I just finished watching Mei's Butler and I loved it. There are so many possibilities for different stories. One thing that caught my imagination was the scene after Shinobu took Mei to the greenhouse to watch Lucia seduce Rihito and then followed her when she ran away. What if Kento wasn't there and what if Shinobu had ended up kissing Mei and it changed something for both of them. Like I said, possibilities….

I do not own anything related to Mei's Butler except my own words.

Not Part of the Plan

Her boots crunched the dry leaves beneath her feet and the cool air was fragrant with the smell of late autumn. Sunlight glittered like scattered diamonds off the surface of the little man-made lake that could be seen in the distance between the trees, already bare of leaves. The silence around her was all encompassing and peaceful. It would have been just the kind of place Mei looked for when she needed a break from the complications of her life now.

Mei ran blindly through the woods, not really caring where she was going, as long as it was away from them. The image of Lucia-sama in her Rihito's arms was too much for her to take in. Listening to Shinobu tell her how much they longed for each other and that it was because of her that they were forced to separate and then seeing them embrace caused her chest to ache in a way it never had before, not even when her parents died. A fog seemed to have settled in her brain, the only thing she could think of was getting away from it, away from them.

Six months ago everything had been different, six months ago she had been a happy teenager, living in a small fishing village with her parents in the Udon Noodle shop they ran together. It wasn't a perfect life, but it was a good one. That changed on the day that tragedy struck and her parents were taken from her unexpectedly in a car accident. Without her parents, Mei was left all alone with her grief. With no family to take her in she went to live with the Natsumis, her best friend's family. Then, out of nowhere, he showed up.

Shibata Rihito, dressed formally in a three piece suit with tails and white gloves upon his hands and a gold pin on his lapel, telling her that she was the only living heir to the fabulously wealthy Hongo family and that she had to attend a special school that would teach her how to be a proper lady so she could take her place at her grandfather's side. He was her butler – whatever that was.

Mei refused, saying that she had no use for a grandfather who could disown his own son for marrying her mother against his wishes. A grandfather who had never, in 16 years, taken any interest in her life and didn't bother to show up for his own son's funeral. She owed him nothing and had no intention of abiding by his decisions on her life. She would continue to go to school where she was and run the noodle shop on her own, with the Natsumi family's help. Mei was strong willed and stubborn. Once she made up her mind, heaven and earth would have to move for her to change it.

Surprisingly, that's what happened. One day on her way to open the noodle shop for business with Rihito trailing her, still trying to convince her to do her grandfather's bidding, she was pulled to ground by Rihito just as the building in front of her exploded in a giant fireball. Rihito told her that now that she was the Hongo heiress, she and the people around her (including the Natsumi family) would be targets for violence. On top off that, Mei got a call from her grandfather saying that if she chose not to do as he asked, he would take her father's remains and bury them far away from her and forever separate her parents. It was too much pressure for her to keep resisting, so she agreed and Rihito promised her that he would be by her side the entire time and help her through it all as her dedicated butler, so she felt somewhat sanguine about her decision.

That was how it began and now, six months later, she found herself running through the forest on the lands surrounding St. Lucia's Academy for Young Ladies, a school for the daughters of ridiculously wealthy families, each of whom had their own butler to serve and take care of them. Unwelcome and disliked by almost everyone, Mei was struggling for her parents and her friends' sake to stay in school, fighting against plots to get rid of her and attacks by the other students and masked men chasing her. She had the added complication of possibly having fallen in love with her butler (a grievous sin against the academy's highest law) and now this. How much more could she take?

She didn't hear his footsteps behind her until she stopped in front of a tree and he was right there behind her, talking, still talking. "Shinbata Rihito needs Lucia-sama as well. In this case you are saddened and lonely. Allow me to comfort you."

She had no idea what he was saying, the fog in her brain did not allow her to focus on anything beyond the pain in her heart and the image of Rihito and Lucia-sama holding each other running through her mind in an endless loop. She only turned around when she felt Shinobu's breath stirring the wispy hairs on the back of her neck. She was perplexed to find him so close to her and only had time to register the dark brown pools of his eyes before his lips were on hers.

