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Holy shit Batman! Another chapter. Sorry it took so long, life has been pretty hectic lately. Again a longer update, I swear I can’t help it, I forced myself to cut it shorter, still not sure why. Umm, I think there’s more dialogue in this chapter than the previous chapters, I wanted to let them tell their story. Some areas I got stuck on and rushed a bit, you’ll be able to tell I’m sure.
I probably missed a couple of reviews from the last chapter, I was having internet problems lately, but I’ll make sure to respond soon. Thanks to everyone who is taking the time to read this. As always, honest reviews and critiques are welcome and PM's. Hope it gives you a smile when you read it.
This chapter is dedicated to my beta and little buddy Miggitdog, I want to put another smile on her face. I didn’t want to burden her right now, so I tried to edit as best I could, yikes I know.
Of course my senpai yurianimeotaku and my pal ShotgunNeko, Arigato you two.
I do not own Mai HiME/ Otome or it's character's and I cry about it everyday.
It was now Saturday morning and the raven-haired biker woke up earlier than she wanted too. She had a restless-nights sleep, she was anxiously excited to see Shizuru again but a little nervous about Aya’s reaction to Kouta, it was quite obvious it would take a miracle for the two of them to get along. On Thursday evening she had nervously called Shizuru to confirm that they were still on for today, and much to Natsuki’s astonishment the honey-haired beauty could cause her to blush even when they weren’t physically present. How can the woman turn a simple ‘yes’ into a tease?
The showered and coffee-induced biker was getting ready to go to the park; she was half-dressed in her jeans, socks and a white sports bra. “Aya!” Natsuki shouted from her bedroom.
“What!” Aya yelled from the family room. Natsuki could tell she was watching cartoons by the sounds coming from the television.
“Come up here!” Natsuki yelled and she immediately heard the pitter-patter of footsteps charging up the stairs and walking into her bedroom was her wide-eyed daughter and excited dog.
“I didn’t do it,” the out of breath little Kuga said defensively. She was already dressed in her play clothes: her pale blue sweatshirt, jogging pants and tennis shoes and as always, her favorite hat worn backwards.
“Did I say you did anything? But now I’m starting to wonder,” Natsuki questioned lightly with her right eyebrow rose as she glanced at her daughter.
“Mo-mma,” Aya feigned, “I didn’t do anything,” the young Kuga continued, her nose crinkled at her mom’s gesture.
Natsuki couldn’t help but chuckle at Aya’s expression, “You don’t want to hold that look for too long, it’ll get stuck.”
“Momma,” Aya giggled, “are we going?”
“Hai,” Natsuki said walking into her closet. Pulling out two different shirts, one was a short sleeved emerald green shirt that matched her eyes, the other was a dark blue shirt with horizontal lines, “which one?” Natsuki asked shaking the green one with her left hand and the other shirt in the right.
“What?” Aya asked dumbfound, her face matching the expression.
“Humor me, which shirt should I wear?” I have resorted to asking a four year old what I should wear.
Aya glanced at Duran as if she was looking for his opinion, than gazed at her mother who was fidgeting in front of the mirror, alternating each shirt in front of her chest. “…Umm, the green one…”
“Really?” Natsuki’s attention returned to the four year old.
“…Hai. I like the green one…”
“Me too. Okay, go downstairs and wait for me, I’ll be down in a couple of minutes,” Natsuki shooed the very confused Aya out of the bedroom with Duran following her example.
Aya quickly turned around and stood at the door with her arms on her hips, “Momma, you’re acting really weird. And why do you smell funny?” Aya asked with the same crinkle nosed expression.
You don’t have to tell me that, perceptive little booger, thought to herself. “O-out” Natsuki stumbled pointing her finger towards the hallway.
“Okay, okay,” Aya exaggerated as she turned around and walked towards the stairs.
Natsuki quickly dressed in the green shirt her daughter picked out for her, grabbed her wallet and keys from the dresser and met her daughter in the family room. “Ready?”
Aya shot up from the couch, “Hai!” She walked towards her mother, “Can we bring Duran-chan?”
“Not today,” Natsuki responded petting the Labrador before she walked out the door.
The Kuga’s walked casually the few blocks it took to get to the playground, Aya walked ahead of Natsuki when the playground was in their sights. Aya was about to take off when Natsuki grabbed her by the arm, “Hold up.”
“I see it.” Aya said anxiously pointing.
“I see it too, but you’re not going to run off like that. Take your time, it isn’t going anywhere,” Natsuki held onto Aya’s hand and continued walking. “Please behave today, I don’t want a repeat of Saturday.”
“Momma, he started it.” The little Kuga pouted.
“Maybe. No hitting either, got it? If you have to, play with the other kids,” Natsuki glared at Aya who was still pouting.
“Awwww, fine. Can I go now?” Aya asked exasperated.
Natsuki let go of Aya’s hand when they got to the entrance of the playground, before she could say anything Aya dashed to the large wooded jungle gym a few meters ahead of them. When she saw her daughter climb up the metal stairs she found a near-by bench to sit on, making sure Aya was within eyesight.
After a few minutes, Natsuki started getting anxious and looked at her watch; it was 10:40 and Shizuru and Kouta were running late. Maybe they aren’t coming. Natsuki checked her cell phone to see if she missed any calls; she didn’t. Before her mind could wonder any further, she saw a short, honey-haired boy run towards the jungle gym, but she didn’t see Shizuru, so she wasn’t sure if it was Kouta.
