Chapter 11: TKO
"Yes... Tokiha, Minagi, Yuuki, Fujino, Kuga, and Kikukawa, the six of them... Correct, Miyu Greer and Alyssa Searrs are also here... No, I don't have any information on Munakata's whereabouts... I understand... Yes, Fumi-sama, I'll do that. Take care."
Youko put her cellphone back into her pocket and picked up a small gym bag from the trunk of her red sports car. She took the bag with her and returned to the house.
"Where did everyone go?" The school nurse looked around the empty living room and shrugged. Oh well. The brown-haired woman decided not to think too much of it and headed upstairs. She had clothes to deliver.
Their lips finally parted with a soft smack. One of them took two steps back, and the other one merely brought her hand up to wipe away excessive saliva on the edge of her mouth.
"Hmph, interesting." Viola mused. "I bet she realized you were not me after she kissed you. Am I right?"
Shizuru, to everyone's surprise, was blushing. "Wha... What did you do that for?" She peered nervously at her girlfriend, whose face was a complete blank probably due to shock, and hoped that the girl was not too upset with her.
"Just to take her kiss back." The otome smiled at her double sweetly. "It's mine, you know."
"I thought Fujino was psycho enough, but I guess there's always a bigger nut case." Nao shook her head. "By the way, would you like to indulge us the reasons behind your previous comment?"
"Oh, about that. You see..." Viola wiggled her finger. "The way her tongue moved..."
"Natsuki you are bleeding!" Shizuru rushed to her girlfriend's side and helped her tilt her head back. The girl was having a nosebleed. "Would someone get me a towel?"
"I'll get it." Mai ran out of the room.
"MUAHAHAHA... You are so weak, Kuga." Nao was laughing so hard, she had to cling onto Mikoto for support.
"I thought this would only happen in manga or anime..." Mai came back with a towel and handed it to the former kaichou, who was also having a hard time keeping a straight face. "Guess I was wrong."
Natsuki groaned and tried to say something, but with a bleeding nose and a towel over her face, her angry protest was muffled beyond recognition. Failed at verbal communication, the frustrated girl then turned to body language. She pointed at Kruger.
"Weak... Muahahaha..." The redhead plopped down on the floor and hit it repeatedly with her fist, squealing wildly as if she were being tickled mercilessly by some invisible hands. "So weak..."
"Oh dear... You alright?" Viola took out her handkerchief and held it under Kruger's bleeding nose. "I didn't know you were prone to nosebleed."
That's because I've never seen the two of you kiss before! Kruger grunted and looked down at her feet, mentally demanding herself to erase the image of two Viola Frenching each other.
"You'll die if you keep laughing like that, Nao." Aoi said while biting her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing out loud. "And you too, Chie-chan."
The grey-haired gossip queen was bending over in a fit of laughter while leaning against a wall for support. She was using one hand to hold her stomach, and another to operate her camera phone. "Must... hahaha... Take... hehehe... Pictures... Hohoho."
"Here you go, use this when the bleeding stops." Yukino said with a trembling voice and handed the bleeding girls each a wet towel. She was trying to hold those giggles in.
"Indecent... Immortal... Crazy bubuzuke-onna..." Haruka was grumbling under her breath, her face flushed. It was bad enough to see the former kaichou stealing a light kiss from Natsuki, and it was absolutely horrifying to witness a real liplock between two Shizuru. She felt like banging her head against the nearest solid object in hope of getting a convenient case of amnesia.
"You meant immoral..." Yukino heard her friend.
Why oh why does God hate me? The blond thought angrily. Why did the wicked wench have to kiss in front of me? The crazy, indecent, useless, tea-sipping... Haruka sighed.
Mikoto was confused. Nao told her that kissing was something really delicious, and she agreed, it did look very delicious. But Mai... The petite girl stole a glance at the busty girl. Mai doesn't like kissing. Mai doesn't want to kiss me.
Alyssa was confused too. She didn't get why Natsuki and Kruger would have such nasal reaction from witnessing a kiss. She didn't understand why people find the bleeding part funny either. The blond child looked up at Miyu and found it comforting to see her android guardian's usual expressionless face.
