"Even so, I must admire your skill. You are so gracefully insane."

A/N: Okay, first of all: A big thank you to all the people who read and reviewed the story. I have to say I was a bit blown away by the resonance but it made me super happy and...super nervous. Well not really, but I suddenly felt pressured^^In a good way of course, and so I tried my best in writing a good second chapter. I hope you guys will like it and that the story will keep your interest.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the characters.

Chapter 2 - To hell and gone

One more month and I am free… Well, technically… But for at least six weeks it will be only me, my motorcycle and the…

"NAAATSUKIIIII!"

What the…?! The familiar voice of her busty roommate shook her abruptly out of her sweet summer reverie.

"Ne ne, Natsuki." The raven-haired girl turned her head and saw her friend running towards her, waving her arms in excitement.

"Mai, your voice gives me a headache. Stop yelling." She said with an annoyed undertone.

"Have you heard? We have to take summer classes." The red-head gasped for air. "I, because I failed math, and you, because of your low attendance." Mai stated as she sat down next to her friend.

"You're kidding!" Natsuki rushed into an upright sitting position with terrified eyes.

"No, I am not. I just got informed by Midori."

Seconds ago the raven-haired girl had been lying peacefully on the green grass of her favorite meadow on campus, enjoying the serenity of lunch break far away from the noisy cafeteria, and now her world came crushing down. The image of herself cruising down curvy roads in the sunset burst into pieces as the words sank in.

"So, no holidays for me?" Natsuki's face displayed a mixture of disbelief and terror. Mai couldn't help but chuckle as she watched her friend behaving like a beaten puppy.

"Yes, no holidays for us." She said, not able to remain serious.

"This is hell." The emerald eyes were drifting off to the ground in resignation as she mumbled.

"No, this is school."

"Same thing…" Natsuki let herself sink back on the grass again with a defeated sigh.

"We'll make it through. I promise." The red-head took a look at her clock before she jumped up. "I'm sorry but I have to bring Mikoto her lunch-box, otherwise she'll go berserk during Kendo-club."

"So you only shortly stopped by to destroy my life? Nice."

"At your service." Mai winked at her melodramatic friend. "And to bring you your lunch-box, too. You forgot it this morning." By handing over the package, she also gave Natsuki a reassuring smile.

"This won't help me survive the summer." The husky voice didn't fit the green sad puppy eyes at all.

"No, but it'll help you survive today."

"I hate your cheerfulness."

"And I love your grumpiness. See you later, Natsuki." Mai turned around and started to run back to the school building, waving her friend goodbye.

"Yeah, thanks again." Natsuki growled, already wrapped up in thoughts again.

Being in school during summer… This must be an old method of torture, probably from the middle-ages or something. Maybe I should try and ask Shizuru for help. After all, she's the student council president. I'm sure she can do something about this attendance stuff.

As Natsuki roamed around the main campus to look for the outstanding white school uniform, she was paying special attention to high-pitched screams that usually announced the chestnut-haired woman. And she didn't have to wait long. The unusual loud babbling of a bunch of middle schoolers next to the entry of the big class hall was a sure sign.

These robots really are useful at times.

She couldn't hold back a grin about her evil thoughts. But as she came closer to her destination she instantly replaced it with an icy mask that would probably even scare away most of the teachers. When she was only a few more meters away, Tomoe was suddenly coming out of the building. But neither Shizuru nor the young girl seemed to have noticed Natsuki yet, and so she decided to wait a few more seconds. She couldn't understand what Tomoe was telling the robots, but the crowd went away like it was an order, leaving the Kyoto-born woman and the fangirl-leader alone.

