Good evening, Author here. Thank you for your reviews :)
I'm not sure what happened with the last chapter's submission but hopefully that'll get fixed with this submission. This was done a little quicker than I thought and I didn't really edit it through, so if there are any glaring mistakes I apologize ahead of time.
Mai-hime and related belong to Sunrise
Showdown at the House of White Petals
The tea house complex was unnecessarily huge in Natsuki's opinion. She shuffled through the snow and finally found some steady footing in a path that led up to the expansive traditional mansion that was tucked away in the forest-covered mountains close to Sapporo. Despite stepping out of the ferry hours ago, her legs felt strained and unused to the arduous climb up these mountains. The heavy weight on her back caused her to grasp at the strap that dug into one of her shoulders despite the rather heavy coat she was wearing over her suit. Prior to coming here, Nagi had procured a wooden box that he had left in the ferry's storage and the silk-wrapped parcel had been placed back in this protective case. Briefly she adjusted the parcel that was slung across her back before she looked up at her traveling partner. Nagi was currently perched on a tree limb several feet above her head. His legs swung back and forth with a childish kick as he rested a sniper's scope in front of his right eye. After a moment he hummed in apparent interest before tossing the monocular down towards Natsuki. She opened her hands and let the scope fall into them before she eased it in front of her good eye. The scale of the property was ridiculously immense. It would take at least a good hour to tour the perimeter and find an opening before she could even breach the inner house.
"Is this really it?" she asked quietly.
Nagi nodded before rubbing his gloved hands together.
"This is one of the many tea houses that used to be owned by Fujino Tetsuo, grand patriarch of the family. Now it is relatively empty save for the maids who keep the house tidy and one or two guests who wander in from time to time. If the caravan on wheels we saw just coming up through the mountains a few hours ago is any indication, it'll be your target."
"My target?" Natsuki sucked in a breath and let the cold flow into her lungs. "So I'm alone, then."
Nagi raised his hands in a complacent gesture.
"I'm not going to be much help anyway. I'd probably just get in the way." He smiled. "Besides, I'm not about to risk getting caught by Fujino Kyoko, of all people. Sorry, but this is as far as I can go without dirtying my own hands into this affair."
"Right."
Natsuki returned to her sentinel position with the scope firmly in front of her eye. She could already see that several people were milling in and out of the buildings, people she did not see several hours ago when she began her watch to the cue of several black vehicles cutting a path through the snow. After counting a good twelve or so strangers running around the premises, she frowned and tucked the scope away in a holster situated on her belt.
"The main house is easy enough to find, but the corridors inside are a little tricky," Nagi explained. "Personally I'd avoid mucking around in the middle of the hallways. It's an old building, so the floor tends to creak."
"I'll keep that in mind," Natsuki replied, feeling somewhat distracted.
She turned. She knew she heard something. These forests were inhabited by deer and foxes, but she had seen only a few when they first entered. Whatever it was, it did not want to be found. There was some commotion down below that Duran reacted to with a warning bark that caused her to refocus on the property. Natsuki whipped out the scope and realized with a sickening drop to her stomach that the strangers were now mobilizing and creeping up to where she was.
"What the hell…"
"That's my cue to leave," Nagi announced suddenly.
Natsuki looked up with her mouth slightly agape before she realized that she had been had.
"You little punk!"
"Hey, I said I'd lead you to where the place was. I'm not going to fight your battles for you," Nagi argued. He then frowned. "And quit making so much noise unless you want to be found before you even get into the house."
She gave him one final glare before bolting from her spot. Nagi watched her blend into the woods and sighed, resting his hand on his cheek. His famous Cheshire grin began to grow in anticipation for the inevitable showdown.
"Well, this should be fun."
Natsuki did not get very far when she suddenly backpedaled and nearly fell on her bottom from the change in motion. The tree that would have been beside her had she kept going was assaulted by four throwing stars that buried themselves neatly into the bark. Her foot slid through the snow in a wide arc as she turned and faced where they could have been thrown from. Just as she expected, she saw nothing but snow-covered evergreens. Something shone through for a split second before Natsuki grabbed at the bottom of the parcel on her back. She whipped the parcel up in a wide arc so that it was now was slung across her front. Three more throwing stars were knocked out of their paths during this action and two merely snipped the protective box before flying past Natsuki's cheek. She flung the parcel back to its original position and secured it with one hand grasping the bottom half before she took off in a path parallel to the tea house beneath her.
