Disclaimer: I don't own Mai Hime.
Ah-ha... Ha... I have no excuse. I was lazy and didn't update anything for a long time. I didn't even get to the guitar hero part that I wanted to! T-T -sighs- Oh well. I'll get to it next time, hopefully.
Ugh. I'm trying to edit/re-edit chapters from all my stories to make them better, and you can only imagine how much time that's taking me. XP
In happier news: I GOTS MAHSELF AH BETA!! -throws confetti around- Everyone should go and thank Beaustiful for making sure my chapters aren't crap! No longer shall they be unbearable to read after Demon stupidly over-looks her mistakes! -tears of joy- I'm so happy...
This whole chapter is in Natsuki's POV, so sorry, no creepy/repetitive thoughts. XP
jquackers: Heh. XD;; Some of your reviews were kinda discouraging, but thank you for that last compliment.
Shazu: Maybe, maybe not. I'm not telling. XD I wouldn't be suspence if I gave out all the answers, now would it?
Vanilla Slash: I actually don't hate the males in Mai Hime, but they make perfect persons for situations like that so I used it. XD;;
EleCor: Eh... I'm still trying to match things up in stories. That's another reason why I'm editing my works. Sorry for the confusion.
Jyuami: first review - Well, for all they know, she was cured. (I actually never thought of that. I'll have to think of something. XPP)/ second review - You know, I think you're the first person to not scold me for making Natsuki look 'weak'. That wasn't was I was going for! Honest! T-T And as for Natsuki greating Shizuru quickly, I think it was more of herself trying to prove Mai wrong along with getting away from Takeda./ third review - Please enjoy this chapter too. :3
ManiazAzn: Not in this chapter. ToT
Natsuki's POV:
Natsuki slowly opened her eyes, lifting up and stretching before realizing she wasn't in her own apartment, "Huh?" She said, her voice horse, "Where am I?" Memories then started to flood back. The coffee shop, the work place, the information, the lounge area… Takeda… the blood… Oh God, the blood.
Natsuki's thoughts quickly ran through last night, feeling her bowels in the back of her throat threaten to rise at the mere thought of all the blood and Takeda's torn body. She frantically looked around and rushed over when she finally spotted the bathroom, stumbling over to the toilet and finally throwing-up when she realized she couldn't just swallow this down.
How the hell did this happen? Natsuki felt herself shivering as she breathed heavily, leaning over the porcelain, white bowl. What did I do to deserve this?
She faintly heard the door open and some soft talking, but didn't pay it much mind as she felt another round coming up her throat. She tried to swallow it down once again, but so far, it wasn't working.
"Shh," Natsuki felt something making soothing rolls across her back, trying to calm her down, "Calm down. Everything is fine now." The soothing words cooed. Natsuki slowly, but surely, started to calm down. "Here, I'll help you up."
Natsuki, not having any strength and finally feeling the pain in her head from getting up too fast, just let the hands slide under her arms and help her to the sink. The water was turned on and Natsuki greatly washed the horrible aftertaste of her own vomit down the drain.
She slowly steadied her breathing, trying to block out the sickening scene that kept replying over and over in her mind. Her head then shot up at a thought. She turned around and looked right into concerned red eyes, "What happened to Takeda?" She asked with a newfound urgency. Sure, she wanted to kick his ass, castrate him and send him to prison for life for trying to rape her, but that was nothing to be brutally stabbed and killed over for, was it?
Fujino shrugged dismissively, "I don't know and I honestly don't care." She said in an obviously non-caring tone that confirmed her mood about it. "I left him there to bleed to death because your safety comes first."
Natsuki looked at her in shock. You just don't freakin' try to kill someone and then brush them aside!
Shizuru looked at Natsuki shocked expression and sighed as if burdened, "If it'll calm your nerves, I heard sirens last night when I was taking you home and I also saw something about it on the news this morning—" She blinked as she watched Natsuki bolt from the bathroom, right into the living room and scramble to turn on the TV.
