Disclaimer: I do not own Mai-Hime
04/17/11
I would also like to say something in regards to "Romance of Different Proportions. I would like to write to my own defense. I was very surprised on how many reviews I've gotten for it and highly pleased with the response. I knew there would be some people against the story idea, which I respect, but I also would like to say a HUGE Thank You for those, who supported the story. I found it very funny to those upset by the story idea. Many people wrote how it was offensive or how Natsuki's name was female, or most of all, how Natsuki is female and nothing more. In my defense, I do enjoy testing and trying new things. As a reader, I love new material that hasn't been written fifty million times because it creates a more unpredictable setting. I love being taken by surprise! I know that there are fans, who abhor the idea of Natsuki being a man, but I never really seen much protest if she was a Futari. My main conclusive to that is, as long as there are two girls having hot, steamy sex, those fans don't care if Natsuki and Shizuru pairing are fantasy creatures, Futari, one a beast and the other human (bestiality ), siblings, parent/child relationship, jail-bait, Natsuki being overly masculine, or even if one is a computer/animation character while the other is a human being. I've read so many different types of pairings concerning these two that it stretches the mind to the extreme. I love it! But, I noticed that there were never any stories about them just having a heterosexual relationship. Now, I have no problem with the original pairings as I have mentioned before, but I always wanted to read one where the couple was just plain heterosexual for each other. And since no one had, I figured I might as well try. I think it is also a bit hypocritical of those fans to rage about how I ruined the couple because I made one of them male. I know Natsuki is a cannon female character. These are the fans that scream and whine about how closed-minded some people are about homosexuality, which I also agree, but these are the same fans, who seem to get offended just because I tried a heterosexual story. Why is it okay to write all those other types of stories for them but one heterosexual story should cause such strife? Now, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. I'm not offended or upset. I thought the arguments were interesting to read, but I do believe that these people are being a bit closed-minded themselves if they can't seem to wrap their minds that the world of fanfiction can do the impossible. I am sorry if it offended some people, but the reason why I never warned people in the description was because the story was made specifically to surprise. As for Natsuki's name remaining the same in the story, I didn't want to stray from Natsuki other than her gender. I would like to believe that Natsuki can be a mono-gender name. As for the conclusion, I would like to state that I believe the reason why Natsuki and Shizuru work so well is not because of gender but because they were meant to be soul-mates. Considering all the wide-ranged stories concerning the two, I think that they would have gotten together because it was who they are as a character that attracted them to each other and not the outside skin and gender they possess, hence, the reason why so many of us fans believe the two to be perfect soul-mates. Like I said, I felt I should write this just to explain my reasoning to the readers.
A FEW YEARS EARLIER
Purple smoke drifted up from the wick of a candle. A single beam of pure light escaped from the heavy drapes covering the window. The light reflected off the glass table in the center of the small square room allowing more light than the owner preferred. The smoke created a mystical aura as the cloaked figure standing next to the table putting together a concoction of various chemicals inside a cooking cauldron. The room was stifling hot as sweat beaded down the figure's face. They would every so often wipe the sweat from the sleeve of their cloak before returning to their task at hand. They reached into their cloak to pull out a small vial an inch in height and half an inch in width. With careful, steady hands, they screwed off the cork before allowing a single drop to mix into the brew, unfortunately, a cat leap into the window. The cat misjudged the ledge's size and became unbalanced knocking into the figure, who knocked the entire contents inside the brew. "NO!" It's voice screeched as the bubbling brew started to erupt. The figure tried to control the situation, but the cat was panicking thus causing the table to become unstable as it jumped on the table knocking everything over. The figure grabbed the cat and threw it out of the window only to be splattered by the contents in the cauldron. The figure turned their attention to the mess everywhere and shards of the cauldron in disarray. Much to their dismay, they searched for any remaining brew that had not been instantly ruined by touching anything but the cauldron's surface. "No NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Frantic, they shoved anything out of their way to find even a small drop of the mixture untainted. "SO MANY MONTHS TO FINALLY GATHER ALL THE INGREDIENTS TO HAVE IT WASTED! PLEASE DON'T BE ALL WASTED. I JUST NEED A DROP OF IT!" They screamed in utter horror as they continued the search. Finally after hours of combing the room, they discovered a quarter size piece of cauldron with the brew bowled inside. The figure was grateful to see that piece was somewhat curved shaped that helped keep the brew untouched. They pulled out a small bottle made especially from the cauldron's material and with careful precision, drained what little of the brew into it. It was just enough for one swallow. A toothy smile formed on the figure as they lovingly cradled the brew to their chest, "Finally, no one will ever tease me ever again! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'll show them; I'LL SHOW THEM ALL THAT THEY CAN'T MAKE FUN OF ME ANYMORE." The figure threw their head back and released a wheezy cackle only to fall into a fit of coughing.
