DISCLAIMER: Sunrise blah blah, Joss Whedon blah blah.
(Author's Note: Wow, two chapters for you lucky kids today since I felt bad about the first one being all depressing. :-P Don't get used to it though! After this I'm not doing anymore angst-relief coddling.)
Fujino Residence, Early March 2000
Midori gazed at Natsuki with concerned hazel eyes, watching as the Slayer went through her training routine with her crossbow. She was practicing shooting while moving, and the number of bolts stuck in the wall behind the practice dummy clearly showed how the Slayer's accuracy was reduced. It puzzled the Watcher, because Natsuki always had great accuracy when throwing her knife. Still a crossbow had better range than a knife, even one thrown with Slayer strength and with wooden bolts it was the superior choice to take out a vampire at range. Of course it also hasn't escaped my notice that she hasn't exactly been able to concentrate lately either.
The Watcher sighed sadly. She didn't like having to make this decision, and she really wished there was another way, but she'd realized a week ago that the only way to help snap Natsuki out of her depression was a complete change of routine. Last week she had signed Natsuki up to live at the dorms at the senior high school. She'd gotten the idea when Hirotaka had informed her that Shizuru would be staying at the dorms for the next year as well, since he would be on lots of long trips for work this year. Midori knew that the trips were really just her old friend's way of dealing with his grief over the loss of his wife; she only hoped that the change of scenery would be good for Shizuru as well. Despite all of her worries for the two girls, she was pretty sure she had something lined up so that she could keep a closer eye on them.
"Hey Natsuki," She called out, "come here for a minute."
The Slayer eagerly set the crossbow down on the flimsy card table against the wall, wiping sweat from her face with a t-shirt sleeve as she walked over to her Watcher. "I know I suck today Midori, I don't know why I can't seem to shoot worth anything lately." Natsuki complained, shaking her head with obvious frustration.
"It's alright Natsuki; you don't have anything to explain." Midori looked into her Slayer's eyes for a moment, noting the lingering sadness there. She knew that the girl was frustrated at being unable to help her friend with the grief over her mother's death, perhaps partially because Shizuru had been the one to pull Natsuki out of her own grief years ago. The problem, Midori knew, was that her Slayer liked to be able to fix things by doing something and this was a situation that didn't call for action of any kind, not even talking. Natsuki would have to be patient, allowing Shizuru to know that she was there for her but not pushing Shizuru into talking about things before she was ready. Midori just hoped that her plan for giving the Slayer some distraction would work before the girl inadvertently widened the rift between herself and her best friend. "I didn't actually want to talk to you about training."
"Then what did you want to talk about?" Natsuki asked warily, and Midori tried not to feel hurt at the suspicion in the teen's eyes. Midori knew that the Slayer still trusted her when it counted, but the distance that seemed to be between them these days was difficult even though she knew it was mostly because of the crazy new hormones infecting the teenager's system.
"Alright Natsuki, I want you to hear me out before you overreact about this understood? I was talking to Hirotaka and he told me that Shizuru was going to be living at the dorms at St. Peter's-"
"I still can't believe that Hirotaka decided to enrol us in a freaking Catholic school. What's up with that? He's a Buddhist just like us." Natsuki asked incredulously, "If there's mandatory church every week or something, I'm dropping out and going to public school."
"Natsuki I thought I told you to let me finish?" She pretended to scold her Slayer, but Natsuki could see Midori fighting back a grin and smiled brattily when the redhead punched her playfully in the shoulder. "Yes it's a Catholic school. Hirotaka picked it because apparently it has a really awesome English Business program or something and some special type of Student Council system that looks really great if you want to be going into any business management or political science type degree in university. Also from what I hear there is no mandatory church, there is a church on campus but no one is required to go in unless they do something to warrant... disciplinary action."
Natsuki snorted loudly, "So even they admit that church is torture if they're using it for punishment?"
Midori laughed, "Yeah... so anyway I thought that since Shizuru was going to be staying in the dorms that you might want to as well. I was going to be moving into a flat in the city next month, since Hirotaka and Shizuru aren't going to be around much and it would be pretty lonely living out here without them or most of the staff around."
"You're moving?" Natsuki asked, her voice trembling slightly. "Are you tired of living with me?"
The redhead growled as she cuffed her Slayer upside the head, "Slayer stop being ridiculous. You know that's not what I'm trying to say."
