DISCLAIMER: I do solemnly swear that I make no profit from the writing of this story, as all legal rights to Mai HiME belong to Sunrise. Me promises.

A/N: This an AU ShizNat fic, going to be relatively harmless until we start getting to Natsuki and her background a little better. And, if you guys seem to like this story, I was thinking of trying to write a lemon into a later chapter. They are easy to read, but so hard to write for some reason!

Chapter One – Welcome To Legend!

"… Hai. Hai. Okay, 6:30 sounds fine. Alright then, I'll see you there, and ookini very much for this, Yukariko-san! Ja'!"

Shizuru cheerfully spoke to into her mobile phone before ending the call, her bubbly persona vanishing as soon as the handset was flipped shut. Releasing a sigh, she closed her laptop shut and leaned back in the chair, rubbing her temples.

Her first shift for the new job she had managed to pick up began at 6:30.

Just great, she thought dismally to herself. I'm up to my ears in assignments, and now I've got to drop everything and start work…

Truth be told, Fujino Shizuru didn't want to pick up a casual job at a nearby movie rental store. She was content enough to drift by as a college student, with scores of loyal fans to hang out with, and all the weekend shopping in the world.

Unfortunately, it was only when her savings account started to slowly dwindle down and not replenish itself that prompted her into action and forced her to look around for part-time work.

For the majority of her childhood and teenage years, her well-to-do family had placed a lump sum of money into her account every month whilst she was away at boarding school. When she began college, however, her father and pulled her aside and explained to her about the importance of independence and learning to stand on her own feet as a grown woman.

Shizuru had smiled and nodded, assuring her father that she had understood what he was saying, but she couldn't help the feelings of disappointment and bitterness sometime after when she tried to purchase a new phone and found that her card had insufficient funds on it. It was one of the most embarrassing things that had ever happened to her, next to the incident that occurred when she was in her first year of highschool.

Shizuru winced slightly whenever she recalled this particular memory, the feelings of embarrassment and shame still affecting her as if the event was fresh.

It was the day when Shizuru's school back in Kyoto – An all-girls Catholic Academy – rang her parents and told them how she had been caught by teachers making out with another student in the gym hall.

She remembered that day quite vividly; Her parents stonily sat and listened to the teachers talk about how they had walked into the locker room and found her and older student, Anh, in a lip-lock against the back wall.

She remembered the silent drive home. And even now, though Shizuru is already a College student, they have yet to speak about that occasion.

She knew that her parents were happier pretending to be oblivious about her sexuality, quicker to erase all evidence from their minds than to admit that their beautiful daughter – who was going to marry a nice, wealthy man and bear them plenty of grandchildren – was in fact a lesbian.

That was one of the main reasons why Shizuru had never dated anyone since then, in part for being unwilling to cause her parents distress, and in part for herself. Yes; popular, friendly college student Fujino Shizuru was still a dedicated believer in true love.

Although she had crowds of admirers, male and female, the tawny-haired libertine refused to settle for anyone less than her soulmate. Not counting the first year snog, of course. THAT was just teenage experimentation, she assured herself.

Caught up in her memories of the past, Shizuru absently rolled her head to the side and glanced at the clock. 6pm.

"Kuso!"

A quick shower and make-up prep later, Shizuru was sitting behind the wheel of her car as she turned into the parking lot for LEGEND MOVIES, the rental store she had managed to grab a few night shifts a week in.

When she had first learnt that she passed the interview, she negotiated with the manager Yakariko Sanada that she would start on Friday night. However, as soon as she had settled down in front of her laptop this afternoon ready to tackle a history paper, her clunky black phone started to ring in her pocket.

It turned out that Yukariko had to take care of her flu-ridden daughter that night, and needed Shizuru to cover the night shift even though it was Wednesday. Shizuru couldn't complain though – even though her parents were covering her tuition fees, she liked to have a bit of money with her at all times for emergency car repairs or shopping splurges.

As she neared the store entrance, Shizuru glanced down at what was practcally a brick in her eyes She scowled at the small device.