Natsuki let out a sign of relief as she watched the news on how Takeda was currently in the hospital being treated for near-fatal wounds. She continued to watch as they covered what her office floor currently looked like the day after the accident. My God… It looks like ground zero of a battlefield.
"Gotcha!" Natsuki jump as she felt something suddenly embrace her from behind. She turned her head to see Shizuru resting her chin on her shoulder. Her skin started to crawl.
"Oh my," Fujino giggled slightly as she watched the television, "Looks like we won't be working for a while." She then pouted, "And I left my knife there too."
She's… she's pouting about her knife?! "G-Get off!" Natsuki shouted, pushing the killer away, much to Shizuru's clear surprise. Green eyes glared into shocked red, "You mean to tell me you have no feelings about almost murdering someone?!" She yelled.
Shizuru sighed, lacing her hands behind her back patiently, "Well Natsuki,—"
Why is she using my first name?!
"—I did tell you that I'm not fully healed. In fact, I'm far from it!" Shizuru smiled. "I guess you being in danger just… set me off."
I was the one that caused her to do that…? Natsuki's thoughts hit her like a ton of bricks. "No…"
"Yes!" Shizuru smiled brightly, then a mood swing hit and her expression became dark, "The thought of Natsuki getting hurt infuriates me so."
Natsuki could feel herself gulp, looking into the dark, dead eyes that seemed friendly and lively not two seconds ago. She then took a couple steps back as Shizuru advanced and placed her hands on Natsuki's shoulder.
"I will give everything and anything for Natsuki." Natsuki shivered once again as she felt lips lightly brush against her ear. "Natsuki always comes first. Always." Her words sounded as if they were built into her, committed to memory; there to stay forever.
Natsuki gasped slightly as she felt her back press against the large apartment window. Fear and anxiety gripped her being as she felt herself start to sweat. Shizuru's death grip was locked onto her shoulders and the window was keeping her from moving anywhere. "W-what do you want with me?!"
Red eyes widened at the question, and then looked pained, her gaze turned to the side, ashamed. The grip around Natsuki's shoulders loosened and became shaky. "Shizuru knows she shouldn't have these thoughts…" She started, her voice and expression being that of a lost, pathetic puppy. Her breath quivered.
"Shizuru knows she can't have these thoughts because Natsuki will never accept them and hate her for it!" The older woman continued in third person. "These thoughts are wrong and filthy but they just keep coming!" Fujino squeezed her eyes shut. "She can't make them go away!" She opened her eyes slowly and looked regretfully into emerald. "And somewhere, deep down inside, Shizuru doesn't want them to go away…"
Natsuki frowned. What is she talking abou—
She stiffened and inhaled sharply when Shizuru moved in closer and brushed her cheek against Natsuki's, nuzzling her affectionately. "Shizuru wants to touch you, Natsuki." She said breathlessly. "Touch you; smell you; hear you; taste you; feel you."
Natsuki jumped when she felt a hand slowly moved from her left shoulder down her body, lightly brushing over her chest and down her side, making her shutter involuntarily. The hand noticeably shook as it neared the shorter woman's hips. Natsuki could hear the taller woman's breathing become rapid and heavy as she slowly moved her hands in between Kuga's legs and--
Suddenly, Shizuru pushed herself away and visibly shivered as she stood a good five feet away from the bluenette. Her arms were wrapped around her body and her breathing came out labored, "I'll…" She switched back to first person. "I'll go make breakfast…"
Natsuki let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding, still wide-eyed. She slowly slid down the pane of the glass, her own breathing coming out in shutters. She…
She watched as the mentally unstable brunette walked into the kitchen before standing up and looking around in a panic. I have to get out of here and tell someone she's not cured and almost killed Takeda! But who would believe me?! She spotted the phone on a table against the wall. Mai!
She scrambled over to the phone, almost knocking the receiver onto the ground as she fumbled to pick it up. She quickly punched her friend's number in and started to tap her foot impatiently as the dial tone started.
"Hello, who is—"
Natsuki quickly cut off the person on the other end, "Mai!" She said in a harsh whisper, relief filling her heart at her friend's voice.
"Natsuki?" The person on the other side questioned.
