Hola everyone, welcome back!

Just a quick note for you all: My finals are coming so I might be busy over the next few weeks.

Enjoy!

************************************************************

Chapter Three: Awaken

Takumi stood outside Akira and Naomi's room. He kept staring at the door, waiting for either of them to answer after knocking a few times. He seemed puzzled, since he knew one of them was bound to hear him. Before he could knock again, he heard a shriek from inside. Pressing his ear against the door, the curious boy tried to listen.

"What the hell Naomi? I was just waking up!"

"You move slower than a pregnant mule!"

"I'm sure I won't be once I get my hands on you!"

"You can't catch me!"

"I'll make you eat those words!"

The sound of tables turning and people running rapidly could be heard on the other side of the door. Takumi winced a couple of times when he heard a loud bang, and cracking noises coming from the walls. He was sure someone was bound to come see what the commotion was all about, so he searched his pockets for the copy keys Akira made for him. When he swung the door open, something hard but wet collided into him with immense force, causing him to fall to the ground.

Takumi moaned, rubbing the back of his head to ease the pain. Another moan escaped from someone else's mouth, causing him or her to do the same thing with their own forehead. A voice on the other side of the room uttered, "Oh shit," making Takumi open his eyes and let out a small cry.

Hovering over him was none other than Akira, wearing a soaking wet, white spaghetti strap shirt. Takumi's face turned many shades of red, since it shaped out everything on her chest. Once Akira opened her own eyes, she instinctively threw the poor boy out the door and slammed it in his face.

"Oh-Oh my god! That was hilarious!" a hysterical Naomi commented.

"Why you-"

"I can still see your nip-"

"Shut up!"

Meanwhile, Takumi waited patiently outside their dorm, not wanting to interrupt them this time.

************************************************************

Watching the scene from outside their window, a girl with short, light brown hair sighed.

"Well, it's your funeral," she said mysteriously, "And if someone precious dies, it will be entirely your fault. Besides, we warned you."

She then focused on Akira, who was struggling to button her uniform's skirt.

"Princess . . ."

************************************************************

As if someone answered his prayers, Takumi saw the two girls coming out of their room. He sensed anger coming from Akira, probably because of what Naomi had done to her. Trying to pretend he never saw anything, he greeted her as usual. "Morning Akira-chan, Naomi-chan."

"Please. I have never been fond of suffixes in my name. Just Naomi is fine," Naomi replied.

"As you wish." Takumi turned back towards Akira, who he assumed was still humiliated, when he noticed the black sweater she wore.

"Akira, it's not the right season to be wearing such clothing. Please take it off," he advised, sounding worried.

The ninja only glared at her guardian, who turned around and whistled innocently.

'I'll get you.'

'I'm shaking in my loafers.'

Takumi only sighed as he watched the two battle with their eyes. "This is going to be an interesting year," he muttered.

"There you guys are!" shouted a voice down the corridor. The three of them turned to see Mai, Mikoto, Nao, and Natsuki.

"Hey sis! What are you doing here?"

When Mai got closer to where they stood, she answered, "Well, I was waiting for a certain someone to come by my room as usual."

"Sorry about that. We had a draft," Akira said with another glare at Naomi, who only smirked in return.

"Oh, and who is this? Your roommate, Akira?" questioned Mai, noticing Naomi.

"Unfortunately."

"Nice introduction," Naomi said, pouting slightly.

"Extremely kind of you to wake me up by getting frigid water all over me."

"Really admire the view, though. Takumi agrees."

"Enough!"

Amused by all this, Nao jumped in. "Exactly what did you see Takumi?"

"Uhh. . ."

"Nothing!" Akira insisted.

"Oh come on. I must know."

"Are you that desperate to know about their private lives?" Natsuki also jumped in, smiling. "Guess you don't have a hobby anymore, now don't you."

"How dare you talk to me like that? "

"Bite me."

