A/N #1: Oh ye of little faith, I am back!! Of course, with the holiday season and my birthday being on the 6th of January, I had little time to do much of anything besides eat, sleep, work and celebrate. Good times. So here we go; Chapter 8.
A/N #2: I believe I will be owing an explanation after this chapter, so let me just say it now. If you've read my stories, you know that I like breaking the mold...or at least molding the mold to look like something different instead of the same tired formula. Granted, that old formula works, but there are several that irk me, and the big one? Shizuru's parents. All the time I see how stuffy they are in regards to Shizuru's chosen sexuality, and it bothers me to no end to see how one parent approves, one doesn't...come on. So I decided to go a completely different route, and I hope you like it.
A/N #3: I just realized that my OOC Natsuki is gonna go boy...and be OOC to her original OOCness. Weird.
A/N #4: Remember; people change just as characters in stories do. If you liked gruff, emotionless Natsuki please remember that so did I. But things change. They have to. Otherwise; where will the humor go? :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Mai HiME, only the idea of this story. I also don't own any of the quotes I use from movies/shows/various other anime. If you can point them out, awesome. If not...well, awesome.
--
"You look nervous."
Shizuru turned to her secret love and merely smiled. Of course she was nervous; to call off such an arrangement as the one Hiro and herself had was a little more troublesome than she thought it was going to be.
"I'm fine." she replied. "You look wonderful, by the way."
Wonderful was an understatement. Saying that Natsuki looked 'wonderful' was like saying the ocean was 'damp'. Her hair was trimmed and pulled back into an elegant ponytail. The crew had argued that Natsuki wasn't 'manly' enough to be Natsuki's new man. Aoi had scoffed as said notion and instead extenuated Natsuki's hidden femininity. So now she just looked like a femmey guy...but a stunning one. Natsuki had told them all that she was an accomplished actor and had memorized not only the fake company she apparently ran, but that of Fujino Corp, just to impress her father.
Also, the tailor made suit and wardrobe Miyu had made almost drove Shizuru mad with desire.
"You look gorgeous yourself." Natsuki said with a cocky grin. She leaned in and gave Shizuru a kiss on the cheek, immediately causing a flare up in the Kyoto Born's cheeks. Accomplished actor indeed.
It was going to be a long month.
They were close, and the anticipation was killing her. As they neared the gates, the driver to the limo rolled down the window, then back up a few moments later. The huge gates opened and let them inside.
"I don't see your house..." Natsuki wrinkled her eyebrows, something Shizuru found incredibly cute about her.
"The gates are just where our property begins." Shizuru explained. "It's another half and hour drive to the house."
Natsuki blinked.
"Natsuki...there are a few things I have to tell you about my family." Shizuru began, locking her eyes on Natsuki's and wishing to whatever god was listening to stop making them so deep, so alluring, so...
"Okay..." Natsuki said, willing her to go on. Shizuru mentally slapped herself.
"My family, while prominent, is very...strange." Shizuru put it bluntly. "They are not what you are going to expect."
"What do I expect?" Natsuki leaned back in her chair and propped an elbow up in a cocky pose. Shizuru's inside roared with sexual frustration, but none of it showed on the outside.
"Probably some stuffy old people who are hell bent on the traditional things in life." Shizuru giggled. "But if that's the case, you couldn't be more wrong."
"I see." Natsuki nodded. "Well, I was thinking that...what are they like?"
"Different." was all Shizuru said, putting emphasis on the word.
"Well, if they're anything like you, they can't be all bad." Natsuki shrugged.
Shizuru often wondered if Natsuki ever actually heard herself speak; if she knew how romantic some of the things she said actually sounded. She didn't think so, because Natsuki just smiled as if oblivious to how Shizuru sighed.
"Besides, you're my girl on this trip, am I right" Natsuki grasped Shizuru's hand and held it up with a kiss. "So let's act like it, ne?"
To say Shizuru almost fainted would have been putting it lightly.