A hand slammed down on the blaring alarm clock before retreating underneath the covers. After a good ten minutes, the alarm set off again thus resulting in the hand hitting the snooze button only to discover that the alarm will not shut up. The hand repeatedly hit it and even threw it against the wall to realize that the ringing continued. A head poked out of the blankets with a deadly look in their eye to locate the cause of their disturbance. Lethal green eyes roamed the messy room for a good few seconds before landing upon the doomed creation. Growling, the person threw back the thick comforter feeling cold air attacking bare flesh. Their hand reached out and roughly grabbed the offending object only to be thrown out of the window where sudden chaos of cars and people filled the morning quiet. Realizing that now they were up and about, they could not go back to bed. Not to mention, a friend always seemed to enjoy rising with the sun. Sighing, the person made their way to the bathroom for their ritual morning shower.
After a hearty breakfast of packaged mayo bread and finding clean clothes amongst the pile on the floor, Natsuki made his way downstairs to his awaiting bike. Still half asleep, he mindlessly directed himself to work taking only the shorest routes because he hated traffic with a passion thus his reason for a bike. Seeing the workplace only another block away, he quickened his pedaling. One of the good things about having a bike is never having to worry about parking. He skidded to the front door. Unattaching the chain around the base of the seat, he locked the bike to the bike rail nearby. Entering, he was greeted by nearly all the girls for reasons unknown to him, but he was used to it. He made his way to the back of the building where he entered the men's locker room. A few guys were still inside joking and laughing about a topic he failed to catch as he walked straight to his locker to put his stuff away and dress in his uniform.
As he begun peeling off his shirt, the sound of a locker door slammed shut alerted him of someone nearby. A man around his late thirties to early forties was also getting ready for work. Natsuki really doesn't talk to anyone since he only is here to work and not make friends. From what he knew of the man, he wasn't very popular, in fact, Natsuki has heard of a lot of rumors concerning the guy. From the physical point of view, the guy was a little over five foot, and he was overweight. He was balding badly where he used what little hair he did possess to try and cover up his head. He wore bottle-glass glasses that enlarged his piggy, watery eyes. For some unknown reason to Natsuki, the man always stunk as if he never bathed in weeks, which would explain why the man worked behind the scenes. The man's voice was croaky as if he had constant mucus in his throat. When the man took off his sweat stained powder blue polo, his enlarged belly seemed to have gotten larger like the shirt was helping to keep the tumor restrained. Then he took off his stretched jogging pants that held countless stains on the fabric. The sight was scaring Natsuki's eyes because the guy wore no underwear.
Natsuki quickly finished changing into the uniform when the man tried to stuff his clothes into the overly stuffed locker. The man put on his uniform and gave the clothes one last shove before slamming the door shut again. The locker groaned toward the extra contents inside. The man picked his nose before wiping his finger on his pants and gave a nod to Natsuki. "Kuga." Then he walked off while scratching himself. Closing his own locker, Natsuki took a few steps to follow when he felt something underfoot. It was a small bottle made in a strange material. The label on the bottle said "Energy Drink for Men." He picked up the bottle to examine it closer before pocketing it.
'I wonder if it belongs to that guy.' Natsuki looked at his watch seeing that it was nearly time for him to start work. 'I'll hand it to him later.' Natsuki made his way out of the locker room to head in the breakroom. He went to the refreshment counter to grab himself some orange juice. Just before he could pour himself a cup, his boss appeared with a stern look on his face.
"Kuga, you have customers waiting, why are you here?" His boss was a pretty woman in her thirties. She always seemed to wear a lab coat over her clothes. Natsuki always thought her very peculiar.
"I'm thirsty." Came the expected response.
"Well, hurry up and get to your clients. Money is time and we don't want to waste time, now do we?" Natsuki merely stared at her while lifting up the cup of orange juice and taking a sip. Cradling her head in her hand while releasing an exasperated sigh, she just muttered for him to hurry before leaving. Looking at his watch once more, he saw that it was a little after his shift started. Gulping down the rest of his orange juice, he made his way to his office located toward the far back of the building and climbing the stairs all the way to the top. He made his way to his desk to look at his planner to discover he had a client at this moment. Grabbing his planner, he made his way to the room connecting to his office where his client sat.
"Hello, Mrs. Oji, I hope you haven't been waiting long." He greeted his usual client. Mrs. Oji was an older woman, who needed to have special attention once a week, at least that is what she claims. For nearly two years, she had been a regular client of his coming once a week on the same day at the same time. The woman's expression brightened considerably since he entered. She always loved bringing him homemade food and reporting about her kids and grandkids' lives.
