poilers: none yet. Warnings: shoujoai, character death, attempted rape. Disclaimers: J.K. Rowling might recognize some of these characters, even after I've mauled them. Takeuchi Naoko might recognize others. Miyuu's mine. Blanca Marina is nickamano's. -<{ An End to Deviltry }>- Chapter Six Kigli By St. Suika Roberts In Response To nickamano@btinternet.com's "Draco Devilism" Stories Natsuko wakes as Miyuu tries to wiggle out of her grip, `No,' she mutters, and rubs her face against the younger woman's back. `I've got a run this morning, you don't have to get up yet,' Miyuu answers, callused fingers twining with soft for a moment. `What? It's morning already?' `Early. I need to dress out, and decide what I'm going to carry.' `Dress out? Carry?' Natsuko sits up, and back, onto her heels, keeping Miyuu's hand firmly clasped in her own. `We're running the Kigli course, since we've got Sailors to 'port us,' Miyuu stands, and leads the girl over to the last tansu. Inside is a set of Body Armor, Segmented, with a Commuications and Ballistic Tactical Helmet and matching Mask, Multi-purpose, Protective. Miyuu retrieves her hand and starts pulling it out, naming off parts as she tosses the woodland camoflauge fabric covered items to the futon, `Kabuto and mempo, and segmi. Standard Dark Kingdom combat armor.' `They make them that small?' Natsuko asks, watching so intently she neglects to be embarassed as Miyuu starts to get the armor on over her t-shirt and panties. `Yes,' Miyuu pulls the leggings up, belts them, makes sure the sides are still closed, `but this one is just a little small, now. I think it'll last until the end of term, but I'll need to DX it soon.' `What do you mean?' Natsuko asks. Miyuu shakes her shoulders, `It's supposed to be worn over full Class Three uniform, and I'll need to turn it in for a new set,' she seals the waist joint, then pulls the sleeves on, buckling them down. `Oh. So you don't keep the old one?' `No, it's LA, and doesn't take well to being ignored.' `What-,' Natsuko cuts herself off, `Don't you have a book on this?' `No, not really, why?' `'Cause I keep asking the same question.' `Oh!' Miyuu gives her a bright smile, then levers herself up, walking back to the tansu to grab the boots and gloves, which join the Kabuto on the futon. Natsuko finally fights off the blush, and asks, `What is LA?' `Living Armor. You grow it, like a plant, sorta, and it lives off life energy, just a little bit of it. It's impossibly tough, and gets really stiff as it gets thicker.' `So your mask and helmet and suit are all made out of it?' `Gloves and boots, too, feel,' Miyuu says, pulling trays out of her trunk. `It's almost warm, and soft,' Natsuko says, feeling one of the gloves. `Yep. At less than a tenth of a millimeter it gets stretchy, too. You should be able to put on the gloves, you're hands aren't that much bigger than mine.' `Wow,' Natsuko looks at her hands, wrapped in the soft grey and black material. `The hard plates provide some crushing resistance, the rest of it just stops penetration or energy damage.' `So if I got stabbed, it wouldn't get cut, but I might still get hurt from getting poked at?' `Yep,' Miyuu slaps a magazine into her B.A.R., then looks up at Natsuko, `C'mere. We've got a few minutes before they'll be here, so.' `So?' Natsuko settles beside Miyuu. `Take this, it's loaded. How do you unload it?' `I remember,' Natsuko says, dropping the magazine and ejecting the round from the chamber. `Good, now, this is how you disassemble it . . .' * Natsuko reasembles the heavy automatic rifle for the fourth time that morning, and looks up. Miyuu smiles down at her, sending a confusing desire to wiggle happily through the girl, `Good--' she's cut off by a knock at the door. `That's them, almost certainly,' Miyuu says, then opens the door. `Morning,' Hotaru says, smiling, `Are you ready?' `I am.' `Natsuko?' `Just a moment. What should I wear?' `Short sleeves,' Miyuu answers. `Oh ho, so where are we going?' Hotaru asks. `My normal course.' `Kigli, then?' `Yep.' `Usa-chan