Author's Notes:

I felt I needed to address this important issue first before proceeding to the story. I re-read my previous chapters (especially the first one) and realized that I implied that Natsuki was a second year for the second time. I meant to say it was her second time as a first year... which puts Nao, Shiho, Mikoto, Akira and Takumi in her level-- and Mai etc. as second years. That is all! Sorry for my mistake! I corrected that erroneous line in the first chapter.

Chapter 3: "If you fear the wolves, don't go near the forest."

-Russian Proverb

Natsuki was supposed to leave that afternoon. But upon seeing her obvious reluctance to do so, an amused Tomoe offered to let the other girl stay longer. Natsuki was a suspicious person by nature, but she was too emotionally and psychologically drained to question Tomoe's motives; plus, she did not have enough good manners to realize that she might be imposing on her. So take advantage she did... She would leave when she was good and ready.

Natsuki spent the first two days recuperating, mostly lying on the couch watching television or sleeping. Sometimes Tomoe would join her; sometimes she would disappear inside her music room. During the times she spent in company with the other girl, Natsuki learned a lot of things about her new friend. She discovered that Tomoe was much younger than she was and that she was the only child of famous Canadian/Japanese musicians. Her Canadian father was a retired saxophone player of a Jazz band who now ran his own record label company back in America. Her Japanese mother was a classical acoustic guitar player who passed away two years ago. She also learned that Tomoe had moved to Japan at the beginning of the year in order to learn more about her mother's culture.

This explained a lot of things about the other girl... Her wealth, her apparent love for all things American, her persona, why she lived alone, why she played the guitar so well... What Natsuki didn't understand was why Tomoe wasn't at school... like Natsuki was supposed to be. But who was she to get all self-righteous about the merits of education?

On the third day, the bruises went from purplish to yellowish and the swelling had gone down. Her body wasn't protesting as much either. But the emotional pain had not lessened any, and her mind was still in a state of disbelief. When the memory of the assault came to haunt her, she would immediately retreat to the music room and listen to some CDs. She became addicted to one band in particular... Nirvana, especially when Tomoe told her what Kurt Cobain's life was like, his rise to stardom and his fall from grace.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a fundamentalist." Tomoe spoke up as she watched Natsuki listen, almost dreamily, to Nirvana's "You Know You're Right."

Natsuki cocked her head at the other girl in confusion. "What?"

"Well you certainly like the old stuff." Tomoe smirked. "Most newbies don't really appreciate old school rock and most start off as posers... You know, just listening to rock because it makes them look cool or because it's popular. But you're different."

Natsuki smiled a tiny sheepish smile. "I like it because it sounds good."

Tomoe was smug. "Yeah." She leaned over to the other girl to say something when Natsuki flinched and backed away. Her reaction perplexed Tomoe to say the least. "What's wrong with you?"

"N-nothing..." Natsuki answered and looked away. "I just... don't like people to invade my personal space."

"Ah, I know what this is all about." Tomoe thought about how horrified her guest had been when she woke up to find Irina and herself in a heated embrace. That had been funny. "It's a little late for you to be so creeped out about it but it's not like I'm going to rape you or anything." She joked crudely and instantly realized she hit a raw nerve when Natsuki shot to her feet and towered over her.

"Don't joke about that." Natsuki ground out, trembling with anger and nervous energy.

Tomoe held up her hands defensively. "Whoah, calm down." They stared at each other for a long and tense moment until Natsuki's body seemed to sag.

"Sorry..." Natsuki mumbled wearily. "I bet you want me to leave now, huh?"

"Not really, unless you want to." Tomoe replied as she looked up at the other girl curiously. "This is about that night, isn't it? When those guys..." She immediately bit her tongue. "Sorry 'bout that."

'Amongst other things...' Natsuki thought bitterly but said nothing. She sank back down on the ground instead. "It's okay." They did not meet each other's eyes and were content to let the music fill the air when their voices could not.

"Want to forget about it?" Tomoe finally offered. The corners of her lips curled into a small, sly smile.

