FicWad

Author's Notes:

Yeah so... no songs in particular actually inspired this chapter, so no lyrics for j00. As for the long delay, uhh, sorry. I am re-watching HiME now, and it has provided me with more fuel to roll with. Don't stab too hard.




Thanks and icecream cones to Vega62a, and my newer friend, Tressflin for the beta. Without them, Mikoto would have been seeing World War era weaponry, and no one would have ever known that Natsuki's really just seeing things. Weird, huh?




REVIEWS = MOAR FUEL.




*




There were very few things that Mikoto understood thoroughly. Food was one, and so was sleep. Most of the time, she liked to think she understood Mai also, but girls were sometimes far too complex for her. As for males, Mikoto didn't really understand much about them at all, short of her brother. She didn't really care to get to understand Tate, gender aside.

But one thing that she did understand was that people dressed in camouflage clothing combined with semi-automatic rifles and gas masks weren't normal on school grounds. She also understood that they meant trouble, undoubtedly. And lastly, she understood that she stood no chance of stopping them stripped of her HiME abilities.

So, when she first noticed the group of them pouring out of the backside of a van just as sunset was reaching campus, she hid and watched. It didn't take much effort, honestly: she'd been resting up in a tree branch with a couple of cats, too frustrated to go back to the dorms to face either of her roommates, but enough in the mood for an afternoon nap. Caring little about the consequences, and her next meal only on the edge of her perception, the tree sitting slightly along the right path of the fork seemed a good a place as any for some privacy.

People rarely walked along the right path. It headed to the church proper, and most of the students, save for members of the choir, considered it to be a joke. Not to say that the choir wasn't popular, but its members were almost always more reserved people that Mikoto would trust not to disturb her, even if they did bother to look up. It was actually the insistent chirping of the crickets, up early as they usually were on warm summer evenings, that had awoken her. Well, them and her growling stomach.

An orange haze had settled across the path, and the choir members were little ants far along it, trying to reach the dorms before darkness settled in. Normally, they wouldn't be here this late, but there was an upcoming competition. Fuka's choir was one of the best in the region, and their hard training reflected that. But these were all passing thoughts to Mikoto. Right now, she was hungry.

If it was sunset, it would have to be somewhere around seven to eight in the evening, at this time of year. Mikoto sat up and rubbed forward the hair on the top of her head sleepily. Mai would have likely already made dinner and- I missed it, she whined internally. She hoped fervently that Mai had saved some for her. After having napped, she barely remembered the morning's altercation, and that was fine by her. It had made her feel uncomfortable later on, after all.

She shifted the canvas container onto her back and prepared to leap down. Her muscles froze in place, however, as she felt something off in the area. A quick glance to one of the cats confirmed her suspicions; its fur stood on end and its tail was straight up into the air, a growl barely contained in its chest. Something's wrong.

Skimming the ground below produced nothing, so instead she climbed a few branches higher, deftly moving upwards while making sure to disturb the foliage as little as possible. There, further up the path to the church, was a parked van. Nondescript in appearance, devoid of logos, it was completely unassuming. The men that poured out from inside it, however, were anything but.

Even from this distance, Mikoto could tell that they were there for some darker purpose; a few carried regular rifles, and more than a few of them carried heavier weapons that looked a bit like rocket launchers. Gas masks kept her from being able to see much of their faces. The best she could make out from this distance were their builds, and all of them were obviously well-enough muscled to match the fatigue clothing they wore. So something wrong, but not something I can stop.Mikoto felt offended at the internal dare.

Offended enough to go do something about it.




*



Mai had decided to try to enjoy life.

It had not been any easy decision, certainly. The Carnival had not been easy on any of them. She did not consider herself above being effected by it, in any form. Sometimes though, she privately wished to herself that she had been put through the true hells that everyone else had been. (Never mind that she seriously belittled the perception of what she had gone through). But it was that sort of mindset that had gotten her into trouble with Natsuki this morning: her natural penchant for taking on the burdens of others.

