This is my first Mai Hime fanfic, so I hope it's good. Please, enjoy and R&R.
Disclaimer: I don't own Mai Hime or any of their characters. I only own the characters I made for this story.
Summary: Shizuru goes on a business trip to America, where she meets a girl strangely like Natsuki. Who is this new friend and what role will she play in the former Hime's life? Shiznat
Thank you everyone that reviewed. ^_^
Shizuru's New Friend
Chapter Two: The Hospital
Pain. Not much of it, but enough to let Shizuru know she was alive. Her crimson eyes fluttered open; and for a moment, she thought that maybe she had gone blind somehow thanks to the darkness that filled the room. It took a moment for her to adjust to the semi-darkness. The only light came from a lamp to her right.
"But I want the cookie." whined a familiar voice out of the darkness. The fair haired woman sat up, causing her to feel a sudden draft. She looked down finally realizing she was wearing a hospital gown. She pushed the thought of how she got into it in the first place aside as she turned her head to the right to find a sleeping Macey laid out on a small love seat. The teen's bare legs were resting against one of the arms while her head rested on the other. Her left arm was under her head and her right one, along with a book, was draped over her stomach. She looked different with a black shirt and blue jean shorts. The lamp facing the girl seemed to highlight her features.
The scene could be called adorable. Finding herself smiling at the innocent looking girl the Kyoto native wondered how long she had been there. With an unidentifiable mumble the dirty blonde haired girl rolled over and off her place of rest with a rather loud thud. She landed sprawled out on her back, staring up at the ceiling sleepily.
"Ara, Macey is awake?" the Kyoto accent brought her out of her daze as she shifted her head to face the older female. As they stared back at each other Shizuru couldn't help but see a flash of Natsuki in her mind. Macey broke the connection by commenting, "I think so."
As if to prove that she was her stomach let out an annoyed growl. Her cheeks turned a light red, "Guess that answers that question."
She sat up slowly, her back cracking the whole way up. The Louisiana-born female stood with a wince. After some stretching she flashed a smile, "I didn't want to chance getting sick from the hospital food so I skipped dinner. And like a dingbat I didn't get Mom to bring my anything. Honor roll student, really sometimes I wonder."
"How did Macey-san know where I was? You were the one who pulled me out, yes?" the chestnut-haired young woman seemingly ignored her as she changed the subject in a calm seriousness that made Macey's smile drop into a slight frown and she almost quirked a thick eyebrow at the honorific, "Well yeah, and there are plenty of ways I could have known. For instance I could have sent that car there."
"Then why save my life?"
"To become friends and slowly tare your world apart over time." she shrugged as if guessing the answer. Upon seeing the blank look on Shizuru's face she sighed, looking her in the eyes with matching seriousness, "You wouldn't believe me."
The sudden maturity shining in the brown eyes caught Shizuru off guard, but never showed it, "You would be surprised."
After a moment Macey gave in with a sigh, "I'm psychic, well not exactly. I have premonitions sometimes when I sleep, but I don't remember them until moments before what I saw is suppose to happen." Macey laughed lightly, "Sounds crazy, right?"
"I've heard crazier." Shizuru smiled at her reassuringly. Macey's stomach broke the moment pretty effortlessly. Macey brought her hands to her belly, "I forgot I was hungry."
Her legs brought her to the closet while her brown eyes darted everywhere in suspicion. The teen opened the door and pulled out a large bag of Hot Fries. There was a devious chuckle before she practically skipped back to the love seat. Shizuru took a moment to check out the room she was in. It wasn't anything special, just the usual white walled room with a single bed, a chair, a love seat, a TV with nothing to watch on it, and monitors of all kinds; of and there was a bathroom too.
"You want one?" the question averted the ruby gaze to the girl sitting on the love seat. She was holding out a single Hot Fry to her. Not really hungry, but not wanting to be rude, Shizuru took it gingerly.
"Junk food is bad for you this late." she stated in a matter of fact tone. It was indeed late, almost midnight actually, but Macey shrugged as she stuffed about fifteen of them in her mouth at once.
"Macey." the fair haired female had to force a grimace from her beautiful features.