"Uh, sure." Natsuki watched the other girl when she crawled over to one of the drawers below the CD dividers and pulled it open. When she saw Tomoe fish out a transparent package full of dried "grass," she finally understood what she meant by the question. "Wait, you mean...?!"

"What did you think I meant?" Tomoe laughed as she also pulled out a red glass bong. "C'mon, green eyes. It's just weed. It's not like it's cocaine or anything. In most countries, it's even considered as medicine!" She proceeded to prepare the drug as Natsuki looked on uncertainly. When she was done, she inhaled through the pipe then offered it to Natsuki. When the other girl did not take it, Tomoe rolled her eyes. "Jesus, just take the damn thing."

"I..."

"You want to forget about that night, don't you?" Tomoe asked her with a deliberate smile. She scooted closer to Natsuki, but was careful to put a comfortable distance between them, and crooned soothingly. "I know you want to forget about a lot of things... We're the same, Natsuki-chan, so I know what you're going through."

"You do?" Natsuki retorted skeptically but felt her resolve crumbling nonetheless. She felt drained and raw and vulnerable. Subconsciously, she was aware of what Tomoe was trying to do. But she was too confused to figure out why.

"People think they know our pain. But they don't. No one can. Nobody understands us." Tomoe coaxed the bong into Natsuki's listless hands. "We can't do anything about it but forget. Let's forget, Natsuki-chan. Just for today."

Natsuki shut her eyes and tightened her grip on the bong. It looked as if she was going to throw it away but she brought the pipe to her face instead and inhaled. Like the first time, she was quickly intoxicated. She would've marveled at how quickly the marijuana affected her had she been sober enough. Minutes after she took the first hit, she was a giggling mess. An hour later found her lying on the floor with an idiotic grin on her face while Tomoe sat against the wall lazily tinkering with her electric guitar.

"You're really, really good at that." Natsuki announced as if this were a new revelation. She rolled over with little difficulty and crawled over to the other girl. "Teach me how to play."

"Sure." Tomoe, who was not quite as out of it as Natsuki, unstrapped the guitar and pushed the instrument in her arms. She laughed when she saw that Natsuki was holding the guitar upside down and crawled behind her body to correct it. "Like this..." She whispered in her ear as she encircled Natsuki in her arms to help her position her hands on the instrument.

When she felt Tomoe's breath against her neck, Natsuki stiffened and jerked away from the other girl. "Don't do that."

Tomoe just rolled her eyes but nevertheless crawled back to her previous position on the wall. "Let's start with the basic chords. For the C, you put your fingers on the strings like this..."

---

Natsuki was in better spirits when she returned to Fuuka Gakuen the next day. Even the whispering and furtive glances she received hardly affected her.

"When you smile like that this early in the morning, it makes me wonder what you did last night." She stopped in her tracks and looked up towards the stairway. She was surprised to see Yukino walking down the stairs who then stopped in front of her. "Hello, Kuga-san. You've been absent for four days."

"You going to lecture me again, Kikukawa-kaicho?" Natsuki retorted dryly. She moved around to pass the shorter girl but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"Kuga-san." Yukino frowned. Her brow furrowed even more when she got a good look at the fading bruises on the other girl's face. "My goodness! What happened to you?"

Natsuki pulled her arm away. "The usual." She replied shortly and began to climb the stairs. To her annoyance, Yukino followed her. "Look, it's nothing. Leave me alone!"

"It's not nothing, Kuga-san." Yukino strode after her stubbornly. "I've heard the most disturbing rumors about your disappearance the past few days." Natsuki paused in mid-step. "I didn't believe them of course. But seeing the evidence on your face... they attacked you didn't they? I heard a few of your classmates brag about it. If you could come with me and confirm the people who did it, we'll--"

"It's nothing!" Natsuki cut in, turning flashing green eyes on Yukino who cowered under the heated gaze. "I'll handle it." She muttered under her breath and hurried away from the pesky woman.

"Kuga-san!"

