I haven't forgotten about 12LH. I just had this rush of ideas for this one, so this came out first.

Martial Horror: Thanks about Nao. I hope I can develop the other characters as well as her.

Again, My-HiME belongs to Sunrise.

2/26/09

Natsuki's gamble had failed. She had hoped that she could have just sprinted down the alley and lose her followers, but with two men in front of her and another two behind her, she was trapped. Her eyes darted around the scene, assessing her situation. No fire escapes were available for her to use (both buildings on either side were too new and had their fire escape routes integrated into the buildings themselves). The alley was fairly narrow, probably too narrow for her to try and go around one of the pairs. Over the hum of the Saturday night activity buzzing, Natsuki had heard the faint crackling of a stun gun in a hand of one of the men behind her. Her options were fading fast. She needed an opening.

Fate answered her silent plea. The sound of a shattering window from behind Natsuki drew everyone's attention. Natsuki turned around quickly to see Nao, who appeared to be delivering rabbit punches to some poor schmuck whose head had been run through the driver side window of a white van. The two men who had been tailing Natsuki previously turned around and as they reached their comrade, she caught sight of the stun gun she thought was there in one of the men's hand. "Nao!" she shouted in warning.

Nao turned around just in time to see the man administer a 250 kilovolt dose of electricity into her side. She cried out in pain for a second or so before Natsuki was able to shove away her assailants and stop the shock. The stun gun had been applied long enough to send Nao to the ground, unable to control her spastic muscles. Nao was just able to open her eyes and look up to see Natsuki fending off the men on the sidewalk. She struggled to get up, doing so slowly and using the front of the van for support. "K-Kuga…"

"Nao!" Natsuki shouted as she parried off another attack and pushed the man away. "Can you walk?"

Nao coughed. "Probably." With a burst of strength Nao stood all the way up on her two feet. She was still wobbly and disoriented, but could at least stand with some help from the van.

"Come on." With one final roundhouse kick, Natsuki sent one of the men tumbling backwards, running into his comrades and buying her the opening she needed. She turned and ran, grabbing Nao's wrist en route and dragging her along through the crowd which had formed to watch the fight.

"Do you see anything, Mai-san?"

"No…wait. Did you see that?"

"Where?

"Over there. The subway station where those men ran into. I thought I saw Nao go inside."

"Yuuki-san finally got in over her head?"

"Maybe. I hope she'll be all right."

Mai continued to look out the window at the aftermath of whatever Cain Nao had raised while Shizuru returned her attention to the apartment. "Mai-san?" she asked. "Which way are pipe valves supposed to be turned?"

"Parallel means they're open. Perpendicular means they're closed."

"Then there is a reason the fire was so bad." Mai turned to Shizuru to see her looking up at the ceiling, and followed her eyesight. Shizuru's flashlight shined on one such valve that was connected to the apartment's sprinkler system. It was closed. "This fire was intentional." Shizuru returned her attention to Mai. "With the sprinklers disabled and that towel under the door, this fire was set to destroy this apartment without alerting anyone outside."

"Who could have done this?" Mai asked. "Could it have been Searrs?"

"The thought had occurred to me, but I think Natsuki did this herself." Shizuru turned her gaze to the bedroom door.

"Oh, right, the lack of underwear. You think Natsuki disabled the sprinklers, stuffed the towel to not let the smell get out to the hallway, and packed away her collection?"

"That is what I suspect."

Mai's cell phone began making vibrating noises, and she flipped it open. "We got to go. Police are outside."

"That was fast. Did we trip an alarm?" Shizuru asked as the two briskly made their way to the exit.

"Who knows? I don't want to find out, though."

Nao's coordination and awareness of her surroundings was gradually returning, enough at least for her to be able to swipe the card-reader on the ticketing gate as Natsuki pulled her through. Luckily for them, a southbound train was about to depart, and they boarded just as the doors closed. Their pursuers came into view through the windows as the train pulled out of the station.

"Two stops," Natsuki said quietly to Nao.

"And then?"

"My place."

"Thought it got torched."

"New place."

A moment of silence. "I hate you," Nao muttered. Natsuki didn't respond for a few seconds. "I could have had him…" she added, her voice trailing off.

"You would have gotten slaughtered by the other four," Natsuki pointed out.

"Don't give a shit," Nao muttered before trying to get her spasms under control. "I want to kill him."

Natsuki was somewhat perplexed by Nao's behavior. Normally Nao would have spoken of her targets with disdain and contempt. This time, Natsuki didn't see that. Nao was taking it personally. It was a pure hatred that burned behind Nao's eyes, being held back by her compromised flesh.

