Good evening/night?
As promised, a present. If this was stuck together with the last chapter it would've easily been like 6000+ words. Haha, ick.
Oh, it's only going to get confusing from this point on. I can already see some of the questions, lol.
Enjoy, and don't be afraid to ask.
Mai-hime and related franchise is copyrighted by Sunrise, etc.
Push and Pull
The weekend arrived, and with it came a howl of ice rain that brought torrents of needles tapping against closed windows. The newly-coined Dynamic Duo of Suzushiro Haruka and Kikukawa Yukino decided that before meeting with their former Kaichou they would sit down for some tea and snacks at the Suzushiro mansion. The tea of the day was a lively red English blend that lent itself well to the shortbread cookies offered along with the pitcher of milk. The two sat and enjoyed the companionable silence while winter's rages hammered the sturdy walls of the mansion.
"What a bad day, looks like it's raining rats and clogs," Haruka commented offhandedly as she observed the ice rain plummeting down.
Yukino looked up from the newspaper and tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"… Cats and dogs?" she supplied.
"I thought I said that?" Haruka murmured to herself. She shook her head and frowned as she tapped the newspaper. "Did it say anything about this weather letting up?"
"It only says that this may be the worst winter in a hundred years," Yukino replied before taking a small sip of her tea.
"Really?" Haruka reached for a cookie and bit down. The crunch echoed across the otherwise empty room. "This is the first time in a while that I've seen this much snow on the ground. Makes sense, I suppose."
A spry old man dressed up in a smart tuxedo approached the table. After his low bow the butler straightened and cleared his throat softly.
"Fujino-sama has arrived on the premises," he informed gravely. "She arrived in a company car that is waiting outside the mansion."
"Already?" Haruka questioned. At the butler's nod she frowned contemplatively. "Show her in. This room will be fine, Nobue-san."
"Understood, Haruka ojou-sama."
With another bow the butler walked out of the room. Haruka and Yukino exchanged curious glances before the doors to the sitting room opened several minutes later. Instead of one set of footsteps they heard two. Haruka turned first to see just who the second individual would be—Nobue always waited by the door. Immediately Haruka's hackles were raised and Yukino looked up in alarm. She laid a warning hand on Haruka's arm but the older girl paid it no heed as she roughly stood from the table. Her eyes stared piercingly at one particular individual, the only one Yukino failed to recognize.
She was an odd-looking person at first glance. The dark green hair was cut at an odd angle with one side longer than the other. Yukino admitted she never paid religious attention to recent fashion trends but this seemed a little extreme. The unfamiliar woman possessed gray eyes that reflected cold steel. She looked reasonably attractive but there was something about her that Yukino hesitated upon. She was trying too hard to be civil, Yukino found. Haruka and the stranger seemed to be sizing each other up in the terse silence before common courtesy dictated that the hostess greet her guests.
"… Marguerite," Haruka said stiffly.
"Suzushiro," the woman returned with a barely-disguised sneer. "Fancy seeing you here in high society… for once."
Haruka's eyes grew to a dangerous size and Yukino hurriedly tried to execute damage control. Indeed, it would only take another ill-advised comment to drive Haruka to flip the table over on the visitor and reduce the room to bits.
"Ara… we shouldn't fight."
The two stopped in their silent bickering and Yukino looked towards the source of the statement. Marguerite, Yukino noticed, immediately softened under those words and began to simper in some attempt to look apologetic. Haruka breathed out slowly.
"… Hello again, Fujino," Haruka said with a short nod.
Haruka was met by a winter's beauty framed in flaxen hair and accentuated by startling crimson eyes. She had not changed much in the way that her striking looks and calm demeanor still remained recognizable. Shizuru had lost some of the stubborn baby fat from her cheeks, giving her a slimmer and more mature appearance. Too slim, Haruka thought with a disapproving frown. Something was off with those eyes again, but it wasn't the deep-seated unpredictability that she would often see beneath the vapid looks Shizuru would give. This Shizuru looked positively ill.
"H-How have you been?" Yukino asked, trying to break the silent tension in the room.
Shizuru turned and nodded towards the younger girl.
