Gosh, it's been a while! Sorry about my absence guys. Tumblr wouldn't let me go and I've been watching Akuma no Riddle far too much.
But I'm back now... I hope. Wow, thanks for all of your reviews, guys! I loved reading them!
And to moon-san: Sorry I didn't get to reply to your review on chapter nine, but technically yes, they are girlfriends/lovers. I'll clarify more on chapter twelve.
Rated T for tee- oh, my bad. Not a game. Rated T for language.
Anyways, not much going on here, cause I'm saving all the hilariousness (if that is a word, probably not) for the chappie after this one. So here's chapter eleven. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Mai HiME
The plan was to meet with Shizuru after she found her helmet. Her idea flew right out the window the moment she glanced at her watch to see how late its become. She gave a resigned sigh before whipping out her phone. Sending a quick sorry text and receiving an apology acceptance back, Natsuki turned in for the night.
The next morning, she was up at dawn, dressed and ready to go. Having set her helmet on her bedside table, the emerald eyed beauty made a quick grab for it along with her keys. Grinning, she raced to her front door, excited to finally see the brunette that has been occupying her mind.
Her happiness couldn't be described in words. Rather, Natsuki just hummed happily as she headed for her precious bike, her duffel bag on her back. Nothing else was on her mind when she later got onto the road towards Kyoto. And it remained that way until she pulled up in front of Shizuru's house hours later.
The soft purr of her Ducati Diavel was suddenly cut off when she turned the ignition off. Removing her helmet quickly, she threw a joyous grin towards the door before jumping off her bike. That proved to be almost fatal as not only did her foot get stuck on her bike's gear mechanism, but the dark haired woman was also mere meters away from meeting the gravel. Natsuki turned towards the thing that saved her. Or rather, who had saved her.
"Shizuru!" she exclaimed rather embarrassed.
"Natsuki is so accidental prone," commented the brunette coolly. Turning to meet emerald, Shizuru played off Natsuki's accident with a smirk. "How are you?"
Natsuki chuckled nervously, before finally noticing their position. The dark haired woman was fortunate enough to have been saved from a painful fall, but at the cost of Shizuru laying beneath her with the blunette's head right on her chest. Unable to help it, her face turned red as a tomato. Trying to get up from her current position, the younger woman was all the more shocked when Shziru's arms wrapped around her waist, preventing her escape. Seeing as she had nothing else to do or nowhere else to go, Natsuki replied to Shizuru's earlier question with a slight tense voice."I'm been good. Finally done with finals."
Shizuru nodded in approval leaning her head slightly to look down onto Natsuki's blushing face. Giving one of her famous sly smiles, the brunette replied in a manner that could be considered sarcastic if it wasn't for the speaker being the Kyoto-born. "Isn't that wonderful? And how were your finals?"
Natsuki just grinned back, finally adjusting to their current situation. "Top ten percent of the class." she said proudly.
The woman underneath her laughed before patting the dark haired woman to show how pleased she was. "That's great news! I believe congratulations are in order?"
Natsuki nodded, but before Shizuru could do anything, the blunette made a quick break away from their intimate spot, finally standing her height and offering a hand and a bashful grin to the woman still laying. Shizuru took the hand without a second thought and the two moved towards Shizuru's home hand in hand.
"That sounds great and all Shiz, but i think we should celebrate inside. You know, where there isn't any people?"
Shizuru just at how shy the blunette is before nodding. "It's Natsuki's celebration. Who am I to go against her wishes?"
The duo entered Shizuru's house and closed the door behind them with a click.
As soon as the doors shut them from the outside, Shizuru's lips were layed onto Natsuki's in a passionate kiss. Natsuki replied immediately, allowing each other to explore their companion's mouth. And to say the least, Natsuki wasn't at all complaining with her welcome back present. Or was it her congratulations present? She honestly didn't know because a certain brunette's soft lips were doing a fantastic job of obliterating any form of thoughts.
"Shizuru... " Whispered Natsuki as they finally separated. "I'm back."
Shizuru pulled the dark haired woman and mumbled something in her ear. "Welcome back."
"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that kiss for?" Natsuki asked.
"Whatever Natsuki wants it to be."
The biker hummed before breaking hold of Shizuru. Standing apart, she gave one of her rare smiles to Shizuru. One that was reserved just for the brunette. "How very vague and mysterious, Shiz. One might say you don't even know yourself."
Shizuru replied with laugh, "Well, I am a vague and mysterious person. Is that a problem?"
"Not at all. If anything, I find it very you."
Natsuki moved into the living room to deposit her stuff with Shizuru walking after her. Settling in from her tired journey, the blunette turned towards the older woman with a question at the tip of her tongue. "Hey Shizuru, what's for dinner?"
Shizuru, already anticipating Natsuki's hunger, replied, "American cheese burgers. One of your favorites if I recall. correctly."
The younger woman jumped from her seated position, shocked that her childhood friend still remembered one of her favorite foods. Suddenly, a large grin crossed her face. Pumping her fist to the skies, she gave a "Yes! Oh, this is the coolest day ever!" to an amused Shizuru.
