Disclaimer

I, Shirogami, would like to state here, that I don't own any character of Mai-HiME Animation I used in this latest fan-fiction of mine. However, I do own this storyline and some original characters.
Please enjoy this story and R&R. NO FLAME IS WELCOMED HERE. In the mean time, I am not a good English writer, so please be tolerate if there are (?) many grammar mistakes. Thank you very much.

P.R.I.N.C.E
By Shirogami

If time never dies, I will protect you with the rest of mine.

Friday

After a bright light shines out from the stabbed flaw of the stonewall, Mai wonders if she had obtained the CHILD successfully. She sees nothing changes at all, only she has the dagger in her hands now, the dagger which she pulled out from the mouth of the drawn dragon.

Mai looks at the dagger and feels like been cheated. She looks at Nagi and asks, "You said I will get it after I put out the dagger, where is it now?"
Nagi looks up in the sky, points at it and says, "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Just when Mai has no idea of what it means, she notices Natsuki's expression of surprised and both the ORPHAN look above too.

"No way… it is my… CHILD?"
Mai is shocked when she found out that a creature is soaring in the sky. It is a white dragon with a pair of burning wings; its tails look more like phoenix and flowing like burning ribbons. But what catch Mai's most attention are its six green glowing eyes. The dragon notices the HiME who holds the sealed dagger and it is descending towards her.

It keeps floating in the air and looking at Mai, the dagger in Mai's hand responds to the presence of the dragon and shatters into pieces slowly, they flows towards the dragon's mouth and reforms a dagger pierced through it.

"What… is happening?" Mai questions.
"Kagutsuchi only respond to the one who holds the dagger, which able to seal and control it." Nagi walks forward and explains, "And it seems it had admitted you, a HiME, are its master now."
"Kagu…tsuchi?" Mai pronounces the name to confirm it.
"Yes, that CHILD's name… is Kagutsuchi." Nagi points at the dragon and ensures Mai. "Now, Mai, see if you can able to protect your precious now?"
"Takumi?" Mai looks at the flying ORPHAN, which still bewares of Kagutsuchi, the newborn CHILD with unknown ability. She immediately takes the chance and flies towards her brother before the ORPHAN takes its move.

But the scythe ORPHAN roars at its comrade and awakes the stunned ORPHAN about Mai's action, the flying ORPHAN reacts by charging to Mai with its body. Just when it almost reaches her, Kagutsuchi collides it away from Mai and makes a path for her. Kagutsuchi roars out loudly at its enemy along with its eyes glowing in bright green.

Just when the scythe ORPHAN tries to assist the fallen, it just forgot that it still in the battle with another HiME. Natsuki raises up both of her guns and finishes all the bullets onto its face.
"DURAN! LOAD CRIMSON CARTRIDGE!" Just when it is suffering for the pain the ELEMENT caused, DURAN was already in position and waiting for command.
"FIRE!" DURAN roars and shoots out two flame grenades towards the ORPHAN. They hit the targets and burn it with high temperature.

On the other hand, Keiji is still facing Kurohime and he pants rapidly for the battle. His armor is running out of energy.

"Now, Keiji. Will you just step aside, while I go and meet your Mai-hime."
Kurohime starts walking, without feeling tired at all. She just looks steady like before the fight. While Keiji is totally exhausted for holding her from approaching more towards Tokiha Mai, the one he wants to protect desperately. Keiji cannot believe that he cannot even make her sweat at all!

But, he cannot let her pass. Keiji knows this very well from the day he arrived here. There are HiME's behind his back and their fate lies in his hand. He cannot let Kurohime passes and reach them! Keiji gains back his strength and stands against her again. "Not a chance, Kurohime. I will guard them while I am here."

"But can I do now? The armor is out of energy soon, and I don't stand a chance against her, unless…"

Kurohime rises up her magnum and aims at his head, "Then die." Just right before she triggers her magnum, Keiji fighter's spirit comes back to him, he raises his hard knuckles high above his head, then with all his might he strikes at the ground and creates a blow.
Kurohime steps back at once, away form Keiji and the dust cloud the blow made. She starts firing at every inch she can into it. Just when she finished the magazine, she reloads them and waits until the smoke disappears. There is no one in her sight, Keiji is gone!
Or somewhere he has to go…

As for Mai, she successfully retreats her brother and tries to sent him to the hospital. Just when she thinks she can safely out from the flying ORPHAN's pursuit, it binds her leg with one of its obstacles. Mai falls on the ground and Takumi is slipped from her hand. In the mean time, Natsuki comes to help her with her CHILD loaded with silver cartridge.

