DISCLAIMER: Still not mine.
(( AN: Dear readers and reviewers, I have decided that you all have been very patient and kind to me with reviewing even though I have been leaving you all hanging on a certain issue since I posted the first chapter. ^^ This chapter, posted so quickly after my last update, is a bit of a reward to you all for your patience. I worked on this for you my dear readers, pretty much all day yesterday so that I could get this to you while it was still the weekend. A bit of a thank you from me to you just to let you know that I really appreciate you all. I hope you enjoy! ^^ ))
St. Peter's High School; Saturday April 8, 2000
"What should I wear?" Mai asked, sounding suspiciously panicky.
Natsuki laughed, "Relax Mai, this isn't a job interview or something."
"But she's my teacher! I don't want her to think that I'm not serious enough about working hard because I didn't dress nice enough..."
"Mai. Look at what I'm wearing." Natsuki gestured to her ratty blue jeans and long sleeve black t-shirt with the words "This end up" and an appropriate directional arrow on the front. The shirt was threadbare enough in places that one could easily make out the Slayer's tanned skin through it. "Now... I'm not only wearing this because I'm a lazy slob and don't care how I dress. I'm also wearing it because we're going to visit Midori today to help her move her stuff into a new apartment. I said I wouldn't make you move heavy stuff, and I won't, but my point is that no one else is going to be dressed up any more than I am."
Mai blushed and finally just decided to stick with the designer jeans and nice white babydoll style t-shirt that she was wearing. "Are you sure that you should be doing heavy-lifting today since you were hurt the other day?"
The Slayer pulled up her shirt to reveal the mostly healed up wounds on her toned stomach. "I'll be fine." She grinned as Mai blushed again and looked away awkwardly. "Oh, one thing you might want is a jacket, preferably leather if you have it." She added, as she went over to one of her still unpacked boxes to fish something out of it.
"Is it supposed to be cold or rain today?"
"Nope." Natsuki replied shortly as she walked over to hand Mai her spare helmet. It was the same black full-helmet with visor style as hers. "This is why you might want the jacket."
"Um... Natsuki-chan... that's a motorcycle helmet." Mai's voice trembled a bit as she stated the obvious. "Why are you handing me this?"
"Because I don't want you to get hurt, and also I don't want to give the cops a reason to pull me over."
"You're underage..."
Natsuki pulled her wallet out of the inside pocket of her black leather jacket and opened it to reveal the fake ID that said she was seventeen. She handed it to Mai whose eyes bugged out comically at the sight. "Natsuki-chan... how do you have a fake ID?"
"Midori got it for me." Natsuki laughed at the horrified look Mai gave her, "Hey don't look at me like she's being irresponsible. I'm a Slayer; the end of the world won't always wait for me to catch the bus."
"You promise you know how to ride it safely?"
The Slayer looked at her friend with serious eyes, "I'll keep you safe Mai."
Mai blushed again, "Thank you Natsuki. What about the brownies though?"
"Just bring your backpack to put them in." Natsuki suggested as she put on her boots so that they could head out.
Fifteen minutes later Natsuki was sitting astride her Kawasaki Ninja while Mai stood next to her gazing at the Slayer nervously, her helmet still in her hands. "Natsuki-chan, I'm scared. I've never done something like this before." Mai admitted.
Natsuki tried to smile reassuringly at her friend, but the expression was mostly lost behind her helmet's visor. "All you have to do is climb on and hold on tight to me. If there's a curve just lean in the same direction I do. You shouldn't have to think about that part too much if you're holding on tight enough though. I promise I'll ride really careful since you're with me." She explained, her voice sounding far away or maybe underwater thanks to the helmet.
Finally Mai nodded slightly, and put her own helmet on. She took one more deep breath and climbed onto the dark blue motorcycle behind Natsuki, wrapping her arms carefully around her friend's waist. "Tighter than that, I'm a Slayer so it's impossible to squish me. Don't worry; my stomach really doesn't hurt anymore either." Mai gripped a little tighter at the admonishment, and then let out a startled squeak and gripped much harder when Natsuki fired up the bike's engine.
