Author: Man, am I glad to get the next chapter up. I apologise for taking so long, I wanted a little break away from Fanfiction as now I've got to face reality :P Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, to answer a review I got, due to another idea popping into my mind, there might be more than 20 chapters, unless I were to make the next few really, really long. All that aside, enjoy chapter 14!
Disclaimer: I don't own Mai HiME or Lucky Channel.
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Chapter 14
Hm...
Jade eyes stared up at the ceiling, wearily keeping a normal vision. Natsuki laid there motionlessly, her body concealed under her blankets but her thoughts was exposed before her eyes.
I caught her cold, didn't I?
A few drops of water slid down the blunette's cheek, as the blunette eyed upon the dampened cloth resting against her forehead. Her skin had paled, but it wasn't too severe, but Natsuki wasn't sure if it was the cold that was doing this.
"Hey, Mutt, you awake?" making no effort to knock, Nao opened the door only to find a tennis ball coming at her. Catching it with ease, Nao grinned as she took as step into the room. "Gonna have to do better than that, Natsuki"
"What's up, Nao?" Natsuki groaned, reaching slowly up to her head to remove the cloth.
"Just came to check on my favourite puppy" Nao patronised, as she patted Natsuki on the head.
"If I wasn't feeling unwell, I'd have tanned your hide alive" Natsuki grumbled, knocking away Nao's hand as she slowly sat herself up.
"Yeah, yeah. Heard you weren't feeling well, so I bought you something to cheer you up" reaching into her bag, Nao's hand squirmed around before grabbing hold of the gift. "Here you go"
Natsuki's eyes lit up in joy at the sight of a bottle of Mayonnaise in Nao's hands. Handing her the mayonnaise, Natsuki smiled warmly as she placed the bottle aside.
"I'm surprised Alyssa isn't in here, she's very attached to you" Nao muttered out of the blue, catching the blunette's gaze.
"Yeah, I think she hates me" Natsuki replied, lowering her gaze to avoid Nao seeing her sadness.
"Why's that?"
"You see..."
-...-
"Is that so?" Nao asked as she brought both her hands up against her lips. "I should've guessed it was you who she meant"
"What do you mean?" Natsuki asked, cocking an eyebrow as she tilted her head to the side.
"Did you notice the way she kissed you? Could you tell it wasn't her first?" watching as blunette pondered at this, Nao took a seat beside the blunette.
"How can you conclude all this?"
"Because..." a small blush rose against Nao's cheeks as she smiled nervously. "I was her first" the small gasp coming from Natsuki signalled for her to explain. "Allow me to explain..."
-Two years ago-
I never really sought to have friends, as I usually just kept to myself. I would spend my days reading during breaks, I don't remember why I was like this, I guess it just was. People would avoided me as though they were scared of me. I didn't mind to be honest, I enjoyed the peacefulness and I could just get lost within my books. That was until...
"Konichawa, Yuuki-san"
Lime green eyes drifted away from her book as she found herself staring up at a small blonde haired girl with a pair of bright sapphire eyes. "Hi... you're, Fujino Alyssa, right?" the flame haired girl asked, talking in a rather stern tone.
"Uh huh, nice to meet you Yuuki-san" Alyssa greeted, bowing her head before smiling warmly.
"Nao, just call me Nao" Nao replied, before turning back to her book.
My first thoughts of this girl were 'Is she gone yet? How long is she going to stare?'
"Can I eat my lunch with you, Yuuki-chan?" Alyssa asked with sparkling, innocent eyes.
"Chan? I told you to call me Nao" Nao grumbled, ignoring the small blonde haired girl completely.
"Hai!" raising her arm in an enthusiastic manner, Alyssa sat herself down beside Nao.
"What are you reading?"
"Withering Heights" Nao watched as the small blonde tilted her head to the side, giving the flamenette a questioning look. "Never mind" Nao sighed, bringing her gaze back to her book.