Nao glanced at Natsuki and saw the confusion on her face. She proceeded to explain as the train approached the next station: "You remember what happened to my mom?"

Natsuki nodded. "Yeah."

"He was one of them."

"I see." The reason behind the ferocity and primal instinct Nao had displayed against that poor schmuck next to the van then dawned on Natsuki.

The pair travelled in silence until the second stop, when Natsuki got up and helped Nao out of the train…to the other side of the platform and into the train heading in the opposite direction. "You led me the wrong way?" she asked when they sat down in the northbound train.

"Trying to throw them off. My bike's one stop the other way."

"Ah." Nao continued to take deep breaths as she continued to reassert full control of her body.

"Figured you'd know something about misdirection."

"Oi, Takumi." Akira poked her head from the bathroom. "Can you get some shampoo?"

"Hang on, give me five seconds," came the reply amidst other sounds from the television.

Akira rolled her eyes and took one guess as to what Takumi was doing. "Corner blitz, left side," she called out. "Have the slot take a screen." Akira had wished before that Takumi could become a little manlier, and she sometimes wondered if she should have been more careful.

"I don't think so, Akira. I think I should have him do a wheel and the tight end do a quick in route in case he's not open."

"The slot's going to be wide open with an extra guy to the outside to help block."

"If you insist."

Akira listened to the play-by-play. "…takes the snap, slings it left, the pass is INTERCEPTED, the forty, the fifty, the forty, finally shoved out at the thirty-four yard line."

Takumi let out a loud sigh as he paused the game and tossed the controller on a pile of books. "I blame you," he called out.

"On the contrary, Takumi. You did not trust your own instincts that the corner was sitting on the quick pass."

"Oh, that's bullshit, you were just duped."

Akira didn't bat an eye at Takumi's foul language. "No I wasn't, I knew the corner wasn't going to blitz."

"Then what's with the 'Oh, just throw a screen' suggestion if you knew it was a bad idea?"

"When you're out there, you're going to get bad advice sometimes, even from the most reliable of sources. You have to learn when to trust others and when to trust yourself."

"This is something you know?" Takumi asked as he reached the bathroom door and handed Akira a bottle of shampoo from the closet.

"Something I was raised on," she replied as the shampoo bottle retreated behind the door.

"Oh, right, yeah."

"What's the score?"

"Down 24-20. 3:56 to go."

"Don't let them get the field goal." With that Akira closed the door. She threw the deadbolt across the door, a more secure way of getting one's privacy.

It was both interesting and worrisome to Akira, Takumi and his newfound obsession of football. On one hand, it was a nice change in Akira's eyes as she saw Takumi become more active physically, more competitive. Part of it was probably the fact that he didn't need to compete with the laundry list of boys who were going for the academy's baseball team, so there was a much better shot of him getting to actually play rather than just ride the pines (never a bad thing for one's psyche). After suffering through the most polar opposite personality of hers that she had ever dealt with, it was nice for Akira to have one that was a little more in line with hers. He still wouldn't live through ninja training, but at least they could jog together in the mornings without having to stop every three minutes to let Takumi catch his breath.

On the other hand, Takumi took on a different persona sometimes when he played, either on the field or in a video game. It had caught Akira off guard the first time she witnessed it, when he threw his first touchdown pass in the video game and had actually rubbed it in the television's face with a, "Oh! Who's your daddy?!" and some pointing at the screen. Never minding the fact that the computer had been set on "rookie", that actually disturbed a couple neighbors, for which Takumi quickly reverted back to his usual self and apologized, but that image stuck in Akira's mind. After two years, he had worked his way up to the "all-pro" level and learned to turn down the volume on his celebrations and frustrations, but it was a side of Takumi Akira was actually a little nervous about. Akira had initially welcomed the emergence of Takumi's competitive streak, but deep down she feared that in the process Takumi might lose himself, lose what endeared him to her even as she berated how much of a pansy Takumi normally acted. So far his Hydian competitiveness has been tempered down and kept in check by his Jekyll-esque soft personality, but Akira always kept an eye out. She didn't know if this beast would one day find its football pen too small for its taste.

Fumi had walked out of the bathroom and was about to retire for the night when the phone next to her bed rang. "Hello? Director Himeno speaking."

"Fumi?"

"Ah, Kuga-san. I had heard that you ran into trouble. It is good to know you are all right." Fumi depressed a button on the phone, activating the two-way security system that would ensure privacy.