If anyone where to ask her how she felt now, she would have to say she felt ignorant. Not that she was happy about it, or sad, or even really knew which she /should/be. Just that she felt ignorant. And also, at times, terribly lonely. No matter how many friends she had, no matter her budding relationship with Yuuichi, no thoughts of those things could ease the cold grip whenever her thoughts were not occupied by some sort of physical or mental task. And that she was often generally confused just before or after the changes between these two feelings.

Nobody asked though. And daily life, "normal life," as Yuuichi had put it once, a happy crowing note in his voice, was all that really mattered. Mai had to content herself with that, and did her best not to dwell on anything related to the latter two emotions. It was amazingly easy whenever she could manage it.

She tried to karaoke once a week, these days. The ticket to the city was not cheap, but with Takumi's surgery costs out of the way, she made room for it. It was a relaxing way to wind down the week after studying like mad each night to make up for that one night without it. To top it off, silly as it was, she really did love to sing.

When the passenger train screeched to a halt at the designated place, she grabbed Yuuichi's hand excitedly and tugged him out the door behind her. For his part, the boy made a show of acting like his arm was about to be pulled from its socket, but Mai could tell he was just lagging. "Come on!" she yelled back at him, yanking insistently, a giggle escaping her.

"Aw, why..."

"You know we'll miss the bus if we don't hurry up! Maybe you want to wait another hour for the next one, but I don't!" Mai continued teasingly.

Yuuichi rubbed at the back of his head uncertainly, and flashed a half-smile. Mai took it in stride, tugging him harder. She noted with wry satisfaction that he kept up this time.

The bus was trying to leave, in fact, just as they rounded the corner. Awinded boyfriend and a stubbed toe later, they entered the vehicle and took their seats. "Agh... S-... Stupid thing was early," Yuuichi panted quietly.

Mai smiled at him admiringly. "But we're on it."

"Yeah," he said, after taking a moment to enjoy the silent praise. After afew stops he caught his breath, and noticed that Mai was staring out the window. Yuuichi watched her closely, but she didn't seem to acknowledge him. Hesitating just slightly, he reached over and covered the hand in her lap with his own.

Turning her head slowly, she blinked suddenly, and with that seemed to clear whatever it was she'd been thinking of. Again slowly, Mai smiled, and turned her hand around to grip his more securely. It was warm and protective. She sat back and tilted her head against the rest behind it, closing her eyes, still firm in holding on.

There's no reason to be lonely...




*




The pond itself was wholly unremarkable on its own. It rested in aclearing just barely large enough to contain it, surrounded by foliage that was hardly healthy enough to stay green. Since the events that occurred that winter, where a great ice formation had affixed itself to the pond's center, it had become oddly lifeless. In fact, the immediate area was nearly swampish; the water was murky, moss overgrowing from nearby trees onto its surface, and even the woodland creatures knew better than to walk onto the rocks here: they were slime-covered, yet sticky.

By the pull on her senses, Natsuki could tell something important had happened here, something besides Alyssa's apparent rejuvenation, but there was no way to tell now. Her sneaker squished unpleasantly in aplace she had thought was solid. Stumbling a bit, she barely caught her balance against one of the resident mossy trees. "Ugh, gross..." she muttered to herself, retrieving her hand quickly and, for lack of other material, wiping it against her clothing.Honestly, that stupid girl. Making me hunt her down,she thought sourly.

A large bubble rolled its way to the surface of the water without warning, piquing the teen's curiosity. She was about to move around the small obstacles in her way to investigate, but a noise in the brush to her right distracted her. Whatever had made it was obviously not one of the frogs croaking sporadically in the area; it was larger, large enough to move leaves at least as high as she was tall. She briefly considered calling out Mikoto's name, assuming that perhaps the other girl had also felt drawn to this place.

