Chapter Eleven
--
The following morning, the blue haired beauty woke with a rather annoyed looking young blonde hovering above her.
"A-alyssa?," she asked the figure groggily before getting an angry flick on her forehead as a reply.
"Good morning neechan... you dumbass!," Alyssa said just as she flicked the older girl.
"Oww Alyssa what the heck did I do now?," Natsuki inquired as she rose and rubbed her forehead.
"Umm hello? I woke up to what seemed like your entire class sitting in our kitchen. I had to feed them, wash their things and make their lunches. It's like we adopted a whole bunch of retarded people," her sister replied through gritted teeth.
"Alyssa that's a little harsh," Natsuki replied, prompting Alyssa to frown at her.
"It was the idiot redhead and her friends! There was a couple I heard doing things that should not be heard in our shower! The blonde was actually roaring!"
Natsuki nodded as Alyssa's revalations made her wince.
"Understood, my apologies."
Sighing, the young blonde decided to exit the room before throwing Natsuki some fear inspiring information.
"By the way neechan... the idiot redhead requests your presence as soon as possible."
"For what?," Natsuki asked suspiciously as many visions of Nao making her do odd things flew around in her head.
Alyssa shrugged.
"I wouldn't know, I'd kicked them all out of the house at that point."
--
At school...
Trying to avoid detection as she entered her first class for the morning, Natsuki snuck in in the hopes of not illiciting too many threats to her existence.
Making sure the headshakes she sent Mai and Nao were received as an order to not announce her presence through early morning jokes and or insults Natsuki inched closer and closer to her seat.
Unfortunately for the girl she was spotted by the worst person.
'Mission failed,' Natsuki thought wryly as the woman's eyes turned to her.
"Oi Kuga," Midori said as she stared the girl down along with many other members of the Fujino fanclub also sitting in the classroom.
"Don't think I didn't hear about your adventures with the head cheerleader. When I told Fujino to take care of you I didn't think she'd go that far."
Natsuki sighed as she settled into her seat.
"Midori-sensei I think there's been a little misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?!," Midori mirrored incredulously. "Yeah right. I'm sure you know why I'm reacting in this annoyed manner Kuga."
"I'm very sorry sensei but..."
"Why the hell was I not invited to the wedding?"
Natsuki gaped at her teacher.
"Umm what?"
At that point the previously silent redhead decided it was just about time to enter the conversation.
"It was a family affair...," she said while winking at Natsuki who merely shook her head at the girl.
"Nao don't help," Natsuki said sighing as Nao ignored her.
"Only relatives and a few close friends were invited..."
"Seriously Nao you gotta stop with the helping."
"Yeah you're right I should have gone with something believable. It was a Kuga-Fujino wedding after all and the Suzushiro's would have been principal sponsors. Like hell it would have been small."
At the front of the class Midori was posing with a frown on her forehead and a pout playing on her lips.
"I'm disappointed in you Kuga. After all we've been through as teacher and student. Bitterly bitterly disappointed."
Seeing defeat on the horizon Natsuki took the only available option she saw for herself.
"I'm just going to shut up now," she declared before laying her head on the desk.
--
Apart from the still disappointed looks Midori was giving her and the angry vibes being emanated by the members of the Fujino fanclub, along with the situation in the middle of the day when she smacked in the head, Natsuki's morning went by without a hitch.
--
After school...
Just before she could run away safely to her house, Natsuki found a certain troublesome redhead attached to her arm.
"Nao, what the hell are you doing attaching yourself to my arm?"
"Oh my God is that idiot Kuga cheating on Fujino-sama?"
"How could she?!"
"Nao you're really gonna have to let go of my arm, your attachment to it seems to be aggravating the masses."
"What?"
"Get off me before we get mobbed and or shot you idiot."
"Ah relax Natsuki we're here anyway."
"Here where? Where are we? Forgive me for sounding a little disturbed right now but I'm only sounding like this because I'm with you and you like to throw me into disturbing situations..."
"Well you've been after this girl for ages now and it's come to my attention that you don't really know much about her. That's probably why you keep striking out with the trying to make conversation."
