Once again thank you guys so much for the reviews. I love the insights and the theories, please keep throwing your theories at me I'd love to hear them.

Metamorphosis

Natsuki means summer.

She never understood why Shizuru loved summer so much. Maybe it was the only season that the young soon-to-be Kaichou could laze around at the beach with her fan girls bickering for the privilege to apply sunscreens on their idol's flawless skin. Maybe it was the only time when Shizuru could take her to bikini shopping, or more accurately, forcing-Natsuki-to-model-different-types-of-bikini s-outing. Or maybe her mischievous friend loved to ride her bicycle under the sun to feel the warm light simmering on her skin.

Then again, Natsuki hated summer.

She didn't hate the sounds of happy chirping birds, the pleasant scents of freshly mowed green grass and of after rain, the dancing greenness under the azure sky, the tropical fruity fragrances of the sunscreens and the scorching sun. Natsuki dreaded summer to come, but it was more to a particular rainy day four years before, and less to the physical nature of the season.

Today was a miserable day for her, and for the first time in four years, she didn't want to spend it alone.

"Is it safe, Natsuki?" Shizuru asked incredulously, eyeing the suspiciously looking midnight blue coloured Ducatti.

"Of course, I'm riding after all."

"But…" the brunette hesitated, it was quite cute actually, for Shizuru-sama to be scared of a little bike.

The younger girl chuckled, "Hold on tight and you'll be fine."

"As Natsuki's wishes…" Shizuru sighted as she put on Natsuki's spared helmet.

The tease managed to wipe off her younger friend's victorious smirk as she wrapped her arms around Natsuki's waist, ever so slowly and teasingly. The clueless summer child blushed at the contact but she ignored the bizarre feelings in her stomach. Shizuru giggled at the sight of the biker's reddened ears as she started drumming on the poor girl's abdomen.

To say that their ride was eventful was an understatement, Natsuki found great joys hearing Shizuru's gasps every time she sped up or hastily braked. She could feel her heart thumped louder and her stomach fluttered at Shizuru's tightening hold. The invasion of personal space was never more welcomed. Together they rode under the crimson sky, none of them wanted this moment to end, since the warmness of each other's broken souls made them whole.

As they arrived to the cliff, tranquillity engulfed the previous laughter. They stood there, side by side, and no one dared to break the silence. None of them really paid attention to the beautiful sunset, for their minds were far away.

Natsuki flicked her hair as she gazed at the dancing sparkles on the surface of the deep blue ocean, she began to relive the accident that took away her most important person. The thunder cracked open the obsidian black sky followed by the roaring sound of nature. She could still hear the ever haunting song Yesterday playing on the radio of her mother's car. Droplets of rain splattered against her window, rain, the little emerald eyed girl could feel her gut churning. She hated rains. Natsuki remembered a flash of blinding white lights followed by a dizzying loud crash that sent her into oblivion.

Blue…blue of the ocean

And red…red of…

Natsuki could still hear the heartbreaking scream of a wounded child. The once carefree young girl clutched her little stuffed dog she named Duran tightly, as though he too would be taken away from her. Her screams subsided into sobbed whispers, her eyes were blurry from salty tears. Miyagi Saeko could no longer move, her mother could no longer smile to her. He mother was…

Dead.

That day, that time, that place, there was just another poor soul passing away, fragile like a candle in the wind. But that day had taken away the will to relish life of the very much alive innocent soul.

Shizuru, sensing the younger girl's sorrow, held the distraught girl's hand. At the chestnut haired's light caresses, Natsuki broke out of her reverie and looked up at the kind worried face.

The crimson eyed girl pulled her shattered friend into a tight embrace "It's alright Natsuki, I'm here for you."

"Arigatou, Shizuru." Touched by Shizuru's action, Natsuki rested her chin on her friend shoulder; she had never felt more secured. Drops of tears fell from her eyes, for the first time in four year, she cried.

The fact that Kuga Natsuki had lost her mother in a rainy summer night was not a secret to some. But no one knew that Natsuki was the daughter of the one Miyagi Saeko, a world-renowned biotechnologist. Natsuki mother's exceptional break in the field ended their parent's crumbling relationship. It was one of the reason Natsuki pitied her pathetic father, for his insecurities. Then again, typical Asian men, especially those with strong traditional upbringings, could not stand being the submissive one in marital relationships. Saeko reverted back to her maiden name as well as taking custody of Natsuki after her divorce. Natsuki's surname was changed once again to her biological father's after her mother's death.

