A/N: Okay, so we may have a small delay of over four years since the last update, but as I already stated, I will keep my word and finish this story! The M-rated chapter will be either chapter 14 or 15, I'm still undecided.

Furthermore I took the liberty of updating all of the previous chapters by removing the outdated A/N, improving grammar where possible, removing typos, removing inconsistencies by altering the respective passages, specifying lacking explanations and closing some plot holes. Once finished, there hopefully shouldn't be any open questions left.

This chapter is mainly fluff, you can expect Detective Oshigawa and Saionji Fujino to make their moves soon.

Disclaimer: Mai HiME/ Mai Otome and its Characters do not belong to me. All this stuff belongs to Sunrise.

Chapter 13

There wasn't much room for both of us, but that brought us even closer together. Literally. While it was still somewhat problematic for me to wear nothing in front of her, I tried to ignore this inner tension whenever I thought about it. When we were doing what we were doing at nights in our bed, I had no time to think about that. But right now I was lying in my bathtub, patiently waiting for Shizuru to remove her clothing before joining me. She didn't even try to hide that she did that in a very slow manner, all the while ogling with my exposed body.

"Mou, come on already." I said, becoming growingly aware of my naked body.

Seeing my discomfort she apologized and then joined me, finally resting with her back against my breasts. Now that she couldn't stare shamelessly at me, I relaxed and put my arms around her waist.

It really was tight – it was a bathtub for one single person after all – but with Shizuru things like that never mattered. She was flanked by my legs and my girlfriend didn't lose any time to bring her hands to them, playfully dancing with her fingers oven the skin of my lower legs. In turn I began caressing her belly, causing her to giggle.

"It is nice to have a few days of rest, don't you think?" she finally asked and I instantly knew what she meant. For a few days there was no one to disturb us: no detective, no thugs, nothing beyond the normal flow of customers and people like the mailman and others of that sort.

With a content sigh I agreed. It was fantastic to just live a normal life, although the fear still remained that something would happen sooner or later.

"Don't think about what could be, let us enjoy the moment, ne?" she said, knowing me and my train of thoughts all too well. I grinned, but didn't say anything. We were separated for a long time, but we still knew each other down to the very core.

"Natsuki, I don't mean to pry, but about the annual ex-HiME meetings…" she began, not needing to say anything further. I always intended to tell her about the things I didn't have the time to explain.

"Mhh. Those pain in the ass events. It happened a few years ago, when Mai invited me over during a visit of Kanzaki and his sister. Midori and Nao too were around, so Mai thought it impolite not to include them. Despite everything, both came."

It was the time I distanced myself from Shizuru and thinking back about not inviting her stung within me. I winced at that and Shizuru, being attentive as always, noticed the change in me immediately. But before she could say anything, my hands went further up, graced her soft mounds and came to a stop somewhere between her collar and her face, feeling the warm and soft skin there. It was as if I had to ensure myself of her presence. To confirm that she was indeed here with me.

She didn't press me and eventually I continued.

"You know, I was stupid and thought that something small and unnecessary like that would only make things complicated for you, so… I didn't say anything."

"Natsuki shouldn't regret what she did. I know that Nao-san still holds a grudge against me, just as Haruka-san does. There was and still is no reason for me beyond your person alone to attend those meetings." she explained, trying to make it easier for me. Well, she succeeded.

"Still, nobody liked being excluded. And there were more of them against you. Yukariko doesn't look favourable at same-sex relationships, Yukino is scared shitless whenever your name is mentioned and the others are indifferent about you at most." I explained, still feeling hurt about the fact that my girlfriend wasn't liked amongst this particular group of people.

"As long as I have you, I don't need anyone else. It may sound sappy, I know that, but they don't matter to me. They are relics of the past, a past dark and heavy."

I couldn't see it, but I think she closed her eyes when she spoke. She always did whenever we mentioned that time.

"Let them hate, so long as they fear" she whispered, making me raise an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked when she failed to explain what she just said.

"Oh, that? Oderint, dum metuant. It supposedly is a favourite saying of Emperor Caligula. It means that I don't care about them, as long as they stay where they are. While I regret that it came down to what I did, I would still do the same if somebody was making attempts on taking your life again."

