Disclaimer:
Not mine! This is a translation of a Chinese ShizNat fic from yamibo. For author details, please refer to the 1st page. Thanks.

Summary:
ShizNat. Post MyHime with some surprises.

When Natsuki meets Shizuru

Chapter 17 - Undercurrents: Part 3a

Authored by submerged

Translated by glowie

-x-x-x-x- HiME Universe -x-x-x-x-

"Aww... come on Shizuru, can't I be discharged now?" Our all-powerful headmistress was at this moment driven to begging with tearful eyes. She even added whining into the mix in hopes that her caretaker would give in to her pleas and free her from the pits of boredom.

That's correct folks; our favorite Gakuencho was hospitalized after her fainting episode yesterday and had once again been confined to her bed.

Despite the multitudes of doctors that had been sent to examine her (under Shizuru's insistence, of course), none of them could find anything wrong with her. The moment Natsuki came to, her fever, along with whatever pain she felt earlier, disappeared mysteriously without a trace.

Apart from being drowsy – most probably caused by oversleeping due to boredom – she was in tip-top condition.

The doctors all came to the same conclusion and were more than willing to let Natsuki go but Shizuru wouldn't have any of it. Not only did she made Natsuki stay the night, she made sure they ran every possible test on her – from head to toe.

When all of the tests had returned negative, the two had no choice but to conclude that it was related to the body swap. A side effect maybe? 'Or did something happen over there?', the unvoiced question rang disturbingly within their heads.

"Don't worry; it's most probably something they tried to get us to switch back," Natsuki said, not wanting the young CEO to worry herself too much over the incident. Hollow as the suggestion sounded, the usually thorough ex-Kaichou willingly lead herself to accept the plausibility of the idea.

"You're right. That must be it," She replied, affirming the hastily thought-up suggestion more so for her own benefit lest her thoughts stray to the darker possibilities.

The series of events had left the formidable CEO all worn out and haggard. Unable to bear the sorry sight, Natsuki gently pulled Shizuru to the side and coaxed her to sit down on the bench along the corridor.

"Shizuru, why don't you rest here while I go and get the discharge papers done?"

"Okay," too tired to put up a persuasive protest, the drained brunette agreed with a small nod.

After getting the discharge papers sorted out, they hailed a taxi and left for home. Since it wasn't anything alarming, Shizuru didn't see the need to alert the gang about what happened. However, the dramatic scene out in front of the school gates the other day also meant she didn't have to.

The moment Shizuru switched on her phone, calls after calls from friends eager for details came flowing in. All requests for visits were however politely refused with the excuse that they needed rest.

"I think its best that Natsuki refrain from attending school and just sit for the exams. I'm sure I’ll be able to convince the director once I've explained the situation,” proposed Shizuru the moment they stepped into the house.

'True... with Shizuru as my tutor I don't really need to attend school anyway.' Although knowing that it was for the best, a part of her was unhappy that her chance to relive her schooldays was drastically short-lived.

At that point of thought, she laughed somewhat bitterly. In truth, she couldn't help but be envious of such a peaceful world. A world where "the art of fighting" was but an optional extra-curricular activity and politics was but a mere supplementary subject which could be forgone.

She would definitely miss this world when she left. Seeing her vision for her own world being realized in this world helped burn anew her ambition to change her own world once she got back.

"Okay," agreed Natsuki. Still feeling somewhat guilty over what she had subjected the ex-Kaichou to previously, she didn’t have the heart to put her through another episode.

"Shizuru, why don't you take a rest? I bet you didn't even catch a wink last night."

"But..." the young CEO seemed reluctant as her tired crimson eyes gazed at the notebook on the table.

"No buts! Only with a rested and sound mind can one be victorious when facing the enemy!" the headmistress interjected as she jostled the still undecided Shizuru into the bedroom.

"Very well then... however, Natsuki must remember to wake me up in two hours okay?"

"Don't worry, I will."

She waited until Shizuru had settled in a sound slumber before extracting herself from the bed. Glancing back to ensure the young CEO's sleep wasn't disturbed, she closed the door quietly as she exited the room.

Powering on the notebook, she opened Shizuru's mailbox. Sitting snugly in the inbox were a handful of unread emails. Most of them came from Sumire, Shizuru's secretary whom she had met a few days ago. Natsuki was pleasantly surprised at that girl's efficiency and thoughtfulness.

The documents she sent were filed and sorted accordingly along with her detailed notes and comments. No wonder Shizuru was comfortable with entrusting the company to her.

Being sick and tired of feeling useless, the headmistress was for once grateful she could put her brains to work. She tried her best to wade through the pending tasks and sorted out the minor from major issues that were plaguing the company.

