Disclaimer: I don't own Mai Hime.

Okay. This chapter is gory goodness galore! So if you have a weak stomach, DON'T READ IT. Simple as that. That's the same reason this fanfic has been changed to 'M', for the extreme violence. (Argh. I could have done so much better with the action part. I apologize for it's lameness now.)

It'd like to point out that, yes, I changed Shizuru slightly. So what if I made her a jack-of-all-trades? I you don't like it, you can skip over all the action. But then again, you'd only be reading one third of this chapter if you did that. XP

Ha! People actually got what I was trying to get across with that whole talking in third person. I was trying to make her seem childish, because, well... it just seems to fit better. Someone made an analogy about a cat bringing in a dead bird and hoping to be praised. Yeah, it's kinda like that. (Nice analogy!)

I know the dates might not add up about Shizuru going to Law School, blah, blah, blah. I don't really care. XP;; Just play along with it, eh?

Holy--?! 20 reviews?! I didn't think this fic would be that popular! oO;; I just hope I don't let you all down. XD;; Oh! And if you don't like Takeda getting hurt, I suggest you skip the middle and ending of this chapter. XP I actually find it kinda ironic that I can write sweet fluff like Sweet Tooth, then write something like this. XD;;

lindred: It's already obsessive. ;D

ManiazAnz: I know, but you asked if Natsuki falls in love with her. Maybe it's the other way around. Maybe it's not. X3

glowie: Actually, I have their jobs in mind, but seeing as how I myself don't have a job and have never worked in an office building, I just stuck them in a high-rise with office cubicals with larger, shut off offices at the ends. XP;; Also, thank you and everyone for not hating the way I made Shizuru's mind work. XD;; I was thinking no one would like it.

DemonicTwister: No. -points down to the actions scenes of her story- That's kinda creepy. Kinda. Lol. I suppose not. I think cannibal is a tad bit more extreme then psycho killer. (Love your story, by the way.) XD;; Not really, I bet if you made them fight it out in a block-out room, yours would win... and have a meal at the same time. (Talk about having your cake and eating it too.) oO;;;; Bwahaha! Just read and find out yourself! If you're up to it, that is. -evil grin-

ChieH: That's what I'm trying to get across. It's not so much of Shizuru being a psycho killer then her being lost in her own insanity. X3 She'll be more accepting soon. Trust me. ;D Just wait a bit longer.

living da vida loca: (anon.) XD Yeah. Don't worry, 'cute' behavior will come soon. X3 Chapter after next is fluff... ish. oO;; 'Cause she is. Maybe. X3

Naxor: Long review! Whoo! I love long reviews! X33 o-o; -ahem- Thank you for taking the time to read my story, it and all it's... creepiness. Yes, her life has changed forever and there's nothing she can do about it. Bwahaha! XD No, no one is able to resist Shizuru. X3 I just hope this chapter isn't too gory. Actually, that's a lie. XP

Azfixiation: XD;; I'm just wondering if 'creepiest Shizuru' is a compliment. Oh well, I'll take it as one. Thank you! X33 Shizuru? Crazier? Is that possible? XD

AppleFlavoredPie: o-o; Yes. An apple... -slowly shuffles away- XD And thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you can. XP;;

Natsuki POV

Natsuki was furiously typing away, back in her 'office,' –cubical- totally disregarding her job at that moment in time. Her job her could wait, as long as her boss didn't find out. The clicks were harsh against her keyboard as she felt her palms start to sweat and become clammy. Her heart rate sped up as she remembered the chilling, yet calm words escape from the brown haired beauty.

Natsuki shook her head, as if to make the words disappear, "Just who are you, Shizuru Fujino?" She whispered under her breath.

She continued to click away, staring, almost glaring, at the computer screen, "Google… Wikipedia… Shizuru Fuji —"

"HIYA, KUGA!"

"Good God!" Kuga yelped out in her surprise, turning the screen off and fumbling around to regain herself after almost literally jumping out her chair. She panted, trying to steady her racing heart. She turned to glare at the person, "What was that for, Mr. Takeda?" She said after turning off her computer screen.