"Alyssa ojou-sama, is there a problem?" Miyu asked quietly. She saw the child peering at her, and she knew that her ojou-sama would do that only when she was feeling insecure.
"Hmm... Miyu, why did their noses bleed?" Alyssa asked in a small voice. She didn't want others to overhear their conversation. Although judging by the current chaotic state, she doubted anyone would pay much attention to her.
The android contemplated for a while and finally answered. "I'm sorry, but I don't know either."
Miyu's lack of a proper answer, however, seemed to please the child. "So does it mean that it's alright if I don't understand it? It's perfectly normal for girls my age not getting their joke, right?"
"Yes, ojou-sama. It's perfectly normal."
"I'm glad to hear that." The child said with a relieved smile on her face.
Youko came back to the room with Natsuki's clothes. "Here's your clo... Why is everyone here?" She blinked and her jaw dropped at the sight of the two bleeders. "Oh my... Did you two hit each other in the nose?"
The room erupted in a new wave of roaring laughter.
After a lengthy explanation from eleven mouths (not counting the two bleeders, they had clothes under their noses and anything they said was impossible to be made clear), one incriminating video clip and several hilarious photos, Youko finally got the idea.
"I see. So basically, these two kissed and those two bled. Got it." The school nurse summarized the whole event in one sentence.
"Youko-sensei, when you said it like that, somehow it's lost all the fun." Nao complained. "But that's about right. Those two little perverts don't have the stomach for much visual stimulation."
"I was STARTLED." Natsuki whined. The bleeding had finally stopped, but she now talked with a heavy nasal tone. "And what's your problem? Can't you two communicate without sucking Shizuru's tongue?" She glared at the Otomes.
"I only did that by mistake. Unlike somebody here." Kruger shot the older Otome a dirty look. "I thought the other one was your evil twin, but as it turned out, you are the evil one."
Viola puppy-eyed her partner. "Is my cougar cub angry with me?"
Kruger jumped and clamped her hand over Viola's mouth to stop her from spilling more beans. "Alright, alright. I'm not angry." Her cheeks burned hotly. She lowered her voice and growled at her girlfriend. "Stop calling me that in front of a crowd." The raven-haired Otome peered nervously at the twelve pairs of eyes staring at them. "What'cha looking at? There's nothing to see. And you! Put the damn thing away! We are not some animals in the zoo." She barked at Chie and her camera phone.
Chie could feel a real malice behind the Kuga double's threat. She quickly packed away her phone and took a step back unconsciously.
Nao rolled her eye at the raven-haired Otome. "Sheesh! Relax, will ya? You are crankier than dog girl over here."
"Hey! Watch your mouth, Black Widow." Natsuki growled.
"No fighting, girls." The only grown woman in the room had to play the referee. Youko stepped into the middle of three-way crossfire and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "Now it's not the time for bickering, we have more important things to talk about. For example..." She turned to face the two Otomes. "Who exactly are you?"
This is terrible.
Nina Wang, second year student in Fuuka High School and Fumi Himeno's loyal maid, stood at the shore and surveyed the ocean.
Half an hour ago, the Director sent her out to inspect the current status of Searrs' Golden Fleet. And here she was, merely thirty minutes later, and the whole fleet was gone. Correction, SUNK, by one little girl.
She was hiding near the shore when she witnessed the whole thing. The girl, or she should say, the tiny-blue-dot-with-long-flowing-hair in the sky, pulled out a gigantic cannon out of thin air and blasted the fleet into oblivion.
And then chaos ensued. Those war ships exploded and sank faster than Titanic. The water was littered with debris from the ships and those that were lucky enough to survive the blast. The girl with the cannon didn't bother to finish off the survivors and left in a hurry. Not long after, a civilian fishing boat picked up those swimmers and headed back to the harbour. From the good timing and the efficiency of the rescue, it's obvious that the fishing boat was actually a Searrs' rescue boat in disguise.
The scene reminded Nina of what happened the last time Searrs tried to take over the school. HiMEs combined their forces and drove those men out of the holy school ground. But they were HiMEs, girls who were bestowed with supernatural power by the accursed Red Star. The girl that just single-handedly destroyed those war ships was no HiME. Who was she?
Better report this to Fumi-sama. Depending on the situation, that girl could pose a bigger threat than Searrs.
