Disclaimer: I don't own anything. (Though I wish I do)
Summary:
Have you ever heard of Dark Magic? What do you know about them? Natsuki is a rising star in the Fuka Police Headquarter who solves her case based on logic & facts. However, her world is turned upside down when she meets Shizuru. Shizuru lives in a world that can never be defined by logic and facts. What happens when the two meet? ShizNat Rated T for now
Shizuru stood there staring at Shiho-chan. It was clear that Shiho-chan's intention was to kill them. Otherwise she would have escaped after obtaining her remains.
Shizuru slowly inched her hand towards her back.
But just as she was about to reach her back, Natsuki turned, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into a run.
"Run!" Natsuki shouted as she pulled Shizuru and ran towards a path.
Shizuru stumbled for a while before running instinctively.
It took Shizuru a few seconds before she realised she was running away from a ghost.
To be more exact, she was forced to run off from a confrontation with a ghost.
But apparently Shiho-chan wasn't planning to let them off.
A red blurry figure sped past them and they came face to face with Shiho-chan again.
Before Natsuki could react, Shiho's arm shot up and grabbed Natsuki by her throat.
Natsuki's eyes widened when she realised she was being lifted up by Munakata Shiho, something a normal petite human should not be able to do.
Natsuki was barely tiptoeing now.
Natsuki struggled as she turned to Shizuru and forced out a word, "Run!"
That was all she could say before she felt the hand on her neck tightened.
It was getting more and more difficult to breathe as Shiho tightened her grip.
The rain fell fast and hard on them. So much so that Natsuki had trouble seeing what's in front of her.
Natsuki used her fists and hit against Shiho's arm. But it was like hitting a concrete wall, hard and unyielding. Munakata Shiho wasn't budging at all.
Natsuki struggled amidst the pouring rain, as she lifted her leg and kicked against Shiho's stomach. There wasn't any reaction.
While Shizuru appreciated Natsuki's concerns, she had no intention of running. She was the only one here that could save Natsuki.
When a red attire vengeful ghost, blood will shad.
When a person dies, his spirit will leave his body. If the spirit lingers and stays on earth, it generally retains the attire that he wore before his death. The aura that the ghost gives off would be grey in colour. But sometimes, a person may die with deep seated regrets and anger and is unwilling to move on. When a person dies in this manner, there is a high chance that the spirit will return as a red attire ghost. The ghost's attire will be dyed in blood red colour and the aura surrounding it will be red. The ghost will be out for revenge and will not stop until her desire or revenge is fulfilled. There are even folklores of people dressing the deceased in red so that the deceased could return to take her revenge. So red attired ghosts are deemed to be highly dangerous.
But that was because they didn't meet Shizuru
Shizuru reached out to her back and gripped something in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, a long blade slid out from the handle she was grabbing.
With a swing, Shizuru's sword easily sliced through the arm holding Natsuki, like a knife cutting through a piece of tofu.
Natsuki collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air.
Shiho shrieked in pain as she clutched her injured arm. She stared at Shizuru, incredulous on her face.
The arm that was holding on to Natsuki finally released its grip and landed onto the floor like a dead fish out of water. And slowly, it dissipated into black smoke right in front of Natsuki's eyes.
Natsuki turned to see Shizuru holding a sword in her hand.
With her free hand, Shizuru shot a copper coin at Shiho-chan. The moment the coin came into contact with Shiho, her face contorted in pain.
It seemed that Shiho was in agony. Her body twitched as if an electric current was passing through her body. And finally, Shiho collapsed onto the floor.
"It feels quieter now." Shizuru smiled. She disliked loud and shrill noises.
Shiho glared at Shizuru amidst the pain, wanting to tear into Shizuru, but the electric current passing through her body was making her weak and numb.
Ignoring her, Shizuru glanced at Natsuki and offered her hand. "Are you alright?"
Natsuki coughed and nodded her head.
"Thanks." Natsuki took her hand and pulled herself up. This was the second time Shizuru saved her.
