Chapter Three - Last Minute Acceptance

The packing commenced as soon as the sun began to go down. All of the girls in the group gathered into mine and Mikoto's room to plan out what needed to be added to their own luxuries. Dinner was provided as a special commemoration of their coming together in the trip, and Midori was all too exited to be the spearhead of the speeches. She could barely sit still as she waited anxiously for the meal to start so she could get on with her well-planned words, but an argument burst out as Mikoto spied Nao's list of 'essentials.'

"Nao?" she said quietly. She eyed her items suspiciously and jabbed a finger against the paper. "Why do you have 'thirty roles of toilet paper' written down on you're list?"

Nao went bright red. "Umm, thirty? I don't think so! I, um, must have made a mistake!" She tried to hide her face. "Yeah, that's what I did!"

Ntasuki stared at her, a smile beginning to break across her face. "Nao? Is there something you need to tell us?"

"Like maybe the amount of toilet breaks you need?" Midori inserted with a grin.

"No, don't be stupid! I'm a normal person! A NORMAL PERSON!"

"Yeah, whatever," Natsuki persisted, looking quiet triumphant as she sat with her back straight and her head high in the air. "We all believe you, Nao, truly."

The fiery HiME snarled. "Don't use that sarcastic crap on me!"

I could see that things were getting worse fast, so I held up a hand as though to create a barrier between the two. "Come on, let's not start on each other yet. You can pack whatever you want, okay everyone?"

There were murmurs of agreement as everyone eyed their lists carefully, scanning for any embarrassments that might be pointed out by the curious Mikoto. Nao and Natsuki both had their gazes locked on each other, and no matter what I tried to do to distract them, they seemed to be trying to stare each other to death. The festivities were clearly already underway.

I noticed that Yukino seemed a little off colour as she sat quietly to the side of Midori, her eyes staring at the floor sadly. I could almost visualise the storm cloud above her. "Something the matter, Yukino?"

She looked up quickly, startled, then quickly shook her head. "No, no, I just guess I'm a little nervous about tomorrow, that's all." She tried to put on a brave face, but it crumbled almost immediately.

"Don't worry," I said, trying to calm her turmoil. "Just because Haruka won't be there doesn't mean anything bad will happen to you."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

As I tried to help the young girl, Nao and Natsuki were no longer on opposite sides of our circle. Nao had reached forward and snatched away Natsuki's list. As expected they were now scrambling on the floor, ripping at hair, throwing punches in every direction.

We all turned to Midori for her strict 'teacher's discipline hand', but she shrugged. "If we break them up now, they'll just blow later on. Better to let them release some steam now, I guess."

I didn't particularly like the way she handled things sometimes. It was as though she just wasn't bothered, but then she had the pair together in almost every class. All I could really do was envy her for letting them both come along.

"Give that back to me!" Natsuki cried out as she savagely attacked Nao with her nails, leaving red trails along the girl's arms.

"Oww! Hey!" Nao gasped. She managed to position her beet between her and Natsui and flung her across the room so she could get to her feet.

Natsuki threw herself back at Nao, but it was too late. She was already reading out the list for the entire room to hear.

"First we have the unforgettable usuals: Clothing, toiletries, food, blah, blah- Ohhh…"

Everyone's attention turned to Nao as she burst out laughing at the list. Even I could not keep my curiosity out.

"Nao, please…" Natsuki was pleading, actually pleading, with the devil. She looked like a lost puppy, terrified in a crowd.

Of course, Nao could care less. "Dear Natsuki, why is it you have 'lingerie collection' written here, underlined, circled, and, might I point out, decorated with little love hearts?"

A few giggles ran through the small circle on the ground. Natsuki went bright red as her eyes teared up, then she snarled and lunged at Nao, screaming at the top of her lungs.

The door was thrown open so suddenly that our eyes turned from one amazing event to the next, ignoring the fight as we stared at the unexpected visitor.

"What is going on in here?"

Yukino's face brightened up. "Haruka!"

The strict leader of the council stood in the doorway, her strong personality already blooming from her as she crossed her arms and frowned at the wrestling pair on the ground. "I thought you would be packing," she said, eyeing the suitcases and bags lying open on the floor.

"We are," I said, then nodded a head at Natsuki and Nao. "They had a little debate about each other's lists."

Haruka rolled her eyes at the trivial reason for the pair to try and take each other's eyes out. "I see…"

Yukino flung herself at her dearest friend and gathered her up in a tight embrace. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Haruka went red and looked more out of place than she ever had. "Yukino, I didn't say I was going to come."

There was a flash of disappointment in Yukino's eyes and she pulled back a bit. "Oh… so you're not staying?"