was thinking you'd set up a course around here.' `Nope, no space, no backstop, no time.' `Ready,' Natsuko says, giving her short sundress a final twitch.. `Let's-' Miyuu pauses, composes herself, `Go.' Hotaru laughs, `Let's.' Blushing to the tops of her bare shoulders, Natsuko nods. Hotaru waits for them to get their shoes on, then gestures for them to preceed her towards the stairs. `They're so cute, aren't they?' Usagi asks Hotaru, rising from where she's slouched against the wall with a twitch of her shoulders. `Yes,' Hotaru answers, `I wonder if it will work out for them.' `It might,' Usagi says, smiling. `Oh!' Hotaru gives an exasperated sigh, and smacks Usagi on the shoulder. * The two Sailors hold out their hands, and Natsuko takes them at Miyuu's nod from across the small circle, her slight form wrapped in form-fitting camoflaged armor, the B.A.R. on her back, the menpo up, leaving her face bare. `We don't have to say it, but they say it works better if we do, so,' Miyuu shrugs a little. `Sailor Teleport?' Natsuko asks. `Yep. Follow along,' Moon says, smiling. Natsuko smiles back, and nods. * Hotaru leads Natsuko to the range office, and settles her in front of a monitor, `You'll be able to watch what happens from here,' she smiles, `I'm going to be running a different course, so let me know if anything particularly funny happens, OK?' `Funny?' Natsuko blinks, then nods, `Sure.' * The pink-haired Sailor reseats the belt on her already loaded M1996C, then slaps the feed tray cover closed again, thirty pounds of GPMG resting easily at her hip, the rest of the hundred-round belt in its bag under the gun, `Ready,' she says. The small young woman in Segmi pulls her Menpo out, then folds it down over her face and slides it up into place with a *click*, locking the hatchet edged mask in place. `Ready,' she says, and nods. `On green?' `Yellow,' Miyuu corrects, as the light changes, and takes off. `Mou!' Usagi whines, and charges off after her. * `Well, there was the time Usagi tripped over a bystander-target, fell on her face, and nearly got shot by one of the active targets before Miyuu stepped on her and got it,' Natsuko is telling Hotaru, `And the way Miyuu just about vanishes whenever she stops somewhere, and Usagi generally knows where she is, but one time she just bowled right over her and landed on her face . . . ' Hotaru giggles, just a tiny bit, and smiles, `That's her all right. She likes to let her friends show off.' `Oh?' `I've never seen her mess up in real combat, but she does all the time in training.' `Really? Wow.' `I think she tries to not mess up in training, just not as hard.' `Oh! I thought it would be hard to slack off in practice and still get it right in reality.' `She's got lots of practice, however she does it.' `How old was she, when she joined?' `She earned her first good conduct stripe at thirty-five.' `Thirty-five?' `Well, she claims that's because she spent her first two years testing boundaries, but I'm not sure.' `Not sure of what?' Usagi asks, dropping to one knee next to Hotaru's chair. `Nothing,' Hotaru says, smiling. - Defense against the Dark Arts quickly becomes one of Miyuu's favorite classes. Remus is impressed by her knowledge, and on Friday takes her aside, `Monday you'll teach class. Chose a subject and let me know if you need me to bring anything in, just let me know before hand.' `Right,' she pauses, `This one's a CTT class, but "how to recognize and stop energy drain".' Remus smiles, `That is a common problem where you come from, isn't it?' `Not so much anymore, but you still run into people who try it occasionally.' `Will you need anything special?' `Nope.' - The rising sun Saturday morning finds Miyuu and a sweaty, panting Natsuko on the lakeshore, watching the first rays slip over the water. `This is really pretty,' a somewhat familiar voice says from somewhere nearby. `Who?' Natsuko asks. `Feel them,' Miyuu says, `The warm swell of affection, tinged with bright lust.' Natsuko closes her eyes, steps away from Miyuu, suddenly realizing