Nina took a last look at the ocean before she headed back, but something golden floating near the shore caught her attention. Debris from the ships, maybe? She thought, and strained her amber eyes.
"It's a girl!"
"Who exactly are you?" Youko asked.
"More importantly, what are you doing here?" Haruka added, apparently still pissed off by her unwelcome guests.
"Ara, how impolite of me. Kannin na." Viola put her palms together and apologized with the most innocent smile on her face. "Excuse my belated introduction. My name is Viola Searrs, and this girl here is Kruger Searrs, my sweet little plushie pu..."
"That's enough out of you, woman." The blushing Otome covered Viola's mouth again, and this time she was not letting go.
Searrs? Everyone's eyes turned to stared at the blond child. Alyssa took a step back and hid behind her guardian from those questioning gazes.
"Alyssa-chan, do you know them?" Mai kneeled down and looked at the frightened child in the eyes. "We are just curious, we don't mean to scare you."
"Alyssa ojou-sama has no prior knowledge of their existence, neither do I." Miyu answered and put her hand gently on the child's head. "Now please stay back and stop staring. If you have questions, you should ask them."
Good point. Nao agreed. "So? You only told us your names, you still have a lot to explain. Let's start from why the hell do y'all look the same."
"And why the hell are you here!" Haruka cut in. No one was paying much attention to her.
"Yeah, good question. Why do you two look like us?" Natsuki had been meaning to ask this since the start.
"What do you mean we look like you? Why do YOU look like us?" Kruger scowled. "For all we know, you two stole our faces!"
Youko sweatdropped. "There is no end to this. Can we move on to the next question please?"
"Like what are you two doing in MY HOUSE!" Haruka demanded again.
"Oh, this is your house?" Kruger blinked at the fuming blond. "Nice place."
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" They are doing this on purpose. Haruka thought angrily. The Kuga double is as evil as the Fujino double.
"Viola told me to hide here. I didn't know it's your house." The raven-haired Otome gave her double a side way glance. "She only told me that there would be someone 'interesting' here."
"Hide? What do you mean? Hide from what?" The former Executive Director asked.
Kruger sighed. "Searrs."
"You are hiding from Searrs? We are too!" Mai gasped.
Yukino was worried. "They are coming for us again? But we don't have power anymore..."
"Why would they come for you lot?" Kruger frowned. "They were coming for us. But that's all been taken care of."
"Taken care of?" The redhead raised an eyebrow. "What did you do? Transformed into your magical girl costume and blasted all the bad guys with energy beams?"
Kruger scratched her head.
Nao's jaw dropped.
"But there was this monster, and a flying-human-thingy, and war ships!" Aoi said.
"Well... I wouldn't worry too much about them." Kruger shrugged.
"You said they were coming for you." Shizuru's voice was eerily calm, but knowing Viola, Kruger could tell that the Viola double was very, VERY angry. "So basically, Searrs' men mistook my Natsuki to be you, and they hurt her when they tried to get you. Am I correct?"
Viola pulled her girl's hand away from her mouth. "And I have punished them accordingly." She said to Shizuru. "I am really sorry that I did not get there soon enough to prevent the unfortunate incident. However, you do understand that the responsibility falls entirely on Searrs, do you not?"
Silence.
Everyone looked at them nervously. The tension inside the room was so suffocating, even the sarcastic redhead and the pompous blond dared not open their mouths.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Shizuru finally spoke. "Alone."
"NO!" Natsuki squeaked and grabbed onto the Kyoto girl's arm. "Shizuru, don't do this..."
"Don't worry. We are only going to talk." Shizuru gave her girl a harmless smile and headed toward the door. "We'll talk outside."
Viola followed her out.
OH MY GOD! THEY ARE GONNA KILL EACH OTHER! was the thought that ran through everyone's mind, except...
"Maybe they want to kiss again and don't want us to see them." Mikoto voiced her concern and looked at Natsuki and Kruger with great interest. "Are you two gonna kiss each other?"
"NO WAY IN HELL!"
TBC
Author's Notes: There will be an important plot development in the next chapter... of course, Shizuru and Viola are going to have their little "talk" so it must be important. Please read and review.