"Not at all, I know you always enjoy a nice cup of orange juice before every shift so you're exactly on time." She beamed at him with her eyes crinkling. Natsuki liked her out of all his clients because she was the only one he never had to worry about. She constantly told him how much he reminded her of her deceased son, who died when he went to war. So, she would sometimes mistakenly call him, Kenji. "I hope you didn't bring any lunch because I made some for you. I remember how you said you love homemade pizza.' She reached over in her big bag and took out a plastic container and handed it over to him, "I hope I included all your favorite ingredients. I couldn't remember all of them." She softly laughed as Natsuki took the container from her.
"I'm sure it will be fine. Thank you, Mrs. Oji, so are you ready for your session?" He inquired. She was probably the only one who ever seen him truely smile.
"Oh yes! You remember what I like, right?"
How could Natsuki not remember, for the past two years, they have done the same thing all the time. He went over to the table and set up everything they needed, "You know, it probably wouldn't hurt for you to change your order. You might discover it to be nicer having a different thing."
"Oh, you know me, you can't teachan old dog new tricks." She waved him off as she stood up and headed for the bathroom to get ready. Natsuki dimmed the lights and turned on soft instrumental jazz music. He lit some aromatherapy candles and placed a sheet over the table. When she came out, she only wore a white towel; Natsuki patted the table. He helped her upon the table ensuring the towel was loosely around her middle as she placed her face on the headrest. After a minute of getting herself comfortable, Natsuki readied the oils and lotions.
"Are you sure you don't want to try the oils? They are much more effective than the lotions."
"Quite sure, young man." She smiled as Natsuki poured a generous amount of lotion on her back before warming up her muscles with light circular motions. Natsuki worked efficiently and with great care on her aged body. He knew exactly what type of pressure and where she needed the most attention. They were quiet for most of the session, which is one of the main reasons why Natsuki favored her so much. Then Mrs. Oji started asking Natsuki about his life. As usual, Natsuki would reply it was fine and that was all to it. "Natsuki, do you want a girlfriend?" The question out of the blue that Natsuki momentarily stopped before continuing his work on her lower back.
"Where did that come from?"
"I noticed throughout our sessions, you never spoke of a girl before so I was curious." Her eyes were closed as she felt her entire body become a lump of jelly. Natsuki may be young, but he was very good at what he does even compared to some experts. She found he was made for this job. He knew exactly where the client was having the most problem even when the client themselves may not be aware. He kept himself in excellent shape to do such long sessions everyday without tiring, he kept such a relaxing atmosphere not just because of the setting, but from him. When you were around him, you cóuldn't help but relax because of the aura he emits from himself. To top it all off, his voice was very deep, calm, and soft. Mrs. Oji found it hard to remain awake through the sessions and most times she fell asleep, but she knew this was the only way to keep him around while talking about this subject.
"Mrs. Oji, don't tell me you're turning into one of those gossiping women." His large hands rubbed up and down her spine allowing his fingerpads to hit all the pressure points along the way.
"You know very well I'm not, but I would like an answer from you."
Sighing, Natsuki applied a bit more lotion before replying, "You know that I am not ready for a relationship. I just am starting to sort through my life; I don't need a girlfriend to make it complicated."
"Who said it would make it complicated? You never know, it may actually iron out the remaining bumps in your life."
"You're never going to give up on this crusade, are you?" It was the same type of argument they've had for nearly a month.
"Not until you have someone to make you happy."
"So, you'll be happy with just about anyone?"
"Of course not, they have to pass my inspection." She heard him chuckle, which was a good sign.
"And, what makes you an expert on knowing the perfect woman for me?' He paused in his speech as a thought entered his head, "What about one of these girls?" The reaction he received almost made him laugh out loud.
"I'm not talking about these girls that throw themselves at any guy that is remotely attractive; I'm talking about a sweet girl."
"Are you saying you know the perfect type of girl for me?" he was holding in his mirth because she was taking the conversation so seriously. The idea was ludicrous. He knew he wasn't ugly, but he also knew he was no "Ladies Man" either. He was shy around females and preferred not being in their company too long before he made an idiot out of himself.
"Yes, I do." She stated with such confidence that Natsuki became curious.
"This ought to be interesting." He moved up to her neck, rubbing out the stiff muscles.
"You need a sweet, nice girl." Natsuki shook his head.
"Says the woman, who acts like my mother."
"A girl like that will be perfect for you. She will take good care of you and make you happy." Natsuki finished up and headed for the sink to wash his hands.
"Like I said before, I'm not interested in a relationship at this moment." The woman wrapped the towel around her and headed for the bathroom.
