Hello everyone, Author here.

Please enjoy.

4 - New Deck

It was Christmas Eve, but it was also morning and Fuuka was covered in a fairly impressive blanket of snow. The roads had just been cleared for the day but the streets were relatively empty. It seemed like one of those quiet little days that one spent at home, surrounded by loved ones.

The Kendo hall at Fuuka Academy was closed save for one set of doors. It was open to let in the crisp Winter air, and to carry out the stuffy heat that accumulated after a harsh workout. It was here that Shizuru spent her mornings while on break, dressed fully in a navy hakama and white keikogi. She stared at the mirror placed in the far end of the dojo. Crimson eyes eerily stared back at her. Her lips pressed into a thin line and she strode purposefully to the center of the room, carrying in her hand a wooden naginata. A bamboo cousin of it was already propped up against the wall. She paid it no need as she steadied her grip on the polearm and relaxed. Shizuru gave her mirror image a curt bow before taking a step forward.

The form was performed fluidly and without excess energy. The only sounds from the dojo were the short exhalations of her breath as she swung the weapon down into a slicing motion, the brief scrapes of her feet sliding into place, and the sound of the naginata itself as it sailed through the air. Out the corner of her eye she recognized the presence of one other individual but she paid it no heed. The form could not be interrupted mid-strike. She took in a deep breath before expelling it while shoving the butt of her weapon out to waist-level. The silence rang in her ears but she gracefully shifted her weapon so that it stood by her side. She gave a short bow, signaling the end of her form.

The light sound of clapping reached her ears and she turned.

"That was beautiful, Shizuru-san."

She offered her guest a small smile in return.

"Thank you, Reito-han."

Truth be told, she missed her friend. Reito had all but disappeared from Fuuka despite having a sister and now a love interest who attended the Academy. But he had promised himself to keep on top of his studies, and as such was a rare fixture in the city with the exception of school holidays. He had had his hair cut a little shorter now, Shizuru noticed, but the stubborn waves still spilled down to his golden eyes. He had loosened the woolen scarf around his neck and proceeded to slip off his shoes in order to join his friend in the dojo.

"How was your trip?" Shizuru asked, propping the naginata against her shoulder.

"It was remarkably pleasant, but I seem to find myself saying that most trips." He let an easy laugh out. "I suppose I shouldn't be holding out for fantastical creatures or shady government associates anymore, should I?"

Shizuru offered a smile in response and he nodded.

"So... How have you been?"

Reito was no complacent fan-girl. Shizuru was a very charming and beautiful individual, that much he could agree on, but there was something emphatically extra that came out of the ex-Kaichou whenever she was surrounded by her chattering legion of admirers. Perhaps that was what caused the two of have such a good working partnership while they were classmates in the Academy. She did not have to turn on the charm when around him, and he did not have to do the same when in her company. It was a mutually beneficial partnership, but they also knew each other better than most. Fluff-ridden answers would do neither of them good, and Shizuru uncharacteristically sighed. Reito offered her a small white towel which she used to wipe the sweat from her neck and brow. She chose this moment to collect her thoughts before draping the towel around her neck.

"To be honest I can say I am rather happy." She paused. "Conflicted, but happy."

"An interesting answer," Reito noted. "I assume this has to do with Suzushiro-san?"

Shizuru's lips twitched.

"I am... baffled, about what happened. To say the least."

She motioned towards the changing rooms and Reito nodded and grabbed the second naginata that had been propped up against the wall, handing it to Shizuru. He stopped short of entering and turned around, allowing his friend a few moments of privacy. Shizuru quickly but carefully took off her hakama and keikogi, folding them up and depositing them into a small crate situated in the bottom of the corner locker. She also placed the two naginata in the locker and closed the door, quietly turning the combination lock to scramble the code. She walked out of the locker room now dressed in a pair of jeans and a black sweater. She shrugged on her coat and gloves before picking up a pair of black heeled boots.

They walked over to the entrance hall of the dojo and put on their shoes before walking out into the courtyard of the Academy. Reito watched Shizuru out the corner of his eye as she sighed and stared at the buildings that surrounded them. He regarded the buildings too, his expression equally unreadable. This was a place of many fond memories despite their trials. They were growing up, now, and the Academy was slowly fading in their minds, making way for life beyond Fuuka.