Natsuki, although taken by surprise when Nao leapt towards her, pushed her against the wall. She grabbed one of the redhead's shoulders, put her foot behind her knee and shoved her to the ground. The two began to wrestle, each shouting at the other. Mai, wanting to stop this quarrel, tried to break them apart, but soon found herself in the battle as well after Nao accidentally kneed her in the stomach. Watching from the sidelines, Akira, Takumi, and Mikoto had sweatdrops behind their heads while Naomi only watched, amused. Suddenly noticing Akira's clothing, Mikoto asked, "Why are you wearing that? It's too hot."

"I have my reasons," Akira answered dully.

"Which are?"

Finding herself in the same situation she was in with Nao, Akira groaned while Takumi hid his face behind his bag.

'I'm so going to get you.'

'Bite me.'

When Akira and Takumi decided it was time for the girls to stop fighting, they separated them from each other and made sure they stayed a good distance away from one another. Once they entered the gates to the Academy, it did not take long before everyone started gawking at Akira again. Nothing too different from yesterday, but the comments about her were starting to become a bit more negative, which she could not ignore. She looked to her right and saw Kenji, the one who tried to look up her skirt during homeroom. It seemed like he did not learn anything from Akira's attempts to kill him, for he still looked at her with those same, dirty eyes.

She wiped the sweat running down the side of her face with her sleeves.

"You missed a spot," Takumi said, taking a small handkerchief from his pocket. Thinking he was going to hand it to her, Akira held out her hand to receive it. Instead, he came in front of her and started dabbing her face softly.

"I told you it's not a good idea to wear that thing." Obviously, Takumi was not aware that he was standing so close Akira. Just like yesterday morning, she could feel his breath on her lips, and she was drowning again in his spell.

"Takumi . . ." she whispered his name in a seductive tone. This caught his attention. Akira closed her eyes and began to lean forward. The fact that everyone was staring didn't bother Akira at all at this moment. She just wanted her first kiss to be perfect.

"Akira-chan! It's so nice to meet you at last!" called a voice from behind. Akira felt breasts pressing against the back of her head as a pair of arms crushed her tiny body. For a moment, she tried to comprehend what was happening, since she was until just now on a trip to heaven. When they released her, she swiftly turned a complete one-eighty degrees to see the culprit who ruined her moment. Confused, Akira raised her eyebrows.

"Uhh, do I know you?"

"Hello? Kyoko Fukushima. Remember?" the maiden with short, light brown hair told her.

"I think I've heard of you. It sounds familiar." Another sound of a chain reaction is heard, when Akira clearly remembered the name. She looked towards Naomi, who angrily glared at Kyoko with her brilliant, green eyes. She then looked back at Kyoko, who had a smirk on her face, staring at Naomi with a hint of evil in her auburn eyes.

Takumi looked back and forth between the two girls. Perplexed, he turned to Naomi, "Is everything alright?"

"Everything is perfect," she said, hiding her anger behind an obviously fake smile, "I'm glad to be face-to-face with someone I've known for awhile." She extended her hand towards Kyoko.

"I'm just glad that I'm now face-to-face with someone as incredibly talented as this girl here," Kyoko remarked, taking Naomi's hand into hers.

When they shook hands, Takumi could see both girls' muscles tensing up from their arms and a hint of their veins under their skin. When they released, Naomi turned around and began to walk towards the school, Kyoko trailing behind her. Puzzled, Akira shook her head. To make sure no one started to ask questions, she laughed aloud.

"Wow! Aren't they hilarious?"

Mai and the rest of the girls only seemed dumbfounded. Completely stuck herself, Akira bit her lip, thinking of a perfect excuse for their behavior.

"I must say Akira, they had me believing that for a moment. I actually thought they meant every word. Though, Kyoko could use little more eye contact on Naomi, but overall, it is the best acting I've seen them do." Takumi turned to look at his sister. "They had you fooled, didn't they sis?"

"Huh? I don't get it Takumi." Mai scratched her head.