"You're a good-looking kid, Natsuki.' She stopped before the door and looked at him, "I see how the girls look at you." She witnessed the confusion and lost look wash over his features. 'And, you don't even know it, which makes it better. I just hope the girl that falls for you has the patience to deal with your denseness.' "I'm going to get dressed." She closed the door behind her. Natsuki couldn't make much sense in what Mrs. Oji said so he dismissed it immediately. He wiped his hands dry and started to clean up. The door opened and closed. "Thank you for another great session, Natsuki, don't forget to eat your lunch. I really don't approve of you eating fast food, instant, or only mayonnaise." She bid as she headed for the door. Natsuki ran a hand over his face before walking to the door. He opened it for her and smiled. "You're a good boy, Natsuki, I just want you to have that special someone to share your life with." She patted his cheek before leaving.
After a nice hot shower from a good two hour workout, Natsuki prepared to leave. The entire building was empty and it was well after dark; he loved that a gym was inside his place of work so it saved him time. He then freed his bike. Natsuki always enjoyed biking at night because it was dark, cool, and quiet. For some reason, what Mrs. Oji had said never left him, which annoyed him. The last thing he needed was romance in his life. What did Mrs. Oji expect him to do? Walk up to a girl and just start having a conversation that leads to a date? He was no Casanova so how did she expect him to find that special someone? Real life is much different than in the movies. Things don't just fall into place. There is no script to follow. No director to tell you what to do. He knew she was only trying to help, but he wished she would stop trying to pair him up. He never understood why people are so afraid to be alone. It isn't as horrible as the public makes it out. He loved his life where he works then goes home. He leads a very simple life where nothing but the ordinary happens, and he couldn't be any happier.
He just wasn't interested in the outside world, which is why he doesn't watch tv or listen to the radio. He could care less about the ongoings of the world. He mainly gets his news from the workplace or Mrs. Oji. What business it of his to know about the scandalous ongoings of celebrities? He just spends his time either working out, reading, or working. He looked at his watch to notice it was almost nine. He only had a few more miles to go before arriving home. As he rounded the corner, he noticed that a car was parked but still turned on. The car looked fancy with heavily tinted windows and a sleek design. The headlights were still on and he could hear music playing from within as he neared. Not really curious, he passed by it without a second glance. He was a good distance away when he heard a scream and a loud sound like an object hitting a solid mass. He stopped to turn around to find a shadow using a baseball bat and repeatedly hitting the once beautiful car. Natsuki would have kept on going except for the sound of screaming from within the car.
Yelling from the shadowed figure told Natsuki it was a man, cussing at whoever was inside to get out. From the man's stance and slurred words, Natsuki could tell the guy was drunk. More swearing and threats were delivered to whoever was inside the car. More screaming was heard that made Natsuki turn his bike around and petal toward the man. Going at full speed, Natsuki alerted the man of his presence just seconds before he hooked his arm around the man's neck and dragged him a ways down the street. The man's instant reaction was to swing at anyone and anything. Natsuki somehow managed to throw the man away from him. Getting off his bike, he caught the stumbling man by his arm that held the bat and ripped it out of his grip. With a shove, the man lost his balance and fell down. Natsuki pointed the tip of the bat to the man's neck, "I would stay where you're at if I were you.
Reaching into the man's pockets, Natsuki withdrew his wallet and cell before dialing for the police, After reporting the situation, Natsuki hung up and grabbed the man by the back of the neck and forced him to walk along side him. They headed for the car. Natsuki threw the man against the car with unnecessary force causing the man to cower. "I have already told the police whó you are, so escaping would be pointless. You try to escape, I will pursue and make you stay, do you understand me?" His voice deepened and held a dangerous promise. The man's front pants darkened greatly and he nodded rapidly only to regret it as a wave of dizziness took over his senses. Seeing that the man was no longer a threat, Natsuki faced the car door. "I called the police, and they are on their way. Are you okay?" He waited but no answer. All he heard was music playing in the background. 'Whatever.' He glanced over at the passed out man then to the car. He heard sirens in the distance getting closer. Since he didn't want to get further involved with this, he picked up his bike and rode off before the view of patrol cruisers entered the scene. Natsuki waited at the corner to make sure that the guy remained and whoever was in the car was okay until the cops arrived. Then he slipped into the darkness without looking back. He was more than happy to forget the night ever happened, unfortunately, life is never fair.
AN: Okay, I know I will get a lot of angry people because of what I did to Natsuki. I have read those other stories people told me about when I thought I may have written the first of it's kind story for the Mai-Hime fanfiction. I love to experiment and see how the public reacts to them. I hope you will give it a chance regardless of the fact that it's not a girl-on-girl action. Don't get me wrong, I love stories that keep the original characters as they are, but I was wondering how the story would progress if it turned out this way. As I have mentioned in the previous chapter, I have plans for the road it will take. Now, if you guys don't like how it's being played, I will discontinue. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas, and future New Year!