"Hm?" was Macey's somewhat averted response, though the fact that Shizuru had dropped the honorific didn't escape her.
"How old are you?" she quizzed before taking a very small bite of the baked chip between her fingers.
"I'm seventeen and," she rolled her brown eyes, "they're not that bad." By the time her companion had put the last small bite into her mouth Macey had finished off the bag.
"All gone." the brown eyed girl turned the bag upside down with a heavy sigh, "And before I could get some vanilla ice cream to go with them."
Shizuru had to once more force her smile to stay in place as she felt like running to the bathroom. Macey sighed again before she started to stand. She froze however when the door started to open slowly.
"Eep!" Macey squeaked, falling back onto the love seat and stuffing the empty bag between the cushions. A hand reached in to flick on the lights. As intended the lights came to life effortlessly blinding the occupants of the room. Shizuru could hear a faint hissing sound coming from Macey as she covered her own eyes with her hands.
"Oh man!" was accompanied with the hiss.
"Sorry, Macey. I guess I should of known you'd be awake. You never sleep unless you're on sedatives in a hospital bed of your own." a soft voice floated into their ears.
"Not true, Grace." the teen stated defensively, blinking a couple of times in an attempt to make the dots dancing in front of her eyes to go away.
"Really?" the brunette put her hands on her hips. Her blue eyed gaze seemed to bore into the brown eyed girl, "And just when do you sleep?"
"Four hours a day, Monday through Friday. Eight to nine hours on the weekend." she answered as if she were telling at what time a store was open.
"My point exactly." the tall woman in her late twenties stated as she wheeled in her equipment. Macey crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, "Whatever." Grace chuckled at the girl's childish behavior.
"This'll just take a second." she smiled at Shizuru. In turn Shizuru tipped her head slightly in understanding. Macey turned around on the love seat, sitting cross-legged so her back was to the annoying nurse. She grumbled something to herself as Grace started taking Shizuru's blood pressure. The older winked at the chestnut-haired young woman before commenting louder than necessary, "You know the last time she came in here to get her appendix taken out she was so sedated that she was drooling all over herself."
Macey's face turned a shade of red that even rivaled Shizuru's eyes. Upon seeing this Grace continued with a devilish smirk, "She tried to argue that she wasn't tired, but she was slurring her words so bad she sounded like a drunkard. And she nearly fell out the bed when she tried to go to the bathroom."
Shizuru brought her hand to her mouth, trying to keep in the laughter, not that it was working. If it was possible Macey's face darkened a shade or two darker. The dirty blonde then added, "I also recall trying to walk as soon as possible so I could get out of here before I died of starvation."
"It's not our fault you didn't like the food and you get hungry every two hours." Grace retorted, wheeling her equipment to the door. Macey was still pouting so Grace asked, "You want some chocolate ice cream?"
This got a reaction from the teen. She slowly turned her head to look at the older woman, "With sprinkles?"
"Of course." she smiled knowingly. She then turned to Shizuru, "Would you like something?"
"Maybe some green tea." her smile grew ever so slightly at the thought of sipping her favorite beverage. The brunette nodded in understanding before leaving the two alone. It another few moments for Macey's face to return to its' normal complexion. After letting out a sigh she maneuvered off the love seat. She took the bag from between the cushions to throw it away. The shorter girl walked towards the trash can near the door just as the door knob turned.
"Hm?" was all Macey got out before the wooden door came into contact with her forehead. The brown eyed girl stumbled back a bit until she landed on the bed. Her hand immediately flew to her head.
"Ara. Is Macey okay?" she heard a strong Kyoto accent ask in a concerned manner.
"I should be. After all my head is pretty hard." she answered, opening her eyes slowly. Once completely open the first thing she saw were a pair of crimson orbs staring back at her. They stayed staring at each other for a moment before Grace broke it, "I'm sorry, Macey. How do you feel?"
"Hungry." she answered as she sat up, averting her gaze from Shizuru to Grace rather easily. The two younger females watched her place some folded clothes, a bowl of ice cream, and a cup of tea on the dresser next to the bed.
"Let me see." the nurse ordered while moving the girl's hand to inspect the injury. She placed a tender hand over it only to cause the teen to yelp, "Don't touch it!"