All too soon they were at the 'house', which turned out to be a mansion the size of Heaven. Lines upon lines of maids were there to greet them. Shizuru stepped out of the limo as soon as a maid opened the door and was met with a huge greeting, followed by various swoons as she gave a small wave back. A small murmur rippled through the crowd as she stepped off to the side to let her 'lover' out.
Natsuki stepped out, letting her long, navy hair blow in the wind for a second. At that very moment, the wind was hard enough to knock some of the sakura leaves off a nearby tree and blew them majestically behind the bluenette, who tucked an errant hair behind her ear. She looked to the rows of maids and flashed a grin that could have charmed Angels from heaven and, to a lesser extent, birds from trees.
A loud 'thump' was heard, and Shizuru looked to see that about ninety percent of the maids had passed out with hearts in there eyes.
"Ara..." she frowned. Not a good sign.
"Think I overdid it, love?" Natsuki growled innocently, and Shizuru had to stop from passing out herself.
"Not at all." she replied. "It might have been if you planned the sakura leaves."
She only gave a noncommittal shrug as she looked up to the huge doors at the end of the steps. Gliding down could only be Shizuru's mother; a near identical match in terms of looks though the older Fujino woman had deep brown eyes instead of red; Natsuki figured the unusual red eyes came from her father.
"Shizuru, darling!!" the woman drawled as she came in and gave her only daughter a hug. "It's sooo good to see you. Ara, and you have a guest. What's your name, miss?"
"Rellan Shard." Natsuki bowed. "A pleasure."
"Ara, this is the Rellan Shard I've heard so much about?" the older Fujino looked Natsuki up and down. "I must say...you are absolutely edible."
"...I'm sorry?" Natsuki cocked her head to the side.
"Hmmm...you'll do." she nodded. "Viola Fujino, a pleasure. If you'll meet me in my bedchamber, we can begins your examination right away. Alicia!! Bring this gentleman to my chambers!!"
"Yes mistress!!"
"M-MOTHER!!" Shizuru shouted out finally with an unusual stutter. "Rellan is MY boyfriend. You can't steal this one!!"
"Ara, I can't?" Viola pouted, her Kyoto-ben going unusually thick. "But he looks like so much fun. Can't you spare him? For, say...just a couple of days?"
"Absolutely not, mother." Shizuru crossed her arms. "And none of your funny business, okay?"
"Fine." Viola sniffed and held her nose up high. "Why not ask him? Rellan!! Who would you prefer?"
"I would prefer the loving arms of the one that captured my heart with only the slightest of smiles." Natsuki cooed, looking directly at Shizuru, who blushed. Viola, upon seeing this, only smiled wider.
"My, I've never seen Shizuru on the receiving end..." Viola teased. "How's it feel, daughter?"
"Mother..." Shizuru muttered.
"Alas, we must part!!" Viola said dramatically, putting the back of a hand to her forehead. "You'll find, Rellan, that we have too much money...and not enough vices to spend it on. But if you do get bored, as a maid, any one of them, where I am, and you'll immediately be whisked off...to paradise." she said the last word in such a sensual fashion that Natsuki actually felt her heart leap for a moment. She swallowed hard as she watched Viola saunter away and only came back to reality when she felt a slap on her arm.
"Ow!" Natsuki rubbed the spot. "What was that for?"
"You were checking out my mother!!" Shizuru stated, arms akimbo. "Stop checking out my mother!!"
"I wasn't!!" Natsuki held up hands defensively. "I was just thinking what a strange woman she is."
"Yes, strange." Shizuru muttered. "That's one way of putting it. Come, let's meet my father."
"He's not going to try and hit on me, is he?" Natsuki said, and while most would have said it in a completely joking manner, Shizuru knew that Natsuki caught on quick, and if her mother was that strange, her father could only be as strange or worse.
"He might." Shizuru said offhandedly. "You never know with him."
"I see." was all Natsuki said. They were led by two maids, and it was lucky they did, or so at least Natsuki thought. The place was like a maze.