By the time they reached the Fujino estate, Mai was grinning wildly and having a great time. "Natsuki-chan, that was awesome!" She exclaimed as she removed her helmet and shook out her hair. "I can see why you enjoy it so much now, it's like flying!"
Natsuki smiled at the gleaming excitement in her friend's eyes. "I'm glad you had fun. We'll be taking it back to the dorm once we get back from Midori's apartment too. We're meeting her here instead of there because I just wanted to make sure she didn't need any help getting anything into the moving van last minute. And to bring her donuts." She laughed as she gestured to Mai's backpack that had the donuts they'd picked up at the campus convenience store before they left as well as the brownies for later. So much sugary goodness in one day!
"I can't believe you used to live here." Mai said as they crossed the estate from the garage where Natsuki had parked her motorcycle to the small house on the edge of the property. Natsuki had lived almost half of her life here with Midori.
Natsuki looked over the huge mansion and professionally landscaped gardens that seemed so empty, "I can hardly believe it either, it seems almost like that was another life these days you know?" She grinned when she saw the tacky looking rented moving truck parked on the perfect green lawn next to her old house. "I'm really glad that Midori is at least keeping all of our old furniture though. It will make her new place seem more like home."
The Slayer smiled at seeing the sliding door to the dojo standing wide open, and gestured to Mai that she should follow her inside. Glancing around she frowned at seeing all of her training equipment packed up and wondered for the first time where she and Midori were going to do their Watcher/Slayer training now that they didn't have this dojo anymore. "Midori?" She called out as they entered the living area of the house.
"Natsuki! I'm glad you got here. I needed some help getting these bookcases in the truck. I finally got all the books packed up last night, I didn't want to pack them too soon and then need one." Midori said as she walked out of her old room, "Oh, good morning Tokiha-san. It's great to have you along for this little adventure today."
"It is no problem Sugiura-sensei." Mai replied shyly.
"Hey now, none of that today. My name is Midori outside of class alright? That sensei stuff makes me feel old." Midori grinned.
Natsuki laughed, "Alright Watcher, stop making my friend nervous. Let's hurry up and get the bookcases in the truck so we can eat donuts! The jelly one is mine by the way." When Midori gave her a startled look at the use of her title Natsuki rolled her eyes, "Yeah she knows. Some demon injured me on Thursday and Mai had to patch me up."
"Well thank you then for looking out for my careless Slayer." Midori teased, though she held blue-grey eyes for a moment to express her sincerity.
Mai shrugged, "It was no problem, I don't mind helping Natsuki-chan. Um... If you all wanted I could make coffee while you get the bookcases moved out?"
"That'd be great Mai thanks." Natsuki grinned as she and Midori headed into the old room to get the last of the redhead's things loaded onto the truck. "Hey Midori, it just occurred to me to wonder where we're going to be doing training now?"
"The school administration gave me keys to all of the dojos on campus of course. We can set up training times when they aren't in use. Most of your training wouldn't make anyone wonder if you had superpowers or anything, so it should be safe even if people were to walk in."
Natsuki almost dropped the end of the bookcase she was carrying, "Midori, you've got to be shitting me, there's no way someone could watch one of my training sessions and not get at least a little suspicious."
Midori grunted a bit at the sudden extra weight, struggling not to laugh, "Hah... yeah actually I was. But I wanted it to be a surprise so be a patient little Slayer for a bit longer alright?"
An hour later Midori was skilfully backing the rented truck up onto the sidewalk in front of her new apartment building. "Well here we are, home sweet home."
"It looks nice enough I guess." Natsuki said as she looked up at the seven-story high grey cement apartment building just a few blocks from the hospital where Yohko and Fujikawa worked. "What floor are you on?"
"The basement." Midori answered with a grin.
"I didn't know they rented out rooms on the basement level of buildings like this?" Mai asked, puzzled.
"Well it's possible that I asked good old Hiro to use some yen to pull a few strings."
"Why would you want an apartment in the basement anyway?" Natsuki teased, poking her Watcher in the side as they walked to the door of the building each carrying a few boxes, or in Mai's case just one box. "You're not dating a vampire or something?"
