Fumi stood on the platform and addressed the crowd of seniors "This will be the last winter test you take at Fuuka academy..." she waited as the cheers died down "I hope you all get what you wish for to help you go on to do whatever it is in life..." her speech continued on but Natsuki blocked it out.

She had spent the whole night thinking about alternate universes and parallel dimensions. She had gotten so desperate that she turned over to the sci fie channel hoping to get ideas from the shows on there but to no avail because while there were plenty of shows on the subject matter there wasn't any plausible explanations about how it happens. She was somewhat relieved because the day a sci fie programme helped her to solve her problems was the day she gave up the fight and join Shizuru in her love for the daft genre.

A few times that night she tried calling Shizuru but she never answered, she had the distinct feeling her calls were being screened and she wasn't used to being ignored by Shizuru. Even though this worlds Shizuru wasn't her own she still wanted to see her. Though she didn't know what she would say or do once she did. She scanned the crowd hoping to catch sight of her but she wasn't here and why should she be this was only a confidence boosting speech for seniors who were really feeling the pressure to succeed on tests.

"...And I would like to bring on someone who has gone through the same thing as you: Fujino Shizuru," her head snapped to the podium as Fumi stepped aside for Shizuru to talk to the students. "It seems like the end of the world doing these tests but really that's the easy part its waiting on the results that will really make you panic" the crowd laughed obediently all students whose attention had wandered like her own were snapped back at the sound of Shizuru's voice.

She continued to talk about how they would be fine if they worked hard and did their best but she stopped listening to her as well. She just drunk in the sight of her not having known how much she missed the other girls voice until now. Shizuru would know how to get out of a parallel dimension or alternate universe she was sure.

The speech ended and she stood with the rest of the students and clapped until her hands were sore. She fought her way out of the crowd to the podium but was annoyed to discover that Shizuru had already left. She was ready to stomp her foot and throw a fit because she was fast running out of patients with this damn world when she suddenly knew where Shizuru would be.

She was right Shizuru was in their garden but she wasn't alone, Natsuki ducked behind one of the pillars holding the gazebo up and listened.

"I heard you moved out of the mention Fumi-sama." Shizuru's voice was quite and her usually pleasant tone was gone.

"Yes, I didn't need all that space," even from her hiding place she could tell Fumi's cheer sounded false.

"It must be terribly lonely with Mashiro gone," Shizuru's voice was sympathetic because she empathised with the older woman to a degree.

"Yes, yes it is," there was a sound that Natsuki imagined was Fumi swallowing hard "if you excuse me Funjino-san I have things to attend to."

She waited a few more seconds before she came out of her hiding place. Shizuru's back was to her and she traced the outline with her eyes. She knew now why she had come in search of this Shizuru. She wanted to be selfish. She wanted this Shizuru to love her so she could stay in this world where everyone was happy and she would be able to introduce Shizuru to her mother as her girlfriend. She would be able to kept them both and for this first time in her life have everything she ever wanted. She thought she was ready to leave this perfect world where her mother was alive and Mai and everyone was happy but she wasn't. She needed to see this Shizuru to make up her mind. She needed to know if she could live with the other girls as only her friend. She needed to see if she was actually in love with Shizuru or not before she gave up all this world had to offer her and go back to the Shizuru who loved her. It was selfish but it was what she needed.

"Shizuru..." the other girl turned and she lost her voice.

"Kuga-san, how nice it is for you to come and see me after running away," Shizuru's voice was neither hostile or her usual politeness when talking with the pubic instead it was cold and she all but glared at Natsuki.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that 'Zuru" 'Zuru' started at the name not used to anyone taking liberties like that when it came to addressing her. Natsuki had wanted to call the other girl that for awhile just to see her reaction and it seemed a good time to try it to diffuses the situation.

It worked because Shizuru's shoulders slumped and her stance loosened. She could never stay mad at Natsuki no matter how hard she tried "why did you run away Natsuki? Why didn't you answer my calls?"

"Well it was because I hated seeing you with Reito," she took a deep breath and got as close to the other girl as she could without seeming to intimidate her "if I'm honest it's because I like having you all to myself."

Shizuru blinked at the out of character declaration from the normally stoic Natsuki who would rather do housework, something she despised, than talk about her feelings. "Natsuki..."

"And if I'm really honest," she continued "I like having you all to myself because I think I'm in love with you and I'm going to kiss you now so I can find out," her palms were sweating and she was really nervous. She lent in closer to the other girl afraid to touch her encase she spooked her.

Shizuru didn't know why she wasn't moving. Natsuki was inching forward very slowly perhaps to give her the chance to stop her which she should be doing right now because she had a wonderful boyfriend and had never even thought of kissing Natsuki her best friend.

She finally touched her lips to Shizuru's soft ones. Now that she was here she had no idea what to do. Faces up close looked really scary like a bad abstract painting. She closed her eyes and began to move her mouth. While she was actually enjoying herself more than she thought she would she had a nagging suspicion that she was rather bad at this kissing thing. It didn't help that Shizuru was just standing there frozen.

