The Cold and the Beautiful (Mai-HiME, Natsuki/Mai, Theme Set Epsilon)
Title: The Cold and the Beautiful
Fandom: Mai-HiME
Pairing: Natsuki Kuga/Mai Tokiha
Theme Set: Epsilon
Rating: anywhere from G to R
Warnings: sex, violence (non-explicit)
#01 - Motion - There were days when Natsuki wished Mai would just sit still for a few moments so that she could put all that nervous energy into something more productive...like her.
#02 - Cool - No matter how hard she tried, Mai's fire couldn't melt down the wall Natsuki put around herself, but she did sense a few flickers of warmth whenever Natsuki chose to smile.
#03 - Young - Even after the chaos at Fuuka subsided, they figured it would be best to face the real world together, because they still had many years ahead of them.
#04 - Last - All Mai needed to do was process one more order, and then she could clock out and return home to relax with Natsuki for the evening.
#05 - Wrong - Natsuki thought she was stupid for falling in love, but the girl in the red hair didn't seem to care all that much, as long as she was the target.
#06 - Gentle - Natsuki hated being tickled; it still made her body tingle all over even when the tickling fingers were only slightly brushing her skin.
#07 - One - Mai cried silently on the night Natsuki sacrificed herself; she didn't know whether or not she was ready to face the ultimate evil on her own.
#08 - Thousand - Mai had found herself among a large pool of Natsuki-admirers; about one thousand, the last time she counted.
#09 - King - She put aside her desire to find herself a king to enjoy the few fleeting moments of being in the company of a blue-haired queen.
#10 - Learn - There was still quite a bit about Natsuki that remained unknown to her, and Mai was determined to figure out all she could by any means necessary.
#11 - Blur - Riding on the back of Natsuki's motorcycle felt so exhilarating; everything just seemed to zoom by and melt into nothingness.
#12 - Wait - Mai read Natsuki's letter aloud to herself: "Meet me at the central garden tonight...I'll be waiting."
#13 - Change - Mai had used up the last of her bus tokens, so Natsuki lent her a few 50-yen coins to help her get back home from work.
#14 - Command - She had no objection to letting Natsuki take control; either way, they both came out winners.
#15 - Hold - Their hands were conspicuously linked together; it seemed innocent enough, but everyone else in the classroom was starting at them, waiting for their next move.
#16 - Need - Mai kept saying that she could do perfectly fine by herself; she didn't need Natsuki to be as close to her as she was, but she didn't "not want" her to be, either.
#17 - Vision - From atop the hill, they could see all of Fuuka Academy in its architectural splendor, stopping only briefly to wonder if the others noticed they had gone missing at the same time.
#18 - Attention - Natsuki had to look down at her math textbook to pretend that she hadn't been staring at Mai's figure for the last five seconds.
#19 - Soul - Choosing not to give her soul to Mai right away was ostensibly the best decision; if she had done so and lost her battle, Natsuki wouldn't be able to live with herself for allowing a close friend to die.
#20 - Picture - Natsuki made good on her promise to be the one giggling behind Mai's back for the camera while she threw up bunny ears.
#21 - Fool - "You know, you can be such an idiot sometimes," Natsuki groaned as Mai dragged her over to a fair booth where an artist was drawing caricatures of anyone willing to pay for it.
#22 - Mad - It was impossible for Mai to stay mad at Natsuki for a prolonged period of time, as she always wound up apologizing profusely the next day.
#23 - Child - "He's got your eyes," Mai whispered as she and Natsuki tucked their adoptive son into bed for the night.
#24 - Now - Neither of them said anything about their relationship going into their third year of high school, but all of their friends knew now, so it was pointless for them to hide it.
#25 - Shadow - Putting on a puppet show for Natsuki was never easy, as Mai couldn't get her shadows to look like anything resembling animals.
#26 - Goodbye - There wouldn't be any weepy goodbye speeches between them, but just a long, silent "I-hope-we-meet-again-someday" kiss.
#27 - Hide - The bamboo forest seemed like the perfect place for them to go and make out without anyone else to disturb them.
#28 - Fortune - When a fortuneteller told her last customer that "love was in the air", Natsuki laughed it off as a waste of money; she'd likely tell her the exact same thing, and she would be right.
#29 - Safe - Mai quickly threw up a flaming barrier to stop the gunman's bullets; one second later, and she and her partner would have died.
#30 - Ghost - Natsuki had seen her friend in a dream; she tried reaching out to her, but passed right through as if she wasn't really there at all.
#31 - Book - Mai sat alone in her room leafing through a doujinshi she picked up at a comic book convention, hiding it so that Natsuki didn't know someone out there was drawing raunchy pictures of them with Shizuru.
#32 - Eye - Natsuki often wondered what Mai saw when she stared into her eyes at night.