"At least I'll be able to finally get my new phone and get rid of you" she muttered to the inanimate object as she walked through the door of the shop.

A young blue-eyed boy standing at the counter, wearing the same red polo shirt as Shizuru with "Legend" emblazoned on the front breast pocket, glanced up from his place at the counter and smiled warmly at her.

"Ah, you must be the new girl!" He grinned, walking around from behind the counter to shake her hand. Shizuru smiled back, looking around the place as she did so.

"Hai, that's right. My name is Shizuru, Yukariko-san told me to cover for her tonight."

The boy laughed.

"Yeah, her two-year old has a nasty virus at the moment. My name is Kazuya, by the way."

Shizuru glanced back at him and smiled quickly in acknowledgement, before turning her gaze back to the inside of the room.

Rows of shelves filled the entire store, each aisle clearly labeled in order of genre. Shizuru couldn't help but giggle inwardly when she saw the shady back-corner shelf labeled "Special Interest." Even though she was 18 years old, she still retained her inner immature persona.

Kazuya's deep voice broke her thoughts.

"If you come this way, Shizuru-san, I can show you how to scan the return dvds back into the system, then teach you how to organize them into categories."

Shizuru watched him walk back behind the counter and began to follow him, albeit a little hesitantly. He noticed this.

"Ah, Shizuru-san, don't be afraid of stepping behind the counter. What kind of employee would you be if you stayed at the front of the store all night?"

Shizuru laughed along with him before walking out the back to stand next to him.

"Ara, I suppose you are right, Kazuya-han. It just feels a bit strange, is all. This is my first ever job."

Within the next ten minutes, Shizuru was wiping discs and re-stocking shelves, laughing with Kazuya the entire time. After all, she was never known for being the shy type when it came to meeting other people. And besides, Kazuya seemed like a genuinely nice guy as he talked all about his school, his girlfriend and cracked the occasional joke.

"Yeah, I know Akane-chan always told me to make sure I brought a set of fresh clothes to change into, but who would've guessed that I would forget them on the one day our canoe tipped over during P.E!"

Shizuru giggled some more as she walked over to the horror section, straightening the dvds on the shelf a bit as she saw that they had become disordered. Ah, she felt like she had been working here for years already, and it was only 8pm!

Kazuya explained to her that the store closes at 9pm each night, and since she is a trainee there will always be someone there with her to lock up the shop and count the till after closing time. Shizuru was actually looking forward to meeting some of the other employees, from what Kazuya had let slip, they sounded like a pretty crazy bunch of girls.

By Eight thirty, Shizuru was confident enough to serve at the counter without Kazuya there to guide her through the transaction system on the computer. She learned pretty quickly to keep a straight face as she scanned through porno dvds, smiling politely at the old men as she took their money and handed them back their "Girls Gone Wild!" dvd specials.

She was just as quick to learn the location of the hand sanitizer lotion Yukariko-san kept in the top drawer, and would thoroughly pour it all over her palms as soon as the customer walked out the door.

Can never be too safe, she reasoned with herself as she shuddered.

Towards the end of night, as most of the customers had left and Kazuya and her had started cleaning up, she was more than ready to head home and get a good night's sleep.

So much for my history paper, she sighed.

Ah well, she really did need the money, and it was only three night shifts a week anyway.

Although the job itself seemed a little bit boring and mundane, Shizuru had to admit that she had fun talking to Kazuya all night, telling stories to each other and laughing at the stupidest movie titles they came across (Shizuru's discovery of "Revenge of the Son of the Alien from The Sun" was the winner so far).

All in all, Shizuru thought that a couple of boring, draining hours a week was a fair enough exchange for make-up and shoes money, so she wasn't too bothered to be wiping a wet cloth over the counter as she was now. She is an extremely feminine girl, after all.

Soon enough, it was 8:50 and all the customers had left. Or so she thought.

As she scrubbed at a particularly tough coffee stain on the front counter, a shadow suddenly fell over the desk surface. Glancing up, Shizuru was about to greet the customer in her normal cheery way when the words suddenly died in her throat.