She wanted to melt into Natsuki. She wanted to sweep the other girl off her feet and onto the grass and show her how a kiss was really done. The impulse was so strong and familiar that it didn't seem to be hers as she had never thought of doing anything romantic with her friend before today, but the desires that were raging on inside her seemed far too desperate to have been born for only a few short seconds.

She pulled away reluctantly and dragged her eyes open. She had really like that, loved it in fact. There was no denying it now Shizuru was the one for her. She swayed and felt very dizzy but looking at Shizuru's face sobered her up quickly. The other girl looked shocked and horrified and she realised this was probably what she looked like the night of the HiME festival and felt extremely sorry for her Shizuru.

Her hands twitched to slap the other girl. She had absolutely no right to do that to her! To make her feel things she didn't want! "Never do that again" her voice was cold and she turned sharply away from the other girl.

"Shizuru!" she grabbed her hand desperately "In the Carnival who was your most important person? It was me wasn't it? We died together in each others arms! You love me!" her voice wasn't desperate like she imagined it would be but strong and cut thought the air demanding Shizuru answer her now and honestly.

"It was Reito, you killed me and then disappeared yourself! You said it was because I was your best friend but now I know the real reason," she pulled her hand away and shocked them both by running from Natsuki. Natsuki had never seen Shizuru run before in her life. It was a rare sight to see her going faster than a snails pace so to actually see her running was such a surprise that the sight should be documented. Deep down though she felt hurt at how much the other girl wanted to get away from her.

XxXx

She was driving hard and fast along the highway, miles and miles of road stretched out before her and despite her dangerous break neck speed she knew with an unwanted certainty that she would never catch up to Shizuru. Mostly because she had no idea which one she was chasing.

This worlds Shizuru who loved her like a friend or her worlds Shizuru that loved her more than that. Her heart was torn why couldn't she make up her mind? It was simple right? Go home to the girl she loves…except it wasn't simple because the girl she loves was boarding a plane to Kyoto and might not want to see her and the girl that loved her like a friend wanted to get as far away from her as possible. Love or Friendship? She could lose both anyway. If she did lose this worlds Shizuru she always had her mother and Duran but if she lost her own Shizuru she had no one.

But that wasn't her mother…

This wasn't her Shizuru…

And this is not her world…

She knew now what she wanted she wanted to go back to her own world. she wanted to go a back to her own Shizuru. She might lose everything if she went back but she couldn't stay here surrounded by people that weren't hers. She didn't want to. She had to turn her bike into a dangerous skid to make the corner in time and cursed at herself to pay more attention to the road. She was trying to recreate the conditions that got her here in the first place. She had no idea what else to do and no where else to look for clues. The sky was dark and full but only threatened rain and there wasn't any other vehicles in sight. She needed it to rain and for a truck to-

A truck.

She pulled her bike into a U turn and promised that after she got home she would be the safest driver ever but not right now. She drove to the nearest library glad to have something to go on which was more reliable than throwing herself over a cliff and hoping for the best. The truck that she had crashed into had a the logo of a flaming sun with a smiley face, she hadn't given it much thought but now it seemed vitally important. She did recognise dimly that she was clutching at straws but she had nothing else to loose.

She logged onto one of the library's computers and a Google search later she had the name of the company and a customer information number.

"Good afternoon, IncoSun customer services Yumi speaking, how may I help you?" The voice was monotone no doubt having lost enthusiasm after years of giving the same speech.

"Hello I'm Mai Kuga and I'm writing a school report for my business class and wanted to inquire about the deliveries made in the Fuuka area?" she lied through her teeth hoping luck was on her side.

"The Fuuka area? Lets see we currently only deliver to one outlet store in that area but deliveries have been halted for the time being." Natsuki could just imagine the body the voice belonged to, a blonde bored sectary filing her nails and not paying much attention to the conversation which was great for her as bored workers were often the most chatty.

"Why have the deliveries been halted?" she tried to sound polite and not eager.

"The truck for that route has gone missing and the drivers position has yet to be filled..." the woman's bored tone faded as she realised she may have said something that she shouldn't have "what did you say your report was on?" but the only thing that answered her was the dial tone.

Her brows furrowed in thought. The truck driver would have been useful because she could have asked him if he was from her world to but she didn't know what it meant if he was missing altogether and the Fuuka run was currently not in service. Her last hope was rapidly slipping away. She could try and find the man in the green car that she tried to over take but that was a slim chance as all she remembered was the cars colour. She tried to remember the license plate number as she remembered staring at it but not really taking it in because she was to wrapped up in thoughts of Shizuru.

