Guts
By Miyu
Notes: Thoughts are in italics
Timeline: 1. Natsuki first saw Shizuru when they were thirteen and fourteen, respectively.
2. The war broke out two years after, when Natsuki was fifteen and Shizuru sixteen.
3. Two years into the war, when Shizuru turned eighteen, she made the proposal for Hinode hospital and joined in the volunteer effort as well as began to live on her own.
4. This story officially starts four years into the war. Shizuru was in the middle of college at age 20, and had made an announcement to join beach volleyball. Natsuki is 19 and makes a living selling stolen/discarded weapons.
A/N: Once again, thank you to everyone who had followed, faved, and left a review. Special thanks to: Wolf Brigade, MyPennamehasbeentaken, Casere, chum-sa, carcinoma p, ShadowCub, as well as all other guest reviewers. Getting feedback from all of you really means a lot to me.
Chapter Two: Green
The years she spent living within a warzone had long since cultivated Natsuki's instincts to always alert her of each detail within her surroundings. Therefore this was only second nature to her, that even before she had opened her eyes, Natsuki was aware that there was someone standing beside the bed on which she laid.
She could feel the proximity between them, could detect that the person was moving closer. It was a simple matter of quickly using her good hand to pull that person unexpectedly down and into a choke hold while she sat up, taking control of the situation within the blink of an eye.
"Who are you? What do you want, and where am I?"
What she did not expect was to find her potential aggressor donned within a bulky cartoon wolf costume.
Grey fur rubbed against her arm as the canine's head moved almost comically in attempt to shake free. As thick as the costume was, Natsuki could not properly grasp onto her opponent's neck. Before the puzzled girl could contemplate on her next course of action, the wolf had decided to change tactics.
With a small twist of cloth against skin, the person had managed to shift the costume head forward, following the motion with a solid head butt that made Natsuki gasp and release her hold.
The blue haired girl fell back onto the bed while the wolf stood up, raising both hands in an amicable gesture.
"Ara. Please don't aggravate your wounds further, Stranger-san. I don't mean you any harm."
Confused yet still suspicious, Natsuki narrowed her eyes.
"Who are you?"
The female voice within the ridiculous ensemble giggled.
"Why, I'm a wolf, of course!"
Natsuki fought an urge to roll her eyes. Nonetheless, faced with such a cheerfully carefree demeanor, Natsuki found herself relaxing to the other's presence.
"I said who, not what."
Without a trace of hesitance, the wolf casually plopped herself onto the injured girl's bed.
"My, my… Are you so eager to know my name? Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question? After all, I found you unconscious by the door and carried you here myself."
Wary, yet not sensing any danger from the character sitting beside her, Natsuki settled with scooting away while continuing to stare expectantly for an answer. Grumbling a bit, the blue haired girl offered her name.
"It's…Natsuki."
With a gentle voice, the wolf repeated Natsuki's name.
"Nat-su-ki?"
Satisfied as the girl in question nodded, the wolf proceeded to address Natsuki's concerns.
"Welcome to Hinode Hospital, Natsuki. I'm one of the volunteers. I don't know why you were injured and whether it has anything with the war that is going on or not, but we're a completely neutral establishment so you should be safe here. Just rest and relax until you've recovered."
Over the next few days, Natsuki was regularly visited by her strange rescuer while recuperating in her room. Perhaps it was the costume, or maybe due to the other girl's warm attitude, the normally cautious Natsuki found herself growing increasingly comfortable with the other's presence.
No amount of ease, however, could rid herself of questioning why the other girl was wearing such an outfit. It all came into question on the third day, while the wolf was handing Natsuki a bowl of cereal for breakfast.
"Say, why are you always wearing that?"
The girl seemed to pout at her costume a bit for replying in a deflated voice.
"…You don't like it?"
Natsuki groaned, fighting the urge to feel guilty. "Why do you never answer the question directly?"
The wolf placed a hand on her chin.
"Well. If you really want to know...that first night I first brought you here, even while you were unconscious, you'd always growl if someone got close to you to change the bandages. So I thought that if I wore such a friendly costume when you woke up, you'd feel less intimidated. The kids here are always happy to see me wear it."
The blue haired girl shook her head in disbelief.
"Do I look like a kid to you? Besides, wearing that costume only makes you look more suspicious. How can I trust you if I don't know what you look like?"
The wolf girl laughed.