"I really shouldn't have been surprised at her reaction," Shizuru began. She shook her head. "But who am I kidding? I suppose I grossly underestimated the level of her dislike over my... tendencies."

"It is nothing to be ashamed over," Reito pointed out. "After all, you have found happiness."

"No... No, it isn't something to be ashamed over."

Shizuru closed her eyes and sighed.

"You weren't there, Reito-han. There was something... dreadful, in her eyes. Ugly. I'm afraid I can't describe it any other way."

Reito continued to stare at the buildings before an idea slowly blossomed in his head. He turned to look at Shizuru who was still occupied with her thoughts.

"Hey, let's go back to the old council room."

Shizuru looked at him but failed to voice an objection. They walked a slow meandering path up to the main academic building.

The Council room was predictably empty, which suited the two just fine. Reito walked over to the windows that faced outward and opened one of them, letting in a small breeze. He fished in his pockets and extracted a slim metal case and a silver-plated lighter. He popped the case open and extracted a cigarette. Out of politeness he waved the cigarette case towards Shizuru who shook her head politely. He rested the lone cigarette on his lips and quickly lit it before taking a small drag.

"I started smoking during my first year of college."

He took another drag and breathed out through his nose. The smoke wasn't especially unpleasant in the cold air. He breathed in through his nose and breathed out again, taking out a smaller cloud of smoke in the process.

"It wasn't anything traumatic that caused me to start. I studied into all hours of the night. I just... fell into it, I suppose. It's a poor excuse."

Reito flicked the cigarette gently, letting the loose ashes fly out the window he was leaning over.

"But I find it more calming than most things, especially after the three of us graduated. There was always something comforting about seeing the four of us in this room, and simply getting things done."

He turned and looked at Shizuru. By habit she had taken up a seat on the Kaichou chair. He smiled at the observation.

"It was fun, wasn't it? You, me, Kikukawa-san, and Suzushiro-san whenever she managed to sit around long enough."

Shizuru nodded. She rested her elbow on the desk.

"It was fun, I agree." Her chin nested on the open palm of her hand. "Some romantic aspect of me wishes that we were still all together, in this council room. Perhaps things would be less... bitter."

Reito studied Shizuru sitting at the desk that was once hers. She still looked the part of the regal Kaichou; at least she looked more like a Kaichou than the current one who lounged around at the desk. Shizuru rubbed at a particularly worn spot on the desk with an absent move of her thumb. A tea cup had sat there once and her hand tried to close around something that wasn't there anymore. She settled her hand over the spot.

"But that wouldn't have helped," Reito pointed out. "After all, we weren't all friends when we started out in this room together."

The cigarette bobbed from his lips.

"In fact, that was what caused Suzushiro-san to dislike you in the first place."

Shizuru added a dismissive wave.

"It wasn't that bad. I wasn't in the position for the power like she seems to think I was. I thought it would look good on college applications."

It was a half-truth and one that Shizuru failed to mention to anyone else. The access codes and clearance she inherited with the position had given Natsuki a necessary leg-up on her investigation into the Academy. She never felt bothered being in a position of authority—she just never considered picking one up until the idea had been planted in her head.

Reito gave a nod and took another drag.

"No, I suppose not. But then it did get bad."

He exhaled. Her eyes dimmed.

"And then it got worse."

Her eyes watched the smoke cloud dissipate but her mind had already traveled to the past.

"Kiyohime."

Kiyohime dove in for the kill.

Diana never stood a chance.

Feeble.

She could feel herself smiling.

Shizuru sighed.

"It will never quite go away..." she muttered to no one in particular.

She rubbed her forehead and sighed.

"Isn't that the point, though?" Reito asked. "It will never go away. You can try and drop it. Kuga-san seems to have moved on from it. But have those two?"

He was always honest with her and had impeccable manners, but his voice held a quality to it that Shizuru knew she could never quite shake off. Even when Reito never meant to be he could sound unbearably cruel. Perhaps it was a quality he had owned prior to being the vessel of the Obsidian Lord. Or it could merely be the residual influence that failed to disappear completely. However one wanted to explain it, it was still there, and with it brought a host of unpleasant memories into Shizuru's mind.

"I... I have done many terrible things, Reito-han."

Her lips twitched once, twice. They hid the beginnings of a shuddering sigh so that she looked as if she was merely exhaling. She steeled herself and continued.