"So you compare yourself to a crazy and tyrannical roman Emperor?" I asked, not hiding my amusement.

She laughed out and that was a good sign that her mood wouldn't swing to its darker themes. Shizuru was hard to speak to whenever in such a condition, so her being her usual self was a good thing on itself.

"Ikezu, Natsuki-chan."

With that we remained in silence for another while and I occupied myself with her hair. It was a beautiful mane of silky strands. Inhaling deeply my senses got flooded with a myriad of memories connected to specific scents: lavender, green tea, a bit of vanilla, I could even swear that there was something that reminded me of fresh rain.

Scenes of both of us in the garden of Fuuka Gakuen flashed before my inner eye, our private moments when she was having her tea breaks, a memory of Shizuru trying to make vanilla based cream cake for my graduation.

I smiled, still remembering the whole thing vividly.

"It is done!" she exclaimed in an overly happy voice.

I knew she was a good cook, but baking wasn't her strength. Still she decided to make this cream cake and although she soon saw that she had no idea what she did, Shizuru wasn't ready to give up. She promised me a homemade cake, after all.

As I was banned from her kitchen, there was nothing to do for me but to sit in her bedroom – we were at the dormitory, where she had a small lodging consisting of two rooms and a bath – and waiting for her to return.

She didn't disappoint, the cake was indeed resting on a tray, filling the room instantly with the strong aroma of vanilla.

It was her condition that surprised me: she was covered in flour, cream stains and many remains of dough. Giving it a closer look, even the cake looked suspicious: deformed and not pretty to look at.

Since I've never seen her like that, I began to laugh. At first she didn't understand, but when I pointed to the mirror and she followed my lead, she too had to join me after a small pause of disbelief.

It didn't matter that parts of the cake were still somewhat liquid, that the 'omedetou' writing wasn't readable.

We had our fun that afternoon and I stayed with her the whole evening. It was one of those first times when I regretted not having her in my life forever. I knew she would return to Kyoto soon and that I was the only thing that remained from a time that wasn't easy for her and on her.

"I'm sorry, Shizuru. I'm really sorry." I suddenly said, not exactly knowing where it came from at first.

Now it was her turn to ask "Excuse me?".

I sighed.

"When I decided to break off our friendship, especially when I became aware of my… feelings towards you… I-"

"I know." she interrupted my small rant. "I know." she repeated, and I understood that she understood me.

"It hurt, sure, but I think this separation, all this time to think about our relationship, it was what hardened our bond and our resolve." Shizuru added, giving me something to think about.

"You mean, we wouldn't be that clingy without the long time apart?" I asked, my hands again circling her sensitive stomach region around her belly.

She purred like the cat I knew her to be, and that made me grin. It took her a while to respond.

"There are times when I am sad that we never had our typical high school teen love story, with all the drama and the soppy happy ending, but we are together, aren't we?"

"Mhh." I consented. "For as long as you want." I added. To be honest, I was still unsure why she even loved me after everything she had to go through because of me. It was still hard to believe that she, after all those long and hard years of one-sided affection, still felt attached to me, still loved me and only me.

"Natsuki, if you put it that way, you won't ever get rid of me, do you know that?" she asked in a humorous tone, but underneath I could feel the uncertainty in her voice, the small shiver in her body that betrayed her insecurities.

"I go wherever you go, Shizuru. I am nothing if not loyal, so…" To make it easier on her I let my hand wander back up to her soft and ample feminine curves, shamelessly groping her mounds.

"It… it is unfair… I ca- cannot return… the favour… Na- Natsuki, mou…" she tried to pout, but a well-placed pinch, a well-timed nibble at her earlobe and I had her where I wanted her to be: at the receiving end of a few teases I badly needed to pay her back.

Already two hours passed since we left for the park at the other end of the town. Natsuki was busy guarding our food, holding the basket with both her hands, while I was looking intensely on the map to find an alternate route. It seemed we had to take a detour since the original way leading to the temple, which we planned to visit, was blocked entirely by a nearby car accident. They closed up the complete road and to prevent people from staring the police decided it best to close off the sidewalk, too.