A pair of intense jade eyes stared back into hers, looking mildly annoyed that her sales attendant had been too busy cleaning to notice her arrival at the counter.

Shizuru's eyes took in her form in a split-second.

Long, ebony black hair fell over her shoulders, framing a petite face and providing a stunning contrast to the pale colouring of her skin. And oh, those eyes.

Blinking, Shizuru recovered quickly from her momentary lapse in concentration and flashed a bright smile at the girl.

"Ara, good evening and welcome to Legend Movies. Are they all you want for tonight?" she asked as politely as she could (which was VERY polite, being a Fujino and all), gesturing towards the small stack of movies in the girl's arms.

The mystery girl scowled at her.

"Why would I bring these up here and stand at the counter if I wanted more?" she asked bluntly, one slender black eyebrow rising.

Shizuru, while inwardly shocked at the girl's unprovoked hostile behaviour, merely smiled serenely and tilted her head to the side.

"Why, for all I know you could be coming over here just to chat me up, using those movies as an excuse for approaching me!" she beamed brightly.

The girl looked taken aback.

"W-what the hell are you on about?! Why the hell would you… argh… nevermind.." she growled, seemingly disappointed at her stuttering reaction to Shizuru's jest.

Dropping her movies onto the counter, the girl stepped back as Shizuru scanned them in one by one and put them to one side.

Murder movie… Murder movie… Murder mystery movie…

Shizuru silently recounted to herself in her head as she placed each movie down.

What is this girl, a serial killer?

After typing a bit on the keyboard, Shizuru's crimson eyes darted to meet those bewitching green ones again, her throat going slightly dry as she opened her mouth to ask a question.

"Could I please get your surname, ma'am?"

"Kuga."

Some more typing, then a pause.

"And your password is…?"

"Duran."

Shizuru smiled as the password matched with what was displayed on screen.

As she was waiting for the system to process the transaction, Shizuru tapped her fingers on the countertop and looked over to the girl.

"So, how was your day?"

The girl merely continued to look at the posters on the wall behind Shizuru, unflinching and not saying a word. Why was she ignoring her? Shizuru suddenly felt stupid and embarrassed that she was being ignored so blatantly.

After taking the payment and handing over the dvds, a slightly uncomfortable Shizuru couldn't help but take one last stab at the eerily silent girl.

"Have a good night, Kuga-han, and please don't be too shy to come and visit me again!" she smiled, adding a flirty wink. The girl made no acknowledgement whatsoever that Shizuru even spoke as she quickly snatched up her dvds and marched towards the front doors.

Shizuru didn't miss the faint glow on the girl's cheeks as she left, however.

Shizuru's eyes followed the slender form until she was out of the store. Kazuya walked up to her and started shuffling papers about, standing beside Shizuru.

"Don't worry about her, Shizuru-san, that's Kuga-san. She comes in here every night and acts like that, she's just weird. Relatively harmless, but weird."

Shizuru pulled her eyes away from the door the girl had just walked out of and faced her co-worker.

"Ara, does she always get those gory serial killer movies?"

Kazuya nodded, gathering up the pens and papers scattered over the counter as he answered her.

"Yeah, she only ever hires out crime movies. None of us know why, she just shows up every night before closing and gets them out. She never talks to us, so we don't know anything about her even though she is a regular customer."

Shizuru gave a small murmur of acknowledgement, but really her mind was far away.

Kuga, huh? What an interestingly strange child…

Shizuru suddenly had the feeling that her shifts during the following weeks weren't going to be too bad after all.

A/N: Whew, trying to write using American terms was hard! I was so tempted to be writing University instead of College, and Year 10 instead of First Year, hehehe.

(I think other terms are like, 10th grade and sophomore, but I don't even know what a sophomore is) oO

And I just couldn't bring myself to write Cellphone, so I just called it "Phone." Hey, over here we just call it a Mobile, hahaha.

Anyway, Please leave a comment or a suggestion!