Evening, Author here. As always, thanks for sticking around and reviewing.

Mai-hime and related belong to Sunrise


Last Train Back, Welcome Home

Mashiro was rarely ever amused but for some reason tonight her lips were almost permanently stuck in a sordid sort of half-smile that even began to unnerve her cousin Nagi. They sat across from one another in one of the many stately dining rooms located in the Homura mansion in Higashiyama-ku, one of the eleven wards of Kyoto that also housed the traditional entertainment district of Gion. The Homura family had historically dabbled in sponsoring particularly beautiful Geiko and as such the most important family house was located rather close to the district. Right now they were being served tea by a demure young girl dressed in ornate silks, but neither of them paid too much attention to this aspiring Maiko as she quietly bowed and shuffled back out of the room.

It had been at least a week since the fire in Hokkaido. Nagi wasn't quite sure how Mashiro and Fumi had escaped relatively intact but he had learned long ago not to question that strange pair. If anything they were highly resourceful and Fumi especially was not very well recognized when compared to the scion of the Fujino conglomerate so they could have legitimately snuck out. Speaking of Shizuru, he was mildly surprised to learn that she and her wolf managed to jump a ship out of Japan. The destination was lost to him but the sheer audacity of the two to go globe trotting at a time like this caused him to chuckle in sheer amusement. This amusement tripled when he had happened upon the news that Tomoe Marguerite was in the hospital sleeping off an injury to the back of her head from a blunt object.

Honestly, Shizuru nee-chan... You're too soft sometimes.

There was no question about the inevitable meltdown that was going to occur. It would occur anywhere at any particular time. Historical records referred to it as a Festival, centered in that holy land of Fuuka, but the Fujino family knew better than to call it something fun. For hundreds of years they had offered their daughters to that mythical island of beasts and magic in some form of appeasement, never to hear from them again. The world kept revolving, however, and there was the subtle reminder that the Carnival was still in place and the world was alright. The clock was now ticking dangerously close to this cycle's end.

Right now Nagi was pretty sure that nothing of importance was going to occur, however. It was tea time, after all, and no one did anything mildly interesting during tea time. So he took his break and looked up at his cousin who was also munching on a snack. The Maiko was long gone at this point, leaving just the two of them in this room in the relatively unoccupied mansion. Fumi was out grocery shopping. This seemingly mundane set of events was accentuated by the light snowfall that soon accumulated into clean sheets of white fluff. The doors to the room were opened to allow a full view of the gardens but they were both dressed warmly enough to remain comfortable in the cold. He had better things to do than shiver, anyway. The story Mashiro had given him just now had been absolutely fascinating.

"Then... You are saying that Kyoko oba-san did in fact survive that onslaught?" Nagi inquired as he took a cracker from the assorted pile on the plate before them.

"Yes. Not only that, she nearly killed Tokiha Mai-san for allowing the chance for Kuga-san and Shizuru onee-san to escape."

Mashiro took the tea cup with her small hands and tilted the cup slightly to peer down at the pale green liquid.

"Tokiha-san escaped into the skies before Fumi-san and I were able to contact her, however. I would have to say that I was rather thankful that Kiyohime cannot fly."

"... Troublesome." Nagi rested a palm on his knee. "Well, then. I guess that scenario failed rather spectacularly. That old woman's got a lot of stamina, I'm impressed. If something as powerful as Kagutsuchi can't beat her fairly in a fight, what good will Kuga do with her weak spirit? Kiyohime would tear her apart in three seconds."

"Oba-san has had the time to develop a finer degree of finesse in her control over Kiyohime," Mashiro noted after taking a sip of tea. "But I believe Kuga-san has what it takes to succeed where Kagutsuchi managed to fail. Despite all his power, Kagutsuchi is too unruly, too concerned for his own well-being to consider thinking more than two steps ahead. He only escaped because he became aware of the fact that he could lose his medium to Kiyohime's influence. Duran will at least listen to his mistress and dig his heels down when necessary."

"I don't know... I still think Kagutsuchi could conceivably win if pitted in another fight with Kiyohime."

"Nagi... you only say this because of your interest in the medium, not in the spirit," Mashiro commented with a shrewd glint in her eye.

Nagi leaned back and let loose a clear laugh. He knew he had been caught and Mashiro smiled at her minor victory.

"Haha... What can I say, really. She baked a most wonderful cake that could compete readily with most of the other cakes our personal chef constructs. It'd be a shame to never have another bite of it again."

"Perhaps."