More stars followed her but she was faster. It was only when a knife connected with what looked to be an explosive slammed into a tree limb above her that her crazy run was stopped. A shower of needles and burnt pine covered her as she threw up her arms and coughed in the sudden explosion. She opened one eye hesitantly and managed to see the leg that was headed in her general direction. With a shove of her hand she knocked the leg out of its trajectory so she could scramble away from the smoking mess and finally get a good look at her assailant.
The throwing stars and nifty explosion already clued her in to the occupation of this person, but this wasn't a storybook ninja dressed in dark garb and armed with a cowl and facemask like she was used to seeing on television. This ninja did have a red facemask but was also wearing what looked to be a boy's school uniform, complete with a canvas school bag slung around the ninja's shoulders. Long, dark green hair was gathered at the base of the ninja's neck with a white ribbon, but it was still hard to tell whether this slight individual was a boy or girl. Natsuki squinted but her deductions were put on hold when the ninja charged towards her.
She blocked the first set of punches and dodged the kick. The parcel's end dragged against the snow and she nearly tripped backwards, unused to the added handicap of having the thing on her back. If she crouched or did anything that involved lowering her center of gravity, the parcel would stick to the ground. This limited her kicking abilities severely. The ninja seemed to notice this as well but only fought harder, using this handicap as an advantage. With a disgusted frown Natsuki finally began to hunker down and actually read the ninja's attack pattern. She knew she couldn't just brawl her way out of this obstacle unless she wanted to tire herself out this early in the game. The ninja loved to get in close, she realized after blocking several swipes. She recognized this straightforward manner of attacking even if the speed was a little faster than she was used to. However, the strength was lacking in the ninja's strikes and soon Natsuki figured out why.
Without the advantage of distance the ninja was reduced to hand-to-hand and maybe the use of throwing knives as melee weapons. Natsuki quickly surmised that the ninja would be reluctant to get rid of the few remaining projectile weapons unless hand-to-hand was compromised. She began to formulate a plan. This time, the parcel would help instead of hinder. It was easily 2 and a half meters long when she checked, and it was an excellent marker for distance when depth perception was compromised. Natsuki knew that she had a range of at least half that when she was fighting in confined places such as this forest, so having the extra meter as a guide would be very advantageous.
She jumped back to avoid the swipe intended for her face. Using this sudden change of stance, she managed to hop a step before swinging herself around, gathering enough momentum into her legs. This gathered momentum unleashed itself into a butterfly kick. The ninja might have scoffed at this aesthetic move and probably knocked her legs away if it were not for the parcel on her back. The added length the parcel contributed transformed this kick into a heavier force likened to a helicopter's blades moving in full speed. She landed in a slight crouch with the parcel secured over her shoulders and both of her hands grasping onto it. With a slight heave she nearly threw the parcel off of her shoulders. All two and a half meters of the heavy box slammed onto the ground in front of it, nearly taking out the ninja in front of her. The ninja nimbly skipped away but was caught behind the knee when Natsuki yanked the parcel up and swung it back into place in one wide circle that caught a few twigs.
Gotcha!
Natsuki grinned as she swung the parcel onto her back once more. Green needles and snow clumps showered down around them. It wasn't a clean hit, but it was a hit nonetheless and ninjas weren't known for their resilience. The ninja tumbled into a snowdrift beneath a lofty pine and landed in a most ungraceful manner at the foot of the tree. The ninja popped out of the snow and paused for a second as clouds of steam emanated from the facemask. Natsuki watched the ninja's hands carefully. The hands remained slack for a fraction of a second before snapping straight. The fingers went through a series of motions, enunciated by the sharp tones of the ninja commanding them.
"Rin, Pyo, To, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen… Ko!!"
Something curious happened. Natsuki felt herself unable to move, as if her feet had been pinned to the snowy ground. She attempted to move her arms and legs, only to run into an impenetrable force that kept her limbs invisibly locked. With a strained breath she stared at the ninja, who up to this time had shown little to no emotion except for the brief shock of getting tossed into a snow bank. This time those eyes expressed a smug sense of accomplishment.
"Got you."