"Would Yuuki-chan like some of my food?" Alyssa asked, reaching into her bag as she pulled out a bento.
Nao eyed in amazement as Alyssa opened the bento, revealing a wide range of foods inside. "Whoa"
"I don't usually eat very much of this, would you like some?" Alyssa watched the small bit of saliva leaking slowly from Nao's mouth before giggling. "Hehe, I take it as a yes" pulling out a pair of chopsticks, Alyssa carefully picked up a slice of salmon sushi, before reaching over to Nao's mouth feeding the girl.
Unable to speak due to the piece of sushi coming at her, Nao willingly accepted the food taking it all in one bite. Munching on the bit of sushi, Nao watched as Alyssa's eyes lit up in joy whilst Nao's mind was focusing on how good the sushi tasted.
Alyssa was indeed a strange girl. To my surprise she came back the next, and the day after, and the day after again. I couldn't understand why the girl was so fixed on me; she was like some fly that just wouldn't leave me alone. Eventually, I just accepted the fact she wasn't going to leave me alone. Before I knew it, we became friends. To be honest, she was the first friend I ever had; as such I often didn't know what friends were meant to do. However, one day...
"Hey Nao, have you ever kissed anyone before?"
Nao pondered at this question as she brought her attention away from her book. "No, not that I know off" turning to Alyssa who was happily resting against her shoulder, Nao cocked an eyebrow in curiosity to the girl's question. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, there's this person I like, and... well, I was wondering if you could help me" Alyssa replied as she slowly began to blush, twiddling her thumbs around each other.
"You want to impress them, something like that?" Nao suggested, placing her book aside as she sat herself up.
"Y-yeah" Alyssa sheepishly replied, averting her eyes along the ground.
"Sure, I'll help" Nao watched as Alyssa's eyes lit up brightly, as the small girl nodded her head. Nao shifted herself around to face Alyssa as the blonde did the same. Facing each other with blushes on their cheeks, neither one made a move. "Um, what should we do?"
"Um, I don't know, this is my first time" Alyssa replied nervously, noting that Nao looked to be in the same boat as her.
"How about, we lean in like this and see what happens" Nao suggested as she leaned her body forward, watching as Alyssa mimicked her actions. Watching the young girl's head approaching her, Nao couldn't help but blush as the blonde slowly closed her eyes, perking her lips out.
It was going okay? Well, as far as both of us blushing like tomatoes, until...
Hesitating at the last second, Nao quickly pressed her lips against Alyssa before parting them away. Retracting her lips into her mouth, Nao turned her head away in embarrassment when a certain thought clicked in her mind. "S-sorry..."
"What for?" Alyssa asked, oblivious to the blush brightening on her cheeks, watching as Nao's fingers pointed at each other rather awkwardly.
"Well, I... I was your first kiss, right?" Nao asked timidly, averting her eyes away from Alyssa in shame.
"Hahaha, you're so cute Nao-chan" Alyssa giggled at the sight of Nao all nervous and embarrassed. "You were, but I'm glad. Was I your first?" Alyssa asked, leaning over towards Nao with bright, sapphire blue eyes.
"H-hai" Nao nervously replied, still feeling a little awkward from the kiss.
"Hehe, well then, aren't we even?" Alyssa smiled warmly at the flame haired girl, watching as Nao let out a small smile. "Can Nao practice with me another time, I want to get better" offering her hand out to Nao, Alyssa watched as the young redhead accepted her hand as she shook it happily.
From that one kiss, I was sealed in an unrequited love. Surely enough, we did practice some more, but after awhile, we stopped. I guess Alyssa had gotten over it, to be honest, I was sad then. Those kisses we shared were the happiest times in my life. I don't know why, but after that Alyssa slowly stopped visiting me. Part of me was glad that she was gone, but the impression she made on me, left me with a pain that wouldn't go away.
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"Hm, I guess that would explain it" Natsuki muttered to herself, ignoring the fact that Nao could hear her.
