Here's chapter two.
Martial Horror: That whole exchange was sort of the point. Hopefully it becomes more apparent why later.
Nightwing: Thank you! I do enjoy episodes of humor.
chum-sa: Natsuki will take some time to divulger her secrets.
My-HiME belongs to Sunrise.
2/8/09
"Ugh…so tired." That was about the only thing I could think of when I stepped out of the car. I hadn't slept a whole lot the past several nights, and getting to bed at 1:00 so that I could wake up at 4:45 doesn't really help at all. Even Mai's all-nighters were better than this: there was always plenty of coffee and I got to sleep in the next day. (Note to self: mayonnaise is not a suitable substitute for creamer.) I opened the back door of the car and pulled out the handcart. One by one I took out the boxes from the trunk, stacked them on to the cart, and brought them inside to my apartment. My new apartment. I said the phrase in my head again. It was probably the thousandth time I had said that since I got into this business. I used to not give it a second thought. Now? It's the past that wouldn't die. I suppose it is true what they say: in this business, even if you leave it, it doesn't leave you.
Thank God I picked a place with an elevator, even it if always seemed like it'd break if I breathed on it too hard. No way in hell was I going to carry these boxes up the stairs. When I reached my place, I unlocked the door with my key and opened it. A stale and dusty atmosphere greeted my arrival, forcing me to pace to the far side and open a couple windows despite the chilly dawn air. It was silly of me not to expect this: I hadn't entered into this apartment since I rented it last year. For an apartment this small, the amount of money I had to pay the landlord in order for him to not ask why I wasn't using it (or at least sub-letting it) and stop him from terminating my lease was ridiculous. I could have bought so many items for my collection with that money. But one look at my cell phone was enough to remind myself that it was times like these that I had foregone my private pursuits. After all, what good were black lace bras if you had no place to sleep?
After I went back to the car to retrieve my desktop computer, I spent probably the next fifteen or so minutes setting up everything essential in my place: checking the fuse box, turning on the water, setting up the alarms, you know, stuff like that. I probably really needed only five, but I kept getting distracted by what I was going to do with the car. I was supposed to be erasing myself from the system, make it harder to get tracked; getting APB'd for grand theft auto was decidedly counterproductive to that end. I thought that maybe I could just ditch it in the flood channel nearby, but I hadn't seen any location on my way here that was secluded and obscured enough for me to pull it off.
I eventually collapsed into one of those bean bag cushions that I had tossed on to the ground earlier. God, I was so tired. I sighed. It used to be that I did this kind of thing because I had no friends. Now I'm doing this because I have friends. It's kind of funny I guess, and I probably would have laughed at it if I wasn't so exhausted and still had things to do. I looked at the clock on my phone. 7:58.
The Land of Nod came beckoning, and I felt my eyelids start to gain weight. "Screw it," I thought, "I'll finish moving later." There was one task, though, that I couldn't put off. Fighting off the desire for sleep, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my old apartment's number. I waited for the third ring before proceeding to hit more buttons. With a "send", I closed my cell phone and put it in my pocket. I then adjusted my jacket which laid on me as a surrogate blanket and turned to my side to sleep, having just burned my last thread. I hoped.
I had one last coherent series of thoughts before sleep took over: "Sorry, Mai. Sorry, Shizuru. I hope you'll understand…if I get the chance."
"Mai! Mai!" Mai's brain barely registered someone calling her name. The fact that Mikoto was not attached to her body in any way, shape, or form that morning took a little sooner to process. Mai sat up in her bed, confused as to what could have drawn Mikoto away from her usual morning routine. She peered through her partially-opened eyelids and searched for the source of her name. "Mai!"
"Hold on, Mikoto, I'll get breakfast ready." The party last night had sapped more of Mai's energy than she had anticipated.
"No, Mai, look!" Mai finally tracked the source of Mikoto's voice to her standing at her desk, peering through the window that was above it. Slowly Mai got up out of bed and ambled over next to Mikoto to see what was going on. The drowsiness of her eyes vanished when she figured out what was wrong with the picture. Smoke was rising in the distance, and Mai could just make out the sound of sirens blaring from fire trucks. "Whoa…" was all she mustered out of her mouth.