The raven-haired girl didn't want to eavesdrop, but decided to observe the conversation from afar. Shizuru was faking her smiles like usual and Natsuki assumed that her words were just as fake. She knew that the crimson-eyed girl wasn't very fond of these girls following her around, but she never understood why Shizuru didn't simply tell them. Quite the opposite, she always had the feeling that her friend enjoyed leading them on. Focusing her gaze on the jade-haired girl, Natsuki observed the face of the middle schooler thoroughly. She wasn't completely sure, but she thought she had seen a light blush as the girl folded her hands nervously behind her back, looking at the Kyoto-girl with expecting eyes. It was a somewhat cute scene to watch and Natsuki had to admit that she was a little bit curious about the topic of the conversation.

But suddenly within the blink of an eye the nice image in front of her was shattered as the blushing face of Tomoe was replaced with a devastated look. Natsuki had no idea what just happened, but she could hear that Tomoe was yelling at the chestnut-haired girl before she started running back into the glass hall.

The school bell rang as a sign that lunch-break was over and Shizuru walked back into the direction of the school building not bothering about the whereabouts of the jade-haired girl.

"Oi, Shizuru wait." Natsuki shouted after her.

"Ara, is Natsuki trying to bring my attendance rate down, too?" Shizuru turned around gracefully and gave away one of her genuine smiles. That magic never seems to fail its purpose and so Natsuki lost track of her thoughts for a second.

"Err… now that you mention it." She stuttered while trying to remember why she was here. "I wanted to ask if something can be done about that."

"About your habit of staying away from school?" The taller girl said, playing dumb. "I don't know. Getting up in the morning could be a start. I could sleep with you in your bed so that I could wake you up on time." The melodic voice was underlined by the Kyoto-ben too perfectly and Natsuki could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks under the alluring tone of these words.

"Gahhh! No! Stop it! I wasn't referring to changing my habits, but changing my record. I was hoping you could help me with escaping summer classes." She had the hopes that making her voice sound cold would maybe cool down the warmth in her head too.

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that. I am graduating in a few weeks and with that I am no longer student-council president."

"Too bad." Natsuki said thoughtful while tugging a strand of hair behind her ear. "I bet your fanclub is going to miss you like hell."

"I was hoping you would miss me." Not even bothering to think about her robots, Shizuru brought the attention back to Natsuki.

"It's not like we're not going to see each other anymore."

"So, Natsuki is spending her holiday with me?" The crimson-eyed girl said as she hugged Natsuki from behind out of the blue. "I am so happy."

"I am spending my holidays at school." came the harsh response while she struggled free from the sudden embrace. After all the Ice-Queen wasn't really good with body contact. When she turned around to face her older friend again, she could see a small glance of pain in those deep red eyes but it was concealed in the next second. Natsuki felt sorry for hurting the other girl, but she had no idea what to say and so she tried to change topics. "By the way what did you say to Tomoe that made her run away so suddenly?"

"Since when is Natsuki interested in my fanclub? I thought you believed that those girls are all programmed robots?"

The raven-haired girl didn't say anything. She just stared at the Kyoto-girl, waiting for an answer.

"Is Natsuki jealous?"

"No and yes. I mean, no, I'm not jealous and yes, I still believe that they are robots, but this Tomoe seems to be nice. A bit cheeky, but nice. I talked to her the other day. I think she's really into you."

"I know. I just turned her down." Shizuru said with a serious undertone. "When did you speak to her?"

"You turned her down? Why? What did you say?"

"That I am not interested in her kind."

"In her kind? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I am not interested in any of my fangirls. They're quite annoying." Shizuru paused a second and lowered her gaze before she went on. "And you should know the reason why…"

Natsuki felt at a loss of words. She hated to talk about this. She always felt that these kinds of conversations hung over their friendship like a huge shadow. She hated to hurt the other girl, but she simply couldn't tell her what she wanted to hear, and so she didn't say anything at all.

"So, when did you and the famous fanclub leader talk?" The taller girl repeated her question. This time with a stronger voice.

"How can you talk so coldly about people who spend their time admiring you?" Natsuki didn't feel the need to let Shizuru know about the conversation with the middle schooler. She was sure that Shizuru wouldn't reconsider even if she was to tell her friend how much Tomoe admired 'her Onee-sama'.