"You can call me Masashi."

"Mr. Takeda."

Takeda shrugged, then smirked, "What'cha up to? And I didn't see you during lunch. You're working pretty hard, harder than normal anyway."

"Mr. Takeda, if you don't back off in a second, I can't be held responsible for what my fists do," Kuga said, her fists already trembling in anger.

"Whoa there." Masashi held his hands up in defense as he back away, "… Can I pick you up for dinner sometime?"

"No!"

"You may reject me now, but I promise you you'll be mine soon enough." Takeda started to walk away and he started to sing loudly, and off-key, "She wiiiiiiill be loooved." If Natsuki could see his face, she'd probably hear more warning bells going off in her head.

Natsuki started to grumbled as she started to rearrange her desk, seeing as how she knock a couple things out of place, "I hate that stupid man…" She shook her head once again and went back to her computer, turning the screen on and looking expectantly as it flashed on.

The bluenette typed in the rest of her co-worker's name and drummed her fingers on the desk as she waited for it to load, "God, why is this taking so long?!" She said, growing anxious. "Finally!" She perked up and started to scroll down the page until she got to some information.

"Birth place, birthday, family name, all interesting but not what I'm looking for. Oh! She's a year older then me! Who knew?" Natsuki said with a smile, before frowning. Okay, weird. Why do I care? "Anyway." She stressed, telling herself to get back to what she was doing.

Natsuki continued to scroll down, but soon found herself looking at information she really didn't need, just some stuff that caught her attention, "'A quick learner, persistent perfectionist. Has been described as a 'jack-of-all-trades' in the sense that she quickly learns something and perfects it before getting bored with it and moving onto something else.' Wait, isn't a jack-of-all-trades someone who's moderately good at everything? Meh," Natsuki shrugged it off, "People must not have a name for those kinda people."

Natsuki then went down to find a list of Shizuru's skills. "Damn that list is long… Might as well start at the top and scroll down." She said, doing just that.

"Gymnastics; magician; several types of dancing; singing lessons; taught how to run a business and marketing; archery; culinary lessons; various weapons training; martial arts… THIRD DAN?!" Natsuki exclaimed, causing people to look over at her curiously. She turned around as saw people looking at her, "The hell're you all staring at?" She growled, causing them to hastily get back to their work.

Natsuki sighed before turning back to her computer screen, "But seriously, did this woman have nothing to do with her extra time besides extra curricular activities? What hasn't this woman done? The list goes on." She continued to scroll down, "Student Council President… Graduated at the top of her class in both High School and Law School." Natsuki frowned, "Does this woman not have any faults?! — Hm?"

Something caught Natsuki's eye: "'Never been able to master photography or video'?" She then frowned, "Oh, because photography is so important." She said, sarcasm pouring out of her mouth like a faucet.

"History…" Natsuki scrolled down and started to read, "In high school, she was voted Student Council President by a landslide (no surprise there) and had her own fan club made up of both genders." Natsuki chuckled slightly, " I bet those 'members' were the ones who imputed information to this page."

Natsuki continued, "Went to Law School and got a job here and worked here until she turned twenty two when she went to a mental institution for three years." Natsuki read on, "'After killing thirteen at the celebration party (presumably a homicide attempt) for her announced engagement to Reito Kanzaki. It's been said that this would have tied the two companies together. There were also deaths of all the Fujino family members except for Shizuru Fujino, but it's been proven that Shizuru wasn't the one who killed them.'"

Natsuki was somewhat hesitant as she sat back in her chair, frowning as she looked up at the ceiling, "Something doesn't add up. People can tell Shizuru killed the thirteen people, but no one can figure out who sent the guys to kill the Fujinos?"

"Fujino's coming up," Natsuki heard the whispers of the office and quickly turned off her screen, suddenly becoming self-conscious. She backed away from her desk slightly. Indeed the elevator doors were opening, and the brown haired beauty stepped out.

Natsuki felt her body tense as Fujino started to make her way down the plainly carpeted lane in between the sets of cubicles. She felt her hands clinch and her heart rate start to pump faster. She frowned, Damnit! Calm down! It's not like she'd go on a ballistic rampage right here in the office.