In fairly short order, the television was on and live news feed from the fire was being relayed into Mai's room. Mikoto, having lost interest in the smoke, went off to toast some toast with the toaster (one of the first things Mai had taught her to use) because Mai was clearly sucked into the television and wasn't going to prepare breakfast anytime soon. She wasn't going to try to steal the attention away; the last time she tried that, everyone was unhappy. Mai, meanwhile, was unsettled. Not only was this the second fire in Fuuka since last night, but this second fire was bothering. She couldn't pin down why; it wasn't the fact that there was a second fire so soon after the first one that came right around the party's end at 11:00. Rather, this second fire looked too familiar. So fixated on the burning building's façade was Mai that she almost didn't hear her cell phone go off, alerting her to a text message. She picked up her phone from off the couch and flipped it open.
From: Chie Harada
Sent: 11-03-07, 08:11
Yo, Mai! Hear about the fire?
Huh. For once, she learned something before she heard it from Chie. Mai texted back.
To: Chie Harada
Sent: 11-03-07, 08:12
Yeah, where is it? Stupid news people won't tell me.
"Mai!" With her question in the process of being answered, Mai turned her attention to Mikoto and a smoking toaster. "Mikoto! I told you already, don't set it at six!"
"But it was frozen," Mikoto responded. "I thought a higher number would help it go faster."
"You don't need to set it that high!" The next few minutes were spent by Mai frantically opening windows to get rid of the smoke and disabling the smoke detectors to avoid drawing unwanted attention from the fire department that Mai was sure would not be happy to hear about. At least she didn't try to lick the toaster again. It wasn't until she was literally staring at Mikoto as she made another attempt at toast that she was aware of the "incoming message" alert her cell phone was making. Slowly backing up so that her eyes remained towards the kitchen, Mai made her way back to the sofa where her cell phone laid. She flipped it open again.
From: Chie Harada
Sent: 11-03-07, 08:14
What? Don't tell me you don't know!
Now Mai was getting frustrated. She was about to type a very angry text message telling her to cut to the chase when a second one from Chie popped in. Mai opened it.
From: Chie Harada
Sent: 11-03-07, 08:15
It's Kuga's place.
Mai slowly looked up to see the television continue to show the fire, and she dropped the cell phone. So shocking was the realization that that was indeed Natsuki's apartment on fire that she didn't even register the pain of her phone hitting her foot. "My God…"
"Mai? What's wrong?"
Mai suddenly snapped into action, frantically looking around the floor. "Where'd my phone go?!"
An arm flopped around off the side of a bed, feeling its way around a nightstand before the hand attached to it grasped a ringing cell phone. Its prey caught, the arm retreated to its owner's head, which lay on a cotton pillow. "Hello? Ah, good morning, Mai-san." Shizuru sat up on her bed. "No, it's all right, it was about time for me to wake up anyway. So what brings you to call so early in the morning?" Shizuru listened to the other end for a moment before her free hand patted around the bed and found the remote. She turned on the television. "Yes, I see it, Mai-san." She muted the television so that she could hear Mai over the phone. "No, I have not seen Natsuki since she left your apartment last night. Have you asked Harada-san or – I see." Shizuru's eyes returned to the silenced television. "Let me try calling her. Perhaps I may have better luck. All right, then, Mai-san. I will talk to you later." Shizuru hung up and began dialing another number while she removed the covers of her bed and set her feet into a pair of slippers waiting for her. Natsuki's answering message came on after one ring tone: "Kuga's phone. Can't take your call now. Leave a message."
Beep. "Natsuki? Could you call me or Mai when you get this message? We just found out that your apartment is on fire, and we want to know you're OK." Shizuru hung up. One ring tone before the answering machine meant that Natsuki's phone was not on. Natsuki usually left hers on even while charging, so for it to be off usually meant one of two things: either Natsuki was in class or she was out doing secretive espionage activities. The former was, of course, not possible since she had graduated. The latter was…very unlikely, yet…
As Shizuru reached the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush, her mind wandered back to that night two years ago…
Shizuru walked out of the bathroom and saw Natsuki watching the news while sitting on the edge of the bed.