Natsuki rose from the park bench and slowly walked in the direction of the jungle gym to get a better look at the young boy but the other children surrounded him. She sighed and turned around only to see Shizuru casually dressed in jeans and a dark violet hooded sweatshirt, approach the park-bench wearing another one of her radiant smiles. Natsuki couldn’t help but return the smile despite the flutter in her stomach. She walked towards the crimson-eyed woman, “H-hi. You made it,” she stumbled as she stood in front of Shizuru.
“Hai, sorry for running a little late. We ran into a little bit of traffic on the way here.”
“No problem, just glad you could make it. Would you like to sit down?” Natsuki offered.
“Yes. I take it this is a good place to keep an eye on the children?” Shizuru asked while she sat down on the bench.
“Yeah, I’ve already warned Aya that I didn’t want a repeat of last Saturday, so I thought it would be best to pick a spot where I could keep an eye on her.” Natsuki said while sitting down next to Shizuru leaving a little distance between the two of them.
“Ara, I think it turned out quite fine. Wouldn’t you agree?” Shizuru giggled looking at a blushing Natsuki.
“Baka,” Natsuki cringed as the blush spread across her face. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. And you couldn’t go two minutes could you?” She asked turning her head away trying to control the raging blush.
“Two minutes?”
Natsuki turned her head and peeked at Shizuru, she had another mischievous expression on her face. “You know damn well what I’m talking about,” she said giving a half-hearted Kuga Death Glare.
Shizuru only giggled at the glare, ”But red looks good on Natsuki.”
“Yeah yeah, as I’ve said before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, you’re relentless. One of these days I’ll learn to control it in front of you.” Natsuki’s looked face down as the blush deepened.
“I certainly hope not, it’s very cute on you Natsuki.”
Before Natsuki could respond, she felt an arm drape across her shoulders and she turned her head and noticed immediately it wasn’t Shizuru’s arm, she than heard an all too familiar voice, “Isn’t it? Red is a lovely shade on my Pup. Honey, sorry I’m late. I got caught up in a meeting. I see you made a new friend.”
Natsuki looked up to notice her annoying best friend bending down with her arm hugging her closely and turned her face to see a somewhat shocked expression on Shizuru’s face. “What…honey, what the hell?” Natsuki shook her head in horror and looked at Shizuru again and heard Nao laughing behind her. “She isn’t…I mean…”
“Natsuki, don’t lie to the woman. Tell her what you call me when it’s just the two of us in bed together.” Nao pouted as she released her grip on the stunned biker and walked around the bench to face her.
“Nao! What the hell are you doing here?” Natsuki shouted at the red head as she rose from the bench, “I swear I’m going to--” Natsuki was cut off when she felt herself being pounced from behind, she felt two arms come across her waist and squeezed and she felt a chin lie on her shoulder.
The stunned cobalt-haired beauty turned her head slightly to see that it was Shizuru with the same mischievous grin plastered to her face, had her wrapped up in a tight hug and she felt the blush rise from the pit of her stomach to her face. She immediately jerked her head in the other direction making every attempt possible to control her embarrassment and keep her legs from giving out. Her emotions and other senses were taking over though as she felt a warm shock at the contact and the aroma of baby powder and honey took over her mind and body. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.
“You’re going to what my love? Are you cheating on me?” Nao cut her off with an exaggerated pout as Natsuki’s attention returned to Nao; she was giving her the certified Kuga Death Glare. And if the obnoxious red head was surprised by the other woman’s embrace she didn’t show it.
“Gah, hell no!” Natsuki’s face was crimson red as she yelled at Nao yet again and broke out of Shizuru’s hug, she stumbled a bit after escaping the embrace. She frantically looked at Nao and Shizuru, her attention bouncing back and forth between the two of them like a tennis ball.
Shizuru giggled at the two as she backed away from Natsuki a little bit, “I’m sorry Natsuki, I didn’t realize you were so in love. Maybe I should find another place to sit.”
“What? No, no, no. She’s not my…she’s my friend…I don’t…I…” Natsuki responded anxiously.
Natsuki realized a few moments later that she was the only one who fell for the joke as Nao and Shizuru couldn’t contain their laughing fit. “Baka,” she huffed crossing her arms and she turned her back to the women laughing at her expense.
“Ha-ha-ha, it was too good to pass up Pup,” Nao’s laughter increased in volume and she was holding her stomach.
Natsuki turned around still frazzled at Nao’s little game, “Shove it,” she said quietly.
“Awe, it’s just a joke. Don’t get so bent out of shape.”
“Ara, Natsuki, it was pretty funny,” Shizuru added still giggling; she wiped a tear that released from the corner of her eye.
“Please don’t encourage her Shizuru.” Natsuki said rolling her eyes at the giggling women in front of her. For the moment, the crimson had subsided to a faint pink color though she was still embarrassed because she was the only one who didn’t catch onto the joke.
“Ah, so you’re the famous Shizuru,” Nao turned her attention to the Kyoto-ben and introduced herself, “I’m Nao. Pups best friend.”
“Nice to meet you Nao-san.” Shizuru greeted politely with a bow.
“It’s just Nao, I hate that formal crap.” Nao said offering her hand.
