Nina, Naruko and Arika walked off the ship (Naruko paid Arika's ticket just in case) and Naruko ended up being the minder for Arika.
Nina found this situation hilarious and ironic.
As they started heading back to Garderobe, Naruko's sense of danger went into overdrive.
Then she saw a familiar face and winced.
"Dammit...not again..." she said with a hand to her face.
"What?" asked Nina.
"She got loose again," complained Naruko.
Nina followed her pointing and blinked.
"Isn't that..."
"Yes. Inari she is such a damn pest sometimes..." said Naruko.
"Who are you talking about?" asked Arika.
"Princess Mashiro," deadpanned Naruko. She immediately went to check on the girl, seeing as how it was thanks to her that she was able to attend Garderobe.
"Inari dammit Mashiro, next time think first!" shouted Naruko.
Mashiro blinked.
"You're Coral Naruko aren't you?" she asked.
"I am. Why did you think I recognized you on sight?" deadpanned Naruko.
Naruko absently grabbed Arika's long braid to keep her nearby. They were already in trouble as it was. Suddenly the back of her neck went up. There was something bad coming.
"Shit! Nina, cover Arika!" said Naruko, as she went to protect Mashiro.
Nina blinked but immediately grabbed Arika and covered her...just as an explosion happened.
"What's going on?" yelled Mashiro.
"We're under attack!" said Naruko flatly.
Up on the hill was a monstrous creature, one she had only read about before.
A Slave.
"Shit...someone's nearby and he's got a Slave to boot! We need help and fast," said Naruko.
"I can authorize one of your robes, but not both!" said Mashiro.
"Go with Nina then. I've been meaning to try this for a while anyway, besides I don't exactly need my robes to be active in order to fight," said Naruko.
She had noted that for some reason, the nanomachines reacted oddly to chakra.
She got called in four times by the headmistress because she was giving partial readings off the machines and before she finally demonstrated her ability to use chakra.
Eventually they managed to filter out that odd alert from the computer, which was the only reason she didn't go mad from boredom a long time ago.
Nina materialized her robe, and Naruko decided to put her theory to the test.
She brushed her Coral Gem with her left hand, which was covered in chakra.
"Materialize!" she said.
At first nothing happened, then the nanomachines went into overdrive.
To the shock of Mashiro and Nina, she was able to bring out her robes without authorization first! Only the color was...off...to say the least.
"I wasn't expecting it to actually work..." said Naruko.
In any case she had a job to do...and as a Kunoichi her duty was to the Princess first.
"Nina, cover Mashiro and Arika. I'll deal with big and ugly," said Naruko.
"Right!"
The Slave slammed into the ground as Naruko punched it, her muscles reinforced with chakra. She felt more alive now than she had in months. This was what she was born to do. Fight the monsters off and protect her liege-lord.
Then a second Slave appeared and Nina cried out.
Naruko destroyed the first Slave with a Rasengan to the face, it's head exploding from her attack.
She was about to attack the second one when she blinked.
Why was that plane rising in the air, and why the hell was Mashiro on it in the first place?!
She flew over to the plane and grabbed the Princess just in case. Suddenly whatever kept the plane in the air shut off without warning, and they started to fall.
Nina grabbed Arika, who grabbed Mashiro's hand. Naruko was struggling to keep all three in the air, or at least soften the landing.
The necklace around Arika's neck started glowing, and Naruko had a hunch why that was.
Arika naturally had a predisposition towards nanomachines, what with being the daughter of an Otome. Plus she was maintaining physical contact with someone who had the opposite Gem of a Coral, which Nina was, namely Mashiro's ring.
Putting those two factors together and you had a temporary activation of the Meister Gems Arika carried.
Suddenly it turned off, like a switch that had been flipped, and Naruko had to struggle to keep them in the air.
"Akane-nee-sama!" cried Nina.
Naruko blinked. Sure enough, Pearl Akane had managed to steady them.
"I wasn't aware you had activated your robes too Naruko-chan," said Akane.
"I didn't. This was an experiment that worked out for the best...good thing too, because there was a second Slave," said Naruko.