"NO! GET MY BROTHER TO THE HOSPITAL NOW! HE CAN'T MAKE IT FOR LONG!" Mai shouts at the HiME near her brother, while she uses her ELEMENT to burn the obstacle that bound her.
"PLEASE NATSUKI! I BEG YOU!"

"There is nothing I can do now, she had claimed the CHILD anyway. And she is right, he looks too ill to stay for any longer." Natsuki puts Takumi on DURAN slowly, then it starts running with her into the forest to reach her bike.
"Just don't do anything stupid until I am back, you get me?" Mai just back faced Natsuki, without saying anything at all, but Natsuki can feel her determination to stay alive. She has to.

Now, there is only Mai, and her Child and the only ORPHAN left. Nagi had left while they are busy handling things. Mai, with ELEMENT fully activated, charges at the ORPHAN and blocks its attacks with the fire bracelets, while Kagutsuchi is assisting while there is a chance, although all of them are wild attacks. Just when Mai thought she is going to give it a final strike, another obstacle catches her right arm and left leg. Now she is opened for attack and Kagutsuchi cannot stop it at all since Mai will be within its attack range. The flying ORPHAN uses its sharp tail and ready to stab through Mai's heart.

"Mai, cover yourself!" Without thinking anymore for where the warning's from, Mai covers herself by sheilding herself with ELEMENT. The next thing she hears is the sounds of slashing and the roar of the ORPHAN.
"You're okay, Mai?" Mai opens her eyes and surprised to find out who helped her.

"Kei… Keiji? What are you doing here?" Actually, after Keiji manages to pushes back Kurohime for a short while with the sand dust, he quickly deactivates his armor and runs to reach Mai. Now, Keiji has his school clothes on, but the deactivation does not heal his wounds.
"We will talk later, Mai. Where is Natsuki?" Keiji asks after he did not have Natsuki in his sight.

"She is sending my brother to the hospital. Probably will come back later." Mai answers, with surprises still in her eyes.
"Is she? Then it will be fine." Keiji looks at Kagutsuchi, as it is observing him as well.

"I can't believe myself, that I can see you in this way."
Strangely, Kagutsuchi does not react violently, but it responds to Keiji by flipping the ears by its head.
"You know it, Keiji?" Mai dematerializes her ELEMENT and asks.
"It is a long story, Mai. But now…" Keiji looks at the direction he came from and continues, "we have to go, can you dismiss Kagutsuchi for now?"

"But… but how?" Mai doesn't know the way to dismiss it!
"Please, you can do it, just close your eyes and think." Keiji looks at Mai with confidence. She steps in front of Kagutsuchi, closing her eyes, then Kagutsuchi turns itself into red flames and disappears by burning out in the air.
"Good, now, Mai. Please follow me, we need a talk." Keiji holds Mai's hand and leads her into the forest.

At the same time, after Natsuki made sure Takumi is safe, she prepares to leave to assist Mai. But, the nameplate of a ward door grabs her attention before she leaves. It is an infamous name among her juniors for been fooling around the opposite genders like a bitch.
The name of another HiME she does not know, Yuuki Nao.

"Mai, sorry for telling you this late, but you got to believe me." Hiding on top of a tree together, Keiji explains.
"Keiji, I may be naive, but I not childish enough to buy it." Mai stares at Keiji with no faith in his words at all.
"A girl who can fuse with those creature is coming to get me? And want to absorb Kagutsuchi as well? Just what kind of joke is this?"
"I am no joking, Mai! Just how can I make you believe that?" Keiji just can't find a better way to convince the orange-haired girl before him.

"Unless tell me who you really are, Keiji."
"I'd already told you, Mai. I am just a normal human who was sent here to secure all of the HiMEs."
"Is that so?" Mai points at Keiji's wound and asks, "I won't buy it if you can recover this fast. For some wound like that it takes at least hours to heal, but you did it within minutes. Not to mention that you can hold me and jumps from tree to tree without any problem at all."

Curse my resilient body.

"Mai, you may be right. I am not a normal human generally, but I am not a monster either. I had been trained to fight ORPHAN since I was a kid, therefore I am able to do things which normal human cannot."
"But how does it explain about your body?"

"It… is the only thing I cannot tell you Mai. It might kill me if you know too much about me." Keiji seems suffering from telling Mai about the truth about him. In fact, he is strictly disallowed from telling anything about his body's unique ability.
"But only one thing I can assure you Mai, that I will protect you, even it costs my life for it. I swear it."