Shizuru lightly shook the fiery red head’s hand. “Okay, nice to meet you Nao. What brings you to the park? Do you have kids as well?”
“Hell no, not me. I came by to check up on the Pup here, she mentioned she had a play date today. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t screwing anything up,” Nao said with a smirk.
“Nao! It’s not a date.” Natsuki gasped, “I didn’t tell her it was a date,” shaking her head as her attention returned to Shizuru.
“It’s not?” The Kyoto beauty pouted for a moment than broke into another giggle fit.
Natsuki growled at the reaction, “Shizuru.”
Luckily the attention was removed from Natsuki when they saw Aya running towards them and Kouta was a few legs behind her. “Aunt Nao!” The young Kuga shouted as she hugged Nao.
“Hey kiddo. How are you?” Nao asked while she returned the hug.
“Good,” she turned around to glance at her mother than to Shizuru.
An out of breath Kouta finally caught up to the group and touched Aya’s shoulder, “Are you done playing?” He bent down with his hands on his knees, his breathing coming back to normal.
“I called time-out!” Aya said, sticking her tongue out at the boy in front of her.
“You did not,” he said stubbornly returning the gesture.
“Uh-huh.”
“Nu-huh.” Kouta countered as he walked back to be in the presence of his mother.
“Good to see the two of you are getting along so well,” Natsuki said rubbing the tension filled spot between her eyes, how could I forget that these two don’t get along?
“It’s good to see you again Aya,” Shizuru said with a warm smile as if she was trying to break the tension between the children.
The young tomboy returned the smile nervously and a pink tint spread across her features. “Hi,” she said quietly.
Natsuki giggled to herself at her daughter’s reaction, it appears Shizuru has that effect on us Kuga’s, she thought inwardly. She glimpsed at the shy brown-eyed boy who was hiding behind his mother’s legs. “Hi Kouta, how are you?” She asked warmly.
“F-fine, thank you,” he responded nervously and a small smile eventually crossed his face.
“That’s good. Kouta, I want you to meet a friend of ours, this is Nao.”
“Hey kid, what’s up?” Nao waved.
“Hi,” he responded with a quick wave.
“Well, your moms are going to walk around the corner to get me a cup of coffee. I’m gonna hang here for a while the two of you play. Sound good?” Nao asked the budding rivals than turned to give Natsuki an exaggerated wink.
“You are? We are?” Natsuki asked dumbfounded.
“Okini, that’s a great idea.” They Kyoto-ben agreed with a smirk.
“…Mom…?” Kouta questioned looking upwards to meet his mother’s gaze.
“Don’t be such a wimp, Aunt Nao is cool,” the hotheaded Kuga snapped with her arms on her hips.
“I’m not a wimp,” Kouta said defensively his brown-eyes narrowed at the girl that appeared to get on his last nerve.
“Uh-huh.”
“Nu-huh.”
“This isn’t a good idea,” Natsuki said looking at Shizuru and Nao.
“Sure it is,” Nao said disagreeing. “Hey, ankle-biters, go play, shoo,” Nao commanded Aya and Kouta.
“Did you just shoo away my son?” Shizuru asked but couldn’t contain another chuckle.
“Yes I did. Now you two,” pointing to the parents, “go. I need my coffee. And you two, go-play-now.” Pointing in the direction of the jungle gym.
The two children froze in shock for a moment than stared at each other for a moment. Aya was the first to run towards the jungle gym, “Un-times” she shouted running full speed ahead.
“No fair,” Kouta yelled back as he started sprinting to catch up to the cheater.
“Fine, you both win. We’ll be back in fifteen minutes. You think you can keep the peace for that long?” Natsuki asked shaking her head in disbelief.
“Piece of cake,” Nao responded flatly.
“Yeah right. Just don’t let Aya harm another soul, she’s the one I’m worried about.”
“You worry too much Pup, now go! Nao needs her coffee.”
“Baka, fine. Are you sure about this?” The raven-haired beauty turned to ask her date.
“Hai, I need to stop by my car to get my purse.”
“Okay. We’ll be back shortly,” Natsuki called over her shoulder as she and Shizuru started walking out the entrance of the playground.
The two of them walked in silence for a few moments as they approached Shizuru’s car, it was a silver Honda Civic Hybrid. Natsuki couldn’t help but laugh quietly at the small irony, “Hmm, a Honda huh?”
“It’s fate, although I bought the car last year, long before this deal came through,” Shizuru teased.
Fate huh? “Heh, maybe. We do make a great product though and I’m pretty sure you aren’t the only one who purchased a Honda last year.” Natsuki deflected the tease and formed a small smile.
Shizuru ginned at the comment as she pulled her purse out of the car and locked it with the keypad. They walked to the coffee shop matching stride for stride, Natsuki noticed that Shizuru was a tiny bit taller than her or maybe it was the way the honey-haired beauty carried her self. She was very graceful and elegant she mused even when she was in a casual atmosphere like the park.
Natsuki realized she was staring when Shizuru spoke and broke her revere. “So, how long have you and Nao-san known each other?”
“Huh…oh, umm, we were roommates throughout college. She’s loud and obnoxious but she’s harmless.”
“I gathered as much. And Aya calls her ‘Aunt Nao’,” Shizuru questioned hesitantly.
“Yeah, Nao and Aya are close. I guess you can say Nao’s her Godmother of sorts. Luckily Aya hasn’t picked up too many of her bad habits,” Natsuki chuckled.