"But I really like living with you." The Slayer's voice was soft, and she had the good grace to look a bit sheepish. "I don't know why I said that, I know you care about me."
"Pfft whatever, you're just being a ridiculous teenager. Now I told you to hear me out, you want to stay quiet for a minute and let me explain my reasons before you jump to conclusions that insult both of our intelligences?" Natsuki nodded, though she still had that bratty pout on her face. Midori grinned; Natsuki was so cute even when she was being aggravating, "Alright good. Just try to think a bit before you say things and you'll be fine. Look Natsuki... I know you've been having a difficult time lately, mostly because of Sakuya's death but also just because you're growing up. Anyway, I know from my own life that sometimes a big change can help you to get things into perspective. Also I think that living at the dorms would be a great way for you to make some new friends too."
"I'll just miss seeing you every day."
Midori's eyes twinkled mischievously, "You might see me more than you think."
"But I can come visit you right?" The Slayer pleaded.
"My feelings would be hurt if you didn't." Midori made her best puppy eyes, "You think I haven't worried about you going off to high school and forgetting all about your boring old Watcher?"
Natsuki smiled slightly at her Watcher's silliness and pulled her into an extra squeezey Slayer hug before responding to the jest seriously, "I could never forget about you. Midori you're the person that saved me. I don't think I'd even be alive without you." She spoke softly as she thought about her time at the First District, she still remembered the day she first met Midori there. The First District had been trying to turn her into a simple killing machine, and then Midori had come along and gently taught her what it meant to be human again.
"Thank you Natsuki." She gently played with her Slayer's hair, "But I don't want you to be too worried about me being lonely to go out and make plenty of friends while you're at school this year alright? My new flat will be closer to where Yohko lives, so I was hoping that I'd maybe get to spend some more time with her this year."
Natsuki released her well squished Watcher so that she could grin at her cheekily, "Ooh. Now I see why you're really moving. And trying to move me out of your house too. You want to have some private time with Yohko-sensei without having to worry about me walking in on you two."
The redhead blushed, "I swear I don't know what you're talking about. And besides, if that were true, wouldn't you prefer not to have to risk walking in on something embarrassing and traumatic like two old people doing things that could scar you for life to witness?"
"Hah! I'm a Slayer; it would take way more than that to faze me." She smiled to herself, feeling better about the situation now that she knew that moving into the dorms might really be good for Midori too. It made her happy to know that her Watcher might get to spend more time with friends her own age. Now that she thought about it, up until recently her Watcher had spent so much time either with Slayer training or trying to help Hirotaka with Sakuya's illness that there just wasn't much time for her to meet other people. "You should take some time to make friends too Midori."
"I'll try; it's difficult at my age though." Midori poked her Slayer's nose like she was still a little kid, "Oh, and maybe you should consider joining the kyuudo team."
"Midori... I know I suck at crossbow." Natsuki frowned at her Watcher's teasing.
The redhead just laughed, "Aaw I'm sorry Slayer. Alright, just run through the drill one more time and then go take a shower so that we can go to McDonald's alright?" Midori smiled as her Slayer grumbled a bit but went back over to grab the crossbow again. The Watcher wondered how Natsuki would react when she found out the surprise that was in store for her when she started school in a couple more weeks.
-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-
St. Peter's High School Campus; March 30, 2000
It was midmorning when Natsuki and Midori pulled up to the St. Peter's campus in Midori's slightly less crappy than normal clunker. The faded red sedan's entire backseat was stuffed with boxes of things that Natsuki needed to have with her when she moved in. Fortunately the dorms were already furnished, so they didn't have to worry about any do it yourself carpentry projects or hiring a moving van or anything. When Midori finally found a somewhat legal spot to park the car in the packed car park they quickly got out grabbing as many boxes as they could. Both of them let out identical annoyed sighs as they realized they'd need at least a second trip; even if Natsuki was supernaturally strong she still had normal girl-sized arms.
They headed across the green lawn full of students and parents moving in towards the new looking white dorm building where Natsuki's room was. "You know Natsuki, this looks like it might even be nicer than my dorm at university. It's really amazing what money will get you huh?"
Natsuki grinned, "Yeah I gotta say, having rich people pay for all of my stuff doesn't suck."
