Loose stones crunched underfoot. Natsuki felt around in her pocket, past her wallet, taking out a keyring and spinning it on a fingertip. It always was a joy to get out of school, but today was an especially good day, as she was expecting another letter from Shizuru.

When she was nearly at her motorcycle, a voice called out across the parking lot. "Hey!"

Natsuki turned, waving in greeting to the approaching redhead. Nao looked strangely mature in the golden high school uniform. "What's up?"

Nao glanced off to the side, taking a breath. "I hear Tokiha is trying to put together another karaoke party, to relieve the midterm stress. Mikoto relayed me an invitation."

"I got an invitation too." she replied carefully.

"You... planning on going?"

Natsuki eyed her warily. From Nao, the tone of the question almost sounded like an accusation. "I'm going to go, yeah."

Nao nodded. "Alright then. Can I hitch a ride with you?"

So that is what this is about. Even the most basic conversations with Nao were a challenge, she reflected. Natsuki knew that she might lack some social graces, but nearly everything Nao said sounded either condescending or confrontational. Once you learned to ignore that, however, things went a lot smoother, she had realized. "Motorcycles and skirts don't mix very well." she observed.

Nao looked down at her own pleated skirt, and then to Natsuki's bodysuit. "Well, if I tuck the back under me and stay pressed in close to you, I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself." She passed the riding helmet over. "Do you mind if we stop by my apartment first? I have some things to pick up."

Nao shook her head after putting on the helmet, lifting the visor to reply. "Let's drop by my place too. I want to get changed. I'll show you where it is."

Natsuki brought the engine to life with a roar, and she felt Nao's hands grip her tightly around the stomach, just below her breasts. The sensation of having someone hugging her closely was disconcerting. She powered out of the exit, heading for the newly reconstructed Fuuka bridge. As she downshifted while turning into the bridge access, she tried to distract herself by analyzing the girl who was gripping her tightly from behind.

More than two months had past since she had carried Nao's battered body to safety. Over that time, Nao had found various reasons to spend time over at her apartment, averaging around once a week. Even that small amount of company was a big change for Natsuki, but not an entirely unwelcome one. She was a private person by nature, however, Nao had an uncanny ability to recognize when she wouldn't mind some company, and then tended to invite herself over. For all Nao's social shortcomings, she never once managed to annoy Natsuki. While they were together, they would watch horror movies, drink coffee, sometimes even banter a little, but for the most part they stayed quiet. Did that even qualify as friendship? Natsuki normally wouldn't have bothered with the semantics of putting a term to it, but Shizuru had asked in one of their letters weeks back. She had answered negatively in writing, but the question still nagged at her.

They arrived at Natsuki's building, and pair walked up a flight of stairs to the familiar apartment. She drew her mail from its box, fingering through the pile. In the middle was a light purple envelope, the front emblazoned with the kanji for her name in Shizuru's elegant scrawl. Her heart thudded in her chest. She casually let herself into the apartment with the key, and Nao walked in behind her. "Anything interesting in the mail?" the redhead asked without sounding as though she cared.

Out of Nao's sight, Natsuki covertly slid Shizuru's letter into the pocket on the inside of her bodysuit's jacket. "Nothing really." she lied, tossing the remainder of the mail onto the table, letting it slide across the polished surface and spread out. "Nothing but junk mail and bills."

"How droll." Nao pulled out a file and began to work on her nails. "Didn't you say you had to get something?"

Natsuki bit her lip. "Uh... well... I just wanted to check my mail. Let's go."

Nao eyed her, but turned and headed back down the stairs, pocketing the nail file. Natsuki felt the envelope against her chest like a branding iron. She had asked some questions in last week's letter, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answers. Waves of anxiety pounded her, but she suppressed them and vowed to spend her time at karaoke without worrying about the letter.

The ride cleared her head. They blazed down city streets, passing slower moving traffic. Nao had quickly adapted to travel at breakneck speeds, gripping her body against Natsuki's tightly with one arm and letting the other trail in the wind. As she screamed directions to her house over the cutting wind, Natsuki could hear the adrenaline in her voice. Nao loved the speed as much as she did. It was really scary how much they had in common.

