Chapter 4: Project Garderobe
"My name is Viola."
Natsuki shot the other girl a weird look. "I did hit my head, but I didn't hit my head THAT hard. Stop messing with me."
The girl continued, her warm crimson eyes hiding no trace of deceit, "... Viola Searrs."
"Shizuru!" Natsuki growled. "That's not funny at all. Cut it out."
"You two are just as stubborn," she sighed. "It seems that I have no choice but to show you." The Kyoto girl stood up from the chair and moved to the centre of the room. "Don't blink."
Gracefully, she brought her left hand up and flicked aside her thick chestnut hair, revealing a single Amethyst gem-set earring on her earlobe.
"Materialize."
"Who are those little girls in pain
Just trapped in castle of dark side of moon
Twelve of them shining bright in vain
Like flowers that blossom just once in years
They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love
Just dreaming of a place where they're free as dove
They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage
It's only the fairy tale they believe"
Inside a small church located on the edge of Fuuka Academy, ten-year-old Alyssa Searrs sang her favourite song to her beloved guardian, Miyu Greer. The aqua-haired android sat quietly in front of the Golden Angel, gazing intensely at her ojou-sama with the gentlest expression on her face.
The song ended, and Miyu applauded and let the child climb onto her lap. "How was it?" the blond child asked, looking quite eager to be praised.
"Ojou-sama's singing voice is beautiful, like water flowing in a stream, so gentle and clear."
The child seemed pleased by the reply. She curled up on the android's lap and closed her eyes. "Miyu, you really like Alyssa's song, don't you?"
"Yes, I like ojou-sama's song very much, but I like ojou-sama even more." Miyu petted her ojou-sama's head tenderly, fascinated by the smoothness of the golden tress between her fingers.
Himeno Fumi, the new director of Fuuka Academy and former HiME, had graciously taken them in when they had nowhere to go after the Carnival. Searrs had abandoned them because they were considered a couple of failures. The Foundation had no more use for a powerless artificial Valkyrie, and it was too much trouble to recover an outdated android. They didn't want to waste their resources on the android and the girl. They had better things to do.
The church's heavy doors opened with a soft squeak. Alyssa sat up straight and jumped down from her aqua-haired guardian's lap.
"Ara, hope we didn't interrupt anything important." Said one of the two new comers.
The android stared at the chestnut-haired intruder and said with a flat voice, "Not really."
"See? I told you it's not a good idea to come here at this time. They hate to be bothered when they are off in their own world," Nao complained to the former kaichou, who was either oblivious of the situation or just didn't care what she interrupted... although the redhead's suspicion fell heavily on the second one.
"Fujino Shizuru-san, is there something you need?" the blond child asked, her expression too mature for a ten-year-old.
Shizuru smiled charmingly and answered. "Why yes, there is. I need to know what Searrs is planning, specifically regarding us HiMEs."
Alyssa was not expecting this. "What makes you think I would know about that? Besides, I don't see why I should disclose this kind of information to you."
"You and your friend here used to work for Searrs, it's only natural to assume that you would know more about Searrs than anyone else. And as for why..." Shizuru gave the child's overprotective guardian a sideways glance and continued. "Searrs is on the move again. A few days ago a HiME was attacked and most likely captured. A fake one or not, you did have HiME power. So if they are targeting HiMEs again, don't you think it's wise to be prepared?"
The child and her guardian exchanged a worried look. They were painfully aware what Searrs would do to 'failures' like them. If Searrs were really plotting something, they better find out before it's too late.
"I see. Very well, we'll try to find out what they are up to. But we will need some time, and we can't promise anything." Alyssa paused for a second and continued. "Who's the one who got attacked?"
Shizuru's crimson eyes darkened with restrained rage. "They've got Natsuki..."
"Hold on. We've got company." Miyu gestured everyone to be quiet, and her left arm transformed into a blade. "Found it." The android sprang forward and struck through a large stained-glass window. Broken glass of every colour came raining down on the person hiding behind it.
