Duran and Kiyohime's Omake Theater
(featuring the Kuga-Fujino family pets)
A/N: This one...kind of got away from me, until it wasn't just an omake but as long or longer as most of my legitimate one-shots. So I decided to save it for the big 50th-chapter party. *throws confetti*
~X X X~
Shizuru Fujino was in a bad mood.
In fact, she'd been so stressed and grumpy for the past week that her girlfriend and housemate Natsuki Kuga had on more than one occasion come out and asked if she'd said or done something stupid to make Shizuru mad at her. Shizuru had hastened to assure her that this was not the case, even though there actually had been a handful of times when she genuinely had snapped at Natsuki over something. Shizuru, however, was self-aware enough to recognize the difference between being actually bothered that Natsuki had taken off her hoodie on the couch and never put it away, only to have it sprout between the cushions later; and being in a bad mood generally while Natsuki's more slovenly habits were just one more straw on the load.
Still, when Natsuki started to act hesitant, when Duran got up from his nap and headed to another room whenever Shizuru come home, and when Kiyohime preferred to hang out in the living room with Natsuki instead of in the kitchen when dinner was being made (and available for snacking), it became plain to Shizuru that she simply could not hide behind a smile any longer.
That was the down side to intimacy and trust, she'd found. It was more than just having the one you loved be willing to turn to you and open the secrets of her heart. It wasn't enough to just let it flow one way; you had to open yourself up to her, because she'd earned the right to your confidence with her love. By not opening up to Natsuki, Shizuru would in effect be saying to her, "I don't trust you. There are things about me that you have no right to know."
That might work all right for casual daters like Natsuki's friend Mai and her two boyfriends. She was sure Reito and Tate would like Mai to open up to them, but they knew it was her privilege to decide when. She'd made no promises, explicit or implied.
Natsuki and Shizuru had killed for each other, died for each other, caused each other pain and heartbreak and healed two badly broken souls together. And they had made promises on top of that, ones in words even beyond the silent ones between them. And next to the HiME Festival, what were the problems of day-to-day life?
Particularly when the only real barrier to talking about it was the fact that the ex-Student Council President, honor student, former magnet for fangirls, hated to let others see when she was being foolish or in the wrong. "Others" in this case included even Natsuki, whom, after all, Shizuru still wanted to impress. She wanted Natsuki to think of her not as the too-perfect girl from her public face, but at least as someone who didn't find herself doing foolish things, then getting huffy about it.
But there really wasn't any other choice. Particularly when her mood had spilled over onto Natsuki anyway.
She sighed, pushed herself away from her paper-strewn desk, and went out to face the music.
When she opened the door, the fragrant smells of garlic and soy sauce rose to tease her nostrils. Surprised, she looked over to the table, where Natsuki was emptying containers of take-out Chinese onto plates. Kiyohime chose that moment to emerge from the kitchen on Duran's back, carrying a steaming teapot cradled in her heads. Natsuki took the pot from the hydra-turned-serving-tray and set it in the center of the table.
"Natsuki, what's all this?" Shizuru asked, momentarily distracted from her purpose.
"Well, it's pretty obvious that you've been having a hard week, so I figured that you could use a break from doing the cooking."
Shizuru looked at her and felt herself start to tear up. A year ago, Natsuki would have done the same nice thing, but she'd never have just come out and said why. Instead, she'd have stammered, maybe even blushed, and said something like, "What, can't I order dinner out once in a while?" Of course, that would have been so incredibly cute, but...this was so much better.
And it was precisely on point for what she'd just been thinking about trust and opening herself up even when she wasn't comfortable about it.
Shizuru couldn't help it. She chuckled, shaking her head.
"I really can't win against you, Natsuki."
"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about."
"I know you don't. That's what's so amazing. You won again without even knowing that there was a battle going on."
Natsuki blinked.
"No matter how long I know you, I still have no idea what goes on in your head half the time."
Shizuru gave her the "enigmatic" smile.
"That's fine, though, isn't it? A woman ought to keep a little mystery as a secret of her charm."
Natsuki snorted.
"Trust me, Shizuru, the part of you that makes me want to nail you with a pillow is not what I'd call charming."
"But Natsuki loves me anyway, doesn't she?"
"Of course I do, even when you're being a crab instead of a snake or a fox or whatever traditionally sneaky and mysterious animal you want to use for comparison."
Shizuru sighed.
"About that...I owe you a big apology, Natsuki. I've been badly out of sorts all week and you deserve an explanation."