"I wonder what your roommate is going be like." Midori pondered her eyes distant, "I remember I had this one roomie my freshman year who was completely obsessed with William Shatner."
"Heh, well I'm sure she was happy to accommodate your obsession with Harrison Ford."
"There may or may not have been some undignified nerdgirl fights over which was better StarTrek or Star Wars..."
Natsuki burst out laughing, "Oh wow, did you two do any cosplay? If you have pictures of that, I want them."
The Watcher pretended to ponder the question, "I don't know... I'll have to check to see if you have security clearance first. And besides you already know that I spent five years of my adult life constantly pretending to be Indiana Jones."
The Slayer snorted with amusement. Some kind person had propped the doors of the dorm building open with some chairs, so they were able to walk right in. "I'm on the top floor right?" Natsuki asked as she headed for the stairwell anyway.
"Where else would you be? Ugh. I'm way too old for this." Midori complained as they made their way up the stairs, though neither of them showed any signs of fatigue. "Isn't this a rich people school, where's the bloody elevator?"
Natsuki laughed, "Actually I heard one down the hall, I just figured it would be packed with all of the out of shape wusses and their stuff. Come on Midori, I know this isn't even tiring you out. You can't fool me with that 'oh I'm so old!' crap."
Midori smirked as she effortlessly shifted the weight of the boxes in her arms, "What makes you say that?" She shrugged, "It's possible that I've gotten lazy from living with rich people too long. Guess I'll have to get over that when I move into my new flat next weekend."
"Did you want my help with that?"
"If you don't have plans. Another person to move things in faster could be a big help. I've already gotten Fujikawa to agree to help me on his day off by bribing him with beer and pizza." They finally reached the top landing, Midori only slightly out of breath. She watched with amusement as the Slayer shifted the tower of boxes in her arms to one hand so that she could pull the door to the hallway open. "What was your room number again?"
"Eh? Um..." Natsuki tried to shift the boxes again so she could look at the number written on the back of her hand, almost dropping them in the process. She glared at her Watcher when she laughed. "530."
"Well damn, looks like you lucked out Natsuki, that's a corner room." Midori said, pointing to the appropriately labelled door down the hall.
"Sweet." Natsuki agreed as she fished the key that she'd picked up at the housing office out of her pocket. She shouldered the door open only to see an empty room. "Huh, I guess my roommate isn't here yet." She glanced around the room slightly disappointed to find it empty, but she couldn't help but be impressed by how nice everything was. It was more of a suite than a room even, with a small kitchen and enough floor space for maybe some chairs and a television as well as the two single beds and computer desks that were already present. She also noticed a short hall that lead to the toilet and bath. One of the walls of the main room was dominated by a huge window that looked out over the campus, giving her a good view of the surrounding mountains.
Midori gave a low whistle as she came up behind Natsuki after putting her boxes down. "You know if my flat is half this nice, I'll think I got a great deal for the rent price. You know what? Forget you coming to visit me, I'm gonna pack my toothbrush and sleeping bag and come hang out at your place on the weekends. Did you see how enormous the bath is? Damn." Midori sighed enviously.
Natsuki laughed, "Sure, we can have a weekly videogame night or something once I get a television set up in here."
Later that afternoon they were finally finished setting up most of Natsuki's belongings in the room. Her weapons were in a special case under her bed. Technically bladed weapons were grounds for disciplinary action, but Hirotaka had worked some miracle of b.s., or maybe simple bribery, to convince the administration that Natsuki needed to have her weapons with her for religious reasons. The administration had reluctantly agreed, but if she even looked like she was going to injure any students, Hirotaka would be parting with large sums of yen before he could even say "lawyer".
Natsuki sighed as she stood in the doorway with her Watcher. Her roommate still hadn't showed up yet. Tomorrow was still a move-in day so it was possible that she would just be alone on her first night. Midori too seemed a little reluctant to leave and go back to her house on the empty Fujino estate. She glanced over and saw a suspiciously misty look in her Watcher's hazel eyes, "Oh no Midori don't start that."
Midori kept her British reserve and just gave her a grin, not acknowledging the hint of tears in her eyes, "But Natsuki I'm so proud of you, all grown up and in senior high school now."
"Meh, quit with your pretending to be so old routine. Anyway I wouldn't be here without you." Natsuki shrugged, trying her best to not let her sentimental emotions show too much either. "I'll see you again next weekend I guess... when I help you move in to your apartment?"