"Since when are you on the side of squealing girls?" came the counter question.

"Sometimes I really have the feeling that I don't know you at all." Natsuki knew that Shizuru could be cold at times, but she had always thought of it as some kind of protection. Now, she wasn't really sure if there was anything that really mattered to the crimson-eyed girl at all. And so, she just looked at her in disappointment before she turned around.

"Where are you going?" Shizuru called after her.

"Looking for Tomoe."

And with that Natsuki was gone. She had to get away from there for now. She felt sorry for the fans of Shizuru because she knew that the Kyoto-girl could be such a great person, but she never showed that to anyone outside of her. And somehow, she felt pressured by that. She didn't want that privilege because she was afraid for not having anything in return.

After entering the huge glass dome it didn't take long to find the jade-haired girl. It was very quiet since most of the students were in their classrooms, attending their lessons, and so Natsuki just had to follow the noise that came from the center of the building. She found the younger girl at the rail that was circling the center of the hall. Coming closer, she noticed that Tomoe was trying to rip off one of the ribbons, which was knotted around the steel.

"Do you need a hand… or a knife?" She said as nonchalant as ever.

Tomoe turned around, but remained rather unimpressed. "No, thank you. I can do this on my own." And if I need something sharp I could always ask Shizuru Onee-sama for another cutting conversation…

Natsuki watched the strenuous efforts a few more moments before she decided to end the self-torture of the younger one and cut the ribbon.

"What are you crazy or something? Why do you bring a knife to school?" Tomoe yelled after she stumbled a few steps backwards.

"It's called self-defense." Natsuki explained.

"It's called irresponsibility."

"Don't freak out like that, it's only a pocket knife…"

"How dare you cut the bond between Shizuru Onee-sama and myself so easily?! Aren't you satisfied yet? Or do you really take pleasure in enjoying your victory so much?" Tomoe appeared enraged but also a bit desperate.

She looked at the underclassman and saw the resentful look in those gray eyes. "I told you it's not a competition. And if it is, I am not participating."

"Sure you are. So, stop meddling in my business. I am very capable of detaching a stupid ribbon."

"Didn't look like that to me." The raven-haired girl knew that this last comment wasn't necessary, but it was difficult to remain completely cool while the other girl was shouting at her with such passion.

But the last comment seemed to have stung. The jade-haired girl didn't respond anything anymore and just stared at her with angry eyes.

"A 'thank you' would have done." Natsuki said, trying to fill the silence.

"Ha, you wish!" Tomoe said in a defiant voice.

"Not that badly. I am not good with social graces myself after all."

"Yes, god knows what Shizuru Onee-sama sees in you."

"Believe me, I would like to know myself."

Again the younger one seemed at a loss of words and so Natsuki went on.

"So, why are you ripping off that ribbon?"

"Obviously because it doesn't work." Tomoe answered bluntly as if Natsuki was a bit slow.

"Of course not." It's for teenagers who believe in unicorns.

"Do you really think you're so much better than me?"

"Where did that come from?" The raven-haired girl shrugged.

"You said that you don't have feelings for Onee-sama, and I believed you, but now she turned me down… Again! I feel like an idiot." The voice of the young girl was shaking and suddenly Natsuki understood the meaning of the scene she had witnessed before.

"You were confessing to Shizuru outside?"

"Yes, yes. Go ahead. I'm sure you and Onee-sama had a good laugh about me."

"Why would I laugh about you? I think it was brave of you to tell her about your feelings. I'm sorry she didn't return them." The biker cocked a brow. This girl really thinks I'm a delinquent.

"Return… hah! She doesn't even take me seriously. She doesn't have eyes for anyone but you, and when I told her that you don't hold any feelings for her she said that I should never again dare pretend to know how the both of you feel about each other." Tomoe crossed her arms, while aimlessly looking around as if she didn't want to meet Natsuki's gaze.

"I'm sorry that Shizuru said those things to you, but I didn't lie when I said I don't feel for her that way."