WIth that, Natsuki moved to follow Shizuru into the kitchen, the beautiful and rich smell of cheese burgers making their way into Natsuki's stomach as she sat at her regular seat. Taking a glance at the spread in front of her, the blunette grabbed everything within her reach and began inhaling the delicious course. Shizuru sat in front of her as always, a delighted expression on her face for a job well done.
Ending the meal with a burp, Natsuki excused herself from the table and grabbed both their dishes. Receiving no arguments from the other woman, the biker gave a smug smirk, glad that Shizuru wasn't even going to bother throwing in her dices. After all, it should be common knowledge that whoever cooks doesn't have to wash the dishes, and whoever washes the dishes, doesn't cook.
Natsuki hummed a soft tune as she did her part. Behind her, crimson orbs watched while finishing the rest of her tea.
The emerald eyed beauty didn't mind their silence. It was comfortable. But she did mind the pair of eyes boring holes on her back. It made her want to move and twitch every other second and the urge to do so was very strong.
The blunette cleared her throat and turned to look at the other occupant in the room, finishing the rest of the dishes. "Shizuru," she starts, "you're staring."
The other woman just replied with a slight mysterious smile and a flirty remark. "Of course I'm staring. If a beautiful woman is standing in front of you, wouldn't you do the same?"
"No." Natsuki bluntly states.
A perfect eyebrow rose in question.
Natsuki dried her hands and made her way back towards Shizuru. Grabbing the hands that were once wrapped around a tea cup, emerald stared into crimson for a much more lasting effect. "Not just any beautiful woman. Only you."
The biker smirked as she received the response she was hoping for. Cheeks stained light red. Chuckling, she removed her hands and shoved them into her pockets, heading into the living room to watch TV.
She gave another laugh when the blunette heard Shizuru mutter, "Natsuki ikezu."
"You know, we haven't had our first date yet." Natsuki suddenly blurted out after Shizuru took a spot next to the blunette currently starring at the TV's flickering screen.
"Ara, perhaps it's because we've only been together for about a couple of weeks. We didn't exactly have that much time with Natsuki confessing a day before she left again." Shizuru replied cuddling into the other woman's side.
Natsuki hummed in disappointment, saddened by her departure and the fact that she had to leave the brunette. "I didn't want to go back, but with finals and everything, I couldn't exactly stay."
Shizuru sighed before starring at the woman beside her. Thinking of their short separation, she could see the guilt that the blunette was showing in those emerald orbs. The brunette wonders exactly why Natsuki was guilty before she realized that the biker might've been guilty in leaving her after she confessed. Natsuki, I'm not mad. Please stop worrying about it. Him, maybe I could do something to get it off her chest?
"Ne Natsuki, would you like to know how to make it up to me?" asked a grinning Shizuru as she stood from her spot. Immediately, Natsuki missed the warmth the woman provided, but the brunette's question also grabbed her attention.
"How?" Natsuki wondered, her gaze slightly narrowing at the mischievous gaze her companion provided.
"How does a date sound?"
Natsuki blinked for a couple of seconds before she jumped from her seated position. In her joy, she grabbed the older woman into a tight hug, completely missing the blush that made its way into the brunette's normally calm face.
"That's a great idea, Shiz!" Natsuki practically yelled, a grin settled into her face.
Shizuru just grinned back before wiggling herself out of Natsuki's grip. "Well, if Natsuki's up for it, there's a small cafe with the most delicious treats. Would you like to go there tomorrow?"
A frown replaced Natsuki's expression. "Why not today?"
Shizuru just gestured to the darkness outside the window. "It's rather late, Natsuki."
Emerald eyes turned towards said window and could barely see the outline of some of the things outside. Chuckling nervously, the blunette gave a embarrassed grin.
Shizuru could barely escape the squeal that was clawing up from her chest at the cute sight in front of her. So instead, she dragged the unsuspecting woman down to the couch and cuddled into the blunette's side. "S-Shizuru?" asked Natsuki, starring at the brunette with the look of completely confusion.
"How about Natsuki and I just watch a movie for the night?" suggested the brunette, grabbing the remote to find a decent enough movie that they can both enjoy.
Natsuki, glad that her dignity was spared, grinned at what Shizuru was proposing. Wrapping her arms around the older woman's waist, and pushing down the blush that threatened to make its way to her face, the emerald eyed beauty settled down deeper into the couch with a content sigh. The movie began no sooner than did Natsuki's eyes began to drop in silent exhaustion.
But before unconsciousness covered her, she recognized the pair of crimson starring and gave them a smile.
The next morning, Natsuki woke up to the sight of something honey colored. About to jump up in shock, the blunette quickly realized her couch companion to be a sleeping Shizuru. Sighing with relief, the emerald eyed beauty's tensed body relaxed. This also gave her the time to see their sleeping position. Tired Natsuki had apparently decided that sleeping right side up wasn't the way to go so here she was laying horizontally on the small couch with its owner's back facing her and her arms around the brunette. Not that Natsuki minded at all. The skin on skin contact was doing a wonderful job of making her heart race. Just awesome.
