Grimacing at the door, Shizuma braced herself for her forthcoming confrontation with her Uncle.
Years' worth of pent up frustration and anger however was beginning to falter just before she reached her goal.

'I have to do this, I will do this'

Turning the handle she stormed into the office, all formalities gone as she fixed Iwao with an icy stare, willing herself closer.

"Uncle! I have had enough of your stupid games; the company is rightfully mine and has been since my father's death!" Four years had passed since the first dismissal and Shizuma refused to be rejected once again, determination swelling in her chest as she eyed the stony figure behind the desk.

At the lack of a response Shizuma crossed her arms aggressively, refusing to back down as she contemplated the man in front of her.

Still no response came, and realisation suddenly dawned on her that something was wrong; she regarded his pale, sickly face, observed the pained expression in his eyes.
His breathing became heavy pants as he desperately clutched at his arm, beginning to shake.

"G-G-Get an ambulance!" He uttered, his eyes boring into his nieces, noting the shock emanating from her as she turned on her heel and ran in search of a phone.

Supressing a yawn, the blonde figure had crawled out from her hiding place only to be met by two pairs of eyes trained upon her every movement.

Glaring she hoped they would back off, leave her alone and give her time to escape, yet they didn't. They continued to stare curiously at her as she shifted uncomfortably, wanting nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow her.

It dawned upon her that she would have to say something, anything to falter their curious if not rude gazes. One of the women- the bluenette- held a questioning gaze, seemingly debating with herself over whether or not to help. The other woman - the red head- seemed slightly shaken. Her eyes began to widen and before the girl could react, she had let out a piercing scream of "Z-Z-Z-ZOMBIE!" which drifted throughout the park.

Jumping back in alarm, she watched as the red head turned on her heel and began to sprint away across the park.
Watching, she also saw the same red head trip over herself landing in a heap on the floor, her body shaking with tremors before she finally stilled.

It was then that the bluenette jumped into action. "NAGISA-CHAN!" She yelled a slight hysterical tint to her voice as she raced towards the other at an alarming rate. She began to fuss over the woman, who- she'd noted- had yet to move again.

Picking herself up off the ground she began brushing away the dirt and twigs.
In an attempt to stop the crimson torrent which was now trickling down her shoulders, she pressed her hand gently to the gash on her neck before sheepishly approaching the other two women, guilt beginning to prickle at her heart.

"Is she alright?" taking deep breaths, she braced herself for the response, not wanting to betray her nerves in such a crucial situation.

The bluenette whipped round, her eyes clouded over with panic and worry, speaking quickly as her voice went two octaves higher.
"I don't know, I don't know! She's not moving! I think she hit her head when she fell, but I don't know! I think she's unconscious, but I don't know!"

Eyeing the unmoving red head, she bent down to feel for a pulse. Upon feeling the light fluttering beneath her fingers she let out a sigh of relief. Her eyes roamed the woman's face, taking in the damage; from the graze on the woman's cheek to the bruise which was beginning to spread across her forehead.

"That's it! Shizuma, I'll ring Shizuma! She'll know what to do!"

Recognition sparked as she heard the bluenette's words, snapping her head around in time to see the flustered woman grab for her phone and dial a number.

"Shizuma! No – No – No I have no time for this! It's Nagisa! I don't know what's wrong! She's not moving! I don't know what to do! No. No. Yes. No, just hurry up!"

Glancing at the bluenette her stomach twisted into knots upon hearing that name.
'It can't be…'

Suddenly the red heard stirred, murmuring incoherent mumbles as she attempted to sit up. Eyes cracking open with a dazed expression, only to lock onto the piercing blue eyes staring curiously at her.

Letting a startled yelp escape her throat she made a hurried attempt to shuffle further away, which only caused the blue eyes to sparkle in amusement.

"I'm not going to eat your brain you know, I've already had one today" Brown eyes widened before finally grasping the tint of humour in the others voice. A startling blush spread across her cheeks as she realised her outburst had not only attracted a lot of attention, but also caused a significant amount of trouble and embarrassment for herself.

"Nagisa –Chan I assume?" upon seeing the red heads eyes widen again, she let out a small chuckle before continuing; "No, I can't read minds before you ask, I overheard your friend over there after you'd collapsed. You can both make a lot of noise, that's for sure."

Grinning at the sheepish expression now donning her face, she decided introductions were in order.
"I'm-"

"NAGISA-CHAN!" Cut off by the bluenette flinging herself upon Nagisa, she continued to grin.
'Well I guess formalities can wait for later then'

"Nagisa-Chan! Oh I'm so happy you're okay! Don't go running off like that again! Shizuma's so worried; she's on her way n-"

"Shizuma?"

The bluenette sheepishly began to rub the back of her head before continuing; "Well I was worried and sort of … well… panicked and rang her"

Groaning Nagisa shut her eyes as her body tensed finally muttering "I wish you hadn't, I don't want anyone to cause a fuss."

Trying to supress the over pending fear that Shizuma would kick off and cause a scene, she tried to concentrate on her breathing. Her breaths were still coming in short laboured pants as she tried to regain control of her body.

Refusing to open her eyes she could hear Tamao and the other person conversing under muttered breaths, but as the thudding sensation in her head increased she only groaned involuntarily trying to shut off the slightest noise.