"I have done these terrible things with little regard to anyone else's well-being aside from Natsuki's. Suzushiro-han was the first casualty in a battle I fought for Natsuki's affections. I will never forget that."

She looked up at him. The sunlight was streaming over his dark head as he stood in front of the open window. She could not help but smile at the irony of the halo of light that crowned the head of the former Obsidian Lord.

"How do you deal with it?" she asked softly.

He smiled ruefully as he took one last drag. He ground out the cigarette on the outside edge of the windowsill before tossing the stubbed cigarette butt into the waste bin.

"I took an easy way out." He shrugged. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "I was possessed, pure and simple. If we don't get into the gray areas, that is simply how it went."

His lips twitched in wry amusement at something unspoken but understood by the two of them. There would always be a way to explain one's actions. The difficult part was getting everyone to accept the explanation without too many questions. Reito straightened from his slouched position and cleared his throat.

"I changed too, you know. Although I don't know whether it was because I was always like this, or it was because I played a host to an evil lord for so long." He closed the window and leaned his back against it. "I almost screamed at Mai-san several days ago."

Shizuru raised an eyebrow, silently asking for an elaboration.

"She had served me curry that wasn't mild." He raked his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily. "I hate spicy foods. She didn't tell me it was hot curry. I nearly wanted to yell at her for not telling me. Perhaps it was an honest mistake? Maybe she didn't remember. But it's almost... expected, of me. To be polite."

Shizuru offered no response, but Reito was content without one. He rubbed his brow with one hand before tucking it back into his pocket.

"Will you be playing cards, next Tuesday?"

Shizuru frowned.

"I can't imagine she would want to. Perhaps. Why do you ask?"

Reito pushed himself off of the window.

"Just curious." He looked at his watch and frowned a little before waving a hand towards Shizuru. "I'm sorry to have to cut this conversation short, but it is nearly lunch time. I believe the original purpose of my visit was to ask you and Kuga-san out to lunch. Mai-san has been meaning to speak to Kuga-san."

"Also..." Now his lips widened in a genuinely happy smile. "Congratulations on your engagement, Shizuru-san."

Shizuru allowed herself a small smile as she stood.

"Thank you, Reito-han."

Yukino found herself idly clicking through her laptop with no particular interests in mind. She leaned back against her desk chair and stared up at the ceiling. It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve, something in the back of her head reminded her. It was a time to go out and get presents, join up on parties, share cake with loved ones.

Loved ones...

Yukino let loose a discouraged sigh.

I really shot myself in the foot with that one.

Her fingertips grazed her healing lips and she winced. They still stung.

That was our first kiss, wasn't it?

She frowned.

Tastes like blood.

Yukino adjusted her glasses once, twice. In an aggravated move she shoved her glasses away from her face. They bounced off the wall and landed somewhere on the floor but she made no move to look for them. Instead her hands clamped over her eyes. Maybe if she pressed hard enough she could forget the look of absolute shock that shone through Haruka's face right after their kiss. Yukino had tried very hard not to read into her subsequent shove backwards, and whatever else Haruka managed to do that night. She had a rather spotty memory of what happened after that kiss, but she knew it was mostly because she had devoted most of her thoughts to getting the hell out of there.

Cowardly.

Her mind traveled back to another particular night, a night that seemed to be from another time line. Yukino shook her head but suddenly she remembered something about that night other than the untimely demise of her Child.

"Look who's talking, Kikukawa-han. Aren't you in the same situation?"

She kept her gaze steady as she stared at Yukino. Haruka stood between them, equal parts confused and outraged.

"N-No I'm not—"

Shizuru's lips thinned into a small smile.

"Then is peeping just your favorite past-time? What a wonderful hobby you must have..."

Yukino betrayed herself with a small gasp, but it was Haruka who broke the tension. She marched up to Shizuru and gave her a slap that Yukino was sure had the Kaichou seeing stars.

"You make me sick..."

Shizuru calmly looked at Haruka who fumed in response.

"What's up with that determined attitude? In the end you can't think of anything but yourself!" Haruka snarled. "Such a person has no right saying anything to Yukino!"

She was far from done—her eyes seemingly grew two sizes in her rage.

"To indulge in such actions between two females... how disgusting." She took a threatening step forward. "Both you and Kuga Natsuki are—"

Shizuru responded in kind with a slap that echoed across the garden.

"That was something I did on my own."

