Author's Notes: A bit more… melancholy than the other two, but Shiznat lends itself to a bit of misery and this is in a very small dose. Probably not at all what people wanted as far as the party was concerned. I blame it on my mood last night when I wrote most of it.: p Shiznat is not perfect, but they're willing to help each other out and work on things. Hopefully the word play at the end isn't too dated to pick up on. Favor in the plural has a distinct connotation. Oh! And my apologies for being a bum and not replying to all reviews from the last err chapter yet. I was on vacation.
Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-HiME.
This was one of the strangest, most eclectic get-togethers that she had ever been to. But they were Natsuki's friends and in a way she already knew them very well. Or at least who they were a year or so ago back when she had felt it necessary to monitor Natsuki's interactions with her peers. It had been all for Natsuki's safety, of course.
She had backed off considerably after her post-HiME "rebirth", allowing her friend to initiate most of their interactions, which at one point had sent her Natsuki off on a little tirade asking her if she wasn't interested anymore.
Interested in what way? She had asked in all seriousness, knowing full well she was pushing her luck.
Surprisingly Natsuki had paused a moment before backing down, quietly explaining with averted eyes that she had hoped they could still be friends after all that had happened.
Things started changing from then on. Slowly, almost imperceptibly Natsuki opened up to the point where she became more comfortable with her companionship than she had been even before she had betrayed her trust.
There was an unspoken agreement between them that things had not been right during the Festival. Her own guilt at times was overwhelming, but just as Natsuki opened up to her, she would offer small revelations in return. It was surprisingly difficult to divulge her inner thoughts, but if it enabled her to once again be closer to Natsuki, then she was willing to go to great lengths even if the outcome would ultimately leave her as, at best, a sisterly figure in the younger girl's life.
Happily, however, that was not the case as she was currently hanging on the arm of said girl who was stiff as a board, eyes wide and anxious. She chuckled a bit to herself upon seeing the fearful expression.
She guessed Natsuki would not appreciate it if she ruffled her hair in front of her friends.
While her thoughts weren't so distracted by memories of her days of unrequited and single-minded devotion, however, she began to realize that she was somewhat bored. It wasn't that the company was boring per se… it was just that beyond Natsuki, she had very little interest in the rest of the crowd. That and small groups of the partygoers had literally seen her at her very worst. The rest had merely seen her at her most politically correct, the smiling kaichou. And that persona had also gotten rather dull after a time once she had become disillusioned with playing president.
Well, better to be lackluster than psychotic…
"You all right?" a voice tinged with concern whispered as she was pulled to the side by her companion.
"Hmmm?" she responded, fixing the crack in her social mask. Her smile must have become slightly strained after her less than pleasant musings.
"You're kinda… quiet." The small break in speech letting her know things were going unsaid.
She felt her expression soften a bit as she looked back into Natsuki's questioning gaze.
"I'm fine. Just admiring the… view," she murmured in response, using a loose strand of hair as an excuse to brush Natsuki's cheek in order to put the stray tresses back in place.
The navy haired girl blushed prettily at the contact before sucking in a soft gasp of surprise as a thumb continued to caress her face.
It was strange how one person could make her simultaneously want to laugh and cry…
Reluctantly removing her hand, she knew that if she continued the attentions she was paying to her companion's soft skin, she would not only embarrass her in front of her friends, but it would be much harder to pull back.
Natsuki seemed to shake herself out of her reverie, before blinking back focus into her eyes.
"Well… if you're sure you're ok… or just don't wanna talk about it now… Umm… I was thinking… since you have kept up your end of the agreement… y'know, no err grabbing and stuff at the party… you wanna leave soon and catch a movie? Or uhh I noticed you didn't eat much, so we could go to one of those restaurants you like. I guess I'm not really dressed for anything too fancy… Whatever you want to do."
"Whatever I want…" she repeated, as if she really had to think about it.
What she wanted was Natsuki. No troubling thoughts of the past. No bland conversations with people she hardly knew. All she wanted was her Natsuki who gave her peace of mind.
She was a constant reminder that she had been forgiven and forgiven by the one person who mattered.
Smile once again imbued with confidence she raised a finger to her lips in thought.
"Natsuki is taking requests, then?" she questioned sweetly.
"Uh… I uhh guess that's one way of putting it… I owe you a favor or whatever," the other woman responded somewhat nervously.
She had conducted herself with an impressive degree of restraint for an entire afternoon and had become a bit downhearted as a result of such restrictions (while her hands were not permitted to wander, her mind was). Natsuki saying the most wonderfully wrong thing at the wrong time was just what she needed to get back in a pleasant mood again.
"Did Natsuki say she owes me favors?" she felt her smile widen from polite to pleased.
She would pity Natsuki if she wasn't sure Natsuki would in the end agree that it had been worth it to fall into the traps set by unintentional blunders caused by poor word choice.
"Umm… yeah?" the other woman offered a bit warily with just enough annoyance in her tone to show she didn't appreciate having to repeat herself.
"Wonderful. I agree."
"…huh?"