"Keiji…" Mai cannot talk anymore to question about him when she is looking into Keiji's eyes, "Just why… why are you willing to do this? You could have get yourself killed."
"It's because… I…" Just before he wants to finish his words, a click of a trigger just brings him back to senses.
"Hold me tight, Mai!" Keiji holds Mai in his arms and leaps away from the tree before the branch is blown by a powerful shot.

"Kurohime, she finally catches up with us." Landing on another bush, Keiji speaks. "There is no time to waste, Mai! I need your help!"
Just when Mai is still in confusion, Keiji continues, "I need you… to lend me your CHILD."
"My…WHAT?" Mai is surprised when she heard Keiji's unusual request.
"You heard me right, Mai. I will need to borrow your CHILD to fight against Kurohime. It's my only chance."

"But… but how, don't you just say that Kurohime can fuse with my CHILD if I summoned it?"
"Yes, that is if Kagutsuchi shows up its form." Keiji shows up his armor device and continues, "but not if it is sealed within here."

"What is this, a cog wheel?" Mai's question reminds him a de javu.
"A device specially made for me to fight against stronger ORPHAN by building an armor for me, it also a device with a unique system to let me using the HiME's ability." Keiji looks at Mai again and continues, "if she permitted me."
"Permit you to use her power?" Mai asks again.

"Do you see this orb? It will scan the fingerprints of the HiME who touches it; at the same time, it records and analyzes her voice when she is mentioning her CHILD's name as password. After these procedures, it will reboot the system within fifteen minutes and restart the armor programme to be fit with the permitted HiME and her CHILD's ability." Keiji explains to Mai about its function, just like he had been told before he came to Fukka Academy.

Just when they are talking, Kurohime fires another shot towards them. Keiji immediately covers Mai with his body and the bullet hits his arm. Since he is not wearing his armor, the bullet pierces through it and makes Keiji bites his lower lips to stand the pain.
"Keiji!" As soon as Mai noticed the wound, she immediately materializes her ELEMENT to fight alongside with him, and protect him as well. But Keiji holds her arm with his bleeding hand and stops her. He swings his head because he wants Mai to stand out of the fight. "I'd told you before, right? It is my job to cover you from danger, not you, Mai?"

"But your arm, Keiji. You're just been shot! And you ask me to just stay calm and do nothing?" Mai starts to argue with Keiji. She knows that she can fight along with him since she is a HiME, even though she knows the risk of losing her power. She rushes towards Kurohime and faces her on the plains not far from them.
"Mai, wait!" Keiji tries to hold her but his injury just makes him stops. He looks at the device that is still lack of energy.
"There is no other choice."

"Greetings, Mai. And looks like you finally obtained a CHILD and became a HiME. Congratulations." Kurohime looks at the armed Mai and greets after she dematerializes her guns.
"So, you are Kurohime. And what makes you so happy to see me, is it because you are going to kill me and claim my power?"

"Kill? Come on, you believe what Keiji told you blindly?" Kurohime puts her arms on her waist and says, "Mai-chan. I am not that violent enough to kill so I can get what I want. In fact, the HiME gives me their power on their will, I didn't force them to." Kurohime acts innocence and continues, "HiME is destined to fight like a barbarian and cannot shares this problem with their love ones. Isn't it funny? A girl shall enjoy her life with romance and live her life happily with someone she loves, not getting themselves involved in such brutal game."

While Mai is listening, her bracelets' fire becomes weaker. Kurohime notices it and smirks before she starts her another persuasion. "So, Mai. Why don't you cooperate with me? All you have to do is pass your ability to me, and you can continue your life like any normal girl can, just simple like A, B, C, right?"

Just when Kurohime thought she almost successful, Mai finally answers.
"Kurohime, it is true that a normal girl like me shall have a normal school life with friends, get in love with someone and live peacefully for the rest of her life. I once tried to abandon the task of being a HiME and think such way too." Kurohime smiles wickedly until she hears the rest.
"But, by the moment I pulled the dagger and unleashed my CHILD, I had made my mind, that I will not run away anymore, because I want to protect the one I treasured, so they can live along with me." Mai's ELEMENT comes back to burn fiercely. "With this power of a HiME."

"Is it so?" Kurohime sighs and she finally aims at Mai with her gun.
"Then you leave me no choice then, Mai-chan. I will claim your power after you died." Then Kurohime fires at Mai rapidly. Mai avoids and blocks them with her bracelets, until a shot is powerful enough to make her fall on the ground. Just before she tries to get up again, Kurohime starts generating power on the gun barrel.
"Farewell, Mai-hime" Kurohime ends it by firing a shot with the force of a tornado that twirls and rages at Mai.