Midori nodded, "But if you need help with research or anything like that before then, you know how to get in touch with me." The redhead had a mischievous smirk as she continued, "Anyway I'll be heading off now. You enjoy your first week at school alright?"
"Yeah I will." Natsuki pulled her Watcher into an enthusiastic hug, forgetting about being the tough Slayer for a moment, "I'll miss you."
"Aaw Slayer it's only for a week." Midori teased, but returned the hug just the same. "Alright, I really gotta go. See you soon Natsuki."
It was almost dinnertime but Natsuki was still in her room setting up the new desktop computer that Hirotaka had bought for her first year. She was super excited to try out the internet here since she had never used a T1 connection before and it was supposed to be amazingly fast. She was just plugging the speakers into the computer tower when she heard a frantic knocking at her door. Natsuki grinned excitedly before walking over and opening the door with false casualness. There standing in the hallway was a rather flustered looking girl with chin length orange hair, wearing what seemed to be a dripping wet school uniform. Natsuki desperately tried not to notice that the white dress shirts were see-through when wet, or that the girl seemed to have impressively enormous breasts.
"Uh... Hi." She managed to croak out, blushing slightly.
"Hello," The girl replied, her voice heavy with fatigue, "I guess I'm your roommate. I'm Tokiha Mai; it's nice to meet you."
"Kuga Natsuki." The Slayer replied stiffly, "Uh, did you need any help with your things?" Natsuki didn't wait for the tired girl to reply, instead stepping out into the hall and easily picking up the stack of boxes that Mai had rested against the wall. "Um... Since you weren't here I already picked out a side of the room. If you really care though, I don't mind switching." She explained as she carried the boxes inside.
"No that's fine, it doesn't matter to me. Thank you so much for helping me. I still have boxes downstairs too if you wouldn't mind helping..." The orange haired girl trailed off, obviously feeling awkward about imposing on her new roommate that she hardly knew.
"I don't mind at all Tokiha-san. And besides I got moved in earlier today so I've had some time to rest up. Is it raining outside now?" She glanced out the darkened window, surprised at not having heard it start.
"Just Mai please, we're going to be roommates after all." The orange haired girl replied, smiling at Natsuki's nod and similar offer. "Anyway, no it's not raining; some jerk ran up to me and pushed me into the fountain! I really wasn't expecting for there to be people like that around here. He was making some disgustingly rude comment about how I looked tasty but then a group of people came by and he ran off." Mai glanced down at her wet uniform clearly aggravated, "Ugh, do you mind if I get changed first before we head down and get my boxes?"
Natsuki shook her head, "Actually if all of your boxes are labelled with your name like these are, I can head down and start grabbing some now." She offered, actually intending to go find the vampire that had attacked Mai. "Why don't you go try out the bath to relax and get warmed up alright? It's really no big deal for me to get your boxes for you."
Mai looked up at her roommate, a pathetically grateful look in her unusual grey-blue eyes, "Thank you so much Natsuki-chan! I'll hurry up with my bath though so that we can go get some dinner, unless you've eaten already?" Natsuki shook her head. "Anyway normally I prefer to fix my own food because it saves money, but I'm just too tired for that tonight and really don't have the energy to stop by the supermarket or something."
"Hey no problem. You go ahead and get warmed up; I'll be back up here in a little bit." Natsuki offered her roommate a friendly wave as she headed out the door.
The Slayer growled softly to herself as she ran down the stairs, taking them three at a time. She hated to admit that she was surprised to hear about vampires on the campus, but really who could blame her? You wouldn't think that rich people would send their heirs to a school where they were likely to be eaten. She tightened her dark grey hoodie around herself as she kicked open the door to the dorm, wondering where the vamps liked to hang out around here. She decided to do a quick sweep of the dark areas around the dorms and the main dining hall.
There were still plenty of people around either still moving into the dorms or heading for the dining hall, so Natsuki stretched out her hunter instincts to try and locate any vampires. She soon found two vampires cornering a handsome young man and a petite brunette who seemed to be his girlfriend near the back entrance of the boys' dorm. The young man was standing protectively in front of his girlfriend trying to shield her from the two vampires, but Natsuki could tell just by looking that he wasn't really a fighter, just brave. "Oi you, what are you doing to them! Get lost or I'll get campus security!" She called out to the vampires from a darkened area behind the dumpster, hoping to lure the vamps away from the witnesses.