"I doubt she'll ever notice my feelings, let alone accept them. I'll never be anything to her" depressing the atmosphere around her, Nao hung her head down staring into the harshness of her words.
"That's not true Nao" watching the red head lift her lime green eyes to her; Natsuki eased a smile over the sad flamenette's heart, enquiring a confused expression from Nao. "You see, back when Alyssa was young, she always had trouble making friends. She was very shy and timid; as such she avoided becoming friends with kids of her age. Sure, she had me and Shizuru as her friends, but mother saw that she needed someone else apart from family to be her friend"
"Hm.." Nao mumbled to herself, feeling the atmosphere of sadness coming back.
"I can remember the smile on Alyssa's face when she came home from school one day. The whole afternoon she went on and on about how she made a friend, she spoke so highly of you, that I when I first met you, you were the complete opposite"
"Hey" Nao playfully hit the blunette's arm before allowing Natsuki to continue.
"She was the happiest that I had ever seen in all my years. But like you said, slowly she had stopped talking to you. I asked her why, Alyssa told me that whenever you girls talked, you had gotten quieter than usual and had trouble communicating to her. She thought you were mad at her; as such she eventually stopped talking to you. I could see it in her eyes the sadness she had from losing you" Natsuki's gaze turned to Nao who's eyes were drenched in sadness to the point where she looked like she was about to cry.
"I was scared... from the moment she took my first kiss, something began to grow within me. Whenever I saw Alyssa I could feel my heart pounding right out of my chest, for some reason whenever she talked to me, I was at a loss for words. It wasn't till she stopped talking to me that I realised what was wrong" small tears fell upon her hands, as Nao merely wiped them away.
"You were in love?" watching the young redhead nod in reply, Natsuki couldn't help but smile as she patted the young girl on the back.
After a few minutes in sitting in silence, Nao calmed herself down. "If you tell anyone about this, I'll make your life a pain" facading the sadness, Nao brought a devious smile along her lips. Her gaze drifted down her wrist as she eyed the watch on her hands. "Damnit, I was supposed to be home ten minutes ago, sorry mutt, looks like I got to leave you" grabbing her school bag, Nao made a quick exit to the door before waving back at Natsuki. "Get better soon, Kuga" with that she hurried off.
You weren't really meant to be going were you? I guess we can be stubborn with emotions at times.
Putting aside her thoughts at the moment, Natsuki turned her gaze over towards the half open door. "You can come out now..." Natsuki called out before letting out a cough.
Stepping away from the wall, a small blonde haired girl appeared as she slowly opened the door up. "Onee-chan..." Alyssa whispered to herself, avoiding her eyes from meeting with Natsuki's own.
She really is adorable at times, I'll admit...
"Come in" Natsuki watched as Alyssa hesitated at first before she took a step forward.
Finding the strength to continue, Alyssa walked out from the doorway as she now stood a foot away from the door.
"Could you close the door, please?"
Doing as she was asked, Alyssa closed the door. Turning direction towards Natsuki, Alyssa stood there, silent and scared. "Onee-chan?"
"Yes?" Natsuki sat there with a puzzled look on her face at the sight of Alyssa standing in the distance with a worried look on her face. Shifting her gaze to the seat beside her, Natsuki turned back to Alyssa as the young girl stared at her with bright blue eyes. "Want to sit down?"
Nodding her head to the blunette's offer, Alyssa made her way over, taking a seat beside Natsuki. Neither one spoke a word, recalling their last time together in their thoughts, the two continued to be silent until Alyssa broke the silence. "H-how are you feeling?" her eyes stared down at her hands, avoiding the blunette's own.
"A little unwell, but fine nevertheless. How are you?" smiling to the first bit of conversation she and Alyssa shared in awhile, Natsuki was as Alyssa slowly lifted her head up towards Natsuki.
"I'm okay" Alyssa mumbled in reply, her eyes still avoiding Natsuki's gaze. Feeling an awkward silence pass between the two, Alyssa almost flinched by the sound of Natsuki's voice breaking the silence.