Kruger only managed to narrowly dodge the android's lethal strike, but she got caught up in the raining shards of broken glasses.
"Materialize!" She saw the second strike coming, but was too late to dodge it again. The only thing she could do was to materialize her robe and hope the blade wouldn't connect before that.
Shizuru'z heart almost jumped out her throat when she saw the raven-haired girl's face. "Natsu..." But then the brilliant blue light on the girl's earring and the following transformation sequence rendered her speechless. That girl was most definitely not Natsuki.
Miyu frowned slightly as her sword arm collided with a force field. Kruger panted heavily and lowered her crossed arms, resuming an attack stance. She glared at the aqua-haired android and growled. "You are not human."
"And you are not Kuga Natsuki," Alyssa stated calmly. "Miyu, capture her. I have questions to ask."
"Yes, Ojou-sama."
Shizuru had to bite down on her tongue to stop herself from calling out to the raven-haired girl. No matter how much she looks like my Natsuki, she is not my Natsuki. This girl might be the only clue we have. I can't feel sorry for her, we need to capture her.
The android attacked again, but this time Kruger was prepared. The ribbons on her back extended and targeted her opponent's torso. Miyu leaned to her side and dodged them with ease. "Give up now." She charged forward and struck Kruger with her sword arm.
Kruger flipped backward and blocked the blade with a solid kick. Her extended ribbons wrapped around the android's ankles and rudely pulled her off-balance.
"That girl is good. She is on-par in melee combat with THAT Miyu." Nao bit her thumbnail nervously. Shizuru, however, felt strangely proud of the raven-haired girl, even though she clearly knew that the girl was not Natsuki.
The blond child was mildly annoyed. "Miyu, use artillery."
"Yes, Ojou-sama." The android obeyed. "Unlock all high-speed memory. Gatling Stanley, ready. Mithril Robe, Mode: Scarlet." The vicious sword arm transformed into a four-barrel gatling gun, and the sleeveless robe she was wearing changed from blue to scarlet.
Oh, crap. Kruger put up her arms and erected a force field one moment too late when the first round of bullets grazed her left shoulder. Her robe absorbed most of the damage, but it still hurt like hell.
"Don't hurt her!" Shizuru couldn't hold back a scream when she saw the face looking so much like her beloved Natsuki grimaced in pain.
Shizuru's demand had no effect on Miyu whatsoever, but it did earned her a puzzled look from the blond child.
"You are a strange one, Fujino-san. That person is not Kuga Natsuki, so why are you so concerned?" Alyssa fixed her baby blue eyes back on the duelling pair. "Sympathizing with the enemy makes you weak."
"I know that. I know that, but..." The older girl sighed. "Emotion has nothing to do with logic."
Damn you psycho fembot! Kruger twisted her body midair and narrowly avoided another hail of bullets, but she got nailed by the android's lightning fast high kick right in the stomach. The force of the kick sent her flying upward, and she was only stopped by the church's month-old new roof. Kruger coughed as every known expletive ran through her head.
"Give up now. You cannot win." The android aimed her gatling gun at Kruger, who had landed poorly back on the ground with a loud thump and was doubling over to recover from the damage. Miyu's monotonous voice only angered the raven-haired girl more. Maybe I should summon my element... No, it takes time to charge it. Time? CRAP!
In the heat of the battle, Kruger had completely forgotten about the time constraint. One minute had long passed. I need to get away! Searrs has found me! How can I get out of here? Panicking, her green eyes came into contact with concerned russet eyes, an idea started forming inside her head.
She straightened her body and grinned at the android. "You are pretty good for a fembot, but you are not good enough." The ribbons on her back extended into long blades, slicing through the church's stone and concrete structure like butter.
"Ojou-sama!" Miyu dashed toward the surprised blond child and carried her out of the crumbling church.