"You see how little she respects me Mai-san?" Midori pouted. Mai just giggled nervously, not willing to weigh in on that debate.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and headed down a short hallway to a wooden door with the kanji for 'green' and a large tiger painted on the front. Natsuki laughed, "I'll take it this is the place?"
"Yep, welcome to my den girlies." Midori grinned, shifting the boxes she was carrying to one arm so she could unlock the door. Kicking it open she gestured to the other two to head inside as she reached in to flick on the light switch by the door.
Taking a look around, Natsuki immediately felt right at home. The floor plan was rather similar to their old place, other than the general lack of windows and the less traditional look of the walls and doors. There was the main sitting room and kitchen combination separated by a bar style counter, and a short hallway leading to what Natsuki presumed were the two bedrooms and bath. The apartment walls were painted the standard off-white, but Natsuki was pleased that the wall to wall carpeting was midnight blue and the tile and countertops in the kitchen were a dark coal grey. Good decorating taste. She was surprised to notice that the entertainment system was already set up, with the old leather couch against the wall in front of it. The bookshelves that held their books about anything non-slaying related, as well as their sizable movie and anime collection were also set up against the far wall on either side of a nondescript door.
"Oh Hirotaka helped me start getting some of the stuff moved in on Wednesday night. He was home in between business trips, and he just couldn't bring himself to sleep in the house... you know after what happened. So we stayed up late moving some things that I wouldn't need for the rest of the week and then went out to a pub at midnight to have a drink to celebrate me getting just a little closer to the dreaded forty." Midori winced.
Putting the boxes she was carrying down by the couch, Natsuki walked over and gave her Watcher a hug. "Hey, you'll never get old. And that was nice of you to keep Fujino-san company to help keep his mind off things."
Midori shrugged awkwardly, "Eh yah well, I really did need help moving all this stuff too. Anyway you want to go head up and start grabbing things out of the truck?"
Later that afternoon, once everything had been brought inside and the moving truck returned to the rental place, the five friends were all resting in the sitting room, attempting to agree on a movie. "I still think we should watch Gladiator. Come on Natsuki, isn't that something you would be into?" Fujikawa begged.
"Please, you don't think she sees enough violence all the time? We should watch a comedy, maybe even something with a little romance in it." Mai complained, earning Yohko's agreement.
Natsuki just sat on the couch leaning her head on her Watcher's shoulder as she laughed at her friends' antics. "This is a really nice place."
"I'm glad you like it." Midori commented sleepily as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have stayed up all night researching that energy being. It's just so frustrating that I haven't been able to find reference to it in any of my research texts or indeed even online."
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You just started a new job you've never done before, and you've had to worry about packing up our seven years worth of crap to move into a new place. I know you'll figure out what's up with my incorporeal new friend." Natsuki gazed up into her Watcher's tired looking eyes, "I actually did run into something kindof weird on Thursday night though. Have you ever heard of a demon poofing like a vampire when you slay it?"
"Poofing?" Midori asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Erm... you know, the body kindof disintegrating. Like vampires explode into dust. Only this demon didn't so much explode into dust, as it exploded into a golden light. It didn't even leave anything behind like vampires do."
Hazel eyes suddenly seemed much more awake, sparkling with interest. "Didn't leave even a trace you say? That is most unusual indeed." Natsuki just smiled, enjoying seeing Midori's brain at work.
"Maybe we should watch Dragonheart. I love dragons." Mai suggested.
"No, that has Sean Connery in it and Midori's on the twelve step program to get over her old man fetish." Yohko teased.
"Huh...what?" Midori questioned, brought out of her pondering by Yohko mentioning her name, gazing at the blue eyed doctor with confusion on her face. Yohko rolled her eyes but smiled at the redhead affectionately.
"I still say we should watch Gladiator." Fujikawa interjected as he sipped at his can of beer.
Natsuki let out a loud sigh and got up from her spot on the couch. "Jesus, you people are hopeless." She complained dramatically, heading over to the video collection and removing a well worn VHS tape before walking over and shoving it in the VCR and pushing play.