Natsuki let out a growl as she attempted to move her hands. Only her fingers managed to make any sort of progress, but the feeble twitches only served to agitate her further instead of encouraging her. The ninja watched her struggles with a mild sense of amusement.
"I'll admit that you were a hard one to pin, but everyone has a shadow that they can't hide," the ninja announced. "Although… you seem to be fighting this a bit better than I would have expected."
The ninja's hands, which were still clasped together from the final call, now strengthened their grip accordingly. It felt like she was stuck in the suspended feeling of hitting the end of a long descent in a roller coaster. The illusion of extra gravity forced her down to her hands and knees. With great difficulty her neck strained so she could look up at the ninja.
"Sit," the ninja ordered. "I don't want to hurt you any more than what's necessary to subdue you. So hold still like a good dog, will you?"
Another growl came from Natsuki, this one deeper than the last. The ninja blinked in sudden confusion, but Natsuki's lips twitched before growing into a smile.
"Don't you know," Natsuki said quietly, shocking the ninja even more. "Don't you know… you shouldn't order a wolf?"
The last words were spoken in a beastly voice that could not have belonged to any normal human. The shadow under the ninja's control began to morph slowly, causing the ninja to look down. Soon, the human shape disappeared into a monstrous growth before the shadow began to retreat within certain lines that revealed the recognizable shape of a wolf. The ninja looked up back towards Natsuki's emerald eyes. The images didn't fit. The opponent was still human, that was for sure. The ninja's fingers began to grow slack.
Those cold eyes were the last thing the ninja saw before Natsuki charged. The parcel caught the ninja in the throat and with an almighty heave Natsuki managed to swing the ninja into another tree. This time the ninja stood put, sliding down on the trunk to land in an untidy heap at the exposed roots. Natsuki panted heavily and tried to shake off the residual heaviness her limbs felt before she walked over to the ninja to investigate her work. With a small nudge of her foot, the ninja rolled over. Several buttons of the uniform jacket that had gotten caught from a throwing star embedded into the parcel were ripped away, revealing something that made Natsuki raise an eyebrow.
"A girl?"
She took a knee beside the ninja and pulled down the facemask with a finger. After a moment she clucked her tongue disapprovingly and redid the facemask before standing up.
"Kids these days." Natsuki sniffed and looked out towards her destination. "… I hope the rest of them aren't this difficult to manage."
Duran growled in agreement and she adjusted the parcel on her back once more before resuming a more leisurely walk down to the tea house.
After a few minutes of hiding out in a snow bluff and ambushing the perimeter guard with a smart smack upside the head with the parcel, Natsuki found herself in privately-owned land. She knew immediately what this would mean for her. She sighed and sidled up to the walls that surrounded the main group of buildings. She frowned as she studied her first wall, but she took several steps back and heaved in a breath. She ran up and next to the wall before slamming her foot against it during her next stride. Using this momentary hold she neatly ran up the wall and managed to grab onto the edge, enabling her to vault over. Her initial look around notified her to yet another wall. This one was shorter in height but felt a little sturdier when she pressed her palms against it. After studying this particular obstacle she jumped up as high as she could. Her fingertips barely grazed the edge of the wall but she dug her toes into the sturdy material and did a slippery little hop, allowing her hands to smack onto the top of the wall and establish a hand hold. She dangled there for a second to recover before heaving herself up, using her legs to scramble up the surface before she stopped in a low crouch on top of the wall. There, she waited until the timing was down pat.
The guard didn't even know what hit him when he rounded the corner. All he knew was that it was something he probably wouldn't have wanted to run into, and he wasn't being paid enough for this job anyway. This was his last thought before he was knocked out cold by a combination of another person's weight and a rather heavy box colliding onto his head. Natsuki hopped up and brushed the snow off of her sleeves before assessing the situation.
Cakewalk. They probably thought their guard dog would occupy me for longer.
She turned and addressed the imposing tea house with a feral grin.
Showtime.
Mai awoke to another stinging headache. This one she bore without a complaint as she sat up in her bed and stared out the window. After struggling through breakfast and taking a shower, she donned some warmer clothes and mindlessly walked out of the Suzushiro mansion. Someone seemed to shout out to her, but she paid it no heed as she continued to walk. Her mind wasn't going to register anything other than the steady breaths that were taken in tandem to her own. This was a comfortable madness. On the plus side, she would never be alone, not with Kagutsuchi around. When the embittered spirit finally stopped his monologue about burning the heavens and earth with never-ending fire, he seemed to be a rather companionable essence. Mai took it for what it was worth. There was really nothing left for her, after all.