"They're actresses. Akira and I gave them a task to act like complete enemies once they meet, regardless of where they are. You see, they're both competing to do the same role. But they're both so amazing; I think the director will just have to have both of them in a movie."

"And what movie would that be?" Nao crossed her arms, not buying his story.

"I think in translation, it's 'Forbidden Love'." Takumi rubbed his chin with his finger. "It's actually quite fascinating. There's this girl-"

Akira could not believe what a quick thinker Takumi was, and how everyone was starting to fall for his bogus story. But, his story was better than anything she could've come up with. However, she wondered where Naomi and Kyoko could have gone. She looked around the area, but found no trace of them. Takumi seemed to notice this as well, and cut his story short.

"So if you see any strange behaviors between them, now you know why," he finished with a confident smile. Before anyone could throw questions at him, he and Akira ran past them, leaving behind a group of puzzled-looking people.

When the two were a good distance away from everyone, they both stopped.

"Where are they?" Akira asked.

"Let's split up. Maybe they just went somewhere to talk. Nothing serious should happen," Takumi assumed, taking off towards an area with many trees Akira stood there, worried.

"I hope not…"

************************************************************

Stopping to take a short break, Takumi leaned against a tree, clutching onto his chest. He was grateful his new heart improved his stamina, but he really wanted to find Naomi and Kyoko, for Akira's sake. Takumi knew their behavior was not normal. The image of their muscles tensing and their veins popping out made that obvious, and the two girls did not want anyone to find out, not even Akira. The look on her face when Kyoko introduced herself proved that she was confused as well.

"Are they hiding something?" Takumi whispered to himself softly. Before he could think any deeper, a flash of bright, crimson light caused him to cover his face. When it died down, he looked behind the trees and gasped.

Kyoko was pointing a thin, silver sword towards Naomi. The sword was dangerously close to her face, and Takumi was sure it was enough to kill her. Naomi stood still, not even flinching. Kyoko tilted her head to the side.

"You are a sham, you know that?" Kyoko scolded, "Pretending you hadn't done anything to disrespect the princess's father-"

"You don't have an idea about what he planned for Akira-dono's future!" Naomi scolded back, tightening her hands into fists. "The master is the sham for forcing her to do such thing!"

"There you go again, dishonoring your own Majesty. You know, he's the one who approved you to be in the Elite."

"I couldn't care less about being the best. If being the best means I have to let such misfortune happen, I would gladly throw it all away."

"Damn you!" Kyoko cursed and swung her sword to the side, slicing the grass on the ground, "You don't have any idea how much the other combatants are dying to be in your position! They look up to you!"

"You think I care about fame? You think I give a damn about any of that? You out of all people should know I couldn't care less."

Kyoko raised her sword so that she held it vertically in front of her body. "You know I have to eliminate you and bring the princess back home. It's an order from her father."

From afar, Takumi was extremely confused. 'What are they talking about?' he thought, 'Akira's a princess?'

Naomi disappeared, leaving Kyoko in a state of mystification. She then felt an agonizing pain on her spine and another in the back of her knee. She knew her bone was out of place. Unable to stand properly, she used her sword for balance. Naomi reappeared in front of the injured girl and lifted her face up with her finger so their eyes met.

"Well, you're not going to kidnap her that easily," Naomi firmly stated.

"You'll pay for this," Kyoko threatened, her eye twitching.

Naomi only rolled her eyes, stood up, and turns her back to the girl on her knees. Without hesitation, she leapt into the trees and left Kyoko there in pain.

"I'll make sure you suffer," Kyoko threatened between her teeth, "And then you'll have to surrender."

After Kyoko disappeared in a giant puff of white smoke, Takumi decided it was best to leave the area. Running as fast as he could, the frantic boy replayed the whole scene in his head. This was all too much, especially during the first week of school. Enough has happened over the past couple of years. This only made matters worse.

Finally reaching his destination, Takumi apprehensively slides the door open. When he couldn't locate Akira anywhere in the classroom, he rushes towards the window. His eyes hinted a bit of fear when he spotted Naomi, who had just entered the building.

