppose to marry your best friend. Especially since this best friend is someone you haven't seen in a long time. This situation just feels different..."
"Why would you marry then, Nat-kun? What are your requirements in order to marry someone?" Yoshi-oji asked. He knew that if he could get Natsuki to realize what the marriage he proposed to her means then it would happen.
The nineteen year old thought for a moment before opening her mouth. "Marriage is... is supposed to be built on love, committment, and trust. The person that I would marry must be kind, trustworthy, and truthful. They would have to be the type of person that would stay with me through the good and the bad and would never leave no matter the circumstance."
Hideyoshi smiled. Those words defined his daughter. He knew, for sure, that this marriage would happen. Natsuki just had to realize it. Hopefully, before anybody else could take his little girl from her knight.
"I couldn't have said it any better." Yoshi-oji grinned.
Natsuki smiled back.
Hideyoshi felt happier than he's ever been. The future of his daughter was bright and he knew that his company would be fine in Shizuru's hands. There was just one thing that was bothering him. He wished he could have more time to see Natsuki and Shizuru together as a couple.. Maybe even see some grandkids too. That would make his life. But he knew that was wishing for too much. It was close, almost time for him to go. He already began to slip. It was just a matter of seconds now. "I guess I wouldn't be able to talk to Shizuru.. That sucks," he said under his breath.
Natsuki watched the old man as he closed his eyes. For some reason, the act felt final. Like, it was the end. That was when she realized that he was almost gone.
"Yoshi-oji.." Natsuki whispered as she went towards the old man's bed.
"Yea," Hideyoshi said quietly. The emerald eyed teen could see that he was very tired. Snatching his hand, Natsuki grabbed a chair and sat besides him. "Is..is it time?...Are you.."
"Close...very close. I know for sure that I wouldn't be here by the time Shizuru gets back. She's very picky about my tea.." Yoshi-oji laughed. "She always was. Can you tell her I love her? I want to do it myself, but you know..."
Natsuki barely held her tears back at her apartment, but this time, she couldn't help it. Tears began to flow as she nodded, to emotional to respond.
"Also, Natsuki Kruger, my princess means everything to me. And as her knight in shinning armor, I want you protect her or I'll come back from the grave just to kick your butt."
Natsuki nodded again.
Hideyoshi patted her head. "On a whole different subject, did you know, I hated saying goodbye? It always felt like it would be the last time that I would see that person. I hated the thought of it. In my life, I've always seen my friends, aquaintances, and family more than once. Just because I hated saying goodbye...But right now, there's only one word that comes to mind."
He felt the emerald eyed woman's hands tightened and he smiled. His daughter was in safe hands. There was nothing more he could ask for. And with those thoughts, he whispered a goodbye to the only other occupant in the room, and died, a content smile on his face.
It was right after his death did Shizuru final appear. "Oto-san, I have-" The crimson eyed beauty's words were cut short as she dropped everything she was holding. Running towards her father, tears began to collect in her eyes as she hugged him. "No..no. It can't be... I didn't.. Oto-san.. I love you.." She let the tears run from her eyes as she began to feel the warmth of her father leave him. "Oto..Oto.." Those words kept coming from her mouth as Shizuru began to shut down.
Natsuki let go of the old man's hands as she stood from her chair. It was cruel for Kami to take Yoshi-oji before Shizuru came back. Just cruel. Natsuki walked towards Shizuru and hugged her. Shizuru let go her father and accepted her companion's hug. Natsuki could feel the older brunette's tears soak her shirt, but she didn't care. After all, their precious person had just died and they couldn't do anything about. Natsuki had never felt so hopeless than she did right now.
1: Natsuki always remembered her upcoming nightmares, but because of Shizuru, she forgot all about the outcome of her dreams. This was to show that Natsuki's pain wasn't first in her mind. Going with Shizuru was.
2: Yoshi-oji knows that Shizuru loves Natsuki just as Natsuki loves Shizuru. Natsuki just doesn't realize yet.
3: Natsuki's starting to develop more feelings, but she hasn't realized that it was for Shizuru.
And finished. I admit, I did cry a bit when Hideyoshi died, but I'm going to blame it on the sad song that had been playing on my phone when I did the scene. Oh, who am I kidding, the song had a part in it, but it was mostly me. I'm such a big softie when it comes to a character dying..
I added some of Natsuki's past with her father. It needed to be introduced because I have something that goes with it later.
I hope you all enjoyed. Please review. I need a bit of cheering up after that scene. I never did well when someone dies. Even in stories.
And sorry if the chapter had spelling and grammar problems. I'm trying to finish before I have to leave. I hope you all have a good day!