Just when Mai raises up her arms to protect herself and manage to summon her CHILD, someone had stood before her, he is wearing his wrecked armor again and uses all of his might to hold the tornado, the force even breaks his helmet and reveals his face to Mai.

"Keiji! That armor?"
Just when Mai is surprised by his reactivated armor, Keiji's trembling arms begin to arch because he is weakened after previous fight and now it is almost impossible for him to stand against Kurohime's attack.

"Now, Mai! Get away from here! You are far too weak to fight her." Keiji tries to hold the tornado so she gets a chance to flee.
"But how about you?"
"I will try everything to hold her from getting you. Go now and get more HiME's help! I am counting on you! Argh!" Suddenly Keiji's arm armor explodes and reveals his skin. It's only the matter of time before Kurohime crushes his armor.
"No, Keiji. You will come with me. I cannot just leave you here." Mai starts crying and asks Keiji to escape with her.

"Mai, about your question just now, you're asking why do I want to protect you so desperately, right?" Keiji's question makes Mai's cheek starts to get reddish. Keiji forces himself a smile, his eyes is looking at hers tenderly.
"It's because I love you, Mai. Of all the woman in the world, you are the one I love most and I can't let you die, not if I am still able to stand on my feet."
Mai just can't stop herself from blushing more reddish, both of them knew each other no more than a week, and Keiji confesses his feeling towards her in such situation. All of this happens so suddenly until she is doubt of what she has to do next.
"Therefore, Mai. Run away from here! Don't make me break my promise again." Keiji starts being pushed backward again and the armor on his other arm cannot hold any longer.

All of a sudden, Keiji's expression and his broad back just remind Mai about Tate Yuichi. She does not know the reason, she just got that kind of feeling within a flash, a feeling of someone who will protect her from everything. Keiji's eyes even look as same as Keiji, they are serious but tenderness within them.
Mai slowly hugs Keiji from behind without worrying the danger. She can hear his heartbeat and feel the warmth of the protector under his cool armor. She finally makes up her mind and whispers to Keiji.

Just in the nick of time, a silhouette appears above them and interrupts the battle.

"DURAN! LOAD SILVER CATRIDGE!" Keiji knows the voice and smiles when he knows she returns to help.
"FIRE!" By Natsuki's command, DURAN fires ice grenades upon Kurohime and freezes her within a blast of ice waves. It helps Keiji to take the chance to push the weakened tornado shot away. He finally eases up a bit and Mai holds him when he is falling.

"Natsuki, how is Takumi, is he okay?" Mai asks when the blue-haired gunner lands by their side.
"He is fine and resting at the hospital. In the mean time, I think we need to go while we can." Natsuki holds Keiji on the other side and all of them leave the iced area.

"Man, that was really close. I thought I almost dead back then." Standing on one of the tree branches, Nagi sweeps his forehead after he saw the messes around the forest. He can't believe that someone who is not a HiME can nearly destroy the whole forest.
"But still, why am I feeling strange about that Kurohime? No, on top of that, there is something weird about that Keiji as well after he put on his armor. Just what is it?" Nagi tries to get some clues from what he saw along the way.
"Argh… this is too hard, I better observe a little longer."

"Not so fast, everyone." A voice echoes from the blasted iced area shocks both Natsuki and Mai. When they turned themselves and look at it, the ground starts to rumble and the ice that sealed Kurohime starts to crack.
As far as Natsuki know, no one ever successfully able to break DURAN's ice attack. She is very sure that Kurohime will not be free for at least few hours before she managed to use DURAN to attack.

"Natsuki, get Mai out of here." Whispering softly, Keiji tends to stand on his own again with his shaking legs. His action worries the girls by his side.
"Keiji, are you nuts or something? You are committing suicide by fighting her now!" Natsuki scolds him.
"You care?" Keiji's replies with blood vomited and flow down to his chin.
"That's not the point here. We get to go away from here now, and you are coming with us!" Natsuki tries to hold his arm again but he swings it away.

"You little annoying bitch! Get away from here right now!" Keiji stares at both Mai and Natsuki fiercely. Both of the HiME are surprised by his reaction and on top of that, his words are too cruel for thanking someone helps him.
"What did you just say?" Natsuki cannot understand his intention and starts quarreling.

"Didn't you hear me? I say get out from my sight now, you stupid female!" Keiji smirks at them.
"Man, I am tiring for serving long enough onto some girl like you. You're just doing no good as a woman or a HiME, or your ability is just good on the bed and serving…" Before Keiji finishes, Natsuki slaps his face for insulting girl's pride.