"You have some pretty low standards if this is your definition of 'all right'. I'm out of contingency plans."

"Oh. I am sorry to hear that."

"I think you got a leak somewhere. I was followed as soon as I left the bar, and they had a van waiting to spirit me away to God-knows-where."

"I will look into it. Is there anything else?"

"How long has Nao been a part of this?"

Fumi became confused. "Yuuki-san?"

"Unless there's another Nao out there with short red hair and an attitude problem, yeah. How long have you had her tail me?"

"Is she with you?"

"Recovering from a taser. Can you answer my question?"

"I have never asked Yuuki-san to perform any work relating to yours, Kuga-san. The only agreement I have with her relates to her scholarship."

"...You sure?"

"Yes, Kuga-san. What has happened that has caused this line of inquiry?"

A brief pause. "Nothing, don't worry about it. Will you be around in the morning?"

"Yes."

"All right. I'll head over then."

"Very well." The line clicked dead before Fumi had a chance to wish Natsuki a good night, so she merely returned the phone to its set. She sat down on the side of her bed and let out a heavy sigh. "Things were simpler back then, weren't they, Mashiro-sama?" Fumi said aloud, looking at a picture of her and her former master next to the phone. It had been easier, at least for Fumi, when Mashiro was doing the planning and she just followed along. All Fumi had to do was perform the duties Mashiro assigned her and prepare tea at the appropriate times throughout the day. Unlike virtually every student she was responsible for, Fumi didn't find caring for Mashiro very tedious; she was the kind of person who could appreciate the small and simple things in life.

Then came the day Mashiro and Nagi left. It was the culmination of something Fumi had suspected Mashiro was preparing her for in the couple of months between the end of the Carnival and their departure: independence. Fumi and her family had been Mashiro's servants for the past three centuries, a duty the Himeno family held even before the previous Carnival was conducted and had continued since Mashiro's victory. From the stories her mother had told her before she died, Mashiro had met untimely fates several times over the years, but her spirit was transferred from one body to another and so remained on this earth for most of the past three hundred years. (It was the last untimely fate that Sugiura-sensei had learned and confronted the two about two years ago.) To suddenly (relatively speaking) be released from that duty was a great change for Fumi, and she occasionally wondered how her more traditional ancestors would have felt about it.

She might have compared her daze over her new freedom to a slave suddenly being told she was free, but that analogy did not seem appropriate in Fumi's eyes. Mashiro was not at all unfairly demanding or cruel like a slave master; it was not slavery if the "slave" chose to be there. Fumi had come to serve her because she wanted to, even in the final couple of months when Mashiro had told her repeatedly that it wasn't necessary. (Mashiro had eventually given in and said with a small laugh, "Very well. You are my apprentice, then.")

Fumi still wished that Mashiro had never left, even though Mashiro had prepared her well for life after her. It wasn't that she hated having to run the show alone. Apprehensive at first, yes, but it was difficult for her to hate it if Mashiro had placed her trust in her because she never wanted to let her down. Rather, she had looked up to her as a teacher and mentor even when she looked down to greet her every morning with her breakfast tray. She missed having a reliable and wise friend and confidant. Nights were frequent, especially once she had gained control of the remnants of First District, where she would lie in bed and ask the calm and seeming clairvoyant eyes of her one-time care how she was doing. After what Kuga had told her over the phone, tonight would be another one.

Fumi picked up the phone again and dialed a number. "Yes, hello? Yes, I would like the number of the exterminator, please."

"This should do." Natsuki tossed Nao a towel that she fished out from her luggage. "You want to go first?"

"You go first," Nao replied as she made herself comfortable on the beanbag chair, planning on waiting for Natsuki's shower to warm up the hot water so that she wouldn't need to wait.

"All right." Natsuki walked into the bathroom and closed the door, leaving Nao to look around the room.

Nao sat up and looked around the room and the hastily-arranged furniture that was assembled in it. The two had arrived here about fifteen or so minutes after they exited the Fuuka subway and got on Natsuki's bike. They had to go slowly at first since Nao was still shaking off the effects of the taser and needed to concentrate on staying on the bike, but there were no further incidents from men chasing after them. With the time approaching midnight and the Academy far away, Natsuki had offered Nao her new place (as much of a mess as it was) to sleep the night before returning to the Academy in the morning. Most of her stuff was already packed away for her return home and Nao was generally a light traveler (she figured it wouldn't take more than a half hour to pack the rest).

