Chapter 13: Sisters
"Drink this, it's ginger tea. It should help you warm up nicely." Nina handed the blanket covered Erstin a steaming cup of tea and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. The blond girl wrapped her cold fingers around the warm tea cup and took a small sip.
"Argh... spicy..." The ginger tea's offending taste made the girl grimace in distaste.
Nina chuckled. "Bear with it, I know it doesn't taste great, but it's good for you."
"Can I..." Erstin blushed. "Can I have some sugar with it, please?"
"If that's what it takes to make you drink it, then alright." The older girl stood up and headed for the door. "Don't wander off, I'll be right back." She said and then left the room.
Nina had some doubt regarding the seemingly innocent girl. After all, the girl could have been from Searrs. It doesn't matter how harmless she appears to be, she could be dangerous, like the nine-year-old girl who caused us a lot of grieves back then. Nina was careful, she never underestimated an opponent, so she brought Erstin straight back to Director's office instead of the infirmary.
"Nina-chan, you are late." An energetic young girl greeted her in the hallway. The girl was wearing the same red and white maid uniform Nina was wearing, her orange hair was braided into two long pig tails and were let dangling from the back of her head. Her sky blue eyes lit up at the sight of her roommate.
"You are late too, Arinko." Nina tapped the girl's wide forehead with her knuckles and grinned as the young girl yelped and stumbled backward to get away from her attacker.
"Don't call me Arinko, it's Arika! You are so mean, Nina-chan." Arika covered her forehead with both her hands and pouted. "Besides, I am late for a good reason. I was busy doing a good deed."
Nina raised an eyebrow. "Oh ho? Like what?"
Arika puffed up her chest and answered proudly. "I saved a girl and took her to the infirmary."
Nina frowned slightly. Arika is doing something spontaneous again. She thought, then she remembered that she too, had taken in a complete stranger just like Arika had. At least I am more careful than dekochin here. "You should've brought her here. What if she is with Searrs? Fumi-sama won't be too pleased to hear that."
"Oops, my bad. I'll bring her here after she recovers enough. That girl was pretty beaten up when I found her near the church."
Nina sighed. "Alright, but you should go report this to Fumi-sama right away. You know what, you go ahead, I have something else to take care of first."
Arika eyed the older girl curiously. "What's so important that delays you from reporting back to Fumi-sama?"
Nina smiled as Erstin's glowering face flashing over her mind. "I have to find some sugar."
"So? What did you two talk about?" Natsuki interrogated her girlfriend the moment the Kyoto girl set foot back into the room.
Shizuru's lips curled up into a mysterious smile. "About fox."
"Fox?" Natsuki frowned slightly. Shizuru is so hard to understand sometimes.
"And prince." Viola added.
"Prince?" Kruger's jaw hanged open a bit. What's that suppose to mean?
"Yes." Shizuru and Viola both answered to their girlfriends with the sweetest voice.
Youko, Mai, and Haruka came back with enough food to feed an army. There were fourteen of them after all, bigger than a standard military platoon. Besides, Mikoto by herself was enough to out eat three grown men.
"I'll make curry. You like curry, right Mikoto? This will be like a overnight school trip." Mai said to her favourite girl in a overly cheery voice. She tried to pet Mikoto's head like usual, but Nao quickly grabbed the petite girl from behind and locked her into an embrace.
Mai's hand froze in the air.
"Mikoto, remember what I told you? Now let's get out of the kitchen, this place is getting crowded." Having said that, the redhead then practically dragged the feral girl away.
Mikoto was torn. She remembered perfectly what Nao had told her. Don't act so desperate. Being desperate is BAD! But... Mai looks so sad...
"Don't worry about it. Mikoto-san is only upset." Youko put her hand on Mai's shoulder. "Now, we should concentrate on making delicious lunch. Maybe Mikoto-san will feel better once she is fed."
Mai nodded silently. Mikoto hates me now. She thought, bitting the inside of her lip to stop herself from crying.
Yukino wanted to say something, but quickly changed her mind. I shouldn't meddle with Mikoto-chan's business, but this is getting hard to watch. She thought and decided to have a serious talk with both Mikoto and Nao after lunch.
"Well, I am the host, and I should probably help make lunch, but... To be honest, I don't want to poison my guests. So I'll get out of your way." Haruka said to the orange-haired chef.
"No problem, Suzushiro-san. I can handle it, you really don't have to worry too much." Mai replied with a forced smile on her face, obviously still upset over Mikoto's rejection.
"I can help, if you like." As another follower of Nao's 'teachings,' Yukino felt guilty over Mai's sufferings, and was compelled to do something nice for the girl.
Mai shook her head. "No, really, you don't need to. Youko-sensei is here... Yukino-san, if you don't mind... Would you... would you talk to Mikoto for me, please?"
Yukino gave the girl a firm nod. "I'll do that." She said and left the kitchen.