"Fine! Go and die like you want! Let's go, Mai!" the hot-tempered Natsuki is blazed and she drags Mai away with Duran following them. Before they are running out from his sight, both DURAN and Keiji has a glance at each other and Keiji relieves a trusting smile onto DURAN.

Yes, go away and don't come back. And please protect them with all you can, my friend. Keiji returns his sight back on the iced cage that is almost busted open.

"Strange…" Mai is thinking while Natsuki is getting ready to run the bike's engine.
"What are you thinking about? Let's go." Natsuki calls Mai before she covers her helmet's shade.
"Natsuki, don't you think we must stay by Keiji's side? You know he will die if he fights under such condition." Mai still concerns about Keiji.

"You still care for that bastard? Forget him!" Natsuki is angered when Mai is mentioning about Keiji. She uncovers the shade and looks at Mai. "Don't you get angry when he insulted us such way?"
"Of course I am angry! His words are too awful! But then, somehow I think he just wanted to persuade us to go, away from him and that woman." Mai reconsiders all the circumstances and wonders.
"Man, just what makes you still believe in him?" Natsuki sits straightly on the bike's seat and asks.
"I… I don't know. All I know is that if we don't help him, then he will die." Mai looks back at the forest after she heard explosion behind it.
"I am going back."

"What?" Natsuki says.
"You heard me. I am going back." Without thinking anymore, Mai runs back into the forest back to where they left Keiji.
"Mai, wait! Damn!" Natsuki guns her bike back into the forest after Mai.

Keiji roars when Kurohime hits his abdomen directly with a charged energy shot. Its incredible power has blasted Keiji away from his enemy like a swung baseball. It is a fortunate that he is still wearing the armor that prevents his body by being blasted apart, but the impact from the shot and direct hit on the trees just caused more injuries and wounds upon him. After Keiji forced himself to fight Kurohime, his armor is almost ruined and now there's only the wrecked chest vest and right leg armor remain adapted, his only weapon, the katana, had already been snapped into two.

With his trembling hands supporting his weak body to get up from the smashed ground, Keiji vomits blood unwillingly and his tiring eyes shows his dissatisfaction for the huge difference between Kurohime's power and his. He really cannot believe himself that the device supposes to strengthen his ability, is acting useless right all, it indirectly tells him that he is nothing like a powerless kid upon Kurohime.

"Damn it!" Keiji holds his fists hard as steel.
"Even with this device, I still can't fight against her?" Keiji observes the orb of the device, it just starts to getting bright, "It still not ready yet, what shall I do now?"

Keiji slowly stands up, but his trembling legs are just reaching their limit and bends down again, but Keiji barely forces himself to keep on standing and fighting, and his eyes are looking at the approaching enemy fiercely.

After she successfully controls Akane's CHILD's ability, Kurohime has pushed her power to reach another limit and surpasses Keiji. She looks at the defeated Keiji gladly, as she knows that he cannot do anything more to stop her from getting other HiME's power. But deep in her mind, Keiji will still intrude her way if she doesn't kill him now.
Kurohime slowly forms dark aura twirling like a rod in her hand, then it becomes solid lance within a blink.
"Keiji, thank you for playing with me all this time. It is so much fun and pleasure." Kurohime catches the lance and ready to throws it.
"Take this as an honor I can give to a warrior like you, farewell."

Keiji cannot respond at all, his remaining strength only enough for him to stand and watches the way he meet him doom; His trembling knuckles is numb, even he tries to hard to raises them one more time to block the fencing attack, his tiring legs do not react like he wants to avoid Kurohime's finishing move.
"Is this the end? Not even give me a chance to claim the CHILD away from her?" Keiji looks at the approaching attack and curses for his fate.
"I am sorry, Mai…"

Just when everything seems decided, a figure just dash out from nowhere and pushes Keiji away, its action had made Kurohime misses her target, but the lance straightly impales through the intruder's body.

End of Friday

Author's word:

Hello, everyone, especially the fans of Mai-HiME, I hope you all enjoy the Anime like I did.

So, how will you feel when someone you believe suddenly treats you like an idiot, like Keiji did to the HiMEs here? Will you think the same like Mai figured that Keiji was doing this to keep them away from facing the danger with him? I can figure some answers like 'Bullshit', 'Of course not', or even 'Who cares, it won't happen to me anyway, right?'
True, this is a fiction after all, and fiction is not 100 percent fact. But we can never deny, that sometimes we lie even to ourselves, just intend to keep someone we care away from danger or getting hurt, either physically or mentally.

See you tomorrow.