Natsuki opened her eyes slightly and looked out of the corner of her eye just in time to see Shizuru past right by her without so much as a glance, "…?" Huh? She didn't even look? Kuga blinked, quizzical, then frowned. She didn't even look! She thought, being ticked off for reasons she didn't know. Whatever happened to 'because I like Natsuki'? Natsuki thought, making a mock accent in her thoughts. "And why the fuck do I even care?!" She growled, out loud, once more causing people to turn their attention away from work/Shizuru, and look at her.

She glared at them, "I said what're you all staring at? I'm not on display!"

They went back to their work, leaving Natsuki to her own thoughts.

If Natsuki had looked at Fujino's expression, she probably would have seen one of deep thought.

Shizuru POV

Fujino sat at her desk and pulled the rolling chair up toward the computer. She waited for it to start up and load, while taking a sip of the warm tea she bought 'to go' at the cafe she was just recently in.

She started to work her way around the applications until she could get to the internet. Time to get to work. She took another sip, and started to type expertly with one hand going across the keyboard. Start with the date.

Her emotionless eyes glazed over the words as the windows popped up, telling information of the celebration 'party'. Why was only my family killed? No one else's. After Fujinos? Shizuru continued to type, "Invitations." She said to no one as she continued to type, seeing which families were involved in the little get together. She started to go through the names, opening up windows about the different families. She sighed, "This'll be a long night."

"Hm?" Shizuru raised her eyebrows at the screen. Error? No errors. Have to get this done. Have to. She nodded at her thoughts and finally placed the lukewarm cup down smirking, bringing her other hand over to the keyboard. "Never been a computer program a couldn't hack into." Never.

She continued to type furiously, saving files she thought were necessary into a file she made, making sure to keep the file deep within the layers of the computer's database. She then abruptly stopped and looked at her left hand, or more specifically, the ring around her ring finger on her left hand.

"Reito… Kanzaki…" She said his name, trailing off as she lifted her hand to look at the ring in the sun's light. A guy. I hate men. She bared her teeth, grabbing the ring and lifting her arm up to throw it across the room. She started to swing and then… paused.

"Psst. Shizuru-chan, young Reito obviously doesn't know that much about you, so I decided to tag along and 'help' him choose a ring. Oh, you should have seen him, ready to buy the most expensive ring money could buy! But I know, I know my little Shizuru-chan better then that and walked up to him: 'She isn't into big, flashy things. Choose something modest and it'll get the point across.'"

Shizuru's mom laughed as she looked at her daughter, "I guess he'll have all the time in the world to get to know you now." Shizuru's mom's eyes started to tear up and she turned away, "Look at me, ruining your happy moment with my tears. Go on, enjoy yourself. Remember, this is the beginning of the rest of your life." Shizuru's mom bekened Shizuru to continue walking down the sidewalk with her.

Shizuru lowered the ring and looked at it, "Mom…" She slowly placed the ring back on her finger. Shizuru simply turned back to the computer and continued to type away, disregarding time as it slowly ticked by.

Natsuki POV

"God," Natsuki looked at her computer's clock, "Eight. I shouldn't be at work this late. I better be racking up sick leave." She said as she started to pack up. I'm a freakin' workaholic. She halfheartedly placed items in their respective areas as she grumbled about her latest case.

She started to place her jacket on, "I wonder if the guards even stay out this late." She asked to no one in particular. She paused and glanced around, "I wonder if anyone's still in the building — besides the janitor, of course." She said, in a reassuring tone. She placed her other sleeve in and breathed in and out heavily.

Hey, she's allowed to be a tad jumpy after what happened earlier that day.

She then smirked, "I bet no one would mind if I took the last bit of coffee left in the lounge. Sure, it's a bit thick and old as the day goes on, but microwave and added milk with cure that right up! Improvise!" She started to laugh, but abruptly stopped when she realized she must not only look like a fool, but her echo was creeping her out.

