Disclaimer: The rights to Mai-HiME and The Lord of the Flies belong to company Sunrise and William Golding.

Author's Note: I'm glad to know that everyone enjoyed the previous chapter. I only hope that this chapter is just as loved as the last. However, if you have any problems with it, please let me know.

Worry.

Natsuki was very, very worried. She went all over the place only to find oil and blood droplets leading off a cliff's edge. However, once she reached the bottom, no one was there. What, did she bloody fly away?

According to Tomoe and Miya, Shizuru had been attacked by some lion Orphan. Tomoe went to finish it off and Miya went to get help. Natsuki asked if Shizuru had just wandered off or if Tomoe had just run off somewhere without her.

"I got carried away," was her response. "I didn't mean to lose her!"

"She was attacked!" spat Natsuki. "She can't even summon her goddamn Child and you left her there?"

"Kuga, calm down," called Nao. "It's as if you're in love with her or something."

"I-I'm not, it's just…" Natsuki was so mad she couldn't even form coherent sentences. The moon was out and they'd been searching for Shizuru since the sun was at its peak. The evidence of a struggle brought Natsuki no comfort either.

Mai put a palm on Natsuki's shoulder and said, "Don't worry. She'll be fine."

Natsuki had little confidence. That night, she hardly got any sleep. Shizuru was out there somewhere, wounded. She was probably dragged away by those Orphans. She could even be dead.

No. That wasn't a possibility. Shizuru couldn't be dead. Natsuki was still alive.

But who said she was her most precious person? Who said the rules hadn't been changed on them? Natsuki never knew, what with the way things had been turning out.

That night, Natsuki could not sleep very well. She remembered tossing and turning, trying to get some sleep. After all, she would have to put her energy into finding Shizuru.

Eventually, sleep claimed her.

Then she awoke to the sound of her name. It was terribly sunny, so the light of the sun blinded her. She growled and snapped her eyes shut. She didn't want to get up.

"Hey, Kuga, get up!" spat Yuuki. "Shizuru's back."

"What, really?" asked Natsuki as she shot up. Nao snorted.

"Knew that would get you all riled up," she said with a sneer. She put on a feigned expression of glee and said, "Oh my god, Shizuru's back?"

"Fuck you, Yuuki."

"No thank you, I'm straight," said Nao quite proudly. "Anyway, you gotta get up. We're still Fujino-hunting because she's still missing."

Natsuki snarled and rose to her feet.

The search lasted for the whole day. No sign of her was apparent and Natsuki could feel herself go numb with the incredible fear that welled up inside of her. Everyone began to feel discouraged along with Natsuki. By the end of the day, Mai told the HiMEs that they would stop searching for Shizuru.

When the next morning arrived, Tomoe and Miya were gone.

Shizuru sat atop a head.

It was one of three heads, to be exact. It was the head of a hydra with gold eyes and purple, metal skin. It was beautiful. It was Shizuru's baby, after all.

Drenched in blood and oil, her uniform looked to be in tatters. It was all a blur of colours and shapes and things. Much like a drug high, Shizuru had lost herself in a dance of swirling feelings released, anger being the predominant emotion.

She had never felt so relieved.

However, there was Natsuki. Ah yes, her. What would she do with her?

"What should I do with Natsuki, Kiyohime?" asked Shizuru as she sank into a lying position and caressed the jaw of her marvellous Child. It moved its head to her touch, but didn't reply. Of course, Kiyohime had just fought. She needed her rest. "I won't rush you."

Shizuru looked out at the beach and smiled. That was where Natsuki was.

However, Tate was in the way. Not physically. No, he wasn't on the island. However, he was in the heart of Natsuki, a place that previously belonged to Shizuru.

Shizuru felt her heart shrivel up and go cold. Once they were able to return home, then she would permanently remove Tate from her heart. No one would stand in her way.

Most of the morning was dedicated to trying to find that ridiculous duo. Natsuki thought it was a great waste of time, trying to find the two who were the cause of this crazy mess in the first place.