Nothing left.
Without realizing it, Mai walked down the familiar streets of downtown Fuuka and ended up at where it all began. Her feet finally stopped when they nudged against the charred remains of the Edelweiss café and she looked up listlessly. Years of savings and hard work, gone. The cleaning crews did enough to remove the wreckage that had littered the streets. The yellow caution tape was strewn all over the site and she merely grabbed on to one of the tapes before letting go and settling for watching her burnt dreams instead. Suddenly she felt a surge of anger towards the entity in her mind, but it washed away just as soon as it came. What was the point of growing angry when it was her hands that orchestrated this destruction?
Footsteps shuffled up near her and she turned to face a young man her age. He was dressed warmly with a woolen coat and what looked to be a knotty, hand-knitted scarf that was tossed haphazardly around his neck—the opposite of Reito's neatly tucked-in woolen scarves. His hair was in choppy spikes that stood in every direction, but the stranger aspect of his hair would have to have been the two-tone color of it. Lighter orange spikes stood out in a wild array over the darker bottom half of his hair. He had his hands stuffed in his coat pockets and a crooked smile on his face that did not quite reach his eyes. In another time Mai would have smiled back, but this time she merely stared at the familiar face that failed to bring a sense of comfort with it.
"… Yuichi."
"Yo, Mai."
He stood next to her. In this silence they both stared up at the desolated café. For a moment something seized up inside her and she almost broke from the pressure, but the presence in her mind managed to push away this overwhelming sadness before it could break through. Instead, she merely took in a shaky breath and expelled it with a quiet sigh that brought a drifty cloud of white steam floating in front of her.
"I heard about the fire yesterday over the news," Yuichi prompted. Despite his nonchalant manner, Mai could see his hands twitch. "I came over here as fast as I could."
Liar. You live near that shrine. It would have taken you only fifteen minutes.
Mai shook her head.
"It's fine. I'm… glad you came."
Yuichi raised an eyebrow but wisely chose to remain quiet in response to the hollow statement. He looked at the ruins for another moment before settling his gaze back on her.
"I was worried about you," he continued. "I know how much that café meant to you."
… To us, Yuichi. To us.
Mai never took her eyes off of the ruins even as she felt those brown eyes focus on her. Shoes shuffled against the snow and an awkward cough echoed in the stillness.
"Listen, Mai… if you need anything, you can give me a call. If you need money, or even a place to stay, I can offer it to you."
Finally Mai tore her eyes off the charred mess and settled her gaze over Yuichi, who visibly cringed at the deadened look.
"Thank you for your offer," she intoned in a voice that denoted anything but thankfulness.
"… Yeah." Tate returned to staring out at the ruins. "Mai… don't work yourself up over this."
"Don't… don't work myself up over this?"
A strange laugh tumbled out of Mai's lips and Tate closed his eyes at the harsh, mocking sound.
"Yuichi… you never worked yourself up over anything," Mai continued in a loathing tone. "All you ever did was play me for a fool, just to leave when your game failed to give you enjoyment."
"Mai, I never meant—"
"You never meant to hurt me, I'd imagine," Mai interrupted. She stared at him impassively. "Why can't you just stop, Yuichi. You've done enough."
Their gazes locked until Yuichi finally shook his head in a brusque manner and sighed explosively.
"… Fine. Fine. I'm tired of trying to fix this burning bridge," Yuichi said quietly.
"You were the one who burned it," Mai replied simply. "I offered up everything to you, but there's nothing left that you can take from me. I have nothing."
Silence followed this statement. It weighed heavily on their shoulders but Yuichi was the first to budge. He turned and stuffed his shaking hands in his pockets before angrily marching away through the snow. As he crossed the street, Mai followed his retreating back with her eyes until he safely made it across to a waiting young woman with pink hair and wide eyes. Those eyes locked onto her own before the younger girl gave a noticeably startled expression. When Yuichi asked about it, however, the girl shook her head and latched onto his arm. Before they left together, however, the girl gave Mai one more hesitant glance before a passing bus obscured their vision. When it passed by, the couple was gone.