"I'll go keep an eye on them. I don't want my Yukino to be alone with that delinquent." Haruka went after her best friend, However, she failed to realize how possessive she just sounded.
Youko raised an eyebrow at the angry blond's comment. Ah, young people these days... She then frowned at her own thought. Is it just me, or are they all gay?
"Oh, by the way, do you have any extra clothes?" Viola asked the raven-haired HiME.
Natsuki had put on her school uniform earlier while Shizuru and Viola were busy having their little chat outside. With her body now properly (decently) covered, she was not nearly as jumpy as before. "Yeah. Youko-sensei brought me a whole bag of them. Why do you ask?" She said.
Viola put her hand on her girlfriend's waist and tugged on the ragged shirt. "My girl's clothes is falling apart. If you don't mind, would you let her borrow something to wear? I figure you both have the same size."
"It's not that bad..." Kruger whined.
Natsuki shrugged. "Alright. Take whatever you want. I don't mind."
"Thanks." The young Otome mumbled to her HiME counter part and randomly picked out a white sleeveless shirt and a pair of black pants from the gym bag. "I'll go change." She headed out of the room.
"You forgot this." Viola stopped the girl and took out an 'S' shaped silver hairclip from her pocket. "Here." She said, and carefully put the hairclip on the left side of the girl's head.
"I thought I lost it!" Kruger looked really happy.
Shizuru smiled. That hairclip... It brings back memories...
Eleven years ago:
"Shizuru-chan, Kiyo-chan, where are you? Stop playing hide and seek."
The young twins stifled their giggles while hiding behind a dense rose bush. They didn't like their new nanny, and they were having a great time making the poor woman's life as miserable as possible.
"I'm begging now, please just come out. If Fujino-sama hears about this, he will have me fired." The middle-aged woman was practically in tears.
The two little devils had no love for that woman. They remained silent until the nanny went away.
"That old hag is so annoying." The older twin pouted. They were both dressed in the identical lilac kimono, but her long chestnut hair was tied into a loose pony tail, while her younger sister was wearing a silver hairclip on her head.
"I don't like her. She always looks at me funny." The younger twin complained. "If she were a really pretty lady, then I might forgive her. But she is so OLD and UGLY, she makes me wanna puke."
"I know. Poor Kiyo. I wish I could do something about it."
"Maybe it's the birth mark's fault." Kiyo was rather depressed. "That shriveled old prune always stares at it." She put her hand over the left side of her waist, willing the mark to disappear.
"Well, I think the red mark is pretty. Maybe that crone is jealous." The older sister suggested.
"Let's forget about her. Shizuru onee-sama, I brought a story book, wanna read it together?" Kiyo asked.
"Alright. Let's see... Oh, Japanese Folklore. We'll read your favourite one." They sat down on the lawn and flipped open the book.
"The Legend of Kiyohime. There was a girl named Kiyo..."
"This story is stupid. You only like it because you have the same name." The older twin whined.
The younger twin blew a raspberry at her older sister. "So what? I like it. It says I am a 'hime' in the story."
"You do know that the word 'hime' here only means 'girl,' not 'princess,' don't you? Besides, my name is pretty cool too. It means 'calm and composed,' perfect for a lady."
"Hai, hai."
"Don't 'hai, hai' me, you rascal." The girl pounced, showing none of the calmness and composure her name implied, and a tickle war ensued. Unfortunately for them, their rather loud squealing and giggling made their hiding place fairly obvious for their nanny to find.
"Shizuru-chan? Kiyo-chan? Oh, stop hiding, I know you are here. I heard you." The twins quickly cover their mouths, but it's too late. They could hear the woman's footsteps approaching.
"Quick, give me your hairclip. I'll make her think I'm you, so she won't look at you funny anymore." The older twin undid her pony tail and handed her sister the red ribbon. Kiyo did what her onee-sama told her and handed her the silver hairclip.
Shizuru's little scheme worked like miracle. Their nanny mistook Shizuru to be Kiyo, and shortly after, the greedy woman delivered the wrong girl into Searrs' hands.
"My child, from now on, your name is Fujino Shizuru. Never mention the name 'Kiyo' again." The twin's distraught father told this to his now only daughter.
"Why? That's onee-sama's name. Where is onee-sama? What's going on?" The girl asked, her face was but a total confusion.
"Never let anyone see the red mark on your body. Bad people will come and take you away. They have already taken your sister... I can't lose you too." The man locked the panicking girl tightly within his arms. "We will move to a new place, somewhere those bad people can't get their hands on you."
"Father, I am scared..." The girl was crying now. She had never been separated from her twin sister since birth, and suddenly she was told that some really bad people had taken her only sister away from her. "It's my fault, isn't it... Onee-sama was right, they are jealous of the mark..."
"It's not your fault, my child. It's those people's fault. They are jealous of your mark, and they will try anything to get it. That's why you must keep the mark hidden and change your name, that's why we have to move away. Now repeat after me: 'my name is Fujino Shizuru.'"