She had a light blush of embarrassment on here face as she briskly walked towards the lounge, her briefcase left behind at her desk. She opened the door and closed it behind her. She turned the cabneit light on, the only light showing through the large window that took off the top half of the door.

She started to subconsciously hum as her mind wandered from topic to topic. "Huh. I wonder if we have creamer instead of milk," She asked herself as she went towards the fridge, placing the cup of microwaved coffee down and rummaged through the contents of the refrigerator.

"Hiya, Kuga!" A voice said from behind her.

She slammed her head on the top of the shelving, "Good God," She grumbled the rest of her curse out, "Damnit, Takeda," She started, knowing that annoying introduction from weeks of experience. "Why the fuck are you still here?" She glared once she got out, rubbing the back of her head.

"I was waiting for something," He smiled nonchalant, "And now that I'm done waiting, I'd like to ask you something." He turned off the light, the only visible light on the whole floor was the light coming in from the city streets below. He started to walk towards her as she stood by the counter.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I won't date you before I get it through the thick skull of yours?!" She growled. "If it was up to me, we never would have met in the first place."

He smirked, "Good thing it's not up to you… then is it?"

"Huh?" Natsuki raised an eyebrow, "What're you talking abou —"

Takeda pushed her up against the counter once he was in arms length. He pushed her torso down on the flat surface and forced his tongue into her mouth. Natsuki, after regaining her senses, pushed him off and started to struggle, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" She yelled as loud as she could.

She was starting to successfully push him off when, in her struggle, Takeda grabbed both her wrists and pinned her against the counter, placing his leg between hers to keep her there, "You have a dirty mouth." He smirked, "I can clean it out for you."

"GET THE FUCK OFF!" She yelled into his ear, making him flinch slightly, but he immediately regained himself.

With his free hand, he started to move toward her buckle and started to unbuckle her brown leather belt with his hand, "You know, a pretty girl like you shouldn't be wearing pants. It hides those long, nice, toned legs you have." He smirked, pure lust in his orbs as he looked into rebellious, yet slightly frightened green eyes. He started to move the pants downward, toward her underwear.

"HELP!" Natsuki yelled as loud as she could, knowing it was in vain. No one else was up here and the janitors probably wouldn't be on the eighteenth floor for quite some time.

She frowned. like hell she was going to give up without a fight! She started to struggle again, moving her body as she tried to hit his shin with the heel of her foot; anything to get him to stop.

Masashi started to laugh hysterically, "Who's going to hear ya?" His face then grew serious before backhanding the woman's face harshly to make her shut up, "Just be quiet and enjoy it." He ordered to the stunned woman.

She gulped. This is it. I can't believe I'm gonna be raped in my own office building. She felt the stinging pain on her cheek, as tears started to swell up in the corners of her eyes from it. God, if there really is a God, please help m—

CRASH. SHATTER... Click.

"What the fuck?!" Takeda glanced towards the door.

Shizuru's POV

"I've narrowed down the list slightly." Shizuru said to no one as she continued to type away at the computer, excusing the time on her clock dismissively. More! Narrow it down more! Find him. Find the killer. Kill the killer. "More," She said, her tone dead as she continued. By now, her tea was cold; she hadn't paid it any mind to it since a little after she placed it down.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The yelling made Shizuru jump and go into alert mode. No one is still supposed to be here! What if they find out?! No, won't let them. Just stay calm, cool, serene, perfection.

Just when Shizuru was calming herself down, she heard a second scream: "GET THE FUCK OFF!"

Red eyes dilated in realization and horror, "Natsuki?" Sure, she'd only talked to the woman for maybe half an hour, but still, to Shizuru, that voice was extremely easy to distinguish. Natsuki! Shizuru scrambled for her knife, her trusty kitchen knife. Natsuki!

She quickly shot out of her office, slamming the door open as she sprinted out. She quickly surveyed her surroundings, her pupils were small in her panic, her breathing visibly uneven as her mind raced. Left? No! Right? NO! Natsuki! Room, room, damnit! Lounge!

She started straight for the lounge, getting closer and closer with each adrenalin pumped stride. Her knife gleamed in the dim streetlight from eighteen stories below.