She sat like that for what seemed like hours, but could only have been minuets as the dull thudding continued and her face began to ache.

Before she knew it a slender pair of hands had cupped her face gently, the gesture somewhat reassuring and soothing.
Reluctantly she peered out from under her eye lashes to see who had initiated the contact, only to lock eyes once more with the emerald orbs she'd become accustomed to in the past day.

"Shizuma…"

The silver-haired woman gave a small smile before gently helping Nagisa to her feet, an arm weaving around her waist for support, as she began to limp back home.

"Nagisa, stop wriggling." Shizuma sighed exasperatedly, as she one again attempted to clean the cuts on the red heads face.

With one last defiant pout, Nagisa held still, wincing slightly as her wounds began to sting.
Tamao was hovering in the background, watching with bated breath the scenario unfolding before her, fidgeting on the spot yet too apprehensive to approach less she incurred the elder woman's wrath.

"There all done." Placing a gentle kiss to the read heads nose she continued. "Now, how did this happen? I was waiting for you here under the belief that you were only going to see Tamao at the park, and next thing I know I get a phone call telling me you aren't moving… how could this happen?"

Raising a sculptured eye brow she waited for the red heads reply, watching intently as said red head began to shift and fidget under her gaze.

"Nagisa…"

"I thought I saw a…" mumbling the last part her cheeks adorned a similar colour to her hair, as a confused Shizuma leaned closer.

"I didn't catch the last part, what did you think you saw?"

"I – I Thought… that I'd seen a… a… Zombie" clamping her eyes shut, she blushed an even brighter red upon hearing the incredulous noise coming from the other woman.

"Nagisa… you know that Zombies aren't real? Don't you…?"

Upon hearing the slight tint of humour in the voice, Nagisa's head shot up, narrowed eyes burning into the others.

For the next few minutes a staring battle commenced, whilst Tamao continued to shift uncomfortably in the distance, unsure of what to do, when she finally realised that the blonde haired girl from earlier was no longer with them.

"I didn't even find out her name…" Even though she'd only mumbled her despairs, it had been heard by the other two occupants in the room who were now staring at her with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

"The- The girl from earlier, the one who helped earlier"

There was a gasp from Nagisa. "Oh! Did she not come with you? I wonder if she's okay… she looked a bit ruffled up earlier…"

"I'm sure you would be as well if you'd just crawled out a bush only to be screamed at by a stranger." She approached, ignoring the frustrated look of confusion from the eldest woman.

Blushing again, Nagisa lowered her head; "I didn't mean to… It was a… a… misunderstanding, I never got to say sorry either."

"Okay! What are you both talking about? What girl?" Shizuma finally snapped as both the bluenette and red head turned with looks of shock on their faces before beginning to explain who the girl was and how she was related to the incident which cause Nagisa's injuries.

Little did the occupants of the room know, but a lone figure hesitated outside the front door of the apartment having followed them earlier.

'It was her… I have to do this, I will do this'

With a determined nod, she knocked on the door before her courage could falter again. Nerves began to flutter as she waited in baited anticipation for someone to answer.

After what seemed like a life time the door gradually opened and a chestnut eye peered at the source of disturbance, gasping as recognition hit.

"Y-You! You're that girl from earlier! I wanted to see you, I wanted to speak to you about something but I wasn't sure wher – Wait, why are you here?"

Nagisa's look of excitement instantly turned to a suspicious gaze as she opened the door further and crossed her arms.

"I just wanted to check that you were okay, I feel partially responsible for what happened…" upon seeing the red heads face soften she continued to explain. "I was worried, that's all. I'll go now though if that's what you want."

Turning she began to walk away, hoping that her trick would work – And it did- moments later a hesitant hand grabbed her arm.

"Thank you; for helping me earlier and I'm sorry I reacted like that… I just… don't like being scared."

Feeling herself being tugged back to the door, she hid a smirk. "Yes, yes I can tell that. I won't be doing that again; my ears are still ringing from that scream."

Trying to ignore the comment and hide the blush once again staining her cheeks, Nagisa posed a question; "Want to come inside?"

"Sure…" And with that she was led into the apartment and found herself standing in a small kitchen.

Glancing around and taking in her surroundings, she finally returned her attention to the other woman in the room. Taking a steadying breath she decided it was now or never and began to set her plan in motion.

"Look… I should probably tell you something. When we were at the park, your friend mentioned someone called Shizuma. I know her, she isn't what you think, she's deceiving you, she's-"

"Nagisa? What's taking you so long? Who's at the door-"
Freezing at the entrance to the kitchen Shizuma's eyes widened in surprise as she took in the appearance of the girl in front of her.

From the ruffled blonde hair and tattered clothes to the piercing blue eyes which were now locked intently on her.

"Sophia…"

Note:

I don't really like this chapter all that much.

Sorry about the amount of time it's taken me to update, again. x_x I've had a million different things going on recently; from family members being ill to getting ready to start college.

Also I said in the last chapter I was worried about posting it since no one had read it beforehand, so I just wanted to thanks to the people who reviewed it. (: You're all awesome. xD

Thanks once again for reading and/or reviewing. It makes me day. (:
I still don't own Strawberry Panic. :P

Becky. xx