"Still, you haven't explained why you're smiling like that. In fact I don't think you've smiled this much... since ever, really." Nagi straightened and gave a fond smile at his cousin. "What do you have planning in your pretty head?"

"No plans," Mashiro replied sweetly. "Just a conviction."

Nagi paused then stretched two fingers out to the snack plate, extracting a toasted cracker that had been drizzled with a sweet and salty mixture of mirin and soy sauce. He bit into the delicate snack and paused for a moment to brush off the crumbs before finishing up the cracker and returning to his tea. Mashiro languidly looked out to the open garden that had a very thin layer of snow covering the assembled rocks.

"Oh, so you are entirely convinced that Kuga will prevail in the end, aren't you? I'd have to say that this is the first time I've seen you toss your claim into the betting pool so early in the game."

Mashiro failed to take her eyes off of the garden but she nodded her head to indicate that she had been listening.

"I would have to be this convinced. There is nothing else that would deter me from my... bet, as you would call it. She makes herself out to be a very fascinating individual to study. After all, Kuga-san does not intend on dying right now, no matter what is thrown her way. She has been reunited with what she had lost, so there is no earthly force that will stop her now. Kiyohime's poison and Kagutsuchi's fires will be mere pinpricks compared to her resolve."

Nagi listened to her words and a smile curled onto his lips as he too faced the gardens.

"Well then, I suppose we are in for a good amount of entertainment after all."

"But..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"... Nagi, how well do you know John Smith?"

"Smith, huh. I can't say I know him very well, but do tell me why you are asking."

Mashiro paused and a troubled look crossed her eyes. Nagi waited for her but his lips too had begun to drop down from his Cheshire grin into more of a straight line.

"Some time ago Fumi-san and I ran into an individual named Alyssa Searrs. She and her retainer Miyu Greer had happened upon the two of us when we were investigating the First District ruins in Asahikawa."

Nagi frowned.

"Did the two of you fight?"

"We tried to avoid it, but she had exclaimed something about me being the 'Queen of Hell,' and Fumi-san was forced to protect me when her retainer attacked us without warning." Mashiro's eyes darkened at the memory. "We were able to retreat without sustaining any major injury."

"Retreat? How unlike you. Fumi is highly trained in combat arts. Normal opponents wouldn't last ten seconds with her."

"There is something unnatural about that Miyu Greer," Mashiro noted softly. "Searrs, we discovered, was a corporation trying to manipulate First District into playing into their hands. The girl was an artificially-created human being and Miyu was a combat android built to serve as her protector. The connection with Searrs and First District is clear enough, but to what ends, we aren't sure. We did discover something interesting about the DNA donors for Alyssa's creation, however."

"Oh? Anyone we know?" Nagi asked offhandedly.

"Kuga Saeko."

"A familiar name."

"In more ways than one, apparently. It seems she wanted to sell her daughter Natsuki to Searrs, and First District did not take too kindly to it."

"So, I'm guessing this lovely individual is not available for an interview now," Nagi replied.

"I'm afraid not. But this is not about the past. John Smith used to be the head of Searrs until an undocumented dismissal forced him to turn to First District and under Shigeru oji-san's employment, later as Kyoko oba-san's advisor. I'm afraid he may have been seeking out Kuga-san since the beginning."

Nagi paused until his lips parted questioningly.

"... The accident."

"It was staged. Everything, from the intersection being ridiculously busy that day to the fact that the Ducati's brakes failed to work." Mashiro closed her eyes. "By association, we too are guilty of this."

"Impossible." Nagi stood and bared his teeth in a grimace. "I would never put a family member of mine in jeopardy!"

"There was nothing we could have done," Mashiro countered, but Nagi was beyond that reconciliation.

"She could have died, Mashiro!"

"It is out of our hands now," Mashiro argued in a firm tone, finally reaching her distraught cousin. "The pieces are all in play and the Carnival has already begun. While there aren't as many as we would have feared, Kagutsuchi and Kiyohime were still the strongest of them all."

"The Twelve," Nagi murmured. He began to tick the names off with his fingers. "Hari, Gakutenou, Duran, Julia, St. Vlas, Yatagarasu, Miroku, Diana, Kiyohime, Kagutsuchi, Gennai, and Suishou. Only three have awakened in this particular conflict. We seem to be running towards death's door rather quickly, this time. According to the records, previous carnivals have been lacking all the players as well."

"Perhaps. But maybe this will be the last conflict. There is nothing at stake, and the winner could very well stand the chance of gaining limitless power at no expense."