why she feels a chill at the action, and looks for a similar warmth. After a moment she finds it, warm and bright, doubled, a little ways away, a little warmer from one, a little brighter from the other. `Now you check who they are. You saw them just last night, at chow, flirting across the room.' `Pansy?' Miyuu shakes her head, `Look.' `Lovegood, and . . . Weasley?' `Good. Now you need to work on this until you can do it quickly, and when you're not dead tired.' `Isn't magic harder when you're tired?' `No. Your guard falls, and things you don't want to look at become more visible.' `Don't want to look at?' `This tells you a lot about someone's emotional state, lets their emotions directly affect yours, can show you if someone's lying, all sorts of things that interfere with the simple world that even wizards like to live in,' Miyuu smiles, `Let's go hassle the girls.' Natsuko smiles, and starts around the short dune towards Luna and Ginny. Miyuu smirks, and saunters over the dune instead. They share a look over the two girls, who are tucked in the same blanket, Ginny's head on Luna's shoulder, `Good morning,' they say at the same time. Ginny starts, jerking upright, getting tangled in the blanket, sputtering as Luna helps untangle her. `Good morning,' Luna greets them, unflustered, `I was wondering when you'd come over here,' she pulls Ginny's hand, leans up and kisses her. Ginny pulls back, sputters a little more, `Why? They . . . ' `They know already, and they're like us anyway.' `Not quite,' Miyuu says, shading to green when they turn to look at her. `Close enough,' Luna smiles, `Queer, anyway.' `Most everyone is queer,' Natsuko protests. `Ain't that right,' Ginny snorts. - `We'll see if I can't get them to haul us to a CIF,' Miyuu says, carefully cutting dried mimbletonia pad into perfect little cubes, `Tomorrow.' `CIF?' `Central Issue Facility. Where I need to go to DX my segmi.' `Oh.' `We can get you a full training issue, too.' - `Sure, we'll haul you there and back. Which one has what you'll need?' `Kigli's closest,' Megumi answers. `Kigli it is, then.' - `Hat size?' the youma behind the counter asks, looking at Natsuko. `Umm,' she turns to Miyuu. `Six.' He pulls a helmet from a shelf, and sets it in front of Natsuko. She touches it, wincing a little at the chill, then pulls it on. Miyuu fusses a little, checking the fit then adjusting the chin strap, `Good. Put it in the cart.' - `Professor Lupin volunteered me to teach class this morning, so. This is a class I've given several times before, so it shouldn't take long.' Miyuu gestures at the chalkboard, `This class is over a standard enemy TTP, draining of life energy for nefarious porpoises. Mayline, what is life energy?' `A source of power, easy to harvest, difficult to use, sometimes fatal to the harvested individuals. More trouble than it's worth.' `Exactly. This class covers how to tell when your energy is being drained, and how to stop it. Most people figure it out in one or two classes.' `And if we don't?' one of the Slytherin boys asks. `You keep having this class every week until you get it. All sessions after this one will be after dinner chow.' `Oh.' - Natsuko blinks, `We're stopping?' she asks as Miyuu slows down after their fourth lap around the school. `It's a reset day. Standard pattern, build up for three days, reset a little, repeat twice, then drop down to somewhere near the start.' `Oh,' she walks with Miyuu back to their boulder, `This left me gasping and so tired I nearly passed out last week.' `Told you you're tough. A softer person would have broken as hard as I'm pushing you.' `Really?' Natsuko grins at the compliment. `Really,' Miyuu gives her a hug, `Tomorrow we do our PT in segmi.' Natsuko stares, `What?' `It's only an extra fifteen kilos.' `I only mass thirty-three!' `So it's half your body weight. No problem,' Miyuu notices Natsuko's stricken look, `I mean it, you'll be fine.' `Because I'm tough.' `Yep,' Miyuu gathers the girl into her arms and gives her a hug. `OK,' Natsuko nods against the woman's