"That's where you're wrong, Nat-su-ki~. People are usually so impressed by my name and my looks, it's better if they get to know the real me without seeing me first."
At this Natsuki crossed her arms.
"Huh. If that's not insane confidence, I have no idea what it is."
The wolf blew a kiss teasingly, as the blue haired girl rolled her eyes. Natsuki did not say anything else, however, because there was a sad undertone beneath the wolf-girl's teases that the younger girl could not place.
"Say, Natsuki. I will be leaving for the south the day after tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that you're planning to return after you recover, and I've been thinking that it might be safer for you to cross the warzone if you joined me."
Natsuki contemplated for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. She noted how her companion seemed to sigh in relief.
Within the costume, the other girl's voice grew serious.
"I really love it here, and I'd give everything to stay. But I've always known that I would have to leave one day for this mission. Right when I was preparing to go, I saw you lying there and…I'm glad we met. I think it's just meant to be somehow, that you would be my last patient as a volunteer here. It makes my work more meaningful. When I take off this costume though, I would have to be whatever everyone expects me to be."
Natsuki raised her eyebrows, unused to seeing the normally playful girl speak so seriously.
"Don't expect me to treat you any differently though."
She could almost feel the delight radiating off of the costumed wolf.
"I was hoping for that. Do you promise?"
The blue haired girl shrugged.
"Sure. Why not?"
They had agreed that Natsuki would be joining her new acquaintance in their ride across the war zone. From there they would part ways- Natsuki would rejoin her group of outcast friends while the wolf girl would be off to take care of her own business.
On the morning that Natsuki checked out of the hospital, however, the other girl was nowhere to be found. She had half a mind to just walk off and sneak through the fences of the war zone herself, until a nurse told her that someone was waiting for her at the exit.
Grumbling slightly in impatience, Natsuki headed towards the doors. Much to her surprise, a group of black cars lined the front of the hospital. Beyond them was a noisy crowd of what seemed to be sports fans and reporters. Intrigued and without anything better to do, she headed towards the epicenter of it all.
Amidst the assemblage of supporters, a light haired young woman stood with her back facing the front doors of the hospital. Natsuki could not quite hear what was being said, but there was no mistaking the waves and the cheers from the crowd that they were there to see the woman off.
There was a familiarity in that tall female figure that Natsuki could not comprehend, so she remained standing, transfixed at the sight before her. After a long while, however, the crowd eventually dispersed and woman turned.
Shizuru.
Natsuki took a sharp intake of breath, staring directly into the face she thought she would never see again.
The truth of it was, throughout the years of the war, Natsuki had not given a single thought about the other girl. How could she, when they had never truly met, never even spoken? There were simply too many other, more important things to worry about. Life was much more difficult than it had been back then. She could not afford the time for fantasies and crushes.
But that was not to say that she had ever forgotten the volleyball star.
The old memories of joining the volleyball team and watching the other girl play, the feelings that the older girl had always evoked in her began to stir within her heart once more.
Still.
How do people deal with reuniting with a secret crush? How should one react, if they had never truly met, but now that crush is staring right at them, about to approach?
For a single moment that could have lasted forever, Natsuki knew nothing but panic. Her face visibly paled. She was about to run away, to go back to that comfortable distance in which she had always observed her secret crush, when a soft voice managed to break through the pounding in her ears.
"…Natsuki."
Shizuru smiled, waving as she drew closer to her new friend, whose eyes widened in surprise.
"Sorry I'm late. I hope my true appearance doesn't shock you too much?"
Wolf-girl?
Natsuki did not know whether she should sigh in relief, or cry in frustration. That graceful volleyball star she had always admired and dreamt of meeting…
They had somehow already met. They were friends even, and they'd spent most of the past week in each other's company.
…All without Natsuki knowing. How do things like this happen?
This made their interaction much simpler, yet also made what Natsuki was feeling much more complex. Unable to escape, she had stood frozen, while the other girl re-introduced herself.
It did not take long for Shizuru to realize that something was bothering her new friend.
"What's wrong?"
The younger girl's mind scrambled for something to say. Before she could manage a reply, however, she was interrupted by the sight of a limousine pulling up beside them. This was followed by the appearance of a short white-haired man who began marching towards them both. He stopped about three meters away, not bothering to give Natsuki even a glance while his eyes bore onto Shizuru as though expecting her to immediately acknowledge him.