"…Police have cordoned off a two-block radius around the compound out of concern that hazardous and volatile substances may be at risk. At this hour the Aomori fire department says that the fires on the first and sixth floors been contained, but they do not want to take any risks with an advanced research lab like this. Meanwhile, at least twelve men have been transported to local hospitals suffering from various injuries, the most serious of which include multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. At least five are listed in critical condition. The search is on for the suspects…"
"Don't worry about this," Natsuki assured Shizuru. "Yukino made sure the bug wiped out all video evidence, and Searrs has as much to hide as we do. They're not going to be able to chase us without killing themselves first."
"That's good to hear."
Natsuki sighed while continuing to look at the television pictures of the mess they had left as Shizuru sat down next to her. "You are sure this is the end?" Shizuru asked.
Natsuki nodded. "I mean, Searrs could have hidden things from them – need to know basis and all that jazz – but somehow I don't think they are. Alyssa's nothing if not clever, and Searrs isn't exactly in prime condition to retaliate against us right now. Miyu told me the other day that Searrs seems to be redirecting its efforts into reorganizing its American military contacts and expanding their operations in Europe. The Carnival's just a failed project to them now."
"So that's it for us?"
"Hopefully. Doesn't look like they'll have much interest in us now that we've ended the Carnival for all eternity."
"And what about you, Natsuki?"
Natsuki turned to Shizuru. "Me?"
"Will you continue your search for answers?"
Natsuki looked away briefly before she reached into her bag and pulled out her pistol. "I meant to do this later, but you asked, so..." Removing the magazine from it, she handed the gun over to Shizuru. "I'm done, Shizuru. I've had enough of this." She dropped the gun into Shizuru's cupped hands.
"You are giving up your quest?"
"I don't need the answers any more, Shizuru. I don't want them." Natsuki looked off to the side. "I have Mai, I have Mikoto, I have everyone else…I have you."
"And…your revenge?"
"Nothing to avenge now," Natsuki replied. Shizuru didn't miss the tinge of bitterness in her words. "Mai and everyone else did so much to help me out. I had to return the favor."
"You did just as much, Natsuki. Perhaps…more than your fair share."
A moment of silence save for the continuing coverage on the television passed. "Maybe. Still…it's like what Mai said."
"Yes, you told me. A chance to turn our connection by pain into one by shared joy."
"I want that too. Revenge is like lactic acid."
"What is that?"
"You know when you work too hard and your muscles begin to feel a burn? That's lactic acid building up. Your body is using oxygen too fast and so it has to use…um, other things to get energy. The acid builds up as a side effect."
"Are you sure that is how it goes?"
"Um, well, I'm just remembering what Mai told me the other day when we were studying."
Shizuru chuckled. "I never thought I would hear of Natsuki studying."
"Well, I have to graduate somehow! Bribes don't work anymore."
"Anyway, how is revenge like lactic acid?"
"You can't live long on it. I'm getting out while I can."
Natsuki later told Shizuru to keep the unloaded gun, despite the fact that it was Natsuki's first gun before she became aware of her powers. She had kept the magazine for herself as a memento. As for the lactic acid analogy, Shizuru, being a far more studious person than Natsuki, remembered how fermentation works but didn't point out that some organisms actually lived solely on that process (mainly because such organisms were one-celled).
Shizuru gargled and spit out the toothpaste froth. Rinsing her mouth clean, she picked up her cell phone and dialed Natsuki's number again. Only one ringtone passed, and Natsuki's "I'm not here" message began playing. Shizuru hung up, worry and fear banging on her doorstep. Had she returned to that life? Did she have a choice? She had looked more content in the past two years than the previous two that she had known her. Natsuki was never going to be a socialite, of course, but she at least seemed more comfortable being around at least her friends. What would make her give that all up?
Shizuru walked out of the bathroom and dialed Mai's number. "Hello, Mai-san? I called Natsuki's phone, but it is off. I did leave a message, yes." Shizuru wandered her way to her briefcase, using one hand to open it up and search for that day's outfit while the other held the phone. She suddenly stopped looking. "I hope sincerely that that is not the case." Shizuru was silent for a moment. "I suppose it would be prudent to look into that possibility. We will have to wait until perhaps the late afternoon before we can go, however." Shizuru glanced at the television and the continual gutting of Natsuki's apartment. "I do not think being caught trespassing would be a good idea." Shizuru listened to Mai over the phone. "That sounds good. 6:30 at Lindenbaum. That should be all right. I will see you then." Shizuru hung up, finished picking out what to wear, and walked out. She would have to stop by the front desk to pay for another night at the hotel: some additional time in Fuuka was in order.