#33 - Never - When Mai first met Natsuki, she never pictured herself taking interest in another woman, but then she thought back to the days when Mikoto would hang around her all day, and it didn't quite seem as far-fetched anymore.
#34 - Sing - Choir wasn't the same as getting behind the karaoke booth and letting loose; still, she found the environment much more inviting for singing a heartfelt song to Natsuki.
#35 - Sudden - Mai's face turned bright red when out of nowhere, she heard Natsuki tell her "I love you" without bursting into laughter afterward.
#36 - Stop - Though her first sexual encounter felt extremely awkward, Mai didn't dare ask Natsuki to stop; she was curious to find out how exactly "that" would work between two women.
#37 - Time - "If you're having so much trouble getting from place to place on time," Natsuki wondered, "why not just get a car...or let me drive you to school?"
#38 - Wash - After a long swim practice, sometimes Natsuki would go back to her dorm and let Mai wash her back.
#39 - Torn - Natsuki wasted no time tearing up the wrapping paper that concealed the silver necklace Mai had given her for their first anniversary.
#40 - History - Mai had to elbow Natsuki repeatedly to keep her from falling asleep during Midori's last lecture before their next history exam.
#41 - Power - The girls thought it best to combine their elemental powers to take down a particularly nasty Orphan before it smashed the headmaster's private mansion.
#42 - Bother - Mai didn't want Natsuki to go through the trouble of packing her bags for her, since she'd only be leaving town for a day.
#43 - God - They spent a few extra minutes praying with Sister Yukariko for their friendship to last them beyond graduation.
#44 - Wall - It wasn't so much "Mai loves Natsuki" written in the girls' restroom that bothered them, but that they weren't the ones who wrote it.
#45 - Naked - Happiness wasn't simply getting to see Mai's body in all of its natural glory, but also being able to touch it, and having Mai caress her own without inhibitions or regrets.
#46 - Drive - The driver paid no attention to them staring longingly at each other in the cab; as long as they paid their fare and didn't rob him, he didn't care what went on back there.
#47 - Harm - There was no way Mai would allow Natsuki to ever get seriously hurt; they had both experienced enough personal tragedy to last each of them three lifetimes.
#48 - Precious - It seemed only fair that Natsuki bought a pair of ruby earrings for Mai on her birthday; she lit up with joy watching Mai apply her birthstone jewelry.
#49 - Hunger - Natsuki tried to cook her dinner by herself, but it wasn't quite the same as when Mai did it.
#50 - Believe - It was their belief that things would get better for them in the end that helped them get through their first harrowing year together.
Fandom: Mai-HiME
Pairing: Natsuki Kuga/Mai Tokiha
Theme Set: Epsilon
Rating: anywhere from G to R
Warnings: sex, violence (non-explicit)
#01 - Motion - There were days when Natsuki wished Mai would just sit still for a few moments so that she could put all that nervous energy into something more productive...like her.
#02 - Cool - No matter how hard she tried, Mai's fire couldn't melt down the wall Natsuki put around herself, but she did sense a few flickers of warmth whenever Natsuki chose to smile.
#03 - Young - Even after the chaos at Fuuka subsided, they figured it would be best to face the real world together, because they still had many years ahead of them.
#04 - Last - All Mai needed to do was process one more order, and then she could clock out and return home to relax with Natsuki for the evening.
#05 - Wrong - Natsuki thought she was stupid for falling in love, but the girl in the red hair didn't seem to care all that much, as long as she was the target.
#06 - Gentle - Natsuki hated being tickled; it still made her body tingle all over even when the tickling fingers were only slightly brushing her skin.
#07 - One - Mai cried silently on the night Natsuki sacrificed herself; she didn't know whether or not she was ready to face the ultimate evil on her own.
#08 - Thousand - Mai had found herself among a large pool of Natsuki-admirers; about one thousand, the last time she counted.
#09 - King - She put aside her desire to find herself a king to enjoy the few fleeting moments of being in the company of a blue-haired queen.
#10 - Learn - There was still quite a bit about Natsuki that remained unknown to her, and Mai was determined to figure out all she could by any means necessary.
#11 - Blur - Riding on the back of Natsuki's motorcycle felt so exhilarating; everything just seemed to zoom by and melt into nothingness.
#12 - Wait - Mai read Natsuki's letter aloud to herself: "Meet me at the central garden tonight...I'll be waiting."
#13 - Change - Mai had used up the last of her bus tokens, so Natsuki lent her a few 50-yen coins to help her get back home from work.
#14 - Command - She had no objection to letting Natsuki take control; either way, they both came out winners.
#15 - Hold - Their hands were conspicuously linked together; it seemed innocent enough, but everyone else in the classroom was starting at them, waiting for their next move.
#16 - Need - Mai kept saying that she could do perfectly fine by herself; she didn't need Natsuki to be as close to her as she was, but she didn't "not want" her to be, either.