Nagi shrugged easily.

"I guess. There has been a generational gap in Kiyohime's manifestation, and Kagutsuchi chose a different medium. This, along with Searrs and First District interfering, could show that there may not even be a Carnival this time around."

"No..."

Nagi looked down at Mashiro, who now had a very serious expression on her face.

"No... there will be no Carnival."

Mashiro stared out at the gardens with sad eyes.

"We have struggled against forces beyond our control and now they are showing us how pitiful our efforts have turned out to be. There will only be a Massacre."


A note came to Shigeru as he sat in his empty office the now cleared hotel building. Everyone save for a few maids had been dismissed by him, and the maids themselves had been tasked with cleaning up the area while he went through the scattered papers on his desk. Now that activity ceased as his eyes quickly went over the white sheet of paper clutched in his hand. He wasn't sure if he could believe it, but to his knowledge, Kyoko never lied when it was important. And now this note was claiming that his daughter would be in danger if she was in Tokyo.

Kagutsuchi has laid down his cards. I will be there to finish him off. Do NOT interfere with me, and Shizuru will be spared.

The note included a hastily-scribbled line consisting of a street address. A quick search rewarded him with the directions to what looked to be a rather popular club in downtown Roppongi. For a moment he folded his hands in front of him as he closed his eyes and thought. This was dangerously close to becoming a train wreck of a situation, but no amount of cautiousness was going to get them out of this one. He knew the history behind his family and the conflict that had gripped them for generations. He knew, but he had never expected it to be this overblown especially with a maverick spirit flying around causing mayhem wherever it touched down. He opened one eye and stared down at the note before sighing and leaning back into his chair.

He would go to Tokyo, of course. Who would accompany him?

He turned to the phone and dialed out a short string of numbers. After three rings the line was picked up and a polite voice answered.

"Ah, Kanzaki, was it? Yes, this is Fujino Shigeru."

Shigeru listened to the young man for a moment before he sighed.

"Kanzaki-han, I wish to meet with you and your sister in an hour. Is that alright? Alright. There is no need, I will send a company car. Yes, I will see you then."

He disconnected and dialed out another line to his driver. After rattling off the orders he put the phone down and tapped his chin twice before getting up from his chair and facing the wide windows of his Fuuka office. His lips twitched into a short smile as he spent his free hour to watch the snow falling on the trees and whiting out the landscape. The hour passed and the front doors of his office opened to reveal a sharply dressed man and a younger girl in a high school uniform clutching a rather long box. The two walked in quietly and stopped in front of him as he turned and acknowledged them.

"Good afternoon, Kanzaki-han, Minagi-han."

"Good afternoon!" Mikoto chirped as Reito bowed his head.

"Now, I'm sure you guessed as to why I've called the two of you down here. This goes along with what we discussed earlier," Shigeru began.

"We are aware of it," Reito replied in a serious tone. "The Carnival's history is well known and the severity of this situation is not lost to us."

"Good. Then I hope there aren't any objections when I ask you to accompany me to Tokyo."

Reito looked up in mild confusion as did his sister.

"Tokyo, sir?"

Shigeru nodded.

"That will be the site of the final confrontation. Mai-hime is making her way there as we speak, and will more likely than not initiate the battle with my sister in a continuation of the fight in Hokkaido. There is a good chance that Kuga-han and my daughter will be there as well."

Reito paused but Mikoto was already there with her eyes on fire.

"We need to save Mai!" she announced in her own seriousness.

"I need to borrow your powers," Shigeru continued. "Maybe we'll be able to stop this cycle once and for all."

The meeting was dismissed and Mikoto eagerly scrambled out of the room when Shigeru offhandedly mentioned that one of the maids was preparing a meal for the two of them. The Fujino patriarch turned to face a contemplative Reito.

"... What is in that box that your sister carries?" Shigeru asked after a moment of silence.

"To be honest, we don't know," Reito admitted. He offered a slight shrug. "We've never been able to open the box despite trying various methods to get it to open. Mikoto even kicked it off the roof of Fuuka Gakuen and the box bounced and landed into a pile of bushes."

"Strange..."

"But I'm sure it'll open on its own accord," Reito added with a small smile. "After all, Mikoto told me that the box started to quiver whenever Mai-san was mentioned."

"About Mai-han..."

"... Yes?"

Shigeru smiled.

"You like her, don't you?"

Reito remained curiously silent for a minute and Shigeru's smile grew wider.

"You don't have to hide it from me. I'm not your age! Who am I going to go gossip to?"

