Hello, Author here with the next installment.

Please enjoy.

1 - Scope

The student council office was decidedly cold but the Kaichou never seemed to mind. She sat at her desk and absently flipped through papers with a distracted look on her face. Really it was just to waste some time before the final set of bells rang and the students of Fuuka Academy spilled out to the cold wintry streets. An hour was what stood between Natsuki and winter break, and her fingers twitched in anticipation. Tonight was going to be a big night, she reminded herself with a small smile. Her hand reached into the pocket of her jacket. The velvet box was still there, patiently sitting. Shizuru had been so insistent that they delay celebrating her birthday until after the holidays started, but Natsuki was never a very patient person. Yes, tonight was going to be a big night.

Natsuki looked up as the door to the council room opened. She leaned forward on the desk and rested her elbows on the wooden top as her Executive Director walked into the room.

"Oh, Yukino. I'm glad you're here."

The mousy girl blinked and adjusted her glasses.

"You said you wanted to see me, Kaichou?"

Natsuki frowned and leaned back against her chair. A small pout began to form on her lips.

"Yukino, you know you don't have to call me Kaichou."

"Ah, I'm sorry..."

"No, no, it's okay."

Natsuki preemptively waved away the budding response from the standing girl and waited for her to take her customary seat beside the heavy wooden desk. Yukino cleared her throat and absently rubbed her arms to restore a fraction of warmth to them. Natsuki studied her uncertain movements and sighed.

"It's been a hell of a year, hasn't it."

Yukino looked up.

"I... I suppose."

"But that's all about to change. It's soon going to be winter break, after all. I for one can't wait to get out of this freakin' dump." Natsuki crossed her arms. "Shizuru was wondering if you and Suzushiro were free this weekend."

Yukino adjusted her glasses. Despite her efforts they slid down the bridge of her nose. She hastily hiked them back up—a nervous habit.

"Well, I am free. I... I don't know about Haruka-chan. May I ask what the occasion is?"

Natsuki shuffled through her packet of papers and procured a small card. She smoothed it over before handing it to Yukino, who in turn unfolded the card. It was simplistic in its design but the lettering had been done with impeccable penmanship. It was an invitation, that much was certain. She read the letters quickly and finally centered on the meat of the message.

You are cordially invited to the annual Christmas party hosted by the Fujino Corporation.

"Oh... I've heard of these parties. They seem rather extravagant in their descriptions."

There was something lost that echoed in Yukino's voice. Yukino placed the invitation back on the desk and looked up at Natsuki who in turn had a knowing smile on her face.

"Well, I guess that can't be helped considering just how loaded Shizuru's family is." Natsuki paused to consider the invitation on the desk. "So? What do you think?"

"About?"

"About going, Yukino."

"M-Me?"

This time Yukino couldn't avoid the stammering squeak that trickled out of her voice. Natsuki nodded once.

"I was told Suzushiro gets a family invitation in the mail, but Shizuru was unsure of whether or not you were told about this." Natsuki frowned. "I assumed you were... but looking at the expression of your face it looks like you didn't know."

Yukino froze, this time not from the chilling temperature of the council room. Her hands twitched before balling up in her lap in a nervous mess of fingers that grasped too strongly to each other. Natsuki chose this moment to stand up from her desk, first to stretch. She remained standing, however, and regarded Yukino with an unreadable expression.

"You know, Yukino. One of my jobs as Kaichou is to be the listening ear of the school's population. I'm the voice of the school's population, after all." She paused to collect her thoughts. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is that you can talk to me."

Yukino failed to respond and Natsuki shrugged.

"That said, I'm not about to pry." She checked her watch and visibly brightened. "Oh, it's almost time to go home. I can't wait—"

Yukino shifted in her seat, momentarily distracting the Kaichou from her exuberant thoughts.

"Have you seen Haruka-chan lately?"

Natsuki blinked.

"Not since Tuesday night. You know, poker night. It was at our place this week."

