Disclaimer: The day I own Mai Hime is the day that ShizNat becomes canon and central to the work.
(Heavy Techno Beat plays.)
Wealth, Fame, Power
The woman who had acquired everything in this world, the Pirate Queen, Mashiro D. Roger.
The words said at her execution sent people to the seas.
"My wealth and treasures?"
"If you want it, I'll let you have it!"
"Look for it, I left it all in that place!"
Men now, chasing their dreams, head towards the Grand Line.
The world now enters a Great Age of Pir-
Wait. What do you mean it's the wrong opening? You mean you hacks gave me the wrong one? Oh this is just-
Just start the fanfiction!
300 Yen per Text and Loving every minute of it!
Mai and Mikoto diligently stalked the outside of Natsuki's apartment complex. Being very clever, they hid carefully in a thick green bush. Because everybody knows that orange hair with sun yellow school uniforms blend perfectly into a bush. As they waited outside, they watched as the sun began to carefully set into the distance. The building reflected the sun in all of its splendor and heavenly glow. In other words, it was perfect for dramatic confessions between lovers to take place and thus did.
"Oh, my dearest sweet! I cannot live without you!" one man cried out passionately.
"No, you are wrong! It is I who cannot live without you!" the woman responded shortly before crushing her face into the man's.
"Geez." Mai sighed as another thorn poked into her butt. "I know the sunset's beautiful, but give it a rest already."
"How much longer?" Mikoto's patience had worn thin as she began to do handstands.
"It's your mission. You should have at least enough patience to deal with it!"
"Mai-chan?" A familiar smooth voice addressed the bush very casually.
"Who's there?" Mai whispered while restraining Mikoto to leap out.
"It's me, Chie."
Mai seemed to give a sigh of relief, know an old friend. "That's great! What are you doing here, Chie?"
"I should be asking you the same thing, Mai-chan. You and Mikoto, all alone, here in a bush."
Mai had realized that the rumors concerning her relationship with Mikoto to be the same vein as Shizuru and Natsuki, but she quickly batted said claims away.
"No, no, no! We're not doing that! We're just...um..."
"Look!" Mikoto's cattish voice broke the pace of the conversation to see the azure haired girl not storm or run out of her apartment as they were accustomed to seeing her do, but walked with ease. Mai almost forgot to hide seeing Natsuki in a different light.
Instead of the Fuuka uniform she wore or her biking suit, she wore a turquoise dress covered by a white, thin button up coat. The coat was made of thin lace as to reveal the dress' color. On her, she had the same demeanor…but...wait…was that make-up powder and lipstick!? Mai nearly passed out to such out of character dress-up. Quickly dragging Chie into their bush, the three girls gazed in awe as Natsuki glided gracefully in her bright red high heels.
"Is that...Kuga Natsuki?" Chie's rubbed her chin in a way that made it seem like she was making several random assumptions.
"We're...uh..." Mai needed to come up with an excuse quickly.
"Wolf doesn't accept president as mate, so they made a pact."
"Oh..." Chie grinned deviously. "So they're finally going at it. I wonder what took them so long. May I join your little observation?"
"No," Mai quickly rejected. "We already have too many people stalking her. We can't bring one more."
Chie easily stood up from the bush. "That's fine with you, Mai-chan. But, didn't you take into fact that you'll need to keep up with Kuga-san?" She accurately pointed to the motorcycle riding off into the distance. Mai and Mikoto gawked at each other, realizing the position they were in.
"I guess I didn't count on the fact since it was so close by." Mai sighed. She needed Chie's help.
"Lucky! I brought my car just in case. I'll help you on the one condition that we bring Aoi along."
"Yes!" Mikoto responded without Mai's consent. At this point, the orange haired girl would've usually given up, but some things were worth finding out.
"Hang on, I just need to text her." Chie took out her cell phone and quickly typed the messages into it as fast as her appendages would allow her. After a brief moment, a nearby cell phone rang as Mai and Mikoto looked to see the brown haired Aoi receiving the message. Only a foot away, Aoi couldn't possibly notice the girl texting behind her.
"Chie, do your parents pay your cell phone charges?"
"Every last yen," Chie responded. Curious, Mai decided to look into the conversation.
Gossipgrl: U there?
Room-E: Wat's up?
Gossipgrl: Shewlf n T-leaf gng out. Brn ur camera.
Room-E: Kodak momnt?
Gossipgrl: U bet.
Just when Mai thought things couldn't get worse, the words "SENOU AOI and HARADA CHIE have joined your party!" appeared out of nowhere.
"Ehh?" Mai cried out.
