Chapter 2: Ambushed
It all happened so fast.
Natsuki was sprawled on her stomach, blood trailing down her forehead and into her unfocused green eyes. Head buzzing with too much pain, she fought hard to stay conscious. It's déjà vu, she thought while trying to move her aching limbs. It hurts more than the last time I crashed my bike. Oh, yeah, last time I got wiped out because of Nao's creepy spider web trap, what is it this time?
A black army boot connected with her torso and flipped her over with excessive force. She coughed and choked for precious air, but the sharp pain on the side of her chest almost knocked her out. Damn, that hurts like a bitch.
"Careful, their kind can put up a fight."
Natsuki could barely make out the harsh male voice that seemed to be coming from some faraway place. What the hell? Their kind? Don't tell me... A pair of gloved hands not too gently removed the helmet she was wearing. At least it's easier to now, Natsuki thought bitterly.
"Subject confirmed, sir."
"Good. Secure her. The other one might..."
KABOOM!
The sentence was cut short by an ear-splitting explosion, followed by frantic screams and the sounds of semi-automatic rounds erupting all around her. What's happening...? No matter, it's my chance now. Too exhausted to pick herself up from the ground, the injured biker lay flat on the hard asphalt while searching her pocket for her cellphone with shaky fingers. I need to warn her.
She opened her fist and saw pieces of what used to be her cellphone. Tears started streaming down her face, she felt nauseous, she wanted to scream. Shizuru...
Darkness clouded her vision, she felt herself sinking. Just before she completely closed her eyes, she thought she saw something.
A flash of purple lightning.
Earlier that day:
"It's not a date." Natsuki stood in front of the dressing mirror and said to herself the millionth time. A blushing girl dressed in a light blue yukata looked back at her from the other side of the mirror, an incriminating piece of evidence that was contradicting her previous declaration. It's not a date, damn it. So stop blushing.
"This is stupid," she mumbled to herself as she worked to weave her hair into a loose braid. Just like Shizuru did for me last time. How did she do it again? Damn I have fat fingers. After another ten minutes of failed attempts, she finally decided to leave her hair down like usual. "Why the hell would I want to braid it in the first place?"
Because it's a date.
"It's not a date."
Yes it is.
"I really should stop talking to myself." She sighed and turned her gaze to the clock on the wall. 4:35. Much too early to be putting Shizuru's gift on. Maybe I should take it off? Or maybe not 'cause I just spent like an hour putting this on.
While she was busy debating with herself, her cellphone rang. She frowned and picked up her phone from the desk. "It's me."
"Yo, Kuga-san. I have information for you." The man on the phone was Yamada, one of her most reliable sources of information. She hadn't made any contact with him after the Carnival because there had been no need to. Getting this phone call from him after these peaceful months just struck her to be odd.
"What kind of information?" Natsuki asked, but got a small pause before the reply came.
"Sensitive. We shouldn't be talking about that stuff over the phone. I'll tell you the details at the usual place."
"Now? Can't this wait?" I don't want to be late for the da... DAMN IT, IT'S NOT A DATE!
"Well, I have no problem with that, but it's really in your best interests if you come here as soon as possible. You see, it doesn't just concern you, but also that Kyoto babe of yours."
Natsuki tensed up immediately. "Shizuru? What about her?"
"You'll know once you come."
"I understand. I'll be right there." She hung up the phone and started changing out of her yukata at top speed. If I hurry, I can make it to downtown and make it back before six. She zipped up her black biker suit and grabbed her helmet on the desk. I hope I won't be late.
Natsuki was ambushed on her way to her contact. When the front wheel of her bike got caught in a black wire and her body was sent flying through the air, she finally realized that it had all been a trap.
At first, she thought the other girl was just late. But when she couldn't reach her friend through her cellphone, she started to worry. After another hour of waiting, she decided to go to the younger girl's place and see what was going on. Natsuki would never stand me up, Shizuru thought. She would at least call me.
Shizuru hated to be rushed, but now she was hurrying down the stairs as fast as the lilac yukata she was wearing allowed. Maybe Natsuki is having problem putting on a yukata by herself, she told herself, trying to lighten her panicking mind.
"Ah, kaichou. Are you alright?" A timid-looking girl in a lime green yukata greeted her in the middle of the stairs. A taller girl garbed in yellowish green yukata was standing behind the shorter girl, shooting an unfriendly look toward Shizuru.
I don't have time for this. The former kaichou didn't even bother to stop to look at the two girls, she just hurried right pass them.
"EEK! The nerve! That bubuzuke-onna has no matter!" The tall girl was so furious, her shoulder-length blond hair was almost standing on end.
"It's manner, Haruka-chan..."
"What? Anyway, we are leaving, Yukino." The blonde grabbed the brown-haired girl's hand and continued up the stairs.
Yukino blushed furiously and lowered her head, her glasses hiding emerald eyes fixed on their interlaced fingers. So warm...
Shizuru knocked on Natsuki's door. No one answered. She bent down to search underneath the doormat and found a key. Natsuki told me where the key was, so it's alright if I use it... Hesitantly, she unlocked the door and opened it.
It was pitch black inside. Shizuru flipped on the light and looked around but couldn't find the girl she had been looking for. The bedroom door was open. She stepped in the bedroom and saw her gift left on the bed.
"Natsuki? Natsuki, are you there? Answer me!" The sound of someone yelling and banging on the door made her jumped in surprise. She quickly left the bedroom to answer the door. "Yes?"