"Uh... what are we watching?" Mai asked, slightly annoyed that Natsuki had just picked something without asking anyone else what they thought about it.
"Terminator 2. Sarah Connor kindof reminds me of Midori."
"She reminds you of Midori?" Yohko asked her voice fairly dripping with sarcasm.
Natsuki grinned, "Well yeah. If there was a psychotic robot out to kill me, Midori would totally go after it with a huge shotgun." Everyone laughed as Midori blushed a bit, before trying to distract them by offering to go make popcorn.
While they were watching the movie Natsuki again turned to Midori, "Hey Midori, what's through that door anyway?" She asked, pointing to the plain wooden door in between their bookcases. "Just a storage closet or...?"
Midori just grinned at her Slayer for a moment, "Come with me and I'll show you." She answered standing and offering Natsuki a hand up. The Slayer raised a questioning eyebrow at her Watcher, but nonetheless grabbed the offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled off of the couch and over to the door. "Close your eyes for a minute." Natsuki rolled her eyes but allowed her Watcher her whim, green eyes fluttering closed.
Grinning Midori put her other hand over the Slayer's eyes, not trusting her to not take a peek, before easing the door open. She led Natsuki slowly into the next room, turning on the overhead lights as they went, before gently removing her rough palm from in front of the Slayer's eyes. "Alright, you can open them now." She murmured.
Natsuki slowly opened her eyes, blinking slightly at the bright overhead lights and gasping when she took in the large room. "Oh my God, Midori..." She trailed off. It was a training room set up to look almost like their old dojo, with dark midnight blue gymnastic mats on the floor and a huge mural of a white wolf howling at a full moon on the far wall. The other walls were gleaming with various weapons of all shapes and sizes; crossbows, knives, blunt weapons, polearms, battleaxes, swords of cultures from all over the world. She wandered over to run her fingers over the warm black stone of the huge battleaxe that she had taken from a demon years ago. "Midori... I don't know what to say." She finally tried again, her voice breaking as she turned to look her Watcher in the eye, "It's perfect. I love it." She managed to force out, before running over and pulling the redhead into a breath-stealing hug. "Thank you so much."
Midori just shrugged and hugged the Slayer back, for the moment unable to spare enough oxygen to reply. "I'm pleased that you like it." Was her slightly breathless comment when Natsuki finally loosened her grip a bit. "I don't suppose you'd want to get in some sparring practice with your old Watcher before you and Mai head back to campus?" She asked, suddenly feeling more full of energy than she had a couple hours ago. Natsuki just grinned and went to go grab two katana off the wall, feeling more relaxed about the upcoming year now that she'd seen that even if some things had changed, the important things were still the same.
-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-
"You look at something and you think you know exactly what you're seeing, and then you find out it's something else entirely."
St. Peter's High School; Monday April 10, 2000
Natsuki stood awkwardly in the door to the Student Council room holding a bouquet of irises. Shizuru was sitting at one of the desks near the back of the room, discussing something with Reito and Haruka. They hadn't yet noticed the Slayer standing in the doorway watching Shizuru nervously. Natsuki couldn't believe her bad luck. She had been trying to find time to talk to Shizuru since school started, and now when she finally had the courage to take her the flowers Mai had suggested, Shizuru was hanging out with the friends that disliked Natsuki the most. The Slayer stood watching for another few minutes when Haruka looked up and grimaced at the sight of Natsuki.
"What are you doing here?" The blonde asked annoyance clear in her voice.
Natsuki however never took her eyes off of Shizuru, who was still looking down at the paper that she was writing on. "I'm here to see my best friend." She said, smiling shyly when Shizuru looked up, startled by the unexpected sound of Natsuki's voice. "Hey Shizuru." She spoke her friend's name hesitantly, "Come for a walk with me?" She held out the flowers to her friend, hoping that she would accept the peace offering.
"Natsuki?" Shizuru's voice was quiet, her eyes blinking rapidly a few times as though she couldn't believe she was really seeing Natsuki here in the Student Council room. She walked up to Natsuki and accepted the offered flowers with a soft thank you, moving to put them in water. "I am surprised that Natsuki wanted to see me." She admitted.