However, Mai was all for 'togetherness' and wished to find the two when time could have been spent hunting Orphans or finding Shizuru.

With half a heart, Natsuki searched for Tomoe and Miya, Midori accompanying her again. Midori was a little more serious this time around. Ever since Shizuru's disappearance, she'd been less loud and a little more contemplative. All of the HiMEs had. Well, save for Nao, but she hardly counted. She didn't have a heart to start with.

Two nights went by fairly quickly. The second night was when Mikoto and Akira had claimed to have seen a monster when they gathered around the fire to report their findings.

"It had three heads," said Akira, attempting to sound sober. In reality, she sounded very rattled.

"It was purple, too, Mai!" added Mikoto as she tugged at Mai's tattered sweater. "You should have seen it!"

"I saw something like that once," piped up Erstin. Chun seemed surprised, but kept silence.

"Why didn't you attack it?" asked Mai, looking quite curious.

"Because it was massive," said Akira. "If I'm not mistaken, it seemed to match the size of Kagutsuchi."

"Like the Queen of Orphans," Mikoto said. The camp was silent for a very, very long while.

"Do you think there's such thing as the Queen of Orphans?" Arika asked Chun, her face reflecting subtle fear in the flickering light of the fire. Chun was deathly silent.

She soon shook her head and rose to her feet. She shuffled away and went to lie down by the shore, not saying a word. She was a little down since Tomoe and Miya had gone missing. Despite her obvious dislike for both girls, she still couldn't help but feel upset.

Erstin was next to go. She crawled up next to Chun and lied down next to her. Then Arika, Akira, Nao, Yukariko, and Yukino also separated from the fire and went to sleep in their own corners. This left Mai, Natsuki, Mikoto, and Midori to sit around and ponder. Mikoto wasn't doing as much pondering as she sat close to Mai's side, her eyes droopy from exhaustion.

"If there's a Queen of Orphans, we should really learn to stick together," said Midori, her eyes narrowed slightly. Natsuki had never seen her look so sombre. "We've already lost three, one of which we aren't even sure is alive—"

Natsuki bit her lower lip and cringed.

"—so we have to focus on not losing anymore," Midori finished, ignoring Natsuki. Mai slowly nodded as Mikoto drifted off to sleep on her shoulder.

"God knows who else wants to stray away," muttered Midori. "It could be Natsuki, it could be Chun…"

"Why would you say that?" spat Natsuki.

"You two always had a way of going off alone," said Midori. Natsuki looked away, a bit embarrassed. Midori wasn't as naïve as she thought she was.

Mai ran a hand through her hair. Natsuki could see the stress lining her face which used to look so youthful and vibrant. Now it was slightly greyer and gaunter. She looked like she'd seen too much, heard too much, experienced too much. Natsuki could only imagine how downtrodden her own face looked. She hardly ate nowadays. She did a lot of lying around and a lot of moping and dreaming…

"I'll try," Mai said finally, her eyes determined. "I'll try my hardest to get back home."

"That's the spirit!" cried Midori, dropping her previous face of seriousness. "We should get some rest and start hunting tomorrow!"

Mai and Natsuki exchanged looks before Mai laid Mikoto down at the sand and put out the fire by throwing sand upon its lively flames. Midori yawned and fell back, instantly falling asleep.

"You wouldn't leave," said Mai, once the fire was out, "would you, Natsuki?"

Natsuki looked over at Mai who looked a little scared. She forced a smirk.

"I'm not who I used to be," said Natsuki. "Of course I won't leave."

Mai solemnly nodded and smiled.

"I'm sure Shizuru's fine," she said as she rested her head. Her eyes fluttered shut and she was fast asleep.

Natsuki didn't get a wink of sleep that night.

Shizuru didn't remember anything.

Nothing at all. She remembered waking up with blood and oil on her clothes, as if she'd just been through a ghastly fight that she couldn't even remember. There was this huge gap between that fall and when she woke up that morning with a migraine and wishing that she had some tea to soothe it.