"I have been well, thank you."
Haruka pulled up a chair and procured a spare from the corner of the room. The four took their seats and Nobue brought along a fresh pot of tea along with a small tray of sugars and milk. Haruka turned towards her butler.
"Fujino, you like green tea, right? Nobue, please prepare—"
"That won't be necessary," Marguerite interjected. "Shizuru-sama, you will do just fine with the English tea, will you not?"
Haruka's grasp on the sugar tongs brought Yukino's worried eyes once more towards the barely under control woman. It was one thing to be interrupted by someone but to interrupt Haruka in her own house when she was trying her hardest to be civil was not something to attempt for kicks. One wrong move and Haruka could just as well stab the girl's eyes out. Yukino shifted her glance towards the other side of the table. Shizuru's empty eyes looked down at the cup of steaming red tea and again up towards Marguerite, who nodded her on. After a tense moment she turned and smiled apologetically towards Haruka.
"I am fine with this tea, but thank you Suzushiro-han."
The fight deflated from Haruka. She sent Nobue away with a half-hearted wave. Silence reigned supreme at the table, accompanied only by the sounds of cookies being demolished one by one in Haruka's effort to remain civil in the already ruined atmosphere. During this snack attack Yukino noticed out the corner of her eye that Marguerite had taken to mixing the sugars and milk for Shizuru's tea.
This was strange. She had prepared all sorts of tea for the Student Council at Fuuka and knew how each member liked their tea within the first few times of preparing it. In all her years of preparing tea she knew that Shizuru drank her tea without embellishments no matter what type was being served. Yukino watched cautiously as the former Kaichou took this sickeningly sweet tea into her hands and had a sip.
For a moment Yukino paused. Did she see something else being mixed in along with the tea?
She shook her head and returned to her own cup. It wouldn't do well to light the situation on fire over an innocent observation. If Haruka got wind of it who knew what would go down.
"So, are you running around begging for scraps again, Marguerite?" Haruka asked in a bored tone.
The other woman's face had a distinct red hue to it. A few seconds later she emitted a haughty laugh towards Haruka who regarded her through narrowed eyes.
"At least I was born into some substance, Suzushiro."
"… I guess you can say that if that's what lets you sleep at night without wetting yourself over it," Haruka replied with a sardonic smile. "What with your… tendencies, let's just say."
She paused for a moment to stir her tea, further infuriating her guest. The conversation grew exceedingly banal and Yukino began to tune it out. It seemed to be designed as being more of a pissing match between Marguerite and Haruka than anything else. While Yukino was familiar with Haruka's mostly one-sided rivalries with others—especially with Fujino Shizuru—there was something markedly different going on here. Even with Shizuru's reckless teasing in the past, Haruka had never really entertained the thought of causing her rival permanent physical damage. It would be below a Suzushiro to actively wish a rival that sort of harm, Haruka had once explained to Yukino.
"A rival is beaten through fair means! We don't do any of that bait and switching like that bubuzuke-onna!"
Yukino watched Haruka's fingers curl around the handle of the porcelain tea cup. For a second she imagined her friend wildly crashing the cup down on Marguerite's head, and with a jolt she realized that Haruka was incredibly willing to do it. Marguerite seemed to pick up on this as well and was even beginning to back off from the increasingly irate hostess. Fortunately for all of them Shizuru set her half-empty tea cup down and cleared her throat.
"I apologize for interrupting this lively conversation," she said to the bickering duo. "But my presence is required at Fuuka Gakuen on request from the Headmistress."
The fight subsequently defused as Marguerite immediately hopped up from her chair.
"You're right, we mustn't be late for that, Shizuru-sama," she announced quickly. "I will get your coat."
Marguerite marched off to grab the butler for the coat. This reprieve was what Haruka was waiting for. She jumped up as well and caught Shizuru's arm before she could leave the table.
"What happened to you, Shizuru?"
Something flickered in Shizuru's eyes when Haruka spoke her name. Haruka could feel it reach out to her and she held her breath as she waited.
"You look a little winded, Fujino-san," Yukino added quietly. "How are you?"