"You're my best friend Shizuru; I always want to see you." Natsuki replied, confused. Then glancing at Reito and Haruka who were clearly listening to their conversation she added, "Why don't we wait and discuss things while we take our walk? Or at least we could go somewhere else...?"
Shizuru nodded slowly, apparently just now getting over the surprise of seeing Natsuki enough to remember that they weren't alone. "That would be acceptable, thank you Natsuki." She lifted the flowers that were now in a plain drinking glass that had been stored in one of the room's cabinets, "Perhaps Natsuki could come with me to my dorm room to drop these off?"
Natsuki nodded as they headed out the door into the white marble floored hallway, "Sure. I actually dropped those off here because I realized I didn't even know what room was yours." She blushed, slightly ashamed to not know such basic information about her best friend.
"I confess that I also do not know Natsuki's room number. I live in this building actually, all Student Council members who have elected positions higher than class representative do." Shizuru explained.
The Slayer's eyes widened in mostly feigned horror. "So you mean this is a co-ed dormitory as well as being where Student Council and Model UN meet? Reito lives here too?" Shizuru lives in the same building as boys? The same building as REITO? Why didn't I know this? Natsuki shook her head trying to clear her feelings of rage and jealousy at the horrible notion of Reito living so much closer to Shizuru than she did.
"Well yes," Shizuru replied as they reached the stairwell, "On different floors though. It's nothing improper or anything, it's not like my roommate is a boy." Shizuru giggled at that notion.
Natsuki was hardly amused, "Who is your roommate then? ...Not Haruka?"
Shizuru raised an eyebrow at Natsuki, "Why yes actually, I am rooming with Haruka-san this year. Is that a problem for Natsuki?"
"Um... Shizuru, you know Haruka hates me right? That makes it awkward for me to come visit you if she lives there too." Natsuki explained, even though she thought her friend should know this. When Shizuru indicated that the third floor was her stop, Natsuki held open the door to the hallway for her.
"Thank you Natsuki. And I'm surprised that Natsuki would allow Haruka to intimidate her so."
"She doesn't intimidate me; I would just prefer not to have to deal with her is all. And anyway, I'd only let her stop me if you still didn't want to see me..." Natsuki trailed off, not wanting to sound like she was fishing for pity.
"Natsuki... I..." Shizuru sighed, reaching the door to her room. "Would Natsuki mind if I dropped these inside and then we can continue this conversation outside in the garden? I feel it would go better in sunlight."
Natsuki smiled at how some things never changed, "Sure Shizuru, I'll wait here." She leaned against the wall outside Shizuru's door, wondering why her friend didn't seem to be acting the way Natsuki would have expected. Shizuru didn't seem like she was angry or avoiding Natsuki at all.
"Thank you for waiting Natsuki. Shall we head outside? Perhaps we could even visit the greenhouse; I hear that the horticulture department has a lovely orchid collection." Shizuru rambled awkwardly.
"Sure Shizuru, that sounds great." Natsuki gave her friend an encouraging smile, gesturing for her to lead the way.
They walked in tense silence from Shizuru's dorm to the huge greenhouse on campus, Shizuru holding open the ornate glass door for Natsuki when they reached it. "Let me show you my favourite place in here." Shizuru said quietly, leading the way past the various rosebushes, hyacinths and exotic flowering trees. They ended up in a small alcove near the back. A large artificial tree loomed high against the glass of the greenhouse, in front of it was a small rock bottomed pond with a small trickling waterfall. Lining the artificial tree all the way to the glass ceiling were dozens upon dozens of orchids, many of them in full bloom.
"It's beautiful here." Natsuki said as they sat down on the stone wall next to the pond. She smiled as a small turtle paddled over and pulled himself up on a nearby mossy rock, peering up at them obviously assuming that they were here to feed him. "Thank you for showing me this place Shizuru, I didn't realize there was something like this on campus."