Natsuki touched her neck which was sore from the chokehold.
Shizuru walked towards Shiho.
"You shouldn't have returned, Shiho-chan. If I were you, I would have ran off after collecting my remains."
"You know nothing Viola Shizuru!" Shiho forced the words out, anger evident in her eyes.
"I may not know anything but I soon will." Shizuru said as she took out a test tube with a yellow origami star inside it. With a flick of her hand, the origami star went straight at Shiho.
Defying gravity, the origami star hovered above Shiho and unfolded to show a yellow talisman.
Then a bright light appeared, with the talisman as the center. It became brighter and brighter until the light encompassed Munakata Shiho, swallowing her whole.
And soon, the light dimmed and there was no sign of Shiho.
Where Munkata Shiho used to be was just a pile of bones.
The yellow paper hovered for a while more before it returned to a red colour origami star and fell onto the pile of bones.
Shizuru picked up the origami star and returned it back to the test tube.
The rain stopped.
Natsuki stood there, staring at the pile of bones, water still dripping from her clothes.
Everything seemed so surreal.
One moment she was fighting for her life amidst the torrential downpour and the next thing she knew, the rain had stopped and everything was over.
And everything that happened just down was beyond her comprehension.
Her mind was still processing the information, trying to comprehend what just happened.
Everything seemed to be a blur for Natsuki. From the moment she met Shizuru, she was charged at by some "beings" and then carried off in a coffin to be drowned. She nearly drowned until Shizuru dragged her out. And then she was attacked by Munakata Shiho, who was supposed to be dead.
Nothing didn't make sense at all!
"Viola-san…" Natsuki opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the vibrations of her phone.
Natsuki always had her phone on silent mode when she was investigating.
There must be a connection now. Natsuki thought as she quickly took out her phone.
There were many unread messages and unanswered calls.
Natsuki flipped through the messages first. But as she read, the darker her face became.
Numerous missed calls and messages appeared in rapid succession on Natsuki's screen. They were all from Mai.
Mai tried calling Natsuki earlier on but she couldn't get through and so she resorted to sending messages to Natsuki hoping that Natsuki would call her as soon as possible when Natsuki saw her messages.
Mai was escorting Tsumugiya Ichinose back to the car when in the process he struggled and tried to escape. He didn't manage to go far before the police caught up with him and a struggle ensued. But it was during this process that Tsumugiya Ichinose suddenly collapsed and died. Any attempts to resuscitate him were futile and Tsumugiya Ichinose was pronounced dead by the paramedic.
This was going to be tricky, especially when a suspect died during their watch. Natsuki sighed and scratched her forehead.
Natsuki called Mai and the phone was picked up immediately on the first ring.
"Natsuki! Finally! What happened? I couldn't get through to you."
"I just saw your messages. I don't know what happened but there wasn't any phone connection earlier on. Any updates?"
"I am following up with this. We will do a post mortem to determine the exact cause of death. But for now, there is nothing we can do. I have also updated Captain Kaiji. He wants to see us immediately when we get back."
Natsuki winced at the thought of seeing Captain Kaiji. He was going to be furiously mad.
Natsuki sighed.
"What about the forensic team? I have been waiting here since you left and I still haven't seen them?"
"That is what I was going to tell you too!" Mai spoke over the phone. "It was strange. Takumi and his team went in and came out after a while saying they couldn't find the path we took earlier on. They tried a few times but each time the path took them back to the entrance. Is everything alright on your side? I was worried sick when I couldn't contact you earlier on and Takumi said he couldn't find the path."
Natsuki glanced at Shizuru.
Apparently guessing the conversation between Natsuki and Mai, Shizuru spoke, "You can ask them to try again. They might be able to find the right path this time round."
"I heard voices. Is someone with you?" Mai asked.
"It was Viola Shizuru." Natsuki didn't want to dwell too much on the presence of Viola Shizuru and so she redirected the discussion on getting the forensic team in as soon as possible. "Do you want to ask Takumi to try again? There should be signage to direct him."