Natsuki's father moved to the U.S, leaving the fourteen-year-old teenager alone in Japan. He half-heartedly asked her to come but she refused, to his relief. Her father was weak. He couldn't deal with the death of an ex-wife he still loved and the disturbed teenager at the same time, so he chose to escape. He gave her hefty allowances, god he tried, he tried to compensate his incompetency of being a father with money, but little did he know his fragile girl needed more than that. After the traumatic accident, she rarely showed any emotions to her father or to anyone, but she still craved for his love. His abandonment hurt her as much as the moment she had witnessed life fading out of her mother's eyes.

Once again Natsuki was left alone.

Since then, she had resolved to avoid close contacts with anyone. She couldn't trust her family, so there was no way she could trust another stranger.

She would rather be alone.

Lone wolf, they called that, didn't they? Did Shizuru also think so? Was she just a broken stray dog the perfect girl pitied? Was that why Shizuru befriended her?

"What's wrong, Natsuki?" Shizuru could feel the uneasiness of the girl in her arms, she tentatively voiced her concerns.

"Am I…do you also see me as a lone wolf?" Natsuki pulled away from Shizuru's embrace, missing the closeness immediately.

Confused at the girl's random question but Shizuru replied nevertheless, "Natsuki is my cute puppy, wolf is rather scary,…"

'Now I prefer to be a wolf.' She blushed.

The brunette tapped her chin as she continued, "But if you asked me what you reminded me of, I would say, a chrysalis."

'Ok now I rather be her puppy.' Realising her lack of resistant to being claimed by Shizuru, Natsuki pouted 'Chrysalis it is.'

Seeing the girl's adorable shades of red, Shizuru smiled brightly as she explained,

"For a start, chrysalisis a wonderful creature. Their adult form is beautiful, but people overlooked them for their not so attractive appearance. Kids scream at caterpillars but chase after butterflies, do they not? I am not saying Natsuki is ugly on the outside, on the contrary, she is very stunning. Her femininity attracts men and women alike, but they never dare to come close to her."

"Then how am I a chrysalis?" Natsuki's blushes deepened at her friend's blunt compliments.

"Because, my dear Natsuki, people are afraid of her. They call her lone wolf and only admire her from a far. Ara, what a dangerous creature she is! People are afraid of my bad puppy's bites."

Seeing Natsuki's cute sulking face, Shizuru paused and smile apologetically at her friend, she realised it wasn't the time to tease the girl.

"But they didn't know that Natsuki is also very beautiful, on the inside. But she is hiding under her cute scowls and her infamous glare, daring people to approach her because she is afraid of exposing her vulnerability. Like an almost fully grown butterfly protected under a chrysalis' hard skin, doesn't Natsuki think so?"

"Thanks for the psychology talk and the biology lesson, Fujino-sensei."Natsuki deadpanned. She didn't want to sound so harsh, but as much as she liked her friend, she found it uncomfortable to be analysed such way. The ice princess liked it that there was someone who could understand her deeper than face values, yet, she suddenly felt so naked standing before Shizuru.

'Do I trust Shizuru?'

Seeing Shizuru's smile faltered, Natsuki, feeling immensely guilty, was about to apology for her insensitive words.

"Does Natsuki know what the main similarity between her and a Chrysalisis?"

Shaking her head, the girl questioned was glad that her friend didn't seem to mind her rude outburst.

"That one day, a chrysalis will become a butterfly. When a caterpillar is fully grown into its adult form, it will be comfortable enough to get out of its shell and to explore the beauty of the world. One day, her beautiful mind will not only be seen by myself, but by others. The day when Natsuki is comfortable enough to remove her walls is the day she becomes a truly stunning and confident creature."

'Yes, I do, with all my heart.'

"I'm not done growing, am I?" Natsuki smiled sincerely. Little did she know the image of her beautiful smile under the pinkish orange sky had crept into Shizuru's heart, refused to let go.

"But she will."

Natsuki faked a pout "And you are always so sure of yourself, Shizuru the butterfly."

Hearing the comment, the brunette turned to look at the sunset, her melancholy eyes were faraway, almost out of reach. Natsuki wondered if she had said something wrong, but before she could ask, Shizuru gave her an amused smile, "Ara, does Natsuki think that I am beautiful, inside out?"