Shizuru returned the sentiment at the last comment, “You two do seem close. I thought I was the only one who made Natsuki blush.” Her eyebrow quirked up at the tease.
Natsuki’s blush returned but smiled at the statement. “Yeah, you both seem to have that effect but for entirely different reasons,” she answered honestly.
Shizuru blushed at the admission, “Were you two…?”
Before Shizuru could complete the question, Natsuki answered quickly, “No, never. I’m almost positive her attraction lies only in men. Besides, we’d kill each other. I think our relationship is more sisterly than anything and she’s really been there for us, especially Aya. I’m grateful for her, but don’t tell her I said so, I’ll never live it down if she found out.”
“I won’t tell her, your secret’s safe with me.”
“Thanks. You can probably tell she’s a handful. Sometimes I think Aya’s more mature than Nao,” Natsuki laughed.
They approached the café and Natsuki held the door opened for Shizuru and a couple of other patrons. As they stood in the long line, Natsuki asked randomly, “Shizuru, how old are you?”
“Ara, did anyone ever teach you it’s not wise to ask a woman their age?” Shizuru asked playfully.
“Baka. No actually, no one did, so spill.” Natsuki played back.
“I’ll be twenty-eight in December.”
“Kouta?”
“He’ll be seven this year. You?”
“Twenty-seven in August, Aya will be five in June. It appears we became moms at roughly the same age. There’s one thing we have in common.” Natsuki said smiling.
“Hai, I’m sure there’s more as well,” Shizuru said returning the smile brightly.
“I intend to find out. Shizuru—“ Natsuki’s viridian orbs locked with Shizuru’s rustic when she was about to ask another question. She was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone, the caller identification read Nao, “Baka, what? We’re next in line, it’s only been twenty minutes.” Natsuki answered her phone annoyed that they were interrupted.
“Cool it Pup, it’s the kids. Get over here now. Kouta—” Nao said frantically as she was cut off by Natsuki.
“What’s wrong with Kouta?” Shizuru turned her focus to Natsuki when she heard her frantic tone in her question.
“Pup, I don’t know. He’s not breathing right.”
“Natsuki, we have to go now!” Shizuru’s eyes were wide with panic, she obviously overheard Nao, “I have his inhaler with me. I have to get it to him.”
Natsuki focused on the panic-stricken Shizuru and put her hand on her shoulder to comfort her, “It’s okay, let’s get the hell out of here.” She closed her cell phone assuming Nao heard her as well.
Natsuki grabbed Shizuru’s hand and they pushed people out of the way as they exited the café. The two of them ran as fast as they could avoiding human traffic along the sidewalk and Natsuki’s hand still latched onto Shizuru’s trembling hand. “He’s going to be okay,” she said trying to comfort the visibly distraught Kyoto beauty.
“I shouldn’t have been so careless.” Shizuru scolded herself.
“He’ll be okay, look we’re almost there.” Natsuki said as the two of them ran across the street to the entrance to the park.
They made it in record time to the park bench where a frightened Aya was standing next to Nao while Kouta was sitting on the bench. Kouta was having a difficult time breathing, taking a number of short breaths and holding his chest with his right hand, his pale face was drenched in sweat along the hairline.
Natsuki released Shizuru’s hand and saw her slide down to meet Kouta at eye level, “It’s okay, it’s okay,” she said as calmly as she could pulling out the inhaler from her purse. “Ready?” Kouta gave a slight nod and she put the blue inhaler in his mouth. “Breathe,” she pushed down as he inhaled. “One-two-three, breathe,” and repeated the same action with the inhaler. “One more time, one-two-three, breathe.” The brown-eyed boy coughed at the last breath, but his breathing started to slow down a bit after a few minutes.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Shizuru apologized profusely to her son as the shock had turned to sorrow. She was rubbing his back with one hand and grabbing a small bottle of water out of her purse. “Drink this,” she handed the water to Kouta and he immediately took a large sip and wiped away some of the water that missed his mouth.
“Are you okay?” Shizuru asked while her arms were lightly hanging onto his shoulders as if she was hanging for the support.
“Hai, mom, I’m okay.” Kouta reassured softly wiping away the tear that escaped his mother’s eye.
“You sure?” The Kyoto-ben asked again touching her forehead to the boy’s.
“Yup,” he said quietly and pulled her into a tight hug.
Shizuru returned his hug and rose from the ground still holding onto him, she kissed the side of his head for reassurance. “Good,” she simply said and turned around to face the visibly relieved group in front of her.
“Is he okay?” Aya asked quietly.
“Hai, just a little scare. Not to worry,” Shizuru gave a small smile but it quickly turned to a small frown. “Ara, Aya are you okay? It looks like you scraped your knee.”
Natsuki’s relief was short-lived as she focused on her daughter when Shizuru asked the question with concern. She looked at her little one to see she indeed had a nasty scrape on her knee, her pants torn where the injury was. “Are you okay, what happened?” It was Natsuki’s turn to become frantic when she quickly picked up Aya and sat her down on the bench.
“Little bit,” the tomboy winced as she answered honestly.
“Looks like it. We’ll go home in a minute and get you cleaned up.” Natsuki’s relief quickly turned to anger as she eyeballed Nao, “What the hell happened?”