Shizuru wandered aimlessly, trying to find the rest of the camp. Her wounds burned and probed and clawed at her arms. The pain managed to distract her from walking straight at times.

After much walking and no accomplishing, Shizuru sat against a tree and inspected the wound surrounding her left elbow. With a tiny grimace, she peeled off the soaked strips of cloth off of it to check the damages.

Shizuru nearly passed out. The wounds were so deep that she could probably see the bone and the area around the teeth marks was a sickening yellow that had her heart skip a beat.

Shizuru breathed out shakily. At least it had stopped bleeding. And maybe—possibly—the wound wasn't as bad as it appeared. It certainly felt as bad, but it was probably able to be patched up with the proper treatment.

Shizuru knew quite a bit about berries and things, but she hardly knew a thing about taking care of injuries in the wild. There was also a high chance that she was poisoned. She didn't know much about Orphans except for the fact that they attacked HiMEs.

Tired and frustrated, Shizuru summoned her naginata and, with unimaginable difficulty, cut the sleeve of her right arm and wrapped it around her injured arm. The blood didn't really soak through her sleeve this time, but the pain was still near unbearable.

She rose to her feet and checked her surroundings. Naginata in hand, she continued to search for Mai and the others.

As she walked, she heard voices. Her heart lifted and she went in that direction. She pushed past thorny vines and prickly leaves until she managed to get a good look at Tomoe and Miya.

"… Just because they decided to give up doesn't mean I will," snarled Tomoe as she walked alongside Miya. "Shizuru's out there somewhere and I plan on finding her!"

"What if she really is dead though?" asked Miya. This made Shizuru's heart lurch. They already thought she was dead?

"She's not dead!" spat Tomoe, looking ready to strangle Miya. "If you say that again, I'll kill you."

Miya did not reply to this.

"Ara, this is quite the interesting conversation," said Shizuru, deciding to cut into this terribly awkward moment. Tomoe paused then whirled around. Her face brightened upon seeing Shizuru.

"Shizuru!" she shouted, obviously not noticing how Shizuru was covered in blood and oil. Shizuru suddenly found Tomoe in her arms. "I'm so glad you're alive! Everyone thought you were dead, but I knew you were still out there!"

Shizuru said nothing to this. Did Natsuki think she had died as well? How did she take it?

Tomoe pulled away a bit and gazed into Shizuru's eyes, that crazy glint in her eye. Shizuru had always noted that Tomoe was a little… strange when it came to her unhidden adoration for her. It bordered on obsession, which was creepy.

Shizuru always wondered why she couldn't come to like Tomoe anymore than she already did. It was a friendly love, not a love that made her feel any sort of strong passion. Tomoe did anything for her—anything—and she seemed to be the only one who had faith in her.

Tomoe leaned in a bit. Shizuru felt tempted to lean back as she saw Tomoe's eyes close and her lips pucker up.

Thoughts of Natsuki popped up in her mind and she couldn't help but wonder if this was truly what she wanted.

Natsuki was a wreck. The Orphans were either getting stronger or she was getting weaker. Whenever an Orphan appeared and Duran went to attack it, he would get his ass thrashed. Then Nao, her partner of the day, would have Julia step in and save him, which couldn't have been any more embarrassing.

"Hey, Kuga, losing your touch?" asked Nao with a devilish smirk. Natsuki could have gotten rid of her, but she was secretly starting to believe that if she went out on her own she'd actually lose Duran. That was the last thing she needed after what's been happening recently.

When night arrived, Natsuki came upon a rather bittersweet surprise.

Shizuru was indeed alive. The only problem was that Tomoe had found her. The second problem was that Tomoe and Shizuru seemed to be an item all of a sudden.

Natsuki was disturbed by Tomoe's closeness to Shizuru. It was worse that Shizuru didn't seem to mind it at all. Sometimes she would even reciprocate.

"Someone's jealous," cooed Nao. Natsuki whirled around. "What about Tate? Hmm? Don't you still care about him?"