"Yes!"
"Oh my God, Natsuki!" Tokiha exclaimed, "I was so worried! No one has heard from you since yesterday. I saw the news this morning and I kept trying to call your cell phone, but I couldn't get through and—"
"Mai, breathe." Natsuki said forcefully, successfully stopping her friend's rambling.
"Where have you been?" The redhead asked, relief apparent in her voice.
"With Fujino," Kuga answered, trying to keep herself from blurting out all that's happened up to that point.
A sigh was heard from the other end, "So she made it out okay too. That's good to hear."
"No, Mai. That's bad, very bad! You were right two nights ago and I should have listened to you! There's something very wrong with Fujino!"
"Kuga Natsuki," Tokiha's scolding voice came across the receiver of the phone. "That's rude. How would you like me calling you 'very wrong' just because you have anger management issues?"
"This is completely different!... And I do not have anger management issues!"
"(She says while yelling into the phone…)" Natsuki frowned when Mai finished her mumbling.
"But I'm serious here!" Natsuki's voice dropped down as she cautiously glanced over to the kitchen. "Fujino was the one that attacked Takeda."
There was a noticeably long pause on Mai's side, "… What?" Apparently recovering from her stupor, she once again gently reprimanded, "Natsuki, just because she was mentally unbalanced -Natsuki noticed how Mai kept from using the word 'insane'- at one time doesn't give us the right to automatically assume that she—"
"I was there! I saw it!" Natsuki's whisper came out harsh, a facade to cover her quivering breath. Her hands shook slightly as her mind involuntarily recalled images from the night before. She kept firm to keep from shivering.
When no answer came from the other line, Natsuki continued, "You gotta help me Mai."
It seemed like forever to the poor lawyer before her cook friend answered, "Alright. Come by my work later today. We'll plan from there."
To Kuga, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, "I will. Thank you Mai." They both said their good-byes before hanging up. She stared at the cream colored phone, lost in thought. Now, how am I going to get over there?
"Natsuki, breakfast is ready," The red-eyed killer came out of the kitchen and toward the living room. She placed the large tray down and started to set up breakfast for two on the coffee table in front of the couch.
Natsuki slowly walked over, curiously peaking over to glance at the food. She blinked at how well made it looked. It smells delicious…
Kuga was brought out of her musings by a giggle. She glanced over to see a smile hidden behind a hand. She frowned, "What?"
"Food is meant to be eaten, not stared at, Natsuki. Come eat," Shizuru patted the seat next to her on the couch.
Natsuki cautiously walked in front of the couch and sat down, her guard up. She glanced from the brunette to the food, It looks edible…
"Go on, it's not poisoned or anything," Shizuru said in a jolly nature. She looked eager to hear what Natsuki had to say about her cooking.
Well, here goes nothing. Natsuki lifted the utensil, picked up some food and brought it too her mouth. Her eyes shot open.
She chomped feverishly on the food, "My God, this is incredible!" Kuga exclaimed after swallowing. "This is on par with Mai's cooking!"
Fujino's smile was small and appreciative. "Thank you, Natsuki. I trained for a while under a chef and I was hoping it was enough to make a decent meal," The asylum escapist said modestly, a small blush on her cheeks from Natsuki's compliment. Shizuru decided it was time for she herself to start eating, so she did.
Oh yeah, that was listed on her page, something about 'culinary skills'. Natsuki glanced over to see Shizuru eating properly. "(If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was a perfectly sane woman.)," She mumbled to herself about the scene.
A small, sly smile form its way onto Fujino's face. "But I'm not," She said as she continued to eat.
Green eyes widened slightly, "You heard that?!"
The sly smiled turned amused as red eyes glanced sideway, "You aren't the quietest person in the world, Natsuki."
The bluenette huffed, "Well sorry for having such a loud mouth."
"You're excused," The older woman replied back jokingly, causing her to turn her head away and giggle as she felt an intense glare on the back of her head.
After Natsuki calmed down, she turned back to her breakfast. … But she's able to cook food this well just by being under a tutor for a couple weeks? That's insane! It took Mai years of hard work and practice to get as well as she is now. What else can she do?