Reito laughed at the comment. Shigeru could have easily compared to most of the male peers Reito knew. He wasn't sure if it was because of the easy laugh that Shigeru was known for or the kind maple-red eyes, but the man was far from old. He would probably live forever.

"Ah... well, I guess you can say so." Reito cleared his throat. "But it's in the past now. She chose another over me."

"And now you think you don't have a chance because of that Kagutsuchi running her around Japan?" Shigeru asked with a raised eyebrow.

"... Something like that."

"Well, that can't be helped I guess." Then Shigeru clapped a hand onto Reito's shoulder. The younger man could feel those strong fingers nearly dig into his skin. "But don't let that get you down. The damsel in distress needs to be saved, you know. So man up and get the girl this time around."

With that, Shigeru let go and returned to his office, giving Reito a small dismissal. Before he walked out, however, he shook his head and let a low chuckle leave his lips as he straightened his tie and exited the office. Shigeru watched him go with a grin on his face before he dug out his wallet. After flipping through the worn leather, he extracted a tiny picture that he had carried with him everywhere he went. The quiet aquamarine eyes of his wife stared back at him as he smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, Kiyo, for a lot of things. I know you hate it when I smile like I have nothing to lose. I'm afraid our precious daughter is about to walk into the doors of death, and I can't do anything to stop her when I'm going down the same path."

He placed the picture into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, close to his heart. After patting it absently he took in a deep breath and sighed, staring out at the cold gray skies.

"But I'm content. I may be seeing you soon, after all."


The bullet train from Aomori in the far north of Honshu to Tokyo would take a couple of hours. During this peaceful lull Shizuru and Natsuki found themselves to little to nothing to do other than sit and eat the boxed lunches provided for them. Natsuki stared out the window, seeing little else but a purely white landscape. A comfortable weight settled onto her shoulder and she paused, shifting around until she found the dropped pillow on Shizuru's lap. She gently lifted Shizuru's nodding head and placed the pillow on top of her shoulder, letting Shizuru's head fall down onto the added softness. Natsuki considered sleeping as well but as tired as she felt she could not keep her eyes closed long enough to drift off. Maybe it had something to do with the twisting turmoil in her stomach. The food was alright, different from the heavy soups and heartier meals from up north but at the same time familiar enough. Her stomach gurgled slightly and she patted it to calm it down. So, Tokyo it was. Where on earth would they go to next? Their old apartment would be a decent enough stopping point, but she knew that it would only be a matter of time until either the Marguerite family or First District checked that area.

She reached down and picked up a slim manila folder, flicking it open with two fingers and steadying the papers on her lap with the palm of her hand. Shizuru breathed out in one long sigh and Natsuki smiled as she flipped through the papers slowly. Alyssa had given them this folder before their departure to a port near Aomori that wasn't under the same deadlock that Hokkaido was still trudging through. This was the second part of their discovery during their foray down to the First District Lab. Whoever wrote this rather interesting set of accounts was a pretty descriptive fellow. The papers began with what looked to be a legend from long ago. Twelve maidens in the Fuuka area, an area historically associated with magical phenomena, would take part in some battle royale where the winner would then go and save the world from a star crashing into the planet. This maiden in turn would turn into the life force that would sustain Fuuka for three centuries until the reemergence of the threat on the planet. That made for some fascinating reading complete with a strange twist. The papers went on to speculate on the reason why this 300-year cycle was going a bit strange with every turn of the wheel.

Apparently this was more than a struggle to protect one's most important person. With every victory over another maiden, the maiden would receive some portion of that defeated maiden's power with the death of the most important person. This would go on until this bracket-like system of battles thinned out to the inevitable final confrontation between what would be two ridiculously overpowered individuals. The sheer power released in this sort of battle would have been unbelievable. They were pushed to fight by mysterious spectators, it seemed. There was an element of madness to this Carnival where the girls would eventually grow insane if they did not fight. This insanity would cause them to take up their arms and battle regardless, so it became one strange circle from refusal to unrestrained fury. Apparently these battles contained hundreds if not thousands of maidens and their corresponding spirits, referred to as CHILDs by this document. As the cycles passed, however, these ranks thinned and thinned until they reached what looked to be the accepted number of twelve. One for every zodiac sign of the year, governed by their temperaments and their affinities for whatever CHILD they managed to forge a contract with.

