Chapter 3: Not Her
"How is she, Youko-sensei?" Mai asked the school nurse as she came out of the bedroom.
The brown-haired woman gave the concerned girl a weary smile and said, "She seems calm now, but she still refused to eat or drink anything. Fujino-san... She wouldn't even cry. Crying at a time like this would really do her a world of good. I'm worried."
"Mai looks sad, Sensei looks sad, Fujino looks sad, I feel sad too. Natsuki should come back soon, so everyone won't be sad again. Yup." Mikoto rubbed her face against the taller girl's ample bosom, looking quite depressed.
Mai gently hugged the shorter girl's head and tousled her unruly black hair. "Natsuki will come back, don't worry. That girl is strong and kind after all."
Yes, she is strong and kind, and she will come back to me.
Shizuru heard the conversation. She was alone in Natsuki's bedroom, lying on her friend's bed, her tired crimson eyes fixed somewhere on the ceiling. She will come back to me, she has to.
The Kyoto girl tried to get up from the bed, but found herself still chained to it. I've always been fantasizing about being chained to Natsuki's bed, but not like this. She pulled harder, the chains clinking noisily as the cold metal dug deeply into her skin. I need to find her.
The bedroom door swung open, and Mai, Mikoto, and Youko hurried to Shizuru's side to restrain her. "You'll hurt yourself if you don't stop. You need to calm down," the school nurse tried to reason with the chestnut-haired girl.
"I need to find her," Shizuru hissed while struggling futilely against the strength of three people plus two sturdy metal chains.
Mai couldn't bear to watch this anymore and almost burst into tears. "You are making her sad, Fujino." She said in a strangled voice.
Shizuru's body stiffened at the accusation.
"What would she feel if she saw you breaking down like this? Now pull yourself together and stop acting like an idiot!" Mai snapped.
"... I will try." Shizuru replied weakly. She would try, for Natsuki.
They let go of Shizuru hesitantly, half expecting the girl to go berserk again, but she didn't. She just lay very still on her back, her beautiful crimson eyes looking horridly lifeless.
Mai had to bite hard on her bottom lip to stop herself from wailing out loud.
"Mai..."
The orange-haired girl found herself being held in Mikoto's death grip. "I'm fine," she assured the trembling girl. Mikoto was crying her eyes out and had to use the busty girl's shirt as a handkerchief.
I can't cry, I am only upsetting Mikoto. Natsuki, where are you?
"Special delivery!" Nao's cheery voice came through the front door. She poked her head into the bedroom and grinned cheekily. "Nao-chan is here to save the day. Now look what I found. TA-DA!"
Everyone gasped as a girl with dark blue hair walked into the room.
"I've found you!" The girl squealed and pounced on the chestnut-haired girl on the bed.
"You've come back..." Shizuru whispered, tears overflowed from her ruby eyes.
"I've missed you so much." The raven-haired girl pulled her friend into a desperate embrace. Shizuru tried to hug the girl back, but found herself unable to.
"Ah... My arms..."
"What? What the... They chained you to the bed? Who the fuck did this?" Green eyes narrowed in absolute outrage, the biker demanded in a harsh tone, "Release her NOW!"
"Right away." The busty girl cringed guiltily under the scrutinizing green eyes and scrambled to unchain the former kaichou. Since Natsuki was back, there was no reason to restrain Shizuru anymore.
Once her arms were free, nothing in the world could stop Shizuru from wrapping them tightly around the girl she loved. "You are really back... You won't leave me again, right?" Her trembling voice was unsure and weak.
"I will never leave you," emerald eyes locked with the ruby eyes and promised. She gently cupped her friend's face with both hands and wiped away the tears with her thumbs. "Never again," she promised, and leaned forward to kiss the girl on the lips.
The room was dead silent as they saw the usually shy girl pinning her friend to the bed and kissing her passionately. No one other than those two on the bed made a sound because their jaws were hanging stupidly open from the scene they were witnessing.
Mai was so shocked that she forgot to cover Mikoto's eyes.