“I swear on your lingerie collection that I had my eye on them the whole time. I saw them run around the jungle gym with a couple of other kids. It was only two minutes later that I saw Aya limping. I thought Kouta was out of breath from them running so I ran to Aya, but then a few moments later he was getting worse. I called you as soon as I saw it was worse.” Nao explained looking at Natsuki than Shizuru.
“Momma, it wasn’t Aunt Nao’s fault, it was that butthead Shiho’s fault.” Aya said worriedly.
“Who is Shiho?” Natsuki asked Aya.
“She’s in my class. She’s mean.” The young Kuga growled.
“Natsuki-sama?” A quiet Kyoto accent asked quietly. Natsuki turned to look at Kouta who was still being held by Shizuru, thankfully his color had returned and he wasn’t sweating anymore. “It wasn’t Aya’s fault too. We were playing and Shiho tripped me and I got hurt and I lost my breath. Aya tried to save me but she was pushed down and she got hurt.”
“Aya, you’re a hero,” Shizuru giggled as she praised Aya.
“But—“
“You two!” An angry voice cut her off before she could say anything else. A visibly angry father walked towards them, carrying a young red head with spiral ponytails randomly set on each side of her head. The child also had a red mark on her cheek that appeared to be bruising.
Natsuki picked up Aya as the man walked brusquely towards them, “What do you want?” Natsuki asked angrily she moved ahead of Shizuru.
“Look what your kid did to mine,” the angry father said pointing to his daughter’s cheek. He was an over-weight man, around the same height as Natsuki wearing khakis and a yellow polo shirt, his eyes revealed a disturbing coldness to them.
“Look, I just found out what happened. Why don’t you chill out,” Natsuki scolded impatiently.
“You’re telling me to chill out? Your kid hit mine.” He shouted.
“Ara ara, I think we need to calm down don’t you think?” Shizuru intervened noticing the situation escalating.
“I expect an apology from both of them.” He said staring angrily at Aya and Kouta causing the two children to flinch.
“Then we expect the same from your daughter. From our understanding, your daughter may have instigated the incident.” Shizuru revealed a polite smile but Natsuki saw a hint of anger in her crimson orbs.
“I agree,” Natsuki added.
“Go to hell.”
Natsuki was about to say something but Shizuru interjected as her smile faded, “Ara, such language, which I strongly suggest you don’t use it again in front of our children. I see where your child gets her manners; she’s a bully just like her father. I strongly suggest you walk away from us.” Shizuru’s tone dropped to imply she was dead serious.
“Or you’ll what?” The man asked nervously.
“Trust me, you do not want to find out. Now please leave us alone. I don’t want to hear about this happening again from either one of our children. And believe me, this is me being polite, I’m trying to use simple words to meet your intelligence level.” Shizuru glared at the fat man in front of her but she still wore a smile.
Nao and Natsuki watched with their jaws half-open at the visibly shaken father turned around and walked away without a rebuttal. A few moments later a bright smile replaced the cobalt-beauty’s slack jaw, she didn’t think she’d ever been more proud to be associated with anyone in her entire life.
“Holy crap, you are my god,” Nao said excitedly breaking the silence.
Shizuru turned around when she heard the compliment and her expression had lightened considerably. “Okini,” she chuckled, “are you two alright?” She asked Kouta than looked at Aya who had her head buried in the crook of Natsuki’s neck.
“Hai,” Kouta answered calmly.
Natsuki felt Aya tense up in her arms and she pulled her away from her a little to see if she was alright, the sight of Aya’s tears erased the smile that was on her face. Natsuki sat down on the bench, “Hey, what’s wrong?” She asked quietly rubbing her daughter’s back.
“I’m sorry Momma,” she said putting her head on her mom’s chest trying to hide the tears from the crowd around her.
“What do you have to be sorry about?” Natsuki questioned softly in her ear, she realized everyone stepped away a bit to give them some space.
“I said I would be good…and…”
“You didn’t do anything wrong okay? You were protecting yourself right?”
Aya nodded and wiped the tears with her sleeve, “she was being mean.” She sniffled.
“I believe you. I promise you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Hai,” Aya said a little embarrassed when she realized she was the center of attention, she bumped her head back onto Natsuki’s chest.
Natsuki chuckled and pulled her pride into a tight hug and rose from their seat and she felt Aya’s arms come around her to accept the hug. “Let’s go home and get you patched up,” she whispered in her ear as she felt the tension ease from her little girl.
“Is she going to be okay?” A concerned Shizuru asked.
“Yeah she’s tuff. It’s been a crazy morning, but I’m going to walk her home,” Natsuki responded as she smiled appreciatively.
“I can drive you two home,” Shizuru offered, letting Kouta down.
“Yeah, let Shizuru take you two home,” Nao said with an oh-so subtle nudge on Natsuki’s shoulder.
Natsuki rolled her eyes at her best friend’s obnoxious attempts keep the day going between the four of them; she relented though she but still wanted to kill Nao.
“If it won’t be out of your way, that would be great.” Natsuki accepted the offered ride home.
“Nonsense. Besides, the hero needs to be taken care of, “ Shizuru laughed quietly.
“Awww,” Aya responded as a blush spread across her face as she looked away in awkwardness.
Natsuki grinned at Shizuru then glanced at Kouta; he looked a bit uncomfortable, “Kouta are you okay?”
“Umm…I have to go to the bathroom,” he said embarrassingly as he started to shift from left to right.