"Darned right I do," Natsuki said, but with no heat in her voice, reassuring Shizuru that there was no malice behind it. "Come on, let's eat and we can talk about it."
They sat down and dove in. Natsuki had gotten an eclectic mix of appetizers and dishes, making dinner something of a makeshift dim sum without the carts. Even the CHILDs got some: Duran dug into a bowl of fried rice with roast pork, while Kiyohime's heads took turns holding the skewers of teriyaki beef while other heads slid off chunks of meat to swallow. Shizuru could have made herself eat smoothly and politely—it was a skill she'd learned, so as to not give anything away when dining with business contacts—but focused more on talking while occasionally nibbling on a spring roll or shrimp dumpling.
"I made a rather serious mistake on one of my class projects," she began, deciding to plunge in directly rather than slowly dip a toe in first.
"You?"
Shizuru supposed that Natsuki's surprise was natural enough. Shizuru had finished first in her class for her freshman year.
"I botched a deadline," she admitted. "The professor announced the deadline in class, but the course's Web page had it differently, because he had originally set it for a later date, then decided to move it up."
"I see. So you thought you'd written it down wrong in class or something."
Shizuru hung her head.
"Actually...I was not in class that day."
Natsuki raised an eyebrow.
"Huh? You haven't been sick a day this whole semester. Believe me, I'd remember." Shizuru was...not a good patient.
"I did not say that I was sick, only that I was not in class," she admitted.
"You ditched? You?" Natsuki grinned. "Man, if the fangirls ever heard about this, they'd be shocked!"
"It's as much your fault as mine."
"Now, wait a minute. I used to cut classes all the time, sure, and okay, I still do once in a while, but don't go claiming my bad habits are rubbing off on you."
"That is not what I meant. It is only that the class in question has 8:00 a.m. lectures, and that particular morning Natsuki was sleeping so cutely that I had to wake her up in a special way..."
Natsuki began to blush. Apparently she had no trouble remembering the morning in question either.
"...and then Natsuki reacted with such, shall I say, vigor, that I was unable to leave the bed until well after the lecture was over."
Despite the blush, Natsuki gave her a smug grin.
"I'd have untied you if you'd told me you had a morning class, Shizuru."
"It...was not a particular priority of mine at the time?" Shizuru offered, and both young women dissolved into giggles. Shizuru would have sworn that at least three of Kiyohime's heads rolled their eyes. "Still and all, though, it was my fault, for not having my priorities in order," she admitted.
"Hey, I'm flattered that spending time with me is more attractive than class. So what happened? Are you going to fail your assignment?"
She shook her head.
"I heard about the changed deadline from one of my classmates two days before time was up, so I went to the professor and explained the circumstances."
"You didn't tell him why you missed class, did you?"
"Ara, do you think I would tell my professor that I missed his lecture because I was being held at the sexual mercy of my cute high-school girlfriend?"
"Geez, you make it sound like I'm Shiho's age when you say it like that. And yes, I think you're capable of saying any number of outrageous things when you think you'll get some advantage by it."
"Natsuki really is cute when she's pouting," Shizuru laughed. "But while I have to admit that you're quite right about me, I didn't go into any such detail. Professor Sawada is not the type to be moved by that particular kind of appeal."
"Yeah, too bad you don't have Midori."
"Yes, she'd be perfect. No, the course doesn't have a mandatory attendance policy, so I did not need to go into detail. The T.A. was supposed to update the web posting, but had not, so the professor sympathized with my problem, particularly since I have always been a top student." She frowned at that last thought, almost scowling.
"Okay, so how come you're going around here acting miserable if the prof let it slide?"
"He gave me an extension to turn in the project because of the T.A.'s failure to update the online course information, yes. But he also said that as it was also my fault that I'd missed his announcement, he would deduct ten points from my grade on account of its lateness."
Natsuki thought that over.
"Hm. On the one hand, that kinda sucks, though on the other I can see his point. But since I don't love or sleep with his point, I'm going with the first option. I'm sorry, Shizuru."
"Thank you, Natsuki."
"Is this going to cost you the top spot in your class ranking?"
"Probably," she admitted. "The competition is very fierce. I can all but hear Haruka's crow of victory in my ears."
"Ouch. That's the part that really bites, isn't it?"
The desire to laugh it off was almost overwhelming, but Shizuru managed to hold out against that cowardice. Unfortunately, she was not able to do the same for a lesser version.
"Why do you say that?"
The reason this was "unfortunate" was that Natsuki could indeed answer the question.
