Final Distance (part 24 of 30)

“The class. I have to wrap up the class first…”

Sometimes, Natsuki thought, priorities really sucked.

On the other hand, it gave her time to think out just what she was going to say to Shizuru now that she was back from her trip to Romulus.

The last time they were together…well…Natsuki had kissed the older woman, and right after it happened she didn’t have a chance to explain herself because, one, she was far too embarrassed about her sudden action, and two, Shizuru had abruptly left. Even if she had had the chance to speak, the girl didn’t know what she would have said. Emotions were a complicated thing for the young Vedelian, just like anyone else, but she often had the issue of not being able to properly verbalize what she was feeling or thinking either.

She loved Shizuru…but what exactly did that love entail? Natsuki looked up to the woman as an Otome, she considered the russet-eyed woman a friend, most definitely, but simple admirers or friends didn’t kiss each other…not in that way.

Just what was it about Shizuru that made her feel that way? It was undeniable that she was beautiful, anyone could see that, and Natsuki was no different. But it was more than that. There was something about being around the older woman that made her stomach tingle. She always found herself wanting to please the woman, whether it be rising to the top of her class, or simply not being able to deny the pouting face she knew was a fake nine times out of ten. She wanted her attention, and as selfish as it might sound, she felt slightly jealous whenever Shizuru flirted or talked to any of the other girls, not to mention how quickly agitated she would become when anyone else spoke to the chestnut-haired woman. And when they’d get that look in their eye—

Natsuki shook her head, trying to dislodge the thought from her mind, “God, why am I being so possessive?”

“Did you say something, Natsuki Onee-sama?”

“Huh?”

Looking down, Natsuki finally noticed the blonde girl walking beside her.

“O-Oh, Sara. No, it’s nothing.”

The young Coral pushed at her glasses with a single finger, an unconvinced look upon her face, “Mmh, I’m pretty sure you did—“

“How about,” Natsuki interrupted, “you help me round up the rest of the girls so we can end class early today?”

Although the girl squinted at her momentarily, the enticement of not having class must have won out in her mind as Sara nodded and took off to find her classmates.

Returning to her solitude, Natsuki resumed her pondering.

If she knew her true feelings about the other woman, how come she couldn’t just come out and tell her? Was it that difficult? Was the kiss an attempt to do such a thing?

Rubbing the back of her neck, the raven-haired Vedelian sighed.

Of course, this was all only her side of the situation. She had no idea what Shizuru thought of it all. She wasn’t even sure how Shizuru felt towards her to be perfectly honest. Were they friends? Were they more than that? If they were something more, just how serious was it?

There were too many uncertainties floating up in the air, uncertainties that needed to be grounded sooner than later, less the young girl go insane from her mental unrest.

“Now that she’s back, we need to talk about it…about US…but how do you start a conversation like that?”

The girl’s thoughts were suddenly torn from her when the Gakuenchou entered her vision.

“Ah, Natsuki, I was looking for you” Lucretia began, “Shizuru just returned from Romulus.”

“Yes, Oleander-san. I saw her walking by earlier.”

“I see, well, I just thought you might like to know.”

“Thank you,” the girl replied with a slight bow of her head.

Suddenly, the principle’s visage became curious, “…Aren’t you supposed to be teaching a class right now, Miss Kruger?”

“A-Ah, y-yes ma’am. I was just trying to round up the girls right now actually—“

“Oh?” the older woman questioned, hands finding their way to her hips, “’Round up?’ Did you lose them somehow?”

“N-No ma’am,” the emerald eyed girl stuttered, “We were just, uh—“

“Yes?”

“We were just playing…a little game…”

“A game?”

“…of capture the flag…”

Natsuki heard the older woman huff, and she grimaced at the sound before soft chuckling reached her ears. Shocked, she set her eyes upon the Gakuenchou’s face once more.

“I’m glad to see you’re having fun with the girls, Natsuki,” the woman stated with a smile before looking around a little cautiously and leaning in to whisper to the girl, “that Miss Maria is a bit of a stickler, isn’t she?”

The distinct harrumph they had both come to know over the years radiated from behind them, and apprehensively, both women turned around to see who they knew would be standing there.

A scowling-more-than-usual Miss Maria.

“Gakuenchou,” the green-eyed elder practically barked, “there is business to attend to in the meeting hall.”

“Ah-ha, yes, yes. Well,” Lucretia sputtered somewhat nervously, “keeping working hard, Natsuki.”

“Y-You as well, Oleander-sama.”

At that, the two older women proceeded on their way, and Natsuki couldn’t help but look over her shoulder at their retreating backs.

“More like ‘good luck’…maybe Miss Maria won’t bite her head off…”

“I wonder where she is right now,” the girl thought to herself as she walked down the empty corridor of the Academy, “Whenever Shizuru’s here, she usually stays in the guest room, right?”