'Everybody has secrets, right, Shizuru?'

Shizuru, who had expected a blush that never came, once again turned to look at the sky. Watching the sun's slow descendent to the horizon, they could see the gorgeous light diming and the stars were starting to be visible. For the first time in years, Natsuki was able feel the summer heat, warming her frozen heart.

'Every cloud has silver linings.'

Tilting her head a little, Natsuki saw her friend watching the beautiful scenery with unreadable emotions in her crimson eyes. Her tawny hair was tinted with orange glow, flowing freely in the summer breeze. The older girl turned her head to Natsuki, her penetrating crimson eyes had never been more vibrant, and more striking. For a moment, all Natsuki could see were those red orbs staring straight into her bare soul. She saw the brunette's lips moving, but it took her more than three seconds to register that Shizuru was speaking to her.

Breaking out of her trance, she could remember that Shizuru had whispered something in...English, probably.

"What did you say, Shizuru?"

The older girl calmly answered, in her soothing English voice:

"Metamorphosis, my Natsuki."

The meeting room had never been a relaxed place, but this growing tension was beyond anything Natsuki had experienced before. She could see the Vice Presidents disapproving looks and the clients' grimaces. The emerald eyed sat next to Takeda, who nervously flipped through the Excel sheets, scrutinised every single calculations. It was undeniably peculiar as they had never undervalued by such large margins. The offered price was usually lower than the current market price to attract investors. This time, it was way too low. Similar to Takeda, the other team members also re-examined their calculations. With their eyes darting back and forth, up and down, Natsuki pondered if they would actually pop out of their frustrated heads.

This had never happened before. They had never make mistakes.

Not when there was a Shizuru in their team.

Shizuru was the reason why her team was assigned to help Artai Corp's private placement. Shizuru was a perfectionist. Her attentions to details and her skill of logical deductions never ceased to amaze other investment bankers. Artai Corp was a very important client, but now, Hime was in the verge of losing the loyal customer.

Natsuki discreetly glanced to her left, where Shizuru was sitting. She noticed the lack of Genmaicha. Well yes, their lovely Associate always brought her own tea to every meeting, almost always. In front of the brunette was a cup of typical green tea offered by the secretary, which was untouched. The serenity in her face had managed to calm down her team members. However, Natsuki suspected that the brunette was just as confused. She could see through Shizuru's façade, sometimes, and she was sure that the older woman was far from indifferent. Unlike the other Analysts however, the brunette did not look at her excel sheet.

'Confident.'

'Of course, there is absolutely no mistake. Shizuru is the Associate, after all.'

Deciding to stop tormenting everyone, Natsuki carried out the second act of her plan. She turned on her black iPhone, which was a no no in meetings, especially this meetings. Idly scrolling up and down her screen, glancing again at Shizuru, she could see the crimson eyes widened, and then came realisation.

'Oh god, she knows!'

"Ahem! Excuse me, um-"

Luckily, it was Yamato Akiyama, one of Hime's Senior Vice President, who had spoken first.

"It's Kuga Natsuki."

"Could Kuga-san please turn off her phone? We are having an important meeting right now." His frowned deepened, readied to put Natsuki's name in his black list.

"Actually, I was just checking the news," Natsuki smiled, gently. Seeing the girl's stunning smile, Yamato's glare softened a little, "I have found something quite interesting about Artai Corp."

"Well then, enlighten me!" Said one of Artai Corp's directors.

"Japan daily had just posted a financial review of Artai Corp, an hour ago." She continued, emerald eyes were still on her phone.

"According to the review, Artai Corp is currently undervalued, because the market has yet to price the corporation's upcoming project," Natsuki paused, making sure everyone in the room were paying attention to her,

"The title of the article was: 'The return of the infamous Metamorphosis project.'"

Silence.

"Bull shit! The project has been abandoned long ago, there was no way…" Yamato Akiyama stood up with his mouth agape and his breathing quickened. Realising his odd outbursts as all eyes was now on him, confused and curious. He took a deep breath as he flopped back down to his chair, abruptly cut his own speech.

In the corner of her eyes, Natsuki could see Shizuru's eyes widened in surprise.

'Everybody has secrets, right, Shizuru?'