"Oh."

Her hands refused to sit idly.

"Oh. I see."

She stood, stiffly. With a hurried, stammered apology she showed herself out of the room. Natsuki watched her go but made no effort to chase her down. Instead she watched the door shut with a pensive expression on her face.

"It's disgusting."

Yukino looked up at Haruka's face. The brusque Executive Director did little to hide her sneer as she regarded Fujino Shizuru smiling a vapid smile towards one of the many enamored young girls surrounding her. Some sugary words tumbled from the Kaichou's tongue and the girls seemingly lapped up every last drop in their unending admiration.

"Look at her, leading on those innocent girls! Such shame."

Haruka looked as if she had stepped in something decidedly unpleasant, but Yukino failed to see why. All the Kaichou was doing was indulging her audience. Was that what Haruka was finding disgusting?

"It's unnatural! I can't let her contaminate those poor girls' minds towards accepting such loud behavior!"

"... Lewd?"

Despite Yukino finding the correct correction to Haruka's statement, she was still confused as to what, exactly, Haruka found so lewd.

"Haruka-chan, I'm sure she doesn't have any intention on leading freshman astray..."

Haruka barely contained a derisive snort.

At the time Yukino thought little of it. For right now, it only bit briefly before ebbing away.

"Oh I'm sure she doesn't!"

The sarcasm bit through her loud exclamation. Haruka jerked her chin towards the now-laughing Kaichou.

"She'd poison the minds of any girls stuck in her rasp!"

"Grasp, Haruka-chan..."

"Exactly! Now come on, Yukino-chan, we're breaking up these shenanigans."

Haruka marched purposefully towards the Kaichou, rolling her sleeves up to her elbows and ready to bellow at full blast. Yukino followed her dutifully but fell behind a few steps, taking the time to adjust her glasses. Once, twice. A nervous habit. This time it served to mask the strange burning sensation she felt in her eyes.

Disgusting.

Unnatural.

How long did she feel like this?

The bellowing was lost to Yukino's ears. By this time the gaggle of girls had left the premises, leaving the Kaichou to blandly drive off the Executive Director's loud tirade against the "blatant poisoning of students' rinds." She failed to even correct Haruka's yelling, instead melting into the background noise.

Safe.

It was safe to go into the background, to hide behind glasses and open textbooks. It was safe to make coffee and tea during breaks, to carry trays of beverages to waiting individuals, and later it was safe to sit behind a clipboard and assign tasks behind the comfort of the Executive Committee desk. Most of all, it was safe to remain quiet, tucked away in the corner of the room amidst the chaos that was Fuuka Academy.

Yukino gripped the sides of her head with unsteady fingertips. She had abandoned her original plan of scurrying away to her dorm room in favor of simply standing against the closed door of the Student Council room. She let out a shaky breath and stared at the floor in front of her shoes.

Safe.

She kept her quiet for one more day. Outwardly she shook; inwardly she screamed.

Kuga-san wasn't implying anything with her invitation.

But then why didn't Haruka-chan say anything about this event?

Is she avoiding me?

What is going on?

Her mind was not suited to idle tasks. It ran a million miles and through imaginary flow-charts that stemmed to infinity. This was unhealthy. She knew she would tire herself out if she continued on this frenzied train of thought.

Another shaky breath reverberated from her lungs into the chilly air surrounding her.

"... Kikukawa-han?"

Yukino froze. Immediately she recognized the polite voice that carried a soft question with it. She looked up from the floor slowly until her eyes rested on a pair of concerned crimson eyes.

"F-Fujino-san..."

It had been two years, give or take some months. But she could never forget that night. Fujino Shizuru's eyes were not gleaming with some psychotic light at the moment, in fact she looked rather exhausted despite looking concerned.

Concerned? For me?