The lawyer cleared her throat, "Shizuru?"
"Hm?" The woman next to her asked, turning her head and giving her undivided attention to Kuga.
"How come you've done so many extra-curricular activities?"
Shizuru's eyebrows lifted, amused, "Have you looked at my profile?"
Natsuki's frowned, cheeks reddening slightly when she was caught, "Your wikipedia."
"Tsk, tsk. Natsuki shouldn't use such an unreliable website," Shizuru jokingly reprimanded.
"It was the first one to come up," She said before realizing she was being poked fun at. Her frown furrowed, "Just answer the question."
"Yes, yes," The killer said patiently, placing her utensils down and leaning back into the couch. Her legs were crossed and her hands were folded on her legs; she had a pleasant smile on her face. "I enjoy extra-curricular activities. They're almost always out of the ordinary and there are so many of them that I can move from one thing to the next without worrying about not finding a new one." Her smile became sad, "But I always loose interest fast. I get bored quickly." She sighed, "I'm unsatisfyable."
"Why do you loose interest? If you like something, stay with it," Natsuki said.
"I like them because they're all new and exciting. Something I've never done before. But then I watch how it's done and I pick it up like that." Shizuru snapped her fingers to get her point across. Another sigh, "Once I figure out how to do it, I quickly master it and move on because there's nothing more I can learn."
Shizuru glanced to the side to meet Kuga's curious eyes, "Tell me Natsuki, do you know what's required have in order to master anything that rapidly?" She watched as Natsuki silently shook her head. The brunette slowly brought her right hand up and tapped her index finger to her temple, "Memory."
Natsuki eyebrows furrowed once again, showing her confusion, "Memory?"
"Yes," Shizuru nodded her head. "Imagine if you could memorize and remember anything the first or second time you ever saw it."
Natsuki thought for a moment before it all clicked, "Wait! So you can—"
Shizuru nodded once again, cutting off Natsuki, "Yes. I have all this useless information that'll probably be never used." She shrugged halfheartedly. "I just keep on learning, hoping that one day, I might be able to find something that would preoccupy me for more than a week or two. But I think I finally found something!" She turned her head to smile brightly at Natsuki.
Does she mean me? "Uh… y-yeah," Natsuki said, trying to think of something else to get that disturbing thought from her head. "But why would that be a bad thing?" Why does she looked sad when talking about it?
"Heh," Shizuru smiled ironically. Her hands were once again folded on her lap, her index fingers tapping one another lightly. There was a mixture of sadness and pain hidden behind her dark gaze that bore dead ahead. "Imagine once again, Natsuki, that if something terrible happened once in your life, that you'd be able to recall every single waking moment perfectly at any given time. That you would be able to relive the event second by second as if it was happening once again right in front of your very eyes…" Her voice trailed off.
Natsuki gasped lightly when she realized what Fujino was talking about. Her family's slaughter!
Fujino slowly turned her head so her dead eyes bore right into Natsuki's. The smile she had on her face sent chills up the lawyer's spine. "It's enough to drive anyone insane." The brunette chuckled darkly at her own ironic words. The look in her eyes was as insane as she claimed herself to be.
Natsuki looked away from the gaze, racking her mind to find something to change the topic to. If they lingered any more on this one, who knows what might happen! "Ah-um… Er, oh! What kind of activities can you do?" Natsuki asked swiftly, hoping that was enough to get the creepy smile off the escapist's face.
And it was. "Hm?" Shizuru blinked, the expression replaced with a thoughtful one as her index finger was placed under her chin, "Well, let's see…" She started to count on her fingers as she listed them. "I much more limber than most; I can perform some magic; I have perfect balance (even while walking on my hands); I can grab things with my feet and utilize them perfectly, as if I were using my hands; I can sky-dive— Oh! And I can even drive and use a wrecking ball!" Shizuru giggled, finding that one particularly silly. When would she ever use a wrecking ball?
Natsuki blinked at that last one. Wrecking ball? She frowned, "You can't be serious."