"Crazy bitch!" Nao shrieked and ran for her dear life.
Shizuru, however, had this overwhelming urge to laugh as she stood in front of the huge pile of rubble that was once a church.
Kruger had escaped.
Natsuki stared with her mouth hanging open. The amethyst on the chestnut-haired girl's earring shone brilliantly. Golden light appeared around her wrists, ankles, shoulders, collar, and waist, solidified into a layer of metallic armour. A dark purple robe of some sort phased into existence, hugging her curves perfectly, replacing the lilac dress she was wearing faster than the blink of an eye.
"Hi... HiME power? No, it's not... Impossible... but... HiME star was... The Carnival..." Natsuki stuttered, too shocked to form a coherent sentence.
Viola smiled and released her materialization, and the robe phased out into nothingness. "My name is Viola Searrs, I am an Otome from Searrs' Project Garderobe. Do you believe me now?"
The raven-haired girl was still in shock. "But you look... you look..."
"Exactly like her?" Viola suggested.
"Exactly like... YOU WORK FOR SEARRS!" Natsuki bit back a painful yelp and jumped out of the bed, trying her best to ignore the blinding pain claiming every part of her injured body. She scanned the room for an escape route, but the window facing the ocean seemed like the only option. The window is about one meter from where I am, I think I can manage to jump out of it... Damn, I have no idea how far I'll drop. With these injuries... Damn it!
Viola frowned slightly. "I wouldn't recommend you doing that. You are injured."
As the Shizuru look-alike approached step by step, Natsuki panicked. She jumped head-first out of the window, expecting to hit the ground hard. I have to get out of here. But Viola's nano-enhanced body was faster. Even before Natsuki could completely jump out of the window, Viola had already gained a firm hold on the younger girl's waist.
"LET ME GO!" Natsuki screamed as the taller girl wrestled her back to the queen size bed. She flailed her arms and legs wildly around, struggling futilely against the stronger girl, who was sitting quite comfortably on top of her with an arrogant smirk on her face.
"You know, you can keep this up, and I wouldn't mind the least," the chestnut-haired girl leaned forward and whispered seductively, blowing hot breath on the younger girl's ear. Natsuki's cheeks instantly burned bright red from both anger and the close proximity.Damn it, that face...
Natsuki growled in frustration. Apparently Viola had decent martial arts training and knew how to properly restrain her opponent, otherwise Natsuki would have broken loose. It was times like this she wished she had continued her judo lessons. After another five minutes of futile attempts, Natsuki was finally out of stamina and was panting hard for air.
"Have you calmed down?" Viola looked down on the girl underneath her, who was glaring back with much hostility. "Before you really hurt yourself, would you please listen to me?"
"What do you want?" Natsuki groaned through gritted teeth; the loss of stamina was making her dizzy.
"I am from Searrs, but I don't work for Searrs. In fact, I am running away from them."
"Running... away from them?" Natsuki seemed confused.
Viola nodded at the raven-haired girl. "If I were working for Searrs, then why would I save you from them in the first place?"
Thinking back to the night of the ambush, Natsuki was beginning to believe the older girl. "So... You saved me."
A sly grin broadened across the Kyoto girl's delicate face upon hearing Natsuki's reply. "Yes, I sure did. Now how would you like to thank me?" Shizuru asked with a suggestive wink.
Natsuki's cheeks turned beet red. This girl is definitely NOT Shizuru, but she resembles Shizuru in every way possible. "Get off me already," she grunted. "You are heavy."
"Hmph... But I kinda like it here..."
"Kyaa! Where do you think you are groping!"
Unexpectedly, the bedroom door swung open. Both girls on the bed froze and instinctively turned their heads toward the direction of the door.
"WHAT THE HELL!"
TBC
Author 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.
4. Insert Song: "It's only the Fairy Tale"
Performer: Miyamura Yuuko
Composer: Yuki Kajiura