chest, the shape of the P3AT hard where she brushes it with her nose. - Natsuko follows the rustling from the young woman in front of her's clothes, her attention focused on the Dark Kingdom newspaper in her hands. ``Dark Kingdom CPS Sweep In Britain Nets Seven So Far,'' reads the headline, and smaller text continues, ``Two Confess To Crimes Outside CPS Jurisdiction, Chose Execution Over British Courts.'' Halfway down the page she stops, `Parkinson?' slipping in a questioning tone from her lips. `Hmm?' Miyuu stops, and turns to look at her. `"Parkinson chose to be executed, as did the younger Carrow,"' Natsuko quotes, `Pansy's father?' `I hope not,' Miyuu says, `Megumi, do you know?' `Yes, he was,' the AI says. `Fuck. What did he do?' `He asked that that not be shared.' `Right,' Miyuu nods, even though her link is audio only. `So, he did something wrong, but we don't know what?' Natsuko asks softly. `We know it was bad enough that he chose to be killed rather than stand trial with his interrogation as evidence, and to keep that interrogation secret,' Miyuu shrugs, `We probably don't want to know what it was.' Natsuko blinks, then nods, `Probably.' - `Parkinson, are you OK?' Hermoine asks, moving towards the other girl as she drifts through the door into the great hall. `No,' she says, her voice hoarse and face blotchy, shoulders hunched and right fist held tight to her belly with her left hand. Hermoine wraps her arms around the other girl, who melts, grabbing desperately, and sobs against her shoulder. Hermoine looks around, then draws the sobbing girl to the Gryffindor table, settling herself with Pansy in her lap. After a few moments awkward fumbling, she offers Pansy a cup of sweetened tea, `Drink.' Pansy shakes her head against Hermoine's shoulder, mutely. `It won't fix anything, but it may make you feel better.' `Don't want to.' `Please?' `OK,' Pansy reaches for the cup with shaking fingers. Hermoine cups her fingers around Pansy's, and helps her sip the hot liquid. - `Do you see Weasley glaring?' Natsuko asks softly at the Slytherin table. `Which one?' Miyuu asks back, `The boys seem fascinated.' `Ginny.' `She seems more envious, and perhaps curious.' `Hmm. I hope Pansy's OK.' `Granger'll look out for her.' `Is that enough?' `Usually.' - `Potter!' Miyuu calls out, stopping the boy on his way from Potions. `Aino?' he asks. `I'm going to Hogsmeade this weekend, can we borrow you and your cloak?' `We?' Harry asks. `Nakajima,' Miyuu shrugs, `Possibly Lovegood and her Weasley, I don't know.' `Why? It's against the rules . . . ' he starts, `And I'm not supposed to go.' `But you want to, and I want to borrow your care of magical creatures book,' she shrugs, `So if I'm trying to sneak three or five of us, it'd be useful.' Harry pauses a moment, trying to figure out how a biting book would be useful for sneaking, then, `How do you know about the cloak?' `You probably don't want to know,' Miyuu smiles, and walks over to where Natsuko had stopped, taking her hand before they continue to their Potions class. - Miyuu stretches, one black wool sock slipping down towards the top of her boot, the other holding to her calf properly. Natsuko smiles at the sight, then turns back to her homework. - Natsuko lays out a single futon, sits down to watch as Miyuu does her second set of a hundred push-ups, curling grey and black plaid covered arms around her pyjama'd knees. `Oof,' Miyuu huffs, dropping onto her belly. `Come here,' Natsuko says, softly. Miyuu nods, rocks to her feet, dropping down cross-legged in front of Natsuko. `Closer,' Natsuko says, uncurling, then grabs Miyuu's hands, and pulls her forward as she lays back on the futon, gathering the young woman into her arms. She smiles, breathing in Miyuu's sweaty, girlish scent, and tucks her face into the crook of Miyuu's neck, `Goodnight.' `Goodnight,' Miyuu murmors, relaxing in the girl's warm arms. --- log: 2004/Nov/11: Started 2005/Mar/27: Continued 2005/Mar/28: Continued 2006/Mar/26: Continued. Finished? 2006/Oct/19: More added to the middle.