Her finding time to finish packing and call a cab wasn't what concerned her mind. It was her curiosity and puzzlement over what the hell Natsuki was doing. As soon as they had arrived, Natsuki told Nao not to call or text anyone about where they were. When she asked why, Natsuki said simply, "Because you have no idea how deep in shit you might be in." Natsuki didn't elaborate any further other than saying that she'd have a better idea in the next several hours. All inquires by Nao about what this shit was about were dismissed by Natsuki with a "you'll know if you need to." Nao really couldn't believe she was saying this, but she wished the nicer Natsuki that showed up around Mai was around now because being left in the dark was aggravating. Nao had half a mind to just say "Screw it" and head home by herself, but there was a dead seriousness in Natsuki's demeanor that told Nao that there was something going on that she didn't know about. The fact that there were several men who were apparently trying to kidnap Natsuki armed with more sophisticated weapons than something like a pocketknife highlighted her ignorance of the situation. Only fools messed around blindly in Natsuki's world, and Nao wasn't one of them. So she stuck around, hoping to get some answers. Besides, there wasn't much point in foregoing free room and board.

Nao got up and walked over to the apartment window. Outside, the golden lights of the streetlamps shined down on the parking lot, bathing Natsuki's bike and the other cars parked there in a soft tea color. The glitzy downtown center of Fuuka rose behind it, set against the backdrop of the mountains beyond. Nao opened the window to get some fresh air, adding the soft sounds of tires on pavement and the occasional car whizzing through the air into the room to mix with the sharper sounds of the running shower coming from the bathroom. It was a strangely comforting melody for Nao, a reminder of a normal routine (as normal as Nao's gets, anyway).

So captivated by the array of lights through the window was Nao that she didn't hear the bathroom door open. "Your turn," Natsuki called out from behind her. Nao turned around and saw Natsuki in the doorway, using a towel to dry her hair and a larger one as her only item of clothing. "Corporate casual?" she quipped.

"Forgot my clothes out here."

"You could have asked, you know." Nao walked towards the bathroom with her towel in hand as Natsuki walked out of it. Nao stopped about a yard short of the door and turned back to Natsuki.

"What?" Natsuki asked.

Nao didn't say anything for a moment. "Nothing, forget it." She entered the bathroom and locked the door to end that puzzling conversation for Natsuki.

After a fruitless moment of trying to figure out what Nao was thinking, Natsuki turned her attention to her computer and her predicament. Natsuki sat down in front of her computer and began checking for messages. All things told, if someone had to be drawn into it with her, she could have done much worse than Nao. They did cooperate in their own sort of way, and Nao's no wallflower even after taking the end of the Carnival and the subsequent lack of Elements into account. Besides, Mai, Akane, and the gossip queens can't fight; Yukino and Midori were missing; and Mikoto is too easily distracted (plus Natsuki can't cook). Akira or Miyu and Alyssa might have been OK, though. Shizuru…

Natsuki was interrupted by an incoming instant message. It was one of her contacts. She opened the conversation.

Yorkhouse120 : My apologies. I had not anticipated this outcome.
ColdWolf: yeah, well the best laid plans
Yorkhouse120: I can understand if you no longer trust me.

Natsuki sat at the computer for a moment, wondering how to respond.

ColdWolf: you let me worry about that
Yorkhouse120: What do you plan to do now?
ColdWolf: lay low for awhile, get out of the heat
Yorkhouse120: That would be a wise idea.
ColdWolf: any idea what happened to the guy?
Yorkhouse120: The one whom I sent to the bar?
ColdWolf: yeah
Yorkhouse120: He has not reported back yet.

That wasn't exactly comforting news.

ColdWolf: u think they got him
Yorkhouse120: I fear that may be the case.
ColdWolf: that sucks
Yorkhouse120: I was negligent. I did not realize he was being tracked.
ColdWolf: shit happens. can't be helped.

A somewhat random thought then entered Natsuki's brain, and she decided to blurt it out to see where it went.

ColdWolf: we should meet sometime
ColdWolf: face 2 face

The computer clock said she waited twenty seconds, but Natsuki's clock said she waited twenty years. Understandable, Natsuki reasoned. This was a rather abrupt suggestion. Finally the other person responded.

Yorkhouse120: Perhaps in due time we will meet. Now is not a good time.

"What are you doing?" Natsuki turned to see Nao emerge from the bathroom.

"Talking. That was a quick shower."

"Who're you talking to?"

"A contact."

Nao walked over and stood behind Natsuki's seat. She scanned the conversation. "You haven't met this guy?" she asked.

"No."

"And you trust him? The guy types in complete sentences."

"He's proven helpful so far."

"How long you've known him?"