Haruka sighed as she stared around at the group. She seemed to be summing up how the adventure would go with such a vast difference in personalities and knowledge, but the begging look in Yukino's eyes was almost too much. She exhaled deeply and bowed her head, giving a tiny nod.

"Oh, Haruka!" The council leader was crushed in a hug again, but she only laughed it off this time.

We were all a little shocked at the sudden adding of a member, and we were also a little disappointed. Haruka was possibly the bossiest student in the school, so she would no doubt become the leader and take us straight into a ditch or a bear's den.

Midori decided to set some ground rules for her. "You can come with us as long as you can accept the fact that I will be the leader in this trip, and you must also accept the fact that this is all for Mai's sake, so there will be no leadership teachings or complaining about the wild. Is that all sounding okay?"

Haruka had to think seriously about this. She wandered over to the single couch and threw herself down into the cushions. Pressing a thumb to her chin and narrowing her eyes as she fell deep into thought made her look like a teachers pet. That fact would have killed her in an instant.

Finally, she declared that she agreed. "However," she quickly added, pointing a finger towards Natsuki and Nao. "Is this really helping Mai?"

The pair froze and looked across at me, making me feel as though I were in a corner.

"It's okay, really," I said quickly, shying away from their stares.

Natsuki, however, pulled away from Nao and returned to her earlier position. "Haruka's right," she said, sighing. "Sorry, Mai. I even helped to come up with this idea."

Nao said nothing, but she too did not attack again and positioned herself back on the floor to resume staring down her list. I noticed, though, that her eyes would flicker up to Natsuki's every now and then as though to be sure that she was staying well away.

"Anything else you want to know?" Midori asked Haruka as the light brown haired girl sat back in the chairs and racked her brain for something else to complain about.

It was not long before she shouted out her next point. "What about survival awareness? Do you have any idea what to do when, sorry, if something goes wrong out there?" There was a challenging dare in her eyes as she looked across to Midori.

The teacher laughed. "Well, let's see. I am a nurse as well as a teacher, so I know about the area were heading into, I know first aid, I am bringing along anything that may be needed just in case, and I have also done plenty of study in the world around us." She nodded her head to finish her speech and shot the same look that spelled 'bring it on' back at the council leader.

Haruka had plenty more to say. We were all beginning to wonder if she had written a list. She counted the problems we may face off on her fingers: Bugs, other nasties that lurked, getting lost, weather factors…

Yukino answered all before anyone else could even open their mouths. Clearly she was desperate for her love interest to come along. "I have packed seven cans of insect repellent and a huge tent that keeps them out along with other animals, I made a map earlier during my break, the weather is going to be clear for the next few days…" Everything that Haruka complained about, Yukino had a cure for.

"Fine!" the defeated girl mumbled a good twenty minutes later. "But don't expect me to trust that all of that will keep us completely safe!"

"That's the thrill of it," Nao drawled as she lay stretched out on the floor. "If you don't have a little taste of adventure every now and then, you become a machine."

"What did you just call me?" Haruka cried.

Midori was not ready to deal with another argument. "Okay, time for the speeches," she announced quickly as she stood up in front of the entire group. Clearing her throat and giving Mai a little wink, she began her talk: "Here we are gathered in Mai's and Mikoto's room, to prepare for our great adventure tomorrow." She stared down at her well placed que cards that she had slipped into her ripped sleeve. She stared through the stitching and red quiet fluently considering the little amount of words she could read.

The speech went on for some time more, explaining how well she had started to get to know them all, what was to be expected in the forest, how long the trip would take, what definitely needed to be packed, and finally, she started to sum it all up.

"We must all remember that this trip is to help our good friend, Mai. She would do the same for us if we were in her position, so it is only right that we help her, and for those of you who do not agree with this, you still have no choice because I said so." She smiled sweetly at this. "I hope that you all enjoy the time we are about to have, and for gods sake, be careful out there because I can't keep an eye on all of you at the same time. Got that?"

We all nodded, knowing how serious she could get if her threats were ignored.

"Well then, let's finish up packing and get some food into us."

The dinner was more of a feast, however I had to cook up some extra food for our unexpected new member. I rushed immediately into the kitchen as Mikoto started to carry the first plates out.

"Damn it, damn it!" I gasped as I rushed pots and pans down and threw ingredients into them without even looking. I always liked to test myself when I was cooking, and sometimes I even liked to time myself and beat it later, but this was more like a workout than a fun little activity I liked to do. Why did Haruka have to join so suddenly?

"Need some help?"

I turned to see Nao standing in the doorway, her hands pressed against the frame almost boredly as she waited for my reply.

"Uh, y-yeah," I stumbled. My surprise must have shown, for she laughed as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Don't worry, I know how to cook pretty well. I was taught by…"

I stared at her, waiting for her to continue, but her eyes were clouded over as she thought of a painful past. I knew the look all to well, and though I was not sure of what was going on behind the scenes, I didn't press for information.