Arika was so in awe of the Otome that she immediately wanted to become one. Naruko snorted in amusement. This scene was far too familiar to her...oh, yes she remembered now.
It was something like this that had put her on the path to becoming a shinobi in the first place.
Natsuki had a migraine. And she fully blamed Naruko for it.
Uzumaki Naruko had somehow managed to forcefully activate her robes without authorization...something that should be impossible for a Coral to do. Fortunately Nina's robes had been turned off, so she lied and said that Mashiro had chosen to activate Naruko's instead, since she sponsored the girl.
Which was why she had Naruko in her office at the moment.
"So let me get this straight. Not only can you talk to this ghost, but she is the one who sent you here and left you a Gem that needs no master?"
"She says I would overload the other Gems," shrugged Naruko.
Which was entirely possible. Almost immediately after she turned off her robes, her Coral Gem sparked dangerously and Naruko had barely been able to remove it from her ear before it exploded.
"What is this ghost called?"
"Alyssa Searrs. Apparently she was around when the planet was first colonized, but some of her descendants had stayed behind...namely me."
"And Arika?" said Natsuki.
"Distant cousin."
"Unfortunately thanks to the damage done to the castle, Mashiro is unwilling to sponsor her...neither is any other country since she's not one of theirs. Any suggestions to how we can solve this mess you've dumped on our laps?" asked Natsuki with a glare.
"Arika is the biological daughter of the previous Otome who guarded Windbloom. That necklace even has the Meister Gems that went missing when her mother was killed. I read in one of the books about the Academy that there was a scholarship for the daughters of noted Otome," said Naruko.
Natsuki blinked.
"Arika is the daughter of the Blue Sky Sapphire?" said Natsuki.
"That's what Alyssa told me," said Naruko.
"That would qualify her for the fund left aside for the children of Otome...which would definitely cover her costs. But she would have to go through an entrance exam first."
"What about a mock battle with Nina? If she can hold her own against her, then she has what it takes to be an Otome."
"Considering you're the strongest Coral on Campus, that might work. Plus it would allow Nina to fix the mistake she made when she made that contract...as for you..." said Natsuki.
She reached into her drawer and pulled out an orange-red gem.
"This gem isn't too dissimilar to Coral Gems, and it would mean that we wouldn't have to make a replacement. Can you hide the fact you're not wearing Coral robes?" asked Natsuki.
"Easily," said Naruko.
She put her hands into a familiar set of hand signs.
"Henge!"
Standing before the headmistress was Naruko...wearing Coral robes.
"I just need the rod to fool everyone."
"I can get you a replacement, but you'll have to do the actually fooling. From now on you're cleared from combat practice...Miss Maria said you didn't need it anymore anyway," said Natsuki.
"Which neatly covers up why I'm not in my robes anymore, and Nina won't have to explain why she was in her robes, since I was the only one keeping us aloft," said Naruko.
"You were about due for this anyway. So if this Alyssa knows who Arika really is, then does she know where the real princess is?"
Naruko couldn't help her guffaw.
"What's so funny?"
"It's just...the Princess is a Coral! Hell, she was with us when we were falling!"
"It's not Mashiro or Arika... Nina?" said Natsuki, eyes widening.
Naruko nodded.
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"Alyssa only told me on the way to Artai. Besides, she said Nina wasn't a good choice for Princess. Which do you think she would rather be, an Otome or a Princess for a nation she could care less about?"
"Plus the fact she's more loyal to Artai... I see what you mean. This stays here, understood?"
"I wasn't going to say anything about it. How do you think people would react if they knew she was the real one? I would rather let Nina live her dream than force her to become the ruler."
"You're a good friend Naruko."
"So...if Arika passes can she be in our room? I would feel so much better if I could keep an eye on the girl, since we are cousins after all."
"Sure."
Arika not only beat Nina, but she also stopped the plane that crashed into the palace from killing innocent people.
Once Natsuki had a blood test done, it was proven that Arika was in fact the daughter of the previous Blue Sky Sapphire...and with a little fibbing she also 'proved' that Arika was in fact Naruko's second cousin.