At first his touch was light, chaste even, just glancing across her lips and then his hands came up to the back of her head and he brought her closer to him as he opened his lips and moved them seductively over hers. Mei had no idea what was happening but could feel her heart beating faster as well as a strange heat spreading from her lips down to her stomach and the sensation on her lips was very pleasant. This was new. She wasn't sure what was happening right now, but it felt nice and she really wanted something to feel good right now so instead of pushing him off in disgust, Mei found herself closing her eyes and releasing a small sigh of pleasure.

Shinobu's POV

She didn't pull away was his first thought. Shinobu was not expecting this turn of events. He was sure she would fight him. Maybe seducing her away from Rihito would be easier than he thought. He slid his hands up her arms until his long pale fingers were lost in her soft black hair and he pulled her closer to him and increased the movements of his lips on hers, a little surprised when she responded to him by tentatively repeating those movements back to him. For just a moment he was a little disturbed by what he was doing to her. His intention was to either seduce her away from Rihito or to have him come across them and turn to Lucia-sama believing that Mei-chan did not love him after all. He knew that Mei-chan would end up hurt and it caused him a twinge of conscience at using the girl, but it was all for Lucia-sama so that had to make it ok.

The twinge passed as he felt her lips part on a sigh, allowing him to slip his tongue inside her mouth and taste her. He felt his own body shudder as her tongue shyly came out to touch his and Shinobu was struck by the innocence of it. He released her lips for just long enough for them both to catch their breath, then caught them again in a deep and searing kiss that made her knees buckle and a low moan escape from her mouth into his causing his body to react and his arms to wrap tightly around her waist to pull her young body up against his. He could feel the blood in his veins warming up and heading to a place on his body that he really wasn't expecting it to. When Mei's hands landed on the front of his shirt and slowly made their way up his chest to his shoulders and finally tangled in his hair, grabbing fistfuls and pulling his face even closer, Shinobu momentarily lost control of himself to the sudden explosion of lust burning in his veins, pushing her up against the tree at her back and moulding his body to hers, making sure she could feel his arousal pressing into her abdomen as he groaned into her mouth.

Mei's POV

The feelings she was experiencing were unlike anything she had ever felt before. Forgetting everything else, she concentrated on the pleasant tingling sensations that were spreading all throughout her body the harder he kissed her, and the splendid feeling of lethargy seeping into her limbs causing her to melt into his embrace. It felt so strange but so good she wanted more of it. The fire spreading through her veins seemed to pool in her stomach, coiling tightly, building a need in her, she didn't know what for, but the feeling made her press her thighs together tightly and she could feel moisture seeping into her panties. Without any conscious effort on her part, Mei found her hands travelling up his clothed chest and broad shoulders, skimming over the warm flesh of his neck before fisting in his shining white hair and pulling his face closer and tilting her head slightly to accommodate him to deepen the kiss. His reaction? He practically slammed her into the tree behind her with his body, shoving his hardened member into the soft flesh of her abdomen, blowing the fog out of her brain. Mei's eyes flew open on his throaty groan. She gathered up her strength and brought her hands back to his chest pushing hard, putting him at arm's length.

Shinobu's POV

Shinobu was surprised by the sudden distance between them, not sure how that happened until his eyes met hers. He could see by the anger in her eyes that he had gone too far, too fast with her and spooked her. He was a little annoyed too – he didn't want to stop. Kissing her affected him more than he wanted to admit.

Instead of closing the distance between them again and kissing her until neither of them could stand upright, he schooled his features into the polite butler's mask he always wore and forced himself to breathe normally, willing his heart beat to slow down. He couldn't figure out why his body was acting the way it was. As a top notch butler, he was supposed to be in control of himself at all times. Not forgetting the plan, he was supposed to be seducing her – it wasn't supposed to affect him! He put those thoughts aside to think on later. Right now he had to see what he could salvage of the plan.

Despite her hands holding him at bay, he reached out one hand to brush a lock of hair off her face and tuck it gently behind her ear before letting his long fingers skim over her cheek in a whispered caress. He felt her shiver at his touch.