"HELP!" Then laughter.

She narrowed her eyes as she saw shadows moving behind the glass. No time to open it! Shizuru screamed in her thoughts as she brought her fist up to the glass window. CRASH! SHATTER! The window's glass let out a shattering sounds as the pieces feel towards the ground.

Shizuru reached inside and undid the lock.

Click.

She kicked the door open and stood high. Her breath was heavy, but she looked far from done, even with the blood dripping down her arm from the glass in her limb. She couldn't feel a thing.

"What the fuck?!" The man looked over at her.

She looked at the scene in front of her. She made a decision.

Takeda's POV

His eyes widened at what he saw in front of him. It's the devil. Even his thoughts trembled as he looked at the heavily panting figure of a beast towering over him, making him feel small — wishing he was already dead so he wouldn't have to deal with that.

It looked like it had red glowing eyes and its blade dripped with blood.

The next series of events happened so fast.

Natsuki's POV

The figure ran towards Takeda and herself and the next thing she knew was that there was blood all over her torso. Takeda screamed, his face twisted in emotions, a foot away from hers. She saw something shiny, if not tainted right next to the sourse of the blood.

Natsuki's eyes widened in fear.

Oh God, the knife!

Takeda screamed Blood Murder collapsing onto his knees, grabbing the deep wound on his left side, yelling in agony and pain. Natsuki took her attention away from the man and onto Shizuru just in time to see emotionless, possibly angered, red eyes glower down at the man, "Scum." Natsuki heard, the word seeming to seep out of the older woman's mouth, as if he was lower than dirt.

Natsuki gasped as she saw Shizuru lift her arm, "Wait!" She yelled, grabbing Shizuru back before she swung down, catching the brunette off-guard.

Takeda saw this chance to get up as run out the door, awkwardly hunched over with his hand gripping his left side.

"LET GO!" Shizuru growled, scaring Natsuki even more than she already was.

"I-I can't let you just kill him!" Natsuki said, surprised at her own bravery as she hooked her arms in a locking position she learned once. Suddenly, she started to sob, probably the reality of it all crashing into her.

Shizuru's POV

Shizuru grew stiff as she heard Natsuki's sobbing. Natsuki. Natsuki, don't cry. I'll make it better… for my Natsuki. "Better." She muttered, easily dislocating her own arms to pull out of the arm-and-torso lock she'd been put into.

She re-lodged her shoulders back in with such ease. Remember, the straightjacket is more comfortable with your arms dislocated.

"Shizuru will make it better for Natsuki. So Natsuki just has to wait for Shizuru, okay?" Help my Natsuki. Revenge for my Natsuki. She smiled, turning around to the younger woman, bringing her into a gentle, yet tight embrace, stroking the woman's head calmingly.

She then gently pushed the younger woman away before bringing her hand up and gently caressing the bruise with her thumb, watching Natsuki blush slightly at the action and flinch slightly in pain. Shizuru narrowed her eyes at the bruise, "Please wait for Shizuru. She'll be right back. Please wait for her." She backed away, turned around, and walked out the broken door.

Natsuki was stunned to the point that she didn't notice Shizuru gone after she snapped out of it. She shivered and hugged her torso as she realized what just happened.

"Where are you?" Shizuru singsonged as she walked around, a smile on her face, "You can't hide forever." She continued. From the way she was acting, you'd think she was trying to find someone in a game of innocent hide-and-seek. Blood dripped off her arm and blade. Her blouse was covered in the red liquid, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Hm?" Shizuru looked down to see a trail of blood, going in one direction. Shizuru's eyes followed the trail with interest before she smirked devilishly.

Takeda's POV

Takeda was hiding behind a wall, panting heavy, a large puddle of blood around his body from the dripping streams from his torso. His eyes held a desperate look as he fumbled around in his pocket for his cell phone. She quickly pulled it out and dialed the number for emergencies.

"Hello. What seems —"

"You gotta help me!" He almost screamed into the phone.

"Sir! Sir, please calm down! Just tell me where you —"

The person at the other end only got that far. Takeda gasped when he saw the knife fly straight through the cell phone, pinning it to the wall. His hands trembled in fear as he slowly looked over towards the direction the knife came from.