"Takumi! Watch the ball go into your hands!" Akira shouted as she witnessed Takumi let yet another perfectly laid throw slip through his fingers and bounce on the ground. She swore that sometimes he purposefully failed at simple tasks just to annoy her. All right, so perhaps catching a football was not a simple as other things, but she knew his capabilities, and this was certainly within his limits. "Better to forego a touchdown than drop the pass."
"But I don't want to get pummeled by some hulking linebacker."
"You're backing out now? I thought you wanted me to join the cheerleading squad."
"I do!" Takumi fought hard to keep the smile of amusement off of his face as he retrieved the ball and began walking back to Akira.
"I'm not subjecting myself to ridicule if I have no one to cheer for," she stated bluntly. "Now come back here and let's try this again." Takumi reached the top of the penalty box and tossed the football to Akira. "Nice throw. Let's do an out route, five steps. That way you don't have to worry about getting pummeled."
"Why?"
"They're pretty hard to defend, and you can get out of bounds fast."
"OK."
"Ready?" Takumi raised his hand and got into position. "Down! Set! Hut!" Akira dropped back and Takumi ran his route. As he turned to the sideline, however, he slipped on a wet patch of grass and fell, leaving Akira's pass to sail all the way to far end of the bench, outside the field of play. "Takumi!" Akira shouted as she ran towards him. "All you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied as he left his peculiar "two-hands-on-the-ground-like he's-doing-push-ups" position and turned onto his seat. He took a moment to catch his breath and stood up.
"You didn't see that patch of dew?"
"I did, actually." Takumi took Akira's outstretched hand.
Akira was confused as she pulled Takumi up. "So why didn't you go around it?"
"It would have messed up my timing."
Akira hung her head. "Takumi, I'd rather you see jeté around that than break an ankle running through it."
"Jeté ? Since when were you into ballet?"
"Since I needed to find something to illustrate my point." She looked at the ball resting next to the bench. "So what do you want to do now?"
Takumi exhaled. "I could use a break."
"All right." The two of them walked off the soccer field and to the cooler they had left on the bench. "Which one do you want?" Akira asked as she reached inside.
"Orange, please." Akira tossed an orange bottle to Takumi while retrieving a water bottle for herself. "You're still sticking with plain water?" he asked nonchalantly.
"I've done just fine on it, thank you."
"Gatorade is so much better." Takumi took a swig of the drink, a smirk creeping onto his face.
"Oh, no," Akira warned. "You're not doing that again."
"Gaaaatoraaaaaaade…"
"Takumi…"
"Gaaaatoraaaaaaade…"
"Takumi…" Akira's rising voice indicated a vanishing amount of patience.
Takumi then moved in for the kill: "Water sucks! It really really sucks! Water sucks! It really really sucks!!" In English, no less.
"You know full well what I'm about to do to you, don't you?!" Akira simply could not stand the sheer inanity of that scene of that movie anymore and pounced on Takumi to get him to shut up. Actually, that entire movie was an hour and a half of idiocy; Akira swore her IQ went down about twenty points after the two of them watched it at the hospital while Takumi was recovering from the heart transplant two years ago. Unfortunately, Takumi had picked up on this particular pet peeve and loved to annoy her with it whenever he felt she was too wound up. Akira's usual way of dealing with Takumi at that point was to whale on him until he cried Uncle.
Akira had wrested the bottle from Takumi's hands and was in the midst of giving him his own little shower when the two were interrupted by a third voice: "Uh, excuse me." The two ceased their wrestling match and turned to the source, which was a girl about their age. She stood near the far end of the bench, a bookbag on her left shoulder and their football in her right hand. "Um, does this belong to you?"