When she spoke next there was a certain tenseness attached underneath the unnerving calm. Yukino would learn later that it was anger.

"I won't forgive you for insulting Natsuki."

Haruka shot her a bitter glare, but Shizuru was looking beyond her, now. Yukino felt the full force of those crimson eyes studying her.

"You... 'If it's for my most important person, I would do anything...' Don't you think that as well?"

Yukino furrowed her brow. A thousand indecisions raced through her mind, but she ultimately knew what her answer would be. Shizuru's voice cut through the darkness.

"Yes... my thoughts exactly."

She summoned her Element, eliciting a round of gasps and the beginning of their end.

Yukino blinked, breaking herself free of her memories. Again, Shizuru's voice whispered in her ear.

"If it's for my most important person... I would do anything."

She had been the eyes and ears of Fuuka for Haruka. She had tried to help her keep the school together during the rampant chaos. But there was something compelling about the blatant disregard of her own safety that Shizuru demonstrated. She made it quite clear her only purpose for attacking anyone with her powers would be to protect and help her Natsuki. Kiyohime had even taken on Kagutsuchi, the most powerful Child, single-handedly in an attempt to protect Natsuki. Yukino could only spy on others, and eventually she could only stand and watch as Haruka was taken away from her. Afterwards as the dust had settled it was generally accepted that the maidens who participated were in fact being manipulated to attack each other by the Obsidian Lord. Most of the maidens went on their daily lives without any pent up feelings of bitterness towards each other.

None of this helped her with what she was doing through now.

Shizuru performed cruel acts for the one she loved, but Yukino did not think that made the older woman any more cruel than the rest of them. The Sister lied about Nao attacking her, starting the Carnival. Natsuki had effectively drawn first blood in the Carnival by hunting down Nao on the suspicion that Nao had injured the Sister. Mai and Mikoto laid beatings on each other harder than anyone else, especially with the losses of Takumi and Yuuichi. Yukino herself had spied on Shizuru and outed her before she had a chance to make sense of anything that Shizuru had done. Shizuru's response to Natsuki's rejection of her feelings was to destroy Yukino, Nao, and the First District.

No one was innocent. Haruka could yell and complain all she would like about Shizuru's peculiar habits and apparent selfishness, but Yukino would always admire the fact that Shizuru did not possess a heart for cruelty. None of them did. That heart was what sustained Shizuru through her psychotic break. The others had forgiven her and each other for their transgressions, for the most part.

Yukino sighed and tried to make out a pattern in the ceiling. When that activity failed she rubbed her forehead. She needed to figure out what was going on in the outside world. Obviously it didn't stop with her hurried confession to Haruka. Anxiety began to make its slow but steady march up from the pit of her stomach but she was already determined. She squinted in her room and briefly remembered that her glasses were somewhere on the floor. She stood and quickly poked around the room until her hands settled on her glasses. She could deal with the nervous breakdown later.

She had made up her mind.

Yukino fitted the glasses back on her face and idly looked down at her laptop screen before raking a finger across the touchpad. The laptop blinked out of its screensaver mode and she typed a few commands before a browser window popped up.

Am I sure about this?

She opened up her email client and scrolled through the contacts list. Fujino, Shizuru came to view. Her fingers hesitated for a moment, hovering over the keyboard.

No. I'm not sure.

She paused.

But I'll do it anyway.

She typed quickly, and soon the room was drowned in the sound of keys clicking.

Shizuru felt her phone vibrate in her coat pocket. Natsuki noticed as well but failed to mention it as she was in the middle of devouring half a bowl of curry rice. Mai was currently sitting across from her, blissfully chatting away while Reito contentedly stared out the window. The four were seated in the corner booth of the restaurant Mai worked as a waitress at. Today and tomorrow were her days off and she intended to spend as much time as possible enjoying as much rest as possible before her shifts came back in. Shizuru had only really been paying attention to half the conversation but it was enough to go on. She politely excused herself and unlocked her phone.

She read the email that she just received and tapped her chin thoughtfully for a second before pocketing her phone.

So, the time has come.

A/N

I had to re-watch Episodes 22 and 23 today to get the dialogue spoken prior to the Kikukawa-Fujino battle correct. I figured if there was one instance of being completely canon in fanfiction, recollections that take place in the series would fit the bill just fine. This chapter in particular is more of an in-between chapter.

Cheers.