"Here we are, Shizuru-sama." They both opened each door to the side and giggled as Natsuki walked by them.
The room was huge, and...well, dark. A fire roared off to the side and at the end of the room was a huge oak deck with a large swivel chair behind it.
"Ah, Shizuru. So nice of you to join us."
Natsuki could barley make out a 'oh dear lord' as the swivel chair turned to reveal a fairly normal looking man; handsome with salt and pepper black hair and bright red eyes. He stood up to reveal his impressive frame as well as the cat he was cradling in his arms.
"I've always known you'd come back. And as usual, your timing is uncanny...and by uncanny I mean COMPLETELY CANNY!! NINJAS, ATTACK!!"
"You know martial arts, right?" Shizuru said quickly as she got into a defensive pose.
"What?" was Natsuki's last coherent thought as she saw five figures dressed in all black charge. A few moments of blinding footwork later and they were all down and out before an enraged Natsuki, who held up the last remaining ninja by the throat and in the air. She nonchalantly threw him aside and adjusted her barley wrinkled clothing only to look up at the sound of clapping.
"Impressive." was all Shizuru's father said, then he sighed. "Ugh, I thought they would at least put up a better fight then that. And you call yourself ninjas?! Get out of my sight!!"
Immediately the lights turned on and several people seemingly came out of nowhere and picked up the bodies of the ninjas and disappeared. Natsuki tried her best not to look bewildered, but it was actually quite hard.
"Father, was that really necessary?" Shizuru crossed her arms. "Rellan's a very capable man, he can protect me."
"You can never be too sure, isn't that right boy?" the Fujino patriarch smiled. "Come, come, you must be tired after kicking the crap out of my ninjas. Sit, sit, the both of you."
They both complied, Natsuki a bit more slowly then Shizuru but she did eventually shit down.
"Now...Shizuru. Leave." He commanded, his voice different as it rang with more authority. Shizuru was about to dispute, having just sat down, but seeing the look on her father's face only made her stand up, bow, and leave the room.
"Now boy..." Shizuru's father turned to Natsuki and smiled wickedly. "My name is Sanoshi Fujino...and you will tell me all you know of my business..."
--
Shizuru sat downstairs and pouted. Of course she had legions of maids to do anything she wanted, but for some odd reason she seemed more lonely without Natsuki by her side. After another hefty sigh she got up and went to the dining room, knowing that dinner was about to be called.
"Your father still at it?" came the melodious tone of Viola Fujino. "Drat, he might have bedded him before I did..."
"No one is going to bed him before me." Shizuru returned, and though she said is without really raising her voice, her mother knew well enough to keep away...though that didn't stop her from teasing.
"So you haven't already? How odd..." Viola sat down at her designated place at the table, across from Shizuru. "Usually you're much faster then this..."
"Mother!!" Shizuru said with a roll of her eyes. "Rellan is very special to me. I don't want you teasing him too badly."
"I can't promise anything." Viola responded, and Shizuru knew this to be true. After all, Shizuru used to think that her mother invented teasing. "But I can say he shows much promise. Hiro is coming by as well, he wants to meet the man that stole your heart."
"I see." was all Shizuru said in response. They all turned at the sound of doors being opened and Sanoshi and Natsuki entering the room.
"Brilliant!!" Sanoshi gushed, holding several folders in front of him. "I mean...that's excellent!! And if I did that..."
"You'd save at least ten percent on your quarterly spending." Natsuki replied smoothly. "More so if you do the other things I've said."
"Yes, yes, of course..." he snapped the folders shut and handed them to a random maid, who bowed and rushed off with it. "I'd marry you two tomorrow if I could...absolutely perfect business mind, reminds me of...well, me!!"
"Of course." Viola drawled. "You didn't bed him, did you?"
"No, I didn't." Sanoshi replied curtly. "And neither will you."
"Oh posh." Viola waved a hand. "You're all no fun."