Natsuki ended the call and turned to Shizuru. "The forensic team would be able to get here right?" She wondered if Munakata Shiho was responsible for blocking Takumi. The whole thing was too coincidental. The forensic team had difficulty finding her and the telecommunications were cut. But the moment Munakata Shiho was captured, the communication was restored.
"They should be able to find us now." Shizuru said as she gently shook the test tube in front of Natsuki. "Shiho-chan distorted the space and sense of direction, making it difficult for others to find this place. But the distortion is gone once she is captured."
"So much has happened today and I have so many questions that I want to ask." Natsuki said as she studied Shizuru, as if trying to see through her.
Viola Shizuru was soaking wet yet she still exuded the elegance of an ojou-sama. Natsuki had assumed her to be just an ojou-sama from the Viola family. But today Shizuru surprised her.
And Shizuru's presence today at the reserves where Munakata Shiho's remains were, raised several questions. Her presence seemed too coincidental.
"What are you doing here?"
Shizuru saw the suspicious look in Kuga Natsuki's eyes and immediately, Shizuru's eyes cooled.
Shizuru arched an eyebrow and asked, "Is this an interrogation?"
Natsuki blinked her eyes, realising that her question might seem rude to someone who had saved her life twice.
"Erm… Sorry if I sounded suspicious or accusing. It is a habit that I picked up from my job. I was just wondering why you were here where Munakata Shiho's remains are. I wasn't accusing you of being involved in this case."
Natsuki was able to say that because the police had more or less completed the investigation and were very certain that Tsumugiya Ichinose and Hanakari Seito were the ones involved in the theft of Munakata Shiho's remains. As for the death of Hanakari Seito, all the evidence pointed towards Tsumugiya Ichinose, even though he did not confess to the crime.
Shizuru nodded her head. She wasn't expecting an apology from Natsuki but it was good to receive one.
"I was trying to find Shiho-chan spirit." Shizuri said as she took out a piece of talisman and threw it into the air.
Like a magician performing a magic trick, the talisman folded itself into an origami crane before flapping its wings and circled around Fujino Shizuru like a live crane.
"Hold this." Shizuru took out the test tube with the red origami star containing Shiho's spirit and passed it to Natsuki.
And immediately the crane changed its direction and flew around Natsuki before narrowing down and circled around her hand.
"The crane led me here."
When Natsuki returned the test tube holding Munakata Shiho, the crane automatically followed the test tube and flew back to Shizuru.
"Shiho-chan cannot be left wandering around. This crane led me to Shiho. I have no idea that Lt Kuga is here today as well."
Natsuki scratched her chin. Somehow she felt that Viola Shizuru was still upset with her.
"Erm I see. Thanks!"
And then there was silence after that until they heard voices coming from one of the pathways.
Instinctively, Natsuki tensed up and quickly moved to stand in front of Shizuru. Well you can't fault her for being jumpy. It was hard not to be after what she experienced just now.
But the moment she saw Takumi-kun and the rest of the forensic team, the tension in her body eased. She wasn't sure if she could handle any more supernatural experience. Whatever happened today was already too much for her to handle. She needed time to internalise the whole thing.
And most importantly, she was glad that someone was here to distract her. The silence between them was getting kind of awkward.
"Takumi-kun, over here." Natsuki called out to get Takumi's attention.
Relief evident on his face as he approached Natsuki.
"Natsuki-san, thank goodness we finally found you! We had difficulties finding the route earlier on." Takumi scratched his head. He was sure he followed the instructions given by nee-chan. But each time he tried taking that specific path, it led them back to the starting point again. And nee-chan was worried that it was dangerous for Natsuki-san to be alone.
But strangely enough, when the rain stopped and they took the same path again, they were able to find Natsuki-san in the end.
"The bones are here." Natsuki gestured to the pile on the floor. "We would need the forensic team to collect and verify that it is indeed Munakata Shiho."