#17 - Vision - From atop the hill, they could see all of Fuuka Academy in its architectural splendor, stopping only briefly to wonder if the others noticed they had gone missing at the same time.
#18 - Attention - Natsuki had to look down at her math textbook to pretend that she hadn't been staring at Mai's figure for the last five seconds.
#19 - Soul - Choosing not to give her soul to Mai right away was ostensibly the best decision; if she had done so and lost her battle, Natsuki wouldn't be able to live with herself for allowing a close friend to die.
#20 - Picture - Natsuki made good on her promise to be the one giggling behind Mai's back for the camera while she threw up bunny ears.
#21 - Fool - "You know, you can be such an idiot sometimes," Natsuki groaned as Mai dragged her over to a fair booth where an artist was drawing caricatures of anyone willing to pay for it.
#22 - Mad - It was impossible for Mai to stay mad at Natsuki for a prolonged period of time, as she always wound up apologizing profusely the next day.
#23 - Child - "He's got your eyes," Mai whispered as she and Natsuki tucked their adoptive son into bed for the night.
#24 - Now - Neither of them said anything about their relationship going into their third year of high school, but all of their friends knew now, so it was pointless for them to hide it.
#25 - Shadow - Putting on a puppet show for Natsuki was never easy, as Mai couldn't get her shadows to look like anything resembling animals.
#26 - Goodbye - There wouldn't be any weepy goodbye speeches between them, but just a long, silent "I-hope-we-meet-again-someday" kiss.
#27 - Hide - The bamboo forest seemed like the perfect place for them to go and make out without anyone else to disturb them.
#28 - Fortune - When a fortuneteller told her last customer that "love was in the air", Natsuki laughed it off as a waste of money; she'd likely tell her the exact same thing, and she would be right.
#29 - Safe - Mai quickly threw up a flaming barrier to stop the gunman's bullets; one second later, and she and her partner would have died.
#30 - Ghost - Natsuki had seen her friend in a dream; she tried reaching out to her, but passed right through as if she wasn't really there at all.
#31 - Book - Mai sat alone in her room leafing through a doujinshi she picked up at a comic book convention, hiding it so that Natsuki didn't know someone out there was drawing raunchy pictures of them with Shizuru.
#32 - Eye - Natsuki often wondered what Mai saw when she stared into her eyes at night.
#33 - Never - When Mai first met Natsuki, she never pictured herself taking interest in another woman, but then she thought back to the days when Mikoto would hang around her all day, and it didn't quite seem as far-fetched anymore.
#34 - Sing - Choir wasn't the same as getting behind the karaoke booth and letting loose; still, she found the environment much more inviting for singing a heartfelt song to Natsuki.
#35 - Sudden - Mai's face turned bright red when out of nowhere, she heard Natsuki tell her "I love you" without bursting into laughter afterward.
#36 - Stop - Though her first sexual encounter felt extremely awkward, Mai didn't dare ask Natsuki to stop; she was curious to find out how exactly "that" would work between two women.
#37 - Time - "If you're having so much trouble getting from place to place on time," Natsuki wondered, "why not just get a car...or let me drive you to school?"
#38 - Wash - After a long swim practice, sometimes Natsuki would go back to her dorm and let Mai wash her back.
#39 - Torn - Natsuki wasted no time tearing up the wrapping paper that concealed the silver necklace Mai had given her for their first anniversary.
#40 - History - Mai had to elbow Natsuki repeatedly to keep her from falling asleep during Midori's last lecture before their next history exam.
#41 - Power - The girls thought it best to combine their elemental powers to take down a particularly nasty Orphan before it smashed the headmaster's private mansion.
#42 - Bother - Mai didn't want Natsuki to go through the trouble of packing her bags for her, since she'd only be leaving town for a day.
#43 - God - They spent a few extra minutes praying with Sister Yukariko for their friendship to last them beyond graduation.
#44 - Wall - It wasn't so much "Mai loves Natsuki" written in the girls' restroom that bothered them, but that they weren't the ones who wrote it.
#45 - Naked - Happiness wasn't simply getting to see Mai's body in all of its natural glory, but also being able to touch it, and having Mai caress her own without inhibitions or regrets.
#46 - Drive - The driver paid no attention to them staring longingly at each other in the cab; as long as they paid their fare and didn't rob him, he didn't care what went on back there.
#47 - Harm - There was no way Mai would allow Natsuki to ever get seriously hurt; they had both experienced enough personal tragedy to last each of them three lifetimes.
#48 - Precious - It seemed only fair that Natsuki bought a pair of ruby earrings for Mai on her birthday; she lit up with joy watching Mai apply her birthstone jewelry.
#49 - Hunger - Natsuki tried to cook her dinner by herself, but it wasn't quite the same as when Mai did it.
#50 - Believe - It was their belief that things would get better for them in the end that helped them get through their first harrowing year together.