“Yup, so that’s my queue, I’m outta here. You kids have fun! And Shizuru, I’m sorry about what happened earlier, you too Kouta.” Nao said giving an apologetic look.
“Okini, but it wasn’t your fault,” Shizuru said reassuringly.
“Cool. All right Pup, I’m out of here. Bye kiddo,” Nao waved to them as she left towards the direction of her car.
“Bye,” Aya waved back.
“Let’s get out of here, our house is only a couple of minutes away. Kouta can use our restroom.”
“Sounds good to us, thank you.”
Once the kids were buckled-up they were on their way to the Kuga’s home, Natsuki looked to the backseat and saw Kouta doing the “pee-pee” dance while sitting of course. Aya looked a little tired as she sat quietly looking out the window, no doubt thinking about the past hour.
Natsuki turned around and looked out the window and noticed that rain clouds were starting to form, “Looks like rain,” she said to no one in particular.
“Ara, it does. I thought they were calling for it, luckily it waited until this afternoon.”
“Damn.”
“What is it?” Shizuru asked with concern.
“Ah, nothing. Just realizing that this morning was a total disaster,” Natsuki sighed.
“Not a total disaster but yes it was trying,” Shizuru half-agreed.
“Oh, make a left here and it’s the second house on the right,” Natsuki said quickly almost forgetting where she lived.
When Shizuru pulled into the driveway, Natsuki saw Duran poking his nose out through the shades, “Is Kouta good around dogs? I forgot to mention we have one, he’s friendly.”
“He’s fine around them, no worries,” Shizuru reassured Natsuki as she exited the car.
Natsuki got out of the car and picked up her little hero so that she wouldn’t have to walk on her injured leg. When they entered the main level of the house, Duran greeted them all before they could take their shoes off as he paid special attention to the new family that entered his domain.
“Oh Kouta sorry, the bathroom is the second door on the left,” Natsuki said feeling sorry for the leg-crossed boy in front of her.
“Arigato,” he said as he ran up the stairs.
“Ara, he really needed to go,” Shizuru giggled and a small smile formed across her face.
“I guess so,” Natsuki gave a nervous smile as she sat Aya down on the couch and returned to the entryway where Shizuru was standing, she was feeling a bit apprehensive. “Look, I know this morning was a total bust, but do you two want to hang out here for a while? You can get Kouta cleaned up in the main bathroom, I know Aya will have something that’ll fit him and…” she hesitated and avoided eye-contact as the blush started to emerge. “Ah hell! Just tell me now if I’m acting like a complete idiot.”
“Ara, ara, Natsuki is not acting like an idiot. She’s too cute to be an idiot,” Shizuru tittered as she brought her finger to cover her grin.
“Baka,” Natsuki flinched while the blush deepened.
“I’ll spare you for right now, but yes that sounds like fun. Let me see if Kouta is up for staying.”
“I heard you mom, I’m okay with it,” the visibly relieved Kouta responded.
“Great…I mean…never mind, I’ll get you a towel and a change of clothes if you need them.” Natsuki said shaking her head, still noticeably embarrassed.
“I’m not wearing girls clothes,” Kouta grimaced which earned another chuckle from his mother.
“Trust me Kouta, Aya hasn’t owned a dress in her life or anything with pink or purple for that matter, you’re completely safe,” Natsuki assured him.
“H-hai.”
“Momma?”
Natsuki walked to Aya who sat by herself in the family room, “I didn’t forget you. Ready to get cleaned up?” She asked as she picked her up again.
“Yeah.”
“They’re going to stay over for a bit, you up for it?”
“Yeah.”
Roughly an hour later, the kids were cleaned, patched up and fed. Aya wasn’t particularly fond of Natsuki’s attempt to clean out her knee; there were plenty of “ouch” and “grrr’s” spat out and she almost ran out of her mother’s bedroom without her shorts in an attempt to get away from the disinfectant spray, luckily her escape attempt failed as Natsuki grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from the door. Aya tried to dodge her mother for a second time by ducking under the bed when it was time to have her hair brushed, normally she wasn’t that difficult but the stinging from the spray had pushed her to the limits.
It was obvious Kouta was still a little uncomfortable with having to wear “girl” clothes even though he was in a red hooded sweatshirt and soccer shorts. Although, he was a little taller than Aya the outfit actually fit him properly compared to them being a little too baggy on the little Kuga’s body. It didn’t help that Aya laughed at him when she came out of Natsuki’s bedroom when she saw he was wearing her clothes. This caused him to fidget and retaliate with teases of his own.
Somehow Natsuki and Shizuru were able to maintain some order of peace when they put on a movie and had Kouta on the loveseat and Aya on the couch, Duran sat on the floor between the two of them. Natsuki hoped that after their rescue mission today they would get along a little better, but she felt a little relieved when she didn’t see either of them stick their tongues out, some progress she thought.
Natsuki and Shizuru stepped out of the family room and into the kitchen once the movie started and for the first time that day there was peace. Luckily from the kitchen and breakfast bar, they could keep an eye on their children, just in case.
“Finally,” Natsuki sighed.
“I agree,” they Kyoto-ben returned as she sat down on one of the stools.
“Would you like something to eat or coffee?” Natsuki asked pulling out the coffee from the cabinet.
“I couldn’t eat anything right now. Do you have tea though? Coffee doesn’t sit well with me.”