Interesting. I believe she saw me, girl.
Mai stared at where the couple once stood.
"Let her," she said impassively. "Let them all see you."
Kagutsuchi voiced his opinion with a hearty roar that caused the once-frigid air around Mai to warm to a more comfortable temperature. Mai gave one last look at her café before she began to walk away.
… You aren't going back to the mansion.
No, I don't think I will.
Then…
Mai massaged her forehead in an agitated fashion.
There's nothing left, here. I have no place.
I suppose it's time, then.
Kagutsuchi offered no explanation, but Mai didn't need one. Instead, she wrapped her coat around herself and stared out into the distance.
What do you desire?
"Take me to her," Mai ordered finally. Violet eyes flashed and she frowned. "Take me to the person who caused all of this to happen."
As you wish, Mai-hime.
Shizuru studied with extreme indifference the varied smiles plastered on her relatives' faces. At the moment her cousin and aunt were sitting side by side in relative silence. Kyoko was dressed in a conservative black kimono with a decorative winter landscape adorning the bottom, whereas her daughter had settled for a dark gray suit with a pencil skirt. Shizuru herself had opted for a lavender kimono the same color as the wisterias her family name was based off of. This was a color reserved for the Fujino family since centuries long ago, and as such Shizuru was the only one in the room who could wear such a shade.
"This house brings back so many memories," Kyoko remarked in a jovial tone. "Remember, Shizuru? This was the house we used for your winter tea ceremony to the family backers in Sapporo."
Shizuru inclined her head in a nod but refused to really comment on her aunt's exclamation. To be honest, she didn't quite care about the numerous tea ceremonies she performed in the houses strewn across the country. She knew that this was only a brief break they would allow her to take in exchange for the real trouble she would be getting into as soon as they arrived in Kyoto. Once there, it would be very simple to declare Shigeru bedridden and her unfit to run the family, once more bringing Tomoe and now Kyoko into the family's politics. She could very well argue and throw a fight into the mix to secure her position, but she also knew that this pair was not one to mess around with. Her time to operate was growing recklessly short, but she kept her cool.
The door to the tea room slid open once more, revealing a young girl of around eleven years of age. She too was dressed in a kimono, this one a fair shade of crystal blue that corresponded to the peculiar crystalline quality of her eyes. Light hair was pulled up into a bun similar to the one Shizuru had put her hair in, except this girl had decided to adorn her hair with several golden charms that caught the light and produced a visible sheen. She bowed and demurely walked in, followed by an older woman dressed in a maid's uniform. This was no ordinary maid, however, and her appearance was met with a courteous smile from Shizuru and a soft frown from Kyoko who nevertheless acknowledged the pink-haired maid with a nod.
"Good evening Mashiro-chan, Fumi-han," Shizuru said with a small bow towards her remaining guests.
"Good evening, Shizuru-nee-san," Mashiro replied in her quiet tone. She turned and looked at the remaining relatives. "Good evening, Kyoko-oba-san, Tomoe-nee-san."
"Good evening, Fujino-sama, Marguerite-sama, Tomoe-sama," Fumi said with a deep bow to each.
Greetings were exchanged all around with curt nods from Tomoe which curiously went unpunished from the normally strict Kyoko. Instead the older woman seemed rather incensed over the arrival of the young girl and her maid, but she failed to express this sentiment and instead focused back on Shizuru who merely passed her new guests several hand-made sweets.
The tea was served in complete silence aside from the appropriate lines directed towards Shizuru. This was not a formal ceremony but the mood seemed to dictate that anything but silence would not be tolerated. Shortly after the tea was finished and the sweets tray was packed away, Kyoko stood and announced that she would retire for the evening. She was met with a bevy of bows and left the quiet room to go to her office. This was followed shortly by Tomoe announcing that she would be leaving as well, and then the room contained three once more. This time Shizuru allowed herself to show something other than disinterest as she looked down at her earnest cousin with a soft smile on her lips.
"Ara, you didn't have to come up here, Mashiro-chan. I have heard from Nagi-kun that your health is not in its best state right now."
"I wanted to make sure you were unharmed," Mashiro replied in a firm but quiet tone. "Not that I don't trust Nagi, but I wanted to see with my own eyes just what is going on at this time."
"Mashiro-sama and Homura-sama expressed concern over your treatment during the past year," Fumi added.