Instead, she nearly swallowed her own tongue. The brittle brush directly by the edge of the water moved aside with a soft, almost hissing sound; a wolf, silver in coat and golden of eye, padded into the tiny clearing. If it noticed the girl standing merely ten feet from it, it paid no heed, and searched the surface of the pond for a reasonable place to drink from. The dark-haired girl felt frozen in place, though she was uncertain if it were from fear the creature would bolt or attack.

She wasn't exactly sure how she didn't attract the wolf's attention; her clothes were not loud colored, but definitely didn't fit in with the surrounding environment. Natsuki told herself it was because she stayed still, but life seemed determined that day to prove her wrong. The beast had found a place to drink, and after a few moments of slaking its thirst, it proceeded to lift its head, staring at her intently as though it knew she'd been there the entire time.

Unnerved, Natsuki stumbled backwards, tripping over a tree root while trying to keep her front facing the wolf. For its part, the wolf watched her closely, its once forward-facing ears curving backwards, its eyes narrowing. It was suspicious, that much was apparent. Its jaws parted slightly, but did not pull back into a snarl much to the girl's relief.

There was a sudden noise to the west and both beings turned toward it briefly. The wolf turned back just as she did and this time its ears pricked high. Now uncertain of the number, nor of the intent of what lay around it, it whuffed out air in a small warning bark to Natsuki, a simple "don't follow me," then turned and fled.

Heart thudding against her chest, and just as alarmed as the wolf, Natsuki looked around quickly. A low, sturdy branch offered itself and she leapt up, grabbed it, and hoisted herself into its care. She climbed a couple more nearby branches as quietly as possible, then waited. She rubbed at her forehead a moment, feeling the creases. What the hell? Wolves are extinct in Japan. Have been for over a hundred years...

A headache set in very quickly, and made it hard for her to think. She rubbed at the bridge of her nose for a bit, still trying to keep an eye on the area below. Nothing else moved for quite a while, at least ten minutes, by Natsuki's mental count. Sunset was creeping by now. Sensing no gain in staying where she was any longer, she jumped down.

Immediately she began inspecting the ground for tracks. To her utter confusion, there were none where the wolf had stood. Not believing her own eyes, she even tried to look around for some bent brush where she'd seen the creature take off. None was to be found. Clueless, she made her way directly to her bike, setting where she left it under a street lamp on the forest's edge.

Having reached and mounted her bike without incident, she turned it to face the woods warily, unsure of what to do next. Reaching in the side pouch of her riding leathers, she picked out her cellphone. What am I going to tell Mai? "Sorry, couldn't find your pet, but Idid find an extinct creature that I guess only existed in my imagination to start with"?It was ridiculous, and she had no better leads as to where Mikoto might be hiding herself.

Grunting, she opened the flip of the phone and once again dialed the one person that might know where she was: Nao. Her eyes retrained themselves on the woods again as she put the phone to her ear, but was disgruntled when she heard the voicemail message come through immediately as it had for Mai earlier. Slowly, she flipped the object closed.

A crow cawed from the trees, and some leaves at the edge bustled as it flew deeper into the forest. Natsuki shuddered slightly. This was going to be one long night.




*




The karaoke hall itself hadn't changed much, despite their own plight last year. Teens poured out of it nightly, at all hours, regardless of whether there was class the next day or not. This particular hall prided itself on its customer base and had many regulars. In fact, it even had a mysterious rear exit for when the police officers decided to check to ensure that minors were meeting curfews, making it even more wildly popular with its clientèle.

Flashing lights outside drew people in, only to amuse them with the clashing interior draperies and off-key singing that could be heard faintly through the doors. Mai felt comfortable here. It was just perfect, in her mind.

She had a moment's pause to miss Mikoto on this venture as she passed the counter,

why her? she's just in the way-

but sobered as she felt Yuuichi put an arm around her waist possessively as a few boys from the neighborhood school leered out the doorway to their private room upon seeing her pass. Normally, she would have given the boys in question quite the scolding, but was only mildly surprised to find that she was more entranced by her boyfriend's protectiveness, and let him give the dirty stares for her.