"Maybe we should wait here for them to finish up and skip on the shopping-part?" she suggested, her tone certainly full of anything but regret. Natsuki didn't even bother to hide her intention.

"Mhh, we could also rearrange our schedule and try to get on the next bus to downtown, so we could visit Mai before heading for the smaller shopping district nearby?" I replied, certainly not amused about another of her tries try to avoid the inevitable. I had special plans and she wouldn't stop me from executing them.

It wasn't long before we were on our way again, Natsuki still carrying our supplies. Honestly, she was such a sweet girl and her needs were seemingly so simple: sleep, food, cuddling and racing. She was a complex being underneath her cold exterior, but all in all her needs always came down to those mentioned four.

Thinking further about it, I asked myself why it was that we understood each other on such a high level? We were nothing alike it seemed and I had no clear concept as to why she put up with our differences.

On my part, I had no problem with her sleeping whenever she wanted. Different sleeping habits are often all it takes to ruin whole relationships, so I was glad I never minded that. Besides, I liked watching her in her sleep, be it in the morning or when she was taking her afternoon nap. Not that she didn't do the latter often, as we had more than enough work to keep us occupied throughout each day, but sometimes I made sure she was… well, spent… and insisted on her taking a small break.

And while I don't exactly hate mayonnaise, I still cannot bear to eat the same amount as Natsuki usually does, but the lack of competition isn't something she would ever complain about. And she was adorable to look at while eating, so all in all I enjoyed that aspect of our life also. And who am I to decline a good cuddle with my cuddly Suki-chan! On the first glance we were nothing alike, had nearly no common ground, yet we perfectly fit together.

But my musings left racing as last point of interest. If I was still in Fuuka back then, this would be our main difference, of that I am sure. But now after all those years it was a mutual hobby for both of us, although she still took it far more serious. Still, there was nothing to complain about at all.

We hadn't many differences it seemed, if one overlooked her obvious dislike of going shopping with… well, anyone. As long as it wasn't a dislike directly tied to me and my person, I could tolerate it. But even after all this thinking I still had many questions open, including my initial one about her motivation to like me, so I decided to ask her directly.

"Ne, Natsuki… what is it that you like about me?" I inquired out of mere curiosity. I knew what I liked about her, but when giving it a thought, I knew near to nothing about her or her reason to like me. But given our past, specifically the time right before the carnival came to its end, it was a small miracle that she didn't kill me back then for violating her.

"I hate shopping, don't change the topic." was her simple answer.

I couldn't help it but to let out a small chuckle, which caught her attention immediately.

"Sorry, I really want to know what makes you love me."

"It still can't get to that cute head of yours why it is that I like you?" Now she giggled, too.

Well, it was something I brought up every then and when. Like right now. In my eyes there were no apparent reasons for a honest girl like her to feel anything more than rejection towards someone like me. It was hard to believe that and I often wasn't able to contain my tears to myself when her beautiful hands tenderly stroked my skin, when her strong voice whispered words of love directly to my ears, when she pressed her lithe and yet athletic body against my own- bad thoughts! But still, it was too good to be true.

"I like your money, your heritage, your noble blood and the connections your family holds. To satiate my greed, I would even sink as low as to bed another girl. Satisfied?" she finally answered, her voice full of obvious sarcasm.

To speak that way wasn't her preferred way of speech, she was far too straightforward to do so. On occasion, however, she did that to avoid saying embarrassing things. To put it in other words, it was something along the lines of 'I just love you unconditionally and nothing else'. She was just too sweet. I played along.

"Ara, I love you too. There has never been anything other than my want to fall in love with a greedy bastard, who does nothing but takes advantage of me. It doesn't even matter if that bastard is a girl."

"I'm glad to meet your expectations, baka."

"But now please, in all honesty, what do you like about me the most?"

"It's too embarrassing, so forget it!"

The increasing heat in her face and the growing blush on her cheeks, those made me want to know it more than before now.

"No chance!" she nearly cried out, drawing the attention of some nearby standing people to us for a few seconds.

"You know that I will learn it one way or another. The more work I have to put into it, the less mercy I will have with you in our next session, ne?"

