Wings

Chapter 2: Turning Points

Serena and Chris jogged through the gates to Lydian Private Girl's Academy. The most prestigious private girl's school in the city, it covered all of middle and high school. The two friends were in their first year, having previously attended elementary school together. That same school was where Serena's sisters were currently enrolled. Despite their digression they made it to class with plenty of time to spare.

Entering their classroom, several classmates called out to them, Serena and Chris responding in kind as they took their seats. Chris was in the middle of the front row, Serena one seat behind her. Serena's attention was drawn by a conversation going on behind her.

"Did you see? They said it was a motorcycle accident."

"I hope it's not true. Zwei Wing was my favorite group."

"It was in the papers, it must be true."

Serena had heard of Zwei Wing, how could she have not? Zwei Wing was the hottest idol unit in Japan, two girls who's true names were unknown. Their identities were the matter of heated debate but all anyone knew were their stage names; 'Spear' and 'Sword'. She like most of her friends was a huge fan. Oddly however Chris was emphatically not a fan. Getting up she moved over to the classmate's she'd overheard.

"What was that about Zwei Wing?" She knelt down, balanced on the balls of her feet.

"Oh Serena!" The girl gasped. "You didn't hear? It was in the papers and on the news this morning! Yes well my morning was rather occupied thank you very much. Serena shoved the sarcastic retort away.

"No, I didn't get the chance to check the news this morning, what happened?"

"Apparently there was a motorcycle accident! Spear was taken to the hospital and they don't know if she'll survive!" The girl's voice turned into a wail. Several other classmates approached, some who had heard and some who hadn't. Serena excused herself with a meaningless comment and returned to her desk. As she sat she noticed that Chris's fists were clenched tight, her body shaking slightly.

Just before she could ask what was wrong, the door to the classroom slid open to reveal their homeroom teacher. Serena sat back, she'd ask later.

"Good morning class!" Kohinata Miku, Serena's homeroom and English teacher, greeted them. Only a few years over 20, "Miss Miku" as she was affectionately known by her students was fairly new to teaching, having only started the previous year. She looked over her students. They were a good group. She'd been wary when the Principle's daughter had entered at the beginning of the year, but Chris was a surprisingly sweet girl. She never traded on her connections and her parents were careful to not treat her any different from the rest of the students. A far cry from how things were in the manga Miku used to read! This morning however something seemed off. Chris's fists were clenched on her desk, her face was nearly as pale as her long silver hair. A glance at Serena confirmed that something was up. The pink haired girl was constantly glancing towards her friend, even as she tried to follow along with the lesson.

If it had been someone else, Miku probably would have sent the girl to the nurse's office. Unfortunately the school nurse was Kazanari Ryouko, Chris's mother. Given that it was possible the problem was related to her family, she didn't want to accidentally make things even worse. Instead she decided she'd talk to Hibiki about it. Tachibana Hibiki was the Lydian PE teacher and Miku's lover. She'd established a surprisingly strong bond with the silver haired girl, despite Chris being rather amazingly non-athletic. With that decision made, Miku turned her focus back to the lesson.

A few periods later, Serena's class was heading to PE. She'd tried to talk to Chris, but she kept getting blown off. Serena was getting worried now. Their talk on the way to school had really helped her friend, but now she was even more closed off than she was before. Something had happened, but for the life of her Serena couldn't figure out what it could have been. The change had occurred during the discussion of Zwei Wing, but why would Chris be upset over something happening to an idol group she didn't even like?

It didn't help that ever since this morning her mind had been filled with other thoughts about Chris. The way her hand had felt, the way she'd felt pressed against her body. The feel of her breath on her ear. All things she'd felt before, but today they'd sent shockwaves through her body. Dealing with her own family problems and her best friend suddenly going all to pieces for no reason she could determine was bad enough. Adding on top of that her own body suddenly doing weird things and it was becoming more than Serena could reasonably handle.

That being said, Serena suddenly realized she had a far larger problem: they had to change for gym. Walking over to her locker, Serena began pulling off her clothes, wanting to get this done as fast as possible. Unfortunately for her, Chris's locker was right next to hers. Previously they'd spent this time talking and joking around, but today things were different. Serena was suddenly aware, in a way she never really had been before, of the fact that Chris's body had changed. A lot.

Sure, she knew that Chris had the largest breasts of any first year, probably any second year as well. Combine that with also being one of the shortest students in the school and she rather stood out in appearance. Now, today, Serena could not stop looking at them. Chris unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off, revealing her gorgeous, flawless breasts. Cradled in a understated yet still attractive bra, the orbs drew Serena's eyes like a magnet. Chris then unbuttoned her skirt and let it fall to the floor, unveiling panties that perfectly matched her bra. Serena's breathing accelerated, her chest began to feel tight. A tingling sensation formed between her legs. She'd never seen anything as beautiful as her best friend, right now. The large breasts, slender waist, generous hips; everything about her was perfect.