'Sounds too normal for Nao,' Natsuki thought suspiciously as she waited for the punch line she was sure was coming...
"So I've decided to dedicate this day into researching."
'... and there it is,' Natsuki finished in her head.
"Is this even really necessary? I mean isn't that why people date?," she asked aloud.
"No but can we do it anyway?"
"I'm going home."
"Hey hey hey I dunno if you've figured this out yet genius but you kinda skipped the dating and dove right into wanting to marry the girl. Don't you think getting to know her is a prerequisite?"
"Nao stop using words I don't expect you to know the meaning to... and I don't want to marry the girl!"
"Yeah lie more proposer."
"I never proposed to her!"
"Maybe not in real life but real life is overrated anyway who cares."
"God you're a ridiculous friend. I knew I should have ditched you when we were five."
"But you didn't and here we are out on this beautiful day..."
"Planning weird and possibly illegal things. Where's Mai anyway? At least Mai's a little normal and offsets the weird you like to bombard the universe with."
--
As if on cue, the redhead in question bounded happily to her friends.
"Hey guys sorry I'm late! I was finishing off the information you asked for Nao," Mai said as she smiled triumphantly.
Natsuki looked blankly at the new arrival as she tried not to facepalm.
"I don't even know you anymore Mai," she said as Nao nodded approvingly at her cohort.
"Excellent work Tokiha. Now let's see what you got."
"What is that? Is that trouble for me? It is isn't it... I can sense it."
"I got it all. Chie and Aoi are super handy people to know you know. Schedules, part time job, location of part time job, three sizes..."
"Three sizes?," Natsuki asked with her eyebrows raising.
"Just kidding," Mai replied with a wink. "Natsuki's a pervert!," she sighed causing the accused girl to sigh.
--
"Wait a minute," Natsuki insisted. "Isn't this kind of considered stalking?"
Nao looked at her incredulously.
"Natsuki do you have a camera? No I don't think so. Are we dressed in all black? No I don't think so. Do we have connections to the government? No I don't think so. So in answer to your question, we're not secret government video taping spies at all."
"Nao, did you even hear my question?"
"What?"
"Fine whatever I know I'm going to get dragged into this but just don't let us get caught ok? I don't wanna be seen following her around."
Mai and Nao rolled their eyes simultaneously.
"Relax Natsuki, we're just taking a stroll in the vicinity, no one's gonna think we're following her around."
--
"Oi what are you fools doing following the bubuzuke around?," roared a lion behind them.
"Haruka!," Natsuki said as the girl's voice made her jump.
"Yes that would be me, the only normal one here," was the simply put reply.
"Sorry Haruka but we're on a mission right now, if we told you what it was for we'd have to kill you."
"You know what, forget I asked I'm just gonna carry on making my way to my tutoring session and pretend I didn't see any weird people on the way."
"Say hi to Yukino for me!"
"Yeah yeah whatever, don't call me from jail," the blonde said as she waved before walking off.
--
"Dammit we lost her," Nao said as she scratched her head.
"I'm actually kind of glad Haruka walked away," Mai said with a shrug.
"Not her, the mark!"
"Hey we are not killing Shizuru!," the panicked Natsuki said interrupting.
"Oh that's what 'mark' means? I didn't really know," Nao said with a sheepish look. "Anyway it's not really a problem I put a tracking device in her bag this morning."
"A tracking what?! Please take that back right now!"
"Ok ok I lied. But it was fun to see you nearly have a heart attack. Wait" the happy redhead replied before other thoughts interrupted her. "Look, fangirl swarm up ahead, she must be close!"
--
"Target acquired," Mai said as she took the pair of dark sunglasses Nao offered her.
Natsuki shook her head at her friends as they shrugged at her in reply.
"Gotta get in the mood Natsuki," Mai said with a nod.
"The mood is important," Nao confirmed. "Ok so there's Shizuru."
"What's she doing?," Natsuki asked.
"Being swarmed by the fangirls," Nao replied. "Pay attention to my previous reports Natsuki."