There were several points that Natsuki already found in conflict to their own story. One, there were supposed to be twelve young maidens, possessing a CHILD they could call on will to fight with them. These CHILDs in turn needed a strong enough emotion associated with the caller's "most important person" in order to be summoned effectively. If that referred to Natsuki and her Duran, she would already argue on that point. To her knowledge, those containing these spirits came from both genders, and there was no way to manifest Duran outside of her body. Likewise she never saw Kagutsuchi or Kiyohime outside of their mistresses. She certainly did not need Shizuru to summon Duran—if anything she needed Shizuru to stop Duran from surfacing. And these other creatures, or CHILDs? Who the hell were they? Natsuki had never seen let alone heard of these strange things in the company records aside from vague references to mythology. The blacklist Kuga Saeko had tried to sell had no mention of these strange names save for Mai's Kagutsuchi. This Carnival, if it was to convene now, was a bit late in coming. If anything it should have been years earlier when Kyoko Marguerite was a teenager. Now this produced an interesting point, for Kyoko was indeed the carrier for Kiyohime, who was mentioned in the blacklist almost as an after-note. The Fujino family had traditionally been tied to Kiyohime and the girls who forged a contract with her were of Fujino blood. This much Shizuru could confirm, but they were both at a loss as to why this event happened when it did.

Why did the Carnival not take place earlier, then?

Natsuki stared out towards the gray sky. Apparently there was supposed to be some sort of red star in the sky that only these maidens could see. On a whim Shizuru had looked up towards the clear cold sky of the Kuril Islands, but she shook her head and saw nothing outside of the impossibly white moon above them. Natsuki exercised some curiosity now in that train seat but came up empty as well when she saw nothing but the snow-heavy clouds. This entire scenario reeked of something foul. Someone must have been manipulating these girls into fighting one another under the guise of wanting to prevent a worldwide calamity. But now these supposed champions were very few and far in between. In fact, there were only three, and one of them was being controlled by their spirit. Natsuki didn't think Kagutsuchi using Mai's body as a puppet counted as a potential savior of the world. So, what else was there left to speculate? Natsuki tucked her chin in and frowned as she thought.

Well, there was something about how the girls would pick each other off until the last two remained standing. This resulted in a duel to the death, which wasn't so different from the other fights but this was an added bonus of the victorious maiden being granted with a terrifying amount of power after the defeated maiden fell in battle. Enough power to stop a racing star from crashing into the earth could safely be enough power to do pretty much anything, especially if there was no star to contend with. A lot of people would benefit from being in direct control of this power. Natsuki doubted that a maiden who spent a good portion of her life fighting to keep her most important person alive would want to have anything more to do with the same power that landed her in that strange situation in the first place. Natsuki drew her chin up and rested her head against Shizuru's as she stared down at the papers once more.

It began to fit. Someone—a bunch of someones, Natsuki mused—was trying to rig this supposed Carnival. There probably never was a planet-destroying star after all, just a bunch of scared girls being forced to fight one another in some elaborate rendition of what was still a chicken fight. First District was once a demon-exterminating agency under direct orders from the Imperial Court. Their meticulous records on these maidens of Fuuka and their battles were passed down when First District evolved from casual observers to seemingly direct participants in this Carnival. It would readily explain their sudden interest in individuals like Kyoko, who had been sent as a young child into being examined. Perhaps they were trying to groom a champion? Whatever it was, the First District had to abandon their grooming in favor of some other lucrative enterprise. The Carnival was probably unsuccessful, Natsuki concluded, and First District abandoned their champion in favor of running mass experiments on others with similar conditions. Perhaps that was why they had shown such a keen interest in herself, which soon grew to mild disappointment when it was discovered that she had harbored Duran, a spirit that played more of a wild-card factor than a champion role. Searrs must have seen something they liked, however, and that triggered Kuga Saeko's turncoat activities. What were they looking for?

Was she going to end up the same way? Dead? Was this what all of their struggles amounted to? Her heart began to thump painfully as she looked over at the soft flaxen hair on her shoulder. Was Shizuru going to be alright? Would she die as well? Would they both go together, or would one of them go before the other? The thoughts piled onto her, one after the other, until she felt her lips begin to tremble with the stark realization that dying was a very real possibility now. Natsuki closed her eyes and shook her head, shaking Shizuru from her nap.

"... Natsuki?"

Shizuru frowned when she saw Natsuki attempt to smile but the younger girl gently waved away her concerns.

"I'm fine. I just need to go to the toilet."