"You overheard me and Nao talking, correct?" Natsuki asked, noting the small bit of surprise written on Alyssa's.
"Hai. Did she really mean that?" a look of guilt and shock were written on Alyssa's eyes as she shifted uncomfortably on the seat.
"She did, every last word. You knew didn't you?" catching the young blonde off guard once more, Natsuki could tell she was making things worse for her sister.
I know it's bothering her, but she needs someone, I can't be that someone.
"But I love Oneechan, I love her with all my heart" Reaching out for Natsuki's left hand, Alyssa gently eloped her hands around as she brought her gaze upon the blunette.
It pained for Natsuki to see the sadness and pain mixed within Alyssa's eyes. As much as Natsuki would like to have told Alyssa everything is alright, she knew it would only hurt her in the end. "Gomen nasai, Alyssa. I know you love me, not just as a sister and I wish I could return your feelings. But..." averting her eyes away from her sister, Natsuki could only shake away her hand away from Alyssa's.
"I know, you love nee-chan..." Alyssa muttered, watching as Natsuki nodded her head bringing tears of sadness to Alyssa's eyes. "Natsuki always played tea party with me, you were very nice to me, as such you were the person I wanted to be when I grew up" the childish tone disappeared from Alyssa's voice, as she brought her gaze up towards Natsuki.
She's talking like her age; this side of her is a rarity.
"Was I a bad role model to you Alyssa?" depressed at the thought, Natsuki quivered her thoughts around her mind.
"You weren't, Natsuki is still the sister I know and loved. I just wish I was strong like her" bringing her small hands away from Natsuki's, Alyssa rested them against her chest where her heart was beating.
"You are strong, Alyssa. If anything, I'm the one who isn't strong. I'd always see you as my little sister; I couldn't see the girl you have become today. Alyssa, I'm sorry I was weak" turning to her sister, Natsuki bowed her head for forgiveness to the small blonde.
"No, Natsuki is strong, she still is. You may have had some bad incidents but that hasn't hindered who you are one bit, and that's what I admire most about you" hopping from her seat, Alyssa approached the blunette with opened arms.
"Alyssa..." watching the young blonde wrapping her arms around Natsuki, the blunette couldn't hold back the tears as she returned the gesture, embracing Alyssa within in her arms. "Arigato.."
Unknown to Alyssa and Natsuki, of the honey brunette girl leaning against the wall outside of Natsuki's room, scarlet drenched eyes dripping in sadness.
-0-0-
"Glad to see your feeling better, Natsuki" matching the pace of the blunette's footsteps, Mai caught up to the absent minded girl as she saw Natsuki flinching slightly before noticing her appearance.
"Oh, hey Mai. Yeah, just a cold is all, nothing serious" Natsuki could see in Mai's eyes that to her, a cold wasn't just something minor.
Oh no, here we go
"Just a cold? Natsuki, what if it had gotten worse, then you might have died" clinging onto the blunette, Mai stared up at Natsuki tear filled amethyst eyes as she quivered her lip.
"Get a grip Mai, what's with you today?" growling lowly towards Mai, Natsuki tried to push away the saddened soul who somehow made her arms around the blunette's waist, refusing to let go.
Geez, just like when we were kids. Honestly, this girl is still a child sometimes
"But, Natsukiii..." the saffron haired girl whined, tightening her grip on the blunette despite Natsuki's protests.
"Duran? Is that you?"
Duran? Where have I... impossible...
The pair stopped their commotion by the sound of a voice. Turning her head, Mai cocked at eyebrow as she traced the source of the voice.
Natsuki's feet concreted herself to the ground, as she rotated her body around to meet the owner of the voice.
It can't be..
Natsuki's eyes widened at the sight before her. Standing no more than a few meters apart was a girl that looked to be a year or so younger than her, with long cobalt blue hair tied into two ponytails that stuck out from the side, her eyes were stained in the colour of mandarin as her clothes were identical to the uniform Natsuki was wearing.
