Never Let Go
By: Guubear
Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-HiME.
Chapter 1: Meet The Parents
The first time it happened, Natsuki was completely oblivious. All she knew was, one minute they were making out on the sofa, and then the next Shizuru was tensing up and shaking with her head tossed back. Natsuki thought Shizuru was having a mild seizure. Oddly, when she asked Shizuru about it, all she got from the older girl was a mad blush and a soft 'ikezu'.
How peculiar.
Concerned, Natsuki went to the infirmary the next day and asked the school nurse about her girlfriend's unusual condition. The reaction she got from Youko was even more confusing. What was so damn funny about her question?
Peculiar, indeed.
"Guess who."
A pair of smooth hands sneaked around her head and covered her eyes as a warm, soft female body pressed up against her back. Natsuki let out a startled yelp before her brain registered the identity of this familiar presence. "Shi... Shizuru." She stuttered.
"Correct answer." Shizuru removed her hands from Natsuki's face and wrapped her arms around the younger girl's waist instead. She didn't forget to 'accidentally' brush up against Natsuki's breasts in the process.
Natsuki struggled to keep her composure as all her blood seemed to be rushing toward her face. "Not here! It's embarrassing. People are going to see..."
"It's just us here." Shizuru cooed and nuzzled her bashful girlfriend's reddened ear. Being together for a while now, she knew the girl secretly liked to be cuddled. What the girl hated was being stared at for being a softy, not the physical intimacy itself.
The flower garden in Fuuka Academy was always deserted after school. Natsuki especially liked the solitude she could find in this place. Letting out a content sigh, she relaxed and leaned back against Shizuru's front with her eyes closed. "You don't have to sneak up on me every time." She whined half-heartedly.
Shizuru chuckled lightly, but decided not to retort with a witty remark. At least not at the moment. All she wanted was to cuddle with her girlfriend, not to start a fight.
"I thought you would be busy packing for your trip back to Kyoto tomorrow. Why are you here?" asked Natsuki.
"Oh, about that..." Shizuru tilted her head and peered at Natsuki's face with one eye closed. "I changed my mind."
Natsuki unconsciously gripped tighter at her girlfriend's hands. "You're not going?" She asked hopefully.
"I'm still going."
"But you just said..."
Shizuru pecked lightly on Natsuki's pout and continued. "I'm taking you with me."
"Wha..." Natsuki's mouth hung open at the unexpected answer. "Does that mean I have to meet your parents?" Her face turned white and her throat went dry. If possible, she would avoid meeting Shizuru's parents at all cost. It wasn't that she disliked them, she was afraid of them. Imagine what it would be like being grilled by two Shizuru Seniors. The very thought gave her nightmares.
"Ara. Does my Natsuki not want to see her future in-laws?"
"No, it's not that... In-laws?!" Natsuki's face instantly turned red. "We aren't married yet!"
Shizuru had to bite the inside of her bottom lip to stop herself from squealing in delight when she heard the word 'yet' in Natsuki's reply. "Don't worry, I won't let them be mean to my most precious person. Besides..." She mustered her most innocent puppy eyes. "I'll be terribly lonely if I can't see you for two whole weeks. So come with me. Pretty please?"
After a two-hour ride on the bullet train, they were greeted by a chauffeur in a black suit and ushered into an expensive-looking black car. Natsuki wasn't too crazy about riding in the backseat of a car, but Shizuru kept her mind off this matter by attempting to grope her every chance she got. Fortunately for Natsuki, the car ride only lasted twenty short minutes, though Shizuru had the faintest suspicion that the chauffeur was stepping too hard on the gas.
Shizuru's house... mansion in Kyoto was grander than Natsuki had imagined. She always knew her girlfriend's family was rich enough to afford hiring private tutors to teach Shizuru all sorts of traditional arts. Still, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed when seeing it with her own eyes. The massive mansion/heritage building Shizuru called 'her humble residence' gave Natsuki goosebumps even though it was midsummer.
"Welcome home, ojou-sama."
Natsuki found herself (and Shizuru) being swarmed by a flock of fangirls in maid uniforms the second she stepped into the house. Taken aback, Natsuki did the first thing that came to her mind - she gave the girls the 'Kuga Death Glare'. Strangely enough, instead of cowering back like normal people would, Natsuki swore she saw heart-shaped glints popping out of those girls' eyes.
"Sooo coool!"
"Lady-killer stare!"
What the hell? Natsuki had the illusion of being surrounded by a pack of hyenas.
"Ahh, she is blushing!"
"Sooo cuuute!"
Shizuru came to Natsuki's rescue by draping her arms over the younger girl's shoulders. "Easy, girls. Try not to scare away my girlfriend, ok?"
"Yes, ojou-sama." The maids replied in unison.
Natsuki finally understood why Shizuru never had any problem with her fan club back in Fuuka. That damn woman had plenty of experience dealing with fangirls in her own home!
"Ara, ara. Now I see why my Shizuru-chin didn't want to come home. She had found herself quite a cutie." Said a voice with a thick Kyoto accent. Natsuki had no doubt that the woman in the purple kimono was Shizuru's mother. If she were twenty years younger, she would be Shizuru's splitting image.
"I'm home, mother." Shizuru gave her mother a curt nod. To Natsuki's dismay, she had no intention of releasing her hold on the raven-haired girl.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Natsuki bowed awkwardly with Shizuru still clinging to her neck. She blushed hotly when she noticed the Shizuru-like grin on her girlfriend's mother's face. "Shouldn't you let go now?" She growled through her teeth.
Shizuru pretended she didn't hear her. "This is Kuga Natsuki, my girlfriend."
