Summary: The story of Natsuki when she went to Garderobe. There she will meet, learn and perhaps love her strength and her weakness, the only one who have such power over her. Shizuru Viola. Obviously a ShizuruXNatsuki fanfic. K+ just in case.
Author notes (please read): Ok, so I'm writing a fanfic about Natsuki's year in the Otome academy, not the most original thought, but still . (I think this would make a great series; Sunrise should really make the 3rd Mai series base on this.) But I will be putting some characters that were on the original series into this fanfic too, since I really like them and believe they should not be left out.
--- Japanese---
Bubuzuke-onna: What Haruka often used to call Shizuru. Roughly translated as "Tea-drinking woman."
Gokigenyou: A polite way to greet someone. Translated as: "Good day."
Gakuencho: President. (Special thanks to 'M' to correct my mistake on this. I always mistake those two from some reasons ;)
-------My Strength, My Weakness. -------
Chapter 1: The beginning.
"We're finally HERE!" Mai practically screamed into the distracted girl's ear as their driver came to a stop.
"Are you trying to make me deaf Tokiha?" Natsuki shouted back with equal volume, covering her ears by reflex in the process. 'I don't know why she has to be so excited, we're just going to a new school for god sake.' The blue-haired girl complained in her mind.
"Oh come on Natsuki, showing a little more enthusiasm won't hurt you know? We're being accepted into Gardenrobe, the best school in the whole world!" She then started to recite her "101 reasons why Gardenrobe is wonderful" speech she have written up in her head as soon as she learned they were being accepted into her dream school.
"I get it, I get it alright? So we're at the most wonderful school in existence, hooray." Natsuki faked a cheer to get, as she calls it, the Mai 'talking machine', to stop before her patience with the girl finally wears off.
"Geez Natsuki, you can at least put in some effort act better then that." Mai puffed out her cheeks as she says that, making her look even more ridicules then usual in Natsuki's eyes.
"Whatever." The other girl replied before walking out of the taxi.
'Why should I be excited just because we're going to school?' Natsuki thought absentminded while leaning against the gigantic gate, waiting for the driver to take out their luggage. He was very thin and bonny looking for a middle-aged man and was struggling to take out their several large trunks and heavy suitcases. sigh Sighing, she walks over to his struggling figure. 'If you want something done, you have to do it yourself.' Mumbling some more about incompetent old men, She took her wooden trunk in her right hand and Mai's orange suitcase in the other and drag them out of the car coop with little effort. 'And they're not even heavy.' Natsuki rolled my eyes as the driver gave her a shocked look and finally rushed back into his driver seat, a giant sweat drop visibly appeared on his head, and allow her to get their items out in peace.
"Natsuki, you would make a great luggage carrier you know." Mai finally chose to come out after seeing all the heavy work have been done. Natsuki finished pulling out the last suitcase in the trunk, and shot her friend an annoyed look.
"Shut it Tokiha, someone's coming." She commanded as she noticed two people are approaching them from behind the school's gate. They look like students of the school and are both wearing a grayish uniform that remind her too much of a maid outfit for Natsuki's liking. 'God. Please don't let those be the uniform.' Was her first thought on the outfit. The idea of her wearing such a frilly and girlish dress was just too repulsive for her to imagine.
One of them has long straight blond hair and seems to be in a bad mood judging from the expression she was making. The other have short dark blue hair with long bangs that spread towards the side and by the look of it, very please with the situation. The blond was muttering something to herself while the other tries her best to hold down her laughter. As they get closer Natsuki could barely hear fragments of their conversation. "Now now, it's not like it's the first time she done something like this." The short-haired girl commented, trying to calm her irritated friend down while playing with the blue rose in her hand as well. She was both concern and amuse. Very amused.
"That's the point, she's the most irresponsible girl of all, and yet why is she #1?" The blond shot back, but realizing she was nearing the entrance, she prevented herself from adding anything else.
They waited for the two to reach the gate and for them to unlock it. The gate seems to require some sort of password to open the gate as one of the girl, the long haired one, had to enter something to the side of the gate before the gate would slowly, but smoothly opens up. 'Why does this feel like we're entering a prison or something?' Natsuki asked no one in particular while unconsciously folding her arms in front of her chest, still waiting. 'These girls sure take their sweet time.' She added to her thought.
"Welcome to Gardenrobe. You two must be Mai Tokiha and Natsuki Kuger." The blond one greeted them first as she finished the task of unlocking the gate.
"Yes, I'm Mai, and this is Natsuki." Mai was quick to introduce herself as always; she was a sociable person after all, much more then Natsuki ever wished to be.
"Humh." Was Natsuki's short reply. 'I came here to be the strongest, not to make friends.' It was her only goal, to become the strongest Otome. It is what she was suppose to do and what she intend to accomplish.
"As the #2 Pearl, I, Haruka Arimitage, am honored to be the first to welcome you two to our school." Haruka announced in a very official tone.
"Nice to meet you, I'm the #3 Pearl, Chie Hallard, at your service." The short haired girl finally introduced herself and winked at us as she offers her hand. That made Mai blushed for some reason as she shook hand with the #3 Pearl, while Natsuki just secretly roll her eyes. Then Mai and they exchange some other polite greetings talk before they were escort toward the Principle office. Throughout the whole walk, Natsuki barely paid attention to what they were talking about but tries not to ignore them completely to not miss out an anything important.
"There was supposed to be another Pearl with us to welcoming you two today too." Haruka started her rant again and even the dazed Natsuki was able to hear that due to the loud way she said it. "But she snuck out from the meeting room while we busy discussing about the ranking system. I bet she was using that as her escape plan when she brought it up. That ignorance, Bubuzuke-onna! How on earth did she became the #1 pearl in the first place?" She continues on with her rant with Natsuki tuning her out completely now. She has gotten quite good with tuning people out when she wanted to now, thanks to a certain orange-head friend of her.