"About three months now." Natsuki simultaneously typed in a message:

ColdWolf: that reminds me, could you do me a favor?

Nao raised an eyebrow. "Interesting choice of words."

Natsuki glared at Nao and rolled her eyes before dismissing Nao's comment with a scoff.

Yorkhouse120: Yes?
ColdWolf: Is anyone else being tracked besides me?
Yorkhouse120: Let me check. I will need a moment.
Coldwolf: sure

"Ah, I see now," Nao said out loud. "Someone is chasing you and you're trying to keep everyone else out of trouble by cutting yourself off. How honorable."

A message popped back from the other end, suspending the conversation before Natsuki had a chance to respond.

Yorkhouse120: A new file has been added this evening.
ColdWolf: Anyone I know?
Yorkhouse120: Possibly. Do you know a Nao Yuuki?

Both of their hearts skipped a beat when they saw that.

On other side of the IM session, a computer sat in a darkened room, the only light in it coming from the monitor. A figure with long hair sat at this computer, with the same conversation opened in a window.

ColdWolf: when was the file added?

The figure turned her attention to a second monitor, logged into a website. The figure consulted the screen for a moment before returning.

Yorkhouse120: No more than a half hour ago.
ColdWolf: damn thats fast
Yorkhouse120: According to the file, she was last seen with you on a side street downtown. Is Yuuki-san still with you?
ColdWolf: no, but i can call her
ColdWolf: do they know where she lives?

The figure hesitated for a second before responding.

Yorkhouse120: Yuuki-san's current residence at Fuuka Academy is listed. However, the permanent address is unknown at this time.
ColdWolf: can you change it
Yorkhouse120: I can hinder the discovery of Yuuki-san's permanent address, but I can not erase her current address from Searrs's database. It will leave a trail and I run a great risk of being caught.

Back in Natsuki's apartment, Natsuki hung her head and cursed silently. She hadn't spun her web of lies carefully and now had gotten entangled in them. Nao just looked at the latest message. "So Searrs is after you?" she asked bluntly.

"Yeah."

"And you didn't want to tell me because…"

"'Cause you guys have had enough grief from them two and a half years ago."

"Might be true for Mai and the others, but not for me. It's more bad guys to beat up, why would I not be happy?"

"One, you're not Wolverine anymore. Two, because you have your mom now."

"What does Mom have to do with this?"

"You want to see her get hurt again?"

"Not like me running away's going to change that. You saw what he wrote; they already know where I live."

"Only at the Academy, which will be obsolete by tomorrow. I'm telling you, you do not want to be involved in this."

"No, I do." Nao turned away and folded her arms across her chest. "Here's my chance to end this and get back at him."

"The one who beat up your mom?" Natsuki sighed. "That was part of the reason why I didn't tell you about Searrs."

"Do explain."

"I knew you were going to go for revenge if I told you. And revenge is not all that it's cracked up to be. I've been there. I was miserable, I was angry, I was…missing the good and happy things in life. Are you willing to throw that away?"

"Throw what away?" Nao spat. "It was torn from me five years ago."

"Nao-"

Nao held up a hand. "Kuga, look. I appreciate you trying to help me. Really. But my mind is set. I want him to pay." Nao glanced around the messy room. "Besides, wouldn't it be nice to have some help?" She idly rubbed her side as she said that, on the spot where she had been tasered earlier.

Natsuki let out a heavy sigh. She was sure she was going to regret this. "Fine. But you know what you signed up for."

On the other side, the figure waited patiently as the minutes passed without a response. The figure began to reach for a small, ornate cup when a message appeared.

ColdWolf: sorry about the wait. drunk guy rambling in the halls.
Yorkhouse120: Do not worry about it. I will do what I can to protect Yuuki-san's permanent address.
ColdWolf: thanks
Yorkhouse120: Is there anything else you wish to discuss?
ColdWolf: no were good for now
Yorkhouse120: Very well. Good night, then.
ColdWolf: later

The session ended, and the figure closed the window. The figure proceeded to shut down that computer and disable the connection on the other, revealing the Searrs logo briefly before closing down.

"Putting the odd couple together, huh?" The figure with long hair turned a second one with shorter hair standing behind the first.

"Kuga-san needs to learn to be more trusting, if this is to work," the first replied.

"Even if that meant lying about what Searrs knows?"

"Time grows short and can not be wasted."

"Speaking of waste, dinner is ready. Greek cuisine."

"Very well, then." The second figure grabbed a hold of the wheelchair's handles and steered the first out the door.

Please read and review. I'd appreciate it very much.