Three girls burst through the door. Shizuru recognized the busty one with flaming orange hair to be Tokiha Mai, the short one with bushy black hair and two thin braids hanging on the side to be Minagi Mikoto, and the delinquent-looking redhead to be Yuuki Nao. "Eh... Fujino-san. Have you seen Natsuki around?" the orange-haired girl asked.
Shizuru's blood froze as she saw what the girl had in her hand.
A bloody black helmet.
"It's Natsuki's..." Her voice came out as a whisper. She took the helmet from Mai's hand and held it tightly against her chest. It smells like Natsuki. The other three girls stood there and looked at the older girl's unusual behaviour nervously.
"Where did you find it?" Shizuru asked, her voice eerily calm and melodic. Mai gulped uneasily before she answered.
"We found it at the Marine Drive. It was lying on the side of the road. We didn't see her bike or anything..."
The rest of the sentence got stuck in her throat when she met the former kaichou's eyes. They look dead.
Shizuru bolted for the door.
"Stop her!" Mai threw herself against the berserking girl. Mikoto heard her owner's order and jumped on top of Shizuru. Even without her HiME power, Shizuru was still winning in brute force in her current state. "Calm down! Please!" the busty girl pleaded. "And do something, Nao!"
BANG!
The Kyoto girl suddenly stopped struggling as her body went limp. The orange-haired girl gasped and glared at the redhead, who was holding a broken wooden chair in her hand, grinning. "You don't have to hit her!" Mai yelled.
The redhead carelessly tossed the chair aside. "You told me to do something."
She dreamed of flying.
She often had nightmare of falling. It was always falling. Over a cliff, in the back seat of a car, Duran in her arms, and mother...
"Mother, I'm scared."
"I'm sorry, Natsuki-chan, but you shouldn't be here. HiMEs are..."
She would wake up screaming. Sometimes she just wished that she had died with her mother in that icy tomb. Sometimes she even suspected that she already had.
"Child, one born from the feelings for an important person. The stronger the feelings, the stronger the Child is," so the lime-haired boy Nagi had said. "If you are going to fight, you'll have to put what's most important to you on the line."
"I will never love again."
I don't have an important person anymore. Mother's dead. But how come I can still summon Duran?
"I will never trust another person."
Shizuru.
"For the one I love, I would do anything."
My precious person.
When the mammoth Duran materialized underneath her feet, she was genuinely shocked to her core, although she didn't show it in front of Shizuru at that time.
Love would only cause pain. I loved mother, but she died, and I wanted to die with her. The more I love, the more pain I would feel. What would happen if I ever lose Shizuru?
"...Please wake up."
Natsuki opened her eyes and saw those tear-filled crimson orbs hanging over her face. Shizuru...
They were flying.
Natsuki closed her eyes again.
That stupid girl better not die on me, Yuuki Nao, freshman of Fuuka High School, thought grimly as she strolled the naughty part of downtown. How much trouble does she have to bring me? Seriously. Disappearing like this for three days is just plain irresponsible.
They've checked every hospital in the area, but no one looking like that girl was ever checked in. Then they searched the entire area where that girl's helmet was found, but they didn't find her there either.
Nao's green eyes darkened slightly. They did find many spent bullet casings, scorch marks, and blood, whatever that might imply. And then they finally checked the morgue. Still nothing, thankfully.
Why do I even bother to look for that big-forehead-violent-good-for-nothing-male-hormone-depraved-bad-mouthing girl? The redhead sighed deeply as she went into a dark alley to meet her contact.
"I'm here. Are you the one who text messaged me about some missing girl?" she asked the figure hidden in the shadow.
That person nodded. Nao narrowed her eyes and stared at the person suspiciously. That person's face was mostly concealed under a black baseball hat, but judging from the long dark blue hair and the slender build, it seemed like a girl.
Suspicious. Really suspicious. Where have I seen that girl? If only I could see her face.
Nao moved a little closer toward the other girl, but the other girl spoke in a hushed tone, "That's close enough. I don't intend to show my face. Now tell me, have you seen the girl in the photo?"
The dark haired girl handed Nao a wrinkled photo. The redhead looked at the photo and frowned deeply. This photo, and that voice... "Kuga?"
The other girl flinched.
"What the hell?" Nao zoomed close and took off the baseball hat the other girl was wearing. "Are you out of your mind? Everyone has been looking for you!"
The taller girl looked shocked at the redhead's behaviour. She just stood there and glared at Nao.
"Come on, I'll take you back." Nao said.
"Are you working for them too? I'm not going back. Give me back my photo." She snatched the photo from the redhead's hand and attempted to leave, but Nao grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Not going back? Do you have any idea what you've done to your friend? She's falling apart. It's heartless even coming from you," Nao yelled at the other girl. "That's it, I'm taking you straight to her." She started dragging the taller girl toward the street.
"Her? You know where she is?"
"Shut up and just follow me." Nao snapped impatiently. "But my bike..." The taller girl looked at the opposite direction.
"Alright then, we'll take your bike. Faster than the bus. Which one is your bike?" The other girl pointed at a battered old chopper. Nao walked toward it and sat against the sissy bars, looking quite annoyed. "Hurry up. I've got better things to do."
The taller girl sat on the bike and kick-started the engine. "Which way?"
Nao rolled her eyes. "I'll talk, you drive."
TBC
Author's Notes:
1. To new readers who just found this story: thank you for reading this. Please review if you have time, I would really appreciate it.
2. To readers who have been following this story: thank you for sticking with me. I've been meaning to go back and fix my early chapters, and please forgive me for taking so long.
3. Thank you so much, Dr. Leebot! You're an awesome beta. XD.