As the cylinders of her motorcycle drowned out any other noise, Natsuki thought of the strategy to get rid of Shizuru once and for all. However, as she swung a sharp curve at the corner, the sun glowing on part of her helmet, she knew she would regret losing Shizuru as a friend. Shizuru, despite all her sarcasm, all her teasing and all of her casualness, really helped Natsuki during a troubled time. With deep blue strands fluttering in the winds, she thought of how Shizuru had gotten greedy and how she violated her. Then again, Natsuki really didn't care about Shizuru violating her as she did about losing her.
An elongated truck horn warned Natsuki at the last moment to swerve out of its way. Clearly, Shizuru had become a persistent thought in Natsuki's head and she needed to resolve this, one way or another.
Finding her way through the ancient buildings of an old settlement, she parked the motorcycle on the nearest street and checked herself in its window. Natsuki figured if she could distract Shizuru with all of make-up, she could find a way to win this bet. Finding only a few strands sticking out, she patted her dress down and walked towards the building where Shizuru said she would wait.
Old memories bubbled up in Natsuki. The first time she saw Shizuru threaten Haruka and Yukino sent shocks through her body. She felt afraid, seeing Shizuru act obsessive over her. Frankly, it was that side of Shizuru, manipulative, dangerous and threatening, that Natsuki didn't want to see again. Unfortunately, that might have meant that Natsuki herself was the source of all that evil.
Natsuki, after walking the stone pathway, finally arrived at the settlement with paper doors. She caught a figure inside doing her hair into a tight bun roll. At first, Natsuki considered calling out to her. However, a part of her said to stay back and wait.
"Natsuki?" The president called out in her Kyoto-ben accent. "Ara, ara. I'll be there in a minute. Please be patient." Natsuki hesitated for a moment before doing as Shizuru requested. Finally, the paper doors slid open revealing a magazine model pretending to be Shizuru.
Shizuru's choice of clothes made Natsuki nervous in more ways than one. Her eyes widened to see the scarlet dress tied in the back, revealing Shizuru's cleavage. Her mouth sat, opened wide, seeing Shizuru's high heels that looked to be made with the highest class of leather. But what really stole Nasuki's mind was Shizuru's face. The face of the woman she had known during her time at Fuuka academy wore subtle blush, light eyeliner and lipstick as red as Shizuru's dress or Natsuki's face. The sapphire eyed girl tried to regain her composure and shook herself out of the stupor.
"Umm...you look good, Shizuru." Natsuki never had this much trouble talking before.
"Natsuki looks especially cute today," Shizuru responded in her careless fashion.
"Well, let's get in your car." Natsuki wasn't sure how this night would end, but the sooner she got this out of the way, the better. However, she noticed a slight grin on Shizuru's face. Personally knowing Shizuru, Natsuki knew it was neither a calm grin nor a happy grin. Rather, Shizuru grinned slyly, just as a fox grinned after catching its prey.
"Ara, ara," Shizuru responded. "Doesn't Natsuki know that I have no car?"
Natsuki quickly realized the implications of this. Natsuki had feared that riding in the front seat with Shizuru would have created unnecessary touching. Now the only method of transportation was riding on Natsuki's motorcycle with Shizuru holding her all the way through.
"Then how do you get to school every day?" Her emerald eyes grew wide with shock, unsure of how to respond to the new situation.
"I hitchhike." Natsuki mentally slapped herself. Of course Shizuru would hitchhike. Her nature practically screamed of it.
As she grumpily led Shizuru down the stone path, their heels clicking with each step, Natsuki wondered if Shizuru thought about the time they confronted each other. Seeing each other in their most vulnerable states felt like it had taken place a lifetime ago, when in actuality, it had only been a few months. Natsuki didn't want to bring up such painful memories at such an awkward time. For now, both girls kept silent as they both made their way to the motorcycle. She turned and stared at Shizuru's hair, tied perfectly in a bun with small pins. Just taking one of those pins off might have brought the entire thing down.
She reached for the helmet and threw it to Shizuru.
"Here. I don't want to mess up your hair."
Shizuru smiled pleasantly. Somehow, it felt nice to see her like this. "Natsuki is so kind to me. Aren't you afraid of getting hurt?"
"I'll live," she responded fearlessly. However, when she finally mounted her bike, the president slid up to Natsuki and held her tightly. Even before starting the bike, Natsuki's blood rushed through her veins. Her breathing became heavier as she tried to keep her calm. Shizuru's arms were so smooth, even through all the clothing. The way the fingers interlocked right on Natsuki's navel sent shivers down her spine. Yet, through all the panic and anxiety, calm settled on Natsuki. She didn't understand her or Shizuru's feelings at the moment.
But as Natsuki started her motorcycle, she resolved to understand her feelings by the end of the night. That she promised.