"Hmph... They've got guts. Nice tongue use. I bet they practice." Nao looked very amused.
Mikoto frowned slightly in confusion and then decided to consult her owner for an answer. She tugged on Mai's shirt to get her attention and asked innocently. "What are they doing?"
Mai could feel the heat on her cheeks. She cleared her throat loudly and stuttered, "They... It's... They are kissing."
That didn't seem to satisfy the short girl's curiosity. "Why are they kissing? Is kissing edible?"
Mai was lost for words.
Nao snorted. "Yes, Mikoto-chan, kissing is edible. It's reeeeealy delicious."
The busty girl glared the redhead in disgust. "No, Mikoto. Kissing is something you can only do with the one you love."
Mikoto's golden eyes sparkled at the revelation. "Ah, I see. Can I kiss Mai? I love Mai! Kissing Mai is delicious! Yup!"
Mai sensed the urge to strangle a certain delinquent rising. "Say, maybe we should get out of this room and leave them alone." Her brows twitched. "It's not good for the kids..."
"I'm not a kid, I'm in high school already," the feral girl protested.
A loud, frightened gasp reverted everyone's attention back to the lovey-dovey couple. They were not as snuggly as a minute ago anymore. Instead, they had pushed each other far, far apart and were both wide-eyed in disbelieve.
"You are not Natsuki/Viola!"
The raven-haired girl jumped out of the bed while rubbing her lips furiously with the back of her hand. "How dare you wear her face, you sneaky doppelganger! Who the hell are you people!"
"Na... Natsuki?" Mai feared that her eyes might actually fall out of their sockets. "What are you talking about?"
Shizuru stood up from the bed and tried to remain calm as she talked to the girl whom she had just kissed. "Who are you? Do you know where my Natsuki is?"
"I have no idea what you people are talking about. I've never heard of any Natsuki in my life. How dare you fool me into kis..." The girl's face turned beet red. "Argh! I'm leaving!"
"No you are not, not until you tell us everything." Nao shifted and blocked the door. "And are you sure you are not Kuga? You look exactly like her. Maybe you just hit your head..."
The Natsuki look-alike snickered at the redhead. "What Kuga? My name is Kruger! You brainless-bimbo-with-holes-for-eyes should get your head checked! I bet it's filled with sponge!"
"That's it!" Nao cracked her knuckles. "I don't care if it's Kuga or Kruger, I am kicking your ass!"
"Cut it out, you two. Now is not the time for this." Mai positioned herself between the two equally hot-headed girls and attempted to stop them from physically hurting each other. "Natsu... I mean, Kruger-san, please. We have been looking for a girl called Natsuki. I know it might be hard to believe but she looks exactly like you. We mean you no harm."
"No harm? HA! You Searrs dogs can keep trying to trick me with that lame excuse. I'm not going back! EVER! Adios!"
"No! Don't!" Shizuru gasped as the raven-haired girl leapt out of the open window. She rushed after her but was held back by the school nurse, who had been keeping a keen look out for her patient from the start.
"That girl is crazy. This is the fourth floor!" Mai poked her flaming orange head out of the window, purple eyes scanning the ground for the raven-haired girl. "She's gone. How did she manage to run so fast?"
"Ahh... We didn't get anything out of her." Nao crossed her arms and scoffed. "What a waste of time."
The school nurse disagreed. "Not really. That girl did mention Searrs, and she mistook Fujino-san to be another girl called Viola. That's some useful information right there."
The redhead shuddered visibly. "First it's a Kuga double and now there is a Fujino double out there? Just imagine the four of them sitting in the same room sipping tea. Scary. This world is ending."
"Searrs." The Kyoto girl thinned her lips, her eyes bore the colour of blood, burning with murderous intent, her voice sweet but cold. "So they are the ones who are responsible for hurting my Natsuki. They shall pay dearly for this."
No one doubted the former kaichou, especially not Nao.
She did jump out of the window, but she didn't exactly jump down, she flew up.