The blue haired girl frowned as she tried to get a sight of their 'target'.
"I can't even see her, are you sure she's in there?"
"Umm hello? Like there's another idol-like person at our school. The closest thing would be Haruka but she roars too much and you who's painfully oblivious to most things around you."
"Hey," Natsuki began before she found her protest-to-be interrupted by an excited Mai.
"Ah there there the bouncy one with the pigtails moved aside you can see Shizuru now."
"Where, what is she doing?," Natsuki questioned. "Does she look bothered by the fangirls?"
Nao and Mai stand back smiling.
"I really don't think she's paying too much attention to them at all Natsuki," Mai replied as she and her two friends watched Shizuru smiling gently to herself as she adjusted the small egg she held in a purple basket.
When her job was finished however the three new onlookers found themselves being thrown into a Nao induced panic.
"Ah crap she's getting up quick hide!"
"Hide?! Hide where?!," Natsuki asked as she freaked out.
"Bush there, dive dive dive!," Nao replied as she followed her own advice, pulling her two friends with her.
--
"I cannot believe we're here," Natsuki said as she sat covered in foliage.
"It's not so bad."
"We're in a bush Nao!"
"Shh shh She's coming over," the redhead replied. "Uh oh."
"Uh oh? What uh oh?," Natsuki wondered as she fought the urge to shut her eyes tightly.
"She's coming over. I said it earlier but you didn't panic enough so I said it again."
"I hate you guys!"
--
Moments before Shizuru could finally inspect the suspicious movements she previously caught with her eye, she was interrupted by one of the many nervous underclassmen that often gathered around her.
"Fujino-sama could you take a look at something for me?," the younger girl asked shyly.
Shizuru flashes the girl a polite smile before walking over... just a few seconds after looking directly into the bush.
--
"Safe," Nao said with a grin.
"That was close," Mai said with a slight laugh.
"I really hate you guys," Natsuki said before Nao waved her off.
"Ok next stop is..."
"Wait we're still going along with this? I nearly have a heart attack and the plan still goes on as planned?!"
Nao sighed as she patted the girl's shoulder.
" Natsuki you have to learn all there is to learn about Shizuru otherwise you can't honestly say you're being respectful of her or your feelings for her," Nao replied as they attempted to stealthily trail the head cheerleader when the girl finished helping the underclassman.
"Don't think I don't see through your sensible act Nao! You're just doing this because you want to use this situation as a humorous anecdote for later. I'm onto you!"
"Hey hey she went into that shop," Mai declared as she watch Shizuru disappear quickly through a door.
"Which shop?," Natsuki asked prompting Mai to smirk through her reply.
"Whoa. Seems Miss Fujino has some taste in... ahem... underclothing."
"She also likes lingerie," Nao said.
"Geez Natsuki she's like your soul mate."
Natsuki blushes before she felt one friend wrap around each of her arms.
"Well let's go," the two redheads said together.
"What? Oh no... no way. We can't go in there."
"Whatever Miss can't pay attention. Shizuru and lingerie are in there. Walking in there would be like dying and not going to hell. If I were you I'd be running into that place."
"Listen to me now Nao. We cannot go in there."
"Uh, yeah we can. Free country and all that... besides we can't stalk properly if we're out here."
"What did you say?"
"Stalk properly."
"Nao..."
"Oh I said it again haha. I meant to correct myself with research properly but I failed and spoke the truth."
Natsuki shakes head as she tried dragging her feet in an attempt to escape the inevitable.
"We can't go in there!," she repeated, only stopping when she safely through the doors.
"How awkward does my life need to be?!," she inquired of her friends in a harsh whisper.
"Relax Natsuki," Mai said. "We're in now but she still doesn't need to see us here."
Nao nodded.
"We must hide," she said. "We must be one with the lingerie."
Natsuki gulped before willing herself to relax.
'They're right,' the girl thought in her head. 'Shizuru doesn't need to see me here. Shizuru won't see me here. I will hide! I will be one with the lingerie!'