Shizuru raised an eyebrow.
"Did he, now. What an odd boy, to be expressing concern over something that has proven to be a bit trivial in light of our current situation." Shizuru frowned and watched the heated pot in front of her. "Nagi-kun mentioned to me about your connections to Kagutsuchi."
Mashiro blinked. "He told you about our visit to Tokiha-san's café?"
"It was from an information exchange. I volunteered to subdue her when the spirit emerged in exchange for my freedom, and he explained your involvement with the spirit."
Mashiro digested this development and retreated within herself for a moment to collect her bearings.
"Things did not go as well as I would have liked," Mashiro admitted. "Kagutsuchi chose a medium who is… unstable."
"What do you mean by that?" Shizuru asked with a frown.
"Tokiha-san was not meant to be the medium of Kagutsuchi, yet he chose her for reasons beyond what I can infer, but it comes down to this. Kagutsuchi had been planning for something, and he intends to use Mai as a springboard for that plan."
"Mashiro-sama was meant to be the medium of Kagutsuchi, however now we realize that we may have made a grievous error and the roles are now switched."
Shizuru turned towards Fumi. "Roles?"
"We think that the man known as John Smith might have something to do with this tampering," Mashiro replied. "My predictions clearly stated that I would be the medium for Kagutsuchi and Tokiha Mai would serve as the vessel for the entity who calls herself Izanami."
Shizuru stared at Mashiro in mild shock.
"… Izanami? That is the same name as the goddess who gave birth to Kagutsuchi." She looked down and thought for a second. "But I don't understand. How does this explain the switch?"
"Fumi-san and I have thought about this, and we have come to an unfinished conclusion. Someone was able to tamper with the transmutation process, and because of it Kagutsuchi was awakened before Izanami. The spirit sought to create a contract, and tricked Tokiha Mai into agreeing to one when she was left vulnerable and unconsciously waiting for her intended contractor."
"And this brings in John Smith to your suspicions," Shizuru added after a moment to parse through the explanation.
Mashiro nodded before her eyes suddenly grew dark.
"I cannot trust a man who willingly sent innocent lives to be tested on in some backwards notion of finding a 'cure.' Kuga-san was one of those unfortunates who will live with the knowledge that what she has contained within her is less of a beast than a lot of humans in this world."
"Such bitter words from such young lips." Shizuru folded a handkerchief into the sleeve of her kimono. "There are always other sides of these stories. Mai-han, for instance, has accepted a contract with a rather volatile being who would not think twice about harming innocents. But you have a point… John Smith has rather enigmatic intentions."
She stood from her spot and gently smoothed away the front of her kimono before giving a small wave towards the door.
"It's growing rather cold out, and the maids are probably done with your room, Mashiro-chan. Please take the time to rest."
"And you?" Mashiro asked as she stood with Fumi. "I have heard reports before arriving that there may be a disturbance in the property."
A quaint smile formed on Shizuru's lips as she heard this news. Mashiro studied this smile and blinked, but finally shook her head and excused herself from the room with Fumi following behind. When she was alone, Shizuru tapped her cheek with a finger and turned to face the rice paper doors.
"Ara, this should make the evening much more entertaining."
"Freeze, motherfucker!"
The lackey had no time to react or even form a response as he suddenly was smacked across the jaw with a very long wooden box. This almighty wallop tossed the hapless fellow into an even heavier wooden post before he slid down into a heap. Natsuki leveled the box around her shoulders and gave a satisfied snort.
"That makes twelve."
She quickly did the math in her head and came up with a lovely zero. Twelve down, none to go. Right now there seemed to be a shortage of people running around what she assumed would be a heavily-guarded fortress. Then again, she reasoned, they had brought only four vehicles and probably did not stuff them to the brim like clown cars. She took this moment to pause and catch her breath as her fingers tapped against the box. Even with her augmented stamina the box was beginning to weigh down on her and she frowned.
"Whatever the hell this box contains, it better be worth my time," she muttered to herself.
The next stop in the massive mansion was a favorable one. By some good chance she managed to find herself in the empty kitchens, whereupon she saw a stack of handmade sweets that she recognized from a tea ceremony she had once attended. She studied the delicate display and vast array of sweet colors before picking up a pink rice cake and chomping down onto the chewy treat. She paused, stared at the rice cake, and finished it off before stuffing in another cake.