She backed away as best she could from the nurse's touch. Grace sighed, "I'll be right back to get you something for it."
"That's okay! I'm fine! Really, no need to get anything." she forced a smile pass the pain that suddenly throbbed in her brain.
"In fact." she started as she slipped off the bed and made her way to the door, "I'm going to get me something to drink."
"Macey," Grace sighed, "You can be so stubborn sometimes."
"Macey can be, but Shizuru needs to change and Shizuru needs privacy to do so. Thus it would be logical for Macey to leave, yes?" with her hand positioned over the door knob she paused to add, "Macey needs to stop talking in third person."
And with that she was out the door before Grace could protest anymore. Macey walked down the halls she knew all too well. She found herself wishing she didn't once more. The brown eyed girl sighed when she finally made it to the vending machines where a girl with long dark hair and matching eyes was glaring at the drink machine through wire framed glasses.
"Excuse me. Do you need some help?" she asked, not really sure why she was in such a helping mood as of late. She turned to face her with a nod and a sheepish smile, "Yes, please."
The dirty blonde haired girl walked over to the machine and kicked it expertly in the side. It made a clicking sound before releasing the hostage it once held. She handed it to her with a smile, "You just have to know how hard and where to hit it."
The girl blushed as she took it, "T-thank you."
"Your very welcome." Macey replied not really knowing why the other girl was blushing. She just shrugged it off as she put her own money in to get a coke.
"These machines like to shake your coke up good before letting you have it." Macey stated more to herself than anyone else, "I'd say it was a conspiracy by all the companies, but with no proof there's not much you can do about it."
She brought the red can to her mouth, opening it with her teeth, before swallowing some. She was too occupied with her drink to notice the girl was still there and giggling to herself.
"Saki Kano."
"Hm?" the Cajun looked at her in complete confusion.
"My name is Saki Kano." the dark eyed girl clarified, extending her hand. The other girl took it cautiously, "Macey Cypress. You can call me Macey."
"Okay. Call me Saki then." she blushed lightly again.
"O-kay." Macey shifted uncomfortably as she took her hand back. She started walking away with Saki close behind, "May I ask why you're here?"
"I'm visiting a friend." she answered in a carefree tone, "You?"
"My Father is visiting one of his coworkers." Saki informed.
"This late?" the other quizzed curiously. She nodded, "We just flew in from Japan tonight."
"That makes sense." Macey conceded. They stopped in front of Shizuru's door just as it opened to reveal Shizuru and a short man saying goodbye to each other.
"Shizuru?" Macey tilted her head to the right in confusion.
"Saki?"
"Macey?"
"Father?"
"Well now that all of that's out of the way?" a certain American rolled her eyes.
"So, Shizuru-san is the friend you're visiting?" Saki glanced at the girl standing next to her. Macey nodded, "That's correct."
"And who is this?" Mr. Kano interrogated, while eying the girl in question. She just returned his state as his daughter answered, "This is Macey Cypress. We just met."
"Hm, I see." he tapped his chin with his index finger before smiling warmly, "Then why don't you invite her to the party?"
"Of course!" Saki exclaimed happily. Why hadn't she thought about that?
"Party?" now Macey was definitely confused. The other teen clad in a blue shirt and skirt nodded quickly, "Father is throwing a party this Wednesday. Would you like to come?"
Not really sure what to do she glanced at Shizuru, who had her usual calm smile on. The Kyoto native nodded slightly prompting Macey to accept the invitation, "Okay."
"Great! I can't wait to see you there." she smiled as she and her father walked away. The brown eyed girl waved a goodbye before following Shizuru back into the room. There Macey's smile fell into a frown, "Stupid."
Her hand hit her forehead causing her to wince and Shizuru to look at her, "I have school Wednesday. I can't just skip without an excuse."
"Ara, now what will Macey do?" she quizzed as she walked back to the bed. Macey shook her head in frustration, "Get Mom to right me an excuse I guess. I just hope she agrees to it."
"So do I." Shizuru admitted with her ever present smile. She was also happy to be out of that ridiculous gown. As Macey sat on the edge of the bed the chestnut haired woman started to undo her kimono.
"I don't have any singles sorry." Macey commented much to Shizuru's amusement.