"Natsuki?" the cobalt haired girl asked, as she took a step towards the bewildered blunette.
"Nina?" the blunette muttered, as she moved her feet from her place breaking away from Mai's arms. Natsuki stopped as she and Nina stood before each other with surprised looks exchanged.
A moments of silence passed as Mai stood there slightly confused at the scene before her. "Um, Natsuki, who is this girl?" approaching Natsuki from the side, Mai turned her gaze to the girl 'Nina' dazzled at how much the girl resembled someone she knew.
"She's..." Natsuki paused momentarily, raising Mai's curiosity. "My cousin"
TBC
Omake:
Natsuki: Huh? I have a cousin?
Shizuru: Why are you surprised, Nat-su-ki?
Natsuki: Well, for one, how can that stupid Author bring in a family member of mine at this point. I mean, isn't this against the rules of writing or something?
Shizuru: Actually Natsuki, if you recall back in the first chapter, you mentioned in your thoughts about you having relatives, so it's only natural to assume you may have a cousin
Natsuki: I swear, that good for nothing Author is running out of ideas. Lazy ba-
(Fanfare)
Shizuru: HiME Channel! (Sign falls) Hiya HiMEs! Welcome to another exciting episode of HiME Channel, I'm the ever so loveable host Fujino Shizuru!
Natsuki: I'm Kuga Natsuki, Shizuru's faithful assistant slash dessert, pleasure is mine
Shizuru: Wow, can you believe this show is still alive, I guess the fans are still dedicated to this show!
Natsuki: I doubt it, if you ask me the Author took too long to write this, if I were the fans I would stone that good for nothing lazy a-
Shizuru: (Covers Natsuki's mouth) Anyway, what have we got planned for the show today? Hm, the pages are blank. Where's the show?
Stage hand: Shizuru-san, this is from upstairs (hands Shizuru a few papers)
Shizuru: Huh, due to lack of writing, the Omake has not been written. Instead, here is a notice to all readers. Lately it appears that a number of stories have been disappearing of late in Mai HiME, unsure as to whether the authors themselves deleted them, or their accounts were hacked or possibly fanfiction took them off. Either way, this has been happening lately and all readers should keep an eye out in case their favourite fic gets deleted
Natsuki:... if you ask me, this sounds like advertising. Seriously, that producer of ours really needs to stop slacking off or I'll-
Shizuru: Oh, there's a small notice here for you Natsuki. Should you make any threatening actions against the producer, your pay check will be slightly less than usual
Natsuki: I'll, go applaud him for his brilliant work (whispers) dumb bastard
Shizuru: Well it seems that's the only notice here from the show. Anything else you would like to add Natsuki?
Natsuki: not really, oh. Actually, just a reminder to the readers to be sure to check out the Mai HiME fanfiction page on facebook, the link is on the producer's profile. Be sure to check it out and give that no good producer a kick in the as-
(Fanfare)
Shizuru: Oh dear it seems were out of time. Be sure to stay tuned to our next episode as we'll be back with a character profile
Natsuki: So until then...
Shizuru: Byeee!
(Sign pops up)
Shizuru: Natsuki, why are you so angry today?
Natsuki: I... I'm not sure, I feel like my body is building up with energy
Shizuru: I know what can help
Natsuki: What?
Shizuru: ShizNat love! (Tackles Natsuki to the ground)
Natsuki: Noo, Shizuru, not on the desk, the camera's still rolling. Shizu-
End of Omake:
Author: I apologise if the chapter wasn't good, been having trouble motivating myself to writing this story, or any of my stories. Apologies to the Omake as well, been low on ideas and well, life is starting to take priority now.
As to why I've brought Nina into the story, it will be revealed in the next chapter as she does have a purpose in this story. Nothing else to add, but if you actually enjoyed this chapter, then please don't forget to leave a review, I'm open to what you have to say!