"… Huh. Rich people really do have it good," she said as she picked up several more and wrapped them in a handkerchief that she tucked back into her pocket.
With her impromptu break over, she reassessed her position. She was in dangerous territory, but she had taken care of the pesky guard problem. However, she had yet to see Tomoe Marguerite, and if any earlier meetings were indicative of the woman she knew she wasn't quite out of danger yet. Then there was the issue of Kyoko Marguerite to consider. If Shigeru was indeed correct and Kyoko did harbor something in her that was like her Duran, Natsuki knew she would be in some hot water.
Well, it's not like I want to beat the shit out of everyone. I just want to get Shizuru out of there and go home.
She edged out silently to the edge of the hallway and was momentarily surprised that her footsteps did not set off some sort of awful creak that would cause more guards to come running in. She begrudgingly acknowledged Nagi's advice and continued to creep down the hall, sticking solely to the extreme edges that hugged the walls of the house. True to Nagi's word, the hallways did seem to wind in and out at strange angles, leaving Natsuki somewhat confused until common sense told her that she had other tools to her disposal. She crouched down and paused, cupping her hands around the top of her head. After a moment a fuzzy pair of triangular ears poked through her hair and she paused. Instantly the sound magnified to almost impossible proportions and soon she began to hear the wood creak from footsteps within the inner sanctum of the house. Whispers of conversations followed these footsteps and she frowned before standing and shaking her head. The ears disappeared and she clenched her jaw, surprised at how easily she was able to call upon this action.
I'm getting close if I can control myself this easily.
After a cursory look through what she deemed were empty rooms, she happened to trip upon one that looked like it could belong to a very young child. She took in the stuffed toys and the tiny rocking chair in the corner of the room before frowning and focusing back on the task at hand. She snuck back out of the room and gently slid the doors shut behind her.
Odd, I don't remember Shizuru having infant relatives as well.
Something caused her to stop where she was. There was a certain quality about the moment that unnerved her. This was suddenly given a name and face when her hand shot out and slammed the doors open again, revealing what looked to be a rather incensed young woman. She blinked, and that quiet moment shattered when Tomoe's face scrunched up in an expression Natsuki would recognize on someone who smelled something particularly foul. Natsuki nimbly skipped back and broke into a full on run. Dimly she could hear the garbled orders that Tomoe roared, but she knew that they wouldn't be answered for a while. She neatly carved a path through the winding hallways, this time ending up in an even larger room that could have served as a dojo of sorts. Natsuki felt herself skid to a stop when confronted with waves of flaxen hair that could have belonged to only one person in her opinion.
"Sh-Shizuru!"
Shizuru looked up with slightly widened eyes.
"Natsuki?..."
"YOU'RE MINE!"
The doors crashed open when they were bludgeoned with what looked to be a pole arm. Natsuki ducked and barely avoided the swipe that was aimed for her head. She turned and backpedaled to get out of the way of the debris as an enraged Tomoe stepped over the door she just cut down. Tomoe was in no condition to stop, either. With a roar she pivoted and swung the blunt end of the halberd like a golf club with every intention of using Natsuki's head as her baseball. The speed was incredible—Natsuki thought her arm was broken at first when she attempted to shield herself from the unavoidable move. She felt herself flying towards the wall but managed to flip back onto her feet and slide to a landing. Tomoe swung the weapon behind her and charged full on.
"Natsuki, the box!"
Somehow, her numb and shaky fingers managed to undo the strap that held the box closed onto her back. She wasn't quite sure how Shizuru got to her in time, but what mattered was that the lavender silk of the parcel now in front of her was providing a shield to waylay the impending attack. The seemingly impossible knots that kept the parcel wrapped were undone with a simple flick of Shizuru's fingers. As the silk fluttered to the floor Shizuru then pivoted, twisting around in a full circle to build enough momentum. When Tomoe's halberd made contact, it did so with the blade of a rather fearsome weapon in a most capable pair of hands.
Natsuki had seen Shizuru wield a naginata only once in her life, and that was merely a wooden imitation to practice forms with. It was still indicative of her prowess with the weapon, yet the potential of Shizuru's skill with the blade was never quite understood until right at this moment when she was locked in a stalemate with a rage-infused Tomoe. With a simple push, the stalemate was broken and Tomoe found her weapon nearly recoiling at the controlled movement from Shizuru. Tomoe lowered her head and glared at the two.