"A twenty will be fine." at that Macey laughed. Shizuru placed it carefully on the bed next to Macey revealing a white nagajuban underneath.
"That looks really difficult to put on." Macey spoke mostly to herself as Shizuru took the nagajuban off, finally getting to the white hiyoku.
"At first yes, but as you practice you get better and after a while it doesn't take any time at all." Shizuru picked up the clothing to hold it neatly and place it on the dresser next to the bed.
"I'll just take your word for it." the teen snorted, falling back on the bed. She closed her eyes, Hope they have good food at the party. Maybe some sushi, or some Pocky. Yeah, Pocky. Her mouth started watering at the promise of tasty treats, a line of drool coming from the corner of her mouth. Shizuru noticed and chuckled at the sight. Deciding to be her usual teasing self she crawled over the younger girl. When Macey opened her eyes all brown say was red. She flinched at the proximity of their two bodies, not being one fond of the concept of touching. Shizuru smirked slyly at this, "Was Macey having such dirty thoughts she started to drool?"
"No! I was just thinking about food is all!" a dark blush spread over the girl's face.
So cute. Shizuru rolled over onto her back to lay next to Macey, much to the girl's relief.
"Would you be offended if I said I hate you?" Macey jested halfheartedly, trying to make the blood leave her cheeks.
"Meanie." Shizuru pouted. Macey waved off her complaint, "Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before."
After a moment or two in silence the younger of the two broke it, "Shizuru?"
"Yes?"
"What's it like in Japan?" the teen asked thoughtfully, "I've always wanted to go."
"Why don't you?" Shizuru asked curiously, hoping the girl would open up to her even just a little.
"I do, I really do!" she cast her arms up in a childish type of excitement that couldn't be contained, "I want to see the whole world! I want to know what it's like!" Her arms and face fell slowly, "Dealing with family doesn't really give me time to do what I want."
Over the course of the next couple of hours Shizuru learned that Macey's favorite animal was the dolphin, her favorite colors were silver, black, and orange in that order, her favorite food was cheese, her favorite car was the Mustang, she likes motorcycles, loved mayo, had two brothers, and sister, one of her brothers and her dad lived in Texas, while the other two lived with her and her mom, and loads of other things; but the most important thing Shizuru learned about the other girl was that she was a lonely puppy trying to be a lone wolf.
Shizuru told the curious girl about her life back in Japan; though she talked mostly about Natsuki. Which, of course, Macey didn't let that go unnoticed. They didn't exactly know why they opened up to each other so quickly, but they talked until Macey fell back against the bed, snoring softly. The crimson eyed woman decided to just leave her there as she laid down in bed to let sleep take over.
An hour later a ringing could be heard from the side of the bed. Macey's face twisted into one of annoyance and anger as it continued to ring. She wasn't sure if it was her's or Shizuru's, but she answered it anyway.
"Hello?"
"Shizuru?" an unfamiliar accented voice sounded confused. Well it wasn't her cell phone so she shook the other girl, "Shizuru, it's for you."
"Who is it?" Shizuru pushed it away sleepily. Macey put the phone back to her ear to hear the husky voice on the other side cursing in Japanese.
"Sumimasen, onamae wa nan desu ka?" Macey quizzed.
"Natsuki." came the reluctant response. Brown eyes turned to the foreigner, "She said her name is Natsuki."
"Nani!" Shizuru sat up quickly, snatching the phone from the stunned girl.
"Oi, Natsuki." she greeted happily, sleep completely forgotten.
Omake:
Natsuki: Who's the weird new girl?
Shizuru: You mean Saki-san?
Natsuki: Yeah, for some reason she reminds me of Tomoe.
Macey: Really, I don't think she's that bad. (An ominous shadow of Saki appears behind her.)
Shizuru and Natsuki: (sweat-dropping) If you say so.
Macey: (confused) Is something behind me?
Finally Natsuki appears, well not really, but she will in the next chapter. We'll get Natsuki's side of this chapter leading up to the phone call. And if you're wondering why Shizuru's phone still works; her purse is waterproof. Anyways please review and tell me what you think about it so far. Until next time. Bye-bye.
Chapter 2 revised