The larger vampire laughed clearly amused with the situation, "Hah, sure we'll leave them alone if you say so. We'll just spend some time with you instead!" He grinned at his hunting pal before they sauntered over to where Natsuki was hiding.
The Slayer tried not to laugh out loud before the vampires had wandered fully out of the line of sight of the two shaken students. She let out a wicked grin, bracing herself against the sharp pain as she extended her boneclaws and prepared for a little fight, feeling a bit disappointed that she would have to end it as quickly as possible to avoid witnesses. "I really can't believe the nerve of you vamps hunting on my campus."
Mild surprise showed in the vampires' yellow eyes when she knew what they were, but then they just laughed again, "Your campus. I don't know what gave you that idea little girl, we're in charge here." The larger vampire wasted no more time in charging towards her, obviously intending to overpower her. Neither vampire had noticed the Slayer's natural weapons.
The hulking vampire let out a surprised gurgle when he suddenly had the claws of Natsuki's left hand impaling his windpipe. The Slayer grinned ferally; her sharp canines glinting as she viciously twisted her claws, neatly severing his skull from his backbone. Moments later he was dust, and his smaller companion was staring at her with wide, fearful yellow eyes. "Do the two of you work alone?" She asked.
The small vampire nodded nervously, running a hand through his short messy black hair, "Yeah. He was my Sire."
Natsuki nodded grinning, watching with amusement as his yellow eyes widened further with fear when he realized what he had admitted to. She gestured vaguely at him, "Well, are you going to try and fight me or are you going to run away?" She laughed as the skinny vampire tried to turn and make a run for it. He almost managed to make it around the side of the building before she had pounced on his back, and then he was dust on the night breeze just like his Sire.
A few moments after the dust from the second vampire settled the young couple cautiously rounded the corner. "Hello? Is everything okay back here?" The young man called in a nervous voice. When his warm brown eyes landed on Natsuki he let out a relieved sigh, "Oh thank goodness you're alright. Where did those punks go?" He asked angrily; suddenly full of fight now that the two unnaturally strong men were nowhere to be seen. "And what was wrong with their faces? Did you two notice that?"
Natsuki smiled at the young man's suddenly discovered bravado, shoving her hands into the pockets of her shirt so that the young couple wouldn't notice her bloodied knuckles, trying to be inconspicuous about wiping the worst of the blood off. "Yeah, they ran off when I told them how much my guardian would sue them if anything happened to me." She lied with practiced ease.
"That was really brave of you to stand up to them like that." The petite girl said shyly, "Nothing we said would make them go away; I was really frightened for Kazu-kun and myself."
"Ssh Akane, I wouldn't have let those punks hurt you." The handsome young man assured his girlfriend, wrapping strong arms around her in a gentle hug. Akane just looked up at her boyfriend with a love-struck expression on her face. Natsuki couldn't decide if they were cute or disgusting.
"Um, so you two go to school here yeah?" Natsuki asked the obvious question.
"Oh yeah, sorry for being rude. I'm Kurauchi Kazuya, and this is my girlfriend Higurashi Akane. We're both second years here." He said politely, still hugging Akane. In fact he barely took his eyes off hers long enough to introduce himself.
"Kuga Natsuki." She replied with a slight laugh, "I'll leave you two to your time together; I was just taking a walk around campus to familiarize myself with the place since it's my first year. Nice meeting you two, stay safe. Be careful being outside late like this, there's obviously some crazies around here." She gave the affectionate couple a slight wave that neither of them noticed before heading back to the girls' dorm, deciding she'd done a good enough patrol for now. Besides, she had to get Mai's boxes upstairs before her roommate decided she'd skipped out on her without actually helping.
Returning to the dorm she easily located Mai's boxes by the entrance to the stairwell, labelled with her name and various girly stickers. It only took the Slayer two trips to carry the remaining boxes upstairs, nodding politely to those she passed on the way. She was just setting the last of the boxes on the floor next to Mai's bed when the orange haired girl emerged from the bath with still damp hair, wearing a pink and white tracksuit. "Feeling better?"
"Much better! Really thank you so much for helping me Natsuki-chan."