If he wasn't scared then, he sure as hell was now.

He looked up and saw two red eyes that seemed to glow in their delight. A Cheshire Cat grin was spread across the demon's face. Blood flowed from one of its arms, mixing with its own tainted skin, The white blouse the demon wore was stained red with his own blood. Even the demon's face was covered with his blood, but the devil didn't seem to notice.

"I. Found. You."

Shizuru's POV

"I. Found. You."

Found him. Now he pays. Pays hurting Natsuki!

The man backed away in fear as Shizuru slowly advanced, his back touching the handle of the knife that was stuck in the wall. He quickly mustered all the strength he could, trying to get the knife out. He finally succeeded and smirked as he looked up at the quizzical predator.

He slowly stood up, leaning against the wall for support, in turn making a dragging line of red along the cream colored wall. He hunched over awkwardly as he gave a lopsided, pained grin, "Bitch." She said, watching the woman stop walking.

Shizuru simply waited. No point in charging at him. She'll wait for him. And kill him off.

"FUCKING BITCH!" He yelled as he charged forward with Shizuru's knife in his unoccupied hand. He jabbed forward toward her gut.

Shizuru simply sidestepped as if she didn't have a care in the world. "You bore me. Die." She said, her monotone voice dead as she stopped his charging with her knee. She then held her fists together and brought it down harshly onto his back, knife occupying the balled fist. He fell onto her knee and yelled out in pain.

Shizuru removed her foot and looked up, seeing the knife falling that was previously in the man's hand. She reached out and caught it by the handle. She then looked down at the cringing figure of the almost-rapist. She lifted the knife up and smirked as she brought it down.

Eh?

She felt something grab her by the waist and pull back harshly, causing her to almost loose her balance. Rage built up inside her, "Why'd you stop me?!" She roared, turning around and grabbing the culprit by the arm and swinging the person over her body with practiced ease.

Shizuru gasped loudly as she saw who she was about to fling across the room. She quickly brought the woman down, but instead of slamming the person's head to the ground, she kneeled down and hugged the woman in a tight embrace, "Don't hurt Natsuki. Not Natsuki." She trembled slightly before she slowly looked down to see the woman's widened eyes looking at Takeda's hunched up, bleeding form. She then saw the woman close her eyes and become limp.

"Natsuki?!" Shizuru became alarmed, looking up and down the younger woman's body to see why she'd passed out. What? Why? WHY? She then saw the woman had no more injuries and was breathing normally. A wave of relief visibly passed over the brunette as she smiled tenderly. Just passed out…

She then looked at the bruise on Natsuki's cheek, "Treated. Must get it treated. First aid — At home!" Shizuru quickly got up, and glanced around, "Things." She said, picking up the woman, bridal style. She got Natsuki's and her own belongings before walking down the stairs and out the building. She started to take alleyways, to not draw attention, especially with the sirens blaring and screeching to a halt in front of the office building.

Her eyes were dead as she briskly walked: treat Natsuki.

She opened her door, almost flinging it open, and placed Natsuki gently on the couch. She walked back to close her door while she was on her way to get the First Aid Kit. She got the box and walked over, sitting on the coffee table as she started to treat Natsuki's bruise. She placed the first aid aside as she got up and brought a pair of pjs from her room, with a pillow and a blanket.

Bashfully changing Natsuki out of her bloody clothes, she placed the large pjs onto the sleeping body and tucked her in.

She looked down at the sleeping body, her cheeks flushing. She leaned down and brushed some hair from the younger girl's face and gingerly placed a peck of her lips onto Natsuki's forehead, "Good night, Natsuki." Cute, sleeping faced Natsuki. She smiled, giggling, and got up, grabbing the First Aid Kit and walking towards her own bedroom to take care of her own wounds.

God, that fighting scene sucked so bad. -.- I apologize. The next fighting scene, which won't be for a few more chapters, will be better! I promise! You'll see why I mentioned the list of her activities then.

You get to see what happened that night at the party in the next chapter.