Yet it was as though the Fujino did not notice him at all. If anything, Shizuru seemed to focus her attention on Natsuki all the more, stepping closer to peer into the other girl's confused eyes.
"Natsuki?"
The young man tapped his feet in annoyance.
"Hello? Did you not see me standing here? Why did you not greet me when I came?"
Despite her inward annoyance, Shizuru's expression did not change. Not bothering to turn away from Natsuki, the Fujino placed one hand on her cheek in mock surprise.
"Ara? Nagi-san, I was merely doing what you wanted of me."
"What?"
Nonchalantly, Shizuru continued to explain in the softest of voices. "After all, if you had wanted me to come greet you, you would have sent word beforehand or waited until I was done, rather than grace us with your presence into the middle of my conversation with Natsuki like that."
Nagi's face reddened in anger. "Are you implying that I came uninvited?"
Only then did Shizuru turn to look at Nagi. Crimson eyes widened in seeming surprise, and the expression on the volleyball player's face was innocent as she replied.
"Of course not. It seems that I just do not know how to express myself. You must forgive my lack in conversational skills."
Knowing that the jab was done on purpose, but unable to call it, Nagi settled for a threat instead. A smirk rose in his lips as he spoke.
"You ungrateful southern-loving traitor, I came to make you decide. Either you stop disgracing the Fujino name and cease this nonsense about touring the south, or you continue with your ways and stop calling yourself a Fujino."
Without a word, Shizuru bowed her head and raised both arms, hands upturned.
Believing he had won, Nagi laughed in triumph. "What are you doing? Begging me for forgiveness?"
But the red eyes that bore into his own held no fear. Shizuru's face was composed, and she spoke as casually as one would when ordering a coffee.
"Actually, I'm waiting for written orders from Grandfather."
Nagi frowned.
"Why would I need orders?"
"Oh? Grandfather did not send you there? If there is nothing else of importance than you must excuse me. As a Fujino, there are still so many things I have to take care of."
Standing quietly beside the other girl, Natsuki did not understand what was going on, nor why Shizuru's words had such sharp intent when speaking to the pale young man. But what she did know was that she did not like Nagi's attitude towards the Fujuno. Thus, as her initial shock had worn away, she listened to the conversation with amusement, privately admiring the other girl's methodical way of cutting up each of Nagi's attempts at intimidation.
At the moment, Nagi's mouth was open, unsure of how to retort.
Shizuru took the chance to latch onto Natsuki's arm, about to leave.
"Hey wait! How dare you walk away while I'm speaking to you? After your grandfather and your father, I have the most authority in the company!"
Shizuru smiled.
"Of course not, I would not dare. But company matters are different than Fujino family matters, is it not? Regarding that, I believe your last name is Homura."
She did not wait for a reply before nodding politely in farewell to the flabbergasted man. The two girls proceeded towards the line of cars, ready to take the drive across the border of north and south.
And just like that, Natsuki felt as though the spell of awkwardness inside of her had been broken. A past crush was just a crush. She had not known much of the other girl back then, but Natsuki would be able to learn more about her now as her friend. From what she saw today, there was much more to Shizuru than her admirable athleticism.
Besides, she had agreed to the volleyball player that she would not treat Shizuru any differently once the costume was taken off. As she followed the taller girl into the car, Natsuki resolved to keep that promise, ignoring the swift beating of her heart when Shizuru grasped her hand to pull her inside.
The entire tour group headed across the warzone divided into five separate cars. The ride across the border was not a long one, but their destination extended even further.
Shizuru was to head towards the deepest part of the south, where most of the poor who did not wish to partake in the war had migrated. It was there where she hoped to find someone who shared her wish to rejoin the country, and it was there where she aimed to find her beach volleyball partner.
Except that the group never had the opportunity to reach their goal.
At the moment when the band of cars had safely passed the battlefield, a bomb detonated close to the front of the leading vehicle.
Particularly, the one where the volleyball star and her friend both resided in.
End chapter two
A/N: It was difficult for me to write this chapter, because for some reason I could not get the ideas in my mind to transition properly here. I am aware that the scenes are much more awkward than I had intended. I will have to settle with this version for now, but don't be surprised if you find the chapter edited or changed entirely one day. Until the final chapter is completed, this story remains a rough draft- to be changed and edited as my writing and ideas change. On the more positive side though, things should pick up in the next chapter.