It was later that evening after Natsuki had spoken with her mother that the girl finally had a chance to speak with Shizuru alone. All four adults had eaten dinner together at one of the local restaurants—the bill somehow finding it’s way into Jousuke’s lap—and afterwards had spent some time touring a bit of Seris before heading back to the manor. Everyone had dispersed to their separate rooms then, but after about half an hour, the Gakuenchou in-training found herself outside of her friend’s door, and Shizuru wasn’t about to send her dark-haired companion away.
“Is there something wrong?” the russet-eyed woman asked, quickly studying Natsuki’s face as she walked through the doorway, and Shizuru was sure to close it behind her.
“This house makes me uncomfortable,” came the immediate, flat reply as Natsuki sat down on the bed.
With a mischievous smile, Shizuru joined her friend, “Does Natsuki want to sleep here with me then?”
“Maybe…” the other playfully answered before leaning in and capturing Shizuru’s lips with her own. The kiss was a brief one, and when the pair parted, both women shifted. As if they both knew what the other was thinking, Shizuru positioned herself on the bed so that Natsuki could lay her head in her lap, and once it was there, the older woman’s hand began idly stroking the girl’s dark tresses.
“Do you miss your own home?” Shizuru asked, now that they were settled in.
Natsuki, whose eyes were now closed, hummed in response. “I don’t have one anymore…It was destroyed during the war. All of Anice is pretty much the same, not like here.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s nothing to be sorry for,” the green-eyed girl remarked, “it’s just what happened. But that’s not what I came to talk about.”
“Oh?” the brunette questioned as she watched Natsuki turn to look up at her.
“Mom said she was okay with me staying in Garderobe. She was…a little upset about it all, but I think she finally saw it from my perspective.”
“Did you really doubt that she wouldn’t?”
“I…I guess not,” Natsuki admitted, “But still, it eases my mind knowing that she’s okay with my decision.
“I’m glad. I wouldn’t want Natsuki gaining any more wrinkles on her forehead,” the Column teased, poking the girl between the eyes.
“H-Hey!” Natsuki protested, swatting at the offending hand before she grabbed Shizuru around the waist, forcing her back onto the bed. Laughing for a moment, the girl became serious once she met her companion’s ruby gaze, her dark hair cascading down around Shizuru’s face, veiling them both from the outside world as they continued their conversation.
“I’m going to be the next Headmistress of Garderobe Academy,” Natsuki stated somewhat distantly, like she couldn’t really believe her own words.
“Yes, you are.”
“Promise that you’ll stay with me,” she continued, and although her words were spoken evenly and calmly, Natsuki’s eyes revealed a hint of apprehension. This was going to be a big change in her life, and even though she wanted to make it, and believed that she could, she knew the transition would be much easier with Shizuru by her side. The older woman was a column of support to her, one she would certainly need in the days, months, even years to come. The fact that she was the Graceful Amethyst guaranteed that she would be in Natsuki’s life, but this wasn’t quite enough for the raven-haired girl. She needed to know that Shizuru would be there…to hear it from the woman herself.
Now lying down on the bed, Shizuru reached up to caress Natsuki’s cheek, keeping their eyes locked. “Where else would I go?”
“It’s just…I know you’re busy now as a Column,” the girl explained, “Oleander-sama sends you away all the time.”
“That’s because Oleander-sama is the current Headmistress. I follow whatever orders she gives me…” Pausing for a moment, Shizuru’s hand slid down to cup her friend’s jaw, her tone changing to one more playful. “That means I’ll follow whatever orders Natsuki gives me when she’s the Gakuenchou, too,” she concluded before rising up enough to kiss the girl, her free arm circling around Natsuki’s back to pull her back down onto the bed with her.
Once they parted, one of the dark-haired girl’s slender brows rose curiously. “So I’m supposed to order you to stay at Garderobe with me?”
“Why not?”
“It doesn’t seem very nice…or caring. Shouldn’t that be your own decision? I don’t want to force you to do anything, Shizuru.”
With a small sigh, the woman wrapped both of her arms around the girl who was lying on top of her. “The truth is, I will not always be able to be there. There will be times when you will have to send me elsewhere, Natsuki. It is our duty as Columns to make sure that the land is in order, and traveling from country to country is sometimes part of it. You will be the exception, of course, which is why the other four Columns do what we do—we serve as your eyes and ears, and sometimes your ruling hand, if the situation is dire enough.”
Averting her eyes, Natsuki’s expression became unsure. “I don’t know if I’ll be capable of running the school on my own…What if I mess up? Make a bad decision?”
“You are not alone in this, Natsuki,” the older woman assured, “The other staff members will be there to aid and support you. And besides, Oleander-sama would not place you in a position that she did not think you could successfully fill. We believe in you…you should, too.”
“I just can’t help but feel nervous.”
“I know,” Shizuru quietly cooed, “Anyone would. But it is not like you are assuming the position tomorrow. The Headmistress is going to train you herself; you will be ready when the time comes.”
Breathing a heavy sigh, the younger girl relaxed a bit, seeming to finally concede with her friend’s words. “You’re right…I hope you’re right.”
Stroking Natsuki’s hair, the Column continued. “Just rest for now, okay? And enjoy what time you have to spend here with your family. As nice as it would be to stay, we will have to be heading back to Garderobe in a few days.”
“Yeah,” Natsuki replied, but then with a small laugh, she rolled off of Shizuru, slipping into the empty space beside the woman, “Maybe, when we’re old and retired, we can come back and live here in Vedel.”
“You want to live here?” Shizuru questioned.
“Well, not here-here. I still don’t like this house.”
Chuckling quietly, Shizuru shifted closer to her companion, and the two women settled in for a rare night spent together, content in the quiet and stillness of the evening air of the once war-torn country.
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