Hmmmm... I wrote it all out on paper, but then as I was typing it up the whole chapter sorta morphed into something else :s I haven't got a clue what the hell I'm doing but sometimes things work out better that way. On to the story... You can beat me up at the end honest.
I don't own the characters of any Anime or Manga... I'm not that lucky
Shimako's POV
Big Sei was on the phone by the time My Sei and I finally get out of the bedroom. She's talking to a girl called Ami. I've heard My Sei mention her before and wonder who she is. I look around what used to be the sitting room and kitchen and grimace. The blast had been totally contained within the two rooms. All of the walls, if a little smoke damaged and charred, aren't buckled or torn to pieces like I thought they would be. Everything else is black, in pieces and mostly still smoking away to itself; including Jo's television.
"Ami please, all I need is some information. There's no need for you to be a jerk about not being able to tag along with us." Big Sei neither looks nor sounds angry, just tired and weary.
"Thank you. He said that the man who hired him has the last name Mizuno. He doesn't know the man's first name but does that matter?"
The rest of her words fade out at the name she gave to Ami. It can't be possible. There is no way that... I look up at Sei and see the tic working in her jaw. There's a glare in her eyes that could melt solid stone.
"Sei...?" I ask her in a quiet tone. She turns to look at me. She takes me in her arms, kissing me on the lips sweetly before she takes the keys from Big Sei. How many vehicles do you know of that can still be driven after being blown up? I sit in the passenger seat but don't bring up the conversation.
"Rei's hurt and badly Sachiko said. Youko is going to be in pieces already so I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention anything to her." She says to me and I nod my head.
"Thank you. I think that Youko may need Eriko and me tonight you don't mind do you?" She asks me and I smile softly at her as I shake my head. I don't see why she would think that I'd mind her supporting her friend.
"Youko-Sama is a very important person to you. It is only right that you are there for her. I don't mind in the slightest." I say to her. She gives me a weak thankful smile and nods.
Natsuki's POV
I sit down on Nao's bed, freshly bandaged up and in a pair of comfortable bed shorts and a tank top. The others are sat talking between themselves. It seems like we're all staying in here tonight. Nao said that we should probably stay together tonight and make plans for the morning. I don't want to stay with her. Well actually I do but the nerves that are building in the pit of my stomach don't want me to. They don't have a spare futon because the others are going to be using them, so I have to share her bed. Me in the same bed as Nao; going to sleep with her close, her heat mingling with mine. What will it be like to wake up next to her? Our relationship is platonic, even if I don't want it to be. It's platonic and often violent but it is ours. I like her a lot. I know it isn't love but I know that I'm attracted to her. Who wouldn't be? She's self righteous and she can stand her ground against me. She can banter with the best of them and on top of all that... she's actually just a really sweet girl. She's maybe a little too young for me. Maybe I shouldn't be sexually attracted to her because of that but I am. She's only a year - two years at the most – younger than me. It wouldn't matter if we were adults, but the fact that we're both in school means that the gap is classed as wrong... me liking her is wrong, never taking into consideration the fact that we're both girls.
"Wow." Nao's voice brings me out of my reverie and I look at her shocked face.
"What...?" I ask her cautiously.
"I've never seen you look like that." She says.
"Like what?"
"Like you have the ability to think." She laughs at me. My jaw goes slack and she laughs harder before my jaw tightens and I shout her name in anger.
"Haha that was a prime example of Natsuki denseness. You walked right into it." She laughs until my temper blows. We stare at each other, our eyes shooting venom between us as I pin her against the wall. My forearm is pressed against her neck as my other hand holds both of hers above her head. She isn't laughing now. Instead there is a look in her eyes of pure determination. I feel my blood burning through my veins as I catch the scent of her freshly cleansed flesh. The sight of her in the bath with me washing the dirt from her gashed skin invades my head and my face turns as red as the hot blood that is searing inside me. She's looking at me in much the same way now. Her cheeks are a pretty shade of pink as she stares at me wide eyed and struggling for breath. We're so close that I can feel her warm fresh air stuttering against my face. I can feel the heat radiating from her. It's then that I remember there are other people in the room and they are all watching us. I let her go slowly, shaking myself mentally as I step back away from her and look down at the floor.