"Indeed." Sanoshi eyed his wife with a devious smile. "I'm assuming you already tried and failed?" Viola didn't respond, and Sanoshi gave a huge smile at Natsuki. He held up a wine glass. "To Rellan Shard...brilliant mind, stunning looks...perfect couple!!"
Natsuki smiled as she grasped Shizuru's hand and sat down next to her.
--
"That was...interesting."
Natsuki and Shizuru were both in bed; the same one, Shizuru noted with some due uneasiness. She was in the midst of reading a book (a smut manga, though she wouldn't tell Natsuki that) when she looked up and smiled.
"What was interesting?"
"Your family." Natsuki replied. Her tone was back to normal, and she had largely changed from the person she was acting like in front of her family. "They seem to care about you a great deal."
This wasn't the response she was expecting. When Hiro first met her family, they both had a lengthy conversation on how strange her family was. In fact, her family was the butt of many of their inside jokes, and while Shizuru didn't mind that, she still loved her family over anything else in the world.
"Ara, what makes you say that?"
"Just how they act." Natsuki shrugged. "Your mother made sure I wasn't some horny dog and your father made sure I knew what I was talking about in terms of business."
"About that..." Shizuru took off her reading glasses. "Nao asked how you were so good at all of this; how is that? You had so little time to prepare for this, and yet you act like you've been doing this for years."
Natsuki was silent for a moment before turning to Shizuru. There she saw a a smile; a real one. She swallowed hard, clenching her fists as she held onto the blankets on top of her.
"You should do that more." Natsuki said. "Smile."
"I smile all the time." Shizuru responded, somewhat confused.
"I mean...a real smile." Natsuki said, and with a blush. "You're...cute, when you do."
"Ara?" Shizuru wanted to put fingers in her ears to make sure she heard right. "Natsuki thinks I'm cute?"
"Well, yes." Natsuki started fidgeting. "When you do, I feel like...like I can be myself. And the pain I constantly live with isn't here..." she put a hand on her heart. "And ever since that night when I woke up and you comforted me...I've felt different, you know. Around you. Like I could finally let go. But..."
"But?" Shizuru prodded. She was hearing what she wanted to hear, and then she said 'but...'. But was never a good thing!!
"But you don't feel the same way I do." Natsuki sighed and slumped her shoulders. "I feel like I need you, all the time, like I need you to be by me, and I don't think anyone needs that in their life. But...but I'm so scared that this feeling is going to come back, the pain that's stabbed at me, that haunts me...I'm so scared that when we eventually part ways, it'll come back. I can't get used to it not being there, because when you leave..."
Her words were cut off by a flurry of movement and a set of lips on her own. Shizuru pressed as much of herself onto Natsuki as she could, relishing the contact, wanting more and more. When she pulled away due to lack of breath, Natsuki stared at the chestnut haired girl. Slowly but surely a blush came over the bluenette and eventually covered her whole face.
"Ara...my Natsuki is blushing..."
"Y-you're...Natsuki...?" Natsuki replied, almost inaudible as she brought a hand up to her burning cheeks.
"Mine."
"Yours?"
"Mine."
"Yours." Natsuki blinked cutely for am moment before pulling Shizuru into a tight, desperate embrace. "Shizuru...Shizuru...oh, Shizuru..."
"Yes, my Nat-su-ki?" she whispered into her beloveds ear.
"I...I think I'm in love with you." was the stuttering response as the navy haired girl clutched at Shizuru's nightgown. "But...I'm...I'm so dirty...so tainted..."
"No." Shizuru pulled away and grasped the sides of Natsuki's face, forcing her to look into her crimson orbs. "You're NOT dirty...you're NOT tainted. What happened to you was terrible, despicable and horrendous. But that doesn't mean that I...I love you any less. Ever."
And for the first time since knowing her, Natsuki let out a real smile.
And she was gorgeous.
And for that brief, shining moment, everything was right in Shizuru's world.