She went back to the computer she defiantly knew that it began with the kana 'd' and 12 or was it 21? She logged onto It was a handy website that private detectives used to find cars. She subscribed to it when she was trying to find her mothers killers, this was long before she had established any of her contacts in the underworld. After signing up again as her account wasn't active in this world, she typed in the two numbers she thought were on the license plate her partial search had six hounded hits. She narrowed the search down by colour and then eliminated all unsuitable vehicles like convertibles and bikes. She now only had one hundred and twelve hits, she tried to remember the make and model but her memory was to foggy. She would start her search working from further outside Fuuka inwards. She figured that since the green car was heading out bound with family in tow that the driver was returning home. She printed of the list and phone numbers. It was going to be a long night…

"Hello I'm Mai Kuga from Fuuka tourist resort just calling to see if you enjoyed your stay in our wonderful town?" she put on her fake cheery voice.

"Fuuka where the hells that?" Angry middle age man.

"I'm sorry miss, I've never been to Fuuka" Old woman.

"I'm busy here lady!" Rude young man.

"Why do you people always call during dinner?" frustrated housewife.

"Fuuka?! Oh yeah I loved Fuuka! I was thinking about going back there maybe we could meet up?" Horney college student.

On and on the list went until she was just about ready to strangle herself with the phone line. She had run out of money on her mobile and had to resort to using the phone box outside the library. After the next call she was going to have to run and get change. There was still sixty names left. The numbers that worried her where the four numbers that no one picked up. She kept thinking that one of them was the owner of the green car and she was wasting her time phoning the other numbers.

"Hello I'm Mai Kuga from Fuuka tourist resort just calling to see if you enjoyed your stay in our wonderful town?" her voice had lost it earlier cheery lustre and she was merely going thought the motions, like most office workers.

"Ah sorry Miss Kuga I cancelled my trip to Fuuka," the mans voice was polite enough that he was obviously using his own telephone voice.

She straightened against the box that she was slumped against pulling on already taxed resource she managed to become more interested and friendlier. "Sorry for calling you Mr..." she glanced hurriedly at her papers "...Nakamura, but do you mind if I asked why you cancelled your trip to our fair city?"

"Oh it has nothing to do with your city Kuga-san," he hurried to assure the young woman on the other side of the phone "it was just my wife had a bad dream about an accident." As soon as he said it he regretted it as he thought now he was going to have to endure the tourist officers assurance that Fuuka was a wonderfully safe place.

Natsuki curled around the phone and her grip on it became tighter. Yes, finally she might have found something! "It was a car accident wasn't it, Mr Nakamura?"

"Yeah, it was actually" he looked at his phone suspiciously, there was no way a tour guide in Fuuka could know that.

"Involving a truck and a motor bike?" her voice dropped all pleasantries in her eagerness.

"How did you know that?" he was started and a little freaked out that this woman knew so much about his wife's dream "tell me how you knew that!" but his only answer was the dial tone.

Yes she wasn't mad! There had been an accident. She was beginning to doubt herself as there seemed to be no evidence to back her up. The news didn't report anything, she was still alive and unmarked plus the truck driver that had vanished. Now that Mr Nakamura's wife knew about the accident as well she felt closer to getting home. She passed a shop selling underwear and fetish costumes which usually made her blush and hurry on but something caught her eye in the window and she stared.

That was it!

She once again jumped on her bike and rode at dangerous speeds to get back to school. She once again promised to drive more carefully once this was all over and done with but for now she opened her bike up and allowed it to go to its fullest speed.

She arrived at the schools church but didn't find what she was looking for so she hammered on the teachers private rooms. Ishigami-sensie poked his head through the door his hair dishevelled, he managed to glare at Natsuki with bleary eyes before she pushed past him.

"Yukariko-san do you have access to your Child?" she was out of breath and paid no heed to the man that was mumbling angrily at her. Yukariko looked up form where she had been putting the twins to bed and glared at the intruder putting her first finger over her mouth to signal to Natsuki to be quite. She felt a little ashamed of herself but in her defence she didn't realise it was so late.

"Now what did you want Kuga-san?" Yukariko asked politely once they were outside. She felt like a terrible bully after having burst into the other woman's home and then been treated so nice.

"Can you summon your Child?" she asked once again and couldn't help but want to shake the answer out of the other woman, she was so close.

"No" the other woman looked confused and she rapidly deflated. She actually wanted to cry she had been so sure she was right and now it turned out that she was wrong, woefully wrong in fact.

"Though its funny you should bring him up," the ex-sister placed a hand under her chin thoughtfully "I had a dream about St. Valas a few nights ago but it was awful strange."

Hope springs anew! she leaned in eagerly "strange how?"

"Well I was talking to him at the mansion and I don't recall ever going there before," she looked at the school girl that was practically on top of her "eh Kuga-san why do you want to know?" she was a little uncomfortable with the close contact.

"You were at the mansion?" she ignored the other woman's question and at her nod took of running for her bike.

It made even more sense now!

XxXx

A/N: Apologises if there is any big mistakes as I'm dying with the cold and boredom. That has to be the worst thing about being sick just having to lie there and suffer it.