It was irritating how quickly her mood soured from the encounter. "I shouldn't have come in today..." She grumbled then paused when she heard loud, raucous laughter. Her fists clenched involuntarily. She heard that laugh before.

"Aren't you going to get in trouble if they found out, Taki-kun? Maybe you should shut up."

"Hah! Who cares? It's not as if that bitch is here anyway. I worked her up good. She won't be coming back."

"And who's gonna believe her! Everyone knows what a delinquent she is."

"Just shut up, dude."

"She deserved what she got that night. You should've seen her. Taught her what a real man was! You should've seen that slut ask for more."

With a growl, she jumped the last few steps to confront her attackers. Suddenly, her eyes widened with shock when she saw that a familiar redhead had already beaten her to it. Nao was on top of him, straddling his waist and had her hands wrapped around his neck. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?! I'LL KILL YOU!!" People nearby quickly jumped in to pull Nao away. But pulling at her only made her tighten her grip even more determinedly. The boy underneath her released a gurgling, choking sound and his face started to turn a pale shade of blue. The ruckus did not go unnoticed of course, and everyone gathered around to watch and yell.

Natsuki rushed towards them and pushed her way through the crowd. "Nao!" She shouted when she got through. But the other girl was too lost in her murderous rage to notice. So Natsuki bent down to wrap her arms around her and yelled into her ear. "Nao! NAO! Calm down!"

Nao froze when the other girl's desperate cries finally registered and she turned around to look at Natsuki in disbelief. "Natsuki?" When her grip slackened, Natsuki pulled her close to her body and away from her gasping victim.

"What is going on here?!" Several teachers broke through the suddenly quiet throng and gathered around the trio on the floor. They looked down and glared at the embracing pair who immediately let go of each other. "Kuga! Yuuki! I should've known."

"Kuga-san!" Yukino also appeared with her glasses a skewed, looking harried and breathless. She took in the scene quickly and hurried to their defense. "Sir, there is a good explanation for this."

"We'll hear all about it later!" One of the teachers, obviously the head, answered angrily and scowled at the students around him. "Alright! Break it up! Return to your classrooms! Somebody take this boy to the clinic." Then he glowered at Nao and Natsuki who rose to their feet to face him. "You two! Office! NOW!"

---

Things were awkward and quiet as Nao and Natsuki waited outside. Yukino was inside the faculty room, explaining their cases to the teachers. Nobody came out for a while and it looked like they were going to be stuck there for a long, long time.

Natsuki was sitting on the bench beside the door watching Nao standing across from her. The redhead had her back against the wall with her hands sandwiched between them. Despite her air of nonchalance, Nao would fidget and dart her eyes side to side as if she was aware of Natsuki's penetrating stare. "Would you quit looking at me like that?" She finally snapped.

The older girl was quiet for another few minutes before she spoke, "Why did you do it? They had nothing against you."

"How would you know?"

"Nao." Natsuki sighed. "You didn't have to defend my honor. I fight my own battles."

"Oh don't flatter yourself." Nao sneered and finally met her gaze. "They were noisy. They gave me headache."

"Sure." Natsuki snorted. "Then what was the 'What did you do to her? I'll kill you?' all about then?" To her amusement, the redhead blushed and quickly looked away. Nao was so dishonest about her feelings, it was almost... cute. Natsuki looked off to one side and cleared her throat. "Well um... thanks anyway." The tables have turned when she felt the other girl's eyes bore into her and she refused to meet them. To her dismay, she felt her cheeks slowly heat up under Nao's intense scrutiny.

The door opened and Yukino stepped out. The unintentional intrusion shattered the weird tension that had suddenly thickened the atmosphere between them. Natsuki shook the feeling off and stood up. She felt hopeful at the sight of the current kaicho's reassuring smile. "They won't be suspending the both of you."

"That's good." Nao said, looking almost relieved. "Mama's going to kill me if she finds out."

"Well..." Yukino coughed uneasily. "They are still going to inform your mother of what you did."