Going through Sumire's detailing as well as her comments and notes, Natsuki managed to analyze and propose possible solutions for most of the minor issues. Listing out her recommendations as well as the basis for arriving at such a decision for each of those tasks, the headmistress hoped she would be able to lighten Shizuru's load somewhat.

Through the process of going through the well-put documents, Natsuki managed to acquire a better view of Shizuru's company and its current situation. Glad of the opportunity to know more about Shizuru and her world, the Gakuencho carefully stored what she had learned so she would be in a better position to help if needed.

As her confidence and understanding of how things worked in this world grew, she started to work on the harder problems. Knowing very well she most likely wouldn't be able to come up with the best or even correct solutions, her main aim was but to do some initial brainstorming and help draw out possible pros and cons for each of the suggestion. Hopefully, Shizuru would find them helpful.

Stretching lazily after the deed, Natsuki sought out the clock in the living room. As expected, it was more than two hours already. Suddenly eager for Shizuru's verdict, a sense of nervousness overtook her momentarily as she made her way to the bedroom.

Instead of knocking, she peeled the door open noiselessly before peering through the small opening she made.

Seeing the Kyoto beauty still deep in slumber, she decided her test results could wait. She instead opted to prepare dinner since it was almost time.

"No!"

Hearing the heart wrenching-scream, Natsuki dropped what she was doing in the kitchen and rushed into the bedroom to check on Shizuru.

She was shocked to find the Kyoto beauty curled up and trembling uncontrollably in the messy bed.

"Shiz..." Before she could go up and comfort the distressed woman, Natsuki found herself in a vice-like grip the instant she approached the bed. The arms that held her were forceful, desperate, yet cold and clammy at the same time.

Wanting nothing but to take away her distress and to give her the much needed warmth, the Gakuencho's strong reassuring arms encased the quivering woman. She rocked her to and fro and stroked her back reassuringly.

"Shizuru? Did you have a nightmare?"

Sensing the weak nod upon her chest as confirmation, the headmistress continued to cradle the gradually calmed Shizuru. "It's ok, it was just a dream."

"But... it felt so real... 'Natsuki' was on the ground, bathed in blood. Her breathing was labored... yet... yet she tried so hard to smile for me..."

"Shhhh... everything's alright now. It was just a dream," Natsuki kept repeating over and over while she soothed Shizuru's hair softly.

Noting the lack of movement and sound, the headmistress assumed Shizuru had cried herself to sleep.

Just as she was about to lay her down, she heard Shizuru's muffled voice.

"Natsuki!"

"Yes?"

"Did you smell something?"

"Smell? What smell?"

"It smells like something's burning."

"Huh?! Oh no!" Suddenly remembering what she was doing before she ran into the bedroom, a dismayed Natsuki rushed to the kitchen hoping she wasn't too late to save their dinner – or rather Shizuru's kitchen – from a fiery death.

Seeing Natsuki flustering about like a headless chicken, Shizuru couldn't help but to chuckle out loud.

The sudden recalling of the earlier dream caused the troubling unease within her to easily overshadow the comic relief. Worry hung visibly over her fine brows and Little Miss Perfect couldn't help but pray, "Natsuki... please be safe."

Omake:

Author: "Hrmm... weird. Shouldn't Natsuki be the one with a more sensitive nose? Since we're always relating her to the dog and all."

#after observing the interaction between the two for 5 minutes#

Author: "Then again... it isn't unheard of for dogs to lose their smell sensitivity due to overly successful house-training."

Author: "Sigh... [shakes head]... what a waste..."

Natsuki: Oi!

Notes:

Sorry about the short update, I’ve broken up the chapter into 2 parts again. Hopefully that would be enough to satisfy you all for the moment. I’m glad you all like the story and took the trouble to tell me your thoughts. Your encouragement never fails to brighten my day. #silly grin#

To answer your questions, no… they’re not going to swap back just yet… the Natsukis aren’t done with the Shizurus yet. :P
(We’re around the 70% mark so don’t worry, you’ll definitely get to see the ending)

I usually update the author before (to get permission) and after (to update them as well as forward comments from readers) I have finished the story. Some of the authors do check out the comments once in a while (as I gave them the link to the story) but it’s rare since I’m not really active in the Chinese forums and don’t know them really well.

Looking at the poll results… I have to say I’m surprised quite a number of you don’t know about "Romance of the 3 Kingdoms" / "Sango". Especially since quite a lot of anime and games was based on it. Don’t worry, I hear you, my priority will be on this story and I’ll definitely finish this. Since I'm not ambitious enough to embark on the attempt to fill in the background story, I guess I'm better off translating some other oneshot instead. Thanks for participating. #smile#

As usual, I want to thank Leebot for taking the time and trouble to help me beta this chapter. Ah… tenses confuse me so. :P
(#blush# okay... I've correct the grammer mistake. LOL.)