Quickly heading in that direction, it only took the Vedelian a few minutes to reach the door, and once she did, she quietly knocked on the sturdy structure. After receiving only silence as a reply, Natsuki tried knocking a little harder.

“Hey, Shizuru, it’s me. Are you in there?”

Still not hearing anything, Natsuki grabbed the golden handle of the door, and turning the device, slowly pushed the oaken door open.

“Shizuru…?”

It was only after letting herself all the way in that the raven-haired girl’s ears finally picked up on the sound water sputtering against the ground a few feet away behind another closed door.

“Shower. Makes sense since she just got back,” Natsuki thought to herself, before wandering over to the nearby couch and promptly plopping down on the soft cushioning.

With a long stretch, the girl splayed her arms across the back of the couch, leaning her head back as she slouched down slightly into a more comfortable position.

“Maybe she won’t mind me waiting in here…” she mentally stated as her eyes lazily drifted shut.

“And should she come out undressed…” the voice in the back of her mind mentioned, and instantly the girl’s eyes snapped back open as her cheeks colored vibrantly at the image that accompanied the thought.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…” she muttered to herself as she stood.

She had only just begun her retreat when she heard the door at her back creak open, freezing her where she stood.

“Ara,” came the surprised exclamation from Shizuru, “Natsuki, what are you doing here?”

“I-I just came looking for you, b-but you were in the shower, so I’ll just come back by later—“

“Nonsense, it will only take me a minute to dress, so please…” the woman trailed off, her implication quite clear.

“A-Alright,” Natsuki breathed, before cautiously peering back over her shoulder.

She watched as the towel-clad woman crouched down to rummage through her baggage for something to put on, snapping her head back around once it appeared like she had found what she was looking for.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Shizuru announced, and once Natsuki heard the door close behind her, she released the breath she had been holding and made her way back over to the couch.

It was only a minute or so later that Shizuru reemerged, now adorned in her usual pale violet Meister dress.

“Sorry for making you wait.”

“Nnh,” the viridian-eyed girl noised as she watched her friend cross the room and take a seat beside her, “So how was the trip?”

“Boring. Politics are not exactly the most interesting subject, in my opinion. How were things here?”

“The usual, I guess. There’s always something to keep you busy.”

“I see that Natsuki finally got around to buying some clothes—”

“Yeah.”

“—and your cast is gone as well,” Shizuru continued, taking the mended limb in her hands, “When was it taken off?”

“A few days ago.”

“And it’s feeling alright?”

“Yeah, the tape’s just a precaution.”

“I see…”

With the natural pause in the conversation, Natsuki sighed and drew back her arm, both hands gripping her knees somewhat nervously.

“Um…Shizuru?”

“Yes?”

“About what happened…before you left…”

“The kiss, you mean,” Shizuru specified, and Natsuki’s cheeks flushed involuntarily causing the woman beside her to chuckle lightly, “What about it?”

“If what I did caught you off guard…o-or if I crossed my boundaries—“

A single thin brow rose on the Column's face, “What boundaries do you speak of?”

“I-I dunno…”

A small smile formed on the Graceful Amethyst’s lips, “I have to admit that I was a little surprised at Natsuki’s sudden action…it’s not in your character…”

“I—“

A single slender finger cut off the girls words as it pressed against her slightly chapped lips, “I wouldn’t mind getting used to such things though.”

Before the girl could process a response, the woman beside her leaned in closer, her hand adjusting to cup the right side of Natsuki’s jaw. The Vedelian’s sharp green eyes focused on those pink-hued lips that were slowly creeping closer to her own before they traveled up to meet stunning ruby orbs that were staring back at her.

Again the women’s lips met, the familiar taste consuming Natsuki’s senses as she allowed her eyes to drift closed on their own accord. This time, perhaps since Shizuru was the one in control or maybe because it wasn’t the first time, the kiss seemed more practiced, but no less passionate.

Eventually breaking apart, Shizuru was the first to speak.

“You’ll have to forgive me, Natsuki.”

“Forgive you?” the girl echoed, worry entering her tone as her brow creased in confusion.

“There’s a meeting I must be off to for now. We can talk more later, okay?”

Natsuki breathed a sigh of relief as a smirk etched its way into her features, “Work as a Column never ceases, huh?”

“It doesn’t seem like it, does it?” the chestnut-haired woman replied lightheartedly as she stood and made for the door, pausing in it’s opening, “You will meet me later though, won’t you?”

“Of course,” came the quick, honest reply.

“I’ll be sure to come by your room once I’m done then.”

With that, Shizuru disappeared from the doorway, leaving Natsuki to herself on the couch as she lightly ran a finger over her bottom lip, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as a spark of hope and confidence ignited in the depths of her emerald eyes.

“Maybe…maybe she does feel the same…”