It didn't make sense. Her eyelids briefly fluttered in an unconscious reaction. Snapshots flicked by and the distinct memory of a mentally-unhinged Fujino slicing through her Child came to the forefront almost immediately. Blood streamed from her lips in one thin line—her cheek was a mess of angry purple. Her eyes glowed in the dusk, crimson piercing through all. All she could remember was the cacophony of screams echoing in her head as green lights that illuminated the sky, piecing apart the body of her most important person as Diana fell in battle.

Wrong.

She shook her head, ridding herself of the unsettling images and sounds. No, this was in the past, now. She was safe, now. Haruka was safe, now.

Safe.

"Kikukawa-han."

Yukino blinked.

"O-Oh! I'm sorry, Fujino-san."

She placed an unsteady hand above her thundering heart. The world came back to her in sharp focus. Shizuru nodded, acknowledging Yukino's apology.

"It's quite alright... you seem a little tired, today."

Yukino managed a small smile.

"You look tired as well..."

Shizuru mirrored her smile and looked out towards a window.

"I have to admit that the holiday season isn't as restful as one would hope."

She turned and regarded Yukino once more.

"Is Natsuki in?"

Yukino nodded.

"Thank you, Kikukawa-han."

Shizuru excused herself by opening the door to the Student Council room. With her exit from the hallway Yukino felt some of the feeling return to her outer limbs. She mechanically began to separate herself from the wall that had supported her back. Her fingertips furiously rubbed against the fabric of her skirt as she walked down the hallway, stopping momentarily to look back at the Student Council room.

"Haruka-chan... do you hate Fujino-kaichou?"

Haruka looked up from her third piece of curry-bread. Yukino idly tapped a pattern on the computer chair she had been sitting in for the better part of the afternoon.

"Hate? Where did you get that from?"

Yukino shifted in her seat.

"You seem to be very... vehemently against what she does."

"Well of course! Someone has to show her that her behavior is representable!"

"... Reprehensible?"

"Yes, yes, that one." Haruka turned back to her meal. "Why do you ask, Yukino?"

"Oh... No reason."

If Haruka had noticed any falter in Yukino's voice she failed to say anything about it. Instead she decided to focus on the question at hand. To Yukino's surprise she took all of three seconds to answer, and her response was without any embellishments.

"No, I can't say I hate her."

Haruka leaned back and stretched her arms above her head.

"But now that you mention it, her lewd behavior towards that Kuga-delinquent is getting even more out of control if you ask me. The way she looks at her..."

Haruka's lips curled into a sneer.

"It's almost as if she has feelings for that upstart. Romantic feelings! For a girl, no less!"

She crammed the rest of her curry-bread into her mouth and vigorously chewed it up before swallowing it all down. She clapped her cheeks and sighed forcefully.

"Thinking about that bubuzuke-onna is enough to give anyone a weepy feeling."

Yukino remained silent once more, neglecting to correct her friend's vocabulary error. But Haruka wasn't paying too much attention as she proceeded to thumb through the thick wad of papers on her desk. She looked up at the clock and stood up from her seat.

"It's time for rounds, Yukino."

She punched the palm of her open hand with a decisive fist. A determined gleam entered her electric blue eyes.

"Let's go get some delinquents! I'll show them the meaning of upholding the moral clam!"

Yukino stood as well and pursed her lips.

"Calm, Haruka-chan?"

Haruka clapped her hands once and smiled.

"Yes! Let's go!"

She marched out of the room with a seemingly righteous fury that would undoubtedly fuel her well into the evening hours. Yukino lingered behind for just a moment, taking only a moment to quell the thoughts that raged inside of her head.

Was it really wrong?

Was it really unnatural?

Whatever objections Yukino had, she shelved away. The afternoon was waiting.

Haruka was waiting.

A/N

I think I like Chrysant better than Kikukawa. She's a more confident version of Yukino. Kikukawa is a bit of a challenge to write beyond "oh she's shy," but I guess that's part of the intrigue. I have tried to write an unlikeable character before with Tate in this story's prequel, but I think I have slightly different plans for Suzushiro.

Cheers.