"Well that's great!" I said enthusiastically. "But are you really sure you want to help? I mean, well, I can get a little bossy."

She laughed again. "That's okay, I'm sure I can handle it," she said sarcastically, and I knew that if I tried to boss her around I would be seeing stars for a week.

We formed an odd bond as we worked together. She was fast at gathering the ingredients, and unlike me, she didn't panic. Where I would drop a plate, she would gather it up gracefully and balance it in one hand a she pilled up a new batch of ingredients.

Soon the cooking turned into a bit of a competition as I realised just how talented she really was. Her hand was like a knife itself as she raced the blade up and down the vegetables and cut them up so finely it was on the edge of perfection. In my rush, mine look more like demented cubes.

"You're getting frustrated," she pinpointed after another few minutes.

"No, I'm not, I'm just really desperate to get this out to her."

"Why are you trying so hard?"

"Because," I said as I slapped a slice of chicken down on the bench. "That's what a good chef does."

"You really take it that seriously?" she asked.

I thought about that for a moment. She was right, it was a very major thing for me. I felt like I had to get it right, or… or what? Was it really that bad if I made a mistake?

"Stop for a minute," Nao said, grasping my hands as though she did not trust me to be able to myself. "Take a deep breath, think, and then go again. If you calm down I guarantee that you will get it done a lot faster, and remember… it isn't really that big of a deal."

I was thankful for her advice and followed it well. Once I had completed the steps I found it a lot easier to think and ignore distractions, then I went ahead and completed the meal.

"That was great! Thanks Nao," I said sincerely, staring down at the dish. "We did a really good job! My mum would be proud!"

"Is she the one who made you take cooking so seriously?" she asked.

I nodded, suddenly realising that she was right. It was my mother who was the cause for this kitchen madness.

Again Nao's eyes clouded over. She paused, then with a shaky sigh she said, "Mine too," and left the kitchen.

******

"Mai, this tastes great!" Mikoto gasped as she swallowed a great mouthful of the dish. "Even better than those noodles you cook!"

I was not sure if it was a compliment, but I took it as one anyway.

Nao was distant from the group. More distant that usual. Her eyes still held that hurt and pain that they had in the kitchen, but I knew she would not talk to me about it. I knew the pains of losing a mother, and if that was the case, maybe it was better to at least properly befriend her before trying to help her, otherwise I knew she would push me back.

The rest of the group seemed to be enjoying the food, even the picky eater, Haruka. After the first bite she looked around to make sure no one was looking and shovelled more into her mouth eagerly. I managed to get away with seeing the excitement in her eyes. It was a great feeling of achievement to please even the tough 'council queen'.

After the course of food was eaten and cleaned with a little help from everyone, the festivities finished, and a long night's sleep awaited all of them.

Everything was ready for the plan to go ahead. Midori had received definite permission for the trip after accidentally letting us all know that she had forgotten to ask, the packing had been checked and cleared to make sure no weapons or the like were being taken (all eyes were on Nao), necessities were added to the bag of crucial needs that Haruka would take charge over, and Yukino's map had been perfect to the point where even the main trees were located so we knew where to set up camp.

After the rest of the group of forest friends left, only Mikoto and I remained in our room. We chattered about the meal, noting that Haruka had snuck in seconds, and the fact that Midori seemed thoroughly bored once her speeches were completed.

As we both calmed down, I remembered Nao's odd emotional state.

"Hey, Mikoto? You don't think Nao seemed a little… sad, did you?"

Mikoto rolled onto her stomach to concentrate as she tried to remember the fiery HiME. "Hmm, I guess so. I was too busy eating to notice that much, but she didn't attack Natsuki again, and she didn't even get angry when Haruka started complaining about how much room she was taking up in the essentials bag."

"Yeah," I muttered, staring up at the ceiling. "That's what I thought."

I could not pinpoint exactly why this was bothering me so much. Nao and I had never really gotten along well before, but she was another HiME, and therefore it was natural to be concerned. I only hoped that she would snap out of it and actually enjoy the trip, or there would be a storm cloud over our heads, drowning the mood.

"I'm glad Haruka joined us," Mikoto said with a bright gin on her face.

"Why?" I asked, puzzled at the young girl's happiness.

"She makes me laugh, the way she whines about everything. I think she will be good fun on the trip, don't you?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. Just as long as she doesn't get to be too much of a hassle, otherwise someone will end up throwing her into a river."

"Nao," Mikoto named.

"Natsuki, more like," I countered.

We laughed together as we realised that any one of us had a good chance of snapping when this girl got in our ears and gave us headaches. She was lucky to have Yukino coming along with her. She may just save her by the end of the trip.