Shizuru nodded and Natsuki slid from the window seat down to the aisle where she made her way to the bathrooms. After locking herself into the small cubicle she turned on the faucet and let the cold water run in the sink as she stared at her face in the mirror. She wanted to close her eyes but forced herself to stare into the mirror. It had been happening for a long time, now. Her right eye was losing its clarity and was turning into a smokier color of green, into something not human. The pupil was still round but it had lost its stark boundaries against the emerald iris. She was staring into the fierce eye of a wolf with her dead left eye still retaining its emerald—human—clarity. Perhaps she should have felt grateful over her dead eye. It would be the only thing to remain human if she continued to muddle through the already faint line between human and beast.

"... It won't be long, now," she said softly.

Natsuki splashed some of the water on her face and wiped herself down with a paper towel before taking in a deep breath and walking out of the bathroom. She returned without comment to the seat and stared out the window even as she felt those inquisitive crimson eyes on her.

"Are you alright?"

Natsuki nodded.

"... Look at me, Natsuki. With both eyes, this time."

Natsuki sighed and turned. Shizuru smiled and quietly brushed away several wayward strands of dark hair. She knew about the changes occurring in her Natsuki's body. It was a hard fact that she had to accept—the more Natsuki used her powers, the more she succumbed to the wolf underneath. She brushed that morbid thought aside and caressed Natsuki's jawline with her fingers, finally resting her palm against her cheek.

"You don't have to hide it," she chided gently.

"You aren't afraid?" Natsuki muttered, unconvinced.

"Never. As long as you are here, I'd have no reason to be afraid."

Natsuki sighed and leaned into the touch slightly. She was rewarded by Shizuru's thumb grazing against her cheek and running faintly across her lips.

"This entire thing is stupid," Natsuki murmured finally. "If we fight, we'll die. If we don't fight, we'll get stabbed in the back and then die. There really is nothing left for us to do."

She wondered how far she could run away. It was easy enough to disable the attendants and open the door, and even easier to tumble out and hope nothing was broken too badly. Then it would be an even simpler matter of racing out in Duran's form. There would be no obstacle hard enough to bowl over... but she knew she would not get very far at all. Shizuru sighed and leaned forward so that their foreheads touched.

"No matter what happens, we'll be together for it," Shizuru said simply. "It's no use trying to over-think something that's going to come to pass."

It seemed the train only took five minutes to get to Tokyo. They wordlessly disembarked and gathered their bags, stepping out into the train station to stretch their legs before hailing a taxi cab from the line parked out front. Shizuru rattled off the address and the driver idly chatted with her while Natsuki stared out the windows with a lost expression on her face.

Why couldn't I stop myself from turning out this way?

With a simple turn of the keys, the iron door was opened and they stepped into the freezing cold of their home. They said nothing but set down their luggage and began to turn on the lights and heat. Within a half hour the apartment was warm enough to let them take off their heavy coats and they laid them aside on the coat tree before Shizuru turned to the kitchen and prepared some tea. For a moment it seemed like Natsuki's eyes had deceived her.

"I'm home, Shizuru!"

"Ara, welcome back Natsuki. How was the shop?"

"Well, you know, that idiot Takeru decided to switch a spark plug when that wasn't the problem at all. I swear, I don't know why I even hired him..."

Natsuki's eyelids fluttered and she was broken out of her memories by the strong smell of lemon tea. Shizuru sighed and patiently held the cup out to her.

"It appears all the green tea is gone," she noted. "But drink. You need to warm up a little."

The green tea was gone? That was impossible, they never ran out—Natsuki blinked. She now remembered why the tea was missing. Every day, for the past year, she had stood there near the kitchen counter with a steaming cup of green tea. The bitter taste was strange and she preferred her coffee over it, but every day, she sat there in the quiet mornings with the tea cup steaming in front of her. And she would finish the cup, no matter how bitter, if only to remember that taste.

She closed her eyes and willed the burning sensation behind them to stop. She didn't have the time to cry, not now when their world was about to end. She took the cup wordlessly and drank down the cooling liquid, taking in the tart taste of lemon and the faint note of honey that seeped down to her throat. Shizuru picked up her own cup and blew into the liquid before taking a small sip. They sat there on the couch together, taking their time with their own cups of tea and trying to remember the happier times spent in this empty apartment. But the pictures were dusty, and the glass streaked, and the present weighed so heavily onto their hearts. Natsuki finished her tea and set the cup down on the table before pushing herself up to her feet. Shizuru did not follow her as she walked into their bedroom and opened the closet, revealing the neat rows of suits. Natsuki unzipped her hoodie and pulled it off over her head when Shizuru finally made her way to the bedroom.