The tone of red deepened considerably and her eyes weren't able to meet mine anymore. For a shy person as her the mere thought of what we did the last time we had a 'session' was enough to force the blood in her face. To be honest, if I were ever to think about it in detail, my cheeks would be as red as hers I fear... speaking of the devil, I now had to look away and think about very unsexy things to get rid of my own blush. Ara, my own mind got me there.

Think of something very unsexy... Sakomizu-sensei in a bikini! Yes, that should work… ugh. Yes, it worked.

"I will tell you, but in private… not here!" she finally gave in. My cheeks also almost turned back to their usual pale colour.

I nodded and with a smile I dropped the topic instantly, making a small note in the back of my head to press the matter further once we were alone again.

"So, I've seen this little shop nearby the other day." Before she could protest, I decided to bait her to said place. "Amongst other things they are also selling biker-outfits last I looked."

With that I had her interest. Perfect. I'm sorry, my Natsuki, for doing this to you, but both of us will benefit from this, I promise!

"Where did you say it was?" she looked at me questioningly, as if it was a natural part of our initial plans.

"Two streets away from our position, if I recall correctly. We should be there in a few minutes."

I hoped she won't mind the gloomy look of the 'special interest shop'.

The time walking there passed by rather fast and we spent it in silence. Not that we had nothing to say to each other, of course, but sometimes an occasional look and the certainty of having the loved one walking just inches apart was enough to create a comfortable kind of silence. Wordlessly enjoying each other's presence one could call it.

And then we were there, said building directly in front of us. Natsuki didn't bother that it was in a quite side street. That was good… too many questions could endanger my plan, after all.

We walked in and our eyes had to adjust to the twilight dominating the narrow building, which seemed to extend itself nearly endlessly in the length. There were many shelves, display cases, dark leather clothes of all kinds and sorts, many dark shirts, skirts and jackets, with and without motives on it, CDs with movies, music and everything one would expect form a professional gothic store.

But what I was interested in, though, wasn't to be found here. It was in the far back of the shop, deep within the closed off area with x-rated articles. This was where I planned to lure Natsuki into.

"In the back I just recently saw something special. I could imagine you would like it, so… do you mind accompanying me there, Natsuki?"

My voice was full of innocence and I did my best to suppress any laugher, dirty smile or sly grin. It was harder than usual, considering what I planned out for us. If she noticed something, she didn't show it, though I bet she did. To pull through with it was all I could do, then.

I showed off my identity card, so that the employee guarding the door to the backroom would let us in. Natsuki's steps had a hint of uncertainty in them and I could very well imagine that she knew something was fishy. It was too late now, anyways.

"-zuru." was her first reaction upon comprehending where we were. It wasn't this hard to understand, after all, for the articles spoke for themselves quite precisely: pretty much every sex-article imaginable was on display before our very eyes.

"Ara, what a surprise. That wasn't here last I looked, but we should seize the opportunity and do some shopping here, ne?"

I could've as well said I intended humping her here and now, going by her funny reaction.

"Eh?! B- b- but… I mean… what-" she stammered, trying hard not to look at the articles surrounding us.

"I have my credit card with me, so you are free to choose whatever you like."

There was nothing able to stop me now. Natsuki didn't look like she was about to flee, so my plan worked out better than I dared to predict. At least we were alone here, for I know she wouldn't even move an inch otherwise.

All I could do now was to take the first step and go to take a better look at what I thought able to enhance our nightly 'workouts'.

It took her five minutes to go ahead and dare touching one of those items to get a better look at it. Her blush seemed to be permanent in its nature.

"What the hell is this thing?" she asked while holding 'it' up for me to see it better.

"That's a triple-sided dildo for threesomes I believe, although to design each side after a garden gnome is indeed a sight to behold."

I grinned at her while she did her best to stuff the thing back to its original place.

"Don't expect me to ever forget asking you why in the world you know that much about… about… this!" while she pointed her finger accusingly at the item she just put back. "And that!" she added, swiping her arm in a gesture to include this whole place in her statement.

"You think I never ever fantasized about being with you and what to do during night times?"

Her eyes widened and, so full of disbelief, wandered between me and the article she was holding a few moments ago. I realized almost too late the implication in my earlier statement and how she must have understood it.