Natsuki smiled blushing slightly, "It was no big deal really. You didn't have too many boxes."
Mai raised an eyebrow sceptically, "If you say so. Did you want to head to the dining hall now? I'm starving. It's been such a long day."
The Slayer blushed redder as her stomach growled, "Uh yeah... obviously carrying all those boxes made me hungry too."
Mai laughed grabbing her roommate's arm and pulling her towards the door, "Alright Natsuki-chan let's go."
After they reached the dining hall and picked up their food, they were looking for a table to sit at when they heard someone calling out rather loudly, "Oi! Natsuki-kun! Over here!"
Natsuki winced and looked in the direction of the yell to see Chie waving at her with a ridiculous grin on her face. Seeing that some of her other friends were also sitting at the table, Natsuki decided to take Mai over and introduce her. "Who's the hottie?" Chie asked once Mai and Natsuki had reached the table, wincing when Aoi cuffed her upside the head. The other two at the table just laughed, used to Chie's antics.
Natsuki rolled her eyes, "This is Tokiha Mai, my roommate. Who may have decided that she wants to see the main office for a new room now that she knows the sort of freaks I associate with."
"Nice to meet you Tokiha-san. I'm Sakamoto Kenji. Just call me Kenji, everyone else does." Kenji spoke softly from his spot next to Yukino. He had grown much taller over the last couple of years, and was now the tallest of any of Natsuki's male friends other than Reito. He was still rather skinny though, despite regularly eating more food than even the Slayer did.
"Nice to meet you Kenji-san." Mai greeted sweetly, sitting down in the chair Natsuki had pulled up to the table for her.
"Kikukawa Yukino, nice to meet you Tokiha-san."
"Senou Aoi, and this rude person sitting next to me is Harada Chie." Aoi greeted, shifting her soft blue eyes to look affectionately at Chie.
Mai smiled, "It's really great to meet all of you. I'm new to the area; so I think I was really lucky to get Natsuki-chan as my roommate."
Chie grinned mischievously, her light brown eyes sparkling behind her glasses, "The other girls of St. Peter's High wish they could be so lucky as to have Natsuki-kun as their roommate." Natsuki paused in putting mayo on her cheeseburger so she could glare at Chie, but didn't comment. Mai giggled at their interactions, already enjoying her time with the strange group of friends. Not at all fazed by Natsuki's glare, Chie turned back to Mai, "So Tokiha-san, what brings you to our fair high school? You a first year too like little Natsuki-kun? Kenji-kun and Yukino-chan are both first years as well. Me and Aoi are second years though, you can tell by how mature we are." Kenji tried unsuccessfully to cover his laugh at that.
"Yes, it's my first year of senior high as well. I got one of the scholarships that they hand out for students with less than ideal family situations; I could never have afforded to attend without it." Mai replied, looking down at her salad uncomfortably.
Chie proved that she did know how to be tactful after all by not prying, instead she shifted the conversation to what Kenji and Yukino had planned for the school newspaper this year. Chie wanted to be a photographer for the paper since the boy who did all the photos for it last year had graduated. Natsuki glanced at her roommate, wondering what had happened to cause the sad and worried look in her eyes and hoped that there was something she could do to help.
-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-
The next day found Mai and Natsuki at the supermarket getting groceries so that they wouldn't have to be eating at the dining hall every day. Natsuki realized just how much she had gotten used to the Fujinos' endless money when Mai pointed out how expensive the food there was and Natsuki was forced to admit she hadn't noticed. Mai shrugged, "I guess it's probably no big deal for most of the people who go to our school, but I've already been looking for a part-time job to cover expenses that aren't paid for with my scholarship."
Natsuki shook her head feeling a bit ashamed of herself, "No I understand, it's just been a while since I've had to worry about that. I think it's a good thing to get in the habit of it though. Saving money I mean."
"Well I'm not just doing this to save money either, I really love to cook. I'll really miss getting to cook for my little brother." Mai said sadly as she checked the carton of eggs for cracked ones before putting it in the cart.
"Is this your first time being away from him?" Natsuki asked sympathetically following after Mai with the cart. Not being much of a cook herself, the Slayer was more than happy to let her roommate take the lead. Her only contribution so far had been making sure they had mayo. Mai had looked a bit grossed out at the large jar of it but had just shrugged it off as a quirk of her otherwise polite roommate.