Again, the emptiness attempted to creep away in favor of clarity. Shizuru struggled with herself for a moment and her body shook with the effort. Finally her clenched jaw relaxed enough to enable her to speak.
"… Two weeks."
"Huh?"
A cryptic smile twitched on the former Kaichou's lips, as if it was Haruka who was babbling crazy talk and not the other way around.
"In two weeks, Sapporo."
"What do you mean?" Haruka demanded. "What's going to happen in Sapporo in two weeks?"
"The connection with…"
Her lips moved quickly—her speech was much quicker than usual, Yukino noted—but no sound came out for a second.
"… is stronger when I'm not under." Shizuru continued before lapsing into a conflicted silence.
Despite the lack of vocal communication Haruka could almost hear the hidden words tickle her ears when she stared into those crimson eyes. Suddenly her gaze flicked down to her teacup, catching Yukino's attention once more. The eyes turned empty again.
"I…"
She blinked. The connection was lost and once more she retreated deep within herself.
"Wait—"
Haruka spotted the returning bob of green hair and hastily let go of Shizuru, who slowly turned. The younger woman stopped and threw a suspicious glance towards Haruka who in turn looked a little miffed.
Shizuru bowed her head towards the two and turned to leave the room once more with Marguerite leading the way. This time her exit came unhindered and the duo was left in a deafening silence. Something surged up from Haruka and a she took in a deep breath. Her fists slammed onto the table. The clatter of porcelain echoed across the room and some of the tea from Shizuru's cup spilled out onto the saucer. This triggered something in Yukino's brain and she hurriedly salvaged the tea before Haruka spilled it all in her rage-induced fit. She looked at the murky liquid and frowned. If there was something other than tea leaves, sugar, milk, and water, she would find it.
Her thoughts were put on hold when Nobue walked into the room once more. As he began to pick up the scattered cups he threw a curious glance towards the cup in Yukino's hands.
"Ah, Nobue-san. May I please have a clean plastic container with a lid?"
The strange request caused Nobue to blink. True to his calling, however, he silently departed the room and returned with the requested container in hand. Yukino accepted it and poured the remaining tea in the container before shutting the lid on top. Afterwards the table was cleared and Yukino set the plastic container down before retaking her seat.
"Damn that weasel!" Haruka roared. "If I had known that little fart was with Shizuru I'd have…"
"… Tart?"
Haruka let loose a mighty groan.
"Tart, fart, whatever. They both fit."
"Haruka-chan?"
Haruka turned. "What is it, Yukino?"
"… Who was she?"
"Her? Tomoe Marguerite?" Haruka crossed her arms. "She likes to pretend she's a member of high society, when really what all her claims amount to is the fact that she's related to the Fujino family." A sneer grew on her face. "She's just a punk who thinks she's entitled to more."
"Tomoe Marguerite…" Yukino frowned. "How do you know her so well, Haruka-chan? You've never mentioned her."
"Her mother is Fujino's aunt," Haruka explained. "There wasn't really anything of note going on until Shizuru's parents got married in an arranged match. When her aunt couldn't get her free handouts from the family anymore she went and got married to the first rich foreigner she saw. I only heard that the man went bankrupt and had to be taken care of by Fujino before he hacked into company funds."
"… I imagine that did not go well for Marguerite-san's mother," Yukino commented.
"Damn right it didn't, and the kid seems to have picked up where her mother left off." Haruka leered as she glared at the door.
"…I don't know why that brat is running around with the Fujino family again but I intend to find out. If you ask me that entire family is a little weird… filled with strange habits and tendencies. I wish that bubuzuke-otoko would come back from wherever the hell he disappeared to."
Yukino frowned. She was right, of course. It had been a year since they had last seen him and they had no idea where he could be.
"The entire Fujino empire is crumbling. You've seen her, Yukino. Do you think she's capable of leading a company that's about to fall down under its own weight? She's out there babbling crazy talk about Sapporo in two weeks. Really, what was that?"
Yukino frowned while Haruka began to pace the room.
"Two weeks… two weeks…" Haruka vigorously ran her fingers across her scalp. "What the hell does that mean? Fujino didn't go crazy, did she? I mean that might be a fine explanation for what the hell happened but—"
The words faded as Yukino crossed her arms and tucked her chin in a contemplative pose.
