Choice

Last update over two months ago. I really need to get on the ball with this sort of thing.

Thanks for sticking with this little story of mine.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Mai was currently lying on the rooftop of the temple that she now called home, staring at the sky. It wasn’t something she did very often – mostly when she had things to ponder.

She heaved a long sigh before standing. That she had an attraction to Yuuichi was undeniable, or, at least, becoming harder and harder to deny, which extended to an unspecified amount of time, more or less resulted in the same thing.

Right. Okay. That was step one dealt with. The second issue, was that there was obviously a problem with her attraction to Yuuichi. Namely, the fact that she, being an Otome, was not supposed to be attracted to him.

Of course, she reflected, she was barely connected to Garderobe any more, and in the back of her mind she knew none of the administrative staff there would care very much if the nanomachines in her body ceased functioning. Well, they might demand the return of the Fire Stirring Ruby, of course, but it really held no sentimental value to her. Any such an unease on her part concerning them was largely due to her upbringing and how she’d grown used to Garderobe being a major factor in her life choices.

Not that even that had been true as of late, of course. Mai chuckled as she shifted her gaze to the left – Mikoto would be sleeping by now – of course somewhat discontented at there being a lack of Mai to hug as she went to bed, but the Cat Goddess was used to it, as long as it didn’t happen too often.

Of course, that led to another complication with her whole ‘being attracted to Yuuichi’ thing. Mikoto was not going to take well to the idea of having to ‘share’ Mai with someone she viewed a stranger. And Mai knew that if the Goddess ever got angry enough to physically attack Yuuichi, she wasn’t going to be able to do a damn thing about it, Otome or no.

Right, then. More reasons why she shouldn’t be thinking about pursuing a relationship with the Royal Guard. Which just made it all the more irritating that she still couldn’t help herself.

With a sigh, she stood.

A short while later, a orange blaze carved itself throughout the night air. She didn’t do this very often, to be honest, but once in a while, whenever she felt like she was in a funk, flying through the night sky looking down at the sleeping populace tended to help clear her mind of worries and doubts.

What to do? She didn’t know. All the options open to her (not that there appeared to be particularly many of them) had their own crippling drawbacks, and she didn’t feel wise enough to make the decision on her own.

Not that she had to make them on her own, of course. Mai shifted her gaze to the general direction of Garderobe. She could always ask her friends for advice.

How useful the advice would prove to be, of course, was still up for debate.

“I dunno. Why are you asking me?” Natsuki looked up, her face hazy and distorted from the steam wafting up from the hot spring.

“Because.” Mai replied as she lowered herself into the heated pool with a sigh. “I just figure you’re more experienced at this sort of thing than I am. You know, with-“

Natsuki coughed. “Yes, but, well, Mai, you might have noticed that my, uh, relationship doesn’t really get in the way of me fulfilling my duties as an Otome.”

Mai couldn’t help but quirk a smile at how straight-laced Natsuki was over this sort of thing. She leaned back against the polished rock wall of the pool, letting the pleasant heat work its way through her body, and after a couple of minutes she spoke again.

“Okay, then. Let me put it a different way then. If you had to choose between being an Otome or Shizuru…” Mai paused for a moment. “Which would you take?”

Natsuki sighed and leaned back in her place. She was silent for a long while, so long that Mai was beginning to wonder if she had in fact fallen asleep when she sighed and spoke up again.

“I want to say the right answer, but to be frank…” The dark haired woman shook her head slowly. “They’ve both been parts of my life for so long, that I’m not really sure I could answer. Either one… either one would need me to start building my life from scratch all over again.”

Mai sighed. “Well, then maybe you know a little about how I feel.”

“It’s not like you don’t have your own advantages too, you know.” Natsuki glanced over. “I’m head of Garderobe. There’re times when I wish I could just drop off all the responsibility and run away, but…” She shrugged. “They need me. You’re different. You’re sequestered somewhere in the forest selling noodles and no one needs you.”

“Except Mikoto.”