"C'mon, Shizuru, I know you. This relationship stuff runs both ways, right? Sure, I know you don't care two pins for beating Haruka at...well, at anything, and it's always been so one-sided between you two that you can't call it a rivalry. But I also know that you hate to lose, and the way she'll run around braying about beating you is going to make it twice as bad."
"To be fair, Haruka is easily as hard on herself when she loses to me as I expect that she will be on me if she wins. Probably more so, since she just can't walk away from herself."
Natsuki crossed her arms over her chest.
"...But you're right," Shizuru admitted.
"I've got to say, I'm kind of curious."
"About what?"
"Well, when the rankings come out, you're going to smile and be all sweet and unperturbed and congratulate Haruka on how hard she worked and that kind of thing, right?"
"Of course," Shizuru grinned, since they were being honest.
"Well, is that going to spoil all of Haruka's fun or not?"
"Ah, I see. You wonder if her interest in beating me is about me, that is, about making me feel defeated, or if it is about herself, and I am...merely the standard she is trying to exceed?"
"Right. She's kind of hard to read."
Shizuru blinked. The idea of Haruka Suzushiro being enigmatic and difficult to understand was definitely a new one, but she could see what Natsuki meant. And it was a very interesting question, too, because the answer would be very revealing about what kind of person Haruka was.
"I suspect it probably will be the latter," she decided.
"How come?"
"I did work with her on the student council for a year, and a rather hectic one at that," Shizuru observed. "But mostly it's because of Yukino. I do not think she would have remained so close to Haruka if Haruka were so small-minded."
"I'll buy that," Natsuki decided. "Even so, give me a heads-up for when you know the grades will be posted. I'll make sure that I'm there when you come home, so I can give you a good shoulder massage from dealing with the stress."
Shizuru couldn't resist.
"Ara, just my shoulders?"
"Other activities to be determined by how you feel." Natsuki didn't blush or look embarrassed even a little, which was an open indication of how serious she was being.
"Thank you very much, Natsuki."
"Hey, I love you too, you know. That means I get to take care of you when you're feeling down just like you do when I get all crabby. But hey, next time, tell me when something's wrong, okay? Don't let it slide until you're scaring the pets; I can't try and help unless I know what you need, right?"
"How did Natsuki get so wise?"
"There was this stubborn girl who spent years getting me to slow down and talk out my feelings instead of keeping it all inside, though she wasn't so hot at taking her own advice."
"Natsuki..."
"That and I read a lot of fortune cookies." She flipped one to Shizuru. While Natsuki was making sure Duran and Kiyohime didn't accidentally eat their fortunes, Shizuru broke open her cookie, read the slip of paper, and laughed.
"Heh, what is it?"
"I think this fortune was meant for me to read when I first came into the room."
"Oh?"
"Yes; it says, 'It's time to get moving. Your spirits will lift accordingly.' I would say that is advice I had been needing all week to encourage me to talk to you."
"Oh. I thought you were going to say something else. Most of your fortunes end up saying 'You should take your girlfriend to bed right now.'"
Shizuru flashed her a smile.
"Oh? Was Natsuki perhaps anticipating this?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, which was really not her usual style, but so long as the theme of the evening was complete openness with her emotions... "Did you choose Chinese food for our take-out dinner with that precise purpose in mind, hmm?"
Now, that got a very classic Natsuki blush.
"Why, Natsuki. How positively sneaky! I would never have believed it of you!"
Natsuki scratched at her cheek in a distracted little gesture.
"Well, I had a good teacher."
Shizuru beamed at her.
"A teacher who is very proud of her student." She hopped to her feet and seized Natsuki's hand. "Such diligent attention to your lessons deserves a worthy reward."
"Isn't this how you got into this trouble in the first place?" Natsuki said, a little acerbically. It was to be observed, however, that she did not offer the slightest resistance to being pulled up out of the chair, an arm snaking around her slim wait to hold her tight against Shizuru. Lips met warmly, and Shizuru waltzed Natsuki towards the bedroom door.
Kiyohime and Duran looked at one another for a long moment, then the hydra began handing containers down to the floor. After all, if past experience was anything to go by, neither of the girls was going to be coming back anywhere near in time to get the leftovers into the refrigerator. And it would be a shame to let perfectly good food go to waste!
~X X X~
A/N: I just want to take a moment to thank all of you, readers and reviewers, for your kind attention during this series. I never expected a silly little idea like this to stick around long enough to produce this many omake and one-shots, that's certain! Here's hoping that I can keep cranking them out for as long as you enjoy them. ^_-