From her past experiences, Kruger had learned that Searrs could only trace her if she maintained her materialization for over a minute. So in order to escape from that Viola look-alike and her lackeys, she materialized her robe for only a few seconds to land herself on the rooftop. Those people could try to search the entire area, but they wouldn't expect to find her hiding right on top of them.
Besides, she could easily listen in and anticipate any possible attack from this strategic location.
Viola... Kruger brought her hand up and touched her lips. I was almost fooled, the raven-haired girl thought. How could there be anyone else who looks exactly like you? But that girl...
She tasted different.
Kruger blushed at the thought of that. I just kissed a complete stranger. She may look like my Viola, but she is not my Viola. Just when I thought I had finally found you, it turned out to be a petty trap to lure me in.
The girl sat against the wall and brought her knees up to her chest, brooding. And what's the deal with that 'Natsuki' person they kept talking about? What kind of stupid name is 'Natsuki' anyway?
The tinkling sounds of a wind chime woke her up. Natsuki's emerald eyes fluttered open, but quickly closed again at the bright morning sunlight.
"Wake up, sleepyhead."
Natsuki groaned. "Another 5... 10 minutes." She tried to raise her left arm to shield her eyes from the annoying brightness, but an unexpected dull pain on her side made her wince painfully. Green eyes opened again in confusion, and the young girl frowned deeply when she discovered all those bandages on her body.
"Good morning. Are you awake now?" The soothing Kyoto accent made the injured girl turn her head. A beautiful young woman with flowing chestnut hair and a pair of warm russet eyes was sitting on a chair beside the bed. She was wearing a lilac dress that resembled some kind of maid uniform and was holding a teacup in her hands.
Ah, the ever tea-sipping Shizuru. "Shizuru..." The raven-haired girl paused for a few seconds before her green eyes widened. All the memories of the ambush came rushing back to her. "Man, my bike! I can't believe I fell for that same trick twice. They..."
The younger girl quickly sat up from the bed and grabbed the older girl's wrist. "Oh no, Shizuru, we have to warn everyone. I am sure those men are Searrs' private army, those bastards are after us HiMEs again!"
"Don't get so worked up, you don't want to move around too much. You were hurt pretty badly, you know." The Kyoto girl gently pushed the other girl back to the bed. "You have a broken arm and a couple fractured ribs, not to mention all the nasty cuts and bruises. The concussion kept you unconscious for days, I was really worried."
Natsuki laughed dryly. "No wonder I feel like I was hit by a train."
The older girl smiled fondly at the pouting girl. So alike. "Would you like some breakfast? I bet you are hungry. You've been sleeping for so long."
"Um. Thank you, Shizuru." Natsuki's expression softened when she looked into the other girl's beautiful red eyes. "I am truly grateful, and I think you need to know that. Not just for taking care of me, but for everything, for being my friend."
"... You are welcome."
For some reason, Natsuki detected a hint of sadness in the Kyoto girl's reply. Did I say something wrong? "By the way..." The injured girl looked around curiously. "Where are we?"
They were in a cottage style bedroom with weathered white beadboard walls. There were a couple comfortable-looking wicker lounge chairs in the corner of the room, and she was currently sitting on a queen size bed with a wrought iron frame and white cotton sheets. On the left side of the room was a huge window, revealing an astonishing ocean view. A pretty glass wind chime was hung on the wooden window frame, tinkling pleasantly every time a lazy summer breeze blew by.
"I think this is someone's summer house. The owner is not home though." The Kyoto girl giggled. "I thought this would be a nice place for you to recover, so I kind of barged in."
"You did what?" the raven-haired girl gasped, her green eyes opened as wide as they could.
"I had no choice. We needed a place to hide," the older girl said matter-of-factly.
Natsuki shook her head and grinned at the other girl. "You are really something, Shizuru."
The smile on the taller girl faded. She looked at the raven-haired girl with much sympathy. "I'm sorry to disappoint you. But you see, I am not the person you thought me to be."
"Sh... Shizuru?"
"My name is Viola."
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.