"My name is Fujino Shizuru." The girl repeated after her father.
"Good girl. Say that again."
"My name is Fujino Shizuru."
"'And I vow to be strong enough to protect myself and the ones I love.'"
The girl wiped away the tears with the back of her hands, her young face wearing a mature expression unfit for a seven-year-old. "My name is Fujino Shizuru, and I vow to be strong enough to protect myself and the ones I love."
It was at that moment, Fujino Shizuru became the strongest and also the most vicious HiME among them all.
Yukino was planning to talk to Mikoto when she got out of the kitchen, but when she finally found the girl in the back porch of the house, she didn't know how to start the conversation.
Mikoto was curling up and lying on the wooden floor, her bushy head rested on Nao's lap. She was taking a nap.
"She is too hungry to move. Other then the bottle of mayonnaise and a few packages of ketchup, she hasn't had anything since yesterday." Nao explained with a gentle smile on her face. "Too bad I can't cook."
"Nao-chan..." Yukino sat down beside the girl. "Don't you think it's enough? I'm sure Mikoto also misses Mai-san terribly. Maybe you should let her be with her Mai for now."
"Na huh." Nao shook her head. "You are missing the point. If I let her go crawling back to that woman, then the problem between them will never be resolved. I want Tokiha to suffer. I'm going to make her see that it's HER who needs Mikoto more than the other way around."
"Nao-chan... You really like Mikoto-chan, don't you." Yukino said with a knowing smile on her face.
Nao blushed. "It's not what you think. I just can't stand that indecisive goody two shoes. First it's the useless side-burn dude Tate, and then it's the glinter Reito. That all-bust-no-brain-redhead was only indulging in the attention her boy toys showered her. She didn't really love either of them. I feel sorry for Mikoto."
Yukino was puzzled by Nao's remark. "Why do you think Mai-san didn't love them? Wasn't her love for Tate-san the reason she was able to summon her Child in the final battle?"
Nao snorted. "Yeah, right. Don't tell me you don't remember that the side-burn dude was DECEASED when Barbie fought the Obsidian Lord. You go ahead and find me a HiME that has a corpse as her most important person."
"I see. So you think it's Mikoto."
"Exactly, but Tokiha is too stupid to realize that. She thinks she only likes men, but she gladly allows Mikoto to fondle her breasts in public. When it comes to denial. She is even worse than that emotionally constipated bike dyke, but possibly on par with your beloved Haruka-chan."
Yukino's cheeks reddened. "Why are we talking about her now? I thought we were talking about Mikoto-chan's problem."
"They are not so different, Tokiha and Suzushiro." Nao said. "They are both ignorant fools, that's what they are. They can't see the good things they already have. Like Mikoto, like you."
"I'm not that good, Nao-chan." The mousy girl shook her head and sighed. "I'm the one who's been tagging alone. Haruka-chan would do fine on her own, I'm only weighting her down."
The redhead gave the glass-wearing girl a weird look. "Are you kidding me? Suzushiro will fall apart if you are not there to pick up the pieces. I bet she can't even spell her own name right without your help. Gah, I can't understand what you are seeing in her."
"She is not that bad." Yukino protested. "Haruka-chan is always strong and sincere. She does everything full-throttle, and she never gives up in the face of adversaries. I am lucky to have such an amazing person as my friend."
Nao grinned. "And that's why you love her?"
"Yes." Yukino nodded, and then blushed furiously. "Don't tease me, Nao-chan."
"I know you are shy, but I bet Suzushiro would swoon if you confess your love to her face like that."
"I can't... You are so mean..." Yukino whined.
"Alright, alright." Nao put up her hands in mock defeat. "I'll stop teasing you... Damn, that curry is smelling great. Tokiha is not a complete good for nothing after all. Yukino-chan, would you go see if the lunch is ready? I can't move right now." She points at Mikoto's head on her lap.
"Um." Yukino stood up and got back in the house.
Nao waited until the girl closed the back door shut. "You know, eavesdropping is hardly something a rule-abiding person such as yourself should do, ex-Executive Director."
She couldn't help but let out an evil laugh when she heard the sounds of angry stomping and incoherent cursing coming from behind a tree near the house.
Author's Notes:
1. "Dekochin" means "big-forheaded one." (e.g. Sakura from Naruto, Eriko from Marimite.) Arika's forehead is not glaringly big, but Nina likes to tease her.
2. In Japan, people usually make curry rice when they go on a school camping trip.
3. I hope this chapter could clarify some confusing issues I raised in the previous chapter.
4. I love the Japanese phrase used to describe the HiME Shizuru to be "最強最悪" - the strongest, the most vicious one, so I just thought I would stick it in there somewhere. Please read and review, your reviews are my fuel.
Beta's Notes (giggles):
I only have one thing to say... Dude! Shizuru is not Shizuru?! Whoa... –clears throat- That is all.