'I don't have time for this.' She let out another silent sigh. She always hated the introduction phrase of schools.
------- Principle office ------
They reached the principle's door after more then 15 minutes of walking. It has always been a wonder to Natsuki why all the principles chose to stay on the very top floor of their school? But Natsuki have to admit, Gardenrobe have lived up to its fame. The school was not only large but it was equipped with the latest technological advances that Natsuki was sure surpassing even those of the government. Windbloom was the most technological advanced nation of the world after all, and Gardenrobe was the most well equipped place in the nation. Seeing these wonderful things, it almost left Natsuki in a state of awe. Almost. She has more important things to do.
Haruka knocked on the door 3 times and stood back and wait patiently, her complaints and ranting behind her right now. The 4 students and to-be-students waiting anxiously for the knocks to be answered. After several seconds, the door slowly open and revealed a dignified looking woman dressed in a lavender traditional robe of a full-fledge meister with long, silky violet hair and ruby red eyes. "Gokigenyou. Please come in." She greeted them politely and smiling as she step aside for the visitors to enter the room.
"Meister Shimako!" Haruka called out in surprise, obviously not expecting this person of all people to answer the door.
"Ah, Meister Shimako, it's an honor to see your beautiful face again." Chie, who have suppressed her surprise, charmingly greeted the Meister she most respected.
"You're too kind Chie-chan." Meister Shimako replied giggled slightly.
Ahem Natsuki cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention to her. Detecting the impatient building in Natsuki, the older woman stood to the side and allow more room for them all to enter. "But I believe you have more important things to discuss then my return." After they all have gone through the wooden door, she closed the door gently and quickly made her way to the Principle's side.
The room as big, bigger then it needed to be Natsuki noticed. The window was even larger then the door in which they came in, perfect to over look not on the school but even the whole city. There is a giant sofa to the right of the window, and a medium side rectangular table covered with light blue tablecloth with gold outline, was in front of it. And opposing to the table set was a large plasma screen TV. hanging in the center of the wall. To the left side of the room, where the window was, lies the most expensive looking office desk Natsuki have ever seen. The content on the table was the usual papers and pens, arranged neatly in an organized manner. The golden nameplate resides on the table reads: "Gakuencho: O. Kruger."
An oversized rolling chair had its back towards the students as they entered the room, now slowly turning over, reveling the president of what perhaps the greatest school in all the land, Gakuencho Oyuki Kruger. Her hair was long and straight with the silvery white color of soft snowflakes on a winter's day. Clad simply in a long blue cloak with several pockets to the sides, and wearing a rather revealing top showing off her cleavage. Her arms rested onto the-. "Gokigenyou Haruka, Chie. I assume these are the two new students?" Finally she spoke, and her voice was void of much emotion, a skill that was mastered after several years of political debates and arguments.
"Hai, Kruger- Gakuencho. We've escorted the new arrivals here." Haruka took the lead in answering once more, giving Natsuki a sense that the girl was trying too hard to lead. After reporting that, the two leading Pearls of Gardenrobe step aside allowing Natsuki and Mai to advance forward.
"Thank you." Principle Kruger thanked them before turning her attention to the newest additions to her school. "Well then, shall we get started on your registration?" She asked, or rather stated while receiving a small pack of registration form from Shimako who stood right beside her afterward. 'What a pain.' Natsuki commented in her head, not daring just yet to mess up on her first day.
------- 30 minutes latter. -------
"And our last and most important rule, although I think you both have known this already, you must never ahem get sexually involve with any male." Principle Kruger stated to them, while coughing slightly into her hand to make it less uncomfortable, making herself, Mai, Natsuki and even Haruka blush furiously while Shimako and Chie both tried their best to hide their amusement. 'That's the first thing they ever told us before going to this school, of course we know already!' Natsuki almost yelled that out loud due to her awareness of the heat that make its way to her cheeks and lingered there. Also because her patient have been growing thinner and thinner throughout the registration process, but managed to hold her tongue by some miracle.
They were dismissed shortly afterward and were led out the door by Shimako who closed the door softly behind them, but not before bidding them good luck. The two Pearls handed them their room number. "Aww, our numbers are so far apart Natsuki." Mai complained after reading her room number, 51, and Natsuki's, 26.
"Your luggage have already been transported to your respective rooms. You will be sharing a room with another person. Here is the map of the school." The #2 Pearl told the new students as she handed them each a big map. "Gardenrobe is pretty big, so be careful not to get lost." She added.
"Of course we can show you to your respective rooms if you wish. And I'll even give you a special grand tour." Chie cut in and offered holding out her blue rose towards Mai and gave them one of her teasing grin.
"Wow that would be great!" Mai accepted the offer right away of course, she was always much more sociable then Natsuki herself if she was sociable at all.
"No thanks. I can find the way myself." Natsuki quickly replied and rush off before the other three have time to say otherwise.
------- Fade out -------
Well, that's the first chapter. Personally I share the same feeling as Natsuki with the boring and tiresome phrase of the beginning of a school year while I wrote this first chapter, but it have to be done. Well I hope you all have liked this beginning chapter, although it clearly lacked the most important tea-drinking #1 Pearl. And if you don't know who I'm talking about, I'll be in shocked. Please review, because it always helps authors write faster. I don't mind flames at all, because I do think I need to improve on a lot of things, but I'll appreciate it if you would tell me what you think I lack in the flames. Well then, until next time.
P.S: Some of the text might seem to be in 1st person point of view from Natsuki because I originally wrote it that way but decided against it the last minute. If you find any, please post it in your review, I would appreciate the help.