Shizuru shrugged, "I found it last year and it seemed like a place that Natsuki would enjoy." She gazed at the various orchids, seemingly unable to make eye contact with Natsuki. "I used to come here a lot last year when I missed getting to spend enough time with you."
"Last year huh?" Natsuki asked sadly.
Shizuru finally turned to meet Natsuki's eyes, "Natsuki..." She reached out and hesitantly took one of Natsuki's hands in hers, "I owe you an apology."
Green eyes widened, "But Shizuru... I know I pushed you too hard to talk before you were ready, it was my fault..."
Shizuru shook her head, "No, it was not Natsuki's fault." She let out a shaky sigh, "I mean yes you might have pushed me a little more than I was ready for, but I know that you weren't trying to hurt me. You were just being yourself, and I shouldn't have gotten angry with you for that. Especially when that is one of the things I value most about Natsuki's friendship. She is always only herself with me." She looked away guiltily, "And... I wasn't even really angry with you for that anyway, or over anything at all."
"Are you sure?" Natsuki asked raising her eyebrow sceptically at her friend, "You know Shizuru, it's alright to let me know if I've upset you. If you don't tell me I won't know not to do it again."
"Natsuki... if anything I am the one who acted wrongly." She looked back into her friend's eyes, her own swirling blood red with emotions, "I just... until I lost her I guess I never really understood that death is forever..." She trailed off as she tried to get her thoughts together, "It seems ridiculous that I wouldn't have realized that before, since I always knew that. But while I was still home over break... I kept expecting to see her when I walked into the library, or to hear her come into my room in the middle of the night to check up on me." Shizuru sighed, "We were hardly even close at all for most of my life... but having it sink in that I'll really never see her again... it hit me harder than I thought it would. I guess because until I lost her I didn't truly understand."
Natsuki tried to give Shizuru's hand in hers a comforting squeeze, but the words she came up with weren't as comforting as she would have liked, "I don't really know what to say... I mean, most days I still have a hard time accepting that I'll never see my mother again." She shrugged helplessly, "I mean it's strange because some days I even have a hard time remembering exactly what her face looked like. But some part of me is always expecting to see her again." She sighed softly, "And I guess I do worry a lot that I'm going to lose someone else."
Shizuru nodded slowly, "That's why I was avoiding you." She confessed, "I just inevitably started thinking about how I would feel if I lost you... Your life is so dangerous most of the time." Natsuki glanced away to look at the turtle, hoping that somehow Shizuru wouldn't read in her eyes just how dangerous the Slayer's life was at the moment. Fortunately for Natsuki, Shizuru was studying her own hands nervously and didn't notice her friend's guilty behaviour. "And I guess that got me thinking about how I really don't have any friends other than Natsuki."
Green eyes immediately returned to Shizuru, "What do you mean you don't have any friends other than me? You have more friends than I do."
Shizuru shook her head, "Natsuki is the only one who knows me." She sighed as she reached out to brush a strand of dark hair out of Natsuki's eyes, "I've never been able to be open with anyone but Natsuki... When I'm around anyone but Natsuki I feel like I have to be someone else. Well, sometimes I feel like I can be myself around Midori-san, but it is awkward for me to go see her."
"You don't have to feel awkward Shizuru, Midori likes spending time with you. She cares about you a lot."
Shizuru shrugged, "But Midori-san is only Natsuki's in some ways. And I couldn't ever see her without always thinking of Natsuki... being able to see Midori-san if I had lost Natsuki would not help." Shizuru gazed into Natsuki's eyes begging her to try and understand, "So I guess that's why these last few weeks I've been working so hard at trying to make other friends... It's just not working though. I can't connect with anyone but Natsuki that way it seems."
Natsuki nodded slowly, her eyes soft with compassion, "Well, who have you been trying to make friends with? Maybe you just haven't found the right kind of people that you'd get along with." Natsuki's eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to find the right words, "I mean... what is it about me that makes it so that you can be friends with me?"
Shizuru giggled lightly, "Is Natsuki suggesting that I should try to befriend other Vampire Slayers?"