"I am," Shizuru smiled placidly. "I had to utilize one at one time when I was helping a friend's companies at a construction site."
Natsuki looked at Fujino incredulously. She worked on a construction site?... She shook her head slightly. Best not to dwell on it.
Natsuki didn't reply to Shizuru, instead, she looked at the pajamas she was in, realizing she was still in them. "I need to get changed." She muttered, before she remembered seeing her bloody clothes in the trashcan. I should probably be happy that at least I still have my limited edition bra and panties still…
"Ah, a-a-ah!..." Kuga was brought back from her reverie by a elongated sound produced by the woman next to her. She looked up to see the middle of Fujino's face a deep red color all the way back to the tips of her ears. A guilty/bashful look was on the woman's face. "W-what?" She asked, not sure what to make of this.
"Shi-shizuru didn't look!" The brunette suddenly exclaimed, a 'please believe me!' expression on her features.
Natsuki leaned back, her eyes widening as she scooted to the edge of the couch. It's that insane third-person talking again! She thought, on edge.
"Shizuru didn't look!" The escapist repeated. "You have to believe Shizuru! Please believe her!"
"Didn't look at what?" Natsuki's body language told that she was ready to bolt if needed.
Shizuru's cheeks got even redder, "Shizuru didn't look as she changed Natsuki's clothes!" She clinched her eyes shut tight, her hands shooting up to cover her face in a bashful manner.
"Wh-what?!" Natsuki's own face was starting to get red at the thought. Her face and actions tell a whole different story! Natsuki said, watching the psycho in front of her.
"S-sorry!" Natsuki listened to the muffled apology. Why would she be apologizing if she claimed she didn't do anything! "Shizuru is sorry for not only catching a glimpse of Natsuki by accident as she changed her, but also for lying to Natsuki just now…"
So she did see me without clothes…
Kuga jumped slightly when Fujino suddenly brought down her hands from her face, "Please forgive Shizuru!" She asked sincerely.
"Y-yeah," An uneasy Natsuki replied. She started to climb over the armrest and slowly walked toward the bedroom door, "I'm just gonna go get something to put on…" She said, trying not to do anything that might set off the insane murderer any farther.
Natsuki was just about to put her hand on the handle of the door when she heard a sharp gasp from behind her, causing her to stiffen. She looked over her shoulder just in time to see the distraught face of Fujino Shizuru pass her and slam her back against the door, "Don't come in!" She said loudly, pressing her body against the wood.
Natsuki took a few steps back, away from Shizuru as a safety measure. "I was just going to get some clothes." She explained. Why doesn't she want me in at room? Is her knife collection in there or something?
Shizuru face turned sad an pathetic, her voice dropping down, sounding once again ashamed. "If Natsuki went in there… Shizuru wouldn't be able to control herself."
Natsuki blinked, clearly confused, "… What?"
Fujino's expression pleaded for Natsuki to understand. After a bit, she finally broke eye contact and entered into the dark room, "Shizuru will get Natsuki a pair of clothes."
She closed the door behind her, leaving the bewildered layer standing there in stunned silence.
What a place to leave it off, huh? Well, Shizuru killing/guitar hero shall commence next chapter. XP Sorry I didn't get to it this time around.
On another note, I wonder if anyone's noticed I haven't had Shizuru say 'Ara' once throughout this whole fic...
Omake:
Demon: Hah, everyone wants Takeda dead.
Natsuki: With good reason! Why didn't you kill him off?!
Demon: He has a small part later in the story. -sips her drink-
Natsuki: He tried to fucking rape me and you give him another part in this story?! -glaring at this chapter and the last- You're making me look like a pansy.
Demon: -rolls eyes- You're suppose to be freaked out; who wouldn't be? You get to knock someone out next chapter, don't worried. -waves it off-
Natsuki: -frowns, reading the next chapter- This doesn't balence it out at all.
Demon: -.- I don't see why you're getting all defensive about it. If anything, you should be worrying about what that thing wants to do to you. -points to nearby corner-
Shizuru: -creepy chuckling, smirking broadly- Fufufufufufu....