The buildings thinned out, the blurred lights and muted sounds of the city dissipating away. "You live all the way out here in the suburbs?" she yelled back.

"Turn here." Nao interjected, guiding Natsuki down a rapidly approaching turn. "Yeah, I moved out here during the summer."

"It's quite a hike to get to school. Didn't you used to live in a dorm?"

"That street up ahead, third house on the right." Nao pointed, sighing as the high speed ride came to an end. "I wanted to move in with Mama. Even still, I'm only about ten minutes from the start of the Fuuka subway line on foot. Its worth it... I didn't get to spend any time with her for six years, you know?"

"Right." Natsuki felt another wash of emotions, thinking about lost and regained mothers. More things she didn't need on a day she had dedicated to relaxation and enjoyment. Natsuki parked the bike, and turned towards the modest house.

Nao opened the door for her with a key, calling out into the empty foyer. "I'm home, Mama. I brought a friend." Nao gestured her towards the kitchen, then took off down the house's main hall.

Alone in the kitchen, Natsuki's curiosity got the better of her. Slipping the envelope out of its hiding place, she gently tore it open. A soft scent of lavender tickled her nose, and she smiled. Shizuru was probably one of the last people on the planet to bother with the tradition of scenting envelopes. She started to slip the letter out, but footsteps beside her sent her to a near panic. She stuffed it back into the pocket of her jacket and turned around, masking a guilty expression.

"Ah, welcome. You're Nao-chan's friend?" Nao's mother was startlingly young, barely into her thirties, unless Natsuki missed her guess. Her close cropped hair was a more muted shade of Nao's sanguine red, but her emerald eyes sparkled with the same mischief.

"Um... Missus Yuuki?" Natsuki always felt self conscious around adults, for some reason.

The woman smiled. "Missus? Why... did Nao-chan ever tell you about her father?"

"No... though I got the impression she didn't know him very well."

"Oh... well, neither did I." she remarked airily.

"Ah." She baited me into that. At least I know where Nao got her sense of humor. Natsuki refused to be embarrassed. "Um... sorry?"

"Don't be. And call me Kaori."

Natsuki blinked at that. It wasn't often someone twice your age requests you call them by their first name within minutes of meeting. "Well, thank you for having me over, Kaori-san."

Kaori smiled pleasantly, then stopped short, looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. "You're... Kuga Natsuki, aren't you."

Natsuki bit her lip. "Nao has told you about me?"

"Only good things, I assure you." came the lighthearted response.

"Somehow I doubt that. We didn't meet under ideal circumstances."

The mother shook her hand dismissively. "First impressions aren't everything. People change, you know."

As Natsuki mulled over that, Nao walked in behind them, an appraising look on her face. "Talking about me behind my back?" She eyed Natsuki with mock suspicion. At least Natsuki thought it was mocking. It was hard to tell sometimes, with Nao.

Kaori pulled Nao into a embrace, squeezing her tightly. "Welcome home, Nao-chan. You should bring friends home more often."

Nao smiled apologetically, a genuine look that few people ever saw on that face. "We were actually just heading out. We're going to karaoke."

Kaori sighed wistfully. "Well, have fun, you two. Oh, and before you leave. Natsuki-chan? Do you like cooking?"

"Well... uh..." Natsuki stalled. Kaori waited with a small smile. "It's just... I'm not all that good at it."

Another teasing look from Kaori. "I seem to remember a story about a re-examination that didn't go so well." Natsuki felt her cheeks flush, and Nao's head sank into her hands. "Well, anyway, I was planning on giving cooking lessons to Nao-chan in a few days, before that unit in her Home Education course. You're welcome to join, if you'd like."