"Good morning, Natsuki." mumbled the woman in her arms as if she automatically knew that the other woman was awake. And maybe Shizuru did?
"Morning Shizuru." she replied back, not knowing how else to respond. Carefully rising from their cramped position, as to not disturb their bodies' delicate balance, the blunette wasn't at all expecting an arm to hook onto her abdomen and drag her down back to her original spot.
The blunette's body tensed again as it made contact with the couch and the woman currently blocking her way. Fantastic she thought sarcastically. She had no idea that Shizuru could be so uncooperative in the morning. Or more like afternoon judging by the clock that hung on the living room wall.
Natsuki released a sigh before she made up her mind to try again, but this time, with a different plan. The first phase- taking off the arm wrapped around her mid-drift. Once that was completely with little resistance, Natsuki moved to phase two- waking the brunette.
"Shizuru.. Hey Shizuru.." Natsuki gently shook the older woman in front of her, but all she got was unidentifiable mumbling.
The emerald eyed biker frowned before trying her method again, but this time, slightly rougher. "Hey Shizuru, wake up."
The response was the same. Nothing. By then, Natsuki was growing irritated. This woman may have a certain space in her heart, but she still was an impatient person. Taking a deep breath, Natsuki moved over to Shizuru's ear. But before the first word of her wake-up call could be yelled, a hand clamped her mouth just in time.
"Ara, please tell me Natsuki wasn't about to do what I believe she was planning on doing so?" Natsuki could hear the slight annoyance in her companion's Kyoto-ben and that made her gulp.
"A-ah, no?" she denied half-heartedly, a crooked grin making its way to her face to soften the brunette's growing irritation. Or was it anger?
Shizuru just moved her body around to face the blunette's guilty face. Opening one of her crimson orbs, she peered at the adorable face that Natsuki was unconsciously showing. This was certainly one way to wake up. Sighing, the crimson eyed beauty accepted the fact that Natsuki could never keep her annoyed for a period of time.
"Hey Shizuru, this is fun and all, but don't you think it's about time to get up. You know, it being lunch time and everything.." Natsuki said to not only try to get the duo going for the day, but to also snap Shizuru out of her dazed expression. I wonder what she's thinking about.
Shizuru just nodded and stood up, stretching her limbs. Natsuki followed her example before making her way towards the bathroom, her clothes for the day in hand. She exited a couple of minutes better with her hair presentable, her breath acceptable, and her clothes practically screaming bad-ass. Exchanging a grin with Shizuru as the brunette moved towards the freshening area, the younger woman moved towards her bag to deposit the clothes she had gone to sleep in.
"Natsuki, would you like to go to the cafe for lunch?" asked Shizuru from behind the bathroom door. The blunette could hear the shower running and she tried her best to ignore the flashes of images her brain was throwing out.
"Uhh, sure?" The emerald eyed beauty mentally punched herself for saying such a stupid answer. She was also glad that Shizuru didn't say anything about it.
"Alright. Just let me finish up here and then we'll leave, alright?"
"Okay." Mental high five for herself.
Natsuki walked towards the front door and began to slip on her shoes as Shizuru came out. Soon, the brunette was right next to her, slipping on a pair of heels that weren't too tall, yet not to short. As the blunette finished tying her shoelaces, she made a grab for her wallet, her keys, and her helmet. Holding up her helmet to the older woman, she let her cooler self take control before she made a complete fool out of herself. Slipping on a confident smirk, she tried to control the erratic beating of her heart that came from nervousness and giddiness and just plain hanging out with Shizuru. On their first date. "We're taking my bike."
From past experience, Shizuru knew better to argue with the other woman when it comes to riding her bike. Pushing the offered helmet to Natsuki, and avoiding eye contact with the expected frown, Shizuru went to her closet to take out a similar helmet, only light lavender.
"I believe I'm covered, Natsuki. " She threw a smirk of her own that rivaled the blunette's.
The blunette's frown disappeared and she rolled her eyes. Gesturing to the front door, Natsuki walked out first and Shizuru followed after locking the door. Walking towards her bike, she received the directions of the cafe before slipping on her helmet with Shizuru doing the same.
Within moments, Natsuki rode the Ducati out of the older woman's driveway, Shizuru's arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
So around three or four more chapters to go. Wow, I never thought this story would go so far. I don't know whether to feel sad about it ending or happy that I don't have to freak out about what I'm going to do about the next chapter. Hehe. Perhaps both?
On a much happier note, I'm thinking of starting a new fic. I've kinda mapped it out, but I haven't polished the main points of it. Hell, I haven't even started the first chapter yet. Is it really a good idea to start a new one though? Let me know what you guys think.
I'm gonna stop my rambling now so I hope you people enjoyed this rather short chapter (Sorry!) and REVIEW!( Cause you know, it's something authors are frickin' addicted to)
PS: I might have the next chapter out in four maybe five days cause I'm really excited about it.