"I don't like Shizuru," snapped Natsuki. "Go away, would you? I'm trying to light a fire."

"Yeah, sure," said Nao as she took Yukino's glasses out of Natsuki's hands. "The moon's out, smartass. How are you gonna make a fire with moonlight?"

Natsuki felt her cheeks burn.

"Whatever."

Nao made a noise in her throat.

"Go talk to her, dumbass."

"I don't like her."

"Okay, have Tomoe fuck her instead," Nao told her bluntly. "They do it a lot in the bushes anyway, while everyone's sleeping—"

"Are you sure you're completely straight?" asked Natsuki, changing the subject.

"Fuck, yes, Kuga," said Nao, looking truly offended. "I'm just trying to help. Becoming a nun has its… perks."

Natsuki laughed bitterly at this. Nao was kidding herself with the nun business. She started whoring herself around shortly after, stealing men's money in the process. She went back to the same business she had before Carnival began.

She should know. Tate told her about it.

"Anyway," Nao yawned, "if you want the green-haired weirdo to be with her, you go on ahead and be a pussy. I'm going to sleep."

Natsuki didn't reply to this. She watched as Tomoe led Shizuru into the trees and bushes. Nao noticed this and wolf-whistled before backing off.

Days passed. Orphans were getting scarcer and scarcer by the day, which meant the HiMEs were getting somewhere.

Natsuki fell into a deeper and deeper depression. Fighting no longer came naturally to her and she had suddenly become a third wheel to any team she was put into.

Mai seemed to notice this and, one day, asked her if anything was the matter.

"I'm fine," said Natsuki as she tried to catch the sunlight with the lens of Yukino's glasses. The sun was actually out this time.

"The bags under your eyes don't say as much," said Mai with a tender smile. She stared as Natsuki pointedly ignored her. After much shifting and manoeuvring of Yukino's glasses, she swore and glared at Mai.

"I can't concentrate if you stare at me like that."

"Then tell me what's wrong," Mai pleaded. "Please, Natsuki, I really want this to work out."

"I'm not working, Mai," said Natsuki, her sorrow evident in her voice. "That's what's wrong."

"Oh." Mai paused before muttering, "Is it about Tate?"

Natsuki looked away. She honestly wasn't all that sure anymore.

"It's him, isn't it?" asked Mai with a bitter smile. "I don't think you should worry about it. Tate's probably having one of his moments."

"What moments?" asked Natsuki, her eyebrows furrowed.

Mai shrugged.

"Just bear with it, I guess," she said with a wink. "He'll come around."

Now, wait just a minute. Why was Mai telling her all this?

"Mai, what are you up to?" asked Natsuki. Mai smiled.

"Oh, nothing," she said as she got to her feet. "Come, Mikoto. We're going to pick some more fruit."

"Mai, I'm tired of fruit," whined Mikoto as she followed Mai back into the forest. "I want meat!"

Natsuki sighed and stared at Yukino's glasses.

"Uh… Miss Kuga?" said Yukino. "I'd like my glasses back, please. I can't see without them…"

Natsuki was beginning to wonder. Was Tate really worth it? Was Natsuki even thinking about him at this point? Was he thinking of her? Everything was really beginning to go downhill between the two and she couldn't help but think that—

"Miss Kuga?"

"What?" snapped Natsuki. Yukino shrank back.

"Uh… my glasses—"

"I'm not done with them yet," Natsuki growled. Yukino only nodded and backed away.

With another sigh, she went back to trying to catch the sunlight. She would continue doing this until she threw them away in a fit of rage. Yukino soon recollected them.

All the while, Nao filed her nails and shot Natsuki smiles of knowing.

The many weeks passed. Natsuki's clothes were tattered and torn. She was bruised and cut everywhere and all she wanted to do was go back to her flat and get these wounds thoroughly treated.

Shizuru was beginning to drive her mad. More dreams of Shizuru began to arise. Shizuru winning the school election. Shizuru putting all her effort into trying to make Natsuki happy. Shizuru here, there, and just about everywhere. She was suddenly ubiquitous. All Natsuki saw was Shizuru.