Natsuki teetered uncertainly. She hated cooking, and hadn't planned on ever getting good at it. Instant ramen and takeout had been the staple of her diet ever since her mom had died years and years ago, and she was satisfied with that. Girls who wanted Mai-level cooking abilities seemed too much like they were making a pathetic grasp at being good wife material. But, then again, she would be forced to take Home Education over again in her final semester. All Fuuka Academy students needed the credit to graduate, and she had failed it the first time as a freshman because of poor attendance. It would be a bit nice if she had a grasp the basics. "All... alright, I'll come."

Kaori looked delighted, and Nao's expression was strange and unreadable. Instantly, Natsuki regretted her decision. She hated cooking. But there wasn't anything to be done now, at least not politely.

-----

The duo made their way through the karaoke shop, inquiring at the front desk as to the room Mai had reserved. When they finally entered, it was empty except for a strawberry blond boy with his back to the door, testing the microphone up on stage.

"Enjoying yourself, Tate?" Natsuki smirked by way of greeting.

Yuuichi spun to face them, looking sheepish. "Oh, hey you too. You're early, but that's fine. Mai is just out getting food for the gang. I was just going to... uh... practice." He gave an embarrassed grin. "Mai swears that she's going to get me to sing this time, so I'm just a little..."

"Nervous about your performance?" Nao held out the last syllable of the word, the phrase dripping with potential.

"Maybe a lit- NO!" He cut himself off, reversing his statement as his brain processed Nao's double entendre. "Of... of course not."

"It's nice to see a man with confidence." Nao drawled sarcastically, collapsing lazily on the upholstery.

"Erm... right." Yuuichi coughed nervously. "I'm going to go check on Mai."

Natsuki held a grin in check as he made a graceful exit, then sat down to Nao, who had curled up on the expansive couch. "Sometimes I wonder if you even do that consciously."

"Do what?" the redhead replied, the picture of innocence.

"The way you toy with people... make them feel uncomfortable. Tate looked like he swallowed his own tongue, and you were only in the same room as him for a matter of seconds." She paused, treading on sensitive ground. "I mean... he's Tate. He's a little thick skulled sometimes, but I doubt he's going to grow up to be a child molester."

Nao hesitated for a moment, and then shrugged by way of answering. "It's nothing personal against him. I just do what comes naturally."

Natsuki patted her on the shoulder. "Maybe you should try and check that impulse sometimes. Be a little more friendly."

Nao arched one eyebrow incredulously, using her fingers and thumb on either hand to emulate a pair of hand puppets talking to one another. "Hello, kettle? This is pot. You're black."

"That's different." Natsuki protested. "I'm a private person... but you... you drive people away. There's a difference."

Nao smiled placatingly. "I'm sure there is. I guess someone would have to be pretty pathetic to have only me to spend time with on a regular basis."

Natsuki had had months to get used to Nao's acrid sense of humor, so she simply retorted in kind. "Almost as pathetic as the girl who jumped a good six inches out of her chair while we were watching The Ring."

Nao glowered at Natsuki. "Not fair. You're a horror movie freak who's probably watched that movie a hundred times. It was my first."

Natsuki knew from Nao's defensive remark she had found a weak spot, and exploited it with glee. "Scardy-cat."

Nao hesitated for a second, back pedaling, before finding a suitable retaliation. "Lingerie freak."

Natsuki winced at the memory of Nao stumbling into her other collection late one night a few weeks ago. "Coward." she shot back with a smirk.

Nao's comeback was interrupted by Yuuichi and Mai returning, both overburdened with food from the Linden Baum and boxes of pizza. Natsuki got up to help them, exchanging pleasantries with Mai, but when she looked back, all traces of the amusement were gone from Nao's face, replaced by a standard bored expression she wore in front of everyone but Natsuki and her mother. Natsuki sighed, and returned to chatting with Mai.

-----

"And then! And then!" Mikoto rambled breathlessly from where she sat next to Nao. "Takeda-taichou yelled at me! He said I wasn't allowed to use moves like that."

"Oh really?" Nao almost felt bad for Takeda. There's no way he could have known what he was getting himself into when he allowed this underdeveloped girl to join his Kendo team. Still, she played along. "It's combat, isn't it? Why can't you win however you want?"

