DISCLAIMER: Sunrise owns My-HiME and all those lovely ladies.
A/N: ManiazAzn is in China and will not be back in the USA for another week. Rather than make our voracious readers learn the fine art of patience, ManiazAzn asked me to write this chapter so no one suffers from withdrawals. ManiazAzn shall be back for chapter five.
The Power of Goodbye
It was Saturday morning and the beginning of day two since the chaos started. For Natsuki, on top of this, it was also the day after she realized her feelings for Shizuru went deeper than mere friendship.
For the first time in her life, Natsuki woke before her alarm and without any assistance from her roommate. Although she was a bit worn from her restless night, she practically jumped out of bed and immediately ran to Shizuru's bedroom.
Shizuru's bedroom door was closed and Natsuki remembered she left it open last night after sadly discovering Shizuru spent the night somewhere else, but hopefully not with someone else. Happiness and apprehension filled Natsuki. Her heart leapt into her throat as she knocked on the door.
"Shizuru?"
There was no answer for several minutes, so Natsuki figured Shizuru came back and went out again. Her happiness quickly faded and sadness engulfed her. She felt a sharp pain in her chest and grabbed the front of her pajama top.
"Natsuki?"
The dejected raven-haired young woman froze mid-step upon hearing her name softly called out by a familiar lilting voice; the voice she so desperately longed to hear last night. Natsuki quickly spun around. She was bursting with happiness once again.
"Shizuru! You're h-h-hom…back."
Heavy-lidded crimson red eyes looked sleepily at Natsuki. They blinked a few times, in a vain attempt to focus and wake up. Natsuki quickly walked towards Shizuru, wanting to feel the older woman's arms around her. Two feet short of her goal, Natsuki skidded to an abrupt stop when Chie appeared behind Shizuru.
"Come back to bed," Chie implored as she wrapped her arm around Shizuru's waist and kissed the side of her neck.
Natsuki's world came crashing down around her. She felt all the blood drain from her body and her stomach went sour. She felt nauseous and made a mad dash for the bathroom. Afterwards, as she sat on the bathroom floor with her knees tight against her chest, she silently wept.
Earlier that same morning, Mai and Mikoto woke early, so they could talk to Aoi in depth about what was going on. After Aoi told them her take on the events and what she witnessed in the garden, Mai shared what she learned from Natsuki last night. All the heartache made Mikoto sad, so she wrapped herself tightly around Mai.
"Mai, I love you. I wanted to tell you, because not telling causes hearts to hurt and I don't want yours to hurt," Mikoto said and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek.
"I love you too," Mai said and kissed Mikoto back, on the lips, resulting in a larger-than-life smile to break out on the youngster's face.
"Aoi, I think you NEED to talk to Chie and tell her how you feel," Mai said.
"I can't. I just can't face her after what I saw," Aoi said sadly.
After Mai finally convinced Aoi that talking to Chie was for the best, no matter how things ended up, Aoi reluctantly decided to face Chie. She apprehensively returned to the residence they shared and knocked on Chie's bedroom door. After several knocks with no response, she slowly opened the door to an empty bedroom. She wondered where Chie was and set about finding her.
Natsuki sat on the cold bathroom floor, rocking back and forth with her face buried in her knees, trying desperately to forget what she just saw.
"Natsuki?" Shizuru called softly through the locked bathroom door.
The older woman waited for a response. When she didn't hear one, she pressed her ear against the door and listened. She could hear Natsuki's muffled sobs and it tore at her heart.
"Natsuki, please let me in," Shizuru said softly.
Natsuki looked up from her knees, but did not move. Shizuru's voice both soothed and ripped at the younger woman. Part of her wanted to tear open the door and take Shizuru in her arms and the other part wanted to yell out to the older woman, 'Fuck off and die.'
On the other side of the door, a similar war was being waged within Shizuru. While she desperately wanted to take Natsuki in her arms and soothe her, the brunette couldn't help still feeling angry and hurt by Natsuki's words. Try as she might, Shizuru could not rid herself of feeling this way towards the woman she loved more than life.
Chie touched Shizuru's shoulder to get her attention and startled the brunette. The tomboy didn't want to speak, because she knew if Natsuki heard her voice, it would just compound matters. Chie motioned to Shizuru she was leaving. The Kyoto beauty motioned for Chie to wait. Shizuru pulled the tomboy back into her bedroom.
Aoi deduced Chie was probably with Shizuru, so she headed to the brunette's residence. With each step she took, Aoi's anger increased, but she wasn't quite sure who she was angry with more; herself, Chie, or Shizuru. By the time she reached Shizuru's residence, Aoi knew EXACTLY who she was angry with and planned on ripping her a new one.
Apprehension filled Aoi as she knocked on the residence door. After several minutes, the door opened and Aoi found herself looking into her beloved's dark eyes.
"Aoi? What are you doing here?" Chie asked stunned.
"Where's Kuga-san?" Aoi demanded.
"Who?" Chie asked incredulous.
"Kuga-san!" Aoi yelled.
"In the bathroom. Shizuru is trying to get her to open the door," Chie said.
Aoi pushed past Chie and stormed to the bathroom, where she saw Shizuru. The surprised look on Shizuru's face made Aoi smirk.
"Kuga-san?" Aoi demanded.
Shizuru pointed to the closed door. Aoi pushed Shizuru out of the way, causing Shizuru to stumble backwards. The younger woman pounded on the bathroom door.
"KUGA-SAN! OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR NOW!" Aoi yelled.
Hearing Aoi's voice caused Natsuki's ears to perk up. She listened to confirm her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.
"KUGA-SAN! YOU THICK IDIOT! GET YOUR PATHETIC ASS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!" Aoi yelled.
Shizuru and Chie stood a safe distance away from Aoi, watching her incredulously. Chie could not believe the language coming from her best friend and Shizuru was shocked by Aoi's entire uncharacteristic demeanor. Aoi pounded on the bathroom door several times.
"DAMN IT KUGA! DON'T MAKE ME BREAK DOWN THE DOOR!" Aoi yelled.
Shizuru quickly shot Chie a concerned look. Chie shook her head, reassuring her Aoi would not break down the door.
Natsuki sat stunned on the bathroom floor. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, especially coming from Aoi. After several minutes, Natsuki came to her senses and walked over to the bathroom door.
As Aoi was bringing her fist down to pound on the bathroom door again, Natsuki opened the door and Aoi punched the raven-haired woman in the eye, sending her reeling backwards. Natsuki found herself sitting in the same place she just left. She put her hand over her now throbbing eye and looked up at Aoi confused.