For the one you love, you can become a demon. Minagi Mikoto recalled hearing that once. For her brother, the Obsidian Lord, she had become a soulless killing machine. She's hurt people she counted as beloved. She'd killed Jii. The stains on her soul were as bloody red as her deeds. Yet, Tokiha Mai, her guardian, her friend had seen past that. In Mai's smile Mikoto had found a place where she was accepted and loved. She, who was taught only to rely on her skills and her wits, found solace in depending on another. Mai whose heart was always full with the cares of others, still had room for a feral girl. This pitiful creature that destroyed all around her in the name of a twisted love that didn't even exist. This pitiful creature, who could only find peace in the sordid arms of her former enemy. Mikoto had decided. What she did with Nao made her feel dirty inside. But the more tainted she felt, the more depression would set in. And the more the depression set in, the more she felt the need for the small amount of comfort Nao provided. Realizing that she was in a trap did nothing to help her escape. She was bound by the chains of her heart. There was no escape. A hand softly caressed her cheek and Mikoto managed not to cringe away. She turned to meet curious, green eyes which were filled with mirth. "Daydreaming?" Nao asked lightly as she lay gazing at her companion. The pair was lounging on a grassy hillock just outside the campus. While the sun blazed in this cloudless day, the trees above and about them gave ample shade. Along the hillock, bees lazily browsed a chorus of wildflowers. All here was at rest. Yuuki Nao, on the other hand, was feeling restless. Here she was, in her favorite spot with her favorite plaything and yet she was not at peace. Having sworn to rescue Mikoto from this horrid, unrequited love, Nao was at a loss for what to do next. Mai had taken steps, to the point of rutting with her smarmy boyfriend to dissuade her roommate's romantic fantasies. However, this diminutive brunette refused to see the truth: It wasn't that Mai didn't love Mikoto; she was simply not capable of doing so. Even as Mikoto slowly realized this truth, even as she lay with Nao in this most romantic of places, her heart still held her captive. Perhaps she *would* have been happier as the Obsidian Lord's pet killer. "No," Nao said to herself. "She wants what people think of as true love. Even if she'll never find it in this life." Nao's lips were upon her again. Mikoto's eyes widened a bit as this kiss felt somewhat different from the others. The quality was almost...earnest. Those thoughts were quickly banished as a hand grazed her inner thigh. "I almost slipped there," Nao thought. "I almost let myself fall. I mustn't do that again, for both our sakes." The redhead forced her attention away from that place; that false place where actions are ruled by emotion. She instead focused on the very real realm of carnal pleasure. ---------------------------------------------------------------- People can only handle so much truth. Everyone says honesty was the best policy and a multitude of other meaningless drivel, but no one ever truly means it. A person could drown in too much of the truth. Tokiha Mai had once been lost in that deluge. The truth of the source of the HiME's power, what, or whom she was wagering every time she used it and what use of that power turned her into had overwhelmed her. Broken and defeated she'd run to the arms of one who would be her enemy. If Reito had decided to take her that night, would she have had the wherewithal to stop him? Would she have even tried? Looking at Yuuichi today, she'd seen the same look of hopeless disbelief that must have been in her eyes a year ago. She was back in her room now. Natsuki had taken her home and made her some barley tea which pretty much exhausted her culinary skills. Yet, Mai was grateful. A friend like Natsuki was hard to come by. However, that friend wanted something of her. She sat on the bed across from Mai, those brilliant, green eyes searching wanting to draw out that terrible truth. "I'm not like you," she finally said. Natsuki arched an eyebrow. "You know what I mean. I don't like girls that way. I never have." "But still you wanted to be with Mikoto," Natsuki reminded her. "It wasn't like that at first!" Mai exclaimed. "It ISN'T like that I mean. Mikoto's just...just..." "The one you wanted to be with," Natsuki supplied. "NO!" Mai cried out. "It's Yuuichi! He's the one I love. He's the one who's most precious to me." "Then you shouldn't have a problem," the raven-haired girl replied coldly. "Don't you get it?" Mai demanded. "It HAS to be Yuuichi. He swore to protect me and love me forever. He fought for me, even though it would mean his life, and he's given so much to be with me. It was my feelings for HIM that helped me face the Obsidian Lord." "I'm not the one you need to convince, Mai," Natsuki observed. "It HAS to be him," Mai's voice quavered on the verge of tears. "Because if it's not, everything I've told myself I've felt is a lie." Somehow Mai held back the tears, however nature abhors a vacuum and the silence left behind was deafening. "Hey, why don't I get us something to eat?" Natsuki offered, trying desperately to fill the quiet. "I could cook something," Mai began, but the older girl would hear nothing of it. "Not in your condition," she said as she made for the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes." And she was gone. Left to her own devices, Mai tried to figure a way out of dinner. Companionship was the last thing she wanted tonight. Or deserved. Natsuki's cell phone chirped where she'd left it in the kitchenette. Making her way over, Mai guiltily hoped it was Shizuru so she'd have an iron-clad excuse to send the other girl home. Yet, when she opened the phone there was only a text message from Senou Aoi of all people. Kuga-san, I captured this today but I didn't know what to do with it. It seems those two are a LOT further along than simply "making out." Should we do anything about this? Intrigued, Mai opened the attached video file. Suddenly Mai's knees unhinged as her legs could no longer support her. Dropping to the floor she still clutched the cell phone, its back-lit screen garishly projecting the ghastly image. Hands, fingers, and lips. Touching and groping. An entanglement of arms and legs which could only be possible in the midst of passion. Uniform deftly removed to expose an undergarment, a hand disappearing up the skirt. The images were coming too fast and too many to make sense of. "Mikoto..." Mai gasped, her breath stolen from her body. The Truth had found Tokiha Mai yet again.
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