They reached their assigned room for the night (in fact, the gang had areserved room for when they booked ahead, but tonight, they'd been given a smaller one, more appropriate to the number attending), and Yuuichi jumped out before them to courteously open the door. Mai could only match his goofy grin as he bowed, saying, "Your room awaits, my lady."

When she turned the corner to enter, however, she immediately realized that something was strangely amiss. The lights were normally turned on for when guests arrived, most especially for when they were booked ahead of time. This room did not, and just as Mai went for the light switch that she figured had to be just inside, on the near wall, deciding to chalk it up to one of the attendants being too busy reading ero manga after finishing his afternoon sweeping duties, her skin prickled.

Startled, she jumped back and gave a short cry. Yuuichi was attentive at the moment's notice, brows furrowed and gaze questioning, searching back and forth rapidly between the girl's face and the darkened room. There was a tense moment then; Mai rubbed at her wrist nervously, and yet nothing seemed odd about the room itself.

Mai stopped rubbing herself soon enough, and took her own turn to gaze inside. It was partially lit by the hallway light. She could almost make out the silhouette of the furniture that she was more-than-familiar with from her other visits to this place. Indeed, everything /seemed/fine, until the darkness suddenly began engulfing the little light that the hallway cast inside.

She couldn't pull her eyes away. It felt like she had been asleep, and her eyes were still playing tricks on her as to what she actually saw in there. But though the darkness had started swallowing slowly at first, it took a sudden deathly speed without warning, and Mai jumped and wished fervently that she could look away, turn, run, /something/, but she could not.

Suddenly as the darkness had engulfed her vision, there was a bright centering flash of green, and a surrounding wreath of orange and gold formed thereafter. The colors were in a generally circular shape. They pulsated, once, and as Mai went to blink, she was startled again, this time by Yuuichi's grinning face in point-blank range of her own.

"-to Mai. Earth to Mai. Come in, Mai," he was saying, his voice stuck in a false, nasally tone.

Mai took a second to orient herself; apparently Yuuichi had walked into the room himself, and simply turned on the light switch, which was, coincidentally, just where Mai had assumed it would be. The light... was... yes. It must be why I saw what I did. Residual light...

"Sorry, I was spacing out," Mai offered with a small smile. She was still a little unsettled, but prayed that it would be enough to trick him.

Thankfully, it was. "I hope that our dates don't cause you to space out every time," he said, this time trying to be suave. Seeing how his girlfriend smiled a bit more broadly, he decided to gamble alittle more. "After all, I would much prefer that you focus on/me/."

Despite herself, Mai felt utterly flattered. She also felt an uncontrollable need to hug him. She did so, fiercely, and half drug him into the room, kicking the door shut with her foot. She then proceeded to do other things to Yuuichi, still quite fiercely, that he frankly enjoyed every single moment of.




*




The reek of cigarette smoke and rotting vomit was not something that Natsuki particularly enjoyed about the Rorschach Bar. In fact, even with her experiences with coming here over the past year and a half, she still couldn't get used to it. The scent was downright repulsive, actually, but within about ten minutes of being around it one normally became desensitized enough to stand it. Natsuki was no exception to that.

The dark-haired woman parked her bike in the quiet back alley with afrown. The wall was slimy as ever, and she had to position the machine just so to avoid touching it. The breeze was chilly here; the alley itself was open at both ends, making it a kind of wind tunnel. Silently, she cursed the fact that she hadn't brought a jacket to put over her leathers.

She wandered inside as coolly as ever, and she did earn a few stares, as she normally did. It wasn't exactly common to have someone with her looks come in to such a place. She took her habitual place at the bar; it seems even with the random drop-off of her appearances in the past month, no one had yet taken it.