"Step aside, Shizuru-sama," Tomoe ordered harshly. "Get away from that monster."
Natsuki wasn't quite sure what was going on. Her throbbing arm took her attention away from Tomoe's warning but she could see that the muscles of Shizuru's back were now very tight. With a practiced swing the naginata's blade was now positioned directly in front of Tomoe's chest.
"Touch my Natsuki again and we'll see what happens," Shizuru replied in a tone that encouraged no backtalk.
Something was already very off with the girl, Natsuki concluded, but the look in Tomoe's eyes after that statement was nothing short of a psychotic break. Shizuru was not amused, however, and was ready for it when Tomoe suddenly swung her weapon in a wild rage, this time directed towards her. She quickly knocked the first strike away with another flick of the naginata, making the action look especially effortless by her calm expression. They traded blows until Shizuru decided not to indulge in this conflict any longer. She narrowed her eyes and caught Tomoe's halberd mid-swing with her own weapon before slamming the naginata down onto the floor. The pinned halberd was subsequently stuck to the floor and Shizuru looked back at a seething Tomoe.
"This is over, Tomoe," Shizuru said softly. "Let us go."
Tomoe grimaced at her new failure and the grip over her weapon tightened. Shizuru closed her eyes.
"Then you give me no choice."
When Shizuru moved, Natsuki almost missed it. The blunt end of the naginata whipped around and knocked into the back of Tomoe's knees, causing them to buckle to the floor. Shizuru turned and brought the blade around in a wide arc with Tomoe's exposed neck standing in the way. Natsuki blinked but found that the younger girl was lying on the floor, comatose, with her head still attached. Shizuru stood over her with the butt of her weapon still extended from knocking into Tomoe's head. She took in a steadying breath before letting the naginata rest by bringing the weapon behind her with the blade's tip touching the floor. When she turned, the deep crimson of her eyes eased to a kinder and more recognizable glow.
"Are you alright?"
Natsuki barely nodded.
"I think so. Arm's not broken, so I'll be fine soon."
Natsuki took in a deep breath before she pushed herself up to her feet. She took one last look at Tomoe before grimacing and turning back towards Shizuru. After fidgeting for a moment Natsuki finally grabbed Shizuru with her uninjured arm and pulled her close. For some reason her mind traveled back to when Mai had raked her nails against Shizuru's back and the resulting protectiveness that Duran projected manifested itself when Natsuki grasped onto Shizuru's shoulder in the awkward embrace.
Never again.
"Let's get the hell out of here and go home," she mumbled.
She felt Shizuru nod and she pulled away with a small smile on her face. It soon faded, however, when Duran perked up at the introduction of a familiar presence. Natsuki slowly turned her head so that she was staring at the ceiling of the room. Shizuru followed her gaze albeit with a concerned frown. Something hummed above them, something that teemed with an awful heat. A circle began to form. It burned bright red that turned to black when the wood simply seemed to vaporize due to the intense heat that was being subjected to it. Through this entryway floated down a familiar face and familiar rings of fire. Natsuki stared up at Mai, who looked down at them with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Mai? What are you doing here?" Natsuki demanded.
"Natsuki, Shizuru-san." Mai gave them both a nod. "I wasn't expecting to see the two of you here."
Something fell in Natsuki's stomach at that unsettling statement but she paid it little heed as she gaped at Mai.
"What are you doing here?" Natsuki repeated.
"She won't answer that question," Shizuru replied suddenly. She turned and faced Natsuki. "Natsuki, we need to get out of here."
Natsuki turned. "What?"
"We need to get out of here now," Shizuru stressed.
Mai lifted a hand slowly. Small streaks of fire began to gather and rotate around her fingers until it formed a glowing orb of red and orange. This she pointed out in front of her. This tranquility lasted only a second longer until the orb exploded in a beam of raging hellfire that engulfed the area immediately in front of her. Shizuru and Natsuki felt themselves getting knocked back by the intense heat as Kagustuchi threw his head back and laughed in utter delight.
Mai-hime, deliver your divine judgment!
AN: Hurr. It looks like it's going to get tougher for our darling couple. But they're together, so anything's possible at this point.
Cheers.