"Hey, Serena. You ok?" One of her classmates walked up, having already finished changing. "Your face is red, should you go to the Nurse's Office?"

"N-No. I'm fine." Serena was jolted out of her reverie. Quickly finishing changing, she rushed out of the locker room, trying to force the image of Chris's body out of her mind. So focused on this she didn't hear someone calling her name until they grabbed her arm.

"Hey, Serena." The hand released her arm. She turned and found herself looking at Tachibana Hibiki, the PE Teacher.

"C-Coach." All the students called her Coach.

"Is something going on? Miku told me Chris was acting weird, now I see you rushing out of the locker rooms with her nowhere in sight. Did you guys fight or something?"

"N-No..." Serena was still trying to regain her composure. "We didn't fight it's just..." she trailed off, she couldn't tell Hibiki what Chris had told her this morning. Could she tell her about her father? She looked at the Coach. Average height and build, on first glance she didn't look particularly intimidating. Looking closer though, you could tell she was no average 22 year old woman. She wore her normal PE outfit, a black and orange sports bra and matching bike shorts, her bare arms and legs as well as her firm stomach showed that this was a woman who enjoyed physical activities. She had no doubt that Coach wouldn't be threatened by her father. Did she trust her enough? Serena was still a first year and while she liked Coach a lot, she just didn't know.

"Coach I wa-" A shout cut her off, her head instantly turned to look. A gasp left her mouth. Chris was attacking one of their classmates. Serena took off at a run but was easily beaten by Hibiki, who almost seemed to teleport. Grabbing Chris under the arms, Hibiki bodily lifted her off the ground. Chris's leg's kicked in vain as she struggled against the coach's grip.

Without a word Hibiki hauled Chris back into the locker room, Serena hot on her heels. Serena closed the door as they entered, keeping the other students from following them.

Dumping Chris onto a bench, Hibiki loomed over the girl. She was shocked to see her purple eyes were rimmed with red, tears staining her cheeks. She dialed back her anger, yelling at her wouldn't do any good. "What happened, Chris. This isn't like you." She knelt down, making it so she had to look up towards Chris. "Did she say something to you?"

Serena sat down next to her friend, taking one of her hands in both of hers. She wanted to do nothing more right now than hug her, but her emotions were still confused and she was scared to do it in front of Coach. "Chris, come on. What happened? Coach is right, fighting isn't like you at all." Chris's hand squeezed, Serena squeezed back, hoping the feeling would comfort the crying girl a bit.

"S-She...she said...it should have been Tsubasa. That she is the one who should be in the hospital." The words were soft and choked by tears.

"Chris, who's Tsubasa? I don't understand what you are saying." Serena shared Hibiki's confusion. Tsubasa was Chris's sister, but she hadn't said anything about being in the hospital. Realization struck Serena like lightning.

"Chris, look at me, please." Chris turned to look at her best friend, Serena's teal eyes were soft and kind. "Is Tsubasa...is your sister Sword from Zwei Wing?" Chris nodded, then burst into tears, burying her face in Serena's chest. Wrapping her arms around her friend, Serena looked at Hibiki, who looked like she had no idea what was going on.

Hibiki shook her head, then stood back up. "Ok, you stay here with her, I have to get back to class. Once she pulls herself together she needs to go see the Principal. She was fighting and she'll have to be punished, just because her father's the Principal doesn't change that. Got it?" Serena nodded. "Good girl." Hibiki gave her a grin, then left the locker room to see what mischief the rest of the class had gotten up to in her absence.

Serena hugged Chris a little tighter, she'd realized finally what was going on. Why she had felt so weird around Chris all of a sudden. She was in love. She'd fallen in love with her best friend.

She didn't even notice the single tear that ran down her cheek.

When Maria finally pulled herself together again it was nearly noon. She'd spent over four hours laying on the sofa in the living room, crying. She still wanted to cry, she always wanted to cry, but she needed to go do some shopping and she couldn't let the girls see her like this. It was the one thing she could never allow.

She idly began flipping through the day's newspaper. The front page story was about some idols who had been in an accident. She recognized the name as one of the groups Serena liked, though she herself wouldn't recognize their music if she heard it. She put the paper back down, she wasn't very interested in the doings of idols and if that was front page news, then clearly nothing important was going on. With a sigh she made her way upstairs, to make herself presentable to the public.

An hour or so later Maria was on her way to the store. She could have driven, but she generally preferred to walk, and it wasn't too far. It was a beautiful day outside, and for a moment she almost managed to push away her problems. Not completely, she could never do that; but for now they just weren't as pressing, they didn't weigh on her like when she was at home.