"Sorry." I whisper. She just grunts at me as she barges past me and sits down on her bed. I feel my fingertips twitching as if they're aching to touch her. They can't be... can they? I don't want her like that... not... who am I kidding? Our arguing makes me want her with a violent need. Does she feel like this? Does she feel the same? What if I'm just imagining that she could want me like that?
"Fuck it I aint sorry at all." I turn around and look at her. She is truly shocked this time.
"You bate me and taunt me and then don't expect me to loose my rag with you? If you can loose it then why the fuck can't I?" I growl at her. A coy smile slips onto her face and my breath hitches in my throat. I really hope nobody noticed that. I really, really hope that nobody noticed it. I block them out of my mind ignoring them until I almost believe there's only Nao and I in the room. In the corner of my eye though I can see Aoi and Chi playing with their camera phones.
"I only bate you because it's so easy to get a rise out of you." She says with a spark in her eyes.
"Why do you want to get a rise out of me in the first place?"
"Because it's funny seeing that little vein in your forehead pulse."
"You're just a psychotic bitch then really aren't you?" I growl at her.
"Me psychotic? If I remember your best friend is the biggest psychotic bitch in the world so don't even bring that up." She growls back at me as she gets to her feet again. We're stood facing each other with our hands clenched in fists.
"Don't bring Shizuru into this, she's a better person than you could ever be." I shout at her. I didn't mean to say that. I really didn't mean that. Oh god she's going to hate me forever now.
"She's better than me? I don't think I'm the one that topped all of our friends so that she wouldn't have any competition!" She shouts at me and I find myself shaking. Her words aren't truly connecting with me. She looks so hot!
"No you're the one that thought it was okay to offer your body to strange men just to steal their wallets!" I yell back at her. She goes to strike me but I grip her fist and pull her against me so that she can't get a shot at me.
"Erm... guys...?" Someone says. I'm not sure who because I'm lost in her angry eyes.
"Those people what are after you won't need to kill you if you carry on like this."
'The people? What people? After us? Darnit Natsuki get a grip would you!'My mind shouts at me. I push Nao away from me hard enough to knock her onto her bed before I storm out of the door leaving them to it. It was so hard not to kiss her. She was so angry; furious at me and it made my core ache. Images of us kissing franticly had shredded my mind as I felt her chest rising and falling against my chest. She was so angry she was all but huffing and puffing at me. I kick my dorm room door open and storm in. Three men jump to their feet and I freeze.
'Shit, shit, shit!!!' my mind screams. My eyes are wide and my adrenalin shoots through the roof as I stand there watching them. Three men, three guns, two are semi automatics the third a shot gun that looks like it would pepper my entire body with shrapnel in seconds. I gulp trying to evaluate my best course of action.
'Here's a course of action for you... ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!'
"Are you here to kill me or take me captive?" I ask them on the off chance that they'll answer me. The man with the shot gun cocks it and I move. I grab the barrel yank him towards me and smash my forehead into his nose. I have to hold him up using him as protection as I twist his arm and squeeze his finger on the trigger at the heads of the other two. They fly back at the force of the impact, flesh exploding off their faces and splattering against the walls as they collapse. I drop the human shield and grab my weapons from my jeans draw and run for the door.
"Hey!" My head snaps round at the sound of a man's voice. Doors have opened on the corridor at the sound of the shots from the human shields powerful gun, including Nao's door.
"Fuck...!" I scramble down the corridor as he fires an automatic gun at me. I skid on my front down the corridor, rolling onto my back I aim and fire at the man. Bullets explode into the wall and floor around me sending flecks of plaster firing at me before one of my bullets hits his forehead.