Natsuki rolled her eyes, but couldn't help grinning, "Well if that's the only thing that allows you to be friends with me, then I'll admit I'm a tough act to follow. But really though, I know my being a Slayer is one of the things you don't really like about me because it causes you to worry about my safety all the time."
Shizuru nodded and tried to answer the question seriously, "I don't know... I guess I just feel like Natsuki would never laugh at me no matter what I had to say, unless she knew we were joking you know? I know that Natsuki cares about what I like, even if it's something silly like arcade games..."
"Shizuru, these are not insanely unreasonable friendship criteria. I think that someone who cares about the things you do and takes your opinion seriously... well that's kindof minimum requirements there you know?" Natsuki sighed, "Do you think you'd have time this year to join another club besides just Student Council?"
Shizuru raised an eyebrow, "Well not too much time technically, but I'm sure I could manage somehow. Why?"
"Well Shizuru... please don't take this comment the wrong way alright?" At her friend's nod and slight smirk Natsuki continued, "Um... Well... Student Council kids are our society's future politicians. And I think if you've ever watched the news or something, you might gather that politicians maybe don't make the best friends?" Natsuki hastened to explain, "Now, I don't think you're like the others at all. You're like that one elected representative who would actually care about their constituents instead of just gaining power and fame or whatever, but most of them just aren't like that. Most of them only care about themselves and what looks good... and you're really not that kind of person."
Shizuru blushed, "Natsuki says nice things about me."
"They're true Shizuru. What you need is to join a club related to something you're really interested in. I'd suggest either choir... Or drama club." Natsuki nodded firmly, pleased with her own suggestions.
"Choir...? Or drama club...?" Shizuru repeated an adorably confused look in her rusty eyes, her forehead wrinkled slightly as she contemplated the unexpected suggestions.
Natsuki giggled at how cute Shizuru looked when she was confused, it wasn't a look she got to see on Shizuru very often after all. "Well yeah. You're a wonderful singer and you also seem to really enjoy acting." Natsuki poked her friend on the nose, "I know how you like to fake pout at me. You'd be a natural. And since you love to read so much, you'd know most of the plays or musicals or whatever that they would be putting on." Natsuki grinned, "And plus then I'd get to come watch your performances. Also I already offer my services helping set up any heavy stage props or anything so you could spend more time with me...?" Natsuki blushed at suggesting that. "I mean if you want to... I know you're trying to make other friends but..." She shrugged helplessly, "I just miss you."
"Natsuki..." Shizuru murmured her eyes slightly misty, "I'm really sorry. I know it was wrong for me to be avoiding you..."
Natsuki shrugged, "I know... but I understand what you're saying too. Your concerns about that make a lot of sense; you do need other real friends besides just me. Even if my life weren't more dangerous than most, it couldn't be healthy for anyone to be so isolated." She looked up into Shizuru's eyes through dark lashes, "But maybe we could get together once a week or so for coffee or something? Just to catch up?"
Shizuru smiled softly, "I'd like that." Her smile turned into a wicked grin, "And I'll totally ask Natsuki to help us move heavy stuff if that becomes necessary."
Natsuki paused as she thought of one more thing, "Shizuru... just do me one favour if you decide to try out for drama team alright?"
"What's that Natsuki?" Shizuru asked, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Well... just don't tell Reito about it until tryouts are over."
Shizuru looked puzzled at that, "Why would Natsuki not want Reito-san to know about my joining drama team?"
Natsuki shrugged, "Well... I just wouldn't want him to join too..." She looked down at her hands shyly as she blushed, "I think I'd want to kill him if he got to kiss you. Even if it was just acting."
"Oh." Shizuru tried to make a teasing expression, but Natsuki noticed that she also looked a bit disgusted at the notion of kissing Reito. Natsuki smirked inwardly. "Why would that make Natsuki upset?"
"Well for one, he's Reito." Natsuki shrugged, "He's just not nearly good enough for you is all."
Shizuru nodded slowly, speaking with what seemed to be forced sincerity, "I see... Well I am glad I have Natsuki to look out for my best interests as far as potential suitors are concerned then."
"Of course!" Natsuki puffed up seriously, missing the nuance in Shizuru's statement entirely, "I don't want just any loser thinking he's worthy of you."