"Then why don't you tell her?" Her gray eyes snapped back in anger.

"I have." The statement was simple but clear.

"Liar."

"Listen, I dislike how she treated you just now too, but you can't force someone to care for you." Natsuki's voice was strong, although the words pained her just as much. It brought back memories of the day Shizuru confronted her with the truth.

"I know you're not to blame, but still…" She looked at her with watery eyes. "… it's all your fault!"

Now, Natsuki was the one to fall silent. There simply wasn't anything left to say anymore. And so she thought it would be a good time to make her leave, but just when she was about to turn around, Tomoe started speaking again.

"I guess you're name is written down here, too…" The voice was almost fragile now. "Probably multiple times if you count that sissy black-haired guy." She made a short dramatic pause. "You're quite a heartbreaker." A small grin covered the sadness in her voice.

"W… what?" It was hard for Natsuki to hold back the blush that was trying to fight its way to her cheeks.

When Tomoe saw the struggle, followed by rosy cheeks a smile crossed her lips.

"Maybe I ripped it off too soon… Maybe this stuff works, and I only need to be more patient…" Staring at the bottom again her voice was unusually low.

Ugh, this girl's beyond help… Natsuki thought while watching her underclassman fumble with the cut-off ribbon. Guess I need to show her that this whole thing is nothing more than an old legend to set up false hopes.

"Do you have another one of those?" The raven-haired girl pointed at the ribbons on the rail.

"What for?" Puzzled eyes were looking back at her.

"To show you that this is nonsense." Full of self-coincidence, Natsuki flipped back some strands of her dark hair.

The middle schooler started rummaging in her bag and soon took out a light blue ribbon.

"Normally I would be surprised that someone brings such stuff to school, but I guess it's some kind of fangirl codex." A challenging grin was on her lips.

"Well, normally I would be surprised that somebody brings a weapon to school, but I guess it's some kind of biker codex." Tomoe grinned back.

Natsuki had to admit that the younger girl caught her a little bit off-guard. She hadn't expected that kind of backtalk. But to her surprise she found it quite amusing. And so her usual grumpy response was replaced by chuckling.

When Tomoe heard the laughing, she didn't know where to put this new discovered emotion. She had no idea that the Ice-Queen was capable of such human things. But she had to admit that it didn't look misplaced at all, and far worse it made her chuckle too.

Natsuki felt a bit better when she saw the younger girl ease up. She fished out a pen and was about to start writing on the ribbon.

"Do we really need to challenge fate?" Tomoe said a bit afraid.

"Fate?" Natsuki looked at her with questioning eyes.

"What if it does work?"

"Well, then I am probably doomed to end up with that idiot Takeda assuming this magic is working by fair rules cause he obviously put the most effort in it. Plus Shizuru would end up having like 20 partners if you look at the number of ribbons with her name on it."

"Perhaps you're right. But still… do you really have to write Onee-sama's name on it…"

"I'm not writing down Shizuru's name, silly. After all, that wouldn't be the best example to show that this is superstition…" She paused. "Anyhow, I am going to write down your name to give fate a real challenge."

"What? Are crazy or what? Why would you do this?" Tomoe's terrified voice echoed through the empty hall.

"Look, truth be told: we both know that is never going to happen, and so it will be sure proof to you that this ribbon thing is a waste of time." Natsuki said calmly while she tied the ribbon around the rail.

Tomoe's jaw dropped as she stared at the older girl in disbelief.

"You'll see." Her voice husky as always, but it didn't sound cold and the jade-haired girl didn't know how to deal with the biker girl at all anymore.

The school bell ended their conversation in a rather harsh manner and the hall was soon flooded by students. A group of middle schoolers were coming down the hall and Natsuki wanted to get away before the squealing started. She said her goodbye and turned around, leaving behind a still speechless Tomoe, who was staring down at the light blue ribbon with her name written down on it.

Challenging fate, huh…I hope you're not a sore loser, Natsuki…