"Nao!!" I shout as four more men run down the corridor. I scuttle away rushing into Nao's room and slamming the door shut. I all but throw everyone into the bathroom seconds before the door to Nao's dorm is blasted to smithereens. Nao grabs her carbon coated semi automatic pistols from her draw. We're sat on the floor praying that they don't blindly fire down. They kick the door off of its hinges catapulting it towards us. It barely misses me as I swing my arm around it and shoot the first guy in the chest. At the same time Nao's powerful pistols shot the top of the second man's head off in an explosion of grey matter and flecks of shattered skull. The third man is caught in the eye with the same bullet.
'We have to get out now!' My mind hollers but I pay it no attention as I jump to my feet blowing the last mans' groin and head to pieces. Everything goes quiet. Nobody moves; not a twitch. There are no more men rushing towards us, no more shots fired, no more... It was all over in seconds. I slowly come back down to earth as I hear myself panting for air. I groan as my adrenalin falls and I sink to my knees. Why are they after us? Big Sei said that they are our marks, not the other way around.
"Nao... are you okay?" I ask from where I'm knelt on my knees limply holding my guns.
"Yeah, I'm in one piece if that's what you're asking. We need to get out of here before the police turn up."
"What kind of psycho attacks their mark in a densely populated area? Close combat with guns in a dorm building attracts too much attention. What the fuck are they playing at? Do they want the police on their tails?" I ask almost as if I'm talking to myself.
"Natsuki we need to get to Big Sei as soon as possible. They obviously don't care who they hurt so we need to get away from our friends." She says. All thoughts of our earlier argument are pushed aside for the moment. I struggle to me feet and help her up.
"Pack what you need we're going now." I say to her as I open the bathroom door.
"Go back to Mai's room. Don't hang around near our rooms. Don't let anybody know you are associated with us and for crying out loud don't confront anyone that comes near you with a gun. There's no coming back if you die this time." I say to them. I push them all out of Nao's room, even her roommate. I gave her a chance to grab her clothes and wash things and then propped the door up against where it should stand. There's a gaping splintered hole in it so I stand in front of it as Nao gets dressed. We both run back to my room. I jump into my spare leathers leaving nothing on underneath them as Nao grabs my things for me. We travel light. A spare pare of clothes, our spare cash and bank cards, our weapons and all the ammo that we can carry. We reload our weapons and strap them to ourselves in holster before we head out.
Youko's POV
I lean slumped against the tiled shower wall, shaking even though there is hot water washing over my skin. I've never seen anyone in as much pain as Rei was in. I was so scared for her that something very hard clicked into place in my mind. I don't ever want to loose her. I don't want to let her go. I can't leave her behind by going to college. I don't know how I'd survive if I didn't see her beautiful face for more that a day. I look up as Sachiko steps into the bathroom with some clean clothes. My others are in the washer, not that a cleaning can wash away the rips. They should have just incinerated them. They're blotted with Rei's blood and vomit, they need incinerating.
"Onee-Sama...?" Sachiko asks. I give her a blank emotionless smile. I can't do anything else.
"Sei is on her way back." She informs me. I nod before turning my face to the spraying hot water.
"You know... I'm here if you want to talk to me." She says. I look at her again and nod once again.
"I know." I whisper. I turn the shower off and step into the towel that she is holding up for me.
"But I think that right now you should be with Yumi-chan. I think I may have scared her earlier." I say to her as I take the second towel from her and run it over my hair. It's her turn to nod this time. She steps against me and kisses my cheek before leaving me to dry in peace. Rei... She almost choked on her own vomit. If I hadn't yanked her up against me she might have... I don't want to think about it. Eriko and Yoshino helped me to clean her up and put her in a shirt and a pair of slacks that I think are Sachiko's fathers. She was unconscious long before we put her in the bath and she stayed that way as we lay her down in a warm comfortable bed. I left her with Eriko and her family so that I could get myself sorted out. I want to be back with her though. The in house doctor said that the next 42 hours are crucial and I want to be there for her. I finish drying myself and pull the fresh clothes on before going back to Rei's room. Her family looks up at me and I catch the distasteful look in her mother's and aunt's eyes. Do they know about us?