Natsuki tried to figure all this out. It was terribly confusing, having her in her dreams. Sometimes she would dream of Shizuru and, when she would wake up, she would remember it vaguely with a certain craving pressing against her lower abdomen. It was painful.

Every time she saw Tomoe cuddle up to Shizuru, touch her, kiss her, Natsuki would lose herself in murderous thoughts and sometimes Duran would be summoned without a word uttered from her.

After a while, Natsuki decided to put herself out of commission. She requested she stayed behind as the others went out to hunt for Orphans.

Mai was befuddled by Natsuki's decision, but seemed to understand when she saw something in Natsuki's eyes that made her pause in speech. Natsuki didn't know what it was nor did she care to know.

"Take care of the conch while we're gone, okay?" asked Mai softly as she entrusted the conch shell to Natsuki's bony hands. "In case anything happens, just blow into it, alright? Everything's going to be okay."

That last sentence confused Natsuki, but she went along with it.

One evening, as she waited for the other HiMEs to return, she laid in the stick hut that Mai, Mikoto, and Midori had worked hard to build just a couple of weeks ago. She didn't really feel like moving. It was hot out and her only shelter was a couple of twigs and leaves. Bugs kept her company, too. This was the life.

Natsuki stared up at the conch as she held it in the air, away from her face. It was lumpy and pink and it had a gaping mouth. It was rather ugly, actually. What did people see in them?

A cockroach emerged from it. Natsuki flicked it away and crushed it with her dirty sneaker.

How long has it been? Five weeks? That sounded just about right. Akira, depressed that he—uh… she—was separated from Tokiha's little brother, Takumi, had discreetly made numbers in the sand for each passing day. Natsuki had stumbled upon them one night and had decided to count the tiny lines. When she was finished, she was very, very upset and wished she hadn't seen those lines in the first place. Ignorance was bliss, after all.

Natsuki closed her eyes and pressed the conch shell against her chest. After a second, she heard something. A growl. Outside.

She shot up and quickly bolted out of the stick hut. Her eyes went from right to left and from left to right. Nothing was there.

Natsuki clutched the conch shell firmly in her hands. She should alert the others. But then again, it was probably nothing, right?

There was suddenly a groan and a shriek of metal. Natsuki whirled around to see big green eyes. Natsuki jumped back.

She stopped and stared. Because looking back at her was none other than Kuga Natsuki herself, a leer on her pretty face.

Not only that, but this double had a darker, bigger version of Duran.

"Duran, load cartridge," said the false Natsuki with that uncharacteristic sneer. The larger Duran did as told, rotating his cartridges and reloading them.

The Natsukis stared at one another before the leering one stuck her nose into the air and said, "Fire."

A blast of a horn tore through the humid air of the forest, knocking Shizuru out of her thoughts. Shizuru looked skyward. That was the sound of the conch shell, wasn't it?

She turned to Akira who merely nodded and hopped onto her frog Child. Shizuru got on from behind, considering she still didn't know how to summon her Child.

With that, they were off. Shizuru hung onto Akira tightly who was very much used to her Child's awesome leaps. Shizuru could only watch the ground from below shrink before pausing then coming back at full speed. Shizuru's heart stopped and she dug her nails into her palms as she bit back a scream.

The landing was jarring and left Shizuru's teeth chattering slightly. Akira and Shizuru both slipped off of Gennai and ran to where the commotion was.

Shizuru was stunned to see a mess of sticks and leaves. Blood was splattered across the sand and Shizuru could only think of one name at that moment.

Her eyes fell upon a lump in the water. Upon closer inspection, she saw that Natsuki was lying there, her blood spreading across the ocean and tainting it red.

Her mind went blank for a good couple of seconds. Then worry, fear, love, hate, and all kinds of different emotions surged into Shizuru all at once and had her burst for the first time in a very long while.

"Natsuki!"