“Yeah, I only have green tea though. Is that okay?”
“Perfect, okini.”
After Natsuki started the coffee pot and put the kettle on the stove she returned her focus on Shizuru. The raven-haired woman was taken aback when she observed the honey-haired beauty’s revere because it wasn’t the confident woman she has gotten to know. Her shoulders were slumped a bit and her crimson-eyes were looking down so Natsuki couldn’t judge her exact emotion, though she had a feeling it had something to do with Kouta’s attack earlier. Natsuki felt another pang in her chest when she observed the beautiful woman in front of her. I want to make her feel better. How? I suck at this kind of thing.
The cobalt-beauty went with her instincts hoping they wouldn’t fail her and placed her hand on top of Shizuru’s that was lying on top of the counter of the breakfast bar. Natsuki felt Shizuru startle slightly at the move and motioned her face to meet Natsuki’s, their eyes locked and viridian saw that the embrace stunned the crimson orbs.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Natsuki said quietly.
“I was careless. He has been doing so well lately, I should have been prepared,” Shizuru said in an almost whisper.
When Natsuki saw Shizuru’s rustic eyes soften, she was grateful her instincts were correct. “He has asthma right?”
“Hai. It isn’t a severe case and it generally acts up if he becomes a little panicked or if he pushes himself too hard like this morning. I think it scares me more than it does him.”
“How long since his last attack?”
“Probably a few months ago. That one required a short visit to the hospital so they could hook him up to a nebulizer for a little while,” Shizuru sighed as she rubbed the right side of her temple.
Natsuki rubbed her thumb over the hand she was holding, she didn’t want to break the contact when she gently asked, “I know this is none of my business, but is Kouta’s father around?” She saw something in Shizuru’s eyes that almost made her regret that she asked the question, but it quickly disappeared.
“No. It’s just he and I. You?”
Natsuki was slightly relieved for unknown reasons to her. “The same. It’s always been the two of us…and Nao when she’s hungry.” She managed a small smile at the response.
The small joke apparently lightened Shizuru’s mood, she formed a small comfortable smile. Natsuki wanted to ask more but she wasn’t sure what Shizuru was prepared to answer, the Kyoto beauty appeared to be a private person and the last thing she wanted to do was push her away or hurt the new friendship.
“I have an idea,” Natsuki said excitedly as she regretfully let go of Shizuru’s hand to turn off the stove, it was apparent the water had been ready for some time.
“What’s that?” Shizuru asked with a radiant smile.
Natsuki lost her concentration for a moment when she saw the smile but shook it off as quickly as she could before her face would become a tomato. “Come with me, but first it’s a little too quiet in there, we should check on them. I hope they’re still alive.”
Shizuru followed Natsuki to the family room where they found the two children asleep with the movie still playing. Natsuki grabbed two blankets from the closet and handed one to Shizuru as they each placed the blanket on their kids. Natsuki chuckled quietly when she saw Aya pull the covers up and adjust herself in the fetal position. She walked past Kouta when he rolled over, revealing his severe case of bed head, she grinned at Shizuru at the sight.
“Okay, follow me,” Natsuki whispered.
She led Shizuru out the main entrance and into the garage. Natsuki pushed the switch to open the garage door to allow some natural light to enter, which wasn’t too much because it had started to drizzle outside. She came back into the garage to reveal to Shizuru what she wanted to show her.
“Ta-da,” Natsuki said in an exaggerated excitement as she was wearing a beaming smile.
“Ano?” Shizuru asked obviously confused.
“My collection.” She said pointing to the five motorcycles in the garage.
Shizuru couldn’t contain the giggles, “Ara, yes you seem to have quite a few motorcycles.”
“Next to Aya, they are my pride an joy. This one here is the NAT 815, it’s my first prototype,” she said pointing to a blue and gray racing bike. “This one is the OTOME 421, I developed that one last year and actually won an award for it. Umm, oh the other two I developed a couple of years ago, I barely ride them.”
“Which one is your favorite?”
“Easy, the Ducati, she’s my baby,” Natsuki purred as she walked to her bike and sat on it.
“Your baby?” A playful grin spread across her face.
“Baka,” Natsuki blushed lightly at the tease. “Hai, I love riding it especially at night.”
“I believe you.”
“But when I can’t ride and when the world seems to be too big for me to handle, I come down here. I sometimes sit for a little while or make small repairs if needed. It soothes me and I guess it’s my safe haven. It makes me feel better. I guess I just wanted to share it with you.” Natsuki’s blush deepened at the last admission.
“Ara, Natsuki is too sweet,” Shizuru quietly chuckled at the sentiment. “I have never ridden on a motorcycle.”
“Really? We’ll have to change that one day.” Natsuki noticed Shizuru light up at the notion as she released herself from the bike, “Try it out.”
“Ano?”
“Sit on it, get a feel for it.” Natsuki said as she walked over to Shizuru and grabbed her hand again and pulled her gently to the Ducati.
“I don’t know,” Shizuru replied hesitantly.
“Give it a shot. Don’t tell me the great Fujino Shizuru is afraid of something,” Natsuki teased. That did it, she mused to herself.
Shizuru’s crimson orbs gazed at Natsuki’s emeralds, a sly grin spread across her features, “Ara, is Natsuki challenging me?”
“Well if you’re scared I won’t push you into anything,” she teased.