Arika was thrilled to have living family, as was Naruko.
"I can't believe you don't have to join us in combat practice," said Arika.
"Naruko is the number one Coral fighting wise...however I'm the best when it comes to grades. She can probably teach you a few tricks," said Nina.
She was used to one Naruko, but Arika was like a younger, more innocent version of her. Thank Inari (she picked that up from Naruko, once the girl explained who Inari was) she had patience.
"Miss Maria said I had less to learn about fighting anyways, and more to learn about etiquette."
Nina snorted.
"You do," she said flatly.
Naruko raised an eyebrow before she winked at Arika.
"Learn well young Coral. There is a time and place for being an adult. That time is never and that place does not exist..." said Naruko before she pounced on Nina.
"Naruko, what are you... Hey, stop that!" shouted Nina when Naruko immediately started to tickle her. Arika giggled and joined her cousin in the tickle torture.
Natsuki pinched the bridge of her nose.
Naruko had opened a whole can of worms she didn't want to deal with...at all. But she had also solved a problem before it could get too bad.
Now she just had to 'pass' the Pearl stage while acting as a Coral, despite the fact she already had her Gem. Thank god that odd gem that appeared looked like a standard Coral one. Though Naruko did have to hide the ear with the Gem piercing with her hair.
There was also the matter of the ghost, Alyssa. Normally she would dismiss it out of hand, but it did explain a few things. Like how a girl who didn't belong in their world could speak the same language. Or how she knew things no one should...like the silver wolf from her dreams called Duran.
Natsuki never mentioned that wolf to anyone, not even her lover Shizuru. So how could Naruko have known about him?
She needed a drink, badly.
Naruko took one look at Arika's panicking form and took pity on her.
"Sensei, can Arika be excused from fighting practice today?" she asked.
"Why?" asked Maria.
"I think she needs more help catching up on the school work at the moment than she does the fighting. If need be I would be willing to get her up to speed," said Naruko.
"You'll teach her the basics, correct?" asked Miss Maria.
"Yes ma'am. Once she's gotten the hang of them I'll hand her back to you," said Naruko.
Nina came in saw something that had her blink, then hid a grin.
Naruko was tutoring Arika while she moved. Apparently Arika was just as active as Naruko was, so this sort of thing was actually a good way to keep her focused.
Nina smiled. Naruko had come a long way from the rather shy girl she was when she first arrived.
Flashback
Nina stared at Naruko.
"What do you mean your friend beats you if you have trouble understanding something?" asked Nina.
"It's just that...Sakura-chan always whacks me really hard on my head whenever I ask a stupid question, things she thinks everyone gets. Like when I got confused about the different types of shinobi. She really hit me hard that time... I had to wait a minute before I could see properly again."
Nina couldn't believe that a 'friend' could be that callous.
Which was why she dragged Naruko down to the infirmary and mentioned the systematic head injuries Naruko had suffered. Two hours later, Nina was horrified by the X-rays.
Naruko had every bone in her body broken at least once, and there were consistent signs of head trauma, most likely from a very small fist. It was going to take months for them to fix this mess.
It took them three, and by that time Nina realized that Naruko had been permanently conditioned to use pain as a focus. So she tried something simple.
Instead of actually hurting the girl to get a lesson to stick, she pinched her whisker marks rather hard. It seemed to work, and Naruko quickly learned that when Nina pinched her cheeks she was misbehaving. If that didn't work, or she had to be subtle, she pulled on the girl's pigtail.
Strangely, this seemed to work rather well on written tests, which Naruko hated with a passion.
Once Naruko realized Nina wouldn't hit her for getting an answer wrong, she seemed to become very shy. It took Nina and Nao another two months just to get her to open up about her home...and Nina swore if she ever met Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno or Kakashi Hatake that they would feel the wrath of Nina Wang. She couldn't believe that they had gotten away with such blatant neglect and abuse for this long.
It was when they finally got through to the girl that they genuinely cared that she started calling them her sisters openly.