"Don't be too eager to push me away little one," he said in a low sexy voice. "I can give you something he can't. He wants to be with Lucia-sama so who is going to be there for Mei-sama?" He moved infinitesimally closer and bent down getting ready to kiss her again, "You could have me, next to you every day and every night, seeing to your every need, every comfort." He whispered.

He was about to swoop in again but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his foot. Glancing down he saw Mei's foot pressing down on the soft white leather of his imported shoes.

"If you try anything like that again," she said keeping her voice low and even, her angry gaze locked on his, "I won't be so polite." Stepping away from him, Mei calmly walked away from him without sparing a backward glance. Before she had gone more than a few steps she heard his amused voice say, "I look forward to our next meeting Mei-sama." She didn't need to turn around to see the smirk on his face.

Half an hour later found Shinobu standing where she left him, leaning against the tree he had pinned her to, trying to understand what happened, specifically what happened to him. Why did he react to her in a way he had never reacted to anyone before? He thought once more about her innocent reflexive response to him, how it inflamed his senses and how the scent of her hair and taste of her mouth combined to captivate him. Even now he was getting hard again just thinking about how silky her hair felt against his skin and how soft and warm her lips were against his, wondering how her skin would taste, how it would feel against his skin and what kinds of sounds she would make for him when he took it further. Could it be that he was physically attracted to the skinny, awkward commoner? There was no question that he could give her unimagined pleasure, he was a very skilled butler and a generous lover after all. Well that could work for him, he surmised, if he had to seduce her, there was nothing to say that he couldn't enjoy it too. This would still work for the plan, as long it was only physical attraction and nothing else. Yes, on the whole, it would work out very well for both of them.

He looked in the direction she had walked away from him and felt a genuine smile curve his lips. Oh yes, he was very much looking forward to their next meeting.

Mei made it back to her room in the Ombura dorm and sat on the edge of her bed before she allowed herself to think about what just happened in the woods with Shinobu. It was her first kiss and what a kiss it was. She touched her lips with shaking fingers and remembered the feeling of his lips on hers. At first glance he looked so cold, it didn't seem likely they would be so soft, but they were, and warm – very warm. She thought again about the pleasure she felt when his mouth moved over hers. The way her body tingled when he deepened the kiss and the way she melted into him. These agreeable sensations were overwhelming and she could feel a tightening in her abdomen now just thinking about it.

Was she crazy? Didn't she love Rihito? Why did she react that way to Shinobu's touch? He was a liar and Lucia-sama's henchman. Could it be possible that she might have feelings for him as well, or was it just a physical reaction to the first time she had ever been touched that way? It made no sense to her. She needed to talk to someone, but who. It's not like she had any friends here at the academy, but then she thought, outside the academy there was someone she could ask.

Mei made a quick phone call before changing into her regular clothes and headed to the helicopter pad. Half an hour later, she was comfortably ensconced at the Natsumi's dining table with a hot bowl of soup and rice in front of her.

"I need some advice Mari-sama," she said, looking at the Natsumi matriarch with a puzzled frown. "Something happened today and I don't really understand my feelings." She went on to describe what happened under the tree leaving out the name of the person she was talking about and the events leading up to it, but Mari Mastumi was like a second mother to her and Mei knew she would have something helpful to say, even without all the details.

"Is this person someone you have strong feelings for?" Mari-Sama asked.

"Not really. In fact I don't think I ever thought of this person in that light before, but now, all of a sudden, I'm thinking thoughts I know I shouldn't about him. Does this mean that I'm in love with him?

"It could very well be love", Mari answered thinking Mei was talking about Rihito. "I think you should take the opportunity to see if those feelings were real, but make sure you don't get carried away. You are way too young to be a mother! Besides the physical aspect, you have to make sure you are both on the same page emotionally before you get into that kind of relationship. He's older and a man, he may be ready for much more that you are ready for. Don't let him rush you into anything you might not be ready for, no matter how much pushes. Don't be afraid to say no.

With that advice in her mind, Mei made her way back to St. Lucia's and her dorm where she found a quiet and thoughtful Rihito waiting for her.