It was now or never. If Natsuki didn't go now, she would never have the strength to leave Shizuru behind.

"What are you planning on doing now?" she asked as Natsuki tossed the hoodie onto the bed.

"... Getting ready to go," Natsuki mumbled as her fingers fumbled with her belt buckle. "Shizuru... you need to stay here. Go back to Fuuka and wait there with your dad and Suzushiro..."

It took several tries but she finally managed to undo the belt that held those loose pants up. The pants slid down so that her hip bones peeked out underneath the simple white t-shirt she wore. Her fingers were now shaking as she attempted to undo the button of her pants, but finally she gave up and aimed a wild fist against the closet. Shizuru sighed as skin connected with wood, and she stepped forward when Natsuki's shoulders began to shake.

"Natsuki, I'm not going to let you go through this alone."

"... I'm going to die," she managed to get out before Shizuru's hand clasped onto her throbbing hand.

"That's not decided yet," Shizuru replied evenly, only to be faced by fierce emerald eyes when Natsuki whirled around.

"Why can't you... Why can't you just leave?" Natsuki demanded in a pained voice. "I don't want you to die. I want you to get the hell away from me, from here. I'm scared that I can't protect you anymore, Shizuru."

"My, but I'm not sure you would be successful if you demanded that I get away from you," Shizuru replied with half a teasing lilt. "But Natsuki, whatever happens will happen. We are just here for the ride; the train will take us where we need to go."

"Stop speaking in these riddles," Natsuki whispered, but her head thudded numbly against Shizuru's neck and she allowed herself to be held.

This quiet moment of panic seized her and suddenly she pushed herself away from Shizuru. The older girl blinked in mild confusion that quickly erased when Natsuki grabbed onto the sides of her face with both hands and smashed her lips against hers. Even without their connection Shizuru could read the simple need behind that desperate kiss. They had to be concrete with a beating heart, to be warm and breathing and alive. Shizuru felt herself being pushed against the bed and she complied, falling back with that comfortable weight on top of her.

Natsuki paused for a moment to pull her shirt off over her head. Muscles beneath her skin rippled as she raised her arms above her head, but in the darkness all Shizuru could see were the faint lines of criss-crossing scars that marked Natsuki's upper back and arms. Some were battle wounds, others were self-inflicted when Natsuki had no way of controlling Duran. It was during a circumstance such as that when Shizuru first realized that there was something with this girl that was beyond the cold attitude and cute expressions. A normal girl would have run away from this strange half-wolf, half-girl digging her claws into her arms in an attempt to stop herself from lashing out in fear and anger. Shizuru had simply grasped onto those hands and refused to let go until the transformation had subsided. She had never let go of her Natsuki since that day, and she was not about to let go of her now.

Back then, we only got by on skinned knees and thoughts that we could escape from our destinies.

Shizuru felt the fabric of her turtleneck sweater ride up as fingertips grazed her skin, causing a trail of goosebumps to rise as Natsuki slowly pulled the sweater up. She sat up and the sweater stretched slightly as it was taken off, leaving them both shirtless. Those fingertips returned to her back where they ran against the still-healing lines from Kagutsuchi's first appearance. A dark frown entered Natsuki's lips as she traced those lines with her own fingers, but Shizuru shivered under the touch. Instead of the white-hot sensation of pain she had endured under those fiery nails she felt nothing but a faint tickling, a familiar touch that she yearned for. She looked up and saw the tears and doubt swimming in those lost emerald eyes, doubts she wished she could erase with just a simple wave of the hand. Instead she drew Natsuki closer and placed a kiss on her collarbone. Natsuki shivered as Shizuru's tongue flicked out, making a trail up to her neck and placing butterfly kisses along the way to a rather sensitive point under her ear. A barely-constrained groan emerged from her lips when Shizuru withdrew from that sensitive spot, but Natsuki failed to complain when Shizuru suddenly pushed her down onto the bed.

"No matter how hard you fight, no matter how much you try, I won't let you go alone," Shizuru whispered.

Now those tears fell down in streams and Natsuki took in a shuddering gasp as Shizuru's hands made short work of that stubborn button that kept her baggy pants up on her slim hips. She paused for a moment to undo her own dress and stockings, letting the fabric slide down to the floor before she stepped out dressed only in her underwear. When she laid down on top of Natsuki once more their skin shivered at the contact but soon the heat and friction caused the shivers to stop.

"Forget all of this, just for today. When we get up later, come heaven or hell, we'll be ready for it. But forget about it right now."