"It's not just that, he's in America for the next six months or so with our uncle so that he can get surgery for this heart condition he has." Mai explained as she grabbed some beef and pork cuts to put on the cart, much to Natsuki's delight. Mai raised her eyebrow at her roommate when she heard her stomach growl causing Natsuki to blush. "Didn't you just eat that half a cow sized burger right before we came here?"
Natsuki shrugged helplessly, "Is your brother going to be okay?"
Mai nodded, "They think so; it's just that the procedure is going to be really expensive so everyone in my family has been cutting back so we can afford it you know?" She sighed, "It's been hard enough since our mom died when we were little."
Must all of my friends lose their mothers? Natsuki watched her friend with sad eyes, "I'm sorry about your mom." She said softly, even though that seemed like a horribly lame thing to say. She knew it always sounded lame when people said it to her, but what else could she say? Certainly not nothing.
"Thanks Natsuki." Mai shrugged, "I still miss her, but it has gotten easier with time. I'm just so glad that Takumi was able to get this procedure done in time you know? I don't know what I'd do if I lost him too. He's my little brother; I had promised my mom that I'd look after him for her."
"I can tell that you've done a great job so far." Natsuki grinned at her friend; somehow she just seemed like a mom. "You just give off the vibe of someone who's really great at taking care of others you know?"
Green eyes sparkled as Mai blushed, "Um... do you like the flavoured soy milk or plain?" Natsuki shrugged and Mai grabbed a carton of plain. "So how did you end up going to St. Peter's? If you don't mind my saying you don't seem like the other rich kids."
Natsuki laughed, "I'll take that as a compliment. Naah, my guardian works for this rich guy and he's paying my tuition."
Both of Mai's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Really that seems pretty unusual?"
"Eh... well it's a bit more complicated than that. See, him and my guardian's dad were old friends. I guess officially we were personal trainers for his daughter in their family's traditional naginatajutsu, but unofficially he's looking after his old friend's kid or something? And their family is just that ridiculously rich that they don't even realize that sending me to this school is a big deal." She explained blushing slightly, "Actually until this month we'd lived with them for years. Next weekend I'm supposed to be helping her move into a new apartment."
"I think we've gotten everything we need." Mai said indicating that they could head for the checkout. "Did you two need any extra help? I wouldn't mind."
Natsuki grinned, "If you want to come with that would be great. I won't make you do a bunch of heavy lifting or anything, but I know that Midori would love to meet my roommate."
"Thanks. Maybe I'll make brownies or something as a housewarming gift."
"Only if I can have some. We can all have pizza and watch movies with Fujikawa-kun too after we're done."
"Fujikawa-kun? Is that her boyfriend?" Mai asked as they pulled into the checkout line. There was only one person in front of them, a middle aged mother with a little boy who looked to be about six. Natsuki laughed when he blushed shyly at Mai and waved at her.
"You certainly do get a lot of admirers." Natsuki teased her roommate, who gave her a playful glare before waving back at the little kid. "And no he's not her boyfriend, though I'm going to tease both of them about it now that you said that. He's this doctor who works at one of the hospitals in the city. It sounds weird, but Midori and I got to know him and his boss many years ago so we all hang out on occasion. He used to actually be poor when we first met him since he was just a resident, but even now that he's making the big bucks as a real doctor, Midori still bribes him into helping her move all of her stuff with beer and pizza." Natsuki explained with a laugh.
"You two seem really close."
"We are. I mean, she's not my mom or anything like that... I guess she's more of a favourite teacher? But that doesn't really describe what she is to me either. I know I'm really lucky to have her though." Natsuki shrugged, unable to adequately explain what her Watcher was to her to someone who didn't know she was a Slayer.
Mai nodded, taking in what Natsuki wasn't saying about her mother as well. "I can't wait to meet her, she sounds great."
Natsuki blushed, "Yeah. I miss seeing her everyday already. I'm glad I got you for a roommate, I don't know how I would've reacted if I'd ended up with someone I couldn't stand."
"Yeah I'm really glad I ended up with someone normal too." Mai smiled sweetly at Natsuki, who pretended to be suddenly preoccupied with putting the groceries up for the cashier to checkout as she tried desperately to not look guilty. Perfectly normal, that's me alright.