Shizuru's mother chuckled softly behind a raised hand. "Nice meeting you, Kuga-han. Oh relax, Shizuru-chin, I won't bite her. You don't have to be so defensive." She said to her daughter with a knowing smile.
Natsuki felt her jaw drop to the floor when she saw Shizuru blushing in embarrassment before she loosened her grip. Holy... Shizuru's mother made Shizuru blush! This is so wrong...
"I'm not being defensive, mother."
"Hai, hai." Shizuru's mother said dismissively. "In any case, go see your father first. I'm sure he wants to see you and your girlfriend too."
"Yes, mother." Shizuru nodded and took Natsuki's hand into her own. "This way."
"This girl is Kuga Natsuki, my girlfriend."
Natsuki sat kneeling beside Shizuru. Although she was not used to sitting in a seiza position, she tried her best not to show any discomfort.
"Don't be shy, say hi to father." Shizuru urged.
Natsuki wasn't sure how to start, so she decided not to think too much and just said whatever came to her mind. "Er... Hello. Nice to meet you." She scratched her head and continued after taking in a long breath. "My name is Kuga Natsuki... Would you stop giggling? This is very distracting, not to say very disrespectful, you know." She frowned at Shizuru with her face flushed.
"Don't mind me. Feel free to continue. I'm sure father doesn't mind." Shizuru couldn't keep her face straight. Seeing Natsuki with that serious face was too much for her.
"I'll continue, but you don't get to listen." Natsuki closed her eyes and clapped her hands together twice in a silent prayer in front of the Fujino family's household shrine.
Your daughter is my most precious person. I don't know if I can meet your expectations, but I'll do everything in my power to make her happy...
She opened her eyes and shot Shizuru a disapproving glare when she heard the woman's quiet chuckles. Apparently, your daughter is way too happy now. Natsuki added mentally. "Ok, I'm done. You can stop laughing already."
"What did Natsuki say to father?" Shizuru asked as she helped the girl up. Natsuki's legs had fallen asleep from sitting on them too long.
"That I hope he won't be turning in his grave for having a spoiled brat as his daughter." Natsuki said dryly.
Shizuru pouted. "Ikezu."
For some odd reason, Natsuki's luggage had somehow ended up in Shizuru's room instead of in one of the numerous spare rooms within the mansion. When Natsuki asked about it, Shizuru swore she had nothing to do with the implied sleeping arrangements. Natsuki believed her since she had an inkling her girlfriend's mother might have been the one who planned this.
"I don't think it's that big a deal. Your room is big enough, we can easily spread out two futons."
"Two?" Shizuru looked a tad disappointed. "I was hoping we could cuddle tonight."
"Hey! We're in your parents' house for crying out loud!" Natsuki couldn't believe how Shizuru could possibly be thinking about making out at such an inappropriate place.
Clearly, Shizuru did not share Natsuki's sentiment. "What's so wrong about cuddling with my girlfriend in the comfort of my own room?" She was quite puzzled.
"It's your room, but your MOTHER is still somewhere inside this building. It's weird!"
"It is?" Shizuru didn't seem convinced.
"It is." Natsuki reassured her with a firm nod.
"Since Natsuki says so..." Shizuru sighed. Natsuki looked relieved by the older girl's answer, but what Shizuru said next made her want to hit her head against something hard. "Then all we need to do is to put up a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door so mother won't walk in on us."
Because they came to Kyoto by train, Natsuki couldn't take her Ducati with her. When Shizuru mentioned she had a bike available for going around the neighbourhood, Natsuki naturally thought she was talking about a motorcycle. Which was why she was staring with her mouth hanging open when she saw Shizuru's old bicycle.
"Ara. Why is Natsuki so surprised? I did say I have a bike, didn't I?"
Natsuki gawked at the horrid purple sad excuse of a bike Why does everything the woman owns have to be in that colour? and hoped that the thing would self-destruct Holy Shit! It even has a purple sissy basket attached to the handle bar! in the next two seconds.
"Tell me we are not riding on it." Natsuki pleaded.
"Why not?" Asked Shizuru with a raised eyebrow.
"It's too..." Natsuki's mouth twisted in disgust while she racked her brain for the best word to describe the bike.
"Girly?" Shizuru suggested.
"Purple!" Natsuki almost yelled.
"What's wrong with having a little colour on a bike?"
Natsuki shuddered. "A LITTLE colour?" She pointed at the bike with a trembling finger. "It's a psychedelic orgy of every shade of purple ever invented!"
Shizuru was not impressed by Natsuki's sudden outburst. "If Natsuki doesn't like my old bike, she can sit on the back rack. I'll do the peddling." She said dryly.
Natsuki changed her mind. "There's no way I would ever be caught dead sitting on the bitch seat of this sissy bike. You are wearing the long skirt, you sit on the back. I'll peddle."
"And here I thought you didn't like my bike."
"Who said I did?" Natsuki retorted with a scowl on her face. She gripped the handle bars and swung a leg over the seat. "Climb up. Tell me how to get to a decent eatery nearby. I'm hungry."
Smiling contently at the raven-haired girl, Shizuru sat side-way on the back rack of the bike and wrapped her arms around Natsuki's slender waist in a familiar embrace. No helmet. She thought happily as she nestled her forehead against the side of Natsuki's neck. One of the many perks of riding on a bicycle.
TBC
Author's Notes:
1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATSUKI!!! This story was intended for a one-shot, but like usual, I got carried away so it ended up as a multi-chapter story. (Thank you, Hannah. :D)
2. "-han" and "-chin" are the equivalent of "-san" and "-chan" in Kyoto dialect.
3. I'll try to update my other fics... eventually. -shifty eyes- (More ShizNat fluffiness never hurts.) Please read and review.