"Youko...?" Rei's voice is little more than a hoarse whisper but I hear it, as does everyone else in the room. I look at her and see that her eyes are watching me. I feel out of place with her family watching us. Eriko and Yoshino both move aside to give me some space to sit beside her. I feel Eriko gently squeeze my shoulder before she steps back.
"Hey..." I whisper with a weak smile as I look down into her pained eyes. She tries to move and sit up but I push her back down.
"Try to stay still. You might hurt yourself more if you move." I say softly. She closes her eyes for a second and I see a delicate smile on her face. It's so delicate that it looks like it could shatter at any moment.
"I'm sorry I made you worry so much." She whispers. I fight to keep my tears inside me as she takes my hand in hers.
"Don't be silly. It wasn't your fault." I say to her. I see the tears building in her eyes as I feel my own building up.
"I'm sorry about your mum." She says. My tears fall as I choke on a half sadistic chuckle.
"There's no need to be. I shouldn't have asked you to get her. You wouldn't be in this mess if I hadn't." I entwine my fingers with hers absentmindedly. We both look up shocked as Rei's mother rises sharply to her feet.
"Everyone get out." She barks. It takes a second but everyone moves. I stay sat where I am. I won't leave Rei's side. The three of us are left in the room alone and we both look up at her mother.
"So this is why you wanted her here instead of your family? You- You're..." Her mum looks like she's struggling to form a sentence as I see the revulsion in her eyes. I don't know how to react to this situation. It's so unexpected. We weren't even doing anything.
"Mum?" Rei asks as her mother glares at me.
"Get away from her." She growls paying absolutely no attention to her daughter. Rei almost died and the woman is making a commotion like this? Where the hell is her head at? Her tone is so venomous it's almost dripping acid.
"Get away from her now!" She hisses. I don't want to leave Rei. I stay still for a moment before Rei releases my hand and gently pushes me away from her.
"Rei...?" I ask her. She avoids looking into my eyes as she turns away from me.
"Mum can you leave us alone for a minute please?" She asks her mother who gives me a murderous look before stalking out of the room.
"Rei...?" I ask again. She turns back to me and shakes her head.
"She's my mum Youko. I have to respect her. This has to come to an end at some point. You're going to college soon and there won't be time in our lives for each other. I want you to go." Her eyes look dead. I can't move. I'm too lost to process anything properly.
"You're... You're giving up just like that?" I ask her as a nasty feeling squirms in my gut and leaves a cold feeling in my chest.
"How can you... I thought that you loved me." I whisper.
"You can't possibly love me though... if you did you'd fight for us."
"I don't have the energy. I can't loose my mum Youko."
"Tell me you don't love me." I whisper.
"Just go."
"Tell me."
"Get out. Leave me... Just... go." She turns her back to me. I stand there for a moment. Just a moment as everything slowly processes in my mind. I turn away from her and I do as she asks. I leave the room. I leave her. I walk down the corridor slowly picking up speed as I hear Eriko shout after me. I'm running, down the corridor, down the stairs, through the lobby, straight into Sei's arms.
The next thing I know she's laying me down on a soft bed as I sob my heart out. She lies down behind me holding me to her as Eriko lies in front of me, facing me. I feel them, placing friendly, caring kisses to my face, as they both hold me; comforting me as I shake through sobs. I cry myself to sleep entwined in the two other roses.
Any beatings you want to give me feel free to do so now. See that little button down there...? Just press it and tell me what you think... Oooooh and thank you very much to the people that have already reviwed. :D