"Takumi!" Akira called, sliding the door open. She spotted him on the other side of the classroom and immediately ran over to him. Harshly grabbing Takumi on his shoulders, she asked frantically, "Where is Naomi? Kyoko's in the infirmary!"

Takumi wanted to tell her what happened, but a voice in his mind told him would be better off keeping it to himself. Instead, he answered calmly, "I have no idea. Why is Kyoko in the infirmary?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Apparently, her knee was popped out of place."

Takumi suddenly remembered seeing Naomi kick the back of Kyoko's leg. It must have been extremely painful for her, since it was unexpected. Just as the vision in his head disappeared, he heard the sound of a door sliding. Akira quickly brought her attention to the entrance and saw Naomi walk in with a dull expression on her face. She made her way to where Akira and Takumi stood, staring intently at the ninja.

"We need to talk," Naomi established. "Somewhere private."

Takumi found himself unable to look at her. Truthfully, he was a bit scared of the girl. The speed in which she moved was unbelievable, and he had never seen anything like it before. Would she have done something to him if she found out he was there?

"Alright. When it's lunch break," Akira declared.

Naomi nodded in response and took a seat. Worried, Takumi looked over at Akira and kindly placed his hand on her arm. The ninja instantly blushed and tried to ask in a calm voice, "Is something the matter?"

But he didn't respond. He only stared at her. Gently tightening the grip on her arm, Takumi wondered if her life could be in danger. 'I don't want to lose her, but how will I protect her?' he thought to himself, still gazing at Akira.

'Is . . . is he all right?' Akira asked in her mind.

'Whatever you do, don't tell him anything. I promise you, his life will be in great danger,' Naomi responded.

Akira bit her lip at the Naomi's words and rested her hand on Takumi's shoulder.

"Listen, if there's ever something I need to tell you-"

"Please just be careful," Takumi cut her off. Akira was taken aback.

"Takumi . . . ," Akira whispered softly, her eyes saddening.

Mr. Kakawakie entered the classroom, placing his materials on the desk. "Okay everyone, settle down!"

While all the students started to sit, Naomi bit the tip of her finger and stared at her desk. "I can't let them know about Takumi," she muttered in an extremely low voice. "I have to protect him as well."

************************************************************

"Ms. Mashiro!" Fumi Himeno called, running towards her headmaster with each hand holding the ends of her maid outfit.

"I know Fumi, I know," Mashiro responded with her head between her hands, "But I don't understand why. I thought we eliminated him."

Mashiro Kazahana looked upward to the now, darken sky and saw the bright, red speck of the star next to the sun.

Apparently, they were not the only ones looking at the sky. Midori Sugiura also found herself looking outside her classroom window, amazed that the star had suddenly reappeared. She immediately looked at Mai Tokiha, who was stunned as well. Mai gazed to her side at Akane Higurashi, whose brown eyes were full of fear.

"What the hell?" Natsuki Kuga cursed under her breath, suddenly noticing the HiME star. Yukino Kikukawa placed her hand on Natsuki's shoulder, making the older girl turn her head back to look at her.

"You see it too?" Yukino asked. Natsuki simply nodded.

Nao Yuuki harshly shook Mikoto Minagi's shoulders, attempting to wake her up. When the sleeping girl's head suddenly shot up from her folded arms, Shiho Munakata pointed outside the window. Mikoto eyes widened. Nao clutched her hands into fists while Shiho just seemed worried.

At the Church, both Sister Yukariko Sanada and Shizuru Fujino were taken aback by the sudden appearance of the star once they stepped outside.

Akira Okuzaki, wanting her mind to wander aimlessly, gazed out the window. Her eyes traveled around the darkened sky, and stopped abruptly when they fell upon something small and extremely familiar. Akira eyes expanded as she suddenly forgot how to breathe.

If she could see the HiME star, then that would only mean that the Obsidian Prince had awakened again.