"That's what I said!" Mikoto enthused. "Besides, I only hit him down there once. Maybe twice. But Takeda-taichou said I was disquar..." Her face screwed up in concentration. "Disquan..."

"Disqualified?" Nao suggested helpfully.

"Yup yup! That's the word." Mikoto scowled indignantly. "I think it means you lose the match, even though you really won." She brightened up. "But they're making me learn forms now, and that's really fun!" She put up her hands as though she were grasping an invisible shinai, and began to slash at Nao's prostrate form from different angles, shouting out the names of her attacks.

Nao smirked, letting her attention wander up to the stage. It looked like Yuuichi had used the karaoke machine's random selection feature, and ended up with a female pop artist's song. His renewed bid for freedom was foiled by Mai and Yukino, who were forcibly restraining him and pushing the microphone in his face. He finally relented miserably as the song began, throwing off the two females and belting out the lyrics. His voice was decent but unpracticed, and his attempts at replacing the feminine words with their male equivalents left strange gaps in the rhythm of the lyrics. Mai and Yukino shouted encouragements to him from their position crouched near the stage as he wailed on about the feelings in his heart.

In the mean time, Mikoto had ceased her mock assault. "Even though I got disqually-whatevered, Mai still made the special ramen she promised for me. It was super delicious."

Natsuki, sitting on the other side of Nao, reached forward and grabbed two pieces of pizza. She leaded over the redhead, handing one to Mikoto while keeping the other for herself. "You really love Mai, don't you?" Mikoto, her mouth already stuffed full with the majority of her slice, could only nod as vigorously as humanly possible.

Nao felt her stomach in knots, all her composure destroyed by Natsuki's innocent question. She glared at Mikoto fiercely, who luckily was too consumed in eating pizza to notice. What would you know about love, Mikoto? she snarled in her head. Nao had once had plans for Mikoto... until she had realized what Mikoto truly was. The feral girl gave everything she was and everything she had for someone she cared about, and asked for nothing in return. It was an innocent, platonic emotion. It had made her incredibly easy to manipulate into helping with Nao's revenge in the streets. Someday, someone crueler than Nao would take advantage of that and hurt her deeply. Nao had tried to explain this to Mikoto many times as they strolled graffiti filled alleyways, reiterating her points endlessly with an uncharacteristic motivation born of even more uncharacteristic concern for someone else's well being. In the end, it was for naught, and Mikoto still loved without regard for her safety. In any even, Nao had tried her best, and had washed her hands clean.

While Nao had been thinking, the final guests had arrived. Mai was squealing in delight as a smiling Takumi arrived, followed by an uncomfortable looking Akira. Nao wanted to distract herself from bitter thoughts, so she turned to Natsuki, poking the taller girl in the ribs to get her attention. "Hey... which one is the boy and which one is the girl? I can never keep the two straight."

Natsuki turned slowly to face her, her expression dark but tinged with an edge of amusement. "I think the one you kidnapped and tried to kill would be the boy."

Nao put on a face of innocent smile. "You mean the one carrying the pink cake with yellow icing spelling out 'Let's all try our best'?"

Natsuki made a sidelong glance at Takumi, who was proudly showing off the cake to Mai and Yukino. "Indeed."

"I don't know how I ever got them confused." Nao snickered.

Takumi took the stage with a gentle love song's opening notes playing, and picked up the microphone with a flourish. Yukino joined Nao and Natsuki on the couch, sitting down with her face flushed from laughter. Natsuki had just finished polishing off a slice of pizza, and Nao watched her engage in small talk with Yukino.

As she sat unoccupied, a small rumble of dissatisfaction ran through Nao. In the two months since she had begun spending time with Natsuki, she had been genuinely enjoying herself, and it didn't even come at someone else's expense. But lately things had stagnated. It wasn't something specific she could put her finger on; Nao wasn't entirely positive about what she wanted herself. It wasn't about love... that flew in the face of everything that she believed in. All she knew was, she wanted things to move. She had tried to reason her way through her feelings and form a plan of action, but she always ended up hitting a wall of uncertainly at some point. She had tried to talk about it with Mama, but her mother had only laughed sweetly. 'You don't plan these sorts of things out, Nao-chan. They just happen.' she had said with a knowing smile. Nao bit her lip in frustration. Being paralyzed into inaction by her own indecision was a new and infuriating experience. With nothing else to do, Nao honed in on the conversation between Yukino and Natsuki.