Sapporo, two weeks.
The connection… is stronger when I'm not under.
The first line denoted a meeting place and time. That much Yukino was sure of. She remembered that Shizuru would often write her meeting locations and times in this brief manner during Student Council meetings. The concise manner was an easy template to work with and Yukino had used it plenty of times to log their meetings and in turn initiate her own during her run as Kaichou. That noted, something will happen in two weeks in the city of Sapporo.
The second line was puzzling but Yukino was somewhat of an expert in parsing through the nuances of speech. Hanging around Haruka and guessing the correct words for her jumbled up vocabulary was ample training for that. Shizuru's tone had been matter-of-fact; the statement therefore was a simple fact that had come to pass a while ago.
When I'm not under.
Yukino stared at the plastic container she had set on the table. Again, another odd thing. Shizuru loved tea. A drop of tea wasted was a drop of tea mourned. There was more than half a cup of fine English tea left in the container. She adjusted her glasses and frowned.
The connection… is stronger.
Connection to what? Reality might have been a fitting choice but Yukino shook her head. That couldn't have been the real answer. She sighed, realizing that she was reaching the limits of her own deductive reasoning on this tiny heap of evidence. Still, she reasoned, two out of three wasn't so bad when facing something as bizarre as this.
"… About that crazy talk, Haruka-chan."
The ranting stopped mid-sentence, somewhere around a passionate declaration to teach Tomoe a lesson in civilized society by beating her with "these civilized fists of mine." When she winded down from her fantasies of exacting that wild brand of justice, Haruka looked down at the plastic container when Yukino gestured towards it. She picked it up and gently swirled the murky liquid inside.
"What's this?"
"This is Fujino-san's leftover tea. Maybe there is something in it that might be of interest to us," Yukino explained.
She took in a deep breath. "I'm not convinced. You're right. I don't think Fujino-san would sit and let her family crumble all around her. She is trying to let us in on something."
"You mean the Sapporo in two weeks nonsense?"
Yukino nodded. "Something will happen there in two weeks, Haruka-chan. We need to figure it out and see what's going on there that needs a warning attached to it."
"Do you think Marguerite is trying to drug her with this tea?" Haruka questioned.
"I intend to find out," Yukino echoed.
Haruka frowned and regarded the container once more. She handed it back to Yukino and folded her hands behind her back as she marched over towards the French doors that led out to the main corridor of the mansion. Yukino followed her friend towards the east wing of the mansion that housed Haruka's bedroom and a smaller room across the hall that belonged to her. The latter was the one they walked into. The room was faintly illuminated by a trio of flat screen monitors and the blue glow of the main PC tower. Already the main computer was running through a full-scale search over any vulnerability it could exploit but so far it had been rewarded with nothing for its efforts. Haruka flipped on the light switch and Yukino set the container down beside her keyboard.
"Now," she announced in a soft but firm tone, "Now, we're fully involved."
Haruka nodded and said something about grabbing an early dinner before walking out of the room. Yukino sat down on her computer chair and tapped her fingers against the container.
The connection… is stronger when I'm not under.
Yukino paused and rewound her photographic memory for a moment while opening a word processing program. She recalled Shizuru's lips moving but no sound coming out when Haruka tried to coax another response out of her. She closed her eyes to capture the memory in a quick snapshot as her fingers blindly found the keyboard. Three syllables.
Na-Tsu-Ki
Yukino stared at the characters on her screen and took off her glasses.
The connection with Natsuki is stronger when I'm not under.
She wiped them with a spare glass cloth and put them back on before she resumed a furious string of typing that stopped for nothing. Soon dozens of windows flew to the screen and the other monitors blipped to life as she incorporated the secondary computer into her new strings of searches. If there was anything the Fujino family owned up in Sapporo, Yukino would find it. If a Kuga Natsuki appeared as well, it would be all the better.
The pieces were all there, she reasoned, apart from one or two. When those were found, the puzzle would finally put itself together.
Have a great weekend. I may be around if I find time to polish the next installment.
:)