Natsuki was speaking to Takumi but from the corner of her eyes, she saw Shizuru turn to leave.
Natsuki quickly paused the conversation and jogged towards Shizuru.
"Viola-san." Natsuki called out.
Shizuru turned, a polite smile on her face.
A sweat dotted Natsuki's head. That smile was back. It looked like Shizuru was still upset with her.
"Erm… Here, your rubber band." Natsuki said as she pulled the rubber from her hair and passed it back to Shizuru.
She scratched her head, making her already unruly hair even messier.
"Anno… thank you so much for today. Please remember to have a warm shower to keep your body warm." Natsuki rushed her speech and quickly turned to jog back to Takumi, her ears slightly red.
She wasn't the type who would say this but she felt indebted to Fujino Shizuru somehow. She saved her earlier on and so she felt obliged to thank her and reciprocate the kindness.
Shizuru saw Natsuki rushing back after passing her the rubber hand. She glanced at the rubber band for a while before putting it into her pocket.
Shizuru made her way back to the carpark and Mikoto was already waiting there for her.
"Shizuru-sama." Mikoto came out of the car and handed a towel to Shizuru.
"The jacket is wet. Would you like me to hold it?" Mikoto asked when she noticed that Shizuru-sama was wearing a jacket which didn't belong to her. She remembered Shizuru-sama went in without a jacket. And the style didn't match her.
Shizuru was wiping her hair dry when she paused and looked down, realizing she was still wearing the jacket given by Natsuki. With the towel still around her neck, Shizuru unzipped the jacket and took it off.
Suddenly, Natsuki's face flashed across her mind.
"This jacket belongs to… an acquaintance." Shizuru said, apparently not replying to Mikoto's question, as her mind wandered off.
"Would you like me to send it for dry cleaning before returning it to your acquaintance?" Mikoto offered. Shizuru-sama always sent her clothes for dry cleaning. There was even a specific shop where Shizuru-sama engaged their service to clean her clothes.
Shizuru raised her hand ready to pass it to Mikoto but paused halfway, suddenly changing her mind.
"I will just hold on to it for now." Shizuru said as she folded the jacket in her arm. She could smell the scent from the jacket. It wasn't some perfume. It was more like the scent of the soap used by Natsuki to wash the jacket.
Mikoto cocked her head. She wasn't sure why Shizuru-sama wanted to hold on to this jacket. Normally she was the one who would collect all of Shizuru-sama's clothes and send them for dry cleaning. So she assumed Shizuru-sama would also do the same for this jacket as well.
But regardless, she will just follow Shizuru-sama's instructions.
Mikoto nodded her head and moved to open the door for Shizuru-sama before taking the wheels.
Shizuru slided into the seat and folded the jacket neatly before putting it on her lap.
She continued wiping her hair as she glanced out of the window, her mind drifting off to what happened earlier on.
She wondered why she was irritated with Natsuki-san just now, when Natsuki-san questioned her presence in the nature reserves. She would have brushed it aside under normal circumstances. It wasn't the first time people questioned her actions or behaviours and she was fine with it. But at that moment, irritation bubbled within her.
She was indeed appreciative of Natsuki-san's efforts to protect her and it was fun to tease her about things. And perhaps those positive feelings vanished when Natsuki asked her why she was at the reserve.
Shizuru wasn't sure. But what she was sure of, was that she had no intention of meeting Natsuki-san again. She had no patience to form long term relationships with anyone else.
"Shizuru-sama, we have arrived." Mikoto said as she got off the driver seat to open the car door for Shizuru-sama.
Shizuru nodded her head and exited the car.
Mikoto was about to close the car door when she noticed the damp towel on the seat. This was the towel she passed to Shizuru-sama just now to wipe off the rain.
Mikoto picked it up. She will add this to the pile of clothes for dry cleaning.
Then Mikoto glanced at the jacket in Shizuru-sama's hand. She wondered if she should remind Shizuru-sama about the jacket too.