"And how's life as the Executive Director of the Suzushiro Executive Team?"

"Well... I don't do much disciplining anymore... Haruka-chan was much more talented at that than I." Yukino replied diplomatically, adjusting her glasses. "But I've taken over most of the current President's job regarding corporate sponsorship and event planning. Until I started dealing with the companies, I didn't realize how stressful and how much work it was. Shizuru-san truly was an amazing person."

Shizuru's name made Nao's skin crawl, but the effect on Natsuki was much more profound. Simply the mentioning of Shizuru's name seemed to make Natsuki flinch, her eyes unfocusing as she thought about the ex-president. The reaction sent a stab of jealousy lancing through Nao, grinding her teeth as Natsuki's eyes turned away from Yukino with an uncertain expression. "Well... Shizuru aside..." she mumbled before trailing off, her attempt at continuing the conversation failing in the face of unbidden memories of the Festival. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment, and then Natsuki stood up with a trembling apologetic smile. "I... uh... I'll be right back."

Nao watched her walk away, and felt a slow sensation of panic build inside of her. After all this time of being separated, Shizuru's name still had that much of an effect on Natsuki? Nao had always known Shizuru would be the largest stumbling block, but she hadn't fathomed how deep Shizuru's claws were dug into Natsuki's being until witnessing that just now. Searing jealously threatened to overwhelm all her other thoughts. She drew in a breath, trying to relax her hands out of the fists she had unconsciously formed, and stood. "I'll be right back too."

-----

The door on the farthest back stall in the women's room hung open. Nao leaned against the tiled wall by the entrance, teetering on the edge of uncertainty. She wanted to believe, she dared to hope, but there was no denying this one moment could destroy everything. Try as she might to pretend it didn't matter, and no matter that caring this much broke all of her own rules... she knew that if what she was about to do ended badly, she would truly have lost something important.

It was so silly. Manipulating other people's emotions was second nature to her, yet in this one case, in the most important moment, she faltered. She could get a hundred people she despised to throw themselves at her feet, and she couldn't even make a scratch in the iron casing around the heart of the one girl she actually cared about.

Burying the paralyzing self-doubt, she began before she could second guess herself any more. Leaning around the corner, she poked her head in the stall. "You alright?" she asked, trying to inject mild concern into her voice and mask the tremulous sea of other emotions.

Natsuki was sitting on the closed seat of the Western style toilet, clutching a lavender piece of paper and reading it over. Her bloodshot eyes flashed wide with panic, apparently caught unaware by Nao's unstealthy approach, and she thrusted the paper into her pocket. Her voice was a cold fury, sniffing and blinking. "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine."

Nao wasn't sure what the paper was, but she pretended not to see it, concentrating on the girl in front of her instead. "You don't look fine." she stated plainly.

Natsuki's eyes bored into her, an icy expression intended to ward away compassion. I don't need your comfort. Looking into a gaze that would wither the kindest of hearts, Nao kept her eyes locked with Natsuki's, a small smile on her lips. You aren't fooling anyone. Natsuki finally relented and broke the eye contact, the smallest of concessions. After a long silence, Nao offered an extended hand, and after an even longer silence, Natsuki hesitantly took it. Bringing the taller girl to her feet, Nao continued to pull after Natsuki was standing, using the momentum to draw them into an embrace.