"Oh, uh, yeah," Takumi replied, straightening out his shirt. "Here." The girl tossed the ball to Takumi, but her aim was off by about three feet to Takumi's left; he had no chance of catching it. However, Akira leaped and hauled in the errant toss before landing on the sideline of the soccer field. "Nice catch," Takumi said once Akira came to a complete stop. "Thanks," he said to the girl.
"Oh, um, no problem," the girl replied. "Say, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Um…W-Which way is it to the administration building?"
"That way," Takumi replied, pointing down a footpath.
"Ah, thank you." With that, the girl left the two, who watched as she walked away. "Haven't seen her before," Akira commented.
"You think she's a new student?" Takumi asked.
"Probably, if she's looking for the administration." Akira turned away and saw Takumi's eyes still fixated on the girl. "Hey. You better be looking at her bookbag."
"No…" Cue vein popping on Akira's forehead. "Her braids." Akira turned to see what Takumi was talking about: the pair of braids running down the back of the girl's head. "They look kind of weird, make her look like…uh…"
"An ant?" Akira ventured.
"Yeah, like that, I guess." A moment passed after the girl walked out of sight of the two. "She seems kind of nervous, doesn't she?"
"Well, if you were getting into a new school, wouldn't you?" No response came from Takumi. "At least a little?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Takumi sipped up whatever remained of his drink that hadn't been dumped on his head. "You ready to go back out?"
"Sure." Takumi began jogging away from Akira to put some distance between the two of them.
"Takumi?" Akira called. "You want to, perhaps, give me the ball before moving away from me like that?"
"Huh?" Takumi looked at the ball in his hand. "Oh, right."
"You know what?" Akira said, coming up with a simpler idea. "Why don't we just throw it back and forth? I think we could use a break from route running."
"Yeah, sure," Takumi replied. With a windup he threw a near-perfect spiral to Akira, who had to use her ninja reflexes to catch the ball coming straight at her. Both of them stood wide-eyed. "That…was a good throw," Akira concluded finally.
"Huh."
Akira tossed the ball back to Takumi. Despite the relatively lazy arc of the pass, the ball bounced out of Takumi's hands and hit the ground. Takumi released a frustrated groan as he picked up the ball. "Come on, Takumi!" Akira shouted. "Get your head in here!"
Takumi took the ball, wound up, and threw a veritable laser to Akira, who leaped up and caught it above her head. She came back down and took a couple steps to regain stability. She looked at the ball, and then at Takumi, who was about as flabbergasted as she was. "You know, maybe you should try for quarterback instead of wide receiver," she said.
"Maybe you should try out for wide receiver instead of cheerleader," Takumi replied. "You could use your skills there."
"Well," Akira went, throwing the ball back to Takumi, who managed to catch it this time after a bobble. "It'd certainly be better than wearing some ridiculous uniform."
The two were interrupted by Takumi's cell phone going off. He jogged over to his bag, took it out, and answered. "Hello? Oh, onee-chan. What's up?" As Akira approached, she noticed the look of worry beginning to appear on his face."Is she all right? Uh-huh. No, that's OK, onee-chan, I know how much you care about Kuga-san. We can go another time before you leave. Do you want us to help? Oh, all right. OK. Good luck." He hung up.
"What's up with Kuga-san?" Akira asked.
"Apparently her apartment's had a fire and no one knows where she is. Onee-chan can't join us for lunch today because she's too worried."
"Ah. Do you think we should help?"
Takumi held up a hand and shook his head. "Onee-chan said we shouldn't worry about it. She doesn't want to blow it out of proportion if it turns out she was out on her bike or something."
"All right. I'm sure she's all right anyway."
"Yeah, but you know how onee-chan is."
"True," Akira replied with a smile. "Think fast," she said quickly, flipping the ball towards Takumi. Takumi was too slow to react and the ball hit him in the face. When he recovered, Akira was already speeding away and laughing. Takumi happily obliged and began to give chase.
Unbeknownst to them, the girl with the braids was observing the pair from a hill. "It couldn't be them…could it?" she asked herself. "They do look and act so much like them. And that girl's reflexes…just like hers…"
In case you don't know, the scene referenced is from The Waterboy. Gatorade is a registered trademark of Pepsi. (*Sigh* legalities...)
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