She soon arrived at the shopping district, the shop-keepers calling out her name. They all knew her, the wife "Dr. Ver". She and Ver had moved to this town five years before, his reputation as a doctor quickly spread through the community. Everyone wanted to be seen by Dr. Ver, some said he could cure any disease. None of them knew the truth. Oh, Ver was a wonderful doctor. Perhaps truly one of the finest in the entire country, Maria could never argue with that fact. But she wondered what people would think, if they knew what he was like when alone with his wife. Some she knew would be shocked and horrified, but she was scared at how many wouldn't care at all.

Her responses to the calls were automatic, reflexive and totally superficial. She had nothing against the shopkeepers or the other residents of the shopping district, but she knew they didn't really care for her. She was a customer, their job was to get her to buy things from them. That didn't make them bad people, but she'd long since learned to not be fooled by how people act on the surface. Everyone wore masks. Her husband, the shopkeepers, even herself. Especially herself.

Her thoughts were cut off when a hand grabbed her by the arm and hauled her into an alley. She'd left the shopping district on her way back to her home, the street she was currently on was deserted, no one to see what happened.

A large hand clamped over her mouth, stifling her screams. Her groceries went flying across the street as her assailants grabbed her arms rushing her away from the main avenue. The alley turned, ending in a secluded dead-end. She was flung against the wall, she barely managed to stand up.

"Don't scream, little lady." Three men stood before her. Large and burly, if she were to imagine what "thugs" looked like, they were exactly what she'd imagine.

"Hey." One of the other men. "We sure this is the right woman?"

"Of course it is you idiot. Long pink hair, blue-green eyes, large breasts, who the hell do you think it is?" The other man smacked the one who asked the question across the back of the head.

Maria pushed herself against the wall. She didn't know why these men were after her, it sounded like they had been specifically directed to do this. Why. What had she done? Tears ran down her cheeks.

"Now now little lady." The first man again. "It's too early for tears, you'll have plenty of things to cry about when we're done." He reached out and grabbed her shirt, ripping it open with one movement. Maria's scream filled the alley, she tried to cover herself but was grabbed again by the first man. "No more screaming, or you really won't like what happens."

Maria just whimpered quietly. She couldn't take it anymore. She just wanted it to end. The man reached for her skirt, ripping it off as well. Streamed down her face, she knew what was going to happen but was powerless to stop. Even if there had only been the one, there was no way she could have fought him off.

"Wait who are yo-" The sudden shout drew her attention, looking past the leader, she saw one of the other thugs crumple to the ground. The second following moments later. The lead thug had also realized something was wrong, dropping Maria and spinning around. Almost as soon as he did he doubled over, having received a vicious kick to the stomach. A heel drop to the back of his head finished him off, as he joined his companions in unconsciousness. The entire thing had taken less than a minute. Maria was still trying to comprehend what happened as her rescuer stepped forward.

Unquestionably female, wearing a form-fitting blue and black jumpsuit a darkened motorcycle helmet covering her face. The woman reached down towards Maria; Maria took the offered hand without a second thought. Though the woman had a slender body, she was remarkably strong, pulling Maria up with one hand and seemingly little effort. Maria wobbled a bit, but found herself supported by the other woman. It was then that Maria realized that she was wearing little more than her underwear, her skirt having been completely destroyed and her shirt hanging open and tattered. Her face turned red and she tried to cover herself, but not really succeeding.

The unknown woman pulled her forward, towards the entrance to the alley. Right around the jog that led to the street, there was a blue and white motorcycle. Dropping Maria's hand, the woman opened a saddle-bag strapped to the side of the bike, pulling out a blue jacket, offering it to Maria. Maria quickly pulled it on. It fell to just about her thighs so it was better than nothing, at least for now.

"Who are you? Why did you help me?" Maria didn't expect an answer and in fact did not receive one. The woman just climbed on to her bike, motioning Maria to get on behind her. Maria hesitated for a moment, she'd never ridden a motorcycle before. The woman gestured again, more emphatically. Maria zipped up the jacket, then carefully mounted the motorcycle. The woman grabbed her arms and pulled them around her waist. Maria leaned forward against the woman's back, laying her head against her shoulders. With a roar the motorcycle leapt forward, Maria's heart seemed to skip a beat.

The next few minutes were a blur of sensations. The roar of the motorcycle, the woman's body against her chest and arms, the relief at having been saved. All blended together to make the trip seem to be over in an instant. To Maria's surprise, they were in front of her house. The woman gestured for Maria to get off.

"H-How did you know?" The woman didn't respond. Maria felt something within her quiver. She needed to know something about this woman. "Please, say something. Let me see your face. Anything." She was nearly begging. After a few moments the woman nodded, dismounted her bike and stood before Maria. She lifted the visor of her helmet, revealing deep blue eyes, a few tufts of blue hair could also be seen. Maria hoped to hear her voice, but a moment later the visor closed, the woman mounted the bike and sped off. Leaving Maria standing before her house, wearing the woman's jacket and with a feeling like her life had just reached a turning point.

-End Chapter 2-