--
"Natsuki is that you?," Shizuru asked as she walked over to the girl.
'I will fail,' Natsuki finished before turning to the girl with her best smile.
"Shizuru! Fancy meeting you here... here in this house... of lingerie." 'Please don't think I'm stalking you...'
"Ara. How nice that Natsuki came to visit me and our egg in my place of work," Shizuru said as she smiled sincerely at the girl. "Could I do something for Natsuki?"
Natsuki paused for a moment as she willed her brain to function.
'Quick brain think of something to say! Think faster!,' she thought before opening her mouth to speak.
"What? Visit? Uh no I actually came here to buy lingerie." 'God dammit I hate you brain.'
"Ara, of course. Well let me assist you in finding the correct fit and then we can go through the styles together."
"Ohhh yeaah," Nao said as she felt the need to remind the others of her presence as Mai giggled beside her.
"Umm no that's not really necessary Shizuru. Really it's not," Natsuki insisted before turning to her two friends. "Guys tell her it's not necessary. Guys? Friends? I know where you both live..."
"To be honest Fujino-san she's really just shy but she's been wanting to come get fitted for a long time now," Mai said as she ignored the Kuga death glare being directed at her.
"Be gentle it's her first time," Nao added with a wink.
"Ara I will be. It is my Natsuki after all," Shizuru said surprising the three friends with by adding a wink of her own.
Natsuki audibly gulped at the sight before she silently let herself be led to the changing rooms while mouthing 'I hate you guys,' to her smirking friends.
--
"Shizuru you really don't have to help me with this," Natsuki began as she once again found herself in an enclosed space alone with the object of her affections.
Crossing her arms over her chest in a protective manner Natsuki tries to fight off her auto-blush under Shizuru's gaze.
Shizuru raises a few pieces of lingerie in front of Natsuki as if choosing what she thought would best fit the girl.
"Hold this Natsuki," she requested simply as she held out the basket which kept their egg wrapped up nicely.
As she reached over instinctively to receive the object, Natsuki arms abandoned her chest...
--
Meanwhile at the front of the store a blonde on a simple mission calmly enters. Spotting the two familiar redheads, Haruka wanders over to them.
"Where's the bubuzuke?," she asked bluntly.
"Hey Haruka," Nao replied. "I see you're as sociable as always. How did the tutoring go?"
"Very well thank you. How's the being a delinquent going?"
"About the same."
--
"Ahh Shizuru!"
Haruka's eyes widened at the sound and tone of Natsuki's voice being carried past the curtains of the changing room.
"Oh my God is that Kuga?," Haruka asked with a voice more high pitched than usual. "You people left her alone with the bubuzuke? In this store?"
"Uh huh," Mai replied all too easily.
"Seriously how moronic are you?!"
"Ah geez Haruka walks in and the roaring begins," Mai said with a sheepish headshake.
"Wait a minute Haruka what's wrong with that?," Nao asked before Natsuki sounds interrupted their conversation once again.
"Shizuru! My innocence!!!"
Haruka winced before she smacked the two redheads standing before her.
"What's wrong with that?! Everything! If you let whatever's going on in there continue you really will have to marry your friend off! Fujino's gonna be the only one willing to take her when it's over!"
Nao and Mai blink before smirking at each other.
"Why are you both smirking like that?! I don't even think you idiots speak my language," Haruka said mostly to herself as she felt a pounding headache coming on.
--
Moments later a ruffled Natsuki wanders out of the dressing rooms, closely followed by a smiling and as always pristine looking Shizuru.
Three onlookers monitor her silently, the blonde looking worried while the two redheads looked excited.
Natsuki blinks a few times before letting her eyes settle on Nao and Mai.
"It's Nao and Mai," she said dreamily. "I love you guys!"
Stepping closer to their friend, neither Mai or Nao were surprised when they had to catch her as Natsuki's legs gave way.
Haruka sighed at the sight.
"Really bubuzuke. Haven't you ever heard of a size chart?"
--
AN~ As always, thanks for taking the time to read this everyone :) Comments and suggestions are appreciated.