Shizuru grinned, "Well I promise I won't let any of the Student Council know ahead of time." She leaned in closer as though sharing a secret, "Besides, I am not so confident in my acting ability that I think I could convince a whole audience of my romantic interest in Reito-san."
Natsuki giggled, sounding unexpectedly girlish, "Thanks Shizuru. Sorry that I'm silly about things like that."
Rusty eyes softened as Shizuru stopped the teasing for a moment, "I don't mind that Natsuki cares that I am happy." Shizuru glanced at her small gold watch, "Did Natsuki want to go get that coffee now?"
"Uh sure... but didn't you need to get back to working on whatever Student Council thing you were doing when I interrupted you?" Natsuki asked, looking slightly confused.
"Well I had planned on it, but then someone convinced me that I should reconsider my priorities." Shizuru smiled teasingly, "Besides, Haruka-san always complains that I never trust her to do anything right. This will be the perfect opportunity for her to prove that she is right and that I should allow her more responsibility."
The Slayer smirked, "Well I can't say I can argue with giving Haruka more work."
"Natsuki really shouldn't give Haruka-san such a hard time, she's not a bad girl."
Natsuki shrugged, "She's never really liked me."
"I think that Haruka-san is jealous of Natsuki." Shizuru said softly.
"You think so?" Natsuki asked. She generally trusted Shizuru to have good judgement of people, even if her priorities with making friends were a little off. Shizuru was strange that way, she could see the best in people but she didn't seem to be able to put her own happiness first without prodding.
"She thinks that Natsuki has it easy." At Natsuki's amused snort, Shizuru smiled, "Obviously she's misinformed, but from her perspective it's been too easy for you to become close friends with me."
"Huh?"
Shizuru shrugged, "I think that Haruka-san can tell that I treat Natsuki differently from everyone else, and she doesn't see what you've done to earn it."
"Why do you treat me differently than Haruka-san?" Natsuki asked, suddenly wondering why Shizuru wouldn't consider Haruka to be a closer friend than she did.
Shizuru blinked in surprise at the question, as though it was only just now occurring to her to wonder. "I guess that I always considered her to be a family friend. Something of an obligation. My mother and hers were 'friends'. Not friends like Natsuki and I, but friends like Reito-san and I. You know Natsuki, I suppose it's possible that maybe I haven't been giving Haruka-san a good enough chance either. I guess I had been viewing her as someone who was my mother's, where Natsuki was someone who is just mine."
Natsuki nodded thoughtfully even as she blushed slightly at Shizuru's words, "Maybe you should talk to her? Let her know how you feel, maybe even apologize a little."
"Thank you Natsuki, that is wonderful advice." Shizuru smiled, "I still want to spend time with Natsuki this afternoon though."
Natsuki grinned, "Sounds great!" She stood, pulling Shizuru to her feet with her. "...You know if caffeine isn't your beverage of choice we could go somewhere else if you wanted?" Natsuki questioned shyly, as she realized she hadn't really asked Shizuru what she might want to do.
Shizuru just smiled sweetly at her friend as she followed her outside, "Anywhere with Natsuki is perfect for me today." She laughed as Natsuki blushed brightly. "Thank you for coming to talk to me today, I don't know if I would have been brave enough to be the first one to apologize."
Natsuki grinned at her friend cheekily as they made their way toward the small cafe on campus, "Well you know, I am kindof a superhero. Being brave in scary situations is what I do."
"Scary situations? I was in the Student Council room."
"Yeah... which is enemy territory for me in case you hadn't noticed. And honestly shouldn't that tell you all you need to know about being friends with most of them?" Natsuki asked raising a questioning eyebrow.
Shizuru laughed, but nodded in agreement. She was still planning to do her best on the Student Council when it counted, but this year she wasn't going to spend all of her time trying to impress the other students on the Council. After all, they weren't even most of the students that voted anyway, so Shizuru could certainly afford to shift her priorities to getting to know some of the other students at her school. And even if it didn't work out with the Student Council... some things just mattered more.