"Natsuki, of course not with... erm, that." I added, trying to restore her tattered belief in my sanity.

After a few moments of searching my eyes for any trace of dishonesty she nodded briefly, what caused me to smile at the moment's unintended comedy.

"Still… nobody should know this much about… that."

This time I didn't say anything, so she dropped the topic.

"Anyway, did you find something you like?"

She averted her eyes and mumbled something between 'maybe' and 'not yet'.

Aaaaw, too adorable!

It took us longer than I thought it would, but in the end we had everything we deemed necessary to at least try out. To summarize it, I went mostly into domination and bondage, while my cute blushing girlfriend was packed with very revealing lingerie and things mostly used in role-playing-games. All in all, she exceeded my expectations. That's Natsuki for you!

When we left the backroom, Natsuki did her best to look in any direction void of people to hide her face from public. She was naturally shy, but it was still one of the loveliest parts of her personality. In moments like these I could only barely resist the urge to hug her to death.

Since it looked like there were a few people before us, we had to wait for a few moments. We bought more than we could carry with us for the whole day, considering our initial plans to go shopping after lunch.

While I was deeply in my thoughts about our next course of action, a while later my mind registered something that the salesperson said to the last customer before us.

"So, how was 'Office Action 3'?" he asked while the hand scanner read in the article's bar code.

"Oh, it wasn't as good as part one, but still better than part two. Especially the last twenty minutes where 'Golden Jeff' comes in… he's sooo cool! I wish my husband was as tall as Jeff."

The women's bright voice, her hair colour I identified as orange despite the twilight … don't tell me…

"Yeah, though I'd rather have a night with Seiko-chan… she's so hot!" the young salesman laughed.

"I'm not like this, although I envy her a little because of her long legs. Yuuichi likes that about her."

"He is still very lucky to have such a hottie as you for his wife, Mai-san. With your qualities the length of your legs doesn't really matter." he said and both of them shared a laugh, despite Mai protesting a little, saying that it wasn't doing her any good with her growing back problems.

Before I could do anything to escape a most likely unpleasant scene, it already began to unfold before my very eyes and there was nothing I could do anymore.

"Mai?!" Natsuki cried out, realizing too late that she would draw attention and be seen by someone she knew, her hands full from the 'special backroom'. And this was exactly what I wanted to avoid in the first place; I hoped that I could spare Mai-san and Natsuki the embarrassment resulting from this encounter.

"No…" the redhead whispered, shaking her head and probably trying to wake up from this nightmare. She had no such luck. At least it wasn't enjoyable for both of them.

"You didn't tell me you know hot stuff like them, Mai-san."

Without knowing it the man tried his best to make the situation even more awkward for Mai. Natsuki was also silent, while she desperately tried to hide the bags and packets behind her back to shield them from Mai's eyes.

"Nice to meet you again, Tate Mai-san." It was all I could do to start defusing this situation. I would pity her if it wasn't a heartfelt obligation for me to defend my poor Natsuki. With her cool and aloof reputation it was nothing less of a major disaster to be caught loaded with various 'things' in a shop like this, after all.

"No, please not…" the poor girl only whispered.

Giving it a second thought, though, it was a good chance to pay her back for walking in on us the other day. I still have nightmares about that… I mean, I wasn't able to give my Natsuki enough attention! After all, she didn't reach her peak!

Why did I ever decide to talk in the first place? She would have left and everything could be fine.

Baka! I am such an idiot. It was my own stupidity which caused me to get caught with bags full of 'things'.

"'Office Action", mh? So the condoms in your office aren't just for show then, Mai-san?" Shizuru asked, making the sales-guy spill his drink. I wasn't sure if I was the one to pity here… Mai seemed on the verge of tears. I almost forgot that Shizuru never forgot anything. They say payback is a bitch and I would like to add that she was most likely Shizuru's little sister.

Omedetou – „Congratulations" in japanese

Condoms in Mai's office – For those who cannot make the connection: Shizuru has a good eye and found them in Mai's office. She used the implication of what Mai and Yuuichi sometimes do at the office to her advantage to embarrass Mai.