Natsuki fumbled around a moment for her zipper pocket, then procured a small number of bills from inside. Without looking to the bartender, she tossed a few onto the counter. For his part, the bartender, a man with meaty arms, most especially for being native Japanese, was not the kind to ignore money sitting on his counter. Mentally calculating with a brief glance, he cleared his throat. Again, no words, nor looks were exchanged, but Natsuki begrudgingly added another bill to the stack.

With an expression that would have made carved ice feel ridiculous by comparison, the bartender scooped the cash aside into a jar. With the same sweeping motion of his hand, he brought up a beer bottle from the ice bin and slid it down to the girl. Catching it reflexively, she smiled tightly before going about removing her gloves. That little extra for being underage always makes this stuff taste better, after all,she thought wryly. Using her gloves as leverage, she popped the top off the bottle and set them all down on the bar.

She took a small swig and winced. The first drink of beer was always the worst. After a few swallows, and reacquainting her eyes well to the crack in the bar wood directly before her, she ventured enough to take a look around. Natsuki quickly picked out the wool-knit hat of her normal informant easily. She caught his eye (of course he'd been watching her), and flicked her gaze meaningfully at the seat beside her. No one else sat at this corner of the bar; it was private enough.

Noting that he was standing, picking up his own drink, Natsuki turned her attention back to the bar. The crack really had gotten a bit wider over the year. She wondered idly if that was because she stared at it so much, and smiled despite herself. The girl took another swig carefully, but the bitterness was still a bit strong in the back of her mouth.

Her contact grinned, knowingly, but faced the wall of alcohol ahead of him. "Still not used to it?" he uttered softly, moving his lips as little as possible. It was custom.

"It's been a month," Natsuki offered, matter-of-factly.

"So it has." There was a short silence as the man drank from his own bottle. "What brings you here tonight then?"

"I need information." The dark-haired girl leaned forward so that her hair cascaded to mask her own mouth's movements.

Another grin. "You usually do when you come in here."

"I'm not in the mood. Where is Minagi Mikoto?"

A slight surprise hung in the air. "That wasn't the question I was expecting from you," he returned.

Taking a drink, she steeled herself. "What nonsense are you talking now?"

"Haven't you seen the news?" he asked, his tone mildly curious.

The news... what?"No, why?"

The man stood in a manner that gave no sense of urgency. Fishing around for a moment just on the other side of the bar, he found the television remote. He flipped the device on, and set it to the side nonchalantly. The program was the news, of course, at this time of night.

"...and police are still investigating the scene. Iwasaka Pharmaceuticals representative John Smith indicates that there is no cause for concern; he maintains that the wreckage was caused by a simple chemical machine malfunction, and that no casualties were accounted for."

Natsuki's grip on her bottle tightened to a considerably dangerous degree as she watched the footage of the building's ruin. The reporter seemed to be continuing, but some drunkard in the back of the bar yelled for the television to be shut off. Her contact complied without comment, putting the remote back in its place.

"What the hell kind of sick joke is that?" the girl trusted herself to say eventually.

"It's no joke, I assure you." He paused thoughtfully, then drained his bottle. "Nothing's a joke to those people."

"I'm seeing that," she muttered through ground teeth. She gave up pretense of not speaking to him at this point, turning his direction."So. Is that where Mikoto is?" After another second's thought she added, "Where Nao is?"

Her contact stood purposefully. "I suppose anything is possible." He picked up the small wad of cash she threw onto the counter. "Just look at yourself," he winked. "Try not to mess up your Ducati again, okay? Those parts aren't cheap." He exited the bar without another word.

Natsuki sat for a moment, unsure of what to do. She noted with irritation that her bottle was still half-full, and that she'd actually just paid her informant to watch the freaking news for her; then fully irate, she corrected the former promptly. Standing suddenly made her a little dizzy afterwards, but she told herself it was from the lack of fresh air. With that thought in mind, she grabbed her gloves from the bar and stalked outside.