"The bastards..." The redhead grumbled.

"What about..." Natsuki's voice trailed off as she found it difficult to talk about her humiliating experience in Nao's presence. The other girl had seen more than enough of her weaknesses than she was comfortable with. And she felt that talking about it out loud would further solidify the redhead's less than stellar opinion of her. Why she was so eager to keep Nao's respect for her, she didn't know... But it seemed very important to Natsuki at this point.

"They will investigate the matter of your assault." The school president lowered her gaze regretfully. "But I don't think they will pursue it further without enough evidence. Basically, it's your word against them and they can't do much on your statement alone."

"The bastards!" Nao repeated, but with much more force this time. "They can't do this to her!" Both Natsuki and Yukino looked at her with different measures of surprise-- the latter more so. Since when did the redhead take up for her supposed arch nemesis?

"I'm sorry, Kuga-san."

"It's okay." Natsuki replied monotonously and tucked her hands in the pockets of her white hoodie. "Thanks anyway." And with that she was gone.

---

Taki was lying on the bed with the white curtains drawn around him. He was trapped between a state of sleep and wakefulness. The injuries were minor but he had insisted on taking a painkiller anyway and it made him drowsy. His ears picked up the sound of a door opening followed by Sagisawa Youko's soft greeting.

"Matsuda-sensei is looking for you." He frowned at the new voice.

"Oh, thank you, Kuga-san." The nurse replied.

'Kuga-san?' The name evoked a rippling feeling of anxiety in him, and struggled to sit up. He heard the door close-- filling the room with silence before it was broken by the sound of footsteps. His heart began to thud furiously against his chest as he wrapped the sheet around him like a protective barrier. 'What is wrong with you? It's just one chick. If she's here for revenge, I can easily take her on.' Despite his thoughts, he could not get rid of the foreboding feeling that whispered his doom.

The curtains were pushed aside to reveal an innocently smiling Natsuki. "Hello Taki-kun. Feeling any better?" He was about to open his mouth to give a caustic reply when she drew her hand out from behind her back and pointed the nozzle of the gun's silencer at his face.

"W-w-wha--?!"

"Make another sound and I'll shoot you." She threatened calmly. Taki snapped his jaw shut with an audible clack. "That's a good boy..." She gave him a mocking smile and ventured inside. "You know, I really didn't like what you did to me that night... and what you've been telling people about me. That was really stupid by the way, bragging about it. What if you got caught, hm? And what if they used your words against you?" Natsuki paused as she waited for his answer. Beads of sweat began to form around his face, and he whimpered fearfully in reply. "You're a real idiot. But the teachers won't be punishing you and your friends anyway."

His eyes lit up at the news, and he felt a bit of his bravado returning. "I knew they wouldn't believe you!"

"Shut up!" Natsuki snarled and pressed the gun to his forehead. He could feel the cold, hard surface bite into his skin like the grim reaper's scythe. The girl before her was practically radiating an aura of killing intent. "They won't punish you. But I will!"

"P-please." He pleaded and trembled in fright. "I-I won't do it again! I-I-I promise! P-p-please! D-don't k-kill me!" When Natsuki pressed her gun even harder, he felt his bladder lose control. He closed his eyes, feeling utterly humiliated.

She just watched the wet spot between his legs increase with cool indifference. Finally, she pulled the gun away. "You better keep your promise." She warned him before stepping back a good distance. Without warning, she raised her arm again and pulled the trigger. Taki had no time to scream as he jerked back on the bed when the bullet hit its mark. His shoulder felt like it was on fire. When he inspected it, he was stunned to see that it wasn't bleeding.

Natsuki bent down to pick up the empty bullet shell before she walked back towards the bed to also pick up the rubber bullet below it. "Just in case you thought this thing was fake." She smirked as she held her gun up for emphasis. "Next time, it'll be live rounds." She tucked her weapon inside her skirt and was pulling her hoodie over it just as Youko returned. "Hey sensei, Taki-kun peed on the bed!"