“Well… yes.” Natsuki shook her head. “At the end of the day, it’s really your choice and no one else’s, Mai. Just… make sure you know absolutely what you’re going to be giving up for him.”

“Well, that was a lot of help.” Mai mumbled glumly to herself as she mixed up the latest batch of noodle broth. Natsuki had basically given her an answer that boiled down to ‘it’s your life, isn’t it?’

Which had been more-or-less mirrored in her conversation with Shizuru, who had pointed that out that exactly one person in the entire universe knew exactly how Mai felt for Yuuichi Tate – Mai herself. And so while she would be perfectly willing to offer advice, all of it had to come with the disclaimer that it simply wouldn’t apply to her.

Which was true, she supposed, even if it did absolutely nothing to help her sort out what she wanted.

Gods above, (and bunking with her, she supposed), why couldn’t life have remained simple, like before? She had been happy, more or less, hadn’t she? But now, with this new (for lack of a better term) development, retreating back to her old life would simply leave her upset and confused.

“Ugh.” She muttered to herself as she finished the latest concoction and poured it into a bowl, ready for it to be served.

“What should I do?” Her relatively isolated life had left her with precious few people she could turn to for mentors. Her closest friend was… well, not very well versed in the normal functioning of society, and her relatively carefree and lackadaisical view of life meant that she wouldn’t be able to relate to her friend’s problems.

This despite the fact that Mikoto herself was a huge source of anxiety for Mai. Given Mikoto’s rather blatant affection for the fire-wielding Otome, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine that she would be upset at the prospect of having to ‘share’, especially with a guy she was so unfamiliar with. And if she got angry enough to get physical… As the thought ghosted through her mind yet again, Mai suppressed a shudder.

Still, there was no way Mikoto would ever attempt to seriously harm someone just because Mai liked him, right?

Right?

“Miss, I’d like a bowl of curry ramen, with extra chilli, please.”

Mai sighed, pasted a smile on her face, and turned to the latest customer. “Got it, I’m coming.”

Night. Mai let out a heartfelt sigh as she stepped through the doorway of the temple she currently called home. The day had been as busy as ever, and she was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

“Mai!”” Mikoto’s cheery shout was so routine by now that Mai was able to raise her arms to catch the grinning girl in her arms. Notwithstanding Mikoto’s immediate planting of her face in Mai’s chest area, of course…

“Hi, Mikoto.” Mai said softly as she pried her friend off. “I’ll get started on dinner right away, all right?”

Mikoto nodded, but a frown creased her innocent features. “Hey, Mai?” She questioned as she stepped back. “Is there something wrong?” She paused.

Great. Just freaking great. If she was so out of it that even Mikoto could pick it up easily, then things were definitely progressing to a far more problematic level than she had anticipated.

“Mikoto…” She began softly. “I…”

Her friend and ward glanced up, curious. “Yeah?”

“I…” Mai sighed and shook her head. “Nevermind. I had a hard day. Go find something to do and I’ll make you your dinner, okay?”

Mikoto kept the frown on her face, but after a sigh and a nod, she acquiesced, and went off to her room.

Mai heaved another sigh, and went to the kitchen.

Two days later, and her worries were seriously driving Mai to the point of distraction. Never mind that Mikoto was getting increasingly dissatisfied with her terse responses to her questions, she was still stuck in a morass of indecision.

In her heart, she knew that giving up her status as an Otome would also mean sacrificing a part of what had defined her as a person. But on the other hand, Yuuichi represented an uncertain future – still filled with promises, and she didn’t know if she could bear to slam the door shut upon it.

Well, if she chose her life as an Otome, she wouldn’t necessarily have to cut off all contact with Yuuichi, would she? She could still see him as a friend, still go on walks together, still laugh… still ignore that tiny voice in the back of her mind crying out in frustration and agony.

She sighed again and shook her head. Focus! Back to work! Her lack of attention had been cost her lately – her sloppiness led a few customers away, although thankfully it was nothing too drastic. Still, she’d best buck up soon – which would mean coming to a decision, and fa-

The explosion roared through the air and she whirled, seeking out the telltale orange glow of a fire in the vicinity – and more worryingly, the large, hulking, monstrous Slave rearing up from behind a rather tall building. As if from a distance, she heard screams.