"Shizuru-sama, would you like me to send the jacket for dry cleaning?" Mikoto offered to collect the jacket again.
Shizuru-sama shook her head and said, "No need. Thanks Mikoto."
Shizuru was pressing the life button and so missed the surprise look that flashed across Mikoto's face.
Shizuru had a few properties across the city. Many had assumed that those properties were bought by the Viola family and given to her as gifts. But it wasn't. She paid for these properties with the money she earned.
She was going back to the apartment at the center of the city. She managed to buy all the apartments on the top floor and combined it into a single large apartment. It would be quieter with just her as the sole occupant in this floor. She won't want snooping neighbours.
She bought this apartment after working in the university since this apartment was nearer to her workplace. She would stay in the apartment when she was going to work the next day.
Shizuru entered the apartment and left Mikoto to prepare the dinner while she showered.
Shizuru didn't like having outsiders wandering around, which is why Mikoto was the only living soul in this place other than herself and Mikoto was in charge of the housekeeping here.
It would be easy to employ a housekeeper or part time cleaner to take care of this place. But this would mean having people touching her stuff. She kept a lot of stuff here that outsiders should never see. So that would mean Mikoto was the only one taking care of business whenever she lived here.
Shizuru carefully placed the jacket in a pile which she planned to wash later on.
She slowly lowered herself into the bathtub after washing up. Soaking in a hot tub can be a luxury for the weekends especially when her lecturing schedule was packed during the weekdays.
Shizuru gave a sigh of satisfaction when she immersed herself into the hot water. The hot water eased the coldness on her skin.
Shizuru's mind was wandering until she saw the pile containing the jacket and paused.
She should have allowed Mikoto to send this jacket to dry cleaning too, to save her the trouble of having to wash it herself.
She wondered why she made the decision to wash the jacket herself.
Shizuru sighed and closed her eyes to rest. It didn't matter now. She will wash it and get Mikoto to return to Natsuki-san. And hopefully after that, she would have nothing to do with Natsuki-san.
A few minutes later, Shizuru heard a knock on the bathroom door.
"Shizuru-sama, the dinner is ready. I have set it up on your table."
"Alright. Thanks Mikoto." Shizuru replied as she got out of the tub.
"I will take my leave then, Shizuru-sama. Have a good evening ahead."
After the meal Shizuru sat on the sofa staring at the red origami star in the test tube. The talisman was originally yellow in colour. But the moment it captured or contained a spirit in it, it would turn red.
Shiho-chan was temporarily sealed in this talisman. She will find a time later to unseal Shiho-chan. She had many questions she would like to ask Shiho-chan.
Ever since Shizuru discovered that Shiho-chan could have dabbled in black magic, she had gotten Mikoto to do a more thorough background check on Shiho-chan.
Her background was more or less similar to what she heard from Yuuichi nii-sama. Her parents died in a plane crash and she stayed at an orphanage until she went to university.
By then, the lawsuit for plane crash had been completed and Shiho-chan, together with other victims of the plane crash, were awarded a significant amount of compensation.
With the compensation, Shiho-chan bought a small apartment, an apartment which Yuuichi nii-sama still kept until now and most of the items remained where they used to be.
So Mikoto was able to sneak into the apartment and did a search of the place. Apparently, the white spherical stone Yuuichi nii-sama showed her wasn't the only black magic item.
Mikoto found a few more items related to black magic, though placed discreetly, so that Yuuichi nii-sama did not realise the real purpose of these items.
Out of the many items Mikoto brought back, a bottle of 和合油 caught Shizuru's attention. It was masked as a bottle of perfume.
和 (also pronounced as 'her') means "and"
合 (pronounced as 'her') means "together".
油 (pronounced as 'you') means "oil or potion".
In the western world, 合和油 (love potion) would simply be called love potion that would make people fall in love with you.