“I’m assuming you use that reverse-psychology crap on Aya, I don’t know whether to be insulted or flattered that I’m thought of in such high regard,” Shizuru laughed.
“Works every damn time too, stick with what you know. Now quit bitching and give me your hand.”
Shizuru rolled her eyes, she made sure Natsuki wouldn’t miss the gesture. “Ara, Fujino’s do not bitch Natsuki,” she said in her polite business voice.
“And they don’t say crap either right,” Natsuki responded sarcastically returning the roll of the eyes.
Shizuru sighed as she grabbed Natsuki’s hand, which sent another jolt of energy and warmth through the biker’s body, and applied a little weight for support as she straddled one leg over the bike and rested her bum comfortably on the seat. “Happy now?” she feigned annoyance.
You have no idea, the raven-haired biker thought as she stared at the woman in front of her. “If…you’re happy than I am,” she admitted quietly as she felt her entire body go purple at the honesty, she tried to maintain eye contact but the embarrassment got the best of her and she stared down at the bike’s tires.
After a moment of silence, Natsuki glanced at Shizuru briefly then returned her gaze to the bike, she confirmed that Kyoto beauty was just as red as she was. I’m happy I can offer a little payback but this is ridiculous, baka, baka, baka. Control yourself damnit! Though it does look cute on her! What am I saying, Shizuru say something!
“Momma?”
Thank Ducati, Natsuki thought as she released the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She also heard a faint sigh coming from blushing chestnut-haired beauty.
“We’ll be right up.” She called up to Aya who was standing in the doorway.
“Hai!” Aya responded excitedly.
Natsuki’s attention returned to Shizuru as she gave her another hand so she could dismount the bike, which she did without a hitch. “So…what did you think?”
“Ara, it makes for an interesting chair,” Shizuru giggled.
Natsuki rolled her eyes as she closed the garage door, “Yeah yeah, you know you liked it. Let’s get up there before all hell breaks loose now that they’re awake, I also owe you a cup of tea.”
“Hai.” Shizuru responded wryly walking into the house.
Certain subjects she realized were off limits for the time being by subtle reactions Shizuru would display such as avoiding eye contact or laughing something off with a well-trained smile. The Kyoto-ben was difficult to read, but the times that Natsuki was able to make eye contact she would see where the emotions lie. This discovery only spiked Natsuki’s curiosity, however, she decided that she would remain patient, which was difficult for her truthfully. She would appreciate whatever Shizuru would share with her she decided.
That evening, Shizuru insisted on ordering dinner for everyone. It was a take-out restaurant that she and Kouta frequented often because they specialized in soy and vegetarian dishes. Neither one of them is a vegetarian but they ate healthier for Kouta out of precaution than necessity. Needless to say it was an experience for the Kuga’s whom were self-proclaimed fast food junkies. Aya was apprehensive about eating her tofu stir-fry meal but once her and Natsuki’s meal was topped off with a glob of mayonnaise, much to the Fujino’s nauseating reactions, they both found the meal quite delicious and insisted on eating it again.
After dinner, Natsuki discovered a hidden competitive streak in the Kyoto beauty through the means of the video game Dead or Alive 4. Aya and Kouta got into another argument over who was cheating and who wasn’t. Natsuki decided it was time for them to take a break so she taught the delicate crimson-eyed beauty how to play. The biker was stunned at how quickly Shizuru caught on, though the beginning she was a button meshing queen and she discovered Shizuru could be quite scary when she was really focused.
After a while when Shizuru mastered counter attacks and certain moves, Natsuki had other choice descriptions for the woman next to her that she couldn’t vocalize with the children around. For two hours, the great battle between the Kuga’s and Fujino’s occurred. They were all really into it, each of them cheering on their mom’s or kid’s. Alas the Kuga’s won the overall war by only a couple of matches.
It was well after Aya and Kouta’s bedtime when they regretfully ended their day together. Natsuki didn’t remember the last time she had this much enjoyment in a single day. She gave herself a mental note to thank Nao for encouraging them to continue the day after a disastrous morning. Well maybe she would thank her, she thought to herself.
“I guess today wasn’t a total disaster after all,” Natsuki said as she walked Shizuru and a clearly exhausted Kouta out to their car.
“No not at all, we really had fun today,” Shizuru agreed as she buckled Kouta in the backseat, he had his eyes closed within seconds of sitting down. “I’ll make sure I return Aya’s clothes soon.”
“Don’t worry about it, she has plenty of sweatshirts, I don’t think she’ll miss this one.” Natsuki smiled.
“Maybe I could stop by your office this week and drop them off. We could go out to lunch or something.”
“Yeah, that would be great. Give me a call when you want to set something up,” Natsuki agreed trying to contain her excitement at the prospect of seeing Shizuru again. She opened the driver’s side door to let Shizuru into the car.
“Hai, I’ll do that,” Shizuru responded with a bright smile while she slowly entered the car.
“Good night Shizuru,” Natsuki said quietly.
“Good night Natsuki.”
“Oh yeah, Shizuru?” Natsuki asked with a hint of concern as she walked around the open car door.
“Yes?”
Natsuki didn’t say anything as she simply bent down and lightly kissed Shizuru on the cheek and felt the warmth spread across the beautiful woman’s face. Natsuki smiled softly and walked away when she saw what she hoped would see. She was too content to think about it, she let herself feel…and it felt fucking awesome.
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