What? Why is there – Her thought was abruptly cut off as a giant black tentacle reached down to pluck a piece of rubble from the ground. With a flick, it tossed the heavy piece of masonry as if it were no lighter than a feather. More screams erupted in the distance.

Damn… this is bad. Quickly, Mai glanced left and right before breaking out into a run. I don’t think Natsuki or Shizuru can be counted on to make a surprise appearance to save the day, can I?

Another explosion. Nope, thought not. Which means it’s up to me, I guess.

Closing her eyes, Mai focused. Where was Mikoto, anyway? Well, the, uh, unique nature of their Otome-Master relationship made things slightly easier than most…

“Materialize!”

A blaze of light and energy later, Mai took to the skies, clad in her trademark orange Meister Robe. Taking a slight moment to feel the familiar rush of renewed energy and strength, she headed off in the direction of the giant Slave, which was still engaged in the process of wreaking havoc.

“Hey! It’s the Tragic Meister! I’d recognize that scarf anywhere!”

“Wow! So she really exists! I thought the Tragic Meister was just a myth!”

“It’s the Tragic Meister! We’re saved!”

For a brief instant, Mai saw red, and she quickly waved it away. There were slightly more important matters at stake right then. How long am I going to be known by that stupid name? I mean, really! Okay, so she couldn’t shake it entirely from her mind. Natsuki, one of these days I’m going to start a stupid story about you too and we can see how YOU like it, then.

Swooping in low, she quickly used her trademark fire ring attack. It bounced off the creature to no discernable effect.

With a growl, she used the momentum from her flight to deliver a spinning kick to the Slave’s back. It bounced off the creature to no discernable effect.

A frown on her forehead, she rapidly put some distance between herself and the Slave, before wreathing her own body in flame and launching a divebombing attack. It bounced off the creature to no discernable effect.

Thoroughly ticked off by now, she paused to try to figure out some other method of attack – and was promptly slapped into a nearby building by one of the monster’s tentacles.

“Ow.” She mumbled as she burst out from the rock heap. “Okay, this is getting stupid.” Flying closer, she suddenly noted that her last attack had, in fact, left a tiny crack in the creature’s metallic shell.

“Aw, heck, better than nothing.” She sighed as she flew away and prepared for another round. Sometimes, that’s what it all boiled down to in the end, anyway – stupid brute force.

CLANG! WHACK! CRUNCH! Over a series of repeated strikes, she finally succeeded in piercing through the tough hide of the Slave.

“One more.” She panted. Steadying herself, she lunged forward, her foot impacting solidly with the tortured metal. It appeared to hold for a brief millisecond, before giving way with an agonized squeal. As quickly as Mai could, she reached forward, hurling several blasts of fire into the interior of the creature.

With a sigh of relief, she floated away from the beast, idly listening to it’s dying roars as it was immolated from the inside out. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted several other Otome, already in their Robes, rushing towards the scene as quickly as they could. About time, too.

Floating to the ground, she silently dismissed her Robe, and turned around – to nearly ram facefirst into Yuuichi, who was staring at her with an expression of utter shock.

In that single instant a dozen different emotions raced through Mai. She had to rein in a sad, feeble laugh. So he’d found out, after all.

“Mai…” The Windbloom Royal Guard appeared to have finally found his voice. “You’re… you’re the Tragic…”

Something inside her snapped and she turned to him, eyes flashing dangerously. “Yes! Yes, I know what you’re going to say. For your information, yes, I am an Otome. And there was nothing particularly tragic about what happened, all right? I wandered out here, got lost in the woods, and ended up in contract with the Cat Goddess of this place. Is that good enough for you?”

Her outburst was greeted with stunned silence, which, truth be told, Mai couldn’t really fault.

Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head. “Just… leave me alone.” She finally managed as she pushed past Yuuichi, heading back to her tiny stall.

Chapter End

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