Natsuki closed her eyes and nodded. She felt silky strands of hair brush against her bare midsection until a sweet breath blew down on her lips. She brought hand up and grasped onto the back of Shizuru's neck, rubbing her fingers against the base of her skull as they leaned into each other. They drank from one another, kissing until oxygen was quite clearly a necessity for them to continue. Natsuki's hands acted on their own accord, trailing down as her fingers rubbed against sensitive spots that caused those quickened pants to blow into her ears, matching the pace of her own thundering heart. And when Shizuru threw her head back after her fingers and lips reached simultaneous spots of pleasure, she knew that Shizuru had been just as apprehensive as she was about the entire deal. Who knew what the future held for them? But tonight the skin beneath her fingertips was warm and the breaths against her ear were driving her absolutely crazy. There was no time to angst over some blank slate when those sweet lips captured hers over and over again for kisses, each more fulfilling than the last. Destiny and Fate had no jurisdiction over their love. Those two forces would have to wait until they were finished making up for their lost year.


The note was in their mailbox. It contained only three lines: the venue, the address, and the time. Natsuki flicked it away into the trash before going back to bed to snooze next to Shizuru. For a moment only the quiet whispers from Natsuki to Shizuru sounded off in the stillness until they too were swallowed up by the comfortable haze of quiet and warmth of blankets. They were feeling outrageously lazy today despite knowing full well what would await them tonight.

Natsuki sat at the end of their bed, freshly-showered and wide awake at seven in the evening. She was already partially dressed in her suit pants, socks, and an unbuttoned light-blue dress shirt over a white tank-top. Her fingers nimbly went down the row, buttoning up the buttons with ease. She even paused and frowned at this, but shrugged and stood up to tuck the shirt into her pants before buckling in the black leather belt. After shuffling through the closet and turning up empty handed, she turned when she felt something lightly tossed over her shoulder. Her fingers grazed against the dark blue silk tie but her eyes were firmly locked on the bare back of Shizuru.

"Do me," Shizuru commanded with a wink before gathering her hair up so that it wouldn't get caught.

Natsuki smiled and stepped up behind Shizuru. Her fingers grasped onto the tiny zipper and slowly pulled it up until it clicked into place, securing the black dress onto her figure. She placed a soft kiss on Shizuru's shoulder and inhaled the light perfume that surrounded her figure before letting go to let Shizuru finish getting ready. Natsuki quickly but neatly did her tie, adjusting the length before pulling on the fitted suit jacket and doing up all the buttons. Finally she fitted her watch on her wrist and clicked the metal bracelet shut to secure it.

"So, dinner in a half hour, and the club?" Natsuki asked nonchalantly as she walked out of the bedroom and towards the living room.

"Mhmm..." Shizuru paused to check herself in the mirror before she too walked out. "Remember, eat light, or else we'll waste dessert like we did last time."

"Yeah, I know... Hey, do you think they'll have ice cream at this time of year?"

"Ice cream? I don't see why not, unless you want to try to eat that four-scoop sundae again. What do you think about mango pudding? It was pretty good at the dim sum place we went."

"... Too sweet, too sweet."

"Hm... You'll only get to choose one, you know."

Shizuru picked through the coats on the coat tree before settling on a longer and warmer coat as Natsuki pulled on a pair of black leather gloves. Natsuki held out the heavy coat as Shizuru turned to put her arms through the sleeves. After smoothing the coat down she picked up her own coat and shrugged it on, feeling the familiar fur covered collar hug her bare neck and cheeks. She fitted on her shoes and carefully placed the black heels on Shizuru's feet before she straightened and met those crimson eyes.

"... Are you sure?"

"I am."

Natsuki offered her arm and Shizuru took it. She opened the door and they stepped out into the twilight.

"Shizuru."

She looked up with curious crimson eyes.

"Yes, my Natsuki?"

Emerald eyes dimmed for a second before refocusing on crimson.

"I love you."

Lips parted questioningly before they eased into a smile that stayed even as another pair of soft lips brushed up against them. Silence followed the brief smack of lips separating as slow, hesitant smiles grew.

"I love you too."


AN: There's always that nervous feeling in one's stomach as they approach something life-changing. I like to compare it to the split second of serendipity you feel at the height of a roller coaster's climb. Everything seems so clear and your eyes can see for miles and miles. Then that feeling fizzles in your stomach as the roller coaster takes you screaming back to earth.

I like to think that the two of them are feeling something like that as they go out for a delicious dinner and night out in town.

Cheers.