When a user applied the 合和油 (love potion) on the victim, it would create sexual arousal in the victim and if the user successfully had sexual intercourse with that person, the victim will fall irrevocable in love with the user. It didn't matter if the victim was thoroughly in love with someone else or absolutely hated the user, the 合和油 (love potion) will force that person to be madly in love with the user thereafter. Nothing else matters.
And once the victim fell in love, it was impossible to fall out of love, even after death. And most of the time, this kind of love didn't have a fairytale ending. Forcing two people, whom in the first place weren't fated to be together, together would only lead to tragedy.
Shizuru had once seen a man used the 和合油 (love potion) on a girl whom he was madly in love with at that time. Unfortunately, the girl wasn't interested in him. He managed to use the 和合油 (love potion) on her and have sexual intercourse with her.
Once the ritual was completed, the girl had a complete change of heart and the two of them ended up together in a relationship. But it was only temporary until the man realised he wasn't that interested in the girl anymore and so he wanted to move on to another relationship. He wanted to break it off but the girl, under the influence of the 和合油 (love potion), refused to end the relationship. And so this unfortunate relationship ended when the girl murdered the man before commiting suicide.
So the 和合油 (love potion) wasn't something that people should try. It harmed lives, not only the girl who was under the influence of the 和合油 (love potion) but also the user.
And 和合油 (love potion) wasn't an easy product to obtain because it was difficult to produce nowadays.
The base ingredient to produce the 和合油 (love potion) was oil. And it wasn't any other kind of oil like animal-based oil or plant-based oil that we used for cooking. It was oil from human fats.
To produce the 和合油 (love potion), the 巫师 (witch doctor; refer to chapter 2) would have to find a corpse first and held a white candle beneath the chin of the corpse and let the candle burnt and melt the fats away. And corpses were hard to obtain nowadays when people were choosing cremation rather than burial. So this makes 和合油 (love potion) so much harder to create given that the 巫师 (witch doctor) would have to collect a large amount of human fats to make a bottle.
After sufficient melted oil was collected, the 巫师 (witch doctor) would cast a series of spells or charms on the liquid before the 和合油 (love potion) was finally created.
Just before the 巫师 (witch doctor) sold the 和合油 (love potion) to users, the 巫师 (witch doctor) would request the users to blow a breathe into the bottle of 和合油 (love potion) before quickly closing the bottle.
This was a simple act to shift the karma away from the 巫师 (witch doctor) to the users.
In religion such as Buddhism, they emphasized much on karma or causality relationship. Every sin you committed would add 'bad' karma to your record. And every good deed you do would add 'good' karma to your record as well. And these karma would come back to you at various times of your life. It could be the next instant or it could be at the end of your life when you would be judged based on your karma.
The 巫师 (witch doctor) was already accumulating 'bad' karma by making the 和合油 (love potion) because the 和合油 (love potion) forced two people into a relationship which never was intended. The 巫师 (witch doctor) will receive retribution from this act. But when the 巫师 (witch doctor) asked the user to blow a breathe into the bottle, the 巫师 (witch doctor) was transferring the responsibility to the user. So any 'bad' karma would be accumulated by the user rather than the 巫师 (witch doctor).
When Mikoto did a search of Shiho-chan's apartment, she found the 和合油 (love potion).
Shizuru suspected that Shiho-chan could have used the 和合油 (love potion) on Yuuichi nii-sama.
It wasn't hard to deduce it. Because judging from what she heard from Yuuichi nii-sama, he wasn't interested in Shiho-chan right from the start when they met in university or even later when they worked together.
Though Yuuichi nii-sama did not explicitly say it then, he hinted that their relationship started after he slept with Shiho-chan. And immediately after that, Yuuichi nii-sama realised he loved Shiho-chan and they became a couple. It wasn't long before the two of them got married.
It was really suspicious given the speed at which they fell in love. It was too fast, especially when Yuuichi nii-sama had no interest in Shiho-chan for such a long time. So there was a high probability that Shiho-chan had used this 和合油 (love potion) on Yuuichi nii-sama.