Nao gently draped her arms around Natsuki's shoulders, resting her head against Natsuki's chest, and closed her eyes tightly. Her heart was beating faster than the wings of a butterfly, driven by pure terror. The unexpected contact had made Natsuki seize up, her body stiff and unwelcoming, the very picture of a poor reception. All of her worst fears confirmed, Nao's mind screamed at her to let go... to pretend she had done it to taunt Natsuki and make her uncomfortable... that this was all a cruel prank. The only thing that let her hold on, was the knowledge that if she gave up now, she would hate herself even more. Then, hope against hope, Natsuki slowly relaxed into the embrace. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around Nao's waist, drawing them closer and returning the comfort. Nao slowly exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Natsuki's body was warm, and she could feel the other girl's breathing as her chest rose and fell. She was an addictive blanket of warmth.

When they finally parted, Nao tried to assume her normal mask of nonchalance in the uncomfortable aftermath. Natsuki looked equally unsettled, though likewise more by uncertainty than any regret.

"So... what was all that about?" Natsuki finally asked, dragging a sleeve across her eyes to dry them and running her fingers through her bangs, fixing her hair in the mirror.

"Eh..." Nao let a sardonic grin cross her features. "You looked like you could use a hug."

"Che." Natsuki scoffed, glowering into the mirror. She turned slowly, eventually showing a sad smile. "Yeah... I guess I did. But don't you dare tell let anyone know this happened."

Nao winked. "It will be our secret."

-----

The karaoke party broke up not long after, and they headed off after saying their goodbyes to the rest of their friends. Despite what had happened, they shared nothing but silence on the ride home. It started to rain heavily when they were halfway to Nao's house, and the redhead was thoroughly soaked when they arrived. She mumbled a goodbye and ran towards her door, letting herself in with a key. Natsuki watched her enter, and stared at the closed door for a while before driving off. Conflicting thoughts and desires kept boiling to the surface, no matter how many times she tried to push them down.

She had meant to drive straight back to her apartment, but here she was, hugging the slick pavement at wildly unsafe speeds down the familiar old mountain road. At this velocity, the individual drops felt like bullets, flensing her skin even through the protection of the bodysuit. The adrenaline from the speed and danger could make her forget her problems, but only until she stopped driving.

A familiar outcropping loomed ahead, the spot where her battered body had rolled to a stop when Nao had ambushed her back during the Festival. She slid the bike into a stop and pulled over. The half circle of the overlook jutting out from the roadway ended abruptly after only a matter of feet, the rock face sliced clean through by Shizuru's glaive so many months ago. She slid her helmet off, letting it fall from her fingers carelessly, turning her exposed face up into torrential downpour. As she watched the roiling stormscape above, the water pelted her face in sheets, and rivulets of rain water streamed down the contours of her features like miniature rivers.

She wanted to feel relieved, to pretend that today had done her well. She had midterm exams coming up, and she couldn't afford to be upset and distracted. Nao had tried to help, and for a time it had. There was a strange sort of enjoyment in having the redhead in her arms, knowing that for some unfathomable reason, Nao cared about her. But even that just reminded her of the other person who cared about her... the other hug that she had shared.

With her breath catching in her throat, she leaned against the newly installed rail, pulling her matted bangs out of her eyes and slid the lavender paper out of her bodysuit's pocket. She had only a moment to glance over Shizuru's letter before the deluge soaked through the paper and made the ink run, obliterating the elegant scrawl. It didn't matter. The words were burned into her mind. 'You will always be mine, now and forever'.

It shouldn't have come as a suprise. Shizuru had made her feelings clear before she left, but Natsuki had thought she could ignore them and continue thier relationship. Shizuru had been a pillar of strength in her life for so long, she didn't even know if she could exist without that support. Every letter had been a joy, and crafting a response in her wretched penmanship had been a weekly ritual. She choked down a sob as her hand gripped the slippery railing. Why had she deluded herself into thinking that things could go back to the way they had been? Why did Shizuru have to fall in love with her?

A blast of wind whipped past her, tearing all but a tiny corner of the letter out of her hand. Carried down by the winds and rain, she watched the soggy wreckage of the letter fall to the waves crashing against the jagged shoals below. She numbly stuffed the remaining scrap back into her pocket with a pale hand, mounting up her motorcyle, and headed home.

-----

Author's Note: I'm not sure why so many people thought the first part was a oneshot, but trust that there is an overall plot line and significantly more is coming.