But unfortunately a year later they got married, Shiho-chan died during childbirth and her spirit was later trapped in the coffin.
Shizuru paused and thought about it. Would this be considered a form of retribution for Shiho-chan then? For using the 和合油 (love potion)?
And look at Yuuichi nii-sama now. Despite Shiho-chan's death, he was still very much obsessed with Shiho-chan. The effects of 和合油 (love potion) can even last after the user died. That was how potent the 和合油 (love potion) can be.
And it was interesting to note that all these took place when she was away. Shizuru thought as she narrowed her eyes.
Was it coincidental or deliberate?
Had Shiho-chan's coffin not been robbed, Shizuru might never have known that Shiho-chan was involved in black magic and had used it on Yuuichi nii-sama.
This whole situation seemed more complex than what she thought.
She would need to speak to Shiho-chan soon. Shizuru thought as she rolled the origami star in her palm.
On the other side of Fuuka, Natsuki was still seated at her desk, typing away on her report. She scratched her head and tried to be as specific as possible detailing what happened today, especially when a suspect died in their watch.
Natsuki sighed and stretched her body. She glanced over at Mai.
Mai was also busy typing away. She would have more things to write since she was present when the suspect died.
But regardless, they should be able to close the case soon. She hoped.
Once the remains had been identified, they could call Viola Yuuichi to collect them and that would be the end.
That was what Natsuki hoped.
To be continued...
Omake 1:
Viola Yuuichi: Why do I feel like I have been shortchanged?
Viola Shizuru: What do you mean nii-sama?
Viola Yuuichi: I heard you cut off Shiho-chan's arm when she attacked Kuga-san.
Shizuru tried to recall what happened when Shiho-chan attacked nii-sama. After a while Shizuru's memory came up blank. And it was obvious on Shizuru's face.
Disappointed, Viola Yuuich said: Mikoto-san kicked me and sent me flying, which led to me hitting my head on a brick left on the floor.
Viola Yuuichi looked soulfully at Shizuru: how could you allow this to happen to your nii-sama, Shizuru? I am your nii-sama.
Shizuru smiled: Ara nii-sama, I normally treat girls gently. Are you a girl?
Shizuru glanced at Viola Yuuichi's groin area.
Shizuru: Or… I could turn you into one?
And immediately, Yuuichi felt numbness spreading in the groin area.
Yuuichi: Erm… no… It is fine. I have no issues with the differential treatment.
Shizuru smiled and nodded her head: And of course, when it comes to Natsuki, she is absolutely different from the rest of the girls.
Omake 2:
At the filming site.
Movie director: Alright Shiho-chan, in this scene, I need you to lift Natsuki-chan up so that she will be tiptoeing. And Natsuki-chan, I need your help to tiptoe yar? Can you all do that for me?
Both Shiho and Natsuki nodded their heads. It should not be a problem. That was what both of them thought as they moved into position.
That was when Shiho and Natsuki learnt the difference between expectations and reality.
Expectations were often filled with hopes and dreams.
But reality would always set everyone straight, letting people get the facts right.
Movie director instructed: Alright Shiho-chan, Natsuki-chan is tiptoeing now. Very good Natsuki, keep it up. Now Shiho-chan, grab her neck!
Shiho was in position, one and a half feet away from Natsuki, making space for the camera to move in and get a closed up shot of them.
Shiho reached out her hand to try and grab Natsuki's neck.
There was an awkward silence.
A sweat dotted Shiho's forehead.
Shiho tiptoed and reached out her hand to try and grab Natsuki's neck.
Shiho tiptoed and stretched and reached out her hand to try and grab Natsuki's neck.
Shiho tiptoed, stretched and leaned forward and reached out her hand to try and grab Natsuki's neck.
Natsuk muttered through cleaned teeth: Munakata, could you hurry up! I am not a ballet dancer. My toes are going to cramp soon!
Munakata Shiho threw her shoe on the floor.
" &$#%¥ Director I quit! Go find someone taller!"